Chapter 426: Chapter 352: Investigation Chapter 426: Chapter 352: Investigation “Well…I can’t say for sure~”
Accompanied by Qiong Ying’s words, the atmosphere in the scene seemed to tense up slightly.
But soon, Su Yuan smiled and said, “Earlier, you saw through my avatar, didn’t you?”
Qiong Ying was quite surprised. She did indeed notice that the one who appeared afterward was not Su Yuan’s real body.
However, she only showed a brief change in expression at that moment. She didn’t expect Su Yuan, who was dealing with Levinton and Trish, to catch that.
Seeing his reaction, Su Yuan knew he was right.
“Moreover, they didn’t release you from the Scattered Spirit Lock, not because they couldn’t open it, but because they didn’t want to.
And the reason they didn’t want to open it can only be because they found you troublesome, or more specifically…they were afraid of you, right?”
Qiong Ying’s eyes slightly narrowed as she looked at this Great Flame Country man, who was younger than herself, and suddenly laughed. “You’re not only strong, but your insight is also quite sharp…”
Su Yuan coldly snorted and said, “I know you’re not simple, but I hope that during the remaining journey, you behave as you did earlier. Otherwise…in special situations, we have the right to dispose of you!”
Su Yuan didn’t say these things just to bicker with Qiong Ying. He increasingly felt that Qiong Ying was not simple.
For the safety of the escort team, as well as Qiong Ying’s own safety, he found it necessary to give a friendly reminder.
Otherwise, following Xu Fengtian’s instructions, if the prisoner showed signs of threatening the convoy, they could eliminate him.
Perhaps because Su Yuan had just killed three people, Qiong Ying could sense a faint killing intent in his words.
It wasn’t a bluffing kind of intent but a genuine determination to act if necessary, a killing intent backed by real action.
Qiong Ying thought seriously for a moment, then smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I don’t plan to run away from you.”
Compared to emotional and moral regulations, personal safety was a stronger restraint for someone like Qiong Ying.
Su Yuan glanced at her and said, “That’s for the best.”
At that moment, a streak of lightning came from a distance, stopping instantly beside Su Yuan and Qiong Ying.
The lightning dissipated, transforming into Lin Chongyun.
“What’s going on?” Lin Chongyun hurriedly asked.
“Someone tried to rob the prisoner.”
Lin Chongyun looked around. “Where are they?”
Su Yuan replied, “They’ve been killed.”
Lin Chongyun froze for a moment, glanced at Su Yuan, and then looked at Qiong Ying, who was composed. Indeed, she was the missing prisoner.
Swiftly, he surveyed the surroundings, moving like thunder through the scene, closely examining it.
The battle had just ended not long ago. Lin Chongyun quickly sensed some lingering auras and Star Power fluctuations in the vicinity.
“Four auras, one of them is Su Yuan. And these lingering auras don’t seem weak…”
Lin Chongyun’s expression tightened. Turning his head to look at Su Yuan, he flashed with lightning and returned to Su Yuan’s side.
Lin Chongyun nodded. “Indeed, there was a battle. We really owe you this time.”
Su Yuan smiled. “How are the others?”
“Not awake yet. After I woke up and saw the engravings on the ground, I hurried west along the river.”
Without external interference, resistance to illusions mainly depended on personal will and spiritual talent.
Su Yuan nodded. “Let’s head back first.”
“Okay!”
Su Yuan and Lin Chongyun brought Qiong Ying back to the shore.
At this moment, Tang Jiao just woke up as well.
“What happened?” Tang Jiao exclaimed, quickly asking the two.
Lin Chongyun looked at Su Yuan, who explained, “Someone tried to rob the prisoner, but it’s been dealt with.”
“Rob the prisoner?”
Tang Jiao looked at Qiong Ying, who had consciously returned to the Solid Rock Cage on the back of the Solid Rock Dragon. Lin Chongyun went up to carefully inspect it.
Su Yuan said, “Let’s wait until everyone wakes up to explain.”
Tang Jiao looked at the unconscious people around and pondered for a moment. “I’ll try.”
Tang Jiao raised her hand, forming seals. Dark light surged around her, directly extending the Dark Domain to encompass everyone.
Su Yuan and Lin Chongyun also found their vision suddenly darkened. They couldn’t see their hands in front of their faces. There was no light at all.
“Dark Domain Erosion!”
Streaks of black energy emerged from the Dark Domain, heading toward everyone who hadn’t woken up.
Although they didn’t rush toward Su Yuan and Lin Chongyun,
the two scrutinized and discovered that it seemed to be a kind of spiritual energy that could evoke fear, essentially a spiritual attack.
The power was controlled to be limited, roughly just enough to frighten.
“Using poison to fight poison…” Su Yuan nodded secretly.
Tang Jiao was using the power of the Dark Domain to psychologically intimidate and disrupt the Water Dream Realm.
This method was indeed effective. Before long, everyone woke up.
“Where is this?”
“What happened? Was I dreaming just now?”
“…”
The newly awakened were momentarily panicked by the surrounding darkness. However, they were all Shining Star-level experts. They quickly assessed the situation and calmed down.
After everyone woke up, Tang Jiao lifted the Dark Domain.
Wu Jianghao immediately asked, “Envoys, what exactly happened?”
Su Yuan then explained to everyone about the earlier attempt to rob Qiong Ying.
“Illusions, huh? Such flashy stuff! If I catch them, I’ll beat them into mince!” Xiong Chunyang sneered disdainfully.
It was evident that Xiong Chunyang, who liked direct confrontations, despised illusion techniques.
He believed that only those unsure of their own strength would resort to such means, considering it a low-grade tactic.
The others could understand this muscle-brained view of illusion techniques but generally did not agree.
The fact was, illusions had a wide range of effectiveness. Masters of illusions were genuinely fearsome opponents.
Xiong Chunyang curiously asked, “How strong were those people who tried to rob the prisoner?”
Su Yuan thought for a moment. “Average, not bad.”
Xiong Chunyang pouted at this. “Boring.”
In Xiong Chunyang’s view, since Su Yuan alone handled all of them and brought the prisoner back, those who attempted the robbery couldn’t be that strong.
Although they knocked him and the others out with illusions, their actual strength was mediocre. Indeed, those who used illusions weren’t strong themselves.
Most of the escort team shared this opinion.
Only Lin Chongyun, who perceived the residual battle fluctuations, glanced at Su Yuan, realizing that the attackers were likely not ordinary.
Out of caution, Wu Jianghao said, “I’ll take some people to check the scene and scout the surroundings. Please wait a moment, envoys.”
“Alright.”
Su Yuan thought it was a good time to rest.
Tang Jiao also joined Wu Jianghao for the investigation.
Even on the river, they could feel some residual Star Power fluctuations, indicating a fierce battle.
After a detailed investigation, Tang Jiao and Wu Jianghao returned, finding the battle’s aftermath mostly dissipated. They could barely discern the traces from a few individuals.
There were no additional findings. So, Wu Jianghao discussed with Su Yuan and the others, then heightened their vigilance and continued on their way.
Countless miles away from West Channel River, in a quiet tea room in Hui City, Wang Xu and Xu Fengtian were silently drinking tea.
Before them lay a copper mirror, its light swirling, projecting the scene by the West Channel River.
Watching Su Yuan slay Bain and others, bringing Qiong Shi back to the team, Wang Xu nodded in approval.
“This prospective member named Su Yuan is quite impressive…”
Xu Fengtian was full of praise, nodding. “His observation, action, and combat abilities are all superior! His performance during the previous battle with the Hundred Flames Association was average, but this time he stood out.”
Wang Xu smiled. “Such a performance is indeed worthy of the qualification to be nominated by Lord Imperial Throne.”
Xu Fengtian was surprised. “You mean he was nominated by the Vermilion Bird Throne?”
“Indeed.”
Xu Fengtian suddenly understood. No wonder Xuanwu Imperial ceded so easily. The Vermilion Bird Throne had personally nominated him.
“At this rate, we should reach Yanluo Country’s border for handover in two or three days,” Wang Xu said.
Xu Fengtian took out a map. “Yes, after crossing the West Channel River, it’s mainly Horror Mountain. Once we pass Horror Mountain, we’re near Yanluo’s border.”
Wang Xu said, “According to our information, some people likely don’t want to see these prisoners successfully returned to Yanluo. After all, some of them hold critical intelligence…”
Xu Fengtian snorted coldly. “These people are in the south, yet they’ve connected with the north!”
Wang Xu smiled. “Let’s wait and see which northern faction they’ve contacted. I’m here to investigate this matter…”
Even within the Sky Patrol Department, the number of Radiant Moon-level experts was limited. There weren’t many to watch over four Shining Star-level rookies.
Xu Fengtian was the one overseeing this mission, while Wang Xu was here for other investigations…