Chapter 292 - Queen Rao Xue

Chapter 292: Chapter 47 Queen Rao XueLu Hong felt as if he had been asleep for a long time, a very long time.

He dreamt that he was running frantically in endless darkness, with no light in sight. He kept running, trying to find an exit.

At last, a faint light appeared ahead, and Lu Hong seized this opportunity to sprint toward it. Breaking the dark shackles in the dim light, he opened his eyes.

"Miss, he’s awake, he’s finally awake!" the old butler exclaimed excitedly.

"Alright, alright, stop shouting. I’m coming over." The girl walked over to Lu Hong and patted his bewildered head, asking, "So? Do you know who you are?"

"I... I know," Lu Hong asked hoarsely, "Did you save me?"

"Nonsense," the girl retorted with a pout, "If it weren’t for me, you would have died in the wildfire long ago."

"Thank you." Lu Hong thanked her sincerely. Honestly, surviving the hands of the Holy Court’s bishop was nothing short of a miracle.

"You’re welcome." The girl then pulled out a thick list and began roughly calculating before saying, "Saving you cost me quite a bit of money, a sum you’ll never be able to repay in this lifetime. The butler is getting old, so you might as well take his place and serve the Raoxue family loyally."

"Sorry, I still have... cough, cough!" A violent cough erupted from Lu Hong, his lungs damaged by the iron nails, making recovery not so easy.

"What’s with the apologies? There’s no need for that. Serving the Queen of Raoxue is an honor of a lifetime for you. Enjoy this supreme grace." The girl patted Lu Hong’s shoulder, then walked away, seemingly pleased with herself for gaining a new subordinate.

"This...," Lu Hong looked helplessly at the old butler.

"Hehe," the old butler chuckled, "The miss is right. Serving the Queen of Raoxue is a blessing for you. I’m getting old, and I hope you can take good care of her in my place."

The old butler, mimicking the girl, patted Lu Hong’s shoulder, "You better rest for a few days. When you can get out of bed and move, I will teach you how to handle the household chores."

"I... cough, cough... cough, cough!" Amidst Lu Hong’s coughing, the old butler also left.

What was all this? Being made a butler? You’ve got to be kidding.

However, Lu Hong reconsidered, the Queen of Raoxue? That sounded quite impressive. He hadn’t realized the young girl had such a significant background.

And so, a week hurried by, and Lu Hong could finally get out of bed. The girl clearly didn’t pity Lu Hong’s injuries much, as she immediately arranged for him to take over the household duties, starting from cooking and cleaning, slowly replacing the old butler.

"Hey! I’ve said it, I have important matters to attend to. I can write you an IOU for the money you spent on my treatment, and I’m not your servant, you can’t just... hey, hey, don’t grab the whip, let’s talk this over peacefully!"

As he pushed open the girl’s room door once again, Lu Hong made his plea, but the girl, who was changing her undergarments, obviously wasn’t listening. She grabbed a whip and lashed it fiercely, "I told you to knock! I told you not to peek while I’m changing clothes! Seeking death?"

"Don’t... don’t hit, don’t hit!" Lu Hong’s vitality had been drained by the iron nails. Now he was no stronger than an ordinary person, and the girl’s whipping made him scream.

"Hmph!" After venting her frustration, the girl, dressed in full attire, looked coldly at Lu Hong, "Is tonight’s dinner ready? I’m expecting guests, and if anything goes wrong tonight, I will hang you from the city tower and starve you for three days and nights!"

"I told you I don’t do menial tasks!" Lu Hong snapped back, "I have important things to do, and I can’t afford any delay!"

"Important matters?" The girl leaned in and whispered softly, "Your injuries come from the Holy Court’s Seven Sins. That sensation of iron nails piercing the flesh is not pleasant."

The girl narrowed her eyes, "You should know, most people can’t enjoy such treatment. Being pursued by a bishop of the Holy Court, you must have committed a great transgression. As a fugitive of the Eagle Alliance, no place other than here can shelter you. I advise you to stay here as a mortal; surviving the Seven Sins is already a stroke of great luck. Don’t even think about regaining your strength this lifetime, and moreover...,"

The girl paused and took out a medallion from her bosom, engraved with two golden swords, "I’m also from the Holy Court, affiliated with the Tribunal. Don’t want it? Shall I turn you over for execution by fire?"

These words silenced Lu Hong. It seemed the girl had long known everything, and was merely not pursuing it. Affiliated with the Holy Court Tribunal, Lu Hong definitely couldn’t let her know he was from the Empire. Once exposed, he would inevitably be sentenced to death. The Eagle Alliance would not let a person from the Empire live peacefully on their territory.

What to do? The girl’s words caught Lu Hong off guard. Having lost his power, for now he had no choice but to temporarily stay in the girl’s city. The only way out was to find a way to restore his strength so he could leave.

"Are you not going to prepare dinner yet?!" The girl shouted and then hurriedly left, seemingly to welcome some important guests.

Sigh!

Lu Hong sighed heavily. What to do? Just do as the girl says! Without his power, he couldn’t leave this realm, let alone think of returning to the empire.

In the past few days of doing manual labor at the girl’s residence, he had quite a few idle chats with the old butler. He got a rough idea of his current location.

Raoxue Queen was the title held by the successive female family heads of this family, and whenever a new life was born into this family, it was bound to be a girl who would inherit the title of Raoxue Queen.

The inheritance of the Raoxue family had come down to the girl alone; her parents died early. Despite Raoxue City being large, only the girl and the old butler lived there. The grand title of queen seemed impressive, but it was really just a facade.

The realm Lu Hong was in was still the same place he had crossed over from Ambra. The realm, also named after the Raoxue Queen, was vast but utterly barren; no minerals, no crystal stones, nothing of value was found here, not even demon beasts would bother with this place, and they would have left if it were not for their inability to do so.

The Raoxue realm was the poorest and most marginal realm of the Eagle Alliance. The alliance had once used this realm as a vanguard to march towards the edge of the Star Sea and into the Death Zone. Unfortunately, when a million-strong army entered, there was no news from them.

Unwilling to give up, the Eagle Alliance assembled another million-strong force, but it was once again a fruitless endeavor. The alliance was frightened by the Death Zone, which seemed like a monster devouring life, making them hold back in fear. Yet, the Raoxue family still stood at the edge of the Death Zone, seemingly shouldering some kind of mission.

Since the Eagle Alliance failed twice in their campaigns west, Raoxue was known as a land of ill omen. It was pitiful that the realm was so large but had only one city under the girl’s protection, Raoxue City, where barely 30,000 people lived.

What distinguished guests could the girl possibly entertain? Lu Hong couldn’t fathom, so he had to ask the old butler.

"Oh." The old butler skillfully prepared the ingredients for cooking, while assigning tasks to Lu Hong: "Slice these vegetables into strips, those into cubes, and cut the beef into large slices; I’m going to pan-fry them."

After everything was prepared, the old butler took a deep breath and explained to Lu Hong, "The young lady is entertaining an alchemist who has traveled here from within the alliance. Despite his young age, he has reached the fifth rank."

Only fifth rank? Lu Hong was somewhat disdainful—it wasn’t that he looked down on anyone, but he remembered that Lu Hong’s younger brother, Qi Rong, was quite a bit higher than this, wasn’t he?

After the old butler had garnished the dishes, he signaled to Lu Hong to serve them.

At that moment, the girl was happily chatting with the alchemist who had come from afar.

"Raoxue City Lord, this journey has been quite enlightening for me. I plan to stay in Raoxue City for a while and craft some weapons to seek a breakthrough in my level," the young alchemist picked up his glass and toasted the girl, "I’ll be troubling you a lot in the future, please do not take offense."

"Not at all, not at all," the girl repeatedly waved her hand, "You can stay in my Raoxue City as long as you like, but please, I do have an audacious request..."

"Hahaha, please feel free to speak, City Lord," the alchemist laughed heartily.

The girl then spoke up, "Could you sell those magic weapons you craft at half-price to the residents of Raoxue City? Of course, I will make up the price difference to ensure you don’t suffer any loss."

"No problem, I can even give them away to the local residents for free. However, I also have an audacious request."

"Please say it."

The alchemist took a closer look at his wine glass and began, "It’s said that the Raoxue family has a top-grade exquisite jade. I wonder if the City Lord would be willing to part with it. If you are willing, I’m prepared to offer a fair price and sign an agreement that from now on, your Raoxue City can get three hundred grade-six magic artifacts from me every year for free."

"This..." It had to be said, the terms offered by the alchemist were tempting to the girl, but the exquisite jade was an essential part of the inherited crown of their family; it was an artifact of her ancestors, and she couldn’t risk meddling with it: "I’m afraid I must disappoint Mr. Dai. Although the exquisite jade isn’t incredibly precious, without it, the heritage of the Raoxue family wouldn’t be complete. I hope you can understand."

"Hahaha." The alchemist wasn’t surprised by the girl’s refusal, "No worries, I was just asking offhand. Let’s proceed as previously discussed."

"Good." The girl breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that the alchemist was quite amiable. As Lu Hong approached with the dishes, she quickly said, "Don’t you dare delay in serving Mr. Dai!"

"Oh!" Lu Hong glanced sideways at the alchemist, who was quite handsome. One could tell he was no good just by looking at him!