“Pang Shao! I heard you got beaten up pretty badly?” Ye Chu looked at Pang Shao with a bright, mischievous smile. After learning from Bai Bao that the solitary copy was in the palace, he had immediately gone to find Pang Shao.
“Damn it!” Pang Shao nearly exploded when he heard those words. He had asked Ye Chu for help multiple times, yet now Ye Chu was acting like he had only “heard” about it and it was only “apparently” true! So all his previous words had been for nothing!
“Pang Shao, my man! What kind of relationship do we have?! Someone dares to beat you up and you didn’t call me to help you get revenge? Tell me—who did it? I’ll go with you and beat them until even their own mother wouldn’t recognise them!” Ye Chu shouted with righteous indignation, looking as though he was ready to risk life and limb for Pang Shao.
Pang Shao stared at Ye Chu strangely, wondering if the world had gone mad. This fellow was actually volunteering to stand up for him?
“You’re really going to help me get revenge?” Pang Shao asked, deeply suspicious of Ye Chu.
“Of course!” Ye Chu patted Pang Shao’s shoulder firmly. “What kind of bond do we have? Someone bullying you is the same as slapping me in the face! Naturally I’ll stand up for you!”
Pang Shao instantly became excited. “Great! Damn it, then let’s go right now. That bunch of bastards is still at the post station! This time I swear I won’t rest until I steal their maidservants!”
“Wait a moment!” Ye Chu pulled Pang Shao back and smiled at him. “Before that, there’s one thing we need to do first!”
“Hm?” Pang Shao looked at Ye Chu in confusion. Suddenly he had a very bad feeling!
“I heard there’s a solitary copy of the Crimson Baleful Scripture in the Yao City palace. I’d like to borrow it for a look! What kind of relationship do we have? You wouldn’t refuse to help me with this small favour, right?” Ye Chu smiled brightly at Pang Shao. “A brother’s matter is my own matter. I know you definitely won’t refuse me!”
“You bastard!” Pang Shao finally understood what was going on. He grabbed the teacup in his hand and hurled it at Ye Chu. So that was why Ye Chu was acting so unusually today—he had come with an ulterior motive!
“No way!” Pang Shao glared furiously at Ye Chu.
“Why make things hard on yourself? A grand young master from an imperial family, getting beaten up in a rundown place like Yao City—what a humiliation if word gets out! Besides, don’t you want those flower-like, jade-skinned maidservants anymore?” Ye Chu grinned at Pang Shao. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. All I’m asking is for you to open your mouth and request a solitary copy from the king. It’s not a big deal!”
“Go ask him yourself!” Pang Shao spat. “Only a fool would get on your pirate ship!”
Pang Shao understood very well that since Ye Chu valued this solitary copy so highly, it must be no ordinary item. Even if he did ask the king, there was no guarantee the king would give it to him!
He knew Ye Chu’s character well. If Ye Chu did not get what he wanted, he would definitely not help with revenge. In the end, Pang Shao would be left with nothing but empty hands and nowhere to cry.
“Pang Shao! I’ve done some asking around lately! I heard the maidservants staying at the post station aren’t just one or two. Every single one is as beautiful as a flower, with hands soft as new silk and skin smooth as congealed cream—stunningly gorgeous! Tsk tsk, truly peerless beauties! Just looking at them makes me want to pounce and steal a kiss. To see such heavenly women and not be able to touch them—what a crime against life!” Ye Chu sighed dramatically while looking at Pang Shao. “These are far better than any bandit chief’s thirty-six cave wives. What a pity some people can only look but not touch! Tell me, what’s the point of living like that?”
Pang Shao swallowed hard. He nearly blurted out his agreement, but then he suddenly remembered something. “Don’t think you can tempt me! Hmph, they’re just women. This young master has touched plenty of women before!”
Ye Chu gave Pang Shao a surprised glance. He had not expected that this man, who treated women like drugs, would actually be able to resist this level of temptation.
Seeing Ye Chu momentarily stunned, Pang Shao chuckled smugly. “Stop scheming! Asking for a solitary copy is far less reliable than simply asking the king of Yao for a few palace maids!”
“Get lost!” Ye Chu could not hold back and kicked towards Pang Shao. “You have no more use. If you don’t want to get beaten, get out of my sight!”
“Shameless!” Pang Shao looked at Ye Chu with utter contempt. His eyes darted around for a moment before he chuckled again. “But if you’re really willing to help me get revenge, I can think of a way for you to have a chance at getting that solitary copy!”
“Hm?” Ye Chu’s eyes lit up. He laughed heartily, pulled over a stool, and patted it. “Pang Shao! Come here, why are you standing so far away? We brothers rarely get together. Why act so distant?”
Pang Shao curled his lip in disdain, thinking to himself: who was the bastard who just told me to get lost?
“How strong are you right now?” Pang Shao asked Ye Chu.
“Why?” Ye Chu laughed. “Worried I can’t help you get revenge?”
“That’s not it! That guy is only a bit stronger than me. With the two of us together, we can definitely deal with him,” Pang Shao said. “I’m just asking how strong you are so I can judge how feasible my method is!”
“I haven’t reached the third grade yet, but within the second grade, even ten or twenty Ding Kaiweis would be easy for me to handle!” Ye Chu replied.
“Already this strong?” Pang Shao sized Ye Chu up. “You’ve been cultivating desperately this past year?”
“Geniuses don’t need explanations!” Ye Chu shrugged innocently. “I just casually cultivated a little and reached this level!”
“Get lost!” Pang Shao could not stand it anymore. He thought to himself: believe you? As if! He had cultivated desperately this past year, even cutting back on women considerably, and only advanced two or three layers! Yet Ye Chu casually cultivated and reached this level? Did he really think he was some kind of monster?
“Fine! Don’t believe me if you don’t want to!” Ye Chu shrugged. “So, what’s your method?”
“Hehe! You sneak into the palace and find the solitary copy yourself!” Pang Shao said. “You’re strong enough now! Just be careful and avoid the truly powerful ones. There aren’t many people in the palace who can actually threaten you!”
Hearing Pang Shao’s words, Ye Chu nearly kicked him to death. The palace was enormous! How was he supposed to find it by himself?
Seeing Ye Chu looking ready to explode, Pang Shao hurriedly continued, “Hear me out first! It’s not hard to get you into the palace. I can just find some random excuse to meet their king. That way I won’t owe him any favours! As for the location of the solitary copy, it’s actually quite easy to find!”
Pausing for effect, Pang Shao continued, “Su Rong is the king’s adopted daughter! All the solitary copies in the palace have passed through her hands for cataloguing. You can find out exactly where it’s stored from her!”
“Why don’t you just ask the king directly?” Ye Chu stared at Pang Shao. “If you help me get it, naturally I’ll help you with something as small as revenge!”
Pang Shao rolled his eyes. “You think it’s that easy? The king of Yao would love for me to come begging. Then he could make me owe him a favour and ask me for help! If that happens, I’d be stuck between a rock and a hard place. Whatever he asks would definitely not be simple. If I agree, my grandfather would probably beat me to death!”
Pang Shao concluded, “This is the most I can do to help you. Whether you do it or not is up to you.”
Pang Shao acted nonchalant, but inside he was extremely excited! Sneaking into the palace to steal something—this was thrilling beyond words! If he could be part of it, it would be pure adrenaline!
And judging from what he knew of Ye Chu, this fellow had guts bigger than the sky. The chances of him refusing were very slim!
Ye Chu also fell silent. Sneaking into the palace carried enormous risks. Playing such a reckless game was perhaps too audacious!