Volume 10, Chapter 666 – You’re Mad, You Must Be Mad

Cheng Hongling hadn’t expected to run into an acquaintance in such a dangerous place, and her delicate, elegant face showed rare surprise.

As for Ruan Lingyu, Yun Fei, and the other fellow sisters, since they didn’t know the woman, they only looked on with curiosity.

“You still dare to shout recklessly? Wasn’t the earlier punishment enough? Be careful, or we’ll cut your tongue out.”

A female disciple from the Immortal Alliance scolded sharply, then slammed the door shut behind her.

“Why are you here?”

The woman finally couldn’t hold back and asked Cheng Hongling.

Qi Huang, realizing this might cause trouble, quickly stepped out from the main body’s Sea of Consciousness and gestured for the woman to stay silent.

The woman was clever enough to obediently close her mouth and quietly follow along behind them.

Although Ruan Lingyu and the others found it odd, they understood Qi Huang’s meaning, so they all remained silent.

Qi Huang looked around the courtyard and finally chose a secluded room to enter. Inside, the furnishings were complete, perfectly suitable for immediate lodging.

Qi Huang closed the door, set up a Divine Sense barrier and a soundproofing talisman, then greeted the woman with a playful grin: “Hey! Tang Yu, right? What a coincidence, fate really brought us together from a thousand miles away!”

Indeed, this woman was Tang Yu, one of Lü Yi’s concubines-to-be, who had once caused trouble for Cheng Hongling and Qi Huang at the Honghua Sect. Back then, she wore a high ponytail and was an arrogant young lady. But now—

Her hair was disheveled, her body covered in wounds. She was completely unrecognizable.

“Fate? Sounds more like misfortune. What are you doing here?”

Tang Yu asked again. Though she looked disheveled, there was no unpleasant smell on her, and she carried the faint, refreshing fragrance of Golden Fate Blossoms. Clearly, she had also consumed the seeds and used Pink Bamboo Water to stimulate the scent.

“Junior Sister, you know her?”

Ruan Lingyu asked curiously. The other senior sisters leaned in as well, eager to eavesdrop like nosy onlookers.

Qi Huang briefly recounted their past encounters, then turned back to Tang Yu: “How did you manage to escape one den of tigers only to fall into a wolf’s lair? Didn’t I already settle that whole Immortal Stele issue with the Lü family? How did you end up here as bait?”

“End up here? I was captured!”

Tang Yu bit her lip slightly, then slowly explained: “I was planning to go to Honghua Sect to find you, but shortly after leaving home, I was ambushed and kidnapped. When I woke up, I was already here. At first, I didn’t know where I was, but after overhearing the girls living nearby, I found out this is actually the Immortal Alliance’s main headquarters! Everyone here is bait. Some came willingly, but others… like me, were abducted.”

“I see… So Wenren Jun’s guess was right. The Immortal Alliance really is secretly abducting people to use as bait.”

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Qi Huang nodded thoughtfully.

“Wenren Jun? Who’s that?”

Tang Yu asked, puzzled.

“No one, just some old man.”

Qi Huang dismissed it casually, unwilling to explain further.

“You said earlier you were going to Honghua Sect to find Qi Huang? What for?”

Cheng Hongling immediately caught on and pressed curiously.

Tang Yu froze for a moment, then casually mimicked Qi Huang’s words: “No one, just some old man.”

“Hey, hey, hey! If you’re going to make excuses, at least come up with your own! What old man? What are you hiding?”

Ruan Lingyu protested indignantly.

“You still haven’t told me why you’re here. Don’t tell me you were kidnapped too?”

Tang Yu quickly changed the subject.

“Ha! In the entire cultivation world, who could kidnap me?”

Qi Huang smiled confidently and handed Tang Yu a bottle of wound salve. “Put some on. As for us… we’re here to rescue you.”

Cheng Hongling and the other senior sisters turned to Qi Huang, their faces filled with disbelief. They couldn’t understand why she would lie.

Of course, Qi Huang said that just to earn some favor with the beauty in front of her. The girls naturally didn’t catch on.

“Rescue me?”

Tang Yu’s beautiful eyes lit up, and she asked curiously, “But how did you know I was here?”

“Just happened to find out by chance.”

Qi Huang continued to brush it off casually.

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Tang Yu didn’t press further, but her expression dimmed. Her voice grew weak: “Thanks for your kindness, but how exactly are you planning to rescue me? This is the Immortal Alliance’s main headquarters! Forget leaving the compound, we can’t even get out of this courtyard.”

“Don’t worry. As long as you listen to me, I guarantee you’ll leave without a scratch.”

Qi Huang patted her own trembling chest confidently.

Cheng Hongling swiftly grabbed her doppelgänger’s hand, shooting her a sharp glare.

The other women glanced between them, confused about what had just happened.

Qi Huang forced a sheepish laugh and obediently lowered her hand. After all, after living over twenty years as a man, some habits were hard to change overnight.

“Are you serious?”

Tang Yu composed herself and asked again.

“Of course! I managed to handle the Immortal Stele, didn’t I? What’s the Immortal Alliance compared to that?”

Qi Huang said proudly.

“Well… that’s true. Alright, tell me what to do. I’ll follow your lead.”

Tang Yu’s eyes once again burned with hope.

“First, don’t reveal our true identities. Right now, we’re posing as the young ladies of the Wenren family from Changming Kingdom…”

Qi Huang took the chance to instruct her carefully.

Tang Yu listened intently, nodding from time to time, until she finally asked curiously, “But why pretend to be from the Wenren family?”

“Because I like it.”

Qi Huang answered offhandedly, then suddenly realized something: “Right, I still don’t know who you really are.”

“Fine, then let me introduce myself properly.” Tang Yu straightened up and declared solemnly, “My name is Tang Yuning. I’m the Twelfth Princess of the Leiting Kingdom in the Central Continent.”

“Princess?”

Ruan Lingyu and the other sisters widened their eyes in surprise, their manners immediately becoming more restrained. Though they were cultivators, royalty still carried weight in their eyes.

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Qi Huang and Cheng Hongling, however, remained unfazed. Lü Yi would hardly choose an ordinary woman as a concubine.

“Um… Twelfth Princess… Your family must not know you were kidnapped, right?”

Ruan Lingyu asked curiously.

“Of course not. Otherwise, they’d have stormed the Immortal Alliance by now. I tried contacting them, but as you’ve seen, security here is stricter than the Ministry of Justice’s dungeons. It’s impossible to reach the outside world.”

Tang Yuning shook her head helplessly.

“Heh, if security weren’t this strict, they wouldn’t dare lock us all together.”

Yun Fei said with a bitter laugh.

“They probably expect us to die in the Kapok Valley Treasure Land anyway, so they’re not worried about leaks.”

Cheng Hongling added expressionlessly.

“If that’s the case, they’re going to be disappointed.”

Qi Huang smirked.

“So, what’s your plan to escape? If you’re hoping someone will come rescue us, forget it.”

Tang Yuning pressed further.

“Of course we’ll escape after entering Kapok Valley Treasure Land. We came this far; we can’t leave empty-handed. It’s not every day you get access to such a place.”

Qi Huang declared boldly.

“What?! You actually plan to enter Kapok Valley? Do you not know it’s the most dangerous place in the entire cultivation world?!”

Tang Yuning jumped to her feet in shock.

“Relax. You’ll soon find out the most dangerous thing in the cultivation world isn’t Kapok Valley, it’s me.”

Qi Huang grinned mischievously.

“You’re mad! You must be mad!”

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Tang Yuning’s chest rose and fell in anger, but in the end, she collapsed back into her chair, resigned. At this point, she had no choice but to trust Qi Huang.

“She figured out our junior sister has mental issues?”

Ruan Lingyu whispered in surprise.

“What? She’s actually insane?”

Tang Yuning was stunned.

“Hey, hey, hey! Having mental issues doesn’t make someone crazy, okay? Maybe I’m just… highly spirited!”

Qi Huang quickly defended herself.

Tang Yuning rolled her eyes and muttered, “How about this, we make a deal. If you really have the skills you claim, help me escape along the way. Once I’m back, I promise my royal father will reward you generously.”

“No way. What if you go back and deny it?”

Qi Huang shook her head.

“I wouldn’t! I’m a princess! How could I lie?”

Tang Yuning protested earnestly.

“When you came to Honghua Sect, you said your name was Tang Yu. Wasn’t that a lie?”

Qi Huang immediately exposed her.

“What do you want from me then?”

Tang Yuning nearly burst into tears.

“To be honest, I want the Golden Fate Blossom seeds more than the Immortal Alliance does. Since they’re using you as bait, just follow me into Kapok Valley Treasure Land. Once the task is done, I’ll let you go home.”

Qi Huang stated her terms clearly. To obtain the Golden Fate Blossom seeds, the more bait, the better. Especially one whose fragrance had already been triggered.

“And how are you any different from the Immortal Alliance then?”

Tang Yuning asked, dumbfounded.