“Where are we going?” Wei Jun asked.

“Just somewhere.” Yan Rong replied.

It had been two days since Wei Jun had woken up, and a few days were left before the plan was to be carried out. Wei Jun was still taking care of any variables in the plan in case any were to occur, when Yan Rong came to his office and asked him to go somewhere with her.

Having no reason to refuse, Wei Jun agreed and left with Yan Rong. They arrived at a small mountain outside the city and went up the trail. Wei Jun asked multiple times what it was about because it wasn’t a date from the looks of it.

He could pick up hints of grief and sorrow from her, even though her face, voice, and eyes didn’t give off any such indications. He could only pick up her emotions through the system. But he didn’t want to point it out, hence why he only asked where they were going.

Finally, at the end of the trail, there was an old tree to which a red ribbon was tied. There was also a name carved into the tree.

Yan Meng.

Wei Jun looked at the name and didn’t take long to understand the reason they were there. Still, he remained silent about it and let Yan Rong talk at her own pace.

“It’s been twenty years since she died.” Yan Rong finally said after a long while of just standing there.

“What happened to her?” Wei Jun asked. He didn’t go for any sort of sentiments. He knew Yan Rong didn’t need that.

“I was too weak and my father was too busy.” Yan Rong only blamed her and her father. Other than that, she said nothing.

But Wei Jun was able to pick up one simple thing. Yan Rong’s mother’s death wasn’t natural. She was killed. The way she blamed her, Wei Jun could deduce that she died saving her.

“You were five at the time. You couldn’t have done much.” Wei Jun said. He wasn’t just consoling her. He really meant that.

“But I’m the reason she stayed back.” Yan Rong replied.

“What mother would abandon her child?” Wei Jun asked.

“A heartless one would. She could have been a heartless mother, too. She would at least have been alive then.” Yan Rong argued.

“But would you have loved her as you do now?” Wei Jun simply asked. He would be lying if he said he could understand what Yan Rong was going through. He didn’t. He only had a faint idea of what she was going through. But even based on that, he could tell her the right thing.

“I don’t know.” Yan Rong didn’t know. She couldn’t tell what she would have felt had her mother abandoned her that day. She could never think about that because her mother had already made a choice, and she had paid for that choice as well.

She couldn’t say anything because the person in question had already perished.

“Who did it?” Wei Jun asked.

Wei Jun wasn’t the sentimental type. He wasn’t asking because he wanted to exact revenge for her. He was asking because he could do that. He could do that. Not just for her. But just because he could.

“It was…”

~~

“Elder! They’re not here!” A man ran over to Liu Qianghua, the head of the military and the current leader of the CSF. From the urgency picked up in the man’s voice, Liu Qianghua could tell something wasn’t right.

“What about him?” Liu Qianghua asked.

“We… don’t know.” The subordinate replied.

“Tch.” Liu Qinaghua clicked his tongue. While he wanted to chase the main target, he couldn’t do so as well. Looking at the dungeon gate before him, Liu Qianghua could feel immense power emitting from it.

If whatever was in there was to come out, the surrounding area was one thing, even the empire or the continent might not be safe. So, to be on the safe side, Liu Qianghua decided to delay going after his main target, who was equally dangerous, if not more so, and he decided to wait so he could clear the dungeon before him.

‘Just what were they doing?’ Liu Qianghua couldn’t help but wonder internally. The dungeon gate, unlike the power it was emitting, was undetectable unless within a certain range. More than that, the dungeon didn’t seem to be naturally formed but more like man-made. Artificial dungeon was a concept that the military was already working on.

The traces on the dungeon formation were a lot like that as well. That could only mean one thing…

‘Someone on our side is not quite on our side.’ Liu Qianghua muttered inwardly. He didn’t want it to be known that there was a traitor or a spy among them. If his ranks were to know that, the iron fist with which he had ruled over the powerful organizations of the empire was infested with spies, or worse, with traitors, he would lose a good chunk of his power. After all, ruling wasn’t just about being powerful.

‘For now…’ He could only hope that the main target of today wouldn’t cause much havoc before they could deal with the dungeon.

‘I can only hope.’

~~

“Good job luring them here.” A fierce-looking man with inherently narrowed eyes said as he appeared out of a shadow in the middle of the city. In front of him, Wei Jun stood with his Qi concentrated on his fists while an injured man was on his knees, barely breathing from all the injuries he had taken.

“My work here is done.” Wei Jun said from underneath the helmet and calmly walked away, passing the fierce man who held a slight scorn for him but did nothing other than saying, “Behave for now. No need to forget your limits.”

“…” Wei Jun remained silent and simply passed him by. As for the fierce man, he smirked, showing his white, pearly teeth as he looked at the military man on his knees.

“How the great commanders have fallen.” The man said in a sadistic tone. He made his way to the man in low, deliberate steps until he arrived before him, and a sword appeared in his hand.

“Any last words?” The fierce man asked, but the man could only breathe heavily.

“Haha.” The fierce man chuckled, “Looks like there are none.”

He raised the sword in his hand and was about to bring it down when his senses screamed at him.

Always a follower of his instincts, he quickly stepped back as all the traces of injuries disappeared on the military man who lunged at him.

“What the—Kugh!” However, even moving back was a mistake. He suddenly remembered. If the man was suddenly healed, then why didn’t he use the same tactic against the man who had reduced him to that state?

The answer was simple.

He was the target.

He looked down at the hand peeking through his chest, blood flowing down his chin from his mouth as he tried to come to his senses, but they all dulled as time passed by. Each second, his life left his body, and all he could say was, “So… you… bet…rayed us.”

“I was never on your side, you idiot.” Wei Jun said as he retracted his fist, killing the man on the spot. He looked at the commander from underneath his helmet and said, “There’ll be more of them.”

“You know, your actions make it a little hard to believe you.” The commander said.

“Want me as your enemy then?” Wei Jun asked.

“…” The man paused for a few seconds before he said, “No.”

“Then I suggest you trust me with this.” Wei Jun said.

“So, what’s the plan?” The commander asked.

“The plan is simple. We take care of that old goat.” Wei Jun said as he turned to look at the elderly woman who was standing a little bit away from them. She coldly looked at the corpse at Wei Jun’s feet and turned her gaze to Wei Jun with even more chill in them.

She simply asked, “Why?”

“Didn’t I say? I was never on your side.” Wei Jun said.

“You were never on the military’s side either. You’re not even now.” The old woman said, “Then why now?”

“Why do you think?” Wei Jun asked.

“Betraying us for a woman. You’re more naive than I thought.” The old woman said as a sword appeared in her hand as well. Contrary to her appearance, the sword in her hand was a broad sword, and just from it resting on the ground, there were cracks in the road. That was how heavy it was.

“Maybe.” Wei Jun said with a smug smile.

“That smirk.” The old woman said.

“What about it?” Wei Jun asked.

“It would soon be wiped out.” The old woman said.

“I doubt you can do it.” Wei Jun said.

“I never said I would.” The old woman replied.

And the next moment, Wei Jun felt an immense power coming from a certain direction. He quickly turned in that direction, his eyes wide.

On the other side, Yan Rong stood rooted in her spot as a handsome middle-aged man with a smile on his face stood in the middle of the road.

“Kehe.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep