Chapter 414: Unfortunate Fiancée

The Heavenly Apex City, with a population exceeding ten million, gathers countless powerful individuals and talented people. Sects, government offices, and families are too numerous to count.

Merchant guilds, transport companies, peddlers, common folk, and even spirits of the dead and malevolent entities—those operating openly and those hidden—none who have managed to establish themselves and survive in this Heavenly Apex Mortal Realm are simple figures.

With experts as numerous as clouds, power struggles, conflicts, and killings occur constantly. Major and minor events are innumerable, and among both small and great figures, there is always someone even more formidable.

A single district, with a hundred thousand residents, experiences at least a hundred thousand events daily, with a hundred thousand complex minds at work, carrying out secret affairs no one can uncover.

A city generates countless affairs every day.

The various imperial government offices have dozens of major and minor departments with specialized divisions, handling oversight, detention, decrees, regulations, city defense, and public welfare. Regardless of whether one possesses extraordinary martial arts or is a Saint Spirit Mind Master, facing such a situation, one can at most grasp the general direction.

From a high vantage point, one can view the entire city.

But how many people can a single pair of eyes continuously monitor?

As long as a large number of people are needed to carry out tasks, then every individual can become a flaw, an opening for the enemy.

Even a giant in the Longevity Realm like Song Yulou could go missing for a day or two without causing a stir, unless Song family high-ups or Lin Terrace high-ups had an urgent matter that required his immediate presence. Otherwise, his disappearance would create no ripples.

It is perfectly normal for a Longevity Realm giant to seclude themselves for half a month, or to secretly leave the city for seven or eight days, or even to conduct covert investigations for two or three days.

The carriage drove about four li from Qingyun District, passing a stone bridge that spanned a dozen-zhang-wide spiritual creek. The bridge was bustling with people coming and going, at its most lively and noisy.

Li Weiyi, driving the carriage, glanced sideways and saw two figures standing at the bridgehead.

Zuoqiu Hongting had used a Disguise Art, adopting a face that "Zuoqiu Ting" once used. Dressed in a green robe with a white scarf, she looked like a refined young master. Beside her stood Yin Shisan in plain clothes, appearing to be afollower.

Li Weiyi's current face was Sima Qin, which Zuoqiu Hongting had seen, so she naturally recognized him at a glance.

Their eyes met, and Zuoqiu Hongting smiled at him.

Li Weiyi stopped the carriage.

Zuoqiu Hongting immediately got in, and seeing Zhuang Yue, whose eyes were red and swollen from crying, and Jiang Ning, who lay unconscious in Zhuang Yue's arms, she paused for a moment. "Old Li, are you trying to kidnap the Jiang family's direct daughter?"

Li Weiyi was not in the mood for jokes, glancing at Yin Shisan, who was sitting beside him.

For Zuoqiu Hongting to be waiting here, Yin Shisan must have informed her. Yin Shisan, after all, had been working closely with Jiang Ning.

Yin Shisan quickly said, "Yin Er asked me to contact the Zuoqiu Clan. She guessed you had returned to Heavenly Apex City and insisted on seeing you. Shadow Master, let me drive. Where are we going?"

"West."

Li Weiyi lifted the curtain and entered the carriage.

Zuoqiu Hongting asked, "When will you make your move?"

"Tomorrow morning," Li Weiyi replied.

Zuoqiu Hongting remained relatively calm. "So soon?"

"We're racing against time; the faster, the better. If the enemy strikes first, not only will Heavenly Apex City be difficult to defend, but all of us will be caught off guard and lose our window of opportunity to leave the city."

Li Weiyi added, "Can you say that the enemy won't strike ahead of schedule?"

Zuoqiu Hongting nodded. "Our original plan was for important figures of the Zuoqiu Hidden Sect to withdraw within three days. With your push, it seems we must leave today."

She took out a ledger and handed it to Li Weiyi.

Li Weiyi opened it and began to read.

It recorded the cult strongholds, infiltrators, bribed individuals, court officials who had defected to the Demon Kingdom, and hidden experts whose souls had merged with spirits of the dead, all investigated by the Zuoqiu Clan and the Zuoqiu Hidden Sect.

The content recorded in the ledger only partially overlapped with what the Jiuli Hidden Sect had investigated and what Yao Qingxuan knew.

This undoubtedly meant that what their two factions had discovered was likely only a portion, with more still hidden beneath the surface.

"Why are there so many hidden experts with soul-merged spirits of the dead?" Li Weiyi asked.

Zuoqiu Hongting replied, "It was information detected by that Confucian patriarch and transmitted to Heavenly Apex City, which allowed us to track down only a part of it. The Underworld of the Deceased must be deeply involved. There have been unusual movements in Ghost City and Skeleton Manor near the Heavenly Apex Mortal Realm. The situation is worse than anticipated."

Li Weiyi was puzzled. "Isn't Qilin Zang trying to establish a Demon Kingdom? Isn't he afraid of the entire mortal realm turning to dust if he introduces spirits of the dead into the Heavenly Apex Mortal Realm?"

Zuoqiu Hongting gently shook her head. "With our cultivation, how can we fathom the thoughts of transcendent beings? Where do you plan to take her?"

Li Weiyi's gaze fell on Jiang Ning and Zhuang Yue, and he began to seriously consider the question.

Zuoqiu Hongting guessed what had happened earlier. "How far have you and she progressed? Don't be misled by her attitude towards you during the Battle of Six Thoughts Zen Temple. At that time, she was mostly creating a facade and trying to resolve the hidden danger of the Mother-Child Spring, not expressing her true feelings."

"What are you trying to say?" Li Weiyi asked.

Zuoqiu Hongting smiled. "If a man with whom I had only a casual acquaintance suddenly knocked me unconscious, even if it were for my own good and to remove me from danger, I would definitely turn hostile upon waking. Such a sneak attack threatens my life and is extremely dangerous; I would never allow a second occurrence."

"Do you think she'll break ties with me when she wakes up?" Li Weiyi asked.

Zuoqiu Hongting saw that Li Weiyi seemed unconvinced. She glanced at Zhuang Yue, who was listening intently nearby, and sent a serious telepathic message: "How much do you really know about her?"

Li Weiyi immediately fell silent. Did he truly understand Jiang Ning?

He realized he knew nothing about her friends, her parents, if she had siblings, or what her cultivation method was.

The situation was different with Zuoqiu Hongting and Tang Wanzhou.

Zuoqiu Hongting said, "It appears as if she has a deep connection with you, but in reality, she won't tell you anything about her affairs. This is what I told you before: she is extremely deep-minded. You might think you see through her, that she is bright, upright, idealistic, and responsible, but in truth, you know nothing about her. Doesn't that strike you as quite unsettling upon reflection?"

Li Weiyi asked, "What do you know?"

Zuoqiu Hongting replied, "The Jiang family is a branch of the Jiang Clan in the Heavenly Apex Mortal Realm."

"I know that."

Yin Shisan had told Li Weiyi about it on the way to Qiuzhou.

Zuoqiu Hongting continued, "The Jiang Clan in Yingzhou is a renowned ancient clan; what are the Sacred Dark Families compared to them? This branch of the Jiang family moved to the Heavenly Apex Mortal Realm only a thousand years ago, occupying precisely the Fuzhou region above the Underground Immortal Abode. What are they doing here?"

"You're not suspecting the Jiang family is connected to the cult, are you?" Li Weiyi asked.

"I don't know; there's no evidence, so I won't make baseless guesses. It just feels too strange. Why would the Jiang Clan dispatch a branch of its members to occupy Fuzhou? And why would the Jiang family, after occupying Fuzhou for a thousand years, be completely unaware of the cult's headquarters?"

Zuoqiu Hongting immediately sent another telepathic message: "Remember what I told you? About the towers and palaces in Jiang Ning's mind? Your relationship is so good, did you ask her about it?"

Li Weiyi shook his head. "How do you know about such a secret matter?"

Zuoqiu Hongting pointed to her brow. "It told me! It said that a great terror is hidden within those towers and palaces."

"It," without a doubt, referred to the broken ancient lamp within her spiritual realm between her brows.

Li Weiyi believed that Zuoqiu Hongting wasn't deliberately stirring up trouble here, and he was inwardly shocked.

One must know that the ancient lamp was a broken supreme artifact. For it to call something a "great terror," it was clear that Jiang Ning might indeed harbor some secret.

However, Li Weiyi had his own judgment. He did not believe Jiang Ning was intentionally deceiving or feigning; in Ancestor Bing's Swamp, she was genuinely severely injured, almost dying. Just like himself, wasn't he also burdened with many secrets?

Regarding the Jiang family's affairs and the secrets within the towers and palaces, she might not understand them as clearly as one might think.

Similarly, Li Weiyi himself knew very little about his Dao Protector Wife, the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish, his sect, or the family that awakens corpses with blood. With insufficient cultivation, one simply could not access the full truth.

"Forget it, I won't play the part of a jealous woman!"

Zuoqiu Hongting chuckled and then added, "Let's not talk about suspicions, only the present. What if you forcibly take her out of Heavenly Apex City? This isn't a war of a single city or region; it's a war for the survival of the entire Heavenly Apex Mortal Realm. No place is safe. The flames of war will sweep across the land, turning all twenty-eight prefectures into scorched earth."

"Sending her back to the Jiang family in Fuzhou? The Jiang family is precisely in the core region of the Yin Corpses Planting Rice, which is also the center of the war."

"Taking her back to Lizhou? Lizhou faces Coffin Mountain and Night City, and even Suizong and the Three Chen Palaces are still places of turmoil."

Li Weiyi pondered for a long time, then suddenly smiled. "Jealous woman? Aren't we brothers who share weal and woe?"

"I was afraid you'd think I'm narrow-minded and can't tolerate Jiang Ning, so I was deliberately bad-mouthing her," Zuoqiu Hongting sighed dramatically, appearing aggrieved.

Li Weiyi said, "Brother Zuoqiu has a broad mind, a generosity that can float a boat. Please help me take her out of Heavenly Apex City, and bring her back to Qiuzhou first."

"You're going too far!"

Zuoqiu Hongting continued, "Go ask around the world, where does a fiancée help her fiancé bring his lover home?"

"We are brothers! And she and I aren't lovers—we might never reach that point," Li Weiyi stated earnestly, his emotions complex.

"That's true. As long as our engagement isn't dissolved, even if she agrees, the forces behind her would never agree. Would the Second Palace Master consent to her prized disciple becoming someone's concubine? Heh heh!"

Zuoqiu Hongting then asked, "When will you leave the city?"

"I'll be a bit later! One hundred steps have already been taken, with ninety-nine done. The last step is the most crucial; there can be no accidents. If humanity in the Heavenly Apex Mortal Realm prevails in this battle, I'll come find you in Qiuzhou City for a drink," Li Weiyi said.

Zuoqiu Hongting's eyes looked a bit lost. "Do you really think we have a chance to win?"

"What, does the Zuoqiu Clan have a plan to evacuate the Heavenly Apex Mortal Realm?" Li Weiyi asked.

Zuoqiu Hongting sighed. "If the general trend is against us, how could we not send some clan members away? But once we leave and go to another mortal realm, we can only survive by living under someone else's roof. To obtain resources and safety, you have to trade for them. Even in Deliverance Monastery, whether you have powerful backing or not is extremely important."

"Brother Zuoqiu, where's your spirit? Don't be so pessimistic, you're a young emperor."

After Li Weiyi gave a few instructions to Zhuang Yue, he prepared to alight. Before getting off, he suddenly thought of something and asked, "If I were to knock you out to take you out of danger, would you break ties with me when you woke up?"

Zuoqiu Hongting was slightly startled, then smiled faintly. "Leave the city early."

After Li Weiyi got out of the carriage, Zuoqiu Hongting's face and figure quickly changed, becoming Li Weiyi's likeness. She muttered to herself, "As your fiancée, I'll help you test whether the beautiful Miss Jiang will truly turn hostile when she wakes up. I'm truly the biggest fool in the world!"