Hearing that they would be hunted down and held accountable by a high level Upper Xuan expert, Nanzhu stopped himself from speaking and ultimately said nothing more, giving up his vain hopes.
Yu Qing did not keep them waiting long either. He soon arrived riding a giant bird, followed by three others flying behind him, and he pointed down at the three people below.
The three giant birds dived one after another, and as they glided close to the ground, Nanzhu, Mu Aotie, and Qiao Qie’er leaped up onto them in turn.
Soon, the four giant birds flew into the blue sky in a straight line.
High up in the air, the four birds flew in a straight line, with white clouds drifting lazily and the vast sky and earth stretching out endlessly.
Every two hours or so, the four giant birds would tacitly change their formation and take turns leading the way.
They flew from day to night, and it was not until the small hours of the morning that they landed one after another in a mountain range.
It was no other place than the very entrance to Youjiao Port.
After paying the fare and waiting for the four Thousand League couriers to disappear, Nanzhu could not help but chuckle, “We spent hundreds of thousands and ended up in a huge mess, and now we are just coming back like this.”
Mu Aotie also sighed softly. Their finances were truly tight now, and making such a round trip for nothing, with expenses running into the hundreds of thousands at the drop of a hat, was truly painful.
With nothing more to be said, Yu Qing gave a call, and the four of them bought skateboards again, sliding all the way through the underground secret passage.
Arriving back at Youjiao Port, Nanzhu and Mu Aotie thought they were going back to the Miaqing Hall, but Yu Qing did not do that. Instead, he surprisingly found an inn and booked two rooms.
The two senior brothers were secretly surprised but showed nothing, knowing that their fifteenth junior brother must have his reasons for doing this.
After the attendant showed them the rooms and withdrew, Yu Qing said to Qiao Qie’er, “Miss Qie’er, you can stay in this room.”
He then turned to signal his two senior brothers, and the three of them left together. However, they had not taken more than a few steps out of the door when all three turned to look back, only to see Qiao Qie’er following right behind them.
Nanzhu reminded her, “We are going back to our room now,” hinting at the distinction between men and women and telling her not to follow them anymore.
To their surprise, Qiao Qie’er stared at Yu Qing and said, “It is too cramped for the three of you to stay in one room, so you should stay in one room with me.”
What?
The three brothers nearly dropped their jaws in shock.
However, they quickly recovered and realised that she was afraid Sect Master Yu would run away. As for the other two, she did not care about them at all. She just wanted to keep an eye on Sect Master Yu, because the monster Bai Lan was seeking revenge specifically on him.
Strange expressions appeared on the faces of both Nanzhu and Mu Aotie, and they both glanced at their fifteenth brother to see what he would do.
“This…” Yu Qing looked reserved, with a hint of awkward shyness. “It is not quite proper for a single man and a single woman to be alone together, is it?”
Qiao Qie’er said, “I am not afraid, so what are you afraid of?”
What to do? Yu Qing immediately looked at the other two, using his eyes to tell them that he did not want this, but she did, and there was nothing he could do. He then cleared his throat and said, “Fine, suit yourself.”
Expressions of varying degrees of contempt immediately appeared on the faces of the two senior brothers.
Yu Qing pretended not to see it.
Nanzhu then pointed to a room diagonally opposite and said to Qiao Qie’er, “It is right diagonally opposite you. He will not run away, so could you let us brothers have a private chat?”
Qiao Qie’er was silent for a moment, then turned around and leaned against the wall in the corridor.
Only then did the three brothers enter the room diagonally opposite.
As soon as the door was closed, Nanzhu immediately reached out and patted Yu Qing on the shoulder. “Fifteen, you certainly have a lot of romantic luck. Your big brother needs to remind you of a couple of things. Hold yourself together, and make absolutely sure you hold yourself together. You are at an age full of vigour and intense curiosity, and I am truly worried.”
“Stop worrying about nothing. Do you think I am you?” Yu Qing shrugged off his hand and went straight to sit by the table.
The two senior brothers followed him over. Nanzhu dragged a chair over and sat opposite him, then lowered his voice. “We are at our own doorstep, yet we are staying in an inn? What is the meaning of this? Do you have so much money that you do not know where to spend it?”
Yu Qing said, “I just do not want to expose our identities for the time being.”
Hearing this, Nanzhu thought about it and realised he had a point. If they truly stayed in the Miaqing Hall, anyone could find out they were the Tanhua just by asking around. Changing the subject, he said, “Weren’t we going out to make money? What is the situation with running all the way back to Youjiao Port?”
Yu Qing hesitated slightly, but eventually tried to whisper, “Seventh Brother, I have thought about it over and over, and I feel that what you said back in the Xiaoyun Jian made a lot of sense.”
Nanzhu looked bewildered. He also thought about it for a while, still looking puzzled as he said, “I have said too many sensible things. Which one are you referring to?”
Yu Qing reminded him, “Do you remember the document on the jade page we saw in that iron room? After Yun Xi made a fuss, I suspected it was a trap set by her. Thinking about it now, you were right. Yun Xi did not know we could escape back then, and there was no need for her to set up such a scheme, so the things recorded on the jade page might be real.”
Hearing this, Nanzhu and Mu Aotie almost simultaneously glared coldly at him, just staring at him coldly without saying a word.
Yu Qing also looked quietly at the two of them for a while, and finally, it was he who asked, “What is wrong?”
Nanzhu said, “You continue.”
Yu Qing gave a dry chuckle, then lowered his voice again. “Since there is no problem, how about we go and look for it?”
Nanzhu shook his head and said, “Fifteen, oh Fifteen, you are truly something. First you say it is dangerous, then you say there is no problem. First you say we should not go, then you say we should go. Stop using my words as a cover. In my opinion, you are not thinking of helping that woman pay back that billion or so, are you?”
Mu Aotie said, “That is probably it.”
Nanzhu said, “Fifteen, we are people of the martial world. This bad habit of yours, overflowing with sympathy at the drop of a hat, is not good. Once someone catches onto this weakness and sets a trap, it will ruin you.”
Yu Qing glared at them. “If you insist on thinking this way, there is nothing I can do. I cannot outtalk the two of you with just one mouth. Let me ask you, where are we going to get so much money in the short term? We have no leads or connections for legitimate business, so how can we make tens of millions at the drop of a hat? Besides, I only said we should look for it. Do you really think we can find it just by saying so? That Golden Valley, tell me, where is it?”
Nanzhu sighed and had to bring out the same arguments used to persuade the Second Brother. “You know very well that even if we find the Golden Valley, we might not find the guard wielding a halberd. If that guard still exists, what kind of monster has lived for thousands of years? Are you sure we can afford to provoke it? Are you not afraid of running into a second Yun Xi? Have you forgotten what the three families said in the Xiaoyun Jian? Immortal cave dwellings might all have beasts guarding the mountain. The Sea Market had one, the Xiaoyun Jian had Yun Xi, and what kind of terrifying thing will be inside the Golden Ruins?”
Yu Qing raised his hand to stop him. “How about this? Let us just go and look for it first. If we really find it and make sure there is no problem, we will continue. If not, we will stop. How does that sound?”
Nanzhu said, “How do we gauge that limit? It is impossible to gauge.”
Mu Aotie said, “Seventh Brother is right. No one knows what is inside the Golden Ruins.”
Yu Qing said, “Enough. With the heavy burden of the sect on my shoulders, I will go alone. You two can sneak back. I am too lazy to bring you two burdens along.”
“You…” Nanzhu suddenly stood up, pointed at him for a moment, and then sighed and sat down again. “Do you know why we did not agree to let you be the sect master before? Forget it, talking to you about this is like playing the lute to a cow. Let me ask you, the world is huge. Where are you going to find the Golden Valley?”
Yu Qing said, “Since I have returned to Youjiao Port, where else can I go? Naturally, I will go to the Watchtower to gather information. For now, we cannot find a more suitable place to gather intelligence than the Watchtower.”
This was the same argument as the Second Brother. Nanzhu frowned. “Have you forgotten the consequences of the name Shiji Bay being leaked? And you still dare to leak the three words Golden Valley?”
Yu Qing said, “Seventh Brother, this is not the same thing at all. Think about it. The reason Shiji Bay was targeted by outsiders is that someone knew I had entered the ancient tomb, guessed my intentions, and tracked me down to Shiji Bay. No one knew beforehand that Shiji Bay was related to the Xiaoyun Jian.
Similarly, apart from a few people in our sect, it is unlikely that outsiders know about the Golden Valley. In legends, people have heard of the Xiaoyun Jian, but who had heard of Shiji Bay before? The legends only mention the Golden Ruins, and no one has ever heard of any Golden Valley, let alone a man wielding a halberd. If anyone had truly mastered these clues first, it would not be our turn to go looking for them. If the powerful families who mastered these clues first could not find it, then we are just going there for fun. The possibility of finding it is not high, and there will be no danger.”
Nanzhu and Mu Aotie looked at each other, both frowning, feeling that it seemed to make some sense.
Yu Qing waved his hand again. The two senior brothers, whose heads were already close together, leaned their ears even closer, and Yu Qing whispered to them again.
After the three heads separated slightly, Mu Aotie looked thoughtful.
Nanzhu, however, asked dubiously, “Will this be useful?”
Yu Qing said, “It is better than doing nothing. That woman is following me closely, so it is not easy for me to handle it. Who among you will deal with it?” He looked at Nanzhu’s figure, thinking it was rather conspicuous, and said directly to Mu Aotie, “Ninth Brother, you should go.”
Mu Aotie agreed. Since there was hardly any difference between day and night in Youjiao Port anyway, he turned around and left directly.
Opening the door, he saw the woman still guarding the corridor. He just took a couple of extra glances at her before striding past her.
Qiao Qie’er turned her head and watched him go for a while, then set off. She walked to the door of that room, pushed it open, and stepped one foot inside to peer in.
Yu Qing and Nanzhu were just whispering and talking into each other’s ears. Hearing the sound, they both looked over and were stunned to see her.
“She is truly afraid you will run away,” Nanzhu sneered, shaking his head with a sigh. “Absurd! Alright, Fifteen, you go back and rest first. We will call you if there is anything.”
Yu Qing thought about it and had to give up as well, so he stood up.
“Shh!” Nanzhu suddenly whistled and joked happily, “Fifteen, stay steady. Do not lose your moral integrity.”
Yu Qing rolled his eyes. Forget it, none of them were good people anyway, and he was long used to this bunch of rascals. It was still better than when they made him climb onto the roof to peep at a widow taking a bath back in the day.
Anyway, he was too lazy to turn around and pay attention to them, and he was even too lazy to close the door for him.
“Sigh, losing your humanity for the sake of the opposite sex,” Nanzhu stood up and sneered, shaking his head and swaying as he walked over to close the door himself.
Arriving at the door of the other room, Yu Qing was about to push it open when Qiao Qie’er suddenly said, “Could you accompany me for a stroll in the streets?”
Yu Qing was taken aback and turned back to say, “Is it not appropriate for us to do this sort of romantic thing?”
The slightly awkward and shy expression on Qiao Qie’er’s face quickly turned cold. “You are overthinking it. I just want to change my clothes.”
Yu Qing took a look at the men’s clothes she was wearing and immediately realised it. The woman was injured on her back, and her clothes were still torn. Because her cultivation was insufficient after the injury, she had been soaked in seawater several times back and forth. The conditions were inconvenient at the time, so she had not been able to change. The coat she was wearing was actually given by him to cover her back.
Realising this, he quickly changed his tune and said, “Alright, let us go.”