Liu Yue nodded, simultaneously explaining the situation here and the worries in her heart.
As for Ben Lei, Yu Heng, Feng Xu, and the other Chixiao People, they had already heard from Liu Yue earlier that the person impersonating the Monarch was the Gu Qingfeng who had called himself the Chiyan Young Master in the Great Northwest nine years ago, and who was said to have fused with a wisp of the Monarch's Residual Consciousness.
If this matter were true, Yu Heng, Feng Xu, and the others would not let Gu Qingfeng die here. They had come this time precisely for this matter. As Chixiao People, they would absolutely not allow the Monarch's successor to perish here.
Of course.
As for whether this person was truly that Chiyan Young Master from the Great Northwest, they still could not be certain. And whether he had truly fused with a wisp of the Monarch's Residual Consciousness was even more unknown. Therefore, they planned to decide based on the situation.
After all, there were far too many swindlers these days.
Coupled with the fact that this person's existence was overly mysterious and bizarre, and that he had previously crippled an Immortal Dynasty noble son and stripped the Bloodsha Dragon-Elephants from Tan Tong and over ten other Chixiao People... Now, with the Yanluo Immortal Court, Zhou Taihe's people, and even the experts from the Four Great Families and Seven Great Sects all gathered here, if this person had truly fused with a wisp of the Monarch's Residual Consciousness, they would definitely not stand idly by and would spare no cost to rescue him. But if, by any chance, this person was not the Chiyan Young Master, or had not fused with the Monarch's Residual Consciousness, and was just a pure fraud, rescuing him would be disastrous.
"Looks like this old man didn't come in vain today. Quite a few old acquaintances have shown up."
Gu Qingfeng looked at Yu Heng among the crowd opposite and smiled. "You're Yu Heng, the Right Envoy under Dong Laohu, right?"
When it came to all the brothers of the Chixiao Sect back in the day, Gu Qingfeng might not remember them all, but he more or less had an impression of the various Banner Masters and the Earth Fiend Left and Right Envoys. From the moment Yu Heng appeared, he had recognized this old man as the Right Envoy under Dong Laohu back then. In his memory, he was an upright, principled man. Even now, he seemed largely unchanged from back in the day, his appearance still the same as it was then.
"After all these years, you haven't changed a bit."
When Gu Qingfeng's voice came, Yu Heng showed no surprise, because he had already heard from Liu Yue that this person had fused with a wisp of the Monarch's Residual Consciousness and might have obtained some of the Monarch's memories. Him recognizing him was not unexpected.
Liu Yue reminded him secretly, "Grandfather Yu Heng, you must not be fooled by his appearance. This fellow is impersonating the Monarch and putting on a mysterious act here. But it seems these people really have been intimidated by him. Just now, he pretended to reveal Shi Lingkai's collusion with the Immortal Dynasty back in the day, which truly frightened Shi Lingkai badly."
"Oh?"
Yu Heng, who back then was both the Banner Master of the Meishan Banner and the Right Envoy of the Black Buddha Lord, was somewhat a figure within the Chixiao Sect. He knew about the incident of someone colluding with the Immortal Dynasty back then, but he only knew that such an event had occurred. As for who exactly had secretly colluded with the Immortal Dynasty and betrayed the Chixiao brothers, he did not know. Moreover, back then, thousands of Chixiao People had been expelled from the sect by the Monarch. He dared not recklessly guess which individual had secretly colluded.
"Since we've met, how about finding a quiet place to chat later?"
Yu Heng pondered for a moment before replying, "That would be excellent. This old man also has some matters he would like to inquire about from you, sir."
"Alright, it's settled then. Later, Feng Xu, Luo Yi, you all come along too. Let's all have a couple of drinks together."
Gu Qingfeng stood up. His hands were sticky with the juice of the Spirit Fruits. Fei Kui, ever perceptive, immediately offered a basin of clear water. Gu Qingfeng washed his hands, and Fei Kui handed over a prepared towel. After wiping them, Gu Qingfeng shook out his sleeves, stepped out of the pavilion, looked up at the moon in the sky, twisted his neck, and stretched mightily.
"It's getting late. Since everyone came here today for me, let's not just stand around. Come on."
As he spoke, Gu Qingfeng unbuttoned his collar and rolled up his sleeves. "Truth be told, it's been a while since this old man has taken action. This is a good chance to stretch my limbs."
"Who wants to go first?"
Gu Qingfeng swept his gaze across the scene. "One by one? Or all together?"
Seeing this scene, everyone present was startled.
Especially Tang Manqing and Liu Yue. They had originally thought Gu Qingfeng was just playing his mysterious, deceptive game. Otherwise, why would he deliberately reveal Shi Lingkai's old disgrace? In their minds, Gu Qingfeng must have done it on purpose, to intimidate Shi Lingkai and thereby awe the crowd.
But what neither of them had ever expected was that Gu Qingfeng, as he spoke, would actually walk out of the pavilion, and by the looks of it, was preparing to fight?
And even asking if they wanted to go one by one or all together?
What did he mean?
Did he think these people came here to watch him perform?
No!
Absolutely not!
These people were all here to kill him!
Lü Tianze's three hundred-plus Heavenly Geniuses with their might of ten thousand thunders.
Zhou Ting's Minor Heavenly Mandate.
And the unfathomable Yanluo Eighteen Young Masters.
As well as Feiyu Yun Jue, who possessed the Earth Fiend Tiger's Might bloodline and carried a Human Dao Edict.
The Earth Immortal experts from the Four Great Families and Seven Great Sects, countless Eighty-One Combined Earth Immortals, no fewer than a hundred Spirit Origin Earth Immortals, over ten Chaoyuan Earth Immortals, and even a few Guiyuan Earth Immortals.
Was he truly ignorant, or was he genuinely fearless?
If fearless, what gave him that confidence?
No one knew. No one could tell what gave Gu Qingfeng the audacity to act so brazenly.
"What's the matter? With courage like yours, you still try to beat drums and gongs, shouting about killing and fighting?"
Facing the utterly calm and fearless Gu Qingfeng in this moment, the experts from the Four Great Families and Seven Great Sects could not gauge his true depth. None dared to act rashly. However, those Fated Prodigies seemed restless, as if they did not take Gu Qingfeng seriously at all.
In the end.
Zhou Ting was the first to step forward, arrogantly shouting, "Hmph! Nothing but a swindler impersonating Gu Tianlang! I, Zhou Ting, possess a Minor Heavenly Mandate. Would I fear you?"
Alongside him, a group of Fated Prodigies from the Juexin Branch also stepped forward, over ten in total.
Just as they stepped forward, Lü Tianze from the Yanluo Immortal Court also stepped out, declaring, "Never mind that you're just a fake. Even if you were the real one, today I, Lü Tianze, would still trample you underfoot!"
"Hmph! Don't think I don't know you're a fraud hired by Dong Laohu! Today, this young lady will see just how much you're really worth!"
Immediately, a group of Fated Prodigies from the Yanluo Immortal Court, led by Bi Qiao, also stepped forward, all of them being Immortal Dynasty noble sons.
Afterwards, the Fated Prodigies from the Nandou Sect, led by Qiao Yu, were unwilling to fall behind.
As more and more Fated Prodigies stepped forward, Li Juncai of the Taiji Sect could no longer restrain himself. He rushed out, arrogantly roaring.
"I, Li Juncai, wouldn't even fear the true Chixiao Monarch! How could I fear a fake like you!"