Fragrance rises to dance

Chapter 28

“No…” Rong Yin was in extremely poor spirits, his eyes filled with a deep weariness. “My life force… is insufficient… Gu She… is not here.”

Shengxiang was stunned. Rong Yin was originally the Privy Councilor of the Great Song Dynasty, in charge of military affairs and the Tiger Tally. He had worked tirelessly for the court and died from overwork. Later, a ghost descended and used magic to bring his soul back to his body, thus reviving him. However, since he was a dead soul, he needed living people to constantly infuse him with life force to maintain his vitality. Now that Gu She, who could infuse life force, was not by his side, what would happen to Rong Yin...?

“Shengxiang…go and find…Yuxiu. Tell him things are urgent here, but I’m fine.” Rong Yin closed his eyes; when he was low on energy, he could easily fall asleep. “You don’t need to worry about me. Go find Yuxiu…and…if there aren’t enough people, sing ‘Qinghen’—I know…I know Liuyin is nearby…”

With a "whoosh," before Rong Yin could finish speaking, an oil-soaked rocket shot up to the top of Fuzhen Temple! This temple was five stories high, and the fact that someone could shoot an arrow up there showed extraordinary strength! Before Sheng Xiang could answer, Rong Yin pulled the rocket from the top and fired it back. A man in black at the bottom screamed as a rocket pierced his chest; but his companions fired a barrage of arrows, and in an instant, rockets were planted all over the Wudang Temple. Fortunately, the Wudang Temple had a long history of fire prevention and was well-protected, so it was not easily set on fire.

"Damn it!" Rong Yin cursed under his breath. "It's a pity I only laid out half of my plan... Li Lingyan is indeed a cunning and talented man... Shengxiang, go and strike the bell, we... muster our troops!" He was not in good spirits, but he was still very clear-headed. "I have already taken precautions against the incense trick, so it's not a problem. It's a pity we don't have many experts on our side... Shengxiang!"

"I'm going!" Shengxiang dashed away. "You stay here and wait for me! Don't wander around."

At this moment, the heroes who were sleeping were all awakened. Rong Yin had instructed that herbs to be burned in each room to prevent the intoxication, so those who did so were not drugged. In an instant, swords flashed and blood was drawn, and the black-clad men who had sneaked in from the shadows clashed with each other.

"Dong—Dong—Dong—" In an instant, the bells of Wudang Mountain rang out loudly. With the sound of the bells, a man rushed out of the melee and rushed to the east, shouting, "Light the fire!"

The other man charged straight west, shouting at the same time, "Light the fire!"

Immediately, the hundreds of martial arts heroes stranded on Wudang Mountain lit the tinderboxes they carried and threw them to the ground. Suddenly, with a "whoosh," a fiery dragon shot across the ground! It turned out that Rong Yinyu and his companions had anticipated Li Lingyan's attack method, hiding oil beneath the bluestone in the courtyard of the Wudang Taoist temple. When the attackers arrived, they lit the oil, creating a ring of fire that would trap anyone inside, leaving no chance of escape! In an instant, screams erupted, and a stench of burning flesh filled the air as the flames scorched people's clothes and hair. The hundred or so black-clad men who had stormed the mountain never expected such a simple yet deadly trap underground, and were now trapped in a sea of fire.

At this moment, Shengxiang returned after striking the bell. Seeing the chaotic battle below, Rongyin looked tired and was struggling to stay awake, but he was extremely worried about the battle. "Rongrong!"

Rong Yin rarely heard Sheng Xiang speak so decisively and without a trace of childishness, so he looked up upon hearing it.

Shengxiang lifted Rongyin's face with one hand, pressed her lips to his, and breathed into his mouth.

The scent of the incense was filled with his own faint, sweet fragrance, a delicate, baby-like aroma. The warmth of a living person seeped through his lips and teeth, instantly dispelling his gloomy weariness. Rong Yin took a deep breath, his eyes shining as he looked intently at the incense. "Thanks!"

Shengxiang just smiled and said, "I'm going to find Yumutou. You stay here and take charge."

“No.” Rong Yin stood up from the top of the temple. “Go find Master Qingjing. Even if Yu Xiu was lured by the enemy, he couldn’t possibly be unaware of his surroundings after such a long time. Go find Master Qingjing. I’ll stay here.”

"Alright! Rongrong, you owe me a favor, don't forget." Shengxiang turned back with a smile and then left.

At this moment, Yu Xiu and Nan Ge rushed back. Wan Yuyue stood in front of the injured crowd and smiled. Those who did not know him thought he was also one of the injured, but they did not know that he was protecting them.

At this moment, Bi Qiuhan and Li Shiyu were still facing off in the forest, but Li Shiyu's momentum had been greatly diminished, and Bi Qiuhan had gained the upper hand.

"Are you going to surrender or be defeated by me?" Bi Qiuhan asked coldly.

Li Shiyu was drenched in cold sweat. He wasn't stupid; he knew very well the importance of confidence for a master. If he lost to Bi Qiuhan, the worst consequence wouldn't be capture, but the complete loss of his self-confidence—and what was most hateful was that he wasn't afraid of Bi Qiuhan, but rather of Yu Xiu's words "superficial," of Ling Yan's high regard for him, and of his own contempt. Yu Xiu was already gone; he couldn't defeat him and prove him wrong. If he were to fall to Bi Qiuhan as well, he would be utterly ruined.

Could he easily defeat Bi Qiuhan? Half an hour ago, he would have undoubtedly said "yes," but having fought him for so long, he knew his opponent's resilience and perseverance well. Bi Qiuhan wasn't particularly clever, but he was very solid. He had no doubt about everything he possessed, because it was all earned through hard work and gradual, step-by-step practice. Therefore, regardless of victory or defeat, he never doubted his abilities. But Li Shiyu was different. He knew very well that he enjoyed using clever tricks, and many of his successes stemmed from deception or even luck. Therefore, he was afraid.

His palms were sweating.

Cold sweat.

Rong Yin knew he wasn't used to bloodshed, so he transferred him, right? Sheng Xiang climbed the tallest tree on Wudang Mountain, looking around, and sighed. He wasn't actually that weak. It was pitch black everywhere at night; apart from the flames raging in the Taoist temple, who knew where the old Taoist Qingjing had gone? Logically, a skilled old Taoist should have known that Li Lingyan was going to storm the mountain tonight, so he should have stayed obediently in his room, not wandering around. He's already seventy or eighty years old, yet he's still so energetic—where did he go?

Who lured away the old Taoist priest Qingjing? Shengxiang guessed that after the Battle of Hanshui, she knew that Li Lingyan was someone who liked to play the Zhuge Liang trick of "planning strategies within the tent and winning battles a thousand miles away." Who exactly came today? Whoever it was, the person responsible for luring away the old Taoist priest Qingjing must be an extraordinary character.

A faint scent lingered in the air. Saint Incense's nose, almost as sensitive as a dog's, sniffed a few times. "Fallen Incense...is it a woman?"

The so-called "Failed Scholar's Fragrance" is an extremely rare incense. Legend has it that a scholar who failed the imperial examination was encouraged by a beautiful woman and eventually became the top scholar. The woman possessed an incomparably rich fragrance, which the scholar remembered. After passing the examination, he searched everywhere and finally found a rare flower with the same fragrance in a corner of the examination hall. This is the legend of "Failed Scholar's Fragrance." Although it is not credible, this fragrance is neither orchid nor musk, and it is indeed unique.

He didn't find the woman who led Master Qingjing away, but he did see Bi Qiuhan and Li Shiyu facing off.

"No wonder the temple was in such a commotion, and we couldn't find the great hero anywhere. It turns out he's having a martial arts contest here." Shengxiang muttered to herself, her eyes darting around as she quietly peeked out from the bushes.

No… this situation is strange. Shengxiang’s eyebrows rose subtly—Li Shiyu said something to Bi Qiuhan, and then Bi Qiuhan considered it for a long time before agreeing.

Then Li Shiyu gave Bi Qiuhan a piece of paper covered with writing.

Bi Qiuhan held it in her hand and looked at it. Li Shiyu's face was extremely ugly. He cupped his hands and turned to leave.

Xiao Bi let the enemy go? Sheng Xiang's subtle feelings grew stronger and stronger. Bi Qiuhan, who hated evil as if it were his enemy, let the enemy from Li Lingyan's place go, just to get that piece of paper? What was that piece of paper...? Suddenly, a string in his heart snapped with a "buzz" - he knew what kind of paper it was.

So he immediately stood up from the bushes.

Bi Qiuhan had already finished reading the letter.

It was a letter—the same letter that Saint Incense had torn off and bitten in her mouth.

However, this letter was addressed to Li Chenglou, not Nan Bibi.

The letter contained little of note, simply stating that Xiao Ji deeply missed Li Chenglou, but Li Chenglou was married and she didn't want to cause him pain, so she asked him to stop thinking about her. She loved him, but couldn't be with him, and hoped he could understand and forgive her choice.

If anyone else reads this letter, it will be as if they haven't read it at all—completely empty and full of nonsense. It doesn't matter who reads the letter, just not Bi Qiuhan! Shengxiang stood up from the bushes and slowly walked to Bi Qiuhan.

This time he didn't laugh.

Bi Qiuhan wasn't too shocked. He was already stunned by the facts in the letter.

Saint Incense's eyes sparkled with a glassy light; he showed neither laughter, nor sadness or anxiety.

He simply stood quietly in front of Bi Qiuhan, one hand resting on the tree trunk beside him, watching him silently.

Bi Qiuhan's hand trembled as she gripped the letter, almost crushing one side of it in her hand. "This—is the real secret?"

A faint pity flickered in Saint Incense's eyes. "Yes."

On Bi Qiuhan's deathly pale face, which was almost ashen, a twisted expression that was neither crying nor laughing appeared. "You lied to me."

“I lied to you, but it didn’t lie to you:” Shengxiang said with a gentle smile as she leaned against the tree trunk, “The Emperor’s decisive strike, escape quickly, is these six hidden characters.”

Both he and Bi Qiuhan were taught to read and write by Madam Zhao Pu. Madam Zhao was particularly skilled at writing poems in a spiral pattern and often played games with them. The trick in this letter was that the content was written in a spiral pattern from right to left—which, when read, reads as the six characters "The Emperor is about to kill you, escape quickly."

“Why…why did the Emperor…” Bi Qiuhan’s hand holding the letter trembled. “Why ‘the Emperor’s decisive strike’? Why the Emperor?”