"The academy is currently selecting students, we have a chance to escape from Cang Qin Country. If we're any slower, the academy will probably find out that I killed Xian Yuankui and Yong Liman..." Ji Luofei whispered urgently in Ning Cheng's ear with a voice low enough that only he could hear.
Killed Xian Yuankui and Yong Liman? Ning Cheng was startled, but upon recalling those two names, he immediately understood. He didn't know if Ji Luofei had other reasons for killing those two, but he was sure that her actions were related to him.
When he first arrived in Cang Qin Country and had gone out to the streets, he had nearly died at the hands of Xian Yuankui. Ji Luofei's killing of Xian Yuankui definitely carried the intent of avenging him. As for Yong Liman, although Ning Cheng did not know her, he was aware that her surname was definitely tied to the royal family of Cang Qin Country.
Never mind ties with the royal family of Cang Qin Country, even if the news of Ji Luofei killing Xian Yuankui got out, she would be on a path to certain death. Ji Luofei was fully aware that she would be dead if caught, yet she still came back for him, clearly fearing that once she left, Cang Qin Country and the Xian family would vent their anger on him.
"Thank you, Luo Fei." After realizing this, Ning Cheng immediately tightened his grip on Ji Luofei's hand and gratefully said. He didn't necessarily like Ji Luofei, but Ji Luofei had helped him kill Xian Yuankui and even risked her life to come back and urge him to escape. Just for this kindness, Ning Cheng was infinitely grateful. He didn't state the reason for his thanks; he believed Ji Luofei would understand what he meant.
Ji Luofei hadn't felt anything when she grabbed Ning Cheng's hand before, and even when she carried Ning Cheng on her back home, there were no feelings. Ning Cheng had died and come back to life on her back, which was not unusual for her. Whether Ning Cheng was dead or alive, she would have taken him away from the prison's gates. For her, it was merely repaying a debt, not to Ning Cheng, but to Grandfather Ning.
Previously, when she had sent Ning Cheng to the cultivation tower, it was also part of repaying the debt. Even as she was about to leave Cang Qin Country, she only felt concerned for Ning Cheng without any other emotions. But now, the five words Ning Cheng sincerely spoke made Ji Luofei's heart tremble slightly; she deeply felt Ning Cheng's gratitude.
Ning Cheng had changed. The old Ning Cheng, even if she had given him her life, would have felt it was only right and would never have said such words. But the current Ning Cheng completely overturned the image she had of him in her heart. Now that Ning Cheng was holding her hand, she even felt her face grow a bit hot.
While Ji Luofei's heart was still trembling, Ning Cheng was much calmer. He took Ji Luofei's hand and said, "Don't be nervous, follow me, just do as I say."
Watching Ning Cheng move through the crowd as if it were nothing, Ji Luofei's eyes reddened, obediently following behind him.
Don't be nervous, follow me, just do as I say. A simple phrase made Ji Luofei feel a sense of dependence. Her cultivation was clearly higher than Ning Cheng's, yet she felt protected by him.
When the Ji family was destroyed, she was still young and was taken in by the Ning family. To put it nicely, she was a successor of an old friend of the Ning family. To put it unpleasantly, she was just a child bride with no status at all, no different than a servant. Although Grandfather Ning didn't mistreat her, the rest of the Ning family did not regard her as a daughter-in-law; at most, she was treated like a maid.
Even Ning Cheng only regarded her as a female servant, practically less than that. Every time Ning Cheng saw her, his face showed disgust.
As the head of the Ning family, Ning Hongchang couldn't possibly take care of Ji Luofei all the time.
Ever since she could remember, she relied on herself for everything, without anyone to depend on. There were even times when she didn't have food to eat and had to take orders from other servants in the Ning residence. It wasn't until she grew older and was sent to the Cang Qin Two-Star Academy by Grandfather Ning that her days of hunger slowly changed.
Although Ning Cheng was a year younger than her, his simple words made her feel as if Ning Cheng was now towering and dependable, already her pillar of support. Only those who had never had someone to rely on would understand the preciousness of his words. The image of Ning Cheng seemed to have reversed in her heart at that moment.
Of course, Ning Cheng hadn't thought that much. Although he knew Ji Luofei was more familiar with Cang Qin Academy than he was, he was clear that when it came to the ability to escape and handle critical situations, Ji Luofei was far inferior to him.
Following Ning Cheng through the crowd, Ji Luofei arrived at the edge. Seeing Ning Cheng heading into a row of huge trees, she immediately presumed he was going to exit through the small door leading to the fighting arenas. Just as she was about to remind Ning Cheng that today the Falling Star Five-Star Academy was selecting students, and that these small doors leading to the arenas would definitely be sealed, a squad of seven or eight guards rushed out in a hurry and abruptly appeared in front of them.
When the squad of guards saw that Ning Cheng and Ji Luofei seemed to be heading towards the small door, they immediately stopped and even showed a tendency to come over.
Ji Luofei's heart sank. She guessed that her deed had likely been exposed, hence the soldiers and guards were dispatched. She resolved that, even if it meant death, she would make sure Ning Cheng escaped.
Before Ji Luofei could speak, Ning Cheng suddenly said in a lower voice, "What's the name of the academy's vice president?"
"Yong Changyan." Ji Luofei answered subconsciously.
Ning Cheng then slightly raised his voice and said, "Figures they'd pick me to run errands, sigh, it's just our bad luck for being too close to the arena, such a pity..."
After speaking about the pity, Ning Cheng instead showed a surprised expression and hastened his pace towards the squad of guards.
The squad of guards, upon seeing Ning Cheng and Ji Luofei walking out at this hour, had already stopped in their tracks. They were originally planning to approach and question Ning Cheng and Ji Luofei, but upon seeing them running towards them instead, they simply stood still.
"Brother soldiers, wait a moment..." Even though the men in front had already stopped, Ning Cheng still called out loudly.
"What's the matter?" The leader of the guards, a cultivator of the third level of Qi Gathering, saw Ning Cheng asking him to wait and consequently forgot his intention to ask where Ning Cheng was heading.
Ning Cheng took out a dark wooden token and handed it to the guard leader, saying, "It's great that I've run into you, my brothers in arms have truly done me a great favor. I'm a disciple of Elder Mu, and Dean Yong has ordered my master to send someone to assemble a team of guards to stand by at the entrance of the cultivation tower. However, my master sent the two of us instead. Right now is a critical moment for the Meteorite Academy to select disciples, and I really don't want to leave in the middle of the contest. But here you are, happening to pass by. Please hurry and come with me to the entrance of the cultivation tower. Wait, I'll give you Dean Yong's handwritten instructions, and when the time comes, you can deliver them directly to Dean Yong..."
"That won't do, we are on our way to Xifeng Gate and Nanfeng Gate; we can't help you." The guard leader glanced at the wooden token in his hand, promptly interrupting Ning Cheng, and said sternly.
After saying this, he thrust the token back into Ning Cheng's hand. The token clearly had 'Cultivation Tower' engraved on it, but he could see that it was authentic. Having returned the token to Ning Cheng, the guard leader, along with several soldiers, quickened their pace even more, completely ignoring Ning Cheng who stood motionless in the air with the order in hand.
Ning Cheng promptly followed behind them, anxiously calling out, "But I have the dean's orders. Isn't it all the same wherever I go to carry out orders? Why don't you first go to the entrance of the cultivation tower to wait..."
While talking, Ning Cheng inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, just afraid that the man would recognize that this was only a wooden token for cleaning the cultivation tower.
"You have orders, and we also have orders. If everyone from the academy was as lax and casual as you students, then Cang Qin Country's guard unit might as well just pick people at random. I suggest you go by yourself and stop trying to be clever," the team leader said disdainfully as he walked away. He had no respect for someone like Ning Cheng, who had no concept of military discipline.
As they were speaking, they arrived at the entrance that led to the bustling market. As Ji Luofei had predicted, the small gate was guarded by two soldiers, but it wasn't the middle-aged guard from before.
Seeing the two guards at the gate, Ning Cheng spoke with a hint of displeasure, "Open the gate, I need to go out."
These two guards had overheard the previous conversation between Ning Cheng and the team leader, and they even knew what Ning Cheng was supposed to do. Seeing Ning Cheng with such an annoyed expression, they knew he wanted to watch the challenges and was now being sent away; it would indeed be odd if he felt happy about it.
As one of the guards was about to speak, Ning Cheng's face suddenly lit up with joy, cutting off the guard mid-sentence, "Brother soldier, aren't you guarding here? Guarding with two people or one is the same, so why don't one of you stay here and the other help me out with something, go to..."
"Sorry, we have orders to stay here and can't leave," the other guard said straightforwardly.
Ning Cheng's face darkened again, but once again, it lasted only a moment before he spoke in a friendlier tone, "You're guarding this gate, which definitely means you can't allow anyone to pass through, right?"
"Yes," replied the guard succinctly.
"Then, if we ask you to open the gate, you certainly won't do it, right? For instance, I just asked you to open it, and you didn't, correct?" Ning Cheng continued, his expression resembling that of a big bad wolf leading a little lamb.
The guard, about to affirm, suddenly noticed the malicious smile on Ning Cheng's face and felt a sudden pang of alarm. This student obviously didn't want to run the errand and was trying to put the blame on their unwillingness to open the gate. Such audacity was something he hadn't expected from a student.
However, students from Cang Qin Academy all had unusual backgrounds, so the guard wasn't particularly surprised by someone with such boldness.
"Very good, you're doing the right thing. Sister Luo Fei, let's head back," said Ning Cheng as he pulled Ji Luofei and turned to leave.
"Wait a moment, show me your token," the guard called out to Ning Cheng, who was turning around, now understanding Ning Cheng's cunning. It was just a way for the guard to save face - he knew Ning Cheng had a token; the guard leader had already checked it.
Without moving a muscle, Ning Cheng replied, "Why should I show you my token? I asked you to open the gate, and you didn't want to. That's your duty, and I won't blame you for it, so why should you see my token? If I have to show my token to every soldier I meet, I might as well hang it on my chest. Let's go, Sister Luo Fei."
(Here's the first update of today. For those who haven't added our book to their collection yet, please do so. Thank you.)