Chaotic World Book

At that moment, the little White Tiger was completely muddled, how could she care what her master was saying?

She signaled to the man not to leave because of this. Those crystal-clear toes were tensely clenched, filled with a seductive power that could parch one's throat and tongue.

San Niang felt her own heart quiver, inwardly exclaiming that even she, as a spectator, felt her blood boiling, and feared they couldn't stop.

Xia Chichi eventually responded vaguely, "I... am only doing what you all did behind my back... Originally, that felt good... You stole the joy that belonged to me, yet you have the nerve to say..."

San Niang knew she had no standing to be angry, but she was angry nonetheless, regardless of who did what first. I'm still injured and you just do this by my sickbed, it's downright inhuman!

Uh, back on Tianya Island, she also wanted to take advantage of Xia Chichi's injury and have a fling with Changhe in the woods.

It's true that birds of a feather flock together, no one should judge another.

Since she had acted the same way before, she couldn't justifiably scold for it. San Niang could only switch to a generic statement, which indeed was something she was genuinely concerned about:

"I don't believe Vermilion Bird didn't tell you why she stopped you. We are a Sect, not a Sect school; the Sect has doctrines, and even Venerables can't openly defy them, or else they will lose people's hearts. The Holy Daughter in the doctrine is a Servant of God, and though it doesn't necessarily mean serving with her body, she must still be pure and clean, even a court lady must be unsullied, let alone the Holy Daughter! With your promiscuity, what would the believers think if they saw this? They would think the Holy Daughter doesn't respect the Divine at all. How will others view it? Not to mention you want to become the Sect Hierarch, how will you command respect with such a scandalous past?"

Xia Chichi had heard this so many times her ears were calloused. However, her past reluctance wasn't because of this, she was just afraid of Vermilion Bird. Now why should she care, she directly replied, "If you don't tell, others won't know... Can everyone have the Observing Women Skill? It's just that... devout people are the Venerables, they just think they shouldn't..."

San Niang fell silent.

She had pointedly spoken the truth; she and Vermilion Bird were truly devout believers of the doctrines, hence stubbornly believed that the Holy Daughter shouldn't do such things. This was natural; if a Venerable treated the doctrines carelessly, what was the point of the Sect?

It wasn't about whether or not it might cause trouble; it was about how one regards their own beliefs and the rules of the Sect.

No wonder the little wretch dared to be so brazen, since after all, she had joined the band of thieves.

Zhao Changhe, panting, finally spoke up, "Do you want to hear my opinion?"

San Niang rolled her eyes, can you get off her first before you speak?

But then she heard Zhao Changhe say, "What Holy Daughter serving the Divine, even if you say it doesn't mean serving with the body, to me there's no difference. Having Chichi serve another, I don't know how you could have the heart to propose such a thing!"

San Niang: "Uh..."

She wanted to say that actually, everyone was struggling with a different problem; it was about personal faith... Before she could speak, she heard Zhao Changhe continue, "You used to have faith and I had nothing to say about it. But what about now? What sort of thing is a divine being, you saw for yourself on the sea trip, even the Emperor Ye does not beg from the gods, do you, Xuanwu Venerable, consider yourself worse than him! We've slaughtered Sea God, now you inherit the Water Soul, and have learned the Power of Faith, you are the Divine being yourself! Believing in another god, are you joking?"

San Niang was a bit lost in thought and said nothing.

"You joined the Sect when you were lost, which I can understand, but are you still clinging to that now?" Zhao Changhe said in a loud gasp, growing louder, "Sea God could be replaced, what's fundamentally different about Emperor Ye? His unfinished Sword Blade is with me; the unfinished Star Intent, I've gone further than him. If Chichi is to serve the Divine, why can't I take his place!"

As his words continued, his motions became more frequent. Xia Chichi, intoxicated by what she heard, completely collapsed.

She was thoroughly inebriated in body and mind.

This was the Zhao Changhe in her heart! Back then, at Shuilian Cave when they made a pledge of commitment, she had said her ideal Zhao Changhe should be exactly like this.

But later, getting mixed up with Tang Wanzhuang, although his aura expanded, his dominance was less than in his bandit days. Sometimes Xia Chichi felt a little frustrated that he was not living up to his potential... Yet, it turned out he was waiting for his moment to shine, taking over for Emperor Ye, could there be a more assertive declaration in the hearts of the Four Symbols Sect believers!

San Niang stared blankly at the scene, her normally slow wits unable to conjure any rebuttal, and she even faintly felt there was some truth to it.

Because both she and Vermilion Bird initially thought Emperor Ye's legacy was inheritable. Otherwise, why did Vermilion Bird's suspicion that Zhao Changhe might be the Emperor Ye's heir or reincarnation shake her so intensely?

Although Zhao Changhe most likely wasn't, it was still something that could be attempted. Zhao Changhe knew that Emperor Ye was probably not dead, a fact which both San Niang and Vermilion Bird were unaware of. With the life or death of the Divine being unclear, it was not only normal but necessary for believers to seek inheritance.

Vermilion Bird allowed Zhao Changhe to keep the Night Emperor Sword Blade in his possession, even hoping Xuanwu would teach him forging. It was essentially Vermilion Bird's inner hope that Zhao Changhe would inherit the Night Emperor's legacy and a hint to Xuanwu, "see if he's up to it"… San Niang had long known that Vermilion Bird had this idea in mind, previously she'd been dismissive, but now? Now this man belonged to her …

In fact, San Niang didn't know that when Vermilion Bird was a Winged Fire Snake, she had secretly whispered to Zhao Changhe, "Do you ever wish… that one day, Vermilion Bird will kneel before you?"

Such a heart, such affection, was clear as day.

Only when Zhao Changhe had inherited the Night Emperor would Vermilion Bird's social death not be so severe and could she find an excuse to cleanse herself.

San Niang was unaware of this layer, but felt that in comparison, she didn't seem to care for him as much as Qing'er did. Opposing it seemed out of the question, except she finally managed a plea, "Then… you should take the forging of the Night Emperor Sword Blade seriously… I see you're not very dedicated in seeking the Night Sand, don't fail to live up to expectations …"

She hesitated with a strange expression on her face.

The current situation was that the high-ranking members of the Four Symbols Sect -- Vermilion Bird, Xuanwu, Azure Dragon, White Tiger – had reached a collective consensus in recognizing this person as the heir to the Night Emperor.

It was like his Crown Prince identity… Even if it wasn't official, if enough influential people thought it was, then it practically was… Whether or not he knew the Night Emperor's cultivation technique or had his inheritance didn't matter one bit... Unless the Night Emperor himself appeared, nobody could overturn this decision.

If Zhao Changhe were shameless enough, he could even say "I am the Night Emperor" right now and usurp authority to become his own boss.

But Zhao Changhe still had some pride and didn't say that.

He sat by San Niang's sickbed, sighed, and picked up her wrist to check her pulse, "You're injured and can't get out of bed, yet all you think about is the Night Emperor… Stop worrying about that for a moment, let me check your injuries…"

After inspecting her, he furrowed his brow slightly, "The recovery is not bad, but not as good as I expected. You shouldn't be expending your mental energy on this."

San Niang turned her head away, "It's all because you lot were making a racket that woke me up. I don't want to waste my energy on you!"

Lying to the side, Xia Chichi was annoyed. The energy you're spending is all tied up with the Holy Daughter and the Night Emperor. If you weren't fixated on that, how could our moans and groans affect your healing? Accusing us of disturbing your rest is one thing; it's like saying you're disrupting our lovemaking. Is there any girl more pitiful than you in the world, forced to listen to sermons and debates while doing 'that'?

Xia Chichi rolled her eyes and said with an artificially frail tone, "It's our fault for disturbing the Venerable's rest; We must apologize. Changhe, please take extra care with the Venerable and bolster her treatment."

San Niang blinked, sensing something off about those words…

Sure enough, the next sentence was, "The Rejuvenation Technique combined with the Dual Cultivation Skill far exceeds ordinary healing methods. It's perfect since Changhe didn't get to finish earlier; wouldn't this kill two birds with one stone?"

San Niang bit her lip and glanced over to see Zhao Changhe sitting by her side, his blood-silver spear still erect…

The two exchanged odd glances, both aware that this indeed was the most efficient method. They had agreed that after the power of faith and medicine took effect, the best ongoing effect would still be from the Rejuvenation Technique, and certainly even better aided by the Dual Cultivation Divine Skill. If it weren't for Xia Chichi being there, San Niang might have actively initiated another round …

But what was this situation? Could they really do this?

A restless desire stirred within Zhao Changhe's heart.

He had been interrupted before he was done, and healing this way was indeed the best solution… So then…

San Niang could tell by Zhao Changhe's gaze what he was thinking and instinctively recoiled, "Hey, hey, you…"

Zhao Changhe leaned in close and whispered softly, "Did you ever consider that you were just interrupting the Holy Daughter serving the Divine? What should be the penalty for that?"

Eh? Was that the case? Poor Guigui's mind didn't catch up before she was pressed down, "Let's not talk about it; we heal…"

San Niang, who couldn't think of any crime, watched helplessly as he tore off his clothes.

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PS: Chichi's long-cherished wish fulfilled + a first-time 'paired flight of swallows'; doesn't this deserve a few monthly tickets? Wuuu, I won't meet my target...