Chapter 181 - 172nd Night Talk

Chapter 181: 172nd Night Talk"Why are you dragging me out here in the middle of the night?" Lai Li led Lock Fan to a jungle not far from East Look Mountain, as it neared dawn.

Is she going to do the deed with me? As the cold wind blew, Lock Fan gradually sobered up from his drunken state and imagined what Lai Li might do next.

"We’re here." Lai Li seemed to notice that dirty thought in Lock Fan’s mind and pursed her lips.

"I’m new to this too, isn’t playing this kind of game a bit much?" Lock Fan whispered obediently, leaning close to Lai Li, "Be gentle with me later, okay?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Lu Hong’s Blood Holy Sword suddenly stabbed into the ground by Lock Fan’s feet, scaring him into retreat.

"Ahem, since you’re here, hurry up and sit down."

Hearing Lu Hong’s voice, Lock Fan finally noticed that Caesar and Lu Hong were sitting on a sofa in the clearing, with Lu Hong looking quite embarrassed. As for Caesar, his face was as dark as if he was about to commit murder.

"Uh... Father-in-law, good evening!" Lock Fan ducked his head, mustering the courage to greet Caesar.

Caesar naturally ignored him and pulled out a large sofa from his Space Ring: "Xiaoxiao, come and sit."

"And where should I sit?" Seeing that Caesar only brought out one seat, Lock Fan asked dumbfounded.

"You?" Caesar chuckled, "Roll back wherever you came from."

As soon as Caesar finished speaking, Lai Li yanked Lock Fan over: "You sit, and I’ll sit on your lap." She even rolled her eyes at her own father, infuriating Caesar so much that he nearly passed out.

"Do you even have a father in your heart anymore?!" Caesar roared in anger, yet he couldn’t do anything about his daughter. Eventually, he could only helplessly shake out another sofa and kick it to Lock Fan’s side, saying fiercely, "You sit there and behave yourself! If you dare to misbehave with my daughter, I’ll castrate you!"

Lu Hong quickly tried to defuse the situation, "Alright, alright, let’s talk about the important matters."

Caesar truly gave Lu Hong face, no longer targeting Lock Fan, and after a moment of silence, began, "Actually, I knew from the start that Piao Miao was the one who sabotaged you."

Lu Hong wasn’t surprised; it was normal for a cunning old fox like Caesar to guess such things.

"I didn’t seek revenge for you not because I didn’t want to, but because Piao Miao still has her uses," Caesar sighed. "Do you know what her identity is?"

"Someone with a big background?"

Caesar nodded, "Do you know of the Eagle Alliance?"

"I’ve heard a bit about it," Lu Hong nodded, knowing about the Jin Family being protected by Lei Shan and some intelligence on the Alliance from Nono.

"Piao Miao is the current eldest daughter of Duke Xin Lei, and is very likely to inherit the dukedom."

Lock Fan listened with complete befuddlement, restraining himself from asking questions several times, which Lai Li suppressed: "Don’t talk now; I’ll explain to you later."

The Xin Lei family was a formidable entity, comparable to the Shupnikkurat: "Knowing that she could be the heir to the Xin Lei family, wouldn’t it be better to finish her off sooner?"

"The Empire still knows too little about the Alliance, which has been rooting itself within the Empire’s interior over the past five thousand years. In contrast, the Empire, always surrounded by powerful enemies, has never managed to deal with this wolf hiding at its flank. My goal in luring Piao Miao to join the Dark Pupil was to use her identity to infiltrate our people into the Alliance and gather intelligence."

"I understand." As long as it wasn’t Caesar who ordered his assassination, he didn’t care.

It was Lai Li who seemed confused at this point: "Father, if you can’t take action against Piao Miao, why did you let Nightingale investigate her?"

"Xiaoxiao, Piao Miao is a suspicious person. If she hadn’t been marked by me from birth, no one would’ve been able to uncover her identity. Before they went on a mission to Yuanyuan Flowers, I specifically arranged for their protection target to die without any reaction from me, to make her suspicious," Caesar explained. "Therefore, I had Nightingale surveil her. As for whether Nightingale finds anything, it won’t seem suspicious to Piao Miao; it all makes sense."

"You’re not putting Nightingale in danger by doing this?" Lu Hong asked worriedly, at which point a wisp of hair was suddenly cut by something, as if it were a warning to Lu Hong.

Caesar smiled, "Don’t worry; Nightingale is a smart person. As for your next steps, I’ve already arranged them. There’s no doubt that Nightingale’s attack on you warrants punishment, but the only accusation I can make against her is coveting the Sovereign Command."

Lu Hong shook his head slightly, "That’s not enough. She took something from me more important than the Sovereign Command."

Caesar blinked, "What is it?"

"The Lionheart Bloodline."

"What?!" Caesar shot to his feet, exclaiming in shock and anger, "You carry the Lionheart Bloodline?!"

"Yes, but now it has been taken by Piao Miao."

"No wonder, no wonder Piao Miao risked exposure to make a move against you," Caesar knew Piao Miao’s character very well; this woman had always been dedicated to bloodline research, and currently, the bloodline extraction devices circulating in the black market were inspired by her innovation.

Realizing the crucial point at last, Caesar rose anxiously, his expression extremely conflicted. Finally, he seemed to make a significant decision. He took out his Sovereign Command, stimulated his Magic Power, and injected it into two glowing spots before shouting, "Piao Miao is suspected of attempted assassination against the black-eyed Order Master Tu Kulu, with definitive evidence now. Eagle Alliance agents Kuang Shi and Xiaoxiao, heed my order! You’re to intercept and kill Piao Miao without fail!"

"Eh? Isn’t she really important?" Lock Fan was utterly confused. Just a moment ago they said Piao Miao was untouchable, and now there’s a direct order to kill her; he couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

Lai Li explained gravely from the side, "Piao Miao has been tampering with human bodies using the power of bloodlines. If she obtained the Lion’s Heart Bloodline Power for her experiments, it would be an even greater disaster for the empire!"

From Lai Li’s explanation, Lu Hong also realized the problem. He had been quite puzzled about Piao Miao stealing his Bloodline Power, but now he fully understood Caesar’s current feelings.

"Lion’s Heart Bloodline..." Caesar stared intently at Lu Hong, then turned to ask Lai Li, "Did you know he had Bloodline Power?"

Lai Li nodded, "But I didn’t expect Piao Miao to discover his Bloodline Power."

"Naive!" Caesar bellowed, "Piao Miao has spent her lifetime studying Bloodline Power, and you didn’t anticipate this?!"

"Hey, hey, even though you’re my father-in-law, I won’t allow you to be unreasonable towards Xiaoxiao!" Lock Fan was eager to protect his wife. Unfortunately, he was sent sprawling to the ground by a kick from Caesar before he finished speaking. Caesar glared at Lock Fan with a cold tone, "You’re useless! No speaking turn for you here!"

"Lord Caesar!" Naturally, Lu Hong was unhappy seeing his subordinate mistreated. "This mistake is mine, but the urgency now is how to deal with Piao Miao."

"Don’t you teach me," Caesar seemed to be thrown off by the sudden appearance of the Lion’s Heart Bloodline, in a very bad mood, and couldn’t be bothered to stay any longer. Before leaving, his gaze lingered on Lu Hong’s right hand for a few seconds, then he took a step and vanished from the spot.

"Are you okay?" After Caesar left, Lai Li finally let out a sigh of relief, helped Lock Fan up, and asked, "My dad didn’t go too hard on you, right?"

Lock Fan shook his head and asked, "Am I really that stupid?"

Lai Li was stunned, seemingly surprised by Lock Fan’s sudden question.

Lock Fan took a deep breath and said, "I’m not dumb, just sometimes too lazy to think about problems. I know you wanted me to get involved with the core matters by setting up the late-night talk between the boss and that old ghost Tu, but my strength isn’t fit to know about these issues yet. Piao Miao, whom you talk about, is someone I can’t possibly come across, what can I do after hearing about her?"

"I..." Lai Li indeed wanted Lock Fan to get closer to her father Caesar but hadn’t considered the gap that Lock Fan mentioned, which was a mistake.

"Boss," Lock Fan then turned to Lu Hong, "Even though I really want to help you, I can’t do anything, I know my current strength isn’t enough, but don’t worry, I will work hard."

"Lock Fan, don’t think too much," Lu Hong started to say something but didn’t quite know what else to say.

"I’ll be going now; I’ll pretend I never heard what happened tonight," Lock Fan said and strode off, Lai Li anxiously followed after him.

Well then, there seem to be tensions rising between the couple.

After the two left, a pair of jade hands climbed onto Lu Hong’s chest, and a gentle voice murmured in his ear, "My little man, it seems you’ve run into some trouble?"

Of course, Lu Hong knew who it was; he turned around to embrace Lando, the previous displeasure swept away as he smiled, "Are you going to help me?"

"I wouldn’t help you, silly," Lando giggled, "I’ve heard about Piao Miao too, but I’m powerless to assist."

"Then forget it," Lu Hong shrugged.

"However..." Lando’s tone shifted, "I can help you forget your worries." Saying this, her soft body pressed tightly against Lu Hong’s, her face blushing slightly, looking very enticing.

At this moment, Lu Hong found himself in a moral dilemma; dealing with Piao Miao’s matter was already difficult, and now here was Lando seeking his affection. Was he supposed to be charitably obliging?

"Then..." Lu Hong had barely started speaking when a green vine suddenly shot out from a nearby tree, fiercely lashing Lando’s back.

Lando wouldn’t let it hit her; her Magic Power surged, repelling the vine, then she looked around displeased, "Hiding in the shadows, are you too scared to show yourself? And you want to meddle in others’ affections?" Lando’s tone was somewhat frustrated; she hadn’t expected Danni to return after leaving.

"Danni, is that you? Where are you?" Lu Hong naturally knew who it was and began searching around.

"Hmph! You’re cruel!" Lando said, her mood soured by Danni’s interference, "Little man, I’ll leave now. We’ll catch up another day." With that, she stepped into the air and fled swiftly.

After Lando had left, Danni finally appeared from the forest, standing at a distance and quietly watching Lu Hong, saying nothing.

"Danni?!" Lu Hong was ecstatic to see this wife he hadn’t met for a long while, so thrilled he could have embraced her immediately.

Alas, before Lu Hong could approach, he was entangled and hung mid-air by several vines.

After doing this, Danni finally spoke, "Since you already have Nono, don’t let your thoughts wander. I’ll deal with Piao Miao’s matter. From tomorrow on, go back to the empire and spend time with Nono."

After leaving these instructions behind, Danni vanished into the dark forest, appearing to truly depart, leaving Lu Hong hanging in mid-air, struggling non-stop.