Under the sky full of stars, the *Western Gate* walls were towering, and the gates were closed. The market outside the city was deserted, with most shops on both sides of the street already closed. Only a few teahouses and restaurants were still lit.
On the second floor of the teahouse, in front of an old square table by the window, a man with a ferocious but handsome face quietly sipped a cup of **Heavenly Gate City**'s specialty '*Snow Bamboo Fragrant Tea*'.
The tea was slightly sweet and had a pleasant aftertaste. After it went down the throat, there was a slightly bitter taste and the unique bamboo fragrance of the fresh mountain soil.
The Demon King Hu Mu nodded with satisfaction, turned the teacup upside down, and threw a few spirit stones to the waiter waiting beside him as a reward.
"The tea is good."The waiter took the spirit stones and bowed his head. "Thank you, mister, thank you... well..."
But halfway through his words, he hesitated and looked at Hu Mu's face, as if he was a little afraid because of his fierce appearance.
Hu Mu glanced at him. "Speak."
"I have seen Mister and little Miss coming here in the past four days, every day when the door opens and leaving only when it closes. I can't help but wonder. May I ask if you are waiting for someone?... If you are waiting for someone, I can recommend the *Immortal Tea Pavilion* in **Heavenly Gate City**, where the environment is much better than this small teahouse, and the living conditions are more comfortable?"
Hearing this, Hu Mu withdrew his gaze, ignored him, and went back to drinking his tea.
After the waiter's question, Xue Tianqiao, who was sitting across the table, smiled and picked up the conversation. "Hehe, isn't it because my master doesn't dare to enter the city? If he had the courage, why would he condescend to stay in such a small and shabby teahouse, right, Master?"
As soon as these words came out, Hu Mu's originally calm eyes narrowed, revealing a murderous intent as he looked at his good disciple.The waiter did not understand and was a little confused. "Doesn't dare to enter the city?"
"Yes, isn't this the capital of the ***Imperial*** Sect? The Emperor of the **Central Region** lives here. My master can't beat him, so he doesn't dare to enter the city and can only stay outside. Isn't that right, Master?"
Hu Mu: "..."
The waiter was stunned for a moment. Thinking it was a joke, he simply answered in a joking tone. "So, little Miss, does your master have any grudges with the Emperor of the **Central Region**?"
"Yes, my master is the Demon King, right? Master."
"Demon... Demon King..." The waiter was stunned, and then he looked at Hu Mu and smiled. "Then, I greet the Demon King."
"You must call him Your Excellency, but the ***Demon Clan*** believes that this form of address is outdated. Isn't that right, Master?"
"Then, I greet His Excellency the Demon King."
A little speechless, the waiter bowed with a smile, then picked up his teapot and turned to the next table to pour ginseng tea.
After the man left, Hu Mu crushed the teacup in his hand and then reached out to pinch Xue Tianqiao's chubby cheeks, pouting her mouth. "If you can't control this foul mouth of yours, do you believe that your master will pull out all your teeth?"
Xue Tianqiao blinked her eyes but did not struggle. Without a word, she took out a small notebook and ink pen from her storage bag and drew a line on the page.
?
Hu Mu frowned as he looked at the notebook in her hand. "What are you noting there?"
"Well, since Master led the ***Demon Clan*** to break through the **Jade Pass**, Master wanted to peel off the disciple's skin six times, roast the disciple three times, bury the disciple in the ground twice, and pull out the disciple's teeth five... six times."
"...💢"
"Master is so fierce~"
"...💢💢💢"
Hu Mu took a deep breath. His anger skyrocketed, then it was forced back to zero. He exhaled his anger with a long breath, withdrew his hand, took out a teacup, and poured tea in it. "Who told you I can't beat him? I'm not afraid of the old lady from the ***Black Star*** Sect, so why would I be afraid of this guy?"
Xue Tianqiao grimaced and asked back, "Then, why don't you enter the city? I am so bored coming here to drink tea every day. I want to go to the night market in **Heavenly Gate City**, eat the sweet-skinned roast chicken, and play with Granny Si."
Hu Mu glared at Xue Tianqiao, ignored her, and continued to drink tea.
However, just when he brought the cup to his mouth and was about to drink it with delight...
*Boom---*
A dull roar came from inside the city, shaking the entire teahouse and naturally causing most of the tea in Hu Mu's cup to spill out.
The customers on the second floor were stunned for a moment, then ran to look in the direction of the sound while holding on to the railing.
Only to see that the tile roof of the *Justice Division Office*, that one hundred feet high, twelve-story building, simply disappeared, replaced by a huge golden light dragon coiled on top of it.
"Isn't that the golden dragon that appeared in the *Eastern District* a few days ago?"
"What's happening? Is that the *Justice Division* building? The golden dragon blew up the roof of the *Justice Division Office*?"
"Has someone from the ***Demon Clan*** sneaked into the city again?"
...
As the speculation continued, the veins on Hu Mu's forehead bulged. He lowered his head to look at his clothes soaked by tea, then stood up and looked along the crowd's line of sight.
At the sight of that golden dragon, Hu Mu frowned even more. "The Holy Emperor..."
Muttering, he immediately reached out and grabbed Xue Tianqiao who wanted to take the opportunity to sneak away and watch the fun. He lifted her by the back of her collar, put her in front of him, and turned her half a circle to face him. "Quietly stay by my side, and don't make even half a step, or I'll skin you alive."
At this time, there was another noise, and the *Justice Division* twelve-story building collapsed with a loud bang, the light of spiritual energy covering the stars in the sky.
Just as the crowd was in a state of panic, not knowing what to do, the sound of swords clashing came from the direction of the *Western Gate* of **Heavenly Gate City**, which drew their attention back to the tower a hundred feet away.
*Boom---*
A ball of fire exploded above the tower, and then two or three imperial guards clad in iron armor flew down from above.
Hu Mu was holding Xue Tianqiao, squinting at the burning tower and trying to see what was going on, when suddenly a female voice came from behind him. "Excuse me!! Who is the Demon King?!"
Hu Mu turned around and saw a *Core Formation* stage cultivator wearing a fox mask and snow-white clothes standing in the center of the second floor of the inn. Her shout made the panicked crowd instantly shut up.
Ye Waner looked around and waited for two breaths. Seeing that no one responded to her, she muttered to herself. "Not here?"
Then, the figure instantly disappeared in front of everyone.
Before the people in the teahouse could react, they heard Ye Waner's loud shout from another teahouse across the street. "Excuse me!! Who is the Demon King?!"
Hearing the second shout, Hu Mu's eyes twitched slightly. He just thought that the escape technique of this *Core Formation* stage cultivator was quite powerful considering her cultivation level, but he didn't expect that her brain circuits would be deranged.
However, the old woman Si Xuanji's mind was also pretty deranged. This person was most likely the one sent by the old woman to help him enter the city.
However, Hu Mu didn't want to respond at this time.
He couldn't just yell out in public "I'm the Demon King!! I am here!!" Right?
At this moment, the crowd on the second floor of the teahouse heard the sound and looked toward the opposite teahouse, commenting, "What Demon King? What was that just now? Is she looking for the Demon King?"
"Could the Demon King be drinking tea in these shitty teahouses? How is that possible? The Demon King is not that stingy, right?"
"What a mess... There's a golden dragon, the city gate suddenly opened, and now there's a guy who calls the Demon King in the teahouse..."
...
Hu Mu's face darkened.
The next moment, Xue Tianqiao's loud shout instantly silenced the teahouse that was originally full of discussions. ---"Hey!! Here!! My master is here!!"
"..."
Hu Mu lowered his head with a click and looked at Xue Tianqiao, who was being held by him without touching the ground, the word "skinned" written all over his face.
Xue Tianqiao was not frightened. Seeing her master glaring at her, she blinked and explained, "Master, she's calling you."
"Hiss-- Hoo--"
Hu Mu glanced around, at the tea drinkers who were looking at him in horror, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, exhaling the idea of wanting to stew the rotten little fox in his hand.
The next moment, a white shadow flashed.
Ye Waner immediately returned and looked around. Her eyes fell on the face of the fierce man who was holding Xue Tianqiao. Seeing the man staring at her with murderous intent, her legs softened, but she quickly bowed and saluted. "Greetings, Demon King. Please enter the city as soon as possible."
Hu Mu stared at Ye Waner. He really wanted to skin and chop the bones of this *Core Formation* stage cultivator with a problem in her head, but when he saw the *Heavenly Return Bell* hanging on her waist, he quickly stopped his killing intent.
---The people who carried the *Heavenly Return Bell* were all Si Xuanji's confidants. If he killed one of them, Si Xuanji would surely pluck his tail fur when she found out.
Hu Mu was silent for a while as he glanced at the cultivators around him. Suddenly, a black mist emerged from his sleeves and shrouded him.
After the black mist dissipated, a black fox tail appeared behind his long robe.
"Lead the way."
Then, with a slight wave of his sleeves, he and Xue Tianqiao disappeared from the scene and appeared in front of the *West Gate*.
Ye Waner was stunned for a moment before quickly vanishing on his trail.
When she reached the gate, she heard a loud bang and a black shadow flew out from the gap of the gate, bounced twice, and grabbed the ground, barely stopping himself.
Liang Zhu took two deep breaths, then turned his head to look at Ye Waner beside him. "Miss Ye, where is the Demon King?"
Ye Waner pursed her lips speechlessly and signaled behind him with her eyes. Liang Zhu then realized that someone was standing behind him and turned his head stiffly to look back.
When Liang Zhu saw Hu Mu holding Xue Tianqiao, he swallowed his saliva, immediately stood up, and saluted. "Greetings, Your Excellency."
"..."
Hu Mu looked at him and suddenly felt that everyone under Si Xuanji seemed to have brain fog. Xue Tianqiao turned to look at her master's face and helped answer, "My master said, no need to be polite."
At this time, two teams of imperial guards filed out from the *West Gate* and surrounded Liang Zhu, Ye Waner, and the others in the center.
When the imperial guards saw the huge fox tail behind Hu Mu, there was some hesitation on their faces, but they tightened the grip on their spears.
The next moment, a black-haired man holding a spear slowly walked out of the city gate.
"How dare you do that right under my nose..."
Before he finished speaking, he saw the fox tail behind Hu Mu, and his expression froze instantly. He carefully glanced at Liang Zhu and Ye Waner who had just sneaked into the tower and opened the gate. He asked with an incredulous look, "Did you call this vixen here?"
Liang Zhu paused, then cupped his hands. "Your Excellency, this person is the confidant of the **Central Region** Emperor. Wu Wen'an, a mid-stage *Nascent Soul* cultivator."
"..."
Hu Mu glanced at Liang Zhu, then took a step forward, holding Xue Tianqiao.
Wu Wen'an took a step back, but the imperial guards surrounding them were unconcerned. Seeing Hu Mu coming toward him, the closest imperial guard raised his spear and stabbed at Xue Tianqiao, who was held in front of Hu Mu.
Wu Wen'an hurriedly waved to stop him. "Don't!"
But it was too late, the spear was in motion and could not be retracted.
Just when the tip of the spear was about to touch Xue Tianqiao, the long black tail behind Hu Mu shook slightly, and a black shadow flashed out from the tip of the tail in an instant, swallowing up the surrounding *Core Formation* guards stage and Wu Wen'an in just a breath.
*Clang clang clang*...
All that was left were iron armors and long spears all over the floor, and silence.
*Rumble---*
A thunderbolt flashed above the night sky, illuminating the darkened citadel as well as waking up Ye Waner who was in a daze at the back.
Ye Waner was really a little scared.
Dozens of *Core Formation* cultivators and a *Nascent Soul* stage cultivator were gone in a flash, not even a single bone left.
Although she knew that *Void Returning* cultivators were powerful, she didn't expect it to be like this...
"This... this, this, this..."
Liang Zhu was also a little surprised, however, Ye Anping had warned him in advance. *"Don't touch Hu Mu's tail no matter what, not even accidentally, that's his inner pouch."* So, he knew what could happen.
He looked at Ye Waner's flustered appearance and reminded her. "Miss Ye, I don't know if Ye Anping has told you that you should never touch that tail, not even by accident, because that's his inner pouch."
"No... not... isn't the Immortal Matriarch more powerful than him?"
?
Liang Zhu was taken aback for a moment, then nodded. "His cultivation level is still behind hers, don't you think so?"
"..."
Ye Waner's heart skipped a beat. It was the first time she saw a cultivator in the *Void Returning* stage take action.
There were some things that people said were amazing, but they really had no idea.
Back in the **Jade Pass**, she stole the Immortal Matriarch's daughter's sword and humiliated her. She also saw her and Ye Anping doing things...
If Xiao Yunluo resented her and reported to her mother, then...
Would she be gone in a flash?
Ye Waner couldn't help but shudder as she covered her shoulders. She gulped and said, "Brother Liang, you are my elder brother... When we go back, you can put in a good word to Master Ye for me, and then ask him to put in a good word for me to Master Xiao... I... I am afraid."
?
Liang Zhu was a bit speechless and simply ignored her. He hurriedly walked forward and said with standard etiquette, "Your Excellency, please enter the city."
Hu Mu glanced at him. He had heard the two's whispers just now. Why did so many people think that old woman Si Xuanji was better than him?
But he simply pretended not to hear, nodded slightly, and then carried Xue Tianqiao, following Liang Zhu across the wall and into the city.
