Star Trace Gate

Chapter 989 Dead? Temporary Alliance, Returning to Dongcheng

Inside the small courtyard, which was isolated by the magical artifact, the Marquis was like a wild dog that had broken free of its reins. In just a dozen breaths, he had killed all thirty of the guards sent by Niu Dali.

Wang Tudou was dumbfounded. For the first time, he felt that his intelligence was not enough, and he had no ability to interpret the current situation and the events happening at hand.

He glanced sideways at the young marquis, thinking to himself, "Damn, who is this incredibly ruthless bastard working for? You can't say he's an undercover agent infiltrating Niu Dali's ranks! How stupid does Niu Dali have to be to send an undercover agent so precisely to bring back Jiuzhi? You know, he has over ten thousand monk soldiers under his command, he's not short of manpower...?!"

"Tap...tap tap."

A series of heavy yet elegant footsteps sounded, and the young marquis emerged from the corpses scattered on the ground, blood dripping from the tip of his spear, his hair flying wildly, like a war god descending from the heavens.

After exchanging a brief glance, before Wang Tudou could even voice his doubts, the young marquis spoke first: "Brother, what exactly are you doing? I don't quite understand you...?!"

"...!"

Wang Tudou was speechless, thinking to himself, "Didn't I ask you this question?"

"You've already obtained Jiuzhi, so why didn't you sneak away? Instead, you came back to find my elder brother." The young marquis had gotten used to calling him that, and his words were full of respect for Niu Dali.

Big Brother?! Even at this moment, he still insists on using that title… Wang Tudou thought for a moment, then softly asked, “Oh, I see. You killed people to cover up Jiu Zhi because too many people saw him here?”

The young marquis was taken aback for a moment, then pondered carefully before replying with a wise look in his eyes, "Yes, I was killing someone to cover his tracks. Hmm... But how did you guess that?"

As the saying goes, a fool can defeat a master. Upon hearing the other party's reply, Wang Tudou felt instantly relieved: "Oh, so he was killing someone to cover up Niu Dali's crime, to ensure that the news of finding Jiu Zhi wouldn't be easily leaked. Hmm, I was overthinking it before...!"

"It's not hard to guess this. Come on, take me to see him quickly, time waits for no one..." Wang Tudou replied casually.

"You want to see him?!" The young marquis was surprised and said incredulously, "No, I don't quite understand... What reason do you have to see him? We're not on the same page at all."

Wang Tudou looked at him as if he were a lunatic: "Then why did I come here... just to see him?"

"To see him?!" The young marquis was even more puzzled, vaguely guessing as he replied, "Ah! Could it be... that you already know my identity, and so you deliberately came here to set a trap? Hiss... but how do you know that I would definitely be sent here?"

Wang Tudou's brain went blank, and he instantly sputtered into gibberish: "Wait, bro, what are you talking about?"

"What the hell are you talking about? Didn't you say you wanted to see him?" The young marquis couldn't understand, so he got a little impatient.

Looking at his expression, Wang Tudou suddenly sensed something was off. He felt that the other person might not be on the same wavelength as him.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Say something!" The young marquis secretly circulated his spiritual energy, considering whether or not to just get rid of this "all-knowing" Wang Tudou.

"...I don't know what to say for a moment." Wang Tudou was thinking about his words.

"Ong!"

Just then, the aura of a third and a fourth person suddenly surged from the distorted illusion.

The young marquis was slightly taken aback, then immediately immersed himself in his senses. After confirming that he was very familiar with the two auras, he raised his hand and opened a corner of the illusion barrier: "Damn it, talking to you is too much of a hassle! Fine, he's here, you can talk to him yourself... But I still have my suspicions about you. You're not normal at all, you shouldn't have known I would come!"

"Swish, swish!"

As soon as the words were spoken, two figures suddenly appeared in the isolated illusion. One was a woman, dressed in a gray robe, with a small figure and a seductive air; the other was a large, fat man in disguise.

The newcomers were Ren Ye and Chu Pangzi, who had temporarily escaped from the battlefield of the Martial Monk's Mansion by urinating under the pretext of being angry.

After entering the isolated illusion, both men immediately looked at Wang Tudou, but their eyes showed no surprise. This was because the young lord had already communicated with Master Chu before the operation, informing them that he was going to the East Gate to help Niu Dali retrieve Jiuzhi from Wang Tudou.

However, when Wang Tudou saw the woman in the gray robe, he felt a chill run down his spine and his feet went cold.

"The woman in gray robes, a secret agent of the Divine Court?" He stared blankly at Ren Ye, and subconsciously said, "This brainless brute carrying a long spear... is he really an undercover agent working for Niu Dali?!"

"Hello, Lord Wang." Ren Ye looked at him with his hands behind his back, equally puzzled.

"Ugh……!"

Wang Tudou sighed helplessly and shook his head, saying, "My understanding of Niu Dali's intelligence is simply disastrous... He actually has a spy from the Divine Court by his side?! And... he can even send this spy to do such an important job... I'm speechless."

The young marquis glanced at him sideways: "Don't be so clever. How could you possibly guess what my elder brother and I have been through?"

"Please don't mention the word 'Big Brother' anymore, okay?!" Wang Tudou looked dejected, feeling utterly powerless. He found the word "Big Brother" to be hypocritical, disgusting, and vulgar.

The young marquis ignored him and whispered to Ren Ye, "This kid is a riddle-maker. I can't understand what he's saying. Be careful."

"You go to the side and watch me handle him." Ren Ye replied calmly, then stepped forward, looked Wang Tudou up and down, and asked, "I don't understand why you, having already obtained Jiuzhi, didn't quietly slip away, but instead so blatantly meddle in such a complicated mess?"

Wang Tudou didn't think twice or hide anything: "Because of unforeseen circumstances, I had no choice but to do this."

"What accident?" Ren pressed.

"I don't want to talk about it," Wang Tudou shook his head.

"Then let's talk about something life or death." The Little Bad King didn't press the other party for answers, but simply asked with his hands behind his back, "Where's Jiuzhi?"

Upon hearing this, the young marquis immediately interjected telepathically, "I've already obtained Jiuzhi, but he's been sealed inside a storage space by that brat, and there are quite a few complicated restrictions within it...!"

After listening to his account, Ren immediately said to Wang Tudou, "I have other things to do and don't want to waste time talking to you. Release the restriction, and we'll go our separate ways and not interfere with each other."

Standing silently for a good ten breaths before shaking his head and saying, "No. I can't lift the restriction. It's not because I'm afraid you'll kill me to cover it up, but... I originally wanted to use Jiu Zhi as leverage to get Niu Dali to do something for me. But now, I've clearly lost the chance to talk to him. Since those thirty guards haven't returned, Niu Dali will think that I and this kid killed everyone. So... I've been unfairly blamed and become a spy for the Divine Court."

Ren Ye looked at him coldly: "If the restriction is not lifted, although I will not get Jiuzhi, your fate will definitely not be good either."

“I know that.” Wang Tudou gradually relaxed, because he felt that Ren Ye’s intelligence was normal and that he could communicate effectively. So he took a step at the door and then said softly, “Niu Dali and Moro are both your opponents. Although I lost the opportunity to talk to Niu Dali… on the matter of Moro, our attitudes should be the same.”

"Business is business with anyone, so why don't you do me a favor, and I'll return Jiuzhi to you afterwards?"

In a very short time, he readjusted his thinking and then decisively put forward his conditions.

Ren frowned: "You want to make moves against Moro? What do you want my help with?"

“Capture Moro alive, or capture one of the five people accompanying Moro alive.” Wang Tudou did not hide anything: “My team members have all left, and it is difficult for me to do this alone, so I need to borrow help.”

“I am a member of the Order of the Divine Court, and Moro, no matter what, is an important figure in the Chaos Faction in Northwind Town.” Ren was somewhat surprised: “You’re actually willing to cooperate with me to plot against him. Heh, it seems you’re not exactly a person with any principles…!”

“If a person isn’t even loyal to himself, how can he be loyal to a position or faction? Faith serves people, not the other way around. Chaos inherently emphasizes competition, and besides… I didn’t even make the first move.” Wang Tudou replied very honestly.

Ren gleaned a few bits of information from Wang Tudou's words, and then, considering what he was about to do, he agreed without hesitation: "Sure. If I succeed tonight, capturing one of Moro's entourage shouldn't be difficult. But as for him... forget about it. This guy is cunning as a monkey, and he definitely has someone protecting him. I don't have the time to spare to deal with him alone."

“Okay, the people around him… will do too.” Wang Tudou nodded slowly.

"I need to see Jiuzhi first to ascertain his condition," Ren also stated.

Upon hearing this, the young marquis felt somewhat embarrassed, and then whispered a reminder: "No need to test anymore, I've already done the testing."

Ren glanced at him indifferently, as if to say, "Brother, it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that... there's a higher chance you'll be fooled."

"Your gaze hurt me. I'll settle the score with you later." The young marquis instantly understood Ren Ye's meaning, then took out the Blood Soul Jade Pendant that Wang Tudou had given him earlier, looked up and shouted, "Come on, activate Jiuzhi's true soul aura again, let my cautious little sister Mei see it...!"

Wang Tudou paused for a moment, then raised his hand with a hint of helplessness, made a hand seal and chanted an incantation to activate the Blood Soul Jade Pendant.

"boom!"

A powerful aura of true soul surged forth, and the lifelike phantom of Jiuzhi, devoid of bitterness and sorrow, appeared before everyone's eyes.

Little Bad King suddenly channeled a wisp of his divine sense into the object, carefully sensing it. Then, his face gradually turned ashen, and his brows furrowed.

Beside him, Master Chu, who had remained silent, grew increasingly grim, his gaze sharp as he looked at Wang Tudou.

Standing at the door, Potato Seed noticed the expressions on the two men's faces and sensed something was wrong. He was ready to fight at any moment.

"brush!"

The Little Scoundrel instantly severed his divine senses and demanded with a hostile expression, "Jiuzhi had been suffering from the Gu poison's corrosive effects. Even though he has now won the battle, his true soul should be extremely weakened. But right now... his true soul aura is so powerful, as strong as at its peak?! You're playing tricks!"

Upon hearing this, the young marquis felt utterly humiliated: "What do you mean?! I've been tricked again?! This true soul is fake? That...that's absolutely impossible! I already verified it with the Heavenly Dao!"

Master Chu glanced at him and explained softly, "The true soul is real, but its state is not right. Think about it carefully... What should a true soul that has been fighting against the Soul-Devouring Gu poison for nearly a month be like? And under what circumstances would it suddenly recover to its peak and become unaffected by the Gu poison?"

The young marquis's talent in cultivation was undoubtedly exceptional, so he immediately understood what Master Chu meant: "The true soul leaves the body, abandoning the physical body?! And the Gu poison is hidden within the physical body, unable to leave with the true soul... So, the true soul can recover to its peak in a short time?!"