The shouting of Luo Jiaoyang snapped the stunned crowd behind his back to their senses, and they began speaking up one after another.
“Are you Ming Xian? Ming Xian is still alive?”
“Ming Xian is a woman… For seven years, the top fighters of five cities have been defeated by a girl?”
“That’s incredible. No wonder she can forge divine weapons. She Tianlin must be Ming Xian’s master.”
“You’re so wealthy, why do you still rush about for money?”
The last question came from Qin Shangwu, who found it absurd: “You win one Six City Tournament, and the reward alone should be over ten thousand taels of gold. How could you be concerned over a mere few hundred thousand bei…”
Ming Yi scratched her head, looking a bit embarrassed. “I didn’t know how precious money was before. I gave all the rewards to the Empress Dowager. I left suddenly, and she didn’t give me a single bei.”
In truth, even if she hadn’t left suddenly, her mother wouldn’t have given her the money anyway. Those rewards had become her mother’s ammunition in her rivalry with Concubine Meng, as well as a source of funds to support her natal family.
In the past, Ming Yi only cared about martial arts. As long as she had enough to eat and wear, she was content. She never imagined being without money could be so miserable, so now money was her lifeline. As for the glory of the city, that could wait. After all, you couldn’t buy a filling scallion pancake on the street with glory.
“This isn’t a place for chitchat,” Ji Bozai frowned and said, “Let’s go find the remaining two teams, eliminate them, and then we can leave this place.”
Ming Yi, lying on his back, fell silent for a moment before asking, “Why must we eliminate all the teams to leave?”
Ji Bozai turned his head and raised an eyebrow: “Then how else can we leave?”
Ming Yi pointed to where the moonlight was brightest: “Go stand over there. If no one dares to approach for half an hour, we can leave.”
Earlier, they were curious about how she knew so much. Now that she spoke again, Luo Jiaoyang and the others had no more reservations. They started walking towards where she pointed, asking as they went, “What if someone approaches within half an hour?”
“Then it’s winner takes all,” Ming Yi said. “The top three cities are determined by the order of exit, but sometimes people exploit this rule. For example, in the last Six City Tournament, Zhu Yue City and Chaoyang City reached an agreement. Zhu Yue City stood in the moonlight first, while Chaoyang City guarded them for half an hour, in exchange for Zhu Yue City’s help in later competitions.”
The group frowned as they listened: “That’s so underhanded! Isn’t the Six City Tournament supposed to be about strength?”
“Being able to cooperate with opponents is also a kind of strength,” Ming Yi said matter-of-factly. “It’s just that before this, Chaoyang City never cooperated with anyone.”
With Ming Xian present, Chaoyang City had full confidence in winning, so they naturally wouldn’t cooperate. But last time, she wasn’t there, and Chaoyang City didn’t want to immediately fall out of the top three, so they had to cooperate with Zhu Yue, elevating Zhu Yue to the top position while securing second place for themselves.
Emerging from the flower bushes into the moonlight, Chu He looked up at the exceptionally bright moon and sighed, “The moon in Muxing City isn’t this bright.”
Qin Shangwu immediately punched him: “When you’re away from home, how can you praise other cities and put down your own?”
“It’s the truth,”樊耀 looked around at the quiet surroundings, still vigilant. “Not just the moon, even the stars in our city are this big and bright, so the moon isn’t special. Will they all rush over here together?”
“They won’t,” Ming Yi said. “Chaoyang and Xin Cao have been eliminated. Zhu Yue City cares about face and won’t pursue it. The remaining Cang Xue City lacks ambition and isn’t worth worrying about.”
Listening from behind, Qin Shangwu’s eyes grew brighter with each word.
Wasn’t Ming Yi exactly the divine weapon forger he had been dreaming of? Not only could she forge divine weapons, but she also had rich combat experience and could provide good guidance to these novices.
But she was from Chaoyang City, and her identity was special, which gave him some reservations.
He looked at Ming Yi with concern, then his gaze shifted slightly to Ji Bozai, who was carrying her.
His eyebrows twitched as Qin Shangwu got an idea.
As Ming Yi had said, they stood in the brightest moonlight for half an hour without anyone coming to challenge them. The surrounding Void Realm then descended, taking them out and placing them on a flat grassland.
As soon as they landed, Luo Jiaoyang and the others began chattering about the battles they had just experienced. Ming Yi was severely injured, so Ji Bozai said nothing and quickly carried her back to the large mansion she had bought.
Seeing Ming Yi covered in blood, Xiu Yun was terrified. She immediately took her from Ji Bozai’s back, supporting her into the house to examine and re-bandage her wounds carefully. Ji Bozai hadn’t even had a chance to say a word before the door slammed shut in his face.
He rubbed his nose, feeling a bit annoyed but helpless. He turned to change his clothes, only to see Qin Shangwu standing in the courtyard, beckoning to him kindly.
“Master?” he walked over.
Qin Shangwu pulled him to a secluded corner and said warmly, “I remember you had quite a reputation as a ladies’ man back in Muxing City. Any woman would fall for you and couldn’t escape your grasp.”
Ji Bozai tensed up and immediately responded righteously, “Those are all baseless rumors. I’ve always kept myself pure and never dallied in romance. Every day I only think about cultivating—”
“Don’t give me that nonsense,” Qin Shangwu waved his hand to interrupt. “I’m not here to reproach you. I just want to ask, since you’re so good at handling women, why did you break up with Ming Yi back then?”
Mentioning this, Ji Bozai fell silent for a moment, then smiled casually, “What else could it be? I just didn’t like her anymore.”
“You don’t like her?”
“…Mm.”
A man’s pride and dignity made Ji Bozai straighten his neck, refusing to bow his head.
Then Qin Shangwu slapped the back of his head: “Such a good girl, what’s not to like? I think she’s much better than those painted faces at Hua Manlou. Why don’t you settle down and live a good life with her?”
Covering the back of his head, Ji Bozai mumbled a response: “Forget it, the Six City Tournament is more important.”
Even if he wanted to live a good life with her, she might not be willing.
“Since you know the Six City Tournament is important, you should get along with her even more,” Qin Shangwu looked back and lowered his voice. “She’s Ming Xian. If she could help our Muxing City, we could secure the top position. Then we wouldn’t have to worry about pleasing others anymore…”
“Master,” Ji Bozai’s face darkened.
Qin Shangwu was startled, feeling somewhat guilty: “What, what is it?”
“She’s already been used by the previous city for many years, ending up with nothing in the end,” he lowered his eyes, his hand tightening slightly. “Whatever she wants to do next, let her choose for herself.”
Choose for herself? Qin Shangwu frowned deeply.
How many fighters in this world could truly be free? They were all just tools in the cities’ games. For someone like Ming Xian, it was fine as long as she wasn’t discovered. But once discovered, how could she possibly still have the chance to choose for herself?