Stranger Danger

“The Malevolent Tribe, Six Souls People, Gu King Clan…”

Ye Qing did not recognize the other two groups, but Profound Spirit Taoist was a different story. In fact, he knew them so well that his expression grew increasingly stern and confused.

Back in the day, the Nanjiang Royal Court ruled by the Meng Clan was supported by nine major tribes. The three biggest tribes of them all were the Malevolent Tribe, the Six Souls People, and the Gu King Clan. They were absolutely loyal to the Meng Clan.

The Six Souls People were masters of soul and yin spirit manipulation. They also excelled at soul arts and secret arts. They usually defeated their opponents via yin spirits and souls.

The Gu King Clan excelled at raising and controlling gu[1], but unlike most other practitioners of gu, their mastery wasn’t just limited to pests or venomous creatures. They could transform any flora and fauna into gu. That was why they called themselves the Gu King Clan.

Both the Six Souls People and Gu King Clan boasted immense skill and power. Just like the Malevolent Tribe, they were once the strongest, biggest tribes in Nanjiang. Unfortunately, their status as the Meng Clan’s most trusted tribes also painted a target behind their backs just like the Malevolent Tribe, so they suffered greatly in the hands of the rebels during the rebellion a century ago. In fact, after the rebels took over the Nanjiang Royal Court, they did everything in their power to hunt down the three tribes. This continued for generations until the three tribes were missing and practically forgotten.

That was no longer the case. Today, the Malevolent Tribe, Six Souls People and Gu King Clan had reappeared once more. Although their numbers were incomparable to what they were a century ago, they were still much stronger than your conventional Nanjiang tribe, not to mention that they boasted extraordinary powers to begin with. That was why they were considered above average among the hundred tribes of Nanjiang.

And that was the crux of the problem. The Nanjiang Pacification Army had been plotting to conquer Nanjiang once and for all for many years, and they thought that they knew every tribe in Nanjiang like the back of their hand. However, they never knew that the three tribes had resurrected and even grown to this level until now.

It wasn’t just them though. Profound Spirit Taoist was willing to bet that even the Nanjiang Royal Court and the Eight Tribes and Nine Fortresses had no idea about their resurrection. Otherwise, they would not have tolerated their existence.

There were many things that he didn’t understand right now, but there was one thing Profound Spirit Taoist was now certain about. These people weren’t here for the Sky Mending Spring or the Eight Divine Armors—or rather, it was not their ultimate goal. Their true goal was to retake the Nanjiang Royal Court, and the main culprit behind it all was undoubtedly that woman, the remnant of the Meng Clan.

The Malevolent Tribe, Six Souls People, and Gu King Clan were absolutely loyal to the royal family of the Meng Clan. Only the royal family possessed the ability and authority to command them. Naturally, their resurrection must have something to do with the Meng Clan remnant.

This also meant that his judgment had failed him and placed him in a disadvantageous position yet again.

If he hadn’t decided to use the Immovable Fortress Formation and gathered all of his troops in one place, these people could not have entered the Nanjiang Royal Court as easily as they had. At the very least, he would have been warned about their approach.

With just the Sky Mending Spring and a simple lure, his opponent had forced him to make the wrong decision again and again and put himself in a terrible position.

He, Profound Spirit Taoist, was famous for his meticulous strategizing and tactics. He was the one who played his victims like puppets on strings, not the other way around. It wasn’t like he had never been tricked before, but this was definitely the first time he had been outwitted in such an embarrassing, aggravating, and helpless manner. Never in his life had he felt so outmatched.

Luckily, there was still a silver lining to all this. With the Immovable Fortress Formation, they could hold out for another two hours even if his enemy was now over ten thousand strong. Two hours should be enough time for his reinforcements to show up and save the day—assuming that no other fuck-ups happened, of course.

The three tribes quickly entered the inner city and stood on the opposite end of the Nanjiang Pacification Army. However, they did not attack their formation immediately.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The three Divine Armors had stopped their assault as well.

Fei Xue stepped out into the open with the man wielding the Malevolent Horn following right behind her. As she passed through her people, they all bowed their heads to show their respect for her. She did not stop until she was standing in front of the Immovable Fortress Formation and looking up at Profound Spirit Taoist, declaring, “Surrender, Profound Spirit Taoist. You no longer have any chance at victory.”

“Who are you?” Profound Spirit Taoist asked.

“You already know the answer, don’t you?” Fei Xue countered.

“You’re the surviving evil of the royal family of the Meng Clan, aren’t you?” Profound Spirit Taoist asked.

“Surviving evil?” Fei Xue let out a cold chuckle. “I suppose we are from your perspective. I am the granddaughter of the Profound King of Nanjiang and current princess of the Nanjiang Royal Academy. My name is Meng Feixue.”

“Granddaughter of the Profound King, Meng Feixue?” Profound Spirit Taoist muttered to himself.

Although every master of Nanjiang Royal Court was titled the King of Nanjiang, they obviously had their own title to differentiate themselves from the other rulers. The Profound King was the final King of Nanjiang bearing the Meng bloodline over a century ago.

Age wise, it definitely looked like the woman was who she claimed to be: the granddaughter of the Profound King.

“Miss Fei Xue[2] is the Granddaughter of the Profound King? An actual princess of the Nanjiang Royal Court?”

Ye Qing was no less astonished than Profound Spirit Taoist was. He already guessed that Fei Xue was someone important when the man carrying the Malevolent Horn addressed her as princess, but he did not think that she was the granddaughter of the Fefi Xue and the true descendant of the royal family of the Meng Clan.

Ye Qing immediately cast Feng Qingyou a suspicious look. “Are you part of the royal family as well?”

Feng Qingyou spared no effort to help Meng Feixue and possessed the ability to awaken the Eight Divine Armors. It made sense that she was also part of the royal family of the Meng Clan.

“Nope, I’m not!” Feng Qingyou shook her head immediately. “Fei Xue is my friend. That’s all there is to it.”

“So, when you said that you were retrieving something for your friend, you were referring to Fei Xue, right?” Ye Qing asked.

“Correct.” Feng Qingyou nodded.

“How did you and Miss Fei Xue come to know each other?” Ye Qing asked curiously.

“I’ll tell you about it in the future,” Feng Qingyou said, “but right now, let’s just enjoy the show, shall we?”

Meanwhile, Profound Spirit Taoist was looking at Feng Qingyou and asking, “Is she a member of the royal family as well?”

“That, you don’t need to know, Reverend.” Meng Feixue neither confirmed nor denied the accusation. “You should worry about yourself first!”

Profound Spirit Taoist did not press for an answer. He looked back at Meng Feixue and asked, “Why have you come today, princess?”

“To get justice for my clan, of course,” Meng Feixue answered. “To retrieve what belongs to me and the Meng Clan.”

“So, you’ve come to take revenge and retrieve the Nanjiang Royal Court.”

Profound Spirit Taoist said, “In that case, shouldn’t you be thanking us instead? A hundred years ago, it was the Taili Clan and the Eight Tribes and Nine Fortresses who rebelled against your family. Today, we have annihilated the large majority of their forces. It wasn’t intentional, but we have taken revenge for your clan, have we not?”

“Is that so?” Meng Feixue wore a smile that did not reach the eyes.

“Anyway, we can surrender the Nanjiang Royal Court to you,” Profound Spirit Taoist continued.

“Oh? That’s surprisingly generous of you.” Meng Feixue asked smilingly, “And what do you want in exchange?”

“I knew you’re an intelligent woman, princess. I shall speak frankly.”

Profound Spirit Taoist declared, “My condition is very simple. Swear your fealty to us, and all shall be forgiven.”

“You want my fealty?” Meng Feixue chuckled. “We killed so many of your men, and you’re just going to let us go without repercussions?”

1. Refresher for you all, but gu was a venom-based poison associated with cultures of south China, particularly Nanyue. The traditional preparation of gu poison involved sealing several venomous creatures (e.g., centipede, snake, scorpion) inside a closed container, where they devoured one another and allegedly concentrated their toxins into a single survivor, whose body would be fed upon by larvae until consumed. The last surviving larva held the complex poison. Gu was used in black magic practices such as manipulating sexual partners, creating malignant diseases, and causing death. According to Chinese folklore, a gu spirit could transform into various animals, typically a worm, caterpillar, snake, frog, dog, or pig. ☜

2. After this chapter all instances of Fei Xue will be changed to Meng Feixue. The reason the previous instances are Fei Xue is definitely to mislead the readers and prevent them from figuring out the truth too soon, and definitely not because I’m too lazy to go back and fix them all. ☜