Star Gate

Chapter 576: What One Sees and Hears (III)

There was one point that Li Hao was puzzled by—who’d taught the big snake before?

No matter what, he had the snake’s promise to help. If he was exposed and hunted down for his deeds, he could direct his escape in this direction. He’d already mentioned that metamorphosis level heavyweights wouldn’t be enough, but the snake had promptly agreed all the same. Perhaps there were even stronger monster spirits residing at the Kui Mountains.

Panther didn’t respond—it didn’t have the ability to respond. It’d actually grasped an inkling of the truth. Perhaps the snake’s reaction was because of itself! Mmhmm, the great dog was the reason for all this!

The old turtle had said last time that it possessed a noble bloodline and was the descendant of something called the Monster Spirit Envoy. That entity oversaw all of the monster spirits in the world!

If they ran into any major monster spirits, anyone with the slightest drop of an ancient bloodline would realize Panther’s true existence. The more of an ancient bloodline that was present, the more respectful they would be. Perhaps they might even come to pay their respects!

The big snake had plainly sensed some, but did not understand why, so it was extremely polite and refrained from offending the trespassers.

You’re mooching off of this mighty dog!

What a pity Panther couldn’t voice its thoughts or write them down. Otherwise, it’d scratch out the truth and tell Li Hao it had nothing to do with the human, it was all due to his great canine companion!

The young man and dog crossed through the mountains with their respective thoughts in mind and entered the eastern continent.

......

Oowerhouses from the central region arrived on the borders of Silver Moon at this time. Large sums of them were gathered in the neighboring Near River province.

The Director General Office.

Various heavyweights raised their glasses to Director General Fan Chang.

“Director General Fan, you’ve fought both Earthturner Sword and Light Sword. What are your estimates of their strength?”

“Very strong!” Fan Chang responded solemnly. “Qian Feng and I fought two against one with Hong Yitang, but we still retreated in defeat. Qian Feng died in battle and I paid the price of one arm to barely escape!”

The group reeled back with shock. That was very strong alright!

“Then Li Hao will be difficult to handle since he’s gone into hiding at White Moon City and there are multiple powerhouses in residence at Silver Moon. You are their neighbor, director general. Do you have any good ideas?” They were all here because Near River knew more about Silver Moon due to its geographical location. Perhaps Fan Chang had some proposals in mind. He shared their common hatred for Silver Moon after losing one of his arms. Allying with his neighbor would be the last possibility that he would consider.

Fan Chang took a sip of wine and thought for a moment. “It’s hard to take down Silver Moon, but not that hard to lure out Li Hao.”

Everyone looked at him. Are you sure? The boy isn’t stupid and certainly knows that the situation in the world is dangerous for him now. How are you going to lure him out?

“The White Shark Raiders!” Fan Chang took another sip of wine. “They’ve been searching for a chance to take revenge after Li Hao killed two of their commanders. The kid also made the threat of exterminating them! Why don’t we let the pirates into the Moon Sea and feint an attack at Southern Ford?

“As many powerhouses as Silver Moon has, White Moon City and Flare City are their core cities. Heavyweights are needed to remain in residence there and Li Hao is behind this trouble. Given the nature of Silver Moon martial masters... Li Hao will certainly take action. Of course, I’m not certain if Earthturner Sword and the others will come. I can only say that this will decrease the number of other martial masters around him to the greatest degree possible!

“If we can also tempt the Starlight Pirates in the West Sea to enter the other side of the Moon Sea and posture menacingly at White Moon City... then White Moon will have to shore up their defenses as well.”

Fan Chang was planning to conduct his villainy from the shadows. He wasn’t going to invest any of his own forces and wanted to borrow these people to intimidate the pirates. He would use this opportunity to also pull one over the Starlight Pirates and White Shark Raiders. Perhaps the Sea Monster Raiders that he supported could gain something from this.

“This will limit Huang Yu and the others to the greatest degree possible,” Fan Chang explained. “Despite being fully aware of the dangers, Silver Moon martial masters like to self-style themselves as perpetrators of justice. They will readily admit to ownership of their deeds, so Li Hao must take to the field for creating trouble with the White Shark Raiders. Otherwise, all Silver Moon martial masters will think less of him. They will not stop him even though they know it is a grave risk. That’s how pig-headed this group of people is!”

The crowd mulled over his words. It wasn’t an unfeasible course of action, the caveat was that the pirates would have to agree to it. But would they dare not agree? They wouldn’t have to actually do anything, just hover in an ominous fashion. They wouldn’t attack, but Silver Moon could not bet on that. If they did and the pirates really did invade, then their people would be mired in misery.

Everyone looked at Fan Chang, he smiled at them. “If all of you are still not reassured, I can mobilize my army and send them near Silver Moon to conduct a military drill!” The man gnashed his teeth with fury.

Earthturner Sword had severed one of his arms! Although he’d recovered it with a drop of Water of Life, the newly grown arm was noticeably weaker than his old one. It was infuriating!

Faces brightened upon hearing his words. Near River would be threatening Silver Moon from land, whereas pirates would be posturing from sea. If this was the plan, then that would indeed curtail most of the heavyweights. If Li Hao dared show himself then, he would be dead without a doubt. The only thing that remained to be seen was if the young man would dare take the risk.

If he didn’t, however, and the White Shark Raiders really took Southern Ford... then he was ruined in Silver Moon! Even the old guard of martial masters would be ashamed to call him one of their own!

Huang Yu and the others might keep the bigger picture in mind, but the rest of the old guard were very pure-hearted. They nursed the mindset that one should rather die in battle than lose the spirit of the Silver Moon martial masters. They would find Li Hao untrustworthy.

Even if this group failed to eliminate Li Hao, he might be abandoned by the Silver Moon martial world!

“It’s Director General Fan who has vision and foresight!” Everyone raised their cups with a smile. As expected of someone who suppressed all of the government institutions in Near River! Fan Chang was a callous and ruthless man. It would also benefit him if Southern Ford fell as that city had taken much of Near River’s luster. A great deal of profit was involved; the director general wasn’t doing this purely for revenge. It was said that he owned one of the eight pirate factions.

Smiles wreathed faces when their thoughts traveled here. It was obvious what Fan Chang wanted.

......

Li Hao wasn’t currently in the mood to consider any of this. Fan Chang’s machinations would’ve brought him to Southern Ford if he was still in Silver Moon, no matter how dangerous it might be. It was a foregone conclusion. As a martial master—or rather, as a denizen of Silver Moon—he wouldn’t idly sit by at a time like that.

But since he wasn’t there at the moment, it had nothing to do with him. He’d even temporarily set aside the matter of the White Shark Raiders in order to seize the Windchaser Boot first.

The young man was already inside Calm Borders. He stopped traveling via dog in order to cover his tracks. He found a leash from somewhere and bought a small car with star coins he’d randomly seized a while back. With those preparations, he drove toward the provincial capital.

East Heart City was Calm Borders’ capital. That was where the Xu manor was located and, in fact, the city was named by the Xus. It meant that the city was the heart of the east.

Li Hao drove extremely quickly as tomorrow would be the seventh day of Xu Zhen’s death. He barged around on the way there, completely ignoring whatever was in his way. All obstacles were pulverized with sword energy before imminent collision, creating a wide avenue for him no matter where he went.

Who would laugh at his driving skills now? He was so good at driving that there wasn’t any road he couldn’t maneuver around!

He drove from morning to night and finally reached East Heart City at the end of the day. Windchaser Boot, I’m coming for you!

The city appeared particularly prosperous—the east did indeed flourish much more than the north. It was well into the night, but it presented a sight similar to Southern Ford. It was all lights and music and action. A magnificent manor stood in the center of the city, equally as resplendent as the metropolis around it.

Since his car bore foreign plates, Li Hao had to pay three hundred star coins to enter the city. It was highway robbery! No wonder the city was so rich!

He found a hotel, parked, and checked into a room. He wasn’t too far from the Steadfast Duke’s manor. No one would think that he’d spent two days traveling from Silver Moon to Calm Borders, would they?

Society was thankfully disorderly these days and information exchange difficult between various regions. The dynasty’s systems were hard to unify, so there was no need to prove his identity. Li Hao smoothly took up residence in the hotel; he pretended Panther was a pet and led it into the room.

As he walked through the lobby, Li Hao sighed with appreciation that girls in the east were more free-spirited than the north. Since it was much hotter here, many of them were showing off nice long legs.

A pretty girl patted Panther on the head when they were in the elevator. For one horror-stricken second, Li Hao thought the dog might erupt with fury and bite her hand off. But he quickly discovered that Panth was drooling at her legs...

Even a dog liked women these days! No wonder his teacher had run off with Jadelight Sword and completely vanished from sight. There wasn’t any news of them to be had recently. Li Hao was the poor soul who had to travel with a dog!

......

Li Hao quickly put his affairs in order upon entering the room. He changed into a new set of clothing and added a scholarly air to his bearing with a pair of glasses. After eating dinner, he led Panther out for a walk.

It was said that there was a street in front of the Steadfast Duke’s manor that used to be part of the complex. The duke opened it to the public to endear himself to the people, and also because royal authority had been curtailed after the royal family withdrew. Light Sword had killed the five generals on that street, it was very close to the manor.

Li Hao didn’t have time to collect information, so the best idea at this time was to draw closer for a look. Martial masters were difficult to determine, but any supernaturals that may be powerhouses wouldn’t escape his notice!