"You’re lying!"
Zhao Miao wept as he said, "My second brother is the best in the world, who dares to provoke him? He must find me annoying and doesn’t want me anymore…ah!""
As he spoke, he started bawling again.
Shen Fa was at his wits’ end and had to shoot Zhao Hong a pleading look.
Zhao Hong, clutching a stack of silver notes, said indignantly, "Being the best in the world doesn’t make you invincible. Would those rebels dare to provoke your second brother if they didn’t have a fighting chance? Listen, come back to the capital with us and don’t trouble your second brother."
"Are you telling the truth?"
Zhao Miao finally stopped crying, his eyes teary as he looked at Shen Fa then at Zhao Hong: "You’re not lying to me!"
Zhao Hong said angrily, "If I wanted to deceive you, would I ever be fit to be the Crown Prince?"
"Thud."
Zhao Miao suddenly sprang up and once again banged his head against the roof of the carriage. Yet, as if he felt no pain at all, he started chattering and tried to crawl out of the carriage: "Then I must go back even more. The inn is my second brother’s home. I need to look after his home, and Huang…yes, and Huang, with all of us gone, there’s no one to take care of Huang!"
Zhao Hong quickly stopped her, "Haven’t we already told you? Your second brother is not at the inn. The inn is not safe..."
Zhao Miao desperately tugged at him, "I don’t care, I want to go back, that’s my home!"
Shen Fa desperately racked his brain and finally said, "Your Highness wants to go back, let’s go."
The struggling siblings in the carriage both turned to look at him.
Zhao Hong, frowning deeply, shouted, "Do you realize what you are saying?"
Shen Fa opened his mouth to explain but swallowed his words, then gritted his teeth and said instead, "Your Highness, I will assign competent subordinates to ensure Her Highness’s complete safety... Should any mishap befall Her Highness, I am ready to assume full responsibility!"
Zhao Hong gazed at him sharply for a moment before finally stepping in to stop Zhao Miao’s hands, coldly stating, "It’s good as long as you know what you are doing!"
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Shen Fa bowed deeply and stepped out of the carriage, waving at Fang Ke in the distance: "Come here!"
...
By noon, Yang Ge, holding Tang Xiong, had successfully arrived at Bright Summit.
At the edge of Bright Summit, Yang Potian dressed in a crimson robe, had been waiting for a long time while brewing tea.
Seeing Yang Ge, he smiled and gestured to the cushion across the low table: "Three years of knowing each other, and today we finally meet, it is indeed worth a lifetime!"
Yang Ge released Tang Xiong and took the Cold Moon blade from his waist. He strode forward, sat down on the cushion with a downcast gaze and expressionless face, and asked, "Any regrets?"
Yang Potian, smiling gently, pushed a cup of hot tea towards him: "Which matter are you asking about? Helping you fight the wokou, or facilitating your journey across the sea to combat demons?"
Yang Ge laughed: "What do you think, would you still be sitting here drinking tea if not for these events?"
Yang Potian nodded, somewhat melancholic, "If we’re talking regrets, I only regret not having crushed you before you soared to these heights... leading to today’s predicament…"
"That’s quite a mindset of a major figure!"
Yang Ge smiled and nodded slightly. Suddenly, his Cold Moon blade flashed out of its scabbard, and like slicing through waves, it struck a mountain knoll next to the Holy Fire Hall from thirty feet away.
"Boom."
The mountain forest collapsed, and a burly black-clad monk with a scarred head and a string of thick prayer beads around his neck leaped from the smoke.
Yang Ge didn’t even glance at the black-clad monk, his gaze still fixed on Yang Potian as he asked deliberately, "I’ve never regarded you as my enemy. Although young and impulsive, Yang Tiansheng still held you in considerable esteem, Yang Potian. You could have continued to lead the Ming Sect gloriously until your death... Did it have to come to this, was it worth it?"
"Actually, it wasn’t."
Yang Potian, avoiding his sharp gaze, sadly lowered his eyelids: "But the affairs of the world are like a game of chess, and I am merely a pawn; without advancement, there is only death!"
"If you are a pawn, then that old bald monk surely must be a general, right?"
Yang Ge pointed his blade at the distant black-clad monk standing atop the Holy Fire Hall: "I’ll go chop him down, would you then reconsider?"
"I appreciate your kindness..."
Yang Potian laughed, shaking his head: "Great deeds are either great accomplishments or great failures, and though I lack the stature of a king, I refuse to live submissively beneath others!"
"Besides, you should worry more about yourself. Given that we dared lure you ’Divine Monarch’ here, we naturally have complete confidence in our preparations."
Yang Ge scoffed dismissively, asking lightly, "So, one last question... where is Wei’s head?"
Yang Potian pointed towards the Holy Fire Hall: "It is atop the Holy Fire Hall, should you laugh last, please help yourself to it!"
Yang Ge glanced in that direction: "For someone who is the Sect Hierarch of the Ming Sect, don’t you consider its interests at all?"
Yang Potian laughed loudly: "How did someone as indecisive and soft-hearted as you, manage to cultivate such peerless martial prowess?"
Yang Ge helplessly shook his head, got up, and walked towards the Holy Fire Hall. Pointing his blade at Yang Potian, he called out to Tang Xiong, who was leisurely assembling a bright silver spear in the distance, "He’s yours..."
Tang Xiong glanced at Yang Potian and serenely waved, "See you around!"
"See you around!"