Chapter 321: Do Not Say the Summer Evening in the West Is Late

Chapter 321: Say Not the Summer Sun Sets Late in the Western Frontier

Leaving the stone house, Ye Wuzong kept his word and did not follow, as if giving them time to flee and hide things.

What fun would it be to follow?

Xia Chichi had spoken little inside, mostly listening to Zhao Changhe banter with Ye Wuzong; now she quietly transmitted a message: “What trick are you up to? Might as well just keep it in your hand the whole time?”

In truth, when Zhao Changhe wasn’t involved, she was usually a cold, taciturn holy maiden—ever since her days as Luo Qi. This time, acting alongside Zhao Changhe filled her with joy: hand in hand, they ventured into the tiger’s den, slew a strong foe together, and faced a master of the Earth List shoulder to shoulder. This was what he had done with Yue Hongling in the northern borderlands, and now it was finally her turn.

It should have been her first all along.

Standing quietly by his side, watching him chat casually with an Earth List grandmaster, Xia Chichi felt an indescribable happiness.

What were sword pellets or dragon-tiger intent compared to such a mood?

Zhao Changhe was replying: “If I really kept it in my hand all the time, he’d just take it straight away. If you don’t guard your valuables and they get stolen, that’s still theft—do you really think he’s that rigid?”

Xia Chichi didn’t care much: “Let him steal it if he wants. I think we shouldn’t offend him too much; it’s unnecessary.”

Zhao Changhe said, “But don’t you think making him fail to steal it would earn his true respect?”

Xia Chichi laughed. “He’s an interesting eccentric, and you might be right… but are you sure you’re not just trying to get the sword pellet for me?”

Zhao Changhe just chuckled.

Of course it was to get the sword pellet for Chichi—did he really want to play games with an old man?

Xia Chichi was pleased and whispered, “How do you plan to do it? Hide it? We don’t know this place as well as he does. Run? We can’t outrun him.”

Zhao Changhe lowered his head and murmured in her ear, “I’m sure I can find a secret realm. If we can get out of his sight for a while, we can slip into it, and he won’t find us. Hole up for three days, and it’s all done.”

Xia Chichi’s crystal jade-like ear slowly turned pink. Her ear itched, and so did her heart; she wished she could hide with him in that secret realm for three shameless days.

Zhao Changhe, seeing her adorable earlobe, couldn’t help but kiss it.

Xia Chichi pushed him away in annoyance and kicked him. “Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“Back to the city.” Xia Chichi turned and walked away leisurely. “If I get it, it’s my fortune; if not, it’s nothing. Let’s just pretend it never happened and do our own thing. Being able to act together with you is the happiest thing for me, not whether I gain some mere sword pellet. Why be so hung up on gain and loss?”

Zhao Changhe smiled faintly and followed.

This woman.

The sword pellet was important to her, yet she was more carefree about it than he was; he was the one clinging too tightly.

She truly had some of Xia Longyuan’s blood in her—her vision was never that of an ordinary person. Just like back then, when she decisively threw away the jade pendant that could have inherited a kingdom, discarding it like trash.

He hadn’t really understood her back then; she had never fully revealed her true self while playing the role of Luo Qi. Only now, through one encounter after another, did her character become clearer bit by bit—like… like getting married first and then falling in love?

How fortunate he was to have been by her side so early; otherwise, winning such a woman would not have been easy… Zhao Changhe suddenly felt grateful to the Blind Woman for choosing such a good spot.

Oh, no—that spot was drawn by him.

This was fate.

Still, Chichi’s thinking was sound… Though he had the idea of hiding in a secret realm, how to leave Ye Wuzong’s sight and get to that realm was extremely difficult.

Ye Wuzong’s lightness skill was unmatched in the world, and his ability to conceal his tracks was utterly traceless. You never knew when he might be watching you from somewhere; even if you thought you’d left his sight, you might have been under his gaze the whole time.

Was taking advantage while he was still inside the house an opportunity?

No.

His skill at tracking was also top-tier; he would follow the trail in an instant, and you couldn’t escape. That’s why he so readily stayed inside, giving you time to run—playing a game of cat and mouse.

So why run at all? Why treat themselves as mice?

The two of them openly held hands and walked straight back to Kunlun City, doing their own thing, letting the chips fall where they may.

Ye Wuzong came out of the house, studied the traces, and was surprised to find that the pair had actually returned to the city. He paused for a moment, then a smile crept onto his face.

Interesting young couple.

He swiftly followed, catching sight of their backs from afar.

They walked hand in hand through the snowy mountains, as golden light slowly rose in the sky, illuminating their silhouettes as if to frame them.

Ye Wuzong looked up at the sky; he knew what the Chaos Chronicle was about to say.

“In early December, Xia Chichi, together with Zhao Changhe, assassinated the Poison Spider in Kunlun City and defeated Ye Tianling in the Secret Poison Cave.”

“The Poison Spider: ninth-layer Xuan Pass, exceptional poison arts, ranked fifty-eighth on the Human List. Defeated by Xia and Zhao, then died from the secret realm’s restrictions. Ye Tianling: adopted disciple of the Thief Saint Ye Wuzong, had already opened one secret vault, ranked fifty-second on the Human List. Left his master’s tutelage and styled himself Tianlingzi. Defeated by Xia and Zhao, then died when Ye Wuzong cleansed his sect.”

A Human List member had fallen—though not killed by the pair, death was always reported, and the rankings would shift accordingly.

The whole world stared in shock.

Two Human List members in one go!

Taken down by two Hidden Dragons? Oh no… not killed by them, but at least defeated!

From the Chaos Chronicle’s tone—“Xia Chichi, together with Zhao Changhe”—this time it wasn’t from Zhao Changhe’s perspective; the protagonist was Xia Chichi.

Good, good. If it were Zhao Changhe again, people would really start suspecting the Chronicle had a thing with him.

As if to avoid suspicion, the Chronicle added: “Zhao Changhe’s combat power does not enter the Human List; no ranking.”

The world: “…”

“The rest of the Human List rankings shift accordingly.”

“Xia Chichi, one secret vault. Though she fought jointly, she had the upper hand in single combat with the Poison Spider and may take his place.”

“Human List, fifty-eighth: Four Symbols Holy Maiden, Xia Chichi.”

“Say not the summer sun sets late in the western frontier; one dawn from the east, it blazes over Kunlun.”

People stared dumbfounded.

Back when Chi Li and Yue Hongling entered the Human List, both proud and unwilling to trail at the bottom, they challenged sixty-sixth and sixty-eighth—just before the seventies.

This one was even more impressive—straight to fifty-eighth!

It suddenly gave people the feeling that the Human List was easy to get onto…

Of course, it wasn’t that simple. It wasn’t that the Poison Spider was weak; it was that Xia Chichi was strong. Chi Li and Yue Hongling hadn’t broken their secret vaults when they challenged the Human List; Xia Chichi had broken hers first, so naturally her ranking was higher.

Though the summer sun in the snowy mountains sets late, when it comes from the east, it still blazes over Kunlun.

The question was: how did she break her secret vault? How old was she?

Word had it her mother was the previous generation’s White Tiger Holy Maiden… Who was her father? Given this genetic inheritance, her father couldn’t be a nobody…

Those who studied such matters could already see that the chaotic stars were beginning to blaze across the sky. In the past, ninth-layer strongmen who hadn’t broken their secret vaults would find it increasingly impossible to get onto the Human List. From now on, if you hadn’t broken your secret vault, you’d just be a stepping stone for others.