Chapter 76: The Third Button

Nangong Xiaoniao walked over and opened the door, saying, “Please, come in. My place is a bit messy.”

Song Zining entered sideways, a faint green aura of origin power flashed around him before vanishing, and he stood still at the entrance, not moving further inside. He said indifferently, “It’s fine. I’ll just say a few words and leave.”

“Please, please speak!” Xiaoniao seemed a bit nervous.

Song Zining didn’t beat around the bush and came straight to the point, “I heard that you had a terrible falling out with the Nangong Family.”

“There’s a blood feud! That old villain, Nangong Yuanbo, I will make him pay for his evil deeds with blood, sooner or later!” Mentioning this, Nangong Xiaoniao’s emotions became quite agitated.

Song Zining, however, remained indifferent, merely nodding and asking, “Then why haven’t you made your move yet?”

Nangong Xiaoniao was somewhat taken aback, stammering, “That old villain, he’s strong, and his influence is great. I… I’m not his match yet.”

“Why hasn’t he moved against you then?” Song Zining’s expression remained calm.

Nangong Xiaoniao said, “Elder Gu, Elder Zhou, and Elder Yin said that as long as they are alive, that old villain wouldn’t dare to do anything to me.”

“So, you should know the weight of the three elders, right?”

Nangong Xiaoniao nodded, her eyes a bit confused, not understanding why he would ask such an obvious question.

Song Zining smiled and said, “You have the support of the three Red Scorpion legion commanders, so you aren’t afraid of Nangong Yuanbo. Miss Zhao, being the direct granddaughter of the Duke of Yōu, isn’t afraid either. I, from the Song Clan, naturally have nothing to worry about. But what about Qian Ye? He has nothing, and if Nangong Yuanbo can’t get to you, he’ll vent his anger on Qian Ye. Do you understand?”

“I, I…” Nangong Xiaoniao didn’t know what to say.

Song Zining said, “I’ve said all I need to. Farewell.” With that, he pulled open the door and slipped back into the night as quietly as he came.

Tonight was another scarlet moon night, and the Darkflame base was very quiet in the latter half of the night, with occasional patrols passing by.

Song Zining’s figure coalesced from the shadows behind a row of dormitories. He raised his head, looking at the massive, blood-red moon that nearly occupied half the sky, its gossamer-like light casting a cold, desolate glow on his face.

He suddenly turned, and on the other side of the training ground, Wei Potian slowly approached.

A Darkflame patrol squad passed by, greeting the two before continuing on their way.

Wei Potian watched the soldiers disappear at the other end of the training ground before turning to fix Song Zining with a stern gaze. “Don’t you think you’re overstepping your bounds?”

“Ignorance is not an excuse for recklessness, nor is innocence an excuse for wantonness. If Nangong Xiaoniao wants to stay, she must be fully aware of the consequences.”

“You underestimate Qian Ye. He knows what he’s doing.”

“Just because he can bear it, should we let him bear everything?”

Wei Potian fell silent, but his gaze remained intense as he studied Song Zining for a while before slowly saying, “If you put it that way, there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you for a long time. What is the relationship between Ningyuan Heavy Industries and the Northern Army Corps?”

Song Zining chuckled, “Two years ago, Ningyuan Heavy Industries supplied one-thousandth of the origin arrays. Now, they supply one-tenth of the full range of munitions.”

“You… You’re one of Lin Xitang’s people…” Wei Potian’s voice was extremely low, carrying a particularly dangerous undertone.

“Crown Prince Wei, be careful with your words. Spreading rumors isn’t a good habit,” Song Zining’s voice was equally low. “The Wei family of the Far East has never aligned with any of the great clans, but there have been rumors that the second elder of the Wei family is close to General Zhang. If that’s the case, why are you so interested in General Lin’s affairs?”

Their gazes met, sharp and icy, cutting through the air like blades.

Wei Potian spoke slowly, “Song Seven, you’re a smart person. Don’t play with fire. Burning yourself is one thing, ridding the world of a nuisance, but don’t drag Qian Ye down with you.”

“You don’t naively think that everything Qian Ye went through is over, do you? He’s already in the water.”

Wei Potian cracked his knuckles, finally relaxing his fist. “I know that Thousand Leaf Technique you practice is a bit sinister, but, Song Seven, there are countless paths, only the heart remains. No one has the right to make decisions for Qian Ye, including you.”

“That’s your path, not mine.”

“Then we’ll see,” Wei Potian said simply. It seemed there was nothing more to say, and he turned to leave.

However, Song Zining’s voice came from behind, “Qian Ye and I were in the same class for five years, and we were partners for two. If you’re interested, you can look into what it means to be a partner in the Underworld.”

Wei Potian detected a peculiar tone in Song Zining’s last words, and he couldn’t help but turn back. Under the scarlet moonlight, Song Zining’s handsome face was half-lit, half-shadowed, almost mesmerizing. He took a deep breath and walked away.

In fact, there was no need to inquire; Wei Potian knew what kind of place the Underworld was. Only one in a hundred survived, and the first lesson they learned was to kill their own partner. These were the two most common accusations against the death camp by the Empire’s opposition.

After Song Zining left, Nangong Xiaoniao sat motionless in her room for the entire night, occasionally running her hand over the metal ball subconsciously. She didn’t move until the door was knocked on again, and she sprang up like a startled bird.

Outside, a maid’s voice called, “Miss Nangong, the Captain invites you to breakfast.”

“Breakfast? Ah, I know. Wait! I’ll be right there, just a moment!” Nangong Xiaoniao dashed into the bathroom and, indeed, saw herself in the mirror, with disheveled hair and two huge dark circles under her eyes.

She almost cried, but she washed and dressed at lightning speed, emerging in less than three minutes. The effect could only be left to fate. The troubling thoughts that had plagued her all night were now forgotten.

Breakfast was served in a small dining room and reception area at the end of the corridor where Qian Ye’s suite was located. Qian Ye’s life wasn’t always so refined, but with Zhao Yuying and the noble ladies’ arrival, a place to entertain guests became necessary, both for etiquette and to avoid them barging into the living room at all hours.

When Nangong Xiaoniao arrived, Qian Ye and Zhao Yuying were already seated. She rushed to the table, jumped into a chair, and quickly straightened up, forcing a very unnatural smile.

Zhao Yuying was cutting a cigar at the table and tossed one to Nangong Xiaoniao, “Alright, stop pretending! How tiring it must be to act like this every day. Here, have a cigar. Let’s celebrate the slap I gave to Nangong Ling. This stuff isn’t easy to come by.”

Nangong Xiaoniao instinctively picked up the cigar, then realized and secretly glanced at Qian Ye, immediately putting the cigar back on the table and lowering her head, “I… I don’t smoke cigars.”

Zhao Yuying let out a strange cry, “Oh! Don’t smoke? Really? Who stole half a box of my best cigars? Hmph, I still remember when you tried to smoke for the first time, you nearly choked to death. But within half a month, you were already sneaking my cigarettes!”

“N-no…” Nangong Xiaoniao’s head was practically touching the table.

“And that time, you showed me how to light a cigar with origin power!”

This time, Nangong Xiaoniao buried her flaming face directly on the table, muttering, “Stop, stop. I, I’ll smoke it!”

“Now that’s better! In front of my Qian Ye, no need to pretend to be a lady!”

Qian Ye glared at Zhao Yuying and lowered his voice, “What do you mean, no need to pretend to be a lady in front of me?”

Zhao Yuying, in a manner of an experienced person, slapped Qian Ye’s shoulder generously, “Once they start acting like ladies, they won’t easily let you take them to bed. Listen to me, just push her down and get it over with! We’re busy people, we don’t have time to waste on women.”

Qian Ye was speechless, and on the other side, Nangong Xiaoniao tried several times with trembling hands before finally managing to ignite the cigar with a wisp of origin fire, taking a few puffs to calm herself down.

Qian Ye, already tired of the idea of smoking cigars during breakfast, gave Zhao Yuying a sideways glance and said, “You pay for these cigars. Don’t even think about using military funds.”

Zhao Yuying immediately became dignified, though her eyes twinkled seductively. She leaned closer to Qian Ye and said softly, “Qian Ye, you’re a big man in charge of a territory now. Don’t be so stingy. Just a few cigars. Don’t worry, when have I ever made you lose? Xiaoniao!!”

Nangong Xiaoniao was instantly startled, “Huh!?”

“Unbutton the top three buttons! Now!”

Nangong Xiaoniao was stunned, “Unbutton? I, I haven’t done that before…”

Zhao Yuying grinned mischievously, “It’s just us and Qian Ye here. Just three buttons, it’s no big deal. Unbutton them! If you don’t, I’ll tell Qian Ye about what happened in the tent one night…”

“No!” Nangong Xiaoniao, clearly panicked, quickly unbuttoned the top two buttons but hesitated at the third. If she undid the third button, her chest would be exposed.

“Enough! Stop messing around!” Qian Ye roared, giving Zhao Yuying a whack on the head, and then stormed out of the dining room.

Zhao Yuying glared at Nangong Xiaoniao, “Look what you did! You couldn’t unbutton fast enough and now Qian Ye’s run off angry.”

Nangong Xiaoniao’s hand froze on the third button, her mind a jumbled mess. Did Qian Ye really get angry? Over this button? She instinctively felt something was wrong but couldn’t figure out what.

Zhao Yuying, seemingly regretful, called in a maid, “Put this meal on the Captain’s tab. Oh, and send a box of cigars to my room, and add it to the bill.”

The maid, recognizing the well-known Lady Zhao, nodded and complied, thus chipping away a little more of Qian Ye’s military funds.

Qian Ye, having mostly eaten, didn’t want to face the stack of documents immediately, so he called a guard to open a training ground and practice his sword skills to warm up. However, he found himself restless, unable to wield the Desolate Slash effectively or control it.

After sweeping through half the steel dummies in the training ground, Qian Ye finally put away Dongyue and headed to Nangong Xiaoniao’s residence.

He knocked for a long time, but there was no response. The maid outside had seen Nangong Xiaoniao return, so why no answer? Qian Ye tried pushing the door, finding it unlocked, and stepped inside.