White-Robed Chief

Zheng Lide was completely stunned as he watched from aside.

Initially, he thought that it would be an earth-shattering huge battle, such that it would take up to a few hundred rounds of battles and that it would be a close call. He thought that in the end, the Head Chief might win narrowly because he had Lu Yurong with him. He had personally experienced the powers of Lu Yurong and knew that she was a top-notch master.

However, he did not think that with just a few tricks after the two of them fought hand in hand, Zhou Kang got injured and it looked like his injury was quite severe too.

The two youths from Ling Long Pavilion widened their eyes too.

They too were surprised as they did not imagine a fight between Grandmasters to be just a few exchanges of blows. It was unlike what they had pictured, which should be a show of palms and fists everywhere, such that forces surged and crisscrossed too.

On the contrary, their fight seemed to be very low spirited, as compared to the exquisite and magnificent tricks of Innate Masters which were unequaled and wonderful, theirs simply looked like a fight between people with no martial arts skills, only they were much faster and had stronger powers.

‘Is that the end to it? It looks like Grandmasters don’t even need to practice any sort of martial arts then, they can just go one fist or one palm at a time.’ They thought to themselves.

Chu Li went in front of Zhou Kang when he saw that he was coughing violently and was vomiting blood continuously, he said calmly, “Senior Zhou, please excuse me.”

Zhou Kang raised his head to look at him, he tried very hard to stop his coughing, but he was still panting severely. “Great…great cultivation level!”

He did not think that with just two years of cultivation, Chu Li had skills that were so profound and superb. It was very likely that he would become an Enlightened Master seeing what a genius he was. As he thought about that, his eyes sparkled. “You’re very hopeful in becoming an Enlightened Master!”

Chu Li smiled and nodded. “Yes, I’m currently working on pursuing the Enlightened Mastery’s Boundary.”

Once again, Zhou Kang coughed violently.

Chu Li slapped his back as he said faintly, “Senior Zhou, may I please ask you to swear that you’ll return to the mountains to live in seclusion and that you’ll never leave the mountains!”

Zhou Kang sighed and nodded slowly. He raised his hand to swear it.

Chu Li nodded and did a fist salute, then went over to Lu Yurong. “Let us make our moves too.”

Lu Yurong chuckled. “You really believe in his swearing?”

“Of course,” Chu Li said with a nod, “You’re a woman, you won’t understand how men value oaths!”

“Nonsense!” Lu Yurong scoffed and said, “There are really few treacherous men! … Let us leave!”

Chu Li chuckled and said, “I really have to thank you this time around, let us leave.”

“You know where to go,” Lu Yurong said.

Chu Li nodded.

The two youths from Ling Long Pavilion did not move an inch, they watched as they flew up and curled away like two clouds after they stepped on the treetops, then they disappeared under the moonlight. They were fascinated and carried away as they exclaimed to themselves ‘what a match made in heaven, it looks like Chu Li has a lover!’

Zheng Lide crawled up with much effort and went over to Zhou Kang. “Elder Zhou?”

Zhou Kang sighed. “Commander Zheng, will you please return and report to the Royal Highness of my incapability, I’m not a match for Chu Li. I’ve repaid the kindness of the Royal Highness by risking my life during this attack, I hope that the Royal Highness won’t look for me again.”

“Yes!” Zheng Lide sighed and said, “Elder Zhou, please write a letter for the Royal Highness.”

“There’s no need for a letter.” Zhou Kang shook his head and laughed. “It’s up to the Royal Highness if he believes me or not.”

“Elder Zhou…” Zheng Lide hesitated. “Without a letter, it’ll be tough for me to deliver the message to him.”

“Your injuries will be the best letter.” Zhou Kang smiled. “The Royal Highness has a renowned reputation, I believe that he’ll be much more forgiving.”

Zheng Lide smiled bitterly and nodded. “Alright then.”

He sighed to himself as he knew that the Royal Highness appeared to be liberal but actually very strict. Towards outsiders, he seemed to be welcoming, tolerant and broad-minded, whereas, towards his own people, he was extremely harsh, such that he punished people five times the seriousness of the mistake and he disallowed even the slightest mistake.

‘I will certainly have tough luck when I return this time.’ thought Zheng Lide.

He turned and cast a sidelong glance at the two youths from Ling Long Pavilion, then shook his head. “Don’t spread rumors, or else, even if you hide yourselves in Ling Long Pavilion, I’ll kill you both!”

“Yes, we know nothing and we’ve seen nothing at all!” The long-faced youth quickly nodded.

“Logically, I should kill you to shut your mouths.” Zheng Lide sighed as he said, “However, for the sake of Pavilion Master Wu, I’ll spare your lives!”

“Thank you so much, Senior Zheng!” The two of them quickly did fist salutes and bowed to thank him.

Zheng Lide waved his hand. “You may leave!”

“Yes, we’ll bid our farewells!” The two of them hastened and rushed out of the woods.

When they heard Chu Li’s words, they started to feel worried and afraid.

It involved the Royal Highness, so it should be a fight between those in the upper class, which was anything but reassuring for them to know about. Since they unexpectedly managed to escape from the situation, the two of them were like lost dogs as they ran their hearts out from the forest.

…

It was evening time and the sun was setting.

Zheng Lide was outside of King An’s study room, his pale-looking face was painted red by the setting sun.

After one whole day and night of hustling, he immediately went to see King An when he returned to the King An’s Imperial Residence.

As he stood outside the study room for a brief moment, King An’s voice could be heard from the inside. “Come in!”

He bowed and entered the study room, then he moved towards King An and lowered his head as he said, “Royal Highness, I was incompetent in carrying out my task!”

“Where’s Elder Zhou?” King An had a calm and quiet mind as he sat beside the writing desk, he asked peacefully, “Why don’t I see Elder Zhou?”

“Royal Highness, Elder Zhou has returned.” Zheng Lide lowered his head and answered.

“Why did he return?” King An’s voice gradually sounded heavier. “Didn’t he agree to deal with this matter for me?”

Zheng Lide said, “Halfway through our journey, we met the Head Chief who beat Elder Zhou up and made him suffer severe injuries, so Elder Zhou feels ashamed to meet you Royal Highness. He said that it’ll be useless for him to come anyway, so he simply returned and decided to live in seclusion.”

“Chu Li?!” King An frowned and said faintly, “Was he alone?”

“Lu Yurong was there too.” Zheng Lide replied.

“Those two fellows colluded, no wonder!” King An scoffed.

He knew about their martial art skills, Lu Yurong had an exceptionally high cultivation level, even if his martial art skill had increased many times over, he might not actually defeat her.

“I was incompetent, at first I suffered severe injuries from the Head Chief’s surprise attack, then I watched as they joined hands to attack Elder Zhou. Next, the Head Chief forced Elder Chu to swear to never leave the mountain again,” Zheng Lide said helplessly.

“Hmph, you’re really incompetent!” King An said coldly.

Zheng Lide lowered his head.

“I see that you suffered quite severe injuries.” King An looked at his pale face. “Are you really injured, or is it a fake?”

Zheng Lide raised his head hurriedly and asked, “Royal Highness?”

King An said coldly, “When you went to get Elder Zhou, only three people knew, you, myself and Revered Sir Xu Ning, nobody else knew about this other than us. How did Chu Li know that you went to look for Elder Zhou and how did he happen to block Elder Zhou right at that time?”

“Royal Highness, are you suspecting that I informed the Head Chief?” Zheng Lide widened his eyes in total disbelief.

He felt that things were not going well, sure enough, the Royal Highness was suspecting him!

“Could I have informed him instead? Or Revered Sir Xu Ning will actually tell him?” King An looked at him faintly. “Other than you, who else could it be?”

Zheng Lide quickly said, “Royal Highness, I’m really being wronged, how could I tell him!”

King An scoffed and said, “You repeatedly call him the Head Chief, don’t you know that he’s no longer the Head Chief anymore?”

Zheng Lide said hurriedly, “It’s just a habit, so I couldn’t stop calling him that in a short period of time. Royal Highness, you know that I’m dumb, how could I have done something like that?”

“Tell me then, how did he know that you were going to fetch Elder Zhou?” King An said faintly.

Zheng Lide shook his head as he said with a bitter smile, “Royal Highness, I can’t explain myself no matter what I say, I really have no idea! I’ve never mentioned this to anyone else, even the maids and Scribes know nothing about my mission, how could the Head Chief know about it?”

“That’s because you told him.” King An said coldly.

Zheng Lide knelt and said out loud, “Royal Highness, I’ve always been loyal to you. Royal Highness, I was never faithless nor treacherous!”