Lave

Chapitre 57

Lan Qi, however, was studying the things on the jade fan. They were white beads the size of soybeans, crystal clear, reflecting a dazzling light under the bright sun.

"So they're just ice beads." She picked one up and placed it in her palm, rolling it back and forth. It was cool and refreshing, but the ice bead quickly melted into a drop of water, which then dissolved in her palm. In that instant, a chill ran straight to her heart, and Lan Qi couldn't help but shiver. She raised an eyebrow, then smiled and handed the jade fan to Ming Er, saying, "Would the Second Young Master like to take one to play with?"

Ming Er's eye twitched, and he said, "Seventh Young Master is still a child at heart, he can keep it for himself."

Lan Qi curled her lip, "Boring." With a flick of her jade fan, the ice beads instantly fell to the ground.

The Dongming Islands consist of thirty-seven islands of varying sizes. The central main island is the largest, roughly the size of a province in the imperial empire. It is composed of four cities, located in the east, west, south, and north directions. At the center of the four cities is a high mountain, and on the northern peak of the mountain stands a palace, which is the symbol of the supreme authority of Dongming Island—the Beique Palace, the residence of the ruler of the Dongming Islands.

On this day, a young couple walked towards the south gate. The husband, dressed in a simple blue cloth robe, had a sallow complexion and appeared somewhat sickly, but his tall and slender figure exuded elegance. The wife wore a light green dress and a veiled hat, the veil obscuring her eyes and eyebrows. Although her full face was not visible, her figure and delicate chin revealed her to be a beauty. Judging from their intimate manner, they were newly married and in the throes of new love.

These two were none other than Ming Er and Lan Qi. To avoid being recognized, they changed their attire. However, it was Lan Qi's idea to pretend to be a couple, reasoning that the people of Dongming Island had never seen her in women's clothing before, and that traveling as a man and a woman would certainly not attract their attention. Of course, she also secretly wanted to tease Young Master Ming Er. As for the veil on Lan Qi's head, it was specially prepared by Young Master Ming Er, the reason being to conceal the source of all trouble—Lan Qi's emerald eyes.

The two entered the southern part of the city in the evening and then stayed at an inn. The inn was neither too big nor too small, and its business was neither particularly good nor bad. The arrival of this couple did not attract much attention.

A husband and wife, of course, share a room.

The two entered the room, and the first thing Lan Qi did was take off the veil on her head. "This thing is really an eyesore." She threw the veil on the table, raised her hand to press her eyebrows and eyes, the veil always swaying in front of her eyes, making her eyes very uncomfortable.

The second young master of the Ming family looked up and touched his face; the disguise medicine was uncomfortable on his face.

Fortunately, a short while later, the waiter brought hot water for the guests to wash away the dust of their journey. When the knocking sounded, Lan Qi slipped behind the screen, and before she could come out, another waiter brought hot tea and hot food.

After dismissing the waiter, Ming Er first washed off the disguise medicine from his face, while Lan Qi stretched his neck, smelling the aroma of the food, and prepared to have a hearty meal.

After washing his face, Ming Er sat back down at the table and saw Lan Qi with a long face.

"That wretched Yun Wuyai, he won't even let anyone have a decent meal!" Lan Qi's eyes gleamed with a captivating, demonic light.

Ming Er no longer needs to look at the food and tea; he knows that Ding has already poisoned them.

The two men patted their empty stomachs, suppressing their hunger, but there was nothing they could do. Although they had experienced hunger and thirst on the deserted island before, they thought that they would not starve on the vibrant Dongming Island. They never expected that Yun Wuyai would be so ruthless.

Chapter 23: First Encounter with the Eastern Sea (Part 2)

Could there be someone sent by Yun Wuyai in this inn? The two pondered this question. But there was nothing suspicious when they entered the inn. So, did the poisoner arrive before or after them?

"What are your plans, Second Young Master?" Lan Qi asked, her eyes turning to Ming Er.

Ming Er glanced at the guest room and said, "Since we're here, let's make the best of it." Looking outside, it was already completely dark. He had been traveling all day and was quite tired, so he decided to rest here for the time being. He figured he could deal with whatever came his way. So, Young Master Ming Er moved to the bed behind the screen and prepared to sleep.

"Ah..." Lan Qi yawned and walked towards the bed. "In that case, let's go to sleep."

The two met at the bedside, stopped, and looked at each other.

A bed.

Two people.

A quilt.

Two rivals.

You look at me, I look at you.

Lan Qi suddenly jumped onto the bed; this was called striking first.

Young Master Ming, upholding the demeanor of a noble family scion and the magnanimous spirit of a gentleman who doesn't fight with women, planned to simply sit in meditation on a chair outside for the night. However, if Lan Qi were to quietly fall asleep, she wouldn't be Lan Qi; how could she feel at ease without provoking and striking a blow against her rival?

“Second Young Master, this bed is quite spacious; we can sleep together.” Lan Qi kicked off her shoes, leaned lazily against the headboard, her emerald eyes slightly narrowed, and looked at Ming Er with a half-smile. “Of course, if Second Young Master’s will is not strong enough and he is afraid he cannot control himself, then it’s better to sleep on the floor.”

Knowing Ming Er as Lan Qi did, her words made the Second Young Master grit his teeth inwardly, but on the surface he still had to maintain his usual ethereal demeanor, at most giving a helpless smile before walking away.

However, today's calculations have backfired.

The Second Young Master Ming smiled broadly, exuding an air of otherworldly elegance and grace. He calmly approached the bedside, gracefully raised his hand, and with a simple push, Lan Qi was shoved onto the bed.

“Since Seventh Young Master is so generous, then I, Ming Er, will accept without hesitation. We are men of the martial world, and we don’t concern ourselves with such formalities. Besides, we are husband and wife now, so sleeping in the same bed won’t arouse suspicion,” said the Second Young Master Ming Er in a gentle and refined manner. He took off his shoes, reached for the quilt, shook it, and then lay down fully clothed. Of course, the Second Young Master Ming Er gentlemanly left half of the quilt for Lan Qi.

Who is Lan Qi? She's the one who always scares others; no one else gets to scare her. So, after a moment of stunned silence, her emerald eyes sparkled, and she smiled sweetly as she leaned closer to the Second Young Master, uttering sweet words: "Husband, why do you always call me 'Seventh Young Master' so formally? We're clearly husband and wife."

Unmoved by the gentle breath brushing against his ear, the Second Young Master Ming simply raised his hand to shield Lan Qi's face as she drew closer, and said softly, "My wife, it's my fault. Look how tired we are now, it's getting dark. Shall we rest here?"

"No!" Lan Qishan raised her hand and firmly grasped the pulse point of the hand on her cheek, but her words became even more tender and affectionate. "Husband, we are newlyweds, why are you so cold to me?"

“My wife is mistaken. My wife is beautiful beyond compare, and she has a sincere heart towards me. How could I bear to part with her?” The Second Young Master Ming’s expression remained unchanged. His right hand slowly descended towards Lan Qi’s neck, as if to undress her, but the wind from his finger struck her throat.

Lan Qi blocked with her jade fan, then swept it away again, saying, "Oh dear, husband, how could you forget Miss Hengbo of the Qiu family?"

Ming Er dodged the jade fan with his right hand, and then flicked his finger to knock away Lan Qi's hand that was holding his left hand, saying, "Has my wife forgotten Ning Lang of the Ning family as well?"

Hmph! The two snorted inwardly and stopped talking. Their moves became faster and faster. On the small bed, four hands flew about, slapping, striking, grabbing, pointing, and poking. They used all kinds of exquisite moves, but they also tacitly agreed to only use the moves and not their internal energy. Otherwise, the bed would have collapsed long ago.

After fighting for a while, Lan Qi suddenly trembled, her hand slowing down for a moment. Just as she was about to be struck by Ming Er's fingertip, she instantly flipped her jade fan, a gust of wind sweeping Ming Er away. Caught off guard by her sudden use of internal force, Ming Er lost his balance and fell backward. In his haste, he hooked his hand around Lan Qi, intending to fall together. Lan Qi was pulled forward by him, her body tilting forward. She twisted her waist and tried her best to roll into the bed. Ming Er was pulled along by her, his body spinning half a circle before he fell into the bed, landing with a thud, probably under the quilt. In an instant, a body pressed down on him, soft yet cold—it was Lan Qi.

The pressure on his body quickly dissipated. Ming Er pushed aside the quilt, sat up, frowned, and looked at Lan Qi.

Lan Qi glanced at him sideways with her emerald eyes, breathing slightly out of breath, exuding a languid and alluring charm that would captivate anyone.

"If you're not tired, I am. If you don't sleep, I will." After saying this, the Second Young Master Ming ignored Lan Qi, shook the blanket again, lay down, and went to sleep, this time in the bed.

Lan Qi glanced at Ming Er, who was sleeping peacefully with his eyes closed, then listened intently to the sounds outside the room. After yawning, she threw off the covers, lay down, and went to sleep.

The concept of propriety and law was something that never existed in Bi Yao's mind, but Yu Zhe Xian had hundreds of reasonable and logical arguments for it.

The two of them hoped to get a good night's sleep.

But in the middle of the night, when you're bombarded with cold knives, sharp swords, hidden weapons, and poisonous smoke, even the sleepiest person can't fall asleep. So Ming Er and Lan Qi had no choice but to jump out of the window and escape, followed by many followers. Suddenly, a poisoned hidden weapon came flying at them.

However, there were very few people in the world who could catch up with Ming Er and Lan Qi, so the tails quickly lost their way. The two used their lightness skills to fly for another half an hour to make sure they had completely shaken off those annoying tails before stopping, and then they found themselves in a desolate mountain.

After calming her breathing, Lan Qi stared at Ming Er and said, "Ai Wuying's lightness skill is rated as the best in the martial arts world, but it seems that the title of best should go to the Second Young Master." Just now, she used all her strength, but she was still four steps behind Ming Er, which shows that she is slightly inferior to him in lightness skill.

"Let's find a place to spend the night." Ming Er looked up at the sky. There were still two or three hours until dawn. It was early winter. During the day, the sun was shining and the temperature was relatively warm, but at night it was bone-chillingly cold.

"Hmm," Lan Qi replied, her body trembling again, as if she couldn't bear the chill.

Ming Er glanced at her, while Lan Qi remained calm and composed.

The two found a cave, broke off some dry wood, and started a fire. The fire brought warmth and illuminated the cave, revealing Lan Qi's current appearance: pale face, bluish lips, and even her body was trembling slightly, as if she had been frozen.

Ming Er stared intently at her and said, "With your martial arts skills, those people shouldn't have been able to hurt you."

Lan Qi approached the fire, rubbed her hands together, and said, "On such a cold day, I, a weak woman, have been standing in the cold wind for half a day. Of course I'm cold."

Ming Er raised an eyebrow. "You'd be more like Ning Lang if you said that. With our skills, even in freezing weather, we wouldn't be like this." His gaze swept over Lan Qi's hand, noticing the bluish tinge at her fingertips. "You're... poisoned?"

"With your sharp eye, Second Young Master, it seems you have quite a bit of knowledge about poisons." Lan Qi smiled nonchalantly, which was tantamount to admitting it, since there was no way to hide it anyway.

Ming Er walked over to the fire and sat down, saying, "Speaking of which, I have to rely on you for this. Back then on Ying Mountain, your move poisoned me so badly that I bled from all seven orifices and almost died. At that time, I felt that high martial arts skills and deep internal strength were not enough, so after returning home, I also looked through medical books and poison classics."

"Heh... Fake Immortal, you finally admit to your despicable deeds back then." Lan Qi laughed. "I haven't settled accounts with you for injuring my heart meridian back then. Although I'm slightly poisoned now, I can still kill you before I die..." Her green eyes glanced at Ming Er, and the corners of her lips curved arrogantly. "I can still do it before I die." Her tone was light and seemingly mocking, but there was not a trace of a smile in her green eyes.

Ming Eryi smiled faintly, but a hint of schadenfreude lingered in her empty eyes. "You're always the one plotting against others. This time... it seems that the ice bead is pretty, but not very fun."

"Hmph!" Lan Qi snorted, about to say more, when suddenly his whole body trembled. He felt as if the coldness in his chest was about to break through the barrier and spread to his limbs. He immediately stopped talking, sat cross-legged and began to circulate his internal energy.

Ming Er stirred the fire, making it burn brighter. In the crimson flames, Lan Qi's pale face was clearly visible. His forehead was covered in beads of sweat, showing that he was focusing all his energy on expelling the poison. If he were to attack now… Suddenly, a thin line of blood spilled from the corner of Lan Qi's lips. His face turned deathly pale, his body trembled, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. A thin layer of mist instantly spread through the cave… That was—cold air!

In an instant, Ming Er made his move, pointing two fingers together and swiftly striking Lan Qi's head, then quickly striking his shoulders and back. Finally, he slapped his back with his left palm and pressed his chest with his right palm, circulating his internal energy through his hands.

After a while, Lan Qi finally opened her eyes. Her face was still pale. She looked at Ming Er's hands on her chest and back, a glint of light flashed in her green eyes, and she smiled slightly. She said, "Second Young Master, we've been intimate. But don't worry, I'll marry you and take responsibility." After saying that, she closed her eyes, her body went limp, and she fell into Ming Er's arms.

"At this point, not a single word will stay quiet."

Ming Er shook his head at the unconscious woman in his arms, then withdrew his palm, supported her, and placed his fingertips on her wrist to confirm she was temporarily safe. He then released her, stood up, but felt slightly weak in his limbs, indicating he had expended considerable energy. As for why he hadn't harmed her but instead rescued her, Ming Er's reasoning was: with a powerful enemy at Dongming, now was not the time. Of course, a small, weak voice inside him also whispered a tiny bit of uncertainty and doubt.

Since he was tired, he decided to rest. Besides, he had set up a small formation outside the cave, so even if those tails chased after him, they wouldn't be able to get into the cave. He took out a tiger-skin blanket from his bundle and spread it by the fire, intending to take a nap. But when he glanced at Lan Qi, who was still shivering slightly in his sleep on the ground beside him, he struggled with the decision for a while. In the end, he lifted Lan Qi onto the blanket, lay down beside him, and then took a fox fur coat to use as a blanket.

Trying to reason with Bi Yao about etiquette and reputation will only result in her ridicule.

Perhaps she was tired, or perhaps she was relieved, she soon drifted off to sleep.

In the morning, Ming Er woke up first.

Opening my eyes, I saw that the firewood in the bonfire was still burning, and a small fire remained. Sunlight slanted in from outside the cave, making the cave interior clearly visible.

Ming Er was taken aback when he saw Lan Qi curled up alone in a corner of the blanket.

When people feel cold, they almost instinctively gravitate towards a source of warmth. Last night, considering the chill in her body, he lay down next to her to lend her some warmth, and let her lean against the fire. But she... didn't lean against him, much less gravitate towards the fire; instead, she moved away from the warmth. The chill hadn't dissipated; it must have been extremely cold, yet, it seemed, even in her dream, she lacked that instinct to seek and approach warmth.

Looking at Lan Qi, who was curled up with her arms crossed and was no longer the dashing, charming, and alluring figure she once was, Ming Erkongmeng's eyes flashed with deep thought.

I got up and stepped outside the cave; the sunlight stung my eyes for a moment.

When Ming Er returned to the cave carrying a wild rabbit and a water bag full of mountain spring water, Lan Qi had already woken up and was practicing her internal energy cultivation with her eyes closed. Her complexion had returned to normal.

Hearing the sound of Ming Er entering the cave, Lan Qi opened her eyes.

"How is it?" Ming Er asked.

"It's been temporarily suppressed." Lan Qi stretched.

“The cold poison you’ve been afflicted with seems to be quite extraordinary; even our Ming family’s ‘Indirect Finger’ couldn’t expel it.” Ming Er tossed the rabbit to Lan Qi and casually put down his water pouch.

"I knew it when even the 'Buddha's Heart Pill' couldn't cure the poison, and I even drank 'Yellow Spring Water' in the hopes of fighting poison with poison, but it didn't work either." Lan Qi weighed the cleaned wild rabbit in his hand. It seemed that the Second Young Master had learned a lot during his days on the deserted island.

"Yellow Spring Water?" Ming Er, who was adding firewood to the fire, paused for a moment before continuing. That was the third most potent poison in the martial arts world; was it really so cruel to him?

The fire blazed up again. Lan Qi had already taken the seasonings out of his bundle and put the rabbit on the fire. He said, “I heard that the Yu family, who were known as ‘Celestials’ more than a hundred years ago, had a unique skill called ‘Sword of No End’. Your Ming family has ‘Finger of No End’. The names are so similar, what a coincidence.”

Ming Er picked up the fox fur blanket from the ground, dusted it off, and then folded it up. "'The Sword of No Return' has been extinct in the martial arts world for over a hundred years. I never thought anyone would still know about it."

"There's little I don't know about this world." Lan Qi glanced back at him, her expression meaningful.

Ming Er put the fox fur blanket back into his bundle, pondered for a moment, and then said, "The Ming family's 'Indestructible Finger' originated from the Yu family's 'Indestructible Sword'."

"As expected." Lan Qi sprinkled seasonings on the rabbit, filling the cave with a fragrant aroma. "But how did your Ming family know about the Yu family's 'Sword of No Return'?"

“That goes back more than a hundred years.” Ming Er put away his fox fur coat and began to tidy his hair and headdress. “I heard that during the previous dynasty, an ancestor of the Ming family asked Princess Chunran of Huaguo, who was known as the ‘most beautiful woman in the Eastern Dynasty,’ for her hand in marriage. However, he failed in the marriage proposal ceremony, apparently because his lightness skill could not reach its peak. So this ancestor returned home and devoted himself to martial arts training. It was because of him that the Ming family’s lightness skill, ‘Qingping Crossing Water,’ was able to reach a higher level.” Ming Er paused slightly as he spoke. These words were his answer to Lan Qi’s question about the Ming family’s lightness skill yesterday.

"Oh?" Lan Qi flipped the rabbit over. "And then?"

Ming Er took out two jade bowls from his bundle, then took the water bag and filled it with water, leaving half a bag remaining.

"This ancestor devoted himself to cultivation for ten years, and felt that he had achieved something and that few in the martial arts world could rival him, so he left home to travel the world. One day, he got lost in a big mountain and was in despair when he suddenly heard the sound of a pipa. So he followed the music and got out of the maze. Then he saw a girl playing the pipa in front of a thatched hut. The girl was beautiful and the music she played was like celestial music. He thought he had gone to heaven and met a fairy."

"Heh, your ancestor is quite the ladies' man. Could it be that he fell in love with this fairy at first sight again?" Lan Qi teased.

"Whether Zhong or not is in love is unknown." Ming Er smiled as well. "That fairy told our ancestor that she had a book that she would feel ashamed if it could not be passed down to future generations. Since we were destined to meet, she would give it to him as a gift, hoping that people would not forget the Yu family. So our ancestor took the book back to the Ming family."

"It seems your ancestor was not only blessed with good fortune in love, but also obtained the unparalleled skills of the Celestial Jade Family. That must have been a blessing earned over several lifetimes." Lan Qi tossed the wild rabbit in her hand to Ming Er. "It's cooked." After saying that, she took the water pouch and washed herself with the half-filled water.

"It's a pity that no one in the Ming family has been able to decipher the secrets recorded in the book for over a hundred years. They have exhausted the efforts of several generations, and they have only managed to develop one finger technique from it." Ming Er put two fingers together and made a sweeping motion in the air, and the wild rabbit was split in two.