Chapter 1059: Hongniang, Let Me Ask You Something

After leaving Bai Yulou's room, Hong Gaitian led his companion straight out of the inn. Ignoring the independent cultivators who crowded around the entrance to strike up conversation like beggars asking alms, the two left Star-Plucking City without stopping.

All that talk about coming back to see Bai Yulou again had been nothing but nonsense meant to steady him. They had no intention of returning.

They had to leave. Bai Yulou was deeply rooted here. If he decided to silence them, their situation would become dangerous.

He might only be an innkeeper, but once Bai Yulou opened his mouth, which cultivator passing through this city would dare refuse him face? It would take no more than a casual word.

Of course, under ordinary logic such a situation should have been unlikely. Hong Gaitian was now an inspector personally appointed by Sacred Realm, and even Misty Pavilion could not decide whether he lived or died. By now, that should have been common knowledge throughout the cultivation world. So long as he revealed his true face, no one should have dared touch him.

But Star-Plucking City was a place where dragons and snakes mingled. No one knew what sort of people might be hidden here, while Bai Yulou was precisely the man most likely to know. Once malicious intent arose, anything could happen. So while Bai Yulou was still unsettled and before he had time to make arrangements, the two of them needed to leave as quickly as possible.

Only after they had gone far from Star-Plucking City and mounted a flying beast that carried them into the sky did they finally relax.

Hong Gaitian looked at the person beside him and sighed. "I told you not to come, but you insisted. We nearly gave ourselves away, didn't we? If he'd insisted on seeing your real face, what would you have done? The moment he knew it was you, he'd know my little brother was behind this, and then we wouldn't be able to threaten him anymore."

"Nothing happened, did it?" The slight figure gave a woman's soft laugh.

It was Guan Fangyi's voice.

The person beside Hong Gaitian was none other than Guan Fangyi.

Her figure was actually fairly voluptuous, but once she put on men's clothing, the effect changed completely. Somehow, she really did look slight.

Some matters could not conveniently be entrusted to others. As for contacting Hong Gaitian, if some ordinary person had approached him, Hong Gaitian would have found it difficult to believe. Only one of Niu Youdao's trusted people appearing in person could persuade him easily enough.

As for why Guan Fangyi had insisted on accompanying Hong Gaitian to see Bai Yulou, it was because she knew how serious the matter was. There could be no carelessness, or Niu Youdao might be placed in enormous danger.

How had Hong Gaitian and Niu Youdao become sworn brothers? How much genuine feeling was there between them? Guan Fangyi did not dare entrust the entire matter to him and merely wait for a reported result. She needed to be there personally, hear the answer herself, and confirm it with her own ears before she could feel at ease.

"Nothing happened?" Hong Gaitian said. "If he'd insisted on seeing your true face, I'd like to know what you would've done."

"With the Third Master of the South Sea here, what was there to worry about?" Guan Fangyi flattered him, then raised a thumb. "You handled today's business beautifully. Master Dao was right. Third Master may look rough, but you're meticulous beneath the surface. That was truly a fine method. Not only did you obtain the answer we wanted, you managed it without making Bai Yulou suspicious. I've learned something today."

Hong Gaitian did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Spare me. My little brother already pointed out exactly where to apply pressure. If I could still botch it after that, I probably wouldn't have survived in the South Sea until today. I don't have any great methods. My little brother, though..." He clicked his tongue. "When he gave Bai Yulou that money back then, he should barely have been making his first steps in the world, right? Yet even then he managed to leave behind leverage he could use against Bai Yulou. My little brother is something else. That really is long-range planning. I'm convinced."

Guan Fangyi smiled. "You're exaggerating. It was probably just circumstance working in his favor. No matter how far ahead he planned back then, he couldn't possibly have known he'd be inspecting Misty Pavilion today. And if Third Master didn't carry your present status, how could you have forced Bai Yulou to yield?"

Her mouth was modest on Niu Youdao's behalf, but inwardly she muttered that this truly was long-range planning.

She could already imagine what would happen if Master Dao succeeded inside Sacred Realm and abducted Sha Huanli. Once such a thing occurred, the fact that Bai Yulou had leaked Sha Huanli's movements and thereby enabled her abduction would leave Bai Yulou completely in Master Dao's grasp.

Why did Master Dao want to abduct Sha Huanli? One could guess it was directed at Sha Rulai. That meant killing Sha Huanli was unlikely. In the end, Sha Huanli would surely return safely, otherwise abducting her would lose its purpose. The affair should eventually subside.

And as for what they had used today to threaten Bai Yulou, so long as Master Dao later gave Bai Yulou a little warning, and so long as Master Dao and Bai Yulou both denied it, Hong Gaitian would no longer be able to threaten Bai Yulou afterward. The only man who could keep Bai Yulou under his thumb would be Master Dao.

There was no chance Master Dao would let such an opportunity slip.

The moment Bai Yulou opened his mouth today and Sha Huanli came to harm because of it, there would be no road back for him before Master Dao. He would have no choice but to submit obediently.

Hong Gaitian still could not quite understand one thing. "What exactly is Niu Youdao trying to do by finding out when Sha Huanli leaves Star-Plucking City?"

Guan Fangyi gave an exaggerated sigh. "Third Master, if Master Dao won't say, am I supposed to force him? How would I know?"

Hong Gaitian smacked his lips. "Did Niu Youdao really come out of Sacred Realm? Why do I still feel there's something off about that story?"

Guan Fangyi said, "How many times have you asked me that already? He really did come out once with people from Misty Pavilion. He didn't tell me who he came out with or what assignment he was handling, only that he would be returning very soon. By now, he should already be back inside Sacred Realm. If he hadn't come out, how could I have contacted him? And if he hadn't personally told me certain things, how could I possibly know them well enough to pass his words on to you?"

Hong Gaitian simply felt somewhat uneasy, but after thinking it over, he still felt there should be no problem. Besides, the deed was already done.

When Guan Fangyi first came to him, the reason she could persuade him to help with something like this was precisely because he believed these were Niu Youdao's instructions and believed Niu Youdao had briefly come out of Sacred Realm.

The moment the two made contact, Guan Fangyi had first relayed Niu Youdao's warning: the Sacred Venerables' blade had already been raised. Hong Gaitian needed to start finding trouble with Misty Pavilion immediately and strive to survive the calamity before them.

The reasoning was exactly what Niu Youdao had explained to Taishu Shanhai and the others. This, Guan Fangyi told him, was why Niu Youdao had gotten Long Fanhai killed.

Hong Gaitian had suddenly seen the light and nearly broken out in a cold sweat. So hiding inside the All-Under-Heaven Money House did not mean he could muddle through in safety after all.

He immediately asked Guan Fangyi to thank Niu Youdao on his behalf and said he now understood what he needed to do.

Only afterward did Guan Fangyi bring up the favor Niu Youdao wanted from him.

Hong Gaitian had hesitated badly over helping with something like this.

So Guan Fangyi again invoked Niu Youdao's words: they could only fight Misty Pavilion now. There was no road back. Left or right, only one path remained, so there was nothing to fear.

Once Hong Gaitian's attitude began to soften, Guan Fangyi passed on Niu Youdao's hard line directly: help me or don't help me, either way you're going to help. If you refuse to help me today, then don't blame me for standing by with folded arms when you need help in the future.

After so much time dealing with Niu Youdao and seeing how he handled affair after affair, Niu Youdao had gained a certain influence over Hong Gaitian.

Put plainly, it was prestige.

And so Hong Gaitian had gritted his teeth, come here, and involved himself in the affair.

"Third Master, I won't trouble you to escort me any farther." Guan Fangyi suddenly said goodbye.

Hong Gaitian followed her gaze and saw a large crimson bird slowly converging from the side. It was flying faster than their own mount and was clearly catching up.

The Scarlet Hunting Eagle.

Hong Gaitian knew the people coming to receive Guan Fangyi had arrived. He nodded faintly. "If there's any news from Niu Youdao's side, remember to keep me informed in time."

"Naturally I won't forget Third Master's request. But please don't forget Master Dao's instructions either. Since Master Dao passed this warning to you, remember to remind Fuhua, Lang Jingkong, and Duan Wuchang in time. Master Dao doesn't want anything happening to his own people. He hopes all of you can survive this first hurdle."

Hong Gaitian understood what she meant.

She was referring to the Sacred Venerables having raised the butcher's blade. Fuhua and the others needed to start finding trouble with Misty Pavilion as well, lest they become the chickens killed to warn the monkeys.

"Don't worry. Once I get back, I'll contact them immediately. I won't delay it."

The Scarlet Hunting Eagle drew close.

Hong Gaitian looked back carefully at the two figures standing on its back.

One was Wu Zhaoxing. The other was Yun Ji.

Wu Zhaoxing had personally come to collect her, and they had even brought the Scarlet Hunting Eagle. It was obvious how highly Niu Youdao's people valued Guan Fangyi's safety.

Hong Gaitian could not help running his eyes up and down Guan Fangyi's figure. With a grin, he said, "Hongniang, let me ask you something."

Guan Fangyi said, "No need to be polite, Third Master. Ask whatever you like."

Hong Gaitian chuckled with obvious ill intent. "Tell me honestly. Have you and Niu Youdao ever slept together?"

Guan Fangyi was speechless for a moment.

Then she rolled her eyes at him. A heartbeat later, she sent him a coquettish glance instead and touched the tip of one slender finger against his chest.

Her voice turned sweet and seductive.

"Guess."

The answer was no answer at all.

Then she flashed into the air at an angle.

This was Guan Fangyi. She was long accustomed to this kind of talk. Had Hong Gaitian said such a thing to an ordinary respectable woman, it would have been no different from an insult, and she would probably have turned hostile on the spot.

The Scarlet Hunting Eagle beat its wings hard and shot upward at an angle, receiving Guan Fangyi as she descended onto its back.

Guan Fangyi looked back and waved to Hong Gaitian with a smile.

The Scarlet Hunting Eagle rolled sideways through the air, changed direction in a smooth sweep, and quickly carried the three of them away.

Hong Gaitian watched them go with a cheerful grin, muttering to himself, "That woman really has some fire. No one managed to carry her off after all those years in the capital of Qi, yet somehow that fellow got her to follow him. And now she's utterly devoted, risking her life on his behalf. What kind of love potion did he feed her? Damned strange."

He did not stop to consider that he himself had just taken a considerable risk on Niu Youdao's behalf by going to Bai Yulou.

...

In the capital of Jin, Shao Pingbo stood at the railing of a pavilion inside a residence, staring blankly across a pond, looking somewhat melancholy.

His present circumstances might be called a cocoon of his own making.

Because the work he handled involved secrets, all his outside contacts were monitored by Blackwater Terrace. As a result, news from the cultivation world always reached him late.

Niu Youdao had actually gotten a Misty Pavilion deacon killed.

Shao Pingbo was not surprised in the slightest that Niu Youdao possessed that much nerve.

What left him melancholy was the realization, faint but increasingly difficult to ignore, that the distance between himself and Niu Youdao seemed to be growing wider and wider.

...

Outside Jin's capital, amid a range of scenic mountains, stood Tiandi Sect in the location to which it had recently moved.

After Sect Leader Linghu Qiu had been summoned by Emperor Taishu Xiong, Taishu Xiong had forcibly ordered Tiandi Sect relocated here. Linghu Qiu had no choice but to comply, nor did he dare refuse.

Inside the sect, Linghu Qiu sat behind a desk staring at a letter laid before him, looking melancholy as well.

The letter was from Yuan Gang.

It asked what exactly was going on with Chuan Ying.

The problem was that when Linghu Qiu had helped Chuan Ying back then, it had only been an emergency favor within the jianghu. In order to prove that he had intervened to help one of his own sect's people, he had brought Chuan Ying into Tiandi Sect.

Chuan Ying's identity as a Tiandi Sect member had never been made public.

When trouble arose around Chuan Ying, the only people who had ever come here to investigate were certain figures whose identities could not be discussed with outsiders.

[End of Chapter 1059]