Chapter 28: Misunderstanding

“Cough, cough, junior brother, stop, please, stop for a moment…”
Wang Lu clung to Li Ju’s arm, his weak voice tinged with hope.
“All right, all right.”
Hearing Wang Lu’s plea, Li Ju began to wonder if he had indeed been too rough. He quickly set Wang Lu down on the ground.
No sooner had Wang Lu lain down than he coughed up another mouthful of blood.
“Senior Brother Wang!”
Li Ju was shocked, immediately moving to lift Wang Lu again.
“Ugh… ugh…”
As he spat blood, Wang Lu frantically waved his hands at Li Ju, signaling him to stop.
“Young Master Li… perhaps it would be best to let Young Master Wang rest here and compose his inner breath for a while.”
Senior Liu, unable to watch such a pitiful scene any longer, stepped over to Li Ju and spoke.
“Ugh… ugh…”
Though still spitting blood, Wang Lu nodded vigorously in agreement with Senior Liu’s suggestion.
“Very well, then.”
Li Ju gave a sheepish smile at the sight of Wang Lu’s condition.
“Young Master Li, may I ask what exactly happened in the Inner Prison? And what is your connection to Zhuge Huang?”
Senior Liu’s expression grew serious as he questioned Li Ju.
“Wait, let’s discuss this later—there’s still a group of orthodox masters trapped in the Inner Prison!”
Li Ju suddenly remembered the orthodox internal masters he had left behind. If they encountered the demonic sect’s Four Fiends on their way out, they would surely be wiped out!
“I’ll be right back…”
Before Senior Liu could probe further, Li Ju was about to stride back into the Inner Prison.
Boom.
Suddenly, a thick stone slab collapsed from the wall beside the Inner Prison’s main gate, raising a cloud of dust, and a group of people emerged from within.
“What in the world… happened here?”
The orthodox internal masters who had just escaped the Inner Prison looked around in bewilderment at the ground, ravaged as if by a violent storm.
Their escape had been unusually smooth; they encountered not a single demonic sect elder, and even the lesser guards were scarce. Yet the widespread destruction from the sixth level upward had left them uneasy.
Upon reaching the first level, they found it nearly collapsed into ruins. Unable to find an exit, they picked a direction and blasted open a wall to make their escape.
“Could it be that our orthodox forces have already stormed the Inner Prison?”
Someone speculated.
“Then why has no one come to rescue us?”

“Brother Du, Brother Gao, I can’t believe you both made it out!”
Suddenly, an excited voice drew everyone’s attention.
“Brother Liu, what are you doing here?”
Du Tianyou turned and, seeing an old friend, was equally excited.
“Brother Zhu!”
“Brother Gou!”
In an instant, the gate of the demonic sect’s Inner Prison became a reunion for the orthodox masters.
Li Ju, seeing those who had been speaking with him now rushing to greet their friends, pursed his lips and turned to Wang Lu.
Wang Lu, having finished coughing up blood and now sitting cross-legged in meditation, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. His body stiffened.
“Senior Brother Wang…”
“It’s you, you fiend from the demonic sect!”
But before Li Ju could finish his heartfelt greeting, a sharp voice cut him off.
Annoyed by the rude address, Li Ju frowned and looked over.
There stood Gao Bo among the orthodox masters, pointing at Li Ju and shouting, “You demonic sect fiend, standing here so brazenly—what sinister scheme are you plotting?”
“Gao Bo, Li Ju just saved us!”
Du Tianyou rebuked Gao Bo.
Lian Tao and Senior Liu also frowned deeply.
“Though I don’t know what misunderstanding there is between you and Young Master Li, it was he who personally drove off Zhuge Huang, one of the Four Fiends, sparing us from the demonic sect’s machinations.”
Senior Liu spoke as well.
“Hmph, all just tricks of the demonic sect!”
“Do you all know, this fellow has cultivated the Demonic Sect’s Hundred Venoms Diamond Body!”
Gao Bo snorted in disdain at their defense.
“The Hundred Venoms Diamond Body?!”
At Gao Bo’s words, those orthodox internal masters who were unaware of the situation turned to Li Ju, their faces changing.
Even Wang Lu, still meditating, could not help but open his eyes to look at Li Ju, recalling what Lin Musheng had told him earlier.
“I’ll say it again: you may not believe me, but I have overcome the flaw in the Hundred Venoms Diamond Body that allows the demonic sect to control its disciples.”
Li Ju met the many suspicious gazes and replied calmly.
The prejudices in this martial world ran deep—Li Ju could only shake his head inwardly.
He and Gao Bo bore each other no personal grudge; the only source of conflict was the divide between orthodox and demonic sects.
“Hmph! The words of a demonic sect fiend are like crushed peaches—nothing but a pile of rotten mush!”

Gao Bo sneered at Li Ju.
“I believe him,” said Du Tianyou suddenly.
“So do I,” added Lian Tao.
“I also trust what Young Master Li says,” Senior Liu chimed in after a moment’s thought.
Beyond these three, a handful of others who owed their lives to Li Ju echoed their support, though they were few.
“I trust my junior brother as well. And as for whether he’s truly overcome the flaw of the Hundred Venoms Diamond Body, when we return, I’ll ask the Alliance Leader to test him personally!”
Wang Lu stood up and declared righteously.
Li Ju looked at Wang Lu, unsure what to think.
When had this kid gotten so close to the Alliance Leader? It had only been a few days since the destruction of Flying Sword Sect and his escape…
“What’s that kid’s connection to the Alliance Leader?”
Gao Bo, equally perplexed, asked those around him.
“The Alliance Leader’s only daughter remains unmarried…”
Li Ju, whose hearing was excellent, caught the answer and could only marvel at how the protagonist truly was the protagonist—able to suddenly establish a tie to the martial world’s leader.
“Fine, for the Alliance Leader’s sake, I’ll let him off today. But to prevent this fellow from being controlled by the demonic sect, he must cripple both his arms and legs!”
Gao Bo showed little regard for Wang Lu’s status as the Alliance Leader’s son-in-law; after all, his own sect was the greatest in the orthodox world, and even the Alliance Leader would not dare offend them lightly.
“You!”
Wang Lu was furious. To cripple all four limbs—what kind of martial artist would he be then?
“Sigh…”
“Perhaps you’ve misunderstood something…”
Li Ju cut off Wang Lu’s attempt to argue further.
“You…”
Suddenly, Gao Bo felt a chill down his spine. He tried to retreat into the crowd of orthodox masters.
Whoosh!
Li Ju’s figure vanished in a flash. When he reappeared, he was standing where Gao Bo had just been, holding Gao Bo’s head in one hand.