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

Kapitel 96

Shengxiang saw and heard everything that happened at Li Lingyan's banquet. His eyesight and hearing were excellent; he could see and hear clearly even across a street.

It was the fourteenth of the month. People say the moon is fullest on the sixteenth, but actually the moon is quite full on the fourteenth too.

The moonlight was so bright that the snow-covered streets looked pristine white, clean but lifeless. Sheng Xiang, dressed in his tattered and filthy clothes, sat in the alley outside the back door of the newly brewed wine shop. He smelled the aroma of wine, vegetables, fish, and meat, and of course, he could hear Li Shuangli's singing.

It was a cold night. As he listened to the sounds inside, a faint smile played on his filthy face.

Xiao Yan is an extraordinary person. In fact, if his mother and his brothers and sisters hadn't been like that, perhaps... he wouldn't have become the way he is today.

He might be a good person, a very smart and good person.

Some people say that how a person becomes is their own choice, and going astray proves that they are inherently evil. That's a cold-hearted way of speaking. People cannot live in this world without being influenced by others, and those who influence them the most are their family members.

How a person becomes is their own choice, but they also need the luck to make many choices.

This is the way of the world.

Night of the fourteenth.

Yu Cuiwei was also watching the moon in the inn. His injuries hadn't healed, and Shengxiang wouldn't let him pretend to be a beggar, especially since half of Yu Cuiwei's face was scarred, making him too conspicuous. He spent the last two days drinking tea, reading, listening to the snow, and playing chess in the inn, living a leisurely and carefree life. Shengxiang rarely came back, and he never asked her what she was doing.

The full moon is like a dream.

How far back in time and space can I dream of?

He tapped the wooden tabletop lightly with his fingernails, gazing at the moon with a half-smile, lost in thought.

Chapter Thirty: How the Snow and Moon Meet on a Night

January 15th.

Lantern Festival.

A man in green robes stood tall on the outskirts of Banzhu in the dead of night, with the Xinniang Winery just five zhang in front of him.

This person has a handsome face and a tall, upright figure. He is about thirty-five years old and is none other than Bi Lianyi, the number one person under the Biluo Palace.

Behind him were twelve young men, around thirty years old, dressed in green robes like him. They were the "Twelve Clouds" palm group of the Biluo Palace. This group was different from the "Twelve Autumns" sword group to which Bi Qiuhan belonged. The "Twelve Clouds" were unarmed, while the "Twelve Autumns" used swords. The martial arts of the "Twelve Clouds" were superior to those of the "Twelve Autumns".

Bi Qiuhan of the "Twelve Autumns" has achieved great success in the martial arts world, which shows the strength of the "Twelve Clouds". Today, Bi Lianyi led the "Twelve Clouds" and "Eleven Autumns", including the "Twelve Hunters" knife group and the "Twelve Poets" weapon group, a total of forty-eight people, to besiege the newly brewed wine. Biluo Palace can be said to have sent out all its elite forces, and it is a battle that will affect the entire palace.

Wan Yuyuedan did not command the battle directly, though he was certainly paying attention to the situation. At the same time, he received news that Meng Ziliang, the city lord of Mengcheng, a city allied with Biluo Palace, had been murdered. Mengcheng was in chaos and pleaded with Biluo Palace to help find the killer. Wan Yuyuedan wouldn't give an immediate answer, but given that this had happened at such a critical moment, he couldn't help but suspect it was premeditated.

In any case, there will be a decisive victory tonight.

The target was not Li Ling Banquet, but Tang Tianshu.

The forty-eight people from Biluo Palace suddenly appeared at Xinniu Winery on the night of the Lantern Festival, so naturally no one would assume they were there to drink and arrange marriages. Soon, Li Lingyan came out to greet them with a cautious and friendly smile, "On the night of the Lantern Festival, I am honored by your presence. Would you like to come in and have a cup of wine to warm yourselves up?" Leng Zhuoyu, Huaiyue, Beiyue, Li Shiyu, Xingxing, and Liu Ji followed him out, but Madam Li and Tang Tianshu were nowhere to be seen.

Bi Lianyi replied, "By order of this Palace Master: 'If I do not kill Li Lingyan, how can I face the spirit of the old Palace Master in the afterlife?' Li Lingyan, tonight is your death day!" He spoke crisply, and although every word sounded familiar, the martial arts world still felt a chill because of that familiarity—the words, spoken with the intent to kill, were the final sound before bloodshed. As he uttered the word "death day," "Twelve Poems" simultaneously waved their hands—a deafening roar, a cloud of collapsed snow mixed with unknown thick smoke billowed into the sky, and in that instant, everything outside the newly brewed wine was blinded. In the blink of an eye, Bi Lianyi had already leaped up, one hand reaching for Li Lingyan. Her movements, swift and silent, were like those of a hawk, truly worthy of being the number one person under the Biluo Palace!

Shengxiang watched from behind a house facing the street. This street was adjacent to the suburbs and sparsely populated, with only a few houses, mostly used by merchants. At night, only casual travelers stayed there. Hearing the fight and revenge outside, they were all too frightened to make a sound, probably hiding under their blankets trembling, none daring to peek out. Shengxiang saw Bi Lianyi make the first move. He couldn't interfere in the battle between Wan Yuyuedan and Li Lingyan, so he could only watch.

He couldn't stop it, nor did he have the right to stop it; he could only watch.

The war between Awan and Xiaoyan, regardless of who wins or loses, will absolutely be a war of bloodshed and carnage.

That's just how it is. They were born to be overlords, and how can an overlord dominate the world without mountains of bones?

Death is always a companion to kings, no matter how wise they may be. Without death, there is no king.

Tonight the moonlight is like snow.

The snow was as white as the moon.

Snow and moon shine together.

Bi Lianyi reached out to grab Li Lingyan, but he was no longer there. As the thick smoke and snow dissipated, under the shimmering moonlight, Bi Lianyi saw a woman with disheveled hair and magnificent clothes, her beauty surpassing even that of a fairy in a painting. Bi Lianyi's heart skipped a beat at the sight, but the magnificent woman slashed at his head with a sword. The blade was fluid, swift, and dangerous, yet still magnificent, possessing a captivating allure. Bi Lianyi's soft sword flashed from her sleeve, bright as moonlight in the night sky, deflecting the attack with a clang and aiming straight for the woman's eyebrows. This sword technique, "Yellow Between the Eyebrows," was also used by Bi Qiuhan, but Bi Lianyi's eyebrow-raising strike was swift, elegant, dangerous, and graceful, full of dashing charm, far inferior to Bi Qiuhan's.

It was Huaiyue who fought Bi Lianyi. She narrowly dodged Bi Lianyi's sword, then surprisingly swung her own sword to slash at Bi Lianyi's arm. In the process, her hair was disheveled, and several strands of her hair were knocked off by Bi Lianyi's sword. But the force of her counter-slash was fierce and ruthless; no one could understand how such a gentle and beautiful woman could wield such a blade. Bi Lianyi's soft sword curved to parry the slash, then the blade snapped back, and with a "whoosh," a long, bloody gash appeared beneath Huaiyue's arm—in terms of martial arts, Bi Lianyi was clearly superior. Seeing Huaiyue injured, Beiyue stepped forward to help. With the two of them working together, Bi Lianyi was immediately restrained, and her swordplay was greatly reduced.

On the other side, Li Lingyan stepped aside, his limbs stiff and unwilling to fight. Meanwhile, Li Shiyu charged forward with his sword, and after about ten moves, three of the "Twelve Hunters" from Biluo Palace were injured. "Eleven Autumns" split up to intercept Xingxing and Leng Zhuoyu. These two girls were not very skilled in martial arts, but suddenly five strangely dressed masked men rushed out of the inn and immediately stopped "Eleven Autumns'" attack.

As Sheng Xiang watched the battle, he noticed that the five masked figures, dressed in different clothes and using different martial arts, were clearly not from the same group. They were likely martial arts masters who had been seduced by Leng Zhuoyu's beauty or were being blackmailed with leverage over her. These five were highly skilled and experienced, and "Eleven Autumns" was slowly retreating as they were hindered. He found it strange that while "Eleven Autumns'" martial arts were not bad, their skill levels were uneven. About five of them were comparable to Bi Qiuhan, while the other six seemed rather inexperienced and young.

The "Twelve Poets" pursued Li Lingyan with hidden weapons and firearms. Wan Yuyuedan's body was equipped with ingenious traps, and the "Twelve Poets" of Biluo Palace were naturally no match for her. However, Biluo Palace rarely used poison, and their hidden weapons were mostly small and light. Li Lingyan was numb in his limbs, and he didn't care if he was hit in the hands or legs. In a few turns, he had already disappeared into the inn. The "Twelve Clouds" rushed into the inn to give chase. However, the first person to rush in heard a loud "bang," followed by a scream of "Ah!"—a person was thrown out with a trail of blood, a large hole torn in his chest, and he fell to the ground still struggling.

A woman in her sixties, dressed as a nun, stood coldly at the entrance of the inn. Her hands were covered in blood, and her gaze was blank as she stared at the crowd outside. A chill ran down the spines of everyone who looked at her. This old woman possessed astonishingly high martial arts skills; what was truly terrifying was that her eyes didn't seem to belong to a living person at all, but rather to a walking corpse.

Caught off guard, one of the "Twelve Clouds" was killed, causing them to hesitate for a moment. The remaining eleven continued their charge into the inn, displaying commendable courage. Six fought with the old woman at the entrance, while five broke into the inn through the doors and windows, searching for Tang Tianshu's whereabouts.

These "Twelve Clouds" are known as the strongest group under the Biluo Palace, but nine of them are only about twenty years old and still look young, clearly newly promoted and somewhat inexperienced.

Shengxiang observed the battle. The fight between Bilianyi and Huaiyue, and Beiyue, would likely last over a thousand moves before a victor emerged. Biluo Palace was not skilled in swordsmanship, making it extremely difficult for the "Twelve Hunters" to kill Li Shiyu. "Eleven Autumns" was also locked in a stalemate with Xingxing, Leng Zhuoyu, and the five masked figures. The "Twelve Poets" only used concealed weapons and firearms, lacking combat prowess. One of the "Twelve Clouds" had been killed instantly; even if they stormed the inn, they might not be able to defeat Li Lingyan and Tang Tianshu. The outcome of the battle between Wanyu Yuedan and Li Lingyan was unpredictable, and even if he intervened, he couldn't possibly influence anything… What he couldn't understand was—why was Li Lingyan guarding this place, risking being surrounded by Wanyu Yuedan, hesitating to attack or retreat? If he were defeated by Awan here, wouldn't everything be meaningless?

Unless—unless Li Lingyan's scheme is one that he can't lose even if he dies, since he's not afraid of death.

Where is he betting? He must be betting on the 10,000-strong army left behind by Jiang Chenming! Shengxiang stared blankly at the blood-splattering battlefield before him, his breathing becoming slightly rapid. Where is Jiang Chenming's 10,000-strong army? Why had he never seen a large number of soldiers migrating along the way? Unless they were disguised as Song soldiers, such a migration could never be tolerated by the court, so—they must have been dispersed.

If the soldiers are dispersed and dispersed to Biluo Palace, Wan Yuyuedan will not be able to intercept Li Lingyan's main force on the way. Intercepting one or two soldiers is useless, and intercepting all the disguised and stealthy soldiers is absolutely impossible!

Therefore—that's why Li Lingyan stayed at Banzhu. He wasn't afraid of Wan Yuyuedan's encirclement and suppression. He was waiting—waiting for his men to gather and counterattack Wan Yuyuedan. He was waiting at Banzhu to play a trick of feinting to the east and attacking to the west to deceive the heavens and the sea. If Wan Yuyuedan's attention was all here, then their rear defenses would inevitably be weak!

Even if Li Lingyan were to die at the hands of Wan Yuyuedan, the 10,000-strong army he had prepared beforehand would be more than enough to raze the severely weakened Biluo Palace to the ground and wipe it out, just like the fate of Qu Zhiliang, the number one martial artist in the world. Moreover, Li Lingyan was naturally confident that he would survive. He was waiting at Banzhu for the defeat of Biluo Palace and for the moment when he could conquer Wan Yuyuedan.

Shengxiang stared intently at the battlefield before her, a scene of flashing swords and splattered blood on the snow. If the entire fighting force of Biluo Palace were to be exhausted here—if it were all lost here—Biluo Palace would be doomed! But Li Lingyan could not die here. If he died, countless others would die with him. Even if the matter of Yu Cuiwei remained unresolved, and Ze Ning's Tiger Tally could not be retrieved, the child in Liu Ji's womb was innocent. Tonight's battle, tonight's battle must—stop—his chest heaved, his eyes were desolate, but his hands and feet were cold while the blood in his chest boiled, burning uncontrollably—tonight's battle must stop!