127 Turning Enemies into Friends, Uniting All Powers That Can Be United
Lin Ran’s heart skipped a beat, but he didn’t show it on his face. At the same time, his mind began to race.
If Xiao Huai was lying again, what was her motive? Moreover, when she lied at the Eight Directional Mountain last time, how did she know that Lin Ran would definitely send her to the palace?
Even if everything was as Lin Ran had guessed,
Liu Hongshan could already kill the Ten Miles Sword God alone 60 years ago. Now that 60 years had passed, his strength had increased to an unknown extent. When the time came, it was still uncertain who would kill whom!
At the thought of this, Lin Ran felt a headache coming on. He put this problem to the back of his mind and pointed at Xiao Huai with the Dark Insect Sword. He said coldly, “I can’t promise anything now. If you help me, live. If you don’t, die. Choose!”
Xiao Huai subconsciously took a step back and looked at Lin Ran in shock, as if she did not expect him to be so unreasonable.
After half a minute, Xiao Huai nodded reluctantly. “I promised to help you… What do you want me to do?”
“I haven’t thought about it yet. I’ll tell you when I have.”
As Lin Ran spoke, he waved the Black Insect Sword. Then, something that looked like ink fell on Xiao Huai.
Xiao Huai was shocked. She screamed and stood up to run, but she realized that the “ink” did not hurt her. In fact, even her clothes did not corrode. It only slowly flowed to her wrist and finally condensed into a pitch-black bracelet.
“This thing is controlled by my sword intent. It’s more than enough to kill you!”
Lin Ran replied coldly with a straight face. Actually, that ink was not that lethal at all. However, Xiao Huai was already scared out of her wits by Lin Ran’s threat.
“Don’t worry, I promised to help you. I won’t go back on my word!”
Xiao Huai nodded repeatedly in fear. Then, she reached out her wrist to Lin Ran and murmured pitifully, “Can you get rid of these insects first? I’m really scared…”
Lin Ran sneered. “That’s right. If you’re not scared, how can I threaten you?”
Xiao Huai was speechless.
Lin Ran ignored her and turned around to return to the stone wall. He stuck his head in and shouted, “It’s safe now. Come out!”
Huo Qiyun was in deep thought when he suddenly saw a head sticking out of the wall. He was so frightened that he almost died on the spot!
Realizing what was going on, Huo Qiyun walked through the wall with widened eyes. Before he could flare up, he saw Xiao Huai. He was stunned for a moment before hurriedly asking, “Why is she still here? Are you not her match?”
“Watch your words. She’s on our side now.”
Lin Ran replied as if nothing had happened. As he spoke, he patted Huo Qiyun’s shoulder. “Go and carry her. We have to go back quickly.”
“Me? Carry her? Are you crazy?”
Huo Qiyun exclaimed and raised his head to reveal the purple bruise on his neck. “Don’t be fooled by her like this. This brat is ruthless! If you hadn’t made a move in time just now, I would have been killed by her!”
Lin Ran was about to open the door when he frowned and turned around. “Are you going to carry her or not?”
Huo Qiyun straightened his neck. “No! Whoever wants to carry her can do it!”
…
Fifteen minutes later, the three of them returned to the Hidden Sword Pavilion through the stone staircase.
Huo Qiyun squatted down and placed Xiao Huai on the ground. He rubbed his swollen face and muttered angrily, “Weirdos are weirdos! If you have something to say, say it nicely. Why do you have to use violence?…”
Lin Ran couldn’t be bothered with Huo Qiyun. After putting away the Ten Miles Dragon Roar, he looked at the broken wooden racks and sighed.
After Huo Qiyun caused a mess, other than the building not collapsing, the Hidden Sword Pavilion was almost in ruins. The mystic array formation couldn’t be known by outsiders, and the reconstruction work here would definitely fall on Lin Ran again.
At the thought of this, Lin Ran couldn’t help but want to slap Huo Qiyun. However, when he turned around and saw Huo Qiyun’s pitiful appearance, he could only put down his hand resentfully.
After taking a few breaths to calm himself down, Lin Ran instructed, “Take Xiao Huai back to Mingzhao Hall first. I’ll explain the situation to His Majesty.”
Huo Qiyun nodded. “Do you know where Sister Empress is?”
Lin Ran looked at Huo Qiyun strangely. “According to the plan, shouldn’t she be waiting for my signal in the throne room?”
“That… might not be the case.”
Huo Qiyun said guiltily, “The situation at that time was too dangerous, so I told Sister Empress that if I didn’t come out in fifteen minutes, she must retreat out of the palace.”
Lin Ran’s expression changed slightly. “When did you tell her?”
Huo Qiyun lowered his head. “About… maybe… maybe… four hours ago?”
“What did you say?!”
Lin Ran exclaimed and almost slapped him again!
Everyone had left the palace four hours ago. If the empress was extra cautious, she would probably have left the capital by now!
“Huo Qiyun, Huo Qiyun, you really never cease to surprise me.”
Lin Ran cursed angrily and jumped out of the window. In an instant, he traveled through most of the palace. As expected, there was no one!
Fortunately, the empress was not extra cautious.
After Lin Ran flew past Meridian Gate on his sword, he saw a large group of people gathered on the ground. In the middle was a golden dragon carriage. It must be where the empress was.
However, Lin Ran was in his real identity now, so it was better for him not to show up on such an occasion. He hovered in midair and said in a deep voice, “The threat has been removed! Your Majesty, you can return to the palace now!”
With that, Lin Ran turned around and flew back to the palace. What he had to do next was to wait for everyone to go back to the palace.
However, this was not an easy task.
Even excluding the consorts, there were tens of thousands of eunuchs, guards, and palace maids. Coupled with all kinds of gold, silver, and clothes, it would be a few hours before they could enter the palace again and settle down.
Fortunately, the empress was smart. When she saw Lin Ran appear, she immediately changed her clothes and mixed in with the eunuchs coming and going. She rushed to Mingzhao Hall as quickly as possible.
“Lord Lin, how is it?”
As soon as the empress entered, she hurriedly asked. After saying that, she saw Xiao Huai standing beside Huo Qiyun and her face immediately revealed vigilance!
Before the empress could ask further, Lin Ran quickly said, “It’s a long story. In short, she’s on our side now. I’ll explain the details later. There’s an urgent matter that needs your help now.”
The empress looked at Xiao Huai warily, but out of trust for Lin Ran, she retracted her gaze and asked in a low voice, “What is it?”
“I want to borrow the Sacred Abyss Sword.”