Super Allrounder

Kapitel 20

She heard him say that.

Is this supposed to be considered a consolation?

She rolled her eyes, twitched her leg, and fell towards him, her voice tinged with impatience: "Ah..."

Baili Qingyi stretched out his arms, embracing the soft, fragrant—no, the soft, "stinky"—into a full embrace. He sighed inwardly, wondering if this girl didn't realize that she was the one who was ultimately at a disadvantage.

Yin Wuxiao felt much more comfortable when she saw the black marks all over his clean blue shirt from her embrace.

Looking up along the black mark, she saw Baili Qingyi's raised eyebrows.

"It really hurts," she said shamelessly, pointing to her right leg.

Baili Qingyi remained silent and began to examine the condition of the cave.

Following his gaze, Yin Wuxiao narrowed his eyes.

“This place is not simple.” She pointed to the regularly shaped crystals embedded in the ceiling.

"The underground should be pitch black, but light is shining through here. It must be because each section of the tunnel is fitted with crystals to bring outside light into the underground."

"Then, following these crystals, we should be able to find the exit," Baili Qingyi pondered.

“Not necessarily,” she replied lazily. “It looks like no one has been here for many years. Who knows what the exit looks like? Besides, people might not be able to get out of places where light can get in.”

"We should at least give it a try." Baili Qingyi picked her up in his arms, then smiled mysteriously, "I heard the sound of water."

A light shone on Yin Wuxiao's face.

Sure enough, after circling around the chaotic tunnels for a while, a clear spring finally appeared in front of them.

Yin Wuxiao looked at Baili Qingyi with pleasure: "Young Master Qingyi, are you a gentleman?"

"What do you think?" He placed her by the spring, then turned and went around the corner.

Yin Wuxiao stared at the glimpse of a blue robe peeking out from behind the corner and smiled: "You are..."

She carefully removed her clothes and slowly immersed herself in the cool spring water. The chill seeped into her bones, and she couldn't help but frown and groan.

Baili Qingyi's voice rang out: "Do you need my help?"

She cried out, "No! Don't come any closer!"

A hint of amusement crept into his voice: "Then I'll go and see if there's a way out."

"No!" she cried out in terror again, "You... just stay there." Heaven knows what might be hidden in this cave...

That's utterly pathetic.

She heard soft laughter coming from the corner of the wall, followed by the rustling of fabric, as if he had sat down against the wall.

Yin Wuxiao felt much more at ease. She held her breath and submerged herself underwater, letting the spring water gently wash her black hair.

A moment later, she rose from the water and her first glance fell on the corner of the wall, where the hem of her blue dress had already disappeared.

"Bai Li Qingyi!"

No one spoke.

Has he left? Or...?

She panicked again: "Baili Qingyi, are you there?...Young Master Qingyi?"

"I'm here." The deep voice carried a hint of a smile.

"You..." He breathed a sigh of relief but clenched his fist tightly; he had done it on purpose.

"Why did you fall down with me?" she asked, her face stern, rubbing her toes vigorously, her voice muffled.

"We're both trapped here now, and I'm afraid we'll have no chance of escaping. If you stay outside, you'll have a better chance of rescuing me."

"That's right, but before that, you'd already drowned in the mud. I'm sure... you wouldn't like that kind of death."

Yin Wuxiao curled his lip: "Aren't all ways of dying the same?"

There was a moment of silence on the other side of the wall.

Yin Wuxiao was puzzled: Did she say something wrong?

After a while, the sound of Baili Qingyi standing up and patting her clothes could be heard.

"If you stay in there for a few hours, we're really doomed." His voice suddenly lost its warmth, as if he were about to leave.

"Wait...wait!" She hurriedly scrambled out, put on her barely wearable undershirt, and was about to chase after them when her injured right foot hindered her progress.

She groaned in pain, and the next moment she fell into a familiar embrace.

“This time it’s for real…” she said, her eyebrows furrowing in a pained expression.

Baili Qingyi looked at her with an inscrutable expression.

"Have you noticed..." he hesitated, then stopped.

"What?" Yin Wuxiao looked up.

"It's nothing." He shook his head.

※ ※ ※

Xuan He looked back again to make sure no one was following him.

He finally managed to dismiss the swollen-faced maid, Lianhua, who had been keeping watch over him, and then, choosing the time of dinner when the guards were less vigilant, he sneaked into the back garden of the manor. Sure enough, the women of the Qiong Sect near the rockery had all gone to the front hall, and it was so quiet that no one would notice his actions.

He turned a protruding rock on the side of the artificial hill, and the ground behind the hill moved in response, revealing a series of downward stone steps. The steps were covered with the corpses of rats and insects, but a path had been vaguely cleared out from among them.

Xuan's expression suddenly changed. This tunnel hadn't been used for twenty years; logically, no one should be here...

He felt a chill on his neck and then realized that a cold, menacing light was shining in front of him.

He paused for a moment, but didn't turn around. He said coldly, "It's you." He should have known. Since he was ordered to monitor him, how could he be sent away for such a simple reason?

A flat, unassuming voice came from behind: "You want to let those two go?"

"So what if it is?"

"The leader expected you to do this. You've wasted your time."

"Hmph." Xuan He turned his head away. "How could you, a tool for killing, understand human feelings?"

Lianhua paused for a moment: "I don't need to understand. The divine physician has defied the sect leader's orders. If he refuses to hand over the 'Hundred Questions on Medicine,' dozens of people in the manor will die before tonight."

"You...you're a viper!" Xuan He gritted his teeth, his words ringing out.

Lianhua frowned.

Xuan He suddenly relented, and laughed coldly: "Witch, do you think I don't know? A few days ago you hid a man in the manor. The sect leader shouldn't know that, right?"

Lianhua's movements were fixed.

Xuan He continued, "That man should be in this underground palace, right?"

Lianhua didn't answer, but instead snorted: "I can kill you right now."

"Kill me?" Xuan He laughed as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. "Do you know that no one has been in this underground palace for decades? The accumulated miasma is a natural slow poison. If you don't have my antidote, hmph, your lover will be half dead if he doesn't die."

Lianhua remained silent for a long while, then flipped the hilt of her sword:

"Take me down here, now!"

Stepping through the golden steps

The middle-aged man took out a white handkerchief and wiped the beads of sweat that kept appearing on his forehead.

In the dimly lit stone chamber, the face of the man sitting at the head of the table was perfectly concealed.

"Master...Master." The middle-aged man straightened his knees, which had been kneeling for a long time, and said tremblingly.

"Shouldn't you be at Hundred Questions Manor right now?" the man at the head of the table said casually.

"I have failed in my duties and am willing to accept your punishment, but... I really didn't expect the young man in blue to get involved at this time..."

"Alright!" the man at the head of the table said impatiently.

"I knew you were a useless piece of trash. I've already arranged for someone else to stay at Hundred Questions Manor."

"Master...Master has indeed considered everything thoroughly."

The man at the head of the table snorted coldly: "Has everything been arranged by the imperial court?"

"Everything is arranged. General Canghu's five thousand elite troops have already set up camp around Baiwen Valley and can attack immediately."

"Five thousand?" The man at the head of the table pondered for a moment. "If it weren't for Baili Qingyi, five thousand elite soldiers would be more than enough, but with him..."

"No matter how powerful Baili Qingyi is, he's still just one person. As long as we use sheer numbers, I believe..."

"Idiot." There was a sudden hint of disgust in his voice.

Putting aside Baili Qingyi's unparalleled martial arts skills, just based on the power of the Baili family, who in the martial arts world would dare not lend a helping hand when Baili Qingyi is in trouble?

"Master...Master!" The middle-aged man prostrated himself on the ground in fear, not knowing what he had done to anger his master.

"Baldy, there's one more thing I need you to do." The man at the head of the table concealed his contempt; although this person was foolish, he still had some use.

"Please give your orders, Master." The middle-aged man, also known as the Smiling Buddha among the Five Evil Stars, responded eagerly.

"I need you to lure away those people outside Hundred Questions Valley, so they don't ruin my plans."

"Including people from Baili Prefecture?" The Smiling Buddha wiped his sweat again.

"Including people from Baili Prefecture."

"What about the imperial court..."

"You don't need to interfere in anything else. If you mess this up again..."

"I don't know!" the Smiling Buddha exclaimed in surprise.

"You'd better not." The man at the head of the table curled his lips into a cold smile. "I should thank you. If it weren't for you, Baili Qingyi's life wouldn't be in my hands."