Wu Shu Kingdom

Wu Shu Kingdom itself was an obscure little country, its entire territory comprising no more than two cities. Situated at the border between two great nations, it served as a buffer zone between them.

That meant it was, by nature, a country to be exploited.

But over the past decade, Wu Shu Kingdom had established ties with the Iron Sword Sect. With cultivators intervening, the Silver Moon Dynasty and the Wild Dynasty had each made concessions at the urging of the powers behind them.

The once-impoverished Wu Shu Kingdom had gradually begun to develop.

By the time Bai Yu and the other two arrived from the Silver Moon Dynasty, seven days had passed.

Unlike the Silver Moon Dynasty, Wu Shu Kingdom was steeped in elements unique to its own land. One could tell at a glance from the way its people dressed.

By the time he arrived, Bai Yu had changed into a red casual robe adorned with all manner of silver ornaments.

The appearance of the three of them drew plenty of looks. After all, in Wu Shu Kingdom, those who could wear silver ornaments were either wealthy or noble.

Compared to the many impoverished people dressed in hemp clothes, they seemed rather out of place.

"I told you, don't be so conspicuous, don't be so conspicuous. Fatty Pang, look at all the eyes on us. How are we supposed to act now?"

After entering an inn and finding a table to sit at, Zhao Mingzhu gritted his teeth and spoke in a low voice.

Zhao Mingzhu was more cautious than anyone else, and the attention they were drawing made him deeply uncomfortable.

His original intention had been to disguise themselves as common beggars and sneak in.

"What the hell do you know? Dressed like this, we can avoid a lot of trouble."

"If you really disguise yourself as some poor wretch, anyone could come stomp on you. That'd make it even easier for us to expose ourselves."

Pang Tong said disdainfully.

"This is Senior Brother Zhao Lan's hometown?"

Watching the crowds passing through the streets, this was Bai Yu's first time encountering a place in this world where ordinary people lived their everyday lives.

How should he put it? The feeling was overwhelmingly oppressive. Everyone wore a faint numbness on their faces, and the surrounding environment left one unable to muster even a shred of hope.

It was hard to imagine that this was actually the capital of a country.

"What, surprised?"

"If I remember correctly, you were tied up and dragged into the sect too, weren't you?"

Seeing Bai Yu's expression, Pang Tong spoke with great interest.

This was why he had entered the Heavenly Demon Sect without hesitation back then. Even if he died while climbing upward, he would rather that than cling to life in a world like this.

On the Eternal Continent, the human rights of ordinary people were no better than those of demonic beasts. You might still be alive today, only to die tomorrow.

And the cause of death would very likely be some disaster falling from the sky.

"I'm just feeling a little sentimental. Returning to an environment like this again feels as though a lifetime has passed."

Bai Yu tossed out the remark casually, drawing hearty laughter from Zhao Mingzhu.

"Hahahaha, indeed. I threw away all of my youth in the Silver Moon Dynasty. Entering the Heavenly Demon Sect was the beginning of a new life."

"Come to think of it, Junior Brother Bai, you still don't have a cauldron you caught yourself, do you?"

"This is the perfect chance. If you see one you like, just snatch her away. Consider it a hunting trip."

"We'd originally planned to take you hunting for those righteous-path disciples. Who would have thought something like this would happen?"

Zhao Mingzhu sighed.

Before long, the waiter brought the dishes to their table. Seeing the look on the man's face, as though he had survived a catastrophe, Bai Yu fished out a few bits of broken silver and asked, "Brother, business is so lively. Why do you seem to be in such low spirits? Did something happen in the city?"

Bai Yu had noticed long ago that many people in Zhao King City wore anxious expressions, even hurrying along in a fluster, as though something ill-omened was lingering throughout the city.

Seeing the broken silver on the table, the waiter froze for a moment. He then looked around before lowering his voice. "You gentlemen aren't from Zhao King City?"

"No. We're from the neighboring city, here on business, but something feels off today."

As soon as those words were spoken, perhaps unable to resist the lure of the silver, the waiter secretly tucked it into his clothes before speaking in a hushed voice.

"Then you picked a bad time to come. Something major has happened in Zhao King City lately."

"A prince from the late emperor's branch returned. He'd learned a body full of wicked arts and came back to seek justice for the late emperor. Everyone knows about it."

"Unfortunately, that fellow was far too arrogant. The current king—his own uncle—wasn't so easy to deal with. Besides, the city has the esteemed people of the Iron Sword Sect guarding it."

"I heard from unofficial sources that the demon's elder sister, the Eldest Princess, abandoned darkness for the light and joined forces with the king and the Iron Sword Sect Hall Master stationed here to kill him."

"Even now, that demon's corpse is hanging above the main gate of the royal palace."

As he spoke, the waiter's face filled with terror.

"That night, I heard that more than half of the palace guards died. I even went to take a look. That demon was incredibly powerful. The Iron Sword Sect has an entire hall stationed here, yet they still nearly failed to take him down."

"With something like that happening, how could anyone in the city be happy?"

Hearing this, Bai Yu's brows furrowed.

If what the waiter said was true, then Zhao Lan had been betrayed?

Come to think of it, with Zhao Lan's battle-honed abilities and his ninth level of Qi Refinement cultivation, if he truly fought for his life, how could the palace guards and ordinary Iron Sword Sect disciples possibly stand against him?

"No wonder business has been so hard these days."

Bai Yu shook his head and sighed.

"Ah, there's no need to be so discouraged. Zhao City will soon recover."

"Lord An, who guards this place, has announced that he will marry the eldest princess. The wedding is tomorrow."

"This is a major event for the entire Wu Shu Kingdom. Once Hall Master An joins the royal family through marriage, the protection our Wu Shu Kingdom receives in the future will only increase."

"A blessing like this can already be counted as the gods watching over us."

"Stay here for a few days, and things will get better afterward."

The waiter's eyes darted about as he offered the reminder.

"The eldest princess? That demon's biological elder sister?"

"Yes. I heard from my brother-in-law, who works for the authorities, that Lord An's daughter seems to have died while gaining experience, so he wants to remarry and leave himself an heir."

"This is highly confidential, after all. The one who died was an immortal cultivator—that's no small matter."

"If you guests didn't seem so agreeable, I wouldn't have told you."

The waiter said fawningly. He was a bigmouth by nature, and now someone was actually paying him to gossip—where else could he find such an easy job?

"Li Goudan! Are you fucking looking to die? What are you still chatting about? Can't you see customers have come in?"

Just as the waiter was about to continue, a shrill, fiery voice rang out.

It startled him into a shudder. After hurriedly apologizing, he quickly left.

"Shopkeeper, we're here."

Ignoring the waiter's movements, Bai Yu slowly poured himself a cup of wine.

"Senior Brother Pang, this should be the situation. What do we do next?"

"Hehe, what do you think?"

"I think that since we're here, we should make this wedding a little more festive. It is already a day of great joy—adding a little more red would do no harm."

Bai Yu raised his brows, lightly spilling the wine onto the ground as he said coldly.

The Iron Sword Sect had only a single hall's worth of forces here. Zhao Lan alone had managed to hold out against them for so long even while being ambushed; Pang Tong had clearly known this long ago.

Thus, what came next was self-evident. Rather than make Pang Tong say it himself, Bai Yu might as well suggest it directly. That was the best way to blend into this group.

"Not bad. Junior Brother Bai is handling matters more and more like someone from our Heavenly Demon Sect."

Zhao Mingzhu chuckled and praised him.