Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 476: Sisi Plunging Into the Bath Yet Again

They estimated the journey to have covered a little over three hundred li.

This gave them a glimpse into the vastness of this secret realm. Assuming the village was on the edge and the sacred mountain was at the center, the radius of this realm would be around three hundred li. If, however, the village was not on the edge but closer to the center, then this realm could easily span over a thousand li, making it incredibly vast.

It was indeed like a large dungeon. There was no doubt that a page of the Heavenly Tome was required to sustain a realm of such a size.

But if the Spirit Tribe has the Heavenly Tome, they shouldn’t be suffering like this. In other words, the Heavenly Tome is probably inside the so-called forbidden land.

That could be a problem.

The blind woman had placed them near the edge of the realm, probably to give them a buffer. Throwing them directly onto the sacred mountain would have raised too many questions. Now that messages were being sent from the outskirts, the elders of the Spirit Tribe assumed right away that envoys had arrived, allowing them to arouse no suspicion.

When they arrived at the sacred mountain, they were met with an overwhelming sight of people kneeling outside. The leading elder’s forehead touched the ground as he said, “We welcome the sacred envoys.”

Then, like a tidal wave, the crowd shouted, “We welcome the sacred envoys.”

Yue Hongling opened her mouth in surprise.

As a heroine, she had never been met with such a scene. As a result, she felt both awkward and embarrassed, her first instinct being to tell everyone to rise.

Zhao Changhe gently squeezed her hand.

Yue Hongling stayed silent, watching as Zhao Changhe walked back and forth before the elder, his hands behind his back, saying nothing for a long time.

The crowd of people did not dare to raise their heads. The atmosphere was extremely oppressive.

Finally, Zhao Changhe stopped before the elder and said coldly, “Do you think that because my cultivation isn’t as high as the others’, I don’t deserve your full respect?”

The elder quickly said, “Honorable envoy, why do you say that? Did the village that welcomed you treat you with any disrespect? I will immediately have them...”

Zhao Changhe coldly interrupted him, “I am talking about you!”

Yue Hongling remained expressionless as she watched Zhao Changhe put on his act.

She understood what Zhao Changhe was trying to do. He was trying to portray an arrogant and bullying envoy—the more arrogant, the more convincing. As for claiming that he was less respected than before, without stating where the problem lay, letting people figure it out themselves, was because there was no problem to be stated; the other side, pondering it, would come up with their own ideas about what it was.

Yue Hongling suddenly understood what Tang Wanzhuang was thinking. He sure had that potential.

Sure enough, the elder, sweating profusely, thought it over for a long time before kowtowing and saying, “The lantern decorations we prepared weren’t as grand as in the past as we had to cut down some of the trees nearby... Uhm, never mind. Please punish me, honorable envoy.”

Yue Hongling glanced around at the silk lanterns and sighed.

Zhao Changhe had not expected the elder to come up with this excuse and found it both amusing and absurd. He had originally thought that a haughty envoy would have the Spirit Tribe send them treasures or the like, subtly asking for bribes, but after all that thinking that the elder had done, it had not even crossed his mind to offer up any treasures. It seemed that it was not a common practice at all.

So the envoys from the forbidden land are actually quite honest? How amusing.

He spoke calmly, “Fine, let us end this here, lest we be called overbearing.”

“Not at all, not at all...”

“Slap yourself ten times as a warning. Don’t let it happen again.”

“Thank you for your mercy, honorable envoy.” The elder was overjoyed and immediately began slapping himself vigorously.

Zhao Changhe strolled through the kneeling crowd, hands behind his back, as if he had not seen anything. “The two of us are not fond of much clamor, so we would rather you go about your business. You may cancel the banquet, just enjoy the food yourselves. Let us bathe and freshen up first. We’ll discuss matters afterward.”

“Yes, everything has been prepared. Please follow me, sacred envoys.”

Although he told them to disperse, no one dared to move. Everyone remained kneeling as the elder personally led the two up the mountain, bowing and smiling. “Please, this way, sacred envoys.”

Zhao Changhe followed without a word, and soon, they arrived at a secluded bamboo courtyard. One glance and he could barely contain his amusement.

The courtyard appeared to have two bamboo houses standing side by side, separated by a row of green bamboo that split the area into two smaller courtyards. It could be considered one shared courtyard or treated as two separate ones. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that this was originally two separate courtyards with a fence in between, which had been removed and had green bamboo temporarily planted as a divider.

It was apparent that the Spirit Tribe had gone to great lengths to accommodate this pair of male and female envoys. They could not be certain if they were a couple, nor did they dare to ask, so they hesitated to place them in one space. But, on the off chance that they were indeed a couple, splitting them up could cause offense. This setup allowed for any interpretation, just in case.

Being a servant really is challenging.

This suggests that previous envoys likely came alone, accompanied by a few attendants, with a clear distinction between the envoy and their followers. Accommodating a single envoy was much simpler, and this situation would have had no way of coming about. But this raises another question—if a lone emissary arrived, would they have asked for women to serve them?

If they did not provide maidservants, is it because the envoys never asked for them? Or is it because this time, with us being a male and female pair, they’re afraid to offer any?

Being hesitant would make sense, but if the envoys truly never asked, that would be rather odd. No requests for bribes, no desire for women—is the forbidden land some kind of Buddhist sanctuary?

These thoughts flashed through Zhao Changhe’s mind, and he deliberately said, “Find a few maidservants to help me bathe.”

Yue Hongling glanced at him, guessing his intent to test the waters, and said nothing.

The elder also looked at Yue Hongling, and, seeing her lack of reaction, breathed a silent sigh of relief. He thought to himself, There, that proves it. They’re not a couple. Hmm... although previous envoys never requested women, each one is different, and wanting them is perfectly normal.

He immediately bowed, “They’re already prepared, honorable envoy. Please wait a moment.”

Zhao Changhe yawned and waved him off. “Go on.”

The elder retreated respectfully, and for the moment, no maidservants arrived, leaving the bamboo courtyard in peace. Yue Hongling crossed her arms, watching him with a faint smile, “Seems like you’re having a hard time holding back. Why not just call for their saintess to serve you?”

“There was no sign of Sisi among the people kneeling outside. She must be busy with important matters outside and didn’t come back.”

“Oh, so you really were thinking of asking for her!”

“Hey, hey, wait a minute...” Zhao Changhe clutched his side where she had pinched him, amused and exasperated. “My dear big sister Yue, you should know exactly what I’m doing...”

“Hmph!” Yue Hongling, of course, knew and trusted that Zhao Changhe would not do anything inappropriate, so she stopped teasing him.

Zhao Changhe lowered his voice. “Did you notice that most of those who came to greet us were older or middle-aged, and there were only a few young people? In theory, no one should dare skip the welcome for the sacred envoys of the forbidden land. Everyone should have been there, but the age distribution didn’t seem right.”

“The same thing happened in those villages we passed by... Could Sisi have brought them out?”

“Sisi only took a small number with her. It couldn’t have caused such a noticeable difference.”

As they discussed, a group of young maidservants entered, and they stopped talking.

Each maid held a small bucket of hot water, seemingly to fill the bath. When they reached Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling, the maids exchanged careful glances, as if they had already been assigned roles: one group went to Yue Hongling’s bamboo house, while the rest, visibly more attractive and bashfully lowering their heads, went to Zhao Changhe’s side.

Yue Hongling gritted her teeth. “They’re not Sisi... If you dare take advantage of this opportunity to bully them, you’ll have to answer for it yourself.”

With a flip of her ponytail, she went into her own bamboo house.

Zhao Changhe watched her retreating figure, amused and a bit exasperated. So, in other words, if it were Sisi, it’d be okay?

He leisurely entered his bamboo house, where the bath was already filled. The maids, dressed in light garments, stood quietly with their heads down, their faces flushed to their necks.

Zhao Changhe commented dryly, “The previous envoys never requested this? That surprises me...”

The maids looked at each other, and one with more courage responded, “The previous envoys indeed never asked for such treatment...”

Zhao Changhe wanted to figure out exactly why the emissaries from the forbidden land came here and what they were after. Without knowing such crucial information, it would be impossible to continue pretending. He had avoided the elder’s welcome banquet and came to bathe first, intending to get some information from these innocent young maids.

After hearing one maid’s response, he pressed further, “They’re really that dutiful? They just take what they need and leave?”

One of the maids, biting her lip, replied, “They do take people away... so maybe they use them on the road?”

Zhao Changhe’s mind raced as the realization hit him.

The forbidden land wants people! Perhaps they’re after young boys and girls—that would explain the unusual age distribution here.

Considering the Spirit Tribe’s nature and what he knew about those gods and demons barely clinging to existence, hoping for revival, it seemed likely they demanded flesh and blood sacrifices. Those taken were said to be “serving the gods,” but in reality, once they were taken, they would never return!

Of course, the envoys did not dare to play around. Regardless of who they took, in principle, everyone here was sustenance for some god or demon. Who knew if the gods monitored their actions? Naturally, the envoys would not dare act recklessly.

These innocent young maids don’t understand this; some of the bolder ones might have even come to harbor hopes of winning over an envoy, unaware they would only win a one-way ticket...

The higher-ups, however, surely knew the truth, and yet they continued to offer up their own blood and flesh each year to sustain some unknown monster or god! Sisi must have realized this or at least suspected it, which would explain her fierce resistance.

Zhao Changhe took a deep breath and said seriously, “Since that’s how they’ve handled things, I won’t break tradition. You may all leave; I’ll bathe myself.”

Some maids sighed with relief, while others looked disappointed, but none dared to disobey. They all bowed respectfully and left, saying, “Have a good rest, sacred envoy. You may call for us if you ever need anything.”

Once they had all left, Zhao Changhe undressed and settled into the bath, thinking over everything. Fortunately, the corpse demon inside the ring could not see what was happening; otherwise, it might have gone berserk.

This situation really is quite troublesome... but with the corpse demon’s help, it might be manageable. I’ll have to plan everything carefully. It would be best if Sisi could come back so I could discuss things with her. With just me and Yue Hongling here, we’re in quite a precarious position. I’m not really sure how to proceed from here appropriately.

Just as he was deep in thought, he felt a subtle tremor from Dragon Bird.

A warning of impending danger.

His intuition alerted him, and he glanced toward the window. Outside, amid the swaying bamboo, a shadowy figure stood concealed in the moonlit bamboo grove. A slender silhouette, holding a dagger in reverse grip, eyes locked onto the window, seeking the perfect moment to strike.

Sisi’s here... and the first thing she tries to do is to assassinate the envoy. I guess she thinks that if she kills the envoy, she might just be able to force the entire tribe into rebellion.

Zhao Changhe nearly laughed out loud. The servant really is like the master. Our way of thinking really is quite similar... Or perhaps she learned from my feats? No, she planted the seeds for this long ago, starting from when she first ventured out to the Thieves Guild.

Pretending to rest, Zhao Changhe leaned back against the bath, closed his eyes, and even began to snore softly.

Whoosh!

A fragrant breeze passed by, and a shadowy figure, swift as the wind and as elusive as mist, flashed past the back of the bath.

Zhao Changhe turned slightly, grabbed her wrist with one hand, pulled her close, and with a splash, the little maid once plunged into the bath.

“How many times has this happened now?” Zhao Changhe smiled as he lifted her out. “Would you say your fate is accompanying your master in the bathtub?”

Sisi’s expression of anger froze, quickly replaced by one of utter delight. “Why is it you?”

Zhao Changhe smiled slightly. “It’s the will of the heavens.”

“Ugh...” Somewhere in an unknown place, a blind person scoffed.

But Sisi’s eyes sparkled, filled with excitement; she truly felt that this was the workings of the heavens.