Today, I was accompanied by Kong Xia, who was at the Consummate Cloud-Swallowing Realm. After we boarded the carriage and traveled for a good while, I observed and listened intently, even using my Illusory Vision to check, yet I still found no trace of the stalker Gu Shuguan had mentioned. Kong Xia found nothing either. It seemed this was another extremely difficult opponent to handle. Kong Xia suggested, "It’s not that I’m afraid of trouble, but since we’ve detected them early, the risk of you being harmed is not worth the gain. Should we turn back, Madam?"
I smiled. "My Eldest Senior Brother has been at the shop since yesterday; going home would only mean a few more hands, and none possess your level of cultivation, Sister Xia. Besides, we are heading to the Yingzhao Temple headquarters. If they dare to strike there, we can simply let the officials do the work of catching the thief for us. Wouldn't that be easier?"
Kong Xia laughed as well. "Let’s hope the people in the yamen are actually useful."
Though we spoke this way, we both knew it was mostly a jest. A villain wouldn't be foolish enough to strike on Chongming Street. Nevertheless, I notified Luo Cheng, putting the shadow guards on standby, and the three of us remained vigilant. If this person’s stealth illusions were completely impenetrable even to me, it meant their cultivation level far exceeded mine. However, this silent tailing style didn't quite match Xia Ji. Surely another one of my "uncles" hadn't turned up...
I pressed the Dark Jade Wine Flask Lu Lingfeng had given me. With this ghost at the Early Mist-Eating Realm as a fallback, I wouldn't be as pathetic as I was last time.
It was the hour of Chen, and the Yingzhao Temple yamen was bustling with people. Luo Cheng escorted me off the carriage and into the office where Chu Jiangheng was stationed. Manager Qin was already inside, accompanied by a richly dressed young gentleman—likely someone from the Dayou Chamber of Commerce. Chu Jiangheng sat with a cold face, eyes downcast as he wrote in a dossier, completely ignoring the man. The gentleman, however, was unhurried, sitting to the side with a faint smile as he chatted with Manager Qin. When I entered wearing my veil, the young man glanced over, his face lighting up with a look of stunned admiration. His smile deepened, clearly thinking himself suave and elegant—another ignorant, flower-chasing dandy.
Naturally, I ignored him and greeted Lord Chu. His attendant found the documents and handed them to me. After checking them thoroughly for errors, I picked up a brush and signed my name. The gentleman actually had the gall to stand up and lean in, making a show of reading my name aloud: "Su Zhenzhen. Is that from the line, 'Pitying you, Susu; thinking of me, Zhenzhen'?"
A surge of irritation rose within me. I replied coldly, "You should read more books, young master. To learn a few lines of shallow Song poetry and dare to flaunt them in public is enough to make the ancients die of laughter." The origin of my name "Zhenzhen" predated the Song Dynasty; it clearly came from the Tang writer Du Xunhe's *Notes from the Pine Window*. To not even know that, yet have the nerve to open his mouth!
These words were a massive slap to his face, and coming from the mouth of a "lowly concubine" of the demon race, even Manager Qin felt the sting of embarrassment on the man's behalf. He looked faintly angry but knew I was a prickly one to deal with and didn't dare erupt. The gentleman, however, wasn't annoyed at all. His smile only deepened, and he even tried to bow and ask for my guidance. Chu Jiangheng cut him off with a cold, hard prompt: "Young Master Li, complete the paperwork first. Save the idle chatter for outside."
Hah. That look of disgust from Lord Chu—was he blaming me for "seducing" people and defiling his lofty, serious office?
I sneered inwardly, gave a perfunctory salute, and turned to leave. That man surnamed Li tried to follow, but Luo Cheng and Kong Xia both blocked him with icy glares. He watched my retreating figure with lingering longing for a long time before finally turning back to sign the documents.
As Kong Xia and Luo Cheng were about to comfort me and tell me not to be angry, I laughed. "If Lord Wei found out, this brat might lose his life. Consider it my mercy that I don't settle scores with him."
Luo Cheng knew I didn't want Wei Qingming to come back from her exhausting work only to get angry over such a trivial matter. He nodded, taking the hint not to report it. "That man is the youngest son of President Li of the Dayou Chamber of Commerce, named Li Zizhuo. He only started handling business matters in recent years and acts quite recklessly. It is your magnanimity, Madam, that allows you to forgive him."
I made a mental note of the name but mocked him aloud: "His name 'Zhuo' is supposed to mean 'to wash in the Canglang River,' but even the mud in the river is cleaner than him. He should be called 'Li Zizhuo'—the Muddy Son."
Because we were wary of the unknown stalker, we stuck to the main Imperial Way. We remained highly alert until we entered Yongzhao Ward, where everything seemed to be going smoothly. Just as Kong Xia and I were about to breathe a sigh of relief, an incredibly frigid, piercing aura of snow seeped through the carriage curtain. I immediately activated the Dark Jade Wine Flask I had been clutching, releasing the malevolent ghost to barely block the newcomer's strike.
The person's heavy blade clashed with the ghost's claws; they were actually evenly matched. The violent blade qi shattered the carriage. Kong Xia protected me as I used my movement technique to fly back several yards.
Luo Cheng and over a dozen shadow guards surrounded the person, preparing to use their various techniques to kill them. However, I had already seen the person's face and hurriedly shouted, "Wait! Don't move!"
I saw a massive, pitch-black ghost form, two stories tall, shielding a petite, snow-white figure. It was actually He Hong... Seeing her small, expressionless face as usual, I pointlessly felt that her white clothes didn't quite suit her. She should still be wearing that orchid robe of the Tianjun Sect that she’d worn for ten days straight, the one that was so torn she didn't even know how to change or mend it...
He Hong was actually the first to sheathe her blade. She spat out two words coldly: "Wei Qi."
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Did she mean she was looking for the Lord Leader to avenge her previous defeat? I couldn't be sure if that was really her goal, so I could only ask, "You're looking for her?"
"She... told me... find you."
I was even more confused. "You've seen her? Do you have a letter or proof on you?"
She seemed to finally remember that such a thing existed. She reached into her robes and pulled out a crumpled envelope, tossing it to me.
This girl truly had zero sense of etiquette. I felt a pang of distress as I smoothed out the letter to read it. Seeing Lord Wei’s beautiful calligraphy ruined by her crumpling, I thought indignantly that such letters were treasures! If they were unearthed a thousand years from now, they would be enshrined in an ancestral hall for worship or made into rubbings for calligraphy practice. What right did she have to wad it up and stuff it in her bosom!
The future heirloom letter didn't contain much idle chatter. Wei Qingming simply said that He Hong was trustworthy and had been subdued by her. Knowing I was in danger, she had sent her from thousands of miles away to guard me. What was interesting was that she had renamed her "Xuesu." Thinking back to how the Lord Leader had killed her in one move during the tournament—wasn't it precisely with those "rustling" (xuesu) rolling grains of snow and ice? I fully believed this was my partner's scheme now; she was quite the prankster.
The letter was dated only two days ago. Calculating the time, the letter I had written to her must have just reached her hands then. Generally, our letters traveled between the two capitals via the Yingzhao Temple network. Unless an emergency protocol was used, a one-way trip took three days. Lord Wei would surely explain the details in the letter that hadn't arrived yet. This girl Xuesu truly lived up to her demi-god physique; she was faster than the mail... It was also lucky that the Lord Envoy had anticipated this and given her a backup letter, otherwise, a fight today would have been the joke of the century.
I cherished the letter, smoothing and folding it carefully before tucking it away. I asked Xuesu, "Since you're a bodyguard, why did you attack me?"
"You... still so weak," she replied expressionlessly. Apparently, she just wanted to test my depth. It also meant Lord Wei had explained my identity to her, knowing I was one of the "small fry" she had beaten during the Tianshan Meeting...
I said with a beaming smile, "Weak is fine. I'm not as good as you, yet you have to listen to me. Doesn't that make you a little angry?"
To my surprise, the cold lolita's "bun-like" face actually twitched, and a hint of steam seemed to rise from her—she looked genuinely huffy as she clicked her blade back into its scabbard. I was even more delighted. I hadn't expected my random jab to hit the mark; this girl really only obeys those stronger than her, doesn't she?
Lu Lingfeng happened to be near the courtyard gate, and she and Xuesu stared at each other. Zhu Yixin and I laughed until our stomachs ached. At first glance, the two of them looked like twins—both in white, both with cold temperaments. Lu Lingfeng was strange and laconic enough, and now here was another one even more silent and bizarre...
Unexpectedly, our Second Senior Sister looked at her for a long time, then frowned and tugged at her sleeve, holding out a small snow sculpture: "My snowman is melting."
The snowman had a crooked mouth and slanted eyes; it looked grotesque, perfectly matching Lu Lingfeng's taste. Even with magic reinforcement, how could it not melt when she kept it tucked in her sleeve! Zhu Yixin and I exchanged a look, both thinking: *Such an ugly thing is better off melted...*
Xuesu said nothing. She waved her hand, and the snowman was restored to its original (ugly) state. The two of them became friends instantly. Lu Lingfeng, who was half a head taller than Xuesu, led her to the backyard like a little sister to show her more of her "icy masterpieces"...
The next day, Wei Qingming’s long letter finally arrived. She spent three whole pages just comforting me, and even swore to the heavens that she would tear Xia Ji and the person behind him into ten thousand pieces and scatter their ashes. When she wrote that part, her handwriting lost its usual stability, becoming extremely fast and sharp, her ruthlessness evident on the page. But in the next moment, her tone turned gentle, saying everything was fine on her end and I shouldn't worry. If the plan went smoothly, she would be back before the Minor New Year.
The few words about Xuesu were quite amusing. It turned out she wasn't a Tianjun Sect disciple at all. The "Number One Sect in the World," where everything was solved with money, had specifically bought her to make up the numbers for two Consummate Cloud-Swallowing experts—all to suppress the Wujing Sect and seize the title of Leader. She originally had no name, so they had casually given her the surname of the Tianjun Sect’s founding clan and called her He Hong. She had been raised by a rogue cultivator in the Star-Plucking Realm and trained as an assassin to earn money for that greedy old senior, who needed funds for his expensive alchemy research. When the Tianjun Sect offered a large batch of precious medicinal ingredients in exchange, the old man naturally agreed to everything.
However, she didn't win the title of Leader, and within the sect, He Hong was completely uncontrollable. She wouldn't even listen to orders. The deacons were having a massive headache over this "hot potato" when they heard Wei Qingming had arrived in Anjing. He Hong had proactively sought her out to challenge her. This time, Lord Wei was prepared. Using a formation personally taught by Perfected Master Zhang of the Chongyang Palace, she easily broke He Hong's divine powers and demonic arts, beating her fair and square. When she was sent back to the Tianjun Sect, the deacons were overjoyed to be rid of her. Lord Wei bought her on the spot for less than a third of what the Tianjun Sect had paid the rogue cultivator...
He Hong—or rather, Xuesu—uttered the first full sentence we had heard from her since we met: "I will kill you!"
Lord Wei had just smiled. "You may. If you guard my beloved wife properly, I shall spar with you."
I clutched the letter, nearly fainting from laughter. Such words could only fool a naive child like Xuesu who had zero experience in the world. What did "properly" mean? That would mean guarding me until the end of my natural life! And who knew when that "spar" would ever happen? By then, Lord Wei might have already ascended to the Sun-Blocking Realm and achieved immortality...
With Lu Lingfeng at home, Xuesu was actually quite well-behaved and obedient. Seeing this, Eldest Senior Brother was almost moved to tears. His younger sister had lived for over twenty years, and aside from being friendly with ghosts, she had never made a normal friend... Though Xuesu wasn't exactly "normal," it was still a huge improvement! Zhu Yixin and I were also very pleased to see these two difficult characters bonding. Originally, each would have given us a "headache" (one head, two big), but now, instead of "two heads, four big," it was more like... three and a half.
The matter of Xia Ji’s sneak attack seemed to have reached a temporary conclusion. Openly, Chu Jiangheng was investigating; secretly, Wei Qingming was laying out a net for Luo Cheng to follow. Additionally, Lu Kaifeng and Qiao Songlin were researching illusions and reinforcing the formations. With Xuesu, Kong Xia, and the others being so capable, my safety was no longer a concern. I only had to wait for Wei Qingming to return home to deal with the matter in detail. In the meantime, I had something else to ponder—the "help that shouldn't have been given" to Zhang Zhuyi, and the layers of mystery surrounding the woman herself.
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
黎子濯 | Li Zizhuo | The playboy son of the Dayou Chamber of Commerce president.
大有商会 | Dayou Chamber of Commerce | A prominent merchant organization.
雪簌 | Xuesu | He Hong's new name, meaning "rustling snow."
摘星境 | Star-Plucking Realm | A high level of cultivation.
蔽日境 | Sun-Blocking Realm | An extremely high level of cultivation, near immortality.
重阳殿 | Chongyang Palace | A prestigious Taoist or cultivation sect.
张真人 | Perfected Master Zhang | A high-ranking cultivator from Chongyang Palace.
小年 | Minor New Year | A traditional festival occurring about a week before the Lunar New Year.
