After Transmigrating into a Book as Cannon Fodder, I Pampered the Villain - Chapter 70

Chapter 70: Old Friends

Discovering Yan Huaixi’s dark history.

“BOOM!”

At the Soul Tower in the heart of the secret realm, a deafening explosion rippled outward, sending a massive shockwave across the landscape.

Yan Huaixi and Yu Yingxia had nearly arrived, so they faced the blast wave head-on.

With a flick of her sleeve, Yan Huaixi split the tide-like air current down the middle. Trees and rocks on either side were swept away, but the spot where they stood remained perfectly untouched.

“What was that? What’s going on over there?” Yan Huaixi knit her brows. If she recalled correctly, the primary participants entering the realm this time belonged to the three major families. Those clans should, at the very least, maintain a facade of peace and not tear into each other so recklessly.

But what was this? Had the Qian family lost their patience and decided to swallow the other two?

Her divine sense reached out to the vicinity of the Soul Tower. It appeared the Qian family elders were fighting the others, and every strike was ruthless, intended to kill.

“Sister? Why have we stopped? Is something wrong ahead?” Yu Yingxia asked anxiously after seeing Yan Huaixi’s grave expression.

“The situation between those three families seems to have escalated. Someone ahead is likely trying to use this chance to annex the others. But to my knowledge, the Qian family lacks the strength for this. Doing so would result in mutual destruction with no benefit. They learned a similar lesson decades ago… why now?

I remember their leadership hasn’t changed.” Yan Huaixi was puzzled. The current Qian Patriarch was no fool; he had lived through a crisis where outsiders almost seized their territory. He wouldn’t strike without a massive advantage.

Unless… they had obtained powerful support that bypassed her intelligence network.

Could that be the case?

Yan Huaixi couldn’t be certain, but one thing was clear: the Qian family was compromised. She would have to investigate thoroughly after leaving. These three families collaborated frequently with her merchant guild; any major upheaval required a proactive response.

For now, Yan Huaixi didn’t intend to wade into these muddy waters. She had a relatively weak companion with her; unless necessary, she wouldn’t lead Yu Yingxia into danger.

“It is indeed abnormal behavior unless they have a trump card that can suppress the opposition,” Yu Yingxia said, her thoughts aligning with Yan Huaixi’s.

“I agree. Unfortunately, though my network covers the Southern Region, I haven’t found a single clue. Let’s go. I know another path into the Soul Tower…”

Yan Huaixi was about to bypass the combat zone, but just before retracting her divine sense, she spotted someone familiar in the thick of the fray.

A long, long time ago, the Yan and Zhao families were quite close. Consequently, Yan Huaixi remembered some members of the Zhao family including a few she had been on good terms with.

Like the one she just saw.

“Yingxia, it seems we have to go save someone.” The person was being beaten back steadily, barely holding on. If Yan Huaixi didn’t intervene, she was a dead woman.

“Okay.” Yu Yingxia nodded. As a “leg-clinger,” she followed wherever Yan Huaixi led.

Yan Huaixi applied a disguise to both her face and Yu Yingxia’s. Their fame in the cultivation world was not insignificant especially her own. Being recognized would bring unwanted trouble. While she could flatten everyone there combined, her goal was training Yingxia, not wasting time on trivialities.

“Madmen! Does the Qian family really intend to tear up the three-family pact?! Even if you kill us all, the Patriarch can see the killers through our life-tablets! Does your Qian family have the strength to face both our clans at once?!” Zhao Xi’s hands were covered in bloody fissures from the impact of the battle. She could barely hold her sword!

She was in despair. She knew that the moment her blade left her hand would be the moment of her death.

The crazed Qian clansmen didn’t listen to a word she said. They acted as if they had no fear of repercussions! The Qian higher-ups must have issued a total extermination order; they were killing everyone on sight!

Zhao Xi saw former friends among those trying to kill her—people she had shared wine with. She wondered bitterly if those friendships had also been part of a decades-long trap.

“CLANG!”

A giant axe shattered her sword. Her life-bound artifact broke in two, and the hilt end flew from her hand due to the force.

It’s over.

She closed her eyes, waiting for death.

However, the expected pain never came. After a moment, Zhao Xi thought she had died so quickly she couldn’t feel it, and that her current consciousness was just her soul. But surely they wouldn’t spare her soul either. She braced for the final blow.

Yet… she had counted to ten, and her thoughts remained.

Did they want to capture her soul for some sinister plan? If they tried to use her to blackmail her family, she would rather shatter her own soul than let them succeed!

Zhao Xi snapped her eyes open, ready to scream a curse, but the words died in her throat. A bead of cold sweat rolled down her temple.

Inches from her face, the gleaming giant axe had stopped. She felt a slight sting on her forehead; a warm liquid trickled down.

But that pain was nothing compared to being dead. Zhao Xi wasn’t naive enough to think the enemy had shown mercy. The axeman’s eyes were bulging like copper bells, veins popping on his forehead and neck. He looked as if his entire body was straining to break free from an invisible shackle.

Seizing the opening, Zhao Xi rolled under the axe, grabbed her broken blade, and despite her numb hands, forced herself to counter-kill him.

Afterward, her arms went limp. She couldn’t swing again. But the enemies were numerous; a Qian clansman much stronger than her spotted the kill and rushed over.

This time, she was truly out of moves. But before despair could take hold, she heard the sound of a pipa, filled with a sharp, murderous aura.

She froze. The broken sword nearly slipped from her hand.

She knew this melody. The pipa notes dragged her memory back to the distant past, before the Yan family’s calamity. The Zhao family had been subordinates to the Yan family. To build rapport with the future Yan Matriarch, young girls of similar age had been sent to the Yan estate as playmates.

The eldest Miss Yan had found children her own age too “childish,” so the older Zhao Xi had been sent instead. She was lucky; she stayed the longest but was called home for a family matter just before the massacre.

The pipa reminded her of the tunes the Eldest Miss’s mother used to teach them. But while those tunes were peaceful and elegant, this melody was laden with slaughter and death, making one feel as if they were being strangled.

Yet, despite having heard many musicians perform similar styles, only this blood-soaked tune reminded her of the past.

In her daze, an enemy charged. Zhao Xi retreated, but her speed was insufficient. The enemy thrust his sword. She gritted her teeth, preparing to take the hit.

To her utter shock, the enemy’s sword swerved mid-thrust, the sharp edge curving back to slice through his own neck.

Blood sprayed over Zhao Xi. Stunned, she watched as more enemies collapsed under the spreading pipa music. Suddenly, she scrambled to her feet and ran toward the source of the sound.

The Patriarch had never found the bodies of the two Yan sisters. What if they had survived?!

Zhao Xi searched until she reached the edge of a dense forest. The battle had ended, and the music had stopped. Fortunately, she caught a glimpse of a red sleeve among the trees. She gave chase. As the silhouette came into focus, her mind blurred.

So similar. From the back, the figure looked exactly like the Eldest Miss’s mother. If the Miss had lived to grow up, wouldn’t she look like this?

“Please, wait!”

Zhao Xi caught up. But when the red-robed woman turned around, disappointment flooded Zhao Xi’s eyes.

It wasn’t her. The Eldest Miss had a beauty mark under her eye; this woman did not. Their features weren’t alike at all. Still, the woman had saved her. She had to show proper etiquette.

“Thank you for saving my life, Senior. May I know your name so we may repay you after we leave?”

“It was no trouble. But I must warn you: this isn’t the first time I’ve seen the Qian family hunting the other two clans. There may be greater dangers waiting in the Soul Tower.”

“The realm will open again, but you only have one life. You should stay in the outskirts until it ends, or use special means to leave early. I believe the Zhao family has such methods.” Yan Huaixi offered a few extra warnings for the sake of their childhood connection. For anyone else, she wouldn’t have bothered.

“We want to leave, but space itself seems compromised. Our escape treasures aren’t reacting at all.” Zhao Xi sighed, accidentally pulling on her wounds and hissing in pain.

“Space is compromised?” Yan Huaixi’s expression turned solemn. This was no small matter. Affecting the space of a secret realm required significant power. Even she had to take it seriously.

In but no out. It was as if someone had set a trap to lure people in and slaughter them.

“May I see your spatial escape treasure?”

The request would normally be rude, but the Zhao group was decimated. Since their savior was willing to help, they were more than happy to oblige.

“Of course. You saved our lives; there is nothing you cannot see.” Zhao Xi limped forward to lead the way. Considering her injuries, Yan Huaixi and Yu Yingxia slowed their pace.

“Elder, this is the Senior who saved us. She wishes to see our transmission treasure. If there’s a chance to break through the space, we should send word to the Patriarch.” Zhao Xi found a heavily injured old man.

The Zhao Elder glanced at Yan Huaixi. Sensing her unfathomable strength, a glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes.

“Thank you, Senior.” The Elder pulled a token from his bag—similar to Yan Huaixi’s, but black with inverted engravings.

Yan Huaixi had seen this token as a child. Before the Elder could explain how to use it, she probed it with her spiritual energy.

As expected, no reaction.

Yan Huaixi pressed her own token against it. The others watched, confused, as a pillar of gray light shot into the sky, laced with blood-red runes.

“Did it work?” Zhao Xi asked excitedly.

“No,” Yan Huaixi replied simply. The space couldn’t be opened, but she could use this to track the source of the abnormal spatial lock.

As she immersed herself in the investigation, Yu Yingxia stood quietly by her side.

“So similar…”

Yu Yingxia heard the girl beside her murmur.

“Similar to what?” Yu Yingxia whispered.

Zhao Xi realized she had spoken aloud, but after so many years, there was no need for secrets. She said sadly, “Your sister is very similar to someone I knew a long, long time ago.”

The way she stood there in deep thought made the resemblance even stronger.

“Except Senior is much more steady.”

Yu Yingxia blinked. “She was… lively?”

The girl was surely talking about the young Yan Huaixi.

“Mhm. Not just lively, but loved pranks. Very mischievous, actually. But overall, she was a good kid.” Zhao Xi’s nostalgic tone carried a hint of bitterness.

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