Chapter 217: Senior Brother, Another Cultivation Partner?
The wind and snow had not stopped, and the long night was not over.
Inside the sleeping quarters, the sound of the wind and snow outside was filtered by the doors and windows, becoming a soothing “whoosh,” peaceful and quiet.
On the red sandalwood pear blossom bed, Yun Yiyi’s tightly closed eyes squeezed shut, her brows trembling, and her bangs, soaked with cold sweat, stuck to her forehead. She seemed to be suffering from a nightmare, unable to wake up.
Creak—
The hall door slowly opened a crack. A slender adult woman peered into the room from outside. Seeing the messy bedding on the maidservant’s bed opposite the door, yet no one lying there, she couldn’t help but feel a jolt of fear.
Her name was Yu Shuìtíng, a disciple of Xi Ri Peak. Last month, her cultivation partner, Yè Ānpíng, said he had found a big deal: kidnapping the Yun family’s Eldest Miss.
When she heard about it then, she had naturally strongly objected, but Yè Ānpíng completely ignored her advice, saying, “If we succeed with this, we can buy a cave dwelling and never have to live in the disciple’s dorms again,” and “I only need to capture her and hand her over; I don’t have to worry about anything else.”
Unable to persuade Yè Ānpíng, she finally agreed. However, worried about Yè Ānpíng’s safety, she insisted that Yè Ānpíng take her along for this “big deal” so they could look out for each other. Moreover, if things went wrong, they could face the Huang Quan together; it was lighter than one person being left alone in the world.
Yu Shuìtíng closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Carrying the spirit sword in her hand, she squeezed into the room, cocking her ear to listen for any movement inside. After confirming that Yun Yiyi’s personal maidservant was not there, she tiptoed towards the red sandalwood pear blossom bed.
Reaching the bedside, she looked at Yun Yiyi on the bed, who was frowning and sweating profusely. She took out a cloth from her sleeve, then grabbed Yun Yiyi’s cheek and, unskillfully, stuffed the cloth into her mouth.
“Mmph—?!”
Yun Yiyi woke up instantly, her eyes filled with terror as she looked at the masked woman now standing by her bed. She immediately raised her hands, flailing and kicking, pushing at her.
However, with one above and one below, Yun Yiyi had no leverage to exert her strength and was completely no match for Yu Shuìtíng.
“Mmph mmph mmph—?! Mmph—”
Seeing her struggle so violently, Yu Shuìtíng glared and said:
“Eldest Miss Yun, if you want to live, be quiet.”
Yun Yiyi paused. Hearing this address, she immediately understood that this woman was likely a Sword Sect disciple. Her gaze steadied, and she uttered a few soft sounds, indicating she had something to say:
“Mmph… Mmph—”
Seeing that she had stopped struggling, Yu Shuìtíng breathed a sigh of relief. This was her first time kidnapping someone, and she was filled with fear and apprehension. She then rolled Yun Yiyi halfway over on the bed, tied her hands behind her back with a Binding Immortal Lock from her storage bag, and then tied her feet.
Yun Yiyi realized that the other party did not intend to kill her, and she felt slightly relieved. She turned her head to look behind her:
“Mmph mmph— mmph?”
Glancing at Yun Yiyi’s questioning eyes, Yu Shuìtíng said as she tied the knot:
“Eldest Miss Yun, please be at ease. We are taking you away intact, without harming you in the slightest.”
“Mmph? Mmph mmph…”
After tying Yun Yiyi up, she grabbed her waist and lifted her onto her shoulder. However, seeing Yun Yiyi’s thin silk nightgown, and thinking that the wind and snow outside were quite strong, she worried she would be cold. So, she put her back on the bed, wrapped her in a quilt, and then carried her again. She opened the window on the east side of the room and jumped out.
Carrying Yun Yiyi, Yu Shuìtíng leaped onto the eaves. Braving the wind and snow, she leaped back and forth across the eaves of the Yun Manor’s various buildings. A short while later, she arrived at the lotus pond behind the Yun Manor.
A man in a gray cloak was waiting in a pavilion by the lotus pond. Seeing her return carrying a quilt, he immediately got up to meet her.
One of them sized up Yun Yiyi and nodded, asking:
“Were there any complications?”
“No, it went very smoothly. We didn’t encounter any patrolling mansion guards, nor did we trigger any mechanisms or formations. We didn’t even need to draw our swords.”
“That’s good…” The man nodded, then looked at the sky, and glanced in the direction of Ye Anping’s bedroom. “Those three are really slow. Why haven’t they returned yet? Is that guy named Ye that difficult to deal with?”
Hearing this, Yun Yiyi was slightly stunned and her eyes widened:
“Mmph mmph mmph—!!! Mmph—”
“… …”
“Mmph mmph mmph!!”
Seeing how noisy she was, the man hesitated for a moment. He stepped forward and pulled the cloth out of Yun Yiyi’s mouth.
Yun Yiyi, who had been calm moments before, was now panicked.
She had a high-level magical artifact for body protection on her, so she wasn’t worried about these people harming her. She had planned to play along, using herself as bait, leaving some marks along the way. Then, when the disciples of Yi Shui Peak discovered them, she would lead them to the gang’s base camp.
However, upon hearing the man’s words, and realizing that this group seemed to be targeting her husband as well, she became flustered.
“What do you want?!”
Facing Yun Yiyi’s questioning, the man sneered and said:
“We’re kidnapping you and killing the young master of the Hundred Lotus Sect on the side.”
“You dare?!” Yun Yiyi’s eyes widened in anger, but the next moment, the man stuffed the white cloth back into her mouth. “Damn it, if you dare… mmph mmph mmph—”
“Mmph mmph mmph—! Mmph—”
Yun Yiyi struggled, quickly channeling spiritual energy into the jade talisman inside her inner wear, preparing to force these people back with the magical artifact. But at this moment, another person, covered in blood, leaped into the pavilion by the lotus pond.
Ye Anping glanced at Yun Yiyi, who was making a commotion on Yu Shuìtíng’s shoulder, and speaking in a hoarse, strained voice, said:
“It’s done, but Senior Qi and Brother Hu are dead. That guy named Ye is quite difficult to deal with.”
Hearing this, Yun Yiyi’s eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at him:
“Mmph? Mmph mmph— mmph mmph mmph—!!”
Ye Anping ignored her, his gaze sweeping over Yu Shuìtíng and the other man. Seeing Yu Shuìtíng constantly staring at him, he felt a flicker of vigilance and quickly prepared his spirit sword from his storage bag.
Yu Shuìtíng didn’t notice anything unusual. She only felt a pang of distress seeing Ye Anping’s wounds, and asked:
“Ye Jun, what’s wrong with your throat?”
Ye Jun?
Could this person be the “Yu Shuìtíng” written on the jade pendant just now?
Ye Anping hesitated, not daring to say too much, and only replied:
“Crashed into my neck… Swallowed some blood…”
“I see… Then I’ll take a look for you later.”
The man scanned the two of them, looked at the sky again, and said nothing. He turned and walked out of the pavilion, then went to the rockery by the lotus pond and moved it aside a little.
“Let’s rendezvous first. People from Xi Ri Peak and Jian Jiu Peak should be waiting.”
After speaking, he was the first to jump into a small hole beneath the rockery.
Yun Yiyi, carried on Yu Shuìtíng’s shoulder, heard this. The spiritual energy she had been gathering towards the jade pendant in her inner wear instantly stopped.
She bit down hard on the white cloth in her mouth, her eyes fixed on Ye Anping, who was now covered in blood, her gaze filled with killing intent.
However, the next moment—
Ye Anping stepped forward and immediately struck the back of her neck with a palm strike.
“Mmph…”
Yun Yiyi’s head swayed, and she slumped down limply.
Seeing this, Yu Shuìtíng frowned slightly. She felt that her “Yè Ān” seemed a bit different, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint what was different. Without overthinking it, she quickly followed the man before her, carrying Yun Yiyi, and jumped into the small hole beneath the rockery.
Ye Anping followed closely behind. After jumping down, he moved the rockery back into place from below and then followed the two along the rock path, heading towards the mountainside of Yi Shui Peak.
… …
