A day later, Ning Chen finally left the steppes with little Ming Yue in tow and at long last, reached a Mongolian city.
However, the first thing they did wasn’t to admire the city sights but rather to find an inn, pay the lodging fee and leave straight for their room on the second floor.
Pulling up the nearby wooden stool, Ning Chen sat within his room, seemingly in a daze. What he needed to consider now was what to do after returning to Grand Xia; where should he go and who should he follow? Now that he had little Ming Yue with him, he would undoubtedly be the target of countless factions, especially the Xia Emperor who would definitely pursue him with dogged fervor.
Little Ming Yue on the other hand didn’t care about all that. Throwing herself onto the bed, she promptly dozed off snoring without a care in the world. After walking for so many days, her fatigue had reached a breaking point long ago.
As he continued mulling over this matter, Ning Chen couldn’t help but frown. He knew that his identity couldn’t be hidden for long, at the very least he knew of four people outside of the Mongolian Empire who had already guessed that he was the one who kidnapped the little Great Khan: Zhang Sun, the Man King, Fan Lingyue and the Xia Emperor!
In this world, the ones who understood you the best always included your enemies, Fan Lingyue and the Xia Emperor were the best proof of this.
Of the two, Fan Lingyue had to be lesser of two evils. Given that little Ming Yue was still in his hands, she would definitely think twice before acting. The biggest enemy for now was, ironically, the Xia Emperor. Who knows what that madman was capable of in a fit of maddened frenzy.
Without a doubt, the Xia Emperor had already set up nets above and snares below for him to jump into. Previously he sent out the Shadow guardsmen, this time, it would probably be the entire array of Shadow Dragon Guardsmen instead.
The Shadow Dragon Guardsmen of Grand Xia were at the very least eight-grade and above. As for the squad leaders, they had to be at least ninth-grade with some of them even being at the peak of ninth-grade.
Back then, he had Prince Yan to block the Shadow Dragon for him, this time however, he wasn’t that lucky.
In light of that, he needed a plan that would allow him to evade their pursuit. As of now, he could barely hold off a ninth-grade expert, anything more than that would require him to risk life and limb in order to do and he didn’t like risking his life or limb.
Right now, he and little Ming Yue were still in the Mongolian Empire so hardly anyone recognized him. However, whether or not that held true in Grand Xia was difficult to say. Back when he fought with the Zhenji emissary in palace, there were a number of people who saw him. Undoubtedly, there were a large number of Shadow Dragons who took that opportunity to note down his image.
Grand Xia and the Mongolian Empire bordered each other directly with only the Northern Plains separating the Mongolian Empire from Grand Xia’s Yangui City and Xinchao Pass. Now that Yangui had fallen to the Mongols, that region was basically impassable leaving only Xinchao Pass open for him to cross through. Even without giving it much thought, he knew that countless enemies were lying in wait for him there.
It was the most dangerous choice but it was also the only choice.
The only thing worth celebrating was that little Ming Yue was actually a girl and that saved him a great deal of trouble.
Everyone knew that the little Great Khan of the Mongols had been kidnapped so there were bound to be people in Xinchao Pass looking for a seven to eight year old boy with an unfamiliar man. As for little girls accompanied by middle-aged men, no one was bored enough to care about that
With that in mind, Ning Chen rose to his feet and prepared to hit the streets alone.
Naturally, he wasn’t worried at all about little Ming Yue running away. That little girl was extremely intelligent so she herself knew that there were more people in this world looking to catch her than save her.
In this world, there were only three places she could be absolutely safe: the Mongolian palace, right beside Fan Lingyue or right beside him.
The cities in the Mongolian Empire weren’t as prosperous as that of Grand Xia’s. In the end, it was much harder than expected for him to find the materials he wanted. Even so, he managed to procure all he needed after which he promptly returned to his room and began messing around in front of a mirror.
However, disguising oneself was a lot easier said than done. After four hours of botched attempts, he still didn’t manage to achieve the effect he wanted.
“You’re so clumsy.” Unbeknownst to him, little Ming Yue had already woken up and was quietly watching him from her bedside with a scornful smile on her lips.
She finally figured out why the bad man’s disguise was so ugly, so it wasn’t actually on purpose, his skills were just that bad.
Hearing that, Ning Chen felt a little ashamed himself, being spurned by a little girl like that was rather embarrassing. Looking at his own two hands, he couldn’t help but sigh to himself, truly they looked like a pair of feet.
“Let me help you there.” Ming Yue deftly put on her shoes, hopped off the bed and proceeded to relieve Ning Chen of the wax, rubber skin and razor in his hands. Ever so carefully, she begun cleaning up the mess on his face.
“How do you want your makeup done?”
“Something a little more mature is fine.”
As he said that, he sat there stock still, not daring to move a tiny bit lest she accidentally disfigure his face with that tiny razor.
Ming Yue naturally understood that as well. Face scrunched up in concentration, she carefully molded the wax and rubber on his face, inch by inch, centimeter by centimeter.
As she leaned in to perform her delicate task, her body had a faint milky scent from having just taken a bath. It was a pleasant fragrance that set one at ease and made them feel comfortable.
As facts would show, makeup would always be a realm that women trounced a man in. An hour later, little Ming Yue finally finished her work. Patting clean her hands and taking half a step back, she said in a satisfied voice, “Have a look for yourself.”
Turning around, Ning Chen looked into the hand mirror he left on the table and immediately, he sighed. Sometimes, comparing yourself to others was a such a tiring affair, how could the kid be so deft with her hands…
The middle-aged man reflected within had sharp pointed eyebrows with smidge of a crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes. However, that didn’t affect his appearance as a whole. Instead, it gave off a sense of maturity when one looked at him.
In other words, he was handsome!
“Amazing!” He gave her a big fat thumbs up.
“Of course.” Not knowing the meaning of the word humility, she unabashedly accepted the praise.
Waiting for a while longer, the rubber skin on his face finally dried up after which he peeled it off and stored it within his garments for another day. Turning his gaze to the outside, he found that the sun had already begun to set. “Hungry yet? Would you prefer to eat in the room or outside?”
“Let’s eat outside.” Giving it some thought, she finally extended her hands as she said so.
Seeing that, Ning Chen walked up and accepted her hand as if it was the most natural to do. The pair then proceeded down the stairs towards the dining hall.
By now, dinner time had just started and the tables were basically all taken up except for one. Both of them promptly sat down and placed an order with the waiter.
For the most part, Ning Chen wasn’t a picky eater. Little Ming Yue on the other hand was the polar opposite. However, that was only to be expected seeing as her meals weren’t lacking in delicacies ever since she became a Great Khan. Trying not to be picky was a tall task in of itself.
The moment the food arrived on the table, she merely took a few bites before laying down her chopsticks and directly criticizing it, “It doesn’t taste nice!”
Hearing that, Ning Chen’s head couldn’t help but ache. Exactly what did she expect him to do about that?
“How about you grill a fish for me instead?” She continued with that same puppy dog eyes she had a moment ago.
Ning Chen nodded his head in slight resignation. “Alright, wait here a moment and don’t go anywhere.”
Having said that, he got up and left for the kitchen behind the inn. The kitchen should have the fish he needed so all he had to do was make a quick purchase and grill the fish for little Ming Yue.
The back kitchen wasn’t that far off and Ning Chen merely had to walk for a couple of minutes before reaching it. Entering, he stated his purpose to the head chef in charge who readily accepted his proposal without any fuss.
To begin with, it wasn’t really an out of bounds request given that everyone had their own tastes and no matter how much of an expert chef he was, he couldn’t guarantee that everyone would like his food.
Reaching for the silvers in his pocket, he gratefully paid for the fish before getting down to business. He carefully prepared the fish after which he borrowed a stove and began grilling it.
“That little girl is your sister?” Asked the head chef as he continued frying his dishes.
“That’s right.”
“You’re a good man.” Praised the chef without any falseness in his voice.
“Hah.” Ning Chen merely laughed at that and said no more.
If he was a good man, then there were no bad men in this world. From the very start, he never tried to be a good man but only to be himself.
“I have a younger sister as well, she’s younger than me by three years. Back when we were kids, she used to be very mischievous. Once I couldn’t resist hitting her after which my mother lectured me. She said, why was an elder brother born before his sister, that was because he needed to grow up faster so as to protect his sister who came after. From that moment on, I never fought with my little sister ever again, unfortunately…” As he said that, his face turned solemn and he sighed lightly without continuing any further.
“My condolences.” Ning Chen gently comforted the man, his face just as solemn as the chef.
“I’m fine, that happened years ago already.” He wiped off the tears in his eyes before forcing out a smile.
“Treat her well, she isn’t a burden but your life’s honor.” His voice choked as he said that.
“Definitely.”
It wasn’t long before the fish was done and Ning Chen left the kitchen after thanking the head chef.
The little girl was probably anxiously waiting for her fish by now.
Yet just as he approached the dining hall, he suddenly heard the sound of plates shattering after which he was immediately struck with an ominous feeling. Quickening his pace, he rushed towards the dining hall where, upon witnessing the scene within, his face darkened.
Where their seats once were was a group of three lavishly dressed young men and one scantily clad woman. At the side, little Ming Yue could be seen stubbornly glaring at the group. Her large eyes were just as beautiful as always but were now filled with tears as she refused to leave.
Immediately, Ning Chen’s temper flared and his face darkened with every step he took. However, just as he was about to speak up, his eyes couldn’t help but narrow. It was only at this distance that he suddenly noticed the slightly red palm print on Ming Yue’s otherwise pearly white face.
Seeing that, his anger could no longer be suppressed. Eyes coldly sweeping over the remaining diners who were watching the spectacle play out while eating, he coldly declared, “Everyone please leave for now, I’m about to kill someone.”
At that, the hall fell silent. There were sounds of taunting but at the same time, there were those who noticed that the atmosphere wasn’t right and promptly left. However, the majority chose to stay.
Not caring about them anymore, he turned to the group of young men. What had to be said was already said, what happened after that wasn’t his responsibility.
*bang*
An instant later, a pale figure flashed across the hall. Palm raised, Ning Chen smashed the dining table with a furious palm strike while viciously stepping on one of the young men, all in one swift motion. Voice dripping with murderous intent, he said, “Speak, who was it that hit her.”
“Impudence, don’t you know who this young master is?” The fallen youth continued to struggle as he grimaced in pain.
“I don’t care who you are, even if the heavenly emperor descended right now, he still won’t be able to save you.”
Having said that, Ning Chen gave the young man a vicious kick and sent him flying out of the inn in a spray of blood that extended over three zhang (10m).
“It’s your turn now, speak, who did it.?”
He reached out and grabbed a blue shirt youth.
Eyes and body shaking with fear, he said stuttered, “You…”
Yet before he could finish talking, Ning Chen sent him flying out of the inn with another kick, staining the inn once more in the process.
“It’s her.”Finger pointing at the girl, the final youth anxiously spilled the beans the moment he saw Ning Chen’s deathly gaze turn towards him.
Hearing that, her eyes went wide with shock but just as she was about to deny it, Ning Chen reached out and strangled her.
“Speak, which hand did you use to hit her?” By now, the dangerous glint in his eyes had grown even more prominent.
Even so, the woman continued struggling and didn’t seem willing to speak at all.
At that, Ning Chen merely smiled coldly and applied even more pressure on his grip. He just loved people with tight lips.
Finally, her survival instincts began to take over as she felt her breathing grow harder. Instinctively, she raised her left arm and managed to force out these words, “This…this arm.”
*crack*
The moment she said that, all the diners could hear was a deafening crack that resounded across the entire dining hall. An instant later, the woman’s arm was forcefully broken in half and where the fracture occurred, one could see the grisly sight of her bones protruding her flesh.
Seeing that, a number of patrons couldn’t help but puke on the spot, face deathly pale as they did so.
