novelraw Chapter 1272: The Arranged Miss Maid
Chapter 1272: The Arranged Miss Maid
Out at sea, a super-luxury cruise ship was gliding slowly across the Pacific.
It was a cruise liner soon to arrive at an island nation called Neon.
On the ship’s top deck, at the open-air tea lounge, gentle piano music drifted with the sea breeze. Flocks of seagulls occasionally swept by. Young girls and elegant ladies alike were captivated by the handsome, charming middle-aged man playing the piano, their hearts fluttering.
The music was so beautiful it seemed to touch the softest corners of their souls, gently stirring them.
Only one woman stood out—dressed in a black dress, and even under the shade of a parasol she insisted on holding a black umbrella. She looked extremely peculiar. Even so, the tables around her were full, occupied almost entirely by men.
She and the pianist each drew their own uncanny crowd—one on the left, one on the right. It was almost amusing.
At some point, the music stopped. The young girls and women awoke from their dreamlike trance, but the handsome pianist had already disappeared, leaving them with wistful expressions.
As for the woman with the black umbrella—she too had vanished at some point.
---
“Ah, the sea is so wonderful. So many beautiful ladies mourning my departure… I truly am a sinner.”On the deck below, at the stern, the middle-aged gentleman gazed at the endless ocean and sighed.
“Oh! I think all those women were only around you because of the ten gemstone rings on your fingers—rings heavy enough to smash someone’s skull, dear Wolfgang.”
“Miss Charlotte, you are ever so humorous.” The middle-aged gentleman—Wolfgang, dripping in gold—smiled and revealed a row of perfect white teeth.
Charlotte frowned. “You don’t seem worried at all that we still haven’t found Lucifer. Do you know how long we’ve been searching?”
“About three months.” Wolfgang calculated. “A marvelous journey, really.”
Charlotte sneered. “So you do know it’s been three months. In those three months you’ve climbed into ten women’s beds, and even almost seduced an underage girl into offering herself. Honestly, between the two of us, you look far more like the demon.”
“That’s prejudice.” Wolfgang shook his head. “Creation needs inspiration, and love is the greatest inspiration of all. You must believe that my feelings with those ladies were mutual.”
“Seven of them were deeply in love with their husbands or boyfriends before you appeared.” Charlotte kept sneering. “If Lucifer were here, I’d recommend giving you a noble rank in Hell. The Pillar of Lust would suit you perfectly.”
“I believe,” he said seriously, “even female demons of Hell have the right to pursue true love.”
If she weren’t certain she couldn’t beat him, she’d really love to tear him into pieces and feed him to the fish… Charlotte showed a trace of sorrow and sighed softly.
“Miss Charlotte, we followed your guidance, departed from South America, sailed east, and… found nothing.” Wolfgang paused. “Perhaps you should perform another divination?”
Wolfgang had long heard of her reputation… “Charlotte the Guiding Star”—her success rate, in a certain sense, was impressive.
“The East direction is correct.” Charlotte said flatly.
Of course she’d divined—she’d been secretly divining every day. But the results always pointed west… Even Charlotte, aware of her own limits, wasn’t sure anymore—east or west.
Still, even if it was east, one could eventually reach west by keeping on the same path, right? As a demon, she had plenty of time. It was simply… lonely without Lucifer. Wolfgang was clearly not an ideal companion.
“Shh.” He suddenly gestured and listened intently.
Charlotte frowned.
After a moment, Wolfgang straightened, amusement on his face. “Beautiful Charlotte Miss, I seem to hear two very powerful forces clashing out at sea.”
“Two?” Charlotte was startled.
“Almost at the limit of the sub-world level.”
Charlotte looked toward the direction he indicated, lost in thought.
---
Out at sea, sword energy split the water, carving a massive trench hundreds of meters long—though on the ocean, all it did was stir up murkier waves.
Two figures clashed between the rising swells, sometimes sword-light flashing, sometimes waves surging skyward.
“Vixen! How many times have I told you, I don’t know where your master is! You chased me from the divine land all the way overseas—enough already! You damn master-obsessed fox!!”
But the white-clad woman wielding the Green Lotus Sword Song ignored her. Her strikes sent razor-sharp green sword qi flying at every thrust.
Gong Fanxing was losing patience. She never intended to fight Qin Chuyu to the death—mutual destruction was far too costly.
But the fox had kept pushing herself—what started as Gong Fanxing suppressing her effortlessly had become a battle of equals. How long had it been?
“You really are a master-obsessed maniac! Huan Zhen Dao reincarnated and trained through countless lives, but none were like you! You haven’t even merged with the Dao, yet you’ve blown up the cultivation of so many lifetimes just to boost your strength in this one! Do you understand you can’t reincarnate again? Once you run out of lifespan this time, that’s the end! All this for a Taibai—is it worth it?!”
“Talking is useless.”
Gong Fanxing nearly spat blood in frustration. Even though Qin Chuyu had driven herself into madness, sacrificing so many lifetimes’ cultivation for this one chance, she had only barely reached Gong Fanxing’s level. Gong Fanxing wasn’t afraid—but with the Green Lotus Sword Song added in…
To be honest, ever since they left the divine land, she had already begun to lose her advantage.
“You really think I’m that easy to bully?!” Gong Fanxing roared. “You clearly know chasing me won’t work, but you still keep coming—what, scared Taibai is dead and using me to soothe your demon-heart?! Fine! Worst case, I’ll shut myself away for a hundred years to heal—I’ll still make sure you learn who your grandma is!!”
“Hmph.”
Gong Fanxing formed hand seals—her lifetime’s ultimate arts: Sea Emperor Seal, Buzhou Mountain Seal, Immovable King Seal, Heaven-Burning Seal, Reincarnation Seal—five seals united, and the surrounding sea rose into a towering maelstrom.
Qin Chuyu showed no fear, sword lifted, posture declaring she could pierce the heavens.
The two terrifying forces collided. The sea surface for kilometers around sank half a foot before the waves erupted outward…
---
“Oh… my God, it’s wonderful not having to worry about the world’s will.”
From afar, watching the rolling tidal wave, Wolfgang and Charlotte marveled.
“I didn’t expect such powerful beings to still exist in the human world…” Charlotte, still holding her umbrella, frowned. She had a bad feeling about this eastern trip… maybe they should turn back?
“Look—what’s that?”
After the wave passed, amid the foamy water, a figure floated on the surface, drifting toward them. Wolfgang spotted it first—it was a woman. Without hesitation, he flew down and scooped her up.
“Oh, such a beautiful eastern lady!” Wolfgang exclaimed.
Charlotte rolled her eyes and searched the surroundings—if they found one, where was the other?
She found nothing.
“What are you planning to do?” Charlotte asked when Wolfgang didn’t seem willing to let go.
“As a gentleman, of course I must lend a hand to a lady in distress.” Wolfgang smiled. “This must be the start of another beautiful cross-cultural romance. Ah, my inspiration is flowing already!”
“Don’t forget why we came. Don’t create extra problems.”
“Miss Charlotte, don’t you think this powerful eastern woman might know something about Lady Lucifer?”
Although she knew this was basically just one of Wolfgang’s excuses, Charlotte still couldn’t rule out the possibility of “what if,” so she could only remain silent and let the guy carry the woman back toward the cruise ship.
…
Beneath the ocean, the body wrapped in white slowly sank… She had already lost consciousness, but even so, the long sword in her hand remained tightly gripped, not loosening in the slightest.
No one knew how deep she would sink.
Suddenly, a dark shadow swam toward her… It circled around her for a moment before dragging her down into even deeper waters.
…
…
From the East Eighth Zone to the Zero Zone, after more than eight hours, the plane finally descended at the airport of Britain’s capital—the journey had been quite comfortable.
The comfortable part was that the master-and-servant pair of the club, who had only booked business class, were informed upon boarding that they had been upgraded to first-class VIP seats.
This likely wasn’t Song Ying’s doing… If someone was quietly doing something considerate, it was most likely that Miss from the Zhang family.
“Is the master planning to sightsee along the way?”
This was Luo Qiu’s first time in this country… The weather in the foggy city wasn’t as gloomy as people often described; on the contrary, it was very sunny—though maybe they were simply lucky enough not to encounter a gray day.
“That’s fine.” Luo Qiu smiled.
After leaving China, things naturally felt much freer—almost like he could wander around however he wanted. As for enrollment, Luo Qiu honestly didn’t care. The whole “studying abroad” thing was originally just an excuse to leave.
Of course, the admission to that university was real—but the one who took the exam was You Ye, who used Boss Luo’s identity.
As the most selective university in Britain, Luo Qiu didn’t believe he could have passed the exam himself… at least, not at that time.
“I think we should first find a place to stay for now.” Luo Qiu suggested. “Have you lived here before?”
“The previous Lady did open a shop here for about three months,” Miss Maid recalled. “But that was two hundred years ago. I remember the sky wasn’t this sunny back then.”
At that moment, just as they reached the arrival exit, several dozen signs suddenly appeared—raised high, each written with the large Chinese characters for Luo Qiu.
It was impossible not to notice them.
Normally, Boss Luo wouldn’t use omni-knowledge for trivial things, but he was quite curious this time, so he and Miss Maid walked up to one of the sign holders—an Asian man, yellow skin and black eyes.
“You must be Young Master Qiu!” the man said first, introducing himself. “Hello, I am Peter Chen, manager of the London branch of the Song Dynasty Group’s Operations Department.”
“Song Dynasty…” Luo Qiu paused for a moment. He didn’t even need his ability to guess what happened.
“Exactly.” Peter Chen handed over a gold-embossed business card. “Young Master Qiu, Miss Ying instructed us after you departed to make sure you’re well taken care of. We’ve already prepared the best room for you at the hotel. Please follow me.”
“No need to look for a place anymore.” Luo Qiu smiled slightly at You Ye.
Miss Maid whispered, “This Miss Ying tends to the master quite carefully—not only seeing you off at the airport, but even arranging everything here as well.”
Boss Luo gestured politely, “Ladies first.”
“I’ll take your luggage,” Peter Chen hurried forward. “The car is ready outside.”
Luo Qiu glanced at the others still holding signs. “These people?”
“They’re all from the company,” Peter Chen explained. “We mobilized a little from each department. We were worried you might not notice, so we brought a few more.”
Anyone who didn’t know better would assume someone incredibly important had arrived… Nearby travelers and greeters all stared curiously.
Boss Luo’s presence somehow diminished to the point where only these Song Dynasty employees seemed able to notice him. He nodded politely to Peter Chen. “Mr. Chen, please lead the way. Also, thank you to all these employees for me.”
“It’s our honor.” Peter Chen said quickly.
Song Dynasty Group mainly operated luxury hotels—so the car sent to pick them up was naturally the finest hotel transport available.
“Mr. Chen, are you a Chinese?”
Separated by the back seats, Luo Qiu casually chatted with him.
“My father is a Chinese, my mother is an Indian…”
Time flowed as they talked, and before long they reached the Kensington district—land so valuable it might as well be measured by inches—where the Song Dynasty Hotel was located.
Peter Chen personally escorted them to the presidential suite on the upper floors, respectful to the extreme—despite being the operations manager.
“Young Master Qiu, this is our hotel’s best-view room. At night, you’ll be able to see the entire foggy city’s nightscape.”
Luo Qiu was quite satisfied.
Miss Maid then smiled. “Mr. Chen, thank you. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Peter Chen nodded, then hesitated. “Miss, we’ve also prepared a room for you.”
“A room for me?” Miss Maid blinked.
Peter Chen glanced nervously at Luo Qiu before forcing a smile. “Yes, Miss. Your room is on the fourth floor… but rest assured, it’s also a very good room, and we’ll provide you with the best service.”
“This is the seventeenth floor.” Miss Maid narrowed her eyes. “So everything’s been arranged already…”
(End of Chapter)