Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 90: Chichi's Mission

As that blind man had said, Zhao Changhe, who now seemed to be all over the jianghu, had always held himself detached from this world. The entire time he’s been in this world, he’s always subconsciously seen himself as a modern university student.

In the same way, he stubbornly believed that he and Xia Chichi were in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, even if neither party had explicitly said so.

Because he inwardly saw Xia Chichi as his girlfriend, he never had any thoughts about Yue Hongling or Cui Yuanyang. It was only when he was facing Xia Chichi that he felt free. As he felt that she was his girlfriend, he felt that he could kiss her and touch her.

And perhaps even further.

When he realized that Xia Chichi had not lost her feelings for him despite her having become a saintess and being separated for half a year, Zhao Changhe felt so happy that he just wanted to take her tightly into his arms and pour out his feelings, resulting from their reunion after a long separation.

Both sides were confused and infatuated, and the atmosphere gradually heated up.

But then, the door suddenly swung open as Han Wubing rushed in with his broken sword. “I heard some fighting! I’m here to help... Oh, uh... It’s okay. You guys continue.”

Han Wubing slowly retreated one step at a time, only to then suddenly see the witch rushing out the window and fleeing. The sound of her gnashing her teeth could then be heard as she escaped. “This damn traitor, he actually has a helper! Hmph! Make sure to wash your neck! I’ll be coming to kill you soon enough!”

Her voice grew fainter and fainter, and her figure was soon nowhere to be seen.

Whoosh!

Several high-level members of the Four Idols Cult flew over from the distance. “Has the saintess ever suffered a loss? Should we...”

“No need!” Xia Chichi’s face turned red, and a “very angry” expression emerged on her face. “That traitor’s life belongs to me! No one is allowed to take action without my permission!”

“...Understood.” The members of the Four Idols Cult looked at each other and felt relieved. It seemed that the speculations regarding whether or not their saintess still had unresolved feelings for that traitor could now be put to rest. She was clearly gnashing her teeth from how much he hated him, and she did not seem to be faking the anger on her face.

Well, it isn’t really strange for this to be the case. After all, the saintess even witnessed him and Cui Yuanyang hugging each other.

However, Zhao Changhe and Han Wubing really do seem quite powerful. Even in the condition they’re in, they were actually able to force the saintess to retreat. It appears that their strength needs to be re-evaluated...

Meanwhile, Han Wubing carefully retreated to the door. He could not help but find what the other party said to be rather odd. Were you really fighting just now? With your mouth? Am I just too tired? Was I just seeing things?

Well, I can at least be sure of one thing: that person was a witch and not some cross-dressing man.

Han Wubing took a deep breath. “Well, Brother Zhao, I won’t be interrupting your rest any further. If a witch attacks you again, you can call me...”

At this moment, Zhao Changhe wanted nothing more than to strangle him to death. He said blearily, “Alright... I have to thank Brother Han for scaring away that witch.”

Han Wubing felt that Zhao Changhe was squeezing out his words through his teeth, so he quickly left the room.

Zhao Changhe went to the side of his bed and landed back on his bed butt-first.

Although he spoke through gritted teeth, his words were not completely empty. He really did get carried away in his passion. When he calmed down, he realized he really could not be having an affair with Xia Chichi given the current situation. If some elder from the cult had come and seen what they were doing, both their lives would be over.

Judging from what Chichi said when she was leaving, she must have noticed someone coming this way. Han Wubing’s interruption was timely, and he did have good intentions... But why do I have such a strong urge to beat him up...

At the beginning of summer, just you wait![1]

*

“Saintess, after conducting long hours of research these past few days, we have garnered information relating to the emergence of the sword.”

Once she returned to the private residence where the Four Idols Cult was currently staying, Xia Chichi took the seat of power and listened to the report somewhat absent-mindedly. “Mm, tell me then.”

The elder reported, “We have inferred from the records of our Holy Cult over the years that the true appearance of the ancient sword should be related to the seasons. After scouring through the records tirelessly, we have pinpointed the date of its most likely appearance to be the beginning of the 7th solar term.”

Xia Chichi nodded. “Indeed, that is precisely why we came here this time.”

“There is still a need for relevant ceremonies that the sword must recognize before it reveals itself. However, at the instance when someone was closest to succeeding in acquiring the ancient sword, it suddenly grew uncontrollable at the last moment, killing everyone involved before escaping. It had clearly approved of the person at first, but it ultimately turned against them. We are still having some difficulties ascertaining the exact reason for its sudden outburst. If we don’t manage to understand the reasoning behind it, it is highly probable that we face failure at the last step numerous times.”

Xia Chichi asked, “So what clues have you gathered regarding this?”

The elder replied, “We searched for information about all those who sought the sword but ultimately died under its sword qi. After thoroughly analyzing them, we finally discovered something they had in common.”

“Oh? What is it”

“It seems that the sword kills all those who are heartless and unjust, as well as those who break promises.”

Xia Chichi’s expression finally turned serious. She sat up straight and said, “Is that really the case?”

“Yes.” The elder found himself slightly uncomfortable.

The Four Idols Cult is a demonic cult. No matter how much it claimed to be holy and orthodox, its behavior still leaned toward evil and they had committed all sorts of atrocities. In such an environment, who would dare call themselves kind, righteous, and keep to their promises? Even the followers believe themselves to have no other advantages and place a lot of importance on promises would not dare say they were confident in their character. With that being the case, who would dare gamble their head to the recognition of the ancient sword?

Even Xia Chichi felt a little uncomfortable. She was confident that she was definitely not heartless. She loved a man dearly in this life. It was even to the point where, despite the cult not allowing it, her love was so deep that she even went and kissed the man she loved.

However, she was similarly confident in the fact that she had done things like breaking promises over the past months. It has already been half a year. How can a demonic cult’s witch not deceive others... Whether it be a demonic cult’s saint or saintess, what was the difference between lying and breathing to them?

At this moment, a scene flashed in Xia Chichi’s mind. The scene was the one she saw when she was hiding on the treetops by the ancient sword lake, the scene of two fools smiling at each other. It was difficult to find any fault in these two who remained righteous and stayed true to their promise.

It’s just that I really don’t know if the man I love among the two is a heartless person or not. This is something that can be reasoned either way. I wonder how the ancient sword will judge it... If I really do let him go, then if he gets cut down by the ancient sword, there’s no longer any need to question it.

Eh, why am I having such thoughts? They aren’t going to be involved in the matters of the Four Idols Cult anyway, so what’s the point of thinking of all this?

Another elder sighed and said, “Of course, the brothers of our Holy Cult are kind, righteous, and keep to their promises. But firstly, we are not sure whether or not there are any other conditions that the ancient sword looks at. Secondly, it would not be advisable to simply gamble our lives in such a way. This is still only my opinion, though. What do you all think we should do?”

Xia Chichi nearly laughed out loud when she heard the elder’s words. Impressive, as expected of my Azure Dragon Protector. He really is shameless. Despite thinking this, she maintained a calm and serious demeanor. “I concur. However, I would also like to hear your opinions.”

Someone hesitated and said, “From what I understand of the past attempts, the person who performs the ceremony does not necessarily need to meet the requirements of the ancient sword. The key is the person who ultimately takes hold of the sword. I think we can do it like this. We can still hold the ceremony and simply trick an outsider into taking hold of the sword. If he dies, at the worst, we simply need to come back next year; if he succeeds, we simply take him away.”

Everyone nodded. “Elder Qian’s words make sense.”

Hmph, what happened to the fellow cult members being kind and righteous? Xia Chichi wanted to laugh even more when she heard this. She then said lazily, “Then who do you think would be suitable to use?”

“Han Wubing. He is currently staying by the lake. There’s no need to consider anyone else.”

While she also clearly felt that Zhao Changhe was an unsuitable candidate, Xia Chichi still felt very unhappy when she heard this. What do you mean there’s no need to consider anyone else? Are you saying that my Changhe isn’t good enough?

In the end, she could not help but ask, “What about Zhao Changhe? He traveled thousands of li just to keep his promise. He also seems to be an honest person.”

Elder Qian glanced at her and then turned his head away.

You’ve clearly already got your answer written on your face, so why ask? Are you just trying to make things difficult for me?

Xia Chichi, who was regarded as a heroine who was abandoned in the end, gritted her teeth. After a while, she managed to squeeze out a smile. “Han Wubing is not easy to fool. You can try using him, but at the same time, you should look for an alternative. There’s no harm in having a backup plan.”

Everyone agreed. “Yes.”

“In addition, I feel that the Demon Suppression Bureau has strengthened its manpower recently. For some reason, named experts have arrived at a mere brothel.” Xia Chichi’s expression became solemn. “If the imperial court wants the ancient sword, we should just give it up first.”

“That does not make much sense, though. If the imperial court really wanted it, they would have no need to act so secretively... Besides, they do not have divine guidance like us. They had found the wrong path. Otherwise, they would have taken it away a long time ago. And if not for that, how could they have allowed for unrestricted access to the Ancient Sword Lake?”

“Don’t be careless. We must always remain cautious. This is my first major mission. There is no room for error!”

1. Just a small note since I don’t seem to have mentioned it anywhere, but the “beginning of summer” that the author refers to here is the beginning of the 7th solar term on the Chinese calendar. Google for more info. ☜

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