Chapter 403: Big Buns, Small Brain (3^rd Update)

This abrupt change made Ye Wenxin unable to resist checking the Harmony Bells’ luck again, and she found that the golden aura of Wang Cuihua’s bells had faded by half. The harsh reality reminded Ye Wenxin that no matter how much she tried to prevent them from rising, the opportunities meant for the female leads could never be hers to claim.

“Sis, are you really alright? It’s almost dawn. Maybe you should go back and get some rest,” Gu Xiangsi, unaware of Ye Wenxin’s complex feelings, saw her grim face and thought Ye Wenxin was suffering from lack of sleep due to being tormented by her.

Ye Wenxin waved her hand. “It’s nothing. I just recalled some strange things.”

Gu Xiangsi stood quietly, waiting for Ye Wenxin to voice her concerns. Ye Wenxin still hadn’t said anything after a while, so Gu Xiangsi just sat down, waiting for her to sort out the issue.

Ye Wenxin originally intended to brush it off, but seeing Gu Xiangsi genuinely waiting, she decided to casually throw out a question, “I have a friend who was asked to do something bad, but my friend refused, yet wasn’t silenced. Why would that be?”

The familiar ‘I have a friend’ scenario resurfaced. In terms of intelligence, Ye Wenxin could only be considered average in this world—neither particularly high nor exceptionally low. However, the Jiangshi King’s methods were so rare that she decided to seek others’ opinions before deciding whether to reveal anything.

Gu Xiangsi was even more puzzled. “Maybe it’s because they have some positive feelings toward that person.”

“That’s impossible. My friend only met her for the first time and was introduced by other worm— er, I mean people.”

Ye Wenxin immediately rejected this explanation. The Jiangshi King was very intelligent, as evidenced by her methods of taking over Yangzhou City, and later establishing the jiangshi army. It was clear she was not foolish.

But if the Jiangshi King was so smart, why let the tiger return to the mountain¹ instead of eliminating it?

Ye Wenxin couldn’t understand the Jiangshi King’s eccentric attitude, so she sought a hint. If it were Long Qingyue, she might have already considered countless possibilities upon hearing the question. But since Ye Wenxin couldn’t consult Long Qingyue, she needed to uncover the truth on her own to prevent her mind from becoming truly rusty.

“That means there must be another motive,” Gu Xiangsi suggested after thinking for a moment.

Ye Wenxin couldn’t help but smile wryly. She knew there had to be another motive, but as an ordinary person, what could she possibly offer to benefit the Jiangshi King? This was the point Ye Wenxin couldn’t grasp, and she looked at Gu Xiangsi with a hint of disdain.

Gu Xiangsi felt a bit aggrieved and continued, “Sis, how am I supposed to know what the real motive is when you’re being so vague? If you were anyone else, I wouldn’t even answer your question.” She pouted in mock anger, protesting against Ye Wenxin’s disdainful attitude.

Ye Wenxin couldn’t help but pinch Gu Xiangsi’s cheek. “Alright, I appreciate your effort, Xiangsi. After all, they do say, ‘Big buns, small brain.’”

Gu Xiangsi picked up on Ye Wenxin’s hint and huffed sulkily. She summoned her golden axe and continued, “Well, Sis, let me show you whether I have a brain or not.”

As she spoke, she swung the golden axe at Ye Wenxin, but the umbrella sword blocked it, not giving Gu Xiangsi any chance to get close. Gu Xiangsi fought desperately, but despite her efforts, she didn’t manage to hurt Ye Wenxin even slightly, while she herself was sweating profusely.

Gu Xiangsi, panting slightly, put her axe away and sat on the ground. With dissatisfaction, she said, “Sis, you’re shameless. If you’re so skilled, why don’t you come and fight me yourself?”

Ye Wenxin smiled slightly. “The umbrella sword is my possession; hence, its actions are also mine. I don’t see any problem.”

Gu Xiangsi was even more speechless. As she wiped the sweat from her face with a handkerchief, she suddenly raised her voice. “I just thought of something!”

Her loud exclamation startled the guards on night watch, who feared it was a jiangshi attack. Gu Xiangsi apologized to them before quickly continuing, “Maybe the person deliberately let you go, so you can spread the message and create panic?”

As soon as these words were spoken, Ye Wenxin connected the dots, and found this very plausible.

The Jiangshi King didn’t let Ye Wenxin go out of consideration for the corpse worm, but rather because only by doing so could Ye Wenxin spread the information.

Ye Wenxin, despite being an ordinary Azure Wings Sect true disciple, was the One Short Sect’s so-called Grandmaster. If Ye Wenxin revealed this information to Priest Wang, he would definitely believe it and place all the blame on Demon Lord Gu Qingcheng.

So even if they couldn’t find Demon Lord Gu Qingcheng, the Jiangshi King would have already achieved her goal.

The Jiangshi King wasn’t looking to cooperate with her, but rather used her to spread information about her plans. Ye Wenxin realized how clever the Jiangshi King was, but unfortunately, regardless of how impressive she was, she couldn’t have known that the very person she sought was standing right in front of her.

Ye Wenxin sighed inwardly, feeling like she had been burdened with another responsibility she couldn’t shake off. After some thought, she decided to go find Priest Wang to explain the situation. Just as she stepped outside, she saw Long Qingyue approaching.

Behind her, a Secret Guard was pushing her wheelchair, and Long Qingyue wore a smile as warm as a spring breeze. As the crowd saw Long Qingyue, they couldn’t tear their eyes away, their gazes filled with complex emotions.

Ye Wenxin knew that whatever she did couldn’t be hidden from Long Qingyue’s Secret Guards, so she returned to the tent and sent Gu Xiangsi and Wang Cuihua away…

Moments later, the Secret Guard wheeled Long Qingyue in before leaving the two of them alone.

After they started sleeping in separate beds, they hadn’t spoken for two days. Ye Wenxin hadn’t expected that Long Qingyue would be the one to seek her out again. It was as if, just as Long Qingyue had once said, Ye Wenxin was always in a passive position. Ye Wenxin intended to start with some light-hearted conversation, but Long Qingyue cut straight to the point: “Tell me what you’re hiding.”

Even though her expression remained unreadable, her words betrayed her irritation.

Ye Wenxin thought for a moment and finally decided to tell Long Qingyue about her encounter with the Jiangshi King. Long Qingyue’s face showed a hint of surprise. “Did she really say ‘the absolutely irreconcilible crime of stealing a husband’?”

It was clear that Long Qingyue hadn’t expected the Jiangshi King to have plunged an entire city into chaos for a trivial motive.

Ye Wenxin nodded, expecting Long Qingyue to have a better understanding of the whole picture, but it turned out that Long Qingyue was just as confused as she was and instead, began asking Ye Wenxin more questions.

“You really didn’t do something like that?”

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Footnotes:

1. 1. ‘Letting the tiger return to the mountain’ is a Chinese idiom, meaning setting an enemy/bad person free, setting up future disasters. ↩︎