Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 350: I Am Wang Daozhong

Grabbing the Heavenly Tome page meant victory, and Zhao Changhe did not really dare try to kill Yan Que.

Despite Yan Que having been electrocuted and struck square by Zhao Changhe’s palm, he had only ended up spitting out some blood. Someone on the Ranking of Earth was still someone on the Ranking of Earth. Zhao Changhe felt that a fight to the death against Yan Que did not bode well for him, and it may simply lead to his own death.

Taking the Heavenly Tome would likely cause the environment to gradually return to normal, with areas like the path of lightning disappearing. He thus felt it best to take advantage of the lightning barrier while it still existed and escape while Yan Que was still unaware of his true identity.

Sure enough, Yan Que, blocked by the lightning, was unable to give chase. Zhao Changhe stuffed the page of the Heavenly Tome into his storage ring and fled down the mountain in a flash.

The environment had not changed yet, and having gone through the tests once, they were now much easier for him. It had taken him over two hours to climb the mountain, but descending took less than half an hour. He leaped over huge stretches of land and streams, frantically fleeing the secret realm. When he reached the outside world, the sun had just begun to rise.

The moment that Zhao Changhe saw the sunlight, his heart was suddenly seized with pain.

An invisible and intangible pressure enveloped his entire body, making it difficult for him to even breathe. He felt as if he were at the bottom of a deep ocean, where just the water pressure could crush a person into mush.

However, what he was experiencing was neither water pressure nor air pressure.

It was soul pressure!

A terrifying sound erupted in Zhao Changhe’s mind, preventing any coherent thoughts from forming. There was only a single thing on his mind: I’m going to die.

In the next moment, the pressure was suddenly interrupted by something, accompanied by a strange explosion that then subsided.

Zhao Changhe panted as he looked up at the sky.

In his soul sea, there was a faint, astonished “Huh?”

An ancient voice echoed from a distant dimension into his mind. “It’s actually you...”

The blind woman’s cold snort followed, but she gave no reply.

“So, even you could no longer resist and have gotten involved personally. Ha... hahahaha... Interesting... But this shouldn’t be. Are you sure you won’t regret it? Hah...”

The voice gradually faded and disappeared, and Zhao Changhe could no longer see the blind woman.

However, the sky cleared after the rain, and the morning sun rose as if nothing had happened.

Zhao Changhe let out a long breath, drenched in cold sweat.

He had truly snatched food from a tiger’s mouth, facing off against someone on the Ranking of Earth, while the blind woman repelled an ancient being... But since it was for a page of the Heavenly Tome, it was all worth it.

Zhao Changhe did not stay for long. He quickly left the mountain and headed into the city. He headed straight to the stable where his horse was at, mounted it, and sped away. As for continuing his training, to hell with it...

In the distance, he seemed to see horse hooves raising dust toward Kunlun. Zhao Changhe reined in his horse and took a detour, heading southeast.

On Kunlun Peak, amidst morning mist, Yuxu stood at the cliff’s edge, gazing into the distance. It was unclear if he could see Zhao Changhe’s departing figure.

It seemed like a voice echoed in his soul sea, “Why not chase after him?”

“If you couldn’t stop him, what do you expect me to do?”

“That entity will not move against you.”

Yuxu leisurely took a sip from his wine gourd. “This page of the Heavenly Tome is very particular about fate, forcing it would be unwise.”

“That page of the Heavenly Tome would greatly benefit you.”

“My greatest benefit lies in resting here on Kunlun.”

“Utter foolishness!”

Yuxu chuckled. “I’ve done what you asked of me. If Yan Que and the others failed to acquire it, it’s because of their incompetence, not mine. Now that my debt is cleared, I am at peace. Whether my actions are wise or foolish is none of your concern now. Please leave.”

A wise man once concluded that everything could be boiled down to “none of my business” and “none of your business.” If you can master these two phrases, you become invincible.

For example, at this moment, Yuxu was perfectly making use of the latter.

The other party was silent for a while before saying faintly, “I hope you won’t regret this in the future.”

Yuxu repeated, “That’s none of your concern.”

Boom!

A muffled sound came from within the mountain. The voice that had been speaking with Yuxu disappeared, and Yuxu seemed to be too indifferent to even care about the changes within the mountain. He continued drinking his wine alone.

As the page of the Heavenly Tome had been taken out of the space, the anomalies within the space began to disappear gradually. The ice melted, the snow thawed, the lightning stopped, and the illusory maze vanished. The space transformed into a typical, albeit vast, secret realm.

Yan Que hid in the spot where the Heavenly Tome had been, trembling as he healed his wounds in a place where the lightning could not reach him. Only when the lightning stopped did he take a deep breath and angrily rush out of the secret realm. “Wang Daozhong! You and I cannot live under the same sky!”

Wang Daozhong was Zhao Changhe in disguise. This was something that had been made clear when Yang Qianyuan was captured at the headquarters of the Jinqian Gang. The main members of the Jinqian Gang were thus aware that the person parading around as Wang Daozhong was actually Zhao Changhe. However, apart from them, the other forces did not know that the Wang Daozhong who had appeared at the Jinqian Gang and the Zhao Changhe who had appeared at the Yukun Gang were the same person. These two gangs were clearly enemies, and most people would not associate the two in any way.

Yan Que inquired with various forces in the east of the city and learned that Wang Daozhong had indeed appeared at the Jinqian Gang.

As for the informed members of the Jinqian Gang, after being heavily attacked by Tian Lingzi and losing many strong members, the gang had fallen into decline. While Zhao Changhe was dealing with matters involving Huangfu Qing and Xia Chichi, Chen One had already started absorbing the remnants of the Jinqian Gang. By today, they had all already been brought under his control. When Zhao Changhe handed over the affairs involving the secret realms to Chen One, he asked him to prevent the Jinqian Gang from revealing his identity.

So when Yan Que went to ask the Jinqian Gang, the answer that he got was that Wang Daozhong had indeed appeared and had even killed their then-leader Yang Qianyuan.

But finding this Wang Daozhong was an entirely different matter as he seemed to have vanished.

While Yan Que furiously searched throughout the city for any news or information on Wang Daozhong, a lone rider entered the city from the east of Kunlun and stopped near the inn where Zhao Changhe stayed. The rider looked around curiously. “Heh, this city actually has an inn.”

The inn had originally been the property of the Jinqian Gang. Now, Chen One had assigned some of the older members of the Jinqian Gang to manage it. Seeing a potential customer, someone immediately greeted him with a smile, “Would you like to stay at our inn, sir?”

“I might stay for a while,” replied the man as he got off his horse. The man then asked, “Have you heard of Zhao Changhe?”

The heart of the person who came to greet the potential customer skipped a beat. They were now under Chen One’s command, and Chen One had instructed them not to disclose anything about Zhao Changhe. Thus, how could he dare speak carelessly? The man quickly replied, “I’ve never heard of him...”

The man pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, “Forget it. How do I get to Yuxu Peak?”

The Jinqian Gang member instinctively bent down and cautiously replied, “Yuxu Peak is just west of the city, into the mountains... May I ask who you are?”

The man said proudly, “I am Wang Daozhong of Langya. I’m here to visit Kunlun. You may announce my arrival.”

The members of the Jinqian Gang exchanged glances, their expressions turning wary and unfriendly.

Do you think we’re stupid? We were just deceived, and now you come to us claiming to be Wang Daozhong? Is everyone claiming to be Wang Daozhong now?

They were more experienced now. They believed that a true member of the Wang Clan of Langya would travel with a grand entourage. A lone rider claiming to be Wang Doazhong was likely a fraud, just like Zhao Changhe from before.

The members of the Jinqian Gang exchanged subtle glances. They then discreetly took the man’s horse, smiling as they said, “Mister Wang, please rest here first. We will send someone to announce your arrival.”

Wang Daozhong said casually, “Make sure my horse is well fed.”

“Of course.” One of the members secretly poured a large amount of croton seeds into the horse’s feed.

They laced Wang Daozhong’s wine and food with knockout drugs, while someone else quickly went to notify Chen One and Ye Wuzong, just in case the person who had come really was Wang Daozhong.

Wang Daozhong, being indeed himself, was unaffected by ordinary knockout drugs and simply finished his meal as if they hadn’t just tried to knock him out and rob him. “Innkeeper, the bill—”

“Wang Daozhong is here?! Where is he?!” rang out a shout from the distance.

A large man, surrounded by a blood-red aura, rushed down the street. “Wang Daozhong, prepare to die!”

The ferocious Blood Demon Hand struck from a distance, and Wang Daozhong, puzzled, met the attack with his palm.

Boom!

This clash proved both sides were evenly matched, and both were momentarily stunned.

“Ah, the Heavenly Sea-Suppressing Palm. Good!” Yan Que’s expression was maniacal. “Take another palm from me!”

“Wait!” Wang Daozhong was bewildered. “Are you Blood Demon Hand Yan Que? I’ve never met you...”

“You may not have met me, but I recognize your palm art! Don’t think that you can deceive me just by changing your appearance! Die!”

And so, a battle between the figures ranked thirty-third and thirty-fifth on the Ranking of Earth erupted in the east of Kunlun City. In just a few exchanges, the inn collapsed.

The members of the Jinqian Gang, unperturbed by the inn’s destruction, watched in amazement.

A duel between experts on the Ranking of Earth! How many in the world are fortunate enough to witness such a sight even once in their life? ...Hey, wait, if he can fight Blood Demon Hand evenly, does that mean that he really is Wang Daozhong? Fuck, did I just try to poison Wang Daozhong?!

The members of the Jinqian Gang exchanged glances, sensing that the battle was reaching a conclusion.

Yan Que, after all, was injured and had not fully recovered, so he basically had no chance of taking down Wang Daozhong. Meanwhile, Wang Daozhong, uninterested in this nonsensical fight he was suddenly faced with, forced Yan Que to retreat with a palm and quickly mounted his horse, rushing toward Yuxu Peak in the west of the city.

However, unlike before, Yuxu Peak was now guarded. Perhaps Yuxu deliberately did not want to see anyone from the Wang Clan.

Two burly men stood at the mountain path entrance, and they raised their hands to stop Wang Daozhong. “Halt!”

Wang Daozhong said, “I am Wang Daozhong of Langya. I’ve come to discuss something with Daoist Yuxu of Kunlun.”

One of the guards said, “Please show your identification.”

Wang Daozhong reached into his robes, and his expression suddenly froze.

His money, identification papers, and identification token were all gone.

When did I lose them?

Was it during the fight? Or was it that old man who walked past me while I was eating? But that old man never even touched me...

Seeing his expression, the guards sneered. One of them said, “You’ve got some guts pretending to be from the Wang Clan of Langya. I wonder how they deal with impersonators. In any case, since you don’t actually seem to be from the Wang Clan, please go back.”

Furious and anxious, Wang Daozhong was about to say something when Yan Que caught up from behind. “Help me take that guy down, and I’ll reward you well!”

Yan Que was fairly reputable in Kunlun. Without hesitation, the guards drew their weapons and charged at Wang Daozhong

What had been a duel just now turned into a brawl. Knowing that he could not win in this situation, Wang Daozhong thought it was absurd to enter the city. He could not understand what had gone wrong with everyone here. He swiftly decided that it was best for him to leave first and sort things out.

As Yan Que’s palm strike approached, Wang Daozhong deflected the guards’ swords and spurred his horse to flee to the side.

He had not gotten far when his horse suddenly collapsed to the ground, nearly throwing him to the ground.

The croton seeds from the inn had taken effect.

Fortunately, Wang Daozhong was a genuine expert and was able to react in time. He leaped into the air, avoiding a disgraceful fall.

Looking back at the approaching Yan Que and his beloved horse, which was foaming at the mouth on the ground, Wang Daozhong felt a mix of anger and confusion. He felt as if he were in some kind of absurd dream.

I only came here to hunt down Zhao Changhe... Why is everyone in this place crazy?