The cold moon hung over the frigid river. A gentle breeze whipped up the waves, which slapped against the riverbank, making a soft "whoosh whoosh~" sound.
Ye Jingtang, dressed in black, stood under a willow tree by the river, gazing at the full moon reflected in the water for a long time without saying a word.
Today's battle had completely established a feud with the Zhou family.
Under the deterrence of the Pingtian Sect, the two sides seemingly reached an agreement on the surface. However, the Zhou family had already sensed the pressure from the impending resurgence of Honghua Tower.
Most likely, what the Zhou family would do next was to find ways to crush the future hope of Honghua Tower, him, in its infancy to prevent it from becoming a potential threat.
To prevent any trouble, as soon as the members of Honghua Tower left Zhou Manor, they boarded a ferry and sailed along the river towards Qingyang City, which was under the jurisdiction of the local government.
On the way back, Third Aunt had been silent all the time. She probably had also recognized that the domineering voice was exactly the same as that of her Ninger girl.
Ye Jingtang had never expected that Lady Luo, whom he had been longing for day and night, could be the wife of the leader of the Pingtian Sect. Without knowing the inside story, he didn't dare to explain to Third Aunt. So he could only walk slowly along the riverbank on the outskirts of Qingyang City, pondering over the current situation.
Flirting with the wife of the leader of the Pingtian Sect in the martial arts world was no different from flirting with the empress dowager in the capital.
Although he was still alive, he might as well be dead...
Ye Jingtang knew that there were hidden secrets behind Lady Luo - she was only in a fake marriage, and her husband was a pervert who liked to bully handsome men...
If this pervert were an ordinary master, he wouldn't be too afraid. But Xue Baijin, the leader of the Pingtian Sect who was known as "invincible in the mortal world", how could he not be afraid?
If he were caught by Xue Baijin...
Xue Baijin would do to him exactly what he had done to Lady Luo...
It sent a chill down his spine...
After indulging in wild thoughts for I don't know how long, finally, there was some movement by the river:
Puff puff puff~~
The little bird had been circling around Zhou Manor. At this moment, it flew back from the night sky. It was originally flying towards the ferry on the river. When it saw Ye Jingtang standing by the river, it changed its course and landed on his shoulder. Then it raised its wing and pointed upstream:
"Chirp~"
Ye Jingtang naturally understood its meaning. Without any delay, he silently disappeared into the night, moving up and down among the trees by the riverbank.
There were thousands of acres of fertile farmland by the river, and there were no households. The gentle breeze swept over the green rice fields, and waves of green could be seen spreading all the way to the end of the field of vision.
Whoosh whoosh...
Under the moonlight, at the end of the rice fields, there was a light as small as a bean. It rose and fell with the wind and waves, looming in the distance.
Ye Jingtang silently crossed the rice fields and landed in front of the solitary light. He could see a small boat moored by the riverbank.
The small boat was a small painted pleasure boat for sightseeing on the river. In the middle was a painted cabin. A dim yellow lantern was hung at the bow, illuminating a small area.
Standing at the bow was a tall woman. She wore a thin veil hat and a form-fitting cyan dress, facing the surging river.
Under the blowing of the gentle breeze, her skirt and the veil curtain fluttered in the wind. From a distance, she looked like a fairy treading on the waves under the moon, someone who could only be admired from afar and not be defiled. One would be afraid to take a step too heavily, fearing that they might shatter this extremely beautiful scene in front of them.
Tap...
Ye Jingtang landed by the river. Looking at the stunning beauty he had been longing for at the bow, a cold voice sounded at this moment:
"You're here."
"I came..."
Ye Jingtang was about to reply, but then he found the words a bit strange. So he leaped onto the boat:
"Lady Luo, you..."
Clang——
A three-foot green sword was unsheathed, bringing out a cold light under the moon and resting on Ye Jingtang's shoulder.
Ye Jingtang stopped in his tracks. He glanced at the sword on his shoulder and slowly raised his hand.
Luo Ning turned around, pointing the sword at Ye Jingtang with one hand. Her face was obscured by the veil hat, but one could imagine the pair of tearful and sorrowful eyes:
"You liar! I trusted you so much..."
She tried to keep her voice calm, but she couldn't suppress the tremor from the bottom of her heart.
Ye Jingtang said softly, "How did I lie to you? Qiu Tianhe has been rescued..."
"You're the young leader of Honghua Tower. Why didn't you tell me?"
"You're also the wife of the leader of the Pingtian Sect, and you didn't tell me either!"
"..."
Luo Ning's fair hand tightened slightly, and the sword pressed down a little more:
"The Pingtian Sect is a group of rebels. I didn't tell you because I was afraid of scaring you. You clearly come from a wealthy and powerful family, with great influence, but why did you pretend to be a poor and penniless young man to deceive me? You..."
"I didn't lie to you. When I met you, I was really a bodyguard who had just come from Liangzhou. I lived in such a shabby courtyard because I really had no money."
"You're talking nonsense!"
Luo Ning should have been crying, as her voice had an obvious tremor:
"You're clearly the young leader of Honghua Tower. Otherwise, where did your martial arts skills come from? And that bottle of 'Jade Dragon Ointment', as well as the fact that you easily sneaked into the Black Yamen and met Qiu Tianhe..."
"That's because I'm capable!"
Ye Jingtang spread his hands and said, "With my abilities, do I need to rely on connections to do these things?"
"We've only been apart for a few days? And you suddenly became the young leader of Honghua Tower..."
"I became the young leader just these few days."
Ye Jingtang moved the tip of the sword aside with his finger and explained kindly:
"The day you left, I just learned about Honghua Tower. I had just become the young leader, and you were about to leave. You know the rules of Honghua Tower. I couldn't tell anyone about it..."
Luo Ning had been with Ye Jingtang for so long. In fact, she didn't believe that Ye Jingtang had staged such a big play just to deceive her. In her heart, she thought that it must be that during the few days she was away, someone from Honghua Tower had taken the opportunity and snatched him away...
Luo Ning was silent for a moment, then moved the sword back and asked coldly:
"Why did you join Honghua Tower? Didn't you want to become an official?"
Ye Jingtang spread his hands: "Is there a conflict? Honghua Tower is engaged in legitimate business. I can be an official and the leader of a gang at the same time. No one says it's not allowed."
Luo Ning was actually stumped by these words. She gritted her teeth and said:
"You met me first. You should have joined my Pingtian Sect..."
"Did you say so?"
Ye Jingtang moved the sword aside, walked up to Luo Ning, took off her veil hat, and looked at her beautiful but sad face:
"How many times have I asked you? If you had told me earlier that you were the wife of the leader of the Pingtian Sect, would I not have followed you? You refused to say anything. I didn't even know who you were, so I could only seek my own future. Now you're blaming me for joining Honghua Tower. How can I explain this?"
"..."
Luo Ning stared at Ye Jingtang. After holding back for a long time, she found that it seemed she was in the wrong and couldn't blame Honghua Tower for being quick...
When Ye Jingtang saw that Luo Ning didn't speak anymore, he took half a step forward and raised his hands...
?
Luo Ning was taken aback and immediately took half a step back, holding the sword in front of her:
"You little rascal... What do you want to do?"
Ye Jingtang stopped in his tracks: "Well... Long time no see. I just want to give you a hug and pat you on the shoulder to show my longing. Or should we just shake hands?"
Luo Ning raised her long sword as if she was going to strike, but in the end, she didn't. She just moved a little farther away.
Ye Jingtang came closer and asked in a low voice:
"Lady Luo, is that pervert who likes handsome men in your family Xue Baijin?"
Luo Ning's eyes turned slightly cold: "You know that and you still dare to act so casually?"
"Otherwise? Do you expect me to be so scared that my legs go weak and keep a respectful distance from you when I learned about your identity?"
"..."
When Luo Ning heard this outrageous remark, she was actually at a loss for words for a moment.
Ye Jingtang sat down at the bow of the boat, placed his knife by his side, and patted the space next to him:
"Sit down and let's talk. You're the wife of the leader of the Pingtian Sect, and I'm the young leader of Honghua Tower. If our affair gets out, the two families will definitely be at odds until one of them is destroyed. If you say the leader of the Pingtian Sect won't come after me, I've kissed and touched his wife. Why wouldn't he come after me? I didn't run away immediately when I learned this news, which shows that I still care about our relationship. If it were someone else, do you believe that they would run away to Beiliang as soon as they found out they had touched the leader of the Pingtian Sect's woman and leave you behind?"
Luo Ning hesitated for a moment, then sat down next to Ye Jingtang. Her skirt hung over the river, and the sword was placed horizontally on her knees:
"This matter is top-secret. You're not allowed to tell a third person. Otherwise, you will surely die!"
Ye Jingtang nodded.
Luo Ning looked around and, seeing that there was no one around, explained in a low voice:
"Xue Baijin wants to restore the country. In order to win people over to follow her in the rebellion, she has been dressing up as a man since she was a child..."
"Hmm???"