Chapter 355: (1): Peaceful and Tranquil No Longer
The rain was only growing heavier and heavier on the mountain summit, and it was pelting urgently against the armor worn by Liu Cong's forces in an audible fashion.
In order to allow Xu Qingzhou and Xu Tong to focus single-mindedly on the task at hand without also having to worry about protecting him, Liu Cong had already retreated to a point halfway up the mountain, where he was accompanied by dozens of his most reliable guards, all of whom were clad in suits of armor much heavier and sturdier than the ones worn by his other troops.
Additionally, there were also three exceptionally powerful cultivators by his side, consisting of a Sea Observation Tier swordsman with a sharp and formidable bonded flying sword, a Daoist priest who was adept at creating formations, and a Militarian cultivator clad in a suit of Dew Armor.
Liu Cong was determined to claim Chen Ping'an's head, but it certainly never hurt to be safe, and he definitely didn't want to lose his life here in a moment of complacency.
At this moment, it was unclear where Wang Qi was hiding, and the fact that he was willing to be personally involved with this conspiracy made him an untrustworthy figure in Liu Cong's eyes. If it weren't for the excessively alluring terms offered by Gao Shizhen and the involvement of the Xu Clan and the Flora Convent, Liu Cong wouldn't have dared to take such a major risk.
He was extremely curious about just how precious the treasures of Green Roving Residence were, to the point that even a noble scholar would be willing to cast aside his morality to orchestrate this sinister plot.
Of course, Wang Qi could explain his own actions after the event. He could tell the mountain master of Great Subduing Academy that he had hunted down an imposter who was posing as a direct disciple of the ancestral hall of Peace and Tranquility Mountain.
In fact, he could drag Chen Ping'an through the mud even further by claiming that he suspected Chen Ping'an to be a powerful demon who had adopted a false appearance, and that would explain why he had to recruit the help of five thousand soldiers to surround the mountain. However, that was far from a flawless alibi in Liu Cong's eyes.
In any case, that didn't matter to him. At the moment, Wang Qi was still a bona fide noble scholar of Great Subduing Academy, and the word of a noble scholar was akin to a holy decree even to the emperor of a mortal empire, let alone a prince like Liu Cong.