The Stunning Mad Empress: The Useless Third Miss - Chapter 21

Time flew by, and as twilight approached, the sky began to darken.

Xiao Qingcheng remained patiently crouched on the treetop, observing the situation in the distance.

“Yu, I saw a small pond over there just now. How about… we go soak there tonight?”

“No, let’s not cause any trouble tonight. Qingxue, go back to the tent and rest well.”

…

Xiao Qingcheng couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle, seeing the pale and sallow face of Xiao Qingxue in the distance.

“Master, are we going to make a move now?” Little Pearl asked, looking as serious as if she were heading into battle, her teeth clenched, cheeks puffed out, and white fur bristling.

Xiao Qingcheng, tickled by Little Pearl’s adorable appearance, felt even more inclined to laugh. She reached out and pinched Little Pearl’s soft fur, replying, “Wait a bit longer!”

With that, Xiao Qingcheng gathered her inner strength and began to leap swiftly from treetop to treetop. The agile Xiao Qingcheng only stopped when she was just thirty meters away from Xiao Qingxue and her group.

“Master, the guards have started their patrol. We won’t be able to get through, right?” Little Pearl hiding behind Xiao Qingcheng’s hair, asked worriedly.

“Don’t worry. I’ve undone their sashes and sprinkled some poison. No one will pay attention to us now. Here, let me give you a black dress,” Xiao Qingcheng said.

Upon hearing this, Little Pearl quickly took out the dress from her personal space. Xiao Qingcheng took two poisonous plants from her small bag, crushed them, and mixed them together. She then swiftly changed her clothes on the treetop and, like a gust of wind, approached the group of guards with an eerie gait.

As the wind passed,

the leaves rustled.

A peculiar fragrance began to spread among the patrolling guards.

“What’s that smell? So fragrant?”

“Probably the flowers in the forest. What’s the fuss about?”

“Huh? Where’s your clothes? Did your pants fall off?”

“Huh? You too!”

…

In no time, Xiao Qingcheng, with her face covered, slipped through the layers of patrolling guards. Little Pearl, hiding in Xiao Qingcheng’s hair, was now laughing uncontrollably.

“Hahaha, first poison them, then steal their sashes. Haha, clothes are scattered all over the ground. Haha…”

“Keep it down, or you’ll draw attention,” Xiao Qingcheng said, flicking Little Pearl on her back.

Taking one last look at the group of guards who were now grappling with each other on the ground, Xiao Qingcheng curled her lips into a sinister smile and then vanished into the night.

At that moment, Xiao Qingxue, who was dozing in her tent, suddenly sensed a movement outside.

“Who’s there?”

Xiao Qingxue, who had abruptly sat up, didn’t get to say another word before she was knocked unconscious by a gust of wind that lifted the corner of the tent.

Xiao Qingcheng, who had just sprinkled the powder, effortlessly took the rare fruit, the size of an egg, green and furry, from Xiao Qingxue’s chest.

She brought it to her nose and sniffed, nodding in approval: “Hmm, it smells quite nice.”

Little Pearl, suppressing her drool, said with a ingratiating look: “Master, Master, let’s go get another one. This one is for you, but Little Pearl wants one too.”

Xiao Qingcheng raised an eyebrow: “Do you need to enhance your cultivation?”

Little Pearl shook her head: “Not really. But eating the rare fruit is still very beneficial for my cultivation. And this thing, it tastes particularly good. Back when I was with the Esteemed One, I often got to eat it.

Ever since I made a mistake and left, it’s been a long time since I last had one.”

Xiao Qingcheng, hearing the information-rich words, chuckled: “Then when you go back, ask him for some.”

Little Pearl stretched out her claws and hugged Xiao Qingcheng’s neck coquettishly: “Master, the dearest and most lovely master, can we go get another one? I really want to eat one. If I consume enough heavenly treasures, I’ll become strong very quickly.

Then I’ll be able to turn into a dragon and fly with you.”

“Fly? You’d be more likely to roll along,” Xiao Qingcheng said, looking at the round, chubby Little Pearl and giving her a good ruffling.

However, despite her tough talk, Xiao Qingcheng had a soft heart.

She could be completely selfless when it came to her own people.

Of course, when it came to enemies, she could be as ruthless as needed!

Since Little Pearl had begged so hard for it, she naturally had no reason to refuse.

After successfully getting the rare fruit from Xiao Qingxue, Xiao Qingcheng quietly made her way to Nan Gongyu’s tent.

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse, with shadows moving about.

In the pitch-black night, a petite figure darted between the swaying tree shadows.

“Master, the smell in this tent is so strong. The rare fruit is here, right here!”

Excited, Little Pearl  flew out from Xiao Qingcheng’s shoulder in a flash.

“Little Pearl!”

Xiao Qingcheng quickly followed.

One after the other, two figures—one white and one black, one small and one large—swiftly flew into the tent.

“Help, Master!”

Little Pearl, who had flown in first, charged straight towards the smell of the rare fruit, only to be caught in a delicate mechanical box.

The moment Xiao Qingcheng flipped into the tent, she sensed the strangeness of the place.

Narrowing her eyes and with a cold expression, Xiao Qingcheng looked around the tent. After nimbly leaping over some extremely thin wires, she finally landed steadily in front of Little Pearl.

Lowering her gaze slightly, Xiao Qingcheng stared at the black iron box on the octagonal sandalwood high-legged table.

This box was far inferior to the one she had seen below the pit and by the mountain stream waterfall. However, if it were placed in Xiao Family Town, one might not find such an exquisitely crafted box even if they turned the entire town upside down.

“Master, Master, save me! Save me!”

Little Pearl, trapped in the box’s seam, kept waving her short legs and looked at Xiao Qingcheng with tearful eyes.

Xiao Qingcheng, narrowing her eyes, pondered for a moment before speaking: “Don’t move. There’s something wrong with the angle of this box’s seam; if you move, you might get pulled in and turned into soup!”

After scaring Little Pearl  a bit, Xiao Qingcheng reached behind her waist and took out an extremely sharp dagger.

“Two feet long, four inches wide, and one foot high. The box is made of refined iron used for forging weapons. Nan Gongyu is clever to use this to store treasures.”

“Uuu, Master, hurry up. Will this box have any mechanism that could alert people outside?”

Little Pearl wiped her tears with one hand and complained to Xiao Qingcheng with a sense of hopelessness.

“Don’t move.”

Suddenly, “Ring ring ring!” came a sound!

A special copper bell was attached to the back of the box. Inside the bell was a bug, which seemed to have sensed something and began to shake frantically.