Chapter 392: Ye Wenxin vs. Gu Qingcheng

The surrounding people didn’t leave, curious about what the Eldest Princess was doing. Ye Wenxin, equally intrigued, saw Long Qingyue take out a bottle of medicine from her storage ring.

Spirit stones inlaid the bottle, showcasing exquisite craftsmanship. While others might see it as simply beautiful, those who knew Long Qingyue well would understand that this was certainly something precious.

With her delicate, fair hand, she opened the bottle cap, and a rich fragrance immediately filled the air, making people instinctively want to take a few more drags. Ye Wenxin sniffed the air and noticed something was off with the scent. She immediately covered her mouth and nose to avoid inhaling any more of it.

The Secret Guards seemed long accustomed to this, and kept a proper distance from Long Qingyue. Meanwhile, the unaware bystanders who had inhaled the scent began to feel disoriented.

“Soul Trance Water,” Ye Wenxin recalled, quickly retrieving the corresponding information from the inherited memories.

Long Qingyue seemed to have heard this, as she turned to look at Ye Wenxin. Her originally pitch-black eyes flickered with a faint red glow, as if subconsciously trying to read Ye Wenxin’s thoughts.

Ye Wenxin, recalling the various scandalous things she had done recently, felt a strong resistance towards Long Qingyue’s mind-reading attempt. Sensing its owner’s feelings, the peach blossom chains automatically activated a defense, deflecting Long Qingyue’s mind-reading ability.

The blood-colored lion aura surrounding Long Qingyue hurriedly protected her, and the force of this clash even caused her wheelchair to roll back half a step, nearly toppling her into the water. However, her reaction was incredibly swift. The wheelchair beneath her moved as if it were a flexible plank, and with just a slight twist, Long Qingyue, along with the wheelchair, landed steadily back on the shore.

“How dare you!”

The Secret Guards’ faces became stern. Although they didn’t know exactly what Ye Wenxin had done, Long Qingyue’s reaction immediately prompted them to move forward, intending to apprehend Ye Wenxin.

Long Qingyue’s eyebrows furrowed slightly as she looked at the embarrassed Ye Wenxin in the distance. She waved dismissively at the Secret Guards. “It’s not her fault; it was my own mistake.”

Her words carried a hint of indifference, making Ye Wenxin realize that Long Qingyue was experiencing significant emotional fluctuations. Normally, Long Qingyue was someone who rarely showed her emotions, leaving Ye Wenxin puzzled as to why she seemed so irritable.

Ye Wenxin stepped forward, intending to explain herself, but Long Qingyue raised a hand to silence her. Despite sitting in a wheelchair, she seemed like she was ruling over the world, looking down on all living things.

There was no need for coercive pressure, or any unnecessary words—Long Qingyue was the living embodiment of an empress.

Ye Wenxin, filled with admiration, said nothing further and backed away a few steps, joining the bystanders. Long Qingyue remained seated, watching the movements in the water, though it was unclear what she was testing.

The expressions among the Secret Guards grew tense and grim. Suddenly, the surface of the water began to ripple from top to bottom, and in an instant, the entire sea turned red. Even Ye Wenxin, witnessing this terrifying scene for the first time, felt a wave of disgust as she recalled having used the seawater to wash her face earlier.

The others watching also had mixed emotions. Even though they had questions, it seemed there was no opportunity to ask. Instead, they all stared at Long Qingyue, waiting for her to provide an explanation.

Long Qingyue, however, said nothing. She simply looked at Ye Wenxin with a gaze tinged with anger. Ye Wenxin felt even more bewildered, but Long Qingyue was already shifting her gaze away. She looked towards the Secret Guards and commanded, “Search the sea immediately. You must find that Jiangshi King!”

In that instant, Ye Wenxin recalled the corpse worms on the merchant ship and the black-clothed woman. She glanced back but saw that the black-clothed woman had been long gone.

Ye Wenxin quickly fumbled for the sandalwood box inside her bag of holding, only to find the Yin Fetus alone inside the box, with no trace of the corpse worm. The Yin Fetus jumped a few times, looking aggrievedly at Ye Wenxin, as if trying to communicate something.

“Gui Gui, what did the Yin Fetus say?”

Ghost Mother’s voice immediately echoed in her mind, answering, “Master, the Yin Fetus said that the corpse worm bit a hole in the bag of holding and escaped.”

Ye Wenxin was utterly bewildered—it was her first time hearing that a bag of holding could be torn. She carefully examined her bag and, sure enough, there was a large hole, seemingly bitten by jiangshi teeth. The corpse worm had the ability to split itself; it must have released a clone while acting cute with Ye Wenxin, then used the opportunity to create the opening, and escape with the black-clothed woman as soon as they disembarked.

But if that black-clothed woman was truly the Jiangshi King, she could have flown away—why would she choose to roam around through human means? The more Ye Wenxin thought about it, the more confused she became. Just then, Long Qingyue looked at her again and said, “Come here.”

Ye Wenxin was a bit puzzled, but as soon as she got close enough, Long Qingyue grabbed her arm and pulled her onto her lap. Long Qingyue’s actions left the crowd even more perplexed, but she paid no attention to what others thought. She immediately took out a flying magic item from her storage ring and, channeling her qi, the wheelchair automatically moved into the palanquin, before they both took off to the sky.

The entire process took less than three seconds, leaving even the Secret Guards stunned and clueless as to why Long Qingyue had taken Ye Wenxin with her. It wasn’t until the lead Secret Guard remembered his duty that he shouted toward the sky, “Your Highness, where are you going now!?”

Long Qingyue continued flying at a rapid pace, not even bothering to draw the curtains of the palanquin aside. She gave instructions to the Secret Guards below, “I’m going with this young friend to find the Jiangshi King. Use the jade communication token to inform me if there’s any news.”

After saying that, the flying palanquin sped up even more, quickly disappearing from sight.

At that moment, Gu Xiangsi suddenly remembered her mission to accompany Ye Wenxin while away from the mountain. Seeing how Long Qingyue had just taken Ye Wenxin away, she anxiously cried out, “Oh no! Her Highness has taken Junior Sister!”

Her voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but the two people inside the palanquin still heard her. Ye Wenxin let out a wry smile, wanting to give a brief explanation to Gu Xiangsi, but seeing the look on Long Qingyue’s face, she decided to sit quietly on her lap, waiting for Long Qingyue to speak first.

However, Long Qingyue didn’t seem inclined to talk. She took out a few talismans from her bag of holding and blew on them lightly. The talismans quickly flew off in different directions, spreading out to search for traces of the Jiangshi King. Unlike the people’s more relaxed attitude, she appeared very anxious, clearly understanding the danger this Jiangshi King posed to the Golden Age Dynasty.

“Um, I can help too.” Ye Wenxin still felt a bit uncomfortable. She got off Long Qingyue’s lap and expressed her thoughts while standing in the palanquin.

Long Qingyue looked at her and continued, “Do you want me to call you Qingcheng or Wenxin?”

Her tone was subtle, as if she found Ye Wenxin unusually reserved today.

Seeing that no one else was around, Ye Wenxin reverted to her true form. Her voice also became clearer and more charming. “Call me Qingcheng.”