Stranger Danger

“So, Qingyou… how…”

Lady Hundred Flowers spoke up as she stared at the wooden Green Daylily. How were they supposed to interrogate someone who seemed to be trapped in some sort of faint spell?

Feng Qingyou smiled and tapped Green Daylily in the forehead. The woman immediately jolted back to reality.

Green Daylily’s first instinct after awakening was to attack Feng Qingyou. However, her hand barely made it halfway across the space before a cool, emotionless voice drilled into her brain. “Do you have a death wish?”

Green Daylily abruptly recalled a horrifying memory. The voice sounded exactly the same as the one before Yuan Xiang died. Her knees buckled, and her forehead broke out in cold sweat. She immediately fell to her knees and begged, “This junior did not mean to offend you, senior. Please, have mercy…”

Instead of answering, Feng Qingyou took a step backward and looked at Lady Hundred Flowers.

Lady Hundred Flowers was the master of the Hundred Flowers Island and the victim of Blue Wave Island’s assault. Therefore, it was not her place to take charge of this interrogation.

Green Daylily noticed this and hurriedly turned to face Lady Hundred Flowers instead. “Sister Hundred Flowers, this one did not mean to offend you. She was simply bewitched by the demon’s temptation. For the sake of our past relationship, please forgive me this once and let me live! This one swears she’ll do everything in her power to repay you if you do!”

“Ha. Before we dive into the main subject, let me clarify that I don’t ever remember having made the acquaintance of you, much less becoming your sister. And after what you did today, the only bond we share is one of grudge,” Lady Hundred Flowers said scornfully.

“Mercy, sister! It was all elder brother… I mean, Yuan Xiang and Wan Bo’s idea! I was just forced to do their bidding! None of this is my fault!” Green Daylily said tearfully.

“Hmph. Save the nonsense for yourself and just answer my questions.” Lady Hundred Flowers huffed. “Why did the Three Sages of Blue Wave suddenly try to kill me?”

Green Daylily was about to answer when Feng Qingyou interrupted, “Think carefully before you answer. You only have one chance.”

Green Daylily’s heart skipped a beat. She was going to lie through her teeth until Feng Qingyou warned her as if she had read her mind. Terror immediately flooded her heart. She had a premonition that Feng Qingyou would definitely kill her if she dared to breathe a single lie.

“This junior would never lie to you, senior, Sister Hundred Flowers!” Green Daylily hurriedly promised before starting, “It’s like this. As you say, Sister Hundred Flowers, we barely knew each other, and we’ve never thought to threaten your life. But two days ago, someone came to us with a business offer. They want us to kill you and eliminate the Hundred Flowers Island.”

“What?” Lady Hundred Flowers frowned deeply.

“It’s true.” Green Daylily confirmed. “He said he would pay us a hundred thousand silver if we succeed, and that he wouldn’t take a single silver or resource on the island. He would give us everything.”

“At first, we didn’t accept the request. After all, everyone knows that you have a wide network, and we have no intentions of offending those people. However, that man later promised us that no one will come and help you during the assault, and no one will bother us after the fact either!”

“Hmph! What a big, shameless boast.” Lady Hundred Flowers sneered. “Don’t tell me you actually believed him?”

“We didn’t, at least at the beginning.” Green Daylily smiled bitterly. “Then, he showed us something that convinced us of the truthfulness of his claims.”

“What is it?” Lady Hundred Flowers asked with puzzlement.

“The North Duke Token!” Green Daylily answered directly.

“What? The North Duke Token?!” Lady Hundred Flowers exclaimed in shock.

Even Feng Qingyou was frowning. “Are you certain it’s the North Duke Token?”

“There is no mistake,” Green Daylily confirmed.

“How is this possible? Hundred Flowers Island has never offended the North Duke Office before. Why are they trying to kill me?” Lady Hundred Flowers murmured in a daze while turning white as a sheet.

Her panic wasn’t unfounded. The North Duke Office was extremely powerful and influential. To make a comparison, the Hundred Flowers Island was an ant they could crush as they pleased.

The North Duke Office was originally a small country in the Northern Sea named Northern Sea Empire. Having existed since the You Dynasty, the Northern Sea Empire once controlled countless islands in the Northern Sea and boasted a population of tens of millions. Although they were smaller than Yan, Chu, Qi and Wei, they certainly weren’t weak either.

Then, nine hundred years ago, the Dragon Sovereign launched his first invasion against the humans, and the Northern Sea Empire was his very first target. Naturally, they suffered massive casualties and even lost their ruler, the Northern Sea King. Left with no choice, the Northern Sea Empire submitted to the four nations to obtain their protection.

The Northern Sea Empire never stopped fighting against the Dragon Sovereign until the very end. Their contributions during the war could only be described as heroic.

However, the war killed even more of their already dwindling number of elites and imperial members, and when all was said and done, only several hundred of them were left. At that point, the Northern Sea Empire was all but dead in name.

After the Dragon Sovereign was suppressed, the remnants of the Northern Sea Empire declared the dissolution of their nation and requested the hereditary position of North Duke from the four nations instead. They received their wish and established an office called the North Duke Office at the Northern King Island deep in the Northern Sea where the capital of the Northern Sea Empire used to be. The master of the North Duke Office was called the North Duke.

The North Duke Office was a pale shadow of what it used to be, but a dead camel was still bigger than a large horse. It was already fairly powerful in the first place, but after several centuries of recuperation and recruitment, it had become one of the most powerful factions in the Northern Sea.

There was just a minor problem. Although the North Duke Office had the word “office” in its name, and its status was absolutely genuine and conferred to them by the four nations themselves, the North Duke Office did not actually belong to any one of the four nations. After so many years, what was an honorable title had become a lot more awkward than before.

It wasn’t for the North Duke Office to be close to any nation, which was why they stayed well out of politics. They did not offer tribute to either one of the nations either. That was why the North Duke Office conducted themselves more like a jianghu sect than an imperial aristocrat.

Regardless of their awkward status, there was no denying that the North Duke Office was extremely powerful. Although it was no match for the Two Temples of Buddha, Three Temples of Dao, or the Nine Demonic Ways, it was definitely on par or better than the thirty six unorthodox sects. Compared to Hundred Flowers Island, it was a giant that could never be toppled.

That was why Lady Hundred Flowers had lost her composure when she heard the name.

“That man offered you silver, all the wealth on Hundred Flowers Island, and even helped you to stop reinforcements from coming to their aid, but all they requested is the death of Lady Hundred Flowers and the destruction of Hundred Flowers Island? That’s pretty strange, isn’t it?”

Feng Qingyou voiced her thoughts out loud. “Is that really all that man had asked of you?”

Green Daylily replied without hesitation, “I am certain, senior.”

“What on earth is going on here? Why is the North Duke Office trying to kill me?” Lady Hundred Flowers murmured to herself in a daze.

“Calm down, lady. We should have an answer pretty soon,” Feng Qingyou comforted her.

“W-what? Did you know something, Qingyou?” Lady Hundred Flowers asked urgently.

“I don’t, but someone does.” Feng Qingyou smiled. “He should be arriving any moment now.”

“Who—”

Lady Hundred Flowers didn’t manage to finish her sentence before a man suddenly appeared in the garden.

Lady Hundred Flowers turned pale as she rebuked the stranger, “Who are you? How dare you trespass into my Hundred Flowers Garden?”

“A pleasure to meet you, Lady Hundred Flowers. I am Joyless Ye, and I apologize for my sudden intrusion,” The newcomer greeted her politely. “I would salute you, but as you may have noticed, I am currently a little indisposed. Please accept my humble apologies.”

The newcomer was, naturally, Ye Qing.

It was after he finished speaking that Lady Hundred Flowers noticed that Ye Qing was holding a man by his neck.

The man’s face was bluish black and swollen all over. He was also unconscious and cut quite the sorry figure.

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