After a brief pause, An Xianli went on,
“I know you’re not a bad person. You were only deceived by the villains of the Night God Sect and led astray. While you haven’t yet committed any great crime, turn back now. Work together with our Righteous Alliance, and I will certainly plead with my sect master on your behalf!”
Taohua sighed inwardly. She really didn’t want to listen to this pointless spiel any longer.
“You don’t need to say anything more, Young Master An,” she said coldly. “My senior sister has shown me great kindness. I will never betray her.”
“Miss Cui, you’ve been misled by the Night God Sect. None of them are good people!”
Seeing how stubborn she was, An Xianli finally lost control and shouted.
He drew in a deep breath, forcing his emotions to settle. After a moment of silence, he decided to tell her all the heinous things the Night God Sect had done.
“Are you aware, Miss Cui, that the Night God Sect has been secretly colluding with northern merchants, smuggling wushi powder and sulfur into the country? The wushi powder is used to harm innocent civilians, and the sulfur is used to illegally forge weapons, bringing disaster to the nation and its people.
“And not long ago, that witch Guan Fusha ruthlessly murdered the eldest young master of the Beikun Sect, leaving not even his bones behind. Pitiful Sect Master Mo, a white-haired elder forced to send off a black-haired junior…”
Taohua pondered for a moment. She set aside the matter of Mo Tu for now. She hadn’t been in this world long, and didn’t really understand the political situation between the northern and southern kingdoms. But smuggling wushi powder and sulfur sounded like a major crime. There was no way the authorities would just sit by and ignore it, right?
“If everything you say is true,” she asked, “why would the authorities sit back and do nothing, and leave it to you to form a ‘Righteous Alliance’ to crusade against the Night God Sect?”
An Xianli let out a contemptuous snort.
“The court’s dogs are all cowards clinging to life. On top of that, they’ve taken so many bribes. If this were reported, it could easily spark war between the two countries. They would never do anything that might harm their own interests.”
Tsk tsk, who would’ve thought this country was that rotten.
Taohua muttered in her heart.
“Precisely because of this, we of the righteous path formed an alliance,” An Xianli said, clenching his fists, his voice full of emotion. “We swore to wipe out the Night God Sect, that cancer of the martial world, in one fell swoop!”
Taohua almost wanted to clap for him. That speech? A perfect score. Not one point more, not one point less, just enough so he wouldn’t get cocky.
Too bad it was absolutely useless, because in reality there was nothing she could do to help him.
She had no idea how many members the Night God Sect had, didn’t know where its headquarters was, and had no clue how high Guan Fusha and Dongfang Wen’s martial cultivation actually was. In short, she knew absolutely nothing about any critical intel regarding the Night God Sect.
With a soft sigh, Taohua put on a helpless expression.
“Young Master An, it’s not that I don’t want to help you. I truly don’t know the answers to what you’re asking. If you know my background, then you must know I entered the sect not long ago. Although Guan Fusha named me Left Protector, I’ve never actually been involved in any of the sect’s affairs. The title is just an empty name.”
Hearing this, An Xianli fell silent.
If what Miss Cui said was true, then in Guan Fusha’s eyes, she might well be nothing more than a useless pawn. And the life or death of a useless pawn didn’t matter to anyone. If that were the case, their current operation might end in complete failure.
In the heavy silence, Taohua suddenly spoke.
“If not for your reminder, Young Master An, I wouldn’t have known the Night God Sect had stooped to such shameless acts of treason. I truly feel deep hatred and disgust for such things.
“If you trust me, I’m willing to act as a spy for your Righteous Alliance—return to the Night God Sect and help you gather information. What do you think of that, Young Master?”
If what Yanhong had said last night was all true, then the ones truly colluding with the northern kingdom to smuggle contraband weren’t the Night God Sect as a whole, but the hidden mole Guan Fusha and the others had been trying to root out. Right now, she needed to get out as soon as possible and tell Guan Fusha everything. Otherwise, if she ended up attacked from both sides, she’d be in real trouble.
“That…!”
An Xianli froze, clearly not expecting Taohua to make such a proposal.
“You don’t have to answer me in a hurry, Young Master An,” Taohua said, deliberately advancing by retreating. “Given my current identity, it’s only natural you’d find it hard to accept such an offer. It won’t be too late to give me an answer after you’ve discussed it with your sect master.”
An Xianli pondered for a while, then finally came to a decision. He suddenly walked to the bedside and untied the ropes on Taohua’s wrists.
“I believe you, Miss,” he said. “To show my sincerity, I’ll untie your hands and let you move freely within the room. I hope you can also trust me. I’ll go report this to the sect master right away.”
Taohua was stunned. She stared at him blankly for a moment, then lowered her eyes and nodded.
“I’ll take my leave.”
He cupped his hands to her, gave her a deep look, and then turned and left the room.
Watching his departing back, Taohua couldn’t help feeling a bit shocked. To be honest, she hadn’t expected An Xianli to trust her so readily.
Children of the righteous path really were simple and kind.
About an hour later, Taohua was sprawled on the bed, bored out of her mind as she waited for An Xianli to bring back good news. Just then, a knock sounded at the door.
She jolted and sat up.
“Come in.”
The door opened, but it wasn’t An Xianli who entered. It was a tall, thin old man. He was holding a food tray with a simple meal on it. From the look of him, he was probably just a servant delivering food.
He set the dishes on the table and gave Taohua a small nod.
Taohua understood and, as it happened, she was hungry. Come to think of it, the last time she’d eaten was back at the Beikun Sect, when Hu Hansan had brought her food.
She walked over, sat at the table, and picked up the chopsticks. The dishes were extremely plain. A plate with a few sparse, yellowing greens, not a scrap of meat in sight, and a single bowl of white rice. Nothing else.
Her brows creased.
This food… she might be a prisoner, but did they have to go this far?
Sigh. If she’d known, she wouldn’t have run off. She should’ve obediently stayed at the Beikun Sect.
Looking at the food, Taohua completely lost her appetite. She let out a heavy sigh, put down her chopsticks, and was about to go flop back onto the bed and continue spacing out when the old man suddenly spoke.
“Miss, every stalk of grain and every grain of rice here is grown with the hard labor of farmers. Wasting food like this will bring heaven’s punishment.”
“…”
As a picky eater, Taohua didn’t buy that at all. But then she remembered: right now she was a captive. She couldn’t expect the Tianlun Sect to feed her well. Chances were, the next meal would be the same as this one. If she kept going hungry until Guan Fusha came to rescue her, she’d probably ascend to the heavens first.
Thinking of that, Taohua couldn’t help another heavy sigh. With a face full of reluctance, she went back to the table, picked up the bowl, and shoveled in a couple of mouthfuls.
As she ate, her teeth suddenly hit something strange. She reflexively spat it out.
It was a tiny bamboo tube, thinner than a matchstick and smaller than a fingernail clipping. Taohua stared at it in confusion.
How did something like this end up in her rice?
Could it be that the people of Tianlun Sect had deliberately hidden this thing in her food, hoping to choke her to death? If so, she genuinely had to worry about their intelligence.
She was just about to toss it aside when she suddenly noticed a small slit along the side. Narrowing her eyes, she studied it more closely and discovered the little bamboo tube could be opened.
She hurriedly twisted it apart. Inside was a tightly rolled scrap of paper.
At that moment, a face suddenly flashed through Taohua’s mind. Her neck stiffened as she slowly turned to look at the old man behind her. After examining him several times, she finally confirmed she hadn’t mistaken him.
Her eyes went wide.
“You… aren’t you the old man who was waiting outside Ruyi Hall to see the doctor…?”
The old man chuckled and tapped his lower back.
“That’s right. At my age, the body doesn’t work so well, so I have to go to Ruyi Hall often for treatment.”
“…”
Just how deep had Guan Fusha laid out this game of chess? Taohua had thought he was just some random old man she’d seen once in passing, but he was actually one of the Night God Sect’s people too.
Seeing her stop moving, the old man urged,
“Eat up, miss. Your food will get cold.”
Taohua, of course, wasn’t naive enough to think he was just urging her to hurry and eat. She took the note from the bamboo tube and unfolded it.
Wait for me. I will come to rescue you in a few days.
There was no name, but the handwriting was neat and graceful—it was clearly written by a woman. Besides, in this time and place, the only person willing to risk her life to rescue Taohua could only be one person…
With that thought, a warm current flowed through Taohua’s chest. The corners of her lips lifted unconsciously. She pressed the note tightly over her heart.
“It seems the miss is quite satisfied with this meal,” the old man said with a faint smile.
Taohua paused, then looked back at him and nodded.
“Mm. Thank you.”
“If you’ve had your fill, I’ll take these away.”
The old man gathered up the leftovers onto the tray and prepared to leave.
“Wait.”
Taohua suddenly spoke up.
“Um… I wanted to ask, when will the next ‘meal’ be delivered, more or less?”
“Ah, that…” The old man looked troubled. “I’m only a lowly servant. I’m not too clear on such matters.”
“I see.”
Taohua’s expression dimmed slightly. The note had only said “within a few days,” without specifying exactly when. She could only hope Guan Fusha arrived before the Righteous Alliance launched their attack.
Seeing the thoughtful look on Taohua’s face, the old man asked,
“Does the miss have any other instructions?”
“There’s a certain dish I’ve been craving,” Taohua said, speaking in a roundabout way. “It’s made by mixing four different dishes into one. It tastes incredible, but eating it like that easily upsets the stomach and harms the body. I wonder if you know of it, elder?”
She was deliberately being vague. What she really wanted to ask was whether he knew about the four great righteous sects forming an alliance against the Night God Sect.
“Such a dangerous dish, of course this old man knows it,” the old man replied with a smile. “But I still have to thank the miss for the reminder.”
“You’re welcome.”
Taohua nodded to him, finally feeling a weight lifted from her heart.
The old man turned to go, but just as he reached the door, Taohua suddenly called out again,
“Wait a moment, elder. There’s one more thing.”
He stopped once more and turned back to her with a puzzled look.
“Um…” Taohua cleared her throat twice, suddenly a bit embarrassed. “Could you… maybe put some meat in the next meal?”
