I'm Already the Richest Man, Why Did My System Just Arrive?

Chapter 327: Chapter 190: "Bird Cage

The moment Fan Yao appeared.

Facing Xie Luohe’s fully drawn Longbow, he gave a faint smile. He slowly retrieved a Jade Short Whistle from within his robes, placed it to his lips, and blew.

"SHREEEEE—"

The piercing whistle tore through the air.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE—

"Our martial destiny thrives! Valiant and fearless!"

"Our martial destiny thrives! Valiant and fearless!"

"Our martial destiny thrives! Valiant and fearless!"

Loud, synchronized battle cries echoed from all directions, and the expression on every person present changed at once.

The vibrations from the hooves of countless horses merged into one, like a stampede of wild beasts, like thunder rolling across the earth.

Bai Xiaosheng took a step.

Zheng Xiu was faster. The Luohe Brush shot out like a bolt of lightning, its split bristles pressing against Bai Xiaosheng’s neck.

Bai Xiaosheng didn’t dare to move.

Zheng Xiu narrowed his eyes, watching Fan Yao emerge from the forest.

Fan Yao tossed the Jade Short Whistle to the ground by his feet, meeting Zheng Xiu’s gaze with a smile.

With Fan Yao’s appearance, the previously cheerful atmosphere instantly turned as heavy and cold as cast steel.

WHOOSH—

Water gushed from the rock wall Xie Luohe had pierced with an arrow, filling the dry riverbed.

The current surged around their feet, soaking everyone’s boots.

The bandits fell into a brief moment of disarray, but Xie Luohe remained smiling. Like a Valkyrie, she held her Longbow fully drawn, aimed at Fan Yao in the distance. Her bearing, her calm composure, reminded the panicked bandits of her strength and invincibility. They quickly calmed themselves, drew the blades at their waists, and waded through the turbulent water to gather around her.

The two sides faced off.

Xie Luohe’s arrow was not loosed.

Zheng Xiu’s Luohe Brush remained steadily pressed against Bai Xiaosheng’s neck.

Bai Xiaosheng gave a strained laugh and raised his hands high, showing he wouldn’t dare make a move.

Figures thronged the woods. Soon, fluttering banners emerged, swaying in the wind.

They were the war banners of the Divine Martial Army.

Zheng Xiu’s breath hitched. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Bai Xiaosheng. "Fatty Jiang, don’t you have an explanation for this?"

"I..."

Zheng Xiu bit his other hand, drawing blood. With a flick, he sent a drop flying through the air to land on the brush’s tip.

The tip of the brush instantly bloomed with a red glow as delicate as a flower.

"I only listen to the truth."

Bai Xiaosheng fell silent. A moment later, his expression turned to one of dejection. His back stooped, and he seemed to age decades in an instant. "I have a son."

Zheng Xiu gave a short, mirthless laugh. "He was captured?"

Bai Xiaosheng nodded.

"This doesn’t seem like you."

Bai Xiaosheng smiled bitterly. "The network of connections I was so proud of is worthless before the Secret Factory. That man... he’s now so powerful, it’s like he can blot out the sky with a single hand. There was nothing I could do."

"It doesn’t matter," Xie Luohe said with a smile, having listened to their exchange. "It makes no difference who comes."

Zheng Xiu slowly lowered the Luohe Brush, releasing Bai Xiaosheng.

’If I hadn’t seen Gongsun Painter’s miraculous "Paint Becomes Truth" with my own eyes, I might have gambled my vast experience against a First Grade master. But ever since Zheng Xiu revealed the wonders of his "Divine Brush," I haven’t dared to be reckless.’

’The guy looks like a gust of wind could blow him over, yet he’s the terrifying sort of person who can shatter Cheng Xiao’s saber with a slap and truss up Xie Yunliu, the second-in-command of Yunhe Village, like a tortoise in a single exchange.’

’As the saying goes, my head can be broken, my blood can be shed. But to be tied up like that by Gongsun Mo... I would rather die.’

’This was my last shred of pride as Jianghu Bai Xiaopang.’

Cheng Xiao remained silent. His left hand gripped his scabbard and his right the hilt of his blade, his piercing gaze like that of a fierce, lone wolf trapped in a cage.

Fan Yao listened to their conversation.

He said in a soft voice, "There is no need for you to worry. My transaction with Bai Xiaosheng was simple: he is not to speak of things he shouldn’t. That is all."

As he spoke, Fan Yao clapped his hands.

The war banners swayed. A few soldiers clad in Armor escorted a prisoner out from the woods. The man was dressed in tattered prison rags, his hair a disheveled mess.

The prisoner’s clothes were in tatters. The rips looked as if they were left by a whip, their edges crusted with dried blood. His hands and feet were bound in heavy shackles that clanked dully as he was dragged from the forest.

The ten fingers on his hands were a bloody, mangled mess, his fingernails completely gone. His toes were in the same state. He lifted his head, his left ear wrapped in a bloody gauze bandage. As his head came up, a pair of eyes burning with hatred glared out from beneath his tangled hair.

"Dugu Xiang!"

Although the prisoner had suffered all manner of inhuman torture and had long lost the dashing spirit he once had at Hidden Sword Manor, Zheng Xiu recognized him at a glance. This disheveled man was none other than the former Manor Master of Hidden Sword Manor, Dugu Xiang, once known as the "World’s Number One Sword."

Hidden Sword Manor had been destroyed by a great fire overnight, and Dugu Xiang had been brought to this. It was a lamentable, cruel twist of fate.

The moment Dugu Xiang appeared, Zheng Xiu understood the implication behind Fan Yao’s words.

’This meant that Fan Yao didn’t need to bribe, threaten, or cajole Bai Xiaosheng into revealing the location of Nie Gong’s Treasure Vault. A month ago, when they had parted ways at Hidden Sword Manor, Fan Yao had even voluntarily told me how to leave this Ghostly Realm, without using it as a bargaining chip to find out where the vault was.’

’The reason Fan Yao was able to find this place was obvious: he had tortured the information out of Dugu Xiang.’

"Understand now?"

Fan Yao smiled. He took out a small knife and began cleaning his nails, then casually made a dismissive waving gesture.

A nearby soldier, seeing the signal, acted. A blade flashed. Dugu Xiang’s head flew high into the air before falling heavily to the ground. His face was frozen in an expression of utter shock, his eyes wide open in death.

Fan Yao had ordered the death of the former "World’s Number One Sword," Dugu Xiang, with a mere flick of his hand. This display of cold-blooded ruthlessness, whether intentional or not, sent a chill down everyone’s spines. They instinctively tightened their grips on their weapons, their palms breaking out in a cold sweat.

"What I say, what I do... they don’t hear it, they don’t see it. All they know is that I am vicious, cruel, and merciless." Fan Yao looked at the placid Zheng Xiu with a grin, a deeper meaning hidden in his eyes. "But you... you understand, don’t you?"

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!