What Flying Sword Do I Need!

Zhou Chunfeng sat in his chair and accepted the bow, then sighed. "I never expected your brothers to be so cruel. It seems your days at the Northern Pacification Marquis's Residence were truly difficult."

Ye Han's eyes reddened. "If not for Lord Zhou, I fear I would have perished in the tomb garden today, never to see daylight again."

Just then, Li Qingxian had yet to arrive, but his voice came first.

"Uncle Zhou, I'm back! I kept praising you before my parents' graves."

"Utter nonsense!" Zhou Chunfeng's helpless voice rang through the study.

Li Qingxian stepped over the threshold. Seeing Ye Han there as well, he smiled. "Brother Ye, have you verified it? On my way back, I saw a group of men and horses. I wonder if they belonged to the Northern Pacification Marquis's household."

Ye Han gave a deep bow. "Brother Qingxian sent charcoal in the snow and saved me in my hour of peril. I will surely repay you handsomely."

Zhou Chunfeng smiled. "If you want to repay him handsomely, you gave him a Flood Dragon Transformation Pill last time. This time, you can only give him a flying sword."

Ye Han froze.

Li Qingxian blanked for a moment, then hurriedly said, "What flying sword do I need? The Flood Dragon Transformation Pill is enough. What flying sword do I need? Ye Han, don't listen to Uncle Zhou. He's old-fashioned and values repaying favors. We young people don't go in for that."

From the corner of his eye, Ye Han saw the white figure shift slightly. Jiang Youfei seemed to be looking over.

"How could one Flood Dragon Transformation Pill be enough for saving my life? Even this Divine-Pattern Flying Sword would not be enough! Qingxian, take it! I, Ye Han, stand tall between heaven and earth—I cannot let others poke at my spine!" Gritting his teeth, Ye Han took a foot-long brocade-covered wooden box from his Heaven-and-Earth Ring and forcibly stuffed it into Li Qingxian's hands.

Li Qingxian tried to return it, but Ye Han fiercely shoved it back at him, his gaze unwavering.

"Qingxian, I know you are a gentleman. But if you do not accept this, what face will I have left to remain in the Night Guard?" Ye Han said.

"Brother Ye, you..."

"Qingxian, if you refuse again, I will resign from the Night Guard and leave the Divine Capital! I, Ye Han, have made mistakes before, but I long ago washed my heart clean and changed my ways. How could I make the same mistake again and again?" Ye Han's voice was as firm as a nail driven into wood.

Li Qingxian sighed, holding the brocade-covered wooden box without knowing what to say.

Could it be that Ye Han had truly been forced into it, and that he had misunderstood the Ye Han of the past?

Ye Han smiled. "Qingxian, to thank you and Lord Zhou for saving my life, I have decided to host a banquet at Flower Sea Tower in a few days and thank my two benefactors. Would you honor me with your presence?"

"This..." Li Qingxian looked toward Zhou Chunfeng.

Zhou Chunfeng smiled. "Since Ye Han has such intentions, you and I cannot chill his heart. We should go."

"Alright, Brother Ye. We will certainly attend," Li Qingxian said.

Ye Han was overjoyed. "Good brother."

Then, as if casually turning his head, Ye Han saw Jiang Youfei quietly reading. He slapped his forehead. "Look at this pig brain of mine—I actually forgot that a beauty was at my side. May I ask the Enchanting City Fairy whether you would honor this humble one's banquet with your presence?"

Li Qingxian looked toward Zhou Chunfeng, and the two met each other's eyes.

A trace of darkness welled up in Zhou Chunfeng's eyes.

Ye Han gazed at Jiang Youfei with a beaming smile.

He had prepared for this moment for a long time.

Jiang Youfei's slender, translucent jade fingers gently turned a page. Without even looking at Ye Han, she said in an incomparably indifferent voice, "I do not know you. Please conduct yourself with respect."

Ye Han stood frozen in place, feeling as though heaven and earth had collapsed.

Jiang Youfei's words were like a thousand awls and ten thousand needles stabbing into his heart, piercing and twisting all at once.

Li Qingxian hurriedly turned his head away, only to see Zhou Hen turning away as well. The two gritted their teeth and struggled to suppress their laughter.

Zhou Chunfeng remained as calm as ever. The darkness in his eyes faded, while his already handsome face somehow brightened by several degrees, smooth and lustrous as jade.

Zhou Chunfeng gave a light cough. "Youfei has been very busy these days. She may not be able to go, so she declined politely."

Li Qingxian and Zhou Hen had just begun to turn their heads back before forcibly stopping themselves. This was called a polite decline?

Ye Han was dumbfounded. Jiang Youfei had been sitting here all day—this was called being busy?

"Oh... this student has other matters to attend to. Farewell." Ye Han could not remain for even another breath. Forgetting all etiquette, he strode quickly away.

Watching Ye Han flee in disgrace, Li Qingxian gave Jiang Youfei a thumbs-up. "Sis, you truly are my sis!"

Jiang Youfei continued staring at the words on the page and said calmly, "If I did not need something from you, I would have torn that mouth of yours to shreds long ago."

Li Qingxian smiled. Her tone was worlds apart from the icy one she had used moments ago.

Zhou Chunfeng looked at Li Qingxian with a smile. "You can count yourself blessed to have survived. Now you have seen Youfei's temperament, haven't you?"

"My sister is wonderful no matter what," Li Qingxian said with a composed expression.

Zhou Chunfeng shook his head.

Li Qingxian touched the brocade wrapping the wooden box and looked at Zhou Chunfeng.

"Uncle Zhou, were those words unintentional, or did you say them with purpose?" Li Qingxian asked.

"If there is a flying sword, take it," Zhou Chunfeng said.

Li Qingxian laughed. "I did not expect there was such a move. Tsk, tsk, old ginger is spicier. Why do I feel as if the three of us set up a scheme and tricked Ye Han into a honey trap?"

"If there truly is a scheme, then it is a scheme to curb greed," Zhou Chunfeng said.

Li Qingxian chuckled. "Uncle Zhou is right. That matter is settled, so now let's discuss how to lure the snake from its hole."

Zhou Chunfeng said, "Everything else has been arranged. What you need to do is enter Azure Firmament Abbey in disguise, impersonate Lü Ren, enter the carriage, and lie down properly. Zhou Hen will protect you inside the carriage. If all goes well, you can return with the Heavenly Venerable Token. If Youfei cannot defeat them, Zhou Hen will take you and escape. Around the capital, they would not dare lay hands on the Night Guard."

"If something really happens, what about Sister Youfei?" Li Qingxian looked toward the girl in white.

"I can escape," Jiang Youfei said.

Li Qingxian sighed instead. "Uncle Zhou, Sister Youfei may look delicate, but she is actually a stubborn mule. Could you send more men?"

Li Qingxian felt a chill sweep over him from a certain white-clad girl.

"This matter runs extremely deep. Sending Zhou Hen is already my limit. Rest assured, Youfei knows her limits. Youfei, do not act rashly. As long as the green hills remain, there will be no shortage of firewood." Zhou Chunfeng's face was stern.

"Youfei understands." Jiang Youfei lowered her eyes obediently, her voice gentle.

"It is good that you understand." Zhou Chunfeng nodded with a smile.

Li Qingxian could not help saying, "You believe everything she says, but you believe nothing I say. Uncle Zhou, your eye for people is lacking."

The same chill swept over him again.

Li Qingxian abruptly changed the subject. "Back to business—when do I go to Azure Firmament Abbey? Tonight or tomorrow?"

Zhou Chunfeng said, "Youfei, do not lower yourself to the level of this little rogue. His mouth has no gate to keep it shut. The serious matter comes first."

Jiang Youfei raised her eyes and glanced at Li Qingxian. Her expression was as light as wind and clouds as she said, "To avoid alerting the Demon Sect, you will have to suffer a little."

As Jiang Youfei spoke, she raised her right hand. A large red paper sedan landed in her slender jade palm. White flowers clustered atop its roof, while eight white paper figures wearing red waistbands carried it.

The paper figures' eyes were blood-red, and their grinning mouths were crimson enough to drip blood.

"A Puppet Cultivator artifact?" Li Qingxian asked.

Jiang Youfei nodded. With a toss of her right hand, the White-Flower Red Sedan landed on the ground and expanded in the wind until it was exactly like a real sedan.

The eight paper figures transformed into eight burly men dressed in mourning hemp and wearing filial headbands, red light dancing in their eyes.

"Do you have any more auspicious artifacts? I'm still a pure-hearted young man who has never taken a wife. Riding in a dead man's sedan is inauspicious," Li Qingxian said.

Zhou Hen and Zhou Chunfeng exchanged glances, wearing identical looks of helplessness.

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