Evan Yang was completely stunned by that bug, but he was also relieved to have dodged it. If he’d been hit by that arrow, he’d either be dead or crippled.
After resting for a while, Evan Yang calmed himself, then slowly retraced his steps, staying alert to everything around him. When he got back to his original spot, Terry Yang and the others were already gone.
"They must've headed back. Looks like it's time for me to go too. Nothing left to see here—better get back and catch someone to ask about the forbidden land." With that, Evan Yang flashed away, following the same route Terry Yang had taken.
After returning, Terry Yang handed back the thirty archers, then left the city and went to the fiery red planet to borrow a powerful treasure.
As for Evan Yang, he arrived outside the city and thought about how hard it would be to lure someone out. After all, they were ordered to protect this place. Since he couldn’t do it directly, Evan Yang started studying their routines, planning his move.
After a few days, Evan Yang discovered that the Guard Captain left alone every morning for a while. During that time, he was completely by himself.
Once he had a target, Evan Yang decided the Guard Captain was the one to go after.
On the road, Evan Yang tailed the Guard Captain, who was visiting Terry Yang’s mansion. Evan Yang wondered, "Weird, what's he doing there?"
After waiting a bit, the Guard Captain came out and headed back. Evan Yang knew he’d have to use his own methods to lure him away.
He decided to act. Evan Yang took out a slip of paper and suddenly tossed it toward the Guard Captain.
The Guard Captain was curious—where had that slip of paper suddenly come from? He picked it up, and when he read what was written, his face showed shock. "Eighth-rank immortal artifact? Is this for real?"
At first, he was suspicious. Why would something like this just appear out of nowhere? Maybe someone was trying to lure him out. Thinking this, he decisively ignored it and tossed the paper away.
Evan Yang watched from the side, puzzled. "Isn't this tempting enough?" He kept following the Guard Captain, wondering what else he could try.
On the road, Evan Yang noticed the Guard Captain’s strange expression, as if something was gnawing at him. He stopped, turned around, picked up the slip, and after checking that nobody was watching, pocketed it.
Evan Yang knew the bait had worked. Even though the Guard Captain realized it was unlikely to be real, the idea gnawed at him. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to try his luck—even if it was fake.
This was exactly the psychological trick Evan Yang was counting on. Seeing the Guard Captain’s curiosity, Evan Yang flashed to the destination and started preparing, since his opponent was first-tier Emperor-Realm, while he was only first-tier Profound-Immortal. Handling a Profound-Immortal would be easy, but dealing with an Emperor-Realm would be tough—unless he set everything up in advance and relied on formations.
But the Guard Captain didn’t rush out. Instead, he stayed on the city wall all morning. Evan Yang wondered why he hadn’t come yet, until finally the Guard Captain left the city. Evan Yang got ready, waiting at the destination like a hunter by a rabbit hole.
After a while, the Guard Captain looked around nervously, as if worried someone was following him or plotting something.
But he didn’t notice the trap Evan Yang had set. Soon, he reached the destination and looked around. Aside from a big tree, there was nothing. "Strange, the note said an eighth-rank immortal artifact was hanging from this tree, but I don’t see anything," the Guard Captain muttered, still suspicious.
He circled the big tree, thinking something might be hidden there, and started searching carefully.
A thick aura suddenly surged from the tree, and then the tree split open on its own. The Guard Captain was startled. "What is this?"
After the tree split, a wooden sword appeared in the center, radiating eight colors of light. "An eighth-rank immortal artifact!" The Guard Captain's eyes lit up with greed, completely mesmerized. He never imagined he could get his hands on such a treasure.
The immortal artifact slowly floated down from the tree and landed in the Guard Captain's hand. Seeing how lively and spiritual the treasure was, he was overjoyed, gripping it tightly as if he'd struck gold.
He had no idea that, just as he touched the sword, someone silently appeared behind him and tapped his back. The Guard Captain reacted too late—his hand gripped the sword, but he couldn't move at all.
"Hey there." Evan Yang greeted him with a smile.
"Who are you?" The Guard Captain asked in terror. He couldn't figure out Evan Yang's strength, but anyone who could approach him so easily and immobilize him like this was clearly formidable. Evan Yang replied, "My identity isn't important. What matters is, I need to ask you something, so I had no choice but to use this method."
"Aren't you afraid of being punished by House Yang?" the Guard Captain threatened.
"Punished? Why should I be afraid?" Evan Yang laughed, completely unfazed.
"So arrogant! But even if you ask, I won't tell you anything," the Guard Captain glared at Evan Yang, refusing to give in.
"Oh? So determined, huh? Fine, you can stay like this forever. I don't believe you'll never speak." Evan Yang sat down nearby, acting as if nothing was wrong.
Seeing Evan Yang so calm, the Guard Captain growled, "Let me go! Someone will soon notice I'm missing, and you'll be in trouble then."
"Ah, thanks for the reminder. I almost forgot. But it's fine—worst case, I'll just take you away and you'll stay frozen like this forever," Evan Yang said, suddenly enlightened.
The Guard Captain was shocked. "You—"
"It's up to you. If you don't talk, you'll stay like this forever, while I roam free," Evan Yang said with a grin.
The Guard Captain realized that if he didn't speak, he'd never escape, let alone warn House Yang. Facing such a predicament, he finally relented. "Fine, I'll talk."
"That's better. Tell me, where is House Yang's forbidden land?" Evan Yang asked.
"Forbidden land? Why are you asking about that?" The Guard Captain was shocked.
"That's none of your business. Just tell me," Evan Yang said.
Irrelevant system message. Skipped translation as per instructions.
The Guard Captain hesitated, unsure what to do.
"If you don't answer, you'll suffer the consequences. Your choice," Evan Yang said.
After weighing his situation, the Guard Captain said, "Alright, I'll tell you. The forbidden land is across the Star Sea."
"Across the Star Sea?" Evan Yang asked suspiciously. He had no idea where that was.
"The Star Sea is behind House Yang's Fireflight Star. There's a special passage, but you need a special identity token to enter. Only direct-line clan members or elders have them—someone like me, even as Guard Captain, doesn't qualify," he explained. Evan Yang grew excited after learning the location, and asked curiously, "So do you have one of those tokens?"
The Guard Captain looked at Evan Yang and replied, "Me? I don't have that kind of qualification. Only direct-line clan members or elders do. Even as Guard Captain, I don't have one."
"I see," Evan Yang mused. It seemed getting a token wouldn't be easy. Just thinking about those elders—they were probably all old monsters. But Evan Yang thought of one person, so he asked, "What about Terry Yang?"
"Lord Terry? Of course he has one. He's the next heir, and he goes in and out all the time," the Guard Captain said.
Evan Yang smiled after hearing the Guard Captain's answer. "Thanks."
"Now let me go!" the Guard Captain demanded.
"Let you go? Not yet. I'll release you after I safely return from there," Evan Yang said with a smile.
"What? You're not keeping your word!" the Guard Captain fumed.
"If I let you go now, you'll definitely call people to deal with me, maybe even wait for me in the passage, right? So I'll release you after I return—that way I'm safe," Evan Yang laughed.
"You!" The Guard Captain was furious, but he couldn't do anything. His life was in Evan Yang's hands.
Evan Yang chuckled, then waved his hand. The surrounding formation disappeared, the tree vanished, and the item in the Guard Captain's hand turned to air, making him flush with rage.
Seeing the Guard Captain like this, Evan Yang smiled, "If it's meant to be yours, it'll be yours. If not, no matter how hard you try, it won't be. Goodbye."
With that, Evan Yang sealed the Guard Captain's mouth, moved him to a hidden cave, and piled stones at the entrance, completely blocking it off. Once everything was done, Evan Yang smiled, "All set."
Then he happily left and headed back to the city.
"Terry Yang, I want your token. Since things are like this, let's settle both old and new scores together," Evan Yang said.
At that moment, Terry Yang was troubled, unable to find Evan Yang's 'friend'—actually Evan himself. Just as he was wondering what to do, something on his body began to glow.
"Huh? Who's here?" Terry Yang wondered, looking around. He was in a garden, and had ordered that no one approach without his permission. Now, someone had come, surprising and even angering him.
But after a while, nothing happened. It was as if nobody was there, but the glowing item kept getting brighter.
This made Terry Yang secretly pleased. "Well, looks like he really showed up," he thought.
Evan Yang had no idea Terry Yang possessed a magical artifact, and Terry Yang was waiting for Evan Yang to approach him.
Evan Yang walked into the garden, thinking about how to make Terry Yang hand over his token. He remembered what Shawn Liu had said.
Terry Yang had protective shields and powerful defensive items, so Evan Yang decided not to attack from the shadows again. He planned to deal with him another way.
So Evan Yang hid in a corner of the garden. Seeing the magical artifact's glow stop flickering and settle in one spot, Terry Yang was secretly delighted. He got up and pretended to practice boxing.
He threw punches left and right, and occasionally flames burst from his fists.
"So energetic?" Evan Yang wondered, watching Terry Yang practice boxing.
Evan Yang had no idea Terry Yang was plotting against him. While Evan Yang was thinking about how to deal with Terry Yang, he unknowingly put himself in a dangerous spot.
For Evan Yang, being invisible meant no one could discover him—except for Old Sleep last time, and those strange bugs.