Qiao Qie’er: “So, as long as you do not die, they will keep coming back?”
“…”
Yu Qing was speechless. The three fellow disciples looked at each other. They all understood the hidden meaning in the woman’s words.
“It is probably like that.”
Yu Qing finally admitted it.
Qiao Qie’er endured the pain, climbed up, and walked towards the exit.
Mu Aotie spoke up, “It seems someone started a fire outside. We do not know the situation out there. It is dangerous to go out now.”
Qiao Qie’er stopped and suddenly turned around. She opened a drawer in the table inside the secret room and took out a glowing stone. Then she walked to a corner and stepped on a floor tile with her toe. She pressed hard and heard a click. She pushed the wall with both hands, and the wall flipped open, revealing another tunnel.
Qiao Qie’er rushed in with the glowing stone for light. The three fellow disciples looked at each other and followed her right away.
The tunnel went all the way down. At the end, they found it filled with water. Qiao Qie’er waded forward silently. She slowly sank into the water. Then a glowing light moved away slowly and blurry in the water.
The three fellow disciples also got into the water one by one and swam after her.
As soon as they entered the water, the three knew it was sea water. They realised this was a secret tunnel from the Qiao Manor to the sea.
Catching up to the light, they saw Qiao Qie’er biting the glowing stone in her mouth. She slowly moved a huge rock blocking the exit with her hands. Then she slipped out through the gap.
The three fellow disciples slipped out one after another.
Soon, they climbed out of the crashing waves and got onto the rocks.
Yu Qing noticed Qiao Qie’er was shivering from pain. His eyes fell on the bandages on her back, which were soaked in sea water.
It was getting dark. At the highest point on the island, where the Qiao Manor was, smoke was still rising.
In the glow of the sunset, they could clearly see the Qiao Manor was completely changed. The green and lush manor had turned to ashes. It was clearly burned down. They could also faintly see figures moving around in it.
Qiao Qie’er immediately ran towards it. Yu Qing flashed over and stopped her. “You are badly hurt, and the situation there is unclear. You should not go there openly. Wait here first. Let us go and check the situation.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a sneaky head popped up from the rocks not far away.
Mu Aotie glanced coldly, held his sword handle, and shouted, “Who is there?”
An old man stood up and shouted towards them, “Miss, is that you?”
Qiao Qie’er glanced at the people beside her who wanted to draw their swords and explained, “He is a man from the manor.” Then she walked over quickly and asked, “Butler Zhu, what happened to the manor?”
Hearing this, Butler Zhu instantly burst into tears. He slapped his legs and stamped his feet. “It is over, Miss. The Qiao Manor is completely gone. Those evil thieves set it on fire. It was burned down by a few fires. Miss, where is the master?”
The three fellow disciples frowned upon hearing this. They found those monster cultivators like Bai Lan to be ruthless. Not finding the people, they actually burned down the manor.
However, this was not hard to understand. The hatred of a murdered husband, which woman could bear it? She naturally wanted to use any means necessary to find the killers and take revenge.
Qiao Qie’er closed her eyes and shook her head slightly.
Butler Zhu was stunned, then realised something. He stumbled and fell to his knees with a thud. He beat the ground and wailed, crying bitterly. “Master, what happened? Why did you suffer such a disaster!”
After opening her eyes, Qiao Qie’er gritted her teeth and said, “Do not cry. We must find a way to take revenge. Are those evil thieves still in the manor?”
Butler Zhu shook his head while crying. “They left. After they could not find the people, they set the manor on fire. They still did not see anyone and left.”
Hearing that the people had left, Qiao Qie’er immediately walked quickly towards the Qiao Manor.
Butler Zhu crawled up and ran to stop her. Wiping his tears while crying, he said, “Miss, you cannot go, you cannot go. Although the thieves left, Island Master Su of Panlong Island brought a group of people and rushed here. They are searching everywhere in the ruins of the manor for you and the master.”
Qiao Qie’er was confused. “Why is Island Master Su looking for my grandfather and me?”
Butler Zhu explained immediately, “The materials the master prepared to collect from the Dark Sea this time were for refining things for Island Master Su. Before, Island Master Su gave all the refining materials he had collected for nearly ten years to the master. After the fire, I went to check. They were gone. They were all burned to ashes by the fire.
That batch of things from Island Master Su was worth almost one and a half billion! After hearing the news, Island Master Su brought people and rushed here. He was searching everywhere for you and the master, shouting that he must find you. I did not even dare to show my face and see him. We know Island Master Su’s character too well. With such a huge amount of things, he cannot just give up. Now the master is gone, he will definitely force you, Miss, to pay it back.
During the fire, the evil thieves were guarding. Some valuable things at home were not taken away in time and were all buried in the sea of fire. The master must have some remaining wealth. May I ask, Miss, do you know where the master’s remaining wealth is? Can you repay that one and a half billion? If you cannot pay, you must not show your face. Otherwise, Island Master Su will definitely harm you, Miss. Miss, you do not know, he always had feelings for you, but the master rejected him.”
Qiao Qie’er turned her head and looked at her ruined home in the glow of the setting sun. Tears streamed down her face.
Learning that Island Master Su’s people were searching everywhere on the island, they did not dare to stay any longer. They sneaked back into the sea and slipped back into the tunnel.
Seeing Qiao Gongxu’s body in the secret room, Butler Zhu cried as if he would die.
It was not good to keep the body for long. The next day, they secretly buried Qiao Gongxu in a corner of the island. They did not even dare to set up a tombstone for now.
After this was done, Yu Qing wanted to go to the island to check the situation. He asked Nanzhu and Mu Aotie to stay. The two of them had very obvious body shapes.
Who would have thought that Qiao Qie’er, kneeling in front of the grave, stood up immediately when she saw this and followed him quickly to his side.
Yu Qing stopped, looked at her blankly, and did not know what she meant.
Qiao Qie’er asked, “Where are you going? Let us go together.”
Yu Qing was speechless. The three fellow disciples also understood her meaning. They knew it was true at a glance.
From when this woman asked earlier if Bai Lan would keep coming back as long as revenge was not taken, the three had roughly guessed her meaning. She probably wanted to follow them and wait for the killers to appear so she could take revenge.
Now it was obvious. It was indeed that meaning.
Yu Qing was silent for a moment and sighed, “Do not worry. I will give you an answer for this matter. I will not abandon you and run away. I just want to walk around the island and gather some information. You have too many acquaintances here. It is very easy to be recognised if you follow me.” He pointed at his two senior brothers. “My people are here. I will not run away. You go back to the secret room and hide first.”
Qiao Qie’er stared at him with a very complex look in her eyes. In the end, she turned around and went back silently.
Yu Qing rubbed his face with both hands, looking very helpless. He pulled the hood of his cloak over his head and turned to leave.
He went and stayed for more than two hours.
After returning to the secret room, as soon as Yu Qing saw the others, he said, “This place is not safe to stay for long. Let us leave as soon as possible.”
Seeing him looking so rushed, Nanzhu immediately asked, “What is wrong?”
Yu Qing immediately told them what he had found out. Just as Butler Zhu said, Island Master Su was indeed looking for Qiao Gongxu and his granddaughter. He was also indeed shouting that Qiao Gongxu had a batch of his things. Island Master Su was mainly worried about his own things.
This was not a big deal. What really made Yu Qing dare not stay was learning that Island Master Su was very famous in this sea area. He was actually a cultivator at the Upper Xuan realm. This was a bit terrifying. Once discovered, they probably could not escape.
The Upper Xuan realm? Nanzhu and Mu Aotie were also very surprised. This was not just the gap between Initial Martial and Upper Martial. They also felt they should leave as soon as possible.
“Do you want to come with us, or…”
Having decided to leave, Yu Qing looked at Qiao Qie’er and tried to ask.
Qiao Qie’er did not answer. Instead, she walked to a corner again, pried open a floor tile, and pulled out an iron box. She brought it to Butler Zhu and opened it, revealing a box of banknotes of various sizes.
Nanzhu stared with wide eyes and kept winking at Yu Qing. His meaning was that this woman was quite rich.
Qiao Qie’er took a stack and put it on herself. She pushed the rest to Butler Zhu. “My grandfather prepared this earlier. It is two hundred million. I took one million. Find a way to give the rest to Island Master Su to show my sincerity. Please him to be generous and spare me for now. Help me tell Island Master Su that I will find a way to repay the rest of the money after I take revenge. If I cannot repay it, I am willing to be his woman. I will do whatever he wants. I will work like an ox or a horse to repay and thank him!”
These words, especially coming from such a beautiful woman, made the three fellow disciples wince.
Especially Yu Qing, he could not help but scratch his small beard. He truly felt he had committed a great sin.
Nanzhu also scratched his head. He could not take his eyes off the box of money. He even subconsciously tugged Yu Qing’s sleeve, signalling him to persuade Qiao Qie’er.
Yu Qing glanced at him and immediately understood his meaning. We are very short of this money. Since we are not meeting Island Master Su for now, there is no need to give him so much. We might as well take it away first to solve our difficulties.
However, Yu Qing did not make a sound, nor did he have any intention of persuading Qiao Qie’er.
Butler Zhu was already sobbing uncontrollably, wiping his tears and nodding continuously.
Only then did Qiao Qie’er turn her head and look at Yu Qing. “I will go with you.”
Alright, except for Butler Zhu, the others left immediately. Qiao Qie’er did not let Butler Zhu see them off, saying that a large group would be a big target.
Qiao Qie’er packed up everything in the secret room that could be packed and took it with her.
Afterwards, the group climbed out from the seaside again. Yu Qing told the others to wait by the sea for a moment while he went to find flying bird mounts for everyone first.
As soon as he left, Nanzhu could not hold back any longer. He said to Qiao Qie’er, “Miss Qie’er, taking revenge is a very expensive thing. Just the travel costs for flying back and forth are enormous. The money is often counted in tens of thousands.
Those Thousand Mile Riders, if you ask them to fly tens of millions of miles for you, giving them a few hundred or a few thousand taels of silver is not enough. The key is they will not do it anyway.
That Island Master Su, it is the same whether you owe a lot or a little. There is no need to give him money now. You do not know, we three are actually very poor. I think the money you gave Butler Zhu should be used where it is most needed first.”
He looked very serious and was lecturing in a solemn manner. He had already hinted very obviously to take the money back first.
Mu Aotie was a man of pride. He immediately moved to the side to show that the man’s words had nothing to do with him, drawing a clear line.
Qiao Qie’er said, “This money is to show sincerity. Seeing the sincerity, Island Master Su will know we do not want to default on the debt. He will not rush to find us no matter what. He will give us a hand and allow us time to raise the money. Otherwise, do you think we can run away easily? Once he discovers our whereabouts, he will definitely chase us for thousands of miles to settle the score.”