Chapter 283: Third Lady Yuan

Chapter 283: Third Lady Yuan

Huangsha Market was in complete chaos.

Chi Li and the others from the temple dashed out, heading directly toward the direction of Yue Hongling’s voice.

A Ferghana horse, far superior to her previous poor steed, galloped away under the morning sun, quickly becoming a distant dot on the horizon. Yue Hongling’s mocking voice was carried by the wind. “Chi Li, I thought you had the heart of a true warrior. We agreed on a duel, yet you bring so many people to charge at me. Do you still consider yourself a warrior?”

Chi Li’s face turned grim. He ignored her taunt, waved his hand, and commanded as if he had not heard anything, “Chase her down!”

He did have the heart of a warrior, and he would have relished a fierce duel with Yue Hongling under different circumstances.

However, as someone from the temple, he prioritized finding the secret realm that had eluded countless people for many years, pursuing the guidance of the ancient Tngri.

Compared to this goal, his personal martial pursuits were secondary.

At this moment, Yue Hongling held important clues about the secret realm. He could not afford to let her escape.

“Where the hell did she get a Ferghana horse!” One of his subordinates panted heavily as they gave chase. “Did she get it from the secret realm?”

Yue Hongling turned around and shot an arrow, knocking one of the members of the temple off his horse. “Chi Li, if you have the guts, chase me on your own. Stop sending your men to their deaths!”

Chi Li took a deep breath and suddenly leaped off his horse, flying through the air.

His speed was far greater than that of a horse.

Yue Hongling glanced back, smiled slightly, and spurred her horse faster.

Seeing his terrifying speed, Yue Hongling judged that Chi Li must have indeed gotten a glimpse of the Profound Mysteries... He was undoubtedly the most promising in the Grasslands, worthy of once being the first hidden dragon. Furthermore, with the teachings of the Great Shaman, his strength had advanced rapidly, especially in areas related to the Profound Mysteries, far surpassing someone like her who had had to figure everything out on her own.

Fortunately, with Zhao Changhe’s help, she had kept pace and was at around the same level as Chi Li.

She was filled with fighting spirit, but unfortunately, she had not come to fight this time. Her mission was to distract the members of the temple to facilitate Zhao Changhe’s plans. She would carry this out dutifully even if she did not know what exactly his plans were. What she had to do now was to lead these experts away as far as she could from Zhao Changhe.

Yue Hongling realized she had almost grown accustomed to working in tandem with Zhao Changhe. Whether it was exploring the secret realm, breaking open formations, attacking Batu, or beheading an envoy, she could not have done any of these on her own. Even at this moment, she was luring enemies away while he infiltrated the market.

Suddenly, she almost forgot what she used to do when she was alone.

Yue Hongling found herself enjoying this moment of facing enemies alone. It seemed that she still held hints of that solitary nature in her heart. While she cherished his companionship, she also enjoyed independence.

It was likely that Zhao Changhe felt the same.

They truly did see another version of themselves in each other.

*

Amidst the chaos, Zhao Changhe once again disguised himself, smearing his face with the last of his disguise ointment before entering Rooms Available Inn.

With him having run out of the disguise ointment, this was probably the last time he would be using this disguise for the foreseeable future. If he wanted to disguise himself again in the future, he needed to find another set of the ingredients required to make the ointment... Or maybe I can just ask Sisi for another batch next time.

Lady Three laughed. “Look at how scared you are. Is that necessary?”

Zhao Changhe said, “You should know that if you support another force, your business will thrive even more. Your ambitions do not lay in finding secret realms for the fifth lord... or rather, you aren’t really working for the fifth lord at all.”

Lady Three’s expression turned cold.

Zhao Changhe jumped off the counter, walked to the window, and gazed into the distance. “I asked Batu... Huangsha Lake had a special name many, many years ago. It seemed to be called Black...”

Before he could finish, a jade hand was already at his throat.

But as the hand grabbed, it only got hold of a softly glowing gemstone.

Lady Three quickly withdrew her strength, her grasp turning into a gentle stroke along his neck. As she pulled back, the gemstone rested in her palm.

Lady Three’s eyes shone even brighter than the gemstone.

“Maybe this isn’t rightfully mine, but for some reason, both Hongling and I have always inexplicably felt that it should belong to you. Maybe it’s because you’ve devoted your whole life to it, and it would be truly pitiful to take it from you; or maybe it’s because if we did, we’d be in a fight to the death. I like Chichi, and I like Big Sister Fire Serpent of Yi. I don’t want to be your enemy.”

As Lady Three listened, her expression started with surprise but turned playful at his mention of liking “Big Sister Fire Serpent of Yi.”

Zhao Changhe turned around and smiled brilliantly. “There was more in the secret realm, but first come, first served. I can’t give you everything. Nevertheless, this gemstone should be what you need the most. I’m giving it to you for free, asking for nothing in return. I don’t need your money nor you. So is there really a need for you to interrogate me?”

Lady Three smiled seductively. “Would you like to have your Big Sister Fire Serpent of Yi?”

“Yes. Can you help me woo her?”

“Heh...” Lady Three laughed softly while holding the gemstone, and then she burst into loud laughter. She clutched her stomach from laughing so hard. “Yes, I can help you with that.”

Zhao Changhe, though slightly annoyed by her laughter, said calmly, “You’ve always wanted this gemstone, not the secret realm itself. However, Ying Five is different. He wants the alternate space. You two no longer have conflicting interests. Can you convey my proposal to the fifth lord now?”

“Sure.” Lady Three moved toward the back of the house. After a while, a carrier pigeon took off.

“The fifth lord isn’t far from here. He’ll receive the message soon, and I can assure you that he will agree.” Lady Three looked at him with bright eyes. “You gave me this gemstone. Are you sure that you don’t need me to do anything in return? I can do anything for you.”

“Instead of asking you to do something, it’s more like we’re going to work together and do something that you’ve wanted to do for a long time and even tried to have others do for you.”

“Oh?”

“Kill Ubalu. I know you won’t kill him yourself because you’re worried the Tome of Troubled Times will expose you for it. But this time, I can take the blame for you.”

Lady Three’s eyes curved into a smile. “What a clever little man.”

“Just tell me whether you’ll do it or not.”

“I will.”

If anyone overheard the last two sentences, they might think that a delightful deal had been struck.