Chapter 77

After making a bold statement about the Three Rivers ticket, I refreshed the Three Rivers page and found that it was shockingly on the same list as Fishman II. My heart sank. However... as it turned out, we managed to stay in first place. It seems we still need to beg for votes. If we don’t, no one will remember to vote. I’ll keep begging... I’ll add an update if we can hold on until 2 PM tomorrow. I originally planned to update at 12 PM, but since there’s no new book list anymore, it’s not necessary. I’ll update now...

Although the people opposite were wearing the same uniform as the system soldiers, the gestures they made couldn’t fool anyone. As we got closer, the moonlight and the firelight from the opposite bank revealed familiar faces that couldn’t be mistaken.

The ones who ambushed the Master of the Dark Calculation Palace... were their own people? For a moment, his mind turned to mush, unsure whether to advance or retreat, whether to pick up or put down his weapon.

In this dilemma, the handsome young man coughed lightly: "I am Ye Wu Yue."

"Ye Wu Yue, the Special Commissioner Ye?" Everyone was stunned. They knew this name.

How could they not know?

Though young, he was exceptionally intelligent and had achieved great feats. At less than twenty years old, he was already the Special Commissioner of the Yongzhou Eleven Counties of the Resistance Army, their direct superior.

"Special Commissioner Ye, why are you here? And how could you...?" He turned to look at the place where Gong Yutian had fallen, full of doubt.

Ye Wu Yue sighed lightly with his hands behind his back: "I received a message and anticipated that someone might do something foolish, so I came to stop it."

"Your concern is appreciated, but it’s unnecessary!" A sudden shout came from where Gong Yutian had fallen. "Thud!" With a sound, a figure leaped over the heads of the crowd, striking someone off their horse and taking their place, causing the horse to neigh loudly.

Upon closer inspection, Gong Yutian was sitting on the horse, though covered in twigs and leaves, his indomitable spirit remained unchanged.

"It’s impossible, I clearly hit your leg," Ye Wu Yue exclaimed.

Looking at Gong Yutian’s leg, it was indeed bleeding. Then, he saw the small tree, about as thick as a bowl, swaying in the distance, and understood.

A Master is a Master. Despite rolling down, he managed to grab something to cushion his fall. Using the tree’s elasticity, though his legs were almost crippled, he launched a surprise attack and seized the horse for transportation.

"Stop him!" Ye Wu Yue reacted quickly and decisively ordered, "Shoot the horse."

Ye Wu Yue’s subordinates instantly raised their long guns. They were all dressed in the same uniform as the system soldiers and held the same system firearms, which is how they managed to deceive others.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" In an instant, a volley of gunfire was fired.

However, all shots missed.

"Enough!" At a critical moment, Li Shier suddenly waved his cane and rushed over, striking the guns to deflect them.

"Li Shier, what are you doing?!" Seeing Gong Yutian gallop away, Ye Wu Yue shouted, "Wasn’t today’s incident caused by you? You’re disrupting everything here instead of completing the mission. Now you’re causing more trouble! Your role as the Inspector of the Eight Directions is to clean up after others, not to have others clean up after you!"

"..." Li Shier was silent.

The enraged Ye Wu Yue suddenly smiled strangely, and while Li Shier was distracted, he pulled out a sniper rifle from his spatial bag and fired.

Gong Yutian, who had just reached the riverbank, stumbled and fell into the river.

Poor thing!

"Ye! Wu! Yue!" Li Shier was furious.

"So what?" Ye Wu Yue met his gaze fearlessly.

"I’ll clean up my own mess!" After a moment of intense eye contact, Li Shier turned and walked towards the riverbank. He was going to carry Gong Yutian and die with him.

"Stop him!" Ye Wu Yue called out.

"Swish!" The soldiers raised their guns.

"Who dares?!" Li Shier roared, making the soldiers hesitate.

"Then don’t use guns, capture him alive!" Ye Wu Yue quickly changed his order. As the Inspector of the Eight Directions, Li Shier’s subordinates were hesitant to shoot him.

The subordinates had no qualms: "Inspector Li, we’re sorry!" They discarded their guns and drew their swords, advancing towards Li Shier.

Ye Wu Yue’s face was cold and arrogant: "Li Shier, do you think it’s still the same as before? You’ve lost a foot, your strength has greatly diminished, and you’ve caused such a big incident. I doubt you can continue as an inspector..."

"Special Commissioner Ye, Special Commissioner Ye." Someone from the group that came with Gong Yutian and Li Shier called out.

"What?" Ye Wu Yue turned, angry at the interruption. But in an instant, he understood why.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!" The sound of weapons clashing filled the air, and then... his dozen or so subordinates were all lying on the ground, sprawled out.

"How... how... how could this be?" Ye Wu Yue was dumbfounded, his mind almost stopping. With one foot missing, Li Shier’s strength not only hadn’t declined but had become even stronger? This, this, this is unscientific.

In a daze, Li Shier alternated between his leg and cane, approaching him like a bolt of lightning. He tried to resist with his long sword, but despite being a young man who had achieved the position of a regional commissioner in the Resistance Army, his skills were no match. His sword was deflected, and Li Shier broke through his defenses and advanced directly.

Ye Wu Yue tried to dodge, but his twisted body was just a feint. Li Shier’s cane hit the ground, and his long leg lifted. "Pfft!" A light kick to the back of his head sent him spinning, his vision blurred, and he collapsed.

"This is a minor punishment. If you dare to obstruct us again, don’t blame me for using force!" Li Shier quickly cleared the obstacles, put away his cane, and sternly ordered.

"Stop..."

"This is my mess, I won’t involve you, the Resistance Army, or the hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in the city."

"Stop."

"Senior Gong, come, I’ll carry you. But in a moment, I might have to offend you... I’ll pretend to defect with you, severely injured, as a reason. With this, we have a good chance of seeing the fat man who planned this. He’s a semi-immortal. When we see him, we can launch a surprise attack. Whether we kill him or use him as leverage, it won’t be in vain."

Li Shier, though rough, was not careless. In a flash, he had a plan. Though the chances of success were slim, it was worth a try.

"Ha ha ha..." Floating on the water with his injuries, Gong Yutian laughed loudly, "Do you think I came all this way just to die?"

It seems we’re of the same mind.

Indeed, with their personalities, they wouldn’t be the type to submit willingly.

The surrounding Resistance Army members looked at each other in surprise. So that’s how it is. With this understanding, they put down their weapons and decided not to stop them.

Suddenly, an angry voice rang out: "Stop right there!"

In fact, this was already the third time. The voice was filled with frustration and madness.

Li Shier stopped in surprise and turned to see Ye Wu Yue staggering to his feet, his eyes bloodshot, his once handsome face twisted and grotesque: "You’re not allowed to go! You’re not allowed to ruin my big plan!"

Li Shier was originally full of objections. I’m going to die to try and save the hundreds of thousands of civilians in the city. If you don’t help, that’s one thing, but to hold us back, what’s the point? If it were before, I could understand not wanting us to die in vain, but now that we have a plan...

He suddenly noticed the abnormality in Ye Wu Yue’s words: "Ruining your big plan? What big plan? What’s more important than saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians?"

"Of course, it’s more important than the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians!" Ye Wu Yue’s face was manic, "We’ve been preparing for so many years, and our big plan is finally about to be launched."

"What could be more of an excuse for us to rise up than the innocent deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in a county due to the whims of the Celestials?"