No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 1013 Yun Xiangyi Returns

Inside the stairwell, Ouyang Rong observed carefully and found that Chen Jiaxin's expression did not seem to indicate that something serious had happened.

Of course, it could also be to avoid danger, fearing being secretly watched by Master Yun Xiangyi... But overall, Ouyang Rong felt that Chen Jiaxin had not sent any ominous signals, which was enough.

At such a moment, it's already quite rare for teammates to exchange a glance like this; it at least gives each other a sense of reassurance.

If Yun Xiangyi were a little more cunning, or rather, a little more suspicious, she could have completely prevented Ouyang Rong from meeting with anyone else, then left him standing there without showing any emotion, sent him to the water dungeon, and then slowly emerged, looking quite serious, to scare him and trick him...

At this moment, many thoughts flashed through Ouyang Rong's mind, but he maintained an honest and unassuming appearance. He stood still, carrying the food box, no longer exchanging glances with the two women peeking out from below the stairwell. He began to focus on his own thoughts.

Time passed by minute by minute.

Everyone waited silently for Yun Xiangyi.

At one point, Ouyang Rong suddenly realized that he seemed to have forgotten the bucket in the water dungeon, and it should be at the door of cell number C now.

However, upon closer examination, this situation may not be entirely a bad thing at the moment.

Once Yun Xiangyi saw it, she would surely understand the purpose of the bucket and know what he wanted to do with it...

Ouyang Rong nodded secretly.

Chen Jiaxin and Enting seemed to have received the "no entry" order in advance, and were still waiting obediently outside, not stepping into the staircase leading to the water dungeon.

To be honest, it was already quite an exception that Yun Xiangyi was able to bring them so deep into the area and stay in that room outside.

Clearly, the two women below were also cautiously observing the room where Yun Xiangyi sat reading every day.

After waiting for an unknown amount of time, a familiar set of footsteps came from the passageway above.

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Rong's lips twitched slightly.

Why were you so quiet when you were down there? You were like a ghost. But now that you're back from the water dungeon, you're making noise.
These complaints naturally cannot be voiced directly.

Before long, Yun Xiangyi returned, leaving the passageway and going back to the stairwell.

She glanced at the taciturn young man, then continued walking past him, down the stairs, and towards the house.

"Come with me."

Ouyang Rong lowered his head slightly and immediately followed "obediently".

We entered the house.

A lone lamp sat on the table, and the room was furnished as always.

However, there were a few more people.

Chen Jiaxin and En Ting stood respectfully on either side of the table.

Ouyang Rong stood silently in front of the table.

Yun Xiangyi sat down in her usual seat and casually flipped through the Buddhist scriptures that had been covered for a long time.

There was a moment of silence among the four of them; no one spoke.

Or rather, it's that Yun Xiangyi remains silent.

At this moment, as long as she doesn't speak, no one else dares to speak either. Even Chen Jiaxin, who is arrogant and domineering outside, has to act like a good girl in front of Yun Xiangyi.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ouyang Rong saw that as Yun Xiangyi turned the pages of the Buddhist scriptures, she lowered her eyes slightly, as if she were examining something.

Ouyang Rong was unsure whether Yun Xiangyi was observing whether the Buddhist scriptures showed any signs of being tampered with.

However, he felt somewhat relieved. It seemed that he had been very vigilant all along, not touching Yun Xiangyi's seat or searching the room for anything... When you're out and about, don't treat others like fools. Be careful in your actions, and you'll never go wrong.

Ouyang Rong pursed his lips.

Yun Xiangyi suddenly looked up:
"You can go back now, but you can leave the copper token behind."

Ouyang Rong glanced around and noticed that Chen Jiaxin and Enting were both looking at him.

It must have been said to him.

Ouyang Rong immediately took off the bronze token and stepped forward.

Yun Xiangyi glanced at Chen Jiaxin, who immediately understood and obediently stepped forward to take the bronze token in Yun Xiangyi's place.

Ouyang Rong clasped his hands in greeting: "Goddess, fairy, this humble one takes his leave."

He turned and left, exiting the house and closing the wooden door behind him, the whole process swift and decisive.

After the wooden gate closed, all sounds inside disappeared, and Ouyang Rong didn't know whether Yun Xiangyi, Chen Jiaxin, and the others had communicated.

Ouyang Rong's expression remained unchanged as he returned to the entrance of the waterfall cave above.

On the way, his thoughts wandered for a moment, and then he shook his head.

Yun Xiangyi's exact attitude is hard to fathom, but for now, it seems there shouldn't be any major problems. His actions of "dozing off" and lingering in the water dungeon these days might be considered a mistake, but it shouldn't have violated the fundamental rules Yun Xiangyi established in the water dungeon. In short, he hasn't crossed the red line.

Looking back now, Yun Xiangyi had just told them to wait where they were while she went into the water dungeon alone. She must have been checking something. Whether she communicated with the prisoners is unknown, but she was definitely checking something.

As it stands, Ouyang Rong hasn't revealed anything that she can handle; otherwise, things wouldn't be as simple as just asking him to leave.

However, before leaving, he asked Ouyang Rong to leave behind the bronze token. He wasn't sure if Yun Xiangyi had some suspicions about him and that's why she confiscated the token.

However, from another perspective, this bronze token of unknown use was given to Yun Xiangyi in a moment of panic before she had to leave temporarily. It was a temporary item, so it is reasonable for Yun Xiangyi to take it back now that she has returned. There is nothing wrong with that.

Ouyang Rong nodded slightly in his heart.

However, there is one point worth pondering.

Why did Yun Xiangyi return today, at this inconvenient time...?

Ouyang Rong remembered that he had used up some merit points in the purple mist yesterday evening to "scare" Lady Zhi Shuang.

Logically speaking, Yun Xiangyi and the other female rulers should have been "sent away" by Lady Zhishuang and shouldn't have left the Female Ruler's Palace in a short period of time.

But now that Yun Xiangyi has returned and something illogical has happened, it's worth pondering.

In the end, only Yun Xiangyi left the Queen's Palace. The other Queens were still guarding Lady Zhishuang, on high alert... In other words, Yun Xiangyi had to temporarily leave the Queen's Palace and return to her post because of her heavy responsibilities in the water prison.

Or perhaps the other female rulers had all dispersed, leaving only Lady Zhishuang to deal with Ouyang Rong, who might "harass" her at any moment.

If it's the former, it's easy to understand; if it's the latter, then it's thought-provoking...

So, could it be that Lady Zhi Shuang has already found a way to deal with him and is temporarily no longer afraid of his "intimidation," which is why she can let the other junior sisters go about their own business...

This possibility is actually quite high, because Yunmeng Sword Marsh is, after all, a hidden sect that has stood in Tiannan for thousands of years, with countless treasures and a profound foundation.

For example, the Hall of Mental Cultivation, which almost caused Ouyang Rong a serious problem before, was a strange object that was both unexpected and reasonable.

Therefore, it is entirely possible for Lady Zhi Shuang to find a new way to restrain Ouyang Rong.

In fact, Ouyang Rong had thought of this beforehand, and even anticipated it from the very beginning.

He just hadn't expected that Lady Zhi Shuang would act so quickly, and even in a way that contradicted his latest predictions...

Because when I saw her yesterday evening in the nightmare of Miss Zhi Shuang's inner turmoil, she was still in a helpless and miserable state. How could the situation have reversed overnight, with the offense and defense completely transformed? It's too sudden.

Still somewhat confused, Ouyang Rong shook his head slightly.

Regardless, we should proceed based on the current situation.

Now that Yun Xiangyi has returned, Ouyang Rong must prepare for the worst and not let his guard down.

Even if there's only a one percent chance, we must be on high alert and prepare for the worst-case scenario. His infiltration of Yunmeng Sword Marsh is like entering a tiger's den, walking a tightrope; the slightest misstep could be extremely dangerous.

Therefore, for now, Ouyang Rong would consider it as if she had found a way to restrain him, and he could no longer use the Merit Purple Mist to "scare" her...

When Ouyang Rong walked through the waterfall and came out, he found that it was already noon outside.

The weather was fine and the sun was shining brightly.

The dining hall in Qingliang Valley should be busy preparing lunch by now... he thought to himself for no reason.

Before leaving after crossing the pool, Ouyang Rong glanced back at the rusty sword stuck in the cliff face of the waterfall.

Before long, he walked towards the outside of the valley. However, at the crossroads where he was about to leave Qingliang Valley, Ouyang Rong turned and entered a fork in the road. There was a babbling spring by the roadside, and he seemed to be moving upstream along the mountain stream.

A gentle breeze blew, and about half an hour later, the taciturn young man arrived at a familiar pavilion.

This was the old place where he and Chen Jiaxin often met.

The pavilion was empty, except for fallen leaves scattered on the ground, which were being swept by the midday breeze as if someone were sweeping the floor.

Ouyang Rong found a seat by the railing, stared at the spring water, and waited silently.

He didn't know how long he had been lost in thought. When he came back to his senses, a series of familiar footsteps were already sounding outside the pavilion.

A young girl in sword attire, her pretty face tense, stepped gracefully into the spring pavilion.

It is Chen Jiaxin.

She has returned from the water dungeon.

Chen Jiaxin put her two little hands behind her back, walked up to Ouyang Rong, stopped, and looked him over.

"Humph."

She snorted coldly, her face hardening, and questioned him:

"How dare you sit here? Aren't you worried at all about Master's wrath?"

Ouyang Rong looked up and glanced at her face.

The two looked at each other for a while.

Ouyang Rong said softly:

"With Miss here, I have nothing to fear."

When Ouyang Rong saw this, Chen Jiaxin's eyebrows lifted slightly.

Actually, he felt a little embarrassed saying those words, but he held back and didn't show it.

Actually, he's just used to flattering people, and he just blurted it out without thinking much about it.

However, judging from the subtle expression on Chen Jiaxin's face at this moment, she answered the question very well.

"Hmph, sweet talk."

Chen Jiaxin's face tensed slightly as she tried to suppress her subtle expressions, giving Ouyang Rong a fierce glare:
"Liu Aliang, I think you're getting more and more dishonest."

Ouyang Rong, however, with a dull and honest face, stared directly at Chen Jiaxin.

Chen Jiaxin was the first to give in, feeling a little embarrassed by his gaze. She finally took her hand out from behind her back and waved it at him, saying:
"Let's get down to business."

Ouyang Rong's gaze, however, was drawn to something in her small, waving hand.

It looked like a bronze token, which Chen Jiaxin was clutching in her hand.

Ouyang Rong immediately asked:
"Miss, this is..."

Chen Jiaxin withdrew her hand, put it behind her back, and paced back and forth, changing the subject:
"Well, Liu Aliang, my premonition was right, wasn't it? I sensed long ago that Master would be back in the next couple of days."

Suppressing his curiosity, Ouyang Rong first nodded in agreement:

"Yes, Miss is incredibly insightful."

What he really wanted to ask at that moment was what Yun Xiangyi had said to her and Enting after he left the room.

However, Chen Jiaxin didn't give him a chance to speak. She paced back and forth in the pavilion with her hands behind her back, continuing to say:

"Fortunately, we had discussed our strategy for dealing with Master's return beforehand. We also kept some food as evidence to support our story, so we won't be caught off guard..."

Ouyang Rong understood that Chen Jiaxin was referring to his excuse for pretending to be asleep. The two had rehearsed beforehand, and the excuse had been prepared long ago.

Chen Jiaxin turned around, staring straight at him, and said:

"You have no idea how worried I was when Master took me and Enting in there. I was afraid that you would not follow the plan, do something on your own, or give yourself away. Fortunately, apart from your nonsense about cookies, there seems to be no suspicious clues so far."

"Yes, as you saw, Master listened outside the water dungeon for a while, and then went in for a while. She probably didn't find anything suspicious, otherwise she wouldn't have let you go."

Under Chen Jiaxin's gaze, Ouyang Rong lowered his eyes slightly and replied:

"It is Miss's wisdom that is so brilliant, her plans are flawless."

Chen Jiaxin waved her small hand, interrupting:

"Alright, stop with that. By the way, tell me quickly, what was that little cookie that Master heard about?"

Ouyang Rong's expression remained unchanged: "It's a specialty from my hometown."

Chen Jiaxin asked suspiciously, "Really?"

Ouyang Rong nodded.

Chen Jiaxin, as if thinking of something, asked again, "It's not food too, is it?"

"Ah."

Chen Jiaxin asked instinctively, "Do you know how to make it?"

Ouyang Rong's expression was a bit strange.

Chen Jiaxin realized she had asked too many questions, so she turned her face away.

Actually, she wasn't very interested in Ouyang Rong's hometown, and waved her hand reluctantly:
"Alright, don't go to unnecessary trouble next time. Don't talk nonsense and only increase suspicion."

"Yes, ma'am."

Chen Jiaxin then casually asked:

"By the way, you haven't told me yet, after dawdling in the water dungeon for so long, have you made any progress? What have you been doing?"

Ouyang Rong said in a serious tone:

"I followed Miss's instructions. After entering the water dungeon, I first distributed food boxes, and then dozed off until the morning... When I woke up and collected the food boxes, I took the opportunity to chat with the old Taoist priest in cell number T to become acquainted with him."

Chen Jiaxin nodded with some satisfaction:

"You did a great job, it was flawless, very good."

After a pause, she finally released a hand from behind her back, holding a bronze token in her hand, as if gesturing to Ouyang Rong.

Ouyang Rong was unsure whether this bronze token was the original one he had given to Yun Xiangyi.

(End of this chapter)