Chapter 4077 Only Recognizes the Waist Badge, Not the Person

My body slid down rapidly, and a sharp pain shot through my ankle, as if something had torn my flesh and injured my bone.

Fortunately, I reacted quickly and grabbed a thick tree trunk with both hands as my body slid down, stopping the rapid descent. However, my ankles hurt even more.

Without thinking, I reached into the Dragon Tiger Mirror, pulled out the Heavenly Swamp Spear, and stabbed it fiercely into my ankle.

It felt like something had been severed, and my ankle suddenly felt much lighter. When I looked at the disheveled Taoist priest, he had also grabbed a tree trunk and unleashed a Cloud Blade, severing the thing that was binding his ankle.

Just as the slovenly Taoist priest and I finished our work, my gaze inadvertently fell once again on the small wooden house not far away.

So, we've been pulled back to where we started.

But this time was different. The cabin door opened, and a person dressed in all black, with a full head of black hair covering his face, sat in front of the cabin. I couldn't even see his face.

At this point, the slovenly Taoist priest and I no longer needed to remain invisible; we had already been discovered.

The person who found us was the disheveled man in black sitting in front of the wooden house.

"You two have come without even a greeting. Isn't that a bit impolite?" the man in black said in a gloomy tone from about ten meters away.

"Excuse me, is it too late for me to say hello now? After I've said hello, you go about your business, and we'll go about ours. Goodbye," the slovenly Taoist priest said in a cheeky tone.

After saying that, the slovenly Taoist patted my shoulder, signaling me to continue climbing.

This kid's got some nerve. If we can't get past the man in black, we'll never be able to move up. Now, leaving isn't going to be that easy.

"Wait a moment..." The man in black was quite polite. He waved his hand and then said, "Anyone who can come to Zhaoyao Mountain is definitely not an ordinary person. Given the defenses around Zhaoyao Mountain and the cultivation levels of the two of you, you absolutely could not have made it this far. Tell me, who exactly are you? What is your purpose in coming here?"

This man in black is quite something; he can tell we're not simple. The slovenly Taoist priest's eyes darted around, and he could spout any lie he wanted.

He cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "You're not bad, you know we're not simple people. To tell you the truth, the King of Guanxiong Kingdom sent us here. Our purpose is to see if you guards of the Zhuoyao Wood have stolen anything. If you know what's good for you, quickly make way for us. When we return and meet the King, we'll naturally say a few good words for you. If you insist on blocking our way, be careful you don't lose your head."

This conman goes around swindling people wherever he goes, but there's some truth to what he says.

The man in black was taken aback for a moment, then said with some fear, "Are you really sent by the King? Your Excellencies are wise. I have been diligently guarding the Swaying Tree for decades. Apart from what is rightfully mine, I have never dared to touch a single leaf on the tree."

As he spoke, the man in black bowed towards us.

This man in black is really easy to fool; he actually believed whatever the slovenly Taoist priest said.

"His Majesty was worried that you were hiding the leaves of the 'Switchwood' tree, and he was always concerned about you, so he sent us here secretly to check. How dare you lay a hand on us? Are you tired of living? Tell me quickly, did you or didn't you hide the leaves of the 'Switchwood' tree?" The slovenly Taoist priest raised his voice eight octaves.

"Your Excellencies are wise, I truly have not hidden any leaves of the 'Swish Tree' without permission. If you do not believe me, you may come in and search." The man in black stood up in fright and pointed towards his wooden hut.

"Alright, alright. You don't seem like the kind of person who would hoard the leaves of the Swaying Tree. We'll report to the King when we get back. We've only recently started serving the King. Let me ask you, how many people are guarding the Swaying Tree up here?"

This con artist continued to outsmart the man in black, and I couldn't help but want to laugh.

The man in black hesitated for a moment, then suddenly asked instead of answering, "Since you two are imperial envoys sent by His Majesty, do you have His Majesty's identification token? Please show it to me."

Hearing the man in black say that, I thought to myself, "Oh no, we don't have the king's waist token."

He originally had the Empress Dowager's waist token on him, which he gave to Kasang. Kasang has probably already infiltrated the capital and is causing trouble.

If we had the Empress Dowager's waist token, we might have been able to fool her, but unfortunately we don't.

We do have the waist token given to us by the prince, but it's useless right now. If we take it out, wouldn't that harm the prince and prevent us from getting anything done?

The disheveled Taoist waved his hand and immediately said, "We came in a hurry, and the King didn't give us any waist tokens. He just told us to go up to the 'Swinging Wood' and report back to the King as soon as possible. Alright, I won't argue with you anymore. We two still need to go up there to take a look. You should rest."

Before long, the slovenly Taoist priest patted me on the shoulder, signaling me to hurry up and climb up.

With that slovenly Taoist priest around, it certainly saved us a lot of trouble.

As the disheveled Taoist priest and I were climbing up, the man in black suddenly said in a deep voice, "Wait a minute. Even if you don't have the King's waist token, you should at least have your own, otherwise how will you prove your identities?"

"How dare you doubt our identities! I think you have a death wish. When we get back, we'll report to the King and take your dog's life!" the slovenly Taoist priest roared.

"I only recognize the badge, not the person. If you can't produce it today, don't even think about taking another step forward." The man in black sneered, his figure blurred, and he leaped into the air, actually appearing in front of us.

Only then did I see clearly that the man in black had some transparent threads on his body, as thin as fishing lines, hanging from the swinging wooden frame, allowing him to move quickly. The threads that had wrapped around our ankles must have been these tiny threads.

The slovenly Taoist priest knew he couldn't fool me anymore, so he called out to me, "Old Wu, get him!"

After saying that, the slovenly Taoist waved his hand and directly threw two Cloud Blades at the man in black. The man in black swayed and quickly dodged. The Cloud Blades made two holes in the swaying wood, from which red juice flowed out, as sticky as blood.

The man in black snorted coldly, and a magic sword suddenly appeared in his hand: "I knew it. You were impersonating the king's guards and here to plot something. Very well, I'll kill you two!"

As he spoke, the man in black moved swiftly, wielding his magic sword and lunging at me and the slovenly Taoist priest.

(Keep voting, goodnight everyone.)