Chapter 343 - 209: Route

Chapter 343: Chapter 209: Route

"You will handle this matter."

Liang Jinglue said, "With the exception of Zhu Jiuyuan, all the others can die. Your mission is to ensure the Da Xuan Envoy suffers more than fifty percent losses before they reach the Demon Court. I want to utterly break their morale."

"This student understands."

The white fox’s eyes glittered as it asked, "Teacher, what forces may I mobilize?"

"Anything below Tier Four is at your disposal."

Liang Jinglue said flatly, "Do not reveal your Demon Court identity. Succeed in this, and I will grant your request."

"Thank you, Teacher!"

A humanlike expression of delight appeared on the white fox’s face as it bowed with clasped hands.

「 」

’Hmph! You think taking a detour will solve your problems?’

Lv Lake sneered inwardly as it followed along with the Da Xuan Envoy.

’This is the Demon Court, not your Da Xuan.’

’With Senior Sister Tushan making a move personally, let’s see how long you can keep up this arrogance!’

"Lord Xu, don’t blame me for not warning you,"

Lv Lake said to Xu Chongyuan. It no longer dared to approach Su Mu.

"The Savage Wilds are not as simple as you think. If you encounter any danger wandering around aimlessly like this, our Demon Court will not be held responsible."

"I didn’t see you taking responsibility when you were leading the way either,"

Xu Chongyuan retorted, pursing his lips. "Lord Lv, believe it or not, if we really run into danger, I could be the first to throw you out to fend it off."

Lv Lake: "..."

’Goddammit.’

’Didn’t the National Preceptor say that no matter how vicious humans are, they’re supposed to maintain a facade of benevolence and righteousness?’

’Why are this Xu Chongyuan and that Su Mu so openly vicious?’

’Do they not even try to hide it?’

Although Xu Chongyuan was smiling as he said it, Lv Lake knew he was absolutely capable of doing such a thing.

It turned its head away, not wanting to speak anymore.

Xu Chongyuan gave a disdainful pout. ’Trying to win a war of words with me? You’ve still got a lot to learn!’

HUMM!

A hazy light flashed, and Su Mu, who had been keeping his eyes half-closed, suddenly snapped them open.

His face was a little pale, as if from excessive blood loss.

Having gotten used to feeding Ao Qing with his blood essence, Su Mu was now almost accustomed to the feeling of excessive blood loss.

Fortunately, Ao Qing was now on the verge of breaking through to become a Tier Six Demon, so the frequency at which it devoured his blood essence wasn’t as high.

Feeding it once every half a month was enough.

After entering the Savage Wilds, Ao Qing hadn’t traveled with the Da Xuan Envoy, but instead followed secretly from a short distance away.

Su Mu didn’t know what method Ao Qing used to hide itself; even he couldn’t detect Ao Qing’s presence now unless Ao Qing initiated contact.

Just now, Su Mu had fed Ao Qing again, and in return, Ao Qing had passed along an important piece of news.

Su Mu looked up toward the path ahead, a cold smile touching the corners of his mouth.

"That’s enough for today. We rest,"

Su Mu said, raising a hand.

The members of the envoy, long familiar with this routine, quickly began to make camp.

Lv Lake: "..."

’Why have we stopped again?’

’Is this a coincidence?’

’Just a dozen more li ahead lies a trap set by Senior Sister Tushan!’

’It’s only just noon, why aren’t we moving?’

’It was so looking forward to seeing the look on Su Mu’s face after the Da Xuan Envoy suffered heavy casualties.’

’This damn Su Mu, traveling such a short distance each day before stopping. Why don’t you just die from laziness?’

’No matter. If we don’t reach it today, we’ll definitely reach it tomorrow. The trap isn’t going to run away, after all.’

’Tomorrow, as long as he walks into the trap laid by Senior Sister Tushan, even if he can fly, the Da Xuan Envoy will surely suffer devastating losses.’

’And you can’t blame the Demon Court for that. Who told Su Mu to be so presumptuous and wander randomly through the Savage Wilds?’

’I, Lv Lake, even warned him that it was dangerous.’

Lv Lake sneered inwardly, lowering its head to hide the triumphant glint in its eyes.

In the distance, dozens of demons lay hidden in the sand, appearing to be one with the Gobi hills.

From afar, it was nearly impossible to spot their existence.

"The Da Xuan Envoy has stopped. Everyone, get ready. They’re bound to pass this way tomorrow,"

one demon jabbered in the demonic tongue.

The demons whimpered in low voices, their eyes alight with the thrill of the hunt.

「 」

The night passed without incident.

It wasn’t until the sky was bright the next day that Su Mu gave the order to set out.

"That’s not right."

Lv Lake, who had been feeling smug, was suddenly stunned. "Why have we changed direction again? Weren’t we supposed to go straight ahead?"

It watched the envoy’s direction of travel, a wave of panic washing over it.

’That son-of-a-bitch Su Mu changed direction again!’

’This change means he’ll completely miss the trap set by Senior Sister Tushan!’

"Lord Lv, why don’t you ever learn?"

Xu Chongyuan said with a pout, "Is it your place to tell us which way to go?

"Just follow along obediently.

"You should be counting your lucky stars that we’re not making the Demon Court pay for our food and lodging. And yet you’re still talking so much nonsense."

Lv Lake was rebuked into silence.

It had no time to argue with Xu Chongyuan. It scurried to the side and secretly used a Demon Court method to send a message.

「In the carriage.」

Lu Mingyang sat opposite Zhu Jiuyuan.

Zhu Jiuyuan would occasionally look up at the view outside the carriage before lowering his head to write something with a charcoal pencil.

"Teacher, Lord Su has changed direction again,"

Lu Mingyang said in a low voice.

"A good change,"

Zhu Jiuyuan said calmly. "This Young Lord Su is a fascinating person. Although he doesn’t know the Qi Observation Technique, his sensitivity to danger is beyond that of an ordinary person. With him here, our journey will be safe."

A look of shock crossed Lu Mingyang’s face. The teacher’s praise was off the charts.

’A mere Taiping Captain... he has some skill, but can he really protect them all?’

Lu Mingyang was actually skeptical, but his teacher’s judgment had never been wrong.

Previously, when various factions had forced the Taiping Bureau’s hand and jointly established the Inspection Bureau, his teacher had remained noncommittal.

It was later proven that the Inspection Bureau was a complete joke, utterly incapable of doing anything to the Taiping Bureau.

Countless similar events had occurred throughout his teacher’s life.

And every single time, his teacher had been right.

’Now the teacher is saying this... can Su Mu really protect all of them?’

「 」

The demons lying in ambush on the sand dunes only belatedly realized that the Da Xuan Envoy had changed direction after watching them get farther and farther away.

"Boss, what do we do?"

one demon asked, bewildered.

"Do what? They’re already gone!"

the demon leader cursed. "Send a message to Lord Tushan and see what she says."

"Oh,"

the demon said, turning its head to call for the messenger.

"Where’s Lao Liu? Where the hell did he go?"

As it looked back, it realized that the messenger who had been hidden at the very rear was gone.

A terrible thought flashed through the demon leader’s mind.

"Sound off!"

It leaped to its feet and shouted.

"One."

"Two."

"..."

"Nineteen!"

The voices stopped abruptly.

The demon leader’s eyes went wide.

’Nineteen?’

’I clearly brought twenty-five subordinates on this trip, how are there only nineteen left?’

’Where did the other six go?’

A chill ran down the demon leader’s spine.

’Who could have silently abducted six of my subordinates?’

’I didn’t notice a thing!’

’If they could take six, does that mean they could take even more?’

"Go, let’s go!"

the demon leader said in a panic. "Let’s find Lord Tushan! This job is impossible!"

The demons fled in a panic.

Long after they had run far away, the gravel at the base of the hill stirred, and a horned head slowly emerged.

Ao Qing’s eyes darted around, a look of clear disdain on its face.

Then, it slowly sank back into the sand dune.

With a faint sound, it began to follow the Da Xuan Envoy from beneath the ground.

At almost the same time, the Fire Head Army within the Da Xuan Envoy was dragging several flatbed carts, upon which were piled the corpses of six demons.

They had no idea where Lord Su had gotten them.

’So many demons... We can’t possibly eat them all. There’s just no way.’

Their standards had risen, too. They couldn’t be bothered with Tier One Demons anymore; it had to be at least a Tier Two Demon to be worthy of their culinary skills.

They couldn’t concern themselves with matters of the court, but they knew one thing for sure: by the end of this diplomatic mission, they would absolutely be masters of cooking demons. It couldn’t be helped—they saw so many and ate so many.