Chapter 31: But I Require Compensation

“I can’t let Jin Siqi enjoy this triumph. I absolutely refuse to be defeated!” After sitting at her desk in brief dejection, she decided she would no longer wait helplessly for events to unfold.

She was no longer the woman she had once been. The woman she was now would never again allow herself to be bullied at will.

“Secretary Jiang! Is President Jin still here?” She knew that Jin Shixun must already have learned what had happened.

......

She walked toward Zhang Jin—elegant, composed, and utterly unhurried. Her slender stilettos struck the floor with a distinctive rhythm. She had truly inherited her grandmother’s grace.

“Come, Brother Yu. Old Li shall toast you with this cup. From now on, you and I must spend more time together!” Li Tie urged him to drink again and again, and Yu Feng did not hold back. The wine of this era was not very different from the rice wine of later generations. With Yu Feng’s capacity for alcohol, this amount was hardly worth mentioning.

Looking again at the great tree behind Xingyue, one saw that it had somehow withered completely from root to crown in an instant, as though it had been a long-rotten tree for several decades.

“Are you feeling any better? How about I accompany you on a walk today?” Yufeng smiled and went over to her, gently touching her slightly swollen eyes. Yesterday, she had cried with heartbreaking sorrow.

The Kingdom of Fallen Feathers had been built into a place of extraordinary splendor during the reign of Grand Duke Heshuo. After Zheng Xiyuan took office, he had been even less reluctant to spend gold on repairs and maintenance. Naturally, it possessed a banquet hall reserved for special occasions.

Little did they know that Zhu Wen’s army was at that moment stationed across the river in Zhongmu County. Zhu Wen himself was in command, while such generals as Zhu Zhen, Pang Shigu, Zhang Cunjing, and Xu Huaiyu were all within the city, having long since prepared their troops to deal with Huang Chao. Zhu Wen followed Jing Xiang’s strategy, waiting to strike Huang Chao while half his forces were still crossing the river.

Xingyue let out a muffled snort, seized Ningshuang by the arm, and headed toward the exit. Ningshuang did not resist, allowing Xingyue to pull her along.

A short while later, every member of the Chu clan had gathered. Since they could all sense the fluctuations of power within the building, no one went in to disturb them. Instead, they silently waited. At present, they could afford no more mistakes. Trust was their only choice.

With no other option, Xingyue could only break away and retreat swiftly, the momentum of her unstoppable advance instantly worn away.

The Corpse Wolf was both shocked and enraged. He had never imagined that Wu Yu could be so powerful. After roaring several times, he slapped his own forehead. At once, black aura began spreading downward from his head. Beneath its shroud, his body slowly grew larger. In the space of a few breaths, he had swelled to a height of several dozen yards.

“No matter how you look at it, this is Earth, and we are S.H.I.E.L.D. The very purpose for which S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded is to deal with matters like this. So even if we choose not to go looking for trouble with him, we still can’t leave that hammer unattended,” Coulson said decisively.

The Bronze Immortal Hall was awakening, unleashing its full power in a desperate struggle. Its fluctuations were world-shaking and could have obliterated most of the living beings present, but under the control of that enormous hand, their effects were reduced to a minimum.

At their current level, they could perceive countless secrets with a single thought, deduce the workings of Heaven, and foresee the future. They all understood how grave the situation was. Recalling the cryptic words the Eastern Emperor had spoken in the past—words about fighting side by side and the like—none of them dared lower their guard.

By rights, Su Ning, already regarded as one of the city’s finest sights within the Jiangchuan Municipal Bureau, ought to have been basking in success. Yet precisely because she had never held a position at the grassroots level, her temper had been simmering fiercely from the very first day she started work.

No one could imagine how many peak cultivators and transcendent immortals four fully completed immortal formations could send forth.

“Then fine. I want to visit the Magic Academy. Surely that’s allowed, isn’t it? As a tour guide, you have a duty to satisfy a visitor’s requests,” I argued.

And so the peace talks between Han and Chu at Guangwu Mountain came to an end. Zhang Liang finally breathed a long sigh of relief and returned to Xingyang City.