Chapter 209 - 152: Blue Robe
When they saw the Daliang soldiers on the county road ahead, they knew they were in trouble.
The Daliang Army had already silently surrounded the five members of the Changle Martial Arts Hall.
"Commander, they’re the ones who escaped from the post station," a Daliang soldier reported to the leading general.
This contingent of Daliang soldiers wore blue Chain Armor.
Standard-issue longswords hung at their waists.
Lu Changfeng immediately recognized who these men were.
The Daliang Blue-clothed Guard!
An intelligence division that answered only to the Emperor of Daliang.
The minimum requirement to join the Blue-clothed Guard was the Tendon Transformation Realm.
A Commander was the leader of a Blue-clothed Guard’s Thousand-man Guard.
Their strength was at least the Bone Refining Fifth Layer, and the strongest Commanders were even in the Rebirth Realm.
And the one leading the Blue-clothed Guard to surround Lu Changfeng’s group was clearly a Commander in the Rebirth Realm!
Since Daliang occupied Jiangnan Prefecture, it had dispatched a total of five Blue-clothed Guard units into the prefecture.
This troop of the Blue-clothed Guard was one of them.
Their leader was named Nalan Hongjie, a powerful master of the Rebirth Realm’s Primordial Spirit Body.
The duty of the Blue-clothed Guard was to monitor the world for the Emperor.
The traces of the great battle between Wei He and Hua Chengyu at the post station were so obvious that they naturally drew the attention of the Blue-clothed Guard.
The damage from that battle could only have been caused by someone at least in the Rebirth Realm.
The Blue-clothed Guard could not allow an unidentified Rebirth Realm master to run rampant within Daliang’s borders.
It was the duty of the Blue-clothed Guard to control all factors of instability.
The Blue-clothed Guard moved quickly, swiftly locking onto and finding Lu Changfeng’s group of five.
"Officers, we are Martial Artists from Yunyang Prefecture just passing through. May I ask why you have stopped us?"
Lu Changfeng said, cupping his fist.
The eyes of the Blue-clothed Guards were fixed on the woman who had stepped forward. Her looks and figure were exceptional, but more importantly, her heroic bearing was impressive.
Nalan Hongjie’s Spiritual Sense swept over them, and he immediately discerned the strength of the five people before him.
They were all Martial Artists in the Blood Forging Realm.
’A level of strength like this could not possibly have created those terrifying battle scars.’
But by the same token, all the soldiers at the post station were dead, yet these five managed to escape. That in itself was suspicious.
Addressing this unique woman, Nalan Hongjie personally lifted the curtain of his sedan chair and spoke. "Young lady, did you see anything at the post station last night? Don’t be afraid. Just speak freely."
Lu Changfeng shook his head. "We didn’t see anything."
Nalan Hongjie smiled and pointed to Wei He on the handcart. "And your friend here, how was he injured?"
Lu Changfeng said, "Last night, we were attacked by thieves with a knockout drug. The four of us passed out. Only our senior brother was cautious and wasn’t affected. We were only able to escape because he fought off the enemies. We fled the post station in the middle of the night. We don’t know what happened after that."
Nalan Hongjie said, "Attacked by thieves? Around the post station, no one could have evaded the surveillance of our Blue-clothed Guard."
"Then I don’t know," Lu Changfeng said with a shrug.
"In that case, I’ll have to trouble you to come with us to assist in the investigation." Nalan Hongjie turned and went back into the sedan chair.
The surrounding Blue-clothed Guard swarmed toward Lu Changfeng’s group.
"How dare you! We are disciples from a Martial Arts Hall under the Saint Demon Sect’s Demon Sect!" one of the disciples blurted out, playing the Saint Demon Sect card.
As expected, the Blue-clothed Guards paused.
The Emperor of Daliang’s recent policy toward the Saint Demon Sect had been very clear. Anything involving the Saint Demon Sect had to be handled with caution.
"It’s fine. Take them. I will explain things to the Saint Demon Sect," Nalan Hongjie’s voice came from the carriage.
Emboldened, the Blue-clothed Guard immediately resumed their advance on the five.
Just then, a scream came from a distant Blue-clothed Guard.
"AH!"
A vine wrapped around him, instantly sucking the Blue-clothed Guard into a dried-up husk.
"A demon!"
"Careful!"
The Blue-clothed Guard were terrified.
Nalan Hongjie leaped from the carriage, drew his longsword, and sliced a vine to pieces.
’This is the Demon Race?’
His longsword slash barely managed to sever the vine, much to Nalan Hongjie’s surprise.
SWISH SWISH SWISH!!!
From beneath the ground, more than a dozen vines burst out at once, whipping toward Nalan Hongjie.
"Hmph!"
Nalan Hongjie snorted coldly and activated his Martial Arts True Intent!
A wave of blue Sword Intent swept out, cutting down the thrashing vines.
The member of the Demon Race underground seemed to realize how formidable Nalan Hongjie was, sinking back into the earth and fleeing into the distance.
Nalan Hongjie gave chase with his sword for a while, only turning back with a frown after completely losing the Demon Race member’s trail.
Upon his return, Nalan Hongjie discovered that in just a few moments, over a dozen Martial Artists of the Tendon Transformation Realm had been killed by the Demon Race member. Some were turned into dried husks, while others were devoured whole, leaving not even bones behind.
With this, the battle scars at the post station finally had an explanation.
Looking again at the members of the Changle Martial Arts Hall, who were frozen in terror, the Blue-clothed Guards’ suspicions naturally vanished.
This demon’s method of attack also explained what happened to the thieves who ambushed the group; they were likely devoured by the demon as well.
As for these five, they were probably just lucky. Getting ambushed first might have ironically saved them from being attacked and eaten by the demon.
"Commander, should we still detain these five?" a Blue-clothed Guard asked.
Nalan Hongjie waved his hand. "Let them go."
Nalan Hongjie’s mind was now completely preoccupied with that mysterious member of the Demon Race.
’To think that a pure-blooded member of the Demon Race would actually appear in the territory of Jiangnan Prefecture.’
’I’ll have to report this information properly later and have my colleagues in the surrounding areas prepare their defenses.’
Seeing the Blue-clothed Guard part to make way for them, Lu Changfeng led the three disciples, pulling the handcart carrying Wei He, and quickly left the area.
Underground, Hua Chengyu breathed a sigh of relief.
’I’ve finally solved the trouble for the five of them up there.’
’It was my fault this time for forgetting to erase the traces of the battle. Thankfully, I managed to remedy it in time.’
...
And so, Lu Changfeng’s group of five safely broke through the Blue-clothed Guard’s blockade and interrogation.
Before noon, the party finally reached Wang City.
After paying the entrance fee, the five of them entered the city.
The first order of business was to find a clinic to treat Wei He’s injuries.
Although they had tried to treat Wei He with their own medicine on the road, the effect wasn’t very good.
Soon, Lu Changfeng and the others found an apothecary for Wei He.
The apothecary was run by a Jiangnan Prefecture native. As a Fifth-class Citizen, he had to pay very high taxes, but the owner was content just to be alive and able to survive in his homeland.
After some treatment, Wei He’s condition improved slightly, but it would likely take ten days to half a month for him to recover fully.
This would not only affect their mission timeline, but the five from Changle Martial Arts Hall also had no desire to linger in Daliang territory.
Seeing the guilt written all over Wei He’s face, Lu Changfeng knew it was time for his performance to begin.
Wei He suggested that Lu Changfeng and the others go on ahead to find Li Xiao.
Lu Changfeng had the other three disciples leave, then approached Wei He, who was lying on a sickbed in the apothecary.
"Senior Brother Wei He, I can help you recover quickly, but please, you must keep my secret," Lu Jun said with feigned hesitation.
Wei He looked bewildered.
Lu Changfeng had already activated his Clone’s ’Ancient Purple Lotus Demon Bloodline’.
Wei He then saw Lu Jun’s hair turn purple, strange, demonic patterns appear on her face, and a gorgeous, form-fitting purple robe materialize on her body.
"Is this... Bloodline Power on the level of the Innate Demon Clan?" Being well-versed in such matters, Wei He instantly recognized the origin of the bloodline emanating from Lu Jun.