The Attack of the Wastrel

The moment Pan Luming escaped through the front door, he yelled and called all the guards forward.

Lord Fashen and Rong Huachang immediately frowned. If all the Demigods of the Royal Palace gathered together, they would be in trouble. Furthermore, Gu Lingzhi had not appeared yet and it would not be right for them to leave on their own.

“What happened? What happened to Pan Luming and Pan Liwen?”

Just as the two were debating on what to do, Gu Lingzhi’s voice rang from behind them.

After she passed the Life Whip to Rong Yuan, she left the Inheritance Space. She had not expected that the stonemen would still be fighting against Lord Fashen then.

At the sight of Gu Lingzhi, Rong Huachang heaved a huge sigh of relief, “You are finally out!”

Rong Huachang briefed Gu Lingzhi on what happened. Once she learned that Pan Liwen was killed and Pan Luming had escaped, Gu Lingzhi pondered for a second before she instructed, “Lord Fashen and Grand-aunt, please return to the Inheritance Space, I will try and sneak out.”

From the movement of the air outside, Lord Fashen could sense that people were rushing over to them. Without thinking twice, he nodded his head. In the next instant, the familiar energy shrouded them and they disappeared.

Gu Lingzhi could make out the figures of men rushing over to the ancestral hall from the end of the corridor. She glared coldly at them before she turned and returned to the room.

Pan Luming could vaguely make out their actions and he scoffed, “Do you think you will be fine hiding in the room?”

His eyes swept past the men he brought and he instructed, “Take them down without any mercy! The Pan Wen who came back from the Alliance is a spy of the Alliance. He is a descendant of the Spirit Tribe. Capture him and interrogate him about the Spirit Tribe. If our master is happy, he might bring our entire tribe to the Realm of the Gods. The spiritual energy in the Realm of the Gods is more than a hundred times thicker than what it is here, we can become deities in that way!”

As Pan Luming spoke, a fiery desire sparked in his eyes. Even if Pan Luming did not bring the tribe to the Realm of the Gods, he could not let them escape!

Excited by what Pan Luming said, the Demigods quickened their pace and shouted, “Yes, Chief Duke! We will not let them escape!”

As their shout echoed through the corridor, a few of them reached Pan Luming’s room. They barged in without a second thought.

“…Where are they?” Completely perplexed, a Demigod asked. He rubbed his eyes a second time but was confronted with an empty room, “Why are they missing? We clearly saw them step in.”

Pan Luming was dumbfounded as well. He had been completely sure that he had them and was shocked that they had vanished again. Did they enter a space again? 

“There are seals placed in this room. Without my permission, there is no way for them to escape.” A thought struck in Pan Luming’s head and he convinced himself that he had them. He instructed Demigods to wait in the room before he said, “Grandmaster mentioned before that the Spirit Tribe leader could open a mysterious space. The space is a world that can contain anything in it. Lord Fashen and the rest must have hidden in the space. As long as we wait here, we will definitely be able to catch them.”

“Could they leave by another space?” Someone questioned.

Small worlds had many different exits. If they wasted their time waiting there, Gu Lingzhi and her crew might leave via another exit.

Pan Luming glanced at the man, “Not possible. Although that space can be accessed anywhere and anytime, its weakness is that the person must exit and enter from the same place. Back then, Grandmaster recognized this weakness and used it to kill the Spirit Tribe leader. As such, we only need to wait here and catch them in the trap.”

Could they really wait there and kill Gu Lingzhi? Of course not! 

When Gu Lingzhi turned and entered Pan Luming’s room, she used Zi Zi’s special ability of passing through all kinds of barriers to successfully pass through the secret room.

As the few Demigods waited in the room to catch them, Gu Lingzhi had already turned into the appearance of a Demigod and casually walked out of the Earth Palace.

It was only a few hours later before the Demigods learned from the guards outside the Pan Luming’s room that a Demigod had exited the room suspiciously. However, by then, Gu Lingzhi had already reached the palace gates.

At that critical point, a few Demigods called and shouted at her to stop in her tracks. Gu Lingzhi only put on a smirk before she blended in with the crowd.

The North Qiu City was much livelier than it was before. Due to the tight security around the palace in recent days, many curious citizens formed a crowd around the palace.

“I am guessing that our king has another grand plan and that is why the palace security is so tight nowadays. The time when the seal around the palace is when the Empire would counterattack the Alliance.” A citizen glanced in the direction of the palace and guessed.

“I don’t think so, if that was the case, why do the guards look so nervous? Something must have happened. Do you think…the Chief Duke has passed away?” Pan Luming’s health condition was no secret in the kingdom. Many people knew that he was old and it was not surprising that many made that conclusion.

“Nonsense, we are not allowed to speak of such nonsense here. Who is the Chief Duke? How can he pass away so easily? What if the Chief Duke is breaking through the demigod cultivation rank right now?”

“None of you are right. I have a brother in the palace who is a guard. On the day the seal was placed up, the Chief Duke seemed to have obtained a certain weapon. I believe that they must be testing the power of that weapon.”

“Is that true? That is great…”

Having passed through palace security, Gu Lingzhi overheard people buzzing among each other outside the palace. She acted like a regular passer-by and as she listened to the conversations, she could not help laughing to herself.

One of them was right. The North Qiu Kingdom had one less Chief Duke, however it was not Pan Luming.

Pan Luming was a step too late. The moment Gu Lingzhi left, they sealed up the entire palace and a few Demigods flew into the sky and surveyed the surroundings. They looked for suspicious people and mobilized all guards of the palace to be on standby. Pan Luming’s voice boomed through the sky, “Pan Wen, you have been misguided by Lord Fashen. I promise to you that as long as you admit to your mistake and hand over Lord Fashen and his accomplices, I will forget everything you have done.”

As he spoke, Pan Luming used his mental energy to survey through the expressions of all the citizens on the ground, trying to find a crack in one of them.

However, Gu Lingzhi’s acting abilities surpassed many and when she put on the appearance of another, she would fully integrate herself in that character.

Nothing seemed out of place! Pan Luming fumed in frustration. He thought his words would sway Pan Wen and even if Pan Wen was not swayed, the descendant of Spirit Tribe might react. However, everyone below him felt normal. Some of them wore looks of surprise or disbelief. Could they have left already?

Pan Luming continued to persuade ‘Pan Wen’ and he only gave up after a few more times.

The cities nearby the capital of North Qiu City were strictly guarded by the Demigods and no one was allowed to enter within a hundred feet of the doors.

Was it a crime to get close to the city gates? This move unsettled the citizens of the North Qiu Kingdom.

While the citizens originally paid little attention to what happened, they were disturbed by the changes made to their lives because of the incident. If no one was allowed to get close to the city gates, how would they return home? How would they conduct their businesses?

However, they accepted the orders that were passed. Most people who lived near the city gates obediently sought other places to live at temporarily and those who refused to leave were jailed.

How could this be? Everyone who lived near the city gates were furious with their government. However, before they could raise their objections, they were suppressed by the army of the North Qiu Kingdom’s Royal Palace. Houses and shops near the city gates were shut down quickly.

These drastic changes happened so quickly, everything was carried out within two hours. Even Gu Lingzhi was stunned by the actions that were taken. Before she could reach the city gate, she was hurried back into the city by the guards.

If she knew this would happen, she would not have taken her time to put on a show for Pan Luming. It seemed that he had deliberately said those words in an attempt to stall her and gain time to shut down the city.

Gu Lingzhi had to admit that this was a smart move.

Pan Luming knew that virtual seals were useless against Gu Lingzhi and hence he created a physical separation of the city and the outside world. For Gu Lingzhi to leave the city, she would have to cross this separation and her abnormal actions would be reported by the guards to Pan Luming.

But could this really stop her? Gu Lingzhi laughed to herself as she observed the guards at the city gate. A group of guards stood fiercely by the gates and as they carried out their duties, Gu Lingzhi entered a building near the city gates.

Hitting the owner of the building on the head, he blacked out. Gu Lingzhi released Zi Zi from the Fenlan Painting and pointed towards the city gates, “Senior Zi Zi, can you create a pathway for me to exit the city. I would need a pathway that is one hundred and fifty feet long.”

“You can count on me.” Zi Zi patted himself on the chest with confidence and declared, “I may not be able to do much, but I am good at digging holes. One hundred and fifty feet right? I’ll need an hour.”