After Redeeming The Beautiful and Tragic Heroine [Transmigration] - Chapter 36

Early the next morning, an Immortal Boat departed from the Hot Spring Valley. At the bow, Yu Yan leaned against the deck, her head was throbbing faintly.

“What did you say I did to you?” Yu Yan asked Qin Beilu, desperately trying to sort through the jumbled memories in her mind.

Qin Beilu said directly: “Last night, you—”

Before she could finish, Yu Yan cut her off: “Alright, don’t say another word, I don’t want to hear it.” Yu Yan intended to avoid the subject of Qin Beilu’s claim that the two of them had spent a wild night together.

But Qin Beilu had no intention of letting the matter drop. She stared at Yu Yan earnestly and said, “A’Yan, you must take responsibility for me.”

Yu Yan: She frowned, murmuring in a low voice, “But my clothes were perfectly fine this morning.” 

Her clothes were not only perfectly fine but also layered three deep, with not a single wrinkle. It certainly didn’t look like they had undergone a night of battle.

Qin Beilu’s hearing was sharp. Upon catching the phrase, she quickly countered: “I was the one who dressed you.”

Yu Yan: ……..

She looked at Qin Beilu with a complicated expression, unable to say a word. She even wanted to drag that Outer Sect disciple, Wei Haoran, out and fight him again. Unfortunately, Wei Haoran had been holed up in his cabin ever since boarding the Immortal Boat and refused to come out.

Elder Yunting and that Outer Sect disciple, Qin Niang, were the same. They couldn’t hold their liquor yet they drank recklessly, and now both were dead to the world. This left her alone, staring awkwardly at Qin Beilu.

Qin Beilu sensed Yu Yan’s frustration. She watched Yu Yan in silence for a moment, then turned, facing away from her, her expression obscured: “A’Yan, if you really don’t want to be with me, then go to the Young Sect Master.”

Yu Yan: …….

Who doesn’t know her Master is giving her sister special lessons? She’d be crazy to go listen to a lecture so boring it could spawn a new Qinglan Peak.

After a moment of impasse, she chose to surrender. “Fine, fine. Responsibility it is, then. I’ll tell the old man about this after we finish at the Hehuan Sect,” she said.

A barely perceptible smile curled Qin Beilu’s lip when she heard this. Then she said, “But if you take responsibility for me, you can’t go looking for another Dao Companion at the Hehuan Sect.”

Look for a Dao Companion at the Hehuan Sect? Yu Yan pursed her lips, remembering the drunken boast she had made last night, and seemed to realize something. “Qin Beilu, you didn’t actually take what I said while I was drunk seriously, did you?” she asked.

Qin Beilu’s body stiffened, and she remained silent.

*******

In the Cabin:

In the cabin, Xue Qingshu lay on the bed, her face paler than it had been when she left the Soul Annihilation Array. Next to her, Yu Yuan was wrapping white gauze around her waist.

Xue Qingshu’s injuries were originally almost healed, and she shouldn’t have needed any more dressing. Alas, the farewell feast last night had aggravated her wound, and her overall condition had taken a sharp turn for the worse. Yu Yuan had no choice but to bring her along. Otherwise, Xue Qingshu would once again go three days without changing her dressing, allowing the wound to fester and stick to the gauze, as she had done after leaving the Demon Prison Pavilion.

“Do you even remember what you did yesterday?” Yu Yuan asked Xue Qingshu, looking up as she secured the final layer of gauze.

Xue Qingshu rubbed her temples, meeting Yu Yuan’s eyes faintly, and remained silent. Yu Yuan, thinking Xue Qingshu still remembered, was about to say, “It was an accident, you don’t need to worry about it.”

However, Xue Qingshu closed her eyes, continuing to rub her temples, and her voice was calm: “I drank a bit too much wine. I forgot.”

Yu Yuan pursed her lips, helped Xue Qingshu pull up her clothes, stood, and tossed the soiled clothes she was holding into the copper basin on the small table, preparing to take it out to wash.

But Xue Qingshu called her back: “Did something happen last night that I shouldn’t forget?”

Yu Yuan paused, her back to Xue Qingshu: “No.”

Xue Qingshu opened her eyes, looking at Yu Yuan’s back: “Truly no?”

Yu Yuan’s tone was firm: “Truly no.”

A flash of amusement crossed Xue Qingshu’s eyes: “What if there was?”

Yu Yuan: “There is no ‘if.'”

Xue Qingshu stopped asking because she heard rustling footsteps outside the door.

Yu Yuan heard them too. She quickly returned to the bedside, hid the copper basin under the bed, and used a cleansing spell to completely remove the smell of blood from both of them.

“Knock, knock, knock—” The sound of knocking rang out.

Yu Yan stood outside the door and called in: “Sister, Master, someone suddenly boarded the Immortal Boat. Qin Beilu has her contained. Do you want to come take a look?”

Someone? Yu Yuan glanced at Xue Qingshu, who remained seated on the bed, and went to open the door.

“Lead the way,” Yu Yuan said.

Yu Yan peeked into the room and asked, “Is Master not coming?”

Yu Yuan closed the door: “She is not.”

“Oh, got it.” Yu Yan didn’t ask further and led Yu Yuan to the bow.

******

The Intercept:

At the bow, Qin Beilu had an unfamiliar young woman pinned down. The girl had large, watery eyes. She looked at the two sisters approaching from a distance and called out: “Second Young Sect Masters, I am Xi Mengjiao from the Hehuan Sect. I was sent by my sect to meet you. I am truly not a bad person.”

As she spoke, the silver ornaments hanging all over her body jingled with her movements.

Yu Yuan stopped in front of her and asked, “How can you prove you’re from the Hehuan Sect?”

“Well,” Xi Mengjiao thought for a moment, turned sideways, revealing a token at her waist, “This is my Hehuan Sect identity token, which proves who I am.”

Yu Yuan didn’t look at it. She just said, “Identity tokens can be stolen, robbed, or bought. How do you prove this token is actually yours?”

Xi Mengjiao: … What decent person engages in such nefarious activities?!

She lowered her gaze in silence, the little braids in her hair hanging down onto her chest. After a long while, she seemed to remember something and suddenly looked up. “There is one more way to prove it.” Xi Mengjiao turned her waist to the other side, revealing her storage pouch. “Inside is the mission creed for my trip here to meet you all and bring you back to the Hehuan Sect.”

The Hehuan Sect’s mission creeds were notoriously difficult to forge. After all, no other sect would use such poor-quality paper just to save money.

Yu Yuan knew this too. She reached her hand into Xi Mengjiao’s storage pouch. With a quick search, a slender bamboo tube appeared. Opening the tube, inside was a scroll of yellowed paper. Written on the paper were the details of Xi Mengjiao’s mission, along with a list of the personnel dispatched by the Harmony Sect.

Yu Yuan read it carefully, confirming the girl’s identity. She put the paper back into the bamboo tube and handed the tube back to Xi Mengjiao with both hands, apologizing: “It seems you truly are an Immortal from the Hehuan Sect. We apologize for the offense, and we hope you can forgive us.”

Qin Beilu glanced at Yu Yuan, released her hand, and let Xi Mengjiao go.

Xi Mengjiao rubbed her neck, took back the bamboo tube, and smiled: “No need to apologize, no need. It’s good to be cautious.”

Yu Yan stepped forward, curiously asking, “Our Immortal Boat has only been traveling for half an hour. We’re still a long way from the Hehuan Sect. Why did you come to meet us so early?”

Xi Mengjiao replied candidly: “Fenglin Town, which you happen to be passing through, is also the location of another one of my mission points. I calculated the time and figured you should be in the area of Fenglin Town, so I decided to combine the reception mission with it.”

The three of them understood and didn’t ask further.

However, Xi Mengjiao wasn’t finished. “Everyone, and I hope you won’t laugh, the mission in Fenglin Town is a bit tricky, and I haven’t finished it yet. So, I was hoping to trouble you all to come with me and stay in Fenglin Town for a day or two before we continue our journey, if that’s alright?”

Yu Yan: “Stay in Fenglin Town? Wouldn’t that delay our arrival at the Hehuan Sect?”

“Don’t worry, Young Sect Master, there will be no delay,” Xi Mengjiao explained. “I’ve already discussed this with my Master. She said that the ‘A Thread of Destiny’ event has to be postponed by three days anyway, so you’ll make it in time.”

Yu Yuan frowned upon hearing this: “The event is being postponed by three days?” Weren’t they told to go early to experience it? Yu Yuan felt suspicious.

Xi Mengjiao was quick-witted and sensed the doubt in Yu Yuan’s tone, so she hurried to explain: “The Hehuan Sect changed the schedule for the event again. Please don’t take offense.”

“Changed the schedule again?” Yu Yuan mentally counted the number of times the Hehuan Sect had changed the schedule for this event. She couldn’t help but ask Xi Mengjiao: “Did something happen with the Hehuan Sect’s event?”

“Something happened?” Xi Mengjiao gave a nervous laugh. “How could that be? How could that be…” She lowered her head, pondered for a moment, then said, “If I had to say anything happened, it’s just that the Elder organizing the event ran into a small problem. Everything else is fine, please don’t worry.”

Yu Yuan understood now. Seeing Xi Mengjiao’s reaction, she guessed the event was likely experiencing internal issues at the Hehuan Sect. She stopped asking questions and simply said, “Since that’s the case, we will trouble the Immortal to lead us to Fenglin Town.”

Xi Mengjiao waved her hand with a smile: “No trouble at all. I’m the one causing trouble for all of you.”

*******

Fenglin Town, Mo Manor:

In the great hall of the Mo Manor, a woman in a long golden dress sat on the main seat. Her phoenix eyes were lowered, staring at the rug beneath her feet, a look of displeasure on her face.

“How was this rug cleaned this morning?” Mo Zhao asked the maid beside her, pulling on the hem of her skirt, her voice cold.

The maid’s breathing hitched. Following Mo Zhao’s gaze, she looked down at a blurry black footprint on the rug and stammered, “Perhaps, perhaps the person responsible for sweeping this morning was careless and overlooked this spot.”

“Is that so?” Mo Zhao frowned, about to have the maid summon the cleaner for a lecture. However, she looked up and saw Xi Mengjiao leading the group of people into her Mo Manor.

She had to put the cleaning matter aside for the moment. She rose from her seat and walked toward Xi Mengjiao. “Immortal Xi, I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Please sit down quickly.”

“Miss Mo is too kind,” Xi Mengjiao bowed. “The trouble you are experiencing is due to a failure on the part of my Hehuan Sect, and it is only right that my sect handles the resolution.”

Mo Zhao shook her head: “I also bear some responsibility for this matter. Immortal Xi, you don’t need to take all the blame.” As she spoke, her gaze fell on the large group of people behind Xi Mengjiao. “Immortal Xi, who are they?”

“They are my Hehuan Sect’s experts on matters of the heart,” Xi Mengjiao quickly replied.

Mo Zhao raised an eyebrow: “Emotional experts?”

Xi Mengjiao’s expression was unchanged: “Precisely.” She held her palm up, introducing the Yu sisters first: “These two, one specializes in theory and the other in practice. They are our sect’s famous Red and White Twin Roses.”

Yu Yuan: …

Yu Yan: …

Mo Zhao was intrigued: “Red and White Roses?”

Xi Mengjiao nodded, gesturing toward Xue Qingshu and Elder Yunting: “Those two are the Elders who trained the Twin Roses. They know the meaning of ‘love’ better than anyone. After your marriage, Miss Mo, if you ever have an argument with your husband, you can use a communication talisman to contact these two Elders for free relationship advice.”

Xue Qingshu: . She remained composed, continuing to stare at Yu Yuan.

Elder Yunting: ?! Her expression was complicated. Did she look like a relationship expert?

“Free relationship advice?” Mo Zhao pondered this, deciding she didn’t need free things. She looked toward the remaining people Xi Mengjiao hadn’t introduced. “And these remaining few?”

Xi Mengjiao continued to speak nonsense: “They are Dao Companions. Our Hehuan Sect disciples must travel with their Dao Companions to engage in dual cultivation regularly and boost their cultivation.”

Qin Niang: ! She silently moved closer to Yu Yuan.

Wei Haoran: !! He silently moved closer to the gentle-tempered Qin Niang.

Qin Beilu: !!! She immediately wedged herself next to Yu Yan.

Mo Zhao’s gaze circled between the people, and she seemed to understand. She invited everyone to sit down and summoned a few maids to serve them tea.

The following hours were spent with Xi Mengjiao and Mo Zhao discussing how to choose between Yi Yue and Changyu Lin. As for Yu Yuan and the others, aside from giving vague answers when Xi Mengjiao threw a pleading look their way, they mostly occupied themselves by calculating the time. Xi Mengjiao had promised that for every hour spent dealing with Mo Zhao, each person would receive thirty spiritual stones.

Yu Yuan roughly calculated that they should earn a net profit of four hundred and twenty spiritual stones.

*******

The Courtyard Ambush:

The daytime matters quickly passed. In the evening, the group was split into three, staying in three different courtyards for the night. Yu Yuan was grouped with Qin Niang and Wei Haoran.

Yu Yuan stood at the courtyard gate, with the two others right behind her. “Young Sect Master, should we go in?” Qin Niang took a step forward, standing by Yu Yuan’s side.

“Yes,” Yu Yuan withdrew her gaze from the plaque above the door, glanced at Qin Niang, and placed her hand on the door knocker.

“Creak—” The sudden sound sliced through the dark night.

Yu Yuan stepped over the threshold, followed closely by Qin Niang and Wei Haoran. Lanterns hung high on the porch in the courtyard, illuminating the area. The lights in the main house weren’t lit; either the occupants were out or had already retired for the night.

“Let’s go to the side rooms,” Yu Yuan looked at the main house and turned to Qin Niang.

Qin Niang nodded, preparing to follow Yu Yuan toward the side rooms.

But just as the two of them took a step, two flying darts suddenly shot out from the main house, aimed directly at the three of them. The darts were extremely fast. They cut through the air, and the residual wake of their tails created a sudden gust of wind.

Wei Haoran reacted swiftly, spinning around to avoid one dart, and then quickly hid under a stone table a few paces away, playing the ostrich.

Yu Yuan and Qin Niang were a step slower. They wanted to dodge, but the darts were already right in front of them.

“Stand back!” Yu Yuan quickly shouted at Qin Niang, and immediately formed a hand seal with both hands, conjuring a barrier that blocked the dart and knocked it down.

“Are you hurt?” Yu Yuan looked back at Qin Niang.

Qin Niang kept her hands behind her back, shaking her head. “I’m fine, Young Sect Master.” As she spoke, her eyes suddenly changed, and she urgently pointed behind Yu Yuan. “Young Sect Master, there’s more!”

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