Chapter 338 – The Stumbling Block

Translator: Coca5156

Editor: Drea

The Lujiang Town in the East Qing Kingdom.

On this day in a noisy town came a little couple, the man was handsome while the woman was pretty. As soon as they had entered the town, they attracted a lot of attention. The two seemed to be accustomed to these gazes and went straight to the largest restaurant indifferently. Needless to say, the pair was indeed Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan.

They had asked for a suite in the front hall before Rong Yuan said to the waiter behind him, “Bring your shop’s signature dishes to our guest room, be quick.”

This was going to be a huge business with every signature dish being served! The waiter was beaming from ear to ear and shouted, “Alright, please wait for a while, I’ll be right up!” He then ran hurriedly to the kitchen.

After the waiter had left, Gu Lingzhi immediately collapsed into the chair and yawned tiredly, “Guess how long will they take to catch up with us this time.”

“If nothing were to obstruct them, they can arrive within three hours.”

“Three hours...” Gu Lingzhi sighed. The speed at which the people of North Qiu were chasing them was getting faster and faster. At the beginning, it took them an entire day’s time. Now it only took them a few hours to locate their tracks. The Qiankun Flag was simply the nemesis of the Spirit Tribe.

It had been more than a month since Rong Yuan ascended into a Demigod and ever since then, the North Qiu Kingdom had never given up on their pursuit. They had lost contact with Lord Fashen and Rong Huashang after separating, not knowing how they are now and whether Rong Huashang had successfully met up with Lord Fashen.

Initially, the two had thought of entering the Inheritance Space without anybody witnessing to avoid being discovered. But reality has proved afterwards that Gu Lingzhi was completely wrong. Even if they enter the Inheritance Space, Pan Luming’s subordinates would still be able to find them. They were almost ambushed and caught after coming out from the Inheritance Space the other time. Rong Yuan was seriously injured and had to blow up several Spiritual Weapons in order to escape.

Ever since then, the two of them rarely entered the space unless it was a special case. In order to escape, they had been spending their nights sleeping in the open and had not slept well for a long time.

Seeing how tired Gu Lingzhi was, Rong Yuan rubbed her hair gently and comforted, “We are almost there. Once we pass by the East Qing Kingdom, we will arrive at the Alliance’s territories. There will be people there to meet up with us.”

The East Qing Kingdom was located on the southern part of the Empire, to its left was the Endless Sea Realm and to its south was Dayin Kingdom. At first, Ding Wei had released a conspiracy of the Empire such that the Alliance would retreat their army and support the East side instead. However, the plot was unsuccessful. After persisting for less than two days, the re-established Dayin had completely collapsed under the mighty attack of the soldiers led by Yuan Hang. The Dayin Kingdom had since become history.

In just a few days, the two would be able to cross the East Qing Kingdom into Dayin’s territory to assemble with Yuan Hang and a few others.

However, the closer they were to the Alliance’s territory, the more uneasy Rong Yuan felt, as if some conspiracy was waiting for them ahead. This was also the reason as to why he had the mood to take Gu Lingzhi for a meal amidst their escape. He needed time to figure out where the uneasiness was coming from...

The actions of the chef were swift such that their dishes were served in less than a quarter of an hour.

Rong Yuan glanced at the dishes before clipping Gu Lingzhi’s favourite vegetables into her bowl, “Eat up. We’ll rest for awhile before continuing on our journey.”

It could be said that this was the best meal they had eaten ever since they entered the Empire. Lujiang Town was not huge but the wine and dishes in this inn were really good. Gu Lingzhi did not want to waste them and packed the remaining dishes into the Inheritance Space with a wave of her arm.

After eating and drinking to their content, the two of them fell onto the bed next to each other, enjoying this rare moment of stability. They spoke for a while before Gu Lingzhi fell asleep subconsciously. After noticing that the breathing beside him had become gentle and long, Rong Yuan tilted his head to look at Gu Lingzhi’s sleeping face while his eyelids became heavier.

This period had really worn her out...

The troops sent by the North Qiu Kingdom had never once stopped chasing. For more than a month, the two had to deal with at least two pursuits a day. They had never dared to linger in a place for more than two hours. Sleep had since become a very luxurious event. When the troops were catching up to them, one would continue the journey while the other slept on the back in order to fulfill the minimum hours of rest a body needed. Under such circumstances where they experienced an extreme lack of sleep, it was no wonder that Gu Lingzhi would fall asleep so easily.

Just let her sleep for an hour, Rong Yuan thought. They had just shook off a group of troops not long before entering Lujiang Town, it would take awhile for them to catch up again.

Gu Lingzhi slept soundly as it was the first time in a month’s time where she was sleeping on a bed, making her reluctant to open her eyes. But the vigilance cultivated during this period had made her wake up automatically within an hour’s time. Once she opened her eyes, she was met with Rong Yuan’s gaze.

“...How long did I sleep for?” Gu Lingzhi asked awkwardly while tilting her head slightly. She blamed the bed for being too comfortable such that she did not want to get up after lying down.

Rong Yuan rubbed her hair, “Less than an hour.”

“Did you sleep?”

Rong Yuan shook his head, “I want to watch you sleep.”

Without warning, she was being fed with words of love, it was a little overwhelming even for an old couple.

Gu Lingzhi pretended to be composed while her cheeks blushed instantly, “What’s there to see? Aren’t you bored of it after a decade?”

Rong Yuan leaned on her while his eyes stared intensely at her, “No, I will never be bored of it my whole life.”

How could he ever experience a day of boredom when he spent all his days with someone whom he loved?

He kissed Gu Lingzhi’s forehead before heading down towards her eyelids, nose and finally stopping and lingering on her lips. Only when their breaths became short and heavy did they forcibly stop.

“Let’s wait till we are back at the Alliance, I will make up for what was lost during this period!” Rong Yuan spoke while staring at Gu Lingzhi’s rosy and seductive lips.

Not having sex for a month was more painful than not sleeping and eating well. It was simply a form of torture for Rong Yuan to hold it in while being around her.

Gu Lingzhi could not hold back her laughter, “You still have the energy to think of such things during this period? Looks like the troops are not pursuing us hard enough.”

Rong Yuan pinched Gu Lingzhi’s soft cheeks embarrassingly, “It’s because you are too seductive. It’s hard to switch from luxury to frugality.”

The two played and laughed for a moment before getting up from the bed reluctantly.

The closer they were to the Alliance, the stronger was the force of those in pursuit. They wondered when would be their next chance to sleep on a bed after today.

Both of them subconsciously avoided this frustrated thought and left the inn with confidence. Strangely, they did not see any pursuers the next day.

There must be something wrong with this anomaly. Rong Yuan felt more and more uneasy while Gu Lingzhi also sensed the abnormalities.

“Should we...change the direction of our path?”

With the troops in pursuit, they could only flee in any path without heeding such that they had ended up running to the south side of the Empire, right next to the Endless Sea Realm. Thinking that their whereabouts would be found no matter which direction they chose, both of them did not deliberately change their course. But it was different now. There was obviously a problem ahead such that they might want to try another route.

Upon hearing that, Rong Yuan laughed bitterly. He looked in the direction ahead and whispered, “Do you think that they would give us a chance to change our course?”

“What?” Gu Lingzhi lifted her eyes and gazed into the distance before she froze.

“Grand-aunt, Pan Yue...”

After the separation, Gu Lingzhi had not thought about how they would reunite, but it was definitely not under such circumstances!

At the end of their sight, Rong Huashang and Pan Yue were tied to a thick and large pillar by the spiritual cord. There was a lot of timber surrounding the pillar. It seemed to replicate the punishment, death by burning, when ordinary people were to commit a crime.

Pan Luming stood in front of them where his hoarse yet rough voice could be heard, “Third Prince and Third Princess Consort, how have the both of you been?”

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

“This is despicable!” Gu Lingzhi cursed. After all, Pan Luming was the second strongest Martial Artist in the entire Continent, right behind Lord Fashen. However, he preferred to use lowly tactics such as holding hostages and threatening others. He had been like this during the past few confrontations. Wasn’t he afraid of committing so many sins such that he would harm his descendants? Now that Rong Huashang and Pan Yue were in his hands, Gu Lingzhi would still throw herself in despite knowing that immense dangers and difficulties were lying ahead.

Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan approached the place with a heavy heart and the situation of Rong Huashang and Pan Yue became clearer. Compared to the previous month, Pan Yue’s situation had worsened. His face was pale and blue while his eyes were staring at the ground without focus. The body was signalling that it was extremely debilitated. If this situation were to carry on for a few more days, Ye Fei would really become a widow.

“Pan Luming, no matter what, Pan Yue is also a member of the Pan Family. How could you bear to do it?”

“Ever since the moment where he betrayed the Royal Family and colluded with the Alliance, he was no longer a member of the Pan Family.” Pan Luming was in a good mood as he was certain that Gu Lingzhi would not be able to escape this time.

“If you feel bad for my descendant, you can use your life to exchange for his. As long as you bind your hands, I will not only release him but your Grand-aunt as well. I will then send them safely to the Alliance. Exchanging one for two, this is considered a relatively good deal.”

“Don’t listen to his lies, he never had any intentions to let us go!” Afraid that Gu Lingzhi would agree, Rong Huashang spoke hurriedly, “I was too useless and was actually captured by them. Just go, Rong Yuan has already broken through as a Demigod, they would not be able to catch you all...”

After being poke in the wound by Rong Huashang, Pan Yue’er, who was at a side, could not help but rushed forward and gave Rong Huashang a slap. “Shut up! Bitch!”

As Pan Luming was in a poor condition, the task of catching Gu Lingzhi had fallen onto her instead. However, Rong Yuan’s advancement into a Demigod had brought his cultivation to a staggering level. They would not be able to catch him with just a few Demigods. But she dared not bring everyone together for she feared that she might miss them. Thus, the several chases from before had ended fruitless. She could only rely on the numbers and have them trapped in the Empire.

For this, she has been scolded countless times by Pan Luming.

Fortunately, she had managed to catch Rong Huashang and Pan Yue accidentally at the last moment. If Pan Luming and her were to join forces, no matter how talented Rong Yuan was, coupled with the fact that he had just ascended into a Demigod, she believed that he would not be able to pull out any tricks. With only Gu Lingzhi left, they could just capture her easily.