He then opened his mouth and said, "Heh heh, do you find this funny?"
Tang Ziyue retorted, "Isnāt it funny? Loyalty and righteousness donāt seem to concern you, do they?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Jie laughed and said, "Youāre absolutely right, loyalty and righteousness really donāt concern me. But Mr. Tang, my loyalty or lack thereof isnāt important. Whatās important is that everyone in the world must believe that I am loyal and righteous!"
"Do you understand?"
After hearing these words, Tang Ziyue stood there, stunned, saying, "You truly have the bearing of an overlord!"
Chen Jie responded, "Thank you for the compliment."
After finishing, Chen Jie said to Tang Ziyue, "Let me tell you something. Your assassin, Zhao San, heās likely been exposed by now. Heās probably been caught by Liu Song, or heās dead. Weāll head over there shortly, and Liu Song will probably give us the shipment of iron goods. Afterwards, when you return, please relay a message to the Gang Leader from me."
Upon hearing this, Tang Ziyue was completely astounded. Zhao San had actually been captured, indicating a total failure of the plan.
But how exactly had Chen Jiusi managed to do it?
How had he seen through the plan and how could he have informed Liu Song so quickly? It was inconceivable.
Up until now, Tang Ziyue had not figured out how Chen Jie had pulled this off.
And it was clear that Chen Jie did not intend to explain so much to him. Instead, he just smiled at him and said, "Mr. Tang, please bring a message back for me."
Tang Ziyue asked, "What message?"
Chen Jie said, "A good message. Just tell the Gang Leader that my loyalty, Chen Jiusiās, is clear for the heavens and the earth to witness. As a Gang Leader, he should not be prejudiced against me. It would be a pity to wound the heart of a loyal subject like me!"
After hearing this, Tang Ziyue looked deeply at Chen Jie.
Then, suppressing all his emotions, he began to collect himself, and with a forced smile said, "Ha ha, Master Chenās loyalty is as clear as the sun and the moon. Rest assured, I will definitely relay the Hall Masterās words."
"Thatās good, thatās good. Iām troubling you with this matter, Mr. Tang."
Tang Ziyue replied, "Itās my duty, my duty."
Chen Jie then said, "Well then, Mr. Tang, let us enter the forest. Once we cross it, our mission will be accomplished."
After hearing this Tang Ziyue said, "Hmm, after you, Hall Master, I need to catch my breath."
"Oh, then I shall wait for Mr. ahead."
At this moment, Chen Jie slowly rode his horse towards the forest, while Tang Ziyue, lagging behind, watched Chen Jieās back with boundless wariness in his gaze.
Chen Jie rode on with a smile playing on his lips, and soon spurred his horse forward. Xiao Hu hurried to catch up, asking, "Hall Master, what did you say to Tang Ziyue to scare him like that?"
Chen Jie laughed and replied, "Solving the chess game."
"What?"
Xiao Hu looked puzzled as Chen Jie explained, "Solving the chess game. He likes to arrange the pieces on the chessboard, to control and grasp the overall situation, right? I just helped him understand the ingenuity of his arrangement!"
Hearing this, Xiao Hu said, "I donāt understand."
Chen Jie replied, "Youāll understand later. This kind of show-off needs to be dealt with in this way."
Chen Jie continued to smile as he rode on, while Tang Ziyue, who was left behind, looked at Chen Jieās back as if he were seeing a terrifying giant.
In his presence, Tang Ziyueās own schemes seemed laughably flimsy, as if a single poke could shatter them.
Thinking of this, Tang Ziyue took a deep breath.
"Iāve lost this round, but donāt be smug, Chen Jiusi. Iāll definitely win the next one," Tang Ziyue silently encouraged himself.
Swoosh!
Thwack!
Just as Tang Ziyue felt utterly defeated, suddenly a Cloud Piercing Arrow flew into the air.
Instantly, everyone present was startled, and Tang Ziyue was completely dumbfounded. What was going on?
At that moment, Chen Jieās expression changed, and Xiao Hu shouted, "Hall Master, no good! Itās our Hallās Cloud Piercing Arrow!"
The Cloud Piercing Arrow shot into the sky and exploded with a bang, revealing a Tiger Head.
This was indeed the Cloud Piercing Arrow of the White Tiger Hall, and there was only one person here who could have itāthat was Chen Ba.
The spy hidden within Guild Cao.
But now he was firing the Cloud Piercing Arrow here, indicating that he was in a dangerous situation, and not just any dangerāit must be an extremely perilous situation for him to deploy the Cloud Piercing Arrow.
Chen Jie immediately yelled, "Brothers, charge with me!"
With that, he galloped on his horse, leading the way, and Xiao Hu handed him a long spear from behind.
Chen Jie, holding the long spear, charged into the forest on horseback, Xiao Hu followed with Falchion Knife in hand, protecting Chen Jieās back, while the rest of the fifty White Tiger Guards charged into the forest in a well-ordered formation led by Zhou Zheng.
At this time, Tang Ziyue was also utterly confused, but he followed them into the forest.
"Hall Master, itās Chen Ba!"
Xiao Hu, with keen eyesight, immediately spotted Chen Ba lying in the forest, covered in blood, lying on the ground, unclear if he was dead or alive, clutching a bamboo tube with the White Tiger Hallās Cloud Piercing Arrow inside.
Chen Jie galloped over on his horse, seeing Chen Ba lying in a pool of blood.
He quickly dismounted, lifted Chen Ba from the ground, and channeled a surge of inner strength into him, then looked seriously at Chen Ba and asked, "Brother Chen Ba, are you alright?"
Xiao Hu dismounted and ran over, crouching in front of Chen Ba and said, "Chen Ba, itās Chen Xiaohu, what happened to you?"
At this moment, Chen Ba was covered in blood, a deep wound slashed across his back, dyeing it red. Chen Jieās arms were also smeared with fresh blood.
Chen Jie looked at his blood-stained hands, his face turning ashen. Who was it that had harmed his brother at such a time?
Chen Jie searched on his body, found an elixir, and fed it to Chen Ba, continuing to channel True Qi into him.