Chapter 1781: Chapter 1781: Flattering a Bit Too Early

Han Yan’s heart also tightened slightly. These bandits had come on fiercely, yet not a single one was yelling or hollering. Now they sat straight in their saddles, faces steady, their backs as straight as spears. Clearly, this gang of bandits was much stronger than Chen Xuefeng’s lot.

"So this is the Huayu Temple, rumored to be one of the oldest temples on the Continent. Turns out it’s nothing much after all." The leader, a burly man in a black cloak, glanced around, sizing up the Huayu Temple and speaking as if no one else were present.

The man was tall and gaunt, looking like a walking skeleton frame. A scar ran from his left forehead down to the right corner of his mouth, lending his face an extra touch of ferocious savagery.

After speaking, his gaze finally turned toward Han Yan and the others.

"You’re the Huayu Temple’s Main Priest. Take your people and get out. I’ll spare your lives. If anyone dares resist, everyone will be executed, not even a dog or chicken left alive!" The man’s Eye Power was quite sharp; with one glance he picked out Han Yan, surrounded at the center of the crowd. His voice brooked no argument, and he couldn’t even be bothered to ask Han Yan’s name.

"What a big mouth!" Before Han Yan could say anything, Zhuge Qiu sneered.

As a Penalty Priest, hunting bandits within the territory was also his duty, so he didn’t bother paying attention to Han Yan for the moment. Besides, the grudge between Mu Hanyan and Long Wudang was ultimately an internal temple dispute. Faced with bandit incursions, of course they had to first turn their spears outward together.

"You’re not from the Huayu Temple?" The bandit leader’s Eye Power was indeed good; with a single look he saw that the emblem on Zhuge Qiu’s priest robe was different from Han Yan and the others’.

"I am Zhuge Qiu of the Heavenly Sun Temple, Penalty Priest!" Zhuge Qiu said proudly.

"You’re Zhuge Qiu? I’ve heard of you. They say Shi Zhenqing and Tian Buzhuo died at your hands?" the bandit leader asked.

"Correct. As long as you know that, you can choose: surrender obediently, or wait for me to make a move." Zhuge Qiu replied, a clear hint of pride on his face.

The Shi Zhenqing he spoke of had originally been a Priest of the Life God Temple. After his crimes were exposed, he fled the temple and later became a bandit. After all, being born from one of the Five Great Divine Temples, Shi Zhenqing, though his cultivation was only that of a Tenth Rank Divine Priest, possessed real Combat Power far stronger than that of ordinary Priests of the same rank. For a long time, even the Life God Temple was unable to find his whereabouts and execute him. But Zhuge Qiu managed to track him down, and after a bloody battle, killed him.

As for Tian Buzhuo, he was one of the strongest bandits within the territory of the Life God Temple. Back in the day, his notoriety was far greater than Chen Xuefeng’s. However, when he crossed paths with Zhuge Qiu, he and his thirteen guards were all slaughtered cleanly by Zhuge Qiu.

Over the years, many bandits had died by Zhuge Qiu’s hand, but the most famous among them were Shi Zhenqing and Tian Buzhuo. These were his two proudest battle achievements. Every time he recalled those two bitter battles, his blood couldn’t help but boil.

"Good. I, Xiang Qiuzhan, don’t kill nobodies. Your reputation is at least worthy of my Longsword." The bandit leader seemed not to have heard the latter half of his words at all, just nodded in satisfaction.

"Xiang Qiuzhan!" An Xiaxin, Shen Yuhe and the others all gasped, a cold breath escaping them. Zhuge Qiu’s expression also changed slightly. In contrast, the rest had little reaction; it seemed they had never heard this name before.

Han Yan’s expression grew grave as well. Xiang Qiuzhan was not a bandit on the level of Shi Zhenqing, Tian Buzhuo, or Chen Xuefeng. He was one of the most mysterious and most powerful bandits in the entire Divine Continent.

No one knew his origin or background, and no one knew the true extent of his strength. From what Han Yan knew, Xiang Qiuzhan only truly rose to fame in the last three years. In just three years, across the Five Great Divine Temples and their more than sixty subordinate temples, over a hundred Priests had died at his hands.

Though not every one of them was a powerhouse, the fact that he had slain over a hundred Priests in succession while all the temples were helpless against him was enough to prove how terrifying his strength was.

What was even more baffling was that the territories under the Five Great Divine Temples were not a single whole. Though not entirely separated, they were only tenuously connected. Even for Temple Priests, traveling to other Continent plates was extremely difficult. Yet Xiang Qiuzhan frequently appeared throughout the domains under the Five Great Divine Temples’ jurisdiction, repeatedly slaughtering Temple Priests, and even the Five Great Divine Temples themselves had no idea how he managed it.

It was precisely because of this that the Five Great Divine Temples had no way to deal with him.

Because this man was far too mysterious and far too cruel, and out of fear of causing panic, the Five Great Divine Temples had ordered the news to be sealed. Only the High Priests of each temple received edicts to be on strict guard.

The Huayu Temple had long been tossed aside by the Divine Lord to fend for itself, but for such major matters, it would naturally still receive the edicts, so Han Yan, An Xiaxin, and the others had also heard his name.

"Lord Zhuge, now it’s my turn to ask: are you going to obediently stretch out your neck and wait for the blade, or wait for me to make a move?" A mocking smile appeared on Xiang Qiuzhan’s ferocious face as he spoke.

"Daring to act so arrogant in front of Lord Zhuge—you’re seeking death!" Long Wudang snapped his folding fan shut with a crack and flew toward Xiang Qiuzhan, striking out with a palm.

He had come today for the sake of avenging his blood feud against Mu Hanyan. On the way here, he had already fantasized countless times about Mu Hanyan suffering a crushing defeat at Zhuge Qiu’s hands, thrown into a dungeon, begging him bitterly for mercy. He had even thought out in detail how he would repay the humiliation Mu Hanyan had brought him tenfold, a hundredfold.

Who could have guessed that just as Zhuge Qiu was about to act, these blind bandits would show up to stir trouble, forcing him to wait even longer. He couldn’t help but feel his anger flare, wanting nothing more than to teach Xiang Qiuzhan a harsh lesson.

Of course, after the disgrace he had suffered last time, he also wanted to show off his strength and salvage some face.

It had to be said, as the son of the Divine Temple Chief Priest of the Heavenly Sun Temple, Long Wudang’s strength wasn’t bad at all. Deliberately showing off, his figure flowed like the wind, robes fluttering, he did exude a certain air of dashing elegance.

"Good! Young Master’s movement technique is superb." The Priests he’d brought along loudly flattered him.

"So handsome, Young Master is so handsome!" One pale-faced, delicate-looking little lackey even gazed at him with peach-blossom eyes, pressing a small hand to his chin and praising in a drunken daze.

Han Yan felt goosebumps cascading down her whole body. Could this Young Master Long Yang really be as his name implied, with that particular preference? And these henchmen were flattering him a bit too early, weren’t they?

"Careful!" Zhuge Qiu had assumed that with Long Wudang’s status, he would at least know Xiang Qiuzhan’s name, so he never expected that the man would rush in so rashly.

He had no way of knowing that once Long Aoli received the edict, he personally copied a version for his precious son, and had warned him a thousand times over to be cautious. But Long Wudang was uneducated and unruly, arrogant by habit. How could he take a mere bandit to heart? He’d long since forgotten who Xiang Qiuzhan was.

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