"Shut your mouth! Don't make unfounded accusations! I had such a deep relationship with my elder brother, how could I kill him? Dear niece, I feel so sorry for you since you found a boyfriend who doesn't understand the principles of decency!" Grover's face changed drastically as he leapt to his feet, slamming his hands down on the tabletop and roaring angrily.
His expression as usual, Han Shuo laughed lightly and glossed over the matter, "Everyone already knows this. Phoebe is the only daughter of the Guildmaster and should be the most qualified candidate to inherit the position of Guildmaster. If she were to be murdered, who would benefit?"
"When was it an outsider's turn to talk about the affairs of the Boozt Merchant Guild? Phoebe, you should keep this outsider who doesn't know what he's talking about in check." Grover glared viciously at Han Shuo as he turned to talk to Phoebe.
By this time, Phoebe had already calmed down from her earlier panic. She had always maintained a veneer of civility with Grover, but how was she to know that Han Shuo would have no qualms at all and would stand in sharp opposition to her from the very beginning, almost coming to blows with Grover in an instant, throwing all her plans into disarray? For a moment, she didn't know what to do.
However, just as Han Shuo and Grover were denouncing each other, Phoebe's thoughts turned and she felt that Han Shuo's actions were clear and decisive. Because of his actions, their attitude would be clearly displayed in front of the founding elders. It would also show the founding elders that she was not a weak person who was not willing to fight for her position.
Except that it was time to measure their gains and losses. Since Han Shuo had already made his position so clear, there was no way for Phoebe to save the situation, even if she wanted to. Immediately after Grover's words were cut off, she said confidently, "Indeed, Uncle Grover, I believe I have the qualifications to be a competent Guild Master."
"Although I have spent my days outside in recent years, Father has never relinquished his tutelage over me. The knowledge I have learned is also relevant to the running of the Guild. Father has arranged all this long ago. I hope you can support me, Uncle, and teach me where I am lacking. I am confident that I can take good care of the Guild.
"Good niece, your courage is commendable. However, a matter like this is not child's play. One misstep is enough to ruin the Guild forever. Uncle is a coward and cannot afford to take on such a responsibility. Since they had laid everything out, Grover no longer hid his intentions as he spoke with a darkened face.
At that moment, Andrew suddenly grabbed his stick and staggered to his feet. He spoke in a conciliatory tone, "There's no point in arguing any further. How about this... Why don't we let little Phoebe try it first? If after three months the Guild is still growing smoothly in her hands, then let Phoebe be the Guild Master. If not, Grover will continue. What does everyone think?"
Since Andrew had spoken, apart from the three founding elders who supported Grover, all the other founding elders had agreed. Andrew waited until they had all spoken before he smiled at Grover and said cheerfully, "Since the majority have agreed, let's do it. What do you think?"
Unwilling as he was, since the majority of the founding elders of the Guild had agreed, there was nothing Grover could do to change the situation. All he could do was grit his teeth and say resignedly, "Well, since that's the case, we'll do as you say."
Nodding, Andrew smiled, "Very well then. I have a few things to take care of, so I will take my leave. Ah, little Phoebe, I haven't seen you for so long. If you have nothing else to do, come to my house for a chat!"
"Sure, I just wanted to ask Grandpa about your experiences running the Guild!" Phoebe smiled weakly and stood up. She put down the wine glass, glanced at Han Shuo and walked out without even looking at Grover.
Han Shuo put down his wine glass and flashed a contemptuous, cold smile at Grover, who stared at him icily. He followed Phoebe out of the hall.
After leaving the guild, Phoebe looked around and saw that it was empty. She said quietly to Han Shuo, "Go back to my residence first. I'll hurry back after talking to Grandpa Andrew. We'll talk later!"
"Heh heh, little Phoebe, your friend is quite brave! He dared to argue with Grover in the hall, I think you have quite an eye!" Andrew stood at the side of his carriage as he looked benevolently at Phoebe and Han Shuo.
Her charming face blushing red, Phoebe looked at Han Shuo and whispered, "Be careful. Then she walked over to Andrew and said sweetly, "No way. You don't know how frustrating it is because he's so pudding-headed sometimes!"
Han Shuo didn't listen to their conversation any longer and didn't take the carriage that he and Phoebe had arrived in, but made his way to the northern part of the city on his own.
Since it was late at night anyway, there were almost no pedestrians on the street. When Han Shuo had just left the Boozt Merchant Guild, he didn't feel that he was in too much danger, but as he passed a street and entered an alleyway, he suddenly became alert.
His thoughts moved as three original demons were silently released from the back of his neck. As the Original Demons left Han Shuo's neck, they immediately took the form of the Nothingness and lurked in three different directions, leaving no trace in the darkness.
As if he had gained an extra pair of eyes, Han Shuo could clearly see not only the direction in front of him, but even the area behind and to the left and right of him. Refined by magical yuan, there wasn't the slightest bit of combat aura or magical pulse from the original demons. Under the state of nothingness, it was quite difficult for the human eye to detect any trace of them. As such, the departure and hiding of the original demons didn't startle anyone.
The Wind Adept Mage Ellis, whom Han Shuo had seen the last time, floated like a ghost behind Han Shuo. He hung silently and waited. Four assassins, dressed in black and wearing headgear, were also on the rooftops of the houses on either side of the alley. They walked silently, quietly following him and slowly closing in on him.
Startled, Han Shuo had not thought that Grover would be so bold. He had just left the guild when he made his move. It looked like Grover's hatred for him ran deep.
Han Shuo suddenly calmed down when it came to the moment of his survival. There were five of them. Apart from the wind adept mage Ellis, the other four weren't that weak either. According to the observations of the original demons, Han Shuo discovered that the four of them were divided into two warriors, a mage and an archer. If it weren't for the fact that the original demons could monitor their movements at all times, Han Shuo would be hard pressed to escape death.
However, with the addition of the original demons, Han Shuo still had no advantage, but he was not without hope of escaping. From Phoebe's descriptions, Han Shuo knew that there was a mansion up ahead that was the residence of the Imperial soldiers stationed here. Han Shuo had chosen to walk through this gloomy alleyway because of the mansion that lay before him.
As his mind raced, Han Shuo understood that these people could only move within the alleyway. Otherwise, once he made it through, they would lose their chance. The space ring glowed faintly as Han Shuo clutched the dagger in his right hand. His steps moved forward at a measured pace, neither too slow nor too fast, as he constantly monitored the enemy's movements through the observations of the original demons.
When Han Shuo finally made it to the centre of the alleyway, the five killers - including Ellis - seemed to think this was a good opportunity as their approach speed suddenly increased.
An extremely faint sound of an arrow whistling through the air suddenly fell within Han Shuo's hearing range. The arrow was unusually sharp as it flew straight towards Han Shuo, its momentum extremely fierce.
This arrow had come from a professional archer. The angle and tip were extremely brutal. If it hadn't been for the fact that Han Shuo had clearly observed his actions through the original demons, it was very likely that he would have fallen to the arrow on the spot.
His originally measured steps suddenly quickened, but he didn't rush forward, instead dodging to the left. The arrow shot past the corners of Han Shuo's clothes with a whooshing sound. He dodged the obstruction of Ellis' wind blades and dashed out of the entrance to the alley. Han Shuo had just left his position when the wall of fire came crashing down, sending sparks flying from where he had just stood.
No matter how they imagined things, they would never know that Han Shuo had already clearly seen their deliberately concealed tracks through the eyes of the original demons. They had thought it was a completely unexpected attack, but it had already been fully observed by Han Shuo. This was the reason why the exceptionally talented group of five had completely failed in their first wave of attacks.
"Don't let him leave the alley alive!" Ellis' soft voice was deliberately sharp and hard as it sounded at this moment.
The archer and the fire mage stood on either side of the rooftops of the alley. As Ellis' words were spoken, they made their move at almost the same time. The archer grabbed three arrows, tied them to his bow and shot them all at once with a whistling sound. They flew violently towards Han Shuo's forehead, back and thigh.
Another wall of flame suddenly formed in the direction Han Shuo was charging, blocking his escape and forcing him to take the long way around. Otherwise, it would be difficult for him to escape the funeral pyre of the flaming walls.
The two swordsmen who had just landed took advantage of the situation to quickly approach with their longswords. They were only about ten metres away from Han Shuo. Ellis' feet hovered above the ground as he quickly closed the distance from behind, obviously planning to keep Han Shuo here.
Tilting his body, Han Shuo changed direction once more, heading to the right. He planned to circle around the firewalls and rush out onto the road. Several wind blades whistled in, but it was all within Han Shuo's expectations. The dagger in his hand moved quickly as he sliced through five of them. However, three of them still sliced across his thigh and arms.
The fact that he was hit three times was due to the fact that Han Shuo knew that Ellis had sent Wind Blades there earlier, otherwise, if ten Wind Blades had connected to his vitals, it was likely that he would not have been able to take another step forward.
Struggling under the injuries to his thigh and arms, Han Shuo rushed out of the windblade ambush, dodging the firewall and flying arrows at the same time, and dashed to the entrance of the alleyway like lightning. He was about to leap out into the street.
At that moment, a most terrible wail pierced the still night sky. In the midst of running, Han Shuo used the original demons to discover that the archer's bow had been split in two and he was falling listlessly from the roof with blood at the corners of his mouth. Phoebe was standing where he had just been, a longsword in her hand, looking proud and majestic.
"Pho... Phoebe, you're a swordswoman!" Beneath the head covering, Ellis was so surprised that he forgot to modulate his tone and used his original voice to exclaim in surprise. He didn't speak to the others as his fast-moving body suddenly stopped. He turned abruptly and fled towards the back at an even faster pace.
Phoebe snorted coldly and didn't bother chasing after Ellis. After all, it would be difficult to catch up with a wind mage if he tried to escape. Waving her longsword in her hand, the majestic-looking Phoebe descended gently from the roof towards the two warriors. It looked like she was going to take care of those who were still around.
Han Shuo was about to rush out of the alleyway and was overjoyed to see Phoebe suddenly appear. He quickly turned around and opened his mouth to summon the little skeleton, running quickly towards the two warriors himself.
The little skeleton would not have been so useful when Han Shuo was fleeing for his life before. With the presence of Phoebe the swordmaster, Han Shuo had now turned from the hunted to the hunter. The small skeleton could, of course, make an appearance to kill enemies.
When the bone dagger wielding little skeleton appeared, it began to run quickly at Han Shuo's command. The seven bone spurs on its back waved as it shot towards the roof, trying to finish off the fire mage.
The fire mage was shocked as he had never thought that the small skeleton would be able to use its momentum to leap directly onto the roof. In his panic, he muttered an incantation as the wildly flaming wall of fire reappeared, blocking the small skeleton's path.
The little skeleton, however, paid no attention to the obstacle of the firewall and threw itself into it. It walked out, its body reddened by the fire wall, and arrived in front of the fire mage's stunned expression. The bone dagger in its hand danced as it turned the mage into a beehive.