Chasing after her husband? Is it even possible to win him back?

[User, the one in the fourth realm is Ning Qiuning, and the other one in the Earth Profound Realm should be with Ning Qiuning. This system has recorded that energy fluctuation.]

How could she be with the Imperial Envoy Xu?

Chu Xunfeng narrowed his eyes.

Chapter Thirty-One, The Bait

To enter, or not to enter?

With his gaze fixed on the system's prompt, Chu Xunfeng hesitated for a moment before making up his mind.

Enter.

Chu Xunfeng raised his hand and summoned the spiritual energy overflowing from his spiritual root, which stirred up the wind and thunder of heaven and earth. With a slight explosion, the latch that had been locked behind the gate instantly turned into charred fragments.

"Who goes there!" Chu Xunfeng pushed open the door and immediately saw Ning Qiuning pointing her sword at him.

Chu Xunfeng paused for a moment. The young man standing outside the door glanced at the three people in the room: Ning Qiuning, the old woman who had stood up, and the imperial envoy wearing a python robe.

"I'm going to see Imperial Envoy Xu Guo. The Supreme Sword Sect has nothing to do with this matter. Don't rashly take sides and get yourself into trouble."

He didn't try to hide his voice. When Ning Qiu Ning heard this undisguised tone, she paused, pursed her lips, and sheathed her sword, making way for Chu Xun Feng.

Just as Chu Xunfeng had predicted.

“You…” The imperial envoy from Xu Kingdom saw Ning Qiu Ning sheath her sword and step aside, his expression became slightly flustered, and his gaze couldn’t help but turn to the old woman from the Supreme Sword Sect.

Seeing that the old woman also had her eyes downcast, he realized that being entrusted with the responsibility of an imperial envoy meant that Lord Gou was not entirely useless. Seeing that he couldn't help her in her time of need, he quickly calmed down and took the initiative to speak to Chu Xunfeng, "Brother, what brings you to this imperial envoy?"

"Stop talking nonsense, I'll ask, you answer." Chu Xunfeng raised his hand, deep purple arcs of electricity dancing in his palm. "What exactly does the Emperor want from you, sending you to Lancang City?"

Chu Xunfeng had actually had doubts about this for a long time.

The Longquan Sword Manor never intended to hide the Sword Appraisal Conference from the Emperor of Xu and the Bronze Beast. However, in Lancang City, only the Longquan Sword Manor was actively preparing, while the Bronze Beast had not made any significant moves.

Chu Xunfeng naturally did not believe that the Emperor of Xu would accept the current situation so easily.

He had been waiting, and in the end, the imperial envoy arrived, but the envoy did not take any action all day.

Lord Gou was taken aback, but he honestly explained the imperial mission he was carrying out: "Naturally, it is to participate in the Sword Appraisal Conference and buy the method of forging the strange weapon from Longquan Sword Manor."

[I'm not lying.]

Chu Xunfeng frowned slightly, feeling something was off. After a brief moment of thought, he spoke again, "How do you plan to buy it?"

"When buying things, it's naturally in silver," Lord Gou replied frankly. "There are also some resources bestowed by His Majesty for cultivators, including spirit stones. As for other things, I am not a person in this field, so I don't know much about them."

[I'm not lying.]

Chu Xunfeng's brows were now deeply furrowed. "You, the imperial envoy, came to Lancang City just to do this?"

"That's true." Lord Gou's answer was still confident, but this time, the system gave a different judgment than before.

[The user is lying.]

Chu Xunfeng breathed a slight sigh of relief. Without any hesitation, he threw the leaping lightning bolt in his hand at the official.

A blinding flash of lightning erupted, and Lord Gou, not understanding where he had slipped up, felt a sharp pain surge through his body. The old man, who had been sitting upright in his chair, collapsed instantly, and a foul stench emanated from beneath him.

“I can tell if you’re lying or not. You have one last chance. Don’t think I won’t kill you, you old man.” Chu Xunfeng took a few steps forward, grabbed the imperial envoy by the collar, and pulled the slumped old man back. “Tell me, besides the method to buy the ghost weapon forging, what other tasks do you have?”

The old man trembled all over. All he saw in the attacker's eyes was his own wretched appearance. There was no emotion in the attacker's eyes. He really was going to kill him.

"Bait...I'm still...bait," the old man stammered in a panic.

"A decoy? The Bronze Fang Beast and other forces are operating in the shadows?" A cold glint flashed in Chu Xunfeng's eyes. "What is their purpose?"

"I don't know, I don't know!" Gou Youcai struggled a few times. "I was just bait, how could I be worthy of knowing these things?"

[This is all the truth.]

Chu Xunfeng narrowed his eyes and stared at the imperial envoy for a few seconds before finally giving up the idea of ​​eliminating the man.

We must not act impulsively. If the imperial envoy dies, then the Emperor of Xu will truly have a reason to take action against me and the Longquan Sword Manor.

“I remember that Lord Gou was accompanied by a large group of people when he entered the city, but there were quite a few people that I never saw,” Ning Qiu Ning’s calm voice rang out from the side.

Chu Xunfeng turned his head and looked at the girl who was staring at him with some surprise.

"Thank you." Chu Xunfeng nodded to Ning Qiuning, then tossed aside the imperial envoy's collar, letting him fall to the ground in a mess. "I have other important business to attend to, so I'll take my leave first."

Chu Xunfeng turned and left. Halfway there, he activated the Yin Sha Pearl hidden in his wristband and quietly transmitted his thoughts: [Objective achieved. Important intelligence obtained. I'll go ahead. See you at the Sword Manor.]

The Yin Sha Pearl immediately transmitted a message back: "Understood. Be careful on the road and watch out for your eyes and ears."

Chu Xunfeng did not reply. He simply activated his Qi and blood, and with force, crushed the Yin Sha Pearl into powder.

Guided by the system, Chu Xunfeng silently slipped out of the inn and rushed halfway there. After confirming that there were no eyes or ears around, he directly ignited his Qi and blood, activated his Cloud Qi Divine Power, and sped towards Longquan Sword Manor.

Chu Xunfeng's actions were quite impressive. With his blood and qi burning, the phoenix blood ignited the dragon energy, and he shot towards the inner gate of Longquan Sword Manor like a crimson comet. Many people in the inner gate became alert and gathered in the inner gate's square before Chu Xunfeng even landed.

As soon as Chu Xunfeng crashed to the ground, Zuo Feichen strode forward and asked, "Did you find out anything important?"

"The bronze beast has already made its move. The imperial envoy in Blue Cang City is just bait; his purpose is to draw our attention." Chu Xunfeng's face was grim. "How many people did that imperial envoy bring into the city with him?"

"There were some guards and maids accompanying them, about twenty people in total."

“These people are probably not in that inn. The imperial envoy only has one guard, named Zhan Chendao, who is also a member of the Bronze Beast, but that’s not important. What’s important now is, where are the people around this imperial envoy…?” Chu Xunfeng looked around, but no one could answer this question.

"No doubt, they've slipped out of the city to do something undercover." Zuo Feichen squinted. "There are still two days until the Sword Appraisal Tournament. In those two days, they'll do something that could significantly impact our plans..."

Chu Xunfeng took a deep breath and turned to look at Zuo Feichen, whose face was equally gloomy.

"White Emperor Flying Shuttle".

"Those vanished wandering monks and disciples of Baidi City."

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Shuttle Attack

The plan devised by the bronze beast was actually not complicated, even excessively simple.

However, because of the existence of the imperial envoy, Longquan Sword Manor, Chu Xunfeng, and others took the bait and missed a whole day.

Now that the bait's identity has been revealed, it's easy to understand what the bronze beast is up to.

Zuo Feichen blurted out the name White Emperor Flying Shuttle.

However, Chu Xunfeng's thoughts went even further than Zuo Feichen's.

He pointed out the missing wandering warriors and disciples of Baidi City. Based on the clues given by the three members of the Ghost Clan, Chu Xunfeng had confirmed that the users of Baidi City were controlled by the Ghost Soldiers.

Now imagine that a group of missing persons from Baidi City appear wielding monstrous weapons created by Longquan Sword Manor and attack the Baidi City flying shuttle that came to Lancang City for the Sword Appraisal Conference at the invitation of Longquan Sword Manor.

Explaining the entire cause and effect is already incredibly difficult.

The implications of this are far too complex to explain in a few words. At worst, the Longquan Sword Manor will lose its credibility in Baidi City and need to repair it, while losing the city's understanding will put it in a precarious position. Furthermore, the Longquan Sword Manor, having forged the unorthodox weapon, may even face criticism from Baidi City...

Of course, this is the worst possible outcome.

It might not happen, after all, Baidi City might not necessarily blame Longquan Sword Manor, provided that... Baidi City truly believes Longquan Sword Manor's explanation and stance.

“If our roles were reversed, I would never leave anyone alive on the shuttle in this situation.” Chu Xunfeng turned to Zuo Feichen. “Quickly arrange for someone to rescue them. Hopefully, we can make it in time.”

Now that things have come to this, getting anxious and agitated will only impair his judgment. Chu Xunfeng took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

Zuo Feichen turned to his younger brother, who was only wearing a coat and was also the steward of Longquan Sword Manor, and said, "Take men to meet the shuttle from Baidi City and do everything you can to save them!"

"Understood." The thin butler nodded and turned to leave.

Zuo Feichen turned back and stared at Chu Xunfeng, who was deep in thought. "How should we respond now?"

Chu Xunfeng's unfocused gaze returned, and he turned to look at Zuo Feichen, "After those three from the Ghost Clan return, discuss with them that the art of the Ghost Weapon should no longer be auctioned. We will give it away."

"Moreover, the pretext for sending it must be clever. This is a hot potato; no one can handle it now. Only by breaking it down and dismantling it can the message be conveyed."

"You mean, pin it on the bronze beast?"

"Why push it? The purpose of my Longquan Sword Manor's Sword Appraisal Conference is to help Emperor Xu solve his problems. After all, what His Majesty wants is something that Longquan Sword Manor cannot do, so we can only call on the sects of the five states to serve His Majesty together." Chu Xunfeng narrowed his eyes, a cold glint in his eyes.

"What happened outside is completely unknown to Longquan Sword Manor. Even the people from Baidi City who were rescued were those who fled to Lancang City and were rescued by us!"

"Isn't that too fake?" Zuo Shaojun gave a helpless bitter smile. "Even if we talk ourselves hoarse, no one will believe us."

“Yes, they won’t believe it, but isn’t that just right?” Chu Xunfeng squinted and turned to look at Zuo Shaojun. “People only want to believe the conclusions they come to from their own thinking. This kind of obviously fake attitude will only encourage suspicion among those who don’t know the truth.”

"There's another problem. What if the people from Baidi City we rescue are unwilling to cooperate?" Zuo Feichen stared at Chu Xunfeng. "If the shuttle is attacked, I don't believe you can appease and persuade them."

"Just put him under house arrest. If that doesn't work, just tie him up like a dumpling and hide him. We'll talk about it after the Sword Appraisal Tournament." Chu Xunfeng squinted and turned to look at Zuo Feichen. "We're already a step behind the Bronze Fang Beast, so we have to use some special methods."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Zuo Feichen looked at Chu Xunfeng.

"That's for sure, we really have no other choice."

“There was no choice, so it was easy to guess.” Ao Hanli, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up.

All eyes turned to Li Han, who had been keeping a low profile lately. No one wanted to question Chu Xunfeng at this moment, but since she was acting alongside him, it seemed more appropriate for her to speak than anyone else.

“That’s right.” Chu Xunfeng also admitted that the plan already involved gambling with one’s life, but Chu Xunfeng was not a pure gambler.

The young man stared at Ao Hanli and said, "In the process of carrying out all of this plans, I must do one thing."

Zuo Feichen stared intently at Chu Xunfeng without saying a word.

The master of Longquan Sword Manor seemed to have completely trusted Chu Xunfeng, allowing this young man to take charge of the overall situation within Longquan Sword Manor.