Tome of Troubled Times-Chapter 890 (2): Hit Me if You’ve Got the Guts

Zhao Changhe had fought alongside River of Stars countless times, but never like this, in such literal fashion. It was unexpectedly satisfying. Normally, if a cultivator of his level tried to flee, it would be hard to stop them. But with his daughter teaming up in this way, it had been as easy as flicking dust from his sleeve.

That blind woman is useless. It’s only my daughter that I can truly count on. As they say, father and daughter make the best battlefield companions.

Looking down, Zhao Changhe saw the Heavenly Sword Venerable tumbling through the clouds below, blood soaking the skies as he howled in agony, “Who... are you people?!”

Zhao Changhe descended, landing lightly on the clouds. He crouched beside the Heavenly Sword Venerable, lightly slapping his face. “We only came here to give our daughter some experience. I thought we’d stop by and ask whether you were selling that Void-Shattering Star Iron of yours. But the moment we showed up, you tried to steal my daughter. Is that how you treat your guests?”

I was trying to take the sword, not your daughter... The Heavenly Sword Venerable groaned inwardly, but pain and regret left him too drained for protest. “If I hand over the Void-Shattering Star Iron, would you spare my life?”

Zhao Changhe chuckled. “Do I look like an idiot to you?”

The Heavenly Sword Venerable said, desperation rising within him, “It’s not on me. Even if you take my storage ring, it won’t help you.”

“No matter,” Zhao Changhe replied calmly. “I only needed to confirm you do have it and someone wasn’t lying to me. That alone is enough.”

And with that, the saber fell.

“W-Wait—” The words were barely out of his mouth before his head rolled from his shoulders.

Even Ling Ruoyu was taken aback by how ruthless her father was. “Weren’t we after the Void-Shattering Star Iron? Now that you’ve killed him, where are we supposed to find it?”

Zhao Changhe rubbed her head. “He tried to lay a hand on my little Ruoyu. You think I’d let that go just for a piece of material?”

She blinked. “But Birdy’s the one who needs the Void-Shattering Star Iron...”

Ah, there it was—the subtle jab aimed squarely at Dragon Bird. See? Dad cares more about me than you.

Zhao Changhe could not help but laugh. “He’s our enemy. You don’t spare a tiger because you want its fur. As for the material? We’ll find another way. Time to teach you a little jianghu common sense.”

With that, he yanked off the Heavenly Sword Venerable’s storage ring and swept through it with his divine sense. Indeed, there were plenty of materials inside, but nothing that fit the criterion of “indestructible.”

He was not surprised.

Still holding the man’s severed head, Zhao Changhe returned to the city and strode straight into the shop where they had made their earlier inquiries. Without ceremony, he tossed the head onto the counter. “Does he look familiar?”

The shopkeeper stared, wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

They had only just received news that the Hall of Heroes had been destroyed and were preparing a meeting to discuss striking back against Heavenly Sword Mountain. But in the span of a few short breaths, the Heavenly Sword Venerable himself was already dead, and his head was now on the counter like a normal cabbage.

All they had done was try to cause him some trouble. Who could have imagined that this would be the outcome?

This Wanderer of the Night is too terrifying. When did such a monster appear in the world? And why has no one ever heard of him before?

Watching the shopkeeper stand there in stunned silence, Zhao Changhe smiled. “Well, anyway, he’s dead now. I’m guessing you folks won’t let his faction off the hook either, will you?”

The shopkeeper wiped the sweat from his brow. “Y-yes, of course.”

“You’re preparing to attack his faction anyway,” Zhao Changhe said, “so naturally, you’ll claim his assets. I’m trading this head for the Void-Shattering Star Iron, is that enough?”

“More than enough,” the shopkeeper replied hurriedly, forcing a smile. “Senior, I must apologize for using you to stir up trouble with the Heavenly Sword Venerable earlier...”

Zhao Changhe waved it off. “No matter, no matter. You told me where the Void-Shattering Star Iron was, and you didn’t lie. I asked if you had bad blood with him, and you didn’t lie there either. We both knew what that meant. That’s not manipulation. I’ll wait here. Bring me the Void-Shattering Star Iron before sundown. After this, the mountains and rivers are vast, so we’re unlikely to cross paths again.”

The shopkeeper let out a long breath of relief and cupped his hands respectfully. “Senior, you are welcome to rest in the courtyard. We will not disappoint.”

Ling Ruoyu watched the shopkeeper hurry away and blinked in disbelief. “That’s it? It’s over?”

“Unless something unexpected happens, that’s it,” Zhao Changhe said, following the shop assistant toward the back. He smiled. “I told him there’d be no second meeting. He’ll understand what that means. There won’t be any further dealings between us, so he has every reason to treat this transaction with care. When you wander the jianghu, Ruoyu, it’s not about brute forcing everything. That’ll only end up making you enemies after enemies. You have to remember that your enemies also have enemies, okay?”

Ling Ruoyu suddenly felt like she understood how he’d ended up with so many wives...

Wait, where’s Mom?

She turned to look around and saw that Ye Wuming had been standing behind her the whole time, a rare flicker of guilt in her gaze.

“What are you looking at her for?” Zhao Changhe had already made himself comfortable at a stone table in the courtyard, casually pouring himself a cup of immortal wine. “She was furious seeing you get bullied. She really wanted to jump in, but she was terrified of provoking this world’s Heavenly Dao. She held herself back with all her might. What else is there to say?”

Ye Wuming said nothing.

Zhao Changhe gave her a sidelong glance. “Still think you’ve got a case for custody?”

Ye Wuming huffed. “If I had intervened and drawn out this world’s Heavenly Dao, it wouldn’t have been a matter of victory or defeat. We’d have attracted enemies of our own. We’re not prepared for that yet. Besides, an all-out clash would’ve been disastrous for Ruoyu.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Zhao Changhe muttered, not bothering to argue. He poured another cup and handed it to Ling Ruoyu. “Come, taste this wine. See how it compares to what we’re used to.”

Ling Ruoyu took a sip, her eyes curving into happy crescents. “It’s delicious. And so rich in spirit qi.”

“Well, this is a high-tier region,” Zhao Changhe mused, swirling his cup. “Even the villains are just shy of slipping from my grasp. In our world, we’ve already run out of enemies at this level.”

He sipped thoughtfully, analyzing the wine’s composition. After a while, he sighed. “Aside from the base ingredients being slightly different, wine is still wine. It’s just like the battles here. Even though it might come in different forms, at the end of the day, all that matters is power.”

Ye Wuming nodded. “Of course. Though here, they rely far more on external forces, an endless array of treasures and artifacts. It makes crossing power thresholds far easier than back home.”

Zhao Changhe tossed her the ring he had taken earlier. “There’s a lot of stuff in here. Go through it. See if any of these artifacts suit us—or, more precisely, anyone in our group. You know what I mean.”

Ye Wuming arched her brow. “Why should I help pick things for them?”

Zhao Changhe rolled his eyes. “Why, for the final showdown with the Heavenly Dao. Are you going to help or not?”

Ye Wuming said coolly, “We won’t need that many people. Artifacts like that Heaven and Earth Hall earlier that act indiscriminately in area and intensity are actually pretty common to run into at our level. Weaker cultivators joining a fight like that would be pointless.”

Zhao Changhe latched onto that. “So what you’re really saying is that you agree to join forces with them?”

Ye Wuming tilted her head slightly but said nothing, simply taking the ring to examine its contents.

If she could not break through that final veil alone, she would have little choice but to join forces... especially with Jiuyou.

Thirty years ago, Zhao Changhe’s arrow had stirred the hornet’s nest. Everything could have ended there, yet he had insisted on kicking the wheel of fate forward. But then again, he had done it to protect her life. He had slept for thirty years afterward... and as much as she might feel that arrow was reckless, complaining about it now would just be petty. She could not bring herself to say it. If anything, she owed him thanks.

However, neither of them mentioned it. They both tacitly avoided the subject because they both knew that Zhao Changhe had not saved her life out of pure benevolence. Bring that into the conversation, and the whole thing would derail.

“The Heavenly Sword Venerable was quite wealthy. There are a few items in here that could suit the others. I’ll label them accordingly. When the time comes, you can teach them how to use it...” She glanced sideways at Zhao Changhe, and then added, “Actually, you don’t even know how to use artifacts properly. Want me to teach you?”

“How are you going to be teaching me?” Zhao Changhe blinked. “Like how Wanzhuang taught me to play the zither? Hand over hand? That, I’d try. But that tapping or touching my spiritual platform thing? Yeah, I’ll pass.”

Ye Wuming’s expression tightened. “Can you stop flirting for one damn second? We’re talking about serious matters here!”

Zhao Changhe went quiet for a moment. Then, quite sincerely, he said, “Don’t you realize? Flirting with you without you being able to flip the table... That is the most serious matter I’ve had since I transmigrated.”

Ye Wuming’s brows shot up.

Ling Ruoyu quietly scooted her stool back a little.

You two really are just like an estranged husband and wife... Wait, you aren’t even husband and wife. But seriously, do you have to flirt like this every other breath? This is so going to end in a fight... Actually, nevermind, Mom probably wouldn’t dare start a fight here. She’s afraid of drawing this world’s Heavenly Dao...

Just as that thought crossed her mind, Zhao Changhe calmly reached out and took Ye Wuming’s hand. “Go ahead. Hit me if you’ve got the guts.”