Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

The words seemed to be squeezed from between his teeth. Even though it was Lu Chao who had agreed, Fan Jinhua was still resentful to the extreme.

His unhealed wounds slowly ravaged his body. A mouthful of blood welled up in Fan Jinhua’s throat, but he forced himself to swallow it back down. For him, this blow was no less devastating than the deaths of all his fellow assassins.

”Ha, hahaha...”

In stark contrast, Lei Zhen couldn’t help but burst out laughing. ”Well then, Master Fan, aren’t you going to congratulate my son?”

Upon hearing this, Fan Jinhua clenched his fists again. Blood welled up in his throat once more, but in the end, he lowered his voice and said, ”Congratulations, Junior General Lei, on making a name for yourself in a single battle.”

He... was gradually calming down...

He knew that if he didn’t agree, forget Luo Wendeng and Tan An—even Lu Chao would be in mortal danger.

”Hahaha...”

Hearing this, Lei Guangheng also began to laugh loudly...

”The joy is mutual, the joy is mutual. Without the help of Master Fan and all of you, I could not have conquered Yangzhou City so smoothly.”

”What are you all waiting for? Lower your spears! It would be bad to frighten my meritorious heroes.”

At last, the dozens of long spears were withdrawn, and the riders fell back behind Lei Zhen and his son.

At that moment, Lei Zhen suddenly leaped from his warhorse.

He walked step-by-step to Fan Jinhua, reached out to straighten his clothes, and then said, ”Master Fan, you’ve all worked hard.”

Staring at Lei Zhen, who was now right in front of him, Fan Jinhua remained silent.

Lei Zhen paid him no mind and continued, ”Oh, right, there’s one more thing to discuss. About the matter of assassinating Lu Hanyan...”

Before he could finish, Lu Chao cut in, ”General Lei directed that as well. Otherwise, we never would have survived.”

As soon as these words were spoken, Lei Zhen, his son, Luo Wendeng, and the others all turned to look at Lu Chao...

The eyes of the former two lit up...

The rest of them, however, were utterly bewildered. ’To hand over the matter of Lu Hanyan to Lei Zhen and his son as well... isn’t that just too humiliating?’

”Hahaha...”

Lei Zhen couldn’t help but let out another loud laugh. He looked at Lu Chao and said, ”Which descendant of the Azure Flame Sect are you? You really get it, don’t you?”

Lu Chao just smiled and didn’t reply.

And Lei Zhen had only asked in passing; he couldn’t care less who Lu Chao’s ancestors were.

He immediately gave an order, dispatching men to Yinzhou City to report to Grand General Guan Zanyi about what was now *his*... great meritorious deed!

Finally, he said to Fan Jinhua, ”Grand General Guan wants to see you. Pack up and leave Yangzhou City.”

Lei Guangheng, however, added with a sinister tone...

”Once you’re before Grand General Guan, don’t speak out of turn. Otherwise... not that it would do you a damn bit of good.”

And so, amidst the loud laughter of the father and son, Fan Jinhua led everyone away.

After gathering their belongings, Fan Jinhua and the two thousand battered remnants of the Azure Flame Sect’s descendants departed through the South City Gate.

Dejected and dispirited, they headed toward Yinzhou City.

The moment they stepped out of Yangzhou City, tears streamed down Fan Jinhua’s face. ”I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ve failed you all.”

His irrepressible anger gave way to bleak sorrow as his emotions completely collapsed.

”I was too optimistic. It seems everything changed the moment I accepted the mission to assassinate Lu Hanyan.”

”It seems my grandfather wasn’t just being paranoid after all.”

”Is it possible... that we truly have nowhere left to go?”

Fan Jinhua, who had been so full of confidence before, had suffered an incredibly severe blow...

He went from optimism to extreme pessimism.

It wasn’t just Lei Zhen. Tiger Flame’s grand general for this campaign, Guan Zanyi, was clearly cut from the same damn cloth.

More importantly, Lei Zhen and his son had insulted his grandfather to his face.

As he spoke, Fan Jinhua looked over at Lu Chao again. ”Little Brother Lu, I was originally hoping to request a commendation for you. I thought that with your performance, you might win the favor of the Tiger Flame Grand General, and he might cast aside his prejudice against the Life-taking Bone.”

”But now... now...”

”I don’t even know if you’ll be allowed to enter the Tiger Flame Kingdom.”

All hope seemed lost. For them, the Tiger Flame Kingdom was now likely a path to certain death.

Luo Wendeng and the others bowed their heads, their faces etched with grief.

They were cornered once again. Entering the Great Wu Empire meant death, and they feared that entering the Tiger Flame Kingdom or any of the other Flame Countries would be no different.

”Why don’t we... become bandits?” Yu Xiaoping suddenly sobbed.

He trailed off, speechless. All of their families were under the control of the various Flame Countries. How could they possibly become bandits?

They could only keep moving forward, taking one step at a time.

At this moment, Fan Jinhua said to Lu Chao again, ”Little Brother Lu, why don’t you leave with Caicai and the others right now...”

The descendants of the Azure Flame Sect had no way out, but Lu Chao was different. He could leave with Wu Caicai.

Lu Chao smiled and replied, ”I still need Master Fan to take me to see Marshal Fan.”

Fan Jinhua froze upon hearing this...

Cheng Chuming and Wu Caicai were stunned as well. Why did Lu Chao still want to involve himself in this?

Only Cheng Yunsu was smiling.

Back by the river at Zhengyang Mountain, she had already explained everything very clearly.

Her husband would never abandon these descendants of the Azure Flame Sect. They were trustworthy friends, and they would be his sharpest blade in the future.

”Little Brother Lu, I’m thinking something must have happened to my grandfather. Otherwise...”

Before Fan Jinhua could finish, Lu Chao interrupted him. ”I know. That’s all the more reason I must make sure I see Marshal Fan.”

Lu Chao understood what Fan Jinhua was implying...

It had been three years since Fan Changcun’s defeat at his hands, and during that time, Fan Jinhua hadn’t faced any trouble. This sudden change must have made Fan Jinhua worry for his grandfather’s safety, fearing that something terrible had happened.

And Lu Chao was being sincere. He really did want to meet Fan Changcun.

This was especially true after hearing Fan Jinhua’s stories about his grandfather... and particularly after learning that Fan Changcun had once said that if he got the chance, he’d be the one to collect Lu Chao’s body.

Therefore, Lu Chao not only wanted to meet him, but he also wanted to help.

Lu Chao even wondered, ’Did Fan Changcun intentionally lose to me three years ago? Was he deliberately guiding me? Was he intentionally feeding me moves on the battlefield to teach me?’

If that was true, then Fan Changcun was practically his teacher.

Pushing the thoughts aside, Lu Chao said with great conviction, ”Master Fan, I will fight alongside you. Right now, we must hurry to see that Grand General Guan. We have to go and... sing the praises of Lei Zhen and his son!”

The first part of his speech was moving...

But the second part made everyone’s eyes go wide. Tan An couldn’t help but ask, ”Brother Lu, are we being too... too...”

He... couldn’t bring himself to finish.

Lu Chao gave a slight smile. ”Brother Tan, are you trying to say I have no backbone? That I’m willing to kiss Lei Zhen’s ass just to stay alive?”

These words made Tan An lower his head, but his meaning was clear.

He simply felt that Lu Chao had no backbone. Giving away the credit for conquering the city to Lei Zhen and his son was bad enough, but he was also giving them the matter with Lu Hanyan.

He couldn’t accept it, not at all!

Lu Chao smiled coolly. ”Lei Zhen and his son think Lu Hanyan was killed in our assassination attempt. But Lu Hanyan is still alive, and she’s about to fight her way back to Yangzhou City... So, you tell me, what kind of fate do you think awaits Lei Zhen and his son now?”

As his voice fell, Tan An and the others were left utterly dumbfounded.