Chapter Eighty-Nine: The Contrast Was Stark

He had taken off his sunglasses and hooked them at his collar. There was a roguish air about him now, not a trace of the stern, fearsome presence he had carried in South River.

Busy as the day was, chaotic as it had become, the thought that the Rong family would henceforth be bound by marriage to the Mo family, the foremost power in South River, kept Rong Haishen smiling from dawn till dusk.

“Hadi, Commander Wilson must have his own hardships in doing this.” Ji Xing slowly lifted her lowered head. She stared at Wilson’s back, her gaze growing firmer and firmer.

Know the enemy and know yourself, and you need not fear a hundred battles. The Kingdom of Jin had been understood so thoroughly by the Andong Army that if the two sides truly came to blows, how many chances of victory would Jin even have? The more Wanyan Xieye thought about it, the more uneasy he became. He did not sleep all night, and when Xue Shi saw him the next day with dark circles like a panda’s, he was startled.

The questions turned out to be unexpectedly easy and smooth going. They were all things she had reviewed over and over these past days and memorized by rote, so answering them took almost no effort.

For the moment, however, Tang Lou still suppressed the idea. The mountains were full of danger; without a certain degree of strength, it was best not to venture in lightly.

At some unknown moment the rain had stopped. On the opera stage, a heavily made-up performer was singing, and the play was The Legend of the White Snake.

Lu Yu had already gained some mastery over the Origin Canon. His control was quite good by now. The moment he sensed something amiss within his body, he hurriedly sat down where he was, stilled his mind and calmed his breath, exerted himself with all his strength, gathered the source energy in his body, and prepared to keep the poison inside him under control.

Perhaps because of the pursuit, her mother’s death, and all the perilous and harrowing events of the past few days, Guo’er had been badly frightened. She herself had not even noticed the signs that her body was rapidly weakening.

The more Guo’er thought about it, the cleverer she found herself. Once she had the idea, she acted at once. She searched through the compass for tools, and after rummaging for a long time, the only sharp object she found was the hairpin Nan Qian had given her.

So-called node authority was a map function possessed only by the direct line of descendants. Through the nodes, they could send messages to other nearby members, though only messages, nothing more.

At first, Ning Xia found the existence of those two irritating. Later he discovered that it really would not do to be without gatekeepers. People were always knocking at the door, and he himself could never have a moment’s peace.

Sulman stepped through the door and vanished from sight. Inside the tavern, beside the gambling table, the drinkers who had been watching him hurriedly withdrew their gazes, afraid of attracting his attention.

A heavy staff strike, full of force and weight, landed on Trundle’s body and instantly took his life.

Zhang Xun gave a cold snort. Everyone knew that the first private room, Number One of the Heavenly Rank, had the finest decor and service. Number Two of the Heavenly Rank was luxurious as well, but the gap between it and Number One was far from slight.

He could first use a delaying tactic to soothe Qin Xiao and get through the present crisis. Once he had brought Qin Xiao into that land of deadly peril, would it not be enough to leave Qin Xiao’s matter to Di Tian or the Lord above to handle?

But Jin Zhan had not gone so far as to trust the other party completely. Under the present circumstances, he was merely joining forces temporarily to weaken the power of the Court of Pure Souls.

I have heard that the Crown Princess was once very close to you, Ning Xia. Her cultivation of the Withering and Flourishing Path is also for your sake.

One had to know that he had secured this plot of land only after pouring in an enormous sum of money and calling in no small number of favors.

He had originally practiced all those things so painstakingly in order to pair them with his initial release and make his attacks even more powerful.

“Pretty? I hadn’t noticed you.” Ye Tangmu let his gaze drift downward, as if he intended to look at her beautiful legs.

“We still have a sliver of hope. Floating Dust was just summoned away by Captain Roger. Let’s trust her.” The cute voice broke off abruptly, and the call was cut.

Looking again at the stone, now cracked open and scattered across the ground, it was still no different from an ordinary stone.

After Zhao Dier finished speaking, her eyes were already turning as she thought of what to do. In only a few moments, she had come up with an idea.

If his guess was correct, then the great hole the old tree demon had opened just now really was its mouth.

Even though after swallowing this Jade-Crested Red Toad he, Senior Brother Di, could only obey Xuan Yan’s orders, that was still better than dying.

“Wadeski, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you still be at your academy of technology, dealing with the aftermath of the disaster and preparing to head north to Zhenbei?” Li Qi asked curiously as he looked at Wadeski. Yet after looking him up and down, Li Qi increasingly felt that something about him was not quite right.

“Go and pour me some hot water. I’m going to wash my feet.” Guo Liang slowly sat down by the bed as he gave the order. He had grown used to speaking this way in Cell Number Eight; he always liked to use a commanding tone.

Zi Youyue said that she did not regret this decision. Hathaway naturally would not make things too difficult for her. Though she had agreed not to take Shadow Lado’s life, it was still necessary to take certain measures. She sealed away most of Shadow Lado’s power and even forcibly regressed her. Only then was she willing to let the matter rest.

“Leng Li is of the demon race too, and he is the High Priest of the Demon Realm. No matter how easygoing he may appear at first glance, he is still a subordinate of the Demon Emperor,” Yu Qianche said helplessly.

Yang Hangyu kept blinking as he picked up the parcel and examined it from left to right, every inch the incorrigible old child. Yang Jiazhen watched from the side, his expression on the verge of collapse. Well, once his old father had recovered his vitality, this was simply what he was like. It was no great matter; letting him play with it a little was fine. The man was old now. What was wrong with being a little happier?

Yet inwardly he was thinking that in the future, if he had anything good, he absolutely must not take it out to show off. He had to stay quiet and low-key, lest thieves set their sights on him.

“Those two bastards who forced my brother.” Ye Li paused, catching her breath before saying this to Qian Qiyue. To her, those two were not family at all, but scoundrels—scoundrels who had brought grief to them all. There was still much she had to do. How could she let herself be angered so easily?

Yang Hangyu stood before Wang Danhe and gazed thoughtfully at the wooden memorial tablet. Danhe, I will find you. Wait for me, all right? Wait for me.

Go to Han Siyou? He did not like her. He would probably even find her annoying; otherwise he would not have left her drunk in the hotel.

Ever since a moment ago, the gazes of her classmates, especially the boys, had felt unbearably stinging to Liuxing.

Another point was that the third party stationed at the edge of the jungle had suddenly gone quiet as well, and the gunfire ceased. It seemed that after the previous round of fierce fighting, that place had become a land of death.

“An explanation? I’ll give you an explanation—who is going to give me one?” With a savage slap on the table, the conference table polished from Black Blood Rock split apart inch by inch. With a cold snort, Elder Yin paid no more heed to Yang Dingtian and strode straight out.