Chapter 882: Where there's smoke there is a...

Chapter 882: Where there’s smoke there is a…

Smoke rose into the night sky, as the Helian Family’s Mansion was burning.

“I should have listened to you, Daoist Wu”, the Helian Family Head spoke with a bitter voice as he looked at his brother, amid the rubble, “I should have taken the first offer you gave”

“You had the heart to trust someone you thought was close to you”, Wu Long spoke in a neutral tone of voice standing in his usual pose next to the Family Head, his wife, son, and in front of those who supported the Family Head, in a standoff against the crowd of those who supported the uncle of Helian Muyang.

“Hahaha! You really did it! Hahaha!”, Wei Yuanjie was standing on Wu Long’s side, laughing while holding his belly with one hand, and pointing with the finger of the other at the Elder of the Helian Family, “You really accused your brother of trying to assassinate me! Hahaha! For what motive? I didn’t ask before because I thought it was such a dumb scheme! But you really did it, wahahaha!”

The brother of the Family Head, and all those who supported him had slightly lost expressions, as they were convinced the 9th prince was on their side, which gave them not only legitimacy, but put wind into their sails.

Not to mention, the swift takeover they planned failed, as the Family Head was prepared in advance.

Not a single person who supported the Family Head was hurt, and their vulnerable families were already safely hidden away by Fen Baihu the moment the Family Council at which the brother made the accusation started.

The destruction of the mansion and the fire which rapidly spread, was purely from the exchange of a few strikes between the Family Head and his brother.

“You! You all conspired…!”, the brother of the Family Head pointed his slightly shaking from anger finger, vaguely meaning his brother, Wu Long and the 9th prince.

“I only let you do what you originally planned to do. No one made you do anything”, Wu Long shrugged, quite amused at the accusation of conspiracy from this man of all people.

“Eeei! No matter! I was prepared to do it the hard way anyway!”, the traitorous brother spoke, angrily swathing his hand to the side, “Soon, an army-…”

As he spoke, a dust cloud rose on the horizon with a booming sound.

—

There, in the light of the moon, four people were blocking the way for a small army of thugs from the Shallow Gorge City, as a giant ruler smashed a hasty one who ran ahead of everyone else into a mushed pile of flesh.

“Hahaha! Finally I can use my new weapon!”, Nie Guanting spoke with loud laughter and a wide grin, his eyes alight with anticipation.

“Yes, yes, it’s a weapon gifted by Boss himself, we heard that many times, brother”, Kwon Qianhong rolled his eyes, “You’ve been taking out and polishing it ever since you got it, you made it practically sparkle! All for what, to reflect the light of the moon for barely a second before you made it into a bloody mess?!”

“Haha, I was taking it out to show it off”, Nie Guanting replied with a smug smile as he straightened, raising the bloodied weapon back up and placing it down into the ground next to him.

“Haa~”, Old Yen shook his head with a sigh, “At this rate he’s going to cherish it so much he’s not going to ask for a new weapon from the Infinite Tempers Hall when he would need one”

“Now, now… gentlemen”, Butler Bang spoke in his ever-calm and polite tone, as almost imperceptible sound of steel wires filled his surroundings, and thin lines of moonlight sparkled and disappeared all around, “We can discuss all that later. Young Master is busy with other things and doesn’t have time to deal with small annoyances like these thugs. Let us get to work”

And as he spoke those words a group of his subordinates dressed in the robes of servants with the small “Wu” character sewn on the sleeves and right chest of their robes, came out of shadows all around him, looking at the army of thugs with cold eyes as weapons appeared in their hands.

—

Wu Long looked in the direction of the dust cloud, and then back at the traitor with a calm gaze, “I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you on that army of yours”

The now former Elder of the Helian Family looked in the same direction, seeing a fight break out, “Y-You…”, he turned to Wu Long with a venomous look.

Without that army of thugs he would fail, as he had to contend with the larger portion of the Helian Family that supported the Family Head, rather than the third of them who supported him.

“I can understand”, Wu Long nodded, “At first you too thought it was a tragedy Helian Muyang was born sickly, but after some time, you saw an opportunity. You saw how much your brother was willing to relinquish of his influence and give it to you if you just played the part of the one who was willing to help in hard times…”

“Sh-shut up! What do you know?!”, the traitorous brother shouted.

“…and then, after a few years, you saw it, a real chance to become the Family Head yourself. You were already practically treated as one by others when you were in the Shallow Gorge City…”, Wu Long continued unperturbed by that outburst.

“So what?! Yes, I planned to take that position, but it was basically mine already anyway! I worked for it! What did he do to deserve that position?! He only got it because he is a few years older, just because he is firstborn! He never had to work to get it! He never had to make effort to get anything! It was all given to him!”, the traitor shouted in anger and frustration, feeling as if he was judged unfairly.

“…yet you didn’t understand your brother at all. Because he was going to give you the position of the Family Head on his own, since he felt you deserved it for all that you did for him, and felt that he ultimately failed as the Head of the larger Helian Family when his son’s condition took precedence over his duties. It just got delayed as he was putting everything in order while Helian Muyang went to the Secret Realm”, Wu Long finished.

“…”, the traitor widened his eyes, stunned, as he turned to look at his brother.

The Helian Family Head closed his eyes and sighed, slightly shaking his head.

“So what will it be?”, Wu Long asked, still looking at the traitor, but this time addressing the Family Head, “I will leave his fate in your hands”

“Thank you, Daoist Wu”, the Helian Family Head spoke in a heavy tone, “I cannot express how much our Family owes you, over and over. And this consideration is also something that I am deeply thankful for. Although he ultimately betrayed me, I cannot watch him die, so the punishment is banishment from the Helian Family, along with everyone who supported him”

“So be it”, Wu Long nodded, accepting the Helian Family Head’s choice which he partially expected.

This meant that all assets of the Helian Family, and all of the Beasts of Burden would be taken away into the Mystic Realm, as those remaining no longer belonged to the family, and thus had no claim to even a portion of the family’s possessions.

Perhaps the land would remain in their possession, but with their small numbers, and no wealth to hire protection, they were unlikely to retain ownership of it as other clans neighboring theirs would likely carve up the territory among themselves.

They were now reduced to rogue cultivators.

However, the tratior, having overcome the shock of the previous revelation, made a grin “Who said you won? Who will spare who? Hahaha! I have backers that you cannot even fathom!”

Wu Long’s eyes narrowed at that statement, and then a slightly annoyed expression appeared on his face as he felt presences approaching from afar.

“You-…! Isn’t it enough?!”, the Helian Family Head spoke with astonishment, “How far down are you going to-…!”

“Haa~, this is troublesome, you know?”, a voice full of frustration resounded over the mansion grounds, as several figures appeared in the skies, “I thought you were going to take over the Family Head position ‘easily and swiftly’, as well as without us… it’s not like your family’s that important to us. I only got involved because you came to me first. I have enough headache with people suddenly falling through the face of the World or something, with no trace of them anywhere…”

‘3rd-level Essence Ignition Realm… could be worse’, Wu Long looked not at the leader of those who newly arrived, who was speaking and was in 9th-level Essence Gathering Realm, but at the one floating in the air at the very back of the group, looking around with disinterest, as if none of what was happening concerned him.

But at that moment, the leader of the newly arrived group, who was also circling the whole situation with his eyes as he was speaking with annoyance, suddenly stopped his gaze on Bi Rui, or rather, on the three shields floating around her.

“You! Where did you get those shields!”, he shouted, pointing at her, his tone full of arrogance as if he commanded her to answer, as well as surprise as he didn’t expect to see those shields here.

“Heh, I knew killing that guy was going to set off some sparks, but I never thought it’d catch fire so quickly… but then again, I could already see smoke rising all around, and as they say, where there’s smoke…”, Wu Long chuckled, shaking his head.

And then while taking out the Sky Piercer he also obtained from the leader of the Seven Scars Guild just as Bi Rui’s shields, raised his voice as he asked, slightly shaking the spear “You talking about the owner of this one? It seems I’m the harbinger of bad news today… he’s dead”

———–

End of Volume 8: Smoke

Hehe, it might be a bit abrupt, but I found it was a good time to end the volume here ^^

Thank you very much for following the story throughout the 8th volume, my dear readers. I hope you enjoyed the big and smaller arcs that came in it.

As I always say, it is a great joy to be able to share the novel with you.

I will see you in the next volume, Volume 9: Fire

And as always, thank you for reading and your incredible support!!!