Chapter 454: Chapter 451: Returning to the Mu Country’s Grand Hall

Feng Hao and Yao Girl stood side by side next to the Mansa Vehicle, thanking the friends who had come to see them off one by one.

"Boss, what are we going to do after you leave~!" Fatty Zhang Meng wailed, a mess of tears and snot. He clung desperately to Feng Hao’s thigh and wouldn’t let go, even when Feng Hao tried to kick him away.

Feng Hao was utterly exasperated. He wanted to be angry, but the guy’s intentions were obviously good. Still, the whole situation was making him incredibly uncomfortable.

"Fatty, have some shame! Everyone’s watching!" Feng Hao said, exasperated. "Besides, I’m just going to the Grand Hall. If the three of you work hard at the Branch Hall, you should be transferred over soon enough."

Hearing this, Fatty finally stopped crying. He wiped away his snot and tears and nodded solemnly. "Don’t worry, Boss. After you’re gone, Mu Feng, Xiaoshan, and I will work twice as hard to get to the Grand Hall as soon as possible."

"Heh, that’s more like it!" Feng Hao nodded, gratified, and patted Fatty’s shoulder in encouragement.

At this moment, Bai Yin gracefully walked over from the side. She smiled lightly and handed over a Spatial Ring. "My master left in a hurry and didn’t take many things with her. I hope you can take this to her."

"No problem." Feng Hao gave a wry smile and readily accepted the Spatial Ring.

’Are you kidding? This stuff is for my master’s future wife. I have to take it to her, no matter what.’

’Then again, the Thief Master really is rash. It’s one thing to just whisk someone away, but he didn’t even let her pack her bags.’

After saying his goodbyes to his friends, his gaze finally landed on Xi Yueyao beside him.

At this moment, Yao Girl’s eyes were filled with reluctance. She looked around, puzzled, and asked, "Why isn’t my sister here yet? Did she forget?"

"Uh..." Feng Hao was taken aback, a strange look in his eyes. "Your sister already said goodbye to me with the Listening Stone. She’s not coming today."

"Is that so?" Xi Yueyao pouted doubtfully. Not dwelling on it, she turned to stare at Feng Hao, her eyes red. "You damn medicine-seller, you’d better miss me when you get to Mu Country, you hear?"

"Of course," Feng Hao said with a wry smile, stroking her head. "Don’t be sad, girl. We still have the Listening Stone, right? We can talk every day with it."

"Oh, right!" Xi Yueyao’s eyes lit up. She wrinkled her nose and said, "Then you should get going. Be careful, if I get into a mood, I’ll tie you up, and then you won’t be able to leave even if you want to."

"You little rascal!" Feng Hao good-naturedly tweaked her nose and turned to open the car door. "Alright then, this husband of yours is off."

"Go on, go on." Xi Yueyao turned her head away and gave a little wave. Suddenly, she remembered something and grabbed Feng Hao’s arm. "Right, take this with you."

She took out a palm-sized, dark gold disc from who knows where, engraved with complex and mysterious patterns.

"Is this... the Array Plate for the Sealing Array?" Feng Hao asked in astonishment as he took the metal disc.

"That’s right." Xi Yueyao raised her chin proudly and huffed, "This young lady is a natural genius. I’ve completely deciphered the Sealing Array. I made this Array Plate myself. Take it, you might find a use for it."

After getting confirmation, Feng Hao was overjoyed. He couldn’t help but cup Yao Girl’s small face and give her a big SMOOCH.

During the time Xi Yueyao was studying the Sealing Array, he had often watched from the side, learning a lot about array knowledge through osmosis. He also gained a deeper understanding of the Sealing Array’s effects.

’To put it simply: the Sealing Array was the perfect tool for traveling, robbing, and murdering!’

"Jerk, who said you could steal a kiss?" Xi Yueyao glared fiercely at Feng Hao, and then, under the stunned gazes of the crowd, she kissed him back.

After the kiss, she wiped her small mouth in satisfaction and muttered to herself, "Now we’re even."

Feng Hao broke into a smile, then turned to look at Xiaohai beside Yao Girl. He gave a stern warning, "Xiaohenzi, you listen to me. After I leave, Yaoyao is in your care. Got it?"

"MEOW~!" Xiaohai let out a meow, responding obediently.

Only then did Feng Hao relax. He resolutely climbed into the Mansa Vehicle, glanced back at Xi Yueyao and the crowd one last time, then started the vehicle and departed.

It was supposed to be a sad parting, but the vehicle had barely taken off when a message from Yao Girl came through the Listening Stone: "Medicine-seller, you miss me yet?"

"..." Feng Hao was left speechless. Any budding sentimentality was instantly swept away.

Afterward, it took a Herculean effort for Feng Hao to coax Yao Girl into a good mood.

The Mansa Vehicle sped all the way out of the city but was suddenly blocked by a group of people. Feng Hao stopped the vehicle and looked out the window to see it was Sub-Palace Master Lei Yun and a group of bigwigs from the Branch Hall. What surprised Feng Hao even more was that Brother Xiong, Xiong Tianfang, was also among them.

"Haha, after all that waiting, you’re finally here!" Lei Yun said with a booming laugh as he rushed forward.

Xiong Tianfang also stepped forward with a light laugh and greeted him, "Brother, been keeping well?"

"What are you all...?" Feng Hao stared at the group, completely dumbfounded. It took him a long moment to process the scene before asking with a strange expression, "Did the Thief Master send you?"

"Of course not." Lei Yun shook his head and laughed. "The competition for the Fifth Thief is a major event. As a Sub-Palace Master, I naturally have to attend. What’s more, you’re participating this time, so I have to be there to witness it."

Feng Hao nodded mutely. Lei Yun’s reasoning did make some sense.

"So, you’re going to escort me?" Feng Hao asked, looking reluctant.

Lei Yun laughed heartily. "Of course! You’re the pride of our Wolf Country Branch Hall. It’s only right that we escort you. Besides, the Root Cutting Cult is still causing trouble. We want to make sure you don’t run into any danger on the way."

Feng Hao opened his mouth, but could only nod helplessly in the end.

And so, surrounded by an entourage of the Branch Hall’s top brass, Feng Hao began his journey to the Grand Hall in Mu Country.

Xiong Tianfang went ahead and sat in the Mansa Vehicle’s passenger seat, chatting and shooting the breeze with Feng Hao along the way.

"Looking at you now, Brother Xiong, it seems you’re doing pretty well for yourself," Feng Hao teased while driving.

"Hah, isn’t it all thanks to you, my brother?" Xiong Tianfang said with a faint smile. "The Wind Clothing Store’s business has been booming lately. On top of that, Minister Qian is completely focused on setting up that entertainment company, so I’m completely swamped."

Feng Hao gave a wry smile, then asked, "So why are you going to the Grand Hall this time? Just to see me become a Thief?"

"That’s only one reason. The main thing is that the Wind Clothing Store’s business has attracted the high-level attention of the Grand Hall. I’m just taking advantage of your competition to go report on my work ahead of time."

"Really?" Feng Hao exclaimed in pleasant surprise. "Does that mean you’re about to make it big at the Grand Hall, Brother Xiong?"

"Hehe." Xiong Tianfang gave a simple, honest laugh, tacitly confirming it. "When the time comes, we two brothers can work together again."

"No problem." Feng Hao agreed without hesitation. ’Are you kidding me? He had a share of the profits from the Wind Clothing Store. As long as the store could be made bigger and stronger, that was his key to striking it rich. He would never refuse such a great opportunity to make money.’

...

With Lei Yun and a group of the Branch Hall’s top brass as an escort, there was naturally no danger on the road.

And just like that, Feng Hao had a smooth and uneventful journey to the Thief God Hall’s Grand Hall on Overlapping Shadow Mountain in Mu Country.

Arriving at the Grand Hall once again, Feng Hao felt a wave of emotion. Past memories came flooding back like an open dam, scenes from the preliminary Thief selection flashing through his mind.

As the Thief God Hall’s most important event, the competition for the Fifth Thief was exceptionally grand. The heads of all the major Branch Halls had come to watch and jointly witness the birth of the new generation’s Fifth Thief.

Shortly after arriving at the Main Peak Hall, Lei Yun and his group of Branch Hall bigwigs began discussing work with the heads of the other Branch Halls.

They called it "discussing work," but it was really just a bunch of big shots bullshitting each other, showing off their own Branch Hall’s recent developments and achievements.

And thanks to Feng Hao’s rise, Lei Yun was able to stand tall for the first time. He couldn’t go three sentences without mentioning Feng Hao, endlessly boasting about how outstanding he was, to the point that Feng Hao himself started to have an existential crisis.

As for Xiong Tianfang, he had gone off early to report to the Grand Hall’s Artifact Refining Department.

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