Chapter 405: The Rat and the Stench
“Elder Night Guardian is too polite. How can we be scared? It is a great honor that you are gracing the City Lord Mansion with your glittering presence!”
Fu Xing hurriedly took two steps forward, welcoming the old man in red robes.
“If my presence is ‘glittering,’ then what should others call your City Lord Mansion?” The old man chuckled.
He looked around with watchful eyes. His gaze seemed to penetrate through the thick wall. He had a reminiscent expression on his face.
“It’s been a long time since I last came here. How is your father? Has he quietly disappeared?”
Fu Xing smiled and said, “He is in seclusion currently, or else a little kid like me wouldn’t be greeting you.”
The door sentinels all around were stunned.
Even though many people there had been in the City Lord Mansion for many years, it seemed that they had never seen him before.
Fu Xing, who was usually dismissive of the entire Tiansang Prefecture, had uttered such reverent words and behaved humbly in front of this old man. How terrifying was his origin?
Those who could stand here to guard the gate tonight were among the elites of the City Lord Mansion.
They were repelled by the old man’s imposing manner before, and it had made many people uncomfortable. After they witnessed this exchange, they became more frightened than disgruntled.
To maintain the dignity of the City Lord Mansion, these 36 door sentinels stood rigidly. Their zeal that had just collapsed suddenly rose again.
“Hehe, a group of little kids, they just can’t be still. I haven’t said anything yet, but they are already vying to fight.”
The old man gave them a sideways glance and completely forgot about his apology earlier. He did not even bother to maintain his gracious attitude and made fun of them directly.
The door sentinels were embarrassed and angry but did not dare to refute him.
Fu Xing was not ashamed and smiled as he responded, “How can you compare this? These guys guard the gate of the City Lord Mansion. It’s usually calm and peaceful, so it’s not comparable to Elder Night Guardian…”
“The gate of the White Cave is the true merciless gate!”
“Hey.”
The old man raised his hand and moved away. “Let’s not mention this now. You must have been waiting for a long time, and I bring along some news that should be very exciting. Let’s go in and talk about it.”
As soon as he moved, Fu Xing followed closely behind. The old man stopped abruptly before he could even take a step forward.
He twitched his nose twice and frowned.
“There is something wrong with Tiansang City.”
A stormy look flashed in his eyes. He said in a deep voice, “As soon as I entered the city, I smelled that stench. Clearly, it was a rat crossing the street.”
“I thought it was just passing by, but it seemed to have come to the City Lord Mansion. Why is the stench stronger here?”
Fu Xing was startled.
“A stench?”
His pupils dilated. “Is Elder Night Guardian saying that a rat got in?”
The scene fell silent for a while.
Without the sound of their conversation, a menacing atmosphere shrouded the surroundings.
Xin Gugu, who was hiding behind the tree, felt his heart jump in his throat at this moment.
He turned his head and did not dare to look at anything. He had already shielded himself with his spiritual senses.
Even if he was completely blind at that moment, he did not dare to take another look.
‘Red Coat!’
‘It’s really the Red Coat!’
‘Why? Why is the Red Coat at this darned banquet dinner?’
‘Ah, Xu Xiaoshou! Didn’t you say that the Red Coat wouldn’t make an appearance in this cursed place?’
Xin Gugu was already scolding his mother in his heart.
He seemed to visualize the moment when he and Jiao Tangtang accepted the mission and stepped out of the palace gate. At that time, the elders in the sect gave them solemn instructions.
“You can mess around with anyone you meet, and you can kill anyone you meet, but when you meet the Red Coat, you will immediately turn around. Do not have any thoughts of fighting.”
“Remember, you can die, but even if a trace of the soul remains and is captured by the Red Coat…”
“I’m afraid that Xuyue Ash Palace can’t remain hidden anymore!”
Red Coat was a special organization affiliated with the Holy Divine Palace.
It was responsible for all affairs related to ghost beasts.
No one in the organization could tell how many extradimensional spaces they had destroyed with their own hands, nor how many lives of ghost beasts they had claimed.
Their strength was simply the top of the world.
Without experiencing the heavy screening process of the organization of the Holy Divine Palace, one who did not have the necessary strength and strategy would find it impossible to get the Red Coat.
Xin Gugu wiped away his sweat and glanced at the Golden Staff on his hand, forcing himself to calm down.
‘It’s up to you now. You must help me hide!’
Before coming to Tiansang Prefecture, he had known of the Red Coat establishment there.
That organization had always relied on their quality and never quantity to succeed.
Every extradimensional space had the highest guardian, and that was the Red Coat.
Red Coat had long lost its name, leaving only the title behind.
The Night Guardian was the only title left for this old man.
In addition, there were several other original guardians of the White Cave.
According to the latest news from Jiao Tangtang, it seemed that there had been an increase in people recently at the White Cave, so it was no longer a place for them to stay.
He had thought that he would only encounter this headache-inducing matter when he went to White Cave.
He had never expected that he would run into it headfirst at the door of the City Lord Mansion.
‘It’s okay. I have the Legendary Beast Control Artifact. Although I am no match for him, it should not be so easy for him to find me… Right?’
The thoughts in Xin Gugu’s mind were not over yet. Suddenly, he was in a daze. An old face appeared in front of him.
His heartbeat stopped suddenly.
“Young man, why are you sweating so much? Are you ill?”
The Red Coat Night Guardian narrowed his eyes at him. He looked away from Xin Gugu’s Golden Staff and smiled.
“I…”
Xin Gugu opened his mouth. Panic flooded his eyes. “I accidentally overheard your conversation.”
“It’s not a big secret. If you overheard it, then so be it. What are you afraid of?” The Night Guardian kept a smile plastered on his face.
Xin Gugu looked at that smile, but his hair stood up in fright.
He swallowed his saliva. Before he could speak, the old man twitched his nose twice. He got close to his body and took two deep breaths.
‘F*ck!’
Xin Gugu’s heart instantly lurched, and he almost fell.
“Are you so sweet?”
The Night Guardian took a whiff. He opened his eyes slowly.
He looked at the Golden Staff. “This is a good thing you have here. Can this old man take a look?”
‘Look, my foot!’
Xin Gugu almost hit him with his staff.
He barely forced out a smile, but there was a glint of anger in his eyes. “No. It is a family heirloom… If the staff exists, the person exists. If the staff is gone, the person dies.”
“Oh.”
The Night Guardian chuckled. “If I seize it over to look at it, you will die on the spot?”
The air plunged into deathly silence.
Fu Xing rushed over and looked at Xin Gugu, feeling a little skeptical.
The Night Guardian was necessarily a bit hot-tempered, but he was not the type to make things difficult for individuals.
To be targeted by him like this…
Was this the rat?
‘True enough, I cannot trust the elders in the sect,’ Xin Gugu thought in his heart. He had estimated that this Golden Staff could intercept the noses of the Red Coat.
If he were to reveal himself, it would be hard to escape death.
At this moment, he already considered the idea of burning jade and stone. He could self-destruct together with the Red Coat.
He wanted to release his outburst at that moment and pull this person into the water, even if only to cripple him. That way, at least Jiao Tangtang should be able to save a bit of effort.
‘Xu Xiaoshou…’
‘You have obstructed me!’
Xin Gugu tightened his hand around the Golden Staff and opened his eyes in anger. He intended to break open the seal.
Suddenly, a voice of confusion behind him interrupted his actions. It directly broke the deadlock.
“Fu Xing?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be waiting in the banquet room? Why did you come here to breathe in the northwest wind?”