Stranger Danger

"You're saying that Xing Luan is Yuan Budong? How is that possible? You must be mistaken, Islet Lord Wei."

Xuan Youxuan exclaimed in astonishment.

"Hmph! I told you to quit pretending! You will surrender him to me and accompany me to Floating Light Celestial Island so you may apologize to my faction in person. Otherwise, I swear I'll dismantle your so-called City of No Return!" Wei Duanliu declared impertinently.

"You must be mistaken, Islet Lord Wei. Star Deputy Lord cannot possibly be Yuan Budong."

Xuan Youxuan said with certainty, "If you don't believe me, I can summon him right now so you may confirm this in person."

"Sure. Summon him now so we may clarify this," Wei Duanliu agreed.

"Xing Luan, please show yourself so that Islet Lord Wei can tell if you're the man he's looking for or not."

As soon as Xuan Youxuan finished, a beam of light streaked over from a distance and landed in front of the group. "Greetings, my lord."

The man looked to be in his sixties. His hair and beard were completely white, and he was dressed in fine brocade. He looked like the spitting image of an old celestial.

After the old man appeared, he saluted Xuan Youxuan first before looking at Wei Duanliu. "Xing Luan greets you, Islet Lord Wei."

Wei Duanliu examined the old man for a moment. "You're Xing Luan, the deputy lord of the City of No Return?"

"It is I." Xing Luan nodded smilingly. "Am I the one you're looking for, Islet Lord Wei?"

Wei Duanliu shook his head. "You are not Yuan Budong."

Xing Luan smiled. "Of course not. My true name is Wan Qianxing. They used to call me Star Harvester."

"Star Harvester? You're Star Harvester?" Wei Duanliu exclaimed in surprise.

He had heard of Star Harvester before. The man was a hidden elite whose origins were mostly shrouded in mystery. He excelled at observing heavenly phenomena and predicting good or ill fortune. Most of the time, they worked wonderfully. He was also a powerful warrior. In the past, a lot of people sought him out to divine their fortune, and many sects wished to recruit him as a guest warrior or an elder.

Unfortunately, Star Harvester preferred freedom and independence to restrictions. He turned them all down.

Later, Star Harvester went missing all of a sudden. Some people claimed that he had left this realm once and for all, some people said he was killed by his foes, some people deduced that he must have suffered divine retribution for leaking the truths of fate and perished. There were all kinds of theories.

Wei Duanliu never expected that Star Harvester was still around and alive. That he had joined the City of No Return came as an even bigger surprise to him.

"I am who I am." Xing Luan, a.k.a Star Harvester, smiled at Wei Duanliu. "Fifty years ago, I met your island lord and told his fortune once. Has it come true?" "Haha, you're definitely Star Harvester."

This time, Wei Duanliu believed him. Although he had never met Star Harvester in his life, the fact that Star Harvester once told the fortune of their island lord was something only a handful of people knew about, much less an outsider. Therefore, the old man had to be Star Harvester.

"I did not think that the man who was famous for his love for freedom and independence would willingly join the City of No Return and bind himself with their restraints."

"You're wrong."

Star Harvester explained smilingly, "The city lord once lent me his aid and allowed me to overcome a tribulation. That is why I joined him to repay this favor."

"The city lord hasn't restrained me in any way. I could leave any time I want to. I simply do not wish to leave until I have repaid the favor."

"Is that so?" Wei Duanliu nodded but did not comment about it.

It was at this moment Xuan Youxuan asked smilingly, "So? Senior Star Harvester is not who you're looking for, is he?"

"Star Harvester cannot be Yuan Budong, of course." Yuan Duanliu nodded.

"So—" Xuan Youxuan was just about to speak when Yuan Duanliu interrupted him, "But just because he's not Yuan Budong does not mean that you are not hiding Yuan Budong."

For the first time, Xuan Youxuan's expression looked a little strained. "What do you mean by that, Islet Lord Wei?"

Wei Duanliu's expression grew disdainful. "You could have hidden Yuan Budong and called for another person to pretend to be the deputy lord, couldn't you?"

Xuan Youxuan hadn't even said anything when Star Harvester voiced his displeasure, "Are you questioning my integrity, Islet Lord Wei?"

"Haha..." Wei Duanliu chuckled but said nothing.

It was more than enough to convey his disdain.

Star Harvester looked angry. "I have walked thisjianghufor over a centurywith my back straight and my head held high. I never lie or deceive others."

"Also, I am acquainted to Island Lord Nie. It's not a deep bond, but it is still a bond. If you continue to slander me like this, then I will bring this up to Island Lord Nie."

Wei Duanliu did not care. "Do whatever you want. I'm simply saying it as it is."

"You've met our deputy lord, and yet you're accusing us of deception." Xuan Youxuan sounded exasperated. "What do you want, Islet Lord Wei?"

Wei Duanliu answered, "I told you. Surrender Yuan Budong to me."

"I really need to ask you this, Islet Lord Wei. What makes you think that Yuan Budong is in the City of No Return?"

Xuan Youxuan countered, "Do you have proof?"

"Proof? My word is proof enough."

Wei Duanliu grunted before declaring domineeringly, "I'm only going to say this once: if you don't surrender Yuan Budong to me today, then I'll turn your City of No Return upside down!"

"I see. You're not actually here for Yuan Budong. You're here to quarrel."

Xuan Youxuan's gentle voice finally grew murderous, powerful, and terrifying. "Do you think we're weak and easily handled, Islet Lord Wei?"

"So what if I do?" Wei Duanliu wasn't afraid in the slightest. "I've hated this place of yours from the start. The atmosphere is foul, and the luxury is mind-warping. Anyone can tell that this is a bad place."

Xuan Youxuan wore a dark look. "Even Tai A Swordmaster of the Southern Sea Sword Sect, Sun Guardian King of the Sun Worship Divine Kingdom, Moon Howling Divine General of the Profound Moon Dynasty, and Old Celestial Master of Xixa Abode must give me some face when they are visiting me in the City of No Return. Are you sure you want to do this, Islet Lord Wei?"

"Hah! You think I would be scared just because you brought up some big names?" Wei Duanliu looked disdainful. "Bring them over if you dare. I will flip this city upside down all the same!"

"You..." Xuan Youxuan could not say anything for a time. He wasn't afraid of intelligent people. Intelligent people might act unreasonable sometimes, but they understood gain and loss and so would never go too far even during their most unreasonable moments.

On the other hand, a simpleminded fool like the one before him was most annoying to deal with. It was because they threw all caution to the wind and fought with zero regard for the consequences once they had made up their mind to be unreasonable. The only way to "negotiate" with such people was martial force.

Of course, the end point of all dialogue was the fist. The most effective and simplest way to handle anything was usually the fist and martial force.

The first decided the victor, and martial force decided one's existence.

If Xuan Youxuan could solve this via martial force, he would have done so already. He had never been fond of wasting his breath.

The problem was that Wei Duanliu wasn't someone he could handle with martial force easily.

It wasn't because Wei Duanliu was a member of the Floating Light Celestial Island. It was because he was really strong.

Wei Duanliu was just a Half-Sage, but he was quite famous among his peers. He once fought five Half-Sages during a Profound Alliance arms drill alone to a stalemate. They called him the strongest man below the Sage-stage.

Of course, Xuan Youxuan was going to win if they fought. That was never out of the question. However, the City of No Return was going to suffer huge damage as a result.

More importantly, he would be forced to reveal most of his strength and trump cards.

This was the last thing he wished to see.