Wang Lu suddenly vanished.
When all the people, whether they were stupid, smart or ignorant, had been stimulated until their blood boiled by the performance of the city officials and gained confidence by the continuous good data provided by the bureaucrats, when they thought it was the perfect time to act, Wang Lu actually vanished.
He ran out of town alone, leaving all the guards and subordinates behind. When his personal guards found no one in his official residence the next morning, Wang Lu had already left the city hundreds of miles away.
At this time, even the spectators outside the Gate of All Living Things couldn't guess where he would go. However, before long, the answer was revealed, and once again caused other people's jaws to drop in surprise.
Wang Lu actually went straight to the Devil Sect's Headquarters! Of course, he had changed his appearance; disguised as a wandering Daoist, he went straight to the guard guarding the entrance.
"I am Daoist Ju Yang [1], and I come to visit your vice sect leader."
"Daoist Ju Yang!?"
The guard was astonished and then sized Wang Lu up. He then revealed an evil grin. "Who dares to be so reckless…"
Before he could continue, a cold, sharp object had touched his forehead. Wang Lu's Sword of Mount Kun wasn't known for its ability to kill, but it wasn't too poor that this small guard could resist.
The guard furiously roared, "Even if you kill me, I…"
"I won't kill you. I just want you to tell your Vice Sect Leader that Daoist Ju Yang is here, and he would know."
That guard fled back in panic.
Before long, dozens of Devil Sect's demon cultivators came from all directions, surrounding Wang Lu in the middle. However, no one dared to make a move. After a while, a stooped old man appeared from the inside. He then signaled Wang Lu with his eyes to follow him.
Wang Lu smiled and fearlessly followed the old man into the Devil Sect's headquarter, as if before him was not a dangerous den.
Actually, Wang Lu's timing was on point. At this moment, the Devil Sect's Sect Leader, two Vice Sect Leaders, as well as a large number of subordinates were out of the Headquarters; only one Vice Sect Leader guarded their headquarters. This was the most opportune time to strike, yet Wang Lu didn't show even a shred of hostility, moreover, the identity of Daoist Ju Yang appeared to have been recognized by the Vice Sect Leader. Hence, since the guess had no intention to provoke a dispute, the Devil Sect didn't immediately go into action. Being led by the stooped old man, Wang Lu soon arrived at a secret room where he saw the goal of this trip—a huge man with a sturdy figure, which was also the most junior of the Vice Sect Leader.
"Daoist Ju Yang? Do you want to take advantage while my brilliant sect is currently empty of people, Magistrate Wang Lu!"
Wang Lu didn't care at all that his identity had just been laid bare, instead, he countered, "I have given you a favor by showing my face here, yet you don't know how to appreciate a favor."
"Humph!" The huge man angrily humphed, however, inwardly, he was happy.
The Devil Sect was full of hate toward this City Magistrate who, in just a few short days, had been suppressing the spread of insect poison in the city and its outskirts. In the Cloud Peak City, not only did he had solve the crisis, but he had also spread the detailed methods in quarantining the insect poison and how to handle the general situation all across the Black Country, causing the Devil Sect to gain very little in their effort to spread the poison in several other cities. If not for the fact that there was still no cure for the insect poison, causing the number of victims, in general, to continue increasing, the Devil Sect's plan would've completely failed. Yet, the originator for all this trouble had actually come to their lair by himself. This was simply a heaven sent opportunity. The Vice Sect Leader couldn't help but question whether his luck had turned for the better?
As long as he took the other person's head, then he would be the most senior of the three Vice Sect Leaders.
"In any case, since you have come, don't expect to leave this place alive."
The Vice Sect Leader spoke as he revealed a ferocious smile.
However, Wang Lu only let out a sentence, and the Vice Sect Leader's countenance drastically changed and stopped his action.
"I've already gotten the cure, you guys won't stand a chance."
"What!?"
Seeing Wang Lu's confident expression, the Vice Sect Leader hesitated; he was confused. The Devil Sect took years and years to develop the insect poison, and it wasn't too long ago since they first spread it, so how could it be so easy to develop the cure? However, the other side didn't appear to be bluffing… Nonsense, who would risk their lives to come here just to bluff? Was he mental?
Wang Lu said, "I know you don't believe that, so I'm going to prove it to you… Here, you recognize this, don't you?"
Wang Lu shook a bottle of thick black liquid. The Vice Sect Leader naturally recognized it to be a highly concentrated insect poison, enough to turn hundreds of people instantly into zombies. Thinking about this, the Vice Sect Leader's complexion suddenly changed, thinking that what if this guy broke the bottle here, could this place's array able to suppress it? If the poison rapidly spread in their headquarters, that would be troublesome… However, this was the special move of trying to perish together; even if the other side managed to get the Devil Sect's especially made antidote for the insect poison, it wouldn't be able to counter such a thick concentration of poison. Let alone the Devil Sect's insect poison antidote was a top secret only known by the higher-ups—it didn't even appear on any of the sect's record, moreover, he didn't hear any news about missing antidote, therefore, the Vice Sect Leader had no reason to believe that the other side had managed to get their antidote!
However, the next moment, to the Vice Sect Leader's surprise, Wang Lu directly broke the lid of the bottle.
As soon as he broke the lid, he immediately swallowed the black juice straight into his mouth!
Soon, not one drop of poison left in the bottle.
"You…" The Vice Sect Leader was stunned for a long time, completely speechless. Then he silently prepared for the next move, ready to fight the zombie who was known to have an amazing strength to the death.
Even for their Sect Leader, that Jindan Stage cultivator, directly swallowing such a high concentration of insect poison would be a death sentence...
However, under the Vice Sect Leader's bewildered and confused eyes, Wang Lu's smile remained on his face; he even opened his mouth to speak, "This taste reminds me of the craftsmanship of a certain friend of mine."
The young man seemed at ease, without suffering any pain, and wasn't poisoned by the insect poison… The Vice Sect Leader's heart was bitter, but he had no choice but to believe the other person's claim. Indeed, this was the ultimate proof. The other side's antidote was even better than their own.
At the same time, outside the Gate of All Living Things, the crowd of Ten Thousand Arts Sect cultivators deeply frowned.
When did Wang Lu get the cure? They didn't see it at all! Let alone when did Wang Lu had the time to develop the cure? In this insect poison outbreak scenario, every time it started, the poison would be different. Even if he had just witnessed the whole process of developing the cure by Zhan Ziye, it was impossible for him to cut that much research time. Unless he was an expert in creating elixirs, with a very high level of accomplishment, so that he would be able to deduce the formula in just a glance, however...
This group of cultivators naturally could not guess that Wang Lu had just simply used a brute force method. Relying on his Non-Phase Method, he was able to guard against all kinds of poison invading his body! The black tide poison on the Western Mountain was far stronger than this insect poison, yet it could do no real harm to Wang Lu. Therefore, swallowing this insect poison was indeed nothing to him.
However, this move had actually frightened the people inside and outside of the illusion.
It took a long time for the Vice Sect Leader to quell the agitation in his heart, before he finally managed to ask, "Do you really have the cure?"
Wang Lu smiled. "What do you think? Don't you know the strength of the poison that was created by your own sect?"
"..." Vice Sect Leader once again fell into silence. "Then, what are you doing here?"
"No need to play dumb. I brought such a domineering trump card to your Devil Sect's headquarters, can't you guess what I want?"
"Do you want to persuade us to capitulate? In your dreams!" The Vice Sect Leader was adamant. "You look down on me too much if you think you can deceive me with this kind of graceful words, flowery speech…"
"Shut up, you idiot!" Wang Lu mercilessly interrupted the other side. Facing the Vice Sect Leader's anger, he said with cold eyes, "Graceful words, flowery speech? Don't you realize that in this insect poison crisis, your Devil Sect's defeat has already been decided? And you think this is just graceful words and flowery speech? Your insect poison is indeed fierce, but as long as there's a targeted and effective prevention, it would not lead to an uncontrollable situation, not to mention the cure that I have in me. The turmoil in the Black Country will soon be over, so how long do you think your Devil Sect would be able to withstand our country's full blown retaliation?"
The Vice Sect Leader wanted to say several angry words very much, yet he couldn't say the words that were already on the tip of his tongue. He was not a fool; it was very difficult to deceive himself.
Finally, he went back to the old question. "What do you want?"
"…"
Wang Lu's cold and mocking gaze caused the Vice Sect Leader to feel scared and exhausted. In this private room of the Vice Sect Leader, there was a silent stooped old man. Naturally, the old man was his trusted aide, someone that he could trust with his secrets.
"Regarding this offering amnesty thing, you shouldn't have looked for me. I am not the person that could call the shot here."
Wang Lu smiled. "Since I'm looking for you, then this is not about offering amnesty. For a group of demons of the Devil Sect like you, I cannot offer any amnesty."
"Then what are you doing here?" The Vice Sect Leader was a bit flustered.
Wang Lu went silent for a moment, however, his gaze became more contemptuous. "Actually, as long as you put yourself in my position, it isn't difficult to guess what is my reason. In this insect poison crisis resolution, I am the biggest hero. Whether it's in the early prevention and response or the development of the cure, it can be said that I have saved millions of people in the Black Country, am I right?"
Vice Sect Leader gave a cold grunt, but did not say anything.
Wang Lu continued, "I will be a hero, a savior. Poets will sing praises of me, and people will worship me. Young women will look at me as their idol and dream lover, while envious men will bow before my brilliance!"
"Are you showing off yourself?"
"No, I just want to ask. If you are the Emperor of the Black Country, what would you feel in the face of such hero?"
The Vice Sect Leader of the Devil Sect was stunned only for a moment before he finally guessed Wang Lu's purpose in doing this trip. For a time, he felt that it was incredibly absurd!
So, if you had the foresight to know that your achievement will shake your Master, why would you execute your plan in such a high-profile and act like a savior or something? Now, since you have enough playing a hero, you come here and grumble in front of your opponent, don't you think that's ridiculous?
Upon correctly guessing the inner thoughts of the Vice Sect Leader, Wang Lu smiled and said, "I'm not here for sympathy or comfort. In fact, you don't have the qualification to sympathize me. Even if the Emperor resent me even more, he wouldn't dare to touch me, because I'm this Country's hero! Unlike you guys who are in a precarious position!"
The Vice Sect Leader grunted. "What exactly do you want?"
"Very easy. In three days, I will invite his Majesty to come to my Cloud Peak City. When the opportunity comes, you have to make your move. I will give you the necessary information. You should know how to persuade your Sect Leader."
The Vice Sect Leader wasn't surprised but amused. "And then? After we get rid of the Emperor for you, you will start to uproot us. After that, you will step on our bones on your way to the throne!?"
Wang Lu nearly laughed out loud. "Your brain seems to be made of a paste. I will just uproot your Sect Leader and the other Vice Leaders. As for you, after this catastrophe, you will reform the Devil Sect and will be its new Sect Leader…"
"As well as your dog," Vice Sect Leader coldly said, "although I'm not that smart, I'm not stupid either."
"Since you're not stupid, you should know that being my dog is better than being a dead man. You hold my biggest secret, so our lives are entwined together. This is the only chance that you can grasp."
"Or I can just keep you here forever. Without you out there, we may have a chance to succeed."
Wang Lu smiled. "Since I dare to come here, do you think I will worry about your means? If I want to leave, you won't be able to stop me even if your Sect Leader is here."
While speaking, he took a step back, and the entire private chamber shook as if there was an earthquake. The array that had been placed in the room by the Vice Sect Leader was actually destroyed in half by an outrageously huge force!
"You…" The Vice Sect Leader looked at the opposite party as if he had just seen a ghost. He saw that this City Magistrate was just at the Qi Cultivating Stage, yet his ability to break the array seemed to be a bit better than him—a high-level Foundation Establishment cultivator!
However, he didn't know that Wang Lu simply didn't have the patience to analyze any method to break the array and just used his Innate Non-Phase Sword Qi, which he forcibly inserted into the demon force circulation within the array under his feet, then… the array naturally fell apart.
Seeing that all means had no effect on the opposite party, the Vice Sect Leader weighed his option for a bit and finally made a decision. "Very well, you have my words."
"A wise choice." Wang Lu nodded. "Remember, today's Daoist Ju Yang is your old friend… and keep your subordinates' mouth shut."
Three days later, the Black Country's Emperor visited the Cloud Peak City, warmly praised the outstanding contribution of the City Magistrate Wang Lu, and delivered a passionate speech in the city. Subsequently, he ignored Wang Lu's advice and visited the disaster victims on the outskirts of the city, which moved countless of them into tears.
Naturally, people in the know just sneered at this. When the insect poison outbreak was the most intense, his Majesty the Emperor shivered inside the capital city, but now that the situation in the Cloud Peak has been resolved, he marched to the front line to try to buy people's heart! However, since ancient times, whether they were Emperors, Kings, or ministers, this was the norm, thus, this came as no surprise to anyone. When the Emperor had enough playing here, enough buying people's heart, he would leave.
But then, an accident happened.
On his way back to the Capital, the Emperor was ambushed by a large number of Devil Sect people under their Sect Leader's lead, killing the Emperor's guards while they marched through a pitch black valley.
If not for the Cloud Peak City Magistrate Wang Lu's and his army's timely rescue, this ambush would turn into a massacre. After the battle, the Devil Sect's Sect Leader and all his generals perished. However, the Black Country's protector, the Immortal Teacher, as well as the Imperial Guard's Captain had also met misfortune and died. His Majesty was seriously wounded and died three days later in the capital, and the one who inherited the throne was his three years old son. However, Wang Lu, as a Regent, wielded the real power.
This sudden power change in the Black Country caught everyone off guard. Actually, a few people knew that before the Emperor passed away, he once had a private talk with Wang Lu.
In colluding with the Devil Sect to assassinate the Emperor, Wang Lu had never left a shred of evidence. However, the dying man needed no evidence. Facing the Emperor's questioning, Wang Lu very calmly put forward a proposal that no dying man could refuse.
"In my entire life, I will never take a wife, sire a child, and leave any descendant. The only thing I want is the throne, nothing else. This is my big heart demon oath; you don't have to worry that I will not abide by it."
Facing this as bright as the sun in the sky City Magistrate, the Emperor had no alternative.
At this point, the illusion scenario seemed to have arrived at the last part. Outside the Gate of All Living Things, the Elders were amazed. In the past experiential learning of this scenario, it wasn't as if no one had ever been an Emperor. However, this was the first time someone was able to easily assume the throne of the Black Country in such a short period of time, moreover, it was so straightforward and logical!
"Then, according to the established rules, as long as the last insect poison in this illusion world withers away, Wang Lu can be declared to be victorious." Yuan Chaonian sighed. He didn't know anything good to say. Initially, he wanted to use the Immortal Treasure to shock and awe the Spirit Sword Sect. However, in the end, they were the one who was awed by the other side.
However, after a while, looking at the next development in the illusion world, Yuan Chaonian couldn't help but open his mouth in shock. He found out that he had still underestimated Wang Lu.
In the illusion world, Wang Lu had succeeded in establishing the highest authority in the Black Country, and the three-years-old new Emperor was like a puppet that he easily fiddled with his hand. The Devil Sect who had suffered a great setback could only drift and live without purpose. As for the insect poison that had narrowly brought disaster to the whole country...
Right now, the last surviving patient of the insect poison in the country was trapped in an especially arranged array of Wang Lu in the capital. A museum which used a euphemism for the insect poison disaster as the name was then built on the Black Country's capital with the array in the middle of it, so that people would never forget about it.
Every day, that walking corpse would be provided with fresh meat, and there were several people who were proficient in spell who kept its body from rotting. As the host of the insect poison, it unexpectedly lived an easy and comfortable life!
However, the people outside the Gate of All Living Things were not. They all inwardly questioned what exactly this kid Wang Lu wanted to do? Why would he continue to drag this illusion world?
At this time, in the Black Country's Imperial Palace, after the last court meeting, on the way to his abode, the Regent suddenly asked a question to his closest personal guard.
"Little Li, if I tell you that everything that you have ever seen and known is just an illusion, how would you feel?"
The ever faithful personal guard was stunned as he thought for a long time. "I don't know…"
Wang Lu smiled. "Never mind, you will know it soon."
[1] Juyangdao in Daoist Ju Yang or Ju Yang Daoren can also mean man with a very large p*nis.