Fragrance rises to dance

Chapter 61

“Now that we’ve given him the antidote, the two of us can’t stop him!” Li Lingyan frowned. “If he dies, things will become troublesome. At this point, we can only pray that his demonic arts aren’t fully mastered and that he won’t force himself to his death…”

"Of course this won't do—" Sheng Xiang saw that the color of the sweat emanating from Shang Xuan's body had changed from slightly dark to normal, but the look of gritted teeth on Shang Xuan's face had not diminished at all. At this moment, whether he lived or died was only a matter of a moment. He gritted his teeth and said, "This young master is weak, so please don't kill me..." As he spoke, he grabbed Shang Xuan's palm and said, "Exert your strength!"

"Don't you dare regret it when you meet Yama..." Shang Xuan could no longer control the palm force that was as powerful as the Yangtze River. With a hoarse shout, he clashed his palms together and released all the palm force that had been swirling inside his body for a long time!

"Bang—bang—thud"—several resounding sounds followed as his palm strike, with its astonishing power capable of splitting mountains and cleaving rocks, carried an unusual heat and poison, pressing down on the hand that met his. The pressure on his entire body dissipated, and he immediately stood up.

With a "bang," came the sound of a hand piercing between two people. With a "clang," the other hand of the person who had entered met Shengxiang's palm, slamming Shengxiang against the collapsing wooden frame. With a "thud," the power of the Upper Profound Palm erupted, sending both of them flying sideways, crashing into the remaining wooden pillars and breaking them.

There were no ghosts in the collapsed military tent, so the one who intervened was none other than Li Lingyan. The instant Shang Xuan's palm strike erupted, he stepped in and joined forces with Sheng Xiang, the two of them taking the full force of "Rolling Snow"! Shang Xuan flipped to his feet, grabbed a wooden stick from the ground with a "whoosh," and pressed it against Li Lingyan's throat, shouting, "You're the one who's going to die!"

"Oh—" Just as the wooden stick reached Li Lingyan's throat, Shang Xuan suddenly smelled a faint, delicate fragrance. Shang Xuan's vision blurred as a round fan blocked the stick, deflecting it. The newcomer, with freshly washed hair and wearing a wide robe, stood before Sheng Xiang and Li Lingyan with a slight smile, revealing his teeth. "I said, someone saved your life; this isn't quite right."

Shang Xuan's earlier strike with the wooden stick was merely a subconscious reaction after being restrained. After regaining his composure, he exclaimed in a trembling voice, "Holy Incense!"

Sheng Xiang and Li Lingyan were both lying on the ground. Upon hearing this, Sheng Xiang weakly raised her hand and said, "I'm not dead yet."

Li Lingyan slowly sat up, casually straightening his clothes. "So powerful..." Before he could finish, he coughed up a mouthful of blood, frowned, straightened his clothes again, and continued, "Such a powerful and sharp force."

"Shangxuan, you owe me a life-saving grace, don't you?" Shengxiang lay there motionless, only his lips moving. "If you owe someone a favor, you have to listen to them for now—don't attack the mountain... okay?"

He didn't even consider that if it weren't for his and Li Lingyan's bizarre methods of capturing people, how could Shang Xuan have been poisoned and forced to expel the poison? Shang Xuan gritted his teeth and said, "Human favors?"

“Of course it’s a favor.” Shengxiang lay there half-dead. “When you were poisoned just now, Xiaoyan would have killed you a hundred times over.”

"He didn't kill me, he just wanted to force me to retreat. Could he have some good intentions?" Shang Xuan sneered.

"Cough cough... So, if you kill me, does that count as owing me a favor..."

"Holy Incense!" Shang Xuan's expression changed and he took a step forward. The person who suddenly appeared, neither male nor female, waved a fan, signaling him to stop.

"Cough cough...cough cough...I'm about to die. My dying wish is for peace and harmony throughout the world, for favorable weather and national prosperity, for Shangxuan to withdraw his troops and stop fighting, and for us to go back to Kaifeng to eat, drink, and have fun...Oh dear!" The "dying" man let slip the secret, then realized what he had said and got up. Would a "dying" man really wish to go back to Kaifeng to eat, drink, and have fun? He let slip the secret but acted as if nothing had happened, beckoning to Shangxuan and smiling brightly, "You're back to life."

It turns out that Li Lingyan's sudden intervention in the midst of a palm strike wasn't out of kindness to save Shengxiang and Shangxuan. Shengxiang was crucial to his plan to kill Qu Zhiliang, and Shangxuan was vital to the safe retreat of the surrounding troops; neither could afford to die. He wouldn't have intervened without certainty. Li Lingyan's ability to redirect force was remarkable; most of the astonishing power of Shangxuan's palm strike was diverted into the ground, leaving only a tenth or a twelfth of its force on him. But even that tenth or a twelfth was enough to sustain him. Due to his lack of martial arts skills, his own martial arts prowess wasn't as high as Li Lingyan's, and this direct confrontation truly tested his true strength.

His original purpose in descending the mountain was to challenge the "Gunxue Divine Skill," and now that he had successfully withstood it, a deep smile appeared on Li Lingyan's lips. This proved that skill was more important than strength.

Just as Yu Cuiwei arrived in time to catch Shang Xuan's wooden stick, Sheng Xiang was thrown out unharmed, Li Lingyan successfully withstood the "Gunxue Divine Skill," and Shang Xuan was still in a state of confusion, the flat ground suddenly cracked with a "crack"—Li Lingyan channeled the power of "Gunxue" into the ground, and at this moment the ground cracked and emitted a deep "whooshing" sound.

"What is that?" Shengxiang was the first to ask loudly, alert.

"I don't know... an earthquake?" Li Lingyan was helped up by Yu Cuiwei, and everyone looked at the suddenly cracked, dry ground beneath their feet with surprise and uncertainty.

"This is..." Yu Cuiwei's expression changed. "Everyone, be careful..."

"This..." Shang Xuan stared blankly at the increasingly cracked ground, "This is..."

A chill swept over him, and Saint Tun suddenly realized what was happening, shouting, "This is an underground river!"

But in the instant he realized what was happening, the flat ground cracked open, and underground river water gushed forth. The Northern Han army screamed in terror, and the river surged three feet high. In a short time, a tenth of the troops encamped for ten miles were swept away. This included, of course, Sheng Xiang, Shang Xuan, Li Lingyan, and Yu Cuiwei!

The main force of Shangxuan's "Gunxue" shattered the rock walls of the underground river below, a move that was truly unpredictable. Whether it was the Northern Han or the imperial court, whether it was a blood sacrifice ceremony or Daming Mountain, whether it was for revenge or to save lives, whether it was a big shot or a small person, everyone was submerged in the surging river, rushing headlong into the Red River at the foot of Daming Mountain.

Hongshui River.

Four men were lying haphazardly in a cave somewhere unknown.

"Hmm..." A long-haired, wide-robed, and strikingly handsome man was the first to wake up. He opened his eyes and sat up. "Where is this... Ah—" He suddenly saw a pair of eyes shining brightly in the deep, dark cave, moving inch by inch from the depths of the tunnel toward him. He reached out and found that three people beside him were still unconscious. They were entangled in the water by his excessively wide robes and belts, unable to move at all!

What is that? It's definitely not a human eye!

Inch by inch, minute by minute, the thing slowly moved closer, its glowing eyes pressing against the first person, emitting a hissing sound.

Chapter Nineteen: Fortune and misfortune can strike at any moment.

What was that? Yu Cuiwei was the first to wake up. Having experienced more life-and-death situations than anyone else, he adapted to this situation the fastest. Although he didn't know what it was, he wasn't too panicked. With a wave of his hand, two throwing knives shot out with two "whoosh" sounds. The thing had eyes about the size of pigeon eggs. He reached out and touched the person closest to him, using his true energy to shake the person's crown. The person woke up instantly, letting out an "ah," and it was Shang Xuan.

With two sharp clangs, the creature lowered its head, and the two throwing knives struck its scales and fell to the ground. Yu Cuiwei's expression changed slightly. His knife carried a spinning force; what exactly was this monster? It had easily deflected the true energy that should have spun three times.

"What is that?" Shang Xuan, who was truly pampered, opened his eyes and saw only darkness. He was faced with a pair of eyes that he didn't know what they were, so he suddenly took a step back and bumped into another person.

"Shh—don't speak." Yu Cuiwei held another throwing knife in his hand, his eyes fixed on the monster. After some time, he had roughly estimated that it was probably a snake or crocodile, its huge body blocking the cave. If they didn't kill it, all four of them would likely become its prey. He quickly calculated in his mind, then slapped his hand again, and the third person exhaled, letting out a soft "Eh," the tone of which was that of Sheng Xiang.

"Wow! What's that?" There was a brief silence in the cave, but Shengxiang woke up and shouted louder than anyone else. He hid behind Shangxuan, refusing to look at those eyes, and shoved Shangxuan hard, "Kill it! What is that?"

“If I exert my strength, I’m afraid the entire cave will collapse,” Shang Xuan said, his brows furrowed in his voice. “Even if we kill this guy, his body will still block the cave. Where exactly is this place? Which way is the way out?”

With a soft "poof," just as the two were arguing, a strange sound suddenly echoed from the cave. They were startled before realizing it was the monster's cry, the echo reverberating through the cave and becoming indistinct. Shang Xuan looked closely and saw that the creature had already lost an eye—Yu Cuiwei had acted silently, yet swiftly and ruthlessly.

"The exit is behind us." Suddenly, Li Lingyan's voice rang out. He was slightly weak but very clear-headed. "This guy is guarding the inside, don't kill it."

“Even if you don’t kill it, it will eat you.” Yu Cuiwei held the last throwing knife in his hand. “Judging from the sound, the exit is behind us. It’s lucky. Let’s go!” He gripped the throwing knife, pulled up the one closest to him, and slowly backed away step by step, his eyes fixed on the monster without blinking.

The cave was filled with knee-deep water, which splashed loudly with the slightest movement. The one-eyed monster did not go berserk for a moment, but instead tilted its head and looked at Yu Cuiwei with its remaining eye. Its gaze sent chills down one's spine. One wondered how the monster lurking in this dark water cave would retaliate against the person who had injured its eye.

Yu Cuiwei took a step back, and it took a step forward, still staring intently at him.

Shang Xuan's lips moved slightly, as if he was about to say something, but Sheng Xiang pinched him and whispered, "Don't speak."

This monster is definitely not an ordinary snake or crocodile! At this moment, if it and Yu Cuiwei had even the slightest spark, they would immediately erupt into conflict, and then—who knows what would happen.

"You guys go first." Yu Cuiwei released the person he was holding—it was Li Lingyan—and threw the throwing knife in his hand. With a "plop," the sound of the throwing knife hitting the water came from afar behind him. "There's at least thirty feet of straight water behind me. You guys go first." He said it very calmly, without the slightest emotional fluctuation.

"We'll wait for you." Li Lingyan didn't say much and took the lead in walking out.

Shang Xuan's lips moved slightly again, and Sheng Xiang grabbed his hand, following Li Lingyan out without saying a word.

The three people quickly left behind Yu Cuiwei, leaving him alone to confront the one-eyed monster in the boundless darkness.