Jiangnan Gaiden

Chapitre 25

By evening, Langjing Manor was in complete chaos. Since noon, Yuan Ruxuan had been receiving a constant stream of news of trouble. First, three young men from prominent families who had come to propose marriage were assassinated; two died, and one was critically injured—enough to keep him extremely busy. Then, two servants were involved. He immediately realized the gravity of the situation and ordered everyone to guard all the key entrances and exits of Langjing Manor, closely monitoring the movement of everyone in and out of the manor.

However, that evening, the most terrifying thing happened: Yuan Peixin disappeared. Although Miss Yuan was willful, she had relied on her father since childhood and was extremely filial. She would go home on time almost every night, afraid of worrying her father.

However, Yuan Ruxuan paced back and forth like an ant on a hot pan all night, but his beloved daughter never returned, and his heart as a parent was almost shattered into dust. At such a time, what did his daughter's absence mean? He dared not think too deeply about it, only to find that a third of his hair had turned white when the clapper struck at the fourth watch.

Someone outside was sobbing and pleading for an audience. Yuan Ruxuan opened the door, feeling agitated, and recognized the person as Chunshun, his daughter's personal maid.

Chun Shun was already sobbing uncontrollably: "Master... Miss... Miss has probably been secretly murdered by that villain Luo Qingcheng..."

Yuan Ruxuan nearly collapsed, but as a powerful and ruthless man, he endured the excruciating pain and asked in a trembling voice, "Tell me... what exactly happened?"

Chun Shun threw herself at Yuan Ruxuan's side, sobbing uncontrollably: "Miss...Miss...she didn't want to marry that Luo Qingcheng, so last night...she devised a plan, personally leading several people to his house to catch that lecherous man and that so-called all-knowing...in his illicit affair...Unexpectedly...that Luo man harbored resentment...Today I heard that Young Master An...Young Master Zhang and others died, and I had a bad feeling...These three were the three Miss took last night...to catch them in the act...Sure enough, Miss hasn't returned yet, and I think she's probably in grave danger...So I rushed here to tell the Master the truth...Master, you must seek justice for Miss..."

Yuan Ruxuan clutched his forehead, his heart aching so much he almost fainted. No one knows a daughter better than her father; he fully understood her actions and knew the truth behind the so-called "catching her in the act." He knew his daughter's willfulness well; sometimes she acted without thinking, and this willfulness was largely due to his own indulgence. A spoiled son is always better than a spoiled child; no matter how willful his daughter was, she was still his only flesh and blood. He could scold and discipline her, but how could he tolerate outsiders bullying her, or even…harming her…? Besides, it all started because he insisted on forcing her to marry Luo Qingcheng. If he had known this would happen, he would have given in to Pei'er's wishes and given her to Huang Tingfeng. What harm would it have done? As long as Pei'er could live a peaceful life, what else was there to argue about?

"Pass down the order... immediately... capture that scoundrel Luo Qingcheng... he must be alive... I need to confirm... Pei'er is alright..." He finished speaking, tears streaming down his face, his words failing him.

Outside the window, a white figure flashed past quickly...

The sky was still dark. It was late summer and early autumn. The night dew was heavy, and the flowers and grasses drooped their heads quietly, as if they had also entered a dream.

Shen Wan rushed to Ye Xiao's place, but the people inside were probably fast asleep; the house was quiet and silent. She anxiously pounded on the door, and after a long while, Ye Xiao, looking sleepy, finally answered.

"Miss Shen?" Shen Wanye smiled, somewhat surprised.

"Quick... Where is Qingcheng? Take me to see him... You can't stay at Langjing Manor any longer... You have to leave quickly... Qingcheng killed someone... Manor Lord Yuan will be here with his men to capture him soon... You have to leave quickly... Land is probably not an option, take the waterway..." Although Shen Wan looked weak, she remained calm in the face of a major event. She concisely explained the whole story to Ye Xiao.

"Qingcheng... killed someone? And killed Miss Yuan?" Perhaps due to extreme sleepiness, the usually quick-witted Ye Xiao couldn't grasp the meaning behind Shen Wan's words for a long time. Finally, Shen Wan suggested that they quickly find Luo Qingcheng to find out the reason for the incident.

Upon entering Luo Qingcheng's room, a strong smell of alcohol hit her. Several wine jars lay scattered haphazardly on the floor. Shen Wan quickly threw herself onto the bed, hugged Luo Qingcheng, and shook him violently, but he remained unmoved, fast asleep. "Completely drunk... what should I do? Xiaoxiao, what do you think I should do? Qingcheng always praises you for being smart... what do you think I should do?" Watching the water in the water clock slowly drain away, Shen Wan was so anxious that tears streamed down her face.

Ye Xiao looked at her suspiciously: "Are you sure it was really Qingcheng who killed him? He killed someone and then got drunk so easily, it's not like Lao Er's character... He's always been cunning and shrewd, like a monkey..."

"He probably acted rashly and in a fit of anger, which led him to this desperate measure... He had too high expectations for this marriage... It's all my fault... Father clearly brought that thing back... but I couldn't find it... Otherwise, Qingcheng wouldn't have had to lower himself and suffer such humiliation... Now look what's happened, I'm afraid he might even lose his life..."

Ye Xiao's eyes lit up, and he was about to ask what it was, but seeing that her eyes were already red and swollen, he couldn't bear it. He sighed, "In the current situation, the second brother is still drunk and unconscious, the truth is still unclear, and Master Yuan is coming to arrest him... Even if the second brother didn't kill anyone, he's still a prime suspect. It's probably impossible to explain things clearly in a short time... It's best to make a run for it..."

Ye Xiao quickly woke Xiao Xun and had him carry Luo Qingcheng to follow him. They quickly reached the water's edge, found an empty boat lying unattended on the dock, quickly packed it up, and left the dock, heading downstream of Biluo Lake.

Luo Qingcheng turned over, still able to distinguish between male and female in his sleep, and slowly moved closer to Ye Xiao, snuggling up to her side, while kicking Xiao Xun hard with both feet.

Xiao Xun rolled his eyes angrily: "You ungrateful wretch! You woke me up in the middle of the night, then slept like a log! You're as heavy as a tattered sack, I had to carry you the whole way! Now that you're on the boat, you're clinging to the boss! Humph! You ungrateful bastard!" He was indignant and pinched Luo Qingcheng's leg hard, but Luo Qingcheng muttered, "What a big mosquito!" and slapped Xiao Xun's hand so hard it looked like a freshly steamed bun, fluffy and steaming hot…

The manipulator behind the scenes

As dawn broke, the rising sun gradually rose above the lake, dyeing the entire surface a rosy pink. As far as the eye could see, the lake stretched out endlessly, vast and boundless.

Xiao Xun rowed the oars with all his might, occasionally blowing on his still red, swollen, and painful hands, and glared angrily at Luo Qingcheng, who was sleeping soundly next to Ye Xiao.

Ye Xiao's expression was serious. He ignored Luo Qingcheng, who was snuggling into his arms, perhaps because of the morning chill, and also paid no attention to Xiao Xun, who kept casting a wronged look at him. He just stared at the calm lake surface.

"Turn around. Go back," Ye Xiao suddenly said.

Xiao Xun nearly dropped his jaw, and asked uncertainly, "Boss?"

"Turn around and go back immediately, the sooner the better!" Ye Xiao's voice suddenly became urgent.

With an elegant turn, Xiao Xun lightly touched the ground with his toes, and the small boat gently turned around on the lake, heading back the way it came. "Boss?" Xiao Xun spoke again. It concerned the life of his second brother. Although he trusted Ye Xiao without reservation and obeyed him, he was still somewhat worried.

“We should trust the second brother,” Ye Xiao said.

"You mean... the second brother didn't kill anyone?" Xiao Xun asked after thinking for a moment.

“I’m not so sure about that… The second brother is somewhat sinister at heart, and his background is rather shrouded in mystery. He might really have killed someone… But I believe that if the second brother really did kill someone, he would have made all the necessary arrangements. If we take him with us on our escape, it might ruin his plans…” Ye Xiao pondered.

“Oh… if he really killed those people, then he was wrong…” Xiao Xun said in a low voice.

Ye Xiao nodded: "We'll ask him about that when he wakes up. The scariest thing right now isn't that the second brother killed someone, but that he didn't kill anyone..."

“It’s a good thing that the second brother didn’t kill anyone, how can it be scary?” Xiao Xun glanced at Ye Xiao.

The latter's expression was more solemn than ever before: "Think about it, Miss Yuan set up a trap the night before last, and yesterday people died one after another because of it. Miss Yuan also disappeared without a trace. If it wasn't the second brother who did it, then who was it?"

"What the boss means is... that the second brother must have killed him? Then he should be punished as a matter of course!" Xiao Xun said with an air of righteous indignation.

Ye Xiao nearly spat out a mouthful of blood onto the boat, weakly saying, "Third brother...you...why do you always think so simply...What I mean is, if the second brother didn't kill them, then why would the murderer kill these people? Three young masters from prominent families, several servants from Langjing Manor...they were all the people who broke into Qingcheng's room that night...they probably wouldn't have had any other interactions...they shouldn't have offended the murderer together. There's only one possible explanation."

"What?" Xiao Xun's hands were quick, but his mind was never fast.

"The murderer did this to frame Qingcheng, making him the target of everyone's hatred! Think about it, several young masters from prominent families are dead, the servants of Langjing Manor are dead, and Miss Yuan's whereabouts are unknown... Once this news spreads, all the blame will fall on Qingcheng, and he will definitely become a villain that everyone in the martial arts world wants to kill." Ye Xiao slowly uttered these words, then suddenly fell silent, his gaze sweeping across the vast, misty lake and turning towards the distance. On the horizon, the faint shadows of distant mountains stretched across the sky, like a wisp of smoke, neither frowning nor not frowning.

Xiao Xun's heart skipped a beat, and he rowed the oar faster: "Why?"

"In this way... the murderer can use someone else to do the dirty work, pretending to use Master Yuan or those unfortunate young masters' families to get rid of Qingcheng... In short, the murderer's target is actually Qingcheng."

"What a vicious plan!" Xiao Xun was stunned. "Does the murderer have a grudge against Qingcheng? Who could it be?"

Ye Xiao sighed. He didn't even know Luo Qingcheng's background, so how could he know who he was?

"Miss Yuan's scheme happened on the first day, and the murderer killed several people on the second day. Not only was it well-prepared, but the murderer also seemed to know everything about the whole thing. The murderer appears to be very powerful... We'll talk about that later. Since the murderer is so powerful and wants to frame Qingcheng, it's impossible that they haven't been paying attention to our movements. I'm afraid that our every word and action, and our frantic escape along the way, have already been observed by them..."

Xiao Xun finally understood, and his face immediately darkened: "Then the road ahead may not be easy."

Ye Xiao smiled and said, "I'm afraid there's no way to leave. Someone is probably already waiting for us somewhere ahead, ready to trap us... Even if we manage to escape Langjing Manor, we'll be like rats in the street, unable to gain a foothold in the martial world. Now, we have no choice but to go back to where we started... At this critical moment, Miss Yuan's disappearance has been a great help to us. I think that in this situation, Master Yuan wants him alive no matter what... So, in this situation, Langjing Manor is probably the safest place."

As they were talking, Xiao Xun's expression suddenly darkened: "Boss, there are ships chasing us from behind."

Ye Xiao's internal energy was relatively weak, and it took him a while to vaguely make out the sounds behind him. He sighed and muttered, "It's all my fault for not being fully awake this morning and not thinking through the dangers. I shouldn't have run away at all... Langjing Manor is the safest place now... I wonder if Master Yuan will be able to come and rescue us in time..."

After saying that, he looked behind him and couldn't help but bury his head in his arms. Behind him, thousands of boats raced and hundreds of vessels competed, with countless small boats chasing after his own.

"Boss, sit tight and hold on to Second Brother." Xiao Xun said in a deep voice, lightly stroking the water with the oar in his hand. The small boat shot forward like an arrow. At the same time, a wave several dozen feet high suddenly surged up on the water, and several small boats chasing ahead capsized. However, there were too many boats behind them, and the ones behind quickly caught up and relentlessly pursued the three of them.

"It's over. I've seen so many storms and waves in rivers, lakes and seas, but today I'm going to capsize in this little Biluo Lake..." Ye Xiao said sadly, as if his arms could no longer completely shield him from the fear coming from behind.

"I'm not afraid! Boss! What joy is there in living, what fear is there in dying? At worst, we brothers will die together today, and that will not be in vain that we swore brotherhood... Twenty years from now, we will be heroes again, and we will still be good brothers..." Xiao Xun suddenly raised his head and smiled, no longer wasting his energy to stir up trouble, but simply rowing the oars quickly, the small boat gliding like a water bird, leaving a water mark on the smooth, mirror-like water surface, like an arrow, far ahead of the pursuers behind him.

The sun was high in the sky, and the mirror-like Biluo Lake reflected the sunlight so bright it was almost blinding. Ye Xiao peeked out from the gap beneath Luo Qingcheng, then suddenly closed her eyes in fear. It was over; several boats had already overtaken them. The enemy seemed determined to wipe them out; the boats ahead began to slowly close in, and arrows and hidden weapons rained down upon them.

Xiao Xun let out a long howl, brandishing the oar in his hand to deflect the dense barrage of hidden arrows. Ye Xiao shook his head, tenderly taking the Myriad Miles of Wind-Riding Wings to shield Luo Qingcheng and himself from the most vulnerable spots.

With a loud cry, Ye Xiao suddenly felt Luo Qingcheng jump up beside him. He quickly pulled him down, hugged him tightly, and hid him again behind the Wings of the Thousand Miles.

"Am I... dreaming? Why does it hurt in a dream? And why am I bleeding?" Luo Qingcheng, who had been sleeping like a log, finally spoke, looking at the long arrow stuck in his arm in confusion.

"It's not a dream... We're surrounded now, and we're about to die." Ye Xiao's voice suddenly came from the side, sounding somewhat muffled.

"Death?" Luo Qingcheng shook his head, which ached from the alcohol, still confused. He glanced at Ye Xiao, who was clinging to him in an intimate position, then suddenly rolled over and pressed himself against her. He whispered tenderly in her ear, "I'm not afraid to die... I'd rather be a romantic ghost than a lonely one... As long as I can die with Xiaoxiao, I..."

Ye Xiao's muffled voice came from beneath him: "I don't want to die... If you two really want to die, why don't you sacrifice yourselves and let me live... After all, brothers are meant to be sacrificed in crucial moments..."

Luo Qingcheng was taken aback, then looked up with a hint of frustration: "You...don't want to live and die with me?"

"We can live together... but can we not die together? I'm several years younger than you, it's not worth it for us to die together..." Ye Xiao pleaded pitifully.

Luo Qingcheng's eyes turned cold, and with a hiss, a bloody arrow shot out from his arm, while the arrow stuck in his arm also flew out, directly shooting the boatman on a small boat blocking the way into the water.

"Second brother...please...stop being so mushy! If you really have the strength, help me out instead of getting entangled with the eldest brother..." Xiao Xun's voice came, panting heavily, clearly exhausted.

Luo Qingcheng finally regained full consciousness: "Really...not a dream? Does that mean Xiaoxiao would hug me even if she wasn't dreaming?"

Ye Xiao squeezed himself into the Ten Thousand Miles Wind-Riding Wings with difficulty: "Being so close to you is just to minimize the size of the target as much as possible..."

Luo Qingcheng finally accepted this fact, feeling utterly devastated, and his gaze suddenly turned cold. Without time to consider why he had woken up to such a scene, he quickly scanned the area. Dozens of small boats and hundreds of burly men, many of whom were experts, had formed a circle several dozen feet in diameter, completely surrounding their small boat.

She glared at Xiao Xun resentfully: "Third brother... you should tone down your temper... when did you get involved with such a formidable enemy?"

Xiao Xun was already somewhat exhausted, and upon hearing this, his inner energy was disrupted. He slowed down the oar in his hand, and a silver needle found an opening and pierced in, hitting his shoulder well. He felt a numbness in his shoulder and immediately lost his strength, seeing that he could not block the flying arrow.

Suddenly, a bright silver light shone before them. Upon closer inspection, Luo Qingcheng had drawn a sword at some point. The continuous sword energy was as dense as a golden bell, covering the entire small boat from top to bottom. The flying hidden arrows were struck down by the sword energy, and the clanging sound was continuous and pleasant to the ear.

Xiao Xun breathed a sigh of relief and was about to circulate his qi to regulate his breathing when he heard Luo Qingcheng whisper, "Xiaoxiao, third brother, when I say 'jump,' you jump into the water... no matter what happens... don't come out of the water..."

Xiao Xun responded, watching as the small boats on the water gradually gathered, tightening the encirclement. Suddenly, he heard Luo Qingcheng shout, "Jump!" He immediately grabbed Ye Xiao and sank into the water. Just as the two of them sank, everything went black, and they could see nothing at all.

"Second brother?" Xiao Xun cried out in fear, choking on a mouthful of water and nearly drowning. He quickly shut his mouth. Suddenly, a strong force lifted his face above the water, allowing him to gasp for breath and cough violently a few times, but everything was still dark.

After a long while, relying on his profound inner strength and eyesight, Luo Qingcheng flipped the small boat he had been sitting on over, trapping the three of them inside. He supported it slightly with one hand, leaving a small gap above the water so that the three of them could tilt their faces back to breathe. After an unknown amount of time, when it seemed the air trapped inside the boat was almost used up and all three were clearly finding it difficult to breathe, Luo Qingcheng finally flipped the boat back over.

Ye Xiao and his companion both cried out in alarm upon seeing the scene on the water. Dozens of small boats were there, but all the people on board had fallen, lying haphazardly across the surface. The entire lake had suddenly become deathly silent, devoid of any movement or life.

"They're all...dead?" Even with his vast experience, Ye Xiao couldn't help but tremble, looking at Luo Qingcheng in fear.

Luo Qingcheng gave a cold laugh: "No... they're just temporarily unconscious. They should wake up in a few hours... but... their minds will be in a state of frenzy for a while..."

"How...how did you do that?" Ye Xiao calmed down a bit.

Luo Qingcheng smiled faintly: "The 'Love-Obsessed Madness' from Tiangong Valley's 'National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance' will cause people to briefly lose their minds after bewitching them... I just used a launching device to spread Love-Obsessed Madness in the air within a radius of several dozen feet... Love-Obsessed Madness dissolves and loses its effect when it comes into contact with water... Except for those of us buried in the water, everyone else is bound to be affected. Miss Ye, you're 'All-Knowing,' you haven't heard of Love-Obsessed Madness, have you?"

Ye Xiao gave an "oh," then suddenly whispered, "Legend has it... that Lu Mingfei, the Lord of the Netherworld City, defeated the Seven Masters of Heavenly Crafts in his youth and once obtained the 'Love-Obsessed Madness'..."

Luo Qingcheng remained noncommittal: "'National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance' is still considered kind-hearted, but that 'Miraculous Healer' is known for his unique poison 'Deceptively Alluring'..."

Ye Xiao nodded slightly: "Yes... I heard that those poisoned don't die immediately... their whole body goes numb, penetrating to the bone marrow... they can neither live nor die..."

Luo Qingcheng nodded: "If the antidote is not taken in time... three months later, the whole body will gradually swell and ulcerate... and the death will be gruesome and terrifying..."

“How vicious… but…” Xiao Xun hesitated for a moment, then suddenly spoke up from the side, “These things were all lost along with Lu Mingfei’s disappearance…”

Luo Qingcheng shifted his gaze to the distance: "No... at least, I know that both of these things still exist in the world..."

“Then the world… will truly be in chaos…” Xiao Xun blurted out.

Ye Xiao glanced at Luo Qingcheng, whose masked face was expressionless, and even his eyes were vacant.

"Qingcheng...you didn't kill anyone yesterday, did you?" Ye Xiao looked at the scattered figures on the lake and didn't know how to proceed.

"Murder yesterday? Who did you kill? I... I remember I was sleeping peacefully at home last night..." Luo Qingcheng finally asked.

"You...didn't you say yesterday afternoon that you had avenged me and taught those thugs who broke into your room the night before a lesson...? Several of them are dead...Miss Yuan is also missing. Wasn't it you who did it?" Ye Xiao looked at Luo Qingcheng suspiciously.

“...Yesterday I just... shaved a few people's heads in a half-shaved style, a minor punishment..." Luo Qingcheng's gaze suddenly deepened, as if he remembered something, “The Thirty-Six Stratagems: Using a borrowed knife to kill?”

Ye Xiao sighed and recounted the whole story to him, along with his analysis, smugly awaiting praise. "...If we capture a few of these people, we can follow the clues and find the real culprit..."

Luo Qingcheng nodded slightly, then shook his head slightly: "I'm afraid even if we catch them, it won't be of any use... These people are clearly not a rabble; they are all well-trained tough guys... They might not be willing to confess... Or... even if they reveal their true identities, they could simply say it's out of righteous indignation that they want to bring me, the murderer... or the monster... to justice..."

"What should we do then?" Ye Xiao was dumbfounded.

"There are two options. If you can exonerate yourself, then try to find evidence to identify the real culprit. If not..." His eyes suddenly flashed, revealing a murderous intent...

"What?" Ye Xiao asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

"Then... let's just do as they want and make enemies of the entire martial arts world... It's a pity I don't have that kind of strength yet... otherwise..." A fierce look suddenly appeared in his eyes.