Der Mond scheint hell über den leeren Bergen, und Blumen füllen den Himmel

Kapitel 13

“Not bad!” Bi Qiuhan said coldly, “Xiao Jingjing distracted you, and someone broke into my room.” He threw the broken sword onto the deck with a clang, “What a powerful sword strike.”

“Li Lingyan’s target should have been me, why…” Nan Ge’s face changed color, “Does he intend to kill everyone on this ship?”

“Li Lingyan has always enjoyed killing entire families,” Bi Qiuhan said coldly. “He would rather kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free. Since you’re on this ship, everyone on this ship is going to die.” After he threw down his broken sword, everyone noticed that his palm had been slashed by the blade. Although the injury wasn’t serious, he would definitely be unable to use that hand gesture flexibly for more than half a month.

"Where is the person who stabbed you?" Shengxiang looked around the room, seemingly regretful that she hadn't seen anyone.

Bi Qiuhan's face was frosty and almost pale. "Walk away on the water!"

"In other words, Xiao Jingjing taught her unique lightness skill to that person just now." Nan Ge suddenly laughed. "Why do I feel like that person used a honey trap on Xiao Jingjing? The 'Spring Breeze Ten Miles Alone Step' is her secret technique that she relied on to dominate the world. How could she just pass it on to someone casually?"

"Husband—" Before Sheng Xiang could finish her sentence, Bi Qiuhan's expression darkened slightly. "The person who came here has extremely high martial arts skills and is definitely not an ordinary person. You must not insult him with words."

“A lover is a lover, even if he’s the number one martial arts master, he’s still a lover…” Shengxiang wasn’t the kind of obedient child who would listen to his lectures, and she rolled her eyes at him, “Besides, he even ambushed you and stabbed you with a sword, how could he think he’s some kind of master…”

"Alright, alright, you're right, I'm wrong." Bi Qiuhan got a headache from Sheng Xiang's endless nagging and responded indifferently. Arguing with Sheng Xiang would only make him angry.

Amidst the cacophony of voices, Old Man Weng had already weighed anchor and set sail. This ship had become the target of the Blood Sacrifice Society. While this was somewhat expected—Bi Qiuhan had hoped to lure members of the Blood Sacrifice Society through Nan Ge, thereby finding an opportunity to persuade or subdue Li Lingyan—the frequency and intensity of these open and fierce attacks, assassinations, and attempts to sow discord were truly alarming. Li Lingyan's bloodthirstiness and ruthlessness had exceeded Bi Qiuhan's expectations, but it was better for Li Lingyan to focus his attention on his own crew than for him to indiscriminately slaughter innocents in the martial world. The ship moved downstream, heading east with the current. Bi Qiuhan's brows furrowed deeply, his mind filled with uncertainty.

"Ah Wan," perhaps finding "the one who lays eggs" too awkward, Sheng Xiang had started calling Wan Yuyuedan "Ah Wan" at some point. He didn't seem to think that the fact that his entire boat was about to be "wiped out" was anything special. He enthusiastically picked up the fishing rod that Weng Laoliu had just made and waved to Wan Yuyuedan, "Shall we go fishing?"

"Alright." Wan Yuyue clearly couldn't see anything clearly, but he still held the fishing rod that Shengxiang had given him. Shengxiang had put a piece of ham on the hook and announced, "Let out the line!"

With a flick of his wrist, Wan Yuyue sent the bait flying far into the river, far from the boat. If he hadn't thrown out a piece of ham, perhaps Old Man Weng would have admired his skillful technique, but now he could only manage a wry smile.

Bi Qiuhan turned his head away from their antics and sighed deeply. He really didn't know what to say.

These two don't look like they've just been ambushed. Nan Ge chuckled, glancing sideways at the fat gray rabbit sleeping on its back on the ground. He snorted softly. Did they think they were fishing for this meaty rabbit? Fishing with ham?

"Wow—" the two people by the boat exclaimed, followed by laughter. Shengxiang yelled, "I caught it! I caught it—"

Bi Qiuhan was slightly taken aback. He didn't believe that Shengxiang and Wanyu Yuedan, who had never fished before, could catch fish so quickly. He turned his head and heard Shengxiang continue to shout, "Caught a turtle!"

A turtle? Bi Qiuhan was taken aback. Weng Laoliu and Nan Ge rushed over to see, marveling at the sight. There, a tangled mess of fishing line was visible. A turtle the size of a palm had unfortunately snagged the messy fishing line on one of its claws. When it retracted into its shell, it pulled the line back with it, which is why Wan Yuyuedan had "fished" it up.

Is this supposed to be "fishing"? It's clearly Wan Yuyuedan's terrible casting technique; she tangled the line into a knot and actually "caught" a turtle. Nan Ge and Weng Laoliu exchanged bewildered glances and couldn't help but burst into laughter, "Hahaha—"

Hey! It's just that the turtle had a run of bad luck today and ran into a jinx. How could it be "fished" out like that? Bi Qiuhan turned her head away again and pretended not to see anything. She was annoyed. Everyone was clearly in danger, but as long as Shengxiang, that lovable character, was there, they seemed to care about nothing.

One boat gradually headed east, its shadowy form trailing behind another small boat in the distance.

"What are they laughing at?" a young girl with her hair in two buns asked with interest, resting her chin on her hand.

The long-haired woman sitting cross-legged at the bow of the boat was none other than Xiao Jingjing, who remained silent with a livid face.

“They’re all almost dead, what’s so funny?” the little girl muttered to herself. “The leader will kill them soon.” She turned her gaze to Xiao Jingjing with disdain and shook her head with regret. “I heard you’re a very capable and resourceful woman, but in my opinion, you’re not so great. You actually got seriously injured by someone who doesn’t know martial arts.”

Xiao Jingjing closed her eyes and said stiffly, "That was my carelessness. Next time I will definitely be able to kill one or two of them."

"There won't be a next time." The little girl shook her head regretfully. "The Master will not forgive you."

A look of fear suddenly flashed across Xiao Jingjing's face, "Xingxing—"

Xingxing pressed her jade-like fingers to her lips. "Shh—calling Auntie won't help. I'm soft-hearted if you don't beg me, but the Jade Gentleman Master won't give it back to you." She looked regretful. "Just jump down from here yourself. You can't swim, right? With such a serious injury, you can't even use your lightness skill, can you? Don't let me get it wrong, or the Master will be angry."

“I…I at least killed Fan Nong’er, how can you say I’m completely useless?” Xiao Jingjing’s face turned pale, and she suddenly stood up.

Xingxing stuck out her tongue. "Sorry, I was the one who said I wanted to kill Fan Nong'er, not the leader." She continued to smile innocently. "Anyway, you've already taught your lightness skill to the leader, keeping you around will only make him angry."

"You viper..." Before Xiao Jingjing could finish her curse, a "thud" sounded on her neck, and she collapsed without warning—her eyes wide open, dying with her eyes wide open!

"Why talk to her so much?" A deep, magnetic voice rang out beside Xiao Jingjing's body. "You want to let her live by telling her to go down in the water, Xingxing?"

Xingxing stuck out her tongue again, smiling broadly, "How could that be? Brother Master."

The man who killed Xiao Jingjing with a single palm strike was a man in white, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, and quite handsome. He smiled at Xingxing and said, "Was it Lingyan who told you to call me 'Brother Master'?"

Xingxing thought for a moment, "I called him that myself." Before she could finish speaking, the man in white gently brushed the hair from her forehead and said softly, "Call me Attendant. It's a real pity that someone like you is following Ling Yan."

"Is Brother Guild Leader trying to seduce me?" Xingxing didn't blink, smiling slightly. "Xingxing is still young, and besides—Xingxing likes Guild Leader, not Brother Guild Leader." She was about sixteen or seventeen years old, a naive and pretty little girl, but her actions and words were so shrewd and ruthless that it was truly frightening. "What's so good about him?" Li Shiyu was the elder brother of Li Lingyan, the leader of the Blood Sacrifice Guild. His hand slid down Xingxing's forehead, slowly grasping her neck, slowly tightening its grip. "Why does everyone think I'm inferior to him?"

Xingxing was neither flustered nor angry, and said with a smile, "Then I don't know."

“What’s so good about him? He led you to do evil and taught you to harm others. Don’t you hate him?” Li Shiyu looked coldly at Xingxing. “He is a fox, and you are a scorpion.”

“Then Brother Master is a tiger.” Xingxing smiled even more brightly, resting her chin on her hands. “We are all capable of biting.”

Li Shiyu looked at her coldly and slowly released her hand.

Laughter echoed continuously from the large ship far away.

"What's so funny about them?" Xingxing turned her head and looked at the ship with interest. "I often hear them laughing. Is being chased really that funny?"

“They are all upright and good people, of course they are different from us.”

“Yes, they are good people, and we are bad people.” Xingxing sighed softly and said in a low voice, “Maybe... good people are always happier than bad people.”

"The idea behind the banquet was that they wanted them to die before they even entered Dongting Lake, right?" Li Shiyu changed the subject.

“Of course, I want them all to die, not a single one can be left alive.” Xingxing didn’t even blink. “They are all very hateful people.”

The boat sailed east, then south, and was only a day's journey away from Junshan.

It has been three days since Shengxiang left the Prime Minister's residence.

It was just past nightfall when Nan Ge and Bi Qiuhan seemed to be discussing some kind of martial art at the stern of the boat, while Weng Laoliu was cooking fish in the cabin.