Chapter 120: Gathering in the Underground Palace

Jiao Ran opened his eyes and saw two people standing beside him. Beside the bed, the man with the sword had already drawn it and pointed it at Mu Jin.

She retracted the fear in her eyes, suppressed her murderous intent, and spoke slowly, but she was already prepared, "What are you guys trying to do?"

The man with the sword was called Qi Qingyun. Mu Jin's skills were not bad. He was able to subdue Mu Jin while Jiaoran was taking a nap, which showed his ability.

"Miss Jiaoran, you go to sleep. I will hand this spy over to the master."

Jiao Ran said, "Are you saying he's a spy?"

"Yes." Qi Qingyun said.

"How do you know?"

He said, "When I was fighting him just now, I searched his body and found a map."

He unfolded it in front of Jiaoran, "This is it."

It was a topographic map of part of the underground palace. He recorded everything he had walked through in detail, including every fork in the road. It was really a piece of cake. Jiaoran felt a little proud of himself, thinking that he had a good brain.

"Since you say he's a spy, who do you think he belongs to?"

Jiaoran sat on the bed, holding her chin with one hand and asked him.

When Qi Qingyun saw Jiaoran's calm and composed look, he immediately realized why she had left him alone in the room to serve her.

But the master said that keeping Jiaoran would be useful, and he couldn't take action against Jiaoran directly.

While he was deep in thought, at this moment, Jiaoran's hand knife chopped towards his wrist. He immediately lost his grip on his weapon and it fell to the ground with a bang.

Qi Qingyun wanted to go forward and capture Mu Jin, but Jiaoran grabbed his wrist and twisted it hard. Of course, he didn't let go so easily. He supported himself on the bed with his other hand and kicked Mu Jin. The two were on both sides of the bed. Mu Jin took half a step back to avoid his kick. Jiaoran took advantage of the situation and pulled him to lie beside him. He looked up at Jiaoran from below.

Jiao Ran said, "Oh, I didn't expect you to be so eager to offer yourself to me. Don't worry, it will be your turn. By the way, what's your name?"

Mu Jin said coldly, "His name is Qi Qingyun. You can't get anything out of him. If you want to know more, why not ask me?"

Seeing that he was unhappy, Jiao Ran curled her lips, lifted him up with one hand, and helped him stand up. "There's no other way. You can't lie on my bed anymore. Go."

Qi Qingyun picked up the knife and left. He was going to report these two lunatics to his master.

As soon as he left, Mu Jin asked, "What should we do now?"

Jiaoran spread his hands, like a dead pig that is not afraid of boiling water. "Since it has come to this, why don't we do the same?"

Mu Jin knew that she was saying this on purpose to make him relax. "Don't joke around. Phoenix Chick didn't know I was here. Now Qi Qingyun is complaining. We..."

Jiao Ran sighed, "What are you afraid of? If he kills you, I'll turn against him, but he won't do anything to me. Fenghuangchu is a man who will never give up until he achieves his goal. He won't do anything to me until I accomplish what he wants."

"That's what I said, but I'm worried..."

"What are you worried about? Are you worried that he'll catch you and threaten me? Don't worry, it's okay. The two of us will just stay together."

Within half an hour, someone brought new clothes.

Qi Qingyun followed behind with a sullen expression. He knew it was Fenghuangchu who told him to hold his ground. Jiaoran deliberately picked up the clothes in the woman's hand and said, "Your leader even prepared clothes for me? It seems you want to keep me here for a while."

The woman said, "The master asked me to help the young lady get dressed."

Jiao Ran nodded and said, "I'm going to look for him. I'll go see him after I shower and change my clothes."

Qi Qingyun said, "The master is not here. He went out. You can go find him when he comes back."

Jiaoran was a little anxious, but he didn't show it on his face. "Really? Then when will he come back?"

I don’t know where he locked my senior sister up.

"The master asked me to remind the young lady that there's no need to worry about Miss Star Chaser. She's in a very safe place."

"What does he mean? He's holding my senior sister hostage and trapping me in this place. It doesn't seem like he's cooperating with me. It seems like he's forcing me to follow his rules. But I'm Jiaoran, such an obedient person."

The first time Qi Qingyun saw this girl, he felt that she was as difficult to deal with as a wild dog. She was neither dignified nor gentle. To call her a slut or a shrew was to flatter her. Hearing that she dared to question Phoenix Young like this, he lost his patience. "Didn't I tell you that your senior sister is fine? If you make trouble again, I will cut a hole in her body."

Jiaoran chuckled twice.

Before he could figure out what Jiaoran was laughing at, Jiaoran raised his hand and slapped him twice, two loud slaps.

The female disciple was so frightened that she staggered back.

Jiao Ran said, "I'm not going to hit you, what are you afraid of?"

The woman felt lucky that she hadn't said the wrong thing in front of her.

Mu Jin took Jiaoran's change of clothes from her hand and said, "I'll take care of her. You can go back first."

The woman nodded and hurriedly fled the battlefield.

"You dare to hit me?"

Jiao Ran said, "I would dare to hit a Phoenix chick standing in front of me, let alone you. I tell you, if my senior sister has a wound on her body when I see her, I will cut ten pieces of flesh from you."

Qi Qingyun looked stunned, "You—you dare!"

"Why not?"

Mu Jin came over and stopped the quarrel, "Okay, he may not do that, but the words are on the tip of his tongue, and he won't be so despicable."

Jiaoran said, this is the best way.

After waiting for several days for the Phoenix Chick to return, Jiaoran was still worried about his senior sister.

The next time Jiaoran saw Chai Lie was in Weihuo Palace. He hadn't seen him for a long time.

If Mu Jin hadn't reminded her, she really wouldn't have realized that the man in front of her, whose age was so old that it was hard to tell, was Chai Lie. How could he have ended up like this?

Chai Lie ignored them and walked away from them.

It was Mu Jin who called him, "The child is waiting for you to come back. After you left, she has been taken care of by the lady, but she is unwilling to speak now."

Such a talkative and naughty little girl became silent after her mother passed away. Chai Lie paused slightly when he heard this, but did not stay for too long.

Jiao Ran sighed, "It seems that he doesn't understand that turning back is the right path."

Mu Jin said, "When I was little, I hated him so much that I could think of the most cruel punishments in the world, like skinning and breaking bones. I wanted to use them on him because Chai Hui bullied and beat me, and it was often instigated by him. Sometimes, Chai Hui was afraid that Chai Che would punish him, so he didn't dare to be too cruel to me, but he dared. I always hoped that he would die in the most cruel way possible before my eyes."

Jiaoran listened to him quietly, her eyes fixed on his face.

"But now, seeing him like this, I don't feel happy at all. Jiaoran, tell me, as a man, am I too indecisive?"

She held his hand. "I like you to be a little softer. There's nothing wrong with that. But everyone will be punished for their mistakes. Heaven is watching. Just like when I sneaked into the mansion to deceive you, and just like when you set a trap for me, weren't we both punished by Heaven before we realized our mistakes? Chai Lie was always stubborn and couldn't accept that his brother was even slightly better than him. That's why he was blinded by jealousy and made such a big mistake. The suffering he endures now is just punishment from Heaven. None of us can save him."

"Punishment... I've done a lot of wrong things..."

Jiao Ran patted his face and said, "Then just don't make mistakes again in the future, okay?"

Mu Jin changed the subject. Actually, he felt pity for Chai Lie for only a moment, putting himself in his shoes and imagining the despair of being loved by or killing his beloved. The thought of Jiaoran and him ending up like this would make him feel worse than death. After a few more words with Jiaoran, he forgot about Chai Lie, whom he had just passed by, and even forgot about any pity. He had no sympathy for the Chai family in the first place.

But he just didn't want to appear too cold-blooded in front of Jiaoran.

Chai Che and Chai Lie were both here. Apart from rescuing Zhuxing, he didn't want Jiaoran to have anything to do with the Governor's Office anymore. If the Chai family needed her help in any way, he didn't want her to lend a hand because he had already hated the Chai family to the extreme.

"You also have to practice hard, otherwise you will be suppressed by Qi Qingfeng with just a few moves next time. Chai Lie was better at martial arts than you when he was a child. How come he is still better than you when he grows up? Or you are too lazy and don't practice hard." Jiaoran said as they walked.

He had already frowned, "Don't mention Chai Lie, I don't want to hear you talk about him all the time.

"What's wrong? Do you hate Chai Lie more than Chai Hui?"

"The first time I learned to fly a kite, it was Ranhong who taught me."

"who is she?"

Mu Jin sighed helplessly, "When you first entered the Governor's Mansion, whose job did you take over?"

"Ranhong."

"Oh!" Jiaoran then remembered that it was Ranhong.

"It was her. She made a kite and taught me how to fly it. I had never flown a kite before, and I had a lot of fun the first time. I flew kites from day to night."

Jiaoran vaguely remembered that Xiaoju didn't allow her to mention the kite in front of him.

"Perhaps I was too happy and laughed too loudly, so Chai Lie strangled the girl with the kite string right in front of me."

Jiaoran was surprised. He didn't expect that this was the reason why he didn't want to fly kites anymore.

"After that, I refused to go to Qingbi Garden to paint for a long time, even though Chai Yu beat me up. He realized I was really angry that time, so he asked Chai Lie to apologize to me."

"Did he apologize?"

"Yes, he also brought gifts."

"He's more like a normal person than Chai Hui. If it were Chai Hui, he would definitely be more desperate and cause trouble."

"The gift Chai Lie brought me was a kite made from the skin that girl peeled off."

Jiaoran fell silent for a moment. She felt that Chai Lie, who was still a normal person, sometimes used methods even more terrifying than that madman Chai Hui.

"Since then, I've had nightmares whenever I see a kite."

Jiaoran quickly interlocked her fingers with his, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, it's all in the past, they can never do that to you again."

"To let this matter go, the Chai family told their own family members that I was responsible for the maid's death, saying that I had an affair with her and that I had abandoned Ranhong, which is why she committed suicide. They told the servants that Ranhong had left the house, but I was the only one who knew how cruel the Chai family had been to her."

Jiao Ran hugged his shoulders, patted his back and said, "When all this is over, we will never see the Chai family again. By then, apart from my senior sister, I will have no relationship with the Chai family anymore. You don't have to go to Xiu Tu anymore. Let's go to a place without Chai family members and without the flashing of swords and sabers."

Mu Jin held her in his arms and smiled from behind her where she couldn't see. "Then where are we going?"

"Anywhere is fine. Take your time to think about it. Once you've made up your mind, we'll settle down wherever you want."

Mu Jin really couldn't think of it for a moment.

As he was speaking, an uninvited guest came over.

"You two are so affectionate and affectionate."

Jiaoran heard Chai Che's voice, "Why are you here?"

"The Phoenix Chick hasn't returned yet. Have you found out where Senior Sister is?"

Chaiche shook his head. "What we can be sure of is that it's in the underground palace, but we still can't find its exact location."

"There's someone who knows."

"who?"

Jiaoran looked at Mu Jin and said, "Qi Qingyun."

Mu Jin also said, "What he said to you clearly means that he knows where Zhuxing is hiding."

"Think of a way to rescue Zhuxing before the Phoenix Chick comes back, and then we can leave this dark underground palace together." Chai Che said.

Jiao Ran said softly, "Then we can only start with Qi Qingyun."

Mu Jin hesitated for a moment and said, "But he is as inflexible as a rock. He is only loyal to Phoenix Young. It will be difficult for us to pry anything out of him."

Jiao Ran was also a little worried about angering Fenghuang Chick. "If we fail to find Senior Sister and instead alert the enemy, I'm worried they'll immediately move her, making it even harder to find her. I originally thought of going to Fenghuang Chick and trying to force him to give her back, but he hasn't shown up for several days. Do you know where he went?"

Chai Che didn't know either, "But I heard them say that there were people from Nanzhao who left with him."

Those poisonous insects… Jiaoran asked, "Is Xu Mengchou here too?"

Mu Jin had indeed seen her. "Some time ago, she liked to let her poisonous insects run around. I suspect her poisonous insects can detect the voices of people around them."

"She should have gone with Phoenix Chick these past few days. I heard them say they were going to make preparations."

"What preparations?" Jiaoran asked.

Instead, Chaicher asked her, "What was in the place he took you to that day?"

"A woman."

"Could it be that the preparations he made are related to that woman?"

Jiao Ran then realized, "He said he wanted to resurrect that woman. Maybe those preparations are related to his plan to resurrect the dead."

Mu Jin asked in confusion, "What kind of woman is she?"

If Jiaoran told them, he would also have to explain the relationship between that woman and the Fish-Dragon Wonderland, "a woman who passed away a long time ago, the mother of the Phoenix chick."

Chai Che didn't care about these things. "Can we use that woman's body to threaten Phoenix Young in exchange for Star Chaser?"

Jiao Ran said, "That's fine, but Phoenix Young is very cunning. Who knows if the woman he took me to see is the one he wants to resurrect? Maybe she's just a puppet."

Mu Jin also felt that it was better not to act rashly for the time being. "Let's split up and look for it first. This is for you."

He handed the map to Cha Che, "It shows all the places I've been to while in disguise. I've recorded all the traps in it, so be careful."

Chache said, "You gave it to me, what about you?"

Mu Jin pointed to his head and said, "It's all here."