Chapter 143

Aqing took Sister Xi Shi and turned away.

"Qingmei, won't you kill him?" Sister Xi Shi asked, puzzled.

Though gentle and kind, she could not tolerate Yuan Yuan Yuan Suiyun, a monster devoid of humanity, and felt boundless loathing within.

Aqing smiled faintly: "After he finishes what I've tasked him with, his life will end naturally."

Sister Xi Shi froze at these words, then nodded silently.

She did not ask how Aqing had done it, because even if she asked, she wouldn't understand.

The methods of a demi-god are never too miraculous.

The two women traveled together, planning to pass from Jin into Yu, then head to Ezhou's Mount Wudang.

No more than ten li along the road, eleven riders suddenly approached from afar, the lead girl letting out a delighted cry.

Just as Aqing and Sister Xi Shi moved to clear the path, the dusty eleven riders halted at a distance.

Then, the girl in pink silk robes, followed by her ten subordinates, hurried forward.

As the distance closed, the pink-robed girl swiftly sized up Aqing and Sister Xi Shi, her gaze finally settling on Aqing's green bamboo staff.

In an instant, a flash of lightning seemed to strike her mind.

The pink-robed girl's pupils contracted, then her beautiful eyes blazed with radiant joy, her exquisite face glowing with uncontainable delight: "This humble maiden, Zhao Min, greets Miss Aqing!"

Aqing, surprised that this stranger had come for her—and even knew her name—asked: "Do you know me?"

Zhao Min smiled faintly, about to speak, when suddenly Aqing's brows furrowed slightly, her gaze growing colder.

Zhao Min's heart lurched.

"I hate the way you look."

Aqing spoke coldly, then raised her green bamboo staff and pointed it at Lu Lu Zhangke.

Just as she had once pointed at the King of Yue.

Zhao Min: Now that I have Sister Aqing, what is the Demon Master to me?

A great sense of peril gripped Lu Lu Zhangke, who had been staring intently at Sister Xi Shi—his face turned ashen with terror!

He tried to dodge, but suddenly found his limbs unresponsive; he stood frozen, helplessly watching the green bamboo staff rise—slowly—and then…

Point at him through the air.

Without any Qi fluctuation, a blood hole suddenly appeared on Lu Lu Zhangke's forehead.

His expression of horror froze in place, his pupils rapidly dilated, and his life force vanished in an instant.

With a dull thud, his corpse collapsed heavily to the ground.

The nine behind Zhao Min were stunned.

Then, a chill swept over them; the Eight Arrows of Divine Bow were icy with dread, staring at Aqing in terror, not daring to move.

Afraid that any motion might draw her attention—and another staff-point.

"Brother!"

A cry of furious grief rang out as He Biweng bent to embrace Lu Lu Zhangke, only to find him dead; he whirled toward Aqing, his violent Qi surging uncontrollably.

Seeing his intent to attack, Zhao Min sharply ordered: "Stand down!"

"Your Highness!"

"I told you to stand down!"

Seeing Zhao Min's stern expression, He Biweng gritted his teeth; though unwilling, he obeyed and stepped back.

In the story of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, Zhao Min relied heavily on the Yin-Yang Pair and respectfully called them "Master Lu" and "Master He."

But in reality, Zhao Min was a registered disciple of the Demon Master Pang Ban.

Though Pang Ban had never taught her anything, she was still officially listed as his disciple.

Meanwhile, the Yin-Yang Pair's master, the Hundred Damage Daoist, was merely one of the many elite under the Demon Master's domain—his status fell short of Zhao Min's.

Thus, the Yin-Yang Pair dared not defy Zhao Min's orders.

The Eight Arrows of Divine Bow, seeing He Biweng's reluctant expression, secretly held their breath for him.

That dim-witted Second Elder He—he truly has no sense! Can't he see the gap between enemy and ally?

The Princess is saving you, yet you wear that expression—it's truly ungrateful.

Seeing He Biweng carry Lu Lu Zhangke's corpse far away, the Eight Arrows of Divine Bow exchanged glances; without Zhao Min's command, they silently followed.

They longed to put as much distance as possible between themselves and Aqing.

Sister Xi Shi watched as Aqing's face, rarely showing anger, darkened; she sighed softly: "Qingmei, why must you do this?"

Aqing replied: "The way he looked at you reminded me of the King of Yue."

The King of Yue…

Sister Xi Shi's expression grew distant; she said no more.

Zhao Min understood.

So Lu Lu Zhangke died simply for staring too long at a woman.

But Zhao Min had to admit: Sister Xi Shi was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen—even her own famed beauty paled before it.

No wonder Lu Lu Zhangke, a man obsessed with lust, couldn't look away the moment he saw her.

But he was simply unlucky—he met a force beyond his reckoning.

That one glance became his death sentence.

Lust carries a blade above its head—he brought this upon himself; no one else is to blame.

Zhao Min immediately bowed in apology: "This humble maiden failed to discipline her subordinates and offended the two ladies; please forgive me."

Aqing blinked: "I killed your subordinate. Aren't you angry?"

Zhao Min replied calmly: "There was cause. There is no reason to be angry."

Ah Qing gave a slight nod of her lovely head, then asked, "You came looking for me? You seem to know me?"

Sister Xi Shi sized up Zhao Min, then smiled faintly: "A copy of the diary."

Prompted by her words, Ah Qing also caught on: "Right, you said your name is Zhao Min. You're the one who drew the reward some time back, aren't you?"

Zhao Min nodded, then explained how she had followed the "guidance of opportunity" all the way here to find the two of them.

In her telling, she did not mix in a single lie.

No false words before a true person—Zhao Min's instinct told her that, facing the one before her, honesty was the best choice.

"The 'opportunity' the system reward guided you to—was me?"

Hearing this, Ah Qing was both startled and felt a curious novelty.

But then she grew a little conflicted and troubled: "But… I don't seem to have any gift to give you either."

Seeing how easy to talk to Ah Qing was, Zhao Min's heart leaped with joy, and she hurriedly said, "I wish to take Miss Qing as my Master. I hope Miss Qing will teach me."

Ah Qing was taken aback by the words: "You want to learn martial arts from me?"

"Yes."

"But… I don't know how to teach."

This was no excuse or deflection on Ah Qing's part.

Back then, at Fan Li's invitation, she had taught swordsmanship to the sword-bearers of Yue, but she had never Found the method, so she simply sparred with them and let the Yue sword-bearers imitate her sword moves.

As for whether they could learn anything, or how much they could learn, she had no assurance at all—it all depended on them.

And in the end, those Yue sword-bearers could only catch a faint shadow of her swordsmanship.

Because of this, Ah Qing had always felt she was not a good teacher.

Still, Zhao Min had traveled thousands of miles to seek her out, and to let her go back empty-handed left Ah Qing feeling truly uneasy.

After thinking for a while, her eyes suddenly lit up: "How about… I teach you the way Old White once taught me, alright?"

Old White? Who was Old White?

The question flashed through her mind, but now was not the time to ask such things. Zhao Min quickly agreed: "Thank you, Master!"

Ah Qing shook her head: "I don't take disciples. Let us address each other as sisters."

Zhao Min, hearing this, did not stand on ceremony. She familiarly stepped forward, took Ah Qing's arm in hers, and beamed sweetly: "Sister Qing!"

Though Ah Qing had lived several hundred years, she still had a maiden's heart. Seeing that Zhao Min's looks and bearing were both excellent, she liked her very much too, feeling they were remarkably well-suited to each other.

Zhao Min was equally uncontainably happy.

She had never imagined that the system's reward would actually guide her to Ah Qing!

What sort of person Ah Qing was, she of course knew, having read the diary.