The richest man in Great Li?

Gu Chenfeng left.

He and Su Wanyue rode in a carriage toward the Imperial Capital, escorted by a squad of guards from the Prime Minister's Residence.

Meanwhile.

On the top floor of a seven-story tower built in the rear courtyard of the estate hosting the Golden Kylin Gathering.

Behind a half-open gauze window.

A pair of eyes as sharp as an eagle's slowly dimmed their piercing gleam as they watched the carriage leave the estate.

"No common eyes may glimpse my true form; for now, I hide my scales beneath a cold, deep pool."

The young man, dressed in robes as white as snow, narrowed his eyes and sighed.

"No wonder both of Zhang You's earlier plans failed. It turns out we've been dealing with a 'Hidden Dragon.'

To bear the name of a wastrel and conceal his edge in the Imperial Capital for over a decade without revealing a single flaw-he truly is a descendant of the Gu Lineage."

At that moment, this man who stirred up storms from the shadows.

The most outstanding young man of the Huangfu Lineage's younger generation actually felt a hint of challenge.

Because even he had miscalculated when it came to this man!

"Gu Chenfeng, you do deserve a measure of my respect. Unfortunately, that is all."

The young man turned and issued an order into the darkness behind him.

"Send word. Prepare to act!"

"Yes."

Roosting Phoenix Mountain, the main venue of the Golden Kylin Gathering, lay a dozen or so li from the Imperial Capital.

It was not far.

The route passed through a gorge between two mountains.

Dense, lush woods covered both sides of the gorge, with the occasional cry of a monkey ringing out.

At that moment, Gu Chenfeng's carriage was still some distance from the gorge.

He and Su Wanyue sat facing each other inside.

Although the carriage was spacious, the atmosphere within held a hint of romantic tension.

Su Wanyue kept looking this way and that, occasionally blushing without warning.

Her gaze never met Gu Chenfeng's, and there was no telling what she was thinking.

Gu Chenfeng's mind was equally busy.

At this Golden Kylin Gathering, he had resolved the crisis Imperial Uncle Xiao and Zhang You had brought upon him.

He had even turned it to his own advantage.

But on closer reflection, the series of arrangements those two had made against him at the gathering had been exceptionally cunning and ruthless.

Had he not possessed the wisdom and resources of his previous life.

Anyone else in his place today would likely have been unable to escape that predicament.

But could such an ingenious plan really have come from those two idiots, Imperial Uncle Xiao and Zhang You?

The answer was obvious.

Gu Chenfeng vaguely sensed an invisible "hand in the shadows" behind the two of them.

From the danger he had encountered at Great Wilderness Ridge to the trap Zhang You had laid for him at the Rare Beast Garden.

And now the attack on the Gu Lineage's reputation at today's Golden Kylin Gathering.

That hidden hand had been targeting him all along.

And as for who could use Imperial Uncle Xiao and Zhang You as pawns.

In the entire Imperial Capital, aside from the imperial family, probably only the Huangfu Lineage could do so.

As the Gu Lineage's foremost political enemy, the Huangfu Lineage making a move against him came as no surprise to Gu Chenfeng.

He was merely wondering which member of the Huangfu Lineage was directing the operations against him.

Since their plans had already failed three times in a row, there would certainly be a fourth attempt.

And it would likely be vicious-the kind meant to kill in a single strike.

How would they plan it, and when would be the best time to act?

His mind raced for a moment.

Suddenly, Gu Chenfeng's pupils contracted as a thought surfaced.

Perhaps the best time is right now!

At that moment, the carriage had just reached the entrance to the gorge.

Gu Chenfeng secretly spread his spiritual power, sweeping the surroundings of the quiet gorge.

An intense sense of danger suddenly struck him.

This is bad!

The next instant, Su Wanyue abruptly raised her head across from him.

A trace of wariness appeared in her beautiful eyes.

Their gazes met, and both realized danger was closing in.

"Let's go!"

Su Wanyue rose and grabbed Gu Chenfeng, intending to take him away.

But Gu Chenfeng shook his head.

"They're coming for me. You go first."

"We're leaving together!"

Su Wanyue tightened her grip.

Gu Chenfeng turned his hand over and clasped hers.

"We don't know how strong the enemy is, and your injuries haven't healed. You might not be able to get me away safely.

I have guards from the Gu Lineage here, along with an expert protecting me. They won't get their way so easily.

If you want to help me, go to the Imperial Capital immediately and tell my eldest sister!"

Su Wanyue's expression shifted for a moment before she gritted her teeth and nodded.

"All right. Wait for me!"

She moved, but before leaping out of the carriage, she glanced back at Gu Chenfeng.

"Be careful..."

After a pause, she added, "If you die, who am I supposed to get my Lifebound Gu back from?"

With that, her figure flashed, and she vanished from the carriage.

Gu Chenfeng smiled and shook his head.

"That woman is soft everywhere except her stubborn mouth."

By then, the carriage had stopped at the entrance to the gorge.

"Third Young Master, remain seated in the carriage. No matter what you hear, do not come out!"

A hoarse voice drifted down from the roof of the carriage.

Clearly, the mysterious expert who had been protecting him closely for some time had also sensed the danger and revealed himself for the first time.

"Everyone, hold your positions and stay alert. Enemies are approaching!"

A gray-robed figure stood atop the carriage, issuing orders.

Although this was the first time the Gu Lineage guards had seen him appear.

The moment they saw the Silver Waist Token he displayed, they immediately obeyed.

"Yes!"

Clang, clang, clang...!

The sounds of weapons being drawn and shields knocking together rang out in a chorus.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Barely a moment later.

A swift, dense rain of arrows poured down from both sides of the gorge.

Thud, thud, thud...

Crossbow bolts struck wooden shields with a dense series of dull impacts.

Fortunately, the Gu Lineage guards reacted quickly and chose to defend where they stood rather than hastily retreat from the gorge.

After the volley, only one man had suffered a minor injury. The others were unharmed.

The next instant, from the dense woods in the gorge.

A group of black-clad men rushed out, surrounding the carriage party from the front and rear.

"Who are you?"

The gray-robed man atop the carriage asked calmly in his hoarse voice.

The leader of the black-clad men was a broad, burly man dressed in black with his face covered.

With a gleaming black broadsword resting on his shoulder, he bellowed in a booming voice.

"Halt! I opened this road, I planted these trees! If you want to pass, pay the toll!"

"Bandits?"

The gray-robed man and the Gu Lineage guards all froze for a moment.

Quite apart from where bandits could have come from on the outskirts of the Imperial Capital.

Even if there were any, those who dared rob a convoy from the Chancellor's Residence were rare indeed.

"Do you know whose convoy this is?" the gray-robed man asked calmly.

"I don't give a damn whose convoy it is! Tell whoever's in that carriage to get out here! If it's a man, we'll take his money. If it's a woman, we'll take her body!"

At those words, the gray-robed man lost all interest in asking further questions and lightly waved his hand.

"Leave two alive. Kill the rest."

Upon receiving the order, the guards from the Prime Minister's Residence immediately sprang into action.

Half remained to maintain a tight defense around the carriage.

The other half charged straight at the black-clad men on both sides of the gorge.

"Huh...?"

This time, it was the black-clad men's turn to stare.

They seemed not to have expected the convoy's guards to be so fierce.

Surrounded from front and rear, they had actually chosen to attack.

Still, only twenty-odd men had charged out.

They numbered sixty or seventy, so they were not afraid.

"Damn it, they've got some nerve! Cut a few down first and teach them a lesson."

The black-clad men then brandished their blades and clashed with the guards from the Prime Minister's Residence.

The moment the two sides met, the battle became utterly one-sided.

Only it was the black-clad men who were being crushed.

Almost all these black-clad men were martial cultivators.

But most were only in the body tempering realm. Only their burly leader and six other black-clad men were in the meridian-opening realm.

For a bandit gang, that was already quite a strong lineup.

An ordinary merchant caravan encountering them would probably have had no choice but to accept its fate.

The weakest guards of the Chancellor's Residence, however, were in the meridian-opening realm.

And those assigned to protect Gu Chenfeng were the elite among the guards.

A quarter were in the source qi realm.

Moreover, most were battle-hardened veterans who had fought on battlefields and killed enemies in formation.

Whether in cultivation, actual combat ability, or temperament, how could a gang of bandits compare?

As soon as the two sides clashed, the black-clad men fell like wheat beneath a blade.

In just a dozen or so breaths, half of them had gone down.

At the sight, the black-clad brute who had been so arrogant moments earlier was frightened out of his wits.

"Wh-what's going on?

Didn't the sect master say we were ambushing a wealthy merchant's son?

How does he have such powerful guards? Is he the fucking richest man in Great Li?"

And at that moment, the bandit leader was not the only one stunned.

Inside the carriage, Gu Chenfeng was secretly using his extraordinary perception to monitor the battle outside.

He, too, was astonished.

These attackers' strength was completely different from what he had expected.

Was I wrong? Are these people just ordinary bandits?

Just as that thought arose, Gu Chenfeng's spiritual power suddenly detected movement.

Another group of black-clad men was approaching the carriage through the dense woods on both sides of the gorge.

But these men were entirely different from the bandits.

Not only did they move in an orderly fashion, their speed was astonishing.

At that moment, they were rapidly closing around Gu Chenfeng like a vast net.

Here they come!

Gu Chenfeng's gaze sharpened. He knew he had guessed correctly.

These were tonight's true enemies!