Fragrance rises to dance

Chapter 92

Tang Tianshu accepted the order.

After Li Ling issued his three orders at the banquet, the main hall of Zhou Family Village was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The only sound was the howling of the cold wind through the window cracks, creating a chilling and terrifying sound like the wailing of ghosts and wolves.

The next morning, when Shengxiang and Rongyin arrived at Zhoujiazhuang, the village was deserted. It had been completely emptied overnight, leaving only a few black dogs howling in the yard from hunger.

Li Lingyan has taken Liu Ji away. How can we find his whereabouts within a month, defeat him, and take Liu Ji back? Sheng Xiang asked Yu Cuiwei what he would have done last night if he were Li Lingyan. Without hesitation, Yu Cuiwei said he would provoke Biluo Palace in order to win a decisive battle and vie for supremacy in the Central Plains. Sheng Xiang sighed and asked which route from Lingling to Luoyang was the fastest.

"Which one is it? How would I know?" Yu Cuiwei smiled, glancing sideways at the panting black dog on the ground. "But maybe these dogs do know."

Shengxiang's eyes lit up. She opened the door and let out the black dogs. The dogs ran towards the north of the county. "These dogs recognize their owner's scent."

Li Ling had been feasting here for several months, and these black dogs had long since recognized their new master.

Following the black dog to the riverbank, Li Lingyan and his group obviously left by boat. Shengxiang called for a fast boat to dock and was about to board to give chase when she suddenly paused: a handsome man stepped out of the fast boat, lifting the curtain—it was Tang Tianshu.

“Ling Yan said you should arrive here in three hours,” Tang Tianshu said with a smile, dragging out his words, “You—you’re half an hour ahead of time. You truly are worthy of being his formidable rivals.”

Rong Yin coldly said, "Disembark!"

His two-word command startled Tang Tianshu, who for a moment failed to grasp its meaning. After a pause, he realized Rong Yin was ordering him to disembark and make way, as he and Sheng Tun's group were about to board to pursue them. Tang Tianshu chuckled, finding Rong Yin quite amusing. "What if I don't disembark?" he asked.

Rong Yin, unwilling to waste words with him, swiftly swung his sleeve like a knife towards Tang Tianshu's neck. Tang Tianshu stood upright with a smile, not dodging at all. Rong Yin's sleeve sliced across Tang Tianshu's neck, but he was unharmed. Suddenly, he flipped his hand and grabbed, his clothes billowing as Rong Yin unleashed his strength, knocking away the flying pebbles one by one. Then, he leaped up and grabbed Sheng Xiang.

Sheng Xiang's martial arts skills were far inferior to Tang Tianshu's "Bone-Melting Divine Skill," but his ability to escape was unparalleled. Seeing Tang Tianshu leaping towards him, he turned and fled. Rong Yin's two pebbles struck Tang Tianshu's head with a loud "whoosh." Tang Tianshu took the blow and whirled around, his handsome face now contorted in a terrifying grimace. His cheeks were swollen from the heavy blow, making him look quite frightening. Rong Yin, unfazed by his angry glare, suddenly roared. With a swift, powerful clench and unclenched motion, he executed the "Where Does a Master's Hand Find Literature?" technique, grabbing Rong Yin's neck with incredible force! Tang Tianshu's fingers trembled, twitched, and veins bulged. Caught off guard, Rong Yin was seized mid-air. In an instant, his neck bones cracked, and deep red marks appeared on his neck. He was about to be strangled to death by Tang Tianshu's own hands!

"Rongrong!" Gu She and Sheng Xiang exclaimed in surprise at the same time.

Gu She rushed forward and began frantically smashing Tang Tianshu's head with half a broken ebony zither. One, two, three blows… ebony fragments flew everywhere, each sound muffled. Tang Tianshu laughed wildly, his fingers tightening their grip. Rong Yin, though struggling to endure, began to bleed from his lips, his face turning bluish-purple. Yu Cuiwei, seeing this, made a move to help, but suddenly felt a metallic taste in his throat. His shoulder and internal injuries flared up simultaneously, and he coughed up a mouthful of purple blood. In desperation, Sheng Xiang tore off a piece of her clothing and shoved it over Tang Tianshu's nose and mouth. Gu She cried out and dropped her ebony zither to help. Tang Tianshu, despite his best efforts, could not resist and could only struggle desperately. Sheng Xiang and Gu She together blocked his mouth and nose, preventing him from breathing. In his struggle, Tang Tianshu desperately tried to kill Rong Yin, but Rong Yin's skill was not to be underestimated. Even with his full strength, Tang Tianshu could only overcome Rong Yin by a fraction! The stalemate continued, with the outcome depending on who suffocated first and whoever held on longer would survive. After struggling for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Tang Tianshu's eyes rolled back and he fainted. The strength in his hands disappeared, and Rong Yin suddenly took a deep breath, looking at Tang Tianshu's unconscious body with an extremely pale face. The stalemate had lasted for the time it takes to eat a meal, far exceeding the time it would take for an ordinary person to die.

Gu She rushed over, trembling all over, and hugged Rong Yin tightly, unable to utter a single word. Sheng Xiang slumped down beside Tang Tianshu's unconscious body, panting heavily, her face pale, yet still managing a smile, "Rongrong... are you... alright...?"

Rong Yin shook his head, solemnly looking at Tang Tianshu's rolling eyes. After a long while, he slowly said, "How can he win a fight with a dead man?"

Upon hearing this, Gu She looked up and kissed Rong Yin's lips. Her man had died for the country, working tirelessly... It was a painful memory, and she didn't want to hear or recall the days she lost Rong Yin. Whether the person in front of her was a living dead or a real person, she would stay with him for the rest of her life and never give up.

Shengxiang watched the couple kissing, coughed, and turned to look at Yu Cuiwei, "Da Yu, how's your injury?"

Yu Cuiwei smiled as he watched Rong Yin and his wife being affectionate, saying, "They won't die."

“This man’s martial arts are terrifying. We absolutely cannot let him wake up and continue chasing us.” Sheng Xiang was still panting. He pointed at Tang Tianshu, “Do you have any rope…” He was only halfway through his sentence when Yu Cuiwei struck Tang Tianshu’s chest with a palm strike as sharp as a knife. Sheng Xiang froze. Yu Cuiwei’s first strike wasn’t enough; he followed up with four more strikes. Although Tang Tianshu’s flesh wasn’t injured, the sound of his ribs cracking could be clearly heard. “You killed him…”

Yu Cuiwei withdrew his palms. He had put all his strength into those four palm strikes, and sweat was beading on his forehead. He said softly, "This man must be killed."

Shengxiang smiled.

After a moment, Yu Cuiwei sighed softly, "Don't worry, with his 'Bone-Melting Divine Skill', my four palms might not be enough to kill him."

Shengxiang smiled again, "I know that even if you don't kill her, Rongrong will."

Yu Cuiwei said softly, "I understand that you have a kind heart and don't want to see people die."

Shengxiang made a face. "Let's get on the boat. Rongrong and her husband are being too mushy. We need to catch up with them." With that, she jumped onto the boat and went into the cabin first.

Gu She came over and pressed several acupoints near Yu Cuiwei's shoulder injury, applied medicine, and then, ignoring Tang Tianshu's uncertain life or death on the ground, turned and boarded the boat.

They boarded the boat and immediately began rowing. None of them were good at rowing, but fortunately the water was calm and the wind was blowing from the north. The fast boat rocked for a while but still made it smoothly northward.

Biluo Palace.

Wan Yuyue was facing a strange herb. The herb had a single leaf and a stem, its color as green as jade, and a white flower that was slightly swollen, revealing a bud that was about to bear fruit. He couldn't see the flower clearly, but he had been sitting there for a long time.

These past few days, after finishing his palace affairs, he often sat here alone, facing the legendary "Emperor Hemp," a medicine said to have the power to bring the dead back to life, lost in thought. One day, He Xiaoqiu barged in to see what he was doing, and found something in the room where the "Emperor Hemp" was grown that plunged Biluo Palace into an extremely eerie atmosphere these past few days.

She saw a cold jade coffin, inside which was the corpse of a woman.

Yang Xiaozhong.

Yang Xiaozhong was killed by Wan Yuyuedan's sword.

No one knew when Wan Yuyuedan hid Yang Xiaozhong's body and placed it in the cold jade coffin. When He Xiaoqiu revealed this, everyone in Biluo Palace changed color and speculated: Could it be that the young palace master got "Emperor's Hemorrhage" not because his fiancée was seriously ill, but to save Yang Xiaozhong, who had been dead for a year?

The legend of "Emperor's Hemp" and its "Hemp Immortal" can bring the dead back to life, but that's just a legend. Most doctors believe that "Emperor's Hemp" can cure many serious illnesses with remarkable effects, but it cannot cure the dead. So why did Wan Yuyue place Yang Xiaozhong's body next to "Emperor's Hemp" if not to try and revive her?

Who exactly are Yang Xiaozhong, Wenren Nuan, and Wan Yuyue Dan trying to save?

These past few days, there has been much discussion and unrest in Biluo Palace, with everyone speculating about what Wanyu Yuedan is thinking.

Wenren Nuan was also surprised when she heard about this, but she had another thought: Could it be that Yue Dan was still feeling guilty about Yang Xiaozhong's death and wanted to bring her back to life as a way of getting rid of her? But did Wan Yu Yue Dan really still hold a grudge about that sword? She felt that Yue Dan would not; he was a man who could suffer for a lifetime but would never regret it, and he was never indecisive or cowardly.

But who knows whether that's true or not, or what Wan Yuyue really thinks?

However, his strange actions this time plunged the Biluo Palace into a state of confusion, giving Li Shuangli a unique opportunity.

She wasn't particularly adept at concealment or deception, but perhaps she was simply too naive. While most people in the Biluo Palace avoided her, few expected her to dare release the person. Li Shuangli, though lacking in martial arts skills, possessed an extraordinary patience and resilience. She wasn't a particularly clever woman, which might have been her strength.

Tang Tianshu and Leng Zhuoyu had both visited Biluo Palace, providing her with a detailed plan and instructing her on how to rescue people amidst Biluo Palace's tight defenses. However, Tang Tianshu and Leng Zhuoyu could not stay in Biluo Palace any longer and were summoned back by Li Lingyan. Li Shuangli, however, remembered Tang Tianshu's plans and finally, on the third day after He Xiaoqiu discovered that Wan Yuyuedan had hidden Yang Xiaochong's body in the flower room, she waited for an unexpected opportunity.

That day, a dispute broke out in Taiqing Village of Biluo Palace. She didn't hear Wan Yuyuedan's voice; it seemed Wenren Nuan's mother, Xiao Yafeng, and Yang Xiaozhong's master, Lin Zhongyi, were arguing. Xiao Yafeng angrily accused Lin Zhongyi and Yang Zhongxiu of instigating the Palace Master to use a elixir to revive the traitor Yang Xiaozhong, disregarding her daughter's life—a case of using the living to pay for the dead. Lin Zhongyi, furious, bristled and insisted there was no such thing, accusing Xiao Yafeng of slandering his and Protector Yang's loyalty to Biluo Palace. Xiao Yafeng dragged Lin Zhongyi to Wan Yuyuedan for judgment. Along the way, they argued about whether or not there was "instigation," and then about Yang Xiaozhong seducing Wan Yuyuedan and colluding with outsiders to assassinate the old Palace Master—a crime deserving death. Finally, Lin Zhongyi flew into a rage, and the two began to fight. Disciples from both factions joined in, and soon it escalated into a factional dispute over whether to save Yang or Nuan.

That day, Li Shuangli approached the stone cell where the enemies were imprisoned in Biluo Palace. She noticed that the Biluo Palace disciples guarding the cell were all uneasy, pressing her for details about what had happened. She vaguely replied that it seemed Madam Wenren and Protector Lin were fighting, and that someone had been injured. Before she could finish speaking, the four disciples' expressions changed drastically. A scream suddenly rang out from ahead, and the four disciples rushed out of the cell towards the main hall, leaving Li Shuangli alone in front of the cell.

It turned out that these four disciples were all Lin Zhongyi's apprentices, and one of them was even Lin Zhongyi's nephew. How could the disciples not be anxious when their master was in trouble? Li Shuangli stared blankly at the empty stone prison, only to realize that she had overcome the seemingly insurmountable obstacle and successfully entered the important territory of Biluo Palace. Entering the stone prison, she found it brightly lit, with cells deep underground. She walked to the ninth cell before seeing someone inside. The person was tall and imposing with a cold face; it was none other than Beiyue Envoy of the Blood Sacrifice Society. Li Shuangli greeted him, "Brother Beiyue." Beiyue turned around, his usually indifferent face showing surprise, wondering how she had gotten in. Li Shuangli then pulled out a short knife from her bosom—the famous "Rhinoceros Fishing Knife" from the Leshan Treasure Vault of the Tang Heavenly Book, highly effective against metal and jade, fire, and water. Under the "Rhinoceros Fishing Knife," several iron bars of the Biluo Palace's fine steel prison were cut off, and Beiyue escaped. Even after escaping, he still couldn't believe that Li Shuangli had saved him. Once Bei Yue escaped, Li Shiyu also managed to escape a moment later. Only then did Li Shuangli realize the unimaginable magnitude of her actions, turning pale with fright. If Wan Yuyuedan knew she had let her elder brother and Bei Yue go, she didn't know how Wan Yuyuedan would treat her. The die was cast, and she had no choice. Although unwilling, she was taken away by Bei Yue and Li Shiyu. Upon leaving the prison, Li Shiyu killed two disciples from Biluo Palace who had returned to guard it, then vanished without a trace from Biluo Palace.

A scream rang out ahead; one of Xiao Yafeng's disciples had been injured. Wan Yuyuedan arrived upon hearing the news, and both sides finally stopped fighting. After clarifying what had happened, Wan Yuyuedan remained silent. Xiao Yafeng, unable to calm her daughter's anger, pointed at Wan Yuyuedan and demanded an explanation: did he truly intend to marry Wenren Nuan, and who was the "Emperor's Hemp" plant intended to save? Meanwhile, Yang Zhongxiu, who had arrived on the other side, knelt before Wan Yuyuedan, saying that Yang Xiaochong's crimes were unforgivable, but begged Wan Yuyuedan to spare Xiaochong's life, considering Xiaochong's deep love for him. Before Wan Yuyuedan could answer, an urgent whistle sounded from the stone cell behind them, reporting that the cell guards had been killed, and that Beiyue, Li Shiyu, and Li Shuangli were missing!

Since assuming the position of Palace Master of Biluo Palace, Wan Yuyuedan had encountered this situation of "internal and external troubles" for the first time. Upon hearing that Attendant Li and Beiyue had escaped from prison, he was initially taken aback, then hastily ordered Biluo Palace to begin an emergency pursuit. The entire palace was then on high alert; the crisis facing Biluo Palace if Attendant Li and Beiyue escaped was unimaginable. However, Xiao Yafeng still pointed her finger at him and questioned him in an elder's tone: "Tell me, what do you take my daughter for? Do you even want her to live?"