White-Robed Chief
chapter-201

Xiao Qi stood up and went to the window. She gazed at the calm waters of a lake far away.

Every time she admired the vast and serene lake waters, her heart would come together as one with the body of liquid. Suddenly, she felt very calm, and her mind was much clearer.

Enlightened Masters had always been many levels above the rest. To a normal person, they were like Gods standing amongst the clouds, as their level seemed to be unachievable. Even a Grandmaster could only look up to an Enlightened Master and admit his inferiority because the boundary of an Enlightened Master was indeed incredibly hard to break through. Of billions of people in the Great Ji dynasty, only one had managed to break through the boundaries of an Enlightened Master.

Enlightened Masters were shrouded with mystery and were unimaginably strong. They were unlike any mortals in this world. If an Enlightened Master did not speak of it, nobody would know what they were truly capable of.

The story of the "Nine Dragons' Tripod Cauldron" might only be a myth since nobody could verify its credibility. However, many chose to believe that it existed. Though until today, no one had the courage to look for and steal the precious three-footed cauldron. Moreover, the thing is, only approximately ten people knew of the ancient artifact's existence.

Chu Li fixed his gaze at Xiao Qi, awaiting her final decision.

After a short while, Xiao Qi turned her head around. Her eyes gleamed brightly as she declared, "We must kill King An!"

A smiled etched across Chu Li's face.

However, Xiao Qi did admit, "Killing King An won't be an easy task, and we only have half a year's time left!"

Chu Li smiled. "If everything else fails, we can only kidnap the Second Lady and hide her."

Xiao Qi grinned upon hearing that; the worries were lifted off her chest for a short moment.

Chu Li was a man of many schemes. He had the greatest of courage and every so often, he would come out with the craziest of ideas. This idea had particularly piqued Xiao Qi's interest.

If they really had no means of killing King An, they would deploy several people as assassins to stage the Second Lady's kidnap. Then, they would hide her away in a secluded place — in hopes of delaying the matter for a while.

"If we're really left with no choice, we would have to do that." Xiao Qi smiled. "So don't rush it. Because if you do, you would make mistakes very easily. This issue is directly related to the well-being of our Public House, so there is no room for mistakes!"

"If only I could step into the boundary of an Enlightened Master, I would be able to kill him!" Chu Li exclaimed. "Lady, I think it's best that we don't mention King An's name in the future. From now on, let's call him 'Old Quan'."

"Old Quan?" Xiao Qi blinked with her bright, wide eyes. She laughed. "What kind of a weird name is that?"

Chu Li smiled. "Well, because it's weird, the outsiders won't be able to guess who we're referring to."

He thought about the word "safe" (TN: Safe in Chinese is 安全; pinyin: Ān quán) earlier, which inspired him of the name. Prince "An", hence Old "Quan". It was coincidentally a similar name to their friend, Lin Quan as well. Outsiders would easily mistake the nickname for Lin Quan's.

Xiao Qi rolled her eyes at him and smiled. "Good, Old Quan it is!"

Such a life-threatening matter had become much less stressful thanks to Chu Li's mischievous antics.

"When the people from King An's Imperial Court arrives, we have to make sure that there's a Grandmaster beside the Second Lady to protect her." Chu Li added, "We can't let them harm her."

"Alright, I'll take care of that." Xiao Qi sighed. "With Elder Guo by our side, we're not afraid of them poisoning her. I'll ask my Second Sister to pretend to be sick so that she can stay away from those bad people!"

Chu Li praised her ingenuity. After all, it was not a bad idea.

Once they finished the discussion, Chu Li reluctantly bid farewell to Xiao Qi.

He slowly walked down the stairs and exited the Stargazing Tower. He could still smell Xiao Qi's fragrance persisting around his nostrils and it gave him a sense of melancholic.

…

It was deep into the night, and the moon hung high up in the dark sky.

The moonlight reflected its white-silver glow down onto the Chu Residence, illuminating the area brightly.

Chu Li was sat beside a stone table at his backyard, drinking tea. He sat there casually, watching a group of girls as they cultivated their martial arts. There were around forty of them, and the atmosphere was noisy.

Some of them practiced their fist jabs, while others practiced sword fighting. However, all of them looked so feeblish, as if they would immediately fall to the ground when a strong wind blew. They looked nothing like people who were skilled at martial arts.

Yet, their physical bodies had undergone immense transformations. Even Meng Yan, the weakest amongst them, had three times the strength of a typical strong man.

Chu Li had applied the Nine Transformation Meridian Reforming Technique and the Sun Cultivating White Tiger Portraits on the girls. In a short amount of time, they had transformed into an entirely new person. Even if they did not cultivate any heart techniques before this and purely used their raw strength to cultivate martial arts, their powers would be phenomenal as well.

He watched their training with admiration as he nodded; all smiles on his face.

The night was getting darker, and Zhao Ying and Chen Ying were finally back.

The girls had already accustomed themselves to the work at Leisure Cloud Pub. Hence, they did not need too many staff there at one time. Ten staffs per night were enough, while the rest would take a break. They rotated their shifts every five days.

Only Zhao Ying was the most occupied as she needed to supervise the condition at Leisure Cloud Pub every night.

Upon seeing Chu Li, a sweet smile was etched on Zhao Ying's face. She looked pretty in that green gown of hers and her youthful fragrance billowed towards Chu Li.

"Brother, when did you return?" Zhao Ying sat in front of him.

Chu Li smiled. "This afternoon. Everything fine at the pub?"

"People know that it's run by the Public House, so they would stay away from trouble." Zhao Ying chuckled. "Especially after that episode with the Phoenix Tree Faction, nobody dared to cause us any more problems!"

Back when the Phoenix Tree faction wreaked havoc at Leisure Cloud Pub, their faction was quickly disbanded. After someone had spread the word around, people kept it firmly in their minds never to stir any trouble at the pub.

Chen Ying served them a jar of wine. She took a white jade cup and filled it with wine. "Master, somebody wanted to see me today. They wanted to recruit me as one of their disciples."

She was wearing a light purple gown, and the complexion of her face was fair. Moreover, her eyes shimmered with a faint glow under the lights.

"Which faction?"

"Tai Hua Valley."

"Eh—?" Chu Li smiled. "That's a coincidence."

"Master, you know someone from Tai Hua Valley?" Chen Ying asked with a sweet smile.

Zhao Ying added, "It was the faction leader of the Tai Hua Valley who told Chen Ying personally that they wanted to recruit her."

With both hands, Chen Ying handed the cup full of wine to Chu Li.

The fair complexion of her hand and the color of the white jade cup complemented each other. So much so that it looked homogeneous.

Chu Li accepted the white jade cup and took a small sip. He looked at her beautiful face intently and asked, "What's your decision?"

"I'll listen to whatever you say," Chen Ying replied.

Chu Li put down his white jade cup and said, "Then don't accept it."

"But why?" Zhao Ying said, "It was the Tai Hua Valley's leader herself, Valley Leader Mei Aoshuang! Valley Leader Mei said that sister Chen Ying's qualities were very suitable with the teachings of Tai Hua Valley. She even said that Chen Ying would outperform her one day!"

Chu Li said, "Valley Leader Mei knows of Chen Ying's origins?"

The Tai Hua Valley leader, Mei Aoshuang was a Grandmaster. She was considered a genius in martial arts, which was why Zhao Ying felt very anxious for Chen Ying.

There were approximately three hundred Grandmasters in the Great Ji dynasty. About a hundred of them were among all twelve Public Houses. Around a hundred or more of them were in the four major sects. While the remaining were scattered around the Imperial Court and various factions of the martial arts world.

In the martial arts world, Grandmasters were often leaders or elders of various first-class factions. However, Tai Hua Valley was only a second-class faction, yet they had a Grandmaster like Mei Aoshuang as their leader.

Zhao Ying said, "Everyone of us who runs the Leisure Cloud Pub knows of it, so I bet Valley Leader Mei knew about it too."

"Zhao Ying, you do know the relationship between the Public House and factions of the martial arts world, right?"

"But technically Chen Ying isn't from the Public House," Zhao Ying explained. "Besides, I'm sure Valley Leader Mei doesn't mind at all."

"She doesn't, but I do!" Chu Li exhaled. "Zhao Ying, don't be so simple-minded. Think about it at a deeper level… If one of the disciples from Tai Hua Valley commits a crime in the future, and I'm commissioned to hunt him or her down, what situation would that put Chen Ying in?"

Zhao Ying rebutted, "But there are only female disciples in the Tai Hua Valley, what's the worst crime they can commit?!"

"When women are enraged, they could do so much more unimaginable things than men!" Chu Li waved his hand. "Furthermore, once you step foot into the martial arts world, you're bound to all the hatreds and vendettas that each faction have against each other… No, I won't allow it!"

By his estimations, the feud between Tai Hua Valley and Green Hill faction was not done and dusted yet. It would only be a matter of time before all hell would break loose. Chen Ying would not be able to look after herself if she joined Tai Hua Valley. What if something bad happens to her?!

It would be an entirely different reality compared to the one they were in — safe and sound within the walls of Chong Ming town. They were free from disasters, living a happy and wonderful life.

Zhao Ying was about to add another argument before she was interrupted by Chen Ying. "Alright, I'll listen to Master Chu."

Chu Li glanced at her while he used his Omniscient Mirror to see through her thoughts.

She was indeed lured by the prospects of joining Tai Hua Valley to become a top-notch martial arts master herself. She did not want to be a burden to Chu Li anymore, but after such objections from her master, she could not do anything but obey.

Chu Li was touched. From there, he became more insistent on his opinion on the matter. The martial arts world was too dangerous for Chen Ying. It would much be better if she did not venture into it.

Zhao Ying let out a disappointed sigh and grasped Chen Ying's hand. She consoled her, "Sister Chen, it's a shame that we have to go head to head with someone so stubborn. I guess we can't do anything."

Chen Ying chuckled gently and said, "Master Chu will not put me in harm's way. That's why I decided to listen to him."

"I'll meet this Valley Leader Mei face to face tomorrow!" Chu Li proclaimed.

"Brother, Valley Leader Mei only did it out of good will," Zhao Ying hurriedly explained.

"I won't go overboard." Chu Li picked up his white jade cup and finished the wine in a single gulp.