Chapter 100

Chapter 100

It was a dark night.

In the shadowy depths of the tunnel, Luo Jie lay restlessly tossing and turning on a simple straw mat. Even with his eyes closed, his thoughts raced wildly. The harder he tried to sleep, the more awake he felt.

"Is everyone asleep?"

Not wanting to wake anyone, Luo Jie asked in a soft voice.

"No, leader, not yet."

"Leader, show us the contract again."

"Leader, read the contract to us again!"

Sleep was hard to come by for almost everyone that night.

The demand to hear the contract grew louder, and Luo Jie, responding to their calls, cleared his throat and began reciting the contents from memory. He knew the contract by heart.

"We've witnessed the rainbow candy's power firsthand, but what role do the Mountain Gate Grand Array, angelica, and peaches play?"

Burning with curiosity, the second-class subjects faced the next day. Luo Jie and his group had returned late, leaving the contract unsigned. At dawn, Luo Jie assembled everyone to recount the night's events.

"Leader! You should've woken us for something this important! You let us sleep through it all!"

The second-class subjects, having missed the weapon haul, erupted in dismay.

How could they have slept through such a monumental event!

Luo Jie offered an awkward, polite smile.

He admitted his mistake, not wanting to disturb their rest before the impending battle.

"It's not too late. If everyone's in, I'll sign." Luo Jie scanned the group; met with eager nods, they urged him to sign.

Unable to resist asking one last question, "What if the Shennong Star Lord's a scam? We've little to lose. Independence comes first; then, we're unbeatable!"

"Exactly!"

Luo Jie steadied himself, a slight smile on his lips. "Alright."

He raised his hand and signed his name, glancing over the contract. Party B now read: Resistance Organization of Second-Class Subjects of Liuhong Star (15,000 people). He wondered how the contract knew their exact numbers so clearly.

Soon, the contract dissolved into white light. Everyone felt its binding force to varying degrees, with Luo Jie, as the leader, feeling it most strongly.

First the rainbow candy, now the mysterious power of the contract—Luo Jie vaguely sensed that the Shennong Star Lord was no ordinary figure. "He" seemed to wield an extraordinary and powerful force.

After signing, Yun Wan, sensing the added contract power, smiled as expected. Not long after, she received a visit from the Black Rock Bee messenger.

Before Yun Wan could take her next step, the Lord of Liuhong Star sent someone to inspect the room.

Opening the door, the inspector, dressed in black, asked sternly, "Sorry, guest, but the lord lost a batch of weapons last night. We need to search the room. Please cooperate."

Although he said "please," the soldier didn't wait for Yun Wan's consent and pushed past her to enter the room and start searching.

Yun Wan couldn't help but laugh. They had stopped her from going out last night, so they must have known she hadn't left her room and had nothing to do with the weapon theft. This search was clearly a pretext for something else, not about the stolen weapons.

Yun Wan didn't stop them, standing at the door with her arms crossed, letting them search openly.

The room was small, and it was obvious there were no weapons inside. The soldiers left without finding anything, muttering a half-hearted apology to Yun Wan before moving on to the next room.

Yun Wan had an idea and followed them out the door. The soldiers were heading to Lu Huai's room to search, and when they saw Yun Wan passing by, they gave her a sharp look.

"I'm going to wake up the young lady. She’s grumpy when she wakes up, and I'm afraid she might get angry and scold you if you disturb her," Yun Wan said without changing her expression.

The soldiers didn't stop her and continued to Lu Huai's room. Yun Wan swiftly entered Hao Li's room, where the beehive and the box containing angelica root were stored.

Yun Wan didn't want to reveal her spatial storage ability, so she had divided the angelica into two batches earlier.

The Lord of Liuhong Star was taking advantage of this opportunity to search, and he wouldn't let these two boxes go unnoticed.

Hao Li, aware of the Lord's intentions, asked worriedly, "What should we do, my lord?"

"Let the Black Rock Bees carry the angelica out first."

Yun Wan opened the box and released the Black Rock Bees. The Black Rock Bees were larger than ordinary bees, and each pair could carry one angelica root. With all the bees deployed, they managed to transport all the angelica away.

The two little messengers had barely returned before they flew out of Hao Li's room through the rear window, heading back to Yun Wan's room and entering the tunnel, making their way back to the second-class subjects' base.

When the soldiers pushed the door open, the last Black Rock Bee had just left. Yun Wan shut the window and glared at the uninvited soldiers. "Is this the hospitality of Liuhong Star? Entering someone's room without even knocking?"

The soldier ignored Yun Wan's icy glare, walked straight to her position, shot her a meaningful glance, and sneered as he pushed open the window. Outside, only the leaves swayed in the wind—nothing unusual.

"What? You here for the scenery?" Yun Wan chuckled.

The soldier had a bad feeling but couldn't catch Yun Wan in the act. He glared at her and proceeded with the search, noticing the nine large boxes in the room. "We need to check these. Open them up."

"These are Black Rock Bees. If you open them and they get agitated, I won't be responsible if they sting anyone," Hao Li said.

The more they resisted, the more the soldiers felt something was off and insisted that Hao Li open the boxes.

Hao Li, scowling, opened all nine boxes, revealing them to be empty.

The soldier frowned. "Where are the Black Rock Bees?"

Hao Li scoffed. "What a strange question. Bees, of course, are out gathering honey."

The soldier felt something was amiss but couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.

Finding nothing, the soldiers left frustrated.

But Yun Wan wasn't about to let them off so easily.

"Hey, you searched and came up empty. Aren't you going to give us an explanation?" she called out to the soldiers as they stepped over the threshold.

The soldier turned back. "We're just following orders. What do you want?"

"Following orders? Suspecting us of stealing weapons and searching our rooms without a word—is this how Liuhong Star treats its guests? I'd like to ask if this was your lord's idea!"

Yun Wan coldly brushed past the visibly upset soldier and headed straight to Cong Ao's residence. He was still washing his face when Yun Wan arrived with a stern expression. He put down the towel and asked, "What's wrong? Who has upset our guest?"

Cong Ao feigned ignorance, but Yun Wan wasn't in the mood for his act.

"Then maybe you should ask your own people. Wasn’t it you who sent them to search our rooms?"

"What? That actually happened?" Cong Ao exclaimed, glaring at the soldiers who arrived late. "Did they really disturb our guests?"

After receiving Yun Wan's confirmation, Cong Ao scolded, "What were you thinking? These are esteemed guests of Liuhong Star. Why disturb them for no reason?"

The soldiers stood respectfully and explained. Cong Ao tried to smooth things over, "Look, they were just scared of getting in trouble for losing their weapons. How about letting them off this time..."

It was clear Cong Ao had something up his sleeve, but Yun Wan wasn't planning to take it lying down. "Is that so? Who knows if you actually lost weapons, or if the Lord’s just messing with us..."

Cong Ao wanted to argue, but Hao Li interrupted him, "Seems like the Lord’s not being very sincere. We won't be able to proceed with this flower business..."

Cong Ao was unsure of Yun Wan and her companions' attitude and had intended to test them. However, after receiving a meaningful look from the soldiers, he changed his tone, "Get these guys out of here for causing trouble. Give them twenty lashes to appease our guests!"

After the soldiers were dragged away, he turned to Yun Wan with a gentle smile, "You happy now?"

Yun Wan crossed her arms, "Not bad. Where’s the whipping happening? I wanna see."

Cong Ao's friendly expression nearly faltered.

After pointing out the location, Yun Wan swaggered over to watch the punishment, adding fuel to the fire, "Make it hurt—they need to learn their lesson. We’re going easy on them this time, but if they mess with other nobles, they’ll be in real trouble. I'm doing this for your own good, right?"

"Yes," the soldiers had no choice but to obey under Yun Wan’s watchful gaze, and the lashes landed heavily on the searching soldiers. Yun Wan finally felt satisfied hearing their screams.

Returning to the room with Hao Li, Yun Wan explained, "The Lord of Liuhong Star probably doesn’t suspect us with the weapons—for now. We’ve gotta get that aid to the second-class subjects ASAP. The Lord is suspicious, and it's not safe to stay here long."

Once the Black Rock Bees came back from delivering the angelica, Yun Wan had them transport the Mountain Gate Grand Array, rainbow candies, peaches, and various vegetables, along with a thoughtful instruction manual.

Soon after, Cong Ao sent someone to invite them to check out some flowers. When they walked in, he greeted them with a big smile, and a row of servants stood before him, holding ten pots of uniquely shaped flowers.

"Why not let the Black Rock Bees check them out and see which ones they like?" Cong Ao suggested.

What a coincidence—the Black Rock Bees are out gathering nectar," Hao Li spoke for Yun Wan.

"Really? Isn’t Miss Hao supposed to be a bee expert? Can't you summon a couple back?" Cong Ao pressed.

Hao Li hesitated and glanced at Yun Wan, while Cong Ao's gaze locked onto her, as if certain she would speak.

Yun Wan chuckled, "You in a rush or something?"

Cong Ao also smiled, "No hurry, no hurry."

"Then let’s wait for our guests’ sake," Yun Wan decided, regardless of his agreement.

"Then let’s wait. But since you're here, I haven't properly entertained you. How about I treat you to a meal here today?"

Yun Wan finally caught on to Cong Ao’s game. All this grand setup was actually a trap.

"Sounds good to me. What do you think?" Yun Wan hadn't forgotten to keep up the act.

"Sure, what are we eating?" Hao Li asked.

Cong Ao signaled everyone to stay calm. Soon, servants brought in a large round table. After everyone was seated, a series of naturally delicious dishes were presented, all very familiar.

They were ordered from the Shennong Star restaurant.

Yun Wan sipped some water. It seemed this trap was aimed at her.