Volume 10, Chapter 693 – We Must Repay You

“Cough cough…”

Cheng Hongling’s gaze sharpened as she let out a faint cough, betraying nothing.

Qi Huang immediately felt a prickling chill run down her spine and quickly changed her words: “How ridiculous! Who would care about you anyway?”

“Tch! And this is supposed to be a princess? She’s not even as reserved as a brothel girl. Junior sister certainly doesn’t care for that!”

Su Qingying said with disdain.

“That’s right, there’s an order to everything. If you want to offer yourself, you’ll have to queue up slowly.”

Ruan Lingyu also spoke with open hostility.

“You’re all her fellow disciples, childhood companions, and yet none of you have pledged yourselves to her until now? Maybe she’s simply not interested in you.”

Jin Xue mocked gently. To resist the Immortal Stele, she could no longer worry about preserving a princess’s dignity.

“That’s true, you all look to be over twenty by now, right? After so many years without offering yourselves, another twenty won’t change anything. I suggest you set your sights on breaking through the void instead, it might be easier.”

Tang Yuning’s words were even sharper.

“How do you know we haven’t pledged ourselves? Do you know where the fragrance of the Golden Fate Blossoms on our bodies comes from? From sleeping with her, that’s how! Heh!”

Yun Fei said smugly.

“That’s right, all five of us have it. Envious?”

Shen Yuan emphasized proudly.

Just like that, the group of beauties split into two camps, exchanging cutting ridicule.

‘Are they…fighting over me?’

Qi Huang felt secretly pleased, but soon a touch of disappointment crept in. She thought to herself: why hadn’t she been this popular back when she was a man?

“I am the main body. If you want to pledge yourselves, shouldn’t you get my permission first?”

Cheng Hongling’s cold voice cut through.

Qi Huang jolted and quickly declared: “Let’s not talk about pledging right now. We should focus on rescuing your families first. I’ll set off immediately.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than Qi Huang swept all the girls into her spatial ring at once. She was afraid that if they lingered, a fight might break out.

“Why so eager to stash us away? Feeling guilty?”

Cheng Hongling’s voice echoed in her mind.

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“How could that be? I’ve done nothing wrong. I just didn’t want to waste time, that’s all.”

Qi Huang replied stiffly.

“Is that so? Then why not return their families to them directly? Why put on a show?”

Cheng Hongling’s tone grew sharp.

“I just didn’t want to ruin my image of being beautiful and kindhearted. If I spoke bluntly, wouldn’t that make me a liar?”

Qi Huang pretended to answer solemnly.

“I think you’re just trying to win their favor.”

Cheng Hongling exposed her mercilessly.

“Oh come on! We’re counting on them to expose the Immortal Alliance’s ugliness when they return. We’re allies in the same boat now. Building good relations can’t hurt.”

Qi Huang argued vehemently. Before the main body could retort, she added: “Anyway, all you have to do later is tell them I’m locked in battle with their kidnappers.”

“Heh…”

Cheng Hongling chuckled ambiguously. Though displeased, she knew the bigger picture mattered, so she played along as messenger.

“My doppelgänger has already found the villain who kidnapped your families.”

Cheng Hongling told the baits, deliberately stressing the word “villain” as if venting.

“Really? That fast?”

Tang Yuning exclaimed excitedly.

“Don’t you know who my junior sister is?”

Ruan Lingyu lifted her smooth chin proudly.

The baits remembered Qi Huang’s prior feats, their eyes filling with awe.

“What’s happening now?”

Jin Xue pressed.

“She’s locked in battle with that person.”

Cheng Hongling answered as Qi Huang instructed.

“Is she strong enough to defeat that villain?”

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Jin Xue asked anxiously.

“Yes, that wretch even gave the Immortal Alliance’s vice leader trouble.”

The mature, graceful Ouyang Yi furrowed her brows.

“The Immortal Alliance’s vice leader is nothing—”

Shen Yuan tried to boast, but Yun Fei tugged her sleeve. Shen Yuan blinked in confusion: “What is it?”

Yun Fei sighed helplessly, unwilling to deal with her silly junior. She spoke to the others instead: “Of course there will be difficulties, but who made her so beautiful and kindhearted? To save your loved ones, she can only risk it all.”

The baits’ faces softened with gratitude at her words.

“Don’t worry. I’ve already said it: if she can save my royal father, our Taiping Nation will spare no effort in repaying her.”

Tang Yuning promised at once, and the others echoed her.

Shen Yuan finally caught on and scratched her head sheepishly.

“You’re the main body. Shouldn’t your strength surpass hers? Why not go help?”

Tang Yuning suddenly turned and asked Cheng Hongling in confusion.

Cheng Hongling’s expression grew awkward, unsure how to answer.

“You don’t understand. This is strategy! If junior sister’s doppelgänger really can’t win, she can suddenly emerge from the spatial ring to strike, catching the enemy completely off guard!”

Yun Fei smoothed things over.

“What a clever plan!”

The girls blinked, then nodded in sudden realization.

Qi Huang kept flying north until she reached the Central Continent. There, she landed in a dense forest and smeared rouge paper messily over her clothes and skin to imitate blood. Then she released water-aligned True Qi to create sweat.

After disguising herself, she released her sisters and the children.

“Oh no! Junior sister, how did you end up this badly hurt?”

Yun Fei cried out immediately. The others also put on concerned expressions, blocking the baits from getting close.

“It’s nothing! Just a scratch!”

Qi Huang leaned against a tree, panting deliberately.

Cheng Hongling only shook her head helplessly and walked off.

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The baits, seeing Qi Huang’s battered state, were overcome with guilt and fumbled awkwardly.

“Her blood looks strange… Could she be poisoned? I know medicine, let me check.”

Ouyang Yi said warmly.

Qi Huang stiffened, not daring to speak.

“No need, we know medicine too.”

Yun Fei quickly stopped her, terrified the truth would be exposed.

Ouyang Yi could only smile helplessly.

After a long while, Tang Yuning couldn’t hold back: “May I ask…were our families rescued?”

“They were.”

Qi Huang willed it, and the family members, trapped in another spatial ring, appeared.

“What’s going on? Where are we?”

The relatives looked around in confusion.

At the sight of their loved ones, the baits burst into tears, rushing forward for tearful reunions. In an instant, nobody cared about Qi Huang, still feigning collapse.

Awkwardly, Qi Huang lay there. She endured only so the families could see.

Half a day later, the reunions continued, but Qi Huang’s body was going numb. She whispered to her sisters: “What now? I can’t keep this up.”

Ruan Lingyu bit her lip, then shamelessly said aloud to the families: “You’re so caught up in reunion that you’ve forgotten your savior?”

The baits and families immediately came to their senses and hurried over with thanks.

“Don’t mention it. I’ll just rest inside the spatial ring for now.”

Qi Huang darted back inside, afraid of being found out.

Ruan Lingyu quickly grabbed the ring to guard it.

With Qi Huang gone, the baits and families turned to Cheng Hongling with their gratitude.

Cheng Hongling was aloof, not heartless. But knowing what her doppelgänger had done, she found it hard to accept the praise calmly, and soon grew weary.

“I don’t need repayment! Just go already!”

Cheng Hongling snapped, unable to bear it.

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“No, your doppelgänger is already so injured. We must repay you.”

The baits and families pressed on, some even offering treasures.

Overwhelmed, Cheng Hongling could only send a mental transmission: “Come out and deal with this yourself, or I’ll tell them about your fake injuries.”

“What?”

Qi Huang, in the middle of changing clothes, was stunned. She thought bitterly: ‘so you won’t even take unearned credit, and even repay kindness with betrayal!’

Though speechless, she didn’t dare talk back. She came out and accepted the gifts. After all, she really had saved them, taking some compensation for the effort was only fair.

Once Qi Huang accepted, they calmed down somewhat, though they still insisted these were only small tokens, with greater rewards to come later.

“Later? Have you thought about what will happen if the Immortal Alliance learns you’re alive? They’ll hunt you to extinction.”

Qi Huang warned.

The baits and families froze, their joy crashing into despair.

“If we keep quiet, will the Immortal Alliance spare us?”

Tang Yuning asked naively.

“How naive. Do you think they’ll believe you? Even a fool knows erasing you entirely is the safest way. Staying silent will only hasten your deaths.”

Qi Huang shook her head with a laugh.

“Then what should we do?”

The baits and families panicked completely, like ants on a hot pan.

“You now have two choices. First, hide away forever, never to appear again.”

Qi Huang suggested.

“That’s impossible. If I were an ordinary man, maybe. But I am a king. If I disappear, my nation will fall into chaos. I cannot abandon my people for my own safety.”

Jin Xue’s father refused proudly. The other two emperors agreed.

Admiration flickered across Qi Huang’s face. She continued: “Then you have only one path left. When you return, loudly proclaim the Immortal Alliance’s vile deeds this time. Let the whole cultivation world know.”

“What?”

Everyone gasped in shock.