Retreat

"Yueya~"

Wu Xin let out another furious roar and suddenly exerted his strength, sending several Reincarnators pressing down on his arms flying. With both blades in hand, he hacked and slashed wildly, carving out a bloody path. Several unlucky fools blocking his way were killed on the spot.

"Stop~"

As soon as Wu Xin reached Gu Xuanwu’s side, the Werewolf’s body slowly shrank. Gradually, it took on a human shape, becoming a "beastman" covered in thick fur. Once he had transformed into this state, the Werewolf actually began to speak.

"Wu You! So it’s you, you bastard! Let Yueya go!"

Gu Xuanwu was furious when he recognized Wu You. He had previously treated Wu You as a trusted subordinate, sending him to contact his former allies and the like. Now it seemed he had misjudged someone yet again.

"Let her go? Sure! Hahahaha—ahahahahaha~~~"

Wu You threw his head back and laughed, then suddenly lowered it and bit into Li Yueya’s neck. His body rapidly warped, transforming into a Werewolf. Li Yueya’s expression twisted horribly, as if she were suffering unbearable pain.

"Yueya~"

How could Wu Xin endure watching this? He charged straight over with his blade in hand.

"Here, have her back~"

Wu You suddenly let out a loud roar and kicked Li Yueya toward the charging Wu Xin. Then he instantly transformed into a giant wolf, leaped, and slammed into the wall. Carrying the basket containing Bai Liuli, he disappeared into Qingyun Temple.

"Wu Xin, I’ve infected your woman with Wolf Blood Toxin. If you want her to die, then come after me! If you want to save your friend, come to Wen County alone and find me."

"Ugh~"

Wu You’s words made Wu Xin halt. After hesitating for a moment, he stamped his foot and returned to Li Yueya’s side. He cut open his own wrist and continuously let his blood flow over Li Yueya’s wound. Quite a bit of it went directly into her mouth as well.

"Chuchenzi, leave no one alive~"

Seeing that Li Yueya’s condition had stabilized, Gu Xuanwu signaled to Chuchenzi, drew his gun, and charged toward Shirakawa Rin’s group.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Gu Xuanwu’s sudden counterattack left Shirakawa Rin’s people stunned. One volley took down quite a few of them. In the end, Ling Wei helped Shirakawa Rin hurriedly leave Qingyun Temple, leaving only corpses scattered across the ground.

"Wu Xin~"

When Li Yueya opened her eyes again, the first thing she saw was Wu Xin’s familiar face. She gave him a tired smile and reached out, but she could not even touch his face. In the end, Wu Xin took her hand and placed it against his cheek.

"Yueya! It’s all right now, Yueya! It’s all right~~"

Wu Xin forced a smile at Li Yueya, but he was deeply worried inside. Li Yueya was safe for now, but his friend Bai Liuli had been captured. He had no idea what might happen next.

"How interesting!"

In the mountains opposite Qingyun Temple, two figures had watched everything unfold like spectators. They were positioned perfectly, allowing them to clearly observe every movement across the way. Even the slightest action was plain to see, as though they were overlooking everything from God’s Perspective.

"Wu You really was someone I underestimated. Fast, accurate, and ruthless. He acted decisively, without the slightest hesitation! His angle of attack was excellent too, perfectly restricting the moves Wu Xin and Gu Xuanwu might have made. After succeeding in one strike, he escaped thousands of miles away."

"Should we go take Bai Liuli back from Wu You?"

Liu Daimei asked from the side, sounding eager to give it a try. She had not fought in a long time since increasing her strength and really wanted to find out where she stood now.

"No need. Let him go."

Gu Sheng shook his head. "That kid has done me a huge favor. Even if he hadn’t acted, I would have gone after Bai Liuli myself. I more or less understand what he’s thinking, and he’s happened to help me tremendously."

"What do you mean?"

Liu Daimei looked as if she did not understand, though she had already formed a vague guess.

"Can’t figure it out?"

Gu Sheng smiled. Although he knew Liu Daimei was mostly putting on an act, he still adopted the air of someone directing the course of events and said, "We all know that Wu Xin escaped Wen County this time. It’s highly unlikely that he’ll risk coming back again.

"I can guess that the Heart of Wu Xin quest may be related to time. The others aren’t fools either. After noticing the Lord God’s time limit, they must have formed some guesses as well. Given the current situation, everyone understands that Reincarnators aren’t very useful for dealing with Wu Xin and restraining him. What works are ordinary people who aren’t afraid of his blood.

"And the most suitable battlefield is obviously Wen County. But Gu Xuanwu and Wu Xin were driven out of Wen County, and they have no compelling reason to return. To make them come back at a specific time, they need a crucial reason. What reason could be more effective than a friend’s life being in danger?

"So even if Wu You hadn’t acted, I would have snatched Bai Liuli away at the critical moment and threatened Wu Xin into returning to Wen County at the appointed time."

After analyzing the situation, Gu Sheng reached out and hooked an arm over Liu Daimei’s slender shoulder. Lowering his voice beside her ear, he said, "If I’m not mistaken, Wu You will come looking for cooperation once he returns to Wen County. When the time comes, you can keep him hanging for a while~"

In Wen County, in the rear courtyard of Zhang Residence, a black shadow flashed past. The beauty who had been gazing up at the stars with her back turned around.

"As expected, you came, Wu You~"

Liu Daimei seized the initiative. Looking utterly confident, she sized up Wu You, who was disguised as the Black-Cloaked Man, then frowned unhappily. "Where’s that White Chicken called Bai Liuli, the one belonging to Wu Xin? Why didn’t you bring it?"

"Looks like you already know what I’m thinking~"

Wu You was genuinely surprised at first, but he soon adjusted his mindset and reassessed this woman he had once looked down on somewhat.

"Since you know, let’s get straight to the point. Let’s cooperate!"

Wu You changed his expression and put on an excessively cheerful smile at Liu Daimei, making the sight incredibly awkward. His smile was simply too fake.

"Cooperate? Cooperate on what~"

Liu Daimei continued drawing him out, wanting to learn what he truly had in mind.

"Why pretend not to know? What else could we possibly cooperate on now besides Wu Xin? I refuse to believe you aren’t interested in the Main Quest, ‘Heart of Wu Xin.’

"These past few days, I’ve always felt that someone was controlling everything behind Wen County, but I never imagined it would be you!

"You’ve stayed hidden behind the scenes all this time, relying on us to test Wu Xin while silently observing from the shadows. You wanted to find Wu Xin’s weakness, didn’t you? Unfortunately, that Thief Monk is like a hedgehog—untouchable and impossible to approach. There’s simply no opening to exploit.

"I believe you’ve noticed it too. Wu Xin’s blood is useless against ordinary people. So if we want to deal with Wu Xin, we can’t take the initiative ourselves. We need to use a large force to restrain him.

"The only person who still has a large army in Wen County is Zhang Xianzong. So I need your help. Once this is done, we’ll split the dungeon rewards from this Main Quest. We can even share the Designation Card."