The Shadow Order Returns

After spending about ten days together, Wukong greatly admired me. He learned many techniques from me and felt that I was his destined master.

At the same time, he was very dependent on me. Since leaving the Vastaya Forest, everyone he met avoided him, but I was the only one who was willing to accept him.

This contrast deeply moved him, just like when Poppy and I first became friends.

We arrived in Prexian without any trouble, but unfortunately, I was disappointed to find that neither Talon nor Katarina were there.

However, many people in Prexian knew me. After inquiring, I learned that they had gone north, and the reason was fighting!

After defeating Jhin last time, we left Ionia. At that time, something happened: Syndra, the Harbinger from the North, injured Miyue, the Harbinger from the South.

At first, we all thought this was an internal matter in Ionia, so we didn't get involved. But in recent months, it has escalated into a major incident.

I don't know what kind of situation could last this long, and neither do the people of Prexian. They are generally poorly informed, and no one cares unless it escalates to war.

Before I could even express my opinion, Wukong urged me to head north. He had been learning a lot recently and desperately needed practical experience to enrich himself.

From the west coast all the way to Prexian, the view was relatively wide due to the Noxus invasion, but it was different north of Prexian, where dense hills and woodlands greatly restricted my view.

Wukong was unaffected. He grew up in the dense forest and, being a monkey, was extremely agile.

After a difficult three-day trek, we finally arrived at a plain where the vegetation had turned yellow, and the air was thick with the scent of autumn.

But before he could even appreciate the enchanting autumn scenery, Wukong noticed something amiss. His hearing was quite acute, and he suddenly stopped walking:

"Master, there are people running not far away. It looks like someone is fleeing and someone is chasing them."

"Don't meddle in other people's business. Let's go to the North Spring Temple; the battle we need to participate in is there."

"But they're coming this way, Master! They're almost here!"

Upon hearing Wukong's words, I used my Insight Technique to investigate and indeed found about ten people rushing towards us. They were divided into two groups, one in front and one behind, just as Wukong had said, and seemed to be fleeing for their lives.

Soon these people came into view, three in front and ten behind, and Wukong had already rushed over at full speed.

Only after getting a little closer could I see clearly that these people in black, just like the invaders of Vastaya that Wukong had described, did indeed resemble the Shadow Stream members. However, I couldn't be sure based on their attire alone.

The people fleeing ahead were also dressed as Ninja. I only know the Kinkou Order and the Shadow Cult among the Ninja here, so I don't know if they are them.

Thinking back, it was two years ago when I fought alongside Zed. Counting the five years I inexplicably traveled through time, that's seven years.

He was killed by Shen himself back then, so the two families must have developed a deep-seated hatred for each other. Hasn't that been resolved after all these years?

Once they reached the open, flat ground, without any cover, the pursuers were able to act more easily. They kept throwing hidden weapons and soon hit one of the men.

When I arrived, all three of them had already been hit in vital areas and collapsed to the ground. That guy Wukong, without even looking at how many people were on the other side, rushed forward hastily.

These people were taken aback when they saw him, and then they attacked him directly. At this point, I couldn't ignore it anymore. Although I didn't know their grudges, I had to stop them from fighting first.

I've had a few encounters with Jie's subordinates before, and they felt completely different from the people in front of me. These people are all Ninja who excel in subtlety and their attack methods are extremely unpredictable!

It was unlikely that I could break up their fight without hurting them, so I gathered the Gale Force and quickly slowed their movements down.

At this moment, Wukong was like an enraged ape, attacking recklessly, not caring about his injuries, as if he had recalled the scene of his people being slaughtered.

He'll kill them all sooner or later if this continues. I had no choice but to direct the Gale Force at him, but I found that the effect was not obvious.

As the force increased, I finally managed to control Wukong. If I had used that level of Wind Force on a few Ninja, I probably would have frozen them into ice blocks.

By this time, four people had already been killed by being clawed and bitten, but he finally calmed down, and the bloodshot in his eyes slowly faded.

"Calm down, Wukong. I know you harbor hatred, but we need to find out who's behind it all."

"I understand, Master. I don't know what happened to me just now; I suddenly couldn't control myself."

At this moment, the group was trembling all over, not from the cold, but from being terrified by Wukong.

Ninja are specially trained and don't easily feel fear, but it's different when facing wild beasts. Wukong's ferocious appearance just now terrified them.

However, they still possessed the most basic qualities of Ninja, and they didn't say anything when I asked them questions.

A hardline approach didn't work, so I had to try to get on their good side. "You might not know, but I once fought alongside Zed."

After I finished speaking, I saw their expressions soften slightly, so I continued, "Later, he unfortunately died in battle, and I felt very sad. If you have any difficulties, you can tell me, and I'm willing to help resolve them."

"Nonsense, the leader isn't dead at all!"

Finally, someone spoke up, and I felt a surge of joy. If they could say the first sentence, they could say the second.

I wasn't sure if they were from Shadow Stream, and asking directly might arouse suspicion, so I just brought up the details of the robbery. Sure enough, they didn't deny it.

But what does it mean that Jie didn't die?

When I visited the Kinkou Order last time, Kennen mentioned this matter to Shen Chang, who was deeply saddened by it and even resigned from his position as abbot because of it.

"Not dead? I won't lie to you, I did fight alongside Zed. Our opponent was Shen from the Kinkou Order. You didn't know that, did you?"

The group exchanged glances, hesitated for a moment, and then said to me, "At the time, we also thought the leader had been killed, but he didn't die; instead, he returned to the sect."

"Can you take me to see him?"

"We don't know his location, and even if we did, we wouldn't tell you. Please understand."

"Then why did you attack the Vastaya ape tribe?"

"Act according to orders, without questioning the reasons."

"Who are you hunting down? You don't need to keep that a secret, right? The news will come out soon enough anyway."

"Of course it doesn't matter. They're members of the Kinkou Order, they deserve to die!"

As expected, the hatred between the two sides did not disappear, or rather, the previous events made them hate each other even more.

I couldn't get any more information from them by asking, so I slowly withdrew the cold air and wind pressure, intending to let them go, but I needed to ask Wukong's opinion first.