Wayfarer

Chapter 464: Dying of Embarrassment

The Netherworld Pope had managed to seize the three Yanluo Courts, while the Peach Buddha obtained the six pages of the Records.

"Peach Buddha, hand me those pages!" the Netherworld Pope roared.

The Peach Buddha, overjoyed by the success of its gambit, immediately turned to flee.

"Stop right there!" the Netherworld Pope hollered, chasing after him.

The two entities vanished from sight over the horizon as Xiao Nanfeng was completely dragged into the sea of blood-colored clouds.

Meanwhile, over in another part of the forest, Blue Lantern and Ye Dafu's crew lay hidden.

"Blue Lantern, we fled according to your orders, but what about His Majesty?" Ye Dafu asked in worry.

"His Majesty was arguing with the Netherworld Pope just now in order to give us an opportunity to flee. If we had left any later, we might have been forced to become cursed slaves again," Blue Lantern explained.

"Is this all part of His Majesty's plan? Why weren't we aware of it beforehand?" Ye Dafu asked.

"The crystal star map that the Netherworld Pope gave to His Majesty encoded natural law, which His Majesty was able to decode readily. He understood his intentions the moment he received the crystal," Blue Lantern replied.

"I saw the crystal myself, but it was just a mess of stars! How could anyone obtain any information from it?" Ye Dafu seemed bewildered.

"The Netherworld Pope underestimated His Majesty and thought he was just like you, incapable of reading these star maps. That's how he ended up falling prey to His Majesty's plans."

"His Majesty was able to uncover the Netherworld Pope's evil scheme just by glancing at these star maps?" Ye Dafu exclaimed.

"That's right. It's incredible, isn't it? Even I wasn't able to comprehend the star map fully at first. His Majesty had to specifically point it out to me before I noticed something abnormal—he had seen it from the very first glance."

"It looks like His Majesty is far more skilled at these star maps than you are..."

Blue Lantern fell silent. He didn't want to admit it, but it was the truth. He didn't know how Xiao Nanfeng, whom he had originally looked down on, had grown so quickly as to have surpassed even himself.

"If His Majesty knew that the Netherworld Pope had been plotting against us all along, why did we wait until now to hide?" Ye Dafu frowned.

"How would we hide? The Netherworld Pope can spy on us, so it wouldn't matter where we went. If he had discovered that we were acting suspiciously beforehand, he would surely have taken extreme measures against us—and none of us are a match for him. His Majesty had no choice but to go along with the plan while figuring out what to do with the Tiger Yanluo."

Ye Dafu widened his eyes. "When His Majesty fought in the capital of Yin, we were responsible for impersonating the Peach Buddha and attracting the attention of the Tiger Yanluo. Was that all a ploy to stall for time to make sure the Peach Buddha learned of the fight and came to spectate?"

"That's right. In addition, His Majesty's argument with the Netherworld Pope was meant to inveigle the Peach Buddha into action."

"The Peach Buddha really got a tremendous bargain out of this, didn't it?" Ye Dafu commented.

"There are still over three weeks before we can leave the Netherworld Palace. During this period of time, if we allow the Netherworld Pope alone to grow strong, none of us would be able to escape. We had no choice but to help out the Peach Buddha."

"But what's going to happen to His Majesty?"

"I don't know. He decided on this plan of action himself, so he may have a solution. What's more, there was no other option to prevent the Netherworld Pope from attacking us."

"What do we do now?"

"Let's hide and observe the Netherworld Pope take on the Peach Buddha from afar. We'll await news from His Majesty as well. If he manages to escape, he'll surely call on us."

"Alright."

Countless blood-colored chains dragged Xiao Nanfeng into the sea of blood-colored clouds. He was brought toward a blood-colored crystal wall, shining with red pinpricks of light. The wall was a huge star map writ large, with a tremendous number of natural laws encoded within it.

Xiao Nanfeng was dragged into the wall and seemingly sealed within. He was rendered immobile.

He tried all sorts of techniques to get out, including his candleflame abilities. However, the blood-colored chains prevented any form of escape.

He spent a full day experimenting with his bindings before he sighed. "These laws really are restrictive. I wonder how the Netherworld Pope managed to make me into his substitute? Do I really have to understand all the natural laws present here? It took the Netherworld Pope a hundred thousand years. How long will it take me?"

He sighed and smiled wryly as he glanced at the countless red pinpricks of light. He had no other choice.

Just then, a female voice could be heard from close by. "And here I thought you were a good schemer. Was being caught and rendered helpless part of your plan, too? Haha!"

The woman's voice was magnetic and particularly pleasant to the ear, though her words were slightly mocking.

Xiao Nanfeng turned to see a woman of incredible beauty giving him a sly smile.

"Madam Rouge! You've finally made it." Xiao Nanfeng smiled in relief.

The woman was none other than Madam Rouge, who had remained in Xiao Nanfeng's mindscape in the form of a skeleton before Xiao Nanfeng helped her reclaim her mirror cursed spiritual avatar within the draconic palace. She even helped Xiao Nanfeng meld his red rope cursed effigy into his red moon. Since then, she had been off dealing with her own affairs.

"So there are times when even you need my help." Madam Rouge smiled.

"I destroyed that mirror of truth containing your cursed spiritual power, not expecting that you really would be able to sense that alert. That peach tree only started bothering me because of you. It's related to you, so I had to attempt to contact you," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

"Oh? Didn't you enter the Netherworld Palace to search for your lover?" Madam Rouge replied, clear disbelief in her tone.

"What lover? No such thing," Xiao Nanfeng replied immediately.

"Hmm? Who was hugging and kissing you at the mouth of the abyss, then?" Madam Rouge's smile deepened.

Xiao Nanfeng froze. How had Madam Rouge learned of Lady Yaoguang's actions at the mouth of the abyss?

"That's not important. Right, when did you show up?" Xiao Nanfeng changed the topic immediately.

"Right when you smashed the mirror of truth."

Xiao Nanfeng was taken aback. "That quickly? I was only able to send word to you while the Peach Buddha was fighting against the Rabbit Yanluo and unable to spare any attention to me, but you arrived almost right after!"

"What's wrong? Are you complaining that I got here too quickly?" Madam Rouge asked with a smile.

"No, no! I just didn't expect it," Xiao Nanfeng replied, wincing.

At most two hours had passed since the start of the fight between the Peach Buddha and Rabbit Yanluo and Lady Yaoguang's forced kiss. How could Madam Rouge have rushed over to him so quickly?

"Were you just watching while the Peach Buddha chased me?" Xiao Nanfeng grumbled.

"Not quite. I was watching you while having some food and enjoying the show," Madam Rogue replied, smiling.

Xiao Nanfeng's face stiffened. "Then you overheard my conversation with the Peach Buddha?"

He had deliberately made up nonsense in order to provoke the Peach Buddha, saying that Madam Rouge was his woman, that they shared a deep bond, and all sorts of other mushy things besides. Had Madam Rouge heard all that?

"Of course I did. You made everything sound so exciting. I could hardly miss it! All you ever did was try to hoodwink me, and this was a rare opportunity for me to see you try to hoodwink others. Shouldn't I learn from you?" Madam Rouge's mischievous smile was particularly attractive.

Xiao Nanfeng sighed, knowing that Madam Rouge was deliberately poking fun at him.

"Of course, I do feel a bit regretful." Madam Rouge sighed.

"What?"

"You told it that you dedicated a love song to me—what was it called? Ah, I remember. The Moon Represents My Heart. You were even going to sing it, but it refused to listen to you and interrupted you. What a pity! I didn't get a chance to listen to it, either"

Xiao Nanfeng: ...

"Come on, sing it for me. I'd like to hear it." Madam Rouge waited expectantly.

"You were aware of the situation, Madam Rouge—I was just trying to provoke the Peach Buddha. Please don't take it seriously." Xiao Nanfeng chuckled nervously.

"That won't do. If you don't let me hear it, I won't rescue you," Madam Rouge replied immediately.

Xiao Nanfeng gave her an odd look. "It's a little awkward for me to do so, and it's rather tawdry..."

"Oho? Does this song really exist, then? You even made up a song in order to trick the Peach Buddha? What incredible attention to detail. Come on, sing it for me! I was joking around just now, but this is an unexpected surprise. Do it!" Madam Rouge was so excited that her cheeks flushed red.

Xiao Nanfeng scowled. Was Madam Rouge here specifically to cause trouble?

"Come on! I'm not even upset at you about what happened with Yaoguang, so why are you being so hesitant about this? There's no one else here but the two of us. Sing it for me, won't you? Treat it like a gift to welcome me back," Madam Rouge persuaded, sounding just like Xiao Nanfeng in the past when he was trying to trick her.

Xiao Nanfeng gave her a glum look. "We're not the only two here. Senior Black Lotus is in my mindscape, along with the superior yin pearl. I'd die of embarrassment!"

Madam Rouge immediately said, "They just sent me a mental transmission promising not to listen in."

Xiao Nanfeng's face twitched. Madam Rouge just made that up, didn't she?

"Come on! Aren't you supposed to be more assertive and direct as a ruler? I came all this way to help you out. Why won't you sing me this song as thanks? Do you have so many women in your harem now that you're unwilling to do even this for me?"

Xiao Nanfeng sighed. Why had he chosen this song? He had dug a hole for himself!

Upon seeing Madam Rouge's eager, expectant gaze, Xiao Nanfeng had no choice but to give in. It was just a single song, after all. If he refused to be embarrassed about it, then surely Madam Rouge was the one who would be.

"Ask me how deeply I love you ? And just how great my love is ? My affection is real ? My love is true ?..." Xiao Nanfeng began to sing.

Madam Rouge gaped. Her eyes were wide open in astonishment. She thought to herself, "Is he really going to sing? What a foolish song—no, what a mushy song! Is he teasing me? I should give him a beating! But these lyrics do resonate with my heart. Whatever should I do?"