"I’m telling you..." Xia Chichi leaned in, looking mysterious, "Even though older women have thicker skin, what man doesn’t like them young? Just drop the pretense of the Aristocratic Family girl, and it won’t be hard at all to have Brother Zhao head over heels for you."
Cui Yuanyang leaned back slightly, "Are you trying to set me up? Why would you even help me come up with a plan?"
Xia Chichi gritted her teeth in frustration, grabbing Cui Yuanyang by the collar, "You’re the one who said our biggest enemy is the old woman, and now you’re the one guarding against me too? So young yet so foolish in other ways, but so sharp here! What do the Qinghe Cui usually teach you? Household scheming?!"
Cui Yuanyang struggled, "Then why would you help me?"
"Because he dares to target old women but wouldn’t dare target you, and whatever you do, how could it matter!" sneered Xia Chichi, "Little useless thing."
Sounds of scuffling came from the carriage.
The guards didn’t dare to eavesdrop on the young lady, but they were aware of the disturbance and rushed over immediately, "Miss!"
Cui Yuanyang gasped inside, "Don’t come over, I don’t believe this... wuu wuu wuu..."
Inside the carriage, Xia Chichi flipped Cui Yuanyang over, climbing onto her posterior and smacked it once, then again, feeling thrilled inside.
Teach you to act cute, to woo my man, and to dare resist!
"Am I right, you little useless thing?"
Cui Yuanyang cried out, "You’ve slept with him, compared to you, who isn’t a useless thing..."
"What’s it like to sleep with a man?" Cui Yuanyang asked earnestly, no longer struggling. "I’ve heard that sleeping together results in babies, how come you don’t have babies..."
Xia Chichi spoke coolly, "You’ve been fleeing with him for so many days, sleeping in the wilderness, haven’t you slept together?"
Cui Yuanyang was truly puzzled, it took her a long moment to respond, "Just lying on the same bed under the same blanket doesn’t count, right? Does it need to be under cover, like a hen hatching eggs?"
Xia Chichi couldn’t help but laugh.
She leaned down secretly, and playfully blew into Cui Yuanyang’s ear, watching as her cheeks quickly reddened, extending to her earlobes, shiny and utterly adorable.
She gently licked it.
Cui Yuanyang shuddered all over, tensing up, eyes widening.
Xia Chichi chuckled quietly, whispering in her ear, "Next time you see him, just do this, and you’ll understand..."
After saying this, she hopped out of the carriage with a smile, leaving a bewildered Cui Yuanyang lying there, lost in thought.
Lu Ya watched her guardedly. Xia Chichi snorted, turned around, and walked away.
A clear male voice called from a distance, "Brother Lu, Wang Daozhong has come to assist. Reports of barbarian traces within the border have been found, have you encountered any anomalies along the way?"
Lu Ya looked at Xia Chichi again, "Thank you, Mr. Wang, the journey was smooth."
Wang Daozhong quickly appeared by the caravan, also frowning at Xia Chichi, "Who is this?"
Cui Yuanyang jumped out of the carriage and clung to Xia Chichi’s arm, speaking amiably, "Hello, Uncle Wang."
Seeing Cui Yuanyang’s demeanor, Wang Daozhong knew better than to ask further, nodding his head, "Recent times have been troubled, every one of you take care. I have other pressing matters, so I won’t accompany you further, farewell."
He was an elder, one of the top figures in the Wang Family, certainly not lowering his own status to accompany a young niece, showing his respect to the Cui Family by simply inquiring personally was already considerable. Yet as Cui Yuanyang watched his retreating figure, she still scoffed softly, muttering, "Knowing the world is in unrest, still ostentatiously celebrating a birthday, hypocritical."
Lu Ya coughed dryly, "Be mindful of your words."
"I’m not scared of him," Cui Yuanyang declared, still holding onto Xia Chichi’s arm, cheerfully stating, "Sister Luo, you’re going to Langya too, right? Let’s hang out together."
Who to hang out with, how to hang out? Xia Chichi was pondering this in her mind when suddenly her skin crawled.
Vermilion Bird’s gaze was distant, electric and starry, revealing no emotion.
"Damn it, when I was hitting her earlier, you didn’t come to look, and now you see me holding her, smiling and laughing. Was my act all for nothing?"
"Clash!" Lu Ya drew his longsword and shouted harshly, "Four Symbols Sect’s Vermilion Bird! Protect the little..."
Before he could finish, Vermilion Bird had vanished in the blink of an eye.
From a distance came the sound of Qi Force clashing, and Wang Daozhong’s roar, "Vermilion Bird! We have no grievances; why attack me?"
The lazy, seductive voice of Vermilion Bird echoed from afar, "Did you think you could bully my Winged Fire Snake and get away with it?"
"Not a single hair on the Winged Fire Snake was harmed..." A muffled grunt followed, and it was unclear how injured Wang Daozhong was, as his voice gradually faded, "What a vengeful demon... I’ll remember this!"
Zhao Changhe stood by the road with his hands clasped, looking up at the distant sky, fiery like the sunset clouds, silently mourning for Wang Daozhong.
The fight had escalated abruptly, and Lu Li was undecided whether to intervene or not, but it seemed the battle was already over.
He too was secretly alarmed; Wang Daozhong was a figure from the Earth List, and although there were ranks between them, they were of the same caliber, yet he couldn’t withstand even a few exchanges with Vermilion Bird.
Vermilion Bird’s strength was truly terrifying. What if she were to launch a surprise attack...
Just as he was tensed like a drawn bowstring, he saw the young lady he had vowed to protect dash out of the group and hurled herself into the arms of a man by the roadside, "Brother Zhao!" Original content can be found at novel fire.net
There was no way he could accept his salary from the Cui Family now.
If Vermilion Bird were to launch a surprise attack at this moment, would the young lady still have a chance to live?
What terrified him was that Vermilion Bird did indeed appear again, her cold gaze fixed on the young lady’s back.
Zhao Changhe instantly turned around while holding Cui Yuanyang, fiercely protecting her in front of him.
Vermilion Bird glared menacingly at his back, her swordlight gleaming like lightning, as Lu Ya flew up with his Flying Sword, "Venerable Vermilion Bird, bullying a young girl is not the deed of a hero. Your opponent is me!"
Vermilion Bird’s gaze passed directly over him, focusing on someone behind him, her voice icy, "Your murder strategy, could it possibly be to deliver her into the arms of a man, hoping she gets killed in the process?"
"Snap!" Vermilion Bird, without even glancing at him or drawing her weapon, slapped the side of his sword, skewing its path and grazing past him as if dealing with a child, "You’re in the way!"
Then, before the Cui Family guards could converge, she swept past like a specter, snatching up the woman who claimed to be "Luo Qi" by the back of her neck and striding away.
The wind carried her reprimanding voice, "I’ll teach you a lesson when we get back, you little vixen!"
Xia Chichi screamed tragically, "This is a misunderstanding; I had just acted. Why didn’t you come sooner..."
Zhao Changhe looked up as he watched the couple being carried away in the same manner, his expression twitching, unable to utter a single word.
Given that Vermilion Bird had intentions of recruiting her, perhaps Chichi, with her "old affections," wouldn’t be punished too harshly... Maybe there was even a silver lining?
Cui Yuanyang finally looked up from his embrace, her eyes sparkling, "Brother Zhao’s first reaction was still to protect me..."
Zhao Changhe helplessly looked at the twitching group of Cui Family guards and said resignedly, "You little fool, aren’t you worried about your life? That was Vermilion Bird just now!"
"But..." Cui Yuanyang stared intently at his face, "With Brother Zhao standing here, Yangyang can’t see anything else."
Zhao Changhe silently stood there, his heart melting away. All the tension, all the awkwardness, the long-time unfamiliarity, and the oddness of the onlooking crowd, all vanished in that instant.
Only the softness of the young girl’s eyes lingered, gentler than the moon.
PS: Tonight’s event is online... I pushed through and updated one more Chapter, lying down now. Everyone can check the event page; I don’t quite understand it myself, my head’s spinning.