Chapter 78: A blood battle in the deep alleyways
“Shut your mouth! Don’t make unfounded accusations! I had such a deep relationship with my elder brother, how could I possibly kill him? Dear niece, I feel so bad for you since you found a boyfriend that doesn’t understand the principles of propriety!” Grover’s face changed drastically as he surged to his feet, slamming his hands down on the tabletop and roared angrily.
His expression as usual, Han Shuo lightly laughed and glossed over the matter, “Everyone already knows this. Phoebe is the Guildmaster’s only daughter and should be the candidate most qualified to inherit the position of Guildmaster. If she were to be assassinated, who stands to profit?”
“When was it an outsider’s turn to talk about the matters of the Boozt Merchant Guild? Phoebe, you should keep this outsider, who doesn’t know what he’s talking about, in line.” Grover glared viciously at Han Shuo as he turned to talk to Phoebe.
At this moment, Phoebe had already calmed down from her earlier panic. She’d always maintained a veneer of civility with Grover, but how was she to know that Han Shuo would have no qualms whatsoever and stand in sharp opposition from the beginning, almost having a throwdown with Grover instantaneously, throwing all her plans into disarray? She didn’t know what to do for the span of a moment.
However, just as Han Shuo and Grover were denouncing each other, Phoebe’s thoughts churned and she felt that Han Shuo’s actions were clear and decisive. Because of his actions, her attitude would clearly be displayed in front of the founding elders. This would also show the founding elders that she wasn’t some weak person who wasn’t willing to fight for her position.
Except, it was the time to measure her gains and losses. Since Han Shuo had already so sharply announced his stance, there wasn’t a way that Phoebe could salvage the situation even if she wanted to. Immediately after Grover’s words had been cut off, she said confidently, “Indeed, Uncle Grover, I believe that I have the qualifications to be a competent Guildmaster.”
“Although in recent years I have spent my days outside, father has never given up his tutelage of me. The knowledge I have learned is also relevant to operating the Guild. Father has long since arranged all this. I hope you can support me uncle, and teach me if I am found lacking in any places. I am confident that I can take good care of the Guild.”
“Good niece, your courage is worth complimenting. However, a matter such as this is not child’s play. One misstep is enough to doom the Guild beyond redemption. Uncle is cowardly and cannot afford to shoulder such responsibility.” Since they were laying everything out, Grover no longer hid and concealed his intentions as he spoke with a darkened face.
At this moment, Andrew suddenly grasped his cane and tottered to his feet. He spoke in a conciliatory tone, “There’s no point in arguing further. How about this… why don’t we let little Phoebe try first? If the Guild is still expanding smoothly in her hands after three months, then let Phoebe be the Guildmaster. If not, Grover will continue to be. What does everyone think?”
Since Andrew had spoken, apart from the three founding elders who supported Grover, all the other founding elders expressed their consent. Andrew waited until they all had expressed their opinions before smiling at Grover, saying merrily, “Since the majority has agreed, let’s do this for know. What do you think?”
As unwilling as he was, since the majority of the founding elders within the Guild had agreed, Grover had no way of changing the situation. He could only grit his teeth and say with resignation, “Since this is the case, then let’s move according to your wishes.”
Nodding, Andrew smiled, “Then good. I have a few matters to attend to, so I will be taking my leave. Ah, little Phoebe, I haven’t seen you in so long. If you have nothing else to do, come to my house for a chat!”
“Sure, I happened to want to ask grandpa about your experiences in managing the Guild!” Phoebe smiled faintly and stood up. She put down the wine glass, threw a look at Han Shuo, and walked out without even looking at Grover.
Han Shuo put down his wineglass and flashed a contemptuous, cold smile at Grover, who was staring at him frostily. He followed behind Phoebe and headed outside the hall.
After leaving the Guild, Phoebe looked around and saw that it was empty. She said softly to Han Shuo, “Go back to my residence first. I’ll rush back after chatting with grandpa Andrew. We’ll talk later!”
“Heh heh, little Phoebe, your boyfriend is quite bold! He dared to argue with Grover in the hall, I think you have quite the eye!” Andrew stood on the side of his carriage as he looked benevolently upon Phoebe and Han Shuo.
Her charming face blushing red, Phoebe looked at Han Shuo and whispered, “Be careful.” She then walked to Andrew and said cutely, “No way. You don’t know how frustrating it is because he’s so pudding-headed sometimes!”
Han Shuo didn’t listen further to their conversation any longer and didn’t take the carriage that he had arrived in with Phoebe, but rather set out for the northern part of the city alone.
Since it was late at night anyways, there were almost no pedestrians on the road. When Han Shuo had just left the Boozt Merchant Guild, he didn’t feel that he was in too much danger, but when he threaded past a street and just walked into an alleyway, he suddenly became alert.
His thoughts moved as three original demons were soundlessly released from the back of his neck. When the original demons left Han Shuo’s neck, they immediately assumed the form of nothingness and lay in wait, in three different directions, without leaving a trace behind in the darkness.
As if he’d gained additional pairs of eyes, Han Shuo could clearly see not only the direction in front of him, but even the area behind and to the left and right of him. Refined by magical yuan, there wasn’t the slightest bit of fighting aura or magic pulse from the original demons. Under the status of nothingness, it was quite difficult for the human eye to detect any trace of them. Thus, the departure and concealment of the original demons didn’t startle anyone.
The wind adept mage Ellis, whom Han Shuo had seen last time, was floating like a wispy ghost behind Han Shuo. He hung soundlessly waiting. Four killers, clad in black clothes and head coverings, were also on the roofs of the houses on either side of the alleyway. They walked on soundlessly, quietly following behind him and slowly closing in on him.
Startled, Han Shuo hadn’t thought that Grover would be so daring. He had just left the Guild when the latter made his move. It looked like Grover’s hatred for him was bone deep.
Han Shuo suddenly calmed down when it came to the moment of his survival. There were five in total. Apart from the wind adept mage Ellis, the other four weren’t that weak either. According to the observations of the original demons, Han Shuo discovered that the four of them were divided into two warriors, one mage, and one archer. If it wasn’t for the fact that the original demons could monitor their movements at any time, Han Shuo would be hard pressed to escape his death.
However, with the addition of the original demons, although Han Shuo still didn’t have any advantages, he wasn’t without the hope of escaping. From Phoebe’s descriptions, Han Shuo knew that there was a mansion up ahead that was the residence of the Empire soldiers stationed here. Han Shuo had chosen to walk through this gloomy alleyway precisely because of the manor that lay before him.
His thoughts churning madly, Han Shuo understood that these people could only make their move within the alleyway. Otherwise once he made it through, they would lose their chance. The space ring lit up faintly as Han Shuo clasped the dagger in his right hand. His footsteps moved forward at a measured pace, neither too slow nor too fast, as he continuously paid attention to the movements of the enemy through the observations of the original demons.
Finally, when Han Shuo made it to the center of the alleyway, the five killers – including Ellis – seemed to believe that this was a good chance as their approach speed suddenly picked up.
An exceedingly light sound of an arrow whistling through the air suddenly fell into Han Shuo’s hearing range. The arrow was uncommonly sharp as it made straight for Han Shuo, its momentum exceedingly fierce.
This arrow had come from a professional archer. The angle and tip were exceedingly brutal. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Han Shuo had clearly observed his actions through the originals demons, then it was very likely that he would’ve fallen to the arrow on the spot.
His originally measured paces suddenly picked up, but he didn’t rush forward, but rather dodged to the left. The arrow shot past the corners of Han Shuo’s clothes with a whooshing sound, whistling violently towards the front.
The arrow suddenly fractured into pieces in front of Han Shuo, as Ellis had long since released a few sharp windblades. He seemed to be waiting for Han Shuo to subconsciously move further in, but Han Shuo had already detected this and evaded them.
At the same time, the air above his head suddenly lit up as a patch of fire wall abruptly formed and came down over his head. Two nimble figures, wielding longswords, came flying down from the roofs. Han Shuo could clearly see the pale-green and dark green fighting auras thanks to the light provided by the fire walls.
Abruptly increasing his speed, Han Shuo’s speed suddenly raised instantaneously and circled to the left, avoiding the obstruction of Ellis’ windblades and dashing out of the entrance of the alleyway. Han Shuo had just left his position when the fire wall slammed down, and sparks flew up from the place he had just been standing.
No matter how they imagined things, they would never know that Han Shuo had already clearly seen their intentionally concealed tracks through the eyes of the original demons. They had thought it was absolutely an unexpected attack, but it had already been completely observed by Han Shuo. This is what caused the extraordinarily talented group of five to fail their first wave of attacks completely.
“Don’t let him leave the alleyway alive!” Ellis’ soft voice was purposefully sharp and hard as it sounded at this moment.
The archer and fire mage stood on either side on the rooftops of the alleyway. When Ellis’ words were spoken, they made their move at almost the same time. The archer grabbed three arrows and notched them to his bow, shooting them all at the same time with a whistling sound. They flew fiercely towards Han Shuo’s forehead, back, and thigh.
Another wall of flames suddenly formed in the direction that Han Shuo was dashing in, blocking off his escape and forcing him to take the long way around. Otherwise he would be hard pressed to escape the funeral pyre of the flaming walls.
The two swordsmen who had just landed took advantage of the situation to quickly approach with their longswords. They were only ten or so meters away from Han Shuo. Ellis’ feet hovered above the ground as he quickly closed the distance from behind, obviously planning on keeping Han Shuo here.
Tilting his body, Han Shuo once again changed directions and made for the right. He planned on circling past the fire walls and rush out onto the street. Several windblades came whistling in, but it was all within Han Shuo’s expectations. The dagger in his hand moved swiftly as he cut away at five windblades. However, three of them still drew across his thigh and arms.
Him suffering three hits was under the circumstances of Han Shuo knowing that Ellis had sent windblades there earlier, otherwise if ten windblades connected with his vitals, it would be likely that he would be unable to take another step forward.
Han Shuo bore up beneath the injuries to his thigh and arms and rushed out from the windblade ambush, simultaneously evading the fire wall and flying arrows, dashing to the alley’s entrance like lightning. He was about to rush out onto the street.
At this moment, an exceedingly ghastly wail cut through the quiet night sky. In the midst of running, Han Shuo used the original demons to discover that the archer’s bow had been cleaved into two, and was falling listlessly from the rooftop with blood at the corners of his mouth. Phoebe stood where he had just been standing, a longsword in hand and standing with a proud, majestic looking air.
“Pho… Phoebe, you’re a swordswoman!” Beneath the head covering, Ellis was so surprised that he forgot to modulate his tone and used his original voice to exclaim in surprise. He didn’t talk to the others as his quickly dashing body suddenly halted. He abruptly turned back and escaped towards the back with an even higher speed.
Phoebe snorted coldly and didn’t bother chasing the escaping Ellis. After all, if a wind mage were to attempt a full out escape, it would be difficult indeed to catch up to him. The longsword in her hand waving, the majestic-looking Phoebe alighted gently from the roof towards the two warriors. It looked like she was planning on taking care of those who were still around.
Han Shuo was about to rush out of the alleyway at this time and was overjoyed when he saw Phoebe suddenly appear. He swiftly did an about face and opened his mouth to summon the little skeleton, running quickly towards the two warriors himself.
The little skeleton wouldn’t have been that useful when Han Shuo was fleeing for his life previously. With the presence of Phoebe the swordmaster now, Han Shuo had turned from the hunted to hunter. The little skeleton could naturally make an appearnace to kill enemies.
When the bone dagger-wielding little skeleton appeared, it started running quickly under Han Shuo’s commands. The seven bone spurs on its back waved as it shot towards the roof, attempting to finish off the fire mage.
The fire mage was shocked as he had never thought the little skeleton would be able to make use of its momentum to directly vault onto the roof. In his panic, he immediately muttered an incantation as the wildly blazing fire wall made an appearance again, blocking the path that the little skeleton would take.
However, the little skeleton paid no attention to the obstruction of the fire wall and flung himself into it. It walked out with its body reddened from the fire wall and arrived in front of the fire mage’s dumbfounded expression. The bone dagger in its hand danced as it turned the mage into a beehive.