“Why are you fighting each other?” Zero asked as soon as everyone was finally pulled out of the holes – which took an immense amount of effort.
In addition to her bodyguards, Zero had Ouyang Xiucai, Yuan Kou, Ning Zhuoru and the other elites with her.
I failed. Based on the outcome, my plan failed miserably. I hung my head in defeat. Though my team didn’t suffer any casualties, and we managed to wound Lang Qing, he only had an internal injury, and we had no second chance to finish the job. If we considered the consequences of our scrap, we might even have incurred losses.
As nobody answered her question, Zero looked to me. Since I was in no mood to entertain her, I performed a few hand signals for her to decipher herself.
Gu Xianxian yelled, “I was the one who wanted to fight him! Brother Wu and Brother Yan were just helping me out! They have nothing to do with it!”
Ning Zhuoru, who had lots to say from the moment she saw her husband battered, pulled his sleeve. “What were you thinking?! Why would you fight Lang Qing? H-how are you feeling?”
The first question expressed disapproval, the second dissatisfaction and the last affection.
Gu Xianxian’s red face looked ready to go up in flames. “You can betray me, but I can’t settle the score with him?!”
Ning Zhuoru bit her lip and responded, “What did I do?”
“You know well and truly what you did!”
“You ba$tard!”
Zero pretty much connected the dots from their conversation, but that also put her in a dilemma. From her perspective, neither Lang Qing nor Gu Xianxian were allies or enemies, so she could be impartial. If she didn’t want to trouble herself over love affair, she could just leave them to their own devices. The problem was that she needed hands on deck. Lang Qing was worth three copies of the couple. From a morality standpoint, however, Lang Qing was in the wrong. If she let Lang Qing win the case, she’d have trouble earning respect from others.
“It’s my loss,” stated Lang Qing, despite not everybody agreeing. “You stopped my attack. It’s my loss.” After he said that, he turned his back to us and added, “My life is yours. You can take it whenever you please,” and left, just as typical Lang Qing would.
Yan Jiangnan, surprised, muttered, “What… a guy. Is he serious?”
Gu Xianxian: “Where do you think you’re going?!”
“Your wife and I are innocent. She merely asked me to fetch some medication for her. You can ask her why yourself.”
Gu Xianxian stood there stupefied. When he turned to his wife, she stomped and ran off, prompting him to chase after her.
Lang Qing definitely wasn’t the type to offer an explanation, so my counter clearly affected him. Honestly, I was stupefied when I realized I could dismantle his attack myself. It wasn’t because he lacked creativity that I found a counter; if he made a tiny adjustment, he could’ve taken my soul. His folly was that he performed it textbook standard and so well. I knew how to dismantle his attack precisely because I created it.
How does Lang Qing know my technique?
Zero had a quick word with me before chasing down the couple. Though she was clearly curious about the formation that not even she could escape, now was not the type to be inquiring about it. Seeing as she departed, everyone else awkwardly dispersed. I used work and training as an excuse to get rid of Yan Jiangnan, too.
I went to a relatively concealed stone room. Of course, patrols were bound to pass by, but I knew they would be ordered to go somewhere else as someone was going to pay me a visit. It didn’t take long for me to see Su Qi pop in.
Once he confirmed nobody was eavesdropping, Su Qi quietly voiced, “My Lord.”
I wore on a straight face and replied, “Come in.”
Su Qi zipped inside and went to salute me, but I instructed, “Shut the door.”
Su Qi gently shut the door, then genuflected before me and effused, “This one is… is beyond ecstatic to see you again. He is truly… truly…”
“Truly full of crap!” I jumped up and kicked Su Qi flush on the face. “Your balls have gotten bigger, huh?! So you were the one watching over me all this time! You! You had the audacity to watch over me!”
“No, no, no! This one would never disrespect you in the slightest even if his guts were as large as the sky!”
But you did! I could forgive someone else, but how dare you not recognise me after all we had been through together?! Whatever your reasons are, I’m going to knock your socks off first!
I stomped on Su Qi, I said, “I couldn’t identify who was watching me during my confinement. You did a good job of hiding yourself.”
“Th-this one was always watching.”
“And you didn’t release me!”
“This one wanted to release you, but he was hesitant…”
“Hesitant, your oompa-loompa foot! What was there to be hesitant about?!”
“Th-this one did not dare to confirm if you were the one being confined… Based on common sense, who could possibly capture you?”
Am I someone who could be measured by common sense?!
I bashed Su Qi for a while longer prior to getting down to business.
“Where’s Uselesstong? What about the Regent?”
Su Qi enthused, “They have become His Highness and His Majesty, respectively.”
Oh, right, forgot about that.
“Ah, whatever. I can’t remember. They doing well?”
“Thanks to you, they are both well. His Highness’ child is now three and a half.”
Wow, that guy had yet to even marry when I left, and he already has a kid? Hang on.
“Why are you guys here in the Central Plain when you’re doing well in the Western Regions?”
“We are here because,” Su Qi sighed, “it is a long story. The main reason is because His Great Majesty has been sick recently.”
His Great Majesty referred to Bright Moon Cult’s leader, who was second only to Ol’ Ximen in Divine Moon Cult. Ol’ Ximen was actually supposed to inherit the seat, but he decided to run the entire show. Therefore, somebody else had to fill the shoes.
For the reason that the current generation of Bright Moon Cult was in charge of the people, they wielded the greatest power. As such, their leader was basically the vice-commander of the sect. Even among the seven states, he was someone who was pretty much above everyone. Since Ol’ Ximen was no longer around, he was actually the absolute authority in the seven states.
I remembered he was a healthy person, so I was surprised to hear he was ill.
“By the way, who’s the chick? Why are all of you taking orders from her?”
“You have already figured out who Mr. Zero is? You are as impressive as ever.”
I chided, “Why would you go along with her idea of posing as Zero?”
“We would never dare to misuse Zero’s name. We merely used the name for the conveniences it offered. Moreover, she is not an outsider. We could not object since she insisted. Do you know who she is?”
“Shouldn’t that be my question?”
“Do you remember how the successor is selected in Bright Moon Cult?”
Uh… Give me a hint? How the hell am I supposed to remember everything in the holy scripture?
“She is the third Saintess.”
Say what?
“She’s a Saintess?”
