Simply Trading

Lin Liushui nodded at the older woman with a hint of approval in his smile. Not that the women would be able to recognize it, of course. But Li Changhai and Qin Feng knew the score. She had just given the handsome fellow an opening, hadn"t she?

"Ah! But if all of you return ... Are you not concerned that the Su Family may come under yet another a.s.sault? What I mean is, they were targeted once for some reason only known to the enemy. So would it be prudent to simply leave them to defend themselves?"

Elder Mu gave Lin Liushui a rather piercing look. "Oh? What are you suggesting?"

"Let the three of us escort these bodies to the Snow Swallow Palace for you. Apart from the fact that you ladies are not suited for dealing with dead bodies, the Purple Serpent Sect may attack those conveying them. And we might be able to hold them at bay."

"From the looks of things, you might be able to crush them!" laughed Elder Mu Xiuwen, "To tell the truth, I had not expected you young men to have such a powerful Cultivation, to be able to hold off the Purple Serpent Sect like you did.

"However, we do have certain rules in our Snow Swallow Palace, so inviting you three in might be a little ..."

Qin Feng decided to step in then. After all, he could guess how long it would take for Lin Liushui to try all his charms on the Elder. And he wasn"t in the mood to listen to the gallant flatter the middle-aged woman with all of his fancy talk.

So he simply took out the black metal badge that he had received from Elder Ling Liyun, on Xu Yanzhi"s urging, and placed it on the table, squarely in front of himself. "I believe we should not have too much difficulty getting inside. At least, not with this. I had received this from another Elder of the Snow Swallow Palace, who a.s.sured me that it would open doors for me.

"I trust that this is so?"

Elder Mu Xiuwen gasped in surprise, and s.n.a.t.c.hed up the badge at once. Qin Feng caught a glimpse of Lin Liushui"s upset face, and laughed gleefully. Inwardly, of course. He was careful to keep his face cold and expressionless. But he reveled at the thought of being able to tease the handsome fellow later.

"This is ... Where did you get this? It is a very rare occurrence, that sees one of these being given out! Do you know the name of the one who handed it over to you?"

Qin Feng, of course, was expecting just that question. Which is why he adjusted his own qi quickly, and painted a false blush on his cheeks. That was one trick that he had learned that he did not share with any of the girls.

"I do not know if I should say it, but ... The one who is responsible for my receiving that is Xu Yanzhi. Although she did get that badge from an Elder Ling Liyun. There! I have said her name! I trust that it is genuine?"

There was another reason why he was making such a big thing out of naming the one who had given him the badge. If he wasn"t wrong, this Elder Ling Liyun clearly outranked Mu Xiuwen. And if he was correct about that, then ...

The Elder blanched as she pushed the badge back at Qin Feng. "Elder ... Prime Elder Ling? You got that from her? How ... No, no. It does not matter. If she gave you that, and told you to head towards the Palace ... Let one of my girls escort you to ... to show you the way. The rest of us should be sufficient to keep the Purple Serpent Sect from annexing this place."

Qin Feng hid a smile when he heard that. And a look at Lin Liushui told him that the handsome fellow was in full agreement. It would be much easier if they went on their own, without any of the Snow Swallow Palace girls staying too close. There were some things that they should not know, after all.

Not to mention the fact that they might meet up with more of the Purple Serpent Sect. Or Lin Liushui"s relatives. That last bit would be a little difficult to resolve, if they had Snow Swallow Palace disciples watching.

Fortunately, that had occurred to the gallant as well, and Lin Liushui went to work on the Elder immediately. Leaving Qin Feng to step closer to the Second Ducal Prince. Who was looking rather amused at what his two companions had been doing:

"Do you really think you can convince them to let us go on our own? I mean, if I was in their shoes, I would be keeping a very close eye on the two of you. Well, on you, in particular. After all, you are the one who has been so friendly to their most famous disciple. Not to mention the fact that it was your sword that claimed the life of a major Purple Serpent Sect threat.

"Still, it would be interesting to see if Brother Liushui can get us out of having an escort."

"Oh, I think it is rather likely. They are all women here, and the older ones would be required to help hold the fort. And their younger ones are a little vulnerable to Lin Liushui"s sweet smiles and your bludgeoning muscles. So the Elder may not feel so comfortable having them follow us about," Qin Feng told Li Changhai frankly.

"Besides, they should be rather confident, since we shall be pa.s.sing through their own checkpoints, in their own territory. It is not like we are going to run off somewhere, rather than going directly to their Snow Swallow Mountain Palace."

"Not when every one of them is expecting me to be rushing off in a hurry to meet with their precious Xu Yanzhi!"

Qin Feng held himself back from mentioning that. But it was the real reason why he was heading there in the first place. And he would probably let it slip, if he really had to.

But for some reason, he doubted that he would need to do that.

The girls from the Palace already had a bit of a hint, didn"t they? And they were more than eager to get the two of them to meet, so that they could get more juicy tales to spread around!

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