Chapter 462: If You Trust Me, I Will Not Fail You

Chapter 462: If You Trust Me, I Will Not Betray

When the sky was fully bright, the adulterous pair in the room emerged refreshed, both having carefully disguised themselves back into the appearance of yesterday’s left and right guardians.

Stepping out of the courtyard, they saw at once several young girls kneeling in a row against the wall, hands on their heads, sniffling pitifully.

Zhao Changhe laughed at the sight: “What are you all doing?”

The girls muttered: “Bringing you food.”

Zhao Changhe noticed too—on top of each of their heads sat a small basket filled with various pastries.

“How polite, how polite.” Zhao Changhe cheerfully took a cake and handed it to Yue Hongling behind him: “This food-delivery ritual of ours is really cute…”

“Who said it’s a ritual?” The girls sniffled: “We’re being punished here by the Saintess… She’s settling personal scores.”

Yue Hongling shot Zhao Changhe a glare—what nonsense about “our ritual,” as if you knew anything. Luckily the girls were guileless, or that one sentence would have given them away.

Zhao Changhe awkwardly lowered his head to eat the cake and said nothing.

But the moment he took a bite, he nearly spat it out.

He had thought it was the local famous flower cake—it looked the part—but one bite revealed it was stuffed with all sorts of fried insects, making his scalp crawl.

Yue Hongling’s scalp crawled too, and she almost threw the cake in her hand away.

Yet the girl in front of them kept saying: “Boo hoo, this fried grasshopper was mine… Boo hoo, it smells so good…”

Zhao Changhe: “…”

Yue Hongling: “…”

Both of them froze mid-motion, about to drop the cakes. They had thought Sisi was playing a trick, but seeing this, was it actually something good?

Yue Hongling calmly slipped the cake back into the girl’s hands: “Then you eat it—how could I take your food…”

“The Saintess won’t let us eat breakfast…”

“It’s fine, we’ll plead with her for you.”

The two of them scurried away, Zhao Changhe still holding the bitten cake, hesitating as he walked: “To be fair, it’s actually quite fragrant…”

Yue Hongling fumed: “Because Sisi gave it to you, it tastes good, right? Next time she’ll feed you a worm, and it won’t kill you!”

“No, really, it’s fragrant…”

“Go to hell—don’t kiss me with that mouth after eating it!”

Bickering, they went to find Sisi. Sisi appeared on the way, smiling as she watched the quarreling couple, taking a certain pleasure in sowing discord between them. She cooed: “Oh, don’t fight—it’s all Sisi’s fault for forgetting you’re not used to eating these things…”

They fell silent, staring straight at her.

Sisi smiled again: “Speaking of which, Sister Yue says she’s wandered the jianghu in hardship, but it seems she’s never truly hit rock bottom. Otherwise, you’d eat anything, let alone bugs.”

“Hmm…” Yue Hongling thought for a moment and admitted: “I’ve never been that desperate… Well, if Changhe hadn’t come to meet me the day before yesterday, and I had fled into the Cang Mountains, it might have happened.”

That one sentence nearly turned domestic discord into tender affection. Sisi regretted it instantly and quickly said: “So they’re actually delicious—why not give them a try? Wasting food is shameful.”

With that, she turned and led them into her room, setting out real flower cakes and fruit wine: “Today, or at latest tomorrow, Lei Zhentang will definitely call a small meeting of the five tribes. I think we should talk about real business…”

Yue Hongling said: “Last night I thought you two were discussing business, so I didn’t disturb you. But what were you actually doing?”

“Ah?” Sisi tilted her head: “I forgot… The one who was moaning all night until dawn was indeed me, Sisi… Sister Yue, your head is a little green…”

Yue Hongling: “…”

You can say it like that, huh…

Zhao Changhe couldn’t hold back: “Let’s talk business. Speaking of which, we’re hiding here with the Bai tribe, but you still have people in your stronghold. Aren’t you afraid Lei Zhentang will attack it? You seem pretty relaxed.”

Sisi shook her head: “Assassination is one thing, but openly sending troops against a participant in the Five Tribes Council—that would be defying the world’s consensus. Not only would the Bai and Yao tribes rise up, even the smaller tribes following the tide wouldn’t stand for it. He’d be plunged into endless civil war. So we just need to protect ourselves… In fact, the more openly we walk in the light, the safer we are. The worst thing is to hide somewhere alone and go ‘mm-hmm’…”

Whether this counted as settling scores under the guise of public duty or using public office for private gain, on the surface it was hard to refute. The adulterous pair exchanged glances and said nothing.

Sisi felt a small thrill of victory, nibbling leisurely on a flower cake, her eyes curving into crescents: “As for us… you’ve tested your sword against the hundred tribes—what have you gained? Is there anything about witchcraft or curses you need me to explain?”

You eat flower cakes all pretty, while making us eat bugs…

Zhao Changhe grumbled inwardly but said aloud: “Witchcraft, whether used on oneself or to harm others, at least shows signs. But how do you counter a curse? It’s too silent—impossible to defend against.”

“Curses need a medium and a certain casting time. In a one-on-one fight, they can’t be used. The danger is when the spell is cast in advance—you’ve already been ensnared without knowing it.”

Zhao Changhe said: “Of course there are limits. With such obvious limits, it’s already troublesome enough. Without limits, it would be unbearable.”

Sisi laughed: “Don’t worry too much—it’s not completely unsolvable. First, the stronger the curse, the higher the prerequisites. For example, collecting your nail clippings and hair, making a straw doll, chanting for dozens of days, maybe even sacrificing the caster’s life. Generally, you don’t need to worry about such powerful methods.”

Yue Hongling asked: “What about ordinary ones?”

“Ordinary ones essentially work within the established bounds of the Heavenly Way to affect your soul or body. As long as your cultivation surpasses a certain level, you can naturally resist—it’s the same theory as poison resistance.” As Sisi spoke, a shadow fell over her eyes: “We once tried, with all our tribe’s strength, to curse someone. It was like wind brushing the face—no effect at all… My father…”

She cut off and didn’t continue, then said slowly: “That’s why I believe martial arts are the foundation. These strange arts can only be supplementary. The southwestern Baijiao tribes are still okay—they value their own cultivation. The Ling tribe was too extreme in the past… That’s why I left the mountains, only to be bullied by some scoundrel…”

Yue Hongling mused: “What level of cultivation is needed to completely ignore these?”

Sisi shook her head: “I don’t know. At least the Third Secret Treasury? But for ordinary cases, I think the Second Secret Treasury, around Earth List level, should be enough?”

Zhao Changhe said: “That’s not something we can ignore right now. Are there any solutions?”

“There are solutions. For instance, that day by Erhai Lake, when you were enduring the weakness curse, I saw you trying to dispel it yourself… And yesterday’s blood curse happened to hit your strong point. But your self-dispelling was very inefficient—you didn’t fully remove it throughout the whole fight…” Sisi rested her chin on her hand: “We have medicine that can prevent it, effective for a few days at least. The question is whether you’re willing to take it.”

Zhao Changhe asked: “Why wouldn’t I be willing?”

“Curses can be dispelled, but once a worm enters your body, it’s irreversible. If it fully merges with your body, removing it would cripple you.” Sisi flashed a seductive smile: “Dare you, my lord, eat something of unknown origin that Sisi gives you?”

Zhao Changhe looked down at the bugs in the cake and suddenly felt a chill of fear.

“This is Miaojiang.” Sisi’s smile faded, her tone flat: “Miaojiang is like this; the Ling tribe is even worse. Do you still want to enter the Ling tribe?”

Zhao Changhe looked up into her eyes, then down at the bugs in the cake. Suddenly he took a big bite and grinned brightly: “If you dare give it, I dare eat it.”

Sisi watched Zhao Changhe devour the cake, her eyes misty and unclear.

Only after she had watched him finish the whole cake did she say slowly: “The preventive medicine is already in your mouth. For seven days, you’ll be immune to curses.”

Yue Hongling frowned, wanting to warn Zhao Changhe to be careful, but in the end, she said nothing.

In this situation, what else could you do but trust Sisi? If you didn’t, you’d only torment yourself.

So one ate, the other didn’t—if anything went wrong, the other could still respond.

Sisi stood up, stretched, then bent down and whispered in Yue Hongling’s ear: “Don’t worry about your lover boy… I’ve already betrayed him once, and I don’t want to do it again. Since he still dares to trust me, I won’t let him down.”

Yue Hongling smiled faintly: “I hope so.”

“Saintess! Saintess!” A young girl came running from outside: “Chief Dao sent word—Lei Zhentang has sent an envoy inviting us to a banquet in Dali. They ask what we think.”

“This is a Hongmen banquet—the danger even greater than yesterday. Only a fool would go to Dali to die.” Sisi sneered: “Tell them to come here for the meeting. We two tribes are here—don’t we have the right to play host?”

The girl pattered off to relay the message. Sisi looked at Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling: “Are your injuries healed? They have Earth List experts—two of them. If we can’t suppress them in the first meeting, everything we’ve done so far will be empty talk.”

The adulterous pair’s expressions grew grave.

Two Earth List experts… Lei Zhentang’s strength, combined with his witchcraft and sorcery, was a mystery—that could be dealt with.

The real trouble was Shi Wuding, if he also came…

Top of the Earth List—that would be an opponent for Zhuque, Xuanwu, or Tang Wanzhuang. Could the two of them handle it?