Chapter 451: Handover
Translator: SoupHunter Editor: Milkbiscuit
"Name card?" Wen Fang was still a little dazed from being too excited.
"Weren't you quite the brazen-faced and intelligent girl? Why did you suddenly turn dumb now?" Miao Yi couldn't help feeling amused by Wen Fang's expression. He pointed towards Yan Beihong and the others and remarked, "The three of them are all major customers. Don't you want to give them a name card? What if they forget about you?"
"Uhh… AH!" Wen Fang exclaimed. She repeatedly apologized, then hurriedly took out three name cards and handed them out with both hands as she said, "My name is Wen Fang. Please do visit me often!"
Yan Beihong and the others burst out laughing. Wen Fang's face looking as though a pie had just dropped from the sky onto her head was simply too entertaining. Even Qian'Er, Xue'Er, Hong Xiu, and Hong Fu couldn't help themselves.
Wen Fang couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed. She knew that her 'appearance' had looked a little too undignified, but she didn't care about that. She was simply too happy right now. With such huge transactions in hand, the managerial position of the Chamber of Commerce's South Edict City branch was as good as hers.
"Big Brother, I have no words to thank you with, nor do I have anything I can give to you in return, but I'll definitely repay this favor someday." Wen Fang cupped her fists and deeply bowed. She was sincerely grateful to Miao Yi.
Miao Yi simply waved his hand. He never expected any form of repayment from her.
Wen Fang then dragged the other girls away to talk about the business deal.
Miao Yi stopped her, saying, "They still have some things left to do. You can discuss that later on the way back."
Puzzled, Wen Fang asked, "On the way back?"
"We're leaving immediately. It's going to be a long journey," Miao Yi explained. He then told Qian'Er and Xue'Er, "Go inform that guy in the mountains."
'Who does he need to inform?' No one understood the meaning of Miao Yi's words except for Qian'Er and Xue'Er; he wanted them to let Yao Ruoxian know they were leaving. The two ladies acknowledged the order and left.
Yao Ruoxian had instructed the two ladies to have Miao Yi see him once he was back. However, Miao Yi knew that the old fart was not a kind soul. He didn't have the time to fool around with him right now, so it was best to avoid him if possible.
Miao Yi then had Yan Beihong and the others stay while he and Yan Xiu left for the guest quarters in the mountains at the back to see Qing Ju.
"I respectfully greet Little Auntie." Miao Yi bowed.
The moment she saw him, Qing Ju sneered, "Wow! Master Miao is soon to be promoted to Manor Head. Qing Ju dares not accept this bow. The next time we meet, my lord, it'll be my turn to bow. If you have anything you wish to ask of me, please don't hesitate to tell me."
Miao Yi didn't have a good impression of Qing Mei, but he was still quite fond of Qing Ju. He gently smiled, "You're exaggerating, Little Auntie. I've already finished settling my business with Mount Calming Sea, so I'm here to hand it over to you."
'Finished his business?' Qing Ju had heeded Yang Qing's words and stayed here to wait for Miao Yi to finish his business. But she hadn't heard of any commotion at all. And Miao Yi was telling her he was done already? 'Was the Manor Head wrong in his judgment?'
Since he was here on official business, Qing Ju turned to the side and extended her arm, inviting him into the living room.
As the two sat down, Miao Yi nodded towards Yan Xiu, and the latter immediately brought a jade archive over to Qing Ju. Written on it was the status of all one million followers under Mount Calming Sea's jurisdiction. This meant that Miao Yi was handing over the one million followers within his authority, which was also the main objective of this so-called handover procedure. After all, the source of Orbs of Will was something everyone was concerned about.
Yan Xiu then placed a storage ring on the teapoy next to Qing Ju and opened a small wooden box, pushing it next to her as well. After which, he retreated back to Miao Yi's side.
Qing Ju was just about to examine the jade archive in her hand when she caught sight of something in the corner of her eye—the gentle shimmer coming from the open box next to her. She roughly tallied the contents and estimated that there were about one thousand Orbs of Will inside.
Qing Ju's lips curled into a playful smile as she asked, "And what is this for?"
"These are one thousand low-grade Orbs of Will!" Miao Yi smiled, "Little Auntie has taken great care of me all these years. This is just a small token of my appreciation. Please accept it!"
"Wow! So these are for me! One thousand orbs are equivalent to five years worth of profits from Mount Calming Sea." Qing Ju clicked her tongue and added, "Everyone says that those who make it back alive from the Sea of Constellations Subjugation Crusade all end up ridiculously rich. I can see that the stories are true now. Is this storage ring for me too? What kind of treasure did you put inside?"
Miao Yi coolly answered, "I'd like to trouble Little Auntie to pass this over to Manor Head."
Qing Ju gave a short response, then took up the storage ring on the teapoy. It would've been better if she hadn't looked inside—the moment she probed it with her transcendence energy, she was utterly appalled by what she saw. Stored inside was a pile of heads, and after a brief examination, Qing Ju recognized that these were all the heads of the three major sects' disciples in Mount Calming Sea!
Qing Ju abruptly stood up and cried out in surprise, "What is this supposed to mean?!"
Miao Yi stood up as well and said plainly, "During the time I was in the Sea of Constellations and away from Mount Calming Sea, the disciples of the three major sects committed crimes of insubordination, plotting conspiracies and have defied their superior's orders. As Mountain Chieftain, I obviously cannot ignore such misdeeds now that I've returned. I am merely administering the proper punishment!"
Qing Ju quickly infused her transcendence energy back into the storage ring and counted the number of heads inside. There were approximately ninety in total. She had always been by Yang Qing's side, so she knew exactly how many members there were in his two Manors. Thus, she also knew the number of disciples from the three major sects within Mount Calming Sea. She lifted her head and said in disbelief, "You killed all the three major sects' disciples in Mount Calming Sea?"
"Yes!" Miao Yi nodded.
Qing Ju said furiously, "Miao Yi! Have you gone mad?! There are some things we all know but don't say out loud. It would've been fine if you just killed some of them to vent your frustration. That way, the Manor Head could have come up with an explanation for you somehow! But now that you've killed them all, the three major sects would surely lose face if they take this lying down. How could they possibly let you off then?! When they come complaining to Manor Head later on, he won't be able to cover for you either. Do you think that just because you came back from the Sea of Constellations and had an audience with the Overlord that no one would dare blame you for such a massacre? The Sect Masters of the three major sects are people who can meet the Overlord face-to-face! They are a million times stronger than you! Do you really think your own subordinates are just meat on a chopping block that you can freely cut up however you please? What do you think the rules of the Celestial Nation are there for?! If everyone acted like you, the entire cultivation realm would surely fall into chaos!"
"Little Auntie is exaggerating!" Miao Yi declared solemnly, "Let's say that the Manor Head had external matters to attend to and so he designated you and Elder Auntie Qing Mei as interim Manor Heads. What if all the subordinates didn't hold you two in regard, or didn't bow to you in respect, or even made blatant remarks about your appearances? What would the Manor Head do if he were to find out? Let's say that the subordinates never reported to you and instead consulted the people from the three major sects. That they ignored your official decrees and even colluded with one another to wrest away authority from your hands? That they even went as far as to have you entertaining guests and planned to sell you both to wait on someone else in bed? How would the Manor Head have reacted to all that? Killing them was already a light punishment. I just hate that I couldn't kill more of them!"
Qing Ju was completely taken aback. She sighed and said, "I know that you're angry, but given that the situation was not yet irretrievably bad, you only needed to endure it for a little while longer and it would have all been over!"
"Endure it? I have to endure the people I can't win against, and now I even have to endure the people I can win against? Why am I Mountain Chieftain then? I might as well go back to being a Horse Deputy. At least that way I won't have any subordinates to anger me!"
"What's the point in saying these things in anger? Have you never thought about the consequences of your actions?"
"I'm not a reckless man. I have written testimonies with me. If I can't even kill those who have committed such treacheries, then the entire cultivation realm would truly fall into chaos!"
"Written testimonies?" With a scornful expression, Qing Ju laughed coldly and said, "Oh! I remember now. You still have those School of Blue Jade disciples. You're not that naive to think that their written testimonies would actually work, right? The people from the three major sects could simply argue that they're colluding with you. After all, you were the one who recruited them to Mount Calming Sea in the first place. The three major sects could easily dismiss whatever the School of Blue Jade disciples have written down against their members. When that happens, you will be in a great deal of trouble! And when they notice how bad the situation is to them, do you think those School of Blue Jade disciples won't turn against you? By then, there will be no escaping death for you!"
As she said this, she couldn't help lamenting, "Oh, Miao Yi! You were too rash! You have such a bright future ahead of you. Why couldn't you just hold it in? Don't you men always say that it's never too late for revenge? Why did you have to be so reckless? What are you going to do about this now?!"
"I appreciate Little Auntie's concern." Miao Yi nodded, then took out a bunch of jade archives and continued, "I would like to trouble Little Auntie to hand these over to Manor Head. You might as well go through them before you decide whether or not to reprimand me!"
These were none other than the written testimonies of the three major sects' disciples exposing one another's crimes.
Qing Ju immediately looked through the jade archives, her face growing more confused the more she read. When she was done, she asked in shock, "How can this be? Why would the disciples of the three major sects expose each other's crimes?"
Miao Yi asked, "Does Little Auntie think it's possible for me to forge their transcendent seals? I think perhaps not even the Six Sages themselves can achieve such a feat. Look closely. Compared to the written testimonies from the School of Blue Jade disciples, there are actually more written testimonies from the disciples of the three major sects themselves in the pile. This is the truth admitted by every single person in the entire Mount Calming Sea. There isn't a more irrefutable piece of evidence than this. Dare I ask, would this shut the mouths of those from the three major sects then?"
Qing Ju was at a loss for words. She asked, "How did you manage to do this?"
Miao Yi dodged the question and said, "To tell you the truth, Little Auntie, I've only given you half of the written testimonies to be handed over to Manor Head. To avoid any mishaps, I will be personally taking the other half over to Suppressing Second Hall to seek justice! I hope that Little Auntie will ask Manor Head on my behalf to judge this matter professionally!" What he was implying was—'Yang Qing shouldn't let himself be influenced by the forces of the three major sects. I still have a card up my sleeve!'
He was even on guard against Yang Qing now! Qing Ju's expression twisted in dismay as she asked, "How did you do it? Why would those people dig their own graves like this?!"
'I don't need to explain that far!' Miao Yi cupped his fists and said, "If Little Auntie doesn't have any other questions, please sign the handover documents. I still need to report to Suppressing Second Hall!"
Qing Ju couldn't help feeling conflicted as she stared at Miao Yi for a while. Truth be told, she was kind of hoping that Miao Yi would get together with Qin Weiwei, as she thought that they made quite a nice pair with one another. Not to mention, with Miao Yi coming back alive from the Sea of Constellations and becoming Manor Head at such a tender age, his status wouldn't be any lower than Yang Qing's. This made Qing Ju even more sure of herself. However, now she finally understood how Yang Qing felt. It could be said that Miao Yi's actions had caused her nerves to be completely on edge. What kind of parent would dare hand their daughter over to such a dangerous man?!
She had watched this man slowly climb his way up from the bottom, and now he would no longer be bound by Yang Qing and was about to spread his wings and soar. Qing Ju didn't know how much further he would be able to fly, or if his wings would end up being clipped in the near future. In conclusion, she didn't know where Miao Yi would go after this. From now on, it would be hard for him and Qin Weiwei to meet again. Perhaps it was best for their paths to never cross again!
Qing Ju sighed deeply, then signed on the handover documents...