Chapter 194: Hong Mian's Mission
Translator: Kelaude Editor: TomYummy
Earlier, Miao Yi requested her help to find out the allocation of Xiong Xiao’s subordinates, hoping to find out where Yuan Zhengkun’s group was. Although had she refused him without a moment's hesitation, this matter had always been on her mind.
When she had gone to Ever Peace Manor this time around, she couldn’t help herself from discreetly unearthing the allocation of Xiong Xiao’s forces from Qing Mei and Qing Ju.
If anyone else had brought up the matter, Qing Mei and Qing Ju would have been on their guard. When the matter was raised from Yang Qing’s daughter, the two aunties didn’t believe that Qin Weiwei would do anything rash that would disadvantage Yang Qing. Moreover, letting Qin Weiwei know more on the current situation wasn’t necessarily a bad thing either, so they didn’t conceal the truth from her.
While cleaning her pair of white jade-like hands, Hong Mian and Lu Liu exchanged a meaningful glance with each other—a trace of realization and doubt flashed by their eyes.
Lu Liu cautiously asked, "Mountain Chieftain, Cave Master Miao is a person who dared to be openly hostile with Xiong Xiao. Last time, I heard that for the sake of those three men, Cave Master Miao almost went head to head with Xiong Xiao. If Cave Master Miao finds out where they are now, I am afraid that he won’t be willing to take things lying down."
Qin Weiwei awkwardly shook her arms to flick off the remaining scented water. The arc of her reddened snowy white bosoms would make any person’s heart race.
She feigned a smirk as she said, "I almost died at their hands before. How could I not avenge myself? I can’t do it in person, but since Miao Yi has never stayed put anyway, I can make use of him."
Hong Mian and Lu Liu glance at each other. They had all lived together for many years, so they understood each other well. ‘Mountain Chieftain, are you the type of person who would not care about the Manor Head’s overall situation for the sake of your own personal grudge? You aren’t type to use your own position to get even with another person! No matter how you try to feign it, you don’t look the part at all!’
"Mountain Chieftain, do you perhaps..."
Initially, Lu Liu wanted to cautiously ask, ‘Mountain Chieftain, do you perhaps like Miao Yi?’
All of a sudden, Hong Mian shot her a ferocious glare. Since both of them knew each other very well, when she caught a glimpse of Lu Liu’s odd expression, she already knew exactly what she wanted to say and quickly stopped it.
She actually held the same suspicion in her heart. Before, when the Mountain Chieftain had lost herself because of Miao Yi, it was already too abnormal. Women always understood each other.
However, some words weren’t appropriate to say. If the Mountain Chieftain truly liked him, then it was all the more crucial that they didn’t say it out loud.
Many years had passed, and yet, when had they ever seen the Mountain Chieftain enamoured with someone before? Even the Manor Head felt that it was a little strange, so he frequently showed concern on this issue. Others would not have expected it, but Yang Qing actually had a strong desire to fulfill his responsibility as a father.
Now that the Mountain Chieftain finally managed to have this barest of notions, if they said it to her face, her pride wouldn’t be able to take it. Just like a small ember, a casual breath would be able to extinguish it.
Not only that, they could not be entirely sure just then. The pair—Mountain Chieftain and Cave Master Miao—were practically enemies. They never behaved normally the moment they saw each other.
On hearing her unfinished words from behind, Qin Weiwei asked, "Do you perhaps, what?"
Lu Liu secretly stuck out her tongue, understanding her sister’s meaning.
Hong Mian hurriedly interjected, "What Lu Liu means, is that the last time Cave Master Miao brought this matter up, didn’t Mountain Chieftain refuse him?"
Qin Weiwei avoided making eye contact for a moment, but quickly collected her composure and said, "How could I ever promise him outright? Do you think my position now is appropriate? That’s why I want you to reveal it to him without leaving any trace behind. Do you still not understand?"
Hong Mian and Lu Liu glanced at each other, before agreeing in unison. "We understand."
In reality, there wasn’t a need for them to remind him as the Cave Master of East Arrival Cave was currently scheming on this exact matter.
The Great Cave Master couldn’t sit still any longer. He had been preparing to dispatch his subordinates to scout each and every location in Xiong Xiao’s territory one by one. All of a sudden, he got wind that the forces of South Edict Manor and Ever Peace Manor were going to undergo a large-scale reshuffling, and were once again dividing up the territories.
He didn’t have any choice. Miao Yi could only wait until the territories of those men were assigned before he could strike.
When he heard that Yang Qing was given administration of two manors, and was once again dividing the territories, Miao Yi had been a little hopeful. He reckoned that, as the adopted daughter of Yang Qing, Qin Weiwei wouldn’t lose out. There was a chance that he could gain a small advantage as well—with his men, it wouldn’t be a problem for him to occupy two caves.
However, he certainly didn’t expect the other Mountain Chieftains to expand their territory, while only that luckless woman, Qin Weiwei, didn’t receive a single thing from it. Meaning that he, the Great Cave Master Miao, would not get anything from it either in the end.
"I ended up being the one being compromised by our beloved Mountain Chieftain..."
East Arrival Cave’s dear Cave Master was hiding inside his simple room, grumbling about his superiors before his subordinates without any kind of restraint.
Actually, Miao Yi already knew all too well that with his current cultivation, climbing up to the Cave Master seat was already a special case. Anything higher than that couldn’t be justified. He was just being hopeful, but with his dream crushed, he was still somewhat upset.
When a person is upset, they tend to have a need to find another poor soul to vent out their frustrations, and Qin Weiwei was naturally the first on his list.
He wasn’t afraid that someone might leak news about it. He believed that the School of Blue Jade disciples wouldn’t have any interest in telling on him, and he trusted Yan Xiu. So whenever he was upset, he would simply curse. He would curse whoever he wanted to—it was his own territory. He was the one with absolute authority.
At that exact moment, a subordinate stepped inside with hurried steps. He cupped his hands to report, "Cave Master, Elder Auntie Hong Mian from Mount Calming Sea is here."
"Huh…." Seated on his wooden chair like a great king of the mountains, Cave Master Miao expressed surprised. "Why is she here...? How many people came?"
"Two. She only brought one subordinate along."
"For what purpose?" Miao Yi was slightly puzzled as he stood up and began walking in large strides. "I’ll go take a look."
Meanwhile, Hong Mian was stunned as she stood outside the destroyed grand hall. Needless to say, what shocked her the most was the tragic sight of those corpses hanging in the chill wind.
She had heard about this matter before, but never expected that she would still see this sight after so long and was at once disgusted by it.
Secondly, she was shocked that East Arrival Cave was still in ruins. There was not a single human figure going about with reconstruction works. Whatever that had collapsed, or were destroyed, were still in the same state; broken debris were still scattered about, even as snow cloaked the ruins. From the sight, how could anyone see any sign that it was going to be rebuilt at all?
What the hell was this great Cave Master Miao doing?
Furrowing her brows, she was beginning to suspect that Miao Yi was a maniac.
If he didn’t rebuild East Arrival Cave, then it was fine. However, not burying those exposed female corpses was too disgusting. Didn’t he feel the same when he look at them everyday?
"Elder Auntie, why were you suddenly struck with the mood to come over to my East Arrival Cave?"
From far away, Miao Yi chuckled as he cupped his hands in greeting.
After he made his way to her, Hong Mian pointed at the hanging corpses and frowned, "Cave Master Miao, what is the meaning of this?"
"Hehe. It’s to remain vigilant in times of peace!"
Miao Yi casually said so, yet a hazy look flashed past his eyes as if he had just been stabbed in a wound.
His own territory had been destroyed by outsiders; his subordinates raped, murdered, and hung there. Yet, a Cave Master like him couldn’t avenge them, and let them rest in peace. Everyday, he thought of it as a disgrace!
Was ‘remaining vigilant in times of peace’ done this way? Hong Mian felt like vomiting. She once again cursed him as a twisted madman in her heart. This wouldn’t do. When she returned later, she needed to find ways to stop Qin Weiwei by any means possible. She would never allow Qin Weiwei to fall in love with this twisted bastard. Otherwise, her own sisters would need to serve this crazy maniac as well.
"Then why aren’t you rebuilding your East Arrival Cave?"
"It’s too cold and difficult to carry out reconstruction in this condition." Miao Yi once again muddled through her interrogation.
Hong Mian was rendered speechless, realizing that this bastard had many excuses up his sleeves.
Finally, Miao Yi asked her a question instead. "Elder Auntie, why are you here?"
Hong Mian replied, "I was ordered to come and check on the progress of East Arrival Cave’s restoration. But I never would have thought that Cave Master Miao would show me this instead. I am seriously at a loss on how to report back to the Mountain Chieftain on my return."
Miao Yi cursed inwardly, ‘Did she really need to send her own personal handmaiden to check up on him?’ He was positive that the bitch was planning something against him.
"I have a hundred, thousand followers under me. Rebuilding this humble East Arrival Cave is only a trifling matter. No hurry! No hurry!"
Cave Master Miao chattered briefly, before inviting Hong Mian to his humble home to rest for a moment.
For this, he had specially emptied out a wooden room.
After he had spoken with her and figured that she was simply here to pick a quarrel with him, the Great Cave Master Miao excused himself by saying he had other matters to attend to, and left. He couldn’t be bothered with her anymore.
The task of attending to her was left to Qian’Er and Xue’Er. Currently, East Arrival Cave didn’t have any other handmaidens.
The main reason was that conditions did not allow for it. Staying in a shack in the mountains and fields, in a world of mountains and snow; even if a group of handmaidens came, they wouldn't be able to endure it.
However, Hong Mian had came with a mission, not for the sake of enjoyment. The current conditions here weren’t even suited for enjoying herself.
After chatting with the two girls and getting to know them for a while, Hong Mian stood at the entrance, and reached out with her hand to an icicle hanging from the eaves—she broke it with a ‘Crack!’. Eying the ruins at the foot of the mountain, she sighed, "Your Cave Master is really too outrageous. He actually has the heart to watch his own delicate handmaidens suffer cold and hardships, by refusing to hurry the restoration of East Arrival Cave. And not to mention—look at your former sisters! He’s heartlessly letting their corpses hang there, without care!"
On hearing someone talk ill of their own master, the pair of girls bit their lips. With the other woman’s status, they didn’t dare to retort.
Yet eventually, they couldn’t hold themselves back any longer. Xue’Er defended her master in a low voice, "Elder Auntie. That’s not how it is. You have wronged our Cave Master. He has vowed that ‘for every day he can’t avenge them at East Arrival Cave, let them watch him for another day longer’. Cave Master..."
She wanted to continue, but Qian’Er quietly pulled her sleeves, and made her to shut up immediately.
Before Hong Mian, these two were still too inexperienced.
"...." Startled, Hong Mian turned to glance at the pair. She didn’t pay attention to their small movements, as realization dawned in her eyes.
‘So that was why! For every day he did not avenge them, he would never rebuild East Arrival Cave?’ She was the one who had mistaken the Great Cave Master Miao for a twisted bastard.
Yet he really was quite twisted, using this crazy way to demonstrate his sincere conviction...
Utilizing that information, she managed to find a way to leak information to him without leaving a trace. Shaking her head, she sighed, "Later, persuade your Cave Master to forget about taking revenge. Yuan Zhengkun’s group has already begun serving as Mountain Chieftain Xiong Xiao’s subordinates in Changfeng Cave. We are all colleagues now; just let bygones, be bygones."
Qian’Er and Xue’Er instantly widened their eyes in surprise. It turned out that those villains were now residing at Changfeng Cave...
Recently while the pair were by Miao Yi’s side, they always overheard Miao Yi and his subordinates talk about taking revenge everyday. The Cave Master always cracked his head over the whereabouts of his enemies, but it wasn’t possible for him to search for them without attracting attention. Now that their location had been exposed, the two girls couldn’t stop themselves from clenching their fists.
They were also suffering at the sight of their sisters’ bodies everyday. They wanted to avenge them...
Silently noticing the pair’s reaction, Hong Mian already knew that she had surely achieved Mountain Chieftain’s purpose in sending her here. There was no need for her to say anything more; otherwise, it would be easy for others to become suspicious instead.
The topic soon quickly changed to matters such as how was the scenery was around here. Somewhat unnecessarily, she began asking about the matters of the bed between the two girls and the great Cave Master Miao...