Fragrance rises to dance

Chapter 90

Rong Yin ordered the boat to stop. Yu Cuiwei, her clothes fluttering, leaped onto the embankment. In the cold wind of January, the sight of the dead bodies was truly horrifying.

Shengxiang coughed a few times, covering her nose. "Sigh... Qu Zhiliang and Jiang Chenming were no match for Xiao Yan... Xiao Yan still killed them..."

“A battle involving hundreds of people must have taken place here in the last day or two.” Rong Yin’s gaze shifted. “A man came from the direction of the county town. When he arrived here, he encountered the first squad of ten men. These ten men died within three sword strikes. The newcomer charged in, but was wounded by an arrow here. He then turned north.” He walked along the corpses of the soldiers on the ground. “Here, he encountered more soldiers, and a melee ensued. The newcomer broke through the encirclement and headed north again…” He walked along the corpses for a full mile before finally stopping. “…Here, he collapsed from exhaustion. The Han army shot a hail of arrows at him, pinned him to the ground with spears, and burned him alive.”

Shengxiang followed behind Rongyin, exhaling a faint breath of white air. In the cold wind, the scene before her was shocking.

There were two charred corpses, one embracing the other. One of them was riddled with countless arrows, and two spears pierced his shoulder blades, pinning him to the ground. Even after being burned, the spears remained firmly in place. Rong Yin glanced at the spearheads. "This is a spear thrown by a skilled martial artist. No matter how strong an ordinary soldier is, he couldn't possibly make a spear sink more than a foot into the ground."

Shengxiang closed her eyes slightly. "Normally, soldiers wouldn't set fire to the enemy to burn him to death... Li Lingyan..." Even though Bi Qiuhan was killed by Qu Zhiliang, Shengxiang never expected... him to have such an ending.

Although Yu Cuiwei seemed indifferent to the gruesome death of the corpse, he couldn't help but sigh at Qu Zhiliang's fate. He raised his head and slowly smiled, "Li Lingyan has truly become a complete and utter demon."

Shengxiang opened his eyes and looked towards Lingling City. There was a person in that city who was determined to go in a different direction from everyone else, determined to be his enemy, determined to gamble everything for a duel that would cost him his entire life! He glanced back at Rong Yin and knew that Rong Yin thought the same as him. What Li Lingyan was determined to do was a duel without regrets.

“No matter what their nature is, or what their reasons are, once a person becomes a villain, they will never have a good end.” Yu Cuiwei stood a little further away from Shengxiang and Rongyin, speaking slowly to Qu Zhiliang’s corpse, “I think you will understand better than I do once you’re underground… Of course, after I go down there, perhaps you can tell me…”

Inside Lingling City.

Liu Ji and Li Lingyan are drinking together.

Liu Ji didn't look into Li Lingyan's eyes; she felt that if she looked at him any longer, her eyes would tremble.

"What?" Li Lingyan asked softly, "Afraid of me?"

Liu Ji sighed softly, "I'm afraid of you." She didn't even dare to drink the wine that Li Lingyan poured for her. "I think anyone who opposes you should hang themselves, hang themselves right now."

Li Lingyan's tone became even gentler: "How could that be... Let's drink, are you afraid I'll poison you?"

She trembled, only to see Li Lingyan bring a mouthful of wine to her red lips. She had no choice but to swallow, and suddenly realized clearly in her heart—she was known to command an army of ten thousand men, but the person who could control this army of ten thousand men was not her, absolutely not her.

She, like every blade of grass and tree in Zhoujiazhuang, was merely Li Lingyan's puppet. Every move she made had to be under his command, and even the timing of her death had to be arranged by him.

"Lingyan." Tang Tianshu knocked on the door and entered. Seeing the two drinking in an ambiguous atmosphere, he laughed and said, "Qu Zhiliang's body has been buried. Shengxiang and Rongyin have arrived in Lingling and are resting at an inn in the city."

Li Lingyan smiled slightly and said softly, "It's been a long time. I really miss this young master."

"If Shuangli can successfully release Beiyue from Biluo Palace, everything should be fine," Tang Tianshu said with a smile.

Li Lingyan smiled as always, "The thing I'm most curious about in Biluo Palace is whose life Wan Yuyuedan will save with that 'Emperor's Hemp'."

"Would he abandon his fiancée's life to save Shengxiang?" Tang Tianshu said dismissively. "If Wan Yuyuedan wanted to save Shengxiang, she shouldn't have abandoned him outside Bianjing City."

“This…” Li Lingyan said softly, “Who knows? Logically speaking, that should be the case, but when it comes to Shengxiang, things cannot be calculated by common sense… That young master has a strange charm…” He pondered carefully, “He can make people do stupid things that they would never normally do without them realizing it.”

Tang Tianshu suddenly thought of the mahjong table on Wudang Mountain, while Li Lingyan thought of the eels under the moon on Daming Mountain. Both of them sighed softly in unison. In that instant, Liu Ji suddenly felt the atmosphere in the air become much lighter and calmer. Shengxiang… she recalled the person she saw on the eaves of Moqu Manor, that silent smile, that loneliness and indifference, that strength and forbearance that made one want to shatter it—a person as pure as crystal…

Just as Li Lingyan and his companions were mentioning "Sacred Incense," he was already outside the walls of Zhou Family Village. His pampered and privileged lifestyle gave the impression that he would stay at the inn for the night before making his move, but little did they know that this time, Sacred Incense was using Ze Ning's life as collateral and Liu Ji as a witness to save Yu Cuiwei's life. He only had about twenty days left, so he couldn't afford to rest at the inn. Although Li Lingyan was well-informed, he was currently focused on plotting to kill Jiang Chenming and Qu Zhiliang, and was a step too late, not yet receiving news that Sacred Incense intended to capture Liu Ji within a month.

Shengxiang was outside the east wall of Zhou Family Village, while Rongyin was outside the west wall. Yu Cuiwei, still recovering from internal injuries, and Gu She hadn't come out tonight. Rongyin had originally been reluctant to let Shengxiang take the risk tonight, given his recent poor health; if something were to happen to him, wouldn't many people regret it for the rest of their lives? However, firstly, the situation was currently unpredictable, and secondly, Shengxiang was quick-witted, clever, and skilled in light-footed martial arts; tonight, he was indispensable for scouting the terrain and determining Liu Ji's location. Calculating the time, it was almost midnight. The two of them, one from the east and one from the west, slipped into Zhou Family Village to begin scouting Liu Ji's location.

Many people lived in Zhoujiazhuang, and although everyone was asleep by midnight, it was still extremely dangerous. After Rong Yin had scouted two courtyards, he suddenly noticed a dog and leaped away. He heard a black dog bark a few times in the night, seemingly confused. Sheng Xiang frowned slightly after avoiding the black dog; how could the dog's nose escape the strong smell of pastries emanating from him?

As soon as Shengxiang climbed onto the wall, the dog ran towards him. Shengxiang tossed down a piece of pastry, climbed onto the roof of a building, and the dog rushed to grab it without even barking. Once on the roof and looking down through the skylight, he was first startled, then almost burst out laughing.

The first thing he saw was Liu Ji's face, then he saw Li Lingyan's hand. The two were lying on the same bed, already asleep. Realizing he had seen something he shouldn't have, Sheng Xiang touched his nose and was about to run away when he suddenly noticed a string of things around Li Lingyan's neck that glittered in the moonlight.

It appeared to be a string of diamonds, dazzling and beautiful. Shengxiang found it strange, however. Xiao Yan didn't seem to care much about his appearance, and he wasn't a woman. Did he really look good wearing a string of diamonds? Was it to show off his wealth? Shengxiang happened to stumble upon Liu Ji's room and should have left immediately, but the strange string of diamonds around Li Lingyan's neck stopped him. After staring at it closely for a while, he suddenly realized that it wasn't just the diamonds themselves that were shimmering. Li Lingyan's neck, fingers, chest… everywhere that touched the diamonds was faintly flashing blue light. Liu Ji's lips, shoulders, fingers… many places that had touched Li Lingyan were also flashing blue light.

What was that thing? Shengxiang had a gut feeling that it was definitely not a good thing. Just as he was feeling uneasy, a figure leaped onto the roof. It was a beautiful, fair-skinned woman with a graceful figure—it was Leng Zhuoyu, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. Shengxiang smiled and made a face at her, but Leng Zhuoyu didn't disturb the people in Zhou Family Village. She just pursed her lips, pointed outside the village, and drifted away first.

Shengxiang followed her out of the manor. As soon as Leng Zhuoyu landed, she smiled and said, "Young Master Shengxiang, you've come so early. Lingyan said you would come tomorrow morning, but you've already arrived tonight." Although she couldn't say she was grateful that Shengxiang had spared her life on Wudang Mountain, she still had a good impression of him.

Shengxiang looked at her with a smile, "It's been a few months, and Xiao Yan has actually learned how to seduce women. Just now, when I saw it from the rooftop, I was almost so scared that I fell headfirst into that big red-toothed bed. Has that princess married Xiao Yan yet?"

Leng Zhuoyu curled her red lips, "Pah! That woman looks honest, but as soon as her husband died, she climbed into Ling Yan's bed. What kind of woman is she!"

"So it was just a fleeting romance." Shengxiang continued with a smile, "How are Princess Liu and Xiaoyan's relationship?"

Leng Zhuoyu then mimicked his smile, "You should wake Ling Yan up and ask him. How would I know?"

Sheng Xiang's eyes darted around. "Anyway, you've already found out about me." He took a deep breath, coughed to clear his throat, and then shouted at the top of his lungs, "Xiao Yan—Xiao Yan—I've come to have dinner and gamble with you! Get up and greet me! Xiao Yan—Li Xiao Yan—" He was afraid that he hadn't shouted enough, so he picked up the broom outside the door and banged on it. In an instant, the noise was deafening, and chicken feathers flew everywhere.

When Leng Zhuoyu heard him call Li Lingyan "Little Li Yan", she couldn't help but laugh out loud. "I bet Lingyan will really give you a shock."

Shengxiang put down the broom triumphantly, hearing the noisy chaos inside. "Just thinking about Xiaoyan climbing out of the beautiful princess's arms to greet me makes me chuckle."

The east wall was filled with a cacophony of voices. Shengxiang was shouting louder than an earthquake. Rong Yin frowned deeply. What was Shengxiang planning now that he had been discovered? Did he really intend to have dinner and gamble with Li Lingyan? Although he was burdened with the pressure of Ze Ning risking his life, he really couldn't say for sure that Shengxiang wouldn't actually have dinner and gamble with Li Lingyan... Lurking on the top of the tallest building in the manor, he stared at the crowd surrounding Shengxiang.

After a while, Li Lingyan, looking utterly helpless, stood at the door in a bathrobe, staring at the smug Sheng Xiang surrounded by people. He seemed quite frustrated. "Couldn't you have come in through the door during the day?"

Saint Incense answered seriously, "No."

Li Lingyan seemed to be giving a wry smile. "What do you want?" He actually seemed helpless, as if the appearance of Shengxiang and his every word and action were giving him a headache.

“This young master wants your beautiful princess,” Shengxiang said. “This young master will have an eating contest with you. If you eat less than me, you can give me your beautiful princess.”

Li Lingyan was somewhat surprised. Shengxiang had come for Liu Ji, not for him. Upon seeing this, Shengxiang smiled and added, "This young master is not a great hero. Only great heroes can subdue demons and monsters. This young master only likes beautiful princesses."

Li Lingyan stared at him and smiled, "Are you saying I'm a demon?"

Shengxiang pulled up her sleeve, stuck out her tongue, and made a face. "I didn't say that, you said it yourself."

Li Lingyan blinked his clear, handsome eyes, thought for a moment, and said in a calm and pleasant tone, "I have a condition. If you agree, I will give you the beautiful princess."

"What conditions?" Shengxiang glared. "Although I like the beautiful princess very much, I will never agree to conditions such as asking me to commit suicide."