Scourge Messenger

Chapter 112 Standing Together

Although the news wasn't spread, the fact that Jiang Shi had safely escaped from the Foundation Establishment messengers using the Return Order had already spread throughout the noble families of Liang Kingdom. After all, the clown in this story was Chen Liexia, the Foundation Establishment Thunder King of the Chen family. Just as ordinary people would enjoy talking about royal scandals, the messengers naturally loved to talk about jokes about Foundation Establishment experts.

Compared to Jiang Shi's repeated miracles, everyone was more concerned about the key item in this story: the Return Token. After all, no matter how talented Jiang Shi was, it was none of their business. But if they could obtain a Return Token, it would be no different from having an extra life. Not only would it grant immunity to all damage, but it could also teleport them to a safe place, fulfilling both defensive and evacuation needs. It was practically a coveted item for messengers.

Chen Liexia's relentless barrage of questions to Jiang Shi served as the best publicity for the Return Order. It's said that many Foundation Establishment cultivators emerged from seclusion, wanting to inquire about the situation from Chen Liexia, clearly indicating they also had their own ideas about the Return Order.

However, currently, apart from the Mansu Forest, no one knows which other secret realms can produce Return Tokens. But without Jiang Shi, no one can get a high score in the Mansu Forest. If Jiang Shi never returns to Liang Kingdom, then the Return Token in her possession will probably be a unique and priceless item.

Logically speaking, such a life-saving treasure would be kept by the person in question, and no one, no matter how close, would be willing to give it up. But Shang Xinlei felt that Jiang Shi had definitely handed over the return order.

Because the relationship between Huang Quan and Jiang Shi is far more intimate than the conventional understanding.

If Huang Quan could lend Jiang Shi the legendary token Bingzi Jiaolin to kill his way through the land, why wouldn't Jiang Shi hand over the Return Order to Huang Quan in case of unforeseen circumstances? Shang Xinlei had tried so many times to persuade Jiang Shi with reason and emotion. If Jiang Shi had even the slightest dissatisfaction with Huang Quan, she would have been able to see it. But Jiang Shi was determined from beginning to end, and even hissed at Shang Xinlei for her rudeness.

Even though Jiang Shi later agreed to join the Shang family, Shang Xinlei could still see that this bright yet ruthless girl was doing everything for the person she kept in her heart.

That's why Shang Xinlei was so angry when she talked to Yan Qing about Jiang Shi. She wanted to loudly question Yan Qing: How could you not cherish such a beautiful young woman who is so loyal to you? So many beauties give their deepest affections, and so many give their deepest affections to the heartless. When will Jiang Shi finally see the true face of this bastard?

But when Yan Qing actually took out the Return Token from the storage ring, Shang Xinlei found herself filled with envy.

She couldn't quite explain whether she envied Yan Qing for having Jiang Shi's absolute loyalty, or envied Jiang Shi for being able to completely trust Yan Qing, or perhaps... she envied the relationship between them that outsiders couldn't understand or touch.

"The return order can only allow one person to leave," Yan Qing said.

"Where will you be teleported to after using the Return Token? Will you be able to return to Jiangnan City?" Shang Xinlei asked.

Yan Qing shook his head: "At most, we can only teleport to a place two hours away from Jiangnan City."

The Return Token designates only the three starting villages as safe teleportation points, presumably because these are the three locations all players can access upon spawning, and are always available on the map. However, Yan Qing believes this is the biggest limitation of the Return Token—compared to the limited number of uses, the long journey back to the main city after being teleported back to the starting village is enough to make many players choose to die. Only players in real-time mode would feel compelled to use this token to avoid death.

“But that means even if you manage to escape, you won’t be able to return to the thieves’ den in time.” Shang Xinlei raised an eyebrow: “It seems we’ve all failed this mission.”

Yan Qing nodded, but he looked at Shang Xinlei suspiciously: "Why do you seem a little happy?"

"Of course I'm happy. Just now I thought I was going to starve to death in this secret vault, with only you, the bastard leader who stole tools from his subordinates, by my side. When the royal family sends people down to see us, they'll definitely think we're a pair of audacious thieves, dying a painful and shameful death." Shang Xinlei shrugged. "Now you can escape and come back to save me. How can I not be happy?"

She suddenly realized something and said angrily, "So you bastard, you were just trying to scare me! You clearly had a way to escape!"

Yan Qing raised an eyebrow: "It might not be to scare you—I might not even come back to save you."

"Hmph," Shang Xinlei rubbed the tear stains from the corners of her eyes, her nose red, but a smug smile graced her face. "Let me guess—Yellow Dog, your safest place to live must be the Thieves' Den, right? You go back to the Thieves' Den to sleep and rest every night, don't you?" Yan Qing's pupils contracted sharply, his heart skipped a beat, but thankfully, his mask concealed his guilty expression from Shang Xinlei. He neither denied nor refuted, only smiling disdainfully, as if Shang Xinlei had brought up a trivial topic.

However, he nervously reviewed his performance over the past few days and found no problems. He shouldn't have given anything away. Could it be that Shang Xinlei was hiding in the corner, eavesdropping on the sounds he made while exercising?
"Don't misunderstand, I wasn't eavesdropping on your room. Although I tried, the soundproofing in Thieves' House is excellent, and I didn't hear anything." Shang Xinlei pointed to her slightly reddened eyes and smiled, "I could tell."

Look?
“Although you’ve been fully armed when you come out for meetings these past few days, your boots have always been clean, without a speck of dust. An ordinary person might not notice, but my second-tier job has the insight trait, making my observation skills the best among all job types.” Shang Xinlei explained in detail, like a famous detective explaining how to solve a murderer’s suspicious points: “Of course, that alone doesn’t prove anything. If you lived in the main city, you could also remain untouched by worldly dust. But if you lived in such a safe place as the main city, why would you go back to your room to rest at night?”

"However, you could argue that you just happened to be staying in the Woodlands for those two days, and you stay in the main city the rest of the time, so I'm just guessing, not certain. But for this kind of thing, guessing is enough."

"Losing the Thieves' House must be a real headache for you, right? A bastard like you who likes to hide behind the scenes and plot against others can only sleep in a safe place."

"I'm not as delicate as you," Yan Qing said calmly, acknowledging Shang Xinlei's guess. As she said, such a secret was enough to be guessed; he hadn't expected it to remain a secret forever, but he hadn't anticipated it would be exposed by the dirt on his boots.

"So you had to come back to save me, because I'm the fourth young lady of the Shang family, rich, well-connected, and capable," Shang Xinlei said with a smile. "It would be easy for me to set up a safe haven for you in Jiangnan City, and there are even vacant safe havens available for you to live in right now. You've helped me so much and saved my life, I won't let you suffer any losses. I can even support you and your men without any problem!"

"Besides, I caused you to waste your return order and lose the opportunity to join the Thieves' Family. If you don't save me, how will you collect your debt from me?" Her voice was seductive, as if she were in cahoots with Yan Qing: "I am the fourth young lady of the Shang family, the third-ranked on the Hidden Dragon List, a future third-tier messenger, and maybe even a fourth-tier one. If you hold me in this hand, you will enjoy it for the rest of your life, and you will have everything you want in Liang Kingdom."

"You just want to support Jiang Shi, don't you?" Yan Qing glanced at her. "Besides, a great favor is like a great enmity. I won't entrust my life to someone else's conscience."

"You know me so well, do you think I'm an ungrateful person?" Shang Xinlei shrugged. "Okay, that's a little possible, but I owe you so much this time, so I feel a little bad. Whatever you ask for, I'll definitely agree as long as I can do it. Taking care of you for the rest of your life is no problem at all."

She suddenly crossed her arms and took two steps back, looking wary: "Of course, your demands can't be too unreasonable. Don't even think that I'll repay a life-saving favor with my body."

"You haven't wiped your snot clean yet," Yan Qing suddenly reminded him.

"Huh?" Shang Xinlei quickly covered her face and wiped it, only to find that there was nothing there at all, except for the mocking laughter coming from under the yellow dog mask.

The wealthy heiress was so angry that her shoulders trembled and her eyes were red as she rushed over. Yan Qing tried to dodge gracefully but failed, because Shang Xinlei opened her arms and hugged him directly. Judging from this posture, she was about to launch a sleeping attack!
Is this for real? Is my joke really that bad? But I have the Mountain Heart Mirror, so go ahead and attack me. Physical attacks that don't use tokens are completely ineffective against me anyway.

However, Shang Xinlei did not start a wrestling match or a fight. Instead, she reached out and hooked her arm around his neck. The red snake scarf and the yellow dog mask were almost touching. They were like close friends, arm in arm, which instantly brought Yan Qing back to his high school days. He would do this to find his friends to go to the toilet after class.

“Let Black Wolf and White Fox have the Thieves’ House.” She spoke so softly that her breath hit her mask, as if discussing a secret: “Even without the Thieves’ House, we can still achieve great things. My Liang Kingdom has plenty of treasures; as long as you and I join forces, these treasures will be ours.”

"I will repay you tenfold or a hundredfold in the future. Didn't you say you would reach the fourth stage of Foundation Establishment? Since even you are so confident, I have no reason not to play along to the end."

Shang Xinlei's face was still wet with tears, her cheeks were as red as a cat's, but her eyes were so bright that Yan Qing felt as if she was glowing, perhaps because they were so close.

"Let's grow stronger and bigger, and create new glories!" She sniffed, then smiled brightly and dazzlingly: "Let's walk the road ahead side by side."

(End of this chapter)