Chapter 147: Flying Rainbow Seeking the Sword

When Hua Feihong and Ma Junmei walked into the large tent, Nangong Qing's gaze naturally lingered over every inch of Hua Feihong's figure, making Hua Feihong feel extremely uncomfortable.

Sometimes, when a woman looks at another woman, she examines her even more carefully than a man would, especially when looking at a woman who is even more beautiful than herself, refusing to let pass a single detail.

Hua Feihong's beauty was such that even Chang Tianfan, who had witnessed many grand spectacles, felt his breath catch instantly. This celestial maiden was so breathtakingly beautiful that it made one not even dare to entertain the slightest thought of desecration.

"Fetch the seats, and serve tea!" Chang Tianfan commanded calmly, and a martial escort hurried away to obey.

After exchanging formal greetings and stating their names, Hua Feihong finally sat down, cupped her fists, and said, "It is our great honor to meet Chief Escort Chang and Altar Master Nangong."

Chang Tianfan smiled faintly and replied, "You are too kind, Lady Hua. We once had a brief meeting with your master, the Fairy Lingyin, and felt profoundly honored. Never did we imagine that our Hundred Miles Escort Agency would encounter such difficulties this time, and that the Fairy would lend a righteous helping hand. Our gratitude is beyond words."

He had clearly misunderstood the purpose of Hua Feihong and Ma Junmei's visit, assuming they had been dispatched by Fairy Lingyin to reinforce them.

Hua Feihong had no choice but to stand up and cup her fists. "Chief Escort Chang, my master has cherished one lifelong wish: to retrieve the Night-Shining Light Sword deposited many years ago at the Zhou Estate in Fengling Crossing, Chenzhou. We have been ordered to travel thousands of miles from Chuanzhou precisely to fulfill her elderly wish."

Chang Tianfan and Nangong Qing were visibly surprised. Neither of them could have anticipated that the Mount Shu Sword Sect would send people to this place at such a time for a matter of this nature.

Of course, this was not the intention of the Mount Shu Sword Sect, but rather the idea of Zhang He.

Zhang He had adopted Qi Shiqi's approach: always resort to courtesy before resorting to force, so that if swords had to be drawn in the future, they would at least have a righteous justification. Of course, the most important point was to find out what kind of people Chang Tianfan and Nangong Qing really were; unless it was absolutely necessary, he preferred not to resort to robbery.

Nangong Qing said coldly, "Is that all you came here for?"

"Precisely!" Hua Feihong appeared very courteous. "We hope the two of you can accommodate this request. Your kindness will certainly be repaid in the future."

Nangong Qing suddenly asked, "And what if we refuse?"

Hua Feihong and Ma Junmei froze simultaneously. Within great sects like Mount Emei and Mount Shu, people always treated each other with courtesy and rarely used cold or harsh words. Yet Nangong Qing had thrust such a blunt and piercing question at them, making the two women feel both deeply uncomfortable and utterly at a loss for how to reply.

Ma Junmei could not help but interject, "Please do us this small favor, Altar Master Nangong. The Seven Sages of Mount Shu will be endlessly grateful to you."

For someone as hot-tempered as Ma Junmei to utter such submissive and compromising words was already quite remarkable. But how could the other party fail to understand the implication behind those words?

To put it bluntly, she was using the prestige of the Mount Shu Seven Sages to pressure them.

Nangong Qing suddenly laughed, her smile filled with an inexpressible contempt and mockery. "If you could make the elders of the Shaolin Disciplinary Hall or the masters of the Wudang Zhenwu Hall endlessly grateful, then I would hand this sword over to you right now. But can you? Are you worthy? Do you have the qualifications?"

Her words were harsh and venomous, and her tone arrogant and overbearing. Ma Junmei instantly felt all the blood rush to her head, and she came within a hair's breadth of drawing her sword. Yet she managed to hold back, knowing that if she made a move here and now, both she and her senior sister would undoubtedly die.

Hua Feihong sighed inwardly. She finally understood why Zhang He had refused to come and had sent the two of them instead.

Of course, Zhang He had not sent them here simply to endure these cold, sarcastic remarks and suffer grievances. Rather, if they came representing Mount Shu and the other party still refused to give face, then if Zhang He had come personally, given his status and standing, he might not even have been allowed to enter this large tent.

She also finally understood why Zhang He had worn that particular smile, for he was likely well accustomed to the arrogant, self-righteous facades usually put on by these so-called prestigious sects.

Tranquil and detached by nature, and tempered by much experience of late, Hua Feihong maintained her polite demeanor and replied calmly, "Altar Master Nangong's lesson is well taken. But do kings, nobles, generals, and prime ministers truly belong to a special bloodline?"

To think she would actually quote such a phrase, and one loaded with considerable lethal intent at that.

Nangong Qing's face darkened. "What? Do you intend to emulate Chen Sheng and Wu Guang? Or perhaps the Yellow Turban rebels around here?"

Hua Feihong replied calmly, "Whether it be Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, or Zhang Jiao of the Yellow Turbans... a gentleman encourages the beauty of others and does not further their evil, whereas a petty person does the exact opposite. Altar Master Nangong is a renowned figure of Mount Emei; naturally, you are no petty person. Since this is a mere matter of a flick of the hand, not only are you unwilling to assist, why do you instead resort to sarcasm and counter-attacks?"

She was indeed well-read. Her words were not only resonant and powerful, but also subtly pointed out that Nangong Qing was a petty person intoxicated by sudden success, speaking incoherently.

No matter how tranquil her temperament and how reluctant she was to argue with others, even a mud idol possessed a temper of three parts fire.

Nangong Qing sneered, "I suppose your Mount Shu thinks its sect is terribly impressive, doesn't it? Even more impressive than Mount Emei?"

Seeing that the atmosphere was turning sour, Chang Tianfan quickly interrupted their dispute. "Lady Hua, please forgive my bluntness. This Night-Shining Light Sword is indeed in our possession, but is this sword truly the property of your esteemed master?"

Hua Feihong froze once more and had to answer honestly, "Well, no. This sword belonged to a departed friend of my master. However, that friend has already passed away, so my master specifically ordered us to retrieve this sword to solace her grief."

She was still far too honest. Wasn't this admission tantamount to acknowledging that this was an NPC quest, and not the personal business of some high-ranking player? It would be a miracle if Chang Tianfan gave her any face.

"Since it is not your master's personal property, it is indeed inconvenient for me to hand it over," Chang Tianfan said, clearly much more sophisticated than Nangong Qing. "To be frank with you, before the client deposited this Night-Shining Light Sword, I checked its attributes. It is displayed as a quest item. In other words, it is very likely that the client is also in the midst of completing a certain quest. I rarely see a single item generate two separate quests..."

Hua Feihong and Ma Junmei froze yet again. They knew that Chang Tianfan was not talking nonsense; a single item could indeed generate multiple quests, which was nothing unusual. It simply meant that the item held immense value and was needed by multiple players, making the potential rewards very high.

"Therefore, the client also included this sword as one of the designated valuables entrusted to our escort agency..." Pausing for a moment, Chang Tianfan cupped his fists and said, "Lady Hua, Lady Ma, I truly apologize. In the escort business, we have our own rules and reputation. We cannot hand these valuables over to you, and I ask for your understanding. If you genuinely need it, once I have escorted the cargo to its designated destination, I am willing to help contact the client and see if we can negotiate with them..."

In truth, all of this was utter nonsense. Only a fool would try to negotiate with someone like that.

Yet Hua Feihong could clearly see that in the eyes of a man like Chang Tianfan, everyone else could only be divided into two categories: customers and robbers.

Even if the leader of the Demonic Cult came to commission an escort, he would be treated as a customer;

If the abbot of Shaolin came to demand a convoyed item, he would still be treated as a robber.

The customer was always right, and the robber always deserved to die. If you insisted on taking the sword by force, your behavior would be no different from that of a robber, regardless of whether you came from Mount Shu or Kunlun.

Things having reached this point, Hua Feihong knew there was no hope for the matter, and lingering any longer would simply be asking for humiliation.

The tea had only just been served, but she cupped her fists and said, "Since that is the case, we shall take our leave."

"Hold on!" Chang Tianfan called out decisively.

Hua Feihong asked with a puzzled look, "Does Chief Escort Chang have further instructions?"

A gentle smile returned to Chang Tianfan's face. "Instructions are hardly the word, Lady Hua, Lady Ma. You must have long since heard how complex and perilous the situation is in this region. The only way out from here leads back to Zhou Estate or Fengling Crossing. The two of you represent Mount Shu, but two hundred li ahead, the paths are swarming with underworld factions. Traveling completely alone like this, I fear you may encounter unforeseen dangers. Allow me to arrange for two capable subordinates to escort you all the way to Fengling Crossing."

Anyone else in their position would surely have assumed that the Hundred Miles Escort Agency was being righteous and chivalrous. In reality, however, Chang Tianfan was scheming behind the scenes.

Although Nangong Qing had looked down on Chang Tianfan somewhat over the past few days, she could not help but view him in a new light at this moment. This fellow might seem fussy on the surface, but he was actually a deep planner. On the surface, he was sending men to escort these two young lasses to Fengling Crossing, but in reality, he was provoking the nerves of the Four Great Families' forces and forcing them to pay special attention. As long as those factions dared to make a move, his side would be able to discern a few clues. What a brilliant strategy of "drawing the snake out of its hole"!

Hearing Chang Tianfan's words, Ma Junmei felt a wave of admiration in her heart: *Little Zhang, you are truly a goddamn prophet! These fellows are turning out exactly as you predicted. When Senior Sister and I successfully complete this mission, I must reward you handsomely. You brat, you're not just a bastard, you're also a genius of a scoundrel...*

Anyone who grew close to Zhang He generally absorbed some of his actor-like flair. Hua Feihong kept her expression entirely unruffled as she cupped her fists and bowed. "Then we shall trouble Chief Escort Chang to take this trouble. We deeply admire your righteous escort, and if you ever have any commands for us in the future, we will certainly come to assist."

It was fortunate that Zhang He was not witnessing this scene. Had he seen it, he likely would have mentally conceded defeat and thought, *Actually, you're quite the actress yourself.*

Watching Hua Feihong and Ma Junmei walk out of the large tent, the gentle smile on Chang Tianfan's face twisted into something eerie. "Lady Qing, I believe the countdown for our departure time should begin now."

Nangong Qing could not help laughing as well. "Those two little lasses were even expressing their heartfelt gratitude to you. Hehe, they're still too naive."

Chang Tianfan said proudly, "That is why I said earlier, Lady Qing, there is no need for impatience. Over these past few days, our agency has been plotting routes, deploying men, and contacting reinforcements. Once the timing is ripe, we will arrive smoothly at Fengling Crossing. I can guarantee that our journey from Gaoshen Peak to Fengling Crossing will be no different than a stroll through a garden."

Nangong Qing smiled radiantly. "Then I leave everything to Chief Escort Chang's arrangements. If there are any tasks for me, I will naturally cooperate, especially when it comes to eradicating these evil demons and crooked paths."

Chang Tianfan's gaze drifted toward the distant landscape outside the military tent. "Then let us see how the other side responds to our first move."

Naturally, he had no way of knowing that right outside the gates of the underworld's Four Great Families' camp, Zhang He was also currently seeking an audience with the various martial experts of the underworld.

*(To be continued)*