Dual Cultivation God Returns-Chapter 983: Tricks and games of fate

Changsun Yong was nervously looking back multiple times a minute.

They were already some distance from the Iron Claw City, flying through the heavy rain in the direction of the Silver Wing City, but he couldn’t calm down no matter how much he repeated to himself that everything was fine.

Zhao Biren was no longer with them, and the masked man was likely exhausted after so many fights back to back. The only hope was that the twin beauties were somehow as strong as the masked man, but he didn’t believe things would be so convenient. Thus, even though he was under the protection of strong people, he still felt jittery.

And then, as he turned once more, his eyes caught a tiny dot very far away. It was hard to see through the rain even with the keen eyesight of a cultivator, but he was sure it was a man.

"Th-there’s...", but before he could even warn the others, the man already was flying next to them, and as both their group and the man stopped, with sheer horror, Changsun Yong understood that the unknown man was in Essence Ignition Realm.

"Greetings, Teacher!", the unknown man cupped his fist in a salute with an extremely respectful attitude, "I have returned after successfully fulfilling the mission at the Emerald Falls City"

"T-teach-...?", the former Prime Disciple of the Drifting Reeds Sect who already braced himself for death looked up with confusion.

"Mm, good work", Wu Long nodded, taking off his mask as their surroundings gradually became foggy - this wasn’t Fen Baihu’s mist, but rather the fog created by Wu Long who now finally had both the Heat and Cold Runes to finely control the temperature and not only create but sustain ’natural’ fog with the Water Rune, as well as the Wind Rune to protect that fog from being dispersed, "You had to go away on a long-distance mission as soon as you joined, it was hard on you. I appreciate your diligence in completing the tasks given. After we talk everything over, feel free to take a few days off before getting into things. I’d give you more time, but that would have to wait. It’s a tricky timing... I even had to suspend the vacation I’d just given your colleagues yesterday noon, pulling them back for another task this past night"

He spoke the last words with an uncharacteristic slight embarrassment showing on his face and in his voice, drawing curious gazes from both twins, and the little fox which appeared on his shoulder at some unknown point in time.

Meanwhile, Changsun Yong turned back and forth looking at Li Weifang and Wu Long, completely losing sense of what was happening, and then when the latter took off his mask, froze, his jaw dropping at how actually young this man looked, he looked even slightly younger than Changsun Yong himself.

At the same time, despite the situation and his state of mind, he also felt slight annoyance seeing that face. ’Damn it, some people really do have everything...’

Meanwhile, Li Weifang chuckled, "I got enough rest while in the Emerald Falls City, Teacher. I didn’t slack off with my duties, but it was a task with a lot of free time... admittedly I was used to that kind of thing, it resembled my old job a lot" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Heh, I’d still take those couple days off if I were you", Wu Long chuckled, shaking his head, "But we’ll talk more about that later. For now, once again, good job and welcome back"

He then turned to Changsun Yong, "We’ll talk with you a bit more later as well. For now I have some things to attend to while your situation is settled for the time being and so, no longer as urgent. I already delivered on the first of two things I promised you, getting you out of that situation safe and sound, so you can take that as an assurance that I will deliver on the second - giving you the means to fight your enemies, there is no quick fix for that anyway. so we have plenty of time to talk later"

These words returned Changsun Yong, who for some time now lost any sense of reality, to his senses, reminding him what situation he was in initially, and of his grudge.

He gulped, and solemnly took out the brocade box, intending to hand it over as he promised.

But Wu Long shook his head, "You can hold on to it for now. I only mentioned wanting it so you wouldn’t suspect some other ulterior motive, and so that my motive in meddling in your affairs seemed reasonable to everyone else there. I am interested in obtaining its contents, but it’s useless to me for the time being. It’s far more useful for me so that you have it for now. Rather, it is paramount that you don’t let go of it"

"Y-You know what’s in the box?". Changsun Yong’s eyes turned round. He was, of course, puzzled by many things Wu Long said, but this question came out of him on its own without even thinking.

He was with this box for months, and he did not know what was in it.

His earlier threat to open it was a bluff - his Master put a seal on it that Changsun Yong was not able to undo.

He spent these months agonizing over the contents, as dark thoughts that crawled into his mind in moments of weakness and doubt sometimes made him dizzy. He often took out the jade slip with his Master’s message to him that was left alongside this box, instructing him on his mission. The contents of that jade slip sowed a seed of doubt in his mind. And it with time made him doubt everything he ever believed.

He persevered to this point only because of the lingering loyalty to his Master and Sect, his wishful belief in their innocence, and a promise that once he completed his mission, everything would become clear.

"Yes, I do", Wu Long nodded, "But as I said, we’ll discuss everything later. For now, you can rest assured. It is not any kind of evidence of the Corrupt Path relationship, it is something much more interesting but benign in nature"

Changsun Yong’s eyes reddened as he felt great relief, as if a great weight had been lifted off his heart. He didn’t have any evidence that Wu Long was telling the truth, or that he really somehow knew what was in the box despite how impossible it seemed. Perhaps, he simply wanted to hear these words so much that he could only readily accept them without doubt.

"T-thank you, thank you...", he repeatedly thanked Wu Long, choking with emotions as he clutched the box in his hands, to which the latter simply and silently nodded with a solemn attitude.

"We are near Silver Wing City right now", Wu Long then added, surprising both Changsun Yong and Li Weifang, "These men will lead you to a safe place you can stay in for now. As I said, I have some things to attend to. I will visit you soon"

As he said these words, a few figures appeared from the fog, making a fist and hand salute toward Wu Long with the words "Valley Master" spoken in unison.

Changsun Yong, now in a hazy state of mind as the months of stress and fatigue finally caught up with him the moment he felt relieved, could only absentmindedly nod, continuing to mutter the words of gratitude while being led away by the War God Palace members.

"See you later, Darling", Hong Ye took off her silver mask and the two finally kissed without masks. The small fox did not move from her position on Wu Long’s shoulder, with interest staring at their kiss that was happening so close up.

"Hehehe, Sister Baihu you perv", Hong Ye laughed as their lips parted and giving the fox a playful look, and then giving Wu Long’s mouth another short peck with her lips, let go of him, following her sister into the fog, picking a different direction than the one Changsun Yong was taken to, and soon disappearing from Li Weifang’s perception as if sinking into some invisible door, unlike Changsun Yong’s party he could still feel moving away from them.

"You’ll get used to it with time, the way we move around can be unusual but you’ll learn about that in time as well", Wu Long then said to Li Weifang, and flew in another direction from Changsun Yong and the twins, followed by the latter, adding while on the way, "But then again, you already experienced it the first time we met and fought, that space I took you away into to fight. Similar logic, different application. The concealing fog was mostly for the young man that I just sent away - for now, there’s no telling what our relationship with him would be like in the future, so it is better to keep information about us vague until things clear up with that"

"Is he a valuable asset?", Li Weifang took all the miraculous happenings in stride, choosing to focus on more practical questions.

"Hmm, not really, though he did remind me of myself a bit, just in a different situation which is why I decided to offer him the second part of the deal. But fate is a mysterious and interesting thing, there’s also karma that brought us together I guess", Wu Long chuckled at the end.

After flying through some distance of fog Li Weifang once again strangely lost perception of where he was, and upon exiting the fog widened his eyes realizing he was now amid a courtyard in the middle of the Silver Wing City. He also realized that Changsun Yong’s presence was still outside the city, gradually getting closer.

"Welcome back, Young Master. And welcome to the Silver Wing City branch of the Soaring Feather Trading Company, Mister Li", Butler Bang standing next to a building bowed in greeting to Wu Long, and smiled toward Li Weifang.

"Anything major in my absence?", Wu Long asked going into the building.

"Nothing worth reporting", Butler Bang shook his head, while urging Li Weifang to follow with a polite gesture with his hand, and going in after them.

"Good... take a seat", Wu Long nodded, and as they entered a small meeting room made a gesture for Li Weifang to freely pick any of the seats while walking to his own usual seat as well. Butler Bang, as always, despite permission and sometimes urging by Wu Long to sit, preferred to stand beside him, slightly behind, and serve tea or other refreshments from time to time.

They briefly discussed the situation in the Emerald Falls City, as well as Chen Hui’s progress that Wu Long entrusted Li Weifang with. The latter also described what he knew about the delegation sent by the Wei Dynasty to this continent, as well as the reliable estimates of their arrival timeline.

"Hmm, good work, anything else?", Wu Long concluded, readying to wrap up this meeting.

"The contacts I made during my stay in the Deep Gorge Continent left me a message at one of the cities I passed through. It seems the Silver City Lord of this Continent has secretly commissioned a large group of Symbol Arts Masters from the Everlasting Symbol Academy. I tracked their movements just in case so I know where they should be right now and when they should arrive on this continent... and...", Li Weifang spoke not really sure if this was relevant information when he saw Wu Long’s expression change, and Butler Bang looked at him with strange eyes.

"Heh, and here we are spending large sums of money collecting information about groups of Symbol Arts Masters arriving on or near this continent just in search of this information", Wu Long slapped the tabletop with both hands in amusement, "This is very important news. And very timely. Good job"

"If it’s necessary, I can make it so that they never arrive here", Li Weifang offered..

"Heh, you really don’t want to take those couple days off, do you? You’re going to regret not taking them later, right Butler Bang?", Wu Long asked with a chuckle.

"Hehe, Young Master is right as always, I would also advise you to take up those days off. There is always more work here, so once you get into things you might no longer get such an opportunity", Butler Bang nodded.

"As I said, the task I did was mostly idle time so I feel fully rested even now", Li Weifang shook his head with a grateful smile.

"Alright, then I’ll leave it to you. You’re free to choose your methods, I don’t require you to necessarily kill or even harm them. As long as they don’t arrive here, it’s fine with me", Wu Long nodded.

These words made Li Weifang’s eyes light up.

When Wu Long accepted him as his follower and student of martial arts, he said that Li Weifang’s work wouldn’t be that much different from his previous one, where he was forced to do many things he did not want to.

This casual remark alone, though, made all the difference to him. He knew that Wu Long wasn’t a saint or some benevolent being who would always take the non-violent path, but the fact he did prefer it for the most part where it was possible already made it worth following him in Li Weifang’s eyes.

When they parted ways, Wu Long retreated into Fen Baihu’s Dream Realm to his ladies. And after some time there with those who were in the resting zone, asked for Gong Cui’s whereabouts, since he had a present for her and didn’t want to wait till she finished training. He was then directed toward what was called Peach Garden she chose to practice in this time.