Fragrance rises to dance

Chapter 95

Yu Cuiwei did not answer. If Rong Yin could not borrow 10,000 soldiers on this trip, he would die; if Sheng Xiang could not defeat Li Lingyan, he would suffer a complete defeat.

Everyone is betting their lives on a reason they absolutely cannot lose.

And didn't he have one?

Liu, disheveled and stumbling, ran three miles back to the wooden hut where Li Lingyan was staying. Su Qing'e, who had been waiting anxiously, couldn't help but speak up when she saw Liu's disheveled appearance. Li Lingyan, however, ignored her and said, "Old Su, change her clothes. We'll set off in the middle of the night."

Su Qing'e dared not speak her anger. Liu Ji lay prostrate on the ground, the blood seeping from the corners of her mouth and eyes a shocking sight. She raised her head and reached out to Li Lingyan, "Yan...Yan...you can't do this to me...I have...your...children..."

Li Lingyan looked at her calmly, then smiled after a while, "What do you say? Should I believe you or not?"

Liu Ji coughed up a mouthful of blood with a "whoosh," and cried, "I said...it's true...Yan, I wouldn't...I wouldn't dare lie to you..."

"Really?" Li Lingyan's tone was somewhat naive. "I understand. Elder Su, change her clothes. We'll set off in the middle of the night."

Liu Ji stared at him in disbelief; in her eyes, Li Lingyan was nothing short of a monster. "How could you...say such a thing?" She dug ten bloody scratches into the ground with her fingers, crawling towards Li Lingyan. "How could you say such a thing? He—he really is your child—"

“Princess.” Xingxing used her foot to push her hand away, her embroidered shoe leaving a footprint on Liu Ji’s hand. “Lying on the ground like a dog, go and change your clothes. The master likes cleanliness.”

In the following days, even though Shengxiang closely followed Li Lingyan's group, he was unable to capture Liu Ji alive. Li Lingyan knew that Shengxiang was tracking him, but he still rode at full speed and arrived in Henan in about ten days.

At this moment, only fifteen days remained until the one-month deadline promised by Shengxiang.

Yu Cuiwei's shoulder injury had improved during the journey, and although his internal injuries had not fully healed, they had not worsened either. With Rong Yin and Gu She gone, Sheng Xiang and Yu Cuiwei were left even more isolated and vulnerable in their pursuit of Li Lingyan. They endured hardships and slept in the open along the way, but this pampered, lazy, and playful young master did not utter a single complaint or seek help from anyone.

He was certainly not without friends. Yu Cuiwei knew that countless people were searching for this young master, and it seemed that even Zhao Pu, who had driven him out, was now Zhao Jiedushi's father, and was secretly looking for him. Shengxiang was well aware of this; he simply wanted someone.

It was almost an obsession; he didn't want to burden others, and he wouldn't ask anyone else for help.

Entering Henan, crossing the Huai River, Li Lingyan soon arrived at Bian River and went up to Banzhu.

Meanwhile, the remnants of the Northern Han army, which he had ordered to "break up into smaller units," gradually began to gather at the source of the Luo River on the southern slope of Mount Hua. However, when news reached Li Lingyan that the Biluo Palace was deserted and only twelve empty villages remained, not a single person could be seen.

When Li Lingyan received the news, he was drinking. He was enjoying the "Huazhou Bingtang Wine," a special wine from western Beijing. Lu You once thought this wine was the best in the world in his "Notes from the Old Study." But for Li Lingyan, the best wine in the world was far less exciting than the empty Biluo Palace. This shows that Wan Yuyuedan was no ordinary person.

At that moment, a heavy snow began to fall.

Li Lingyan smiled as he looked out the window at the swirling snowflakes.

Wan Yuyue's expression changed slightly as she looked at the heavy snow.

He had been in Banzhu for over ten days, setting up ambushes at various ferry crossings and waterways. He had also prepared important passages leading to the source of the Luo River at the southern foot of Mount Hua. However, apart from the snow on New Year's Eve last year, the weather had not been particularly cold, and the river flowed smoothly. But now, as the life-or-death battle approached, the weather suddenly turned bitterly cold, and heavy snow began to fall.

This made Wan Yuyue consider: once the river freezes, Li Lingyan will not travel by water, and his ambush at Banzhu will be impossible, thus Biluo Palace will lose its advantage. If the cold freezes the river and mountains, the mountain roads will be even more difficult to travel than the waterways. In any case, Banzhu is the only way through. If neither the mountain nor the waterways are passable, then Li Lingyan will inevitably remain at Banzhu.

Once we find him, we can settle the score.

But who knows what Li Ling was waiting for at the banquet in Banzhu?

After pondering for a long time, Wan Yuyue finally made a decision.

Li Lingyan indeed did not travel by waterway or mountain path; he did indeed land and stay at a newly brewed inn on the outskirts of Banzhu, drinking "Huazhou Bingtang Wine." He knew in his heart where the entire Biluo Palace would be relocated—he was waiting.

Wait for the 10,000-strong army that has gathered in the old lands of the twelve villages of Biluo Palace to turn around and launch a counterattack, wait for Wanyu Yuedan to expose his whereabouts, and wait for the snow to melt.

When the snow melts and the river thaws, he will surely be able to travel north by boat and offer some wild chrysanthemums to the victims of the Battle of Banzhu on the old site of the Twelve Villages.

Of course, he was also waiting for the incense.

At this moment, Wan Yuyue made a decision.

He decided to strike first.

Regardless of whether they could intercept Li Lingyan on the waterway, the fact that Li Lingyan was willing to wait silently must be advantageous to him. Therefore, Wan Yuyuedan ordered the thirty-six elite guards of Biluo Palace to search all the inns and taverns in Banzhu three times.

It's a barbaric method, but it's very effective.

During the second search, the Thirty-Six Death Soldiers discovered the newly brewed wine, leading to a chaotic battle. Ten of the Thirty-Six Death Soldiers died—from Tang Tianshu's "Bone-Melting Divine Skill." Tang Tianshu caught up with Li Lingyan at top speed. Yu Cuiwei's four palm strikes hadn't killed him, but had only turned him into a grotesque monster with twisted bones, a hunchback, and a sunken chest—his sternum was shattered, and even his internal organs were displaced. Tang Tianshu couldn't die; he lived, and his injuries even healed extremely quickly, but he became a hideous monster. He vented all his resentment towards Shengxiang and his group on the Thirty-Six Death Soldiers of Biluo Palace, killing ten of them in an instant.

This was the first direct confrontation between Wan Yuyuedan and Li Lingyan, and Li Lingyan emerged victorious.

After confirming Li Lingyan's location and the retreat of the assassins, Wan Yuyuedan decided on the first thing: to kill Li Lingyan, first kill Tang Tianshu!

He certainly wouldn't throw stones at him like Sheng Xiang did and try to suffocate him with clothes. Wan Yuyue knew the weakness of the "Bone-Melting Divine Skill"—after mastering it, one would be paralyzed for an hour on the fifteenth of every month. At that time, as long as the philtrum was damaged, Tang Tianshu would immediately lose his power! The day Li Lingyan was discovered was the fourteenth, and Wan Yuyue decided to take action again on the night of the fifteenth, ordering that all of Li Lingyan's movements be reported to him.

Li Lingyan killed Wan Yu Moru, killed the great enemy of Biluo Palace, Qu Zhiliang, challenged the prestige of Biluo Palace, and ran rampant in the martial world without restraint. If this person is not killed, who will Wan Yu Yuedan kill?

He was determined to kill Li Lingyan; it was a fateful encounter born of incompatible natures.

It was around dusk on the 14th.

Upon receiving news of Tang Tianshu's appearance, Li Shiyu and Li Shuangli miraculously joined Li Ling at a banquet. Wan Yuyue originally ordered them to be pursued and intercepted, but Beiyue Shi acted prudently and cautiously, and they were not intercepted by Biluo Palace. By the time they appeared near the newly brewed wine, it was too late for Biluo Palace to stop them. That night, the inn was filled with joy and harmony, the atmosphere seemingly warm and happy, and Li Shuangli's singing could even be heard.

Wenren Nuan watched Wan Yuyuedan's recent busy schedule; he was busy killing. She wasn't saying his killing of Li Lingyan was wrong; she also deeply hated Qu Zhiliang and, by extension, despised the likes of Li Lingyan. She naturally disliked anyone who killed or harmed others, but Yuedan's murderous aura was so intense that she often found it somewhat frightening. Lately, her health had been deteriorating; she often fell into a coma. Knowing more about her troubles inevitably led to a stagnant constitution. But even knowing this was bad, what could she do? Thinking of the person who, like herself, was ill, she realized that his suffering was mirrored her own. Why could he roam the martial world so freely, without ever making anyone feel that he needed protection?

Shengxiang… how have you been lately? She knew he made a one-month pact with Zhuge Zhi, knew he made another one-month pact with Li Lingyan, knew he was very busy, perhaps too busy to play, but what she wanted to know more was… in all that busyness and rushing around, in those quiet moments, in the night when no one could see, Shengxiang, have you ever thought about this: after you've finished dealing with other people's affairs, your friends' affairs, your family's affairs, the affairs of the martial world, the affairs of the rebels, what about yourself? What about yourself?

If you're happy to be alive, what does it matter if you die?

That person only wanted to see everyone else doing well; as for his own affairs, it seemed there was nothing worth looking forward to.

Shengxiang and Yu Cuiwei are also in Banzhu, staying at a small inn only two or three miles from the newly brewed wine shop. Wan Yuyuedan is keeping an eye on Li Lingyan's movements, and so is Shengxiang. The difference is that Wan Yuyuedan can comfortably sit in her room waiting for news from her scouts, while Shengxiang has to change into beggar's clothes, lean on a cane, and sit on the street in front of the newly brewed wine shop, begging with a dusty face.

Aside from beggars and street vendors, no one could stay in that area all day without arousing suspicion. Shengxiang didn't have the capital to set up a stall, so he had no choice but to become a beggar. It would certainly seem strange to others that the pampered young master Shengxiang, who was afraid of dirt and smells, would become a beggar. However, while he might not be able to convincingly portray a scholar, he could convincingly portray a beggar—a trick he had played many times when he was a child.

Li Lingyan was also very concerned about Shengxiang's whereabouts, but he never expected that the beggar sitting under the eaves of a house on the next street, looking dejected and on the verge of death, was the once glamorous playboy Shengxiang, who wore fine clothes and carried a gold-edged folding fan inscribed with "A Thousand Years of Romantic Charm".