Chapter 232: Pirate Duel (2)

Ao Tian shook his head, "Only those with silver hair are qualified to become the clan leader. Ye Mei is my younger sister, and she is the woman most likely to give birth to silver-haired descendants. They won't let her go."

Gu Yun wanted to say something else, but Ao Tian suddenly turned his back. His cold voice carried a faint helplessness, but he said with unusual firmness, "I have someone I must protect." His hand slowly tightened, his fingertips piercing deeply into the wound on his palm. She had a pair of clear, sharp eyes; pain could help him remember to be cold.

Protect? What a warm word. He was truly a good brother. Gu Yun remembered the time she drank freely with him under the night sky. The bounty hunter hailed as the best in Qiongyue caught criminals just to pass the time; he was so free and easy in the world back then. Now he had become a possessor of power, but he no longer had that freedom and ease. His lonely, proud back even carried a faint sadness.

People living in this world always had such helplessness and sadness! Taking a deep breath and masking the soreness in her heart, Gu Yun asked in a low voice, "Is your master Gui Yi?"

Ao Tian turned back and said urgently, "Are you not feeling well?"

Shaking her head and pointing to the two scars on her cheek, Gu Yun smiled, "I wanted to ask if he can heal the scars on my face?"

Scars? Ao Tian's face suddenly turned cold and terrifying. Gu Yun was slightly startled. What was he doing?

Ao Tian asked coldly, "Why do you want to heal your face?"

Gu Yun suddenly realized and guessed he might have misunderstood, so she hurriedly explained, "It's not that I want to heal it! It's my sister. Life in the palace is not easy for her, and I want to help her find a doctor to heal her face."

What was wrong with everyone? Even if she wanted to heal her own face, there was no need to be so surprised, right? The most pitiful one was Su Ling; everyone's first thought was that he disliked her...

Ao Tian stared at Gu Yun for a long time. After confirming she wasn't lying or forcing a smile, his expression slowly calmed down, and he replied in a deep voice, "I will tell my master."

"You just need to introduce me; I'll talk to him myself." She had heard that experts had strange quirks, and it would be bad if his master thought she lacked sincerity.

"He doesn't like seeing strangers." Ao Tian was clearly refusing. Gu Yun had no choice but to reply, "Alright then, thank you."

Su Ling's tall figure was walking toward them. Masking the pain in his eyes, Ao Tian said in a low voice, "Get some rest early." After saying that, he didn't wait for Gu Yun to react and turned to leave. His footsteps were even somewhat hurried. His lonely, proud back gradually blended into the night, only that silver hair remaining dazzling.

What—was wrong with him?

Gu Yun watched Ao Tian's departing back in a daze. Suddenly, there was warmth behind her, and a familiar scent surrounded her.

"What are you thinking about?" Following her gaze, Su Ling also saw that departing figure. Ao Tian had become the clan leader of Juling Island, so those endless pursuits should be over, right? If this man hadn't given up voluntarily, he would be his greatest opponent.

Gu Yun didn't answer and asked in a low voice, "How is Su Yu?"

It had only been a month, and Yu was so thin he was just skin and bones. Su Ling sighed, "I ordered someone to send him back to the Su Family ancestral residence overnight. I hope the clan leader can save him."

Turning back, Gu Yun comforted him, "Don't worry, he will be fine."

"Mm."

Su Ling held Gu Yun's hand, and the two walked slowly toward the camp, moving further and further away from that lonely shadow behind them.

The night was deep, and the tireless waves were still chasing on the beach. A clear shadow sat alone on the silver-white beach. The howling sea wind blew her black cloak, making it flap loudly. The woman gently stroked the small green snake on her wrist, her eyes full of coldness.

His eyes only held one woman, but it wasn't her. Even when he went to the ship to pick up his brother, he hadn't looked at her directly. Mu Cang smiled self-deprecatingly. It really was her own wishful thinking.

Retracting the smile at the corner of her lips, Mu Cang said coldly, "Why are you following me?"

With his arms crossed over his chest, Mu Yi chuckled, "To be able to recover the Spirit Stone and avenge your father's murder without any effort for just one tael of silver, Leader is truly smart."

"Get lost!" He still had the nerve to say that! She had spent a thousand taels of silver to buy the news of the Spirit Stone and her father's murderer from him, but he only told her that the people who snatched the Spirit Stone and killed her father were assassins from Juling Island. Assassins were just weapons; she wanted the mastermind behind the scenes. This damn man actually dared to say he didn't know! He pretended to be kind and said he would take them to find Juling Island, but after drifting at sea for a month, he hadn't found the way! She only hoped he would disappear from her sight quickly now!

Mu Cang stood up. Mu Yi didn't leave; instead, he circled in front of her, blocking her path, and smiled pretentiously, "Crossing the river and tearing down the bridge so quickly? Actually, you really want to help Su Ling wipe out the pirates yourself, right? After all, he did you a favor! Hey, if I had known five years ago in You Shan, I shouldn't have just focused on admiring a beauty bathing and forgotten to be a hero saving a beauty."

"What did you say!" Mu Cang's face turned pale, and deep horror flashed across her face, which had always been calm and waveless.

Her panicked appearance pleased him. Mu Yi continued to tease in a great mood, "If I had left you a cloak one step earlier than Su Ling back then, the person you couldn't forget now should be me." Back then, he and Ling had agreed to go to You Shan to drink together. He arrived half a day early and accidentally saw a woman boldly bathing in a hot spring alone. He was naturally happy to admire it. Later, a few young people came for an outing, and he was preparing to watch a good show. Who knew that Ling, who had just arrived, saw her looking pitiful and left her a cloak, ruining his good show.

He... he was actually there too! Mu Cang's limbs were cold, and blood rushed rapidly to her face. The hand holding the long whip was also trembling, and murderous intent ignited in her eyes. Mu Cang shouted in a low voice, "You're looking for death!"

The long whip lashed toward Mu Yi's neck without mercy. Mu Yi knew she would take action and immediately gathered his energy to leap back a step, dodging the aggressive long whip. "My Leader, if your temper were as good as your figure, I would be even more fascinated by you!" Leaving behind a wild laugh, Mu Yi ran toward Mao Cheng with incredible speed.

"Mu Yi!" Mu Cang chased him ten miles away, but he eventually ran away. A dull pain in her heart, she clutched her chest and walked back step by step. Humiliation and annoyance made her unable to breathe, and memories surged like a tide.

Mu Yi thought her first meeting with Su Ling was at the You Shan hot spring five years ago, but it wasn't. Her first meeting with him was ten years ago in Pei City. At that time, she wasn't even ten years old, and she was thin and short. That year, the Spirit Stone in the tribe had just been stolen, and her father was furious, thinking it was done by people sent by Qiongyue, so he fought a great battle with the Qiongyue garrison general. Since then, anyone wearing Yongmu tribe clothing entering Pei City would be arrested. She was too young and didn't understand anything, so she snuck out of the rainforest to play in Pei City. Who knew that as soon as she entered the city, she was discovered by the city guards and chased everywhere. When she escaped to the corner of an alley, she only felt her body lighten and immediately fell into a solid embrace. Before she could figure out what was going on, she was already sitting on horseback, wrapped tightly from head to toe in a cloak.

The person who saved her was Su Ling. At that time, he was still a young general, clear and unrestrained, and just as taciturn as he was now. After he sent her to the rainforest, he didn't say a word and rode away, leaving her only a back that she couldn't forget. If it weren't for that help, she wouldn't have panicked when she saw him again in You Shan. She had looked forward to seeing him again so much, but he didn't recognize her at all, only leaving her a cloak. At that time, her mind was occupied by the surprise of seeing him again and the disappointment of being ignored by him, which was why she hadn't noticed that damn man Mu Yi was also nearby. Thinking of this, she was so angry her teeth itched!

Mu Yi! You'd better not appear in front of me, or I will definitely tear you into ten thousand pieces!

The next day, in the main tent.

Su Ling sat in the seat of honor, and Gu Yun stood in front of the large desk, looking at the pirate formation map drawn yesterday. In fact, their formation changes weren't many; the main thing was that they cooperated very tacitly and had strong control over the ships. A group of big men were all waiting, and Han Shu and Qiao Linfeng were clearly already starting to lose patience.

Gu Yun looked up and saw that the seat by the door was left for Ao Tian, who was dressed in black. The reason he was here was that Qiao Linfeng felt only he could contain Mu Cang, so he invited him over. Gu Yun felt it was completely unnecessary. Although she hadn't fought Mu Cang many times, she was convinced that Mu Cang was definitely not someone who would go back on her word.

Just past noon, a report sounded outside the main tent, "General, Yongmu Clan Leader Mu Cang has arrived."

Su Ling replied loudly, "Invite her in."

The tent curtain moved slightly, and Mu Cang appeared in the tent as scheduled. She was followed only by Yan Ge. Seeing Ao Tian by the door, a look of annoyance immediately rose on Yan Ge's young face, fearing they would fight again. Qiao Linfeng hurriedly asked, "Can you tell us where the pirate den is now?"

Mu Cang walked to the desk and glanced at Gu Yun opposite her, complex emotions flashing in her eyes. Before Gu Yun could see clearly, she had already lowered her eyes, opened a cowhide scroll in her hand, pointed to one of the places, and said in a low voice, "It's here."

Gu Yun looked carefully. It was an exquisitely drawn reef distribution map, indicating the locations of large and small reefs in the reef group. Gu Yun was secretly astonished. She had actually drawn a reef distribution map. How long had she been in the East Sea?

Everyone was attracted to the desk by Mu Cang's reef distribution map, and after seeing it, everyone was amazed. Qiao Linfeng asked in surprise, "You—how did you do it?"

Mu Cang remained expressionless, and replied coldly in a hoarse voice, "All things have spirituality, and the sea is the same."

Spirituality? While everyone was still puzzled, a small green snake slid out from her sleeve, lazily flicked its tongue, and then slowly coiled around Mu Cang's wrist. Mu Cang gently stroked its head, and the small green snake obediently remained motionless. Qiao Linfeng secretly swallowed a mouthful of saliva. He didn't know about spiritual energy, but this woman looked full of evil energy no matter how he looked at her.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 233 =====