"What does my dislike for you have to do with whether you've done anything wrong?"
She likes what she likes and doesn't need a reason to dislike what she dislikes. Well, that might be the only thing about her that makes her seem like a member of a demonic cult. "If you're going to take me to see someone, hurry up."
Yue Ji glanced at her, then turned and left. Ning Xian went inside, the door closing behind her. Before her stood the person who had once made her feel uneasy and fearful—she had never been able to know whether that unease and fear stemmed solely from his imposing aura or from a vague premonition of what was to come.
So, did that premonition foreshadow Cisheng's death? Or was it not over yet?
"Don't be so tense, I won't kill you." Chu Zheng simply smiled at her tense hostility. "We made a bet. If you really have the guts to come alone, given your courage, I won't kill you unless absolutely necessary." Chu Zheng stood there calmly, yet his aura was not to be underestimated. His calmness wasn't due to composure, but rather his confidence.
"You went to all this trouble to bring me here, you didn't just come here as a guest, did you?"
"I really didn't want to go through all this trouble, but unfortunately my partner seems quite insistent—"
—It really was for Feng!
Where is Du Zhengnian?
"Now that you're here, he's no longer of any use, and we won't make things difficult for him."
"Let me see him!"
"And then you'll rescue him? — Jialing, I'll let you meet, but only after you're completely under our control —" He finished speaking and attacked. Ning Xian was initially able to handle it, but Yue Ji hurriedly ran away, shouting to the Xuanlang Sect guards stationed at Yanyu Pavilion, "Here! Go help, hurry!"
Ning Xian had no time to spare. He had just blocked an attack from someone else when Chu Zheng was already right in front of him. Suddenly, a palm struck him from behind, and everything went black before his eyes. He lost consciousness.
"Didn't you say... you wouldn't hurt..."
"…………"
"At least she helped me..."
"..."
Someone was arguing not far away. Ning Xian tried to open her eyes, but the first thing she felt was a tightness and pain in her chest. The slap was so hard that she felt dizzy even when she looked up. Suddenly, a pink and tender figure flashed before her eyes, like a large, juicy radish that was almost ripe. It suddenly pounced on the bedside.
"Lord Jialing, are you alright?"
"You—that guy—?"
Water Radish pointed to herself, "Me? Zuo Xuan, you've suffered some internal injuries, lie down and don't move."
Ning Xian stared at him, his gaze anything but friendly. He was clearly asking if he was also in league with the Xuanlang Sect. Zuo Xuan lowered his head slightly, saying helplessly, "Lord Jialing, I don't want to betray him—it's just that my cousin… I really can't persuade him. That person is too stubborn…"
"Then let me go."
“No, no, I can’t make decisions here—but I’ll take care of you. Just tell me if you need anything—” “Du Zhengnian.”
"Why?"
"I want to see Du Zhengnian! I want them to release him!"
Water Radish scratched his head. "I'll go talk to them." He turned and shuffled out.
Ning Xian got up and looked around the room through the window. She was in the Misty Rain Pavilion, but from the outside it looked like an ordinary brothel. Inside, however, it was a maze of winding courtyards, and even she couldn't pinpoint her location. Moreover, the courtyards had been renovated in such a short time—many places that should have been rockeries and flowers had been replaced with huge wooden wheels that made a clattering sound that could be heard from outside.
The "eldest son" actually used the technology of the Sky Tower and the men of the Xuanlang Sect, as well as the terrain of the Misty Rain Pavilion itself, to make this place an impregnable stronghold.
On the surface, she was almost unrestrained, with only the unsuspecting Zuo Xuan by her side, and her room was unguarded. However, there were traps everywhere, and she was also suffering from internal injuries. It seemed that she would be captured again before she could find her way through these complex buildings. This guess was completely confirmed after she personally tested it twice.
So she gave up for the time being and stayed here as an arrogant prisoner, even more difficult to serve than a landlady, until her internal injuries healed.
The sun was shining brightly, and she lazily reclined on the deck chair, occasionally closing her eyes to regulate her internal energy. When she opened her eyes again, she instructed the water radish, "Where are the grapes I ordered?"
"I've already sent someone over, but..."
"I don't care, I want to eat now."
Water Radish shuffled along, grinding the soles of her delicately embroidered cloth shoes on the ground, looking like a wronged child, muttering to herself, "I can't just go out like that either... What can I do if I don't buy anything..."
Ning Xian snorted and turned his head to rest with his eyes closed, letting him handle it himself. Water Radish was having a headache when a voice rang out from the courtyard gate at just the right moment, "Why make things difficult for someone who can't make a decision, Lord Jialing?"
She opened her eyes slightly and saw the young man who looked like the manager she had seen before at Chongtian Tower. He still had that smiling face and led Du Zhengnian in.
"Lord Jialing only wanted to see your friend, there's no need to be angry with him."
She suddenly stood up, glaring at Du Zhengnian and roaring, "Du Zhengnian!! Are you trying to make me busy because I'm too idle?!" "N-no, it's not my fault, I don't know how..."
"If it's none of your business, why would I be here!?"
"They insisted on kidnapping me, and I..."
Ning Xian pressed her temples. How did she end up with such a troublesome person? Even when others were kidnapping hostages, they chose her to kidnap—even if she owed Ci Sheng something in this life, she didn't have to owe him, did she?
Just then, the grapes she had ordered arrived. Ning Xian leaned back on the couch and waved to Du Zhengnian, "Go wash your hands and peel grapes for me." She lazily lounged, looking every bit like a landlady, without a trace of hostage-like behavior. However, her eyes, through the gesture of placing her hand on her forehead, glanced at the smiling young man.
The young man dressed as a manager never changed his respectful and approachable demeanor. He was always humble and polite to Zuo Xuan and others, always keeping to his duty—but where was his duty? What was it?
An occasional, fleeting glimpse of a devoid of a smile from those smiling eyes sent a shiver down Ning Xian's spine. She kept her hand on her forehead, using the gentle rubbing of her temples to conceal her expression, but in her mind, one person clearly surfaced—the eldest young master.
No one has ever seen him, no one knows his face, the rumored cunning and ruthless eldest son of the Sky Tower—
Chapter 85 Misty Rain Over the Tower (from "The Story of My Wife Climbing the Wall") by Lian Zhi Qingting.
"Zuo Ci—"
Zuo Xuan stepped forward, intentionally or unintentionally blocking the two of them. Zuo Ci's smile remained unchanged, and he patted Zuo Xuan's shoulder with a touch of affection, "I'm just having a few words with Lord Jialing, you don't need to be nervous."
Zuo Xuan wanted to say something, but after opening her mouth several times, she couldn't utter a word. Head bowed, she whispered, "You really won't do anything—she did help me, after all..."
"I know, you've already said it once." Zuo Ci smiled and dismissed him, then glanced at Du Zhengnian, who had just finished washing the grapes and was about to peel them. That cold glance made Du Zhengnian immediately lower his head, adopting the standard attitude of not listening to, seeing, or meddling in anything—only at times like this did he become 'smart'!
Ning Xian glared at him, then turned her gaze to Zuo Ci. At this moment, Zuo Ci's unchanging smiling face was completely gone, and his eyes were filled with cold hatred.
"You certainly know how to win people over, Lord Jialing. If it weren't for that kind-hearted Zuo Xuan, I think you'd be dead by now—"
"You really want me dead, don't you?"
He moved closer, sneering, "What I'm more interested in seeing is Feng's expression after you die!" "Then wouldn't I be completely innocent?"
"nature."
"...What did he do?"
It was clearly the same face, the same smile, but Zuo Ci looked so cold, empty and cold, and a little bit... desolate.
Desolate? Using such a word to describe someone like him is actually quite comical.
"He killed someone."
"That's right." There are still many.
"He killed almost half of the members of the Giant Axe Sect—"
"It seems so..." Although the exact number is impossible to verify.
"Among them is Zuo Xuan's cousin—the daughter of the Giant Axe Sect's leader—"
"I think I've heard of it before..."
“If she were alive, she would be marrying me now.”
"..." Ning Xian looked at the young man leaning against the wooden railing by the lake. In that instant, his slightly thin, humble, and simple appearance... judging by appearance alone, it would be hard for anyone to imagine that he was the eldest son of Chongtian Tower; he seemed like just a young steward beside Zuo Xuan. But that gentle demeanor vanished in an instant, replaced by a cold gaze as he leaned down and asked Ning Xian, "If it were you, and the person you love was killed, what would you do?" Ning Xian had no answer. This man had every reason to be sad, to hate. What could she say? She had never experienced anything he described. Even Ci Sheng's death still saddened her to this day; how much more so would it hurt to think of someone he loved?
"Her death was just bad luck... In the martial world, who doesn't have a few deaths? If you're unlucky, don't blame others, especially in a place like the Demonic Path, where is there any fairness?" Sometimes she wanted to control her tongue, but she just had to speak her mind; only by saying it directly could she feel better. Unexpectedly, Zuo Ci showed no anger whatsoever, instead agreeing with her, "Of course, precisely because the Demonic Path is like this, so my revenge is my own choice, isn't it? You're Feng's woman, that's just your bad luck." Ning Xian twitched her facial muscles and smiled. This person was also well-suited to the Demonic Path, even better than the righteous path; it was truly a pity for such talent. "So, you won't kill me for now?"
"As long as you don't cause trouble."
"Then I'd like to ask you to have someone 'manage' my daily life. That wouldn't be causing trouble, would it?"
Zuo Ci glanced at her and said, "Tell me what you think."
"Yue Ji, I want that woman to 'take care' of me."
Zuo Ci chuckled coldly, "Zuo Xuan takes care of you, and Du Zhengnian serves you, isn't that enough?" "Without that woman, it's naturally not enough."
Zuo Ci squinted at her for a moment and said, "She's not one of my people, but I can go and ask her."
As soon as Zuo Cining left, Ningxian lazily leaned back on the couch, but her mind was not idle—if that woman came, she would play her to death! It's a pity that she is just a hostage now, so it's difficult to kill her, so she'll just leave her half-dead.
She glanced at Du Zhengnian beside her and snapped, "Hurry up! You've been peeling grapes for so long—what are you peeling? It's a rotten pile, who can eat that! Keep peeling! Hurry up and finish peeling them so you can fetch water and start a fire to heat up the bathwater. Then go find Zuo Xuan and get me another mattress. This mattress is so hard—hey, why are you laughing so disgustingly?"
"Actually... even though things are like this now, just seeing you makes me feel so fulfilled..." "..."
—Perverted! How disgusting!!
Fearing he might vomit after eating the strangely peeled grapes, Ning Xian simply took matters into his own hands and directed Du Zhengnian to start fetching water. There was no well in the courtyard, so he had to carry buckets of water to a large bucket in the yard, heat it over a fire, and then carry the buckets into the wooden tub inside the house.
Before she could even carry two buckets, a furious figure walked over reluctantly and demanded, "What do you mean?!" Ning Xian stuffed a grape into her mouth and replied, "You're here? -- Hey, Du Zhengnian, don't carry the water anymore. Give the buckets to Miss Yue Ji, and go get some firewood so that Miss Yue Ji can use it to start a fire after she's finished fetching the water."
"you!!"
"What do you mean, Miss Yue Ji? You're not here to serve men, you're here to serve me. I don't want your looks, so I'll just need your labor. Work hard, and we'll eat after you're done."
"you!!!!"
"What do you mean 'you'? Get back to work!"
Ning Xian felt it wasn't so much that she had a lot of influence, but rather that Zuo Ci also didn't like Yue Ji very much and was just throwing her out to teach her a lesson. Even so, there weren't many people in the world who would dare to venture deep into enemy territory and act arrogantly just because of Zuo Xuan's overly kind nature.
……
Several fast horses galloped all the way to Jiangcheng. Upon hearing the message from Youmingtian, Feng Yi turned her horse around and rode straight there. Youmingtian's men felt something was amiss when they heard the message Ning Xian had left behind. Although Ning Xian hadn't called for reinforcements, they still sent someone to contact her and check on her situation. However, they couldn't reach Ning Xian; instead, Bai Mo delivered a letter.
So he ordered King Kinnara to come and find the wooden kite, and sent people to urgently summon Phoenix and Luo Hou to turn around and go to Jiangcheng. The two groups of people met at Bai Mo's place.
"Brother Feng! Brother Feng!! Wait a minute!" Bai Mo stopped Feng, who was about to rush into the pavilion to rescue the person after hearing the description, and said, "If you go so recklessly, the other party will definitely be waiting for you to walk into their trap. If you fail to rescue the person and something happens to you, who will rescue Ning Xian in the future?" Feng just looked at him coldly, with a hint of impatience, and said, "Get out of the way!"
Bai Mo, who stood in front of him, refused to give an inch.
Although Kinnara usually disagreed with Feng and always opposed him, this time he agreed with his opinion, "What's there to be afraid of? Let's just gather our forces and fight them! Are we afraid of the Xuanlang Sect?"
"The other side is well-prepared and has probably laid countless ambushes. A large-scale battle like this will only result in mutual destruction and countless deaths! Trust me this once, be patient and wait a few days. I will definitely find the safest way to minimize the possible damage and ensure that you can rescue Ning Xian!"
Bai Mo spoke with conviction and reason, but Kinnara asked suspiciously, "Young Master Bai, we understand your intentions, but you are just a businessman, what can you do?"
"Because he is a businessman, he naturally has the connections of a businessman."
Although Bai Mo was responding to Kinnara, his eyes were fixed on Feng, his gaze firm and unwavering. Feng frowned slightly, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "Alright, I'll wait three days."