“Come along, little Ah Qing. Elder Brother is going to take you to do something really big.” As the Captain talked, he kept looking around furtively.
Xu Qing shook his head. “I’m not going.”
“Huh? Why?” The Captain looked very anxious.
“You stirred up trouble in the Dark Serenity Sect,” Xu Qing replied, “and now you want to drag me into it too. You think being around me will keep you safe.”
He thought back to how the Captain had looked with such longing at the demon snake’s tooth back when they went into the Dark Serenity Sect’s pocket realm together. Then he thought about how the Captain and Wu Jianwu had been meeting up recently. Clearly, Wu Jianwu had foolishly let himself be duped by the Captain, who ended up making a clean getaway.
The Captain cleared his throat as he tried to think of what to do. He knew full well that he had pushed things too far, and was worried that if he didn’t get Xu Qing involved, he might get slapped to death by Arch-Immortal Plumdark. However, if he could get Xu Qing on his side before Arch-Immortal Plumdark showed up… then Xu Qing’s presence would be the Captain’s key to staying safe.
Slapping himself on the chest to make himself seem like the spitting image of sincerity, the Captain glanced at Xu Qing and said, “Little Junior Brother, you really need to trust your Eldest Brother! Don’t worry, I have a really amazing plan ready to go. You need to work on your heavenly palaces, right? If you come with me, you’ll complete multiple palaces!”
Then he grabbed an egg and started peeling it.
Xu Qing’s expression was the same as ever as he continued to sip his broth. Off to the side, Yanyan had a curious look on her face as she looked at the Captain. However, she didn’t forget about the egg she was peeling. After it was done, she put it in Xu Qing’s bowl and flashed a sweet smile.
The Captain wasn’t very happy to see that. Looking down at the egg in his own hands, he thought about how great it would be to have someone peel his eggs for him. “Little Ah Qing, sometimes I wonder if you’re even human.”
Xu Qing sipped some more soup. “Captain, people from the Dark Serenity Sect are going to show up soon, don’t you think?”
The Captain’s eyebrows shot up. “There’s no human who looks like you. Not one. Haven’t you noticed? The older you get, the more demonic you look. I remember hearing about some mysterious species that’s like that. I’d say it’s highly likely you’re actually a lost member of that species. As it turns out, little Ah Qing, I’m actually a bit of an expert on that species. Want to hear more about them?”
“No.” Xu Qing finished his soup and ate another egg. He actually felt great at the moment, and wasn’t affected at all by the Captain’s nonsense.
The Captain was getting very anxious by now. Given how stubborn Xu Qing was being, he decided to resort to a trump card. “Deputy Director Xu, you owe me 2,000,000 spirit stones!”
“Actually, Elder Brother, I have a few jade slips here that are probably worth that much.” With that, he took out a jade slip that had images of the Captain dressed as Third Princess.
“Yanyan,” the Captain said, “I really don’t think you should join Seven Blood Eyes. You listen to me. Join the Dark Serenity Sect. Based on what I know of little Ah Qing, he has deep feelings for that place.”
Yanyan’s eyes glittered.
Meanwhile, Xu Qing sighed inside. It was becoming obvious that the Captain’s guilty conscience was troubling him so deeply that he would stop at nothing to get Xu Qing’s help.
Looking profoundly wronged, the Captain said, “I know you’ve grown up, little Ah Qing, but have you really forgotten about everything your Elder Brother has done for you? I’m your superior officer! I’m your Eldest Brother. For your sake, I angrily rebuked Master! I even told you about Master’s weaknesses! I’ve spilled blood for you! I’ve been your fall guy! I visited your hometown! We’ve bathed together! We’ve hung out together. We’ve….”
As the Captain went on and on, Yanyan’s eyes went wide, and she looked dubiously back and forth between him and Xu Qing.
Finally, Xu Qing reached into his robe and took out an apple which he handed to the Captain.
As the Captain’s eyebrows shot up, Xu Qing took out a discount card for the immortal hot spring and slid it over.
The Captain hesitated.
“Thirty percent off!” Xu Qing said, looking at the Captain.
The Captain looked at the card but didn’t take it. “Are you coming or not?”
Xu Qing sighed. He really didn’t want to go with the Captain, but given all the arguments he had made… Xu Qing finally nodded.
A smile broke out on the Captain’s face. Quickly taking the apple and the discount card, he lowered his voice and said, “Good decision, Junior Brother. Now, this time I’m being completely serious. I have a major plan. Yanyan, you’re coming with us.”
Yanyan’s eyes lit up and she nodded.
“Come on, let’s get out of here. If it gets too late, we won’t have a chance. We’ll take your dharmaship, little Ah Qing.” Rising, the Captain urged them out of the vendor stall.
Xu Qing produced his dharmaship, and the Captain immediately jumped onto the deck. Xu Qing joined him. Yanyan was about to follow when Xu Qing looked back at her.
Yanyan immediately pointed at the Captain. “He said for me to come along.”
“We need Yanyan,” the Captain explained. “She understands women, and that will make this big plan go a lot smoother.”
Xu Qing frowned but didn’t say anything. Yanyan jumped onto the dharmaship. With the Captain urging him, Xu Qing performed an incantation gesture that caused the dharmaship to rumble to life. Then they shot out of Seven Blood Eyes.
About thirty breaths of time after they left, Arch-Immortal Plumdark appeared in midair, her expression cold. She took a step in the direction of the vanishing dharmaship, but then stopped and thought back to how morose Xu Qing had been acting lately.
“If you need to blow off some steam, fine. In any case, the little punk might be gone, but the old codger is still around!” Arch-Immortal Plumdark let out a cold harrumph and then stormed into the Seven Blood Eyes headquarters.
Shortly thereafter, the enraged voice of Master Seventh echoed out from the mountain.
“Chen Erniu! You think you’re hot stuff? Don’t show your face back here again! If you do, I’ll break your legs!”
His voice was so loud that, despite being so far away, Xu Qing heard him. He looked over at the Captain.
The Captain was looking very pleased with himself, but when Xu Qing looked at him, he cleared his throat. “The old man is secretly telling me to stay away for a while. Ai. Master really does love me.”
“He seems pretty serious this time,” Xu Qing replied. Looking down at his transmission jade slip, he realized there was a voice message.
It was Master Seventh, and it sounded like he was grinding his teeth as he said, “Is your Eldest Brother with you? That little brat used a treasure I gave him as a gift to split himself up into two clones and do something really bad! He’s got a lot of nerve doing what he did. And then he actually turned off his jade slip so I couldn’t send him messages! You tell your Eldest Brother that the patriarch is so pissed off that he suggested your Eldest Brother’s legs be broken. And I fully support the idea!”
The Captain couldn’t hear the message, as it was sent directly into Xu Qing’s mind.
Smiling proudly, the Captain said, “You don’t understand. The person who really cares about me isn’t Master. It’s the patriarch. Worst case scenario, I just go plead my case with him. It’s something you just couldn’t pull off, little Ah Qing. Only I, the patriarch’s most cherished junior apprentice, could do so. But I wouldn’t worry about it. There’s nothing you can do anyway. I simply know how to please the old-timers more than you do. You see, they like my energetic spirit.”
Xu Qing put away the jade slip and decided not to convey the message to the Captain.
As the dharmaship flew onward, the Captain started to explain his plan. “We’re going to pull off something really big this time!” Glancing back one more time in the direction of the sect, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Our destination this time is the Three-Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain!”
Xu Qing’s expression turned serious, and he prepared to turn the dharmaship around. The last thing he wanted to do was go on a suicide mission.
“Hey, stop!” the Captain said. “This plan will go off without a hitch, I guarantee it. I have good information this time. Our mark is the third of the Three Spirits. August Spirit Nethersprite. Remember the clothes she was wearing last time we saw her? She was acting all high and mighty, but what I was focused on were those precious garments of mine.
“Most important of all is that I got an intelligence report indicating the Swordsage Court is going to target the Three Spirits. They’ll take action soon, so what we’re going to do is sneak in ahead of time. Then, when the Swordsage Court finally makes their move, we’ll take advantage of the chaos to get ahold of my precious garments.
“Every one of those pieces of clothing is a precious treasure. Little Ah Qing, all you have to do is absorb some of that treasure, and you’ll be able to complete multiple heavenly palaces!” The Captain was almost breathless with excitement. Clearly he had been thinking about that clothing for a long time. [1] 𝙚𝙙𝙤𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝒎
“Besides, why do you think I went to all the trouble of getting that snake tooth from the Dark Serenity Sect? Because it can cut clothing! Without the tooth, it would have been too hard. But with the tooth, it’ll be a breeze.”
When Yanyan heard this absolutely crazy plan, even she couldn’t hold back from gasping. She was a bit insane herself, being sometimes compelled to suck her own blood, but that didn’t mean she was tired of living. The Captain seemed absolutely crazy to her. After all, he was talking about targeting a cultivator as powerful as Yanyan’s own grandmother.
.
And he was planning to steal her clothes…. It was obviously going to be an incredibly daring operation, and getting caught would equate to instant death. After all, they would be dealing with three Void Returning experts, not just one.
Even if the swordsages really did launch an assault, the whole thing would still be extremely dangerous. Yanyan did understand women, and she knew that they often loved their own clothing more than anything else. Touching a woman’s clothing could truly enrage her.
But then Yanyan noticed the thoughtful look on Xu Qing’s face, and she blinked a few times and held her tongue.
After some thought and analysis, Xu Qing decided that it wasn’t a bad idea. However, he still had some reservations, so he said, “I’m willing to give it a shot. But those clothes looked like some sort of battle getup. If August Spirit Nethersprite is out fighting, won’t she be wearing that same clothing?”
A disdainful look appeared in the Captain’s eyes. “No matter what else she is, she’s still a woman! And she’s obviously obsessed with looking beautiful. Don’t forget that when we saw her last, she checked herself out in a mirror as she flew along.”
Xu Qing hesitated.
Seeing that he didn’t understand the point, the Captain felt even more superior than before. Clearing his throat, he looked at Yanyan. “Yanyan, how many outfits do you have?”
“Not many…” she replied, blinking a few times. Then she added, “Only enough to fill a single mountain. But anybody who touches my clothes will die! Except Big Bro Xu Qing, of course.”
Looking down his nose even more arrogantly, the Captain gave Xu Qing a meaningful glance. “Understand now? August Spirit Nethersprite doesn’t have just one single set of clothes. Who do you think she is? YOU? And even if she does wear that same outfit, who cares? There’ll be other similar stuff there for the taking. Heh. A woman doesn’t just have one single set of nice clothes. Obviously, little Ah Qing, I know a lot more about women than you do. Therefore, we’re definitely going to make out like bandits!”
Xu Qing didn’t say anything.
“By the way, the Swordsage Court is going to have their recruiting event soon. After the plan is seen through, we can go over there and check it out. I’ve already thought everything through. If we can do something impressive at Three-Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain, and make a good impression on the top swordsages, then it might improve our chances of doing well in the recruitment event.
“Trust me, little Junior Brother. Everything I’m doing is all to make it easier for us to get into the Swordsage Court!”
1. August Spirit Nethersprite (and her clothing) appeared in 👈