TM CH73

Chapter 73 Reunion with an Old Acquaintance

After their conversation, the two didn’t speak again for the rest of the night.

At dawn the next morning, Rong Qi got up, ready to head to Pingxing City.

Last night, when they ran into that group of righteous sect members, Cui Xinyuan had pulled him away in a hurry, leaving their horses behind. Now, he could only continue on foot.

Seeing Rong Qi get up, Cui Xinyuan followed without a word.

When Rong Qi looked at that sharp, imposing face again, the wariness he once felt had faded. Still, there was a trace of something he couldn’t quite name. He chose not to dwell on it and walked silently out.

The gates of Pingxing City stood tall and imposing. The main road in front of them branched off into smaller paths that led in every direction. As they drew closer to the city, more and more people filled the road. Among them were merchants and jianghu men, most traveling in small groups.

Just as Rong Qi was about to quicken his pace, a voice suddenly called out from behind.

“Hey! Demon!”

In an instant, passersby stopped in their tracks. Rong Qi, too, turned to look — only to see a familiar girl not far off, waving excitedly at him.

Rong Qi: “……”

Seeing that he didn’t respond, the girl dashed straight toward him in a flash. “It’s so good to see you, wuhuhu!”

Rong Qi couldn’t help but frown and took half a step back.

The girl was none other than Fang Ruoyao, who had been missing for some time. Her face was covered in dust, but her eyes was shining faintly. “Demon, it’s me!”

She wiped her face with her hand.

Rong Qi said with obvious distaste, “Fang Ruoyao, I don’t think… we’re quite at the level of long-lost friends reunited in a foreign land.”

Fang Ruoyao didn’t seem the least bit affected. “If you’re here, what about Brother Gu? And my big brother, is he nearby too?”

Right. Gu Yunxing was still helping Fang Lian search for her.

Rong Qi suddenly grabbed her by the arm.

Fang Ruoyao jumped in surprise. “W-What is it?”

Rong Qi: “Taking you to them.”

Fang Ruoyao’s eyes lit up, and she nodded eagerly. But a moment later, she asked with suspicion, “Then why are you holding rope?”

With a cold expression, Rong Qi tied her hands together. “In case you try to run.”

Fang Ruoyao: “……”

Cui Xinyuan couldn’t help clearing his throat.

Fang Ruoyao turned and exclaimed, “Uncle Cui, you’re here too!”

Several wandering jianghu men nearby had been watching the scene unfold, ready to intervene. But the moment they realized the group knew each other, they promptly gave up the idea of stepping in.

None of the three involved seemed to notice the issue with the situation. Cui Xinyuan even tried to persuade Rong Qi. “Why don’t you… untie the rope?”

Rong Qi ignored him. He had seen firsthand how recklessly Fang Ruoyao could charge into trouble, and he didn’t have Fang Lian’s patience. So, holding the rope, he motioned for her to follow quietly.

Of course, Fang Ruoyao refused. Her brows arched sharply as she launched into a string of curses, calling him ‘demon’ with every other word.

Rong Qi paid no mind to her harmless insults. If anything, he was in a better mood because of them.

So after days of Gu Yunxing and Fang Lian running around in Pingxing City, it turned out he managed to find her just by taking a stroll.

He needed to return this troublemaker to Fang Lian as soon as possible, before she disappeared again and dragged Gu Yunxing along for another wild chase.

“Demon, a young lady would rather die than be humiliated! Let me go!” Fang Ruoyao fumed, tugging at the rope.

Rong Qi: “Say whatever you like.”

Seeing that he was completely unmoved, Fang Ruoyao quickly changed her tone. “I won’t run, I swear! Even if you try to send me away now, I’m not leaving!”

When Rong Qi didn’t respond, Fang Ruoyao turned her head and looked pleadingly at Cui Xinyuan. “Uncle Cui, help me!”

Cui Xinyuan’s expression was incredibly conflicted. “She is still a young lady. Treating her like this… isn’t exactly appropriate.”

Rong Qi glanced at him. “Her older brother would thank me for it.”

Cui Xinyuan: “……”

Rong Qi gave the rope a slight tug. “Why were you outside the city?”

Fang Ruoyao: “What city?”

Rong Qi: “Pingxing City.”

Fang Ruoyao’s eyes widened in shock. “I actually ran all the way to Pingxing City?!”

Rong Qi was truly amazed this time.

Rong Qi: “You don’t know?”

She shook her head.

Rong Qi: “What exactly happened?”

At that, Fang Ruoyao frowned, a rare distressed look crossing her face. She even let out a sigh. “It’s a long story.”

Rong Qi’s expression remained blank. “There’s still a way to go. Talk as we walk.”

Fang Ruoyao began recounting, somewhat haltingly, everything that had happened recently.

The day she heard the Wulin Alliance was attacking Lihuo Palace, she became worried for her brother’s safety and rushed from Lingzhou to Shengzhou. Knowing Cui Xinyuan had his own matters to handle, she left a note in Qingshan and set off alone to meet her brother.

But the hearts of people in the jianghu were treacherous. She encountered a swindler while asking for directions along the way. Not only did he lead her the long way around, he also tricked her out of her horse and money.

Fortunately, she had already made it to Qingshan, and figured she could reach the inn where the Wulin Alliance was staying on foot. So she kept asking for directions, only to somehow wander to the foot of a remote, deserted mountain, where she also encountered a strange person lying unconscious.

“Thinking that saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda, I carried him along with me. We finally arrived at a town, only to find out it wasn’t Qingshan. Still, that didn’t matter. I found a doctor and got him medicine, pulled him back from death’s door. But who knew, the moment he woke up, he locked me up and forced me to boil medicine for him every day!”

Rong Qi: “Weren’t you swindled out of all your money? Where did you get the money to hire a doctor and buy medicine?”

Fang Ruoyao looked at him in shock. “That’s what you’re curious about?”

Rong Qi nodded.

Fang Ruoyao took a deep breath. “He had plenty of valuables on him, so I just grabbed one and pawned it.”

That explained it.

Rong Qi: “You couldn’t even defeat a seriously injured person?”

Fang Ruoyao clenched her fists tightly.

Rong Qi lowered his gaze, contemplating for a moment, then decided to skip over that topic. “What happened next? Did you really end up boiling medicine for him for a month?”

“Of course not!”

She had been in a hurry to get to Shengzhou to meet her brother. There was no way she would waste her time boiling medicine for an ungrateful wretch. Just a few days later, she managed to slip away. But no sooner had she walked a few miles than she ran into a group of suspicious-looking people carrying iron hooks. Caught off guard, she was quickly bound and taken.

Rong Qi: “……”

Cui Xinyuan: “……”

Fang Ruoyao acted as if she didn’t see their expressions and continued narrating angrily.

When she woke up, she found herself in a carriage. Having been drugged, she felt weak and unable to move. She noticed the carriage was gently shaking, indicating they were on the move. Aside from her, there were four other people in the carriage, both men and women, young and old.

Knowing she had been captured by villains, she wanted to escape, but she had no strength.

She didn’t know how many days had passed, but one day, the sound of a fight suddenly broke out outside the carriage. Soon after, the curtain was lifted, and to her surprise, the strange man she had saved earlier appeared, chasing after them.

Rong Qi: “It seems he isn’t entirely ungrateful. At least he saved you.”

Fang Ruoyao rolled her eyes. “Not at all! He’s a bad guy! He only saved me so he could boss me around, and he forced me to travel with him. When I asked where we were going, he wouldn’t tell me. We trekked through mountains and rivers the whole way, and my shoes are all worn out.”

She had tried to escape several times, only to be caught each time. Finally, just yesterday, she found an opportunity and ran for several hours without stopping, finally managing to break free.

“So, I definitely won’t run off again,” she said, still looking a little shaken. After everything that had happened, even Rong Qi looked upright and reliable in her eyes. “Just let me go. I promise I’ll follow you quietly.”

Rong Qi: “No.”

Fang Ruoyao raised her tied hands. “But this is so embarrassing!”

Rong Qi pretended not to notice, and after a moment, he raised his chin slightly. “The strange man you mentioned, could it be him?”

Fang Ruoyao: “What?”

She followed Rong Qi’s gaze and suddenly froze, her eyes widening in shock. With a gasp, she quickly hid behind him.

“He… How did he catch up again?!”

Rong Qi glanced down at Fang Ruoyao, who had grabbed his sleeve. He silently exerted force… but still couldn’t break free.

Fang Ruoyao whispered, “Demon, Brother Gu said you’re not a bad person. You can’t just stand by and watch me get caught again!”

Rong Qi: “……”

No wonder Fang Ruoyao wasn’t afraid of him.

He handed one end of the rope to Cui Xinyuan. “Senior Cui, please watch her for a moment.”

Cui Xinyuan’s face showed clear reluctance. Before he could refuse, Fang Ruoyao had already quickly moved behind him, acting perfectly obedient.

For some reason, Cui Xinyuan felt a sudden headache.

Rong Qi soon approached the newcomer, and the two exchanged a few words.

Moments later, Rong Qi returned, followed by another person.

Fang Ruoyao stared at them in surprise. “You… you two…”

Rong Qi looked at her dryly. “You really saved a menace.”

The ‘menace’ smiled politely, his paper fan lightly swaying in his hand. It was none other than Shen Qi, who had fallen off a cliff after his duel with Fang Lian not long ago.

It made one wonder how Fang Lian would react if he knew his own sister had personally saved this person.

Rong Qi glanced at Fang Ruoyao and said indifferently, “Let’s go into the city first.”

Fang Ruoyao wore an expression of genuine betrayal.

The group of four, men and woman of varying ages, all carried their own thoughts.

Upon entering Pingxing City, Rong Qi’s sharp eyes caught sight of a reward notice for Fang Ruoyao posted on the city wall. He walked over, tore it down, and tucked it into his pocket before casually finding a teahouse to sit in. Cui Xinyuan, unaware of the group’s past, ordered a pot of tea and began sipping it leisurely.

Seeing Shen Qi again, Rong Qi’s mood was rather complex. “You really are hard to kill.”

Shen Qi: “Thanks to Miss Fang’s meticulous care, Qi was fortunate enough to regain his life.”

Rong Qi: “Who kidnapped her?”

Shen Qi smiled again. “Naturally, it was a bunch of petty criminals.”

Rong Qi fixed his gaze on him, waiting for him to continue.

Shen Qi: “They were from the Ying Sect. It seems they’ve been involved in human trafficking. Besides Miss Fang, the other three carriages were also filled with human cargo.”

Fang Ruoyao was taken aback. “Did you save anyone else?”

Shen Qi looked confused. “Why would I?”

Fang Ruoyao: “Wouldn’t that have been the convenient thing to do?”

Shen Qi chuckled softly. “Qi didn’t know them. Everyone has their own fate. You can’t force things.”

Fang Ruoyao: “If I had known you were like this, I wouldn’t have saved you. Everyone has their own fate!”

Shen Qi: “……”

Fang Ruoyao suddenly seemed to realize something. She stood up and asked, “Wait a minute, you two… know each other?”

Shen Qi smiled. “Qi used to be the Left Protector of Lihuo Palace. Do you think we’d know each other?”

Fang Ruoyao turned to look at Rong Qi. “You’re the Right Protector, and he’s the Left Protector…”

Rong Qi nodded.

Fang Ruoyao felt as if the ground had crumbled beneath her feet. She had thought meeting Rong Qi was a good thing, but it turned out they were on the same gang!

Rong Qi, completely unaware of her inner turmoil, turned back to Shen Qi. “So you really did lose to Fang Lian that day?”

Shen Qi’s smile faltered for a moment. “Victory and defeat are common in battle. It’s nothing to be worried about.”

Rong Qi: “True. Fang Lian was once my prisoner, and who would’ve thought that now he’s the one who can defeat you?”

Shen Qi took a sip of tea with a smile. “I’ve heard that the Tianji Sect Master saved you from Zou Yuchuan during the siege?”

Rong Qi raised an eyebrow. “That’s true.”

Shen Qi sighed. “I never expected that, after half a year, you’d have such a connection with Gu Yunxing. It’s just that people in the jianghu are talkative, and rumors fly everywhere. Listening to them, I feel very indignant on your behalf.”

Rong Qi gave him a strange look.

Shen Qi waved his paper fan. “Let’s talk about the most absurd one. The other day, there was even a storyteller in the market spouting nonsense, saying you’re a demoness disguised as a man who bewitched Sect Master Gu, enticing him into defying all morality just to bring you out of your sea of suffering.”

Rong Qi’s face darkened instantly.

Shen Qi, knowing Rong Qi’s temperament, understood he would never tolerate such baseless rumors. He couldn’t resist teasing, “From what I know of you, you must have gotten some kind of leverage over Gu Yunxing, right? We’ve been in the same sect for years, why not tell me what you have on him?”

Rong Qi sneered coldly. Leverage? Of course, he didn’t have any.

With that, he suddenly yanked the rope in his right hand.

“Ah!”

Fang Ruoyao, who had been trying to sneak away while the two were talking, stumbled and was yanked back. Her arm hit the corner of the table with a painful thud, and tears immediately welled up in her eyes.

“Demon, I’ll definitely tell Brother Gu! You’re bullying me too much!”

Rong Qi sneered. “See? The rope really was necessary.”

Cui Xinyuan put down the cup in his hand. “That’s enough.”

Even if Fang Ruoyao was just a random young girl, Rong Qi’s actions were a bit excessive. He turned around and untied the rope binding her hands.

Cui Xinyuan: “I’ll help you keep an eye on her.”

Rong Qi furrowed his brows, but ultimately decided to let it go. He glanced at the street outside the teahouse, and a bit of irritation couldn’t help but rise in his heart.