Chapter 118: Concealing the Truth

The sound of bells could be heard faintly from deep within the underground palace. Phoenix Chick explained that it was because sunlight was hard to see in most parts of the underground palace, and it was impossible to distinguish between day and night, so the sound of bells was used to tell the time.

Start at Zi hour with two strikes, pause for a moment, and then strike twice again. At Chou hour, strike three times, pause for a moment, and repeat three times.

Jiaoran listened to the bell and guessed it was the You hour.

There was a gentle knock on the stone door, and Phoenix Chick said, "That's all for today. I have other things to do. You should go back and rest for a while."

The stone door opened, and a man holding a lantern was waiting outside, not taking a single step inside.

Jiao Ran saw his face clearly and asked, "Why is Chai Che here?"

Phoenix Chick flicked his sleeves lightly and said, "You can ask him yourself."

Chai Che was wearing a loose white robe. When the wind blew in the underground palace, his clothes flew up and he stood motionless in the wind.

Jiaoran walked out and greeted him face to face. She couldn't understand why he didn't just live a good life but came here to mess with Fenghuang Chi.

But when he fought in the ring, it seemed that he didn't care about their past friendship at all, and every move was aimed at taking her life.

Perhaps the only person he truly cares about is his senior sister.

Jiao Ran asked, "Where's Senior Sister? Where's the child?"

He looked at Jiaoran. He knew that none of what happened was her fault, but he still couldn't help but hate her.

She is different from Mu Jin. Mu Jin has known him since childhood, and he has a preference for her. But as for Jiao Ran, who is completely different from before, he finds that he cannot control her, and he has long been defeated by her.

It would have been fine if he could have defeated her through hard work and practice, but during the tournament, she didn't even use the strange internal energy used by her elder brother or father on the stage, and defeated him in thirty rounds with just her martial arts skills.

If the way of martial arts was a tall building, then when he looked up at this moment, Jiaoran was no longer on the same floor as him.

From the first day he saw her, he felt that she was full of a sense of eternal life.

Like a young sprout struggling out from the cracks in the rocks, its roots are deeply rooted. Her strength is buried in the soil and can burst out at any time.

"Don't worry about it."

Jiao Ran was stunned for a moment. "Zhu Xing is your wife, yes, but she is also my senior sister. You asked me to stay out of your business, but I can't do it."

Thinking of what Phoenix Chick had just said, she had a bad feeling, "Did something happen to Senior Sister?"

Chache's silence gave the answer.

"Then why didn't you say so earlier!"

She should have expected this to happen. "You don't care about other things, and you certainly don't covet unattainable things like Chai Lie. You don't have any jealousy, so I can only threaten you with my wife and children."

"no."

"Not what?"

"I'm just an ordinary person, I feel jealous too."

"Never mind jealousy, where is Senior Sister now?"

"Phoenix Young was afraid you wouldn't come, so he brought Zhuxing here to increase his chances. I think he should be somewhere in the underground palace, but this underground palace is also a maze. If you're not careful, you'll die under the traps. It would take the world's most skilled craftsmen decades to build such an exquisite underground palace. I wonder when he built it."

"Now what are you going to do?"

There seemed to be no reaction on his face, but his fists were slowly clenched.

Chai Che, who has always been as calm as a mountain, can only lie dormant for a while and wait for the opportunity when facing such a powerful person as Fenghuang Chu.

He suddenly picked up the lantern in one hand and struck Jiaoran in the face with his palm.

Jiaoran didn't find it difficult to dodge the heavy palm that had the power of thunder.

She really took the blow, "What are you doing?"

He drew his fist back, cracking his knuckles. "Be prepared to do this."

Jiao Ran said, "That's not an easy opportunity. Phoenix chicks are much more difficult to deal with than you and I imagined."

From the moment they met, Chai Che could tell that Jiaoran had cultivated both internally and externally, and her true energy was overflowing. To be able to reach such a state through hard training in just a few years was not something that ordinary people could achieve. What was even more terrifying was that she could disperse the power of his palm in an instant.

"But you're here." Cha Che said, "He's looking for you for his grand plan. Zhuxing is just a trivial bargaining chip to threaten you and me. Go and try to get Zhuxing first."

Jiaoran had not known about this at first, but now that he knew, he naturally wanted to save his senior sister. "Okay, I understand."

"Where's the child? Was he brought along?"

Thinking of the child all alone in Xiutu, his whole body froze as if frozen. He sighed softly, "Madam Lu is taking care of him. Without Zhuxing, I wonder if he would still be crying day and night."

"Is it a girl or a boy?"

"boy."

Jiaoran wanted to ask again, but she heard him almost questioning her, "Why didn't you come back?"

"ah?"

"When she was about to give birth, she wrote to you every day because she was afraid she would have a difficult labor and would never see you again. But you didn't reply to a single letter. Don't you know how disappointed she was at that time?"

It is not easy for a person to care about many people in his heart when his roots of love between men and women are pulled out and his other roots of love are frozen.

The bell rang again.

A stone door was opened and Chache handed her the lamp.

"Star Chaser is a crucial pawn in his hand that can threaten you and me. He's so confident in allowing me to appear before you, which means she's still fine. You don't have to worry too much. Phoenix Chick let me see her earlier, and she seemed fine. But I can't bring her back unscathed by myself, and they should have changed where she's being held captive."

"I understand." Jiao Ran said, "Now Phoenix Young and I are balancing each other. I won't let him hurt Senior Sister. That child is still waiting for you to come home. You must take good care of yourself too."

The figure faded away in the dim light.

She had a lot to do, but the most important thing now was to eat, drink and get some sleep because she was so tired.

As soon as she stepped into the stone chamber, it looked like a gorgeous palace with flowers inside. The bed was the softest bed she had ever slept on, like sleeping on the clouds.

In addition to food, there were also drinks on the table.

But she didn't drink. If she woke up drunk she would have a headache. Now she had to keep a clear head.

The pearls in the room glowed faintly. Such beautiful pearls, however, looked like the light of a ghost fire in such a spacious stone hall.

She fell asleep on the bed with her eyes closed.

She didn't know when she fell asleep and all her fatigue disappeared, then she saw two stunning young men standing beside the bed, and two others who were not very good-looking, but judging by the swords they were wearing, they should be quite skilled.

Fenghuangchu is such a funny person. He wants to seduce her with his beauty and even sends two spies to keep an eye on her.

But was she really that fond of beautiful boys in his heart? Perhaps she was too infatuated with Mu Jin in the Governor's Mansion, which made him think that she was just that kind of guy.

She sat sideways on the couch, put a pillow behind her, and stretched out her hand to ask them to come closer.

One boy has long black hair like ink, and the other handsome boy has eyes as bright as the evening stars.

They were not wearing much, revealing their snow-white skin on their chests.

She looks a bit like Mu Jin.

"Who asked you to come?" Jiaoran asked knowingly.

A young man offered her a glass of fine wine with both hands, "This is our master, Phoenix Chick."

The other boy smiled sweetly when Jiaoran looked at her.

Seeing these two handsome men, any woman would be tempted.

Jiaoran was also moved. He held one of them by each hand, kissed the left one on the cheek, and the right one on the chest. "Did he tell you what he wanted you to do?"

The two boys looked at each other and began to take off the only piece of clothing they had.

After getting naked, Jiaoran felt it was not enough, so he reached out to the two door gods and asked them to come over. "Come on, what's wrong? Are you shy?"

The one wearing a sword refused to take it off, while the one wearing a sword took off the sword from his waist and placed it on the table.

Jiaoran seemed to be angry, "Since you don't want to, just get out." He said to the embarrassed man with the sword.

Another one stood between the two teenagers with an expressionless face.

His ordinary appearance made him particularly inconspicuous among the two young men.

The man with the sword went out angrily, not wanting to even look at them.

Jiao Ran smiled bitterly and said, "There are four of us. The three of you are really too many. If we play together, this bed won't accommodate us. I'm also quite weak. How about this, you guys come one by one. Who goes first?"

A young man immediately came up and said, "Miss Jiaoran."

The man behind him who had just unarmed his sword said, "Miss, he is young and doesn't know how to serve others. Why don't you let me make you feel refreshed?"

Before Jiaoran could say anything, the young man was dissatisfied with his intrusion, "There has to be a first come first served, you are a person -"

He gently held the boy's arm. Although he looked extremely gentle, the boy broke out in a cold sweat and trembled with pain, but he still gritted his teeth.

Even though it was so painful, she still had a sweet smile on her face.

Jiaoran thought it was funny, but he suppressed his laughter and propped up his head, asking, "What's wrong with you?"

The young man forced a smile and said, "I suddenly... have a stomachache and need to relieve myself."

Jiao Ran nodded, "Okay, go ahead."

He glanced at the other boy. Seeing the man's cold gaze, the boy got dressed and said quickly, "I want to pee too."

Jiao Ran stopped him and said, "Just wait outside. Don't go too far. I'll need you later."

"Want...want me?"

Jiaoran nodded, "Yes, so don't run too far."

As soon as she uttered the last word, the man kissed her with rapid breathing and a strong scent of orchids.

His tongue pressed against her lips and teeth, moving freely in her mouth.

Jiaoran couldn't help but put her arms around his neck and entangled with him.

When they were so close, she asked him, "Why are you here?"

He held the back of her head, not allowing her to escape, and kissed her again.

"Wait a minute... uh... let me say a few words first..." Jiaoran lowered his voice and said in his ear.

"Okay, go ahead." His hand had already slipped into her clothes.

Her breathing immediately became disordered, "Don't..."

"Are you trying to make me angry like this on purpose?"

Jiao Ran said, "No, no, no... I was just teasing you."

"Where's the fun..."

"Are you really angry?"

"If I did this to two women in front of you, wouldn't you be angry?"

She kissed him and whispered in his ear, "Are you still angry?"

"It's a cover-up. The man with the knife kept his eyes on me. He must be a spy sent by Phoenix Young. As for those two, they are even less trustworthy."

"Then why don't you tell them to...um...stay away?"

There was a tingling sensation in my lower abdomen.

Seeing his tormented expression, Jiao Ran couldn't help but kiss his earlobe, but blocked his spot. "They've all gone far away, leaving you alone. Aren't you afraid of being suspected?"

Mu Jin did not respond to her words, but said in a hoarse voice, "No..."

"Why not? Just now you crawled into my dress, and I didn't say no."

"I can't stand it anymore."

"Can't bear it?" He closed his eyes, and Jiaoran kissed the sweat on his forehead.

"Then beg me."

Mu Jin frowned, tears welling up in his eyes, "Stop making trouble..."

"Then you can scream nicer?"

The suppressed voice of the man inside came out, startling the two people outside. The young man pushed the man with the sword and said, "You...you go."

The man with the sword drew his knife and said, "You are the one who does this job. We need to have a clear division of labor."

"She is pretty, but haven't you heard them say that she is a she-devil who kills people without blinking an eye?" The young man was unwilling to go in.

Jiao Ran said to the outside, "I'll wait a little longer. You don't need to come in yet."

The young man screamed, "Great!"

Jiao Ran waited for him to rest for a while to catch his breath before asking, "Who helped you sneak in here?"

"Don't interrogate me like a criminal."

She asked him nicely, but he was still angry. What can you do with a husband who is still angry?

"Okay, now you should answer me, right?"

Mu Jin said coldly, "Am I the only one in the Chai family who can disguise himself, and I can't? Don't forget, I have also been in the Governor's Mansion for so many years, and I know their methods very well."

"So that's how you got in?"

"That day, I was caught by Zhou Zhi and struggled to escape, but she told me that you would definitely come find me."

He pointed to his heart and suddenly asked, "Now, does it hurt when you see me here?"

The smile on Jiaoran's face suddenly disappeared. She said seriously, "I had a strange disease, so I treated you like that, but I'm well now. It won't happen again, and I won't be in constant pain because of you anymore. Don't even think about leaving me. Otherwise, no matter how big the world is, I will find you."

"Okay, I'll never leave you again."

Jiao Ran asked, "What's next?"

"She said I could escape, but rather than fleeing back to Chang'an, the faster way to see you was to follow her. Besides, by then the Phoenix Chicks would be ready to capture you. I was worried they might harm you, so I could hide among them and help you."

"It's a good thing you didn't come back to find me, otherwise I would have tried to sneak in too, and we would have missed each other, right?"

"However, she is actually willing to help you, and she even hides it from Phoenix Chick..."

"After all, she is also me—my mother."

"You're right."

"Fenghuangchu caught you but didn't kill you. What does he want you to do for him?" Mu Jin asked.

Jiao Ran sighed, "He said he wanted me to help him revive a woman who had been dead for many years."

"But you have no reason to help him, right?" Mu Jin looked at her.

Jiaoran avoided his eyes, then looked up again in a moment, "Yes."

"What did he use to control you?"

Jiao Ran said, "He caught Zhuxing."

Mu Jin then remembered that Chai Che might have come to chase the stars, not to find Chai Lie, or maybe both.

"The Phoenix chick captured Star Chaser?"

"Yes, Thatcher told me. Have you seen Thatcher here?"

"We met a few times, but we didn't say much. At first he didn't even recognize me until I reminded him."

Then again, "What about you? How did you recognize me at first sight?"

Jiaoran pointed to his nose and said, "You have a fragrance of orchids. I can smell it when I get close to you."

"Fragrance?" Mu Jin smelled herself, but didn't smell anything.

"Do you think the phoenix chick can recognize your scent?" Jiaoran asked him.

Mu Jin said, "If that were the case, he would have arrested Zhuxing and me long ago. No one can smell my scent except you. Think about it, even Chai Che, who has known me since childhood, got so close to me several times in the tunnel, but he didn't recognize me, let alone others."