CHAPTER 11

Once she was done speaking, someone came over, opened the wooden cage, and dragged Fu Changling and Qin Yan out.

As Qin Yan was helped to his feet, Fu Changling was dumbfounded. Seeing that he had not yet recovered, Qin Yan repeated his words plainly, "Sacrifice your ego for the greater good."

With that and a slightly clenched jaw, he muttered under his breath, "Thanks for your hard work."

Qin Yan was then helped into the carriage, followed by Fu Changling.

Fu Changling was still in shock after getting into the carriage; his entire face was sagging and dazed. Qin Yan sat cross-legged in front of him for a moment, meditating, before looking up at him and saying indifferently, "Don't give it too much thought. Let's figure out how to get out of here first."

Fu Changling lifted his gaze at him and sighed. "It's only because I'm too handsome."

Qin Yan merely closed his eyes since he didn't want to hear his nonsense.

Noticing Qin Yan's impatience, Fu Changling coughed gently and returned to the main topic, asking, "Do you know anyone who has been out to this Xuanji Secret Realm?"

"Never."

"Not even your Shīfù?" Fu Changling leaned against the side of the carriage, tapping his shoulder with his fan as he cast a sidelong glance at Qin Yan. Qin Yan's tone grew graver when he mentioned his Master, "Never."

"All right," Fu Changling straightened up, "since neither of us has any experience, let's just guess. In general, the secret realm must have some rules, so we must do two things right now."

"What?" Opening his eyes, Qin Yan looked across at Fu Changling. Fu Changling turned his head to look out the carriage window, opened his mouth, and said, "Enchantment."

As soon as the words left his mouth, an enchantment was formed over the entire carriage, and then Fu Changling turned his head and exhaled a sigh of relief, saying, "We can talk properly now."

Saying so, he raised his first finger. "Getting well and taking care of ourselves are the first things we need to do."

Qin Yan had no expression on his face. "Get right to the point."

"Secondly," Fu Changling drawled, "we need to curry favour with this Wu Xiaojie and ask around with her more about the situation."

A little confused, Qin Yan asked, "Why?"

"Did you notice the sword-emblazoned fragrance pouch hanging from her sash?"

Qin Yan thought for a moment before nodding. Fu Changling leaned in closer to him and whispered, "I don't think that fragrance pouch belongs to Wu Xiaojie. At first glance, that fragrance pouch appears to be designed for men. It had furred edges and appeared to have been used for a long time and fondled a lot. What do you think it means when Wu Xiaojie hangs a man's fragrance pouch on her sash and fondles it frequently?"

"Just tell me."

"It means Wu Xiaojie has a lover."

Hearing this, Qin Yan understood somewhat. "Despite having a lover, she still goes around looking for a husband and even agreed to bring us back. There's something fishy going on here."

"Right," Fu Changling said with a nod, "and, most importantly, did you notice?"

"What?"

"She has pupils."

These words caused Qin Yan to freeze, and he couldn't help but repeat, "Pupils?"

It was understandable why Qin Yan found it surprising. All the villagers in the entire Xuanji Secret Realm had no pupils, yet this Wu Xiaojie actually had pupils?

"How did you find out about it?" Qin Yan had to ask, and Fu Changling rolled his eyes and responded, "I saw it. I noticed a dot of black in her upper eyelids as she was looking down at you."

"She should have eyes; she just keeps them hidden," Fu Changling said, tapping the palm of his hand with his fan.

Saying this, Fu Changling looked up at Qin Yan. "You think she is the Lord God of the Xuanji Secret Realm?"

Qin Yan said nothing.

Each secret realm would have its own specific rules and a being in charge of enforcing them, which was the Lord God.

These Lord Gods were commonly revered gods worshipped in a secret realm. The "Venerable One," for example, was the Lord God of the Xuanji Secret Realm.

The Lord God was unlike any other being in the entire space. This formation created all other beings, but only the Lord Gods and the formation were created by their master.

Fu Changling's words took Qin Yan a moment to process, while Fu Changling raised the carriage curtain with his fan and gazed out the window.

They each entered the Wu Mansion with their own thoughts, and as soon as they did, the town headman summoned them.

The town headman, an old man in his fifties, had tears in his eyes at the sight of Fu Changling. He took a step forward, shook Fu Changling's hand, and exclaimed, "Benefactor! Benefactor!"

Fu Changling forced an endless smile as town headman Wu pulled him along. He threw a banquet that night and dragged Fu Changling around to keep drinking.

Wu Sisi sat next to Fu Changling and kept pouring wine for him. Fu Changling was a good drinker, but he couldn't keep up after a night of drinking. When everyone had finally passed out from all the drinking, Qin Yan took a quick look around, stood up, and prepared to return to his room.

Fu Changling was dim-sighted, but he was also aware that Qin Yan was leaving. Quickly reaching out to grasp Qin Yan's sleeve, he slurred the words, "Don't... don't leave me behind."

Qin Yan paused, hesitating for a moment, before holding out one end of his sword.

Fu Changling was stunned at the sight of that part of the sword. "Don't push your luck. Pull," said Qin Yan indifferently.

Only after hearing this did Fu Changling react, hurriedly grasping Qin Yan's sword and cheerfully saying, "All right, pulling."

He got up with the help of Qin Yan's strength, and Qin Yan led the way, with Fu Changling trailing behind. Fu Changling narrowed his eyes and fixed his blurry gaze on Qin Yan's back. In a trance, he felt as if he saw Yan Ming.

Yan Ming, who walked in front of him and led him forward in the blizzard back then.

Feeling a little inebriated and unable to tell how he felt, he chuckled and asked, "Do all of you sword cultivators like to pull people around like this?"

"Don't know," Qin Yan said flatly.

Fu Changling hiccuped: "Someone, someone used to... lead... lead the way for me, also, also a sword cultivator."

When Qin Yan heard these words, he suddenly paused in his steps somehow.

"What's wrong?" Fu Changling asked, looking up at him.

Qin Yan stood still for a moment and turned his head to look at him. "Who led the way for you like this?"

"Ah, you don't know him either," Fu Changling said, waving his hand.

Hearing his words, Qin Yan was about to say something else, but then he heard a woman exclaim, "Ya, there you are, my precious darling!"

They both looked up to see Wu Sisi standing at the end of the long corridor, looking at them with a surprised expression. Fu Changling gasped and subconsciously tried to hide behind Qin Yan. But then, before his body could move, he made an effort to collect himself and flashed a handsome yet forced smile at Wu Sisi. "Wu Dà Xiaojie."

"Fu Gēgē～" Wu Sisi reached out to take Fu Changling's hand, winked at him with the whites of her pupil-less eyes, and cast an ogling glance his way. "I've been waiting for you for a long time, and there's so much I want to talk to you about～"

Seeing Wu Sisi's ogling gaze, Fu Changling was scared out of his wits.

But he thought he couldn't lose. How could he, Fu Changling, lose in such a situation?!

So he took a deep breath and decided to take the plunge.

"That's perfect," Fu Changling smiled and walked arm-in-arm with Wu Sisi towards the room where Wu Sisi stayed, winking and saying, "I also have a lot of things I want to talk to Sisi Mèimèi about."

Wu Sisi's entire body stiffened when she heard Fu Changling utter nauseating words right off the bat.

Fu Changling got quite smug.

Qin Yan, who was trailing them and carrying his sword, stared unexpressionably at their backs, as if a walking screen, with no sense of presence whatsoever.

Fu Changling and Wu Sisi appeared to be making goo-goo eyes at each other, but they were actually cursing at one another indirectly into the room. As soon as they entered, Wu Sisi let go of Fu Changling in disgust and shut the door with a wave of her sleeve.

Under Fu Changling and Qin Yan's feet, a formation lit up, and Fu Changling carefully examined it. Wu Sisi clapped her hands, walked over to the table, turned over the large teacup, and poured herself some tea, saying, "You guys have approached me. I suppose you can tell."

"Mm," Fu Changling looked up and nodded, "a little. You are the Lord God of this domain?"

"I'm not," responded Wu Sisi, and Fu Changling froze. He then heard Wu Sisi take a sip of tea and lower her head, saying, "My master is the Lord God. I'm just his sword spirit and, of course, his cultivation partner."

Hearing this, Fu Changling asked, "And what about him?"

"Someone forcibly took control of the Xuanji Secret Realm fourteen years ago, making this Venerable One the Lord God of this secret realm. This Venerable One has now imprisoned him."

"You need our help," Qin Yan stated straightforwardly, and Wu Sisi nodded. "Right. I've been hiding among the townsfolk all these years, and he still hasn't found me. I need your help."

"So you pretended to be crazy and approached the outside cultivators. Only outsider cultivators could help you," Fu Changling's realisation dawned on him, and then he said out of tune, "Then why did you choose to marry me instead of him?"

Qin Yan looked at Fu Changling somewhat helplessly as Wu Sisi sneered loudly, "Wasn't your little scheme pretty obvious?"

"Tsk," Fu Changling said, unfolding his fan with a disdainful expression, "women."

Qin Yan, who was getting tired of listening, changed the subject and asked Wu Sisi, "What do you want?"

"I want an object," Wu Sisi put down her teacup and described, "and this object will be auctioned at the Lotus Pavilion in town the day after tomorrow. It is the Lotus Pavilion's final precious object for tomorrow, called the Linglong Pagoda. Both of you find it and bring it to me. If you help me release my master, I'll send you out of the Xuanji Secret Realm."

"You even know where to find the Linglong Pagoda. Why don't you go and get it yourself?" Fu Changling arched an eyebrow.

Wu Sisi shook her head. "I don't want to attract that one's attention. My master owns the Linglong Pagoda. That 'Venerable One' will definitely pay attention to whoever gets it, and I'm afraid he'll notice something unusual about me. That's why I have to borrow the hands of others. You're both originally outsiders, so taking the Linglong Pagoda is nothing unusual; he won't suspect anything."

"All right," Fu Changling nodded and extended his hand to Wu Sisi, who froze and asked, "What do you want?"

"Money," Fu Changling stated unequivocally, "is it free to go to an auction?"

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