The Art of Evasion and a Maid’s Identity

Even if I get caught, I’ll wait until I’ve had my fun!

Tou, meanwhile, was freely navigating the pipe formed by the Ruyi Jingu Bang. Now, his adversaries were none other than that fierce woman, Qing Zhuiyan, and Xierwei, who was aimlessly slashing at thin air.

“Hoooowl~!”

Qing Zhuiyan, in her form as the Green-eyed Black Dragon, roared with an intensity that spoke of extreme fury. She had been circling the largest and stoutest pipe, only to find herself back where she started.

Evidently, Tou had been toying with her like a monkey; how could she not be enraged? Immediately, she unleashed a barrage of chaotic moves.

Techniques like ‘Flying Dragon in the Sky,’ ‘Dragon Riding Face,’ ‘Divine Dragon Wagging Tail,’ and ‘Dragon King’s Fierce Suction’—both named and unnamed attacks—were all brought to bear.

Though she demolished every pipe Tou had conjured, the man himself remained elusive.

“You infuriate me! You coward, you spineless turtle, you ancient Old Wang! If you’ve got the guts, come out and fight me honorably!”

Qing Zhuiyan felt an inexpressible grievance swelling within her, and under the circumstances, only by unleashing her curses could she find some semblance of comfort.

Hearing this, Tou thought, ‘Only a fool would step out now.’ He then loudly mocked, “You really are an idiot! Do you think I’d just come out because you told me to?”

“So, you were hiding here all along!”

It was only then that Tou realized his words had betrayed his position, just as Qing Zhuiyan swung her claw, sending several azure wind blades hurtling towards him.

Tou failed to dodge them, leaving him covered in dust and grime. Then, his eyes widened like brass bells; damn it all, Qing Zhuiyan was swinging all four of her dragon arms, unleashing countless wind blades that tore through the air as they shot towards Tou.

‘There was no time for curses; survival was paramount.’ He then utilized nimble footwork, much like in a shooting game, repeatedly sidestepping, swaying from side to side, and narrowly evading each incoming wind blade.

After the onslaught, Tou was utterly winded, panting heavily. He then channeled his remaining spiritual energy, transforming the Ruyi Jingu Bang into armor that enveloped his entire body, and simultaneously conjured numerous identical puppets from the Ruyi Jingu Bang.

This was Tou’s final desperate struggle, a last-ditch game of hide-and-seek with the madwoman. He recalled how he used to play hide-and-seek with his masters in the Demon Fairy Fortress.

The puppets and Tou scattered in every direction, all equipped with Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear, moving with such speed that they seemed to be everywhere at once.

This time, Tou had learned his lesson: as long as he remained silent, his location would not be compromised.

However, to Tou’s utter disbelief, he was captured instantly. As for the puppets, every single one was, without exception, sliced into countless pieces, revealing their hollow interiors.

“Well done, Xierwei! To counterattack Ji Jie and capture this little thing, all the credit goes to you!”

Qing Zhuiyan’s voice, uncharacteristically gentle, suggested she was genuinely pleased. In truth, her joy stemmed not merely from capturing Tou, but also from the fact that Xierwei, who rarely intervened, had acted so many times on this occasion.

She surmised that it wouldn’t be long before Xierwei became more cheerful.

Chuckling softly, she reverted to her human form, bound Tou simply with the Spirit Sealing Lock, and led the captive Tou before Xierwei.

Noticing Xierwei seemed somewhat off, Qing Zhuiyan approached, gently patted her head, and asked with concern, “What’s wrong? You’ve achieved such a great feat, yet you seem so down?”

Xierwei remained sullen, her head bowed low, obscuring her expression. She mumbled incoherently, seemingly talking to herself.

Even when Qing Zhuiyan spoke to her, she didn’t react.

“Who dared to bully you? Tell me, and I’ll break their dog legs!”

Her voice was loud, with the fourth-tone characters heavily emphasized, truly befitting a fierce woman. Tou was genuinely startled by her sudden change.

Xierwei, equally startled, stumbled back two steps, accidentally tripping over a stone and falling ungracefully onto the ground.

In Xierwei’s current posture, both of them could clearly see her expression.

It was a face twisted almost to the point of breaking. Tou’s mind buzzed, his scalp tingled, and his heart pounded uncontrollably. He suddenly recalled that Xierwei’s expression bore a striking resemblance to his Four-Master’s when she had tried to kill him.

It was utterly terrifying.

“Xierwei, wha… what’s wrong with you?!”

Though Tou felt a pang of fear, Qing Zhuiyan remained deeply concerned for Xierwei’s condition.

This was because Xierwei, having suffered trauma in her childhood, would have a day or two each month when she wasn’t quite herself.

“I-I-I… I’m worried about him… worried he won’t want me anymore, and then… then I thought… I thought I’d kill everyone who tried to seduce him… but… but I said so much… and he didn’t answer me… I got so angry… I almost killed him… I…”

“What?! What are you talking about? What are you worried about? There’s no need to be scared! No matter who it is, if they dare to bully you, I promise I’ll see that justice is served!”

Xierwei’s voice was pitifully soft; despite Qing Zhuiyan’s best efforts to listen, she couldn’t discern any useful information.

Assuming Xierwei was having another episode after seeing the dead bodies, Qing Zhuiyan resorted to her usual method of comforting her.

However, this time was different; Xierwei truly felt she had been wronged, specifically by Tou.

When she launched her first attack to prevent Tou and Ji Jie from kissing, she had spoken many words to Tou, continuously muttering about ‘cheating’ and the like…

Yet, her voice was so faint that only she could hear it, stubbornly believing it to be loud.

It was all Tou’s fault. She even had the urge to chop Tou down in the end, but her weaker personality had restrained her.

Then she lifted her gaze, her eyes meeting Tou’s directly…

A flicker of fear still lingered in Tou’s eyes, but Xierwei, nearly driven mad, clutched her head and buried her face in the ground, repeating incessantly,

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry…”

Seeing her in such a state, Tou suddenly remembered, ‘This creature is my mount. Why should I be afraid of her?’

‘Moreover, he was already a captive; if he continued to appear weak, he would easily be bullied into silence.’

Gathering his courage, he cleared his throat and barked in a scolding tone:

“If you know you’ve erred, why aren’t you coming over to apologize? Do you want me to give you a ‘Mistake Award’?”

Tou, in truth, had no idea what Xierwei had done wrong or why, but he simply felt that shouting like that gave him an imposing presence.

Amusingly, Xierwei actually crawled over and knelt before Tou, resembling a puppy that had just knocked over a vase at home.

“I-I’m… I’m sorry!” Strangely, Xierwei’s voice was loud enough for those nearby to hear this time, startling even Qing Zhuiyan.

Xierwei then continued in her delicate voice, “I shouldn’t have harbored thoughts of killing you, and I… I didn’t mean to hurt you. Your cowlick… your cowlick was severed by me. I am truly sorry. I promised before that I wouldn’t harm you, yet I… I did so much to you… Am I a bad child…? I’m so bad…”

When she finally harbored murderous intent towards Tou, she unleashed the power of her Imperial Arm’s ‘Triple Slash’ ability, instantly destroying all the small golden figures Tou had created.

In truth, she had attacked all the small golden figures, including Tou himself. And in her perception, Tou had been struck down, blood flowing freely…

Witnessing Tou’s moment of agony, her consciousness cleared somewhat. She promptly activated the second ability of ‘Triple Slash’.

The ‘Cheat Triple’! Past: Time Reversal; Present: Time Stop, or ‘The World’! Future: Future Prediction.

Although the duration for Time Reversal, Time Stop, and Future Prediction was only five seconds each, these three ‘cheating’ abilities, true to their name, were incredibly potent. This explained why her current late-stage Golden Body Realm strength could contend with a Heavenly Human Realm expert.

She then reversed time by five seconds, but… because she had been too frenzied earlier, despite her desperate attempts to rectify it, one of the three blade attacks still struck Tou, severing his cowlick.

She was filled with profound regret and fear, terrified that Tou would truly abandon her because of this.

Tou didn’t bother to ponder Xierwei’s feelings; he simply felt as if he were playing a horror game. ‘Xierwei wants to kill me!’ He touched his head, noting his cowlick was now shorter, and a cold sweat broke out on his back.

‘When had it been severed? Why hadn’t he noticed? Was this frail-looking girl before him trying to kill him? He wouldn’t even know how he died!’

‘She’s a lunatic; it’s probably best not to provoke her!’

Tou conceded. Or, more accurately, he chickened out. Feigning composure, and with his hands bound behind his back, he could only squat down and gently rub his forehead against her head, whispering in a soft voice:

“Good child, it’s enough that you know your mistake. Be good~ now, untie…”

Tou suddenly felt an intense killing intent, and looking up, he found Qing Zhuiyan’s knife-like gaze fixed upon him.

It was as if she were warning Tou with extreme displeasure, ‘Don’t you dare use Xierwei to aid your escape!’

Naturally, Tou…

…decided to defy the fierce woman!

“Xierwei! If you wish to earn my forgiveness, then unbind me from this Spirit Sealing Lock!”

“C-can you truly forgive me?” Xierwei looked up, wiping away her tears, and gazed at Tou with anticipation.

“Only this once! Don’t let it happen again!”

“Thank you~ that’s wonderful!” She instantly beamed, her face radiating with a springtime glow, utterly beautiful. Tou found himself momentarily captivated, feeling an urge to bury his head in her chest.

“Xierwei! Don’t untie him, he’s a member of the Akatsuki Group! He’s our enemy!”

Seeing Tou’s few words already convincing Xierwei to release him from the Spirit Sealing Lock, Qing Zhuiyan grew anxious.

“Akatsuki Group…”

Upon hearing ‘Akatsuki Group,’ Xierwei trembled, her face darkening, and her hands paused.

‘Akatsuki Group’? What nonsense was that? Tou didn’t understand, but at this moment, he only needed to defy Qing Zhuiyan.

Moreover, Tou wasn’t actually a member of any ‘Akatsuki Group,’ so he spoke with even greater conviction: “What Akatsuki Group?! Little Xierwei, don’t listen to her nonsense, I’m not part of the Akatsuki Group!”

“You’re the one talking nonsense! You were with Ji Jie, and you even covered her escape. If not the Akatsuki Group, then what are you?” Qing Zhuiyan shouted, possessing ample evidence to link Tou with the Akatsuki Group.

“Who is Ji Jie?” Tou was genuinely annoyed, constantly hearing names he didn’t recognize. “Don’t talk about things I don’t understand in front of me. What Akatsuki Group? What Ji Jie? I’ve never even heard of them!”

“Still trying to argue, are we? Who are you putting on this act for? You really won’t shed a tear until you see your own coffin! Look at this person!” Qing Zhuiyan’s head throbbed with anger. Her bracelet flashed, and a painting appeared in her hand.

The painting depicted Ji Jie.

“This is the person, one of the two you rescued. She is Ji Jie of the Akatsuki Group. If you have no connection to her, why would you risk your life to stay behind and cover their retreat?”

“Huh?” Tou took the painting. He didn’t recognize Ji Jie. However, he did recognize his own maid. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief, realizing Qing Zhuiyan had mistaken her, and calmly stated:

“You’ve got the wrong person! This is my maid, not some Ji Jie. I don’t know any Ji Jie at all! Haha! Little Xierwei, this idiot has mistaken both her and me, quickly untie me!”

“Ma-maid!!!”

Tou had expected Qing Zhuiyan to either acknowledge her mistake and apologize, or insist that he was indeed with the Akatsuki Group and keep him bound.

However, to his surprise, upon hearing the words ‘maid,’ her face flushed, and she adopted the shy demeanor of a young girl.