The Attack of the Wastrel

The few days of celebration did not last long. When Gu Lingzhi released Lord Fashen and the rest to return to the Alliance, the Empire’s army had caught up to them.

The men that had been sent after Gu Lingzhi consisted of five Demigods where two of them were from the Pan Family and the other three trained from the secret guards of the Pan Family.

With the Life Whip and Lord Fashen with them, Gu Lingzhi’s side did not have to worry about the Empire’s army. However, the Empire army had a hostage.

It was the captured Mao Dingling.

The moment Pan Yue saw Mao Dingling, his jaw hardened and he gritted his teeth as he swallowed his saliva. He pointed accusingly at Mao Dingling, “He is a greedy, cowardly fellow who sells out his friends. Do you think that we will surrender ourselves because of him?”

If Mao Dingling had not sought Pan Yue out when he was about to be caught, Pan Yue would not have gotten discovered. Mao Dingling could only be described to be a cowardly fellow. However, what infuriated Pan Yue the most was when Mao Dingling threw Pan Yue out as the target to divert attention away from him. If Gu Lingzhi had not appeared at the right moment, Pan Yue would have been captured.

Mao Dingling was rightfully offended by Pan Yue. However, he could only suppress his anger with the current state he was in. He directed his plea towards Lord Fashen, “Senior, please save me. I have been tortured to death by them in these few days.”

As he spoke, he raised his hand and showed the group a long scar that drew across his forearm, “After you escaped, these people directed their frustration at me. Senior…please save me.”

“Why should we save you when you are only going to betray us again?” Pan Yue coldly stated again. He turned towards Lord Fashen and whispered, “Master, there is no point in saving this greedy and cowardly person. If we save him, we might just end up harming ourselves when he stabs us in the back again. We should just leave him to die with the Empire. The sight of his disdainful face only makes me want to disfigure him.”

“You!” Mao Dingling snapped. The Demigod that held onto Mao Dingling tightened his grip around Mao Dingling’s hand, instantly causing Mao Dingling to yelp in pain. His face contorted with agony and he said, “I realize my wrongdoings and I regret my words to you that day. I…I was too anxious and I did things I should not have done. I will not do such things in the future…”

Pan Yue scoffed, “How much is your promise worth? Why should I believe you?”

Gu Lingzhi observed Mao Dingling’s reddened eyes at that point but she could not pinpoint whether it was desperation or anger behind him.

On the other hand, Lord Fashen considered the bigger picture. Although he was not happy with Mao Dingling for the betrayal, he reprimanded Pan Yue for his rudeness. It would be beneficial for the Alliance to have another Demigod. Looking at Mao Dingling directly, Fashen said, “Junior Mao, the Alliance would not abandon a Demigod.”

These words reassured Mao Dingling and his whitened face seemed to regain some color. His eyes shifted sideways and he glared at Pan Yue with hatred. So what if he betrayed Pan Yue? He was a Demigod. The Alliance would value him much higher than a prince of the North Qiu Kingdom.

Gu Lingzhi observed the tiny changes in expressions on Mao Dingling’s face and could not help frowning. Mao Dingling must not have known Pan Yue’s identity and importance for the Alliance. A great portion of the war efforts of the Alliance came from Pan Yue and he was more valuable to the Alliance compared to Mao Dingling. Once Mao Dingling returned to the Alliance, he would definitely be taught a lesson by Pan Yue.

Knowing the objective of the North Qiu army, the group would not hand over the Sacred Weapon just for Mao Dingling. In the next instant, Lord Fashen dashed towards the Demigod that held Mao Dingling with an iron grip. Rong Huachang did not waste a second to follow suit.

Although Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan were both not Demigods and they could not do much against top Demigods like Lord Fashen and Rong Huachang, they could stand their ground against regular Demigods. The two exchanged a look and targeted the weakest Demigod of the North Qiu army.

Pan Yue stood rooted to his spot, he was a low-grade Martial Sage and he considered himself powerless in this fight. To prevent being a burden if he was captured, he stayed close to Lord Fashen and chose a spot at the battlefield where he would be relatively safe.

As the most powerful Demigod among the group, Lord Fashen took on three other Demigods at once.

The battle between Demigods was intense and the spiritual energy that was released from the battle flooded the surroundings. In the blink of an eye, the sky was filled with spiritual energy based attacks that destroyed the area close by.

Rong Yuan and Gu Lingzhi had correctly identified the weakest Demigod of the group. With the perfect coordination and collaboration between the two, they seemed to have the upperhand in their battle against their enemy. At that point, it seemed that only Lord Fashen who currently battled against three others was in a tight spot.

The Demigod that held onto Mao Dingling was a despicable man. Every time Lord Fashen closed an attack down on him, he would bring Mao Dingling forward as a human shield, thus leaving Lord Fashen with no choice but to withdraw his attack.

The other two Demigods worked well together and the three formed a triangular formation with Mao Dingling as a human shield. This frustrated Lord Fashen and he felt at a loss of what to do. Observing the battle from a side, Pan Yue grunted and scoffed, “Using someone as a human shield when you are teaming up against one person. Are the Demigods of the North Qiu Kingdom so cowardly?”

His words drove a knife into the hearts of the five Demigods and they immediately glared at Pan Yue, scolding, “Bastard! If not for you, how could they escape from the seal the Chief Duke casted over the Royal Palace? Why would we be wasting so much time and resources on capturing them? If you had any values left, you would be helping us capture them!”

Pan Yue snickered, “Helping you guys would make me inhumane.” Lord Fashen was his master and he abided by the principle of respecting him like he was his own father. Pan Yue wished his real father would realize the absurdity of taking over the entire continent. It was only natural that he chose to side with Lord Fashen.

“You…you can’t even distinguish between family and foe. Your father wasted his love on you!” The Demigod fighting against Rong Huachang lost focus as he scolded Pan Yue. He tripped and almost sustained an injury that would make him lose the battle. Shooting a glare at Pan Yue, he blamed Pan Yue for being a distraction to him.

At these words, Pan Yue lowered his head and smirked to himself. If he had not acted dumb and playful in front of Pan Yu nor showed his wild nature, would Pan Yu continue to favour him over the other princes? For instance, his second brother got whatever he wanted when he was still alive, Pan Yu had treated him like a jewel. However, after he became a Martial Sage, he was misguided and went down the path of hatred.

Many people sympathised with Pan Yu after the incident happened. However, Pan Yu had not mourned much after Pan En’s death whereby he quickly tried to raise Pan Wen and build him as the next heir to the throne. Furthermore, he made sure to arrange the marriage between Gu Linglong and Pan Wen to cover up Pan Wen’s shame of being infertile. During the war, he treated Pan Wen especially well, and rewarded Pan Wen for his war efforts.

Pan Yue did not believe that Pan Yu truly loved and doted on Pan Wen. Pan En served as a clear example for him. If it was true love, why would Pan Yu be so nonchalant over Pan En’s death? Why would Pan Yu be so vicious against him? Pan Yu had been merciless when he ordered the guards to go against Pan Yue that day.

As he recalled that moment, Pan Yue could not help glaring at Gu Lingzhi. He remembered that Pan Yu had ordered for her to be caught alive while he did not care about Pan Yue’s life. See… what a father Pan Yu was. His own son was less important than Gu Lingzhi. 

In the midst of Pan Yue’s internal conflict, it seemed that the battle was favouring the Alliance. All of a sudden, Lord Fashen pounced forward and stretched his hand out towards the captor of Mao Dingling. His sharp eyes were directed towards his enemy’s forearm before he pulled the Demigod’s arm down strongly, throwing the Demigod down. With that, Mao Dingling was freed and Lord Fashen wasted no time by pushing Mao Dingling straight into the arms of Pan Yue.

“Take care of him. Make sure he does not get injured.”

It was a joke to place a Martial Sage in charge of a Demigod. However, the current state Mao Dingling was in placed him in a situation where he could not argue. The circulation of spiritual energy through Mao Dingling’s body must have been cut off by the North Qiu men. Lord Fashen’s words served as a warning and reminder to Pan Yue to avoid taking revenge on Mao Dingling then.

“Understood, mMster.” Pan Yue agreed reluctantly but he continued to glare at Mao Dingling.

Don’t harm him? There were many ways to torture someone without harming him physically. Pan Yue’s lips curled up into a smirk as he reached into his Storage Ring for a grey-colored pill.

“Senior Mao, you must be poisoned looking at your weak state. It is okay, I have an antidote here that can cure most poisons. Let me feed it to you.”

As he said this, Pan Yue held Mao Dingling up and he forced the pill into Mao Dingling’s mouth.

All of a sudden, the supposed weakened Mao Dingling shot his arm forward and grabbed Pan Yue’s arm, a sinister smile crossing his face. “For this old life of mine, I do not need an antidote. Your Highness should keep it for himself.”

With that, he squeezed his grip around Pan Yue’s hand and the pill intended for him shot into Pan Yue’s mouth. Grabbing Pan Yue’s throat, he yelled, “Stop! If you don’t, I will crush his neck!”