Chapter 14: Obtaining the Treasure

Just as Lei Qing was secretly complaining,

In the capital of the Tianlan Empire, a bustling and luxurious super-city,

In an ancient courtyard, an old locust tree of unknown age was slightly bowing under the weight of heavy snow.

Under the tree stood a set of old bluestone tables and chairs. Years of handling by generations of masters and guests had polished parts of the stone surface to be smooth as a mirror and warm as jade.

On the stone table lay a simple and heavy golden-nanmu guzheng. The strings vibrated softly, producing a series of beautiful and melodious notes as slender, flawless, jade-like fingers gently plucked them. The notes were sometimes crisp and cheerful, sometimes low and sorrowful, as if telling a story that started with joy and ended with sadness, or perhaps expressing the fickle mind of a young girl.

It was a good song and a good instrument. However, the lonely and sorrowful melody in this snow-covered winter day seemed particularly chilling, making listeners feel cold.

“Flap, flap.”

The sound of bird wings flapping rang out, and a white crow with wingspread of several feet landed on a wooden stand nearby. A piece of paper seemed to be tied to its leg.

“Twang~”

The player of the instrument also missed a note at the same time. This instantly made the perfect melody imperfect. The owner of those beautiful jade-like hands suddenly stopped playing.

“Sigh~” A soft and melancholy sigh was heard. The owner of the jade hands pressed her slender fingers gently onto the strings with a hint of regret. She was wearing a precious white fox fur coat, her skin was as white as snow, her demeanor was gentle and moving, and her eyes were clear as stars. She was indeed a rare beauty in the world.

“Miss!” Her personal maid, Xiao Cui, handed over the letter respectfully: “It is a letter from Miss An Feifei of the Free Mercenary Group. The letter says that that scoundrel named Lei tried to escape from the Heavenly Ridge Mountain Range. Miss An Feifei led her team to ambush and capture him. Unexpectedly, during the fierce battle, that boy fell off a thousand-foot cliff. He is probably dead.”

“What!?” A look of panic appeared in the starry eyes of that stunningly beautiful woman: “Didn’t I instruct An Feifei to capture him alive? Dead? Dead? How could this be? Didn’t he escape for several months without being caught? He is quite good at escaping, isn’t he?” After the shock, the light in her eyes dimmed.

“Miss, that ruffian named Lei is dead, so let him be dead,” Xiao Cui pouted and said: “He had the guts to insult your purity, so he deserved to die ten thousand deaths. Dying in the Heavenly Ridge Mountain Range is a blessing for him. Otherwise, even if he were captured alive, we would torture him to death before taking him to the market to behead him.”

The jade-white face of that stunning woman seemed to become even paler. Her eyes were empty and vacant as she stared far away at the white crow that brought the news of death, and regret gradually grew in her heart. Thinking back to that day…

…

“Qianqian, you really built this smokeless stove well,” Lei Qing looked at the temporary stove built by Zuo Qianqian and praised sincerely: “If I had your skills, I wouldn’t have lived so miserably these past few months.”

Even while fleeing, Zuo Qianqian hadn’t lost her bag which seemed like a treasure chest. At that moment, she was using that small cauldron with restrictions to cook fragrant cooked wolf meat. She revealed a simple and pretty smile: “Brother Lei, you said you were chased for several months. What exactly did you do to be hunted so relentlessly?”

Lei Qing smiled awkwardly at this, took a piece of fragrant cooked wolf meat and swallowed it while saying: “Let’s just see what your grandfather left for you. From your skills, your grandfather should not be an ordinary person. The things he left for you must be extraordinary too.”

Knowing he was changing the subject, Zuo Qianqian obediently didn’t ask anymore. Following his words, she took out the old iron box. Seeing the iron box, Zuo Qianqian’s eyes dimmed and became wet.

Lei Qing understood her mood, sighed lightly, and hugged her shoulder to comfort her: “Qianqian, the dead cannot be brought back to life. Old Man Zuo’s spirit in heaven surely hopes you can live happily, not live in regret and pain.”

Perhaps feeling the broad and secure shoulder of Lei Qing, Zuo Qianqian’s mood quickly improved. She checked the iron box and solved the exquisite little trap on it. Then, in Lei Qing’s astonished eyes, she took out some items from it.

An old black book, two cold-releasing but dark and inconspicuous daggers, an ancient and heavy bronze ring with exquisite patterns, and finally, a letter.

Zuo Qianqian put the other items aside and read the letter first. After reading it, she started sobbing. Lei Qing comforted her again. After Zuo Qianqian showed him the letter, Lei Qing suddenly realized.

It turned out that Old Man Zuo was indeed not an ordinary person but had once been a feared assassin. An assassin who could lose his life at any time was not suitable for having a family. But he boasted of his strong strength and outstanding concealment abilities, and used another identity to marry and have a child.

In the meantime, some messy things happened. Eventually, Old Man Zuo was betrayed by his employer and chased. His son and daughter-in-law were also killed. Old Man Zuo only had time to escape with his granddaughter in the cradle.

Unfortunately, his leg tendons were severed, and his body was severely injured by a power ful poison, ruining his cultivation. Originally, he just wanted his granddaughter to live quietly in a peaceful small village. However, later a One-Eyed Dragon bandit appeared. Old Man Zuo planned ahead, thinking that if something bad happened, he needed to leave a way out for his granddaughter.

Thus, this box came into being.

The letter also said that if Zuo Qianqian really wanted to embark on the path of a strong person, she should cultivate the Assassin’s Heart Sutra he left behind. Otherwise, she should just live an ordinary life and marry someone. As for the items left behind, they were treasures used by Old Man Zuo when he was an assassin.

Especially that ring, which was allegedly a Spatial Ring. This made Lei Qing speechless. A Spatial Ring! Even the lowest tier of Spatial Rings was considered a treasure. The Lei Family, although a long-established noble clan, supposedly only accumulated three Spatial Rings in their clan. They were hidden in the treasure vault like treasures, and ordinary clan members weren’t even allowed to glance at them.

Indeed, Spatial Rings were not items for playboys of clans to show off outside. Each one had the power to turn the tide in key moments.

The laws of the Tianlan Empire also classified Spatial Rings as strategic reserves, and ordinary families and organizations were not allowed to own them privately. Even large families could only use them after registration and approval.

Indeed, just thinking about it, one could know how useful these items were on the battlefield. The fast and safe transportation of various life-saving supplies alone could sway the battle outcome at critical moments. Take Zuo Qianqian, for example. If she took this Spatial Ring and filled it with many arrows,

Then, Lei Qing and she could kite those bandits to death. Lei Qing had also been a wealthy young master in his youth, but he had never even touched a Spatial Ring in this life. For a moment, he couldn’t help but look at that inconspicuous bronze ring with a drooling feeling.

“Giggle, Brother Lei, if you like this Spatial Ring, I’ll give it to you,” noticing Lei Qing’s affection, Zuo Qianqian giggled, took out the ring, and generously stuffed it into Lei Qing’s hand.

“Huh?”

……