Duan Gantai took a deep breath before speaking, “With my understanding of the Su Clan, they would definitely let us go to the Eternal Night Public Square. As one of the largest family clans in the Eternal Night Domain, the Su Clan would not shamelessly lock up the two us in public as long as we show no intentions of escaping.”
“If the Su Clan did this, then it would be akin to trying to find lice on a bald head. It would immediately make it clear to the public that they definitely locked us up, especially me, because they coveted our stuff. Of course, if the Su Clan really acted this shamelessly and without any regards to the consequences, then we would have no choice but to accept our fate.”
Ning Cheng clenched his fists, he could feel that Duan Gantai’s analysis was not made out of despair. In other words, if the Su Clan refused to play by the rules, then Duan Gantai did have a way to circumvent it. However, this method most likely would cause severe harm to Duan Gantai and might even injure his foundation. Most likely, it would be Ning Cheng, who would have to resign to his fate if he could not escape.
Although this situation was not a disaster outright but would turn into a life and death situation if he could not escape from it. As Ning Cheng thought of it till here, he might as well go with the flow for now. Since he can’t walk away immediately, then it’s better to stay and talk. Moreover, he had an inkling that Duan Gantai’s plan had a success rate of at least 90%. Only when putting one’s life on the line, would one find success within a plan. In any case, 90% confidence was still a large chunk.
“Brother Duan, I understand. Don’t worry, I will follow your plan tomorrow. However, I would have to ask Brother Duan to give me the Directional Jade Strip for the Temple of Falling Stars. Maybe I’ll decide to visit it in the future.” Ning Cheng put the current matter to rest and immediately started planning.
Duan Gantai showed a faint smile before putting down a jade strip, which he seemed to have prepared beforehand. Then, with a flash, he disappeared from Ning Cheng’s room. Ning Cheng’s defensive array formations only rippled like a thin curtain over a door, this fellow didn’t even have to touch it to push it aside.
Ning Cheng’s Spiritual Consciousness had already noticed the changes that happened with this fellow’s body and his array formation. When he saw Duan Gantai preparing to leave, he had seen a flash of light coming from his body. This flash of light made it easy for him to pass through his array formation.
Ning Cheng remained silent. He had never seen or even heard of such means of breaking through an array. That flash of light from Duan Gantai’s body, most likely, came from a heaven-defying weapon, which allowed the wielder to bypass ordinary array formations. If this person became his enemy in the future, he definitely would be a difficult opponent to counter.
In any case, Ning Cheng felt that Duan Gantai should have no reason to lie to him. He picked up the jade strip that Duan Gantai had put down and casually scanned it with his Spiritual Consciousness and found that it contained a positional chart with directional indicators of a seemingly boundless starry sky. As for the Temple of Falling Stars, it was located in a relatively remote location within this starry sky positional diagram.
Putting the jade strip away, Ning Cheng didn’t have any plans of going to the Temple of Falling Stars, at least not sometime soon. With his current cultivation, going there to talk to that powerhouse about the Purple Yin Spirit Spring Bead would be nothing more than courting death. However, he had to admit that this Duan Gantai definitely had many secrets. He even knew about this matter in such detail.
……
Ning Cheng left the rest stop early and went to the Perpetual Sand Rest Stop. He didn’t even use his Spiritual Consciousness to search for cultivators trying to track him.
Perpetual Sand Rest Stop was not only a small place, but there were also not many people frequenting it. The hall on the ground floor was not very spacious and had even fewer people. Including Ning Cheng, it only had three guests.
Ning Cheng didn’t look for a booth, he asked for a pot of Spiritual Wine and picked a table on the ground floor before sitting down. He didn’t think about Su Baijiao’s words, but more about Duan Gantai’s words and actions.
Strictly speaking, he and Duan Gantai’s cooperation was something mutually beneficial, at least on the surface. But in this ‘cooperation’, made it look like he was the one in an advantageous situation. In this cooperation, one could say that Duan Gantai not only had a good heart but also was quite generous.
Ning Cheng picked up the jug on the table and put it to his mouth. It was purely a subconscious movement, but when the pitcher neared his mouth, he suddenly felt something wrong. Even if he didn’t understand the Aura Locking Grand Array, as long as that fellow explained things in some detail, even if it wasted some time, Duan Gantai could have explained it to him.
As long as he explained the working, or at least the strength, of the Aura Locking Grand Array, Duan Gantai wouldn’t have any need to come up with any Perpetual Moon Pills and Permanent Essence Pills at all to get him to cooperate. Maybe, he had overlooked something.
How could someone like Duan Gantai, especially one with a shrewd mind, not have the patience required to explain such a crucial detail? Moreover, it wouldn’t take an extremely long time to explain the essential workings, would it? The two of them didn’t even know each other before today. So why did he willingly expose himself from his advantageous position, just to cooperate with him, when he could just sit back and enjoy the show?
That’s not right, Ning Cheng thought to himself as he subconsciously stood up. There definitely were a few problems. Duan Gantai definitely was not the kind of person who gave away benefits to others without any reason. Even if he knew that the Su Clan wanted to use him when he and Su Baijiao exchanged ‘flirtatious’ glances, he would still have felt somewhat upset about it, it was a subconscious thing which people wouldn’t be able to control. Because of this, it was even less likely that he would actually help him. Although extending this kind of help to him also helped Duan Gantai, but Ning Cheng still felt that there was a critical flaw in here somewhere.
However, no matter how hard Ning Cheng pondered over it, he still couldn’t figure out what Duan Gantai had hidden from him. In any case, as long as he and Duan Gantai created enough ruckus, he could then head to the Eternal Night Grand Public Square. Once they reached the Eternal Night Grand Public Square, both of them can each go their own separate ways and would share no relationship with each other. Even if Duan Gantai had some means to his name, he would still find it impossible to suppress him. As for the Temple of Falling Stars, he currently did not intend to go there in the short term.
With his speed, he did not feel any fear towards Duan Gantai. Even if the Su Clan wanted to catch him, it would prove almost impossible for them to catch up with his speed, as long as he escaped from this place.
Did he really consider Duan Gantai as a kind-hearted person in his heart? As Ning Cheng frowned and pondered over his thoughts, a small voice washed over, “Brother Ning, sorry for keeping you waiting.”
“Oh, Senior Apprentice Sister Su, don’t worry about it, I just arrived.” Ning Cheng quickly turned around and smiled.
Su Baijiao’s eyes revealed a hidden bitterness that no one else could notice, as she softly spoke up to Ning Cheng, “Let’s go to a booth. I’ve booked a booth here.”
Although the hidden bitterness that flashed through her eyes went unnoticed by others, Ning Cheng definitely caught it. Ning Cheng’s eyes immediately showed some joy and a slight uneasiness after seeing Su Baijiao’s hidden bitterness and quickly spoke up, “As commanded by Senior Apprentice Sister Su….”
Su Baijiao nodded and went upstairs first. At the same time, a softer voice reached Ning Cheng’s ears, “Big Brother Ning, please call me Baijiao from now on.”
Ning Cheng and Duan Gantai had already discussed the plan for leaving the Eternal Night Domain with the help of Su Baijiao. Therefore, in Ning Cheng’s opinion, he’d better make a fuss as big as possible, so that Duan Gantai’s reasons became even more compelling.
“That sounds good, Sister Baijiao.” Ning Cheng called out at once.
Su Baijiao’s face turned slightly red, and she sped up her pace before quickly entering a booth on the second floor. She waited for Ning Cheng to come inside first and then immediately activated the restrictions within the cabin.
Ning Cheng looked around the booth and found a bed in it. Seeing that, he sneered in his heart. It just the day after the wedding night, yet she really is trying to seduce people.
“Baijiao…..” Ning Cheng hesitated for a moment. It seemed as if the next sentence was proving very difficult to speak.
Su Baijiao took out some array flags and threw them out before activating a few more hidden restrictions within the booth before speaking, “Big Brother Ning, the truth is, I shouldn’t have come here to see you today. When I first saw you, I could immediately tell that you were not an ordinary person. You have not reached the Heaven Seated Realm, yet you still came to the Eternal Night Domain….. I felt happy seeing you at my wedding this time, and you even gave me such a precious gift. After guessing that you were looking for the Purple Yin Spring Water, I just had to tell you what I knew as soon as possible. I hope that you don’t look down on me because of this.”
“Sister Baijiao…..” Ning Cheng’s eyes glowed with gratitude, and he even took a step forward and grabbed Su Baijiao’s hands.
Su Baijiao’s face quickly turned red. She tried to squirm away, but Ning Cheng held on to her with a ‘very tight’ grip, which did not allow her to ‘break free’.
“I….” Su Baijiao’s palms instantly turned damp in Ning Cheng’s hands. Even her voice trembled slightly, “My Su Clan has half a bottle of Purple Yin Spring Water….. Big Brother Ning, you should quickly let go of me, I……”
“Baijiao, although the Purple Yin Spirit Spring is important to me, I feel more grateful to you. Despite today being so important to you, you deliberately came out to tell me about such a trivial thing, thank you……” Ning Cheng’s eyes glowed with heat. However, he sneered in his heart. Sure enough, she really didn’t bring it with her. Most likely, if he wanted to get it, then he still would have to head over to the Su Clan to get it.
If this half a bottle of Purple Yin Spring Water could really cure Qionghua, he would do everything he could to get it. But Ning Cheng felt sure that this half a bottle of Purple Yin Spring Water would have only a slight effect, if any, on Qionghua. Moreover, he was confident that even if he went to the Su Clan, he would not get even a drop of it. At best, he would only be delivering himself to death.
“Please don’t do this. You should let me go.” Su Baijiao’s blushing face looked like it was covered in rouge, but Ning Cheng still did not let her go.
“Bang….” The door of the booth suddenly blasted open.
An angry Duan Gantai stood at the door, with a trembling finger pointed at Ning Cheng and Su Baijiao. His eyes looked red and on the verge of bleeding, while murderous intent poured out in waves. Behind Duan Gantai stood several shop assistants from the rest stop, who also saw the ‘intimate’ scene between Ning Cheng and Su Baijiao.
Su Baijiao quickly took back her hand from Ning Cheng while her face immediately turned pale. Whether true or not, Duan Gantai was now her nominal husband. Yet she was in such a place with another male cultivator on the second day of her wedding. If this news spread out, it would definitely result in a massive loss of face.
“Aah…..” Suddenly Duan Gantai brought out a long backed knife, wanting to smash the rest stop into slag.
“Surnamed Ning, I knew that you were not a good person the moment I laid my eyes on you. It’s not even the second day of my wedding, and you try to seduce my woman. Die for me….” Duan Gantai’s forehead had blue and green veins popping all over, while murderous intent oozed out of him. If seemed like he would not stop before he cut up and swallowed Ning Cheng whole.
Duan Gantai had shouted with a loud voice, and in just a moment, all the surrounding people knew what was going on. The news instantly exploded, and a large crowd of cultivators flocked over to watch the proceeding with excitement.
Su Clan’s Su Baijiao had just got married in the presence of many influential people and powerhouses from all over the Eternal Night Domain. It had only been a day at most, yet Su Baijiao was having a ‘private meeting’ with another man in a private booth within a tiny rest stop and was caught by the clan’s son-in-law red-handed.
“Gantai, don’t do this. You really misunderstood. Let’s go back and talk it out.” Su Baijiao spoke up urgently. She truly was feeling anxious.
It wouldn’t have mattered if such a thing happened after Duan Gantai died as planned, but currently, this matter happened just when she and Duan Gantai had just gotten married. This resulted in a complete loss of face for her and the clan. At this moment, she could only complain about it to herself and couldn’t help but feel anxious about it. As things stood, she knew that she would have to discuss this issue with her family, and then slowly try to figure it out.
Ning Cheng had to admire it. Duan Gantai not only accurately pinpointed their location without others knowing about it but also correctly grasped the timing to open the door. This was a perfect partner to work with but a powerful opponent to go against.
