Chapter Fifty-Seven: Senior Brother, He’s a Human Trafficker
Days ago, after their conversation, Xiao Tian told Feng Yu Die that Ye Anping might also be able to see it. Therefore, Feng Yu Die no longer paid attention when Xiao Tian said nonsensical things to Ye Anping. She felt it was impossible for Ye Anping to see Xiao Tian.
However, upon entering the Physiotherapy Center and seeing Ye Anping’s serious expression, Feng Yu Die realized what was happening.
“Today?”
“Yes, today. Let’s go, Willow Moon Lake…”
“Why didn’t you say so yesterday? I didn’t even say goodbye to Junior Sister Pei and the others.”
“No need to say goodbye. Within three days, everyone in the Xuan Xing Sect will know that you were abducted by someone from the Seven Kill Gate.”
Feng Yu Die pouted. She felt inexplicably annoyed, like Ye Anping was using her as a pawn. Being controlled by others was never a comfortable feeling. But to be honest, after listening to Ye Anping explain the details of his plan these past few days, she couldn’t help but admire him. To use the Xuan Xing Sect, one of the Five Great Sects of the immortal families, as a tool at the age of fifteen as a Qi Refining Stage cultivator… She couldn’t help but wonder if she could achieve the same if she were in Ye Anping’s shoes. No matter how she thought about it, even with Xiao Tian’s Heavenly Scroll of the Dao assisting, it was unlikely she could consider every detail so meticulously.
The two of them greeted Bai Yuexin, and under Bai Yuexin’s envious gaze, they summoned their Flying Swords and ascended into the air, flying towards Willow Moon Lake in the southwest.
Willow Moon Lake, as its name suggested, was a crescent-shaped barrier lake surrounded by willow trees. Many autumn lotuses grew in the lake, but unfortunately, it was not the blooming season, with only brown lotus leaves and a few carp swimming within. A small pavilion stood by the lake, its spire painted a deep date red and its pillars an ancient ink green.
The two landed their swords and walked into the pavilion. Ye Anping looked at the sun in the sky. There was still some time before noon. Judging by the style of Liang Zhu’s Seven Kill Gate thugs, they usually didn’t show up until the appointed time. So, he took out the Roasted chicken he had bought on the way from his Storage Bag.
“Here, the last Roasted chicken before your journey.”
“?” Feng Yu Die furrowed her brows and asked suspiciously, “Young Master Ye, you’re not planning to let me die in Heavenly Mystery Fortress, are you? What journey?”
“‘Journey’ is a neutral term,” Ye Anping shrugged and explained. “As long as you don’t act on impulse and do as I’ve taught you, you’ll come out the same way you went in.”
“…You think I’ll mess around?”
“I’m just afraid you will mess around.”
*Don’t worry, I’ll watch her,* Xiao Tian quickly chimed in to help.
Although Ye Anping didn’t respond, Xiao Tian’s words eased his mood considerably. Feng Yu Die was fond of acting on impulse, and in the early stages of the game, she tended to get carried away, sometimes charging into the enemy’s stronghold alone. Although she always managed to survive danger through her strength and luck, that was only effective against “contemporaneous” forces. As mentioned before, the Seven Kill Gate was a force that appeared later in the game, nearing the mid-game. Right now, Feng Yu Die and the main storyline were still in the early development stage. For a Protagonist in the early stages to infiltrate a mid-game force was not without considerable danger. Even with the “as useful as piss” plan he had drawn up for her, he couldn’t guarantee Feng Yu Die’s 100% safety from the Seven Kill Gate.
“Come, one last confirmation,” Ye Anping said solemnly. “After I drug you and tie you up and hand you over to Liang Zhu, he should take you to the nearest Seven Kill Gate branch to report. Then, in about two days, you’ll be transferred to the Heavenly Mystery Fortress headquarters. You’ll be blindfolded the entire time and kept inside a cargo ship.”
“…”
“When you feel it’s about time, crush the Teleportation Token I gave you.”
Feng Yu Die quickly asked, “The Teleportation Token is a pair, I have one, who are you giving the other one to?”
“I’ll give it to Lei Wanjun later. Then, when you crush the Teleportation Token, he’ll know your exact location, and he’ll lead Xuan Xing Sect disciples to eradicate the entire Heavenly Mystery Fortress and rescue you.”
“Mm…” Feng Yu Die nodded and said, “So, before the sect leader of the Seven Kill Gate is killed, I have to throw this… Xuan Xing Sect formation map you gave me into his bedroom.”
“Yes, the purpose of this is to sever our connection, so that the Xuan Xing Sect won’t realize that someone else planned this.”
“Then how will you get away afterwards?” Feng Yu Die twisted her eyebrows and continued to ask, “I’ve been coming to your place every day these past few days, not only Senior Sister Bai knows, but quite a few disciples must have seen me. Now that I’ve been kidnapped, the Xuan Xing Sect will immediately send people to question you. How will you explain it later?”
“Hoo—” Ye Anping exhaled softly. “You don’t need to worry about me. I already have a plan.”
“Who’s worried about you?” Feng Yu Die twitched her eyebrows. “I’m just curious.”
“Then stop being curious.” Ye Anping asked one last time, “Have you memorized the Heavenly Mystery Fortress map and all the mechanisms inside? Don’t get yourself into trouble by misremembering something later.”
Feng Yu Die propped her cheek on her hand and replied, “The few maps you showed me earlier, I can redraw them for you.”
“That’s good…” Then, he took out a packet of powder and a rope from his Storage Bag. In front of Feng Yu Die, he scooped up a cup of water from the nearby lake with a bamboo cup and sprinkled the powder into the water.
“Here, this medicine will make you sleep for a day. After the medicine takes effect, you should already be on the Seven Kill Gate’s cargo ship, but remember, don’t move around after you wake up. Just pretend to still be asleep, understand?”
“…Got it.” Feng Yu Die pouted and took the bamboo cup from his hand. Looking at the clear water in the cup, he hesitated for a moment, held his breath, and drank it in one gulp.
“Huh? No taste…”
“Of course, it has no taste. I specifically bought top-quality [Redacted] powder. You won’t get a headache when you wake up.”
Within three breaths of the water entering his throat, Feng Yu Die felt the medicine taking effect. Her vision immediately blurred, and her head felt fuzzy. She paused for a moment, glimpsed the Roasted chicken on the table, and in the last moments of consciousness, she reached back and tore off a chicken leg from the table, stuffing it into her mouth. She vigorously sucked off all the meat and skin, swallowed, and then plopped onto the table, falling asleep.
Xiao Tian circled Feng Yu Die a few times before landing on her shoulder.
*No problem, Young Master Ye, Yu Die is fast asleep!* It gave Ye Anping a thumbs-up, as if praising the medicine he had prepared.
“…” Ye Anping stood up somewhat speechlessly, walked over, grabbed Feng Yu Die’s arm, pulled her arm behind her back, and tied a slipknot around her wrists with the rope. Xiao Tian watched Ye Anping’s movements carefully from mid-air. Seeing that he didn’t seem to have any lewd thoughts, it blinked and reminded him: *Young Master Ye~ Yu Die is completely defenseless right now, you could secretly touch her! If you just want to touch her face or something, I don’t mind, I won’t tell her later. Be brave—*
“…” Black lines dripped down Ye Anping’s forehead. He ignored it, squatted down again, brought Feng Yu Die’s feet together, and tied a slipknot around her ankles. Two slipknots, which she could easily break free from with a little force. Then, he took off Feng Yu Die’s Storage Bag, took out a prepared sack, put it over her, and tied the opening shut.
As he was doing this, Liang Zhu arrived as promised. Liang Zhu stood in front of the pavilion, not approaching further, just watching Ye Anping skillfully pack Feng Yu Die. He was momentarily speechless—this kid was so proficient at tying people up, he must have done it often. After a while, Ye Anping directly threw the sack and Feng Yu Die’s Storage Bag to Liang Zhu.
“Brother Liang, catch.”
“…” Liang Zhu caught them with one hand. He probed Feng Yu Die’s Storage Bag with his Spiritual Sense and, confirming that it contained the Identity Token of the Grand Tutor of the Gu Poison Sect, nodded. Then, he took out a smaller Storage Bag from his own waist and threw it to Ye Anping.
“As we agreed, the bounty is split fifty-fifty. I’ll deliver her to the Seven Kill Gate branch to collect the bounty and won’t come back, alright?”
Ye Anping took the Spirit Stone bag, weighed it, and nodded. “Of course.” He then clasped his hands in a salute and said, “Brother Liang, we’ll meet again.”
“…” Liang Zhu didn’t reply, only nodded, then summoned his Flying Sword and stepped onto it, carrying the sack and flying northwest. After Liang Zhu’s figure disappeared, Ye Anping examined the bag of Spirit Stones Liang Zhu had given him. A sweep of his Spiritual Sense revealed exactly seven thousand five hundred Spirit Stones, no more, no less. Ye Anping nodded in satisfaction, thinking that in a few days, he could take Junior Sister Pei to “Sky Dome Spring Return Pavilion,” the best jewelry store around the Xuan Xing Sect, to pick out a nice necklace or bracelet. Although this money could barely be called ill-gotten gains, it was money earned from selling Feng Yu Die. But… did money have any lineage distinction?
“Mmm… I’ll tell Junior Sister I won the lottery then. I remember they sell things like lottery tickets in the marketplace…”
