Chapter 180 - Friends Gather Together

Chapter 180: Chapter 171: Friends Gather TogetherThree days later, Lai Li rushed to East Look Mountain upon receiving the invitation and complained to Lock Fan, "What’s so secretive that you couldn’t even tell my father?"

"Did Old Tu fail to notice anything?" Lock Fan asked for confirmation again.

"Of course, he didn’t. You told me not to tell my father, and you know how much effort I put into avoiding him?" Lai Li glared at Lock Fan and continued, "You didn’t summon me here just so I can explain the circumstances of Tu Ku Lu’s death again, did you?"

"No," Lock Fan smiled. "I asked you to come here secretly because the boss told me to."

"Your boss?" Lai Li was taken aback. Wasn’t Tu Ku Lu dead? Had Lock Fan acknowledged someone else as his boss? Was today about paying homage to this new brother?

While she was still puzzled, Lu Hong, who was concealed by the Knights, stepped forward on his own initiative, "It’s me."

"Tu Ku Lu?! You’re actually alive?!" Lai Li exclaimed with joy. "That’s fantastic! Do you know how much Nono has withered away because of you? I must rush to tell her the good news!"

"Wait a moment," Lu Hong stopped Lai Li. "Don’t you want to know why I’ve been missing for so long?"

Lai Li, who was about to write a magic letter, paused, then remembered the suppressed anger in Caesar when Piao Miao and the others returned with their report, "Someone imprisoned you?"

"You could say that. To be precise, she thought I would die, but I stubbornly survived."

"Right, when I found the boss, he was still trapped in ice, buried in the ground. If I knew who did it, I definitely wouldn’t let them off!" Lock Fan added fiercely.

Hearing about the ice imprisonment, and recalling the Sovereign Command that Caesar had shown her, Lai Li inferred the rest, and said sternly, "Was it Piao Miao who ambushed you?"

"Yes, but more than Piao Miao, I am worried whether your father had a hand in this matter," Lu Hong straightforwardly expressed his concerns.

Lai Li shook her head, "I can assure you that this was not my father’s intention. I once told my father that the key to his ascension to godhood lay with you. You should be aware of how deep his obsession with becoming a Heavenly God is; the news of your demise in the Yuanghua realm had depressed him for a long time. Moreover, he even gave Nightingale considerable autonomy to investigate Piao Miao, who is a commander of the same rank. I can stake my life on my father’s innocence."

Having heard Lai Li’s assurance, Lu Hong took a deep breath of relief, "That eases my mind, otherwise I wouldn’t even dare show my face." As long as this matter wasn’t Caesar’s doing, Piao Miao alone probably wouldn’t have time to trouble him before being taken care of by Caesar.

"Hey, hey, what are you talking about?" Lock Fan interjected, completely baffled, "What ascension? Becoming a Heavenly God? And Old Tu, that stingy guy, had any instructions? Is he the big boss?"

Lu Hong offered a faint smile to Lai Li, "You haven’t told him?"

Lai Li helplessly shook her head, "He’s a bit of a blabbermouth. There are some things I dare not speak too much about."

"It’s fine, just make him swear in the name of a Heavenly God," Lu Hong suggested.

"Right!" Lai Li gladly accepted Lu Hong’s advice, grabbing Lock Fan by the ear and dragging him aside, whispering who knows how many details about herself and Caesar.

At that moment, the Knight approached Lu Hong and said, "That woman just now, she seems to be a powerful soul fighter who helped the Queen in the Yuanghua Campaign, huh~"

"Yes, you’re not mistaken."

"Damn, damn, damn, you actually know such formidable people?!" The Knight couldn’t help but marvel, "She’s a Third Transition Peak powerhouse, your connections are truly wide!"

"Oh, it’s average. I know quite a few strong people like her."

"..." The Knight fell into a brief silence. Normally, Third Transition Peak powerhouses were aloof and hardly befriended nobodies like him. He could only admire them from afar, having no reason to get close to such peak powerhouses.

"Bro," the Knight suddenly spoke up, "are you in need of a little brother?"

"What? You want to hang with me too?" Lu Hong was amused. Since when did knowing a lot of people qualify as a reason to be a big brother?

"Like, I’ve hit a bottleneck in my level, and I can only improve by clashing with stronger people. You know such powerful individuals; you naturally move in higher circles than I do," the Knight explained frankly. As a Baron, he had the right to request his own trusted aides. Although the Knight didn’t mind guarding East Look Mountain alone for the time being, if he dragged it out for too long, it wouldn’t be good for him. If he could leave with Lu Hong, that would be more than ideal.

"Okay," Lu Hong nodded. "I’ll take you with me when I leave, but you should be prepared for ambushes once I step out of here."

"I’m not afraid," the Knight brandished his long spear. "After all, I’m a Third Transition Middle Stage fighter, and as long as no peak powers come after me, escaping will definitely not be an issue."

"... Aren’t you supposed to be protecting me?"

"Hey, boss, you took on three great ministers alone and killed two of them. Someone as formidable as you, how could you need my protection?" the Knight smirked.

"Now that we’re talking, you have never once mentioned your name." It was necessary for Lu Hong to know the name of his new follower—it wouldn’t do to keep calling him at random.

"Me?" The Knight hesitated for a moment, "I can’t tell you my real name yet, call me Silver Wind."

"It seems you have your own story, Silver Wind, huh? I’ll remember that." Lu Hong patted the Knight’s shoulder and walked into the cabin, today they would feast on dog meat.

The news that Lu Hong was still alive spread quickly to Nono through Lai Li. At the moment, Nono was reviewing memorials. Her lifestyle was not much different from Konstantin’s; they both managed national strategic deployments within the Imperial Palace. Of course, she was still in a learning phase, and the three major ministers of the Northern Territory still held the final authority. Among them, two had already leaned towards Konstantin, so he could barely be considered the de facto ruler of the entire empire.

"Tu Ku Lu is still alive?!" Nono cried tears of joy, flipping over the desk in front of her and rushing outside without even time to put on her shoes.

"Your Majesty the Queen!" The captain of the close guard, Lily, picked up the shoes and chased after her, "Please slow down!"

Half an hour later, the news that the empire’s hero was alive burst forth from the Queen’s Imperial Palace and spread explosively throughout the entire empire.

"What?!" Konstantin was stunned upon receiving the message, "What the hell? How is he still alive? Hasn’t he been dead for nearly a year now? Playing dead?"

Then he thought of the Yitian Plane, and Konstantin almost passed out from frustration, "No way, we absolutely can’t let him assume his fief!"

A quick twist of Konstantin’s eye, and no one knew what devious scheme he was concocting next.

Caesar was the second person to hear the news of Lu Hong’s survival, the spark of hope for becoming a god relit once again. This time, Caesar stepped out of the inn, locking the door behind him and sticking up a few big characters: "Family joy, out for several days."

Actually, it didn’t matter if he posted it or not; no one dared to stay there anyway.

"Old Hank, get out here, the lad Tu didn’t die, come see him with me." Caesar sought out Old Hank, who had been living in guild over Lu Hong’s supposed death for the past half year. Under Qi Rong’s guidance, not only had his alchemy skills not improved, but they had regressed to square one. Qi Rong took over all the alchemy work in the town, and he took to drinking daily to drown his sorrows.

"Big Brother Tu, can you not lie to me?"

"I’m not bullshitting you." Caesar didn’t waste words, and forcefully dragged Old Hank away.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Naturally, Qi Rong had also heard the news brought by Caesar and hurriedly abandoned his work to chase after them.

In an ancient, verdant temple, Danni was immersed in meditation. A barbaric bear burst in and the next second, transformed into a human shape, kneeling before her and saying, "Reporting to my Lord, twenty minutes ago, I received a message from the Queen’s Palace, the hero from the Yuanflower Plane is still alive."

Danni’s eyes snapped open, and then she stood up to address the person before her, "I need to step out for a bit, watch over the temple and don’t let hellish creatures break the seal."

"Rest assured, my Lord, I will not fail my duty."

"Hmm." Danni nodded her head, still uneasy, she secretly set up several barriers before hurriedly leaving.

And so, that very afternoon, Nono hurried to East Look Mountain, excitedly rushing into Lu Hong’s embrace, wailing loudly.

Old Hank and the others also wiped away tears on the side; it was so good that Lu Hong was not dead.

As for Caesar, he glanced at the open space in the distance. Others might not see it, but he could see it clear as day - the Tower Master of the Green Tower had actually come in person, just to see the other party.

"This kid really has some tricks up his sleeve." Caesar smacked his lips and then glanced towards another side, a bewitching woman was also invisibly lurking nearby, quietly watching Lu Hong.

That was Lando from the Hell Sect, Caesar recognized her too.

"I really didn’t expect the Vice Sect Hierarch of the Hell Sect to coexist peacefully with the Sovereign of the Nature God Sect." These two forces had been mortal enemies since their inception, yet now, the two women at the top had actually agreed to a ceasefire for Yu Hong’s sake. Who would believe it if it were spoken aloud?

"Typical." At that moment, Lai Li approached Caesar and said, "Tu Gurulu is actually pretty good at sweet-talking ladies."

Saying that, she pulled over the nervous Lock Fan and pushed him in front of Caesar.

Seeing the lad who stole his daughter, Caesar’s expression immediately darkened, "Did you talk to him?"

"Yes." Lai Li didn’t deny it. Their father-daughter identities were an absolute secret, and if Caesar didn’t agree to their union, he would undoubtedly take action against Lock Fan, erasing his memory. Lai Li wouldn’t dare to let Lock Fan see Caesar under normal circumstances, but today was a good opportunity. Both Danni and Lando were present; if Caesar made a move on Lock Fan, Lu Hong would definitely not stand idly by.

Caesar was also very clear about Lai Li’s calculation and said grumpily, "You really know how to pick your moments."

Seeing that Caesar did not object further, that was tantamount to tacit approval, so she gave Lock Fan a kick and sternly ordered, "You fool, aren’t you going to call out?"

"Oh, oh, oh." The reality of their identities still not fully digested, Lock Fan came to his senses and called out to Caesar loudly, "Father-in-law, good day!" His voice was powerful and reached the ears of everyone present.

Caesar: "..."

Lai Li: "..."

Everyone: "..."

"Hahaha." Lu Hong laughed heartily, "Old ghost Tu, congratulations on gaining a good son-in-law!"

Lai Li glanced worriedly at the gloomy Caesar and slapped her forehead.

Oh, heavens, she meant for Lock Fan to call him uncle.

Caesar was silent for a very long time, finally sighing deeply amid a round of congratulations and cheers, stretching out his hand to pat Lock Fan’s shoulder and saying, "Kid, come learn cooking from me later; if you don’t master it, don’t even think about marrying my daughter!"

"Ah, no problem, father-in-law!" Does that mean he agreed? Lock Fan was suddenly invigorated, thrilled to the core.

"Stop calling me father-in-law; I haven’t agreed yet!" Caesar rebuked, disgruntled.

Seeing Lu Hong alive, Old Hank’s mood immediately improved, jokingly said on the side, "Haha, old ghost Tu, you should be secretly pleased to get a son-in-law."

"Scram!" Caesar scolded viciously, and then mysteriously produced two jars of fine wine, shoving them into Lock Fan’s arms, "Come on, drink with me!"

The aroma of the fine wine tempted everyone’s appetite, and just like that, a joyous party quietly began.

Danni lingered for a long time, and finally glided away.

Lando, however, disdainfully rolled her eyes at her, she wasn’t ready to leave just yet.

To think she still wants to compete with her for a man? Hmm~ Pitiful!