Chapter 31 — To the Imperial Tournamen (2/2)

Yun Manor, presence chamber.

By the time Yun Wu and Long San appeared, Yun Qi and the rest of the Yun family had been waiting for some time already.

“Hmph, Grandpa looked upon you favorably for but a short while, and yet you’re already assuming airs, making us wait for this long. Slu… Ninth Sister, you’re quite something.” Fearful of Yun Qi’s presence, Yun Qing Er inwardly clenched her teeth.

Yun Lingshui stood up, her eyes tinged with gloom, “Don’t waste your breath on her. Doesn’t she know that the envoys from the palace arrived long ago? Elder Sister, Sixth Sister, let’s go.”

Furtively, she shot Yun Wu a glare and took the lead in walking out. Yun Qing Er harrumphed and followed. When she passed by Yun Wu, she threatened in a low voice, “You’d better be careful. If I catch you alone during the tournament, I guarantee you’ll be taught a good lesson.”

A while back, the Eldest Miss Yun Xing Er was sent to study at Wushi Institute and returned recently so she could participate in the tournament. She’d heard about the happenings in the manor, and therefore, the sight of Yun Wu caused Yun Xing Er’s beautiful eyes to flash with coldness.

However, Yun Xing Er’s charming face quickly reverted back to its usual expression of benevolence, accentuating her pure white attire perfectly. She gently bid Yun Qi farewell and left.

One glance at the familiar view of Yun Xing Er’s back caused the depths of Yun Wu’s eyes to freeze over. In Yun Wu’s past life, she had cared for and loved a woman as she would a close sister; that woman was San Feng, who later betrayed and put her to death.

In this life, it wasn’t much different. Slitting Yun Wu’s tendons and throwing her off a cliff to feed wild beasts… Yun Wu hadn’t forgotten this debt—not at all. During the tournament, perhaps she, Yun Wu, would be the one settling accounts instead.

Yun Qi noticed the cold light in her eyes and felt a bad premonition. He furrowed his brows, “Brat, Grandpa’s face may not be worth anything, but could you consider it a little and not be so angry?”

Hearing that, Yun Wu smiled and replaced the frost in her eyes with their normal fragility.

“I know how to hold my temper. Grandpa, there’s no need for you to send me off yourself, I’ll be fine just following my three sisters out.” Without waiting for his response, she turned around and stepped out. Long San walked behind her, his pace neither too slow nor too hasty.

He had heard every word of the exchange. Beneath his black veil, the corners of his lips lifted into a sneer, and his devilish eyes gleamed with icy bloodthirst.

Was his woman someone to be provoked at will?

…..

The entrance of the imperial palace.

A dozen or so carriages —each and every one luxurious— could be seen, and over twenty beauties were already standing at the side. The Yun family’s large carriage stopped and immediately drew everyone’s attention. Evidently, they were waiting for the three eminent Yun Misses.

Yun General Manor was Zhou Dynasty’s number one martial family. They were a bit late to arrive, but who would dare rebuke them? However, when they saw not only the three Misses, but also Yun Wu and Long San alight from the carriage, the spectators all broke into disdainful laughter and ridiculing whispers.

Prince Long, a good-for-nothing with ruined meridians and a disfigured countenance. Who in Zhou Dynasty didn’t recognize his black-clad, black face-veiled figure? And Yun Manor’s Ninth Miss, a sickly good-for-nothing, was also known to all.

A good-for-nothing with another good-for-nothing—a perfect match, and a laughingstock of a pair.

“Good. Every Miss is now ready. Please follow after this humble servant,” a eunuch instructed softly and respectfully before leading the group of twenty-some females away. They arrived at a wide and spacious square, and it was completely empty until they heard the twittering call of a beast bird.

Several pairs of eyes turned to the sky, and then quite a few people exclaimed in shock, “Beast bird mounts!”

Eight gigantic bird beasts were in flight. It wasn’t until they landed that eight grey-robed men came into view, each sitting atop their respective beasts. In their hands, they held onto ropes that were attached to the collar-like loops around the beasts’ necks.

Yun Wu drew upon her acquired memories. It seemed that this foreign world had an occupation called the Beast Trainer, which was what she assumed these grey-robed people were.

Beast Trainer: Simply put, they were individuals capable of taming ferocious magical beasts and reducing them to obedient beast pets. Domesticated magical beasts were usually weak in their attacks, so they were either treated as mere pets or mounts, at best.

Despite that, Beast Trainers were few in number, so the occupation was a popular one. For the imperial family to have flying mounts was not unusual, but starting out with eight at once showed that the imperials were quite extravagant.

Except, wasn’t the tournament this year being held in the palace’s exclusive Beast Forest? Why were there flying mounts?

“Young Misses, if any of you are ready, please come up. Don’t worry, it’s very safe,” the mounted Beast Trainers reassured and laughed kindly.

The eunuch immediately started to arrange the seating, and soon, the group was split into eight and settled onto the mounts, after which the Beast Trainers urged the bird beasts into the air.

The feeling of wind blowing in their faces elicited expressions of excitement and wonder from the Misses while Yun Wu, on the other hand, was apathetic from beginning to end.

To her, these domesticated flying beasts were no different from livestock and utterly incapable of rousing her interest. Involuntarily, she recalled the Redfire Dragon and the time she sat on its neck—that was she would consider “exciting.” She wondered, after becoming a Summoner, if it would be possible for her to secretly put the dragon under a contract?

If the Redfire Dragon learned of her musings, it probably would’ve been angered to the point of giving Yun Manor another “earthquake.”

Nonetheless, this disagreeable idea had quietly sprouted in Yun Wu’s mind.