Chapter 538: Walking Straight into the Trap?
After glancing at the corpse of the Man Faced Demon Spider, whose foul-smelling blood was slowly seeping out and corroding a patch of grass, Qi Han completely lost any interest in looting the body.
Although he was somewhat interested in the external spirit bone Eight Spider Lances that Tang San had once obtained, Qi Han had no desire to grow eight spider legs out of his back.
Besides, the chance of an external spirit bone appearing was extremely low. This spider probably didn't have one anyway.
Time to go, time to go.
Without even looking at the ten-thousand-year spirit ring slowly forming above the corpse, Qi Han turned and headed toward the exit of the Evildemon Forest.
This time, nothing unexpected happened.
Before long, he stepped out of the oppressive spirit-beast territory.
The moment he left the forest, Qi Han noticed a Spirit Engineer in the distance wearing a flying spirit tool.
The man hovered in midair with a stern and vigilant expression. He quickly locked his gaze onto Qi Han but made no move to approach.
Uh... why is he staring at me?
Qi Han scratched his head and cautiously waved.
Unexpectedly, the Spirit Engineer immediately turned around and flew away.
This only left Qi Han even more confused.
Forget it. Time to keep moving.
He summoned Zhui Yun from the Little World and mounted its back, heading toward Cangzhou City.
. . .
"What? Qi Han has come out?"
Ye Changhong abruptly stood up and looked toward the Spirit Engineer who had rushed over to report.
"Which direction?"
"My lord, over there."
The Spirit Engineer pointed toward the direction where Qi Han had appeared.
"I've already had two subordinates skilled in concealment quietly follow him. There are markers left along the route."
"Good. Well done."
A hint of excitement appeared on Ye Changhong's face.
Immediately, a Level-9 spirit tool unfolded behind him, and he accelerated at full speed in that direction.
It had already been four full days since Qi Han entered the Evildemon Forest.
During that time, seven or eight Spirit Engineers had emerged from the forest, only to be secretly captured and interrogated by Ye Changhong's people.
Unfortunately, every single one of them had merely been hunting spirit beasts and had been arrested by mistake.
The repeated failures had left Ye Changhong deeply frustrated.
Had he not personally witnessed Qi Han enter the forest, he might have suspected that the young man had somehow escaped long ago.
But now, he had finally found him.
Apparently, they had not entrusted that treasure capable of storing living beings to someone else. Qi Han was still carrying it himself.
Ye Changhong didn't know whether to call them careless or confident.
Either way, it saved him the trouble of making guesses or conducting further interrogations.
At this point, everyone from the Douluo Continent was almost certainly inside the treasure Qi Han carried.
And all he needed to do now was lure Qi Han into the secret realm according to plan.
Once that happened, he could trap everyone from the Douluo Continent without lifting a finger.
Ye Changhong had already reported everything he had witnessed—and all his deductions—to Mingdu City.
The response from Mingdu City had been one of approval.
As long as he successfully lured Qi Han into the secret realm, he was guaranteed to earn the Emperor's praise and favor.
The Sun Moon Empire and the Douluo Continent would come into contact within a few months.
If he gained the Emperor's recognition now, the Evileye Tyrant Spirit Engineer Legion would naturally have far more opportunities to distinguish itself when the time came.
At the thought, excitement filled the legion commander's eyes.
. . .
For a Level-9 Spirit Engineer, catching up to Qi Han—who was once again traveling atop Zhui Yun—was hardly difficult.
Very quickly, the familiar figure appeared within Ye Changhong's spiritual perception.
This direction...
Sensing where Qi Han was headed, Ye Changhong paused in surprise.
Was Qi Han planning to go to Cangzhou City?
The secret realm provided by the Imperial Preceptor happened to lie directly between the Evildemon Forest and Cangzhou City.
For a moment, Ye Changhong couldn't help laughing aloud.
He's delivering himself right into the net.
Looks like all the previous preparations could finally be put to use.
A flash of spirit power appeared in his hand.
A strangely shaped metal token materialized.
Without hesitation, Ye Changhong crushed it.
This was a special communication spirit tool.
It could not transmit detailed messages, but it consisted of two linked metal tokens.
When one token was crushed, the other would simultaneously shatter as well, serving as a simple but effective signal.
The counterpart to the metal token that Ye Changhong had just crushed was currently located near the secret realm provided by the Imperial Preceptor.
. . .
Feeling the token in his hand suddenly crumble into pieces, the trusted subordinate whom Ye Changhong had stationed near the secret realm let out a sigh of relief.
He turned to look at a man and a woman bound tightly beside him.
The woman was dressed provocatively and possessed a seductive beauty.
The man, meanwhile, was fat, richly dressed, and looked like a wealthy merchant.
Both shared one thing in common:
Their faces were pale with exhaustion and despair.
"The time has come," the subordinate said as he slowly approached them.
Both immediately showed expressions of terror.
"My lord! My lord, please spare me!" the seductive woman pleaded, forcing a flattering smile onto her face in a desperate attempt to survive. "I only had an affair. I didn't commit a capital crime, my lord!"
"Shut up, you shameless whore!" the man roared, his face flushing with rage as he imagined the green hat of infidelity on his head.
"My lord, please spare me! That bitch can die if she wants, but I'm rich! I have lots of money! Is one hundred thousand gold coins enough? One million is fine too! Just let me go! Spare my life!"
The subordinate paused and a strange expression appeared on his face.
"One million, huh..."
The man's eyes immediately lit up with hope.
"Three million! That's all the money I have, my lord! I'll give you every last coin! Just let me leave! Please, my lord!"
The subordinate sighed helplessly.
"To be honest, that's a very tempting amount of money. Under different circumstances, I might actually have agreed."
"But this time, it's impossible."
"If I were to ruin the Empire's grand plan, even exterminating my entire clan wouldn't be enough to atone for it."
He sneered.
"As for you two, consider yourselves unlucky. This place happens to require the sacrifice of a man and woman who betrayed love in order to activate it. Time is short, and we couldn't find suitable candidates."
"And then you two happened to fall right into our hands."
Without giving either of them another chance to speak, the subordinate swung his blade.
Two heads flew.
Grabbing the corpses, he casually threw them into the calm lake behind him.
"Everyone's here, right? Let's go. Proceed according to the plan."
With a low command, he turned and left.
Five or six figures immediately followed behind him, disappearing from the area.
On the surface of the lake, faint light began to shimmer.
Without a sound, a thick mist slowly rose into the air.
. . .
Zhui Yun moved extremely quickly.
After about ten minutes of travel, the massive and imposing walls of Cangzhou City appeared in Qi Han's field of vision.
"Stop!"
A sharp shout suddenly rang out.
Moments later, a heroic-looking military officer wearing armor and equipped with a flying spirit tool flew over and blocked Qi Han's path.
Qi Han signaled for Zhui Yun to stop before looking at the officer.
"Can I help you?"
"I am one of Cangzhou City's gate commanders. Are you heading to Cangzhou City?"
"Yes. Is there a problem?"
Seeing that the officer did not seem hostile and appeared to be conducting a routine inquiry, Qi Han lowered his guard somewhat.
"A fugitive recently escaped from the city. As a result, parts of Cangzhou City are currently under heightened security measures."
The officer pointed toward Zhui Yun.
"You have already entered the airspace surrounding Cangzhou City. Flying is prohibited in this area."
He then pointed toward another direction.
"Also, an important figure will be passing through this route shortly. I ask that you make a small detour over there."
Qi Han frowned slightly.
This felt troublesome.
However, the officer had explained everything politely. He had not acted aggressively, and there was nothing objectionable about his attitude.
Qi Han couldn't really find a reason to complain.
Whatever.
The detour wasn't very large, and Zhui Yun could cover the extra distance quickly anyway.
I'll buy what I need and leave. No point causing unnecessary trouble.
With that thought, Qi Han nodded.
He signaled for Zhui Yun to descend to the ground and then headed in the direction indicated by the officer, taking the suggested detour.