Chapter 935: Joint Tactics

Shangguan Feiyun just arrived and Shangguan Feixiong was gone with his team.

It only worked to drive his fury ever higher, cursing at their fading figures, "Damn lily-livered fossil! Seeing me here got you shaking in your boots? You're nothing! Since you can't beat me you resort to living bombs? Even an old coot like you has fallen so low. But if you're to send a human bomb you could at least go all the way and send a Genesis Stage expert! What was the point of a fresh Soul Harmony punk? And you call yourselves heroes? If you're dirtying your hands, go all the way, not act like the cowards and useless bag of bones you are! What a Shangguan Clan Head you turned out to be...

Shangguan Feiyun's mouth was an endless well of curses born out of the hatred and rage from the earlier blast he had been under. He did not only aim for Shangguan Feixiong's shamelessness but also Shangguan Yulin's weakness, unable to harm him at all.

The soul of Shangguan Yulin would've fallen into depression if he heard it from whatever hell he was in.

[Why me? I'm just the messenger. How did I even die?]

He just went out with a bang without even knowing. The thunderflame then consumed his soul, robbing him of any chance of survival.

One could say he was a... poor, unfortunate soul.

(PN: Any Little Mermaid fans out there?)

Never knowing what got him even after death. But the moment he decided to be Zhuo Fan's messenger was the second his fate as martyr was set in stone, taking one for the noble cause of this Demonic Emperor's grand rescue plan.

Zhuo Fan had no intention to send any messages, only to send him to his death. That stuff with deals and exchanges was only an excuse.

"Sword King Feiyun, save your breath. They never were after you. You're cursing the wrong tree!"

Whoosh~

Danqing Shen and Baili Jingwei arrived and the latter shook his head seeing the Sword King consumed by rage.

[A man of status he is, but only a martial practitioner at heart, unable to escape his crude disposition..]

Shangguan Feiyun shook and asked, "What's that, Prime Minister? They didn't want me dead? What about that detonation and then that sudden attack? I have lost the Soaring Sword so their only reason to come here is to go after my life! Not to mention the punk blew up right next to me. If that isn't already obvious, what is? How is that not an attempt on my life?"

"Ha-ha-ha, Sword King Feiyun, everyone knows how amazing you are."

Baili Jingwei shook his head, "If they were after your head, they'd come up with a far more intricate plan and not some hasty idea. Just look at yourself, there's not a hair out of place."

"That's being cautious, blocking the black flame in time..."

"The flame is deadly, but your instincts are much honed as a Sword King than any other Genesis Stage expert. Not even a Soul Harmony kid's detonation can escape your senses. It's easy to tell from the sudden surge that a detonation was coming as well. The only way the ambush would have worked was if they used one in the same stage."

Baili Jingwei gave a wry smile, "Sword King, you need to think about it. What kind of a ambush points to using a tactic that guarantees not to take the target down?"

Shangguan Feiyun shook and exclaimed, "Prime Minister, you mean..."

"They just wanted us to think it was a temporary attempt on your life." Baili Jingwei had a creepy smile on his face.

Shangguan Feiyun's heart jumped in shock, "Temporary?"

"Yes."

Baili Jingwei laughed, "For Sword King to understand it better, I invite you to go back to the secret room together, ha-ha-ha..."

Baili Jingwei flew with Danqing Shen as his loyal guard. Shangguan Feiyun was quick to follow.

Back at the tunnel, of the sea of black flames, only a few motes remained here and there.

Shangguan Feiyun waved his sleeve and sent the still burning rocks in the tunnel away. This cleared the way for the trio.

The tunnel was just as narrow, just that its length was now cut in half, making it easy for them to reach the room.

Danqing Shen and Shangguan Feiyun gasped to see the bed empty.

Sensing the cold sheets, they knew the child was long gone. Shangguan Feiyun cried out, "Where is he? When did he leave?"

"Rescued while the attacking Shangguan clan drew our attention." Baili Jingwei analyzed.

Shangguan Feiyun shuddered and gasped, "Prime Minister, you knew?"

"From the very start..."

Baili Jingwei's eyes shone and smirked, "Our opponent wasn't the Shangguan clan but Gu Yifan!"

Shangguan Feiyun cried out, "Him? How did he do it? Didn't we agree on an exchange? Why..."

"We did agree, but do you trust ourselves to let the father and son go free after we got the Soaring Sword?"

Baili Jingwei shook his head, "If I don't trust the deal, then you can be sure Gu Yifan won't either. The Soaring Sword is his leverage. Once removed, nothing can stop us from killing him. How far do you think a Radiant Stage father can run with his injured son? It makes sense he'd need Shangguan clan's cover. But would they help him without the Soaring Sword? From the start, he never planned on following through on the deal, only after taking our bargaining chip."

Baili Jingwei looked around the empty room and chuckled, "I have yet to figure out how he slipped in and succeeded in taking his son through the chaos, but the minute Shangguan Yulin demanded to see the child, I knew he planned a rescue. The rest were a series of plans. Shangguan Yulin's detonation, then the black flame's invasion of the tunnel, all a show of strength to unbalance our state of mind.

"Anxiety causes men to be irrational and fall for his trap. That's why I said, Sword King Feiyun, that the attempt on you was temporary. If you had calmed down and discovered the child was missing, you'd see the target wasn't you to begin with."

Shangguan Feiyun's brow shook, looking tense at Baili Jingwei and nodding.

[Everything makes sense now!]

"Next came Shangguan Feixiong, leaving as quickly as they attacked, to lure us away. This was all to enrage and strike at your name, so Sword King Feiyun would believe this was an attempt on yourself so you'd strike in anger and away from here. Then there's the black flame covering the tunnel. With the guards fearful of it, the only sensible thing for them was to follow you."

Baili Jingwei smiled as he unraveled the mystery, "This gave him the opening to slip in when no one was around and save the child. He had Shangguan Yulin deliver a message so he'd ingrain in our minds that we'd make the exchange in two weeks and anything that happened within this time was out of his hands. This led to us immediately believing it to be the Shangguan clan behind Shangguan Yulin's detonation while excluding him as being part of the equation."

"Ha-ha-ha, Gu Yifan makes us feel a swirl of emotions all at the same time. Truly amazing how his schemes are so meticulous. I've traveled the five lands for years but not once met with such a thorny opponent. Just thinking about holding his head fills me with a sense of achievement!"

Baili Jingwei cackled.

Shangguan Feiyun nodded, feeling his back soaked, "He's fast, precise and deadly, stooping to any low. A more twisted mind on this earth is hard to come by. Then there's the fact he had the Shangguan clan's ten experts work with him to get his son, with no casualties. At least he's not part of the Shangguan clan or it would've turned dire!"

"This is the core of every manipulator, not personal strength, but turning every pawn around him into a deadly weapon. The worst danger central area's Sword Star Empire can have right now is if by some chance the four lands place value on Gu Yifan."

Baili Jingwei's eyes flashed with murder as he spoke with resolve, "We have to get rid of him now once and for all!"

Shangguan Feiyun stared at his hateful face and nodded, "He is a very real danger, but has Prime Minister ever thought of winning him..."

"Not even once!"

Baili Jingwei shook his head, "I have said once, that I don't like anyone like me. I alone am enough to govern the central area. I certainly don't need a second one, and certainly not Gu Yifan!"

Danqing Shen played the silent observer. He had never seen Baili Jingwei so agitated.

[He feels his authority coming being questioned, his position...]