Yu Qing was still unwilling to face reality, his face flushed red, and he said angrily, “Nonsense, if you came for the secret here, why do you want to kill only me?”
Seeing his stubbornness, Ning Chaoyi made it clear again, “We do not know why they want to kill you either. It does not matter if you think I am talking nonsense. The problem now is whether Wang Shaojun will kill you!”
Yu Qing was left with only his breathing, saying nothing. His expression was like a beast trapped in a cage, and he gritted his teeth, “Since you have already been threatened by those people and are already obeying them, why are you telling us the truth now?”
Speaking of this, a rare anger appeared in Ning Chaoyi’s tone, “Because this is the Golden Ruins! We never dreamed that the secret we tried so hard to help you dig up would actually be the legendary Golden Ruins. Do you think they will still let us take the secret back? Can we still expect them to keep their promise and release the hostages they have in their hands? Lin Erqing, we are being honest with you in good faith. What is going on with you? Do you want to confirm Wang Shaojun’s identity or not?”
Lu Xingyun spoke softly, “He has fallen in love with her, is unwilling to face reality, and wants to escape.”
Nie Pinlan immediately frowned, “Lin Erqing, get it clear. They want to kill you, and there is a group of people secretly following behind. Keeping a spy like this by your side, do you want to get everyone killed?”
Nan Zhu suddenly spoke up, “Saying Wang Shaojun is a spy, we certainly do not believe it at first. Let us cut the nonsense and let the facts speak. Since Mr Ning has a way to prove it, then use the facts to show us.”
Ning Chaoyi stood up immediately and said to Nie Pinlan and the others, “Let us go, continue moving things. It is easy to be suspected if I am alone.”
“Let us go.” Nan Zhu also stood up, intending to pull Yu Qing along to put on a show.
Ning Chaoyi immediately raised his hand to stop them, “Forget about you two. In his current state, anyone who is not blind can see there is something wrong with his emotions. You two should just watch him. I will smooth things over with Wang Shaojun.” After saying this, he took a few people and left.
Nan Zhu had to sit down again. He and Mu Aotie looked at each other. On the surface they were calm, but in reality, their hearts were very heavy. If Qiao Qie’er was really a spy, then someone was using a honey trap on the fifteenth young master. Behind this matter, neither of them dared to think too much.
Yu Qing sat on the ground without a word. His eyeballs gradually became bloodshot, his breathing was chaotic and heavy, and his expression was slightly hideous. It was like a strong man who suddenly broke both his legs, unable to walk and unable to stand up again. It was also like a mountain suddenly pressing down on him, suddenly giving him an unbearable weight.
Wu Hei did not say a word from beginning to end. Firstly, he did not understand the rights and wrongs behind these people. Occasionally looking at Yu Qing’s expression, he could probably understand his mood. He could also see that this guy really liked that woman. Being deceived and betrayed by such a woman was naturally not a pleasant experience.
A group of people successively entered the canyon to carry gold.
Shen Qingcheng, who was digging for gold on the cliff, noticed something unusual. Seeing her mother Lu Xingyun arrive, she jumped from the cliff into the valley and asked by her mother’s side, “Where did the people go just now?”
Glancing at Qiao Qie’er digging on the cliff, Lu Xingyun said calmly, “It is nothing. We just met and talked for a while.”
Without another word, she shouldered a large piece of gold and left.
When the late arriving Ning Chaoyi jumped down, he flew and hung on the mountain wall, giving a signal to Qiao Qie’er, who was also hanging on the cliff working, “Come here for a moment.”
Qiao Qie’er was slightly silent. The signal of the glowing stone flashed in her mind. She exerted force with the sword in her hand, pried a large gold block from the cliff which crashed to the ground, and then swung her sword to insert it into the cliff before flying down.
The two of them, one behind the other, flashed further away in the valley. Once they could avoid being seen or heard, Qiao Qie’er questioned in a deep voice, “Did I not tell you to avoid direct face to face meetings as much as possible if there is anything?”
Ning Chaoyi said, “I did not want to either, but I was forced. Those people outside followed in and found me, telling me to immediately pass a message to you, to find a way to lure Lin Erqing away alone and separate him from those people. The person who gave the order is waiting near where we threw the gold blocks, waiting for your reply.”
Qiao Qie’er was uncertain and suspicious, “Why do they want to lure Lin Erqing away alone?”
Ning Chaoyi said, “They are about to expose you, so what else could it be? Either to talk, to kidnap, or to kill. I really could not help but ask, and they really want to get rid of him. As for why, they would not say. Go and ask them yourself about the specific details.”
Qiao Qie’er fell silent there, as if she had stopped breathing.
After waiting a moment, Ning Chaoyi could not help but urge, “The person is over there waiting for your reply.”
Qiao Qie’er asked, “What did you say when you met with them over there?”
Ning Chaoyi said, “They found me while I was working. It was not convenient for me to leave for too long. Besides this matter, I did not say anything.”
Qiao Qie’er thought for a moment and said, “Tell them over there that this is very simple for me. Just say that at midnight tonight, I will lure Lin Erqing to the highest peak nearby.”
Ning Chaoyi nodded, “That is right. Lin Erqing has already fallen under your honey trap, so this will not be difficult for you at all.”
Qiao Qie’er seemed unwilling to continue this topic, “What about Lin Erqing and the other two? I seem to have not seen them for a while just now.”
Ning Chaoyi told the truth, “Oh, they went to Wu Hei. They probably have something to discuss.”
Qiao Qie’er did not talk nonsense anymore, turned around silently and left, returning to the place where she was busy before to continue working.
Ning Chaoyi watched her go for a moment, then also went over. He carried a large gold block from the valley. After struggling to climb up the cliff, he did not carry the thing away, but gently put it down nearby, and then quickly ran to the place where Wu Hei was resting.
Yu Qing and his two fellow disciples were still in the same place. As soon as Ning Chaoyi arrived, he immediately squatted in front of them and said, “I have conveyed the order from over there to her, and she asked me to reply…” He paused here, stared at Yu Qing’s slightly dodging eyes, and said word by word, “She said she will lure you to the highest peak nearby at midnight tonight!”
Everyone present seemed to be suffocated. It instantly became so quiet that only the sound of the wind and the occasional rumbling from the valley could be heard.
Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie frowned and remained silent. Was she really a spy? Thinking of how the fifteenth young master was completely defenceless in front of her, the mere thought was terrifying!
Yu Qing only felt his hands and feet going numb. He still could not believe that Qiao Qie’er, with whom he was mutually in love, would kill him. He could not believe it.
“I will go and reply to them over there right now.”
Ning Chaoyi dropped these words and left immediately.
Wu Hei, who was listening carefully, looked at Yu Qing with sympathy in his eyes. He wondered what kind of mood he would be in when that woman came over later to invite him to the highest peak, and whether he could hold it together as if nothing had happened.
“Midnight… it is already the hour of Hai. There is only about half a shichen left.” Nan Zhu muttered to himself while looking at the position of the moon.
Everyone understood what he meant. Whether it was true or false, it would be revealed in half a shichen.
After throwing the large gold block down the slope, Ning Chaoyi slipped away to the mountain hollow where he had agreed to meet Gao Yuan, only to find that Gao Yuan was gone.
Just as he was looking around, Gao Yuan popped out from a nearby mountain hollow, darted in front of him, and asked, “What did she say?”
Ning Chaoyi found that this guy was quite cautious. He did not distort anything and relayed Qiao Qie’er’s exact words.
“The highest peak…” Gao Yuan turned around, looked at the shadowy mountain peaks in the moonlight in the distance, thought for a moment, nodded, and said, “Good, I know. You be careful, we will contact again.” He dropped these words and left first.
Watching him leave, Ning Chaoyi really wanted to follow and investigate, but ultimately felt it was not safe. They must have set up some kind of guard, and rushing over would be too dangerous. He had to give up and go back to continue pretending to move gold.
After returning to the dugout on the Gobi beach, Gao Yuan reported the situation to the Iron Faced Man.
The Iron Faced Man, holding the golden halberd in his hand, first looked at the position of the moon, then looked at the faint mountain peaks in the distance, and thoughtfully said, “Midnight, there is less than half a shichen left. We can start moving and make preparations. Bai Lan, today is the day you get your revenge. I said I would help you, and I have not broken my word, have I?”
Bai Lan, standing nearby, gritted her teeth, “Thank you, sir, for your help. Today I will definitely make that little thief regret being reborn as a human!”
Gao Yuan, with a hint of doubt on his face, suddenly said, “I am worried that this matter is not that simple.”
The Iron Faced Man looked at him, “You went to make contact, and you brought the news back. What is wrong now? Just say it if you have something to say.”
Gao Yuan said, “Sir, I still feel that Qiao Qie’er is not quite normal. She must have seen the meeting signal I gave earlier. Also, regarding the errand runner who followed up, there is something I forgot to tell you, sir. In the evening, when I was looking down from high altitude, I noticed a large canyon behind that highest peak. I saw with my own eyes a group of giant golden snakes resembling dragons fighting a giant golden bear. Their attack power was very formidable, completely capable of matching early Xuan cultivators. The giant bear was defeated and died, and the giant snakes hid. That place should be the lair of the giant golden snakes. What does it mean for that woman to set the handover location there?”
Regarding the matter of the golden monsters, it was not actually that he forgot to mention it; he had originally intended to conceal it.
The reasoning was the same. After suddenly discovering that the secret he had tried so hard to uncover was the Golden Ruins, he was also a bit worried and wanted to keep a backup plan for himself just in case it could be used. Now, colliding with Qiao Qie’er’s arrangement, he was worried there might be a problem, so he could not help but bring it up.
Bai Lan did not understand, “There are thousands of mountains and valleys around here, and too many mountain tops look similar. It is not easy to distinguish them at night, so going to the highest mountain top is a matter of course. Besides, what problem could there be with using it for a meeting and handover?”
Gao Yuan said, “The problem is that we are going to make a move on A Shiheng. You complained that the commotion was too small. Do you really want to alert those monsters? There is another situation. As Ning Chaoyi said, that dishevelled guy with a child has the strength of an upper Xuan cultivator. Does Qiao Qie’er not know there is an upper Xuan expert among them? Is she not afraid that a large commotion will alert that expert to rush over?”
The Iron Faced Man said, “With our strength, if we want to subdue a lone A Shiheng, we will not make much commotion. You are overthinking it.”
Gao Yuan said, “I am not saying she definitely has a problem. I just feel this woman is not normal. I think it is better to be careful.”
In some ways, he was judging others by himself. After coming to the Golden Ruins, he felt uneasy in his heart. Could Qiao Qie’er really have no thoughts of her own?
The Iron Faced Man hummed in agreement, “Being careful will not be wrong.”