500 Rendezvous (1/2)

There were only three bodies left in the tent: Ha Chilie, who knelt eerily, as stiff as a stone, Xia Shouxiong, whose eyes were gouged out in pools of blood, and the soldier who came to deliver food as per the schedule.

The prisoner had disappeared.

Shangguan Yun looked at the scene in front of him in disbelief and frowned, which was very uncharacteristic for him.

The remaining two Xia brothers of the Qingcheng Sect stood at his side, eyes glowering, fingers rattling. ”We must get revenge! We must find the bitch and avenge our brother, even if the whole Qingcheng Sect has to die,” they exclaimed.

Shangguan Yun turned to the two brothers. He raised his eyebrows, and his tone was not as casual as usual as he said, ”Go get your revenge. You'd better hurry up. I told her all of our plans. You don't want me to look like a fool, do you?”

The Xia brothers were taken aback, blushed, immediately bowed down to obey, and were ready to leave for the hunt.

It seemed that Maid Lotus had first killed two people and then waited. When the soldier had come in to deliver food, she ambushed him and put on his clothes to get out of the barracks. No matter how she escaped, her target was the 3,000 soldiers that Wu Zongheng had taken away.

”Wait,” Shangguan Yun said, stopping the two brothers and asked, ”How are you going to get revenge?”

”Kill the woman! ”the eldest brother said ruthlessly.

”Cut her into pieces!” the second brother added, gritting his teeth.

”Good idea, but before you get your wish, can you bring her to me alive first?” Shangguan Yun said. It sounded like a request, but was actually an unquestionable command.

Xia Yingxiong and Xia Wenxiong were taken aback again. ”Sir...” they said in unison.

”I have placed a high stake on her. I can't afford to lose my money. At least wait until I have talked with the Master of Xiaoyue Hall. Then Maid Lotus will be at your disposal,” said Shangguan Yun.

The two brothers looked at each other, then reluctantly replied, ”Yes, Sir, we will bring her to you alive.”

Shangguan Yun watched the two brothers as they left the tent, and shook his head slightly while saying to himself, ”Why do I have all these fools around me? The two of them thought they were a match against Maid Lotus? And they think that Maid Lotus is most concerned about the army?”

He looked at the bodies again with a frown and left.

After a while, several soldiers were ordered to dispose of the bodies. They were even unhappier than Shangguan Yun had been when they saw the bodies. One body was lying in a pool of blood, while another was kneeling in a weird way. Only the third body looked normal.

Even corpses can be divided into good ones and bad ones. Everyone rushed to the good corpse of the soldier.

Two short soldiers were the fastest to get to the soldier's body. One of them comforted the others after they grabbed the body. ”You are all carrying big bosses. Maybe you will get gratuities for that.”

The treatment of the three dead bodies was different. Ha Chilie would be delivered to the tribe soldiers in the camp. Xia Shouxiong would be properly preserved until his two brothers returned. Only the soldier's body would be carried directly to the outside of the camp and buried in a pit.

Two days passed. Nobody cared about the smell of the dead bodies. But when the tent was occupied by soldiers, and a fourth corpse was discovered hidden under the bunk. It was too late by then, though. The Xia brothers had already set out, not knowing their target was actually behind them.

Shangguan Yun smiled and shook his head. It was useless to count on the Xia brothers. The core of the plan was to wait for the Dragon King to walk into the trap. As long as the Dragon King was removed from power, Shangguan Yun would not need to pay anything, and everyone -- including Maid Lotus -- would rush to support him.

The dead body of the soldier was actually played by Maid Lotus. She knew that holding her breath to play dead would have been seen through by top masters, so she had taken a pill to appear dead for a short period of time.

She had hidden some pills well from the Xia brothers, who had searched her roughly and took away most of the pills when she was captured.

She was sure that no one would pay attention to what a soldier delivering meals looked like. Besides, she had helpers.

Maid Lotus woke up slowly and heard two people talking.

”How did you know Maid Lotus would feign death?” one of them said.

”Of course I knew. All disciples of the New Moon Hall learn this tactic. 'When being surrounded by enemies, hiding amongst bodies is the safest way to escape'. Nobody taught you that?” said the second voice.

”No. She didn't teach me that.” Han Xuan said with palpable admiration. She was mentioning the mysterious woman who had taught her Kung Fu.

The ”corpse” sat up. ”Managing Master!” Han Fen happily called the ”corpse”, who had been disguised as a man. The appearance of Maid Lotus had changed greatly, but her sparkling eyes were the same as usual.

Han Xuan had disguised herself, too. But at that moment, she removed the disguise from her face and returned to her original appearance. She looked at Maid Lotus coldly and asked her, ”Why did my master die so awfully? Did you kill him?”

”Yeah,” Maid Lotus answered simply, feeling a little weak. After taking Han Fen's antidote, she had woken up sooner than expected. Now she needed a little more time to recover.

Han Xuan suddenly waved her hands and said indifferently, ”Bad men deserve to die. I just do not know how to explain it to my Lady.”

”That's easy. Find her a better man.” Han Fen gave her a simple answer.

”It is not that simple.” Han Xuan contemplated. However, that was not her biggest concern at the moment. ”How did you know that the two of us would come to carry away the body?” she turned to Maid Lotus and asked.