This Is Too Absurd

"He really couldn't be measured by ordinary Lan Blood, but this... this was simply too absurd." Second Uncle Qiao still found it hard to believe.

The matter in Clearwind City had been verbally reported to Qiao Yaoyao by Lü E. Second Uncle Qiao only knew the general course of events and the outcome, so naturally he did not know that even Lan Bloods like Song Can and Zhao Buyou had been no match for Yang Yi's single punch.

Qiao Yaoyao had deliberately concealed part of it. No matter what, Yang Yi had been recommended into the stronghold by Qiao Wuwang, so he had been born into the same camp as her.

Thus, compared to Second Uncle Qiao's doubts, she had basically already believed it.

"Send someone to Falling Moon Market to verify the situation," Second Uncle Qiao suggested.

Qiao Yaoyao nodded. "Verification is certainly necessary, but if Falling Moon Market truly is as Yang Yi reported, Black Wind Stronghold will never let the matter rest... Tie Shan, pass down the order to Attendant Zhou Hai. Have him keep a close watch on Hu Zhang's movements. Report immediately at the first sign of anything unusual!"

When Qiao Yaoyao had previously sent Yang Yi to Falling Moon Market, she had never expected him to move so quickly. She had thought that even if Yang Yi and the others succeeded, it would take some time. In that case, the conflict at Falling Moon Market would only be a struggle between Lan Bloods for the time being.

With Yang Yi's capabilities, he would have been more than able to handle it.

But now that Falling Moon Market had already been seized and Black Wind Stronghold had lost two of its chiefs, how could Hu Zhang possibly let the matter rest?

Once he received the news, he would definitely make a move.

Therefore, Hu Zhang's whereabouts needed to be watched closely. At present, the enemy's and their own True Bloods were all keeping watch over one another. The one monitoring Hu Zhang was a Grade-A Attendant of the Qiao Household named Zhou Hai.

As long as Hu Zhang did not go to Falling Moon Market, Yang Yi's side would not be in any danger.

Dawn approached, and the moonlight faded away.

Yang Yi carried Qin Siniang and the others' weapons as he leaped out of the pit. He returned the three weapons to their owners, then yawned. "Let's go back."

Although one night had not allowed the three weapons to absorb moonlight to their limits, they were not far from it.

The Moonlight Saber and Moonlight Sword had succeeded in a single night because they had accumulated power over the previous ten years. In that regard, Qin Siniang and the others' weapons fell somewhat short.

Yang Yi did not intend to do this again. Mainly because after these past two nights, another crack had appeared on the Source Crystal, meaning ten days of repairs had gone down the drain.

Moreover, doing this also consumed a certain amount of his mental energy.

For now, Qin Siniang and the others' weapons were sufficient. There was no need to split hairs.

Upon returning to Stone Manor, he fell into bed and slept.

The next two days passed peacefully. Aside from cultivating the Body Tempering Technique and the Azure Sea Tide-Rising Saber, Yang Yi sought instruction in swordsmanship from Shen Qian and Lu Qianshan. His days were exceedingly fulfilling.

Two days later, someone arrived from the Qiao Household.

They brought back Qiao Yaoyao's letter, along with a pair of Messenger Birds.

Messenger Birds were a kind of bird, no larger than a palm. They could travel a thousand miles in a day and could be used to transmit messages.

This would make it much more convenient to communicate with the Qiao Household in the future.

Clearly, Qiao Yaoyao had specially sent them over because of the merit he had earned this time.

Yang Yi ordered someone to settle the visitors in before opening the letter.

Delicate, graceful handwriting met his eyes. There was nothing particularly unusual in the letter's contents. It merely praised Yang Yi for having done well this time, showered him with compliments, and offered further encouragement.

At the end, it mentioned Hu Zhang, informing him that the Qiao Household had a True Blood watching Hu Zhang's movements, so he need not worry too much, and so on...

After reading the letter and thinking for a moment, Yang Yi called out, "Someone, bring me brush, ink, and paper!"

He wanted to write a reply.

Once he had finished, he took out a Messenger Bird, stuffed the letter into the message tube beneath its foot, and raised his hand to release it.

In the blink of an eye, several more days passed.

Qiao Household, Xiude Hall.

Qiao Yaoyao covered her forehead as she looked at the letter before her, feeling a headache coming on. "What is this child trying to do?!"

Ever since Falling Moon Market had been equipped with a pair of Messenger Birds, Yang Yi had sent a letter nearly every day. The key was that these letters contained nothing substantive at all. Either he was sending her greetings, or he was asking about Uncle Yang's family. Not a word spoke of longing, yet longing spilled between every line.

Tie Shan stood beside her in silent stillness.

Although Qiao Yaoyao had asked the question, how could she not understand Yang Yi's intentions?

Going by what he wrote in his letters, he missed his family and wanted to return. But in truth, the brat was probably thinking about the Yin-Yang Pool...

After all, she had personally promised it to him before.

Yang Yi was afraid she would forget, so he had been subtly reminding her once every day.

But how could she possibly forget?

In fact, now that the situation at Falling Moon Market had stabilized and the Qiao Household's merchant caravan was already on the road, she had been preparing to let Yang Yi return and enter the Yin-Yang Pool.

It was only that someone was still using the Yin-Yang Pool, so he needed to wait a few more days.

"Enough, enough..." Qiao Yaoyao had been bombarded into submission by these diligent greetings. If someone unaware of the truth saw this, they might think Yang Yi had fallen for her and was writing her a love letter every day.

It was not as though that would be impossible, but she was, after all, the Qiao Household's eldest miss. Matters of marriage had to be approached with caution.

"Have him come back. Once he finishes cultivating, he can go over there again!" Qiao Yaoyao made up her mind and was about to write a reply when someone suddenly rushed in from outside.

"Report! Eldest Miss, there is word from Attendant Zhou Hai!"

Qiao Yaoyao's brows furrowed. Instinctively sensing something bad, she hurriedly took it and examined it. Her expression immediately changed drastically. "Zhou Hai has been seriously wounded!"

In recent days, apart from the initial period when the True Bloods of all sides had fiercely fought several battles and each suffered losses, the True Bloods had still clashed afterward, but they had all exercised restraint.

Zhou Hai and Hu Zhang were both True Bloods. At first, they had merely faced off from afar. After Yang Yi's letter arrived from Falling Moon Market and Qiao Yaoyao instructed Zhou Hai to keep watch over Hu Zhang, this Grade-A Attendant had challenged Hu Zhang once each day and contended with him. Though Zhou Hai was stronger, he had no particularly good way of dealing with Hu Zhang.

This morning, Zhou Hai had issued his usual challenge. Yet while contending with Hu Zhang, a True Blood from the Liu Lineage suddenly emerged and attacked. Outmatched, he was wounded.

"Falling Moon Market!" Qiao Yaoyao quickly realized the gravity of the matter.

Zhou Hai's injuries were secondary. The key was that Hu Zhang was now unrestrained. That man had surely already headed to Falling Moon Market to kill.

She did not dare hesitate. She hurriedly picked up her brush, wrote a short message, stuffed it into the message tube beneath a Messenger Bird's foot, and released it.

I hope it makes it in time! she silently prayed.

The Qiao Household already had fewer Lan Bloods and True Bloods than the enemy. Now that Zhou Hai had been injured, if something happened on Yang Yi's side as well, the situation would only worsen further.

She knew this was not Zhou Hai's fault. The enemy was larger in scale and had more powerful experts, making it easier for them to deploy troops and assign generals. If the Qiao Household had not abandoned nearly half its territory and contracted its forces, it would have long since been unable to contend with them.

Even so, the clan's situation was teetering on the brink, far from optimistic.

In the final analysis, the Qiao Household lacked manpower and could not produce any method capable of settling the matter with one hammer blow. The enemy had undoubtedly seen this, which was why they advanced neither too quickly nor too slowly, preparing to nibble away at the Qiao Household bit by bit.