Chapter 41: Outcome of a Wager, Traces of an a.s.sa.s.sin

Translator: Whatsyourissue Editor: ICheah

While Yun Yang was training the Double-headed Elysian Lion for Dong Tianleng, merry shenanigans were taking place elsewhere.

Ji Ling crossed her arms as she looked at her six sisters triumphantly. “Quickly, call me big sister!”

Six girls laid scattered all around the large bed, not unlike roosters that had lost a fight, their gazes soulless and dull. It was a collective look of the disappointment that one experiences when hit hard by reality.

The Silvermoon Celestial Wolf walked around the floor arrogantly.

On one side of the room were six different mystical beast babies that looked listless and crestfallen.

“Little sister Ling, how did you train it?” An older girl among the girls asked with a long face, “How did you get it to be so obedient?”

“Did you just call me little sister?” Ji Ling huffed, “That would be big sister, to you! Are you girls trying to avoid acknowledging your defeat? Unlike you, I’ve always been gracious enough to admit that I’ve lost.”

All six girls sighed, feeling inwardly discontented while looking at the triumphant Ji Ling. “You’re the youngest anyway. We should call you big sisters when we lose, but we’re all older than you! How are we supposed to do that?”

“That’s not my problem, is it? Quickly, call me big sister!” Ji Ling said, practically glowing with glee.

“Alright, but first, you’ll have to tell us what you did with your Silvermoon Celestial Wolf.” The older girl bit her lips and said, “We have three Silvermoon Celestial Wolves here as well, but none of them could compare to yours, in any aspect…”

“Yes, what did you do to it?”

“I bought mine from the same shop as yours, just a little earlier than you did. I didn’t choose yours because I saw the black spot on its ear. Yours was nothing like the others when you bought it but in just these few days, it has surpa.s.sed all the others. Little sister Ling, you must be holding onto a secret!”

“Yeah, tell us quick.”

“Tell us and we will call you big sister.”

“We won’t call you that if you don’t tell us.”

“That’s right!.”

Ji Ling raised her chin indignation. “According to the terms of our wager, you girls have lost. Secret? Of course, I have secrets but I can’t tell all of you. I want to keep on being the big sister next year. What would happen then if I were to tell you girls?”

“Sisters, tickle her!”

All six girls charged her at once.

“Eek! Have mercy! You girls – don’t want to call me big sister but… Eek! Have mercy!”

The girls tormented Ji Ling for a while but it was apparent that she was not about to relent. With no other choice left available, they could only let this young girl sit at the main seat in triumph as they unwillingly went forward to bow and greet her, “Big sister!”

“Good! My little sisters are excused.”

Ji Ling’s eyes had already turned into thin crescents from the joy she was experiencing.

All the other girls had their lips pursed in disgruntlement.

“We went to see Young Master Yun yesterday. We had already sent our calling cards to have him wait at home but he was actually missing when we went over]r.” A girl in blue pouted prettily and complained, “What’s so good about him?”

“Right, right. Isn’t he just a young master of Marquis of Heavenly Clouds? Such arrogance!”

“No wonder big sister Ling is angry. Such a boorish man is totally insensible and knows nothing about manners or respecting others.”

“Yeah, even the residence’s butler is so dull and lifeless! My blood boils just by looking at him.”

“Nonetheless, that Young Master Yun has a commendable quality. The fact that he doesn’t have any servants or maids at home would indicate that he is an independent man.”

“Please, that just means he’s poor!”

All the girls heatedly complained about Yun Yang. These girls were all apples of their great families’ eyes; they had never come across anyone who would dare to avoid meeting them. Although Yun Yang had done nothing this time around, he was at the center of a whole torrent of rage and dissatisfaction.

Hearing Yun Yang’s name, Ji Ling kept silent. He had really done it; he had promised success and indeed, she had won a landslide victory.

Moreover, her Silvermoon Celestial Wolf was extraordinary. She could tell as much from her sisters’ conversation. It had only been in his care for just over a day and it had already had a complete transformation.

Remembering her promise to Yun Yang, Ji Ling was troubled once more.

The promise was to give him half of the wager she won, with the right of the first pick. Furthermore, she had to give him a nugget of information… She wondered what sort information he would ask for.

Recalling how Yun Yang had callously chased her out the other day, Ji Ling gritted her teeth in resentment. How she had hoped that she would not need to see this lout, who cared nothing about chivalry, again in her life! However, she had no choice but to send the wager to him, and she had to do it in person because she had a question to answer. That question would be none other than the information she had promised.

Ji Ling was very upset by this. As she her face kept on getting longer and her frowns kept her preoccupied, she did not notice that her sisters had stopped their clamor and were quietly studying her change of expressions while exchanging looks with each other. All of them covered their mouths to prevent overly loud chuckles from escaping.

By the looks of it, this little girl had thoughts weighing her down. Could it be… matters of the heart?

“Sigh…” Ji Ling heaved a long sigh.

She immediately heard six echoing sighs as the girls beside her mimicked her troubled vexations. It was a long and heavy sigh, one filled with the resentment of a young girl.

Then laughter that ensued was deafening.

“You… you girls…”

Ji Ling pointed at them as she stuttered in dismay.

“Oh my, what’s our new big sister thinking about that’s got her so preoccupied?”

“Yeah, our new big sister’s expression looks like she’s longing for something.”

“What longing? She’s obviously thinking of men, yearning to be wedded!”

“Maybe it’s a woman that’s on her mind.”

“*ss! She must be thinking of men.”

“Maybe it’s that Young Master Yun…”

“It could be… As the old saying goes, the person whom a woman could really remember is never the one that could make her smile but one that could anger her and make her cry… so it must be true!”

“Yeah. Looks like our new big sister has found someone to give her affection to already!.”

“Who is it? Tell us big sister, we can help you a.s.sess this person!”

“Yes! Let us examine him for you!”

The girls were abuzz with excitement again.

Ji Ling’s eyebrows went flat as she chided, “What nonsense are you girls talking? I was just thinking about other things, mainly about my brother who has left home for so many years without a single bit of news. I wonder what has happened to him. I’ve heard a year ago that he was sighted in Tiantang City but there’s been no news even when my family had sent so many people over to search for him… Sigh…”

She heaved another long sigh at the end of her words to drive her point home.

“I wonder where big brother Ji has gone to. It’s very worrisome.”

The girl in black who had been the big sister sighed sadly too, her gaze tinged with a sense of longing.

This time, no one cracked any jokes. They all knew how fond the eldest sister was of big brother Ji. A few years ago, when big brother Ji had first disappeared, they could still tease her about it. Now that it had been so many years without news, no one dared to make light about this longing of hers. They had all thought that it was a match made in heaven but who would have known that things would turn out this way?

“Sigh…” The exhalations this time around were sincere.

“Isn’t it our duty to search for big brother Ji since the tournament has been organized here in Tiantang City?”

“Let’s separate and move around these next few days.”

“Yes, we can go looking in places like the prison or the criminal jail.”

“Right, we can check up on the military too.”

“We’ll inspect the martial artists within three thousand miles radius of Tiantang City too.”

“This is the main purpose of our trip here this time!”

“It is compulsory for us to hunt for Sister Lan’s sweetheart for them to get married!”

“You little rascals!”

Sister Lan put on a mock show of anger, fists c.o.c.ked and ready to deliver a round of pummelling, but the merry mood didn’t last long as she sighed sorrowfully and murmured, “I only hope that he’s safe and sound.” Her eyes were rimmed red as she spoke.

The girls quieted down, their hearts heavy as they felt the eldest sister’s deep sense of longing and sadness.

…

Dong Tianleng’s expression covered a range of emotions as he left..

Doubts about his lord whom he had just acknowledged began to creep up like troublesome vines. He looked at Yun Yang dubiously as his lips moved, feeling an inexplicable urge to lash out at him. Yet he dared not do so. In his eyes, this forefather of popinjays could accomplish anything. Besides, it was such a rare occasion to meet someone who could see eye to eye with him.

“If you lose, I’ll fork out ten times of your wager!” Yun Yang frowned. “How can you hope to be popinjay with your lack of spirit for adventure? How can you be so unambitious!”

“You will compensate ten times of the wager if I lose?” Dong Tianleng repeated dully.

“Yes, yes, not only ten times but I’ll go along and accept whatever beatings you have coming your way.” Yun Yang said disdainfully, “Nonetheless, based on the martial form that I’ve taught the little lion, there’s no possible way that you can lose!”

The corners of Dong Tianleng’s lips twitched in amus.e.m.e.nt.

You are particularly proud of the fact that you taught my little lion martial art forms!

However, Dong Tianleng was secretly relieved. He wasn’t particularly taken by Yun Yang’s offer of reimburs.e.m.e.nt but by his confidence! If his Lord Yun was already this certain of success, how could he not go out and make the wager? He could not be so cowardly even in the face of death.

“One cannot be a popinjay if he behaves like you do.” Yun Yang tapped Dong Tianleng’s shoulder in earnest approval. “Popinjays should possess the indomitable spirit of fearlessness.”

The Dong family guards beside him were troubled.

Our young master is already as much popinjay as he could possibly be and you still want him to be a little more ‘fearless’? Any more ‘fearlessness’ and he would probably burn the entire family tree down to the ground.

“Alright! Consider it done!”

Dong Tianleng’s crushed nose bled again as he became increasingly agitated. “If I win, I’ll turn the three of them into pig heads tonight! No, something even worse than pig heads!”

“If you lose?”

“If I lose? Well, at most, I’ll just get beaten up again. I can’t look any worse than I do now, what’s what’s the big deal about being beaten up again?” Dong Tianleng shrugged, looking like he was going to risk it all. “I can’t be any uglier anyway.”

“The last time I lost, they made me wear green for an entire year… F*ck it! It’s finally time for your father to avenge himself!”

Yun Yang suddenly came to realize that Young Master Dong was actually not in green anymore.

Without warning, warmth began to emanate from Yun Yang’s palm.

A piece of jade materialized in his hand as he surrept.i.tiously pushed it back to merge with his flesh and blood again.. The jade vanished at once, the entire process happening entirely in his sleeve.

Finally, Dong Tianleng took his leave.

“If I win, I’ll come celebrate with my lord!”

“If I lose, I’ll come back and beat you up!”

Dong Tianleng left these two lines hanging in the air as he departed, laughing all the way out.

“Beat me up?” Yun Yang snorted in derision, ”Your Double-headed Elysian Lion alone is enough to bite you to death.”

He slowly went back to his room and hurriedly extricated the jade out to see the message and information that pulsed on it’s surface.

“Discovered traces of black masked man from the Residence of Marshal’s incident. Currently at Cirrus House.”

The message flashed continuously, its urgency plain for all to see.

Cirrus House.

Yun Yang’s expression turned bleak.

It was another place that he did not wish to visit, but this time round, he had no choice but to do so..