Chapter 28 - 3: Here to Settle a Score with Li Shuang?

Old Hong?

Everyone couldn’t help but look over curiously. Lin Qingling even raised an eyebrow.

’Hadn’t Meng Yifei been hiding because he was so annoyed with her? Why has he shown up now?’

Ye Zhaozhao couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

The Sect Leader’s sudden appearance had drawn everyone’s attention. With any luck, she could just bluff her way through her own business.

Just as she was thinking this, Ye Zhaozhao turned her head and saw the person following behind Meng Yifei. Her pupils suddenly constricted, and a flash of terror crossed her eyes!

’Manager... Manager Qiu?!’

’Why is Manager Qiu here! And he’s following the Sect Leader!’

At that moment, Meng Yifei was speaking with a slender man in black robes. This must be the Old Hong he had mentioned.

But trailing closely behind Meng Yifei and Old Hong was none other than Manager Qiu!

Ye Zhaozhao’s pupils shrank. She subconsciously turned away to avoid Manager Qiu’s line of sight.

She tried her best to calm down.

She had been working with Manager Qiu for several years, but every time she went to see him, she had deliberately altered her appearance and worn a veiled hat.

Throughout their collaboration, she had never once revealed her true identity.

’So, Manager Qiu definitely isn’t here for me!’

’He shouldn’t even recognize me.’

Ye Zhaozhao kept repeating this reassurance to herself, but her heart still trembled with an unusual panic.

"What made the Sect Leader decide to grace us with his presence?" Lin Qingling asked, arching an eyebrow.

Meng Yifei looked a little awkward. He cleared his throat and said, "Peak Master Lin, what are you implying? It sounds as if I was deliberately hiding before. I was, in fact, suffering from a sudden stomachache."

Fearing more sarcasm from Lin Qingling, Meng Yifei quickly said, "Allow me to make an introduction. This is Hong Sheng, a Body Integration Realm expert and a good friend of mine."

Meng Yifei then introduced the others to Hong Sheng. "Lin Qingling, Peak Master of Heartless Peak. Ling Xu, Peak Master of Lingxu Peak. And Pang Zhixue, Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall."

The two parties nodded to each other.

With the arrival of Meng Yifei and Hong Sheng, there were suddenly five Body Integration Realm experts present!

Above the Nascent Soul Realm is Divinity Transformation. Only after Divinity Transformation can one reach the Body Integration Realm.

Meng Yifei and the leaders of the Sword Sect’s five peaks and three halls were all at this level.

"Old Hong, you can tell me now, right? What was the reason for your sudden visit to Lingxu Peak?" Meng Yifei asked, looking at Hong Sheng with curiosity.

He and Hong Sheng had been friends for decades. Back then, he wasn’t yet the Sword Sect Leader. They had met while he was traveling, and they had been through life and death situations together.

Later, he took over as the leader of the Sword Sect, while Hong Sheng, unwilling to be tied down by a sect, chose to become a Tributor for the Spiritual Artifact Pavilion.

A Tributor of the Spiritual Artifact Pavilion enjoyed the resources it provided every month and was only required to intervene when the pavilion faced a major crisis. Compared to joining a sect, it was indeed a much freer life.

Hong Sheng had requested to be stationed at the Spirit Treasure Pavilion near the Sword Sect. Living so close, the two would often meet for tea or drinks, and their friendship from many years ago had continued to this day.

As Meng Yifei spoke,

Hong Sheng glanced back at Manager Qiu. "Have you found the person?"

Ye Zhaozhao had deliberately turned her back, but Manager Qiu still recognized her in a single glance.

He also saw Li Shuang, but he didn’t have much of a problem with her.

After all, Li Shuang hadn’t wanted to participate in the blind box event in the first place. He was the one who insisted on inviting her!

Then again, even if his resentment toward Li Shuang reached the heavens, what could he say?

That he tried to swindle Li Shuang but failed? No one would side with him on that. He didn’t hold the moral high ground.

If he dared to target Li Shuang, he’d probably be thrown out of the Sword Sect on the spot.

From the very beginning, when Manager Qiu asked Hong Sheng to bring him to the Sword Sect, it was all for Ye Zhaozhao!

Manager Qiu stared at Ye Zhaozhao, grinding his teeth.

He knew he was no saint himself. Over the years, he had been blinded by Ye Zhaozhao’s novel ideas and had become somewhat unscrupulous in his business dealings. The Spirit Treasure Pavilion had many branches, and thanks to Ye Zhaozhao’s methods, his branch’s performance had grown significantly. This made him trust her methods even more blindly.

But some things are intangible. While using Ye Zhaozhao’s ideas, the Spirit Treasure Pavilion’s reputation had been slowly declining.

It wasn’t until this blind box incident that the cultivators’ dissatisfaction finally erupted, and the Spirit Treasure Pavilion’s reputation was left in tatters.

Only then did Manager Qiu begin to panic. The Spirit Treasure Pavilion had spent a century establishing branches across the continent, relying on its stellar reputation among cultivators. Now, he had destroyed it!

If he couldn’t find someone to take the blame, he was afraid he would face severe punishment!

He didn’t want to die, which meant Ye Zhaozhao had to!

"I’ve found her," Manager Qiu said through clenched teeth, nodding.

He knew he was also at fault.

But every man for himself, and the devil take the hindmost. This time, he was here for the sole purpose of shifting the blame.

’Ye Zhaozhao, don’t think you can just get away with this.’

"What’s going on?" Meng Yifei grew even more curious.

Hong Sheng smiled. "Master Meng, the disciples of your Sword Pavilion are truly as pure and clever as ice and snow."

Meng Yifei was even more bewildered. Why was his tone so full of sarcasm?

Just as Hong Sheng was about to say something, Chang Le’an couldn’t help but chime in, "What’s there to guess? Back at the Law Enforcement Hall, Senior Sister Luo just said herself that she and Li Shuang had just returned from the workshop. Isn’t that Manager Qiu the manager of the Spiritual Artifact Pavilion in the workshop? I bet the two of them did something at the Spiritual Artifact Pavilion, and now he’s come to settle the score."

As he spoke, Chang Le’an glanced at Luo Mingyue and Li Shuang with undisguised schadenfreude.

’Who knows what this Li Shuang did outside to have someone track her all the way here!’

’I’d like to see how she’s going to talk her way out of this one!’

Hearing Chang Le’an’s words, Ye Zhaozhao’s eyes flickered, and her heart settled slightly.

She had just been panicking out of a guilty conscience.

’Now that I think about it, Li Shuang used five Mid Grade Spirit Stones to get the grand prize worth a hundred top-grade spirit stones. This Manager Qiu must be here to settle accounts with Li Shuang!’

Ye Zhaozhao’s body couldn’t help but relax.

Li Shuang looked at Manager Qiu, her brow furrowed slightly. "Are you here for me?"

She believed her conscience was clear regarding the matter at the workshop.

If this Manager Qiu insisted on making a fuss, she didn’t mind setting the record straight with him.

"Who else would he be looking for? You’d better think hard about whether you’ve done anything to be ashamed of," Chang Le’an said mockingly.

Luo Mingyue was annoyed. "Manager Qiu, what happened at the workshop was your own dishonest doing. You can’t pin the blame on our Little Frost, can you?"

Lin Qingling frowned. "What’s going on?"

Before Manager Qiu could say anything, Luo Mingyue launched into a rapid-fire explanation of the whole affair from beginning to end.

Everyone present was sharp; as soon as Luo Mingyue finished speaking, they understood everything.

Lin Qingling stared at him coldly. "Some blind box, some stone gambling. It seems to me that your Spiritual Artifact Pavilion was the one being dishonest, and Little Frost won the grand prize through her own ability. What, have you come all this way to demand the Clear Heart Jade Pendant back?"

Lin Qingling’s gaze was sharp.

If Manager Qiu dared to agree, she wouldn’t mind showing him just how sharp her treasure sword still was!