Star Gate

Chapter 593: Reinforcements (II)

Kong Jie spat out a mouthful of tea and gaped, then promptly shot into the sky. He wasn’t the only one. Huang Yu also soared upward from the military barracks in the distance. And while Director General Zhao didn’t fly, he glanced sharply at the Silver Moon Guard base in the distance and almost crushed his teeth when he gnashed them.

“Go ask where Li Hao is!”

Deputy Zhou didn’t ask for further clarification before promptly vanishing.

Where was Li Hao?

Li Hao’s ship was still parked in the plaza, his Demon Hunters were in closed door cultivation. No one thought much of it as it’d only been three days. This was how the young man operated when returning from a mission.

But now, where was Li Hao? Or was there someone outside causing trouble in his name?

The more Director General Zhao thought about it, the more ludicrous he found the idea! How was this possible? He was well aware of the Steadfast Duke’s strength and that the three generals mentioned in the report were of the metamorphosis level. Red Beard had apparently been in attendance today, he was also a metamorphosis expert. The duke himself might be one too, even without unsealing his battle strength.

That made for a five metamorphosis experts and a dozen Novas. All of Silver Moon might have to unseal themselves in order to triumph over that level of strength. But now their intelligence reports said that the Steadfast Duke had been killed??

Who would believe that?!

Two powerhouses broke through the air and landed in the skies over the Silver Moon Guard base.

“Liu Long, Hao Lianchuan, get out here!” Kong Jie roared.

Liu Long was cultivating in the main hall. He opened his eyes with a faint frown and walked out.

“Inspector General Kong!” He raised a cupped fist salute to those in the air. “Commander Yu! What might the two lords need from us? The leader is in seclusion. This level of disturbance and noise might disrupt his training...

“That’s right!” Hao Lianchuan also walked out. “Isn’t it over the line that you two have directly barged into our base? Director Hou may be gone, but the Night Watchers...”

“Shut up, you little fucking shit!” Kong Jie let loose, startling Hao Lianchuan into silence. “Do you take me for a fucking idiot? Li Hao is here? Do you honestly think so little of me?!”

“......” Huang Yu didn’t say a word. Honestly, probably. Stop protesting. We didn’t know about this matter until it was public knowledge in the east. What are we, if not idiots?

“What are you cursing at me for?” Hao Lianchuan coughed awkwardly. “That’s not nice, inspector general. What’s going on?”

Had Li Hao’s movements been revealed? They’d all stayed at the barracks for the past three days without leaving. Even Hao Lianchuan knew that it was to provide cover for Li Hao. Had the young man done something?

“What’s going on??” Kong Jie was on the verge of losing his mind. “Li Hao ran off a long time ago, didn’t he? Did he run off as soon as he came back? He went to the Steadfast Duke’s manor in the east, turned everything upside down, seized the Windchaser Boot, killed metamorphosis experts, and apparently even killed the duke!

“He’s definitely killed a ton of Xu family members and burned the complex down. The entire dynasty is shaking over this, particularly the twenty-one eastern provinces! Great changes will soon take place in the east with the duke dead...”

It was like Liu Long and the others were listening to a proclamation from the gods. Their jaws dropped and their eyes widened with incomprehension. Huh? Are you talking about Li Hao or someone else?

“Did Li Hao leave the day he came back?”

“I... I don’t know...” Hao Lianchuan didn’t dare hide anything anymore. He awkwardly mumbled in a small voice, “It’s not like Director Li informs me of his movements...”

“Then shut up!” Kong Jie looked at Liu Long. The man was frowning, but inclined his head.

“The leader said he had some business to take care of before he left.”

Fuck that! This is some business?! Well well well, these guys all keep a stiff upper lip huh?!

Kong Jie couldn’t decide if he wanted to just explode with rage or strangle someone. He shouted with renewed fury when he saw someone emerge from the hall, “Wang Chao, you guys come from the Inspectorate and helped conceal the fact that Li Hao is gone. Did you not even think of informing the Inspectorate?!”

Wang Chao and the rest were still reeling within the crowd. When he heard his old boss berate him, Wang Chao answered blankly, “Inspector general... we didn’t know!”

Did they really not know, or were they pretending? Kong Jie wanted to vomit blood. At the same time, there was nothing he could say. He’d come to confirm whether or not Li Hao was truly gone. Now he was certain, the lad was gone. The one in the east was probably the genuine Li Hao.

He snorted before turning to leave. Huang Yu also vanished without a word. Outside the base, Light Sword had listened with glittering eyes. She shot into the sky and followed Huang Yu and Kong Jie. Despite the obvious look of skepticism, she didn’t pose any questions.

Kong Jie was further irritated by that! I wanted you to help with some matters before and you ignored me, saying you wanted to wait for Li Hao. Isn’t this fine and dandy, you can wait all you like now!

He tossed over a transmission pendant, which Light Sword quickly examined. The look in her eyes shifted as she murmured, “How is this possible?!”

As the Steadfast Duke’s former senior steward, she was all too familiar with the household’s strength. Li Hao couldn’t afford to provoke any of the three major generals, to say nothing of the duke. She couldn’t fight the duke either and had done so before only because she unsealed herself.

“This may not be true.” Light Sword furrowed her brows. “The duke is not that easy to kill. He’ll unseal himself if he’d backed into a difficult situation. Few are those in this world who can kill him.”

His death was impossible!

The other two nodded and Kong Jie responded, “Something must have happened even if that guy isn’t dead. His manor wouldn’t be reduced to ashes otherwise. If the duke isn’t dead and Li Hao isn’t dead, then that means the duke is chasing him. Otherwise, there would already be people out to suppress the unrest!”

He was able to deduce a thing or two upon further thought. If this was the case, then Li Hao was in high peril. How in the world had that madman thought of making trouble for the Steadfast Duke??

Light Sword vanished on the spot without a word.

“Where are you going?”

“The Sword Sect!”

“......” A speechless Kong Jie watched her go. Light Sword was plainly going to seek out Hong Yitang. Was she going to Li Hao’s rescue?

He looked at Huang Yu, who rumbled, “Let’s go to Ole Zhao first. If Li Hao isn’t dead, he’s probably being chased down. but he’s too far away! This is a different situation from last time. Last time it was just the duke’s son leading the group, but this time it’s likely Xu Qing himself! We may not be able to catch up to them.”

And may not be able to leave. There were large numbers of powerhouses gathered on their shared border with Near River. The White Shark Raiders and Starlight Pirates were all stirring to action. The executives of Silver Moon may not be able to set foot outside their home.

“Let’s wait for more details.” Kong Jie took a deep breath. “It shouldn’t be too long. There were a lot of people at the memorial rites today. Many of them might be dead, but not all of them. We’ll have detailed reports soon, but we need to think of a way to help. Li Hao may be in grave danger!”

Huang Yu nodded. That was a certainty.

“Old Huang,” Kong Jie laughed ruefully. “This Li Hao can cause more trouble than his master! His master didn’t dare conduct his matters like this before! In the two hundred years of Skystar history, there doesn’t seem to be anyone who’s ever directly attacked one of the three founding dukes!”

This was unprecedented in history! The young man must be the boldest beneath the heavens! If he survived this escapade, his reputation would far eclipse Yuan Shuo’s throughout the land. As well known as the old man was, did he dare attack the Steadfast Duke?

Yuan Shuo was highly regarded in the Silver Moon martial world, but there were possibly only a few veteran martial masters who remembered him in all of the world. Li Hao’s singular move would emblazon his name in the minds of all superhumans and even civilians in the world.

He’d kicked in the door of the overlord of the east!

......

Every locale in Skystar Dynasty was discussing recent events and shaking in reaction.

Skystar City, the Night Watcher headquarters.

Hou Xiaochen had been fretting over Li Hao becoming public enemy number one, but now he sighed. It was the rest of the world who needed to fret now. They likely wouldn’t be able to sleep peacefully at night if Li Hao didn’t die after these events.

The Silver Moon powerhouses waited in a tiny office, waiting for more news to reach them. They soon looked at a vibrating transmission pendant. Hou Xiaochen picked it up and exhaled after a long while.

“It wasn’t a frontal attack. The kid brought his dog, hid in the dog’s stomach, posed as a Kui Mountain monster spirit that was the descendant of an ancient monster spirit. He tricked the duke into giving him the Windchaser Boot and cowed the twenty-one provinces of the east in the guise of a monster spirit.

“During his act, he incited conflict between Yu Qiao’s party and Xu Qing. He then killed Xu Xing, the Yellow General, other people, raided the Xu treasury, and used a particularly unique method to kill Red Beard and three Novas under his command...

“And now, the Steadfast Duke is leading the Heaven and Earth Generals after him!”

Yu Luocha first heaved a sigh of relief, then grew solemn again. “So this means he has indeed killed a metamorphosis level expert... despite using outside methods?”

“Yes.”

“Does he have more of those methods?”

Hou Xiaochen grinned. I’d be a god if I knew.

“Xu Qing is not weak...” Manager Yu said slowly.

“He’s very strong!” Hou Xiaochen’s grin disappeared. “Even I wouldn’t dare say that I’d win against him. He might be on the same level as the Steppe Prince. He’s very, very strong! Not to mention, he has two metamorphosis level experts with him and multiple Novas. He wants revenge, the sword of the Lis, and the full set of the Windchaser Boots!

“With those two weapons in front of him, he’ll want to kill Li Hao even if he has to unseal himself!” Hou Xiaochen breathed out explosively. “Little Yu... you go! Be careful. Hurry and find Li Hao...”

“Director...”

“You can unseal yourself, Golden Spear can’t!” Hou Xiaochen frowned when his thoughts traveled to this point. “This won’t do. Here, go to Sky Sword Mountain! If Sky Sword is still in closed door cultivation, tell him to come out and that I need his help. Demon Sword Li Hao... can be considered the eighth sword of Silver Moon. No one would deny that! Have Sky Sword personally rescue the lad, hurry!”