Chaotic World Book
Chapter 230 - 225 The Disappearance of Han Wubing

Chapter 230: Chapter 225 The Disappearance of Han Wubing

A moment later.

The black gang members lay scattered across the ground in various positions, groaning in pain, with Zhao Changhe sitting astride one of them, lifting his vinegar-bowl-sized fist, "Speak, what’s the situation with Han Wubing? Do you really think with your pathetic skills you could have made him flee for his life?"

The man he was talking to nearly cried out, "I was just using Han Wubing’s name to scare people, it’s not like we’re the ones who made him run away..."

"What’s the situation, then?"

"I only know that Han Wubing killed the head of the Xingyi Gang, was besieged by a group from the Xingyi Gang, and then Old Peng from the Pinghu Association took action, and after that, Han Wubing left..."

"What a mess. What does this have to do with your so-called Sha Qi?"

"Didn’t I say I was just scaring you? To make you think there was a connection."

"Damn it!" The vinegar-bowl-sized fist smashed down, knocking the man unconscious.

Zhao Changhe squatted and searched everyone on the ground, finding hardly any money, it seemed they were all low-level gang members who had simply become greedy on the spur of the moment after seeing him using silver to buy a pancake.

Zhao Changhe stood up, cursing, pocketed the few pieces of broken silver, and turned to see the Winged Fire Snake tilting its head, watching him rob with amusement; the little creature’s endearing face immediately lifted his spirits, "What are you looking at?"

Vermilion Bird laughed, "Why did you deliberately stop me? Were you really afraid I would kill them?"

"Wouldn’t you?"

"Yes."

"Then I stopped you correctly." Zhao Changhe began walking toward the outskirts of the city, "Don’t always think about killing over small matters, it’s unnecessary."

Vermilion Bird didn’t argue, but simply hummed in agreement and accompanied him outward.

She seemed to be in an even better mood than Zhao Changhe.

Zhao Changhe was somewhat puzzled, "Being so obedient?"

"It’s nothing," Vermilion Bird drawled, "I see you’re not some pedantic hero, which is to my taste."

"Pfft, morals."

Vermilion Bird meant it.

Initially, she felt displeased when she was stopped, but after witnessing Zhao Changhe’s actions, she found them intriguing, especially watching him rob—it was all very entertaining. After all, as the leader of the Demon Path, whether or not they got along didn’t just depend on abilities—temperament and style of action had to match as well.

So far, Zhao Changhe’s temperament and actions completely matched the aesthetic of the Four Symbols Sect.

As for Han Wubing and all that—it was none of her business... She was actually angry because of this nonsense; now, she definitely couldn’t enjoy her time shopping.

Anyone who studied Zhao Changhe knew that though Han Wubing had spent very little time with Zhao Changhe, he held a high place in Zhao’s heart because excluding women, Han Wubing was his first friend, with whom he’d clicked instantly, sharing a bond of mutual loyalty. Before the likes of Tang Buqi and Situ Xiao appeared, he was even his only friend.

As expected, Zhao Changhe no longer had the interest to shop and quickened his pace, speeding out of the city.

Vermilion Bird, sulking, tossed the last tiny bit of her pancake far away.

...

The situation around the Ancient Sword Lake was similar to before, with people wandering around in small groups, hoping to chance upon the legendary Ancient Sword—they were unaware that the sword had already been taken, although they knew that the Maitreya Sect and the Four Symbols Sect had once clashed here, ending the battle strangely abruptly.

Thus, the quest for the sword never ceased, but as the months passed, there had been no more incidents of people being mysteriously killed by the Sword Qi.

Unless something unexpected occurred, in the long run, people would come to realize that the Ancient Sword was likely gone.

But now, there seemed to be an unexpected turn...

Zhao Changhe didn’t believe that a swordsman like Han Wubing could be driven to ’flee for his life’ by a mere local black gang—even if outnumbered and temporarily overwhelmed, it was more likely that he’d retreat into the underwater space beneath the lake, biding his time for another battle.

Upon reaching the lakeside, Zhao Changhe didn’t say a word; he just dove straight into the water. People searching for the sword often dived in, so his action was hardly remarkable.

Vermilion Bird followed, when a question suddenly occurred to her.

Before, the Four Symbols Sect had many prerequisites for opening this Otherworldly Space, and they had to set up an array and offer a sacrifice to summon Bing Po to actively break open the space. But what about now? Can just anyone enter and exit? What if it gets discovered by others?

On the other hand, if Han Wubing truly "fled in panic," it might really be impossible for him to return here. If he hadn’t shaken off his pursuers, being seen entering this place would have been tantamount to trapping himself in a barrel.

Clearly, Zhao Changhe was also concerned about this, so upon reaching the space node, he "whooshed" through and quickly furrowed his brows.

There were no signs of invasion by others, which meant no one had found this place yet... But Han Wubing was indeed not here.

One could see that there were still bedding and chairs on one side, and there were remnants of bowls, chopsticks, and food on the table, all somewhat moldy. It showed that he hadn’t tidied up and left on his own accord but rather encountered some emergency after leaving the house and never returned.

Was he really so panicked that he couldn’t even escape back here?

Vermilion Bird followed in and looked around. Aside from the traces of life Han Wubing had subsequently set up, the original flavor of the Sword Room was still present; various kinds of swords hung on the walls all around, nothing else, not even a storage cabinet, just the smooth stone walls.

It couldn’t be a secret passage because this was an independent space; the walls couldn’t be dug through, and the entrance was the only space node, leaving no room for secret passages. No wonder Chichi had been so certain that there was nothing left after coming in; it was simply impossible to have anything.

As for the residual Sword Intent, instead of being dissipated by the everyday life aura due to Han Wubing’s long-term living here, it was the opposite. Because Han Wubing’s main purpose of secluding himself here was to comprehend swordsmanship, he might have spent every day apart from eating and sleeping on it, resulting in the air being permeated with some of Han Wubing’s Sword Intent, mingling with the ancient Sword Intent, making it particularly sharp.

In a certain sense, Han Wubing was also accompanying this ancient predecessor, allowing her soul to no longer be lonely and her peerless techniques to have a chance at inheritance.

Zhao Changhe was currently closing his eyes, sensing the Sword Intent of this place.

Vermilion Bird inspected the place for a while, and her judgment aligned with Xia Chichi’s; although the woman who lived here had some connection to Emperor Ye, there was really no more information to be gained from this small, enclosed Sword Room, rendering it valueless.

Seeing Zhao Changhe with closed eyes experiencing the Sword Intent, Vermilion Bird finally broke the silence, "Are you interested in these because you’ve learned swords?"

Zhao Changhe hummed in affirmation. Vermilion Bird did not disturb him any further and instead turned to admire the swords hanging on the walls around them.

In fact, what Zhao Changhe mainly felt was that if he let the Heavenly Book come into contact with the Sword Intent here more, there might be gains to be made; he wanted to revisit this place for that purpose, something he found inconvenient to mention.

Previously, he had stayed in the inn opposite the Wang Family for two nights, to verify whether there would be any change after applying that substance on the second day... indeed, by early the next morning, the gold leaf had undergone new evolution, proving that application of that substance was truly effective.

The new evolution was that he now didn’t need to take out the gold leaf to look at it; with just a thought, the information directly entered his mind, forming virtual reality illusions, as if he were really there.

Including the Wind and Thunder Palm manual that Situ Xiao gave to him, it seemed as though he hadn’t even flipped through it after getting it, but in reality, he had already learned it during his travels in the past two days. The only thing is he hadn’t practiced it physically; knowing it in his head was one thing, but whether he could execute it with his hands was another matter.

It also confirmed that "being the first to kill you after unsealing" did not happen, and he wondered if the unsealing wasn’t thorough enough... he would try again next time.

In any case, at this moment, a virtual image of a woman had appeared in his mind. Because it was too ancient and the Sword Intent was vague, all he could see was an elusive image, not even her face could be made clear.

Then, an image of Han Wubing appeared, and both were demonstrating a set of swordsmanship.

Zhao Changhe shook his head and temporarily exited the illusion.

This wasn’t the time to study swordsmanship, as confirming that the gold leaf could receive information was sufficient; he would investigate further later. Moreover, his study wouldn’t be on their swordsmanship, but whether he could extract something related to Emperor Ye from the woman’s techniques, which, like deciphering the Sword Emperor Inheritance, would likely require a long process, to be discussed later.

For now, the pressing matter was to find out what had happened to Han Wubing.

Feeling Zhao Changhe exiting from a particular state, Vermilion Bird turned with a smile, "So? Did you learn any swordsmanship?"

"No... by the way, does your Four Symbols Sect still have people here?"

"They’ve all evacuated a long time ago. Are you asking us to help you with the investigation?"

"Uh-huh..."

"Then what’s the use of looking for us, go to the Pinghu Association, I don’t believe you don’t have any token from Tang Wanju."

Suddenly, Zhao Changhe remembered, he was after all a Secret Agent of the Demon Suppression Department... That darn badge always had him investigating cases, this time it should come in handy, right?

————

PS: Seeking monthly ticket~