Wayfarer

Chapter 662: Possessing Long Si

"Where's Yu'er? What have you done with her?!" Han Bingdie exclaimed anxiously.

"Lord Si, what are you doing?" the Yuqing Mountain Lords demanded.

Long Si's expression changed. Upon discovering that Yu'er had become Zhao Yuanjiao, his mind had blanked. Even so, he rapidly came to his senses.

"I don't know where Holy Maiden Yu'er is. I kidnapped Zhao Yuanjiao because of my grudges against him. I apologize for my wrongdoing. Please forgive me," Long Si said.

"You didn't kidnap Yu'er? Where is she, then?" Han Bingdie demanded in disbelief.

"I really don't know. The only one I kidnapped was Zhao Yuanjiao. Search me if you don't believe me!" Long Si exclaimed.

"You must be lying!" Han Bingdie shouted.

She and Xia Xingchen's two other wives hurriedly inspected Long Si's body and belongings, but found nothing related to Yu'er at all.

"See?" Long Si crowed.

The three women fretted anxiously as they glanced at Xia Xingchen, hoping that he would have an idea as to what to do.

"Did you really kidnap Zhao Yuanjiao only because he tarnished your reputation earlier in the day?" Xia Xingchen demanded.

"I did," Long Si replied resolutely.

By the side, a guest scoffed. "More like you're kidnapping Zhao Yuanjiao to threaten Xiao Nanfeng over your duel in three days' time!"

"To think a Golden Immortal would have to resort to such underhanded tricks against a True Immortal..."

"Is this what those from the Southeastern Aquatic Palace are like? Ha!"

The guests all around taunted and mocked Long Si, but he could hardly dispute their claims. It was far better to be denounced than to be held responsible for kidnapping a Yuqing holy maiden.

"Say something, Husband!" Han Bingdie exclaimed.

Xia Xingchen glanced coldly at Long Si. "Long Si, I need to find Yu'er at any cost. I don't have time for your nonsense. If I later discover that you were responsible for her disappearance, I'll kill you."

"I wasn't responsible," Long Si said again, though his head reared back.

He didn't doubt that Xia Xingchen would make good on his threat; from their altercation, it was clear that he couldn't even defend against one of Xia Xingchen's blows.

"Let's leave with Zhao Yuanjiao. If we want to determine where Yu'er is, we'll have to interrogate Green Lotus."

"Right," Han Bingdie agreed, nodding anxiously. "He must know where she is."

Xia Xingchen drew his sword from Long Si's body. Huge quantities of fresh blood bubbled from Long Si's wound, but he was just relieved to be freed.

"Thank you for rescuing me, Mountain Lord Xia," Zhao Yuanjiao said.

Xia Xingchen glanced at Zhao Yuanjiao, though he didn't respond. He immediately flew off with his guests in tow. Finding Yu'er was his singular priority, and he would let nothing get in his way.

After the guests left, Long Si reverted to human form as he clutched at his wound. He glanced at the cloth sack, stunned.

"How could it be? How did Xia Yu'er become Zhao Yuanjiao? Could Sage Green Lotus have tricked me? I have to report back to my brothers immediately." Long Si's face twisted in annoyance.

After confirming that Xia Xingchen and the others were all gone, he slowly got up and prepared to fly away.

Just then, death chants covered up the sky. Fog gushed around him, filling his surroundings, ensuring that nothing would be detected in the dead of night.

"Who's there?" Long Si demanded, glancing all around him.

Red clouds covered up the sky as countless lengths of red rope shot toward him.

"Xiao Nanfeng? Show yourself!" Long Si exclaimed.

He punched at the red rope around him, causing the rope to explode. Just then, an Immortal sword shot over.

"That Golden Immortal sword again? Do you think you'll be able to take me down with the same technique twice? Ha!" Long Si punched at the sword, only to have it detonate. A flaming tempest shattered his attack and sent him flying.

He had already been grievously wounded by Xia Xingchen; this close-range detonation exacerbated his injuries. He spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

"Xiao Nanfeng, are you crazy? You'd even sacrifice a Golden Immortal relic just like that?!" Long Si exclaimed.

A beam of red light flashed by as the red rope king shattered his qi barrier and coiled around his neck.

"Damn it!" Long Si cried out.

He struggled to free himself from the red rope as he tried to get more distance between him and Xiao Nanfeng. However, he was so badly injured that he simply couldn't move quickly at all.

A kasaya suddenly wrapped around his body.

"No!" Long Si cried out.

This was the same technique that Xiao Nanfeng had used to trap him that very day!

As he struggled furiously, a blue lotus landed atop his head. Death chants filled his mind and soul.

"Damn it, release me, Xiao Nanfeng!" Long Si exclaimed in fear.

However, the red rope king was restricting him and draining his strength, while the blue lotus struck at his soul. Very quickly, he found himself losing consciousness.

Xiao Nanfeng showed himself, stepped toward Long Si, and entered his mindscape.

The blue lotus followed him in, continuing to suppress his consciousness.

Long Si's dilated pupils suddenly contracted as he awoke, possessed by Xiao Nanfeng.

Xiao Nanfeng reclaimed the kasaya and red rope king with a wave of his hand. The red clouds in the air likewise vanished from sight, and the thick fog dissipated. Xiao Nanfeng, still in Long Si's body, flew into the forest where Yu'er and Xia Lan had been waiting for him. When they saw Long Si, they immediately reared back in shock.

"Don't worry. I'm controlling him. Let's go," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"Are you really Xiao Nanfeng?" Xia Lan asked.

"In the undying realm, whose inheritance did I obtain?" Yu'er asked.

"The Red Emperor's, of course. Come on. If Long Si had taken me down, how would I have known where the two of you were?" Xiao Nanfeng replied.

Yu'er nodded. Then, she smiled in excitement. "Does that mean you're a Golden Immortal now?"

"It's all thanks to your father for wounding him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so easy to defeat," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"But you lost a Golden Immortal relic too! He's not worth it," Yu'er fumed.

"Trading a Golden Immortal relic for a Golden Immortal is more than worth it. If you insist, though, we can hand Long Si over to Chang Bing and the others and forge a relic out of him to get our investment back," Xiao Nanfeng said.

Yu'er nodded firmly. "That's a good idea! It's worth it, then."

Xia Lan frowned at him. "So you weren't bragging—you really have forged a Golden Immortal into a relic before?"

"Let's get out of here first before we keep talking," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

The other two cultivators nodded. Xia Lan felt as if he were dreaming.

The three cultivators left the forest, flying out of the mountain pass leading out of the Yuqing holy land. They waited until Zhao Yuanjiao finally flew out to join them.

He too was shocked to see Xiao Nanfeng in Long Si's body, and only relaxed after repeated confirmation.

"Yu'er, you don't know what I had to sacrifice to help you elope," Zhao Yuanjiao told Yu'er with a grimace.

"What you had to sacrifice? Aren't you unscathed?" Yu'er replied, confused.

Zhao Yuanjiao opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. In the end, he chose not to mention that Long Si had caressed his ass.

"How did you end up catching Long Si?" Zhao Yuanjiao asked them.

"We were waiting for you outside the mountain pass when we suddenly saw Long Si emerge, followed quickly by Mountain Lord Xia and his guests. We naturally followed after them, not expecting to be able to pick up such a prize." Xiao Nanfeng smiled.

"Thank goodness you all made it out. You don't know how chaotic it is back in there. Xia Xingchen and his subordinates are interrogating Sage Green Lotus now, and he's being forced to divulge Yu'er's whereabouts. He won't be able to free himself from suspicion at this point," Zhao Yuanjiao told them all.

Xia Lan's eyes brightened. "So Sage Green Lotus is going to be the scapegoat, not me!"

"That's right. Everyone thinks that Sage Green Lotus colluded with some outsiders to kidnap Yu'er. No one's going to blame you," Zhao Yuanjiao said.

"Doesn't that mean that I can return?"

"You should be able to. Do you want to?"

"Third Brother, why don't you head back?" Yu'er said.

Xia Lan was initially excited, but quickly became wary. "I won't let you trick me. Sage Green Lotus might be the scapegoat for the time being, but what if Father figures out the truth? It'd be better for me to accompany you. At worst, I'll write a letter home stating that I'm leaving in search of you, Yu'er."

"You can go experience the world on your own, too. There's no need for you to follow us," Yu'er said.

Xia Lan gave her a dour look. "You're trying to get rid of me? Dream on! All I'm doing is helping you leave the Yuqing holy land, not to elope. I'm going to keep an eye on you and Xiao Nanfeng!"

"Don't meddle in our business," Yu'er replied irritably.

Xia Lan: ...

Zhao Yuanjiao turned to Xiao Nanfeng. "Shall we leave?"

Xiao Nanfeng shook his head. "Let's wait a bit longer."

"For whom?"

"They're here."

A group of cultivators were emerging from the mountain pass from afar.

"Long Si's subordinates? They had to have been interrogated by the Yuqing disciples. They've finally been freed!" Zhao Yuanjiao frowned.

"Let's follow after them. Senior Brother, I'll leave you in charge of capturing them and interrogating them about what they know. I need to know if Long Si has an avatar, but you can't ask them that directly," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"Very well!" Zhao Yuanjiao nodded.

The cultivators skulked about, trailing behind Long Si's subordinates until they found a good place to ambush them. Zhao Yuanjiao shrouded his features as he attacked them, while Xiao Nanfeng and the others sealed their surroundings with relics.

Very quickly, Zhao Yuanjiao knocked them all unconscious and brought them to a valley, where he began interrogating them.

Zhao Yuanjiao was particularly skilled at interrogation, managing to obtain the information he needed without revealing any of his own.

"Don't worry. Long Si doesn't have an avatar, and no one will know that you've possessed him for the moment," Zhao Yuanjiao said.

"Good. There's an Immortal city nearby, with some spectral guards stationed there. Let's bring these cultivators there and I'll have them see what further information they can extract," Xiao Nanfeng suggested.

"Understood!" Everyone nodded.

They left with the unconscious cultivators in tow.

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