Chapter 701: Chapter 700 Wang Lei and Xu Jian
Hidden Sect, Mu Yun City in the East State.
In an inn, Wang Lei and Qi Hongshao stood by the window, their gazes fixed on the location of a manor to the east, a serious look in their eyes.
"Do we really have to do this? That’s Duanmu Manor. Trying to snatch someone away from there with just you and him is even harder than reaching the heavens," Qi Hongshao said softly.
Wang Lei slowly withdrew his gaze and looked at the woman by his side who had entrusted herself to him, a flash of guilt appearing in his eyes, "I thought I could give you a peaceful life here, but I didn’t expect to get involved in an even bigger trouble."
With tenderness filling her eyes, Qi Hongshao reached out to cover Wang Lei’s lips with her hand and smiled, "Hong Lei is well-settled now, and I have no more concerns in my heart. Being able to roam the Martial Arts World with you is the happiest thing in my life."
Wang Lei gently held her hand, and Qi Hongshao leaned her head on his shoulder.
"Is Xu Jian... reliable?" Qi Hongshao suddenly asked.
A gleam flashed in Wang Lei’s eyes, and after pondering for a moment, he slowly said, "I don’t know."
"Then we can only do this on our own," Qi Hongshao said.
Wang Lei glanced at her and gave a faint smile.
Some things were better done alone.
...
Initially, Wang Lei had taken Qi Hongshao and her sister Qi Honglei with the intention of meeting up with Yang Fei at the passage to escape the Hidden Sect World, but they were pursued and nearly killed by Gao Qian of Giant Sword Manor along with a group of experts. They were only able to survive thanks to Wang Chunyang’s secret intervention.
Afterward, Yang Fei and Qin Yanyang faced difficulties from various forces within the Hidden Sect. After two confrontations, Yang Fei even left behind the Taoist Cultivation Method in order to escape.
At that time, Wang Lei did not show up, not wanting to cause more trouble for Yang Fei and Qin Yanyang.
In the years that followed, he took Qi Hongshao and her sister to hide in the east and west, managing to evade pursuit from Giant Sword Manor.
All this time, Wang Lei had not returned to the Langya Wang Family. He and the Qi sisters built a wooden house in the mountains outside Nan Zhao City and lived in seclusion.
They occasionally observed the vicinity of the passage, looking for a chance to leave.
Half a month ago, Wang Lei saw someone that greatly surprised him and decided to follow them. Not long into the tailing, the person called out his name.
This person was none other than Duanmu Cheng.
Duanmu Cheng was the one who had brought Yang Fei and Xu Jian into the Hidden Sect and had a chance encounter with Qi Hongshao, who had stolen a secret manual from Giant Sword Manor that Duanmu Cheng wanted to acquire in secret.
At the time, Duanmu Cheng had been kidnapped by Yang Fei and then handed over to Xu Jian.
Since then, the three had parted ways and had not seen each other again.
Wang Lei stared at Duanmu Cheng and the first question he asked was, "Who are you?"
Having confirmed that the current Duanmu Cheng had been subjected to the Body Seizing Technique by Xu Jian, Wang Lei was greatly shocked.
He had indeed heard of the Body Seizing Technique, but it had been many years since anyone in the Hidden Sect World had used this method to achieve longevity. He hadn’t expected Xu Jian to actually succeed.
Could the Taoist Immortality Scripture stolen by Qi Hongshao from Giant Sword Manor really be that powerful?
But if that was the case, why hadn’t the people from Giant Sword Manor used this method?
After confirming time and again, Wang Lei believed that the person before him was indeed Xu Jian.
Wang Lei asked him if they should wait here together for an opportunity to leave, but Xu Jian invited Wang Lei to go to the Duanmu Family with him.
He said that it was difficult to leave now without being discovered by the people of Giant Sword Manor, and since they were living near Nan Zhao City, once the Giant Sword Manor found out, Wang Lei might be safe due to his bloodline from the Langya Wang Family, but what about Qi Hongshao and Qi Honglei?
After weighing the options, Wang Lei heeded Xu Jian’s advice and, along with Qi Hongshao and Qi Honglei, came to Mu Yun City.
The three of them lived in Mu Yun City while Xu Jian returned to the Duanmu Family using the identity of Duanmu Cheng.
During the first few days after his return, Duanmu Cheng (Xu Jian) was interrogated by many elders of the Duanmu aristocratic family to verify his true identity.
After all, Duanmu Cheng had originally been abducted and vanished for several months before reappearing; naturally, the Duanmu aristocratic family needed to confirm his identity.
After seizing the body, Xu Jian fully inherited all of Duanmu Cheng’s memories and did not expose any flaws to the Duanmu aristocratic family.
But with his long absence, many situations within the family had changed, and the family affairs he used to manage had been taken over by others, significantly reducing his status.
Fortunately, the network and power he had cultivated previously remained, and given that his body’s grandfather was Duanmu Wugou, he still held a certain status within the Duanmu aristocratic family.
Therefore, on the third day of his return to the Duanmu aristocratic family, he learned an important piece of information: Duanmu Wentong and Duanmu Song, a father-son duo, had brought back a woman named Tong Yunshu from the outside.
This Tong Yunshu was also known to be Yang Fei’s woman.
Ever since this woman had been brought to the Duanmu aristocratic family, she had completely lost her freedom and was imprisoned in a dilapidated courtyard within the family grounds.
Duanmu Wentong and Duanmu Song were also unable to see her again.
According to the news Duanmu Cheng received after returning to the family, Duanmu Wentong and Duanmu Song had departed with Duanmu Wugou, and after they brought back Tong Yunshu, Duanmu Wuwang and Duanmu Wuwo also disappeared. Now all the affairs of the Duanmu aristocratic family were managed by Duanmu Wuyan.
Relying on Duanmu Cheng’s memory and some further information obtained from his subordinates, Xu Jian soon confirmed something.
Yang Fei had been played by the Duanmu aristocratic family.
The Duanmu aristocratic family had Duanmu Wentong and Duanmu Song meet with Yang Fei under the pretense of being his maternal grandfather and uncle, then after earning Yang Fei’s trust, they brought Tong Yunshu into the Hidden Sect World to cultivate.
They claimed they wanted to collaborate and promote a mass-producible Innate Pill to rope in masters from various powers within the Hidden Sect World.
In the future, when the Hidden Sect made a major move into society, the Duanmu aristocratic family intended to establish the strongest collaboration directly with Divine Continent Country due to their relationship with Yang Fei, thereby securing an advantage for the future.
However, for some unknown reason, once Tong Yunshu was brought over, she was imprisoned, and even Duanmu Wentong and Duanmu Song had their freedom restricted.
And as for the Duanmu aristocratic family’s three stabilizers, Duanmu Wugou, Duanmu Wuwang, and Duanmu Wuwo, they had all left the family together.
A few days later, Xu Jian received another piece of information.
Two months earlier, Zhuge Cang had visited the Duanmu aristocratic family and had a lengthy discussion with the three venerable ancestors through the night.
Through various pieces of intelligence, Xu Jian deduced that Yang Fei might have been tricked by the Duanmu aristocratic family.
And Yang Fei’s woman, Tong Yunshu, had become a significant hostage for the Duanmu aristocratic family to control Yang Fei.
Xu Jian informed Wang Lei, who was residing in Mu Yun City, of this news but cautioned him not to act rashly.
With Wang Lei’s strength, it might be possible to covertly enter the Duanmu aristocratic family without being detected, but rescuing Tong Yunshu, who was under guard, would be incredibly difficult.
Despite the absence of the three top powerhouses of the Duanmu aristocratic family, numerous Late-stage Innate Realm experts capable of advancing to an even higher Realm could easily be found within the manor, including several venerable powerhouses on the cusp of a breakthrough.
Although Xu Jian had successfully seized the body of Duanmu Cheng and could perhaps provide some assistance to Wang Lei while posing as Duanmu Cheng within the Duanmu aristocratic family, he too would be doomed if he were to be exposed.
Compared to the bond between Yang Fei and Wang Lei, the sentiment between Xu Jian and Yang Fei was not particularly strong.
Xu Jian had displayed loyalty by passing this message to Wang Lei.
But to expect him to join forces in rescuing Tong Yunshu seemed to be asking too much.
Moreover, since Xu Jian had returned to the Duanmu aristocratic family as Duanmu Cheng, he had passed the scrutiny of several clan elders but still aroused suspicion among many people.
The most notable was Duanmu Cheng’s wife, Mu Sujing.
Mu Sujing had thought herself a widow, never expecting that, after more than half a year, her missing husband would return unharmed. However, after living with him for over ten days, she vaguely sensed that her husband seemed somewhat unfamiliar.