The next day, before dawn, Murong Yunshu was woken up by the noise outside. She put on her outer robe and pushed open the window, only to see that the air was still shrouded in thick fog. So she couldnât see the outside situation completely. However, it could be judged from the sound that many people had gathered at the entrance of the inn, and they were up to no good.
Suddenly, a hand touched her shoulder and Murong Yunshu subconsciously raised her hand to strike at it, when her ear heard a familiar voice, âItâs me.â
She thought he hadnât woken up. Murong Yunshu breathed a sigh of relief and softly asked, âWhoâs that coming from outside?â
âThe Five Poisons Sect.â
Murong Yunshu was startled when she heard his words that she asked another question, âI heard that the people from the Five Poisons Sect are always active in Miaojiang and never set foot in the Central Plains. How come they suddenly appeared here?â
âI donât know.â Chu Changge closed the window, leaving only a small slit to observe the movement downstairs, and while watching, he said, âNo matter what happens later, donât leave the room.â His expression was grave.
Murong Yunshu knew in her heart that when Chu Changge showed such a grave expression, the other party must not be easy for him to deal with. But based on her trust in his extremely legendary martial arts level, she still asked, âEven you canât deal with the Five Poison Sect?â
Chu Changge raised his dashing eyebrows, with a huge âare you kidding me?â written on his face, as he said with unbridled arrogance, âEven if the Holy Maiden of the Five Poisons Sect came in person, she wouldnât be able to hurt me.â
âThen why do you need toâŚ..â be so careful. Murong Yunshu didnât say the latter half of her sentence, because she quickly realised that Chu Changgeâs words had a latter half as wellââthey canât hurt me, but they can easily hurt you. In keeping with the principle of cherishing her life, Murong Yunshu nodded very obediently and promised, âEven in death, I wonât go out.â
Chu Changge stroked her head in amusement and assured her, âDonât worry, with me around, you canât die.â
Murong Yunshu, however, responded without giving him any face, âIâm talking about you.â
Even if you die, I wonât go out.
ââŚâŚâ Chu Changge was deeply struck. The old saying was indeed true: Even though husband and wife were originally birds from the same grove when adversity struck, they would fly in separate directionsâŚâŚ
Chu Changge was in extreme depression when he suddenly heard her say, âDonât worry, with me here, you canât die.â Her voice was light and weak, but her tone was rock solid, which made Chu Changge suddenly in high spirits. He thought to himself, how could Madam just abandon him like that, right? [T/N]
Murong Yunshu tried her best to make the promise sound casual, but Chu Changgeâs undisguised delight and excitement forced her to face up to what she had said, and her face, involuntarily, reddened.
She was not good at that kind of talk.
Murong Yunshu uncomfortably shifted her eyes to the window. Staring at the white window paper was much better than looking at those scorching black eyes.
At this moment, downstairs was buzzing with excitement. Amidst the noise and clamour, there were a few clear conversations.
âYou, come here. Tell me, have you seen this man?â The voice was fierce and strong, clearly someone from the Five Poison Sect.
âI did. I did see him. Heâs staying atâŚâŚtop number 1 room upstairs.â
It was the voice of the waiter. When he spoke of the top number 1 room upstairs, he raised his tone a few notches on purpose, as if he wanted to alert someone.
Upstairs, the corner of Chu Changgeâs mouth was slightly hooked. The waiter really had some conscience. It had not been in vain that he had rewarded him so much silver yesterday.
âTheyâre looking for you.â Murong Yunshu said with a frown.
âHmm.â Knowing that the Five Poisons Sect was coming for him, Chu Changge did not seem nervous at all. He opened the door and window wide, then he sat down with an air of respectfully waiting for their gracious presence.
Although Murong Yunshu was puzzled, she followed suit by sitting down beside him which was facing the door of the room and waited for the Five Poisons Sect to come.
*
This was the second time that the Five Poisons Sect had entered the Central Plains in a big way since its establishment. The first time was two years ago when the Holy Maiden of the Five Poisons Sect personally led her Twelve Heavenly Fiends to stir up trouble in the Central Plains. At that time, Chu Changge was at his lowest point, so he did not pay attention to this matter. He only knew that the Holy Maiden had come to find someone, and after finding that person, she had left the Central Plains. And this time, it was still the Twelve Heavenly Fiends who came, but the Holy Maiden did not appear with them.[+]
The Twelve Heavenly Fiends were led upstairs by the waiter. As they were about to go around the corner, they changed their approach in a very threatening manner as they prepared to kick open the door. However, they were flabbergasted to see that the door of the room was already wide open.
âTell the shopkeeper that Iâve saved a door for him.â Chu Changge said to the waiter with a smile.
The waiter simply felt that he just heard heavenly music, as if he was being given amnesty, âI will definitely convey gongzi words to him.â After saying that, he immediately fled, while muttering in his heart: That gongzi is not only handsome, but he also has a good heart. Dear God, you must bless him with a long life!
Murong Yunshu was surprised that Chu Changge still had the leisure to help the waiter get away from there, but then she figured it out. He let the waiter go to avoid other people from getting mixed in so that he could focus his concentration on the Twelve Heavenly Furies. Even someone as conceited as Chu Changge was starting to be cautious, which could only mean one thingââif he started to fight, he would have no chance of winning.
If that was the case, why didnât he take her away just now? If you couldnât fight them back, you could always hide.
Otherwise, it would be better to let her go alone, so as not to drag him down.
Murong Yunshu could not guess what was in Chu Changgeâs mind, nor could she stop herself from feeling ill at ease and fidgety at that moment.
The experience of these few days has made Murong Yunshu realise profoundly that jianghu was a place where reasoning was based on oneâs strength, where the weak were eaten by the strong, and where coldness and ruthlessness prevail. While some people easily became famous overnight, others could also easily lose all their standing and reputation.
If Chu Changge was to suffer his defeat at the hands of the Twelve Heavenly Furies, causing the myth of invincibility to be overturned, where her pride and dignity would be trampled upon, she would rather die.
She knew better than anyone else that Chu Changgeâs ego, pride and self-esteem were almost unbearable. Whatever caused him to fall from the peak, it would be a fatal blow to him.
Suddenly, her almost sweaty palms were pried open and covered by a large hand, interlocking their fingers.
Feeling the warmth of his fingertips, Murong Yunshu immediately felt more at ease. She smiled faintly at Chu Changge to reassure him as well.
âAs expected of a Mojiao Sect Master, who even dared to open the door to welcome us Twelve Heavenly Furiesâ arrival.â Yisha, the leader of the Twelve Heavenly Fiends, was the first to speak.
Chu Changge smiled pleasantly as he responded, âThe Five Poisons Sect is not an upright, prestigious sect, so why should I take the extra precaution to guard against you?â
Yisha was dumbfounded. Then he began to roar with laughter, which was both extremely hideous and terrifying, âThatâs right. Both the Five Poisons Sect and the Mojiao Sect are not allowed to be part of the upright, prestigious sects in the Central Plains. Those who have the same misfortune sympathize with each other, so there is no need for us to kill each other.â After a short pause, his eyes suddenly turned cold as he continued, âNevertheless, you deserve to die for insulting the Heavenly Maiden of the Five Poisons Sect! She has ordered us to come and bring you back to our main altar to await your punishment. If you are sensible, you will not put up a fight, otherwise, do not blame us for harming the innocent!â After he finished speaking, he glanced at Murong Yunshu.[+]
Seeing this, Murong Yunshu sighed slightly and said, âA person needs a face, while a tree needs its bark. You are so shameless. How can you make King Yan, who reincarnated you, feel ashamed?â Knowing that he couldnât hurt Chu Changge by himself, he tried to hold her hostage. It was so blatantly brazen of him to do so.
Yisha was not a good person in the first place, and he had heard even worse curse words than âshamelessâ, but at this moment he froze. It was because he couldnât make head or tail of what this inexplicable woman was talking aboutâŚâŚ
What did it matter to King Yan if he was acting shamelessly?
Murong Yunshu was a little disappointed to see the bewildered look on Yishaâs face. Although she often scolded people intangibly and gloated over it, this time, she cursed so obviously, in hope that Yisha could get angry. A person would easily be defeated by an enemy when they were in a state of anger. Murong Yunshu deliberately provoked Yisha, just to make him reveal his weaknesses, but little did she know that the uncivilized natives from Miaojiang were unable to make sense of human speechâŚâŚ
Chu Changge also marvelled at Yishaâs obtuseness. It turned out that besides being rich in poisons, the Five Poisons Sect was also rich with idiots.
If it was in the past when Chu Changge had been slandered for insulting Heavenly Maiden of the Five Poisons Sect, he would have arrogantly responded, âThatâs right, I insulted your Heavenly Maiden, so what?â People who slandered others without even knowing the truth were stupid. Why should he waste his breath with stupid people?
But now, he was no longer an unattached jianghu prodigal son. He had a person on his left hand who was more important than his life, so he had to condescend to simple men by explaining himself.
âI have never seen your Heavenly Maiden, let alone been said to have insulted her. There must be some kind of misunderstanding in this. If you all trust this certain Chu, I am willing to investigate this matter thoroughly on your behalf. As long as that person who insulted the Heavenly Maiden of the Five Poisons Sect is in the Central Plains martial arts circles, that person will not be able to escape this certain Chuâs five fingers.â Chu Changge promised.
âHumph! Donât you dare argue!â Yisha hatefully countered, âThe Heavenly Maiden herself told us that the person who insulted her innocence was the Mojiao Sect Master, Chu Changge, and she even drew a portrait of him!â With that, he raised his hand and made a gesture towards his companions behind him.
Ersha took a step forward and with the sound of âshuaâ, he spread out a scroll painting in his hands. In an instant, a lifelike picture of a beautiful man taking a bath was presented in front of Chu Changge and Murong Yunshuâs eyes. [T/N]
Murong Yunshu looked at the scroll in front of her and froze. The person inside the painting was indeed Chu Changge. Just look at those domineering dashing eyebrows, the arrogant thin lips, the secretive black eyes, the angular even outline, and, that lean, sexy bodyâŚâŚ
This picture of a beautiful man in the bath gave Chu Changge quite a shock. Unlike Murong Yunshuâs aching heart, his heart was burning with a blazing fire. He really wanted to tear the painterâs body to thousands of pieces.
Chu Changgeâs body was not something that just anyone could peek at!
When Ersha saw Chu Changgeâs sullen and silent face, he thought that Chu Changge wanted to deny it, and he was about to press him when suddenly, he felt a void in his hand. The scroll in his hand had eroded and instantly turned into fine sand in his palm. The scroll fell to the ground and had long turned into powder.
Seeing this situation, the swords in the hands of the Twelve Heavenly Fiends were simultaneously unsheathed, with their faces showing their horror. âChu Changge, how dare you destroy the evidence!â Yisha mustered up his courage to roar angrily.
The corners of Chu Changgeâs mouth lifted with a sneer as he said, âDonât worry, since I have seen this painting, I will never pretend that I have never seen it. If the person who made the painting is really the Heavenly Maiden of the Five Poisons Sect, then I, Chu Changge, will definitely go there personallyââto take her life.â