Imperial Treasure

Chapter 1345 - 770: The Visitor Comes with Hostile Intent

However, just as Duan Yu and the other two saw the corner of Sui Yi’s robe disappear over the top of the wall...

There seemed to be some kind of sound from that side.

The sound of the back yard door opening, and the tinkling of wind chimes.

As if there was also a woman’s voice drifting over.

"Is climbing walls that fun?"

"Yeah."

But very soon, they couldn’t hear a single sound anymore, as if it had been shut off by some force, or perhaps the people had already gone inside.

Out of courtesy, Wang Yuyan and the other two felt embarrassed to keep listening in.

Although the opening of that conversation was already rather... strange.

In fact, next door, Yan Jingan who was leaning against the door and Sui Yi didn’t have much else to say either. She just watched Sui Yi roll up her sleeves to wash the pork and other ingredients, then casually rummage through Lang Fanyun’s kitchen for more things.

Cooking?

She really was cooking. Yan Jingan found it very strange; after all, a person like Sui Yi didn’t look like someone who could cook at all. But she did, and her movements were smooth as flowing clouds, orderly and unhurried, with a very artistic air to them.

A beauty in gauze, washing her hands to make soup; ask not whence she comes—idle clouds from the Peach Blossom Source.

"Those two kids next door have no small amount of trouble behind them."

Yan Jingan walked over, picked up a piece of fruit and took a bite, letting this idle remark slip from her mouth.

"I know." The kitchen knife in Sui Yi’s hand was peeling the fruit.

"And besides, there’s you, isn’t there?"

The peel was done. The handsome beauty holding the knife had a calm expression, her tone utterly natural.

Yan Jingan was silent for a moment, then said, "You noticed?"

"You didn’t make a move to save me. You did it to help Sun Xiaohong get out of her predicament."

At these words, Yan Jingan neither confirmed nor denied it.

"Zuo Lengchan is one of the Sky Asking Tower people. Right now Elder Tianji probably hasn’t yet fallen into their hands. Sun Xiaohong is a very effective Bait. But because of certain rules, I can’t step out directly."

"You’ve already stepped out. Zuo Lengchan recognizes you."

"Does that count as ’directly’?"

Sui Yi fell silent. It doesn’t count? It really might not.

As long as she didn’t state her stance outright, it didn’t count.

This must be one of the rules of the Lost Lands.

"But Zuo Lengchan is rather Inferior as a person. I’m afraid he’ll use certain means and may drag you into this... However... I will keep you safe."

That last sentence seemed to be the real point, spoken with firm certainty yet lightly.

Sui Yi put the chopped fruit into the pot and said, "Then I’ll trouble you."

Yan Jingan: "..."

She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was a bit off.

In no time, there was a pot of corn and bone soup simmering, dishes of fresh, green, enticing vegetables on the table, and a pot of rice giving off a faint fragrance.

Four dishes and one soup. Sui Yi wiped her hands and said, "Come help carry the dishes."

Mm... Yan Jingan finally understood: this person hadn’t taken the "important point" of her earlier words to heart at all.

Originally Sui Yi was a guest, and Lang Fanyun had been fairly polite to her, but in no time he’d started treating Sui Yi like family.

For a widower who had never remarried for many years, life had always been pretty rough, especially when it came to meals. Four dishes and one soup—aside from eating out at restaurants, at home Lang Fanyun had never enjoyed such a thing.

When he smelled the aroma from the front room, and came curiously over to see the spread on the table, he was stunned on the spot. Then during the meal he stayed silent, just burying his head in eating rice and dishes. After he finished, he said to Sui Yi, "Miss Sui, please, you must let me wash the dishes for this meal."

Sui Yi was surprised. Men in this world, as far as she knew, never went into the kitchen.

But she could see a deep, heavy yearning in Lang Fanyun’s eyes.

He was missing his wife?

Of course Sui Yi wouldn’t refuse.

And so, this peerless Master Lang Fanyun, famed across the world, was alone in the backyard washing dishes, unhurried, very silent.

He just glanced toward the stove from time to time.

Back then, she would wipe the stove while secretly peeking at him sitting on the ground washing dishes. When their eyes met, she would purse her lips and smile in embarrassment, turn her face away, and those delicate little ears of hers would be flushed scarlet.

Time flies, Xi Xi. When will you be willing to visit my dreams a little more, so that this life of mine might be a bit easier to bear?

Sui Yi knew that Yan Jingan and Lang Fanyun had clearly taken a liking to Sun Xiaohong and Elder Tianji, so as a doctor she would definitely have to stay several days. Over these days, from the mouths of Duan Yu, Sun Xiaohong and the others, she also asked about some things regarding this Jianghu, such as Dongfang Bubai.

Their understanding of Dongfang Bubai was still a mishmash of TV drama and novel: things like Dongfang Bubai once using the alias Dongfang Bai and having an extraordinary bond with Linghu Chong, or having three thousand beauties in the harem on Blackwood Cliff, living a life of drunken debauchery, and also being of ambiguous gender, ruthless and merciless.

But there was one point on which everyone agreed: whether Dongfang Bai or Dongfang Bubai, both possessed an extremely powerful commanding presence. In those past years, as long as she was there, she was the strongest final boss villain in the world of Smiling Proud Wanderer.

As for this person’s character, most people couldn’t say. Sometimes she was妖魅动人—enchanting and seductive—sometimes domineering and ruthless, sometimes heroic and awe‑inspiring.

Before people like Feng Qingyang broke through to Void-breaking, she had already disappeared, and for several hundred years she was never seen. Yet not long ago, she appeared again, and as soon as she appeared, she seized second place on the Black List.

Originally, people like Ren Woxing were worried she would continue to seize power and contest the world, but then this person vanished again, completely Shadowless.

"But one thing is true. I heard that after she defeated the original Black List number two, Master Kongjian, because her background was so great and her fame so big, most people recognized her, and Sky Asking Tower changed the rules once, putting her directly on the list. Later she went to Blackwood Cliff where Ren Woxing and the others were, and under everyone’s eyes she checked all the female attendants and singing girls. It seemed she didn’t find who she was looking for. Ren Woxing said, ’Looks like you, this neither‑man‑nor‑woman freak, are pining after some woman. Too bad, those women from before, I already rewarded to my brothers.’"

Sun Xiaohong thought for a bit, then recalled, "My grandpa said that after Ren Woxing finished that sentence, Dongfang Bubai crushed the five fingers of his hand on the spot, and also crippled the... uh... that of quite a few Masters on Blackwood Cliff. If Ren Yingying hadn’t rushed out to plead for mercy, I’m afraid Dongfang Bubai would have killed them all."

"When she left, she said something."

What did she say?

Wang Yuyan, Duan Yu, and even Ah Fei, who was awake at this moment, all looked at Sun Xiaohong.

Elder Tianji was publicly acknowledged by the People Under the Heavens as a know‑it‑all. Any secret, once in his head, was at his fingertips. Originally, the matter between Dongfang Bubai and Ren Woxing should not have leaked out, but Elder Tianji just knew, and so did Sun Xiaohong.

"What she said was... ’I, Dongfang Bubai, in this life have cultivated the finest martial arts, killed the most people, drunk the strongest wine, sung the freest songs, worn the best-looking clothes, and also slept with the most beautiful women. In this life I have never bowed my head to anyone; the lives and deaths of others are all in the palm of my hand. Ren Woxing, in what way can you compare to me?’"

"’Sect leader of The Demon Sect? It’s nothing more than something I grabbed and then couldn’t be bothered to keep!’"

Sun Xiaohong herself was a lively, winsome girl; she couldn’t imitate that tone, nor did she have that condescending, imperious aura. Yet just hearing these words alone, one could still feel that unabashed arrogance and boldness of that neither‑man‑nor‑woman Leader Dongfang.

Duan Yu and Wang Yuyan were silent for a long time, whereas Ah Fei sighed and said, "Bloodthirsty as this person may be, she’s still more free and easy than so many men under heaven."

Wang Yuyan: "Yet someone like this seems to have returned to this Jianghu for the sake of searching for a person as well. I wonder who it is she’s looking for."

"Linghu Chong?"

"I don’t know. It always feels like it’s not..."

Sui Yi remembered that message from Dongfang Bubai; it also mentioned this person.

It just didn’t state a name.

Who knows if she found them or not.

Three days later, Ah Fei’s injuries had greatly improved. When his thigh could move a little, Wang Yuyan and Duan Yu knew that this leg was saved.

Sun Xiaohong hugged Ah Fei, crying and laughing, and wanted to go thank Sui Yi, but Sui Yi didn’t much like that sort of thing, so she used the excuse of going to the backyard to decoct more medicine for Ah Fei to drink.

Just then, a sudden commotion sounded outside.

Someone had come to the door.

Duan Yu went out and saw, outside the courtyard, a man in brocade robes with a noble bearing; his expression changed slightly. He stepped forward and bowed. "Young Master Murong... you’ve come to find Miss Wang..."

Before he could finish, Wang Yuyan, who had just walked out from inside the Gate, saw Murong Fu strike Duan Yu in the chest with a palm.

Duan Yu was bowing, completely unguarded; caught off guard, he was hit squarely by the palm, sent flying at once, spitting blood and gravely injured.

That palm power was not restrained. With Murong Fu’s skill, he originally meant to kill Duan Yu with a single strike. But beyond his expectations, Duan Yu, in this period of time, had been painstakingly cultivating in order to protect Wang Yuyan. His inner strength had advanced by leaps and bounds, and he stubbornly survived that palm, only coughing blood from the wound.

Murong Fu’s killing intent deepened. After Wang Yuyan rushed forward in panic to support Duan Yu, he said coolly, "You lecher, harboring wicked intentions, taking advantage of my cousin’s pure heart, luring her out with you. Today I, Murong Fu, am only administering light punishment, merely injuring your heart meridians. If you still remain obstinate and unrepentant, don’t blame me for killing you!"

How to put it—when Sun Xiaohong, who had heard the news, stood at the doorway and looked at Wang Yuyan, then at Duan Yu and Murong Fu, she suddenly instantly understood what that awkward "special situation" between this handsome man and pretty girl earlier had been.

But this cousin of hers didn’t seem like anything good.

Saying something like that would ruin Wang Yuyan’s reputation, wouldn’t it? In the future, whoever heard this story wouldn’t say that Wang Yuyan and Duan Yu had an affair?

Wang Yuyan had originally been extremely angry about Murong Fu’s sneak attack and naturally assumed he had held back just now. But when her fingers were about to touch Duan Yu’s meridians, Duan Yu withdrew his hand and said awkwardly, "I’m fine... Miss Wang, don’t quarrel with your cousin because of me..."

When Duan Yu said this, he felt a stab of sorrow in his heart. Murong Fu might not be a good person, but Miss Wang liked him. Since she liked him, how could he bear to let her fall out with the man she loved because of him?

How clever was Wang Yuyan? Though in the past her whole heart had been on Murong Fu, and even now she still hadn’t completely let go, Duan Yu had carefully protected and accompanied her these past days. His every deed had won her quite a bit of admiration and moved her deeply. Compared to this cousin who, upon meeting her, gave her no face, smeared her with his words, and disregarded Jianghu ethics to launch a sneak attack... he was simply far too disappointing.