"It's you?" Gui Wu's expression changed. He immediately recognized Long Haochen, the boy he had clashed with on Knight Sacred Mountain.
"That's right." Long Haochen raised his heavy sword, his expression stern. "What do you think you're proving by ganging up on a priest?"
The expressions on Gui Wu's face and those of his companions instantly changed.
You call this guy a priest?
Never mind that the priest beside him had emerged unscathed after an assassin got within striking distance. Even more absurdly, he had killed his attacker-and most absurdly of all, he had done it in a single blow.
Though those were indeed the facts, none of them knew how to argue back.
After all, they really had been ganging up on a priest.
Although Sima Xian looked nothing like a priest, his... already torn priest's robe and his staff proved that he was one.
Sima Xian alone had been difficult enough to handle. Now Long Haochen had shown up too.
Gui Wu's face was livid. He did not know whether to keep fighting or let the two of them go.
Although he currently had the advantage in numbers, he was not certain the others would be willing to help him deal with Long Haochen.
After all, if Long Haochen or Sima Xian reported what they were doing once they reached Holy City, they might not merely be disqualified from the tournament. They could even be expelled from the Knight Temple.
"So you like ganging up on people?" Long Haochen seemed to recall the scene on Knight Sacred Mountain. He looked up toward the hillside where Yue Shen and the others were. "What a coincidence. So do we."
Gui Wu froze at those words, then turned to follow Long Haochen's gaze.
Why is he here? Gui Wu's heart sank. He could not understand why this man would appear here.
There was no point wondering whether they could take down Long Haochen and Sima Xian now. He doubted they would even be able to leave without trouble.
"Ah." Seeing that he had been exposed, Yue Shen could not help sighing softly. He swung himself onto his horse and headed toward Long Haochen.
He had only wanted to watch the show. How had he suddenly become part of it?
Seeing this, Li Xin and the others emerged from the woods as well.
As Yue Shen came down the hill, Gui Wu's expression turned wary, as though he were facing a formidable enemy.
"Brother Gui Wu, what do we do now?" the warrior beside him asked fearfully.
Once they discovered how many people had been hiding on the hillside, their courage instantly deserted them.
But Yue Shen had no intention of attacking him, despite how much he disliked this fellow named Gui Wu.
After all, there were so many people on Gui Wu's side. He could hardly take them all out, could he? Did he still want to participate in the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament?
Although he did not consider himself a saint like Long Haochen, he was hardly a villain either.
He also had an inkling of why Long Haochen had revealed his presence. The boy was clearly leaving Gui Wu a way out alive.
If Gui Wu really overestimated himself and attacked Long Haochen and Sima Xian, anything they did in response would be self-defense.
"Go," Long Haochen said gravely. "Don't forget the wager between your father and Teacher Ye Hua. We'll settle this at the selection tournament."
Seeing that Yue Shen had no intention of stopping them from leaving, Gui Wu felt as though he had been granted a pardon. He ordered the two warriors beside him to carry the unconscious assassin lying nearby.
"Let's go," Gui Wu said quietly.
Gui Wu and his companions then scurried off toward Holy City, not daring to utter so much as a parting threat.
"A bunch of cowards. They ran as soon as they saw we had more people." Sima Xian spat contemptuously in the direction Gui Wu and the others had gone.
"Hello, my name is Long Haochen." Long Haochen put away his equipment and offered Sima Xian his hand.
"Hello, hello." Sima Xian shook Long Haochen's hand with one hand and rubbed his bald head with the other. "My name is Sima Xian.
"Thanks for lending a hand, brother." "By the way, are all of you heading to Holy City for the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament too?" Sima Xian asked, looking at Yue Shen and the others.
"Yes." Long Haochen nodded, then introduced Yue Shen and the others to Sima Xian.
"What was going on just now? Didn't you all come from Xiu City?" Lin Jialu asked curiously. "Aren't you teammates? How did things get so bad between you?"
Looking thoroughly frustrated, Sima Xian explained, "The mage in our group accidentally twisted his ankle while walking, then asked me to heal him."
"You got into a fight over that?" Long Haochen looked surprised. "Couldn't you just heal him and be done with it?"
"How would I know how to heal?" Sima Xian gave a bitter smile. "You must have seen what I can do just now. I'm not an ordinary priest."
You're an abnormal priest, Yue Shen silently quipped.
"Then they said I was a priest who couldn't even heal, and that I'd only embarrass Xiu City when I got to Holy City and entered the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament."
At this point, Sima Xian's face filled with indignation. "So what if I can't heal? They can't even beat me. How could they possibly do better than me? They're definitely targeting me because they're afraid I'll get better results than they will in the selection tournament."
After pouring out his grievances to everyone, Sima Xian felt considerably better.
"Brother Long, you helped me today. I'll remember this favor and repay it someday." Sima Xian cupped his fist in salute. "But I need to go to Holy City and meet up with my teacher first. I'll also tell him how they tried to stop me from competing. I'll be off, then. See you in Holy City."
With that, the bald giant picked up his oversized staff and ran toward Holy City in long strides.
After watching Sima Xian leave, Long Haochen glanced at Yue Shen with a conflicted expression, looking as though he wanted to say something but could not bring himself to speak.
"Let's head over too." Yue Shen did not mind. Instead, he reminded them, "Today's the registration deadline."
Holy City, headquarters of the Temple Alliance.
When Yue Shen and the other five reached the gates of Holy City, the Inspector named Feng Yangmu appeared before them once more.
After showing his Inspector's credentials to the staff at the gate checkpoint, he led the six of them into Holy City, then went straight to the Temple Alliance Grand Trial Grounds to register.
Since representatives from the Six Great Temples were handling reception at the registration area, the temporary team of six that Yue Shen belonged to had to disband here.
They would each go to their respective temples to participate in the preliminaries.
"Sister Lin, and you two brothers Chen, let's all do our best and try to meet again in the finals," Long Haochen said with a smile.
Yue Shen said nothing. He did not believe his arrival would be enough to get these people into the finals.
"Do your best." Noticing Lin Jialu's gaze, Yue Shen decided to offer some encouragement after all.
"Mm."
After the group split up, only Long Haochen and Li Xin remained with Yue Shen.
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