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101
Ji Han had an even temper, but he was the Creed Lord, and had a surplus of prestige to the outside world. Yu Xian’r hadn’t used their real names, but any idiot could tell who was written here.
What was even more awful was that, according to the Elder Maid, the booklet had been making its rounds around the Creed for a long time, and even had dozens of different versions. Most of the maids and attendants had a copy; to be brief, it was extremely popular. As for whether it had circulated over to jianghu, the Elder Maid had no idea.
He requested the booklet from her, took it back, then looked through it carefully many times, feeling like his entire body had suffered a huge impact.
What was all this crap?! It was practically one-hundred-percent lewd! It knew no shame!
Written here was a warrior that had infiltrated the Demonic Creed to seduce its Devil, all in order to protect the righteous path’s peace. That went all the way until he happened to become the Devil’s cook, and then, from that point on, he shamelessly had illicit relations inside the kitchen with the Devil, not remembering a thing about the righteous path’s safety!
Zhao Jiangui couldn’t read any more, keeping the booklet in hand as he prepared to find Yu Xian’r and settle the score.
However, right when he left, he happened to run into Ji Han, who was looking for him.
“Zhao Jiangui, I suddenly remembered something. It’s been too busy in the Creed these days, so I forgot to take you to see the Jackdaw assassins.”
Zhao Jiangui had just finished reading that bizarre book, so, upon seeing Ji Han all of a sudden, he felt extremely awkward. He remembered that he still held the booklet — nothing good would happen if Ji Han saw it.
He quietly went to stuff the book into a pocket, responding without a change in expression. “Let’s go, then.”
“What do you have?”
“Nothing…”
Ji Han stared coldly at him. “The Vast Alliance gave you something again.”
“They really didn’t—”
Before he could finish, Ji Han reached out to snatch it. Zhao Jiangui turned to the side to evade him, and the two exchanged several moves in the blink of an eye. Anxious at heart, Zhao Jiangui knew that this needed to never fall into Ji Han’s hands, and yet, right when he was thinking so, the booklet abruptly got away from his hands and flew past Ji Han’s eyes.
It rustled as its pages flipped in midair. Zhao Jiangui felt apprehensive — martial artists had keen eyes and ears, so Ji Han had likely already seen everything from just that quick glance. Even so, Zhao Jiangui recalled how the plot of the latter half of the book was way more aggravating than the former half, and he had to at least make sure that Ji Han didn’t see that.
He reached out to catch it, and Ji Han happened to do the same. The book was torn into two halves. Zhao Jiangui quickly lowered his head to look, the inside of his head filling with buzzes — he felt like his life was over.
He had… the front half.
Ji Han lowered his head to speedily flip through the pages, his face getting increasingly overcast until he angrily motioned at the book in Zhao Jiangui’s hands. “What is the Alliance teaching you?!”
“…”
“Fancy that you lot still flaunt yourself as an upright faction! What is all this stuff?!”
“I’m not…”
Ji Han paced a few times around the room, seeming to want to swear, yet unable to actually say anything rude. He ultimately just viciously flung the half-book to the ground, turned, and left with a cold face.
Zhao Jiangui had an enormous headache. Sighing, he crouched down and picked up the booklet.
When Ji Han had thrown it, the pages had coincidentally flipped to the last couple of pages. Zhao Jiangui hadn’t ever gotten to these pages before, but as soon as he saw them, he understood why Ji Han had been so angry.
The author’s name was written on this page with a flourish :’The Giggling Scholar of the Martial Forest Alliance.’
“…”
He clenched his fists tight.
That damned Yu Xian’r! He was going to cut! Him! In! To! Pieces!
102
Full of rage, Zhao Jiangui took up his sword and rushed over to Wei Qi’s Flying Hawk Hall, only to be blocked outside of it.
His current status was just the Creed Lord’s attendant, no longer that Hero Zhao that no one had ever dared to stop. The guards didn’t recognize him, so they naturally didn’t easily let him in. He was forced to brace himself and say that the Lord had sent him to find Wei Qi, only for the guard to unexpectedly laugh. “You’re too late.”
Zhao Jiangui was startled. “I’m too late?“
“The Creed Lord just sent someone over. Hallmaster Wei has long followed them away.”
“What did the Lord seek him out for?”
“What else?” the guard said with utter righteousness. “It was to discuss eliminating the righteous path with him, of course!”
“…” Zhao Jiangui felt pain in his heart.
Sorry, seniors! I’ve brought calamity to the Alliance!
103
Since he had been stopped by the guards when he really only wanted to find Yu Xian’r to settle this debt immediately, he simply left with a fake excuse, bypassed the Hall’s main entrance, then used his lightness arts to jump over the wall from outside.
If he wanted to hold his breath and hide, even Ji Han would have a hard time finding him, to say nothing of these minor guards with average martial arts. He slipped into the Hall extremely deftly, and once he found Yu Xian’r and Wei Qi’s room, he barged in without a single word.
Yu Xian’r was currently writing at the speed of light in the room, then suddenly heard the door get kicked open, which made him jump in fright. Once he looked up, he saw Zhao Jiangui’s face and startled, faltering. “Hero Zhao?”
“Yu Xian’r! You’ve brought me to my death!”
The other jolted, subconsciously hiding the manuscript he held as he stammered out, “H… Hero Zhao… I think this must be some sort of misunderstanding.”
Zhao Jiangui noticed the movement of his hands, snatched the papers from them without even thinking about it, gave it a close look, then almost fainted from anger.
This was different in content from the Elder Maid’s. Last time, it said that the righteous path warrior snuck into the Creed to be a cook, but this one was way more direct — the warrior infiltrated the Creed expressly to become the Lord’s lover! People of the righteous path knew courtesy, justice, integrity, and honor! How could one ever do something so shameless?!
On top of that, he knew that the ‘warrior’ Yu Xian’r had written was pretty much him, and couldn’t help but be even more annoyed. Flipping the thin pages over, he then glanced at the few rows of large, inked characters on the last page, which was the booklet’s cover title.
A Dramatic Narration of the Number One Swordsman Becoming the Demon’s Lover in a Never-Before-Heard Beautiful Love Story.
“…”
He expressionlessly tore up Yu Xian’r’s manuscript.
104
Yu Xian’r clearly knew that something had happened. He gulped and backed into a corner. “Hero Zhao, you mustn’t get angry…”
Zhao Jiangui sneered.
“This is just a pastime of mine…”
“Pastime?”
“And… and a bit of a moneymaker…”
“…”
“The number-one swordsman and great Devil inside are definitely not you and Lord Ji!”
“…”
Zhao Jiangui silently drew his sword.
Seeing that sword out of its sheath, Yu Xian’r leapt back in fright and screamed. “I’ll stop, I’ll stop! I won’t write anymore!”
“Why did you give yourself that name?”
“…Name?”
“The Giggling Scholar of the Martial Forest Alliance,” Zhao Jiangui said with grit teeth.
“…”
Yu Xian’r pounced forward and earnestly grabbed his hand. “Hero Zhao! My… my body is in Cao’s camp, but my heart is of a Han! My body is in darkness, but my heart is turned towards the light!”
“…”
105
Zhao Jiangui knew that as a righteous path warrior, he certainly couldn’t kill Yu Xian’r over this. After he saw him pledge through gritted teeth that he would never write such hideous things again, Zhao Jiangui had to swallow down his anger, force Yu Xian’r to make a written testimony, then plan to leave and seek Ji Han out to clear things up.
However, Yu Xian’r pitifully clutched the hem of his robes.
“Hero Zhao, promise me something!” he said, weeping. “You must never tell the Creed Lord about this!”
“…” If he didn’t tell Ji Han, then how was he going to clear the Alliance’s suspicion away?
“If you tell him, he’ll be certain to beat us mandarin ducks with a club!”
“…”
“First, he’ll kill Xiao Wei…”
“…”
“And then he’ll kill me! Boo-hoo-hoo, we’re such ill-fated ducks…”
“…I promise I won’t.”
He felt himself to be too soft-hearted, since he had promised as soon as the other had cried. Now, since he had made the promise but still wanted to clarify things to Ji Han, he found himself in some trouble.
Steeling himself, he walked to Ji Han’s room. Right as he was about to knock on the door, he saw the Elder Maid standing outside with extreme awkwardness, giving him eyes full of apologies.
“Hero Zhao, I’ve hurt you,” she said quietly. “You must never tell the Lord that that book was found on me.”
“…”
Zhao Jiangui took in a deep breath, then pushed Ji Han’s door open.
Ji Han was talking to Wei Qi inside, his anger obviously still not gone. The second Zhao Jiangui came in, he saw Ji Han viciously throw a teapot at him. He knew that Ji Han ought to have heard him coming; right when he was getting ready to dodge, he suddenly thought about how doing that would make Ji Han even more angry, so he just stood in place and took it.
In spite of Ji Han having used a lot of strength, the hit didn’t really hurt. Ji Han was taken aback, clearly not as mad as he just had been, and narrowed his eyes as he grit his teeth. “This Lord never sent word to you. What are you doing, coming in here?”
“I came to apologize.”
“Apologize?” Ji Han sneered. “What mistakes have you made?”
“…”
Ji Han smashed a cup on the ground, fuming. “What’s made a mistake here is your righteous path!”
He saw that Wei Qi was sitting to the side and drinking tea without batting an eye. Clearly, he knew the full picture, yet wasn’t standing up to speak on Zhao Jiangui’s behalf, merely beaming as he watched the two quarrel.
“…”
Zhao Jiangui had no idea how to explain this.
“This Lord is not an unreasonable person,” Ji Han said. “Even if that book wasn’t given to you by the Vast Alliance, why were you reading such a thing?”
Zhao Jiangui choked. “I…”
How was he going to explain this?!
If he did so properly, it would undoubtedly implicate the Elder Maid and Yu Xian’r, and he had already promised not to tell on them.
All he could do was brace himself, grit his teeth, and apologize. “This is all my fault. I recognize my mistake now.”
Ji Han just coldly stared at him. “Do you have some kind of misconception about our relationship, Zhao Jiangui?”
The other was startled. “I…”
“Regardless of what you think, this Lord will tell you that your guess is wrong. You and I will never have that kind of relationship.”
“…” Zhao Jiangui lowered his head, downcast. “Okay.”
Ji Han called for the Elder Maid, then had her lead Zhao Jiangui away. The latter turned and followed her out, but when he got to the edge of the door, he heard Ji Han say something sulkily.
“If I ever hear anyone bring this up from here on out, I will skin them alive, tear off their flesh, and break their bones!”
106
Head drooped in dejection, Zhao Jiangui followed the Elder Maid out, unspeakably disappointed.
He didn’t understand why his mood was so low. After a short while of walking, the Elder Maid turned around and grabbed his hand, tears in her eyes.
“Hero Zhao, I didn’t expect that you would make such a huge sacrifice in order to protect us.” She was utterly moved. “I will never be able to repay this grace!”
“…”
He sighed, but right as he went to speak, he saw Wei Qi come out.
Thinking of what that guard had just said about Ji Han finding Wei Qi to discuss attacking the righteous path, he couldn’t help but want to ask the latter what was going on. Before he could even open his mouth, though, Wei Qi was the one to explain of his own volition.
“Don’t take what the Lord just said to heart, Hero Zhao,” he said merrily. “That was just a young man having thin skin that can’t withstand others’ gossip.”
Zhao Jiangui was taken aback. “What do you mean, Hallmaster Wei?”
“The Lord’s speech was a little heavy, but he doesn’t think so at all in his heart.”
“Believe me, Hero Zhao! The Lord still likes you!” The Elder Maid nodded on end. “Don’t worry! We’ll definitely help you seize his love!”
“…”
107
Upon hearing that Ji Han didn’t actually want to attack the righteous path, Zhao Jiangui finally sighed in relief.
Over the next few days, beneath the Elder Maid’s guidance, he simply put himself into playing his role as the Lord’s attendant while simultaneously taking note of everyone’s relationships in the Creed, attempting to determine who the behind-the-scenes person that was trying to kill Ji Han was.
He didn’t reap anything, but a few days later, when Ji Han had finally stopped being angry, he brought him into the Creed’s underground prison to see the captured Shi Ge and Xu Jingying.
It had been around over half a year since the Jackdaw assassination attempt, and these two had been detained that whole time. The Demonic Creed’s torture was harsh, making their mental states not that great and bodies filled with wounds. Had Ji Han not been intentionally keeping them alive, they would have long died down here.
Ji Han ordered for them to be interrogated while he sat with Zhao Jiangui and listened in. These questions had obviously been asked many times before; Xu Jingying answered each of them numbly, while the sharp-eyed Shi Ge glanced at Zhao Jiangui as he sat beside Ji Han, startling for a second, then grinning bizarrely. “I didn’t expect that the Demonic Creed Lord would be such an infatuate.”
Those words caught Ji Han off guard, and he had to raise a brow. “What do you mean?”
Zhao Jiangui’s heart skipped a beat. This wasn’t good.
“The attendant at your side… has a pretty close resemblance to a certain righteous Hero.”
Before Shi Ge finished, Zhao Jiangui noticed that Ji Han was looking at him, but he could only laugh dryly. Seeing him laugh just made Ji Han even more unhappy, and he turned back to Shi Ge coldly. “Quit with the non—“
“Lord Ji, it doesn’t feel good to seek something and not get it, does it?” Shi Ge immediately interrupted.
“Shut your mouth!” Ji Han said indignantly.
Shi Ge grinned. “Too bad you two are on the opposite sides of righteous and chaotic. As I see it, that Hero cares only about his path. He’d definitely never come looking for you.”
“Keep talking like that, and this Lord will tear your mouth off!”
Zhao Jiangui knew that he was just thin-skinned and couldn’t bear with such badgering, but the angrier Ji Han got, the more onlookers felt that Shi Ge’s guess was correct. The interrogating wardens turned to look at each other, expressions a little off. Zhao Jiangui quickly tugged at Ji Han’s sleeve from behind, afraid that he would explode in rage and injure Shi Ge; the latter glared at him, then turned and went out in anger.
Zhao Jiangui followed close in his footsteps. When the two walked outside together, Ji Han abruptly scolded him. “This is all because of you!”
Zhao Jiangui was startled. “What?”
Ji Han grit his teeth. “This Lord’s face has been completely thrown away!”
“…”
Zhao Jiangui had no idea how to comfort him; he felt slightly joyous, even. After a light cough, he whispered, “I didn’t get any new clues off of them. What do you plan to do next?”
Ji Han took a deep breath, finally collecting himself. “Let the tigers return to the mountain.”
The other frowned slightly. “You’re thinking…?”
“Wasn’t it said that only the Jackdaw Head knows their customer’s identity? We’ll just find and question them, then.”
“But you’re well aware that no one in jianghu knows the Jackdaw Head’s identity.”
“There also has never been anyone in jianghu that could defeat Jackdaw’s three greatest before,” Ji Han answered indifferently. “There’ll be a good show on tonight. Do you want to watch it, Hero Zhao?”
Understanding in his heart, Zhao Jiangui smiled lightly. “As the Lord has graciously invited me, this Zhao will naturally keep the appointment.”
108
Zhao Jiangui returned to the study while following Ji Han. Exactly when they stepped into the courtyard, he saw the Elders Sun and Yu making a ruckus as they ran around looking for the Creed Lord.
The two of them had faces full of joy. Seeing those looks, Ji Han got scared, but still had to toughen his hide and invite them in. “Is there something you Elders are looking for me for?”
“For but a joyous event, Creed Lord,” Elder Sun said.
Elder Yu nodded on end. “These old ones have prepared a great gift for you, Lord!”
“You will definitely love it!”
“There’s no need for—“
However, the two Elders clearly didn’t care to give Ji Han the chance to say the rest of that, as Elder Sun clapped once, whereupon people immediately carried in an extremely big trunk that had a mess of red silk ribbons tied onto it. It seemed quite grand.
Zhao Jiangui looked at it with curiosity, unable to keep from making mental guesses. Such a big trunk was big enough to stuff a whole person inside it — he had no idea what they were giving Ji Han.
As soon as he thought as much, Elder Sun tore off the ribbons while Elder Yu lifted the lid off, and then a whole person actually did come out of it.
It was a young man that appeared to be no more than twenty. His gait while walking looked flirty, he didn’t much look like a martial artist, and his clothes were white — that manner of dress looked a bit familiar to Zhao Jiangui. The next instant, the young man looked up, his pretty eyes shining. “Greetings to the Creed Lord,” he said softly.
Zhao Jiangui jolted in fear. Ji Han nearly sprayed out a mouthful of tea.
This guy’s face… was about seventy-percent similar to Zhao Jiangui’s, to the point that he himself nearly suspected that the other was his long-lost, full-blooded brother.
However, that face was filled with a tender sweetness that would never show up in Zhao Jiangui’s eyes. Seeing that expression on a face that was so similar to his own, Zhao Jiangui’s hairs stood on end, creeped out.
“What is the meaning of this?” Ji Han coldly asked.
Elder Sun had a face heaped with smiles. “This is a beauty that Old Yu and I spent a lot of money finding, Creed Lord.”
Ji Han’s expression was dark.
“His name is Guigui!”
Ji Han: “…”
Zhao Jiangui: “…”
109
No matter what, these were Elders of the Creed, and Ji Han’s foundation was not currently stable. He needed to rely upon the power in their hands. There was no way he could have a falling out with them.
Thus, regardless of how much rage and dissatisfaction was in his heart, he could only force it down, grit his teeth, and put on a good tone and mood towards them. “What are you doing, Elders?”
Elder Sun still beamed. “You must be well aware, yes, Lord?”
“…”
Elder Yu had a realization, abruptly slapping Elder Sun. “Old Sun! Give the Lord some face!”
Also having a realization, Elder Sun gave Elder Yu a thumbs up.
Ji Han: “…”
“Creed Lord, this old man was not thinking properly!” Elder Sun quickly said. “I will send him away now!”
Ji Han’s expression finally became a little better-looking, and he nodded. “This Lord is tired. If there is nothing else…”
Elder Sun hurriedly nodded. “This old man will take my leave, Lord.”
He pulled Elder Yu away to leave in a rush. When Ji Han turned around, he grit his teeth in rage as he looked at Zhao Jiangui, the tips of his ears slightly red. “Who told you to disguise yourself as that?!”
“…”
He couldn’t help but think that if Ji Han knew that this had been Protector Hua’s idea, she might not be harvesting any nice rewards for it, while he was different; Ji Han wouldn’t try to do anything to him. Besides, Ji Han could never beat him. He couldn’t sell Protector Hua out.
Hence why he had to brace himself. “It was my idea.”
“…”
110
Elder Sun and Elder Yu walked out of the courtyard. Upon looking in all directions and seeing that there was no one around, the latter couldn’t help but start mumbling again. “Old Sun, the Lord refused to accept the gift. What should we do?”
“Ah, men.” Elder Sun stroked his beard with a grin. “They’re all about using empty words to save face.”
Elder Yu did not understand.
“There were so many people on-scene. If the Lord accepted it, wouldn’t that be tantamount to acknowledging that he admires the number-one swordsman, yet can’t get what he seeks? He’s also the Lord of a Creed! It would be much too shameless!”
Elder Yu now seemed to have a faint understanding.
“Something like this must be received in secret.”
“You mean…”
“Didn’t the Lord say that he was tired? That was a hint!”
“I get it, Old Sun!” Elder Yu grabbed his hand in excitement, seeing the light. “I will have the beauty bathed and sent to the Lord’s bed!”
Chichi's Dives 
These elders are hilarious!!
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