Chaotic World Book

"I told you not to run around aimlessly. If this really is a bandit stronghold, how did you want to die? Thankfully, these pits are new; they haven't had time to set spikes at the bottom yet. Otherwise, it would've been funny for the 'Hidden Dragon' Yue Hongling to die here. I wonder if the 'Chaotic World Book' would crash..."

Zhao Changhe was still sharp-witted, not letting others see Yue Hongling getting out of the pit. He drove everyone away before he managed to pull her up. As soon as they got back to the house, she received a good scolding.

"No other bandit strongholds are littered with pits like this! Besides, isn't this place a bandit stronghold? What do you mean by calling me 'the chief's wife'?" Yue Hongling gritted her teeth, her internal sword qi twisting in pain, but that worry was set aside as she glared in anger.

"Otherwise, what should I say? 'My house was burglarized, and the men took down this woman who didn't value her life'?" Zhao Changhe said irritably: "My dear Sister Yue, you're injured, without any power to resist. A group could spear you to death with long spears. If I didn't call you one of our own, what should I have said?"

Yue Hongling was stuck, not knowing how to retort.

Indeed, there was no retort; she could only be considered 'one of us'. And 'one of us', a woman in your house, you want to say she's just a common friend? To others' ears, that's nothing more than a thinly veiled pretense, resulting in nothing but an ambiguous "Oh~". Isn't that still the title of 'chief's wife'...

"I didn't expect that just a burst of sword qi would cause such a mess. When I first sneaked in here, I couldn't even..." Yue Hongling looked somewhat dazed.

There goes my reputation.

I shouldn't have come to this wretched place.

Zhao Changhe looked at her askance, his preconceptions about this woman being completely overturned within moments, but surprisingly he felt no sense of collapse. Instead, he found it somewhat cute.

"Alright, alright, drop that devastated look." Zhao Changhe handed her a cup of water: "For now, no one knows you are Yue Hongling. As for the bonfire feast, just don't go. Usually, just hide in the house. In a few days you'll be gone, and who will know who you were? They'll probably think I brought a woman back from a mud kiln in the city to play with for a few days, that's all."

Yue Hongling was expressionless: "If you hadn't said that last bit, it might have been comforting."

Having people fantasize that I'm a woman from some kiln, hidden in your house for days?

Go to hell.

Zhao Changhe couldn't help but laugh and cry: "Even hiding you isn't okay, so what do you want, my dear sister?"

This twofold use of "sister" was dripping with irony as if mocking his previous blindness for considering her a 'sister'.

Yue Hongling was so angry she bit down on her silver teeth: "Find me a set of clothes from your stronghold, I'll disguise myself. What's wrong with going out to dine and drink with everyone? There are many people in the world who look alike, why must I be Yue Hongling? Can't I be Lin Hongyue?"

What about 'Luo Qi'...

"Changing clothes and disguising yourself is feasible, but not for going out to drink. You're injured, don't act tough." Zhao Changhe stood up, patting her shoulder: "Disguising yourself is so you can move around normally, come and go as you wish, fight who you want without hiding. That's the Yue Hongling I know. So let it be. I'll find you a set of clothes. Somebody left behind their thin garments, and their size is almost the same as yours."

Watching Zhao Changhe rummage through the chest at the foot of the bed, Yue Hongling's expression once again became peculiar.

The Yue Hongling in his heart...

What was that?

Quickly, a set of clothes was tossed over to her, even carrying a faint scent: "Rest here; I'm going to drink with them. After all, it's the New Year, and it wouldn't be good if the village chief is thought to indulge himself with a woman in his house away from the communal fun."

You didn't play with any damn woman!

How crude.

Nothing happened, yet these bastards make it sound like everything has been done.

Wait, whose clothes are these, and why do they smell of perfume?

That crude mountain king, he really must have brought women here to play!

Yue Hongling massaged her headache, but watching the departing figure of Zhao Changhe, she couldn't muster any anger.

This is interesting; he seems to harbor an imagined Yue Hongling in his heart, and when the real Yue Hongling doesn't fit the image, he actually defends the imagined one.

Forget it, nature calls. Yue Hongling's eyes scanned the room and rushed towards the toilet as if seeing an old friend.

...

The night deepened, and bonfires were lit everywhere in the village, roaring noisily.

The stronghold didn't have many riffraff, just three or four hundred people, but the scene of that many gathered for a roaring feast was still quite spectacular, a bubbling cauldron of noise.

The village chief's house stood much higher than the square. Dressed and stepping out, Yue Hongling looked down at the festivities below from her elevated position.

There was a large banner at the edge of the area, fluttering in the night breeze, with a few large characters barely distinguishable on it: "Acting for Heaven".

Yue Hongling observed the banner with interest and mused that 'Acting for Heaven' was often the excuse of many a bandit. However, he didn't seem to have any intention of acting for heaven; he walked his own path.

Her gaze fell upon the crowd, and she quickly spotted Zhao Changhe. He was too conspicuous.

Zhao Changhe carried the large wine jug around, drinking with everyone who came by, refusing no one, his voice booming unmistakably clear even amidst the noisy crowd.

"This is but a few cups, are you even a man? Drink up, stop faking it!"

"A drinking contest after the martial arts match? Excellent idea! You guys team up, I'll set the rewards, the winners get money, the losers drink!"

"Don't like being called 'Big Boss'? Then what do you think we should call you? 'Your Majesty'? Cut the jokes, will you? Uh... 'Boss'? You might as well call yourself the Supreme Treasure."

"When did I reach the Mystical Gate Second Layer? Who knows, who cares?"

Yue Hongling also heard some words related to herself, as if someone asked, "Boss, Yue Hongling passed by earlier, could she still be nearby? What do we do if such a strong figure comes to suppress us?"

Zhao Changhe waved his hand dismissively, "No worries, I'll take action!"

Yue Hongling: "..."

"Hey, Boss, what about the sister-in-law you're hiding in your room? The more I think about it, the more she seems like Yue Hongling."

"You drunkards, if Yue Hongling was really in my room, would I still be here shooting the breeze with you guys? I'd have gone in and started playing long ago."

Yue Hongling: "..."

"Look, I'm not saying she is Yue Hongling, just that she looks like her. Boss, you didn't pick a sister-in-law based on Yue Hongling's appearance, did you?"

"So what if it is? Is there a problem with choosing someone based on Yue Hongling's looks?"

"Turns out the boss likes this kind..."

Someone else joked on the side, "No kidding, Yue Hongling is so beautiful, who in the Worldly Society wouldn't want to pin her down!"

Yue Hongling: "......."

"Hahaha, well spoken!" A group of people began to brown-nose, "I say the Boss is a good match for Yue Hongling, it'll become real sooner or later!"

Zhao Changhe suddenly found it hard to keep up, "Drink, drink, stop daydreaming about autumn purity! If you can't drink, go sit at the dog's table!"

Of course, he was overwhelmed. Heaven knows if Yue Hongling had heard those words, the sensory abilities of someone at the Mystical Gate Eighth Layer weren't for show!

Then someone brought up an even more tactless point, "Boss, if you ended up with Yue Hongling, then what about the Xia Holy Daughter... uh..."

"Damn..." Zhao Changhe's face turned bright red, whether from the alcohol or the anxiety was unclear.

A quick-witted person hurriedly said, "Boss, you might want to drink less, the sister-in-law is still waiting alone at home... forget about Yue Hongling and the Holy Daughter, we're just kidding, don't take it seriously, ha."

Amidst laughter, Zhao Changhe beat a hasty retreat, "Enough, I'm going back to check, I'm sick of dealing with you, have fun."

As soon as he got back to his house, he saw Yue Hongling standing outside, her beautiful eyes flicking over, containing who knows how much chagrin.

Zhao Changhe almost wanted to turn tail and run, it seemed she had heard everything... Speaking of which, the Sword Qi inside her was always effective, if she really got angry and struck out with her sword, he wouldn't stand a chance...

Fortunately, Yue Hongling didn't coldly throw out a line like "If Yue Hongling was really in your room, how would you plan to play?" which would have been impossible to respond to. Instead, she suddenly smiled and said, "This pond is too shallow. After looking around the entire stronghold, it seems you are the only one at the Mystical Gate First Layer. It's hard to understand why, with your clear ambition and grand aspirations, you would settle for mingling here. Besides, your path is completely different from the Demon Sect's, how can you stand it?"

Zhao Changhe exhaled, this version of Yue Hongling was the one he remembered from his heart. Cheered up, he answered seriously, "In the short term, it's a suitable... Initial safe haven for me? The surrounding First and Second Layers are perfect for practice... With my current skill level, if I recklessly entered the Worldly Society, who knows who I'd run into and get killed by. As for the Demon Sect..."

He paused, then suddenly smiled, "It's just been some small fry causing trouble, no real Demon Path figures have come to challenge, nor have any bounty hunters come after me, it's because I'm with the Blood God Sect... Not everyone dare mess with the Blood God Sect."

"That makes sense..." Yue Hongling nodded, "You've only practiced martial arts for less than two months. To achieve what you have is already commendable... Maybe it's your overwhelming presence, always making people feel like you're a long-established master."

She, too, frowned slightly, "Your fortune is strange... Currently wanted by the officials, you are not accepted by the orthodox; if you rashly leave the Demon Sect, you'd be rejected by them too, with nowhere to turn."

Zhao Changhe smiled. His path indeed was complicated. Suspected to be a Prince, even Tang, the head of the sect, wouldn't dare retract the warrant for fear of giving himself away to those with ulterior motives, which would make him even more vulnerable. This meant that until he officially acknowledged his wild father, the warrant might remain in place.

If he didn't want to go down that path, like from now on, once he defected from the sect and went into the Worldly Society, he would indeed be shunned by both the orthodox and the heretics, and face thorns every step of the way. This was also one of the reasons he hesitated to leave this small pool.

Of course, if he had enough strength, none of that would matter.

"So..." Zhao Changhe suddenly smiled, "Can I learn martial arts from you, Elder Sister?"

Yue Hongling's gaze flickered.

The two looked at each other with complex expressions, under the moonlight, amidst the noise, as if in a still life painting.

It turned out that after all the twists and turns, it was as if they had just met.

After a long while, Yue Hongling also smiled, "Alright."