Chapter 314: Poisonous Spider, Thank You

Chapter 314: Poison Spider, Thank You

Chief Qian had another card up his sleeve—Zhao Changhe could guess as much, since the man had only sent Yang Qianyuan to relay a message rather than rushing to meet him himself, which suggested he had other leverage.

That Tian Lingzi was entangled with Poison Spider was quite unexpected.

Though Zhao Changhe could guess that Tian Lingzi’s demeanor was likely just a persona, not to be trusted too deeply. But Poison Spider had indeed fooled Chichi into believing Yang Qianyuan was with Tian Lingzi; in theory, that move should have aligned her with Chief Qian, diverting trouble toward Tian Lingzi—a clear act of malice.

This behavior hardly suggested Poison Spider and Tian Lingzi were in cahoots. Could Chen Yi’s intelligence be wrong?

Zhao Changhe pondered a moment but still found Chen Yi more credible. He had originally planned to play the senior expert and sit in the hall to listen to the negotiations, but now he abandoned that idea. As an invited senior master and a trump card, he didn’t need to explain his actions to anyone. If he didn’t want to show his face, he wouldn’t—he simply slipped off to a side hall to drink.

Yang Qianyuan looked at him eagerly, hoping he’d stay, but Zhao Changhe strode away.

Then he realized that being alone in a side hall suddenly opened up a vast horizon, giving him far more room to maneuver.

Chen Yi quietly slipped through the door, let out a sigh, and chuckled, “I was afraid you’d think you had everything figured out and waltz right in. Being able to step aside is good—at least we can talk a bit first.”

Zhao Changhe said, “I entered Kunlun under the identity of Wang Daozhong; at least everyone east of the city knows that. You should have come to take a look, shouldn’t you? One glance and you’d know the situation—you must have known I’d be coming here recently.”

Chen Yi snorted, “Of course I went to look, but damn it, you went chasing after that pretty boy! Then Zhao Changhe showed up at the Yukun Gang—I was completely confused.”

“Uh…” It seemed hard to find him. Zhao Changhe insisted, “It’s just a shabby tavern—why didn’t you just tell me directly? I could have come straight to you, and we’d be done with it. Why make it so complicated?”

Chen Yi’s face was expressionless: “Our base in Kunlun is a crucial secret; of course we can’t reveal it to anyone outside the organization. Who are you to us? You’re not San Niang’s husband, are you? How old are you anyway?”

Zhao Changhe: “…”

“Even if you were San Niang’s husband, she couldn’t just spill our secrets.” Chen Yi went on, “Originally, I was supposed to come find you quietly when you arrived, without revealing what I’m doing here. But as luck would have it, you ended up in this tavern too. Since we’ve already met, there’s no point hiding anymore—let’s lay it all out.”

Zhao Changhe laughed, “Not bad—at least you know what’s urgent. Hiding things at a time like this would be pointless.”

“Of course. We want to find the secret realm too—that’s the real business. And as it happens, this feud between the two gangs does involve the secret realm. We don’t have enough strength here, so your arrival is just in time.”

“Tell me in detail.”

“Originally, the Yukun Pavilion had a lot of strange goods, but it was still one of the Thieves’ Guild’s fencing channels—fairly normal. Lately, though, they’ve suddenly gotten a lot of items that look like they’re from ancient times. That’s odd. Stealing one or two such things is one thing, but this many? So many people started suspecting that these aren’t stolen goods from the Thieves’ Guild—they’ve found a secret realm.”

At this point, Chen Yi smiled. “Doesn’t it seem a bit strange?”

Zhao Changhe said, “Yeah, it’s like asking for trouble, drawing so much attention. Why not sell them one by one slowly? Or ship them out to sell elsewhere? It’s deliberate, isn’t it?”

“Exactly.” Chen Yi silently praised him—he had asked that question as a test for this supposedly clever big fellow, and the response was quick.

He glanced at the main hall outside; both sides had mostly arrived, the noise rising as they prepared to set out wine. He quickly continued, “If Tian Lingzi isn’t out of his mind, wanting to attract big shots to kill him, then there’s only one explanation: he intended all along to drag others in. Whoever comes to him, he’ll cooperate directly and take them into the secret realm. And from our experience with countless secret realms, only one kind requires dragging in so many outsiders…”

Zhao Changhe cut in decisively, “Poison.”

Chen Yi clapped his hands, “Right. He needs a lot of people to test the poison and tread through it, while also using this chance to eliminate rivals and dominate the east of the city. That’s why I suspect Poison Spider is in league with them—only with her on their side could their plan work.”

Zhao Changhe suddenly understood why Poison Spider had tricked Xia Chichi into going to Tian Lingzi, and even why Poison Spider herself had received Chichi. At the time, Chichi was just an out-of-town young master in her eyes—what better target to drag in for poison testing?

Last night, when Chichi said in the general store, “I’ll help you catch the spider,” he wondered how stunned Tian Lingzi must have been. Yet he still managed to put on that righteous, upright act, even reaching an agreement with the couple to “deal with Poison Spider together.”

No wonder he and Chichi had been misled—Poison Spider’s trick of sending Chichi to Tian Lingzi was far too deceptive. Fortunately, his purpose here was a key collaboration with the world’s most powerful intelligence network. With the intel, everything became simple.

Zhao Changhe suddenly stood up.

Chichi was in danger! Good thing he and Chen Yi hadn’t talked long!

…

At that moment, the Money Gang and the Yukun Gang were glaring at each other in the hall. Chief Qian claimed the Yukun Gang had stolen a treasure from the Money Gang, but it was clearly just an excuse to start trouble.

Since the Yukun Gang was connected to the Thieves’ Guild, Chief Qian feared that the Thief Saint Ye Wuzong might back them up. He needed a pretext to provoke a conflict and test the waters—once he confirmed Ye Wuzong wouldn’t show, he could truly force Tian Lingzi to hand over the secret cache. That was why he had wanted “Wang Daozhong” to act earlier; if an outsider struck, Ye Wuzong would have to take it up with Wang Daozhong, not the Money Gang. If Wang Daozhong refused, he had other big shots behind him anyway.

Meanwhile, Tian Lingzi was putting on an act, indignantly arguing the facts and reasoning that they hadn’t stolen anything. The two sides were bickering.

Xia Chichi was nowhere in sight. She was hidden in a tree outside the window, observing the hall, waiting for Poison Spider to appear…

But it was obvious that Poison Spider would only show up behind her—Tian Lingzi had already sold her out.

A silent, noxious mist crept up behind her, and behind the mist were eyes burning with deep-seated hatred.

In the distance, Vermilion Bird stood with arms crossed, expressionless. Should she save this little bitch?

All she does is fall in love! She helped her man assassinate a traitor, and now she’s saving her from her master Poison Spider—where’s the trial in that? What did she come to Kunlun for? To buy a gourd? Go buy one!

Just as she thought this, Xia Chichi, who seemed to be watching the quarrel in the hall, suddenly curled her lips into a charming smile.

Ice Soul shot out from under her ribs—a dashing, spinning sword strike that tore through the poison miasma and thrust straight at Poison Spider’s throat!

As if she had been waiting for her all along!

Not only Poison Spider, but even her master Vermilion Bird and the lover who knew her best had forgotten about her “trust detector”—Ice Soul, which slays the faithless and treacherous. Back when she made that pact with Tian Lingzi, Chichi had been holding Ice Soul down to keep it from stirring…

From the moment she had hidden here early in the morning, Xia Chichi knew her opponent wouldn’t be inside the hall, but behind her. She had been waiting for this!

Changhe was playing Wang Daozhong—let him do his thing. This was her trial.

I stand at the peak of nine heavens, before the gate of the Secret Treasury, come to Kunlun for my trial… The Venerable said I hadn’t reached a dead end, that a man had helped me, so I couldn’t unleash my potential or break through that final threshold.

But the gate of the Secret Treasury need not be sought only in desperation. Martial breakthrough is not limited to a single path.

The Secret Treasury is the bridge between heaven and man.

To sense heaven’s will above, to feel human intent below—the union of heaven and man is nothing more than this.

In this treacherous Western Region, meeting her lover by fate, he appeared before her in adversity—able to help detoxify with ease, to face the Venerable and say, “You dare not kill me.” From the naive stirrings of love in that mountain stronghold to now, he had become a towering husband.

They could walk hand in hand through the streets of villains, tread the nights of a foreign land, bathe in the snow of Kunlun.

Together, they were doing what they should have done a year ago—a lover’s journey.

Thoughts unblocked, heart expansive—was this not the will of heaven?

Yue Hongling had already broken through. Why had her first Secret Treasury come so late?

Ice Soul soared through the air, whipping up snow from the treetops; dragon’s roar and tiger’s howl stirred the winds and clouds across the sky.

This was the sword of the Innate, riding the momentum of breakthrough!

Poison Spider’s face twisted in horror.

She, Poison Spider, ranked fifty-eighth on the Human Ranking, had not yet broken through the Secret Treasury… Yet this Xia Chichi, supposedly only third on the Hidden Dragon Ranking, was breaking through the Secret Treasury before her very eyes, ascending to Grandmaster!

“Poison Spider, thank you.”

In the distance, Vermilion Bird stared blankly, then suddenly smiled and vanished.

Chichi had grown up—she no longer needed her covert protection. Now, what she should do was go see the so-called Flaming Kunlun.

As for that red outfit being tacky or not, she’d deal with her later—don’t think breaking through one Secret Treasury makes you something special!