Chapter 97: The Snowy South Edict (3)
Translator: Kelaude Editor: Milkbiscuit
In the Mount Calming Sea Grand Assembly Hall, nothing major occurred. Once the Orbs of Will and the coins had all been collected, Qin Weiwei ordered each domain’s Cave Masters to lead two other subordinates and follow her to deliver the items to South Edict Manor.
The Orbs of Will of a whole mountain was no small sum, naturally Qin Weiwei had to be careful.
Every Cave Master obeyed the order; after exiting the Grand Hall, Miao Yi picked Zheng Jinlong and Wang Zifa to follow with, and commanded the rest to go ahead and return to East Arrival Cave.
Even though there were only three of them left, Cave Master Miao was still everyone’s focal point. There was no reason apart from all of East Arrival Cave’s robes being of a unified black color, whereas the other School of Blue Jade disciples in the other caves still wore their blue robes, so East Arrival Cave was extremely eye-catching.
After leaving the Grand Hall and mounting their steeds, both Qin Weiwei and Lu Liu couldn’t resist taking another look; it was more sickening the more they looked, no matter how they saw him, they felt that this Grand Cave Master Miao was such an eyesore.
Because even amongst the men that Qin Weiwei personally led, the School of Blue Jade disciples were still wearing their blue robes, making Qin Weiwei feel as though she was being slapped in the face. She gnashed her teeth with hatred at this, as she realised that this bastard had his mind set to make her look terrible on purpose!
For this guy, sometimes excelling too much was not necessarily a good thing.
Qin Weiwei had reprimanded the respective Cave Masters on this matter before, now that Miao Yi was doing something that stood out this much, they all felt very resentful, and cursed to themselves, ‘You brat. Thinking you’re so capable, are you?’
Miao Yi had also discovered the hostile gazes towards him, but he couldn’t figure out where the problem was, ‘How did I upset all of you?’
This was not the time to banter on other matters, official business was at hand, Qin Weiwei looked at the hideously plump Charcoal beneath Miao Yi, she knew that the thing had speedy legs, so she waved her hand and pointed, “Miao Yi, lead your team and open a path in front, if you discover anything amiss, report back immediately!”
“Yes!” Miao Yi cupped his fists and answered, turning Charcoal around, and waved his hand, ordering Zheng Jinlong and Wang Zifa to proceed ahead.
A thunderous galloping noise resounded as Qin Weiwei rode with her steed in the lead, and thirty others riding behind her like the wind….
The rain had stopped; the skies turned clear, and were without a cloud for a thousand li; numerous mountains populated the land, boundless and undulating. As the sun kissed the snow-covered land, it was truly a spectacle to behold.
Someone immediately dashed out of the South Edict Manor mountain gates, pushing his palm forwards and shouting for the visitors to slow down and stop.
One after another, three dragon steeds abruptly raised their forelegs, their back hooves drawing deep grooves in the ground, as they hastily came to a stop in front of the mountain gates.
Steadying his steed, Miao Yi stared at the person stopping them, it was none other than the one whom he had dealt with before, Zhou Liqin.
Qian Zifeng flashed out from the side, and cupped his fists towards Miao Yi, “So it was Cave Master Miao.”
Miao Yi shook open his cloak and jumped down his dragon steed, laughing heartily as he walked towards the both of them. Then cupped his fists and said, “So it was actually Brother Zhou and Brother Qian, I have wanted to have a small chat with the both of you; I didn’t think it would just so happen that the two you were on duty.”
Both sides exchanged courtesies for a while, before the sounds of galloping horses boomed not too far away, and a few dozen steeds dashed forwards; evidently, it was Qin Weiwei leading the troops forth.
Since they were already informed by Miao Yi, Zhou Liqin and Qian Zifeng extended their arms and allowed passage. Qin Weiwei only threw Miao Yi a glance before leading the others and charging directly through the mountain gates.
Soon, another wave of thunderous gallops could vaguely be heard from afar.
Qian Zifeng could only cup his fists and apologise to Miao Yi, “Cave Master Miao, the two of us are on duty today. Recently it’s the time for the each respective Mountain Chieftain to pass over their shipments, I am afraid that we will not be able to chat with you for long….”
“Understood!” Miao Yi waved his hands and stopped him, then took two coin purses out from his storage ring and stuffed it in both of their hands, whispering, “A little token of appreciation.”
Zheng Jinlong and Wang Zifa, who had been sitting on their dragon steeds, couldn’t help but share a glance and grumble in their hearts; an esteemed Cave Master had to lower himself to present gifts to two gate sentries? People with low cultivation really had no self-confidence….
After a few courteous words, Miao Yi was just about to mount his steed when from a distance, the group that were charging this way all came to an orderly stop in front of the mountain gates, after a wave of the hand by the person leading; it was Mount Shaotai’s Mountain Chieftain!
“Old Brother Miao!” Xiong Xiao chuckled as he greeted him.
Miao Yi felt his heart stop for a bit, then swept his gaze past the two handmaidens behind Xiong Xiao, and saw the two of them staring straight at him, but he didn’t know which one was Head Guard Huang’s daughter.
However, his gaze didn’t stop on the two handmaidens as he was afraid they might notice something was amiss. He cupped his fists as he greeted Xiong Xiao, “Miao Yi, respectfully greets the Mountain Chieftain of Mount Shaotai!”
Xiong Xiao had also been paying attention to his reaction. He had begun to have suspicions on Miao Yi after the incident at the Mystic Arts Temple, not because of Mo Shengtu’s and Zhang Shucheng’s deaths, but because Miao Yi had simply taken his steed from Changfeng Cave and left without a word after the incident; so he suspected that Miao Yi knew something.
Especially with City Lord Huang’s death afterwards, Chun Xue initially suspected that it had been Miao Yi who did it, because the two incidents had occurred at almost the same time.
Yet in the report from the City Lord’s Manor, City Lord Huang was supposedly killed by two handsome young men. Even though appearance-wise Miao Yi was somewhat gallant, there was hardly any correlation to handsome; in addition, the figures depicted were also not quite the same, and furthermore the City Lord’s wife had also been beaten. The assailant had even left a few strange words, so the suspicion was off of Miao Yi.
Most importantly, other hidden aspects had come into play after the incident, and Xiong Xiao had not dared to investigate further.
Xiong Xiao could not see anything amiss from Miao Yi’s expression, so he just waved his hand and laughed, “Old Brother is too kind, I was just about to head over to see Manor Head for the handover, let us further deepen our relationship after I return.”
“Yes!” Miao Yi cupped his fists and replied.
Xiong Xiao smiled and nodded his head, then lead his troops into the mountain gates.
To the side, Qian Zifeng and the rest thought highly of Miao Yi. Xiong Xiao could one day succeed Manor Head Yang Qing to become the Mountain Chieftain of Mount Shaotai, so he was naturally looked upon highly by Manor Head Yang Qing. Such a person had actually called Miao Yi ‘Old Brother’; it seemed this Cave Master Miao had some good connections within South Edict Manor.
Zheng Jinlong and Wang Zifa casted a meaningful gaze at each other.
“Brother Qian, do either of you know where Mountain Chieftain Xiong’s two handmaidens are from, and what their original names were?” Miao Yi turned his head and asked.
“Mountain Chieftain Xiong was originally in charge of Changfeng Cave, so the two handmaidens should be from Changfeng City; Elder Auntie Chun Xue should be surnamed Huang, but as for her full name I have no idea. With regards to the other Little Auntie, I know even less; normally, those that have been selected as handmaidens would have changed their names, and as with something that has happened so long ago, not many would know if they weren’t from Changfeng Cave.” Qian Zifeng replied. Then he got curious and asked, “Cave Master Miao, what did you ask this for?”
Miao Yi dodged the question, “Then how do you know Elder Auntie Chun Xue is surnamed Huang?”
To the side Zhou Liqin sighed, then lowered his voice and said, “Cave Master Miao hasn’t heard the story before? Earlier this year, something major happened in Changfeng City, it was all over the place, even the Manor Head was taken aback; two people had snuck into the City Lord’s Manor at Changfeng City, and killed City Lord Huang. This City Lord Huang was none other than Chun Xue’s father; it was because of this incident, that we came to know Chun Xue was surnamed Huang.”
“Uh…,” Miao Yi was shocked. “Two of them snuck in and killed… so audacious?”
He was at a lost for words. It had been done by him alone, and no one had seen it too! So how did it become an act committed by two people?
