Chapter 2798: A Clue

The Persian envoy stepped aside for a young woman to make her entrance. She was so gorgeous that her presence lit up the room.

The Ming Cult’s main hall should have been a solemn place where important decisions were made, but the young woman’s entrance invited gasps of astonishment. Her beauty felt out of this world.

Zu An was both surprised and delighted. Despite tapping into the Beggar Sect’s vast information network, he hadn’t been able to find any clues on Isabella all this time. He hadn’t expected to reunite with her here.

Isabella was dressed in Persian clothes, giving her an exotic touch. She stepped forward and gracefully bowed to Cult Leader Shi. Her manners were flawless, as one would have expected from the Acadias’ esteemed big miss.

Upon seeing her, Cult Leader Shi’s heart softened. “Holy maiden, since your father was from the Central Plains, you should treat this place like your home, too. From now on, you’re the Central Plains Ming Cult’s holy maiden. Heed my order, cult members. You are to show utmost respect to the holy maiden from this day onward!”

“Yes, cult leader!” the cult members replied in unison.

Isabella’s appearance alleviated the tense atmosphere.

The members of the Ming Cult warmly welcomed the envoys from the Persian headquarters with a banquet. To avoid alarming the esteemed holy maiden, Cult Leader Shi instructed a maid to settle her in a quiet residence.

Zu An snuck out of the main hall and followed the maid to the courtyard.

It looks like the Ming Cult regards the headquarters’ holy maiden highly. This residence is almost on par with the cult leader’s residence.

While the maids got busy tidying up the place, Isabella sat down alone in the room and sighed. She gazed at the distant mountains outside the window, but she was in no mood to admire this majestic scenery. Instead, she pouted as if she had suffered a grievance.

“Why is our holy maiden brooding alone here?” a teasing voice echoed.

Isabella was frightened, but the voice sounded oddly familiar. “Am I dreaming? Why do I hear his voice?”

“I didn’t expect to bump into you here. It feels like a dream to me as well.” A figure slipped into the room.

Isabella quickly clasped her about-to-gasp mouth. “Big brother Zu, it really is you!” She was so excited that she immediately leaped into his embrace.

Feeling her trembling body, Zu An also embraced her tightly. “I’ve finally found you.”

He suddenly narrowed his eyes. “Shh, someone’s coming.”

He nimbly leaped out of the window. It would surely cause a huge uproar if the cult members were to see their pure holy maiden embracing a man.

Several maids entered the room. “Paying respects to the holy maiden. Our cult leader has commanded us to serve the holy maiden from this day onward. Please instruct us if there’s anything you require here.”

Has the holy maiden... been crying? Well, she did leave the place where she grew up and traveled a long distance to get here, so she might be feeling homesick.

Isabella traded some pleasantries with them before anxiously sending them out.

“Big brother Zu! Big brother Zu~” She rushed to the windowsill and called out with a quivering voice, afraid that their earlier reunion was merely an illusion.

“Why are you sniffling?”

Zu An's gentle smile pierced through Isabella’s defenses, and she began sobbing in his arms, venting the fear and horror she had been accumulating all this time.

Zu An patted her shoulder and gently consoled her.

Some time later, Isabella, now feeling a little embarrassed, raised her head and wiped off her tears. “I made a fool of myself, big brother Zu.”

“Not at all. If you didn’t react after seeing me, I’d be the one crying.”

“You’re teasing me~”

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

The two of them spent a while reminiscing about the past before Zu An asked her about what she had been through ever since entering the trial.

After entering the trial, Isabella had assumed the identity of the Persian Ming Cult’s holy maiden. She was respected within the cult, but due to the foreign environment, all the scheming individuals who approached her with ulterior motives, and her failure to find any clues about Zu An despite secretly searching for him, she couldn’t shake off her anxiety.

On top of that, she'd suddenly been forced to leave Persia and travel to a distant place called the Central Plains. She'd thought there was no way she could find Zu An and the others anymore, but little had she expected to reunite with him here.

“What’s the Persian Ming Cult’s motive for visiting the Central Plains Ming Cult?” Zu An didn’t believe their bullshit story about sending their holy maiden back to her motherland.

“Their foremost agenda was to persuade the Central Plains Ming Cult to surrender to the Mongols, but Cult Leader Shi refused to do so,” Isabella replied. “Their secondary goal is to obtain the secret manual, Great Cosmic Shift.”

“Great Cosmic Shift?” Zu An was confused. “Didn’t the Central Plains Ming Cult inherit the Great Cosmic Shift from the Persian headquarters? Why are they looking for it here?”

Isabella explained, “Persia has been ravaged by war for many years now, resulting in the original manual of the Great Cosmic Shift going missing. That’s why the Persian headquarters covets the copy in the Central Plains Ming Cult. There’s no way the Central Plains Ming Cult would relinquish a martial art as powerful as the Great Cosmic Shift to them, so they instructed me to settle down here and find a chance to steal it.”

She paused for a second before adding, “At all costs.” Her face reddened in embarrassment and anger.

Zu An understood what that meant for a young, beautiful maiden. He secretly berated the Persian headquarters for being despicable and shameless in his mind before further asking, “Do you know the conditions to clear this trial? Could it be to steal the Great Cosmic Shift?”

Isabella spent a moment in thought before replying, “I don’t think it’s that simple. Stealing the Great Cosmic Shift is merely a part of it. The final goal should be to become the leader of the Persian headquarters.

“There are a total of three holy maidens in the Persian headquarters, including me, and the cult leader of every generation has always been chosen from the three holy maidens. The other two have been dispatched to Eastern Europe and Western Europe, and they have been entrusted with arduous tasks as well.

“The cult leader position will be passed on to the one who contributes the most to the sect. I suspect that stealing the Great Cosmic Shift won’t be enough; I’ll have to persuade the Central Plains Ming Cult to surrender to stand a chance at victory.”

Isabella noticed Zu An’s prolonged silence and was intrigued. “Big brother Zu, do you have different conditions for clearing the trial?”

“I’m afraid that my conditions for clearing the trial might be contrary to yours...” Zu An replied with a bitter smile before sharing the Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber Plan.

Isabella was horrified. “How can this be?!”

To think they were in opposite camps! Didn’t this mean that one of them had to die here?

Zu An consoled Isabella, “It might not be that bad. I’ll find a way for all of us to survive.”

He'd still been confused a moment ago, but learning about Isabella’s mission gave him some peace of mind. Even though they were in opposite camps, there could still be a way for both of them to win.

He was more concerned about Firework and Tingxue’s missions now.

Firework’s mission is probably about the Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber Plan, or the founding of the E’mei Sect, but what about Tingxue? Is her mission to supervise the plan? Isn’t that too simple?