Stranger Danger

Chapter 1007: Her Goal

“Are you alright?” Feng Qingyou asked.

“What do you think?” Ye Qing answered weakly.

Right now, Ye Qing’s face was covered in dust, and his skin looked dim, wrinkly, and almost lifeless like the bark of a tree in autumn or winter. Not only were his qi, essence and spirit sitting at rock bottom, he was visibly wobbling on his feet. It would not be surprising if he fell unconscious at any moment.

“You look fine to me!” Feng Qingyou shot him a look before giving him a half-hearted answer.

“I almost died, and you say I look fine to you?” Ye Qing rolled his eyes at her. Her response couldn’t get more half-hearted than this.

Seriously though, Ye Qing was pretty sure that his injuries were worse than the time at Lu Tai Yuan. First, he had fought against several thousand elite Nanjiang Pacification troops. Then, he dueled against two Great Truemen, Chi Tian and Profound Spirit Taoist. Finally, he forced himself to use a full-powered Break Hammer and added salt to the injury that was his mind. Near the end, even his Earthly Sovereign body was at its limit.

If Feng Qingyou hadn’t shown up in time, he would have perished one hundred percent.

But of course, he knew he wasn’t going to die. He knew that Feng Qingyou would appear to save him. That was why he dared to give it his all and fight with his life on the line.

If he was alone, or if he believed that Feng Qingyou wouldn’t return to save him, then he would not have fought the way he had. He would have fought using a hit-and-run strategy or activated his life-saving Strange Artifacts or talismans to escape the Nanjiang Royal Court.

However, Feng Qingyou told him to hold on for as long as possible before she disappeared. Her meaning was clear. She wanted him to draw everyone’s attention and buy time for her.

That was why he stayed behind and fought like a madman. He knew that Feng Qingyou would appear and save him if he was in danger.

This was the strength of the trust and mutual understanding they shared with each other.

“You’re still alive, aren’t you?” Feng Qingyou smirked.

“Besides, I’m doing this for your own good. The Sky Mending Spring possesses the ability to reform one’s innate constitution and restore one’s mind, but if you were to consume it normally, then it would only be half as effective. Only when your mind and body are fully exhausted could you fully absorb the Sky Mending Spring and enjoy its full efficacy.”

“The Sky Mending Spring you consumed earlier is at least thirty years old. It is far too wasteful to consume it normally. Besides, you will be much stronger if you and absorb it in full.”

“Is that why you threw me out as bait?” Ye Qing rolled his eyes at Feng Qingyou again. He knew she was telling the truth. He could feel that he was absorbing the Sky Mending Spring several times faster than before. His body and mind were both recovering swiftly thanks to the effects of the Sky Mending Spring as well. He had a feeling that he would experience a massive leap in cultivation level when the absorption was complete. He might even become a Great Grandmaster in one go.

However, none of this changed the fact that Feng Qingyou had still tossed him out as bait.

In fact, one might say that he had become her bait from the moment she suggested that he come to Nanjiang. From the beginning until the end, he was just a pawn for her to use.

Logically speaking, Ye Qing should be angry, no, furious with her for using him like that. But in reality, he was annoyed at best.

Sure, he had just fought a grueling battle, but he did obtain the Sky Mending Spring, and his life wasn’t in danger. He didn’t really lose anything from this venture either, so what was there to be angry about?

Finally, this wasn’t the first time Feng Qingyou had used him, and it wouldn’t be the last. Long story short, he had gotten used to it.

It was then Ye Qing noticed the puppets doing battle against Profound Spirit Taoist and the Nanjiang Pacification Army and asked curiously “What are those three things? They’re incredible.”

“They’re the Xun Armor, Kan Armor and Zhen Armor of the Eight Divine Armors,” answered Feng Qingyou.

“Eight Divine Armors? What Eight Divine Armors?” Ye Qing asked.

Feng Qingyou proceeded to summarize their background to Ye Qing.

“I had no idea that the Nanjiang Royal Court owned such trump cards,” Ye Qing exclaimed in astonishment before a question occurred to him. “If the method to activate and control the Eight Divine Armors were lost for over a century, then how on earth did you do it?”

“It’s a secret!” Feng Qingyou replied smilingly.

Ye Qing did not press her and asked another question, “If there are eight Divine Armors, why did you only activate three?”

“There was little time. I only managed to activate three in total,” replied Feng Qingyou.

That made sense. Considering how powerful the puppets were, it wasn’t surprising that they came with many limitations.

“Is this why you came to the Nanjiang Royal Court? To seize control of the Eight Divine Armors?”

To Ye Qing’s surprise, Feng Qingyou shook her head. “No. My goal is the entire Nanjiang Royal Court?”

“By Nanjiang Royal Court, you mean... this entire city? All of it?”

Ye Qing blinked. Am I dreaming, or are you dreaming?

When he looked at Feng Qingyou for a moment longer and did not see any sign of her breaking and admitting that this was a joke, he exclaimed in disbelief, “Are you serious? You really think we can occupy this whole city with just the two of us?”

“I never said we’re going to occupy this city with just the two of us.” Feng Qingyou chuckled.

“Who else is there?” Ye Qing looked puzzled. “You don’t mean these three Divine Armors, do you? Even with their help, I do not think we can occupy the Nanjiang Royal Court at all.”

Sick people should eat their medicine and get better, not living out outlandish dreams that will definitely not come true!

“I’m not referring to the three Divine Armors,” replied Feng Qingyou. “You’ll find out in a moment. Now that I think about it, it’s almost time for them to show up.”

Boom!

A sudden explosion interrupted their conversation, and a stream of talisman burst out of the cyclone of cyan gale. They immediately combined back into Profound Spirit Taoist.

The old man looked way worse than before, however. His hair was disheveled and loose, his clothes were rags, and he was bleeding everywhere like he had just survived being cut a thousand times. It was a sorry look to say the least.

“Demon Subjugation Army, vanish!”

“Earth Trap Army, march!”

“Flying Wings Army, disappear!”

“Hunting Tiger Army, hide!”

There was no time to care for his injuries, however. Profound Spirit Taoist hurriedly barked out a series of orders, and the troops that had sustained heavy losses and were on the verge of routing due to a lack of leadership immediately regained their spirit. They began covering for each other and retreating in a calm and orderly manner.

Seeing that the four armies were retreating, Ye Qing hurriedly pulled Feng Qingyou into a secluded corner and whispered, “Qingyou, now is the time to escape!”

“Don’t worry. It will be fine.”

Feng Qingyou said calmly, “If I was Profound Spirit Taoist, I would not choose now to resume the assault.”

“I sure hope so!” Ye Qing sighed. What else could he say? He could only stand by Feng Qingyou’s side until the end!

“The Nanjiang Pacification Army protects the empire!”

Meanwhile, Profound Spirit Taoist was pointing toward the sky and barking out a command. A gigantic red banner suddenly appeared in the sky, and it had white text on it. A strange, formidable-looking beast shaped like a tiger with two horns, three heads, and six eyes were hovering above the banner.

It was the Nanjiang Pacification Army’s flag, and the strange beast sewn on it was called Pacify. It possessed the ability to move mountains and fill sea. This was why the flag was called the Nanjiang Pacification Flag.

Every soldier in the Nanjiang Royal Court was assembling beneath the flag post haste. When the Nanjiang Pacification Flag rose, all troops answered its call. What this meant was that all Nanjiang Pacification Army soldiers must move toward the Nanjiang Pacification Flag and assemble at first notice.

Of course, the three Divine Armors weren’t idle during this time. After killing off the detachments covering the Nanjiang Pacification Army’s retreat, they continued to attack the Demon Subjugation Army, Earth Trap Army, Flying Wings Army and Hunting Tiger Army.