Chapter 445: Seeing Sisi Again

Chapter 445: Seeing Sisi Again

In the moonlight, thousands of venomous snakes coiled into a heap, their heads erect and stiff. The scene, though terrifying, oddly took on a hint of adorableness, their bulging serpent faces like someone puffing out their cheeks, sulking yet reluctant to strike.

Amid the mist of the mountain forest, a slender figure in exotic tribal attire appeared silently. Her head was adorned with pearl ornaments, her upper garment short, revealing a delicate and graceful snake-like waist, paler than the moonlight. Barefoot, she wove through the woods, her toes more lustrous than pearls.

Her eyes could express joy or displeasure, carrying a trace of surprise, a hint of resentment.

The fragrance of her body awakened the deepest yearnings in the heart, pulling one into an eternal, beautiful dream, unwilling to wake.

Sisi, long unseen... Back then, I never thought she was this stunningly beautiful. But here, in this foreign poison forest, by the lake under the moon, she truly felt like a dream, able to tug at your heart, making it beat in time with her gentle steps, then settle into calm.

If Tang Wanzhuang could be called the foremost beauty of the Central Plains, then Sisi might be the most beautiful dream of the exotic lands.

Yet Tang Wanzhuang’s secret art, said to track her and sense the entrance to the secret realm, seemed to have been proven useless, having no effect at all. If not for meeting her face to face, relying solely on that so-called perception art, one might wander here for a hundred years and never find her.

Sisi drifted before him, curiously looking him up and down for a long while, then murmured, “Take off the disguise. Let me confirm.”

Zhao Changhe leisurely peeled off his fake beard, rubbing his face for a moment to remove the disguise.

Sisi crouched in front of him, reached out a slender finger, and poked his cheek twice with a “dud dud.”

Zhao Changhe said impatiently, “What?”

“Checking if there’s another layer.”

“...”

“Mm, confirmed there isn’t...” Sisi nodded with satisfaction. “This guy’s pretty sturdy. Catching him as a slave wouldn’t be bad, right?”

Zhao Changhe stared at her.

What was there to confirm? Who else could it be if she knew the story about her impersonating Yue Hongling? If she wanted to poke me, she could have just said so...

In truth, Zhao Changhe had no idea if that Yue Hongling was really Sisi in disguise; he was just bluffing. Saying that was merely a form of code—Sisi would know it was him as soon as she heard it.

Sure enough, Sisi didn’t bring up Yue Hongling. Instead, she revealed a charming smile: “Didn’t the master say he didn’t want to live under someone else’s face? Have I remembered wrong?”

This was also her code, both in address and content—no one else would know.

Zhao Changhe completely relaxed, saying lazily, “A temporary measure... But this time, I feel a bit cheated. Who knew the identity of Wang Daozhong would bring me trouble instead? Isn’t this like a house collapsing? I won’t love him anymore.”

“The Prince of Langya can be arrogant and domineering in the Central Plains, with everyone wary of him. But here in our Miao territory, who does he think he is?” Sisi sneered disdainfully, then added, “Just like a certain someone ranked thirty-seventh on the Human List, galloping across the northern steppes and testing his sword in Jiangnan, quite impressive... Not to mention finding a father-in-law wherever he goes, so others have to show some restraint. But here, he’d better behave and stop trying to be the master. Hehe.”

Zhao Changhe ignored her occasional jabs at him and sighed, “Why did you kill Wang Daozhong?”

“I didn’t intend to kill him. I wanted to capture him.”

“Weren’t those people just now trying to kill you with every move?”

“Who said I was with them?” Sisi smiled. “It’s precisely because they struck first, leaving all the traces of battle. If you suddenly disappeared, others would only think they did it, without revealing my presence.”

Zhao Changhe asked, “Why did you want to capture Wang Daozhong?”

“You should know what I seek. The cultivation methods of the Langya Wang family are quite impressive. Isn’t it natural for me to want them?”

“Just that?”

Sisi stared at him for a long moment, then suddenly said, “Hey, what kind of relationship do we have that you’re so familiar, asking all these questions? Do you think I’ll tell you? You’d better ask who wants to kill you. Maybe I’ll be generous and tell you a little.”

“Lei Ao.” Zhao Changhe said calmly, “Apart from Li Si’an, only Lei Ao knew when I left and roughly where I was. Li Si’an has been tested, and I trust him. That leaves Lei Ao. Besides, the curse method must require a medium. I only drank wine at his place and had contact with him...”

Sisi crouched in front of him, resting her chin on her knees and propping her cheek with her hand: “You’ve been flitting through the flower bushes for so long, but at least you haven’t shot your brains out...”

Zhao Changhe ignored the remark and asked, “When I first saw you appear, I thought you were with Lei Ao. But now it seems more like you’re enemies... Need help?”

“Do you mean help dealing with Lei Ao, or help shooting it out?”

“...The latter seems like you’d be helping me.”

Sisi’s speech was too flirtatious and casual, so much so that the initial strangeness and awkwardness Zhao Changhe felt upon seeing her had gradually faded, and his words unconsciously turned lewd.

But Sisi didn’t seem to find any of this lewd or ambiguous at all. She giggled, “Dealing with Lei Ao seems like me helping you... After all, he wants to kill you.”

She paused, then said meaningfully, “I don’t need your help. Not at all.”

Zhao Changhe looked into her eyes, hidden behind the dangling pearl ornaments, seeming veiled and obscure, their meaning hard to discern.

Without a word, Zhao Changhe took out a booklet from his ring: “A new set of Secret Realm-level sword techniques. With my current strength, I can almost comprehend and organize techniques at the second Secret Realm level.”

Sisi lowered her gaze, staring at the booklet for a long time, then said softly, “This is our transaction, not you helping me. In exchange for these sword techniques, I’ve also provided special items like poison insects and spirit pouches, which are not found in the Central Plains. It’s a transaction.”

“It’s a transaction.” Zhao Changhe handed it to her indifferently. “So, can we trade for something else?”

She herself had called it a transaction, but when Zhao Changhe treated it as such, Sisi suddenly grew angry. Her previously leisurely, chin-propping demeanor vanished, replaced by a stern face as she stood up straight: “This is not the place to talk. Follow me first.”

Zhao Changhe looked around and noticed that the venomous snakes had silently retreated at some point. The mountain forest was shrouded in thick mist, hiding unknown dangers.

Sisi drifted into the darkness, and in the mist, it seemed she turned back with a light laugh: “The man swinging the Dragon Sparrow in battle... heh...”

Zhao Changhe looked down and realized that his hastily thrown-on robe had loosened again as he stood up. The Dragon Sparrow was swaying conspicuously.

“...” Well, if she saw it, it didn’t matter. That Dragon Sparrow had once brushed against her face and even grazed her lips.

Zhao Changhe silently followed into the mist, watching the seductive figure ahead, feeling that their relationship was as complex and indescribable as the night mist.

A year ago, their “progress” was even the highest among all his female acquaintances. Back then, no one else had kissed the Dragon Sparrow, not even Chichi. In fact, even now, only a few had kissed it, and Sisi was still one of the ones with the most “progress”...

But in truth, there had never been any romance between them. Those ambiguous contacts were all an act on both sides.

They had genuinely fought side by side, risking their lives to help each other, and could have become extremely close partners. Unfortunately, she later betrayed him, leading to a falling out. But as for that incident... she hadn’t meant to harm him. There was genuine friendship, but their positions were different. In the end, she bore the future of her tribe.

At any rate, Tang Wanzhuang had already forgiven her. Over the past year, Wanzhuang’s exchanges with her had probably been more frequent than his own. Objectively, she had become an important collaborator in Tang Wanzhuang’s southwestern strategy. In this current maze of intrigue, at least her trustworthiness far exceeded Lei Ao’s. But could she be fully trusted?

Originally, he thought Sisi had been hiding in the secret realm for a long time. But now it seemed she was actually based in the southwestern Bai Liao region, likely claiming to be one of the many southwestern tribes, blending into the local atmosphere.

He wondered what changes the ancient Gu Ling tribe’s quiet integration into the southwest would bring... What did they want?

Sure enough, after walking a few li, the outline of a stockade appeared faintly in the mist ahead. Some tribal men stood guard at the entrance. When they saw Sisi approaching, they bowed and said, “Holy Maiden.”

Great. Another holy maiden.

Sisi said lazily, “Prepare a guest room. I’ve brought a guest.”

The men stared straight at Zhao Changhe behind Sisi, their eyes filled with wariness—the kind of look one gives a rival in love.

Zhao Changhe curled his lip and followed silently into the stockade.

Sisi entered the main tent, which was surrounded by many maidservants. When they saw Sisi bringing a man into the tent, they all giggled softly: “Oh, what a handsome young man...”

“Shoo, shoo!” Sisi made as if to hit them, and the maidservants laughed as they retreated: “We’ll warm some wine for the guest.”

Sisi said, “In his guest room, boil a bucket of hot water for him to bathe. He washed carelessly in the sea earlier, stupidly.”

“Hehe... Got it.”

Sisi looked expressionlessly at Zhao Changhe, who was equally expressionless, and ground her teeth: “Being with you, even when nothing happens, why do people always assume something’s going on?”

The reputation destroyer strikes again... But bringing a man into your tent in the dead of night—who wouldn’t think twice?

Zhao Changhe said helplessly, “If we just talk business, they’ll hear us and know there’s nothing going on.”

“But can we really let them hear our business?” Sisi glanced at the maidservant carrying in the warm wine and waved her hand: “Put it there. All of you, leave.”

The maidservants all covered their mouths, giggling as they left. Someone whispered a reminder: “Take it easy, okay... A lot of people saw. It’s not really appropriate...”

Zhao Changhe: “...”

So if no one saw, it would be fine to bring a man into the tent?

Sisi looked at him with a half-smile. "This is how we outsiders are—are you going to think us lacking in self-respect again, and look down on us back and forth?"

Across the warm wine, they gazed at each other in silence, their eyes flickering as if recalling countless shadows of the past, fleeting and ephemeral, like a dream.