25. Little Auntie?
“Wait, wait a minute!”
Miss Gong, the patient, was listening to a little tune and singing along (not really), when she was suddenly sold off.
Yes, sold off.
Gong Muzhi and Qin Huaiqiu, who hadn’t even fully reconciled, came to her and, with a straight face, told her this crucial piece of information.
“Because your father and I are broke, you’ve been sold!”
Miss Gong almost choked.
My dear mother, although I know my father isn’t a rich man, how did our family suddenly run out of money? Weren’t we quite well-off?
And when did you get into so much debt that you have to sell your daughter?
“Mom, can you at least tell me how I was sold, and to whom…?” Gong Yiling muttered, bewildered. “Even if I’m being sold, I deserve to know the details.”
“About that, I can explain personally.”
Hearing this familiar voice, Gong Yiling immediately remembered where she had met this person.
Oh, right.
Wasn’t this the Pavilion Master from that… Pavilion? The one who knew the Hundred Objects, Not Predestined by the Heavens.
Good heavens, she had been wondering if this person was hiding some secret, and now she had just popped up.
“You’re the one from last time…”
“Long time no see, little girl.” Gong Musheng greeted her amiably. “You still remember me, right?”
“Who are you?”
“I wonder if my dear sister has mentioned my name to you.” Gong Musheng smiled. “My name is Gong Musheng. According to our family tree, you should call me ‘Little Auntie.'”
Gong Musheng… she had indeed seen this name in the book.
According to the original plot, after Gong Muzhi’s accidental death, the Pear Blossom Blood Orchid Palace had considered bringing someone from the main Gong family to be their leader, and that person was Gong Musheng.
However, later, Gong Yiling herself stepped up, and they abandoned the idea of inviting her.
“Little Auntie?” After figuring this out, Miss Gong couldn’t help but mutter angrily, “Why did you charge me for something you were selling me? Aren’t we family?”
Wow, this single sentence stunned Gong Musheng.
Paying for goods was a matter of course, but in this girl’s mouth, it sounded like she was the one who shouldn’t have charged her.
“You girl, I don’t know about your other skills, but you’re quite eloquent.” Gong Muzhi said, “That Eight Desolations Wind and Cloud Sword was left in our care by the previous Eight Desolations Sword Master. I just took it out to distract the Sword Alliance. I never thought you would actually buy it.”
“Actually, I was planning to find a way to ‘lose’ it, and then have it conveniently ‘found’ by my brother-in-law.”
Gong Muzhi: “Huh?”
Qin Huaiqiu: “What?”
Gong Yiling: “That works too?”
Gong Muzhi, coming to her senses, immediately asked, “Ling’er, how much did you spend on this sword?”
“Uh… a few thousand high-grade spirit crystals?” Having been throwing money around lately, Gong Yiling had forgotten how much she originally had. In short, it was a lot, and she had spent it all at once.
Although it was well worth it.
“Gong Musheng!!!” Hearing this, Gong Muzhi hadn’t even figured out how her daughter had so much money, but she immediately felt something was wrong.
“You took my savings as a gift, sold something that should have been a gift to Ah Qiu to my daughter at a high price, and now you have the nerve to ask me for money? Are you even human!?”
“Business is business. And the money didn’t go into my pocket. It’s a loan, and I even have to pay interest.” Gong Musheng shrugged. “And weren’t you two quite happy just now?”
So what was the deal that made these two agree to sell their daughter, and even act as lobbyists?
“I’ll be direct.”
Seeing Gong Yiling’s confusion, Gong Musheng got straight to the point. “I’m just borrowing you for a while, not for long. The benefit I offered them is that I’m confident I can temporarily suspend all cooperation between the auction house and the Hundred Paths Mountain.”
“And I also guarantee that you will enter an ancient secret realm, with me personally escorting you. As for how many benefits you can get from it, that’s up to you.”
An ancient secret realm!?
Hearing this, Gong Yiling’s interest was instantly piqued.
Ever since she came to this world, Miss Gong had never experienced what a real secret realm was like.
The most exciting places in Eastern fantasy, weren’t they the legendary secret realms?
Although there were many thrilling places in the book, and Yan Chuyue had experienced many of them, her strength had mostly improved in these secret realms.
It could be said that Gong Yiling herself also needed to go to these places to improve her spiritual energy reserves, and also find an opportunity to break through to the Soul Origin realm.
However, she already had the basic essence of the Soul Origin realm. All she needed was enough spiritual energy, and she could probably break through at any moment.
“Which ancient secret realm?” Gong Yiling couldn’t help but rub her hands together. “The Drunken Flower Dao, the Heavenly Embrace Pavilion, the Morning Cloud Gorge, or the Wind and Moon Sunken Sword Pond?”
“No one even knows how to enter those places you just mentioned.” Gong Musheng answered with a smile. “The place I’m taking you to is called the Hundred Ghosts Ridge.”
The Hundred Ghosts Ridge…?
Gong Yiling knew of this place, but she couldn’t remember where she had seen it.
In any case, it wasn’t a place Yan Chuyue had been to. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have forgotten it so completely.
As for where… she really couldn’t remember.
At this moment, she could rely on that guy to help her remember—”Get out here, System! I forgot where the Hundred Ghosts Ridge is.”
“Have you even read the book?” The system sighed helplessly. “Gong Yiling was able to quickly take charge of the Pear Blossom Blood Orchid Palace precisely because she had entered the Hundred Ghosts Ridge.”
“Oh, right!”
She remembered now. It was mentioned in Gong Yiling’s memoirs. Although no one knew what happened there, the Gong Yiling who emerged was a top-tier demoness.
