Looking at Zhao Xianda's forced composure, which did little to hide his panic, Pan Long could not help feeling surprised.
He had assumed that the current Duke of Chen, an important minister of the Imperial Court and a confidant of the emperor, would have real ability. Surely, he would be both wise and brave.
But now... neither his wisdom nor his courage seemed particularly impressive.
He had sided with the Conservative Faction and joined their effort to make trouble for the Wind Patrol Office. That was deeply unwise. As the emperor's confidant, he should have remained firmly neutral and ignored everything except the emperor's orders.
If that could be explained by self-interest, then staying here in the Capital Region afterward instead of hiding in the Divine Capital was downright foolish.
In fact, Pan Long had already prepared himself to search one place after another and come up empty-handed.
He had expected Zhao Xianda to be hiding in the Divine Capital, perhaps even inside the imperial palace.
It would have been one thing with anyone else, but by plotting against Shang Man, Zhao Xianda had thoroughly made an enemy of him. And Pan Long knew his reputation with the Imperial Court was probably terrible.
His days as the One-Coin Hero of Yi Province had already proved that he hated evil with a passion. His recent actions in You Province had shown that he was a ruthless man who could not abide a grain of sand in his eye.
To provoke him and then fail to hide somewhere safe?
Are you stupid?
Yet Zhao Xianda really had not hidden in the Divine Capital, rendering all the backup plans Pan Long had considered useless.
Saving effort was good, of course, but an opponent this inept took some of the satisfaction out of success.