The Life of a Necromancer as a Swashbuckler

Chapter 15: The Truth Comes to Light

This time, Nameless was completely at ease. The Mingyu Bomb truly lived up to its name—though the version from Xiaoyao Valley wasn’t as powerful as the genuine article, it was more than enough to deal with these two female thieves. Thankfully, the blast wasn’t too strong; it would’ve been a shame if they’d both been blown to bits. “Which one of you two is the Flower Thief? I’ll settle this case while I’m at it,” Nameless said with a look of ease and contentment. “But seriously, you two are something else. You’re both women—what are you stealing flowers for? Are you that lonely?” In this state, Nameless seemed even more of a scoundrel. “Goodwill goes unrewarded—I shouldn’t have saved you just now,” the girl in black said angrily. Oh right, Nameless remembered—it was this girl in black who had shielded him. If the bad guys had been there, they would’ve struck long ago. It was the girl in white who was the real problem. “Ghost in white, why were you hanging around my door at night instead of sleeping? So you’re the flower thief, are you?” Nameless asked. “You’ve misunderstood, young master. I came to see you tonight because I actually have something to discuss with you. You’re from Xiaoyao Valley, aren’t you?” Xiaoyao Valley? Nameless felt a bit puzzled upon hearing those three words. What does this have to do with Xiaoyao Valley? How does she know I’m from Xiaoyao Valley? “And?” Nameless remained noncommittal about his identity. “I saw a Xiaoyao token on you, so I assumed you must be a disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect. It’s not convenient to talk about this during the day, so I risked my life to disturb you at night,” the woman in white said with genuine sincerity. “What’s so inconvenient to discuss during the day? Go ahead and tell me.” Nameless’s curiosity was piqued. “Don’t trust that vixen! I saw with my own eyes that after the Li family’s daughter and the Wang family’s young lady left with her, they never came back,” the woman in black suddenly shouted. “Hmph! You’re the one who suddenly showed up at someone else’s home and snatched people away, aren’t you? Wasn’t it you who snatched the Miss Zhang right in front of me?” The woman in white immediately retorted upon hearing this. “That was because I was afraid you’d get your hands on her again, so I rescued her beforehand.” The woman in black offered a reason that Nameless found easy to believe—as if that were exactly how he’d been rescued just moments ago. “The moment you and that young girl showed up today, I figured this flower thief would come to snatch you both, so I lay in wait outside the door. I thought he was after that girl, but I didn’t expect the target to be you—that’s why I rescued you. And yet you actually accused me!” The woman in black grew angrier as she spoke. “I wasn’t there to capture anyone—you were! I was looking for a disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect to ask a favor!” the woman in white hurriedly protested. “You have business with me? Then tell me—what business could you possibly have with a disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect in the middle of the night? And why is it that ever since that girl was with you, she hasn’t come back?” Nameless admitted he was a disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect. “Since you’re a disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect, there’s no harm in telling you. Do you know about a major event that’s been unfolding in the imperial court recently?” Nameless thought to himself, How could I possibly know what major events are happening at court? It’s only been a few days since my soul was transferred, but he still put on an air of knowing what he was talking about. “Go on.” “Recently, the imperial court has begun a large-scale selection of concubines, and Suiyang County is on the list. Any woman in this county who meets the age requirement may be selected to enter the palace. Just as the palace is as deep as the sea, some may never be able to leave for the rest of their lives,” the woman in white said indignantly. “A few of my close friends don’t want to enter the palace, but refusing would endanger their families. That’s why they came up with this scheme—pretending they were kidnapped by a ‘flower thief.’ Officially, it’s said the thief took them, but in reality, we’re just hiding them with me. The plan is to wait until this selection process is over, then pretend they’ve been rescued.” The woman in white explained the whole story. “I see. Then why did you come looking for me in the middle of the night? And why did you ask if I was a disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect?” Nameless’s doubts began to grow. “The plan was going very smoothly at first, but two problems have arisen in the past few days.” The woman in white continued, “The first problem is that even though I was supposed to be the fake Flower Thief, I ended up attracting the real one. Last time, I had arranged to pick up the young lady from the Zhang family in the middle of the night, but a man in black snatched her away while I wasn’t looking. So, I sought out you, Young Master, knowing you’re a disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect, hoping you could help track down the culprit and rescue the young lady from the Zhang family. Now I realize that the man in black was actually her,”The woman in white gestured with her eyes toward the woman in black. “Hmph, Miss Zhang is perfectly safe with me. Don’t make up stories to deceive people—I don’t believe you at all!” The woman in black seemed to realize she might have misunderstood, but she pouted and refused to admit it. “What about the second question?” Nameless thought to himself, You didn’t expect a Xiaoyao disciple to be unable to fight, did you? But it doesn’t matter—we’ve found the woman in black anyway. “The second problem is even more troublesome. After the imperial court learned of this incident, for some reason, they took it very seriously. They actually dispatched Zhui Feng—one of the Four Divine Constables—to investigate. Zhui Feng is renowned as one of the Four Divine Constables, and now that he’s really here, I’m afraid our ruse will be exposed,” the woman in white voiced an even greater concern. “That’s why I came to see you, Young Master—to discuss how we can avoid this crisis. That’s why I sought you out in the middle of the night.” Nameless thought to himself, “No kidding. You’re trying to steal the emperor’s bride—of course he won’t let that slide. Sending just Zhui Feng is actually a lenient move.” “How do you know the disciples of Xiaoyao Valley will definitely help you?” Nameless still had his doubts. “Because I’m from the Yingyue Palace. The Xiaoyao and Yingyue sects share the same origins. ‘If Yingyue is in trouble, Xiaoyao will surely come to the rescue’ is a private pact between our two sects. Are you a disciple of Xiaoyao and yet you don’t know this?” The woman in white looked a bit puzzled herself. So that’s how it is—these two sects have this secret pact? Nameless had only been a member for a short time and hadn’t had a chance to learn about many things yet. “How can you prove you’re from Yingyue Palace?” Nameless continued to feign understanding. “I have the Yingyue token—it matches the Xiaoyao token,” the woman in white said as she slowly produced a token. From a distance, it really did look quite similar to the Xiaoyao token. “Don’t trust him. The Yingyue Palace is notorious as a heretical sect—how could it possibly be involved with the Xiaoyao School?” the woman in black continued to question. As a disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect, Nameless was unaware of this secret alliance, but he did know a thing or two about the entanglements between the two sects. “All right, I believe you. So how can I help you? What about the young ladies with you? Are they safe?” Nameless continued to ask. “Those young ladies are all safe. If you don’t believe me, Young Master, you can come with me to see them—and we can discuss how to deal with Zhui Feng while we’re at it.” The woman in white seemed genuinely sincere. Seeing that the woman in white spoke with genuine sincerity and that her words matched the facts perfectly, Nameless couldn’t help but believe her to some extent. More importantly, judging by her current demeanor, he didn’t fear she was lying. “All right, I believe you. Let’s go then and see if your friends are safe as you said.” Seeing that Nameless believed her, the woman in white finally felt at ease. She struggled to stand up a little, but her whole body ached so much she couldn’t get fully to her feet—the impact of Mingyu’s attack had indeed been quite severe. “Young Master, could you give me a hand?” the woman in white asked shyly. Nameless wasn’t exactly a model of virtue to begin with, so he immediately hoisted the woman in white onto his back. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard the woman in black speak from behind him: “What about me? Men really do throw caution to the wind when they see a beauty—watch out for the ‘femme fatale.’ ” That’s right—the woman in black had also been crippled by the explosion, and the young lady from the Zhang family was still missing. He couldn’t just leave the woman in black behind, so Nameless turned back and hoisted her onto his back as well. “Then let’s go together and find the young lady from the Zhang family,” he said, carrying both women—one on each side—as he spoke. “Young Master, this way,” the woman in white guided the three of them toward the place where the young ladies were hiding. As they walked, the woman in black and the woman in white continued to bicker, while Nameless kept his head down and hurried along. But none of the three noticed that, in the darkness far behind them, a figure was silently following them.