Chapter 6131, Escape (15)

Author: Silavin

“It’s time.” Wu Lun was the one who broke the silence with this declaration.

It had been close to two weeks since the ship had set sail. By this point, the surrounding ships, escorts from Defiance City, were slowly breaking away. It was clear that the ship Yang Ji was on was now far enough from the city. Or at the very least, had covered what deal they had agreed to beforehand.

Yang Ji had been completely consumed by Runes during this whole time. He would not have realised that much time had passed if not for Wu Lun’s reminder.

Overall, Yang Ji managed to learn eighteen Runes, two of which were Runes that Hong Jun had no plans on teaching him. However, after showing off his perfect imitation of the two Runes, added to the pressure of the onlookers, Hong Jun eventually relented to teaching him those two. They might have been weaker variants, but those two Runes were far more powerful than the basic Runes Yang Ji had initially started off with.

Those two Runes were the ones he had seen before: Collapsing Force Rune and Earth Strengthening Rune.

Since they were used by an Immortal King in battle, there was no doubt about their strength. It was just that Hong Jun was unwilling to share the version he used so Yang Ji could only settle for the weaker variant.

Still, it was something he got for basically free. He could not really complain about it.

“Boy, get ready. We are going to move.” Wu Lun declared without any hesitation in his voice.

However, what he was asking Yang Ji to do was insane by any metric.

“You want me to jump off this ship? Are you insane? I can’t fly, you know.” Yang Ji immediately tried to refuse. However, Wu Lun pressed on. “What are you so afraid of? It’s not like you will die from the fall. You’ve had worse. With the purity of your Phoenix Bloodline, this kind of injury won’t be able to kill you.”

Yang Ji still hesitated. However, circumstances clearly showed that the decision had already been made.

After all, the moment Defiance City ships started to retreat, the crew onboard were already beginning to gather. Hong Jun and Xing Ting both took on their respective combat stances.

However, it turned out that neither side chose to act. Hong Jun was confident he would be able to hold off this horde, but he knew he would not stand a chance if Hong Huo Liang personally took action.

Xing Ting could not help but ask through Divine Sense, “Sir, why are they not taking action?”

Hong Jun scanned around and came to a single conclusion, “They are not the one to take action. They are merely here to ensure that we do not flee. It seems that Hong Huo Liang will also not take action, that he will ‘let someone else hold the blade’.”

Hong Jun immediately spread out his Divine Sense, but nothing seemed to happen. It was… eerily anti-climatic…

The seconds turned into minutes, but nothing still happened. It was truly odd.

Even the men around started looking at each other.

“We’ve already arrived behind the agreed upon line, just where are the reinforcements!?”

“Do you think I know? Ask Pan Bao!”

“Pan Bao! Where are they!?”

Conversations slowly start to spread, and the lone man, the same one that had led Yang Ji and the rest when they first got onto the ship. The man who was dressed in a different attire compared to the rest, had gotten singled out.

Pan Bao was nervous, with beads of sweat tracing down his face. He looked around, trying to scout for something. However, there was simply no response. He could only panically address the crowd, “People, people, the gang has merely run into some issues, and is running late.”

“You fool! What about the goddam deal!? They need to act before the Defiance City ships completely leave or it’s pointless!!” Another man shouted at Pan Bao.

Pang Bao held up a jade seal, repeatedly sending in Qi, but there was simply no response. The jade seal merely glowed with nothing to show for it.

When the surrounding men saw that, their faces all turned pitch black.

“Quickly! Run!” Wu Lun immediately said with some urgency this time.

Yang Ji could not help being moved by this great contrast. He immediately broke into a sprint.

Like a spark striking gunpowder, his one minor move broke the standoff.

The surrounding men charged forward. Some quick witted ones immediately deployed their Divine Sense to seal off Yang Ji’s path of retreat.

How could Hong Jun possibly stand back and do nothing in this situation? With his immense strength, against with one of those floating Runes, he launched a devastating punch.

*Boom!*

The Rune broke and a gush of flames immediately erupted to Yang Ji’s front, opening the way for him.

[We are only two weeks away from Defiance City. This isn’t even enough before reinforcements arrive. We got to stall for two more weeks. Just two more weeks.] Hong Jun reminded himself as he launched another punch in the opposite direction.

Another Rune broke and a rush of water poured onto the surrounding men.

Xing Ting did not say idle either. The moment Hong Jun took action, she immediately ran after Yang Ji.

Against more than a hundred foes, around the same cultivation realm as her, it would be a mistake for her to try and hold the line. More than likely, she would be taken hostage or killed. The most she could help with was aiding Yang Ji to get away from this place, to buy more time.

Naturally, with her cultivation, she quickly caught up to the sprinting boy and held his hand, pulling him forward at a faster speed towards the bow of the ship.

How could things be so easy though.

Hong Jun’s attack merely halted their siege on the two. Such a weak Rune, even if used by an Immortal King, would not be able to harm that massive number of cultivators when they worked in tandem.

So, the two first attacks quickly got dispersed. There were a few that got slightly injured but there was overall not much harm done.

Hong Jun’s eyes narrowed at the sight. One had to know that Martial Techniques that can function on a massive number of groups were made mostly for war. After all, when else would a cultivator need a Martial Technique that required the assistance of so many people?

Therefore, it was only natural that he concluded his opponents were all more than what they seemed. If he was not wrong, they were soldiers, and soldiers loyal to Hong Huo Liang.

Their unity was certainly being showcased here as the group in front and behind Hong Jun moved as one, creating golden chains that flew towards Hong Jun, attempting to entrap him.

How could two fists fend off four punches? Hong Jun released two quick punches, breaking more Runes in the air, releasing a gust of wind that combined with flames to create an explosion. Yet, that was only enough to fend off one direction. The chains coming from behind struck true to their target. They managed to bound his arms and legs.

Very quickly, more chains were launched, wrapping around his front as well, from his neck and torso to his thighs.

Hong Jun could not even lift a finger at this point. Still, with his mouth open, he scoffed, “Soldiers of the Hong Clan, instead of dressed in attire, you dress as foremen. More than a hundred just to keep a little girl from returning to her rightful place home. Have you all no shame?”

The men who heard this did not let his words affect them. In fact, this just highlighted to them that a piece of his body still had not been bound—his rotten mouth.

Another series of chains was soon thrown once more, all targeting the same reason. One wondered if Hong Jun managed to strike a nerve.

However, those chains never reached him.

The next moment Hong Jun opened his mouth, a Rune flashed out and one could see his tongue bleeding. It was obvious that he had bit into his tongue to draw out this Rune. Furthermore, he did so in that small moment those third sets of chains were about to land on him.

With all his might, he channeled as much Qi as possible into the Rune, then it was released.

*Boom!*

A tremendous shockwave could be felt through the whole ship. A large pillar of light had erupted from Hong Jun’s jaw and rushed towards those chains coming after him.

The moment those chains made contact,  they disintegrated like snow under the Sun. There was not any trace left. Naturally, the beam continued forth, striking some of those soldiers, going through them and finally landing on the deck.

Though enough to kill Immortals, that beam still lacked the strength to actually run itself through the deck of the ship. Arrays lit up, protecting the ship against the strike. The floorboards naturally took no damage, but the ship trembled from the sheer force of the strike.

Hong Jun took no respite. He immediately moved to counter attack, not giving these soldiers any opportunity to target elsewhere. In fact, his main focus was those blocking Xing Ting’s path.

With a gentle tap as his right hand crossed over the Space Ring on his finger, his hand was now filled with talismans. With a flick, one talisman followed after the pair while he threw the rest against the surrounding crowd.

*Boom! Boomb! Boom!*

Explosions rang out all over the deck as the soldiers fell back. The talismans this time naturally held more power than the Runes made in the air. So, it was a miracle that none of them got injured in this exchange.

It was just that when they looked up, they realised just what had protected them.

It was none other than the Master who they served. Hong Huo Liang had finally taken action.

The man had walked out of his quarters and onto the deck itself. He gazed at the row with hardly any emotion in his eyes.

In front of the soldiers were spears that raised up from the ground, surrounding Hong Jun to protect them. In fact, those spears were raised directly in front of Xing Ting and Yang Ji as well.

One side was to protect, while the other side was the impede.

Naturally, with so many men on his side, with his overwhelming strength on top of it, Hong Huo Liang still wore a relaxed expression. It was as though such minor troubles hardly mattered to him. He held the upperhand here, after all.

In fact, there was one piece of advantage that it seemed like the trio had not realised yet.

“Are you trying to sink this ship into the Dark Desolate Valley?” Hong Huo Liang chilling voice rang out which made Hong Jun pause for a second.

“Dark Desolate Valley?” Hong Jun’s eyes widened. He immediately took out the map that Liu Sang Hu had passed to him and checked the map. However, as though this was exactly what it was made to do, the wordings on the map shifted. In fact, the whole map itself had changed, topography and names. The only thing consistent was the flight paths of the ships.

As though further mocking him, soon, the piece of land that had once been labelled ‘Grey Cloud Valley’ had been changed to ‘Dark Desolate Valley’. There was even a drawing of a ‘thumbs up’ next to the word…

[Liu Sang Hu!!!] Hong Jun screamed in his mind as his eyes turned red from bloodlust.

In fact, not just him. Even Xing Ting had been affected by the term ‘Dark Desolate Valley’. She immediately stopped moving forward in front of the wall of spears.

“Oh my. You truly did not know. Understandable. Otherwise, you would have taken much more care in not damaging the ship.” Hong Huo Liang smiled as he moved forward without any concern of Hong Jun acting against him now.