Inside the room.
Gossip stole a glance at Chen Li’s face. Seeing that he remained completely unfazed, he hastily played his final card. "Master Chen! If you’ll just save me and guarantee my safety for the rest of my life, I... I’m willing to give you the roster, the secret order, and... and all the operational funds the Hidden Emperor Castle has secretly stashed away over the years! All of it! That money... there’s at least... at least five thousand taels of gold!"
Even Chen Li, who was accustomed to large sums of money, couldn’t help but feel a jolt at the mention of five thousand taels of gold.
Five thousand taels of gold could be exchanged for a full one million taels of silver on the Black Market.
Even at a Government Office bank, it would fetch five hundred thousand taels.
This sum far exceeded the entire fortune of an ordinary wealthy clan.
With this gold, he wouldn’t have to worry about money for a long time to come.
His entire family could use it to rapidly increase their strength.
’This seems like a profitable deal.’
However, he didn’t let greed cloud his judgment. After all, money was good, but only if you were alive to take it.
He took a slow breath to calm himself and pressed for details. "These people from the Celestial Sword Sect—what are their exact cultivation levels?"
Seeing a glimmer of hope, Gossip rushed to explain. "The main force that attacked Hidden Emperor Castle was made up of several Celestial Sword Sect Elders, all at the Grandmaster Realm. The Pig Emperor’s cultivation was at the Spirit Realm Fifth Level: Void Transformation. They besieged him for a long time without success. In the end, it was an expert from the Court who dealt the killing blow."
"Those Celestial Sword Sect Elders are probably at the Divine Hall level. But the ones chasing a small fry like me will definitely just be Outer Disciples at the Qi Realm, led by an Inner Sect Disciple at most. The Celestial Sword Sect doesn’t have many True Disciples like the Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon Immortal Maidens. Even if one of them is after me, their cultivation would be, at most... at most, at the Spirit Realm Third Level: Inner Mansion Pass. For a senior like you, that’s nothing to worry about."
Chen Li fell silent for a moment, rapidly weighing the pros and cons.
The risks and rewards were laid out clearly before him.
’This is worth a try.’
But he couldn’t rely on Gossip’s word alone. That was far too risky. He stated his terms immediately. "Talk is cheap. A deposit of one hundred taels of gold. I’ll return it after I have the items. If you’re lying, or if you try anything funny, I keep the deposit, and our deal is off."
"That... Yes... Yes! Of course! Of course!"
Gossip’s face twitched, the cost clearly agonizing him. But the thought of the Celestial Sword Sect hunting for his life made him steel his resolve. With a trembling hand, he reached into his waist pouch and, piece by piece, took out twenty golden leaves, handing them over with a shiver.
Chen Li accepted them. A quick glance confirmed they were real gold, and he tucked them into his own waist pouch.
"Now,"
His gaze fell back upon Gossip. "Go outside and lead your pursuers here."
"Wha... What?"
Gossip looked as if he’d been struck by lightning. His face went white as a sheet, and he was so terrified he nearly collapsed. "S-Senior! Y-You... You’re sending me to my death! They... They’ll kill me!"
"It won’t kill you."
Chen Li didn’t spare him another glance, simply calling out softly toward the door, "Linglong."
The door swung open without a sound. Linglong, dressed in scarlet, was already standing quietly outside, though no one knew for how long.
"Take him outside," Chen Li ordered.
"Yes, sir." Linglong replied. Her figure blurred, and in an instant, she was inside the room. With a reach of her slender hand, she effortlessly seized Gossip by the back of his collar.
"No! Don’t! Senior! Spare my life! Spare my life!"
Gossip began to squeal like a stuck pig, his limbs flailing wildly. But Linglong lifted him as if he were a baby chick, and he couldn’t break free no matter how much he struggled.
Expressionless, Linglong took Gossip and rode a circle around the immediate area.
Soon enough, the sound of hoofbeats attracted the five disciples from the Celestial Sword Sect.
"Over there!"
"Damn it, he’s trying to escape on horseback!"
"Quick! Get him!"
A few sharp cries cut through the night sky as five swift figures converged from different directions, instantly surrounding Gossip on his horse.
"Run! Why’ve you stopped running?" the leading Celestial Sword Sect disciple sneered. "Let’s see where you can run this time!"
Seeing that Linglong had vanished without a trace, Gossip’s face turned ashen with despair.
’Damn it,’ he thought. ’Did they just use me and sell me out?’
’How could that old bastard be so ruthless!’
"You found him?"
Just then, a voice as clear and cold as a mountain spring drifted over from nearby.
The voice wasn’t loud, yet it possessed a strange, penetrating authority that instantly silenced the wind and the angry shouts.
Hearing the voice, the five disciples surrounding Gossip immediately grew solemn. They swiftly sheathed their swords, retreated respectfully to either side, and bowed their heads. "Snow Fairy!"
Under the moonlight, a slender figure in white stood silently atop a wall.
She was dressed in an immaculate, snow-white gown, her posture as elegant as a Snow Lotus on a remote peak. Her face was stunningly beautiful but as cold as ice.
Her eyes were crystal clear, yet utterly devoid of warmth, as if they reflected a tundra of eternal, unmelting snow.
An antique Longsword hung at her waist, still in its scabbard. Though the blade was hidden, her entire being radiated a chilling, razor-sharp aura that could make one’s heart skip a beat.
Her eyes locked onto Gossip, filled with an unspoken hatred. "Bao Busan, you’ve led me on quite a chase."
The immense pressure of her Spirit Realm cultivation washed over Gossip like an invisible, freezing tide, leaving him so utterly terrified he nearly fainted.
Suddenly, the Snow Fairy’s brow furrowed. Her gaze snapped to a nearby earthen wall as she called out sharply, "Who’s there? Show yourself!"
In the moonlight, Chen Li and Linglong emerged from the shadows together.
Chen Li glanced over the scene. His eyes paused for a moment on the ashen-faced Gossip before moving on, indifferently, to settle on the woman they called the Snow Fairy.
The Snow Fairy’s gaze, in turn, fell upon Chen Li and Linglong. Her elegant brows knitted together in a nearly imperceptible frown.
’These two have such a calm presence,’ she thought, noting their unhurried steps. ’They show no fear at all in the face of my Spiritual Sense. They’re no ordinary people.’
But she was arrogant by nature and confident in her own cultivation, so she didn’t take them too seriously.
"Who are you? Are you in league with him?"
The Snow Fairy’s voice remained icy, laced with condescending appraisal. "No matter. I’ll just take you all back to the Sect for questioning."
"Master, this lady seems to have quite a temper!"
Linglong’s lips curled into a lazy smile. "But with looks and an attitude like that, if you sent her to my establishment, she’d outshine all the others and become the top Courtesan, drawing crowds that would empty the city streets."
"You’re courting death!"
Linglong’s flippant words were like a splash of filthy mud on the Snow Fairy’s inviolable pride.
Without a second glance at Chen Li, her eyes became like two daggers of solid ice, locking onto Linglong. She flicked a finger.
SWISH!
A concentrated beam of snow-white sword energy, colder still than the air around it, tore through the night with a piercing shriek, aimed directly at Linglong’s smiling face.
The speed and ferocity of the attack showed she was truly enraged, intending to punish the flippant, loose-tongued woman.
Chen Li’s expression remained unchanged. He didn’t even shift his stance.
The beam of sword energy was just about to strike Linglong.
POP!
With a soft pop, the razor-sharp beam of energy burst like a soap bubble, disintegrating into motes of ice that vanished into the air.