Chapter 214 - 212: A Night of Fish and Dragon Dance (5)

Chapter 214: Chapter 212: A Night of Fish and Dragon Dance (5)

Fu Juemin had long since activated [Yao Ling].

The whistling wind, the overlapping battle cries near and far, the crackling of torches, the urgent patter of footsteps... all these sounds intertwined, filtered, and located themselves in his mind, constructing a three-dimensional and precise "battlefield map" in real-time.

Every surge of the crowd, every weak point in the encirclement, was as clear as the lines on his palm.

He squinted, urging his horse into a gallop.

His mind remained as calm as ever, but the Qi Blood in his body surged, and the heat radiating from him seemed to improve the condition of Li Huaisuang, who was clinging tightly to him.

’Toad Palace. It really is Toad Palace!’

The moment the Blue-clothed Gang appeared, Fu Juemin was almost certain that tonight’s grand play to trap the Fish Demon was orchestrated by Toad Palace.

As for their method, it was most likely the Toad Demon he had sensed earlier at the Xuanwu Platform.

’My Five Poison Five Phases Demon Soul is missing a Toad Demon Soul!’

Fu Juemin’s eyes were clear, reflecting the scene of bobbing heads and torches before him.

He didn’t feel much of a sense of danger.

No matter how many of these low-level gang enforcers showed up, they could never stop him. Their only target was Li Huaisuang.

Worse comes to worst, he could just abandon Li Huaisuang. He wasn’t interested in the Golden Treasure or anything of the sort anyway.

Of course, that was the absolute worst-case scenario.

Although he felt no strong sense of belonging to the Wen System, and its interests had nothing to do with him, he had to consider Aunt Ding’s position and influence within it... If he could help, he naturally had to do his best.

Besides, Li Huaisuang seemed to be one with the Fish Demon being lured. To track down the Toad Demon under Toad Palace’s control, he might still need to rely on Li Huaisuang.

There was no danger, but there was certainly a thrill.

In his past life or this one, when had Fu Juemin ever experienced something like this—a long night’s chase, a lone rider hunted by a thousand men?

Brilliant fireworks bloomed overhead while a thousand men screamed for his death before him. Faces—excited, cold, savage, or ecstatic—flashed past his eyes like a revolving lantern... Fu Juemin’s dormant emotions were stirred, and without realizing it, his blood began to pump with excitement.

A heroic feeling welled up in his chest!

"WHOOSH—"

Dozens of torches flew at them from both sides. The two small hands clutching his waist instantly tightened.

Fu Juemin chuckled. He reached back and, with a short cry of alarm from Li Huaisuang, pulled her from behind him to sit in his front.

Holding Li Huaisuang, Fu Juemin casually dodged the flying daggers and torches. He squeezed the horse’s belly with his legs, releasing his Vitality to occasionally stimulate the steed into sudden bursts of speed and evasive maneuvers. There was a certain sense of being "one with the horse."

It looked like a deadly encirclement by a thousand men, but under the complete surveillance and prediction of [Yao Ling], Fu Juemin could always find an opening with ease, bursting out of the closing trap.

After several failed attempts to corner him, the attacking members of the Blue-clothed Gang seemed to have learned their lesson.

In the distance, Fu Juemin saw people quickly dousing a stretch of the road ahead with oil. They lit it with torches and then brought over sandbags, carts, and other junk to quickly erect a simple but effective roadblock.

A glint flashed in Fu Juemin’s eyes. He ignored the raging flames and the obstacle, continuing his wild charge! But just as he was about to plunge into the sea of fire, he violently reined in the horse!

"NEIGH—!"

The horse let out a long whinny and reared up, its front hooves carving a semi-circle in the air. It then landed heavily, turned, and charged straight into a dark, narrow alley to the side!

...

One alley away, it was a completely different world.

Compared to the riverside, with its teeming torches and sky-shaking battle cries, this silent, empty street felt like another world.

The few pedestrians who had been out celebrating the Little New Year had long since gone home. Even those who had been lingering had all hidden indoors the moment the countless enforcers of the Blue-clothed Gang swarmed in.

Now, every household had its doors and windows shut tight. The main street was deserted and deathly still.

Suddenly—

"BOOM!"

Along with the muffled thud of something heavy being smashed open, several figures flew out sideways from an alley, screaming as if they were sacks being violently kicked.

The next second, a dark shadow shrouded in a faint glow burst out, shattering the street’s tranquility like a ship breaking through ice.

Moonlight spilled across the long street as the dark shadow gradually came to a halt.

Amidst the figures groaning in pain on the ground, a glossy-coated black steed walked to the center of the street.

Steam rose from the horse’s entire body, and great clouds of white vapor puffed from its mouth and nostrils. It had clearly been running hard and fast.

And on its back, a tall, slender young man with the air of a noble Young Master was holding a girl in one arm while casually tugging at his collar.

Fu Juemin glanced impassively at the unlucky bastards he had literally plowed through with his horse, then looked back toward the alley he’d come from. He tugged the reins and continued riding toward the end of the long street.

Chasing the fish, chasing the fish!

It wasn’t necessary to stick to the river, after all.

All the men from the Blue-clothed Gang had run to the riverside to block him, leaving the streets over here empty.

Fu Juemin followed the Fish Demon’s aura, guided by Li Huaisuang’s occasional pointing. He galloped across two streets, but at the entrance to the third, he ran straight into a group of menacing men in black, carrying torches and rushing toward him.

Each of these men held a sharp axe and had a vicious look in his eyes. Their identity was obvious—they were from the Woodcutter Gang.

Fu Juemin pulled on the reins, about to turn around, only to see that enforcers from the Blue-clothed Gang had now caught up from behind.

Blocked from the front and back, Fu Juemin showed not a hint of panic on his face.

He didn’t run. Instead, he remained in place with a calm expression, as if waiting for something.

Just as the two groups of men were closing in, a large crowd of people carrying torches suddenly poured out from the side alleys like divine soldiers descending from the heavens.

"Zhou Huai’an of the Qinglian Gang’s Lu An Hall, here to assist Young Master Fu!"

This third party was also quite numerous. Their leader was a burly, middle-aged man with short hair and a scarred face. Upon seeing Fu Juemin, he cupped his fist and shouted his greeting.

The Qinglian Gang members he brought with him quickly fanned out, confronting the approaching Woodcutter Gang and Blue-clothed Gang members on either side, forming a protective circle around Fu Juemin, his companion, and his horse.

"Aunt Ding sent you?"

Fu Juemin seemed completely unsurprised by the man’s appearance. He looked down at him from horseback and spoke coolly.

"Yes."

The man nodded. "We came as soon as we received Mr. Ding’s orders."

"You took your sweet time."

Fu Juemin shook his head. The man froze, and in the next moment, he saw Fu Juemin, still on horseback, yank the reins and charge past him without a second glance.

Leaving the sudden explosion of battle cries behind him, Fu Juemin slowed his horse, weaving through the streets and alleys.

In the dim light, his eyes were clear, like mirrors reflecting every change in the surrounding situation into his mind.

Those who wanted the Golden Treasure were probably using every trick in the book. The deeper they went following the Fish Demon’s escape route along the river, the more complicated the factions involved became.

Fu Juemin even "saw" Foreign Gun Teams, both sides clad in Patrol Police uniforms, open fire on each other right on the street. The gunfire sounded like a string of firecrackers.

There were Patrol Police from the Concession and from the Hua Realm. Although He Renli of the Hua Realm’s Public Security Bureau was an acquaintance who had even helped him once, Fu Juemin didn’t trust him completely. He wasn’t afraid of ordinary bullets, but a single shot would be fatal for Li Huaisuang. So, he "ignored" both sides, using [Yao Ling] to detect them and steer clear ahead of time.

Proceeding this "cautiously," he found himself back at the riverside before he knew it.

The riverside was now completely silent. In the night sky above, even the fireworks had ceased.

Having carried two people in a desperate flight all night, the horse was long since exhausted. Without the stimulation of Vitality to unlock its potential, it was panting heavily, snorting again and again, and its pace had slowed considerably.

Fu Juemin didn’t urge it on, letting the horse run at a leisurely pace along the stone-paved riverside path.

As they were passing an old bridge, the horse suddenly let out an uneasy whinny.

Immediately followed by a few soft RUSTLES, several large, dark nets were cast from the darkness on both sides of the bridge, flying through the air to fall upon the two riders and their horse.

Fu Juemin, on horseback, seemed not to have reacted at all. He sat frozen on his horse, holding the reins, completely still.

Just as he was about to be ensnared by the nets, the sound of tearing cloth ripped through the air. A figure shot out like a phantom. Moonlight glinted off cold steel, and with a piercing shriek of metal grinding and a burst of sparks, the nets were shredded to pieces in mid-air before they could even land.

"SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH—"

Seeing that the nets had failed, figures slowly emerged from the surrounding darkness by the old bridge, their faces unfriendly.

Each of them carried, to some degree, the air of the Jianghu.

At the same time, figures also ran out from behind Fu Juemin’s position—young men and women with cold demeanors and swift movements, holding short-barreled foreign guns.

Just then, the person who had just rushed out to shred the nets slowly turned around. Looking at Fu Juemin on the horse, she spoke curtly in a cold voice, "Hand over Huaisuang, and you can leave!"

In the moonlight reflected off the river, it was revealed to be a tall woman in a trench coat with a stunningly beautiful face.

She held a pair of long, narrow curved blades in a reverse grip, their edges still humming faintly. The way she looked at Fu Juemin, it was as if she wanted to tear a chunk of flesh from his body.

It was none other than Tang Jing of the Revolutionary Faction—the very woman Fu Juemin had kicked back at the Xianlido!