Chapter 312: Camouflage
Lin Jin nodded.
It was only after that gesture could Zuo Wentang finally rest easy.
As time was of the essence, he knew he had another urgent thing to do.
In an instant, Zuo Wentang leaped up and charged in a certain direction. He needed to finish off King Yan’s two guards.
Both of them had been temporarily immobilized by Lin Jin, but when he was treating Xiao Huo, his spirit energy was retracted. The two men were thus also able to shake away their numbness and had since been trying to escape while supporting each other.
However, due to their heavy injuries, they couldn’t very far. In addition, Zuo Wentang had secretly used a spell that would allow him to track them down later on when the battle was over.
Hence, it didn’t take long before Zuo Wentang returned.
There was the fresh metallic stench of blood on his being. No doubt, both of King Yan’s guards were dead for good now. With his experience and expertise, the two corpses should have been handled to leave no clues behind.
As for King Yan’s corpse, that didn’t require any taking care of since it had been buried under the stone mountain alongside his western king cobra. The body should have turned into a paste by now.
Hence, the only ones left who knew the truth were those who were still alive.
Lin Jin was trustworthy, and the same went for Qu Wenji. The only one left was Tilly.
However, based on Qu Wenji’s remarks, although they hadn’t known each other for too long, they were as close as sisters. Moreover, Tilly had escaped from Westward Country so she should be able to keep this a secret.
With this, Zuo Wentang’s worries were more likely than not over.
Suddenly, an eagle’s cry could be heard from a distance. Zuo Wentang’s expression stiffened, knowing that Maple City’s experts must have finally caught up with them.
“Oh no, why did they come so quickly?!” Zuo Wentang’s hands and feet turned cold. From what he knew, the guardian of Grace Pavilion was a man whose fighting abilities were on par, or perhaps a little higher than his. He was a man named Zheng Yuan.
This person usually kept a low profile but his strength was not to be underestimated. Not only did he possess a Rank 3 pet beast, but his companion was also a rare creature deemed to be strongest among all Rank 3s.
In addition, with an establishment as powerful as Grace Pavilion backing him up, the force Zheng Yuan had under his command was by no means insignificant. Grace Pavilion kept many experts. These men were spread out in the city and lived comfortable lives on a normal basis but they would be summoned whenever Grace Pavilion was in trouble.
As for eagle beasts… an establishment as great as Grace Pavilion obviously could afford them!
Zuo Wentang knew it was too late to hide Qu Wenji and Tilly now. With the eagles’ speed, the reinforcements should be able to see them shortly after.
There wasn’t any place to hide humans here!
“We’ve failed through lack of a final effort.” Zuo Wentang knew that Qu Wenji and Tilly would be taken back once Zheng Yuan and the rest arrive. After that, Tilly aside, Qu Wenji would definitely be forced to stay in Grace Pavilion to continue serving as their money tree.
Maybe this was her fate.
Was it possible for him to change her destiny?
It was impossible.
After the loss of this opportunity, how could Zuo Wentang even compete with the group behind Grace Pavilion? Forget him, even their city lord Bai Zhengkong wouldn’t have the audacity to do so.
At that moment, Zuo Wentang felt himself to be utterly useless. He was grinding his teeth hard as he looked at Qu Wenji through bloodshot eyes.
Qu Wenji looked just as miserable but she understood what Zuo Wentang was thinking about. Hence, she said nothing but gave him a small smile laced with helplessness and sadness.
Zuo Wentang naturally knew what Qu Wenji was thinking. He wanted to continue killing now. If he massacred Zheng Yuan and his group, he could be together with Qu Wenji.
However, whether or not he could succeed, sanity told Zuo Wentang that even if he somehow managed it, his plot would be revealed sooner or later.
When Grace Pavilion learns of his doing, even Bai Zhenkong wouldn’t be able to save him.
Indeed, the eagles were swift. In less than three breaths, the creatures came into sight. There were two eagles coming over, one carried one passenger while the other carried two.
There were a total of three people.
The man leading them was Zheng Yuan.
This Zheng Yuan looked somewhat like a mighty hero with his shaggy beard and mighty demeanor. He didn’t have a pet beast following him so the man must have cultivated the Beastmaster Scroll as well.
As for the other two people on the second eagle, one had a python around his arm while the other had a hunched back with a scorpion’s tail coming out of his back. Upon taking a closer look, his odd posture was due to him having a huge scorpion riding on his back, underneath his clothes.
Of these two men, each one looked more hideous than the other. They were also dressed strangely.
Be that as it may, these two gave off a deadly aura and Zuo Wentang knew who they were. These men were experts ranked highly in the villain’s community and they were hired by Grace Pavilion to do their dirty work.
Before Zuo Wentang could speak, Lin Jin went ahead and told him, “Calm down. I’ve used a little Camouflage spell so other than the both of us, those three can’t see anyone else here.”
At this, Zuo Wentang was first shocked before immediately delighted.
Had someone else said this, Zuo Wentang would never have believed them. But this was Lin Jin we’re talking about. Of course, he had complete faith in the man.
For an expert who could weaponize a hill constructed from virtually nothing, him knowing how to cast a Camouflage spell didn’t sound absurd at all. Although Camouflage sounded like a minor spell, it was still an ancient immortal’s spell. At least Zuo Wentang had never seen it happen before.
Lin Jin’s words were loud enough for Qu Wenji and Tilly to hear. Even the leopard monster, Lin Bao could hear it too. Despite their worries, they stayed put and steadied themselves, not daring to speak nor move.
They even chanted on the inside, ‘You can’t see me, you can’t see me’.
However, those three that jumped down from the eagle were so close by so how could they not see them?
Their thoughts were everywhere as everyone felt different levels of uneasiness.
Zuo Wentang was anxious too but Lin Jin seemed nonchalant. Seeing the trio walk over, Zuo Wentang could only brace himself and step forward.
“Zheng Yuan, you’re too slow!” Zuo Wentang had steadied himself. After all, he was the City Lord Manor’s great steward and a man of experience. He had conditioned himself to be able to act calmly in perilous scenarios.
He marched forward as he spoke, blocking the trio’s way.
Zheng Yuan chuckled upon seeing Zuo Wentang. “Steward Zuo, I heard something has happened so I came immediately. We’ve been told that Miss Qu and a newcomer, the beauty from the west have been kidnapped. Could you perhaps tell us what happened?”
Even with his polite tone, Zheng Yuan didn’t seem like a pushover. Despite his carefree and casual demeanor, the man’s eyes were sharp. It would take a lot more than this to fool him.
As the man spoke, he looked toward Lin Jin.
Zheng Yuan easily recognized Zuo Wentang since he was the steward of the City Lord Manor. However, he didn’t recognize this other person. As an expert himself, an instinct arose in Zheng Yuan that told him Lin Jin wasn’t a nobody.
Lin Jin merely smiled and kept quiet. Since he didn’t know these three, there was no need for him to participate in the exchange.