Guía sobre viento y humo

Capítulo 33

"Alright, what's the problem? It's rare that you're willing to take the initiative, so I'll naturally leave everything to you. The ceremony is just for show for the martial arts world. Let's have someone prepare it tomorrow."

"There's one more thing."

Jun Yuqing, like an ordinary older brother, patiently smiled and said, "Go ahead and speak."

"I want to end the Dark Pavilion. From now on, there will only be Qingzun Tower, and no Dark Pavilion."

Jun Yuqing's smile vanished instantly. He stared intently at Adi, and after a moment, his smile returned, but it was cold and devoid of warmth. "Xiao Ling, you've been hanging out with those useless people for too long. I'll pretend I didn't hear that, and don't bring it up again."

After saying this in a cold tone, Jun Yu turned and left Adi's study.

Returning to his room, the oppressive aura that had surrounded him earlier vanished. He sat down on the bed and lifted his clothes—the clothes he had just changed out of after returning to Qingzun Tower were soaked with blood.

He reached into the cabinet, took out some medicine, and sprinkled it on his wound. The burning desire in his heart prevented him from resting peacefully—New Moon! Brocade! Heartless Laughter! He wouldn't let any of them escape!

A coded signal sounded outside the window. He fastened his belt and whispered, "Come in."

"My lord," a man in black entered the room, "we have located the person who has been assisting the Second Young Master these past few days."

"Alright, send them directly to the Dark Pavilion after you catch them, no need to send them here!"

After the messenger left to carry out his orders, he immediately rose, preparing to head to the Dark Pavilion—a place he had given to Jun Xiaoling, and he had no intention of taking it back. Jun Xiaoling's performance in seizing power had unexpectedly pleased him. However, those pests greatly displeased him! He was determined to eliminate them to appease Jun Xiaoling. Currently, the Dark Pavilion was the only place Jun Xiaoling could neither reach nor control.

When he arrived at the Dark Pavilion, he saw the person he had been captured—a face he barely remembered. Like a minor character in a story, someone easily dismissed as a passerby, whose face he wouldn't bother to remember. Under normal circumstances, Jun Yuqing wouldn't even have given such a small fry a second thought, let alone bothered to deal with him.

Now, he had nowhere to vent his anger but could only take it out on the person in front of him—a word he had always hated, because it seemed to be Xiao Wuqing's specialty.

A cold smile bloomed on his lips, like a cold flame, burning without temperature.

Leng Yu was bound hand and foot and tried to escape for a long time, but in the end he couldn't get away. But since he had already been caught, he didn't think much of it. He lazily looked at Jun Yuqing, without even a trace of panic or dejection.

Where are Xiao Wuqing and Zhijin?

"Didn't you just meet them, Master Jun? Why are you asking me? I'm having a great time with your brother, I have no interest in thinking about anyone else—"

With a loud "smack," Jun Yuqing slapped him hard across the face. "I have no patience to listen to your nonsense—men, prepare the torture instruments. I will personally interrogate you!"

Leng Yu spat out the blood seeping from the cracked corner of his lip, a bitter smile on his face—bitter as it may be, he still had to find joy in the midst of suffering.

"Master Jun, there's no need for you to come. How about we have your men come instead? It won't tire you out—" He wasn't blind; he could see the look in Jun Yuqing's cold and arrogant eyes—eyes that seemed to want to tear him apart to vent their hatred, far more than just interrogation.

Queyue and the others rushed over and waited for a long time at the agreed place before Yi Moran finally showed up, but they were met with coldness.

Xinyue's expression was somewhat grim as she asked anxiously, "Still not in time? That guy... wasn't he captured?" Sending Leng Yu here to assist Adi was only one reason. The main reason, however, was that Queyue didn't want Leng Yu to know her identity. Therefore, in order for Xinyue's plan to proceed, they had to send him away so that he wouldn't see Queyue's "true form."

But if this leads to being treated coldly...

That kid's death was a bit of a waste, wasn't it?

It was a consensus reached between New Moon and Crescent Moon to bring Leng Yu here. Now that Leng Yu has been arrested, Crescent Moon's expression is not much better.

"Where is he now? Is he still at Qingzun Tower?"

Yi Moran shook her head. "Jun Yuqing locked him in the dark chamber."

—As expected, Jun Yuqing would not give them a chance to rescue people. Now that he has handed over Qingzun Tower to Adi and retired to the Dark Pavilion to take charge, it has undoubtedly become an impregnable fortress, making rescue difficult.

"What do we do now? Go and seek refuge with Adi?" Crescent Moon looked at Crescent Moon, who hesitated slightly.

"Go, go—only Adi can protect us now. What if we wander around outside and get caught by the Dark Pavilion? Besides, there are two wounded here—" Crescent Moon winked at Crescent Moon to convey her thoughts. Crescent Moon wasn't that she didn't understand, but... couldn't she just say it? Why did she have to wink so hard her eyes were twitching?

“But if we appear at Qingzun Tower now, it will only hasten the brothers’ falling out. What if Jun Yuqing thinks Leng Yu is no longer of use and kills him?” In comparison, what Jun Yuqing wants to do most now is to find out their whereabouts from Leng Yu before they go to Qingzun Tower and enter Adi’s protection.

"So you're going to rescue Leng Yu first? Just the few of us? Even Jun Yuqing can't handle us, how can we possibly go to the Dark Pavilion to rescue someone?"

“I’ll go,” Yi Moran said. “Jun Yuqing understands that we’re no match for the Dark Pavilion, so he’ll definitely expect us to ask Adi for help. He’ll keep an eye on Qingzun Tower to see if we show up—but he doesn’t know my identity yet, so he won’t realize that I know everything about the Dark Pavilion. Blood Asura, I need you to come with me to distract them. Are you alright?”

Blood Asura nodded. Yi Moran knew it might be a bit of a stretch, but if they wanted to save people, they had no choice but to push through. Blood Asura had survived the Dark Pavilion's training; as long as he had a breath left, he wouldn't fall.

However, they both understood that relying on just the two of them was not enough to hold any hope.

Crescent Moon looked at this and that, struggling for a moment between saving them and not saving them, then reached out and pulled Crescent Moon aside, "When will our reinforcements arrive?"

"Shouldn't you be the one who knows this better?"

"I don't know how to calculate the distance."

"...It should take another two days."

"Let's wait for reinforcements, then we'll take down the Dark Pavilion in one fell swoop!"

"But doing this might stir up a storm in the martial arts world..."

"We can't even take care of ourselves, so why should we care about the martial world? Let's deal with Jun Yuqing first, and then let Adi step in to mediate."

The two were whispering to each other when suddenly a head popped in between them. Liu Zhi, her face still pale, asked, "What riddle are you two playing?"

Crescent Moon reached out and rubbed the head, pushing it aside, while Crescent Moon played along, saying, "Kid, go away."

Turning back, Queyue said to Yi Moran, "Master, please wait two days and rest well with Xue Xiuluo. We will rescue them in two days."

I just hope the cold shoulder can last for the next couple of days...

Crescent Moon's attention had completely shifted. She glanced at Xue Xiuluo's pale, blood-deficient complexion, then at Yi Moran's emaciated body—nodding to herself, "He needs to replenish. I wonder if he still remembers the recipe for the tonic soup..." It had been a long time since she'd used that recipe...

(No-prize quiz time: Where is that recipe used?)

And so, Yi Moran and Xue Xiuluo were locked in a small house by Queyue and Xinyue, and drank tonic soup for two days.

Yi Moran couldn't explain exactly what the medicine was, but after drinking it, his blood and energy flowed smoothly, and even the damage from his old injuries seemed to have temporarily healed. However, he also understood that this was just a forced effect; while it wouldn't cause any backlash after he stopped taking the medicine, it wouldn't do his body any good either.

When she was "ordered" to treat Feng Wuji's body at Qingzun Tower, the "nourishment" wasn't this drastic. She still had to be considerate of Feng Wuji. So, although the effects weren't as quick, it didn't harm her body. And in the current situation, Yi Moran and Xue Xiuluo aren't anyone to her, and compared to them, Leng Yu is actually closer, so she naturally doesn't need to be polite.

Episodes 57-58

In the dark cell on the other side, Leng Yu was grimacing as he endured a beating, desperately trying to distract himself from the burning pain in his body by thinking wildly.

Damn it, he'd said several times he wouldn't reveal their hiding place—in fact, he genuinely didn't know where they were hiding, and even if he did, he wouldn't say. Why were there always these stubborn guys who wouldn't give up, determined to get something out of him? Although, this interrogation clearly had a hint of venting their anger.

After all, he was a seasoned veteran of the martial world, and he endured his injuries, clinging to his last breath. But there was something he absolutely could not bear—he had been interrogated for two days. This meant his body was covered in crisscrossing wounds, some even with the skin peeling back. Sweat poured from his body, drying layer by layer, while blood flowed and congealed from his wounds. He almost thought he was going to stink like this, unable to comb his hair or bathe. The occasional icy water poured over his head only made the mixture of sweat and blood flow more evenly across his body.

When will this finally end?

He wanted to take a shower, he wanted to sleep. He wished he could just take a shower and then fall into a deep sleep and never wake up again, but every time he tried to faint, he was splashed awake by the water and then continued.

Just bear with it, just bear with it.

But what he couldn't stand most were the flies in the cell, buzzing around him, this bloodied man, rising and falling on his wounds. Just the thought of those flies treating him as food, perhaps even mating and laying eggs on his wounds, made him tremble and feel like he wanted to die.

Unfortunately, he was firmly chained to the stake, leaving him no chance to even commit suicide.

Every time he thought he couldn't hold on any longer, that he might go crazy the next moment, he would inevitably put on that lazy, nonchalant smile whenever Jun Yuqing graced the dungeon with his presence.

This is terrible... It seems like only two days have passed, and his smile has become a conditioned reflex.

Fortunately, at least every time a great beauty as noble and elegant as Jun Yuqing was about to arrive, someone would frantically shoo away flies to avoid offending the eyes of that high and mighty person. So, he was actually somewhat looking forward to his arrival.

Once again, watching the noble man, as pure as a god statue, slowly walk into the cell, Leng Yu looked with satisfaction at the greatly reduced number of flies in the dungeon, trying to focus his attention on the one or two flies that remained, observing their flight paths, and ignoring the numb pain in his wounds.

I wonder what it is today? Tired of the whip? Branding iron? Bone crushing? He seems to be in a bit of a daze from the pain. He's definitely had bone crushing done before. Every bone in his left arm, from the shoulder to the fingers, is already dislocated and is still limp there.

If this keeps going on, I really don't know if I'll even have a whole body when I'm buried. What is that girl Xinyue still dawdling about? She should hurry up and do what she needs to do, and make a scene. The sooner this is resolved, the sooner he can be free.

Jun Yuqing walked up to him, seemingly very dissatisfied with his distraction. As for this stubborn, incorrigible man, it would be better to tear him apart and throw him in front of Xinyue and Queyue; perhaps that would be of some use.

"It seems you really have no intention of saying anything."

Leng Yu found it amusing, but as he laughed, he twitched his wounds and gasped slightly—Dude, it seems like I've said this so many times already. Are you slow to understand?

Seeing his obviously sarcastic expression, Jun Yuqing picked up an awl from the torture table next to him and stabbed it hard into the inner elbow of his right arm—Leng Yu groaned and almost cursed.

Not content with crippling one of his arms, they're going to take this one too!

However, for someone who is about to die, keeping an arm is of no use.

"Since you won't talk, there seems to be no use for me keeping you alive." He slowly released his grip, stepped back, but left the awl on his arm. He had beaten him enough these past few days, venting most of his anger on him. Now, he just wanted to see Xinyue and the others' reaction when they saw his corpse. Just thinking about it made him feel incredibly satisfied.

"Come on, let me see how I'd like to make you die." Jun Yuqing coldly reached out, grasped the awl on Leng Yu's arm, and violently twisted it into the flesh a few times before pulling it out—blood gushed out like a fountain, soaking Jun Yuqing's sleeve. He didn't care, raised the awl, and plunged it into other areas where blood vessels converged—

Leng Yu understood that he wanted him to bleed to death. Falling into Jun Yuqing's hands—was this a good or bad outcome?

Tossing aside the awl in his hand, Jun Yuqing took the handkerchief handed to him by his subordinate, wiped his hands, and led his men away from the dungeon—he had no interest in watching the death of a nobody, as insignificant as an ant.

All he has to do now is go back to his room and change his clothes. Soon after, someone can come and collect the body.

Two groups of people silently entered the dark chamber through two separate secret passages. The guides were Yi Moran and Xue Xiuluo.

Even after a decade's absence, Yi Moran still knows the paths within the Dark Pavilion like the back of her hand, the past vividly clear in her mind, as familiar as if she had never left.

He thought he would never come back.

He used his own death, and the death of Yi Mo Ran, to achieve a miracle that was impossible in the Dark Pavilion—the only person to leave the Dark Pavilion alive.

A commotion quickly arose within the Dark Pavilion. It was Xue Xiuluo and his group who had deliberately exposed their presence to draw the Dark Pavilion's attention. Yi Moran waited a moment, until Xue Xiuluo and his group had held off most of the guards, before leading the others into the cell. The dungeon guards were engaged in combat with his men, but he refused to linger. He charged into the cell alone, while the others worked in perfect coordination, clearing a path for him.

Yi Moran entered the cell, the sticky sensation under his feet making him pause. The floor was covered in blood, slightly congealed, revealing a dark brown hue. Yi Moran sensed something was wrong and quickened his pace, walking forward to see the bloodied Leng Yu on the wooden stake.

He reached out and checked Leng Yu's breath—

He cut the chains binding Leng Yu, gave a long whistle, hoisted Leng Yu onto his back, and rushed out of the cell.

Upon seeing him, long whistles immediately rang out, and everyone instantly abandoned their pursuit, retreating in the same direction to protect Yi Moran and his men as they left. The entire operation was perfectly coordinated and seamless; even those in the Dark Pavilion couldn't catch a glimpse of Yi Moran's clothes.

Without resting for a moment, Yi Moran rushed back to their hiding place.

"You're back!" Liu Zhi called out as she looked into the distance. Queyue and Xinyue hurriedly came to greet her. Queyue hadn't even had time to change out of her women's clothes, but after only a moment's hesitation, she stopped worrying.

It might seem that his cold treatment didn't help much, or that he did anything to earn our gratitude, but he kept helping. Even in danger, he stayed to lend a hand. Just a little bit, just that little bit.

However, she kept her identity a secret from this person who had been helping her all along, and from beginning to end, Leng Yu didn't even know who she was.

Yi Moran walked up to him in silence, without saying a word, and put aside the cold treatment.

Crescent Moon wanted to ask why she didn't take him inside, why she left him on the ground, but when she opened her mouth, no sound came out.

—Why is Leng Er's face so pale? As pale as paper… She knew that Leng Er would suffer a lot after being captured by Jun Yuqing, but he looked truly miserable… almost like a dead man…

"Hey... the ground is cold, let's hurry up and take him inside to get his injuries treated..." Perhaps I didn't sleep well yesterday, my ears are ringing with static, otherwise why does my own voice sound like it's being squeezed out of my throat?

But Yi Moran didn't move, remaining silently standing there.

“Hey, we can’t keep leaving the wounded on the ground, right, Queyue…” Xinyue still hadn’t given up, turning to Queyue for support. However, Queyue simply walked forward silently, expressionlessly crouching down, her slender white fingers slowly touching Leng Yu’s carotid artery. Her hand remained firmly and stubbornly there, never letting go—