El cielo sobre los ríos y lagos está despejado

Capítulo 26

The young prince then said to the Ouyang family, "You must ensure the princess's safety, and then the prince consort can take you in. But this matter cannot be entirely decided by you; let's all sit down and talk."

In Yitian Ridge, there are no complete secrets. Before we even entered the Shura Hall, Famen and Baimazhuang arrived. The agreement was overturned, and Sect Leader Sun said, "The Ouyang family is too greedy. We agreed that the six sects would advance and retreat together. We don't have anyone in your hands. The Prince Consort agreed to take you, so what if we insist on following you?"

The second young master of the Ouyang family suddenly smiled and said, "Very well, let the six factions advance together, but once the treasure is obtained, the right to distribute it will be in the hands of the Ouyang family."

Then he said to me, "If you go out and none of us do, you won't see the princess."

There's not much to say about despicable people; let's just take it one step at a time.

But I firmly believe that I will get out alive and see Wubao.

The author has something to say: I don't want to explain too much about the story and characters. Just read the story, everyone.

This is the last update this week. I will be taking a break on Friday and Saturday. I originally planned to update five times a week to make things a bit easier. However, I have a lot of tasks to complete this week's rankings, so it will be seven updates this week. But I'm writing slower and slower these days, and I don't want to rush things out, so please allow me some time to save up some chapters.

Chapter Forty-Two: Cold Jade

The person calling me from behind was the shopkeeper of the small shop. I turned around and found his eyes fixed on my waist, as if I had stolen his goods without paying. Involuntarily, I reached for my waist as well. He actually reached for mine too! I was startled and quickly took a step back, barely dodging him. His eyes gleamed, and he asked, "May I ask, young lady, where did you get this fragrant wood ball?"

I breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that he, like Yi Ge, had taken a liking to this wooden ball, but had arranged it in such an intimidating manner. Thinking of his shop, I suppose he was also experiencing the same eagerness a craftsman would have when he saw a masterpiece.

I said, "I bought it."

A flicker of disappointment crossed his eyes. He then asked, "May I ask where you bought it, young lady?"

I said, "I bought it in Guocheng several years ago."

He pressed further, "Who sold it to you?"

I said, "A boy, but I can't remember him."

He then asked, "What kind of boy? Is he sold along with the incense stick inside the ball?"

I was already in a bad mood, and his questions annoyed me even more: "I already told you, I don't remember what that person was like. I put the incense pill in later."

Having said that, he seemed unwilling to talk to anyone anymore and said, "You've finished asking your questions, can I leave now?"

He said, "No."

Why do I always run into people like this? I angrily turned and walked away: "Just because you say no doesn't mean it's not allowed!"

I walked very fast, but after only a few steps, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and saw that he was an arm’s length away from me, but his eyes were very bright, as if he had found his prey. This was definitely not the look of an ordinary woodworking shop owner; it was too sharp, and he even exuded a cold aura.

I lowered my shoulders, twisted my body, spun around, and stepped back, breaking free from his control. He exclaimed in surprise, "Eh?" and said, "Little girl, your kung fu is quite good."

Still calling me a little girl? I clearly styled my hair in a bun.

I also turned cold: "What exactly do you want?"

He didn't say anything, but looked me up and down, and suddenly said, "Then where did you get your incense?" Did he mean I stole it?

I replied in a similarly unfriendly tone, "My husband gave it to me."

Where is your husband?

I gritted my teeth and said, "Can't I just die?"

He stared at me and said, "Stop playing tricks and tell me properly, where is he?"

I decided to ignore this lunatic, jumped up, and used my Thousand Mountains Flying Snow technique to try and escape.

There was a whooshing sound behind me—no, it was the sound of a palm strike. I twisted in mid-air, returning a palm strike like "Autumn Wind Blows Leaves." He let out another "Eh," unleashing a powerful palm strike. I felt a force like a mountain collapsing, an oppressive feeling as if Mount Tai were pressing down on me. A thought struck me, and I nimbly moved to the side, drawing my Swift Shadow sword in the process. His internal energy was profound and powerful; I couldn't possibly match his palm strike, nor did I have time to disperse my Swift Shadow. I could only use it like a short sword, employing the fan techniques my beautiful father had taught me.

He raised an eyebrow and said, "This little girl is quite interesting." He then withdrew his palm and suddenly pulled out a dark, grimy object from behind him. It looked like a thin, long stick, but the other end was extremely thin; it was more like a stick that had been whittled into the shape of a long nail. With almost no move, that "nail" was pointed at my throat.

I got angry too: "You're going to kill someone for a wooden ball!" So I unleashed my Swift Shadow without hesitation and attacked with all my might.

He wasn't attacking as aggressively as before; he slowed down his pace, as if my father and father were teaching me moves, or as if he wanted to see my moves clearly. But why did his moves seem so familiar? I was so engrossed in the incense that I couldn't remember where I had seen them before.

After fighting for eighty or ninety moves, I realized I couldn't gain the upper hand and that he probably didn't intend to kill me, so I seized an opportunity to retreat. While we were fighting, the once bustling street suddenly became deserted, with only a few people watching from behind windows. This made it easier for me to run away.

But his lightness skill was also quite good, keeping me close at hand. After running out of the town, I was still angry, so I condensed my swift shadow into a thin rope and lashed it backward. He, however, calmly flicked his fire poker upward and then flatly handed it out, twisting it left and right. My swift shadow wrapped around his fire poker, making a "clang" sound. This move flashed into my mind. Almost simultaneously, I exclaimed, "Chasing Light Butterfly?" He asked in surprise, "Heavenly Silkworm Silk?"

I asked, "How do you know the Light Chasing Sword Technique? Who exactly are you?"

He asked, "Who is Cong Haokun to you, and who is Tan Ziyin to you?"

I didn't know if he was a friend or foe, so I remained silent for a moment before asking in return, "What is your relationship with them?"

He suddenly laughed out loud: "Hehe, your kung fu doesn't seem like something you learned by stealing. It must have been carefully taught by those two. You're quite outstanding among the younger generation. Your lightness skill is impressive. I had a hard time keeping up with you. I guess I'm getting old."

Seeing that his attitude softened immediately, I figured he was friends with Kun's father and Meiren's father, not enemies, and I secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He added, "What is your name, young lady? Why don't we sit down and have a proper talk? I have something to ask you."

I replied, "I am Qi Wu. I also want to ask you, how do you know the Light Chaser Sword?"

He smiled and said, "I created this Light Chaser Sword."

I was so shocked that I didn't know what to say. After a while, I heard my own voice, which sounded like I had been startled: "Could it be that you, you are... Young Master Hanyu, Leng Yiwei?"

His gaze softened further: "Qi Wu, do you know me? No one has mentioned Young Master Hanyu for twenty years. And how do you know the Chasing Light Sword Technique?"

If Yi Ge hadn't told me that the person locked in the underground palace was the old master of the Ghost Palace, I would have thought he was dead and would never have guessed his identity.

Today, I have seen all four of the Jade Princes from back then. But the Jade Prince, whose sword once "chilled across fourteen provinces," has now been hiding in this small town for so many years. His weathered appearance is so different from that of my father, the beautiful father, and Uncle Shen. Suddenly, I remembered that he might have some unclear relationship with Yi Ge's mother. When he asked about the incense pills, Yi Ge had said they were made according to his mother's recipe; he clearly recognized the scent of those pills.

I bit my lip and said, "Cong Haokun is my father, and Tan Ziyin is my godfather."

Upon hearing this, a slight smile played on his lips, but his eyes gleamed. Looking into that light, a sudden feeling stirred within me—it was so familiar.

He then asked, "Did your father and godfather both practice the Chasing Light Sword Technique with you?" This sword technique was taught by Yi Ge, but I nodded as if by some strange twist of fate. My beautiful father knew about Chasing Light and Butterfly, so I wasn't lying, was I?

He thought for a moment and then said, "Now can you tell me the origin of this incense pill?"

I said, "I'm not lying to you, it was my husband who made it. He said he made it according to the recipe his mother gave him."

He suddenly reached out and grabbed my shoulder, his face showing a mixture of surprise and delight: "Your husband, who is he? Is he from Lingnan? Is his mother tall and beautiful, with fair skin like jade? Doesn't she look like someone from the Central Plains?"

I had already mentally reviewed the entire entanglement between Yi Ge's mother and him, so I told the truth: "My husband is from Qian County. As for his mother, I have never met her. She had already passed away when we got married."

The light in his eyes went out instantly, and he took a few steps back in a daze: "She... she was still alive; she had actually passed away."

His words are completely incoherent. Did he think she was already dead? Then why even ask?

As dusk fell, the wind picked up in the fields. I saw sadness filling his eyes, and his whole body seemed to hunch over. The wind lifted his blue cloth sleeve, revealing a scar on his forearm that looked like a knife wound. His hands were large and bony, with bulging veins, and he was remarkably thin.

After a long silence, he finally asked, "What's your husband's name? How old is he? And when did his mother pass away?"

I replied, "His name is Yi Ge, and he's twenty-one years old. His mother passed away when he was fourteen."

He turned his head: "Yi Ge? Young Master of the Ghost Palace?"

I immediately straightened my back: "Uncle Leng, how did you know?" Or should I ask, "How did even you know?"

He suddenly took a few steps forward, looked me up and down several times, and then asked, "Do you live in that detached house outside Songxi Village?"

Songxi Village? Ah, so the village we live in is called Songxi Village.

He nodded to himself and muttered to himself, "It really is God's arrangement, Yiyi. I never thought that more than 20 years later, our son would actually live in our house. He wasn't born there, but he still lives there."

"Speechless" doesn't even begin to describe how I look right now. He said Yi Ge was his and Yi Wu Niang's son, but Master Gui clearly said he was the son of the Ghost Palace Master and the Ghost Palace Saintess.

Also, how did he know we lived in that detached house in Songxi Village?

There were stones under the pine trees by the roadside, and we each sat down on one of them.

He said he had seen me before, near the detached house in Songxi Village, and he had also seen Yi Ge with me. He had bought the house from a villager who had gone out to do business and settled there; he had furnished it himself, piece by piece. But after the destruction of the palace more than twenty years ago, he hadn't returned to live there, and the house had fallen into disrepair. He said, "The people are gone. If I come back, it will only remind me of them and add to my sorrow." But habitually, he would return to Songxi Village every now and then. He first saw a large group of people digging at the site of the old ghost palace, and later he saw that the house had been renovated and people were living there.

I said, I know that Yi Ge's mother was the Holy Maiden of the Ghost Palace, and I also heard that she was not in the palace when the Ghost Palace was destroyed.

His expression shifted between gentleness and grief: "At that time, she had already left with me. She was pregnant, and I originally planned to stay quietly with her in Songxi Village for a while. This place wasn't far from the Ghost Palace, but it was nestled in a mountain valley. The Palace Master probably wouldn't have suspected that she hadn't gone far. But that day, she heard that the martial arts sects were besieging the Ghost Palace, and despite her pregnancy, she insisted on returning. But by then, the heroes had already stormed the palace gates. The Ghost Palace was a secluded place, with two small peaks blocking the way at the foot of Yitian Ridge, forming a natural barrier, and it was also equipped with traps. It was difficult to enter without someone leading the way. However, the heroes bypassed those two small peaks and stormed in. She then suspected that I was a spy who had deliberately approached her, figured out the terrain, and then relayed the message to the heroes. So she packed her things, cursed me, and left."

She had just returned to her Crimson Demon Palace when it suddenly exploded and collapsed, then burst into flames. I was too late to save her. I couldn't even find her body. Later, after the heroes had retreated, I piled the remaining beams in front of the palace and set it on fire, intending to cremate her. But I still clung to a sliver of hope; I'd heard that the Ghost Palace was riddled with tunnels, and I hoped she had escaped through one of them, saving her life. At first, I lingered near the Ghost Palace, but she never appeared, not even returning to the wooden house in Songxi Village. I waited on the mountain for five years before finally giving up and descending to Laichun Town.

I calmed down and listened to him, and gradually I understood a few things. I asked him, "You said you often go back to the Ghost Palace and Songxi Village, have you been going back even more frequently in the past month or so? Then are all the dead people on the back cliff related to you?"

He said calmly, "Yes, I killed some people. They touched the Crimson Demon Palace, which was the tomb I built for her. I didn't want them to disturb her."

Sure enough, I guessed some things right and some things wrong. I thought he was guarding treasure, but he was actually guarding souls.

"One night, Yi Ge and I entered the Crimson Demon Palace and heard a sigh. Was that you? Why didn't you attack us?"

He nodded again: "When I arrived, you were already in the hall. I saw you arranging those remains. I suspect you are connected to the Ghost Palace. Even if you are not, I don't want to kill you because you treat her dead disciples well."

"They've already breached the Crimson Demon Palace, so why didn't you stop them?"

"I knew nothing about the tunnel, and since I already knew that the Ghost Palace had a descendant, I thought that she might not have died back then. In fact, I also intervened. However, they had already fallen into chaos, and it's unclear who killed whom."

Now I finally know who he killed. That deep, narrow spot in the throat came from the "fire poker"—the Light Chaser Sword—in his hand. Its nail-like blade made those people look like they were stabbed to death by a stabbing weapon.

But in the end, I still didn't say what Guiye said: "Yi Ge is the descendant of the Ghost Palace Master and the Holy Maiden."

Author's Note: Next update on May 3rd. I might be updating slower for the next two weeks. I'm thinking of revising some of the earlier chapters.

Chapter Forty-Three: Ambush

I slept soundly through the night, and I was indeed fortunate enough to enjoy the rich and delicious breakfast in Laichun Town. The chive and egg pancake was especially fragrant, and the tiao tou gao (a type of rice cake) came in many flavors with different fillings. After finishing my meal, remembering that I was going back to Songxi Village today, I bought some more. Passing by a braised food shop, I saw freshly roasted chicken and, unable to resist the aroma, bought one. Seeing the agarwood wine in the liquor store, I thought I could buy some to take back for Qilong and Qianqian to drink together.

So when I arrived at the woodworking shop, I already had a rather large package in my hand.

Today, I'm going back to Songxi Village with Uncle Leng.

My mood brightened again, and I felt that the situation between me and Yi Ge was not a dead end, all thanks to a remark from Uncle Leng.

Yesterday, I couldn't help but tell him that Yi Ge was the descendant of the Ghost Palace Master and the Holy Maiden.

I thought he would be devastated, or at least remain silent for a while, but to my surprise, he laughed, a calm and serene laugh. His laughter was radiant, like a waterfall cascading under the moon, its light clear and bright. This was the Jade Prince I had imagined. He said very firmly, "No, I know. If he was born to Yiyi, then he must be my son."

I was shocked by his overwhelming confidence. Then I was delighted by it, because if Yi Ge was his son, he wouldn't be some so-called young palace master. Even if his mother was the Holy Maiden of the Ghost Palace, he would only be a descendant of the Ghost Palace. He wouldn't need to cling to that treasure so desperately, would he? At worst, I'd just give up the Rainbow Chasing Blade.

I suddenly realized with great sadness that none of the grand ambitions I set when I first entered the world of martial arts were going to be fulfilled. I said I would marry a hero, but I married a bodyguard instead; I said I would find a confidant, but my confidant never considered me a confidant, only a childhood friend; and now I have to give up even finding a good sword.

But having lofty ambitions can't replace life; living a fulfilling life is more important.

The small woodworking shop had only had one of its two doors down when Uncle Leng finished tidying up. Today, he had shaved, combed his hair neatly, and even wore a purple-gold crown, a silver-gray robe, and a dark gray belt; he looked completely different. Only now did I notice how similar his chin and eyebrows were to Yi Ge's, and how almost identical his posture was—equally upright yet with a touch of aloofness. Suddenly, I believed he was Yi Ge's biological father.

Or perhaps I should call him "father-in-law," but I'm just too embarrassed to say it.

While he was putting the door panels on the shop, the owner of a coffin shop two shops away came to open the door. He was taken aback when he saw the two of us standing together. He walked over to me and asked in a low voice, "Young lady, are you alright?"

I was baffled: "Do you know me? What could I possibly want?"

He glanced cautiously at Uncle Leng, who was closing the door, and continued in a low voice, "Yesterday, didn't you have a conflict with that shopkeeper and get chased by him? Around 3 PM, someone came to inquire if they had seen a girl in a green gauze dress with white jade beads and a northern accent. I've been thinking about it, and it must be you, right?"

Who is it? I've only been in Linchun for a short time, and someone is already asking? Could it be that Yi Ge sent someone to ask?

I quickly asked, "So what did you say?"