*Crack!* Mid-sprint, Zhe Shouzhao's source energy suddenly erupted, and a single kick snapped a roadside tree in two. This entire affair had been a colossal humiliation and setback for him—how could he not feel choked with frustration and indignation?
Yet given Voyage's current situation, he truly did not dare touch Zhang Chiyuan. No matter how resentful he was, he had to swallow that bitter pill.
Not only that, he even had to lie, claiming that Huaxia's main force was bearing down on them, just to talk those brain-dead hidden clan members into leaving.
As the tree crashed down, the fat Black man stepped aside. His eyes filled with worry, he called out, "Shouzhao, Shouzhao... what do we do next?"
Zhe Shouzhao halted in his tracks.
Indeed, what next? Not only had he walked away from this venture empty-handed, but he had lost two top combat powers in the process—half of Voyage's elite strength, wiped out just like that.
And even if Huaxia wouldn't openly expose this incident because of the fallout from the Xilang Peak battlefield, their covert targeting, vigilance, and retaliation in the aftermath were practically guaranteed.
*No, wait... I actually came out ahead.*
His train of thought took a sudden turn. Zhe Shouzhao snapped his head up, fixing his gaze on the hidden clan fighters running ahead.
"Right now, even if Qu Zongyan isn't dead, he's crippled. At the very end, he placed these people in my hands..." Zhe Shouzhao turned, looked at the fat Black man, and smiled thinly. "I'm going to take this chance to absorb them into our ranks."
The fat Black man's eyes lit up instantly, and he nodded vigorously. If they truly brought the hidden clans' strength under their command, it would far surpass Voyage's original combat power, offering vastly greater prospects.
"Voyage will only be stronger in the future."
Filled with sudden ambition, Zhe Shouzhao's gaze darkened as he gritted his teeth. *Bring it on. If I could hunt him down once, I can hunt him down a second time...*
Just like that, his spirits revived. As Zhe Shouzhao fled onward, he carefully turned over his next moves and strategies.
Up ahead, the helicopter came into view.
Zhe Shouzhao stopped once more and called after the fat Black man. "Arthur, don't follow me any further. Go do something else."
Arthur looked at him and nodded. "Name it, Shouzhao."
"Go tell Alphonse where Han Qingyu and the others are, along with the extent of their injuries," Zhe Shouzhao said with a cold sneer.
In truth, the Zhe family had established ties with the Alphonse family long before this. Their current operation within Huaxia had also received covert support and coordination from Alphonse's assets.
Both parties had agreed to win over and prop up the hidden clans within Huaxia. The Zhe family's primary desire was expansion, while Alphonse's motive was simple: his hostility toward the Huaxia Front was out in the open, and backing these forces gave him a pawn to cause trouble for the Huaxia Front at critical moments.
Zhe Shouzhao's encounter with Han Qingyu and his companions had been largely a coincidence. At the time, he hadn't chosen to stay hidden, shadow them, and notify Alphonse right away.
Han Qingyu was wounded—gravely wounded. And the possessions and secrets that group carried were far too tempting to pass up. Zhe Shouzhao had intended to swallow it all for himself.
***
There on the field, the fat Black man acknowledged the order and departed.
As Zhe Shouzhao walked toward the helicopter, he looked down and fingered the Bone of Eternal Life inside his jacket. There was no way he would hand this piece over to the Qu clan now. It was tied to combat power—though Zhe Shouzhao had yet to unlock its secrets, he was absolutely certain of that much.
*Let the Alphonse family tangle with the Huaxia Front. Let them hunt down and tie up Han Qingyu and his crew. Meanwhile, I'll focus on absorbing the hidden clans' strength and searching for more Bones of Eternal Life.*
*Perhaps one day, I will cut down Han Qingyu face-to-face.*
With his strategy set, the future became clear once more. Zhe Shouzhao took a deep breath and glanced up at the distant mountains.
Turning around, he reached out, pulled open the helicopter cabin door, and stepped inside.
The door slid shut with a sharp clatter. Zhe Shouzhao slumped into a seat, still burning with residual anger.
A figure clad in a white lab coat turned in the adjoining seat. An Azure battleblade turned with him, its tip resting flush against his throat.
"Look at that. What a coincidence. *Cough, cough*... Take off the device."
Dressed in a white lab coat, Han Qingyu gripped the battleblade in his right hand and smiled at him.
Zhe Shouzhao slowly turned his head. "..."
His mind went entirely blank.
"Take off the device."
The blade's tip pierced his skin, and blood trickled out.
Zhe Shouzhao had a thousand men outside. But inside the cabin, the pilot was dead, the guard was dead, and he was the only one left—pinned down with a blade to his throat.
Obediently, he stripped off his device and weapons.
Han Qingyu gave a satisfied nod, then patted him with the flat of the blade. "The Bone of—*pfft!*"
The instant the first word left his lips, a huge mouthful of blood sprayed from his mouth, staining the white lab coat in patch after patch of vivid crimson.
So he really was severely injured.
The question was, if he was this badly hurt—practically on death's door—how the hell had he dragged himself here just to screw with him?!
"Sorry about that. I was holding it in the whole time so I wouldn't leave a trail," Han Qingyu coughed out by way of explanation. With great difficulty, he lifted his injured left hand, wiped the blood from beneath his lips, and smeared it onto the lab coat.
At that moment, beneath the front pilot's seat, someone lay shoved into the space, their hands and feet bound, mouth gagged.
Her clothes had been stripped off as well—though it was only the white lab coat.
This person was Zhe Shouzhao's elder sister, Zhe Qiuhong. She had been kept under house arrest at Azure Research Institute 2 for many years. Just earlier, the doctors had casually mentioned to Han Qingyu that she was likely the finest physician in the entire source energy world.
Voyage had formally submitted to Azure this time, and Azure was returning their person. The helicopter hadn't been provided for Zhe Shouzhao's personal use; it had been assigned to transport Zhe Qiuhong across the border.
So Han Qingyu had thought about it, and come. He had come to take Zhe Qiuhong back to treat Wu Xu.
And since he was already here, and sneaking back out wouldn't be easy anyway, he figured he might as well...
"The Bone of Eternal Life."
Once again, Han Qingyu tapped Zhe Shouzhao with the flat of his blade, his gaze earnest and expectant, completely undisguised.
Zhe Shouzhao pulled the horn-shaped Bone of Eternal Life from his chest. Barely a minute ago, he had been dreaming of using this very object to cut down Han Qingyu face-to-face someday.
Han Qingyu took the Bone of Eternal Life with his left hand. Bloody smudges immediately streaked across the bone, for his left hand was covered entirely in blood.
Zhe Shouzhao stared.
He could not comprehend how Han Qingyu's mind worked, nor how anyone could be so utterly ruthless to their own body. But without a doubt, the fiercest, most ruthless man Zhe Shouzhao had ever encountered in his young life was sitting right next to him.
"In your condition, how do you expect to get away?" Zhe Shouzhao finally spoke his first words since taking his seat.
Outside right now, at least several hundred men were waiting for the helicopter to take off. When it failed to lift off, they would come over to check within moments.
Han Qingyu looked up with a radiant smile and said weakly, "You'll escort me out, of course. Come on, carry your sister out."
***
Surrounding the helicopter, several hundred men waited for it to take off. The tension should have been palpable, yet the helicopter remained stationary. Puzzled, they were just about to step forward and inquire.
*Whoosh!*
The cabin door slid open.
Without his device on, Zhe Shouzhao stepped down, carrying someone in his arms.
Behind him stepped another figure, clad in a blood-drenched white lab coat. Han Qingyu pressed his blade firmly against the center of Zhe Shouzhao's back, offering the entire crowd a faint smile.
Chapter 413