Luzhou Moon - Chapter 109
"Yu Hezhi?" Mo Li looked surprised, then smiled. "He's been chased around by us, why would he deliver himself to our doorstep?"
Lian Junchu stepped forward and looked directly at Mo Li, saying, "That day, you were clearly the one who led Su Muchen to track that person. Besides Yu Hezhi, who else could you have made to pursue him so relentlessly?"
Mo Li chuckled. "Young Master Lian, things happened so suddenly that day. The man in the weeds attempted to assassinate me. Did you think I would just stand by and watch him escape? Of course I had to lead men in pursuit!"
Lian Junchu sneered and said, "Then please tell me that person's name, so I can have a clue!"
"Unfortunately..." Mo Li said, glancing at Su Mucheng standing beside him, then turning to Lian Junchu, "That person is already dead."
Upon hearing this, Lian Jun found his words utterly absurd. Before he could even refute her, Lian Jun, unable to contain her anger, stepped forward, brandished her twin swords, and shouted, "I demand to see her alive or dead! If you have the guts, take us to see that corpse! I want to see who could kill my elder sister in just a few moves!"
Su Muchen raised his hand, blocking Mo Li's path, and said, "My Valley Master has already explained the situation. Are you still going to persist?"
"It seems that Valley Master Mo Li is intentionally concealing the truth..." Lian Junchu said, and with a soft sound from her sleeves, two gleaming sword tips suddenly appeared from her cuffs.
Mo Li's face turned cold, his eyes flashing. "Young Master Lian, you don't believe a word I say. In that case, why bother tracking me anymore?"
Lian Junchu slowly approached the ancestral hall. The subordinates of the Bliss Valley did not dare to get too close and simply followed behind him.
"There's one more thing I'd like to ask the Valley Master," Lian Junchu said, observing Mo Li's expression as she walked. "Because I wanted to find you, I returned to the depths of Chaohu Lake, but unexpectedly, I found a corpse in the stagnant water."
Mo Li remained standing with his hands behind his back, his expression unchanged. Su Mucheng beside him frowned and said coldly, "Lian Junchu, what exactly are you trying to say?"
Lian Junchu glanced at him indifferently, then stared intently at Mo Li, and slowly said, "The appearance of that corpse is very similar to that of the Valley Master. How do you explain this?"
Mo Li was taken aback, then burst into laughter. His laughter was very hoarse and sounded particularly eerie in this desolate place.
"You mean to say that I'm a ghost standing here?" Mo Li said with a laugh.
Lian Junchu stopped a few steps away from him and said, "No, that's not it. I was just thinking... perhaps you aren't the real Mo Li?"
Upon hearing this, Mo Li's laughter abruptly ceased. In that instant, two beams of cold light shot out from Lian Junchu's sleeves, coiling towards Mo Li's shoulders like venomous snakes!
Mo Li's feet appeared motionless, yet his body retreated rapidly, his robes whistling through the air. Several hissing sounds emanated from his fingertips, sending wisps of white smoke flying that instantly turned into white smoke, swirling around him. Lian Junchu's twin swords were just a hair's breadth away from striking him when Su Muchen's curved blade slashed out from the side, colliding with the swords. Suddenly, the swords dipped, the silver chain flicked up again, and the swords flew diagonally upwards from beneath the curved blade. As Lian Junchu's sleeves trembled, sword light surged, breaking through the white smoke in front of him, striking directly at Mo Li, who had retreated behind the door.
With a flick of his sleeve, Mo Li sent out several more streaks of white light, then his feet touched the ground, and he shot off like an arrow towards the back of the ancestral hall. Lian Junchu's vision blurred, but she did not diminish her swordplay and gave chase.
At that moment, Su Muchen was behind him, trying to draw his sword, but he felt a gust of wind and hurriedly parried. It turned out that Lian Junxin had thrown her short sword. The short sword was knocked far away by him and was about to fall in mid-air when a person rushed in from the direction of the village entrance. Before Su Muchen could see the person's face clearly, the person had already caught the short sword in mid-air and thrust it at him.
Upon seeing this person, Lian Junxin exclaimed in surprise, "It's you?!"
Wielding a short sword, Wei Heng forced Su Muchen to the bottom of the ancestral hall steps with several moves. He raised his leg to block the blade that Su Muchen was slashing at him. Because he had no time to speak, he only glanced at Lian Junxin and then continued to fight Su Muchen.
The night was desolate. Mo Li swept past the ancestral hall along the edge of the village. There, he could vaguely see figures moving about; he couldn't tell if they were subordinates of the Bliss Valley. Lian Junchu's heart pounded erratically, her breathing quickening, but she refused to stop. If she hadn't been poisoned, she probably would have already caught up with him. But now, even though she could clearly see Mo Li not far away, she was powerless to take another step.
He forced himself to endure the discomfort as he passed by the empty houses, watching as Mo Li's figure darted into a courtyard. Lian Junchu followed to the gate, finding the courtyard deserted except for the low night wind that swept up a carpet of withered leaves. He hesitated for a moment, then slowly stepped over the threshold, the withered leaves crunching under his feet. In the corner of the courtyard hung a tattered straw curtain, swaying in the wind, casting long, dark shadows.
Suddenly, a chill pierced through the straw curtain, rushing in with the biting north wind, and attacked Lian Junchu with unstoppable force. Lian Junchu's eyes sharpened, as if she had anticipated this situation. She pushed off the courtyard wall, and two sword lights flew out from her sleeves, crisscrossing and instantly shredding the straw curtain into dust. The person behind the straw curtain unleashed another whirlwind with both hands, and the flying straw clippings were like sharp thorns, all aimed at Lian Junchu.
While he was in mid-air, he could have turned around to dodge, but instead he took a deep breath and used the force from before to strike again. The sword blades crisscrossed, as if surrounded by streaks of pale white light. He suddenly spun around, his two swords whistling as they sliced through the blockade of grass clippings like dragons. But to his surprise, his opponent swept up his sleeves, blocking his swords in front of him.
Lian Jun spun around and launched a flying kick, but the man's palm swung back, slicing towards his ankle like a sharp blade. He leaned back to dodge, then darted backward. In that instant, the man had already swiftly leaped over the high wall and disappeared from sight.
Just as Lian Jun was about to give chase, he noticed someone lying motionless beneath the crumbling wall. Startled, he slowly approached and, in the pale moonlight, saw that the person lying on the ground was none other than Mo Li, who had just fled to this spot. A sword wound pierced his heart, and he was already dead.
Lian Junchu felt the matter was becoming increasingly complicated. His previous doubts hadn't been fully resolved, and now Mo Li had suddenly died. He bent down to examine the sword wound on Mo Li's chest more closely when he heard footsteps outside. In the blink of an eye, Wei Heng had rushed through the gate with Qi Yun. Upon seeing this, Wei Heng exclaimed in surprise, "How could you kill him?!"
"I didn't kill him." Lian Junchu had barely finished speaking when a low, mournful drumbeat sounded again from outside the wall. Wei Heng quickly pulled Qi Yun aside and said to Lian Junchu, "Those people aren't particularly skilled in martial arts, but they've spread poisonous smoke around, and Qi Yun has already been poisoned. We'd better leave first!"
Before he could finish speaking, the drumbeats intensified, and Su Muchen shouted from afar, "Quickly protect the Valley Master!"
"Let's go!" Lian Junchu frowned and, together with Wei Heng and Qi Yun, crossed the wall and turned back towards the ancestral hall.
Midway, Wei Heng informed Lian Junchu that Bi Fang had brought Lian Junxin back to the camp, so the three of them bypassed the ancestral hall and immediately headed back to their original location. Arrows rained down behind them, and suffocating poisonous smoke filled the air. Wei Heng, supporting Qi Yun's arm, naturally found it difficult to move. Suddenly, they heard a mournful gust of wind. Wei Heng turned around and saw several flaming crossbow bolts hurtling towards them like fiery snakes. He pulled Qi Yun into the air, but since they were unarmed, they couldn't stop the incoming bolts. At that moment, a silver light swirled out, sweeping across the tips of the fiery bolts. Sparks flew everywhere, and all the bolts were cut down.
"Thanks." Wei Heng said to Lian Junchu, who had drawn her sword, and continued running with Qi Yun.
Behind them, Su Muchen and his men were in hot pursuit; they had reached the crossroads ahead. Lian Junchu spotted Yinglong and Chongming approaching on horseback, and flew over, saying, "Don't get too close; that village is filled with poisonous smoke."
Seeing that his complexion was also not good, Yinglong asked anxiously, "Is the young master injured?"
"It's nothing serious," Lian Junchu said. At this moment, Wei Heng and Qi Yun also arrived. Chongming quickly dismounted and helped Qi Yun onto his horse.
"Take him and leave first," Lian Junchu instructed, and Chongming led Qi Yun away quickly. At this moment, Su Muchen's men had already closed in. Lian Junchu turned around to face Su Muchen, her eyes clear.
Chapter Seventy
"Lian Junchu, how dare you kill the Valley Master! Bliss Valley will never let you get away with this!" Su Muchen shouted hoarsely, his eyes red with anger.
Lian Junchu said solemnly, "He was already gone when I went to that courtyard. If I really wanted to kill him, I wouldn't have asked him those questions earlier."
"It must be because the Valley Master couldn't give you the answer you wanted, and you got angry and took advantage of his injury to use such a vicious attack!" Su Muchen was furious. He snatched the torch, illuminating the way ahead, and turned to the crowd behind him, shouting, "Aren't you going to get up there right now?! Don't you want to avenge the Valley Master?!"
He shouted with all his might, but to his surprise, the people's expressions varied. Some were fearful, some were disdainful, and some, though they wanted to step forward, could only remain still when they saw that no one around them was making a move.
Su Muchen hadn't expected such a reaction from everyone. He brandished his curved blade and shouted sharply, "The Valley Master's body is barely cold, and you're already so ungrateful?!"
The person beside him said coldly, "Guardian, go ahead and make your move. We'll follow you."
Another person added, "The Valley Master is no longer here; it's anyone's guess who's in charge now!"
For a time, opinions were divided. Apart from his confidants, others were commenting on Su Muchen's behavior, completely disregarding the actual cause of Mo Li's death.
At this moment, Bi Fang and his other subordinates arrived one after another. Seeing that the number of the enemy was increasing, the people of Bliss Valley were even more unwilling to fight. It is unknown who took the lead, but before long, the originally large group of people scattered and rushed to the village to get horses, and galloped towards the road leading to Ganzhou.
Seeing that these people were clearly rushing back to Bliss Valley to steal its treasures, Su Mucheng was enraged. He leaped forward, and with a swift stroke, killed the last person who had fallen behind. This act further fueled the crowd's rebellious spirit. Several people, who had always been jealous of his favor with Mo Li, now that the Valley Master was dead, simply surrounded Su Mucheng and started a fight with him.
Su Muchen's trusted men were not many, and they were evenly matched with these people, their attacks continuing unabated amidst the flashing swords. Seeing this, the others seized the opportunity, spurred their horses, and fled.