Hussein frowns: âIf you say it like that then is there no way to deal with the Northwest Army?â
Du Wei smiles: âNo, the Northwest Army must be dealt with, but to completely annihilate 200,000 soldiers is impossible. At the very leastâŚ. We must keep Rugaard alive until I can hammer my own nail into this landâŚâŚâ
With that, he goes over to the windowâs edge: âChaos will certainly ensue! But the important factor at play here is how will I benefit from this, thatâs the key question. If possible, three stable years would be optimal in strengthening my control. When that time comes, I would have the ability to clean everything up. But nowâŚ. Thatâs not going to happen!â
Hussein was silent for a while before speaking up, âLetâs put aside the topic then. Earlier at the banquet, how did you snap that Black Gold Tread Bow? I couldnât figure out what you did! Even for me it would be impossible to do so without utilizing my Dou Qi!â
Du Wei lets out a ha-ha laugh before turning around to pull out Husseinâs sword â a steel enforced blade.
Using his finger to flick at the bladeâs edge to see if the recoiling sound is crisp, Du Wei then stroked the blade back and forth for a moment: âWatch carefully.â
With that, he backs up a step and raises the sword into the air. Using the same finger, he flicks at it again.
Hummm!!!!
At that sound, the only part remaining in Du Weiâs possession is the sword handle. As for the rest of the once solid blade, it is now shattered into multiple pieces and scattered across the ground..
Husseinâs face turned white at the scene: âYou ⌠⌠When did your martial skills reach such level?â
Du Wei began to laugh: âYouâre not able to figure it out? Seems this trick of mine wasnât a waste of time after all, ha-ha-ha!â
At that, he threw the remaining sword handle away and opens up his palm to reveal a black crystal.
âThis is something I only recently came up with. I call it Rust Iron Crystal. Hmm, the name is a bit tacky, but that doesnât mean its use is limited!â Du Wei smirked: âOf course, I didnât come up with the original formula. It was passed on to me by that Old Alley back in the capital. Really though, that old man is nuts in the head. Using one of his formulas, I added the substance into a magic crystal along with some special potions to create this thing. The end result is what you see in my hand. Oh, donât look down on it just because of its appearanceâŚ.. As long as Iâm holding this while rubbing my hand against a metal, I can insert some magic into the crystal and have it slowly drain away the metal elements inside the object!â
Du Wei then explained: âAccording to Master Alleyâs research, for example a rock, contains many different types of earth elements. The more and condense the earth element, the harder the rock will be. And in metals, the same logic applies. The only difference is that the element is not earth, but rather a metallic substance. If we were to remove that substance from the metal, the item in question would decay and become vulnerable to breakage. At that time, one only needs a small amount of force to destroy the object in question!â
He lifts his hand and smiled: âAll I did was hide this small little crystal in my palm while I deliberately rubbed the so called Black Gold Tread Bow. Then spouting some pointless words to drag out the time, the bow would of course snap!â
Hussein pops his eye out: âThis thing is amazing! If we got this in our hands, no weapon in this world will be a threat you!â
Du Wei sighs and bitterly laughed: âItâs not that amazing. This thing seems magical from the onset but is actually another impractical product. There are two weaknesses. The first being that it takes timeâŚâŚ. If I didnât intentionally drag out the duration of my contact, it would be useless. Think about it. If I were to do what I did during a fight, do you think my foe would give me the opportunity to carry out my plan? If anything, my opponent would have chopped me into pieces the moment I got closeâŚ. In addition, this item inherited the greatest characteristic of Master Alleyâs inventions, itâs absolutely expensive! Ignoring the manufacturing process and the equipmentâs needed to pull off the procedure; just the material ingredients needed to create this item is astronomical in terms of pricing!!â
Taking the crystal into his hand, Hussein sighs while looking at it with a disappointed expression: âIf you say it like that then this thing really is useless. Itâs not bad if you use it to occasionally scare someone, but itâs pointless in the end.â
âHA-HA.â Du Wei picks up the thing again and smiled: âAnd, it only works if you insert magic into the crystal. If you canât use magic, then it wonât work even if you place it directly onto a metal and rub it till next year.â
But after a pause, Du Wei continues to talk: âThatâs not the point of this thing anyways. When Master Alley gave me the formula, it was clearly indicated in the text that this invention wasnât meant to destroy other weaponsâŚâŚâŚ Instead, the old genius was trying to create the worldâs toughest metal for his goal of crafting the worldâs ultimate sword! But no matter what he tried, he simply couldnât find the right material. In the end, that crazy old lunatic came up with what you see here.â
Du Wei holds up the crystal: âThis thing is designed to draw the âmetallic substanceâ out of a metal. Just imagineâŚâŚ If I take this thing and go around draining every weapon I find to further increase the density of this thing, would there be another alloy in this world capable of matching it?â
Hussein really turned white this time!
However, Du Wei quickly destroyed Husseinâs hope: âDonât be too quick in jumping the ropeâŚ.. Iâll tell you now; this thing is another failure. Back in the lab, I wanted to see for myself in how hard I can get this crystal to become. Therefore, I had it drain an enormous amount of old armor and weapons back at Anglia CityâŚâŚ Alas, when I used a sword to test its durability, I was greatly disappointed by how easily I was able to chip off a corner. You see, this invention is impractical and would take who knows how long and how much alloy to finalize.â
When night came around, Du Wei ordered his men to lock the doors but even then he can still hear the clanking footsteps of soldiers running through the streets. It appears the Northwest Army wasnât through with their search yet.
Itâs to be expected. Having his face slapped in front of Du Wei like this, Rugaard must be fuming with anger.
Continuing their conversation till the middle of the night, Du Wei finally decided to call an end to their discussions by heading back to his room. However, he immediately halted his steps when he enteredâŚâŚ..
Though the bedroom is smaller than what he is used to, but considering they are in a fortress city that is meant to house soldiers, itâs already luxury class.
But what made Du Wei frown wasnât the size of the room, nor was it the shabby furnishingâŚ.. It wasâŚâŚ
The sharp silvery hair pin tightly pinned against his throat: âIs there a need? If you wanted to hide at my place then just hide, this house is so big. If you stayed in one of the many barns here, nobody would have even noticed you for several days âŚâŚâ
From the darkness next to him, a super alluring figure slowly emerged from the shadows. Unlike the dream like encounter during the day, that explosive rack and curvy body was much more realistic this time around, especially that small tiny waistâŚâŚ.
Oh crap, itâs so small and tight!
Using her delicate and weak voice, this woman made a hushing sound: âDonât make any noiseâŚ. Come in and shut the door behind you.â
Sighing, Du Wei slowly walked in without showing any fear on his face.
âYou ⌠⌠Sit down.â This woman may be covering that face with a mask, but based on the sound of that voice, her age is definitely on the young side.
Finding a chair to sit down, Du Wei completely disregarded the fact that the hair pin was still tightly pinned against his throat.
âWhy?â Du Wei whispered, âAssassination is a job of skills. Since the first strike failed, you should have run as far away as possible and not be standing here to amuse meâŚ.. Are you that confidant in your ability? Or do you not even know who I am?â
âYouâre Duke Tulip!â The woman began to pant like she was in pain.
Du Wei frowned: âAre you hurt?â
Tipping slightly to the side, the womanâs body clearly had some problems.
âDo not ask!â The woman slowly pulls back a step and took the seat next to Du Wei. The women wore very little clothes to begin with and now that she is up close and leaning towards him, our lucky Duke here can get some good glimpses at those tabooed parts.
I know who you are, you are Duke Tulip! Throughout the entire northwest, the only one that can stand up to Rugaard is you!â Her threat sounded serious, but there wasnât enough intimidation.
âSo what?â Du Wei rolls his eye back: âYou want me to help you?â
âI want you to take me out of the city!â
Du Wei intentionally smiled: âYou kidding?! You only need to move a little and your entire body will turn into sandâŚ.. Such an amazing spell, why arenât you using it?â
âI ⌠⌠My spell cannot be used a lot, Besides ⌠⌠Itâs not like what you think!â This hot woman smiled warily: âThe one you saw during the day is a fake I created with my spell. I can use my clone for assassination, but I have no way to send my real body out of the city, understand?â
Du Wei chuckled: âSo whatâs this, a threat?â He looks at her with pity: âDo you think a silly thing like that can threaten me?â
âMy silver hair pin is coated with poison.â The womanâs voice turned cold: âYou may not die from a simple stab wound, but I guarantee you will not live long after being poisoned by my toxin.â
Du Wei became very happy in his laugh: âOh, thereâs also poison eh?â
He suddenly lowered his head to sniff the hair pin: âHumph, not bad at all. The aroma of Yeelay Flower masked the pungent smell given off by Dunmay NutsâŚ.. Ah, yes, there is also a hint of Malo Mushroom Powder mixed into the concoction, right? Hmm, looking at it in terms of potency, the toxicity is indeed very strong. What you said is true, I will most definitely die if you prick me with itâŚ.. In fact, you can even kill a horse or two if you wanted to.â
This woman seems to be taken by surprise over Du Weiâs speech. Although her face was still covered by the mask, but those eyes gave her away: âYou ⌠⌠Can smell it?â
Du Wei proudly laughed as he glanced at the girl: âHumph, how old are you? Your body sure grew wellâŚ. But that voice is too tender. Sixteen? Eighteen? Let me tell you. When you were still crawling in your diapers, I was already studying medicinal herbs.â
The woman became angry at his words: âNonsense ⌠⌠How old are you!â
Du Wei smirked and didnât reply. Technically heâs not lying because he did start his studies at the tender age of three. To say she was still in her diapers is not an exaggeration.
âEnough of your crap, are you going to agree to my demand or not?!â
Du Wei can feel the silver hairpin pressing in against his throat even further. Nevertheless, he didnât panic. Curling his lips into a sinister smile, his sight fell upon that explosive chest and sexy waist for a very long time without uttering a single word.
The female assassin was used to being stared at by dirty old men, but the gaze coming off from Du Wei somehow made her feel unusually uncomfortable, almost like her clothes were stripped away. Twisting her body to a more reserved position, she asked in an agitated voice: âYouâŚ. What are you looking at?!â
âLet me tell you a few things.â Du Wei sighed as raised his hand into a three finger gesture: âFirstly, I never yield to threats! If you had kneeled before me and beggedâŚ.. Or got naked to seduce me, I perhaps might have agreed to your demand. After all, among all the women I met, you are by far the sexiest one I came across. My god, what did you eat to grow those breasts, and that waist, damn! Secondly, I can forgive a mistake, but I cannot forgive âfoolishnessâ. From what I can see, you are of the ladder. People always say women are all chest and no brains, this phrase is a perfect fit for you! Those breasts of yours are certainly big enough, but sadly your brain is too stupid! ThirdlyâŚ.. Do you really think I would be so easily taken hostage by you? If I did, would I still be called Duke Tulip?â
The woman seems to be tongue tied by how angry she was.
Just when she wanted to do something, Du Wei looked up at the ceiling and casually said: âHey Semel, she is going to kill us soon. Are you really going to sit idly by and watch?â
The second his voice died down, the female assassin suddenly felt her hands going numb. Then without indication, the silver hair pin in her hand flew into the air and impaled itself into the ceiling board.
Slowly patting his sleeves, Du Wei casually stood up and faced the female assassin: âIâm really wondering what your IQ is right now. With your intellect, you dare come out to assassinateâŚâŚâ He shakes his head.
Wanting to rush up due to the insult, the female assassin suddenly found her body retrained by an unknown force.
Standing behind the girl, our red robed Semel stood there with a strange smile on her face: âIs it because you know Iâm around that you feel so unthreatened?â
Smiling in return: âOur lives are linked. If I die, you die!â
Semel grunted and disappeared into thin air.
âYou ⌠⌠Who are you talking to! Is there someone else here?â Unable to move her body, the female assassin revealed a trace of fear in her voice: In her view, Du Wei looked like he was talking to someone behind her, but when she turned her head around to look back, there was no one!
âQuit struggling.â Du Wei smiled: âYouâve been bound by an intermediate binding spell.â
Du Wei then leaned against the chair, his eyes full of enjoyment while looked at the girl before him: âNow then, I have a few questions I like to ask youâŚ. Remember, I donât like lies. Iâm a magician so I know if you are telling the truth. If your answers are satisfactory, I may consider letting you go, otherwiseâŚâŚ.â
From Du Weiâs face, a malicious smile emerged: âEvery lie you make, Iâll strip a piece of clothing from your body!â After he says this, his gaze rampantly ogled up and down over the girlâs body: âThereâs not much to strip anyways!â