The Honest Man's Hat Must Be Worn Firmly — Qing Xiaoyi Is Abducted
The Honest Man’s Hat Must Be Worn Firmly — Qing Xiaoyi Is Abducted
“Has he left?”
Inside the pavilion, sensing Chu Hao’s aura receding into the distance, Gu Changge smiled imperceptibly, then waved his hand and said, “Stop. No need to continue.”
“You may go back.”
He spoke indifferently to the stunned Tang Wan.
“Wan-guniang, leave this kind of servant’s work to me.” Ji Qingxuan was clever too, hurrying forward with a smile.
Seeing Gu Changge’s expression, she knew that he truly had no interest in this Tang Wan.
Tang Wan looked at Gu Changge uneasily, somewhat at a loss.
“Boring.”
But Gu Changge merely shook his head, with no intention of explaining.
At this moment, the System was frantically chiming in his mind.
Harvesting things like Fatums and Fortuity Points was, after all, a rather delightful process.
Of course, he knew Chu Hao’s current mood was anything but delightful — the man probably even wanted to kill him.
From the very beginning, when Tang Wan rushed to the Vermilion Bird Empire, Gu Changge had guessed she would go to counsel Chu Hao.
Given Chu Hao’s personality, he would inevitably grow suspicious, and once suspicious, he would inevitably tail her.
Since that was the case, Gu Changge simply did him a little favor — letting him understand... Tang Wan’s painstaking devotion.
Of course, Gu Changge had merely gone with the flow and added a little push to the waves.
He needed Chu Hao to understand that Tang Wan had not betrayed him, while also making Tang Wan feel that he himself harbored no designs on Chu Hao.
That wasn’t difficult at all.
As for what just happened, he had merely wanted to take the opportunity to disrupt Chu Hao’s state of mind. At the end of the day, as a Fortuitous One, Chu Hao was simply someone with slightly better luck than ordinary people.
All the flaws he ought to have, he had.
However, what surprised Gu Changge a little was how much Chu Hao could endure — which also let him probe out Chu Hao’s bottom line.
Tang Wan’s weight in his heart ranked higher than the Vermilion Bird Empire behind him.
As long as Gu Changge didn’t do anything too excessive to Tang Wan, Chu Hao could swallow it all.
“So enduring — truly worthy of the green one.”
Gu Changge suddenly couldn’t help laughing.
“Rest assured, I won’t tell Chu Hao about today’s events. I don’t have that kind of wicked taste.”
Gu Changge then waved his hand, letting Tang Wan leave.
As for how Chu Hao would face Tang Wan afterward, that was none of his concern, nor did he need to worry about it.
After all, Chu Hao was a Fortuitous One, the very embodiment of righteousness and glory. Even having witnessed all this with his own eyes, would he confess it to Tang Wan?
Impossible.
Chu Hao would have to pretend he knew nothing. This hat of the honest man — he would have to wear it firmly.
“Heavenly Monarch Ziyang has been hopping around long enough. It’s time to move against him.”
With matters on this side settled for now, Gu Changge began considering the matter of Heavenly Monarch Ziyang.
As the junior brother of Qin Wuya, the eldest senior brother who had returned from the Nine Heavens, he still had some use, more or less.
Moreover, Gu Changge had long since formed a plan in his heart for dealing with Heavenly Monarch Ziyang — one that involved harvesting another leek.
On top of that, Su Qingge had recently appeared in the Black Tortoise Empire, causing Heavenly Monarch Ziyang no small amount of trouble.
Additionally, informants had reported that Heavenly Monarch Ziyang had detected traces of the Successor of Demonic Arts and had pursued them all the way out of the Black Tortoise Empire’s territory.
This happened to give Gu Changge a perfect opportunity to strike.
Su Qingge truly hadn’t disappointed him in the slightest.
Gu Changge wondered whether he should treat her a bit better the next time he saw her.
“The Azure Dragon and Black Tortoise Empires are very close to each other, and Heavenly Monarch Ziyang just happens to be away from the Black Tortoise Empire...”
Soon after, Gu Changge departed once more.
Only this time, his movements were even more concealed than last time. First, he led his many followers toward the site of the Eternal Overcast outbreak, and then proceeded alone into the depths.
Of course, midway he would certainly slip into the void and double back.
In this way, nearly every prodigy would know that he was currently leading his many followers in slaying Yin Spirits.
Such an obvious alibi still had to be established. Even if no one dared suspect him, Gu Changge preferred all his arrangements to be flawless, leaving no openings.
...
Meanwhile, the Black Tortoise Empire, not far from the Vermilion Bird Empire, was far from peaceful.
Many young prodigies were on edge, worried and afraid to act alone.
The Successor of Demonic Arts had appeared, and several prodigies had already fallen victim to him. Their deaths were nearly identical — their Sources devoured completely, with no traces left behind at the scene.
All of this proved that the Successor of Demonic Arts had indeed infiltrated their ranks.
The many young prodigies following the King of Six Crowns and Heavenly Monarch Ziyang were filled with regret. The strength of the Successor of Demonic Arts went without saying.
He was a ruthless figure who had escaped from Gu Changge’s hands unscathed. Even Heavenly Monarch Ziyang was likely no match for the Successor of Demonic Arts.
At this moment, within a serene and quiet residence, immortal mist drifted and spiritual energy swirled. Artificial mountains and spirit pools seemed on the verge of liquefying from the density.
In the nearby herb fields grew all manner of immortal flowers and sacred medicines, radiant light interweaving and permeating the air, dazzling to behold.
Quite a few auspicious beasts foraged in the herb fields, occasionally lifting their heads to look at the grey-robed young man sitting cross-legged on a bluestone not far away, showing affectionate expressions.
The King of Six Crowns — his original name was Jun Yao.
With his true face revealed, he appeared quite ordinary, a far cry from that dazzling, peerless prodigy whose brilliance had suppressed six generations of his peers.
But very few cultivators knew his real name, let alone had seen his true face.
For the prodigies of his era had long since vanished — either passed away in meditation or perished in the struggles of the past.
Even those who survived that era were now ancestors of their clans, of impossibly ancient seniority.
He was an ancient man out of step with this epoch, one who had sealed himself away time and again in his quest to become number one, all to find the strongest opponent.
In this life, he had once again found his fighting spirit in Gu Changge.
“Daoxiong says you were framed? That, I don’t believe.”
The King of Six Crowns smiled faintly. Before him stood a rather valiant-looking young man.
The valiant young man was tall, his hair seeming to burn like flames, while golden runes flickered in his eyes, like a divine son of the sun.
It was none other than Ying Shuang, disguised and mixed into Heavenly Monarch Ziyang’s ranks.
His original plan had been to find an opportunity to seek out Heavenly Monarch Ziyang and cooperate with him against Gu Changge.
But now, with many young prodigies of the Black Tortoise Empire falling prey to the Successor of Demonic Arts, their Sources devoured...
His plan had been thrown into disarray and forced to a halt.
Ying Shuang had no idea what means Gu Changge had used to strike within the Black Tortoise Empire and dump the black pot onto his head.
By all reason, Gu Changge should currently be in the Vermilion Bird Empire.
How could he possibly come to the Black Tortoise Empire to commit these crimes? Yet quite a few young prodigies had indeed met with disaster.
During this time, many had begun hunting for the Successor of Demonic Arts. Ying Shuang wasn’t worried — after all, he wasn’t the real Successor of Demonic Arts.
This disguise of his wouldn’t be seen through either.
But he never expected that today, the King of Six Crowns would see through him and recognize his identity.
This left Ying Shuang deeply unsettled. With no other choice, he could only steel himself and follow the King of Six Crowns to his residence.
“What would it take for you to believe me?”
Ying Shuang said in a deep voice, golden runes flickering in his eyes. Even though he was an impostor, at this moment he still displayed the dignity of Prince Ying.
“You say the real Successor of Demonic Arts is actually Gu Changge?”
“Where’s your evidence?”
“As far as I know, Gu Changge is currently in the Vermilion Bird Empire. It’s not far from the Black Tortoise Empire, true, but to slip away and commit these crimes here? Do you think he could manage that?”
The King of Six Crowns spoke indifferently. His face was quite ordinary, but his words carried confidence and calm, an air that was hard to question.
“I don’t know how he did it, but the one framing me is definitely Gu Changge.”
Ying Shuang said gravely. On this point, he had never wavered from the start.
Besides Gu Changge, he could think of no one else who would do this to him.
Of course, back at the Eternal Overcast Battlefield, Gu Changge had sent several Great Sages to put on a show before everyone, and from then on, he could never shake off this black pot.
“Empty words prove nothing. In my eyes, you are the prime suspect.” The King of Six Crowns smiled faintly, exuding absolute confidence.
“However, rest assured — I won’t expose you. As the Successor of Demonic Arts, don’t disappoint me.”
“You’re still too weak right now, no match for me. I hope you can grow to the point where you stir my fighting spirit.”
With that, he waved his hand. Layers of brilliant runes spread out like falling light rain, and in the next instant, Ying Shuang’s figure had vanished, reappearing outside the residence.
“So strong.”
This method made Ying Shuang’s expression change drastically, trembling with shock.
Another monster!
His strength was absolutely far above Heavenly Monarch Ziyang’s!
His mood turned somewhat gloomy. He’d been seen through out of nowhere, and then the man had flatly declared him the Successor of Demonic Arts?
Without giving him even half a chance to defend himself.
After leaving the residence, Ying Shuang wandered the streets of the Capital of the Black Tortoise Empire, his expression unpleasant.
He’d noticed that lately, Mo Lao no longer paid him any mind, barely showing himself at all.
“I heard Heavenly Monarch Ziyang left in pursuit of that Successor of Demonic Arts’ trail.”
“If it really is Gu Changge, Heavenly Monarch Ziyang is likely in grave danger.”
His expression grew increasingly grave.
If so, he’d be down one partner, and the matter of dealing with Gu Changge would become endlessly distant.
Suddenly, Ying Shuang’s expression shifted. At the entrance of a pavilion ahead, he caught sight of a familiar graceful figure stepping inside.
His mind was shaken, his eyes widening in disbelief. How could he run into her here?
“Could this be what they call fate?”
Ying Shuang’s heart raced.
He remembered his days as a horse-feeding servant boy. If not for the young lady’s pity, he would likely have starved to death on the streets.
Compared to his current days of constant fear, he found those old days far more comfortable.
Ying Shuang had thought he would never have the chance to see her again in this lifetime.
But he truly never expected to witness her figure once more in the Capital of the Black Tortoise Empire.
“This must be fate!”
“What a pity — right now I’m just a rat everyone wants to beat, and to her, I’m nothing but a stranger she’s never met.”
“Yin Mei-xiaojie was once saved by Gu Changge. It seems she still doesn’t know Gu Changge’s true face. I need to find a suitable opportunity to warn her.”
Ying Shuang thought to himself, involuntarily clenching his fists.
Back during the events on the Celestial Ancient Continent, Yin Mei had encountered the Successor of Demonic Arts — which, in his view, was absolutely connected to Gu Changge.
Gu Changge had even used it to earn a good reputation and win Yin Mei’s admiration.
“If I approach her rashly, given Yin Mei-xiaojie’s temperament, she’ll inevitably grow suspicious of me.”
“I need to find a suitable method...”
Ying Shuang fell into deep thought, and finally decided on the simplest, most unadorned approach.
After all, back when he was a horse-feeding servant, he had memorized many of Yin Mei’s preferences and temperament — he knew what she liked.
With these, he believed he could grow familiar with Yin Mei.
Thinking this, Ying Shuang headed toward the pavilion ahead, intending to first see what Yin Mei’s purpose was in coming to the Black Tortoise Empire.
“Xiaojie, there’s a young prodigy behind us who seems to be following you.”
Hearing her maid’s warning, Yin Mei smiled and waved her hand. “Don’t worry. Let him follow. I’d like to see what he’s after.”
Even as she said this, she couldn’t help recalling Gu Changge’s instructions...
“This should be Prince Ying’s poor scapegoat...”
Yin Mei’s smile carried a trace of pity, though to outsiders, nothing seemed amiss.
She simply appeared to be picking things out together with her maid.
...
Azure Dragon Ancient City. The sky was pitch black.
Inside a stone chamber, Gu Xianer’s brows knitted into a deep furrow.
She was studying a bone book in her hands, from which numerous strange runes cascaded down like little golden suns, incomparably brilliant.
She muttered to herself in distress, “This Indestructible Golden Body... will it turn me into one of those gleaming golden figures, like a bronze statue cast from molten gold...?”
At the thought of herself ending up like that.
She found herself unable to continue cultivating it. After all, her ethereal, immortal-like image would, in the blink of an eye, become a golden bronze figure — Gu Changge might not even recognize her.
Gu Xianer couldn’t help sighing, and in the end could only put the bone book away, giving up on cultivating it.
Of course, she definitely wouldn’t throw it away. She’d just casually leave it at some street stall someday — wouldn’t that draw hordes of cultivators?
After all, this was a Sacred Emperor Grade body-tempering technique.
She couldn’t quite figure out why, in this trial, she had ended up with such a fortuitous encounter.
Instead, it was the Blue Moon Dao Technique that Qing Xiaoyi obtained that tempted Gu Xianer — she was pondering how to use this body-tempering technique in her hands to swindle the Blue Moon Dao Technique out of her hands.
No... trade for it.
In this trial, although there were only three of them, it had been surprisingly easy. They had even found an ancient cultivator’s cave at the site of the Eternal Overcast outbreak.
Inside happened to be exactly three fortuitous encounters — one for each of them, no more, no less.
At the time, Gu Xianer hadn’t known the Jade Tablet in her hands contained a body-tempering technique, or she wouldn’t have taken it even if beaten to death.
“That guy Gu Changge said he’d come help out, but there’s not even a shadow of him.”
“As expected, he’s unreliable.”
Gu Xianer muttered softly, thinking of Gu Changge.
That said, she also knew they hadn’t really needed Gu Changge’s help in this trial.
It had been absurdly simple.
Due to the Azure Dragon Empire’s geography, with several other ancient empires blocking the way ahead, they had picked up a huge bargain.
But... did Gu Changge really not care at all?
Fine. The truth was, she missed Gu Changge. She was a bit bored here.
BOOM!!
Just then, a terrifying fluctuation suddenly came from outside the stone chamber, like a heavy tidal wave crashing directly toward them.
Even through the layer of Array Pattern Restrictions, Gu Xianer felt it clearly.
“What’s going on?”
“That direction... isn’t that where Qing Xiaoyi and Qing Feng, that pair of siblings, are staying? Did something happen to them?”
Without time to think, Gu Xianer’s figure flashed, leaving the stone chamber and rushing toward the source of the disturbance.
In the sky above, Gu Xianer only managed to catch a blurry figure that seemed to have opened a Space Tunnel, preparing to leave.
In its grasp was an unconscious young girl.
It was none other than Qing Xiaoyi.
“Stop!”
“Put her down!”
Seeing this scene, Gu Xianer instantly understood everything and shouted coldly.
At the same time, she sent out a jade sword slashing toward the high sky. Phenomena bloomed, sacred runes blazed brilliantly, illuminating the night in dazzling light.
But that blurry figure merely swatted casually. Terrifying force pressed down, the runes shattered, and the jade sword was knocked flying, falling straight to the ground.
“Sacred Realm?”
Gu Xianer’s brows furrowed as she brought out another artifact — a Quasi-Sacred weapon, a war spear.
Flowing light and color illuminated the firmament. With one strike, the void split open, terrifying great cracks spreading out — its dreadful power plain to see.
However, that figure seemed quite impatient. Two fingers joined together into a sword shape and tapped directly onto her Quasi-Sacred weapon.
With a crack, the war spear split with fissures, breaking into hundreds of fragments that fell from the sky.
For an instant, it was like a meteor shower streaking across the sky, exceptionally splendid and dazzling.
Though it seemed to deliberately avoid Gu Xianer — none of it struck her.
This puzzled her somewhat, but the doubt quickly faded.
At this moment, there was no room for her to dwell on it.
“Put her down!”
Gu Xianer’s figure soared into the high sky. Her delicate, petite fist, as if carved from jade, contained incomparable power as she smashed it fiercely toward that blurry figure, determined to rescue Qing Xiaoyi.
But the opponent’s method remained just as simple — a mere wave of the sleeve, and the void before them blurred, a tunnel opened, and they stepped straight in, vanishing in an instant.
Gu Xianer’s devastating punch struck only empty air, leaving her deeply unwilling to accept it.
“Damn it.”
“Qing Xiaoyi has been taken.”
“I need to contact the Elders of the True Immortal Academy about this — Qing Xiaoyi is the apple of their eye.”
Thinking of this, Gu Xianer took out a Jade Talisman, intending to contact the True Immortal Academy. With something like this happening, she wasn’t too worried about the Elders blaming her for failing to protect her.
She just felt somewhat guilty.
If her strength had been a bit greater, or if she had been more decisive just now and used her other artifacts, perhaps she could have saved Qing Xiaoyi.
“Could the one who took Qing Xiaoyi be after her Celestial Demonic Physique...”
Gu Xianer’s delicate brows furrowed, and she suddenly thought of Qing Xiaoyi’s brother, Qing Feng.
Though in her view, with something like this happening, Qing Feng was likely more dead than alive.
Soon, Gu Xianer’s figure flashed, appearing in the courtyard of the siblings Qing Xiaoyi and Qing Feng.
There, she found Qing Feng nearly blown apart, blood spreading everywhere — he looked utterly lifeless.
“I came too late.” Gu Xianer felt somewhat guilty.
But soon, her expression shifted slightly, and she was startled.
“Hm? No — there’s still a trace of life. What kept him alive?”