Chapter 1174: A Gift for You from the Sacred Realm

After receiving the report, Gong Lince did not immediately make the decision himself.

Although he had already formed an opinion, he still asked what the other Elders thought.

The other side's request was reasonable enough. People and property would remain behind as collateral, and many of those staying were Yuan Gang's and Guan Fangyi's trusted subordinates. They were unlikely to abandon them.

And even if the two did abandon everyone and never return, trading one flying mount for the proper, undisputed acquisition of all the others would hardly count as a loss.

The Elders' opinion was to agree.

Gong Lince accepted their judgment.

When the disciple reappeared, he gave Mo Lingxue a slight nod.

Understanding the answer, Mo Lingxue acted as though she had finally made up her mind and turned back. "Very well. I'll make an exception this once."

She pointed toward the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone on the tray, signaling for the written agreement to be made.

Yuan Gang started forward.

Guan Fangyi reached out and grabbed his arm.

Yuan Gang looked back at her.

He read the question in her eyes: Are you truly going to do this? Are you certain?

Yuan Gang caught her wrist, pulled her hand away, walked to the writing materials, and wrote out the agreement.

Then he signed it and affixed his mark.

Mo Lingxue lifted her chin toward Guan Fangyi. "Since the two of you are the ones leaving, Hongniang should sign the agreement as well."

Guan Fangyi was still hesitating when Yuan Gang urged, "Time is limited. Hurry."

At this point, she could only trust him.

Guan Fangyi stepped forward and signed the agreement as well.

After taking the document and examining it, Mo Lingxue smiled in satisfaction.

She put the agreement away and personally accompanied the two of them, then personally spoke with Yan Li.

When Yan Li heard that the extension would be three days and they still wanted to borrow one flying mount, he was quite dissatisfied.

But it was the sect's decision.

He could only comply.

Once they had secured their means of travel, Guan Fangyi quickly sent word to the people of Maolu Annex, telling them they now had a three-day extension.

Only then did she and Yuan Gang mount the flying beast and rise into the evening glow...

Traveling nonstop by ordinary means would have taken half a day.

Using a flying mount saved more than half that time.

In one sense, the person they were going to meet was not actually far from Zijin Cave.

Even so, by the time the two reached their destination, night had already fully fallen.

Beneath a crescent moon, the flying mount carried them down onto a mountaintop deep within a forest.

Someone was already waiting there.

A lone figure stood beneath a great tree with hands clasped behind his back, silently facing the moon.

After landing, Yuan Gang and Guan Fangyi exchanged a glance.

Then both stared toward the figure with his back to them.

Guan Fangyi muttered to Yuan Gang, "Who is that?"

The man raised a hand and peeled away the false face covering his features.

Then he slowly turned around with a smile.

"You've come."

Yuan Gang and Guan Fangyi froze.

Guan Fangyi's reaction was even more dramatic.

She looked as though she had seen a ghost.

With her Dharma Eye, she saw the man's features with perfect clarity.

That familiar face.

That familiar smile.

That familiar voice.

Who could it be but Niu Youdao?

"Master Dao!"

Coming back to herself, Guan Fangyi suddenly cried out.

Like a young girl, she ran toward him in wild delight, beside herself with excitement, and threw herself straight into his arms.

Niu Youdao was caught completely off guard.

This was the first time he had seen this woman abandon all restraint like this.

Her enthusiasm was a little too much for him.

He found himself unable to handle it.

Mouth pressed tight, he tried to push her away.

Instead, Guan Fangyi hugged him even more tightly.

She clung to him, rising onto her toes and wrapping her arms around him until their heads rested against one another.

Then she began to cry.

Choking with sobs, she said, "You bastard! You scared me to death!"

She truly was crying.

Tears streamed down her face.

All the grievance and hurt she had suffered earlier seemed finally to have found an outlet.

At last she dared put down the strength she had been forcing herself to carry, become a woman again, and let everything out without fear.

Niu Youdao gradually understood why she had cast aside all reserve.

A restrained smile appeared on his face.

He patted her back and teased, "All right. You're already an old woman, and you're still doing this? Isn't it disgusting?"

"Pfft!"

Guan Fangyi instantly broke through her tears into laughter.

Then embarrassment turned to anger.

She shoved him away and shouted, "Why don't you go die?"

She discovered that this fellow truly was exceptionally infuriating.

He was always reminding her she was an old woman.

He made it impossible to know whether to love him or hate him.

Absolutely hateful!

Then again, only the real Master Dao would say something like that.

After cursing him, she started laughing again.

Yuan Gang walked over.

A faint smile had actually appeared on his ordinarily rigid face.

He greeted Niu Youdao as casually as ever. "Master Dao."

Niu Youdao smiled as well.

He raised one hand and patted Yuan Gang on the chest. "Doing all right?"

"Not bad." Yuan Gang nodded.

Then he suddenly raised one finger and pointed toward Niu Youdao's face.

Niu Youdao stared blankly.

Not understanding, he reached up and touched his own face.

Guan Fangyi focused her eyes on him.

"Pfft!"

She covered her mouth.

"Hahaha..."

Then she lost control completely.

She laughed until her whole body shook, bending forward and back, tears from her earlier crying still clinging to her face.

She nearly laughed herself breathless.

Niu Youdao looked completely disheveled.

His face was covered in Guan Fangyi's handiwork.

Lipstick marks were everywhere.

When he rubbed his face and saw the color on his fingers, Niu Youdao finally understood.

He sighed. "What sort of mess is this? Hongniang, I'll let it go this time. Don't do that again."

Guan Fangyi snorted. "You got the advantage and still pretend you're wronged. How many men have wanted a taste of these lips and never gotten the chance? You got a bargain..."

Then she suddenly thought of something.

She whipped around toward Yuan Gang and demanded angrily, "You already knew he wasn't dead?"

Yuan Gang's face became expressionless again. "I didn't know before. I only learned after receiving Master Dao's letter before we decided to come here."

"Master Dao only instructed me to come meet someone. I didn't know the person would be Master Dao himself."

"You knew he wasn't dead and couldn't say so earlier? You made me worry for nothing!" Guan Fangyi complained bitterly.

Then she turned back toward Niu Youdao and looked him up and down in amazement.

"Master Dao, people from Misty Pavilion came earlier and said you were dead. They ordered Zijin Cave to send replacement personnel inside. Yet here you are, perfectly fine. What happened?"

Niu Youdao smiled. "I really did die. The one who died simply wasn't me. It was my double."

"Before this, I had Monkey secretly find a double for me."

Guan Fangyi turned back toward Yuan Gang again and gritted her teeth. "You personally found the double, and you still dare say you didn't know he was faking his death?"

Yuan Gang hid every trace of excitement beneath his calm expression and explained, "I didn't know Master Dao's plan. I didn't know the double was meant to die in his place, so I couldn't be certain."

Guan Fangyi clearly did not believe him.

Niu Youdao sighed. "Hongniang, don't you know what Monkey is like? He's stubborn to the bone."

"If I had told him the double was meant to die in my place, he never would have let someone go die for nothing. Do you think I dared tell him?"

That, Guan Fangyi believed.

She disliked Yuan Gang's stiff, sanctimonious look, but she knew Niu Youdao was right.

Yuan Gang's cheek tightened.

He had to admit that if he had truly known the double was being sent to his death, he might indeed have refused to cooperate.

He would rather make things more troublesome and find some other method than kill an unrelated person for no reason.

In his eyes, doing that was wrong.

He could not be like Niu Youdao, willing to use whatever means were necessary to achieve an objective.

"What, still bothered by it?" Niu Youdao asked.

He gave a bitter smile and patted Yuan Gang on the shoulder.

"That's exactly why I was afraid you'd get hung up on it. I told you to use the intelligence network to keep watch and find someone suitable."

"That man raped and murdered his own sect leader's daughter. Someone like that deserved to die."

Yuan Gang remained silent.

His expression was still somewhat grave.

Guan Fangyi cast him a sidelong glance and said contemptuously, "False benevolence, fake righteousness!"

Then she turned to Niu Youdao. "You should have left something like this to me from the beginning."

Niu Youdao said, "At the time, I couldn't guarantee there were no problems at all among your people. The matter was too important. Better to be cautious."

Guan Fangyi muttered unhappily, "So in the end, you still didn't trust me."

Niu Youdao chuckled. "If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have had Monkey bring you here to see me."

The matter had already happened.

There was no point arguing about it further.

Yuan Gang also knew he could never out-reason Niu Youdao.

He set aside the matter of the double dying in Niu Youdao's place and asked, "Master Dao, does everyone inside the Sacred Realm believe you're dead?"

Niu Youdao nodded slightly.

That reminded Guan Fangyi of something.

Worry entered her face. "Then doesn't that mean you can't show yourself anymore? If the Sacred Realm learns you deceived them, how could they possibly let you go?"

"If I can't show myself, then I won't." Niu Youdao said. "I had no other choice."

"Things had already developed to the point where every side was watching me. Even the Nine Saints had fixed their eyes on me."

"If I remained entangled in all of that, matters would only become harder and harder. No matter how I dealt with it, the danger would only keep increasing."

"So I had no choice but to die once in advance and use that death to escape the entanglement."

The three fell silent for a moment.

Guan Fangyi now roughly understood why Niu Youdao had said that letting Monkey bring her to meet him was proof of trust.

Then she tested another question. "Master Dao, if you were able to bring a double into the Sacred Realm and also come back out yourself, does that mean someone inside the Sacred Realm is helping you?"

"Mm." Niu Youdao gave a slight nod.

Then he changed the subject.

"From the way you were crying just now, what happened? Did Zijin Cave make you suffer some grievance?"

For the moment, he did not want to mention Sha Rulai.

Some things were not a question of trust.

They were a question of whether every part of the situation could be kept secure.

Knowing too much could alter a person's behavior.

For example, once someone knew about Sha Rulai, their conduct around anything touching him might subtly change and expose something abnormal.

It was better for everyone to behave exactly as they normally would.

Guan Fangyi knew she would get nothing out of him if he did not want to say it.

So she stopped asking and answered his question instead with a snort.

"Zijin Cave has gone too far. The moment news of your death arrived, Yan Li couldn't wait..." She explained what had happened.

Niu Youdao smiled. "It's within expectation. Nothing serious. They still left you a road to survive. They haven't gone too far."

Guan Fangyi glared at him. "Yan Li pressed us relentlessly. Gong Lince avoided us and refused to meet. Even that master of yours wouldn't show himself."

"Then they detained our entire batch of flying mounts. Zijin Cave treats us like this from top to bottom, and you can still smile?"

Niu Youdao continued smiling. "From their position, they haven't done anything wrong. It's understandable."

"All right. Stop being angry. I'll handle it."

Guan Fangyi said, "Your heart really is broad. Whose side are you on?"

"Monkey and I signed an agreement giving them that batch of flying mounts. You can't show yourself now either. How are you supposed to get them back?"

Niu Youdao said, "Since I'm back, what belongs to us won't be taken by anyone."

"Don't worry. I'll handle it."

Because of the humiliation she had suffered at Zijin Cave, Guan Fangyi still pouted unhappily.

But two consecutive assurances of "I'll handle it" were enough to sweep away the gloom in her heart.

Master Dao was back.

All the worries and troubles that had seemed overwhelming only moments before suddenly no longer felt like real problems.

Seeing her still unhappy, Niu Youdao smiled faintly.

He removed the bundle from his back and took out a stone larger than a fist.

He handed it to her.

"Don't be angry. Here. A gift I brought you from the Sacred Realm."

Guan Fangyi's interest immediately rose.

Then she discovered it was only a stone and complained again. "A broken rock? What kind of gift is that..."

Suddenly she noticed something wrong with its weight.

She bounced it lightly in her hand and stared. "There's something inside?"

She was about to break it open.

Niu Youdao reached out and stopped her. "This gift cannot see the light of day. Don't open it now."

"Wait until you return. Find somewhere with no one around and open it secretly."

[End of Chapter 1174]