Chapter 1283: Making Trouble Again!

"You admire him?" Niu Youdao stared at her. "If you truly admire him, how can you stand by and watch him die? Why don't you go save him?"

That joke went a little too far. Running beneath the Nine Saints' noses to snatch away someone they wanted would amount to Yun Ji growing tired of living. She replied casually, "If you're not afraid, you can try."

Niu Youdao gave a cold snort. It was only a snort. Some things could only be said in anger. If he truly had Yun Ji snatch Yuan Gang away, then before long a whole pile of people here might be hauled off, waiting for Yun Ji to come rescue them too.

And that was precisely what made Niu Youdao so angry and frustrated. He could not bear to sit by and watch Yuan Gang die, yet neither could he bring a fatal disaster down on everyone around him. The Nine Saints' power was simply too immense, their deterrent too overwhelming. As he was now, he did not possess the slightest qualification to oppose them openly.

The Nine Saints would not even need to act personally. A single sentence from them would be enough to disintegrate every force Niu Youdao controlled openly. Jinzhou, Guangzhou, and the rest would turn their spearheads around without hesitation and encircle Nanzhou. Would Zijin Cave under Gong Lince dare stand up and support him?

In truth, he also knew Yun Ji had meant something else when she said she admired Yuan Gang. She had not meant that what Yuan Gang did was good. She had meant only that his courage was astonishing.

And Yun Ji and Guan Fangyi truly did admire that courage. To women like them, it was almost unimaginable.

Guan Fangyi especially. In the past, what she had disliked most was Yuan Gang's habit of being fierce with his own people. Only now did she understand what it meant to reveal a hero's true colors. He was far more than merely fierce at home!

Now that the Sacred Realm intended to seize him, both women had begun worrying for Yuan Gang's safety as well. They also understood Niu Youdao's present dilemma. Even if there were some way to rescue him, they still would not dare.

"Keep a close eye on Duan Hu and the other two," Niu Youdao suddenly said. "Once word spreads, don't let them do anything reckless."

There was an old saying: near vermilion, one turns red; near ink, one turns black. Duan Hu and the others had followed Yuan Gang for so long that, more or less, they had been subtly influenced by him. Niu Youdao had already begun to sense it.

Why could it not have been Duan Hu and the others influencing Yuan Gang instead?

Niu Youdao had been Yuan Gang's brother across two lifetimes. How could he not know what sort of man Yuan Gang was? There was something uniquely his own inside him, something no one could stain black. Niu Youdao himself had spent two lifetimes beside him and had never managed to stain him. How could Duan Hu and the others possibly influence a man like that?

What kind of man was Yuan Gang?

His head could be severed and his blood spilled, but right was right and wrong was wrong.

For all these years, no matter what the matter was, once Yuan Gang decided Niu Youdao was wrong, he would resist him without compromise. There was no possibility of making Yuan Gang do something he himself believed was wrong.

And precisely because a man like that had always existed beside him, always reminding him, always persisting, Niu Youdao had never lost himself amid all the enmities and affections, all the tangled rights and wrongs, all the temptations of profit.

There had always been a mirror beside him, reflecting him back at himself.

To a certain extent, Niu Youdao himself had also been subtly influenced by Yuan Gang.

What exactly was that thing inside Yuan Gang?

In their previous life, Niu Youdao had once described it this way:

To stand open and upright, to face death with generous courage—this is vast righteousness, this is integrity. Perhaps that is the vast, righteous qi itself: emerging from the mire unstained, untouched by a hundred evils. How could the petty hearts of small men ever influence it?

Such a presence could even overawe petty villains.

"Mm. Understood." Guan Fangyi nodded.

This really did need watching. Otherwise, Duan Hu and the others might genuinely do something reckless.

After leaving, Guan Fangyi reached a fork in the courtyard path, paused, then suddenly changed direction and headed straight for Feng Guan'er's quarters.

Feng Guan'er had been sitting inside a pavilion, lost in troubled thoughts. The moment she saw Guan Fangyi arrive, she stood and asked, "Is he all right?"

"Ah!" Guan Fangyi sighed. "Jin sent people to assassinate him. They failed, but afterward he offended someone he absolutely should not have offended. Misty Pavilion now intends to seize him. Once Qin's army has finished crossing the Boundless Desert, I'm afraid Misty Pavilion will take him away."

"He probably won't make it past that ordeal. I'm afraid it will be very difficult for him to return alive."

"You should understand something. The real reason Luo Zhao left Song was because Luo Zhao himself refused to compromise with Wu Gongling. It had nothing to do with Yuan Gang."

"Speaking as a woman, I'll say something from my conscience. This time, you've truly harmed him."

"After what he's done now, he really does not owe you anything anymore."

Feng Guan'er's expression twisted with conflict. "How did things become like this? Don't you have any way to save him?"

Guan Fangyi asked in return, "Misty Pavilion is going to act directly. You tell me how we're supposed to save him."

Feng Guan'er bit her lip and fell silent, her expression complicated.

...

After four transport runs, Qin's operation to cross the desert was finally complete.

The last troops had all arrived.

At the edge of the desert, where the sand scorpions had already withdrawn, soldiers waiting, receiving, and arriving from both Qin and Qi crowded everywhere in a chaotic sea of heads.

Amid the disorder, Yucang ignored everything else and hurried away from the column toward the front.

A line of Misty Pavilion personnel stood waiting there.

Yucang rushed over to pay his respects.

Yue Guangming, one of Presiding Administrator Huo Kong's deputies, had come personally.

Yuan Gang saw them.

He did not know who the newcomers from Misty Pavilion were, but he saw Yucang standing deferentially before them, answering questions about something.

The people nearby withdrew their gazes from that scene and turned them all toward Yuan Gang.

Some shook their heads secretly.

Some sighed with mixed emotion.

Others simply waited to watch the show.

A short while later, Yucang came hurrying back.

He stopped before Yuan Gang, looking somewhat awkward.

"That... Brother Yuan..."

Faced with a man like this, he suddenly had no idea what to say.

Yuan Gang said, "I've done what I came to do. Farewell."

With that, he turned and walked away.

He knew his situation was dangerous and intended to leave through the desert.

"Brother Yuan!" Yucang called.

At the same time, he waved one hand.

Whoosh!

A group of Xiaoyue Pavilion cultivators flashed in front of Yuan Gang and blocked his way, watching him like tigers and refusing to let him pass.

Yuan Gang slowly turned around.

"Yucang, what are you trying to do?"

Yucang gave a bitter smile. "Brother, we have no choice either. Please forgive us."

Half a day earlier, while they were still on the road, he had received a message from this side.

Misty Pavilion's people had arrived.

They had come to take Yuan Gang away.

They ordered Xiaoyue Pavilion to keep watch over Yuan Gang, prevent him from escaping, and make certain he was smoothly handed over to Misty Pavilion.

Misty Pavilion had also said they did not wish to interfere in the war. Therefore, before the troop transport was complete, they would not intervene in any way. They hoped Xiaoyue Pavilion would understand the situation and cooperate.

In other words, Yucang had already known half a day ago what Yuan Gang would face upon reaching this place.

But he had hidden it.

Looked at another way, he had watched Yuan Gang walk into the net with his own eyes, while Xiaoyue Pavilion served as an accomplice.

The man had helped them. They were not repaying him, and that was bad enough. Now they even had to become accomplices against him.

And against a man like Yuan Gang in particular, Yucang had felt awkward the entire journey. Deep inside, he genuinely felt ashamed.

He turned, extended a hand, and pointed toward the Misty Pavilion group.

"Mr. Yue Guangming, deputy to Misty Pavilion's Presiding Administrator, has come. Please go over and see him."

Yuan Gang asked, "And if I refuse?"

Yucang sighed. "Brother, don't make things difficult for us."

"We know you're not afraid of death, but you can't drag us down with you either."

"We don't want this. We especially don't want to burn the bridge the instant we've crossed it, right in front of so many people."

"It would look ugly for you, we'd be embarrassed, and we'd end up offending both sides."

"Truly, don't force us into an impossible position."

"So long as you don't make things difficult for us today, then here, before all the brothers of Xiaoyue Pavilion, I, Yucang, give you my word."

"From this day onward, no matter whom Xiaoyue Pavilion makes trouble for, we will never make trouble for you, Brother Yuan."

"I swear it to Heaven!"

A number of Xiaoyue Pavilion members nodded slightly, plainly agreeing.

Yuan Gang asked in return, "A petty man like you is worthy of swearing to Heaven?"

"Heh..." Yucang truly had no response but a bitter shake of the head.

Had anyone else said something like that to his face, Yucang would have turned hostile on the spot.

Faced with Yuan Gang, he could only smile bitterly.

"Fine. I'm a petty man. In front of you, Brother Yuan, I truly am a petty man. Satisfied?"

"But you know perfectly well you really can't escape."

"And even if you could, what then?"

"Given the kind of man you are, why would you drag others into this?"

"You promised to help Feng Guan'er. You don't want Luo Zhao implicated, do you?"

"Please."

He cupped his hands and gestured in invitation.

Earlier, when Yuan Gang said he had come because Feng Guan'er asked him to help, Yucang had been deeply suspicious.

He had not believed anyone would risk this much merely because someone asked.

Now he believed it.

Completely.

Yuan Gang slowly turned his head and looked toward Luo Zhao, who was standing not far away.

Luo Zhao was looking at him as well.

Yuan Gang turned back, avoiding his gaze.

Then he walked straight toward Yucang.

With one sweep of his arm, he pushed Yucang aside as though the man did not exist and continued directly toward the Misty Pavilion group.

Yucang sighed at the discourtesy.

He had grown used to it.

There was no real reaction left in him.

He followed Yuan Gang over.

Yue Guangming repeatedly looked the approaching red-faced giant up and down.

He was curious as well.

Was this really the man who had nearly cut Hua Meiru down with one slash right in front of Lü Wushuang, forcing Lü Wushuang herself to intervene to save her disciple?

Yuan Gang walked over and stopped in front of him.

"Let's go."

Yue Guangming tilted his head slightly.

"Take him away."

Two men immediately stepped forward, one on either side, and grabbed Yuan Gang by the arms to escort him off.

Yuan Gang glanced left and right.

Then both hands suddenly clenched into fists and blasted outward.

Bang! Bang!

The force was savage.

Caught completely unprepared, both men took crushing blows to the abdomen and were sent flying on the spot.

Each spat blood before crashing to the ground.

The moment Yuan Gang did this, everyone from Misty Pavilion reacted in shock.

They immediately went on guard, watching him like tigers.

Yue Guangming had not imagined this man would actually dare resist arrest.

He shouted, "Impudent!"

Yucang and the others were startled too.

Inside, they were practically screaming.

Madman.

He really was a madman.

Here he went again.

Making trouble again!

In full view of everyone, he had actually injured Misty Pavilion's people on the spot.

These men, after being frightened by Yuan Gang again and again, had finally had enough.

If they survived today and ever met him again, they swore they would stay as far away from this half-crazy bastard as possible.

Now that Yuan Gang had struck Misty Pavilion's men, Yucang and the others had no choice but to show some reaction as well.

They too adopted a posture of encirclement.

Yuan Gang swept a cold gaze around him.

At last, he fixed his eyes on Yue Guangming.

"I said I would go with you, so naturally I will."

"I've done nothing wrong."

"I'm not a prisoner."

"If anyone lays hands on me again..."

At worst, this Yuan had only one life to lose.

His hand rose.

He drew the Three-Roars Saber and held it horizontally before him.

Yucang was speechless.

So that was what this was about.

This bastard truly could not tolerate a single grain of sand in his eye.

Put another way, he clearly had very little goodwill toward Misty Pavilion.

Yue Guangming's cheek tightened.

This was a man capable of killing a peak Golden Core cultivator with one slash and who had nearly killed Hua Meiru badly enough to force Lü Wushuang to intervene.

Yue Guangming could not help weighing what would happen if they truly fought.

There was another problem.

If they forced the man too far and he genuinely chose death over submission, if they actually killed him, Yue Guangming would have no way to explain himself upon returning.

The Nine Saints wanted this man.

Otherwise, Yue Guangming, one of the Presiding Administrator's deputies stationed in the mortal world, would never have come personally.

After his eyes flickered for a moment, Yue Guangming waved to both sides.

He signaled everyone to lower their weapons.

Then he stared coldly at Yuan Gang.

"Then let's go."

"You'd better behave yourself."

[End of Chapter 1283]