"Stop your messy actions right now!" Wu Qi shouted from behind his thick mask.
The Bai Lian Jiao soon recognized Wu Qi's voice despite his face was wholly wrapped in a mask. "Wu Qi you bastard traitor! When Zhou Wang intended to kill you, you begged and asked us for help. We helped you, but now you treated us this way! Aren't you afraid of karmic retribution?!" Wei Han shouted.
Wu Qi fell silent, the accusation inevitably made him shocked. At first, he was so eager to prove his loyalty to Zhu Su as he was driven by a grateful feeling since Zhu Su spared his life and even returned him to be positioned in the military, that was why he quickly obeyed Zhu Su's orders to arrest them. He never thought that they would ask him such a question. Moreover, Wu Qi was the type who stuck to loyalty. He became disturbed as somebody accused him of being ungrateful. Hence, even though only a few inches remaining to catch them, he could only stand rooted and let the atmosphere dominated by the silent strong wind.
"I... am just doing what I am supposed to do... as the captain of San Hu Wei..." Wu Qi stuttered.
"Just for the sake of loyalty towards the superior then you may forget our good deeds?! No wonder Lord Guan (Guan Yu) is adored by the whole country, people who know reciprocity like him were a handful. Who dominates this world is the people like you!" Xu Gechang snorted.
Wu Qi gritted his teeth. He clenched his fists. However, he still raised his spear.
Wang Yue took over the conversation. He believed that anger would not succeed in melting one's heart. He said softly, "Wu Qi, please remember all kindness we have given to you and Hu Wang Fei. If we hadn't fight the royal army that night and allow you to stay in our house, both of you would have died right away, right? Then, we also protected you when the royal army in greater numbers attacked our base, even the entire Bai Lian Jiao members were arrested just because of you. Then now, after you get all you want, you want to turn around, unwilling to see the sacrifices we have made, just to keep you seated in the position of commander? We know that you are not that type of person, Wu Qi. We know you are a good person. Therefore, please use your conscience, and let us go, as repayers of what you owe us!"
Wu Qi began to lower his spear.
Ma Ya chimed in, "At least we have traveled together. You, Hu Wang Fei, as well as the four of us, we have all been traveling together, we are all close friends. Our hearts have been united. Wu Qi, we are your friends! So please! Help your friends!"
"Ah…" Wu Qi now lowered his eyes. He had dropped his spear completely. He was now blaming himself. He was supposed not to be so stupid, consumed by spontaneous emotion without thinking about the consequences that would occur. Wang Yue and Ma Ya were right. He was not The Cruel who forgot ones' kindness easily. Nor was he the Nine-tailed Traitor. But this task had gotten him into a dilemma, he had to become a nine-tailed traitor...
But.
He had no choice.
"Don't get him wrong. Wu Qi isn't going to imprison you, he just wants to negotiate with you."
Even Wu Qi himself was very surprised with the exclamation. When he turned around, he found Zhu Su and Hu Nayin were standing not far from them. Veils covered their wholly faces, but the shape of their bodies and the high-quality robes they wore made Wu Qi immediately recognize both of them. "Zhou Wang! Hu Wang Fei!"
"Who has caught Shuanghu District disease?" Zhu Su observed the escapees thoroughly.
De Ta snorted. "Me."
"Observe him, Nayin. Does he have any symptoms of the disease?"
Hu Nayin observed De Ta. Then, she shook her head. "He is too healthy. The infected person won't be so healthy."
"Nah!" Zhu Su smiled in satisfaction. "You are lying! We can take out our veils!"
Zhu Su took out his veil in confidence. Hu Nayin followed him. So did the soldiers, which soon followed their leaders.
On the other hand, De Ta gritted his teeth in annoyance since his trick got caught. He could just surrender, letting himself be arrested and have to languish in prison... or immediately get executed.
"You are the Daoist Priest of Huan Shikang's group, aren't you?" Zhu Su soon recognized De Ta.
"Such a great honor for me, Your Highness still recognizes me, what a big proud." De Ta replied sardonically.
"You are going to bring Yun with you?"
"Of course! Master Yun is our grandmaster, we have to protect her even if we must sacrifice our lives!"
"But it seems that Huan Shikang treats her improperly. He let Yun imprisoned and severely tortured."
De Ta and Yu Mu Li La bit their lips. Zhu Su could see a gleam of hatred flashing across their eyes. Slightly, he smiled. His plan seemed workable.
"Huan Shikang can do nothing to free his people from the disease spreading in Shuizhen and Shuanghu. All he can do is just bringing Hu Wang Fei and me into conflict by sacrificing Yun, and his plan also fails in the end. It is useless to follow him. Do you still want to follow a leader who will lose like him? And, he is also a ruthless leader. How can he sacrifice his loyal men just to make his plan work? As for me, I just want to follow the leader who gives me comfort and peace. Not the leader who torments his people!"
Actually, what Zhu Su planned was to sow discord between Huan Shikang and his men. He just wanted to take revenge, to pay for his butthurt at Huan Shikang who had sowed dissension between him and Hu Nayin. He was even sure that his plan would not be successful at once, and if they insisted to run away, then the troops had been ready to beat them. He did not know that there had been a crash between Rumilie and De Ta, and De Ta was actually eager to defect to Zhu Su from the beginning.
So, Zhu Su's words gave De Ta a strange sensation. The sensation flowed through his body so quickly, and before he could think any further, he opened his mouth all by himself. "If we, as the former followers of Dark Sect, want to participate in your research project, will you accept us?"