The rare bit of hostility that Ye Qi had managed to summon was completely dispelled by Changling’s smile, leaving not a trace.

He wasn’t someone who couldn’t hold his ground, but seeing this young lady’s gentle expression and hearing her words without any intent to compete, he unconsciously lowered the hand that had been reaching for the whip at his waist. “How did Miss see through it?”

“In the room, I heard someone say you’d already discovered where the captives were being held…” Changling said softly. “They shouldn’t have revealed such movements regardless of the occasion, yet you didn’t stop them. Instead, you helped me escape afterward—clearly it was intentional.”

Ye Qi looked at her with some surprise. “Why would I do that?”

Changling seemed rather unwilling to be probed by someone using a questioning tone, but she only furrowed her brow slightly before saying, “If I were one of Mingyue Zhou’s people, after learning this information I would naturally rush to his side to warn him to be on guard… Then you could use the Soul-Tracking Incense in the ring to find Mingyue Zhou’s movements, thereby discovering the true location where the captives are held.”

“But how did you know we placed Soul-Tracking Incense in the ring?”

She curled her fingers. “If this ring is truly so extraordinary, why would you keep it for anything else? Why would you let me take it away?”

Hearing this, Ye Qi almost wanted to cup his hands in a bow. Remembering that there were still several pairs of eyes watching them not far behind, he put his hands back in his sleeves. “Miss has keen insight. I’m impressed. Since you’ve already seen through the truth, why did you come back? Aren’t you afraid I’ll shout and summon them all to trap you?”

Changling said, “If you wanted to call for people, you would have done so already, but…”

Ye Qi interrupted her. “All right, all right, I know Miss is innocent now. If you keep talking like this, the people behind really aren’t foolish enough… There are still our sentries in these woods. I advise you to leave quickly…”

Seeing that even after being repeatedly exposed, he still cared about her safety, Changling’s gaze flickered with a trace of goodwill. “I have three things I want to tell Young Master Ye. After I say them, I’ll leave immediately.”

“Speak.”

“While in the carriage, I personally heard Mingyue Fei say that the place where the eight sect leaders are imprisoned is at the Great Zhao Temple.”

Ye Qi had been looking around, but hearing this sentence, he whipped around to face Changling, his expression utterly incredulous. “What?”

“I plan to go directly to the Great Zhao Temple myself.”

“Wait,” Ye Qi thought he’d misheard. “You said you and Mingyue Zhou met by chance and have no relationship—why would you go there?”

“To investigate someone.” Changling answered concisely. “The reason I came back to tell you this is that I don’t want you to waste your efforts and miss the opportunity to rescue them. Whether Young Master Ye believes me or not, I’ve said all I have to say.”

Ye Qi was completely dumbfounded.

He felt that in all his years alive, he’d always been the one making others dumbfounded—when had he ever been shocked again and again by a young girl to the point of raising his eyebrows in astonishment?

“Hey, then you…”

Changling had already remounted the horse. Hearing his voice, she turned her head back, waiting for him to finish. Ye Qi was stunned for a moment. “…Be careful on your journey.”

Whether or not Changling took these words to heart was unclear. She turned her head, squeezed the horse’s flanks, and left like the wind.

Leaving Ye Qi alone, unable to recover his senses for a long time.

The sun rose in the east, spreading layer upon layer of golden light across the vast mountain forest.

The small path outside the forest led south to north. In less than twenty li, it joined the main road heading straight toward Wei City.

Wei City belonged to the southern border of Yan Kingdom, essentially a junction between north and south. One side of the main road bordered a river, with many merchants transporting goods hurrying along. Though the terrain was remote, as one continued forward, one could still see those inns with straw-thatched roofs open on both sides for ventilation. People resting their feet sat both inside and out—business was thriving.

After encountering one unfortunate incident after another, Changling was so hungry she barely had the strength to ride. As soon as she left the forest, she began searching for food everywhere. After traveling a stretch of road, she finally caught the aroma of cooked food. Without caring whether she had any silver on her, she nimbly stopped her horse at the entrance of a small eatery and, at the waiter’s greeting, boldly strode into the establishment.

Most of the customers in the shop were traveling merchants or rough men who wandered the martial world, all disheveled and grimy. Seeing a brightly dressed, beautiful young lady step into the shop, quite a few raised their heads for an extra look or two. They couldn’t help but be startled by her outstanding elegance and beauty. In these times, for someone who had grown into such a pretty appearance to dare come alone to such a chaotic place—who knew what her background was.

Changling’s stomach was so empty it felt weak. She had no time to pay attention to the people around her. She casually picked a corner seat and sat down, urging the waiter to bring her a bowl of noodles first. When the steaming bowl of noodles was placed on the table, the chopsticks in her hand had long been waiting. In no time at all, she swept clean the large bowl of noodles rich with broth and toppings.

In this kind of small shop in a poor, remote corner, the ingredients and meat quality couldn’t be called particularly refined, but it excelled in that piping hot flavor. One bowl still left her feeling unsatisfied, so Changling ordered another serving of meat sandwich buns. Since it was destined to be a meal she’d dine and dash on anyway, eating a bit more or less made no difference.

While she ate with relish, a table of five burly men nearby watched with appreciation. Among them, a physically imposing man observed for quite a while, confirmed that this young lady had no other companions, and grew bolder. He called out to her, “Miss, are you alone?”

Changling was drinking soup when she heard this. Using her peripheral vision, she glanced at the burly man and chose to ignore him.

Seeing the young lady pay him no attention, the burly man stood up and walked over, plopping himself down on the side with an ill-intentioned smile. “Miss doesn’t seem to be from around here. I wonder where you’re headed?”

This was Changling’s first time being accosted, so she didn’t understand the other party’s intentions. The burly man pointed to his table of companions. “Wei City isn’t very peaceful. If you travel alone, you’ll likely face many difficulties. My brothers and I plan to head to the Yan capital. If we’re going the same way, we wouldn’t mind escorting Miss part of the way.”

Having said this, he grinned, revealing a mouthful of ugly, gapped teeth. Seeing this, Changling’s appetite greatly diminished. She lowered her eyes, forcibly suppressing the urge to stab through his throat with a chopstick, and said flatly, “No need.”

Seeing her with lowered head and obedient appearance, the burly man reached out to pat Changling’s shoulder. “Don’t be shy. We brothers have wide connections everywhere. We’ll definitely… Ah ah ah…”

Before he could finish, a pair of chopsticks suddenly clamped down on his right wrist. The man grimaced in pain, wanting to withdraw his hand but unable to move, trapped as he was. The group at the neighboring table saw this and immediately rose with a swish, drawing their axes. Changling released her chopsticks. The burly man clutched his wrist and stumbled back two steps, saying fiercely, “You dare lay hands on me? Are you tired of living?”

Changling calmly glanced at him and said, “What’s your name?”

If this were over ten years ago, anyone with good judgment would know the next line would be “I don’t kill nameless ghosts.” This burly man naturally didn’t understand these words tinged with killing intent. He thought she was afraid of him and thus said, “I never change my name whether walking or sitting—I’m Tie Qing, the deputy gang leader of the Giant Axe Gang! Hmph, if you obediently apologize, I might still consider sparing your life. Otherwise…”

Tie Qing pulled out the axe from behind him and threatened, “I’ll slash your clothes open!”

Changling: “…”

This man had a face that looked like he committed crimes for a living, yet unexpectedly he was law-abiding. This made her unable to gauge how hard to strike. The chopsticks in her hand hung suspended—she simply didn’t move.

At this moment, an arm stretched out long, pressing the tip of Changling’s chopsticks down onto the table, saying to Tie Qing with a smiling face, “Deputy Gang Leader Tie manages countless affairs daily—why bother with an unarmed young lady?”

The man’s eyes curved like crescents, his entire person so handsome he was completely out of place with everyone else in this establishment. Who else could it be but Ye Qi?

Seeing him appear out of nowhere, Changling was startled. Before she could speak, she heard Tie Qing ask first, “Where did you pop out from, you piece of trash! You dare meddle in others’ business!”

“I’m merely an unknown nobody, hardly worth mentioning. It’s just that as her elder brother, if I let her cause trouble, when the family blames me later, I’ll be hard-pressed to shirk responsibility.” Ye Qi raised his sleeve, revealing a copper waist token at his waist. Seeing it, Tie Qing’s face immediately turned pale, cold sweat faintly seeping from his forehead. “You…”

Whatever he wanted to say after “you,” he didn’t continue. Though Tie Qing’s face still showed undiminished anger, the blade and axe in his hand had already been returned to their sheaths. Seeing the deputy gang leader back down, his followers all compliantly put away their weapons as well.

Ye Qi politely cupped his hands. “Thank you, Deputy Gang Leader, for your mercy.”

Tie Qing snorted and turned to leave the restaurant without looking back. Once the whole group had gone far away, Ye Qi finally sat down. Without asking, he poured himself a cup of tea and shook his head repeatedly. “That was close.”

Changling asked, “Why did you come?”

“If I hadn’t come, your trouble would be great.” Ye Qi drank the tea hastily and nearly scalded his mouth. He clicked his tongue and lowered his voice. “These people are all desperadoes who were only granted amnesty by the Yan court to establish the Giant Axe Gang. Don’t think they look stupid and useless—they have plenty of manpower and their sphere of influence is considerable. If you’d killed him, it would definitely cause a huge uproar throughout the city. How could you then go to the Great Zhao Temple quietly and unnoticed?”

Changling looked at the waist token on him. “Why did he back down when he saw this copper token?”

“This is the Five Poison Gate’s token. Though the Giant Axe Gang people are arrogant, they don’t necessarily dare offend the Five Poison Gate.”

“Five Poison Gate?”

Changling knew about the Five Poison Gate quite clearly. During the Taixing battle years ago, the Eastern Yi Qiang tribe had joined forces with the Yan army to lure troops, poisoning nearly a thousand warhorses of the Yue Family Army overnight. The leader was precisely the sect master of the Five Poison Gate.

Changling: “You came from Eastern Xia… how could you…”

“I stole this token.” Ye Qi leisurely drank his tea. “After all, this isn’t my own territory. Borrowing someone else’s reputation works well to intimidate the local bullies here.”

“…”

This Young Master Ye always spoke in such an elusive manner that one couldn’t grasp his meaning. Changling didn’t waste more words with him, only repeated the question once more: “Why did you come?”

“I…” Before he could answer, the waiter brought up a steamer of meat sandwich buns. Ye Qi politely accepted them and gestured for Changling to eat while they were hot. Seeing her stare at him expressionlessly, he continued, “Oh, I came to find you. Since we’re both going to the same place anyway, why not travel together? We can look out for each other.”

“Look out for each other?”

Last night that group was shouting about killing her and chopping off her fingers. Today, had the weather changed or had loyalties shifted? This fellow actually invited himself along uninvited, requesting to travel together?

“Right.” Ye Qi grabbed a meat sandwich bun with one hand and with the other pulled out a full money pouch, placing it in front of Changling. “Miss has no money, and I have no exceptional skills. Why don’t we look after each other? This silver will be under Miss’s management, and Miss… as long as you can occasionally help me with small favors like you helped that certain someone, I’ll be deeply grateful.”

In this noisy public place, Ye Qi couldn’t mention Mingyue Zhou’s name aloud, but Changling understood well enough. This fellow was planning to go with the flow.

He was probably half-believing, half-doubting after hearing about the Great Zhao Temple, yet worried it was a trap and didn’t dare bring a large group to attack. But truly unwilling to miss this opportunity, he simply decided to investigate the situation himself first—

There was no safer method than following her. Whether true or false, by simply following her closely to the Great Zhao Temple, everything would become clear.

Changling looked at him with a complicated expression. The moment she set foot in this restaurant, Ye Qi had followed on her heels, showing that in an instant he’d already analyzed the situation. Despite his mediocre martial arts, he dared to take risks alone—she hadn’t realized before that he had such courage.

“What about the others? You just left them behind like that?”

“I left a note. Everything that needed to be said has been said.” Ye Qi finished a meat bun in five bites. “They’re all grown adults. They’ll have good judgment.”

Could that group of pedantic, stubborn people really be easily pacified by a single letter?

Changling didn’t believe it.

She noncommittally tucked the money pouch away and picked up the other meat bun with fresh chopsticks, saying, “My skills aren’t that superior to begin with, and I’ve previously suffered internal injuries. Helping you clear out a few small fries along the way won’t be difficult, but if we really encounter a master, Young Master Ye should pray for his own good fortune.”

“That’s natural.” Seeing Changling readily agree, Ye Qi’s face showed undisguised delight. “But speaking of which, Daoist Xu’s swordplay is considered outstanding among his peers. You could toy with him using just a sword sheath—saying you’re not superior is truly too modest… By the way, I haven’t asked Miss’s name yet. I wonder which sect or school you’re from? Where do you live?”

Changling: “Too many questions. I’ll only answer one.”

Ye Qi smiled. “What is Miss’s name?”

Author’s Note:

Sister Ling finally got to eat a proper meal today!

Qi-zong didn’t put so many schemes toward Sister Ling. Yesterday he genuinely wanted to let her go—don’t be angry at him, okay?