A Wandering Youth

Chapter 32

"Speak, what do you want to know?" Leng Shuangcheng opened her eyes and said calmly to Wu Sanshou.

Wu Sanshou's gaze lingered on Leng Shuangcheng's face, and without any hesitation, he laughed heartily: "Acheng truly understands my heart."

What exactly is wrong with your body?

"When I perform acupuncture, I need to use the mental techniques and methods taught to me by my master to aggravate the chronic illness, and the pain will subside after a short while."

Wu Sanshou was stunned and speechless, overwhelmed with emotion. After a while, he asked again, "This lonely young master..." He silently chose his words, "is he an old acquaintance of yours?"

“No, this is a long story…” Leng Shuangcheng began by briefly telling Wu Sanshou about several major events that had happened since he left the Kaixie Manor, including how Dugu Kaixuan, in order not to poison Wu Sanshou, chose to endure the silver needle with his frail body, but never mentioned Nie Wuyou’s secret.

"Young Master Lonely has a weak constitution and needs to rest in a warm place to relieve his pain. After many days of hard work, his blood and qi are attacking his heart and his internal heat is rising, causing his pulse to be unstable. Now he has been tortured by long needles, and I guess he is in a hurry to come to me. Therefore, Young Master Lonely's situation is currently the most dangerous and difficult."

Wu Sanshou looked at Leng Shuangcheng, hesitating to speak.

“As you can see, I am a woman.” Leng Shuangcheng looked at Wu Sanshou and calmly voiced the doubts in his heart.

Having been overwhelmed by the numerous shocks that had just occurred, Wu Sanshou remained calm. He turned his gaze to Gu Dukaixuan and asked indifferently, "What do you plan to do now?"

Leng Shuangcheng stood up silently, took down a torch to illuminate the four walls of the cave: "If I can get out, I will definitely find a way to cure Young Master Lonely's chronic illness, but I have no cure for Young Master's heart disease and I am powerless to help him."

“Ah Cheng, you really are…” Wu Sanshou looked at Leng Shuangcheng, but swallowed the rest of his words.

In the dim firelight, Leng Shuangcheng's profile was hidden in shadow. With the flickering flames, her face appeared and disappeared in the dim light, as if veiled in mist, conveying a sense of loneliness and desolation. After standing silently for a long time, she finally spoke, somewhat woodenly:

"I feel the loneliness of the young master, and I cannot bear his kindness, because I live in the same way all the time."

"I have always missed someone, someone as compassionate and gentle as the moon. This person has always been in my heart, as full as the full moon, never ceasing. Although he has passed away, I have never felt his departure, because he is always by my side. His every smile and frown has fallen into the dust and blended into my breath, reaching the depths of my heart with every breath."

Hearing this emotionless voice, Wu Sanshou felt a lump in his throat. He recalled the words spoken before the first year of junior high school and gradually began to understand the person in front of him.

She suppressed her pain to its deepest depths, until it gnawed away until nothing remained, only then could she transform into gentle, calm winds that emerged from her tangled soul, humming softly across the vast, desolate earth.

"I shouldn't have come; I've only made things difficult for you..."

A deep voice echoed in the silent cave.

Wu Sanshou looked in the direction of the sound and saw that Gu Du Kaixuan had quietly stood up and was leaning against the cave wall, silently watching Leng Shuangcheng's back.

"I didn't mean to do this, but I couldn't control the pain in my heart, and I rushed here as soon as I heard the news of you. You don't need to worry, this is my own choice, like a moth drawn to a flame, clinging to the last bit of joy."

Wu Sanshou murmured, his lips barely moving, and sighed silently in his heart, but ultimately remained silent.

Holding a torch, Leng Shuangcheng stood with her back to the two, gazing silently at the wall for a long time. Wu Sanshou couldn't see her expression and couldn't guess what she was thinking.

"Young Master Lonely, are you still able to walk?" she asked calmly, as if nothing had happened. "We need to find a way out."

Lonely Triumph coughed a few times, pulled his clothes tighter, and said calmly, "You knew when you came in that once the Glazed Fire was ignited, the entire mountain city would be destroyed in an instant. How could you possibly escape?"

"The Glazed Fire?" Wu Sanshou uttered in disbelief, "The Glazed Fire, the Tang Clan's most treasured secret weapon?"

"Yes." Leng Shuangcheng raised the torch and took the lead, slowly moving forward. "I was always curious why Young Master Bixie went to such lengths to treat you with acupuncture every day. Now that I see the four walls of the cave, I understand everything."

Wu Sanshou stared at her retreating figure with some surprise and uncertainty, unable to utter a sound.

Lonely Triumph took the torch that Wu Sanshou had placed there and walked silently at the back.

"I just touched the inner wall and found it slippery and not dull to the touch. Obviously, someone entered this place before us and covered it with grease. This is a kind of black oil produced in Yunnan and Tibet, mixed with gunpowder. It melts when heated and explodes when ignited, with immense power. Young Master Bixie must have already unsealed the Glazed Fire and smeared it on the wall to wait for the right moment. And that deadline is tonight at midnight."

"When midnight arrives, the needle will cause excruciating pain as it travels through your internal organs. The silver needle is not poisonous, but it is coated with a sedative. Once it enters your internal organs and bloodstream, it will induce hallucinations and drive you mad. At that time, without your consent, it will inevitably cause you to accidentally set the entire tunnel on fire."

Leng Shuangcheng turned to look at Wu Sanshou: "Just as you said, there is no exit here. Once the gunpowder is fired, the ancient city mountain range will cease to exist in an instant."

"Why go to such lengths..." Wu Sanshou muttered to himself, his hands covered in cold sweat.

Lonely Triumph stepped forward, passing Wu Sanshou, and his calm voice carried behind him: "He's killing two birds with one stone—both fulfilling his wish for unification and using you to lure Chu Yi here. Why not?"

Wu Sanshou stood there stunned after hearing this.

Leng Shuangcheng recalled the gaze at the city gate, confirming his deduction: the young master of Bixie did not kill him when he encountered him, not only because he was concerned about the overall situation of the battlefield at that time, but more importantly because he had already estimated his whereabouts, so he was fearless.

"Wu You, I told you before, I am just a pawn. I will still come even without you." Leng Shuangcheng looked at Wu Sanshou and knew that he must be feeling sad at this moment, so she calmly comforted him.

Lonely Triumph turned around, looked at the two standing there, and smiled slightly: "Chu Yi, you are so kind to others, but so cruel to me."

The smile danced with the firelight, distant and lonely.

Leng Shuangcheng lowered her eyelids, looking at her shadow on the ground: "Young Master, don't come back to this again." After a moment of hesitation, she still barely parted her lips and said emotionlessly, "He is absolutely different from others."

Lonely Triumph turned his head indifferently: "Of course it's different. It's rumored that the skillful Wu has hands as smooth as a reed and a photographic memory. Given his great reputation, he must be different."

Upon hearing this, Leng Shuangcheng and Wu Sanshou exchanged a glance and looked at each other in surprise.

Wu Sanshou witnessed the entanglement between Lonely Triumph and Leng Shuangcheng, and was astonished for a long time. He gained a clearer understanding of the Lonely Town Lord before him—the renowned young man chosen by all the households—no longer seeing him through a fog, for he was real, with flesh and blood. Acheng's unwavering protection from beginning to end deeply moved him, especially the surprise and joy he showed upon first meeting him, that natural smile that shed his usual wooden demeanor, a smile he would never forget.

Leng Shuangcheng was surprised because she couldn't fathom the meaning behind Gu Dukaixuan's words. There was a type of person who she could only look up to with lifelong admiration and never truly understand.

Leng Shuangcheng gently tugged at Wu Sanshou's sleeve. Although Wu Sanshou was somewhat confused, he still mustered his spirits and caught up.

After walking for a while, Wu Sanshou broke the silence first: "We've walked this road before."

Leng Shuangcheng looked up and stared ahead, clearly relying heavily on Wu Sanshou's memories: "That's right, this place is like a maze, with gnarled branches and twisted vines."

"Mr. Wu, how many intersections did we just pass?" Lonely Triumph suddenly asked.

"fifteen."

"Sir, you truly have a photographic memory. I wonder if you still remember the layout of Gujing City?"

Wu San clasped his hands together and said calmly, "Young master, there's no need to test me. Just ask me whatever you want to know."

His solitary, triumphant figure remained distant and indistinct in the distance, his voice steady as he spoke: "May I ask you a few questions, sir?"

"please."

Leng Shuangcheng had a vague intuition that with Dugu Kaixuan and Wu Sanshou here today, there was definitely a good chance of getting out of this predicament, so she chose to wait and see.

"Three years ago, there were rumors that you went into seclusion to cultivate. Is that true?"

"No."

Lonely Triumph remained silent. Wu Sanshou, however, readily continued, "I started gambling when I was ten years old. To escape debt collectors, I traveled all over the country and had the good fortune to see the scenery of various prefectures and counties. Three years ago, the young master of Bixie set a trap for me, luring me with a large sum of money to make me draw a detailed map of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun for him. The ancient well platform of Wuzhou is naturally in the painting."

"Does the gentleman still remember the route to the back mountain of the ancient city?"

"Remember."

"If I were to ask you to lead the way now, would you be able to tell the way?"

Wu Sanshou laughed heartily: "Not difficult." He took the lead, took the torch from Leng Shuangcheng, and walked forward.

Leng Shuangcheng silently stepped forward, lagging behind Gu Dukaixuan by one step: "Does Young Master already know the way out?"

Looking at Wu Sanshou's retreating figure, Gu Du Kaixuan smiled faintly: "I don't know, everything depends on Mr. Wu."

"Young Master..."

Lonely Triumph ignored Leng Shuangcheng, coughed slightly, and stared straight ahead: "It seems Chu Yi has been here before?"

"No, I've only heard people talking about it."

Leng Shuangcheng silently pondered the past, when the voice of Lonely Triumph echoed in her ears again: "These hidden channels must be for transporting minerals, right?"

"Young Master has been examining the place closely for a long time and must have deduced that the dark walls of the cave contain not only oil but also coal residue. This is indeed an abandoned underground mine from long ago."

"If we continue to rely on the method of identifying black areas to find our way, like we did in the first year of junior high, we will never be able to get out of here even after a lifetime."

Leng Shuangcheng gave a wry smile.

"Did you watch your step carefully, Chu Yi?"

"Um."

"All this trouble, just to hide a secret."

"I would like to hear the details."

"Since the government is using public office for private gain by mining underground, they must cover their tracks. So they dug out many side roads, causing people to wander around in circles in confusion. But all the coal underground must be transported out, and the two mountains behind the ancient city are the best places to dredge it. Building against the mountains, it turns out, has such advantages!"

Leng Shuangcheng followed silently behind Gu Dukaixuan without saying a word, but she knew that Gu Dukaixuan's deduction was correct.

She had noticed this earlier, but to quell her inexplicable anger, she chose to pretend not to hear. As she walked from the cave entrance, she discovered that the caves were arranged in a very regular pattern; each entrance branched off into a smaller cave, repeating this process over and over again.

“Speak, First Year of the Lunar New Year,” Lonely Triumph said calmly. “Only when I hear your voice do I know you are still by my side.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Wu Sanshou turned around and smiled arrogantly: "This is it."

Leng Shuangcheng stepped forward, picked up a stone, and struck it against the stone wall. The stone broke with a clang that echoed within the silent acupoint. She continued striking, listening intently, and finally, her strike landed on a spot on the right side. She said with certainty, "There's a cliff outside."

33. Mutation

Wu Sanshou's expression changed slightly: "Are you planning to leave from here?"

Lonely Triumph smiled faintly, still maintaining the air of a noble and reserved young master: "There is only one entrance; you can only come in, you can't go out."

"Is it that long and tall well?" Wu Sanshou asked hesitantly.

Lonely Triumph seemed to understand what Wu Sanshou was thinking, and pulled his clothes tighter, saying, "The key is that there's a thick layer of moss." (Lonely Triumph assumed that Chu Yi had asked Cheng Xiang to find out where the entrance was.)

The three of them remained silent, merely gazing at the stone wall blocking their path.

"I wonder what time it is now," Leng Shuangcheng suddenly said slowly.

"What are you still worried about in the first year of junior high school?"

"Someone as meticulous as Young Master Bixie wouldn't have left Wu as a spy here alone..."

"That makes sense."

A faint mist rose on Leng Shuangcheng's calm face, and she quietly frowned. "All the mission boys have died. Who else will be sent here?" She turned back a few steps and stood still, facing the darkness from where she had come from.

Lonely Triumph noticed her subtle movement but didn't point it out. He turned around and smiled slightly, saying, "Mr. Wu."

"Please give your orders, young master."

"Sir, could you blast a hole in this mountain wall?"

"These gunpowders are connected; a single spark could ignite a prairie fire, and once that happens, it will be impossible to control..."

"Therefore, we must rely on you, sir, and hope that you can find a way to separate the gunpowder."

Wu Sanshou looked at Gu Dukai, whose face had been adorned with a faint, fleeting smile. He immediately frowned, pondered for a moment, and said, "I'll give it a try."