Chapter 469 - 216: Courting Death
Chapter 469: Chapter 216: Courting Death
"If this deal goes through, you’ll make mountains of gold and silver. It’ll be enough to last you several lifetimes. Is this really necessary?"
"You don’t have a daughter, so how would you know? Everything costs silver. A single casual dress for her costs over a thousand silver pieces.
"Even mountains of gold and silver get spent in no time."
The man across from him was astonished.
"Is your daughter wearing imperial dragon robes?"
In the past, a sentence like that could have gotten one’s entire family executed.
But nowadays, nobody cared.
Ding Wujiu sneered.
"What do you know? My daughter is delicate and precious. She must have the best of everything she eats and uses.
"Her clothes must be made from the finest silk, with the best dyes, and stitched by the most skilled embroiderers using their best techniques.
"The time and silver spent on them are immense.
"Besides, it’s not just my daughter. I’ll have a son-in-law, won’t I? And who knows when I’ll have a little grandson, or a granddaughter..."
"Keep dreaming."
The man shook his head helplessly. Just as he was about to say more, his gaze suddenly focused in one direction. He tapped Ding Wujiu.
"Let’s go. They’re here."
Ding Wujiu nodded, then leaped into the air and vanished with the other man.
When the noodle stall owner turned back, he found only empty bowls on the table. He stared blankly, looking around, before he couldn’t help but curse.
"At your age, you still have the nerve to dine and dash?
"You despicable bastard! I hope you run right into that Demon Evil God and he kills you with a single palm strike!"
The noodle stall owner stomped his foot as he yelled.
His voice carried far. Hearing it, Ding Wujiu doubled over with laughter and said to the man beside him:
"If he knew that I was really going to kill Fang Shuwen, I wonder what his expression would be."
"He’d probably think you were courting death."
"Heh heh..."
Ding Wujiu let out a cold laugh.
A few steps later, they came to a halt in a narrow alley.
A man wearing a conical hat, his longsword propped on the ground, had been waiting there for a long time.
His hat was pulled down low, obscuring his face.
But as they drew near, they could feel the profound Sword Intent emanating from him.
"Ding Wujiu and... Fan Zongyang?"
The swordsman spoke slowly.
"Indeed."
Ding Wujiu cupped his fists.
Fan Zongyang also smiled.
"Greetings, Tower Master of Night Rain."
Shi Wuya’s face was expressionless, his voice devoid of any inflection.
Behind him stood four other people.
The four were dressed differently, some standing, some leaning, and were clearly not members of the Night Rain Tower.
Shi Wuya didn’t spare Fan Zongyang a second glance, his gaze landing instead on Ding Wujiu.
"I hear you have a unique skill called the Broken Jade Technique.
"It specializes in breaking Protective Gang Qi and Horizontal Training Skills?"
"That is correct."
Ding Wujiu nodded slightly, his rosy face filled with confidence.
Shi Wuya fell silent for a moment.
That night, he had wanted to seek out Fang Shuwen immediately but was stopped by the Masked Man, who offered to help him.
The two conferred and concluded that Fang Shuwen’s Martial Arts were formidable. His Palm Technique was overwhelmingly fierce, his Fist Technique was bold and wide-ranging, and his Fingering Technique was even more unpredictable, with a single strike covering an astonishingly wide area.
But more terrifying than all of that was his nearly unbreakable Body-Protecting Divine Technique.
The Masked Man knew even more about Fang Shuwen than Shi Wuya did. He even knew that Fang Shuwen had once used this Martial Art to withstand a saber strike that Zhao Wuji had been building up for twenty years.
Therefore, to kill Fang Shuwen, they first had to break his Body-Protecting Divine Technique. Otherwise, Fang Shuwen would be invincible.
This was why Ding Wujiu had been summoned.
The Masked Man had explained that while Ding Wujiu was a master from the Southern Domain, he wasn’t considered a truly top-tier expert in the Southern Domain Martial World.
But his Broken Jade Technique was a rarity in the world.
If even he couldn’t shatter Fang Shuwen’s Body-Protecting Divine Technique, then there were likely very few people in the world today who could.
Besides Ding Wujiu, who specialized in breaking Body-Protecting Divine Techniques, the remaining few had also been recruited by the Masked Man.
Among them were the Zhou Family brothers, who were proficient with Zen Silk and would work alongside Ding Wujiu.
These three would have their roles: the Zhou Family brothers would restrain Fang Shuwen, making it difficult for him to even move.
Ding Wujiu would break his Body-Protecting Divine Technique.
As for the remaining three, their Martial Arts were actually far superior to the other three.
Fan Zongyang, ’The Final Stroke’ of the Southern Domain; and Feng Zanghai, the ’Nine Partings Divine Fist’ of the Western Domain.
And Qi Duanshan, the ’Unknown Saber’ from the Central Domain.
Although these three’s Martial Arts were not on par with Shi Wuya’s, they were all masters far beyond the ordinary.
However, Shi Wuya wasn’t pinning his hopes on them. Unless Fang Shuwen’s Body-Protecting Divine Technique could be broken, it wouldn’t matter how many masters like them showed up—it would only be a dead end.
The personnel the Masked Man had prepared for him were now all gathered.
There was no need for pleasantries or getting acquainted; they all simply looked to Shi Wuya.
The unspoken question hung in the air: were they to set out now, or were there other preparations to be made?
Beneath his conical hat, a cold, grim arc formed on Shi Wuya’s lips.
"First... to Julu City!"
As soon as he spoke, he flickered and moved, taking the lead.
The remaining men exchanged glances, then leaped into the air and followed him.
An old beggar, sitting at the mouth of the alley far from them, suddenly let out a huge yawn after they left. He picked up his broken bowl and began to wander down the street, begging for alms.
But as he passed a small stall, he tripped, and something fell from him into a jade pot on the stall.
After the old beggar left, the stall owner picked up the jade pot, casually tipped it out, and with a flick of his wrist, tossed something behind him, which was caught by a young man.
The young man got up, went inside, and a moment later, a carrier pigeon flew out.
But it had barely gotten outside the city when there was a SWOOSH!
A glint of cold light flashed, and the carrier pigeon fell to the ground.
It was casually picked up by a man in a painted mask.
He took out the letter, glanced at it, and shook his head slightly.
"Heaven-Reaching Pavilion?
"You almost ruined everything..."
Lifting his gaze again, he slowly walked away.
But what he didn’t know was that two hours later, a hundred li away, someone else was taking up a brush to write:
[Urgent message delayed. Night Rain Tower has likely entered Suo Heng City.]
[Suo Heng has no road to Shenlu. They will be forced to detour to Julu City.]
[Report to the Demon Evil God at once. He can lie in wait and ambush them!]
[Addendum: The Tower Master of Night Rain is unaware of our Heaven-Reaching Pavilion’s eyes and ears. I fear another expert is helping them in secret... Could Dragon Abyss have appeared?]
This letter passed through many hands and several changes, yet after just one short day, it appeared in Fang Shuwen’s hands.
Fang Shuwen pinched the letter, his gaze lowered slightly. He slowly uttered two words:
"Courting death!"