Chapter 1265: Returning Wounded
It was a long while before Duan Yangcheng snapped out of his daze. The dread in his heart still lingered, and a look of lingering fear spread across his face.
However, at this moment, besides fear, there was also a sense of grievance festering in his heart, and that grievance stemmed from Lu Tianhe's final remark.
Regarding his stirring up trouble at the Stillness Apothecary, although he had always wanted to do so, and that desire only grew stronger after he learned that the Stillness Apothecary's business was booming, he was, after all, one of the managers of the Heavenly River Apothecary. To put it plainly, he represented the Heavenly River Apothecary. If he went to cause trouble at the Stillness Apothecary, it would be fine if he succeeded, but if he botched it, it would definitely bring negative consequences to their Heavenly River Apothecary. Therefore, even though he wanted to cause trouble at the Stillness Apothecary, he hadn't dared to do so on his own initiative.
The only reason he eventually did it, and not just once, was entirely because he had received Lu Tianhe's explicit instruction. If Lu Tianhe hadn't approved, he wouldn't have dared to stir up trouble at the Stillness Apothecary, no matter how much he wanted to.
Yet, Lu Tianhe had just said that he had been "pitifully harmed" this time. Duan Yangcheng had his own interpretation of what that meant: he had not only lost face this time but had also provoked two Guardians. That was why Lu Tianhe would say such a thing, and it left him feeling rather aggrieved.
In his view, this matter had clearly been instigated by Lu Tianhe, so how could all the blame ultimately fall on him? Not only had this incident caused him to lose face completely, but he had also nearly suffered the fate of Soul Transformation. He hadn't received a single word of comfort; instead, he was forced to bear all the consequences. How could he not feel aggrieved?
Of course, grievance aside, he certainly didn't have the courage to confront Lu Tianhe. He didn't want to be banished by Lu Tianhe to some harsh and dangerous place, much less reincarnate. With the world now in great chaos, reincarnation would likely mean a tragic death amidst the turmoil. How could that compare to the safety, status, and enjoyment of being a Ghost Official in the Underworld?
Since Lu Tianhe had already told him to temporarily leave the matter alone and that he would arrange how to handle it when the time came, he could only follow Lu Tianhe's instructions and dared not act rashly. Moreover, given the current situation, this was precisely the outcome he had hoped for. He truly did not want to provoke Yang Haoran and Xu Meijing, especially Xu Meijing, who had nearly destroyed his soul with a single blade. His fear of that woman was incredibly strong; even now, recalling Xu Meijing's actions that day, he couldn't help but shiver with lingering dread.
The news of Yang Haoran and Xu Meijing becoming Guardians first spread throughout the Underworld, and then quickly permeated the entire Underworld Office. This was because, on the very day the martial arts competition concluded, the Underworld Iron Tome had already broadcast this explosive information to the entire Underworld Office.
Apart from the Underworld Office, other factions interested in the matter also learned of it through various channels. For a time, Yang Haoran and Xu Meijing's reputations soared. Once obscure, everything had changed dramatically after they became Guardians.
Three days later, Luo Yao returned to the Jingling Continent Underworld Office headquarters in the Underworld with four Guardians, and immediately summoned his nine major Guardians for a meeting.
Rather than a general summoning, it was more like calling Wen Hexuan to the headquarters, because when Luo Yao returned with the four Guardians, all the other Guardians were already at headquarters, except for Wen Hexuan.
The headquarters indeed boasted excellent medical facilities. Healing here, Yang Haoran and Xu Meijing's injuries recovered quickly. Although three days hadn't allowed their wounds to heal completely, they had recovered at least thirty to forty percent.
Thirty to forty percent might not sound like much, but given the severity of Yang Haoran and Xu Meijing's injuries, recovering that much in just three days was quite remarkable. Had they not received treatment at headquarters, they would have barely recovered twenty percent of their injuries with just the Dānyào they possessed.
In comparison, Long Yan and Ye Xianglan's injuries were much more severe than theirs. Thus, even with treatment at headquarters, their recovery wasn't as swift as Yang Haoran's and Xu Meijing's, only reaching about twenty percent at most.
As for Wen Hexuan, because Luo Yao had left him at the martial arts arena that day, the treatment he received naturally couldn't compare to that at headquarters. Consequently, in three days, he hadn't even recovered ten percent of his injuries, as he had only just regained consciousness today. After waking, he hadn't even had a chance to properly assess his wounds before being forcibly summoned back to headquarters, so his injuries had barely recovered at all.
Aside from these five, when Luo Yao and the four Guardians returned to headquarters, only Luo Yao was clean and without a single wound. The other four Guardians all bore clear signs of battle, some even in ragged clothes, with numerous injuries.
From this, it was clear that Luo Yao and the four Guardians must have endured a major battle after leaving three days prior; otherwise, the four Guardians wouldn't all be wounded, some quite severely.
When the ten of them gathered in the conference room, the four Guardians Luo Yao had brought back had all changed into clean clothes. Although their clothes were fresh and no longer tattered, all four still looked sickly. Huo Laoban was the most gravely injured among them; his face was pale, and even his aura had become quite weak, almost comparable to Yang Haoran and Xu Meijing, though still considerably better than Long Yan and Ye Xianglan.
As for the most severely wounded, Wen Hexuan, there was naturally no comparison. Even with Huo Laoban's weak aura and pale face, his condition was still much better than Wen Hexuan's, who looked barely distinguishable from a dying man.
If Luo Yao hadn't issued a death order for all Guardians to attend the headquarters meeting, Wen Hexuan, in his current physical state, would undoubtedly still be lying feebly in a hospital bed receiving treatment.
Being forcibly summoned to the meeting, Wen Hexuan naturally felt extremely uncomfortable. But constrained by the order, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and come to headquarters. However, the curses he hurled at Luo Yao in his mind never ceased. His pale, old face was terrifyingly grim, looking as if he wanted to kill someone; even a child could tell he was in an exceptionally foul mood.
Luo Yao was no fool; he naturally saw the entire displeased expression on Wen Hexuan's face.
"The reason I've summoned all of you here today is that there are some important matters that must be announced and arranged. I know you are all currently wounded and need time to rest and recuperate, but due to the urgency of the situation, if some arrangements aren't made swiftly, it will only bring great trouble to our Jingling Continent Underworld Office. Therefore, I can only ask you to bear with the inconvenience and attend this meeting while wounded. If we wait for all your injuries to recover before making deployments, it might already be too late."
Inside the conference room, Luo Yao stood at the very front, speaking to the nine with a serious expression. Since Luo Yao had not taken his seat, the nine of them could naturally only stand respectfully before him.
As these words fell, no one spoke. Apart from Long Yan and Wen Hexuan, who wore grim expressions, the other seven showed little emotion on their faces.
"Due to significant changes in the upper echelons of our Jingling Continent Underworld Office, I will reallocate the areas under your jurisdiction based on each of your strengths and the current situation in the various regions of our Jingling Continent."
As Luo Yao uttered these words, Yang Haoran and Xu Meijing showed little change in their expressions. Huo Laoban, too, remained largely unreactive. However, the other six present all exhibited varying degrees of change in their facial expressions. Yet, not all of these changes were grim or unpleasant. Aside from Long Yan and Wen Hexuan, while the other four's complexions shifted somewhat, none of them revealed a sullen or extremely displeased look.
Luo Yao's gaze swept over the nine, taking in every shift in their expressions. However, his own face remained unchanged by their reactions; on the contrary, it showed not a hint of alteration, maintaining its previous solemnity.
After these words were spoken, none of the nine showed any intention of speaking. Luo Yao, for his part, had not intended for them to speak at this moment, so their silence perfectly suited his wishes. His gaze, at this point, fell upon Wen Hexuan's extremely unpleasant face.
"Wen Hexuan."
Luo Yao spoke calmly, his face serious. Though Wen Hexuan's expression was exceedingly grim, upon hearing Luo Yao call his name, he still bowed slightly and responded.
"Your subordinate is present."
Wen Hexuan's attitude could hardly be called respectful, and his voice sounded weak and listless. However, neither his demeanor nor his vocal feebleness was put on; they were entirely genuine.
His attitude went without saying; his respect for Luo Yao was already negligible to begin with. As for his listless speech, a significant part was due to his current injuries. Besides his wounds, another reason was that he genuinely did not want to engage with Luo Yao, yet he was compelled to, which explained his lack of vigor in speaking.
Luo Yao acted as if he hadn't noticed Wen Hexuan's resistance. After Wen Hexuan responded, he continued to speak.
"Your strength is currently the greatest among my nine Guardians. Therefore, I intend to entrust the most crucial First District to you. From today onwards, you will be the Guardian of our Jingling Continent Underworld Office's First District. I've given you the opportunity; I hope you won't disappoint me."
Luo Yao's words caused everyone present to show varying degrees of change in their expressions, naturally including Wen Hexuan!
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