"Uh..."
Upon hearing Mu Jinyu's questioning laughter, Wu Zhiming's expression appeared extremely stiff and unpleasant. He looked at him with a complex gaze, opened his mouth as if to explain something, but ultimately found himself unable to say a word.
Finally, feeling ashamed and embarrassed, Wu Zhiming lowered his head and trembled as he spoke, "Brother Mu, I... I am sorry to you..."
"Hmm?!"
Mu Jinyu had already realized something was amiss when he landed on the city platform and saw Wu Zhiming's complicated expression. His heart sank, and upon hearing Wu Zhiming apologize, how could he not understand? They had already reported the matter to the Heavenly Palace ahead of schedule!
A trace of anger and disappointment immediately arose in his heart.
He hadn't even exceeded the agreed time, yet Wu Zhiming did not trust him?
"Sigh..."
The City Lord, after being in a daze for a moment, reacted and his face turned extremely ugly. Seeing Mu Jinyu's angry expression and the hidden murderous intent, he hurriedly laughed bitterly and explained, "Here's the thing, Brother, listen to me. The Warrior of Wu Kingdom didn't betray you!"
After speaking, he quickly recounted his earlier conversation with Wu Zhiming to Mu Jinyu.
"You guessed it? Wu Zhiming had no choice but to tell you, did you just contact the Heavenly Palace?"
After hearing the City Lord's explanation, Mu Jinyu's brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
Yet, his resentment and anger towards Wu Zhiming dissipated along with it.
According to the City Lord, after hearing it, he also quite understood the City's choice.
Indeed, it was not right to gamble with the lives of hundreds of thousands of citizens for some Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. It was his mistake to not explain his combat capabilities to Wu Zhiming.
But after understanding the City's choice, Mu Jinyu felt somewhat helpless again.
If he had known earlier that the City Lord would figure it out and notify the Heavenly Palace a quarter of an hour in advance.
Then he wouldn't have wasted three-quarters of an hour refining the Phoenix egg.
If he had returned a quarter of an hour earlier, there would have been no issue, and everyone would be happy!
And he wouldn't have to find ways to deal with the people sent by the Heavenly Palace and how to cover things up.
Once the City Lord saw the anger on Mu Jinyu's face dissipating, he realized that the trouble now was no longer the terrifying Demon Phoenix in the Demon Beast Mountain Range but rather the people from the Heavenly Palace originally called upon as reinforcements.
He hesitated for a moment, then sighed, "Brother, you should leave quickly now, while I lead the people from the Heavenly Palace to explore the Demon Beast Mountain Range. If they can't find the Demon Phoenix, I'll compensate them with some items, and it will be fine. Staying will only put you in danger!"
"Hmm?"
Hearing the City Lord's words, Mu Jinyu indeed considered temporarily avoiding the sharpness.
After all, his current strength was not strong enough to contend with the massive organization like the Heavenly Palace.
However, he then remembered the severed Phoenix Trees!
This was not good.
Not finding the Demon Phoenix in the Demon Beast Mountain Range could be explained as the Demon Phoenix leaving for elsewhere.
But the Demon Phoenix leaving should not involve cutting down the Phoenix Trees, should it?
This clearly represented that someone had slain the Demon Phoenix and taken all its items.
Will the people from the Heavenly Palace vent their anger on the City Lord and his people if they can't find me?
The City Lord saw Mu Jinyu's conflicted expression and knew what he was hesitating about. He sighed, "This is all my own doing, for not trusting you, Brother, and causing trouble. Please, Brother, quickly take your two madams and leave!"
Upon hearing the City Lord's words, Mu Jinyu, who was still hesitating whether to stay and explain matters to the people from the Heavenly Palace, immediately stopped thinking about these things.
Compared to the potential dangers Wen Rou and the other woman might face staying here, it was not Mu Jinyu's place to worry if the City Lord and his people would be vented anger upon.
Mu Jinyu said nothing more. He apologized and prepared to return to the inn where he had previously stayed, take Wen Rou and the other lady, and leave the Demon Slaying City.
As for the rewards mentioned by the City Lord earlier for resisting the Beast Tide, he didn't even care about them.
However, just when he was about to act,
"Buzz!"
The teleportation array behind him suddenly emitted a faint glow.
"This..."
The City Lord, upon seeing this scene, slightly contracted his pupils, knowing that the activation of this teleportation array meant people from the Heavenly Palace had arrived.
"Sigh..."
He sighed deeply, then pushed Mu Jinyu hard to let him leave quickly, but dared not speak, lest the people from the Heavenly Palace hear any clues!
"Whoo!"
At this moment, the faint glow dissipated.
Standing silently on the originally empty teleportation array was a young man with a handsome face and tall stature.
The young man was dressed in a cloud-white robe, with an arrogant expression and ethereal aura, like a Banished Immortal, clearly not an ordinary person!
Moreover, his cultivation was at the Eighth Level of the Fanxu Realm!
With such strength, if he held a Treasured Item, as the elder of the Heavenly Palace said, it was certainly enough to deal with a Demon Phoenix that had just broken through to the Unity Realm Stage!
Seeing someone emerge from the teleportation array, Mu Jinyu, who was about to move his feet, stopped in his tracks.
If the people from the Heavenly Palace hadn't arrived yet, he could easily flee, but now that they had, running away would be too conspicuous and immediately suspicious.
So he decided to stay and observe the situation for a while.
"Who is the Lord of Demon Slaying City?"
The young man, after adapting to the brief weightlessness of teleportation, slightly shook his head, then raised his eyes to look over the three people in front of him and asked calmly.
"I am! I am the Lord of Demon Slaying City..." The City Lord quickly responded upon hearing the young man's question.
"Where is the Demon Phoenix? Take me there!"
The young man could not be bothered with pleasantries and directly stated his purpose for coming.
"Alright, I will take you there right away..." The City Lord hurriedly responded, then secretly glanced at Mu Jinyu, signaling him to leave at this opportune moment.
Seeing this, Mu Jinyu felt a knot in his heart.
However, at that moment, as the young man followed the City Lord's steps and was about to leave, he abruptly stopped, turned to look at Mu Jinyu, narrowed his long eyes slightly, and said coldly, "No! The demon qi on you is very strong and similar to that of the Extreme Ice Phoenix I once encountered... Did you just encounter that Demon Phoenix?"
Upon hearing the young man's words, both the City Lord and Wu Zhiming's hearts skipped a beat.
They had completely not expected that this guy would have a Divine Sense so sharp and had previously encountered Phoenix Remnants, making him sense the faint traces of Demon Phoenix qi emanating from Mu Jinyu at first sight.
Mu Jinyu was slightly stunned, then calmly said, "Demon Phoenix? I don't know. I just went to the Demon Beast Mountain Range after resisting the Beast Tide, with everyone else, but I didn't find any Demon Phoenix there, maybe I got contaminated at that time?"
"Hmph!"
Mu Jinyu thought what he said was reasonable, but unexpectedly, after hearing his explanation, the young man suddenly snorted coldly, then sneered, "Ha, one of you says you sensed the Demon Emperor's aura near the Demon Beast Mountain Range, and another says no Demon Phoenix traces were found after checking, are you playing with me?"
"Especially, among the three of you, only you have this demon qi, while the other two don't have it at all. Enough talking, hand over your Storage Bag for inspection!"
With that said.
The young man, with a stern face, without caring about Mu Jinyu's feelings, waved his hand, and Elemental Qi condensed into an arm, reaching directly for the Storage Bag on Mu Jinyu's waist!