The Attack of the Wastrel

Hey guys, great news!  Two more top-performing sneak peek Chinese novels licensed from Zongheng have left VIP-only and are available for you to read, each with fifty chapters and a 2/day schedule!  These novels are Yama Rising, translated by Minotauruz (who did the great translation of Demoness' Art of Vengeance) and Star Odyssey, translated by OMA who did Warlock of the Magus World and City of Sin!  Both are veteran and highly capable translators, and I'm excited to bring this to y'all.

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“The grass on the floor has been trampled on and from the looks of it, it seems like it only happened today. Although it has already faded, there is still the faint smell of blood. On the other patch, there seem to be traces of wheels. In addition, the direction at which the plant is leaning…”

Nie Sang explained to Rong Yuan as he continued to look closely at the signs on the ground. Yan Liang was secretly impressed as he heard him.

He had originally thought that Nie Sang was just talented and never knew that he was also an expert in tracking. While the surroundings did not look any different to him, Nie Sang was actually able to find so many clues. His confidence in finding Gu Lingzhi quickly increased.

As time passed, the sky quickly turned dark.

On the other side, the toughest time for Gu Lingzhi and Wei Hanzi just arrived.

As the sky turned dark, the two of them had intended to come out to breathe and relieve themselves. However, before they were able to, a group of seven to eight masked men appeared.

This time, they did not simply search the area and leave. Instead, they had set up camp causing Gu Lingzhi to curse internally and almost externally.

If only they came half an hour later! Her bladder was about to burst! If she knew this would happen, she would have gone immediately after the previous group left instead of waiting a while more out of fear. Now, not only did she have to be careful not to make any noise, she also had to control her bladder. Gu Lingzhi felt her eyes rolling to the back of her head under the pressure of having to maintain her emotional and physical state.

“Brother Qi, where do you think Gu Lingzhi could have hidden? We have sent so many people after her yet no one has been able to find her. Could she have escaped back to the Yan Capital?” A small man asked as he took out some snacks from his Storage Ring.

“Probably not.” The one that was called Brother Qi was the leader of this group, “Master wants us to search the outskirts of the city. This means that Gu Lingzhi has not returned to the city. We should be careful not to ruin Master’s plans. The consequence is not something that you or I can bear.”

The man that spoke earlier remained silent.

Another plump guy then spoke in a muffled voice, “I don’t know what Master is thinking. Isn’t Gu Lingzhi just the fiancée of some prince? What can she do? Why must we kill her? Even her bodyguard must be captured back alive.”

“Who knows?” Brother Qi sighed, “We shouldn’t create trouble for ourselves and question what our Master wants. On the other hand, who knew that the Black Thorn would also be an expert Martial Lord. It is completely different from what we knew. If not, Su Nian would not have failed.”

“That’s right. I heard the Black Thorn first appeared in the Town of the Brave of the Xia Kingdom two years ago. Back then, she was only a Level Five Martial Student. In just a few months, she has become a Martial Practitioner and now she is a Martial Lord. She must have hidden her true cultivation right from the beginning. If not, how is it possible for her to improve so quickly?”

“Speaking about improving quickly, the fiancée of the Third Prince of the Xia Kingdom is also a demon. In two years, she has advanced from a wastrel to a Peak Level Martial Practitioner. With such a speed of advancement, even her fiancé who is proclaimed to most likely be capable of becoming a True God is no match for her. It is no wonder our Master wants to get rid of her. If she is allowed to continue to improve, tsk… she might really be able to become a True God.”

“Talent is useless if she can’t even live to that age,” Brother Qi barked coldly, “This time, she shouldn’t dream of getting back alive!”

Everyone else agreed with him. Somehow, the topic then switched to the rumours from the First School and they started talking about Gu Lingzhi’s morals.

“Brother Qi, if we really managed to catch Gu Lingzhi, how about we enjoy her for ourselves?” A vulgar-looking man said, “She was able to seduce the Third Prince with her beauty and even made him ditch his previous fiancee. She must certainly have some talent. Brother Qi, aren’t you curious?”

“Screw you. Your entire mind is filled with such filthy thoughts,” Brother Qi scolded teasingly but desire brewed in his eyes. The man must have planted an idea into his mind.

“It is no use thinking about this now. Let’s wait till we catch her.”

Hearing this, everyone knew that this meant Brother Qi had agreed and they all smiled meaningfully. All that was left was for them to start drooling.

In the other tree, Wei Hanzi was nowhere better. One of her hands was gripping her saber. If she was not worried about giving away Gu Lingzhi’s location, she would have taught them a lesson even if it meant getting seriously injured!

As these angry thoughts ran through her mind, Wei Hanzi shocked herself. She had been trained as a Death Troop from young and had long been attuned to not having any feelings or thoughts. She was trained to only heed her master’s orders. Since when did she start to have emotions like normal people?

This was forbidden as a Death Troop!

Thinking of how Gu Lingzhi thought of her sincerely as a friend and not just a disposable Death Troop, an entitled feeling crossed Wei Hanzi’s mind.

Unknowingly, the sky turned dark.

The group of masked men did not want to draw any attention to themselves and did not lit up a fire. Instead, they each occupied a convenient position to attack. After leaving one person to remain on guard, they all leaned against a tree to rest.

Unluckily, one of the men had chosen to lean on the tree that Gu Lingzhi was in.

To prevent herself from being found, Gu Lingzhi had to slow down her breathing and remain completely still in order to prevent making any sounds and attracting his attention.

However, this did not hold for long. Just as the group was about to fall asleep, a loud growl sounded from Gu Lingzhi’s stomach.

“Damn it, little brat, you ate quite a bit during dinner. Why is your stomach still growling?” The person that was guarding the night teased.

“My stomach didn’t growl…”

“Damn, if your stomach did not growl then was it a ghost?” The night guard teased as he scolded. The little brat’s eyes however widened as he turned to look at the tree he was leaning on.

The night guard was startled as he lifted his head to look but did not see anything. He then laughed as he scolded, “It’s okay if your stomach growls, no one is laughing at you. You don’t have to pretend.”

“No!” The small man jumped up suddenly, “There is someone on the tree!”

This cry woke everyone up as they all turned to look at the big tree that the small man was at. They then started to surround the tree.

Seeing that she could no longer remain in hiding, Gu Lingzhi pinched her stomach in irritation. She then pushed the tree bark that was hiding her and hopped out of the tree. Her foot tapped lightly on the branch as she hopped away. She then said lowly, “You’re just a bunch of gangsters who are only capable of bad mouthing others behind their backs. If you think you’re so capable, come and catch me!”

Wei Hanzi paused her movements as she was about to come out of her tree. She realised that Gu Lingzhi had intended to lure the group away and that was why she shouted that. She felt both touched and guilty at the same time. It was her job to protect her Mistress but now it was Gu Lingzhi that was protecting her instead. If only she was stronger, they would not be in this situation.

If she could escape, she would definitely train harder and never ever let herself be caught in a situation where she was so helpless ever again.

Making up her mind, Wei Hanzi did not sit obediently in the tree as Gu Lingzhi wished. Instead, she rushed out even more determined. A light flashed in the dark. The masked man standing at the back of the group was done for.

“Ah—” The masked man let out a short and grievous cry before he fell.

This cry successfully caught the attention of Brother Qi who was chasing Gu Lingzhi. Assessing the situation, he ordered the rest of his men to catch Wei Hanzi while he went for Gu Lingzhi.

In his mind, although the group with him were only of the Martial Teacher rank, if he was able to quickly get rid of Gu Lingzhi, he would be able to return quickly to help them with Wei Hanzi.

Unfortunately for him, he forgot that Gu Lingzhi was in possession of numerous protective Jade Pendants given by Rong Yuan. Before he arrived, Gu Lingzhi had already activated two Jade Pendants, protecting both her front and her back.

Brother Qi’s eyes narrowed and he cursed, “Why do you have so many protective pendants?!” He then ignored the Jade Pendants and proceeded with his attack.

Although the Jade Pendant was able to block off his attacks, it could only be used three times. With two Jade Pendants, she would only be able to block off six attacks at most. He was confident that he would be able to destroy the Jade Pendants and successfully kill Gu Lingzhi before Wei Hanzi caught up. He can then work with the others to take Wei Hanzi down.

However, things did not always go as you intended them to, especially if you were overly confident.

Just as Brother Qi spent all his might and raining seven continuous attacks onto Gu Lingzhi, expecting to finally see her body, he was shocked to see another three Jade Pendants in front of Gu Lingzhi. She then looked at him mockingly, “Please continue. Let’s see if I’ll run out of Jade Pendants first or you’ll run out of spiritual energy first.”

Although Gu Lingzhi spoke confidently, her hands were actually clammy from sweat.

Rong Yuan loved to create protective Jade Pendants for her whenever he had free time. However, there was a limit to how many he gave her.

The spiritual energy of the Jade Pendant could only last at most 30 days after being placed in her Storage Ring. After 30 days, the spiritual energy in it will slowly disappear and it will return to becoming a basic Jade Pendant without any spiritual powers. The number of usable Jade Pendants Gu Lingzhi had left was these three that she had just used. Hopefully, Brother Qi would be distracted by her and thus give Wei Hanzi more time to escape.

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