Chapter Eighty: The Royal Clan

The next morning, Ye Pei slowly woke. Lying on his side, he opened his eyes and saw Zi Qingrong sitting quietly at the table, reading a book. Her long hair was loose and unbound, yet not the least bit untidy; instead, it gave her an air of serene grace.

The moment Ye Pei stirred, Zi Qingrong looked up. Seeing that he was awake, she set down her book, poured him a cup of water, and said with a smile, “You’re awake. After drinking so much last night, you must be thirsty, right?”

Ye Pei licked his lips and found that he truly was parched. He took the cup and drank it in one gulp, then laughed. “Why didn’t you let me sleep on the floor last night?”

Ever since before, the two of them had always done as they had while fleeing: Zi Qingrong slept in the bedroom, while Ye Pei meditated on the floor in the outer room.

Zi Qingrong smiled. “You were going to be on the floor, but you couldn’t even sit steadily anymore, so I helped you over here.”

“And last night, you...?”

“I was on the bench.”

Something moved in Ye Pei’s heart. He reached out and drew Zi Qingrong into his arms. Her cheeks tinted faintly pink, but she still obediently leaned against his chest.

When Ye Pei stepped out of the room, he saw Yang Qin passing the doorway with a dark expression on his face.

“Yang Qin!” Ye Pei called out instinctively.

Yang Qin turned at the sound, his face twisted with a look of utter misery. “Didn’t you call me your worthy nephew yesterday?”

“Mm...” Ye Pei’s hand, already lifted in greeting, froze in midair. After a few seconds, he said, “Drunken words cannot be taken seriously. Let us simply go on as we should.”

Yang Qin had only meant it as a joke, and then he grew serious. “Brother Ye, Aiqi wants to know when we are setting out for the Lin family’s territory.”

Ye Pei thought for a moment. “We still have to wait for word from Dongfang Boyi. Ask him about it. At the very least, we’ll have to wait until my people arrive.”

Just then, the same gatekeeper from before came again to report. “Young Lord, there is a swordsman surnamed Jiang at the gate requesting an audience!”

“A swordsman surnamed Jiang...” Yang Qin was still wondering when he had ever met such a person, when he heard Ye Pei say, “My people are here. Come, let’s go greet him.”

The two of them reached the gate and saw Jiang Zhongqing, with a long sword on his back and a cool, aloof expression, standing outside beside Zhuang Tianlan, who carried a small wooden case.

“Brother Pei.” A faint smile appeared on Jiang Zhongqing’s face.

Zhuang Tianlan followed at once. “Good day, Brother Pei.”

Ye Pei laughed. “Come, come. Let’s go inside first and talk.”

Along the way, Ye Pei introduced the people to one another, and was wondering whether he ought to introduce them to the Yang couple as well, when he turned a corner and ran straight into General Yang.

“Well now, dear brother, and these two are...?”

“...” Ye Pei was unsure whether he ought to use that title, glanced at Yang Qin, and then replied, “Brother Yang, this is my brother from the Wangmai clan, Jiang Zhongqing, and this is his wife, Mistress Zhuang.”

After Yang Tianrui smilingly greeted the two of them, Ye Pei had intended to lead everyone away, but unexpectedly, Yang Tianrui and Jiang Zhongqing’s gazes had already collided.

“Hero Jiang, shall we have a spar at the training grounds?”

“With pleasure!”

“...” When Ye Pei had hesitated earlier about introducing them to the couple, it had been because he feared exactly this. He never imagined that the instant they met, the two would already be locking eyes, ready to fight.

With no other choice, Ye Pei and the others had to follow Yang Tianrui to the training grounds.

“Brother Yang, you had best take up a weapon. His hand-to-hand skills are nothing special; what he’s best at is swordplay.”

Hearing this, Yang Tianrui said nothing more. He casually took a long staff from the weapon rack and tossed Jiang Zhongqing a bamboo sword.

Once both sides were ready, Jiang Zhongqing wasted no time. In the next instant, he leapt into the air.

“Jade Edge Cuts the Layered Clouds, Starlight Scatters a Thousand Armies.”

Then, under Yang Tianrui’s astonished gaze, Jiang Zhongqing charged at him at high speed, sword shadows filling the sky...

Not long after, Jiang Zhongqing was sent flying out of the training grounds, where Ye Pei swiftly rushed to catch him. Yang Tianrui, covered in bruises, was left panting inside the arena.

“Brother, is this the helper you found? With the two of you joining forces against Lin Hezhi, there’s no way you can fail.”

“But it would still be best if the first plan could succeed.”

Three days later, Dongfang Boyi told Ye Pei that they could move, and Ye Pei promptly took his leave of the Yang family and set out.

Soon, Ye Pei and Zi Qingrong, Jiang Zhongqing and Zhuang Tianlan, Dongfang Boyi, Aiqi, and the three women brought by Aiqi all set off together on the road to the Lin family’s domain.

Behind them, the Yang family of three stood at the mansion gate, watching the group recede into the distance.

“Old Yang, what do you think of Ye Pei...?” Feng Chu asked.

Yang Tianrui’s face remained fixed in that same supremely confident smile. “You need not worry about him. I can tell his ambitions lie elsewhere. Besides, the fact that he killed those two nephews of ours was a tremendous help.”

At this, Feng Chu thought it over and also smiled. “This time, let’s see who can still stand in the way of my son taking that lordship.”

To Dongfang Boyi, the road home was even more agonizing than the road out.

When they had come to Feng family territory, it had already been deeply uncomfortable for him that only Ye Pei and Zi Qingrong traveled as a pair. Now that another pair had been added, one could imagine Dongfang Boyi’s state of mind.

He had thought that the four women under Aiqi’s command might share the burden of the mental assault with him, only to discover that their cold expressions seemed utterly unaffected, as though they heard nothing at all. In the end, only he remained to bear the doubled torment.

...

By the time they reached the lands of the Xiao tribe, the Xiao people had already prepared everything. They immediately sent someone to escort Aiqi to the Lin family’s capital to meet Lin Hezhi, and the three subordinates who had come with her also set out at once.

Aiqi’s mission was to be packaged as a village beauty discovered by the Xiao family and offered to Lin Hezhi, so that she could then wait for the opportunity to assassinate him.

She knew well enough that her life would be almost entirely devoted to this assignment, and that this mission might well take everything from her.

But she and the others were all orphans raised by General Tianrui’s residence from childhood, having received its training and education; now that Lady Feng’s command had come, she accepted it without hesitation.

Yet on her face there was only unease, excitement, and anticipation, exactly like a common girl dreaming of a prince on a white horse.

Thereafter, Aiqi was sent to Lin Hezhi. Dongfang Boyi went to receive his mother. Ye Pei and the others stayed in the Xiao tribe, waiting quietly for their chance.

Let us turn our eyes back to Wangmai.

“You brat, you’re practically trying to kill your old man!” On North Mountain, a furious bellow rang out through the hills. A figure in azure dashed through the mountain, while another man in blue pursued relentlessly behind him with a long staff in hand.

Farther behind them, though not by much, a young man in black was also giving chase.

“Damn it... how can these two run so fast...” Yan Chuanming’s lightness skill was mediocre to begin with, and now, despite gasping for breath, he still could not catch the two men ahead.

“Father! Listen to me! I had no other choice!” Yue Zhe shouted as he fled.

Then Yue Yuncheng’s enraged roar sounded again. “You ran all the way to me to fight, and that was your other choice?! Not content with ruining me already?”

“It’s not that, Father! They fled here, so I chased them here, all right? I had no idea you were hiding here!”

“Bullshit! If it weren’t for you, would I have been forced to the end of the road, hiding here?!”

When they reached a valley, Yue Zhe suddenly stopped.

Yue Yuncheng had never expected it and twisted aside frantically, barely avoiding crashing into his son’s back.

Soon, Yan Chuanming and Yin Wen also arrived, and the figure of Leng Mujun emerged from Yue Zhe’s shadow.

Before everyone’s eyes, the valley was filled with densely packed Star Tribe members—by rough estimate, well over two hundred of them. The beautiful young woman at their head had wings of a pale sky-blue behind her, marking her as royalty.

“My name is Ying Huaini! You’ve killed so many of my Star Tribe people, so today you’d better give me an explanation!”

“Just as expected, we’ve entered the Star Tribe’s sights after all,” Yue Zhe said.

“Hmph, as anticipated.” Yan Chuanming unslung the black halberd from his back.

During this time, the four of them had successively raided five or six Star-Devotion Temples. Star Emperor Xing Yan had long since noticed, and on this occasion of rotation, had sent the royal prodigy Ying Huaini to deal with them.

“What, still want to fight? The lot of you aren’t enough to look at.”

“But... I am here too.”

Suddenly, a teasing voice rang out, and a boy holding a cane while riding a tiger appeared above the valley.

“Ni Manxiu?!” Ying Huaini immediately flared with anger. “The Star Tribe already showed you immense mercy by not blaming you for your failure in the rites! And today you dare come here to aid condemned criminals? What’s more, what can one person like you do?”

“Hmph...” Ni Manxiu gave a cold snort. “Miss Ying, do you still remember how your Star Tribe lost those battles during the Azure Sky Era?”

Ying Huaini frowned, thinking it over. Suddenly alarm flashed across her face, and then she shook her head, thinking, Impossible. Impossible.

“Ni Manxiu, stop trying to bluff me! The Grave-Guarding Sect has long since been lost to history!”

“Foolish woman.” Ni Manxiu laughed disdainfully. “Come out, Tomb Envoy.”

At those words, Ying Huaini’s expression turned grim, and she stared at Ni Manxiu without blinking.

Under her gaze, a black-robed figure wearing a ferocious mask slowly stepped out from behind Ni Manxiu and appeared above the valley.

“Miss Ying, I am You Ben, current heir of the Grave-Guarding Sect!”

From his voice, You Ben in the mask and black robe seemed to be a young man not yet very old.

“The Grave-Guarding Sect actually still has survivors...” Ying Huaini clenched her fists. “I refuse to believe you possess such talent. Everyone, prepare!”

Seeing this, Ni Manxiu and You Ben leapt down from above the valley, landing among Yue Zhe and the others, who had already drawn every blade and sword.

Battle was imminent.