Chapter 342 - 209: Route

Chapter 342: Chapter 209: Route

"Halt!"

The Demon Investigator, Lv Lake, blocked the envoy’s convoy and shouted.

Su Mu slowly walked up to Lv Lake and said flatly, "Is there a problem, Lord Lv?"

"Lord Su, you’re going the wrong way."

Lv Lake frowned. "I told you to head northeast, but the envoy is now going southwest."

"Then it’s not the wrong way. Keep moving."

Su Mu said calmly.

"No, Lord Su, you’re leading everyone astray!"

Lv Lake said frantically, "This is the barren wilderness! If you take the wrong path, you’ll all die! I’m the only one who knows the way to the Demon Court. You have to listen to me!"

Su Mu suddenly stopped and looked at Lv Lake, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

Lv Lake mustered his courage to meet Su Mu’s gaze. Although he was much taller than Su Mu, for some reason, he always felt a head shorter in his presence.

"Lord Su, I’m doing this for your own good—"

Lv Lake said.

Suddenly, with a loud THUD, Su Mu kicked Lv Lake. The immense force sent him flying twenty feet before he crashed heavily onto the ground, where he lay wailing, unable to get up for some time.

"Keep moving."

After doing so, Su Mu’s voice remained utterly placid as he spoke and continued walking forward.

The rest of the envoy immediately followed.

Xu Chongyuan hopped over to Lv Lake, squatted down, and said with a chuckle, "I say, Lord Lv, you need to understand your place. You’re just a Demon Investigator, that’s all. Whatever you do, and I mean whatever you do, don’t go ordering our Lord Su around.

Otherwise, do you think if Lord Su were to kill you, the Demon Court would refuse the peace talks just for you?"

In that instant, Lv Lake felt as if he had been plunged into an icy cavern, and the blood in his veins seemed to freeze solid.

’Would they?’

’Of course not.’

He was just a lowly Demon Investigator, while the peace talks with Da Xuan were a major affair for the Demon Court. Forget about him—even after Su Mu had killed so many of Cang Gou’s people, the Demon Court would just pretend they hadn’t seen a thing.

How could the life or death of a single demon compare to the great affairs of the Demon Court?

After all, the Demon Court hoped to gain an Annual Tribute and vast territories from Da Xuan through these peace talks.

Those resources would be enough to support the cultivation of thousands, even tens of thousands, of demons.

Compared to that, his life—Lv Lake’s life—was utterly worthless.

Even if Su Mu really did kill him, the Demon Court would just turn a blind eye.

And taking a step back, even if the Demon Court did avenge him, he’d still be dead, wouldn’t he?

"But... we really are going in the wrong direction..."

Lv Lake said weakly.

Xu Chongyuan patted Lv Lake’s shoulder and said, "Lord Lv, you still don’t get it.

You need to remember this: which path we take is not for you to decide.

If you want to live, then just do what you’re told. Do more, talk less."

"No need to thank me. Just call me a good Samaritan."

Xu Chongyuan stood up, dusted off his hands with a look of disgust, and then swaggered off to catch up with the envoy.

A series of expressions flickered across Lv Lake’s face. Finally, he gritted his teeth, clutched his aching stomach, and hurried to follow.

...

"Oh? Cang Gou failed?"

Liang Jinglue remarked with mild surprise, but his expression remained largely unchanged.

"National Preceptor, shall I make a trip myself?"

A demon spoke in a low voice. He was one of the Demon Court’s Generals, a true Tier Five Demon.

"You must not."

Liang Jinglue shook his head. "We are in the middle of peace talks with Da Xuan. If you make a move, you will be breaking the rules.

We can send Tier Three Demons to harass them, but if a Tier Four Demon or higher attacks, then the Marquises of the Da Xuan Taiping Bureau will also intervene.

You may not be afraid, but our boys below cannot withstand a sneak attack from the Marquises of the Taiping Bureau."

"So we’re just supposed to watch them arrive at the Demon Court so smoothly?"

the demons asked, unconvinced.

"I did indeed underestimate them."

Liang Jinglue continued, "Mere Taiping Captains were able to kill Cang Gou and his forces. Da Xuan really went all out this time.

Two Profound Weapons..."

He tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair, a thoughtful expression on his face.

For the Demon Court, Profound Weapons were truly a game-changing advantage.

Humans could forge Profound Weapons, which was one of the reasons they were stronger than demons.

Humans’ innate talents were inferior to those of demons, but their intellect was far beyond what demons could match.

A Taiping Captain in the Rebirth Realm, wielding a Profound Weapon, could slay a Tier Three Demon, which was equivalent to a human in the True Essence Realm.

Although the Demon Court had also begun to study weapon casting, they still didn’t have a single Weapon Master to this day.

All the weapons the Demon Court currently possessed had been acquired from Da Xuan through various means of his.

’I’ll have to add another condition to the peace talks this time,’

Liang Jinglue mused. ’Send a few demons to Da Xuan to learn the Weapon Casting Technique...’

He had already realized that if the Demon Court continued to research on its own, they might not master the Weapon Casting Technique even in several hundred years.

The Weapon Masters they had abducted from Da Xuan were either die-hards who would rather die than speak,

or they did speak, only to prove themselves frauds.

In the barren wilderness, there was no shortage of materials for weapon casting; the only thing they lacked was the Weapon Casting Technique.

But any such negotiations would have to wait until after the Da Xuan Envoy arrived at the Demon Court.

If the Da Xuan Envoy were to arrive at the Demon Court safe and sound, wouldn’t Da Xuan use the Demon Court’s great defeat at Hujue Pass as leverage?

Only by making them suffer countless hardships on their journey, by crushing their morale completely, would they shed their so-called "great nation" confidence during the peace talks. Then, whatever I say, they will obey.

"Tushan Hanyu."

Liang Jinglue said suddenly.

"Your student is here!"

A female voice answered. A white fox rose, mimicking a human as she bowed respectfully to Liang Jinglue. Behind the fox trailed three long, fluffy tails.