White-Robed Chief

Li Ruolan asked, “Senior Brother Zhou should be free, right?”

“Zhou Jinchun?” Sun Mingyue said. “He just came back. Alright then, I’ll have him join the two of you.”

“Thank you, my Saint.” Li Ruolan gave a fist salute and bowed.

Sun Mingyue sent a disciple to go and summon Zhou Jinchun over.

Then, Sun Mingyue studied Li Ruolan for a few moments before she shook her head and said, “I thought you would’ve asked Zhao Dahe to go with you.”

Li Ruolan shook her head.

“Honestly speaking, Zhao Dahe should be a more suitable candidate for this mission. He’s much more capable than Zhou Jinchun, and the two of you perform well as a team. Why didn’t you want him to join you?” Sun Mingyue looked at her curiously with a faint smile.

“Indeed, he has stronger martial arts skills, but we had a falling-out,” Li Ruolan replied while shaking her head. “It’ll be awkward for us to go together, especially when Senior Brother Ji will be around too.”

“Yes, it’ll be rather awkward for two rivals to be stuck together,” Sun Mingyue said with a chuckle. “Zhao Dahe is more tolerant and generous than I thought, and he likes you way more than I expected.”

“Him…?” Li Ruolan gritted her teeth and scoffed. “He has changed now. He has become even more domineering and harder to get along with. His attitude toward me isn’t as pleasant as before. How upsetting!”

“He’s probably jealous,” Sun Mingyue said. “However, since he didn’t take advantage of the situation to play any petty tricks and harm Ji Xin, I can entrust him with greater responsibilities in the future.”

Li Ruolan sighed and slowly nodded.

Although she was very upset with Chu Li and wanted to slap him in the face, she still felt grateful toward him deep down in her heart. After all, he had risked his life to save Senior Brother Ji. If it had been anyone else, they could have pretended to be helpless so that they would not have to do anything about Ji Xin’s situation. There was nothing she could have done as well, and she would not have suspected anything under such circumstances. He could have just stood aside and watched Senior Brother Ji fall into the hands of the Tempest Temple.

Sun Mingyue said, “Although Zhao Dahe seems like a rough-mannered person, he’s actually bold yet cautious. On top of that, he can be quite intelligent and is able to handle things much more effectively than you and Ji Xin. However, you still insist on choosing Zhou Jinchun for this mission. You better not regret your decision later!”

“I won’t regret it!” Li Ruolan clenched her jaw.

The moment Chu Li’s face entered her mind, she became angry and felt like yelling at him. She did not wish to see his ugly face right now.

Sun Mingyue shook her head.

A tall and burly man entered the basilica and held up a fist salute as he said, “Greetings, my Saint!”

“Zhou Jinchun, you’ll have to leave the mountain again.” Sun Mingyue’s expression grew solemn while her eyes became inscrutable as she calmly said, “Make a trip to Falling Autumn City with Li Ruolan and Ji Xin.”

“Understood,” Zhou Jinchun replied in a loud and clear voice.

“The three of you will be delivering some pills and medicine to Falling Autumn City this time,” Sun Mingyue said. “If news about this gets out, you should know how dangerous this trip can be. Therefore, you must be as stealthy as you can with your movements. Try your best to avoid the main roads, and don’t travel on horseback. You should be able to arrive at the city in four days and four nights if you use the light-body technique.”

“No problem!” Zhou Jinchun replied. “Don’t worry, my Saint. We’ll certainly accomplish the mission!”

Sun Mingyue said, “Since you three patrols are carrying out this mission together, you have to accomplish it no matter what it takes. Failure is not an option. Otherwise, there will be major consequences. This can even affect the situation between the Li Dynasty and the Qiu Dynasty. You understand that, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Zhou Jinchun and Li Ruolan both gave a fist salute at the same time.

“Off you go then!” Sun Mingyue waved a hand to dismiss them.

Both of them went out of the Divine Light Basilica.

As Sun Mingyue watched their retreating figures, she raised her voice and said, “Send someone in.”

A young girl dressed in a green tunic walked in gracefully.

“Summon Zhao Dahe here,” Sun Mingyue ordered.

“Understood,” the young girl in green replied and quietly left.

…

The moonlight was dim that night. Li Ruolan was wearing a green tunic and had covered her face with a white veil. Beside her, Ji Xin and Zhou Jinchun were also dressed in green tunics. They silently left Great Light Peak and swiftly entered a forest while covering their tracks to avoid being followed.

After a whole night of traveling, they stopped for a quick break in the forest at dawn the next morning.

Li Ruolan waved her sword a few times and easily chopped down a few trees to clear a small space. Then, they sat on the tree stumps to rest.

“Junior Sister Li, you have a very sharp sword,” Zhou Jinchun said with a smile. “Can I take a quick look at it?”

Li Ruolan casually tossed the sword to him.

Zhou Jinchun carefully took the sword and examined it closely. He became even more impressed. “This is a real elite weapon. How extraordinary!”

Ji Xin looked over in surprise.

He did not know that Li Ruolan possessed a real elite weapon.

Zhou Jinchun said, “I don’t think Great Light Peak has that many of them. We should have only a few elite weapons. Jade Shadow… We never had this sword before.”

Li Ruolan nodded. “I previously snatched this sword away from Hai Cang Mountain.”

“Hai Cang Mountain… No wonder!” Realization dawned on Zhou Jinchun’s face.

Ji Xin nodded in understanding.

Zhou Jinchun was full of admiration as he toyed around with the sword for a while. He seemed reluctant to part with it when he had to return it to Li Ruolan. “This elite weapon is truly awe-inspiring. The superb craftsmanship makes it seem as if it was made by Heaven!”

Li Ruolan smiled faintly. She was very satisfied with how sharp the sword was and how comfortable she felt while using it. It was truly worthy of being called an elite weapon since it had helped to improve her skills significantly.

Zhou Jinchun said, “Those who can use elite weapons like this are certainly no ordinary disciples of Hai Cang Mountain. They must be top-notch masters. You have to be very skillful to be able to snatch away a sword from such martial arts masters. I’m really impressed!”

Li Ruolan replied, “It was just a lucky coincidence.”

Zhou Jinchun shook his head and said, “There’s no such thing as a coincidence when you’re fighting a martial arts master. Junior Sister Li, you’ve proven that women are just as capable as men and that your skills are much more superior than ours.”

Li Ruolan replied, “Senior Brother Zhou, you flatter me.”

Zhou Jinchun laughed and said, “Junior Brother Ji, both of us are no match for Junior Sister Li now. Junior Sister Li will most likely become an Altar Leader in the future. I’m afraid there’s not much hope for us anymore.”

Ji Xin replied, “The upcoming war is a good opportunity for us to gain more merits. Perhaps we’ll be promoted to the position of an Altar Leader after the war.”

“That’s true.” Zhou Jinchun chuckled. “As men, how can we so readily admit defeat to Junior Sister Li?”

Li Ruolan suddenly knitted her eyebrows together as a thoughtful look appeared on her face.

Ji Xin quickly said, “Junior Sister Li?”

“I believe we have company,” Li Ruolan replied.

Zhou Jinchun’s and Ji Xin’s expressions changed slightly.

Li Ruolan said, “I’m not sure if they’re targeting us.”

“We left the mountain in secret. No one else knows about this, so it should’ve been impossible for any information to get leaked!” Ji Xin muttered with a frown.

Zhou Jinchun said, “I never told anyone else about this.”

Ji Xin and Li Ruolan shook their heads.

Zhou Jinchun grinned and said, “Perhaps we’re getting nervous over nothing. Maybe these people aren’t here to attack us.”

“They’re here to attack us!” Li Ruolan frowned. “Let’s leave now!”

She had just finished speaking when six silhouettes glided over like gusts of wind and surrounded the three of them.

Li Ruolan had not expected these six people to have such an excellent light-body technique. They had been moving way faster than she had imagined.

“Who are you?” Zhou Jinchun shouted. “You better make sure you know who we are before you fight us. Don’t bring disgrace upon yourselves!”

He glanced at the six people before him and found that they were all middle-aged men. The leader of the group had a thin and short physique.

“Disciples of the Holy Church of Light?” The short and thin man had a hoarse voice. He glanced at them in disdain. Although he was much shorter than them, he seemed to be looking down on them right now. “Your cultivation levels aren’t that impressive after all!”

“Who are you?” Zhou Jinchun scoffed. “You’re very arrogant!”

“We’re from Royal Blade Palace!” the short and thin man replied with a huff before puffing his chest out.

Zhou Jinchun glanced at the blades hanging at their waists and slowly nodded. “So you’re disciples of Royal Blade Palace. You guys are very bold. How dare you come to the Li Dynasty uninvited!”

Royal Blade Palace was one of the four major sects of the Qiu Dynasty. They had exquisite blade techniques.

“We’re here to destroy the Holy Church of Light!” the short and thin man said arrogantly. “We’ve been hanging around here at the foot of Great Light Peak and observed the area for quite some time before you guys showed up. The Great Light Peak is quite a disappointing place. This so-called most powerful sect of the Li Dynasty has only a few disciples guarding their sect!”

The man pulled out his blade after he finished speaking. His blade gleamed like white snow. “Now, stop wasting our time. Our skills will speak for themselves!”

“Tsh!” His blade shone brighter and turned into rays of silvery light that swarmed toward Zhou Jinchun.

The other five men pulled out their blades and charged forward too. The three patrols were instantly drowned in blurred flashes of blades.