Star Gate

Chapter 255: An Honest and Simple Little Li Hao (III)

Everything remained a mess inside the outer city. Director He and the rest of the team had been resigned by the disappearance of Liu Long, Liu Yan, and Li Hao. There was nothing they could do about losing the trail as the three were martial masters. As they were too hard to locate, the second Night Watcher team had to give up the idea of using them as bait.

Being injured, Li Hao no longer wished to run into supernaturals. He directed Liu Long away from all of them. There were much fewer balls of light in the city now. He noted the concealed Celestial and Sword Sect Solar when he looked around. They were likely up to nothing good as the young man saw multiple balls of light disappear around them.

Who was the Sword Sect Solar hunting? And who was the Celestial Solar hunting?

Li Hao wasn’t worried about the Night Watchers as the second team possessed a mid Solar. If anyone dared attack them, they’d be killed in return. Zhang Ting would finally act when her own life was in danger.

As for the first team, metal supernatural Director Zhou was very strong as a peak Sunflare. There were numerous Sunflares in that team, which presented a thorny issue for an individual Solar seeking to ambush the group.

Keeping those thoughts in mind, Li Hao and his two companions made their way through numerous streets and drew close to the inner city gates. Balls of light abounded over there and someone heard them coming from far away.

Hu Dingfang broke through the air—he didn’t dare fly, but he was extremely fast nonetheless. He went slack jawed with shock when he saw Li Hao on Liu Long’s back. The young man was as white as a sheet, his internal force depleted, and blood stained his clothes.

“What happened??” Hao Lianchuan rushed over as well. He thought Li Hao was putting on an act at first, but his expression quickly changed too. It was too real to be an act—the young man had gotten thinner as a result of expending too many internal resources and emptying his internal force. “Who did this??”

They were both stunned. Liu Long was a Dominator and the two were with the Night Watchers. Who could still harm Li Hao to this degree?

The two weren’t the only ones concerned. Violet Moon and the others frowned when they took note of Li Hao’s condition. How had the young man ended up in these straits? Violet Moon had given orders to her people to either capture Li Hao when they saw him, or leave him alone if they couldn’t. Red Moon wouldn’t act against Li Hao. Was it Celestial or Yama behind the deed?

Blood trickled out of the corner of the young man’s mouth when he coughed. He looked at the group and said haltingly, “I’m... fine. It’s just my organs that are damaged... my internal force depleted... and my foundations injured...”

And that was called fine?

Faces darkened and Hu Dingfang grew irritable. “Who did it?!”

He wouldn’t die of his injuries now, would he? Would Li Hao be able to continue cultivating even if he recovered? His condition was too critical!

Hu Dingfang had swindled Old Demon Yuan out of one final disciple, if a second final disciple was crippled on his watch... He really wouldn’t be able to explain himself.

“I’m... not sure,” Li Hao coughed and shook his head. “I... didn’t even see them... They were too strong and too fast...” The young man took a deep breath. “I only saw a flash of a dark shadow. I had time to raise my internal force for one instance of defense... They were a dark supernatural...”

Many looked to the Celestial powerhouse upon hearing these words. His name was Ding Chen; most dark supernaturals came from this organization. Hidden beneath his cloak, Ding Chen didn’t immediately say anything.

“They shouldn’t be from Celestial... please don’t misunderstand!” Li Hao said.

“How are you so sure?” Hu Dingfang frowned.

“That person... was too strong!” Li Hao explained. “I almost died from a casual blow. Thank goodness Director Liu was beside me... Director Liu is actually a Dominator! Ordinary Sunflares aren’t that strong... so... that person must be a Solar!

“Cough cough cough... A Solar attacked me! Celestial only has one Solar. If he didn’t leave the inner city gates, then he’s not the one... I suspect... that there’s more people from the outside? Otherwise, there’s no reason that... people won’t discover a Solar being present... Cough cough...”

Strange looks appeared in people’s eyes. A Solar! One that was yet to be discovered! Although Li Hao said his attacker wasn’t from Celestial, their rapidly shifting thoughts were certain that it was Celestial behind this!

That organization was skilled at concealment. If equipped with supernatural items, they might really be harboring a Solar. Celestial was a mysterious bunch that didn’t show their true forms beneath their cloaks...

“It looks like Celestial came well prepared this time!” Hu Dingfang looked coldly at Ding Chen. “You still possess quite the self-assurance even without Half Mountain!”

Two Solars!

There was no doubt about it, the unknown assailant must come from Celestial! Being a group of eccentrics, it was very normal for them to casually deliver a punch or slap if they couldn’t stand the sight of Li Hao. All killers were thus.

“There is no conclusion in this matter yet, Commander Hu...” Ding Chen said in a low voice.

“Very well, I’ll wait for your members to gather again,” Hu Dingfang said coolly. “A Solar might go unnoticed if we weren’t paying attention before, but I’m sure we can see some hints if we take a close look now. If we find a Solar that doesn’t belong to your organization... how about we execute them on the spot?”

Since you won’t admit to it, we’ll kill whatever Solar we find if one appears later! Dare you agree to it?

Ding Chen was highly anxious, uneasy, and wanting to cast blame on his hidden counterpart. What did you go and attack Li Hao for? If you wanted to do that, you should’ve completely taken the young man out!

Here he is, alive to tell the tale. Damn! Anything Ding Chen said at this time was inappropriate. The group was right in that hidden Solars were hard to discover if one wasn’t carefully observing the expedition. But once everyone returned and all Solars were focused on Celestial... it would be hard for his counterpart to remain in hiding!

Trouble would be upon them then, so Ding Chen chose to remain silent. That was a tacit admission that Celestial possessed a second Solar.

“General Hu... don’t... don’t create more enemies for the Night Watchers!” Li Hao said at this time. “I’m really fine, I just need some time to recover. I don’t think it’s someone from Celestial, I have no grudge with them... They don’t have a reason to kill me.”

“You don’t understand!” Hu Dingfang barked out coldly. “An organization that takes joy in killing others and makes killing their mission statement... You’re too young. You are the heir to the eight families and as such, there are those who wish for you to be alive and those who wish you dead!”

“That’s not it, General Hu.” Li Hao grew frantic. “You’re from the army and I... I just don’t think it’s Celestial...”

Urgency marked his voice. Don’t create more enemies for the Night Watchers! Even if it was Celestial who attacked Li Hao, let’s just pretend it wasn’t. It wasn’t like he’d died.

Hao Lianchuan frowned and glowered at the Celestial spokesperson. “No matter if it was you guys or not, Ding Chen... and I can’t really say you’re behind it since we didn’t catch you in the act, shouldn’t you summon that one for introductions? It’s juniors having fun in the outer city. It’s not appropriate for Solars to be involved!”

Ding Chen was resigned, he really was rather resigned. “I trust... that there must be a misunderstanding,” he said after a prolonged pause. “We concealed it before because that is the Celestial way. We don’t like to expose everything about us in front of others. I’m sure there is another explanation for the attack on Li Hao!”

He emitted a shrill whistle at the end of his words.

Ambushing someone was no grave matter, but the key was that a hidden Solar had done the ambushing. That made it a big deal. The target being Li Hao was also a grave matter. All of this together was why everyone paid it so much attention.

Otherwise, who cared about a Sunderer dying?

A figure swiftly ran in from the darkness when the long whistle rang out. Upon seeing that Ding Chen was fine and everyone was looking at him, the powerhouse beneath the cloak paused with a frown. What did you summon me for if nothing’s happening?

“Well met!” A fist slammed down on the newcomer—Hu Dingfang’s fist!

It was fast beyond belief; the startled newcomer immediately pulled out a sword of darkness and jabbed back. He went flying after a loud collision and Ding Chen quickly stepped forward.

“Commander Hu!” he protested.

“So you’re the one who attacked Li Hao?!” Hu Dingfang demanded coolly.

The injured cloaked figure coughed, mystified. Me? When did I attack Li Hao? I didn’t even see Li Hao in the city!

Ding Chen quickly murmured some words by his ears, bringing an aggrieved expression onto the newcomer’s face. Killing people was a normal occurrence, but he really wasn’t behind this. He thought of nothing else but responding with anger, “I’m not behind it... If I was, I wouldn’t give him the chance to escape. Someone wants to expose me...” His eyes darted around as he continued, “There’s another Solar in the city! I came across them, it might be them...”

It was Hong Yitang’s turn to jerk with surprise. “Ah, everyone, please don’t misunderstand. This person slanders another!” he said hastily. “I’ll tell you the truth, that person is my wife. She rose to Solar not long ago and is still stabilizing her cultivation level. She’s a wood supernatural, not of the dark attribute. How could she attack Li Hao?

“Li Hao’s master, Yuan Shuo, is a peer of my time. How would I bully my junior? Don’t you dare run your mouth and cast aspersions on people’s character! My lover is just protecting my sect’s disciples and doesn't mean anything else by it...”

Two Solars were suddenly exposed, and they’d exposed each other! The reason? Li Hao’s injuries.

“Martial uncle Hong wouldn’t attack me,” Li Hao quickly protested. “He gave me the Earthturner Sword, it’s not him! And it’s not Celestial, this is all a misunderstanding! General Hu, Director Hao, I’m fine. I’ll be fine after a few days, let’s let the matter drop!”

Hao Lianchuan glanced at him while Hu Dingfang stewed. The others merely thought that sometimes... Li Hao was truly... should they say simple, or dumb? Of course, not creating more enemies for the Night Watchers at this time was a good idea. He was an interesting fellow, to be a stick-in-the-mud who kept the bigger picture in mind!

There were many people like Li Hao in the Night Watcher ranks. They were too much of a stickler for the rules and didn’t wish to pursue many things to the end in case it ruined bigger plans. The young man rather suited the Night Watcher style.

What else could the rest of them do if he didn’t wish to pursue the matter?

The group looked at Hong Yitang; the swordsman had been in such a hurry to admit to the Solar in his organization because he was afraid that if an investigation started in earnest, it would bring trouble to the Sword Sect if it really fell to them.

Sword intent rose to the sky—a signal for his wife!