Chapter Sixty-One: Advancing Alone Against a Multitude

Chapter Sixty-One: Though Faced with Countless Foes, I Will Go Forth Alone

Wu Hong hurried along the bustling street, his steps quickened by his concern for Li Ruolan’s safety. Suddenly, a shout from behind made him pause—there was something familiar about that voice.

“Young Master Hong, is that you? Wait up!” Turning, Wu Hong saw a middle-aged, rotund man pushing through the crowd toward him.

It was none other than Li Yunda, whom Wu Hong had once saved in the microcosm of the Celestial Tome. Li Yunda’s face was anxious.

Though Wu Hong’s mind was wholly preoccupied with Li Ruolan, who had been captured, he could not ignore his connection with Li Yunda and stopped.

“Young Master Hong, I’ve searched everywhere for you! Come, come! I have news of your friend.”

Wu Hong’s heart skipped a beat at the fat man’s words, sensing there was more to it, and, without hesitation, followed Li Yunda to his residence. They passed through a wide garden, down a twisting corridor, and entered the main hall.

No sooner had Wu Hong crossed the threshold than his eyes fell upon a message, written in blood-red characters on the wall. He nearly leapt in shock. “The one who castrated your son was I, Wu Hong!” The words, scrawled in dried blood, flaked and crumbled with age.

Wu Hong was deeply unsettled. He knew Li Yunda’s son had been harmed, but never imagined the culprit would act with such cruelty. He recalled how, when he had saved Li Yunda before, it was already fortunate the man hadn’t stabbed him in the back.

The more Wu Hong pondered, the more cold sweat broke out on his brow. His adversary’s ruthlessness was terrifying—how many others in the martial world had suffered the same fate?

“Young Master Wu, you needn’t be alarmed. I now know you weren’t the culprit—there’s another behind it!” Li Yunda’s face was grim as he spat out, “If I ever discover the true villain, I’ll tear him to pieces!”

Wu Hong, who had previously been self-assured, believing he owed no guilt for those impersonating him to commit evil, now felt an inexplicable shame upon seeing the blood-red accusation. “How many have suffered because of my name?” he thought. “These karmic entanglements are mine to resolve.”

Lost in thought, Wu Hong was jolted by a familiar voice.

“Young Master! I have failed you!” It was Wang Er, Li Ruolan’s attendant. Bursting in from the back hall, he fell to his knees before Wu Hong, knocking his head to the floor three times in quick succession.

Recognizing Wang Er, Wu Hong was relieved and, with a gentle wave of his hand, helped him to his feet by an invisible force, surprising Wang Er greatly.

“Young Master, it’s all my fault!” Wang Er said tearfully, standing in place.

Wu Hong frowned slightly—he had no idea what Wang Er was talking about.

Wang Er then recounted in detail the events at the desert inn, how he and his companions dealt with Wang Liang and the others.

Wu Hong listened, dumbfounded. Wang Er and his fellows had indeed acted ruthlessly—Wang Liang and Xiao Fei were sons of ministers in the imperial court, yet they had been castrated.

He didn’t know the identities of the other two young men, but clearly, they were not ordinary people.

Only now did Wu Hong understand why Wang Liang and his group hated him so much and repeatedly sought to make trouble for him.

Wu Hong’s emotions were tangled. Wang Er and his friends had been brutal, but all of this karma stemmed from his own actions. By showing kindness to Li Ruolan and her people, he had inspired them, out of gratitude, to mutilate Wang Liang and the others—in essence, it was no different from if Wu Hong himself had done it.

The rumors of Wu Hong as a demonic villain, a destroyer of descendants, had likely all originated from Wang Liang and his companions.

“Wang Er, tell me—besides Sister Ruolan, who else was taken?” Wu Hong’s mind was clear now. That young master of the Eastern Peak was surely his great opponent, most likely one of Wang Liang or Xiao Fei’s circle. Otherwise, no one would know of the link between Wu Hong and Li Ruolan.

Wang Er briefly recounted the events after Wu Hong’s departure. For seven or eight months after he left the desert, the bandits of Twin Wolf Mountain lived in peace. Then, one day, imperial troops suddenly besieged them. The bandits stood no chance against the soldiers.

Li Ruolan, skilled in poisons, managed to incapacitate thousands of soldiers, but in the end, she was captured by a master from the enemy’s ranks.

After Wang Er escaped, he assumed the imperial troops had seized the chief and plotted to rescue her. Yet news soon spread through the martial world: Li Ruolan had been captured by the young master of the Eastern Peak at Blackwood Cliff.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s go to Blackwood Cliff!” Wu Hong could no longer restrain himself. Though he knew the enemy wanted to lure him out, setting a trap with Li Ruolan as bait, he felt not a trace of fear.

Wang Er and the fat Li Yunda exchanged worried glances, thinking Wu Hong’s anger had gotten the better of him.

“Young Master, if you rush in now, you’ll fall right into their trap,” Li Yunda cautioned.

“Yes, Young Master! In this situation, that fake Wu Hong would never appear. This is clearly a snare set for you! You must think carefully!” Wang Er echoed anxiously.

Li Yunda furrowed his brow, his already crowded features drawing tighter. After a long pause, he said, “Young Master, if I hadn’t met you in the Celestial Tome’s cave, I wouldn’t have recognized you at all. Your appearance has changed drastically—you look nothing like the wanted posters!”

Wu Hong started at this, realizing it was true. His body had been transformed by the dual-yin and dual-yang fruit; his appearance, bearing, even his height had changed. Even Wu Songran had been shocked by his transformation.

He immediately understood Li Yunda’s implication: he should disguise himself further, rendering himself unrecognizable and thus able to rescue Li Ruolan by surprise.

The suggestion tempted Wu Hong. He knew nothing of this young master of the Eastern Peak, but was sure he was connected to Wang Liang and the others.

If Li Yunda could recognize Wu Hong’s true identity, so could Wang Liang and his cohort.

Inwardly, Wu Hong cried out, “Why can’t I just be myself? Why must I hide behind a mask?”

Yet he was also resigned—Li Ruolan was still in the enemy’s grasp. If he didn’t strike unexpectedly, her situation could become dire.

The young master of the Eastern Peak had likely heard the Celestial Tome’s cave was closing soon, and so had gathered all of Wu Hong’s enemies at Blackwood Cliff to campaign against him.

There was still a month before the gathering—his enemy’s timing showed this was a deliberate trap for Wu Hong.

But whether he stepped into it or not, Wu Hong had no choice. The moment he revealed his true identity, the entire martial world would rise against him.

“Hmph—” Wu Hong sneered inwardly at his enemies’ machinations. All this trouble was the bitter fruit of a single moment’s compassion.

“There’s no need to hide and sneak about. If I continue to live under another name, more people with grudges against Wu Hong will impersonate me to commit evil. I want everyone to know that I, Wu Hong, am not a villain. Though the enemy has set a trap, even if ten thousand stand against me, I shall press on without fear!”

A sudden clarity dawned on Wu Hong. He had been too cautious, and so those who hated him, unable to find the real Wu Hong, had ruined his reputation and taken their revenge on innocents.

If this continued, more people would suffer because of him.

“If I cannot walk openly as myself, the hatred against me will only multiply, and others will bear the consequences of vengeance meant for me. Let all enmity fall upon me alone!”

Having grasped this truth, Wu Hong spoke suddenly.

Though Wang Liang and his ilk had been harmed by Wang Er and Li Ruolan’s followers, it was little different from Wu Hong having done it himself, for they had acted out of loyalty to him.

Wang Liang and the others, unable to find their true foe, had harmed others to force Wu Hong to appear.

As for the impostor Wu Hong, were he to openly walk the martial world under his true name, he would surely be hunted relentlessly, but those masquerading as him would be powerless to continue their evil. In the end, it was his excess caution that had caused all this.

Li Yunda and Wang Er exchanged glances. They found Wu Hong’s words reasonable, but also saw the peril—gathering all the martial world’s enmity to oneself took a courage beyond ordinary men.

“Heh heh, Young Master, I truly admire you!” Li Yunda exclaimed. “I once thought your strength came from a stroke of luck, but now I see the courage hidden behind the reputation of a wastrel. I salute you!”

Li Yunda’s awe was genuine. He gave Wu Hong a thumbs-up.

Now that Wu Hong understood his enemy’s aim, he was reassured that Li Ruolan would not be in immediate danger, and a faint smile touched his lips.