Chapter 498: Chapter 226: 5 Times!?

’Miao Feichan was hunted by Night Rain Tower, and over four thousand of their disciples flooded the Eastern Domain. But that was only a threefold job...’

’This trip is actually fivefold?’

He looked at Luo Shuqing again. It seemed this whole business with the Profound Celestial Iron Mirror was a bigger deal than he’d thought.

’Just how many people in the entire East Sea want Luo Shuqing dead now?’

But whether it was fourfold or fivefold, Fang Shuwen was confident he could clear any path before him.

So he simply nodded.

"Take care of whatever you need to, and come to One Square House tomorrow morning.

"We set sail tomorrow."

"Y-You agreed? This is wonderful!!"

Luo Shuqing was instantly overjoyed. She clenched her hands into little fists and nearly jumped for joy.

Xu Zhiyin was also quite pleased to see this, but she still took out the contract she and Fang Shuwen had discussed yesterday for him to sign and seal.

Fang Shuwen glanced over it, saw no issues, and wrote his name.

Xu Zhiyin and Luo Shuqing took their leave, and the shop instantly grew quiet.

Zhou Qingmei stood with her arms crossed, looking at Fang Shuwen.

Fang Shuwen sensed something was off about her gaze and glanced at her, only to see the girl pouting, a rare sight.

"Is there another reason you’re not letting me come with you?"

Fang Shuwen let out a soft chuckle.

"What reason do you think it is?"

"How should I know..."

Zhou Qingmei lowered her head, her voice quiet, the rims of her eyes turning slightly red.

Fang Shuwen reached out and gently pinched her nose.

"Don’t let your imagination run wild. There’s only one reason I’m not taking you: this journey is dangerous.

"As for what you’re thinking... that’s definitely not going to happen."

"My master says that a man’s words can’t be trusted."

"Your master has never even had a man, so what does she know about men?

"So, you can’t believe what she says."

Zhou Qingmei paused, feeling that Fang Shuwen’s words weren’t entirely without reason.

But the next moment, her face suddenly flushed red as she asked:

"Then... do I have a man?"

Fang Shuwen simply pulled her into his arms.

"What do you think?"

"I want to hear you say it."

Zhou Qingmei was a little shy. The shop door was wide open, and pedestrians were passing right by.

Even for a woman of the Jianghu, she was still an unmarried maiden. Such intimacy inevitably made her blush.

Yet she stubbornly wanted an answer from Fang Shuwen’s lips—or a promise.

Fang Shuwen nodded gently.

"I am your man."

The words were so direct that Zhou Qingmei felt a little breathless.

She could only shrink into Fang Shuwen’s embrace like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.

So much so that she didn’t even notice when Fang Shuwen swept his sleeve and the shop door swung shut.

She then heard Fang Shuwen’s voice by her ear:

"When I return, don’t forget to have your father host a welcome-back feast for me."

Zhou Qingmei suddenly looked up, her eyes glistening and filled with boundless, hidden joy.

She knew Fang Shuwen was smart; he wouldn’t have misunderstood her father’s intentions from the previous night.

By bringing it up himself, he was making a promise.

Joy overcame her shyness, and she looked up and gave Fang Shuwen a peck on the cheek.

Fang Shuwen’s heart skipped a beat. A man who was no longer a stranger to carnal pleasures often saw his self-control plummet by more than ninety percent.

The woman in his arms was irresistibly beautiful. He held back for a long moment, but his self-control finally failed him. He couldn’t help but lower his head, silencing all the words she had yet to speak...

...

...

One Square House wasn’t closed for long.

Fang Shuwen soon emerged from the shop with Zhou Qingmei and locked the door behind them.

He still had things to do today, so he couldn’t exactly ’practice’ with Zhou Qingmei.

Besides, Zhou Qingmei was different from Yu Yaoguang and Miao Feichan.

Yu Yaoguang was already the master of her own house, and Miao Feichan could also make her own decisions.

But Zhou Qingmei’s father was still around, and her master was alive and well at Zhuji Pavilion.

For him to ’practice’ with Zhou Qingmei just like that, without a word to anyone, would be improper.

And putting all that aside, their first time ’practicing’ couldn’t be in One Square House. That would be too rash. So, this time, they had only dipped a toe in the water.

Afterward, Fang Shuwen found Zhou Zhengze.

The young man, sent by Chen Qi as a messenger, had followed Fang Shuwen’s instructions and been waiting in Julu City ever since.

Though burning with impatience, he hadn’t disturbed Fang Shuwen.

He only came to meet him once Fang Shuwen sought him out.

When he heard Fang Shuwen say they would set out tomorrow, his face lit up with joyful surprise.

However, Fang Shuwen hadn’t come just to inform him. He also asked for a sea chart and studied the voyage route with him.

Zhou Zhengze told Fang Shuwen that there were two ways to travel by sea.

The first was to use one’s own ship. As long as you had a sea chart and enough food and water, you could travel freely.

The downside was that this unstructured approach could easily attract the attention of pirates and various other powers.

The powers on the sea were complex. Some had claimed islands and crowned themselves kings, some islands had formed alliances with one another, and notorious pirates roamed the various seas. Then there were Forbidden Lands like Celestial Water Palace and Qingxiao Pavilion, which were even more trouble to provoke.

Zhou Zhengze told Fang Shuwen that these long-established Forbidden Lands of the sea all had their own secret rules.

Dragon Emperor Hall, despite claiming a territory of a thousand-li of sea, was also unwilling to provoke these entities lightly.

Moreover, Dragon Emperor Hall was located deep in the East Sea. If they barged in rashly, even if they could annihilate the powers blocking their path, they would still alert the Undying Dragon Emperor.

Alerting him wasn’t the main concern; after all, the Undying Dragon Emperor was constrained by the Dragon Gate and couldn’t escape.

The real fear was accidentally exposing Chen Qi. By the time Fang Shuwen arrived, all he’d be able to do is collect the rebellious Young Venerable’s corpse.

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