Chapter 1004: Obstruction
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was a moonlit night.
The three of them were sitting in a gazebo. The night breeze felt cold and chilly as it gently caressed and blew on their cheeks. It was already late autumn right now, so it was starting to feel like winter at night.
Chu Li knitted his brows tightly together while wearing a grave expression.
He was already dark-skinned when he was disguised as Zhao Dahe. Now, as his expression grew darker, he seemed quite frightening. The atmosphere in the gazebo felt as though it had become frozen at that moment.
Numerous rows of lanterns illuminated the courtyard and made it seem as bright as daytime. Under the bright lighting, the two women’s faces appeared to be especially charming.
However, Chu Li had no thoughts of admiring their beauty right now as he frowned and huffed. “What is the Saint trying to do!”
“The Saint has no other choice. We’re really lacking manpower right now, and we can’t exactly ask our seniors who have been living in seclusion to leave the mountain,” Li Ruolan said and gently shook her head. “Don’t look so depressed and bitter. We’re not little children. We can take care of ourselves!”
“This isn’t like any other task!” Chu Li replied impatiently. “The place you’re going to is Falling Autumn City!”
“Falling Autumn City isn’t that scary. It’s not like we haven’t been there before,” Li Ruolan said with a smile.
Chu Li scoffed and muttered, “You can ask Senior Sister Lu whether or not she finds the place scary!”
Lu Zhen sighed and said, “Someone has to go and provide a.s.sistance after all. If not, are we to stand aside and watch while our senior brothers and senior sisters fall into danger?”
“The person I’m worried about the most is this Mo Qianjun guy!” Chu Li replied resentfully. “He may seem like a heroic and generous person, but he’s very cunning and deceitful. I’m just afraid that he’ll betray you two without even realizing it!”
“How is that possible!” Li Ruolan chuckled. “What kind of people do you think we are!”
Chu Li replied, “Senior Sister Li, while you’re smart, you don’t know how sinister and vicious a person can get. There’s nothing this man wouldn’t do!”
“Nothing can escape the Saint’s eyes. He wouldn’t dare to cause trouble,” Lu Zhen said. “Therefore, Junior Brother Zhao, you shouldn’t be too worried.”
“It’s okay. Don’t worry. We’ll be careful and guard ourselves against him,” Li Ruolan replied.
“Ugh…” Chu Li shook his head. “Aside from Mo Qianjun, Monk Zhi Shan will also be there. This guy is way too scary. If you run into him, you won’t be able to survive! … I really don’t understand what’s going on in the Saint’s head. She’s making both of you take such a huge risk!”
“There will be two other senior sisters coming with us,” Li Ruolan answered. “They’re also patrols.”
“Even if there are four of you, it’ll be very hard for you to get away from Monk Zhi Shan!” Chu Li shook his head. “So if you run into him, perform the secret skill and escape immediately. Even if Senior Brother Ji is there, he must not risk his life and fight the monk. You guys are no match for Zhi Shan!”
“Okay, okay, we understand,” Li Ruolan muttered impatiently. “You’re really long-winded and filled with fears. If we’re that afraid of dying, how are we supposed to be patrols? We might as well return to the Great Light Peak and live in seclusion!”
“It would be best for you to live in seclusion at the Great Light Peak,” Chu Li said while nodding eagerly. “Senior Sister Li, you can give this some consideration. After completing your mission this time, go back to the mountain and live in seclusion. Don’t come out and take such risks anymore. Once the Qiu Dynasty and the Li Dynasty go to war, there’s no way to tell how many people will die!”
“How can I hide when my country is facing a crisis!” Li Ruolan replied angrily. “Alright now, we’ve just come to inform you about this and to check on you. Since everything is going well here, we can set our minds at rest and leave.”
As Chu Li let out a sigh, he took out a jade bottle from his inner pocket and handed it to Li Ruolan. “There are a few Light Pills in this bottle. Place one in your mouth first whenever you need to fight an enemy. Don’t feel reluctant to finish them. I can give you more once you use up all these pills!”
Li Ruolan gladly took it from him and smiled as she said, “The Light Pill is an extremely rare and precious pill. Every disciple only has one, except for you! … Don’t worry. We have our secret skill. We won’t die that easily!”
Chu Li glared at her. “Stop saying such ominous words!”
His heart had suddenly skipped a beat when Li Ruolan said those words, which gave him an ominous feeling.
“How about this? I’ll come with you,” Chu Li said.
Li Ruolan shook her head. “Since you’ve been banished to this place, you’re not allowed to take part in this coming war.”
“I’ll just sneak over there,” Chu Li suggested.
Li Ruolan replied, “If the Saint finds out about that, you’ll certainly be punished. Stop worrying for nothing. Before you entered the Great Light Peak, I was already a patrol. I’ve been through many trials!”
Chu Li frowned as he stared at them and then disappeared all of a sudden. He reappeared behind them and hit them on their backs with his palms.
Their bodies instantly stiffened and became motionless.
Li Ruolan cried out involuntarily, “Zhao Dahe, have you gone crazy!”
“I have a bad feeling about this. It’s better for both of you to not go,” Chu Li muttered and shook his head. “Forgive me, Senior Sisters.”
“Do you realize what you’re doing!” Li Ruolan yelled. “Stop fooling around. If the other senior sisters and senior brothers were to fall into a dangerous situation at Falling Autumn City because we arrived late to provide a.s.sistance, we would become great sinners!”
Chu Li exhaled sharply and retorted, “To me, your lives come before theirs!”
For him, aside from Li Ruolan and Lu Zhen as well as Sun Lihua and a few other people at the Spirit Medicine Nursery, he did not care about anyone else from the Holy Church of Light. It did not matter to him whether the other disciples were alive or dead. After all, the Holy Church of Light was his enemy.
Lu Zhen said, “Junior Brother Zhao, I know you’re doing this because you care about us, but your emotions have clouded your judgment. Because of your actions, we’re going to be severely punished according to the sect rules, and you won’t be able to get away either. Normally, disobeying a command would not lead to severe punishment, but during times of war, you will be beheaded for defying a military order.”
Chu Li huffed. “You two have been forced to stay here. I shall take full responsibility for this.”
“Who can prove whether or not we were forced to stay?” Lu Zhen shook her head and said, “Furthermore, we’ve come here without the Saint’s permission, so we’ve already violated the rules. We were supposed to rush over to Falling Autumn City right after we received our orders!”
“I’ll personally go to the Saint to admit my wrongdoings and ask for my punishment,” Chu Li muttered while shaking his head. “However, I can’t allow you to go there this time!”
“Zhao Dahe!” Li Ruolan glared at him in annoyance. “Hurry up and release us!”
Chu Li shook his head and did not speak.
He trusted his intuition and sharp instincts. He had an ominous feeling that the situation would not turn out well for the two women, so of course, he could not let them go and seek their death.
“Ah… Junior Brother Zhao, you’re just causing us more trouble!” Lu Zhen said. “Even if the Saint forgives us for failing to provide a.s.sistance, we’ll become a laughing stock. It would seem like we didn’t dare to go because we were afraid of the danger involved. We’d be too ashamed to stay at the Great Light Peak!”
“So what if you feel ashamed?” Chu Li retorted. “It’s better than being dead.”
“Zhao Dahe, it’s not that easy for others to kill us!” Li Ruolan said impatiently. “Hurry up and release us!”
Chu Li shook his head. “I won’t release you, so you should just drop the idea and stay here obediently.”
“You may be able to keep us here for a while, but will you be able to keep us here for the rest of our lives?” Lu Zhen sighed and spoke in a comforting manner, “You won’t allow us to go this time because it’s going to be dangerous, but what about next time? Are we supposed to not go every single time and just live in retirement at the Great Light Peak from now on? To be honest, we can’t stand living like that!”
Chu Li knitted his brows together as he looked at her.
Lu Zhen went on, “Rather than living in obscurity, I’d prefer to die a heroic death. This is the kind of life we have chosen for ourselves!”
Chu Li turned his gaze to Li Ruolan.
Li Ruolan bit on her lower lip and slowly nodded. “Indeed. Back then, we could have chosen to stay at the mountain, but we still decided to leave the mountain anyway. We’ve encountered many dangerous situations and survived through all of them. The situation may be dangerous in Falling Autumn City, but we can’t run away from it!”
Lu Zhen said, “If we run away from it this time, we’ll also try to run away next time. Then, we’ll become completely useless people. It would be better to die than to live such a cowardly life!”
Li Ruolan nodded. “I agree with what Senior Sister said!”
Chu Li sighed and replied, “In that case, I’ll come with you.”
Li Ruolan frowned. “That’s not necessary, Junior Brother Zhao. You can accompany us this time, but are you going to accompany us for the rest of our lives?”
Chu Li replied hastily, “I don’t mind that.”
Li Ruolan huffed and said, “Well then, we might as well hide at Great Light Peak and let you do our job. We’ll also become useless people!”