Chapter 375: Big Sister, You Should Be Thanking Me!

At those words, Niu Youdao's brows suddenly knit. He fell into thought.

Ghost Mother continued, "I've lived in the State of Qi for more than a hundred years. There are some things I understand. If the court truly didn't want such a large shipment of warhorses to leave the country, there is no way it could ever have gotten out. Hao Yunsheng learned my secret and was willing to pay, so I merely did him a favor that cost me little. We had an agreement beforehand: only if he could get the warhorses out would I help escort them. So you can rest easy. Neither Hao Yuntu nor Hao Yunsheng will pursue the matter with me, and there's no need for you to worry on my behalf. All you need to do now is keep your promise and hand the man over to me."

She slapped a hand onto the stack of gold drafts on the table. "For the sake of this money, I'll give you my word. As long as he is safe and sound, I won't touch you this time. I'll let you go."

In truth, Niu Youdao's complete lack of concern after seeing through her intentions had unsettled her somewhat. He remained relaxed and conversational, as though he had nothing to fear. If he truly kept his promise, she intended to take the money and let the matter end there. She had no desire to invite unnecessary trouble. This was the State of Yan, after all.

Niu Youdao slowly nodded. "Thank you for your magnanimity, Ghost Mother. But even if you're willing to let me go, I'm afraid someone else may not be willing to let you go."

Ghost Mother's gaze turned cold at once. "You want to try?"

"No, no, no! You've misunderstood me." Niu Youdao waved both hands. "I'm not the one who won't let you go. The one who won't is Emperor Hao Yuntu of the State of Qi."

At the side, Guan Fangyi idly waved her round fan and watched Niu Youdao with great interest, curious to see what trouble this fellow intended to stir up now.

Seeing how unconcerned he appeared, she felt somewhat reassured as well. After spending so much time with him, she had come to understand a little of what he was capable of and had gained more confidence in him. Of course, she still kept a talisman hidden in her sleeve, ready to unleash it at any moment.

Ghost Mother said, "Aren't you worrying about rather too much?"

Niu Youdao countered, "Do you really think Hao Yuntu lacks the strength to wipe Xianyin Mountain from the face of the earth?"

Ghost Mother said, "If an enemy state invades, Xianyin Mountain is willing to lend him its strength. Hao Yuntu isn't a fool. He knows how to weigh benefits against costs."

"That depends on the matter. If Xianyin Mountain threatens his throne, I'm afraid he'll gather a vast number of cultivators and scour Xianyin Mountain clean from top to bottom."

Ghost Mother sneered. "Xianyin Mountain threatens his throne? You're talking about Hao Yunsheng, aren't you? Merely sending people to escort a fleet for Hao Yunsheng threatens the Emperor's throne? What an absurd joke!"

Niu Youdao said, "To ride the roads of the jianghu is to travel far and make friends along the way. If Ghost Mother doesn't disdain me, I'd be willing to become sworn siblings with you, an elder sister and younger brother of different surnames. What do you think?"

The abrupt proposal left everyone listening nearby stunned.

Ghost Mother herself stared blankly for quite a while before finally saying with ridicule, "You want to become sworn siblings with me? When I first made my name, your grandfather probably wasn't even born yet. What makes you think you're qualified?"

"Pfft..." Guan Fangyi covered her mouth, laughing so hard her shoulders shook.

Ghost Mother looked up at her. "Was what I said that amusing?"

"No, no." Guan Fangyi tried to suppress her laughter as she waved her fan. She simply could not help it. She had remembered Niu Youdao's other sworn brother, Linghu Qiu, and she knew perfectly well who had gotten Linghu Qiu thrown into prison.

The expression on Gongsun Bu's face was rather wonderful as well. He was beginning to think Master Dao had quite a fondness for sworn brotherhood.

Niu Youdao turned and shot Guan Fangyi a cold look, inwardly faulting the woman for not knowing how to play along. Then he turned back. "Very well. Since Ghost Mother looks down on me, there are certain matters in the State of Qi that I have no wish to involve myself in for no reason."

He gestured toward the gold drafts on the table. "Please keep the money. Zhang Xingrui will also be returned safe and sound. You should receive word within a few days. If you're uneasy, you may keep watch on me whenever you like."

With that, he rose and cupped his hands.

Just as he was about to turn away, Ghost Mother, her eyes shifting uncertainly, suddenly asked, "Do you really think this kind of self-deceiving sworn bond means anything?"

Guan Fangyi groaned inwardly. That did it. If Ghost Mother was asking a question like that, Niu Youdao had hooked her. Clearly, she did have some concern that Hao Yuntu might move against Xianyin Mountain. Unless she got to the bottom of it, she would not be at ease.

Niu Youdao said, "Whether it means anything depends on the future. Time reveals the heart. If it means nothing, neither of us loses anything. At worst, we never deal with each other again for the rest of our lives."

Ghost Mother said, "I'm warning you. You'd better not be playing me."

The implication was obvious. If the situation he described did not exist, this so-called sworn bond would not restrain her in the slightest.

Niu Youdao asked, "Could I fool you even if I tried?"

With the matter brought this far, Ghost Mother became decisive. "Then let's begin."

Niu Youdao turned his head. "Gongsun, prepare an incense altar."

The corner of Gongsun Bu's mouth twitched. He nodded. "Yes."

Then he turned and left.

Guan Fangyi slowly waved her round fan and looked up at the ceiling, then left and right, as though searching for something.

Lu Lijun, who had accompanied Ghost Mother, wore an equally marvelous expression. Every so often, he glanced toward the utterly solemn Niu Youdao...

The incense altar was soon prepared just outside the relay station. The two prospective sworn siblings walked over side by side, and fine sticks of incense were placed in their hands. Niu Youdao was straightforward. He swept up the hem of his robe and knelt. Ghost Mother turned her head and stared at him in silence for a while, visibly hesitant.

Niu Youdao smiled. "What is it?"

Ghost Mother said, "I've heard that Linghu Qiu and some elder from Tianyu Sect are also your sworn brothers?"

Niu Youdao said, "One doesn't interfere with another."

After hesitating for another moment, Ghost Mother finally knelt as well. Together, the two recited their oaths of sworn siblinghood. Only then did Niu Youdao learn Ghost Mother's true name: Wu Xuejun. The commotion naturally drew quite a few cultivators stationed nearby to guard the warhorses.

Shang Chaozong, Lan Ruoting, Meng Shanming, and the others came over. Fei Changliu, Zheng Jiuxiao, Xia Hua, and others came as well. Even the group of ghost cultivators from Xianyin Mountain looked thoroughly puzzled. Most had no idea what was going on.

Fei Changliu, Zheng Jiuxiao, and Xia Hua had personally witnessed Niu Youdao's sworn-brotherhood ceremony with Linghu Qiu. They were filled with emotion. Who was he swearing brotherhood with this time? And this one was even a female ghost cultivator.

Once the incense had been planted and the ceremony completed, Niu Youdao solemnly cupped his hands to Ghost Mother. "Big Sister!"

Ghost Mother turned and walked away, heading straight back inside the relay station. Fei Changliu, Zheng Jiuxiao, and Xia Hua immediately stepped forward and grabbed Niu Youdao before he could follow her inside.

Xia Hua asked, "Master Dao, what sort of performance was that? Who exactly is the woman you just became sworn siblings with?"

"Oh. Ghost Mother." Niu Youdao tossed the answer over his shoulder and walked away.

"Ghost Mother?"

"Ghost Mother of Xianyin Mountain in the State of Qi?"

"There doesn't seem to be a second cultivator in the cultivation world called Ghost Mother, does there?"

The three questioned one another in astonishment.

What was going on?

How had Ghost Mother of Xianyin Mountain ended up becoming Niu Youdao's sworn elder sister? They wanted to go inside and find out, but the ghost cultivators guarding the relay station entrance stopped them and refused to let unrelated people enter.

After the three retreated, Shang Chaozong asked, "Who is the woman who just became sworn siblings with Master Dao?"

Fei Changliu said, "Your Highness, that isn't a human. She's a ghost cultivator who has manifested a physical form: Ghost Mother of Xianyin Mountain in the State of Qi. Her place on the Golden Core Ranking is even higher than Zhuo Chao, the man Niu Youdao killed."

"That woman is Ghost Mother?" Lan Ruoting exclaimed.

The names publicly displayed on the Golden Core Ranking were, in a sense, there for powerful secular figures like them to know. Anyone who had ever looked through the list would remember someone as unusual as Ghost Mother. In short, Shang Chaozong, Lan Ruoting, and Meng Shanming could only look at one another. None could understand why a figure like Ghost Mother would become sworn siblings with Niu Youdao. Nor could they understand what Niu Youdao was trying to do.

"Our Master Dao really does like becoming sworn brothers with people," Xia Hua suddenly said, half laughing and half helpless.

Bai Yao, who stood beside Shang Chaozong as his guard, frowned slightly. Ghost Mother had actually become Niu Youdao's sworn elder sister.

What was going on?

In truth, the sworn bond meant nothing at all to Ghost Mother. She had no intention of assuming any of the obligations that came with it. That was why she had asked beforehand whether such a self-deceiving ceremony had any meaning. Niu Youdao naturally understood this perfectly well.

Ghost Mother, for her part, understood one thing as well. Since Niu Youdao had been the one asking for sworn siblinghood, he clearly stood to gain something from it. At the very least, he could borrow the prestige of her name. That was the price she was willing to pay to learn what she wanted to know.

Back inside the relay-station room, Ghost Mother sat down and said coldly, "Can you tell me now?"

Niu Youdao took his seat opposite her again. "Big Sister, do you know who this shipment of warhorses was meant for?"

Ghost Mother said, "No. Does that have anything to do with me?"

"Indeed, it doesn't." Niu Youdao nodded, then asked, "I imagine Big Sister also doesn't know who was truly overseeing the arrangements for this shipment?"

Ghost Mother said, "Wasn't it the Prince of the Western Court?"

Niu Youdao smiled.

That had been his suspicion all along. Xianyin Mountain probably did not know the truth. At first, he had believed Guan Fangyi's assumption that Su Zhao and Zhang Xingrui were connected. Later, however, after looking into Ghost Mother's circumstances, he realized something did not fit.

Xianyin Mountain had an agreement with the court of the State of Qi and faced no threat to its survival. Conditions beneath Heaven also did not permit ghost cultivators to grow too powerful. The cultivators of the world would never allow ghost cultivators to act recklessly among ordinary society.

Ghost Mother was not so foolish that she would fail to understand that, with her present strength, Xianyin Mountain was better off avoiding matters it had no business joining.

Its current circumstances were already the best it could hope for. It had the conditions to develop its strength slowly over time. Why would it deliberately invite trouble instead?

For that reason, Niu Youdao suspected that Ghost Mother had no idea the Prince of the Western Court had ties to Xiaoyue Pavilion.

By the same reasoning, Xiaoyue Pavilion would not lightly expose its identity to outsiders. Moving so many warhorses involved too many unpredictable factors and far too many chances for the operation to be exposed. If Xianyin Mountain knew too much and the operation failed, Su Zhao's identity could easily be compromised. That did not fit Xiaoyue Pavilion's way of doing things.

His earlier rounds of probing had already confirmed most of this. Otherwise, Ghost Mother would never have agreed to become his sworn elder sister. Her answer just now only made him more certain.

Niu Youdao suddenly said to the others, "Please give us some privacy. Big Sister and I have something to discuss alone."

Guan Fangyi, Gongsun Bu, and the others exchanged looks, then turned and left. Niu Youdao was not afraid of being alone with Ghost Mother, and Ghost Mother had even less to fear. She tilted her head toward Lu Lijun and the others.

Once only the two of them remained in the room, Niu Youdao finally said, "This shipment of warhorses was actually arranged in secret by Xiaoyue Pavilion."

Ghost Mother was genuinely shocked this time. "You're saying the Prince of the Western Court is secretly involved with Xiaoyue Pavilion?"

Niu Youdao said seriously, "Big Sister, do you know that while I was in the Qi capital, Hao Yuntu sent Bu Xun, Chief Steward of the Inner Palace, to make contact with me? Do you know why Hao Yuntu arrested my sworn brother Linghu Qiu? Because Linghu Qiu is one of Xiaoyue Pavilion's people! Do you know what sort of person Su Zhao is, the Prince of the Western Court's exclusive woman and proprietress of Among the White Clouds? Su Zhao is also one of Xiaoyue Pavilion's people! Anyone with eyes can see that the Prince of the Western Court is not content to remain idle."

"Big Sister, you've become involved in an affair like this. Do you truly think you can simply say that you only sent people to escort the fleet and wash your hands of it? Even if you have ten thousand excuses, can you really clear yourself? Do you think Hao Yuntu will readily believe you? Big Sister, of all the affairs you could have involved yourself in, why involve yourself in a struggle for imperial power? And don't tell me you were unaware. Other matters can be explained away, but you know perfectly well what happens when someone threatens Hao Yuntu's throne and the truth comes to light! I kidnapped Zhang Xingrui and seized this shipment of warhorses. Was I harming you? This gives you the perfect chance to clear yourself of the affair and draw a clean line between yourself and Hao Yunsheng. Big Sister, you should be thanking me!"

[End of Chapter 375]