Chapter 197: New Grievances and Old Resentments

"Gugu, gugu..."

Meiqiu, desireless and unseeking, continued to somersault in the outer room.

Xie Jinhuan neatly folded the clothes and bed sheets, opened the window to air out the room, and even brewed a pot of good tea, so that when his elder sister-in-law came up later, she wouldn't spot anything she shouldn't.

Before he could finish his fussing, he heard heavy footsteps approaching from outside:

Dong dong dong...

Filled with killing intent!

?

Seeing the situation was unfavorable, Meiqiu quickly hid in the inner room to observe secretly.

Xie Jinhuan set down the teapot, just about to take a look, when he found the door pushed open abruptly.

Hua la~

Then a black-clad female knight entered the room carrying her sword, diving straight at him.

Hu~

Xie Jinhuan felt this probably wasn't an impatient urge to continue pushing him, but he still opened his arms to catch her:

"Eh?"

Pong!

Nangong Ye pinned Xie Jinhuan onto the tea couch, her willow brows standing on end:

"When did you meet her? Why didn't you tell me?"

Her tone was just like an ice-cold female CEO catching a ruffian cheating, with the other party being a business rival...

Xie Jinhuan knew the two had a female rivalry; it was only natural for Seeing Bing Tuozi to be furious after being caught, so he explained:

"She said she was your senior sister and told me not to reveal it, or else she'd hold a grudge against me..."

"She told you not to say, so you hid it from me?"

"Your senior sister, how would I dare offend her? By the way, is she really your senior sister? I just subtly asked a moment ago, and you didn't say..."

Even though Nangong Ye was a hundred thousand times unwilling to acknowledge that demoness as her senior sister, at this moment she could only grit her silver teeth and nod:

"Yes."

Xie Jinhuan spread his hands: "Then there's truly nothing I can do. The eldest brother acts as the father, the eldest sister as the mother; if I offended your senior sister to death, how would I get along with you afterwards?"

"I and she are merely fellow disciples, with no affection between us..."

"I know. The Qingming Sword Manor competes with each other; only the most powerful person can become the Manor Master, and you and she are fighting for this. You two are fellow disciples, she told me not to meddle or interfere, so I couldn't meddle recklessly. I originally intended to pretend I'd never met her, completely unexpected that she would come looking. Fortunately, Meiqiu reminded me just now, otherwise it would have been all over..."

"Gugu?"

Meiqiu, peeking out from the doorway to observe, looked somewhat confused.

Seeing Xie Jinhuan's explanation of being caught between two difficult choices, Nangong Ye remained silent for a long time, and finally loosened her grip.

After all, that demoness had come to the door under the banner of senior sister, actually knew her, and instructed this child not to reveal it.

Even if this child was utterly ignorant of worldly customs, he had to consider the future impact; pretending not to have met her was understandable. The only problem was that she had led that demoness here!

"She followed you, and you didn't notice?!"

"I..."

Xie Jinhuan swore on the wandering ghost that absolutely no one had followed him when he returned; he had even tested several times. Deep in his heart, he didn't understand how Hua Shijie Hua had managed to track him down, so he recalled slightly:

"You just returned not long ago, and Hua Shijie Hua arrived. Could she have followed you here?"

"?"

Nangong Ye didn't know the demoness was at Sanjiangkou, so she wasn't overly guarded. They knew each other inside out; if the demoness calculated against someone who wasn't calculating, it was indeed possible she had followed her here.

Fortunately, Meiqiu was alert and discovered it early; if the door had been broken down during the watermelon pushing, she could have thrown herself into the river to commit suicide right then...

Thinking of this, Nangong Ye felt a bit of lingering fear and wanted to get up:

"I'm leaving. You take care of yourself."

"?"

Xie Jinhuan raised his hand and hooked Bing Tuozi's small waist, letting her continue to press down:

"Aren't you going to cure the poison?"

"I..."

Nangong Ye had almost been caught in bed committing adultery; how would she dare to continue staying here as a mistress accompanying the Marquis of Danyang?

But if she didn't cure the poison, how could she deal with the demoness at the end of the month?

If she couldn't win, she would lose both person and wealth; not only would she give herself away for nothing, but she would lose the Phoenix Feather Grass as well...

Wasn't this a deadlock on both sides...

Nangong Ye's expression was cold as frost and snow, yet she had nothing to say.

Xie Jinhuan knew what Bing Tuozi was worried about and comforted her softly:

"Curing the poison doesn't necessarily mean doing bad things. We'll just lie here like this and do nothing."

While speaking, he tossed a Fire-Adding-Oil Pill into his mouth.

And this medicine lived up to its name, simply adding fuel to the fire!

Nangong Ye lay on top of him, observing the rascal whose forehead was sweating yet whose expression remained calm, and wanted very much to harden her heart.

But wanting to cure the poison without giving anything in return meant the debt owed was all true affection...

Nangong Ye gritted her teeth for a long time, and finally said seriously:

"I promised you, so I won't break my word. You... you have Meiqiu stand guard outside so no one discovers us."

Seeing that Bing Tuozi insisted on giving, Xie Jinhuan naturally said no more, got up, picked Meiqiu up, placed her on the windowsill outside to act as a sentry, and then closed the window.

Ka da~

Nangong Ye sat cross-legged on the bed, silent; it turned out this rascal was quite gentle, sitting before her to comfort:

"Don't overthink it. If anyone comes, I'll definitely notice. Just focus on detoxifying." Nangong Ye had no other way; she closed her eyes and gave no response, then was pressed down slowly onto the chess bed, her breathing gradually becoming unsteady, her robe opening...

But after being tossed about for a moment, she suddenly remembered something, and with a backhand motion pinned Xie Jinhuan down:

"You promised me, today you cannot... cannot do that!"

Xie Jinhuan blinked: "Then you do it?"

"..."

Nangong Ye fell silent for an instant, crossed her arms to cover her ample bosom, and knelt on the bed. Realizing this youth looking down at her felt somewhat humiliating, she fetched a handkerchief and covered her eyes:

"You are not allowed to touch my face."

"Then I'll just do it myself..."

"Eh?!"

Nangong Ye hurriedly pinned this youth down, enduring her shame and anger as she slowly rubbed against him, only to have her chin lifted by this youth; even through the handkerchief, she could feel that proud gaze of appraising her beauty...

——

The Jiangzhou Gang's headquarters was located in the southeast corner of the county town. Dozens of gang members stood outside the residence; being an out-of-town faction, not many admirers had gathered nearby.

Deep within the residence was quite quiet. Xu Guanfu, over sixty years old, sat on the ground on a terrace, wearing a scholar's robe. His demeanor possessed a certain scholarly elegance typical of Jiangzhou's water towns; from his appearance alone, it was hard to tell he was the leader of the Jiangzhou Gang.

The Jiangzhou Gang originated as a guild formed by dockworkers and boatmen from major southern docks. Though at the bottom of society, their numbers were vast. Developing to the present day, their personnel were basically present at every dock and port along the southeast coast. Because they bordered the Southern Border's desolate region, secret exchanges were inevitable.

And the one cooperating with the Jiangzhou Gang was the Southern Border's Black Yan Gang.

The Black Yan Gang started as sea bandits, but no matter how fast they made money from plunder, it couldn't compare to stable trade routes. Now they had slowly become the largest smugglers in the Southern Border, smuggling salt, iron, medicinal herbs, and more via sea routes to the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

At this moment, Liang Yue, the second-in-command of the Black Yan Gang, sat opposite, speaking respectfully:

"The Phoenix Tomb last appeared sixty years ago; it seems a high-ranking expert from Northern Zhou obtained it. This year the Southern Border is extremely hot, with wild fires often burning the mountains in the Fire Phoenix Valley. The Gang Leader estimates that opportunity has surfaced again..."

Although Xu Guanfu ranked seventh in the martial arts world, his talent was limited, and he had already reached his limit. Without a great opportunity, he could never climb another level in this life.

The Black Yan Gang's intention was clearly to recruit Xu Guanfu as an assistant to seek the Phoenix Tomb.

But the Southern Border was treacherous. Xu Guanfu had a family and a business; rashly going out on a journey risked losing his entire foundation if anything went wrong. At this moment, he merely replied:

"Even Yan Gang Leader has no definite news. If I, Xu, go rashly and make a wasted trip, who will look after the halls under my command? Let's discuss this matter another day."

Liang Yue had come primarily to seize the Hu Gu Teng; recruiting an assistant was merely a secondary task. Seeing this, he said no more and chatted about other gang affairs.

But just as the conversation reached the halfway point, Hall Master Liu Wen walked from the corridor, bowing with clasped hands beside the terrace:

"Gang Leader, Gongsun Duan has been arrested by the imperial court."

Liang Yue frowned, his eyes alert:

"The Great Qian imperial court arrested someone at Sanjiangkou?"

Xu Guanfu also looked slightly puzzled. After all, Sanjiangkou was a martial arts alliance; although the scale was large, its nature was much like Wei Wu Yi hosting a birthday banquet or inviting friends to dinner.

The government office running over to arrest someone was surely smashing the venue. If Wei Wu Yi couldn't handle it, his martial reputation would drop significantly, turning him into 'Wei Wugu'.

"Who arrested him? What is Snow Eagle Ridge's reaction?"

"It is Xie Jinhuan, who is currently rising in Jingcheng. Li Gongpu and He Guozhang both fell to his hands. Holding the 'Demon-Suppressing Order', he declared Gongsun Duan a remnant of a demonic Daoist, broke his meridians, and dragged him away. After Snow Eagle Ridge learned of this, they said nothing, even instructing people to monitor the wind and rumors inside and outside the county town; it seems they want to suppress the matter."

Xu Guanfu frowned tightly:

"An Immortal Official seeking a demonic Daoist; Snow Eagle Ridge indeed cannot easily intervene. But Gongsun Duan is not a demonic Daoist. Did Xie Jinhuan arrest him right before your eyes?"

Liu Wen nodded: "He crippled Gongsun Duan right before my eyes and even reminded me not to fan the flames. Judging by his posture, if I dare spread rumors in secret, he dares to arrest me too."

Liang Yue had come from the Southern Border and was not very familiar with Xie Jinhuan. Hearing this, he found it hard to believe:

"The imperial court's hawks are this arrogant? They don't even treat the Jiangzhou Gang as humans?"

Xu Guanfu's expression also darkened several degrees as he replied:

"This youth's backer is an old immortal from the Hidden Immortal Sect, intimately connected with the Pill King, and has been ennobled by the imperial court as the Marquis of Danyang County. Not to mention the Jiangzhou Gang, even if one openly contradicts Wei Wu Yi twice, Wei Wu Yi would not easily step in to discipline them. Let's note this matter and discuss it later."

"Yes."

——

On the other side.

At midnight, a merchant ship sailed upon the river. There were no lights or fires on board; several boatmen patrolled the deck.

Below in the cabin, He Can squatted before an elderly man, asking solemnly:

"Mr., you seem to have some skill. Could you help calculate the fortune or misfortune of this journey?"

The old man was the Yin-Yang Master kidnapped from the suburbs of Jingcheng. At this moment, his hands were bound, his meridians locked, and his face full of sorrow:

"Your eyes tilt upward at the corners, hiding auspicious qi; your sleeping silkworms are full, concealing blessings. This is a long-life countenance. Thus, for you, this journey is mostly auspicious with little misfortune; for us, it is mostly misfortune with little auspiciousness."

"Mr. is indeed a high person. Being kidnapped by a demonic Daoist to serve as a human sacrifice is truly a waste of talent."

After He Can spoke, he looked at the black-robed monk meditating in the cabin:

"Did you hear? Even the fortune-teller says I have mostly auspiciousness and little misfortune, while you have mostly misfortune and little auspiciousness. You may not believe me, but you must believe fate. With just your dozen or so people, how can you break open the Corpse Ancestor Tomb?"

The black-robed monk sat in meditation with eyes closed. Hearing the question, he did not speak, but simply took a golden ritual implement from his sleeve.

The Yin-Yang Master glanced slightly, and his pupils contracted slightly:

"The Vajra Demon-Subduing Pestle? How could you demonic Daoists possess a Buddhist holy artifact?!"

He Can was also quite surprised: "I was saying how you dared to come dig up the Corpse Ancestor. But if this thing was lost, how could Monk Wuxin not have noticed? Doesn't this alert the snake?"

The black-robed monk closed his eyes, concentrated, and continued meditating:

"It is precisely because we did not alert the snake that the Buddhist sect will fall into the crosshairs of all. Whether we can dig it open or not is unimportant. As long as I strike with this chisel, Monk Wuxin will be no different from Master Sikong Shitang."

He Can came forward and squatted, examining the black-clad man closely:

"Do you even deserve to be compared to the Corpse Ancestor? Even if Master Sikong Shitang breeds a tiger for future harm, the Corpse Ancestor never saw a fellow disciple strike a senior teacher; otherwise, why call it the 'Wu Sect Uprising' and not the 'Demonic Daoist Uprising'?"

"Look at you again. You refine your own people immediately; Xie Jinhuan pretends not to see. What skill is it that you captured me? If you capture Xie Jinhuan to serve as a vessel for the Corpse Ancestor, wouldn't it be 'Human Emperor Riding Wu Zu', directly invincible..."

The man in black found He Can a bit noisy and stopped paying him any mind...

—

A-Guan normally writes eight hundred characters an hour; after finishing, she still has to delete a fifth of the nonsense. If she gets stuck on a single point, she explodes on the spot. She wrote from four o'clock yesterday morning until two o'clock this morning. She wanted to write a bit more, but the longer she stayed up, the less she could produce. She truly can't stay up any longer. She'll sleep for a while; the next chapter might not be available until this afternoon, or 2!

(End of this chapter)