Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 453: Protector Si Laoye

The commotion outside clearly alerted those inside the tent.

Caught up in the moment, Yue Hongling snapped back to reality, reaching for her sword beside the tub. “Lei Ao is here, I need to...”

“You better take it easy.” Zhao Changhe pressed her shoulder, casually picking up a set of tribal clothing and placing them on the edge of the tub. “Anyone else can show up, but not you. If they find an excuse, Sisi will be in trouble.”

“What if Lei Ao uses the excuse to bully Sisi? How about I disguise myself and go out?”

“Who are you going to fool with your sword art?” Zhao Changhe calmly smeared medicinal herbs on his face, and before long, a man of the Ancient Spirit Tribe stood before Yue Hongling, grinning. “Obviously, Zhao Changhe and Wang Daozhong can’t show up either. What do you think of my Ancient Spirit Tribe look?”

Yue Hongling watched Zhao Changhe, now more skilled than ever with all kinds of strange and unusual tricks, and suddenly felt that the carefree boy from before seemed so distant.

Right... He’s now ranked thirty-seventh on the Ranking of Man, a top figure in the world. Wherever he goes, he becomes a significant factor. If the enemy never realizes that Zhao Changhe is here, they might suffer a great loss.

At the gate of the stronghold, the men and women of the Ancient Spirit Tribe were lying in ambush, bows drawn. Poisonous insects and mists were scattered across the ground, tangled with thorny vines.

Lei Ao swiftly flew past. When the vines touched his body, they were sent flying as if struck by lightning. The poisonous insects and mists seemed to have no effect on him. Holding a Miao saber, Lei Ao slashed at a young Spirit Tribe girl who was summoning insects by the roadside.

In the Miaojiang tribal confrontations, these witchcraft practitioners, who used various strange arts and curses to control insects and spread poisonous mists, were key. As long as they were subdued, the rest of the regular forces were not particularly strong. Especially given how few Spirit Tribe members there were, it was easy to “bully” them.

But as his saber neared the Ancient Spirit Tribe girl, a fragrant breeze blew past, and Sisi darted through like a ghost. A silent glint of a dagger appeared in her hand, blocking Lei Ao’s saber strike.

As they passed by each other, Sisi’s wrist flipped, and her dagger, fluid as water, stabbed toward Lei Ao’s back. It was as if being airborne, with nothing to gain leverage from, posed no challenge for her at all.

Lei Ao, on the other hand, was not as agile. He awkwardly blocked the strike and stumbled backward several steps, retreating into his ranks, his face looking rather displeased. “I’ve always suspected that your strange techniques aren’t really from the so-called Spirit Tribe! You’re most likely just a spy for the Xia people!”

“Who cares where my techniques come from?” Sisi sneered. “Lei Ao, do you feel like you have too many teeth?”

Lei Ao shouted angrily, “You’re sheltering a criminal. Has your Ancient Spirit Tribe thought this through?”

“Oh, spare me the word games. You keep trying to pin all these labels on me, yet you don’t even have any evidence!” Sisi sneered. “Who was the one secretly rallying the tribes to kill the pacification commissioner and rebel against the Great Xia Empire before? I could say that Yue Hongling was brought here by you, Lei Ao. How dare you come here playing the thief shouting to catch the thief? And by the way, what gives you the right to investigate the case of the commissioner? Are you part of the Demon Suppression Bureau?”

Lei Ao replied, “I’m not here to investigate the pacification commissioner’s murder. There were brothers of my tribe among the guards by the commissioner’s side, enduring humiliation to spy on the Xia, but they were all killed by Yue Hongling in one fell swoop. Now I’m here for revenge, and anyone who stands in my way is an enemy of the Black Hmong Tribe!”

As he spoke, the silhouettes of thousands of people appeared behind him, stretching out as far as the eye could see.

Sisi’s tribe, on the other hand, numbered only in the hundreds—a pitifully small group in comparison.

Usually, Lei Ao would not dare openly provoke such a tribal conflict, fearing that a single move could trigger a larger response and make the other tribes uneasy, jeopardizing his grand plan for an alliance. But now, in this moment of chaos, he had found a flimsy excuse to stir up trouble, using the situation to fish in troubled waters. His true motive, of course, was nothing more than Sisi’s beauty.

In other words, even if Sisi had no connection to Yue Hongling at all, she would still have to deal with this situation.

Lei Ao actually had plenty of other matters to attend to and really should not be wasting his energy here. But this was a classic case of beauty being a fatal distraction.

Sisi quickly understood all this and smiled sweetly. “Young Tribal Chief Lei, what a clever plan you’ve hatched. But I suggest you think carefully. If you linger here too long, other tribes might seize the opportunity to take advantage of you.”

“It won’t take long.” Lei Ao waved his hand, “Attack!”

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Several fireworks shot into the sky, spreading a strange fragrance far and wide.

The poisonous insects and snakes that filled the mountains suddenly became agitated and uncontrollable. The poisonous mist dissipated on both sides, and the mountain forest cleared.

Countless members of the Black Hmong Tribe charged forward, waving their Miao sabers. Lei Ao led the charge, slashing directly at Sisi’s shoulder.

It seemed as if Lei Ao had used some special means to break through Sisi’s setup. But Sisi’s smile did not falter.

Just as she was about to counter with a new trick, she heard a gust of wind behind her.

Sisi’s expression shifted slightly. She put the small object she had just taken out back into her pocket and stepped back with a smile, as if she were retreating from Lei Ao’s saber.

A longsword passed her side, accurately deflecting Lei Ao’s saber.

Lei Ao’s hand went numb, nearly causing him to drop his saber. He retreated in shock, “Who are you?”

A tall man dressed in Ancient Spirit Tribe garb stood in front of Sisi, silently holding his longsword at an angle, thrusting it directly toward Lei Ao’s heart!

Sisi blinked.

Unlike when he impersonated Wang Daozhong with the Sea-Suppression Sword Art, this time Zhao Changhe’s sword art was very much like Sisi’s—very much like the Spirit Tribe’s.

This made perfect sense, of course. Both Sisi and the Spirit Tribe had learned their sword arts from the Sword Emperor’s legacy, which Zhao Changhe himself had organized. He was practically the Ancient Spirit Tribe’s sword art teacher, so posing as a Spirit Tribe swordsman was a seamless transition for him.

Lei Ao did not notice anything suspicious and had no way of knowing that the person in front of him was the exact same Wang Daozhong he had met the day before. The sword art was elusive and unpredictable; he could not even figure out the trajectory of the strike, so he had no choice but to retreat.

Zhao Changhe’s movement art, inherited from the same lineage as Sisi’s, was like wind chasing after clouds. Though it seemed like he had reached the end of his charge, he continued forward without any hesitation, thrusting relentlessly toward Lei Ao’s chest again.

Both of them learned their movement arts from Thief Saint Ye Wuzong—one had stolen it from a secret manual, and the other had learned it through the Heavenly Tome.

However you looked at it, they seemed like family members. Even Sisi was shocked, but then she burst into laughter.

Lei Ao stumbled backward again, crashing into his advancing tribesmen. His retreat threw their formation into chaos.

“What are you all standing around for?!” Lei Ao shouted furiously as he tumbled into his own ranks, “Protect me!”

Clang!

Several Miao sabers were raised in unison in front of Lei Ao. Zhao Changhe shifted his sword, as if his strike had a sticky force, and with a swirl, he disarmed all the broadswords. They flew off and lodged into the surrounding trees, still trembling.

Sword light surged and plunged into the ranks again, stopping just before Lei Ao’s throat, standing still.

The tension of an impending battle froze. Everyone stared in stunned silence at the mysterious swordsman who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

Zhao Changhe’s longsword pressed against Lei Ao, and he said calmly, “Is this the so-called ninth layer of the Profound Gate, Young Chief Lei? With this level of skill, you dare to covet our saintess... tsk.”

Sisi’s smile widened, showing her teeth.

Although the sword had not yet pierced his throat, and Lei Ao could still retreat if he wished, at that moment, he felt as if all confidence had drained from him. He felt as though no matter how he retreated, this man would surely stick to him like a shadow, and no number of people could stop him.

Lei Ao chose to remain still, glaring coldly at Zhao Changhe. “Who are you?!”

Sisi peeked out from behind Zhao Changhe, “He’s my protector, of course.”

Zhao Changhe said, “A protector of the Ancient Spirit Tribe, Si Laoye[1].”

Sisi: “?”

Zhao Changhe continued calmly, “Young Chief Lei, you can certainly order your men to attack. But before they take three steps, your blood will be spilled here. Fight or retreat, the choice is yours.”

Lei Ao stared at him for a long moment before suddenly waving his hand. “Retreat!”

The once-mighty Black Hmong force now scattered, retreating in disarray.

Lei Ao could tell himself that it was because he did not want to linger here too long, fearing something might happen behind him. But deep down, he knew the truth—he was truly afraid of this strange swordsman. He had the gut feeling that if this man was fully intent on killing him, then even with a crowd around him, he would not be able to protect his own head.

What a nightmare. When did the Spirit Tribe get such a powerful swordsman? Si Laoye? I’ve never heard of him. Shouldn’t someone of this level be on the Ranking of Troubled Times?

The forest returned to silence. The night breeze blew gently, and the poisonous insects had all scattered. However, a crowd of glowing green eyes remained fixed on Zhao Changhe, filled with doubt and suspicion.

The Ancient Spirit Tribe had proliferated within the secret realm for generations, and there were indeed many of them. It was not as if everyone in the tribe knew one another.

The young men and women Sisi had brought along were genuinely starting to believe this protector was indeed using their tribe’s techniques—and using them well.

Is he some newly dispatched elder from the secret realm? But he looks so young. Si Laoye... But... there’s no one with that surname in our tribe, right?

Sisi turned her gaze to Zhao Changhe, silently transmitting her voice, “Are you trying to infiltrate my tribe with this kind of trick? Do you really think I don’t exist?”

Zhao Changhe was momentarily taken aback but then chuckled. “I hadn’t really thought about that... Hey, if possible, maybe we can strike a deal?”

Sisi scowled. “What deal? Who do you think you are to me? Not happening!”

“I just helped you out of a tight spot, didn’t I?”

“That’s what you’re supposed to do under that fake name, and you didn’t even kill Lei Ao!” Sisi fumed as she stormed back toward the village. “Go on, go cozy up to your heroine! She sounds so lovely, and we lowly tribal girls are just meant to stand guard, huh?”

“Hey, hey, I couldn’t kill him recklessly, okay? If I really killed him, your tribe couldn’t handle the fallout.”

“I can handle it!” Sisi sneered. “If you used the identity of one of our tribe members to kill him, it wouldn’t cause that much trouble. It would be if you were to use your own identity or another Xia person’s identity, such as Wang Daozhong, to kill him that we’d have a real problem. The reason that the Black Hmong Tribe and other tribes wanted to use to rebel just disappeared after the pacification commissioner’s death. If you killed him with the identity of a person from Xia, their reason to rebel would reignite because their leader’s son died at the hands of a Xia person. That would be the real trouble.”

Zhao Changhe stood there for a moment, then suddenly tensed up. “Fuck!”

He quickly turned and dashed down the mountain. “Lei Ao might be in danger!

Before she could even process his words, a Spirit Tribe youth came rushing up the mountain. “Saintess, bad news! Lei Ao was assassinated on his way back to Xizhou, and the Black Hmong Tribe is in an uproar!”

1. Note that the Laoye (老爷) in Si Laoye means master. ☜