Chapter 766: Chapter 765 Realizing Something is Wrong
Three hours ago, at 7:40 P.M.
Over Jiangnan County.
Chu Shiguang, along with some close relatives and friends of the Chu family, was on board an airplane. Having dozed off for a while, Chu Shiguang opened his eyes.
He turned his head to look out of the window and noticed that it was already night. He couldn’t help but frown slightly, sensing that something was amiss.
He looked at his wristwatch.
7:40.
The departure from the East Combat Zone was after three in the afternoon. According to the schedule, they should have arrived in the Central Battle Zone by now if there were no delays.
He asked the person next to him, "Did the plane encounter any issues during the flight?"
"No, not at all," answered another member of the Chu family immediately.
A bad feeling began to rise in Chu Shiguang’s heart.
Actually, his question was just an instinctive reaction, because as a martial arts master at the Unique Tier Realm, despite having taken a short nap, he knew the plane could not have stopped without him noticing.
Realizing something was wrong, Chu Shiguang stood up and swiftly walked toward the cockpit.
Two special soldiers from the East Combat Zone were guarding there. Seeing Chu Shiguang approach, they quickly stood up and gave a standard military salute, "Good evening, sir."
Chu Shiguang returned the salute and said, "Open the door. I need to talk to the pilot."
The two special soldiers guarding the flight exchanged glances. One of them said, "Please wait a moment, sir. I need to report this."
After saying that, he picked up a nearby phone and dialed the cockpit’s internal number.
Inside the cockpit, besides two pilots, there was also a young man around his thirties.
When Chu Shiguang had opened his eyes and felt something was wrong, and started walking toward the cockpit, the young man and the pilots had been monitoring him through the cockpit’s surveillance screen.
Now, hearing the phone ring, the young man smiled slightly. He didn’t pick it up but said with a smile, "He’s quite alert, indeed, he noticed."
One of the pilots said, "There was no helping it, we’re vastly off the planned time."
The other pilot, clearly worried, said, "Should we open the door to meet him? He is a high-ranking officer from the Central Battle Zone, and a powerful figure of the Unique Tier Realm."
The young man took a deep breath, his expression solemn as he nodded, "Yes, uncle has entrusted me with such an important task; he really thinks highly of me."
While saying this, he straightened his clothes and opened the cabin door.
Chu Shiguang, waiting outside, saw the soldier dial the internal cockpit phone, but there was no answer from the other side which made him furrow his brows.
Just then, the cabin door suddenly opened, revealing a young face.
Chu Shiguang’s pupils contracted slightly as the ominous feeling inside him grew stronger, "Feiyang? What are you doing here?"
Ning Feiyang gave a standard military salute and spoke respectfully, "Uncle asked me to personally escort Uncle Chu."
Suppressing the suspicion in his heart, Chu Shiguang smiled and said, "Your uncle is too polite. It’s only a few hours’ flight; with the situation being so tense, why bother to have you make the trip personally?"
Ning Feiyang smiled slightly, "I am simply following orders."
Chu Shiguang nodded, then changed the subject, "It’s been four hours already. We should have arrived in the Central Battle Zone by now. Why are we still flying?"
Ning Feiyang said, "Because Uncle Chu and so many of the elderly and children of the Chu family are on board, I asked them to fly smoothly."
Smooth, my ass.
Aside from the turbulence when ascending and descending through the troposphere, the sensation of stability during the high-altitude flight phase wasn’t greatly affected by the speed.
Chu Shiguang felt he was talking nonsense and looked towards the cockpit.
Through the glass in front of the cockpit, the outside was still pitch black, but far in the distance, a city cloaked in neon lights could vaguely be seen.
Chu Shiguang’s gaze suddenly became extremely cold, and a powerful aura unique to his tier instantly burst forth as he stared at Ning Feiyang and demanded, "Where are we going?"
Ning Feiyang shuddered, a dreadful sense of oppression sweeping over him, instinctively triggering a rebellious sentiment within him, yet he was deterred by the terrifying aura from the other party and dared not make the slightest rash move.
He felt that if he dared to make a move, Chu Shiguang would kill him with a single slap.
The two pilots also felt the dreadful pressure of this aura, their bodies stiffened, and they dared not move an inch.
At this moment, the other members of the Chu family in the cabin also realized something was amiss. Several people flocked around and asked in confusion, "What’s the matter?"
"Shiguang, what’s wrong?"
"It seems we’re overdue, why haven’t we reached the Central Battle Zone yet?"
"Is there a problem?"
The babble of multiple voices only irritated Chu Shiguang further, and he coldly stared at Ning Feiyang and demanded, "Speak, what exactly is going on? How come you are here?"
As the foremost of the third generation of the Ning family, Ning Feiyang’s very presence on this plane greatly unsettled Chu Shiguang.
Especially since they were overdue and hadn’t yet arrived at the Central Battle Zone.
Ning Feiyang, already overpowered by Chu Shiguang’s imposing aura, dared not make the slightest move, yet he had no choice but to rouse himself at this moment.
Struggling to maintain a calm tone, Ning Feiyang looked at Chu Shiguang and said, "Uncle Chu, please don’t get so agitated. Getting worked up like this is bad for you, and for everyone in the Chu family."
A glint of cold light flashed in Chu Shiguang’s eyes as he abruptly grasped Ning Feiyang’s throat.
Ning Feiyang, also at the Energy Transformation Eighth Rank in cultivation, had the strength to resist Chu Shiguang’s sudden strike, but he did not dodge or resist because he knew that despite his abilities, there was still a significant gap between him and this military giant, and resistance would be futile.
"Change course to the Central Battle Zone immediately, or I’ll kill you," Chu Shiguang thundered.
The Chu family members who heard this were taken aback.
"What? Is the course not correct?"
"Did the Ning family betray us?"
"I knew it, why haven’t we reached the Central Battle Zone yet? It turns out the Ning family was up to something, what are they trying to do?"
"That’s extreme, we’re allies. If the Ning family wanted to do something, they didn’t have to go through all this trouble—they could’ve just acted in the East Combat Zone."
"Right, could there be some misunderstanding? Let’s not damage the harmony between our families."
Inside the cabin, these prominent members of the Chu family voiced their opinions, some frantically accusing the Ning family, others suspecting a misunderstanding.
As the Chu family members heatedly debated, Ning Feiyang, with his throat clutched, flashed a smirk and said, "Uncle Chu, killing me is pointless unless you are willing to have every member of your Chu family buried with me."
At this assertion, those Chu family members who thought it was a misunderstanding were left dumbfounded.
After a brief silence, the Chu family members started hurling insults, calling the Ning family deceitful, treacherous, and spineless. The harsh words spilling from their mouths were no different from those of common street ruffians.
Unaffected by the Chu family’s accusations, Chu Shiguang fixed a grave look on Ning Feiyang and reprimanded, "What exactly does your Ning family want to do? If my Chu family falls, it will be a cold day for you as well; you can’t come out unscathed. At a time like this, standing together is the only way to overcome difficulties. Yet your Ning family commits such a despicable act of betrayal?"
Though his heart was gripped by extreme fear, Ning Feiyang had to struggle to keep up his bravado, maintaining a smile as he said, "Uncle Chu, calm down please. On this plane, the members of your Chu family don’t even make up one-fifth of the passengers. Some other members of the Chu family are on another plane. If you won’t consider your own safety, won’t you at least consider the lives of the hundreds of Chu family members? Besides, even if you kill us now, it won’t allow the plane to turn back. The course was set before we boarded, and any attempt to change it now would activate a self-destruct mechanism—we’d all die."