Star Martial Era: The Way of Star Light Cultivation-Chapter 54 - 50 Why

While everyone was frightened, the man standing with the sword at the Pear Blossom Peak suddenly made a light leap, jumping down from a height of about ten meters, landing extremely fast, but upon touching down, his feet emitted a burst of starlight, allowing him to land smoothly.

The moment he landed, just as Xu Jin was hesitating about whether to blast him first with a Vortex Blade Emblem, the sword-bearing man suddenly threw forward a bloody head.

Everyone took one look and paused slightly in recognition.

This head looked somewhat familiar.

Upon closer inspection, wasn’t it Xiong Tiegun, who had previously fled?

Killed by this person right in front of them.

Xu Jin glanced at the sword-bearing man, then suddenly turned his head to look at Niu Gui behind him, only to see Niu Gui with a face full of joy.

“Flag Master Ji, how did you come?” Niu Gui had already thrown away the long saber in his hand and strode forward, intending to give the Ji surname man a bear hug.

The Ji surname man cast a glance at Niu Gui, hurriedly resisting, “Stop, stop, stop, look at all that blood on you!”

“Hahaha!” Niu Gui laughed heartily and went ahead to give the Ji surname man a bear hug, incidentally staining himself with some bloodstains.

“Here, let me introduce everyone, this is Ji Bochang, one of the five flag masters at Jinshan Taoist Institute.

Recently, he has been out executing missions to hunt evil demons; you might not have seen him,” Niu Gui said with a smile.

At these words, including Xu Jin, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

So it was one of their own.

Just now, they had all been scared stiff.

“By the way, Ji, what brings you here?” Niu Gui asked.

At these words, Ji Bochang’s expression grew serious, “The flag masters from the Tianyang Branch who were on the task with us dared to ignore military orders and leave the team privately.

Two were killed on the spot, one was captured, but two others managed to flee, their whereabouts currently unknown.

After contacting the governor, he communicated with Lord-lieutenant Lu, who helped tie up the manpower from Tianyang Branch.

This allowed Old Cui and me to leave the team and we’ve been tracking without finding them.

Following the governor’s orders, we first sought out your six teams to help resolve your issues.

After all, Jin Chi and Lin Lang, who left the team, were definitely heading towards you all.”

“You, Ji, why didn’t you come earlier?

We were just in a tight spot!” Niu Gui punched Ji Bochang with an old fist.

Ji Bochang could only smile wryly, “I just arrived after taking a shortcut over the mountain, and happened to encounter that Xiong Tiegun.

After killing him with a single sword strike, I arrived at the peak and saw you dividing the spoils, so I just made a little joke, haha.”

“It’s all good now.”

“By the way, everyone’s here, right?

No casualties or anyone dropping out halfway?” Ji Bochang continued to inquire, glancing over the team as he did so.

“No, everyone’s here.

We were lucky it was Xu Jin.

Otherwise, there could have been a complete annihilation.”

Niu Gui chuckled, pulling Xu Jin over, “I’ll tell you, if it weren’t for this young brother here, you would have had to face the music for sure when you returned.

My music.”

“Xu Jin, not bad at all.”

Ji Bochang looked at Xu Jin and nodded repeatedly, then suddenly stared at Xu Jin’s left hand, “You lad, why are you still clutching the Star Emblem, I’m not an enemy, am I?”

Xu Jin’s face flushed with embarrassment, “Flag Master Ji, it was just a moment of tension.

I forgot for a moment.”

“Put it away.”

Ji Bochang patted Xu Jin’s shoulder, “A Blade Wheel Emblem made by Yuchan is slightly more powerful than the average Three-Star tier Emblem.

It’s quite effective below the late period of Star Refining but not much use above that, so use it with care; it’s precious.”

Xu Jin nodded with a smile, putting the Blade Wheel Emblem into his chest, then turned around to continue arranging for the team members to divide the spoils.

But in that instant as he turned, Xu Jin’s eyes became exceedingly dark and brooding.

There was a problem!

Something was off about this Ji Bochang.

Xu Jin hadn’t given it much thought before, as Ji Bochang was a flag master of Jinshan Taoist Institute’s Star Patrol Guard, and Niu Gui knew him, seeming to have a good relationship with Niu Gui.

But something Ji Bochang said had just made Xu Jin exceedingly vigilant.

A Blade Wheel Emblem made by Yuchan?

Ji Bochang claimed that he had only just arrived after killing Xiong Tiegun, who had fled into the hills.

And before Xiong Tiegun had fled, Xu Jin had already killed Yue Chong using the Blade Wheel Emblem.

Right now, the Three-Star tier Blade Wheel Emblem in Xu Jin’s hand had never been revealed.

If it were possible to sense the presence to distinguish the tier and type of the Emblem, why hadn’t Ji Bochang sensed the Dawn Emblem in his own chest?

Xu Jin felt that, even if it were truly possible to sense it, at most one might sense the tier of a single Emblem, but to sense the specific Star Skill engraved within the Emblem through the air?

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That should not be possible.

“They claimed it was made by Ning Yuchan.”

“That means there’s only one possibility—all this points to the fact that Ji Bochang arrived quite early.”

“He had been there since we encountered Yue Chong and his group, watching the entire scene unfold, clearly and intently.”

“So why is he showing himself now?

What is he planning to do?”

Suddenly, a thought struck Xu Jin like a thunderbolt!

It was at this moment that Ji Bochang spoke again, “Brother Niu, since you’re all safe now, I need to hurry on to help the other teams.

Lend me a couple of your one-star warhorses, I must rush.”

“No problem.”

“Xu Jin, find two horses for Flag Master Ji.

The rest of us can make do sharing the others,” Niu Gui instructed.

Xu Jin complied alertly and ran over to the farthest warhorse, then suddenly exclaimed, “Brother Niu, come over and take a look at this horse.

Doesn’t it look injured to you?”

“Injured?

Let me see.” Niu Gui quickly ran over and leaned in close to the horse’s neck with Xu Jin, puzzled, as he saw no injury, but in that moment, Xu Jin’s voice, low and pressing, reached his ear.

“Brother Niu, how did he know that the Emblem I used earlier was the Blade Wheel Emblem made by Instructor Ning?”

Those words were like a bolt from the blue for Niu Gui!

Indeed, how did Ji Bochang know?

Niu Gui was more knowledgeable than Xu Jin about Emblems.

The aura of an Emblem is extremely subtle, undetectable when inactive, let alone identifying the Star Skill engraved within.

Even if handed over, one couldn’t recognize which Star Skill was engraved without infusing it with Divine Soul Power.

So how did Ji Bochang know?

There could only be one answer—he saw it!

If he saw it, it meant that Ji Bochang must have been there a good while.

He might have even witnessed the entirety of their battle.

Ji Bochang was lying!

But why would Ji Bochang lie?

Niu Gui was a veteran soldier.

A soldier who had emerged from fields of dead alongside Governor Tian Zhang, his mind was not that of an ordinary person.

In an instant, he thought of a possibility.

A touch of agony flickered in his eyes.

All these years of brotherhood, how could it…

“Get ready,” he whispered, “I still have one last Star Burst Pattern left.

He’s at the Star Refining Seventh Layer.”

After giving this brief instruction in a low voice, Niu Gui turned away from behind the horse, his expression back to normal, “This warhorse is indeed injured; I’ll pick two new ones for you.”

As he spoke, Niu Gui led over two more warhorses to Ji Bochang.

“Brother, if you’re in a hurry to rescue others, you’d better leave now.

Not every team has a three-star Emblem.

If you’re late, they might be completely wiped out,” urged Niu Gui, a hint of struggle lingering in his eyes.

“Indeed.”

Taking the warhorses, Ji Bochang glanced at everyone and said, “Oh right, the testimony.

Hand it to me to take with me.

It’s unlikely that more attackers will come after you, but it’ll be safer with me.”

“Here!”

Niu Gui handed it over without hesitation, pulling out a package wrapped in oil paper from his chest and giving it to Ji Bochang, “With you carrying it, it’s much safer.

With your protection, this mission will definitely be accomplished, and it won’t let down Governor Tian Zhang’s trust.”

Xu Jin could hear an underlying message in Niu Gui’s words, but Ji Bochang didn’t seem to catch it.

Ji Bochang’s attention was completely elsewhere.

Taking the testimony, Ji Bochang frowned and said, “Just one?

Brother Niu, you wouldn’t make such a big oversight, would you?

Shouldn’t there be two or three copies to be safe?”

“How could that be, there are three copies,” replied Niu Gui with a forced smile, though Xu Jin could tell that Niu Gui’s smile looked even uglier than tears at this point.

“Oh, who’s carrying the other two copies?”

After asking, Ji Bochang seemed to realize something was amiss and quickly added an explanation, “I’m just making sure.”

Smiling, Niu Gui pointed at the prisoners on the horseback, “One is on the prisoner, and one we’ve sewn under the horse’s belly.”

“Sewn under the horse’s belly?” Ji Bochang was taken aback, “You’re pretty clever to come up with that one.”

“Old horses know the way!

Even if we die in battle, these one-star warhorses will find their own way back to Jinshan County City,” Niu Gui explained.

“Indeed!

Which horse is it?

Let me have a look.”

Upon hearing this, Ji Bochang instinctively bent down to investigate the horses’ bellies, looking for the one with the testimony sewn underneath.

Niu Gui watched this unfold, tears rolling down in his eyes.

“Old Ji, why?

Tell me, why?”

Niu Gui asked calmly while suppressing his anger and sorrow with the first question and the following burst out like a tempestuous roar.