The Foolish Agent

Chapter 34

"Kill the Prince of England to avenge the Great Protector!"

"Prince Ying?" Ying looked at the child in surprise. Without thinking, she took action and rescued him from the group of men in black who were now red-eyed.

After carrying Duanmu onto the roof, Leng Jie flew directly towards her residence in the fishing village, thinking that since the Qingyi Sect members were in dire straits, no one would care about her. However, she overlooked the fact that the Imperial Guards also had many experts who could scale walls and leap across rooftops. Moreover, she didn't consider that if Longmen hadn't received news of her being besieged by the Qingyi Sect, why would the Emperor have mobilized the Imperial Guards?

So, when she returned to the fishing village, her tail had already quietly gone back to report.

Although she possessed internal strength, it was indeed not easy for someone of her 1.65-meter height to carry a 1.8-meter-tall man while scaling walls and rooftops. Leng Jie landed directly from the rooftop into the courtyard, then immediately placed Duanmu on the ground. She herself, panting heavily, sat down as well.

"who is he?"

Leng Jie froze, holding her breath in astonishment as she looked towards the source of the voice. She stared blankly at a middle-aged man storming angrily towards her from her room. But that voice was clearly Qingfeng's! Knowing the man was already beside her, she asked, bewildered:

"Senior brother? Qingfeng?"

Qingfeng stared blankly at her, and seeing that she had finally recognized him, his anger seemed to subside somewhat. But when he looked at the dying man beside her, his anger flared up again. Pointing at the man, he asked again:

"Who is he? Why would you carry him back?"

Leng Jie followed Qingfeng's hand and looked at Duanmu, only to find that Duanmu was lying unconscious on the ground. She hurriedly said to Qingfeng, "Qingfeng, you've come just in time! He's suffered internal injuries, and I don't know how to treat them. Please use your internal energy to heal him quickly!"

He arrived just in time, just to save her man? Qingfeng's face darkened abruptly, her gaze turned icy, her lips tightened, and she replied in a cold voice devoid of any warmth:

"Don't save them!"

Leng Jie then noticed that Qingfeng's expression was off. Although he had always argued with her before, he had never seemed this cold before. Even when he suspected her identity, he hadn't been this indifferent, had he?

"Are you still angry that I left without saying goodbye? I'll apologize, okay? But this is a matter of life and death, so please treat his injuries first before you get angry, okay?" Leng Jie coaxed.

"Why should I save him? State your reasons first." Qingfeng coldly uttered a sarcastic remark.

Leng Jie finally understood why he had this attitude, and asked in a different way:

"If I were injured, would you help me or not?"

"Of course you are my junior sister!" Qingfeng replied matter-of-factly.

"Alright, he took that blow for me, so just consider it as him saving me."

"What? Who hit you? Are you alright?" Instantly, all her anger vanished, and worry immediately filled her eyes.

Leng Jie couldn't help but roll her eyes at him, and said irritably:

"If something were to happen to me, could you see me now? Could I carry him out of a thousand troops?"

"A thousand troops? You just came down from the battlefield?" Qingfeng replied defiantly, but his hand was already on Duanmu Xingchen's wrist, feeling his pulse.

"How is it?" Leng Jie asked anxiously when she saw Qingfeng release Duanmu's pulse.

Qingfeng glanced at her and coldly tossed her a sentence:

"You won't die!"

Leng Jie stood up abruptly and said, "With you, the divine doctor, here, of course I know he won't die. I'm asking how serious his injuries are? When will he recover?" Seeing that Qingfeng ignored her, she continued, "You use your internal energy to heal him first, and I'll go pack up. We must leave here quickly; I think Ziying will catch up soon. It won't be easy to escape then."

Although Qingfeng had many questions for her, saving lives was the top priority. He took out a pill from his pocket and fed it to Duanmu, then helped him sit up cross-legged and began to use his internal energy to heal him.

After entering the house, Leng Jie immediately began packing. They had stayed there for half a month and bought quite a lot of things—everything a family would normally need. This was a flight, not a move, so she only packed the important items she had brought from the palace, along with two sets of commoner's clothes. As for Xiao Shiyu's things, she didn't take a single one. She figured since he had found the Emperor, he wouldn't need the things she had bought for him. She decided to give anything she couldn't take to Aunt Zhang's family.

She packed her things and saw that Qingfeng was still treating Duanmu's injuries. Taking advantage of this break, she went next door to find Aunt Zhang and tell them about the dried fish delivery. As soon as she entered Aunt Zhang's house, Aunt Zhang came out to greet her.

"Young Master Leng is here! Please come in and have a seat. Have you found your younger brother? By the way, a man claiming to be Young Master Leng's elder brother came looking for you earlier. I noticed he looked somewhat like you, both with sallow complexions. So, I led him to your courtyard. Did you meet him?"

Leng Jie was already used to Aunt Zhang's nagging, so she let her finish talking in one breath before she spoke:

"Yes, I see. Something happened at home, and my brother came to take us home. I'm here to..."

"I see! Then Young Master Leng, please rest assured and go back with your brother. You don't need to worry about things here. I'll take care of storing the dried fish for you. I'll definitely deliver it to the address you gave me. You can rest assured." After hearing Leng Jie's arrangements, Aunt Zhang nodded repeatedly in agreement.

“I trust Aunt Zhang to handle things, so please accept my thanks. By the way, we’re leaving now. You should move back in! We don’t need anything here anymore, so use what you can and throw away what you can’t!”

Upon hearing this, Aunt Zhang asked in surprise, "Why didn't you take any luggage, young master? Those are all new things you bought, and they're all top-quality items. How could you leave them behind?"

"It's too urgent to take all of it. If you like it, keep it! I'll be going now." Leng Jie felt that in Aunt Zhang's eyes, she had become a typical spendthrift. So, she quickly ran away.

Chapter Seventy-One: Reunion with the Emperor

"Huh, it's healed so quickly? It doesn't seem to be very serious."

When Leng Jie returned from Aunt Zhang's house, the two people who had been healing in the yard were gone. She muttered to herself as she walked towards her room.

Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks as she walked towards the room. Her sixth sense told her that something was wrong. As for what was wrong, she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she felt that there was a strange smell in the air around her. Could it be that the people from Qingyi or Longmen had caught up with her? In a flash, Leng Jie immediately gathered her strength and leaped onto the roof. She wanted to see what was going on inside before making any plans.

To her surprise, as soon as she landed on the roof, she saw a handsome man standing on the ridge, radiant and elegant, dressed in flowing white robes with black hair dancing in the wind. He held her large bundle and looked at her with a smile. Then, a voice that was both dangerous and teasing came from his mouth.

"What's the rush? Are you just passing by without even coming in, abandoning your belongings?"

Leng Jie froze, suddenly remembering the smell: "Damn ambergris!" In her daze, she forgot to lean forward as soon as she landed on the roof. Her foot slipped on the tiles, and she fell backward...

In a flash of white, Leng Jie was scooped up by the immortal young master who had frightened her and returned to the rooftop.

The man in white put Leng Jie down and then teased, "How come your lightness skill still hasn't improved? Last time you fell off a big tree, and this time you actually fell off a roof. If Ying knew that his lightness skill, which is supposed to be the best in the world, couldn't even get onto a roof, I think he would have to go and bang his head against a wall."

"Who was it that suddenly started acting like a ghost and scaring people, almost making them fall? And they even have the nerve to make sarcastic remarks?" Leng Jie, having regained her footing, glanced at the man in white out of the corner of her eye, thinking angrily to herself. She replied without hesitation:

"Instead of sitting in the Golden Palace handling state affairs, the Emperor has come to people's rooftops to become a thief. If those people who worship you like a god knew this, wouldn't they want to bang their heads against the wall even more?"

"Have you two had enough? This is a private house, not a palace. You two are going to trample the roof down."

A furious voice came from inside the house, scolding the two people on the roof, who looked at each other in bewilderment. Leng Jie shrugged at Xuan Yuan, then winked mischievously and pointed down, indicating that he should go down first.

Xuanyuan smiled back, bent down to pick up the bundle from the roof tile, and took a step closer to Leng Jie. "Crack!" The round wooden beam on the roof ridge actually flickered. Xuanyuan immediately stopped, staring at Leng Jie in astonishment.

Leng Jie felt the roof ridge beneath her feet tremble slightly, and she was startled at first. Then she leaped off the roof, only to realize how fragile it was: the roof was too fragile! Luckily, when she flew over carrying Duanmu, she had landed directly on the ground in one go. If she had hesitated to rest on the roof, they would have both fallen straight down. Her fall was nothing, but if Duanmu, who was already seriously injured, had fallen again, he might have been on his way to the underworld.

Seeing that Wuming had already descended, Xuanyuan leaped down after him. Landing beside Wuming, he saw he was still seemingly in a daze and gently patted his thin shoulder reassuringly, "It's alright! We've landed now!"

"Ugh!" Leng Jie rolled her eyes at Xuan Yuan. Did he really think she was some nameless kid who had just learned light-body kung fu and would fall off a book? Seeing that she couldn't escape now, she angrily asked Xuan Yuan:

"Seriously, how come one of you managed to escape? Have you forgotten about being surrounded last time?"

Xuanyuan had anticipated his response and had already prepared his explanation.

"This time I'm not alone; I brought three thousand Imperial Guards with me."

Leng Jie suddenly looked up, astonished, and asked, "Did you personally lead the Imperial Guards out of the capital? To suppress the Green Robe Sect?"

"No," Xuanyuan replied, shaking his head.

"Was it to save Prince Ying?" Leng Jie asked again.

"Prince Ying? Shi Yu? Isn't he in Jianzhou?" Xuanyuan asked back with equal confusion.

"He came to save you." Qingfengjian and the other two were talking about something else, and Qingfengjian couldn't help but interrupt to explain to Leng Jie, "The Dragon Gate received news that you were besieged by the Qingyi Sect in Qunying Tower, so he sent the Imperial Guards to finish you off. Now you owe him another favor."

"Dragon Gate knew my whereabouts all along?" Leng Jie couldn't help but feel a chill. All that effort he put into disguising himself had turned out to be just a clown being followed and watched by her!

Xuanyuan noticed his predicament and shook his head with a sigh:

“If we had known your whereabouts earlier, the Green Robe Sect wouldn’t have had the opportunity to trap you. Longmen only found out where you were in the morning, and by noon they discovered that the Green Robe Sect had also set their sights on you. Moreover, they received news that the entire Green Robe Sect in the capital was mobilized to capture you and the child with you and take them back to their mysterious leader. At that time, it was too late to mobilize the people from the capital’s government offices, so I had no choice but to send the Imperial Guards.”

"Then why did you chase after him all the way here by yourself? Where is Xiao Shiyu? You didn't see him, did you?" Leng Jie then remembered that Xiao Shiyu was alone among the Qingyi Sect members. Could it be that they hadn't rescued him?

"The Imperial Guards, led by Ying, went to the Heroes' Pavilion first. I had just arrived in Longmen when I heard you were carrying an injured person back to the fishing village, so I came to check on you. But when I arrived, I found Qingfeng healing someone in the courtyard. Without a word, I helped him heal your friend. However, upon entering the house, I found your belongings already packed. It seems I won't be able to wait for you in Longmen." Xuanyuan explained the whole story in a few words. Finally, Chen Jie said, "As for what you said about Prince Ying and Xiao Shiyu, I have nothing to say."

Hearing Xuanyuan's words, Leng Jie unconsciously let out a sigh of relief. Xiao Shiyu must be with Ying now. And Xuanyuan doesn't know she's a woman. As long as Duanmu is taken away and Xiao Shiyu is warned, it seems her identity shouldn't be exposed for the time being. Leng Jie turned to Qingfeng at the door and asked:

"How is Duanmu's injury?"

"Hmph," Qingfeng snorted softly, glaring at Leng Jie, and reluctantly replied, "I pressed his sleeping acupoint. He'll be fine after a nap and a couple of days of rest."

"Hehe, I told you there would be no problem with another review!" Leng Jie flattered Qingfeng, clearly still angry from his expression.

But Qingfeng wasn't buying it. From the moment he saw her, the anger simmering inside him was about to burst. He'd finally found her whereabouts and was eagerly waiting for her return in the fish-smelling courtyard, only to find her carrying another man. He helped her rescue the man, full of unanswered questions, thinking he could hear her explanation afterward. But then, the very emperor they wanted to hide from most suddenly appeared.

"Who exactly is that person inside? How did they end up with you? And what happened to the child you were with? Why did you return to the capital? And how did you get involved with the Green Robe Sect?..."

Faced with Qingfeng's agitated questioning, Leng Jie was somewhat bewildered and at a loss. She always did things her own way, only reporting her whereabouts and progress to her superiors when required by work. She didn't like to explain everything to others, even her family. Besides, her job didn't allow for much explanation, and given that her parents were both special agents, their family's way of getting along was also quite unique. They would simply call before a mission to let her know they were going on a business trip, and then call again to let her know they were safe after completing the mission.

She had never been "cared for" in this way before, so she didn't know how to react to him. Without answering or explaining, she stared blankly at Qingfeng.

Seeing that the two brothers were looking at each other in silence, Xuanyuan quickly tried to smooth things over.

"Let's go inside and talk!" he said, pushing the stunned Leng Jie toward the door.

Qingfeng automatically stepped back inside to let them in.

“Nameless, tell me who he is first?” Xuan Yuan put down the revenge he was holding, nudged Leng Jie, and pointed at the scarred man lying on the bed.

"Uh, all I know is his name is Duanmu Xingchen." Leng Jie looked at Duanmu, whose complexion had almost recovered, and explained unconsciously:

"We've only met twice. The first time was at an inn, and the second time was this morning when he saved Xiao Shiyu's life. We invited him to Qunyinglou for a meal, and that's when the Qingyi Sect came out. Then, he was injured by a leader of the Qingyi Sect while protecting us. Then your Imperial Guards arrived, and the Qingyi Sect was thrown into chaos. So I brought him back."

Seeing that I had answered, Xuanyuan glanced at Qingfeng with a beaming smile. It seemed he was saying to him: See? Your junior brother listens to me, not you. He then asked:

"And what about the little jade stone?"

Qingfeng's already gloomy face instantly became even more ashen. A pair of fiery eyes stared intently at Leng Jie, as if warning her that if she dared to answer Xuanyuan's question, he would melt her into flames.

Leng Jie was in no mood to consider their questions, nor did she notice the two men arguing over her. She was preoccupied with figuring out how to deal with Duanmu. They were complete strangers, knowing nothing about each other, so she couldn't let him know Xuanyuan and Qingfeng's identities. Of course, she also couldn't let him know hers. But judging from Qingfeng and Xuanyuan's expressions, they wouldn't let her stay and take care of him. Yet, she couldn't just leave a wounded man like him unattended, could she? After all, he was implicated because of her. Finally, she decided:

"Senior brother, go to Longmen with the Emperor first! I'll stay here and wait for Duanmu's injuries to heal before I come to find you."

"No!" "Absolutely not!"

Leng Jie's answer surprised them both, but it resonated with them. Xuan Yuan Shi was afraid that Wu Ming had run away again, and he would have to go through the trouble of searching for him. Qing Feng didn't want the two of them, a man and a woman alone in a room, fearing that something might happen.

"Then what do you suggest we do? Take him back to Longmen too?" Leng Jie glanced at them and asked unhappily.

Xuanyuan immediately refused: "His identity is unknown, how can we bring him back to Longmen?"

“If he doesn’t go back, his family will worry. He’s mostly recovered now, so let him go home on his own once he wakes up,” Qingfeng said logically.

“It’s a pity his family isn’t in the capital, and he was originally planning to leave for Jianzhou tomorrow to participate in the dance competition. Now that he’s injured, it seems his trip will be delayed.” Leng Jie shrugged at Qingfeng and Xuanyuan and said, “So, I can’t just leave him here alone as an injured person.”

Xuanyuan thought for a moment and felt that what he said made sense, so he conceded, "Then let's ask the villagers here to help take care of him for a few days. You helped these fishermen so much this time, I believe they will definitely help with this small matter. They might even take better care of him than a grown man like you who doesn't know anything!"

“That’s right, you’re practically the god of wealth for all the fishermen in the capital now. If you ask them for help, they’d be more than eager to help you.” Qingfeng chimed in.

Leng Jie thought about it and decided that this wasn't bad. At least he wouldn't have to explain to Duanmu why Xiao Shitou was the King of England, or he would have to ask her what her identity was.

Finally, Leng Jie entrusted Duanmu to Aunt Zhang. Aunt Zhang understood that the brothers were in a hurry to return to their hometown of Jianzhou and gladly accepted the responsibility. Leng Jie left a letter for Duanmu, explaining that she had urgent business at home and needed to return to Jianzhou first, followed by a series of polite words.

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