“All right, stop acting. He only came to the Heavens to save me. San Lang had good intentions, so why conceal them?”
“No more acting,” Shi Qingxuan agreed. “I already sent those two exchanges to the communication array. You don’t understand—no matter how good the intentions, words always end up negative once they’ve been passed around enough. They might as well be negative from the start.”
“You get it,” Hua Cheng commented.
“Of course! Otherwise, how could I, the Lord Wind Master, be so popular in the Heavens?” Shi Qingxuan preened. “General Nan Yang, lower your bow.”
However, Feng Xin still had his bow pulled at almost full strength, holding his breath and not saying a word. Shi Qingxuan smacked him.
“Put it down, can’t you see they’re close? Nothing bad’s gonna happen.”
Feng Xin said in a dark voice, “Your Highness, the one next to you is a supreme…”
Seeing that he wouldn’t drop his hostility, nor his bow, Shi Qingxuan suddenly threw herself into his arm.
Instantly, Feng Xin’s face paled, worse than if he’d seen a ghost by a million-fold. He screamed, and the shaft of the spiritual arrow dissipated powerlessly like a cloud. Face aghast, he opened his mouth, and a long string of loud curses came out, ending with a distressed cry.
“What the fuck?! What are you doing?!”
Turned out, Shi Qingxuan had used her bosoms to ram into the arm holding the arrow. By the looks of it, that blow had thoroughly terrified Feng Xin. Shi Qingxuan swung her whisk back, elegantly carefree, looking as if she hadn’t just done anything indecent.
“I haven’t even asked you what you are doing. I just said that Crimson Rain Sought Flower came to save His Highness, and you still point at him with your arrow. If you want to fight him so badly, well, I won’t help you.”
Feng Xin had already backed a million miles away and looked like he would never approach her again. He cried out in dismay, “Don’t you dare do that ever again! Ever!! Do you hear me?!”
Watching him avoid her as if she were a snake, Shi Qingxuan, who was so confident about her ethereal beauty, actually felt rather depressed.
“Okay, okay, okay. I won’t do it again. It’s not like you suffered any loss, so what’s with that reaction?” As if feeling she’d lost face, Shi Qingxuan changed back into a man and turned around. “Eh? Where’s Qianqiu?”
At his words, Feng Xin finally collected himself somewhat and looked around too.
Xie Lian ah’d and asked, “He’s not in the communication array?”
“No?” Shi Qingxuan answered. “After he rolled the dice and left, we didn’t hear a peep. I asked him multiple times what the correct roll was, but he never replied. Before, when I talked to Qianqiu, he’d always respond really fast—not just to me but to any officials regardless of their rank. So weird.”
Xie Lian let out a soft sigh. “His Highness Tai Hua has left to chase after Qi Rong.”
The other two were taken aback. “Qi Rong?”
“Yeah. This place is Qi Rong’s lair.” Xie Lian sighed, “In any case…”
Feng Xin cut in, “Wait. Why is His Highness Tai Hua pursuing Qi Rong? Didn’t he come chasing after you?”
“No reason,” Hua Cheng answered from behind. “He’s simply chasing the true culprit behind the Gilded Banquet Massacre. The only thing His Highness did was clean up the mess that murderer left. Lang Qianqiu found out the truth and went chasing after the real culprit. That’s all.”
Feng Xin was shocked. “The real culprit? Is this true?!”
Xie Lian didn’t think he could explain it all again, and he certainly couldn’t explain the complex details clearly in a rush anyway, so he just shook his head. “It’s not that simple. I’ll explain more when we get back.”
Shi Qingxuan, although ignorant of the full story, was joyous. “I knew there was a misunderstanding in all this! I’ve got such godly premonition! Now, even if you return, you won’t be detained!”
“Good!” Feng Xin said too, looking greatly relieved.
He put away his bow, and the wariness he had shown also significantly decreased. Hua Cheng, on the other hand, only snorted coldly.
“Did you know?” Xie Lian asked Feng Xin. “That Qi Rong is that Qi Rong?”
Feng Xin asked, “Which Qi Rong? Who?” Then he gave a startle. “The one we knew?”
“So you didn’t realize it was him either?” Xie Lian remarked.