Currently, the Yuwen sisters and Qin Qiyun reside in the Baili Mansion in the capital, but none of the Fourth Young Masters are present. Why would Yin Bitong sneak into the Baili Mansion so cautiously? If she didn't have some ulterior motive, could she really be here to admire the handsome young man in blue with her?
Yin Bitong, as if she knew the place well, wandered around and finally arrived at the small pavilion behind the mansion.
Could it be that they're going to admire the moon in Baili Prefecture? Shui Wu'er looked at Yin Bitong with a puzzled expression. Yin Bitong pushed her away, hugged the stone table in the pavilion, and with a gentle turn, a hole suddenly appeared under the stone table.
Shui Wu'er stared blankly at the cave entrance.
"Could it be that the young master in blue actually lives underground?" She couldn't believe that Baili Qingyi was such a coward.
Yin Bitong gave her a mysterious look and pushed her forward, saying, "You can go down now."
Shui Wu'er stumbled, and suddenly a realization dawned on her.
What she meant by "Is Baili Qingyi really prettier than me?" and "Let's go to the capital?" were all lies.
All that talk about "I love you" and "I love you" is just a lie.
He just needed a scapegoat to take the fall.
Yin Bitong's trip to Baili Prefecture was certainly not a spur-of-the-moment decision. It was highly likely that his father-in-law had given him some kind of order, which led him to suddenly decide to go to the capital.
As for what kind of entrance the hole under the stone table is, there's no need to speculate; it's obviously the entrance to the Baili Prefecture dungeon. Baili Prefecture is full of traps and heavily guarded. To enter the dungeon, one must be prepared. Rather than spending a lot of effort dismantling each trap, it's better to find a scapegoat to go ahead and trigger them one by one.
And she, Shui Wu'er, is today's scapegoat.
Yin Bitong said she was smart and interesting, but that was probably just to coax her. In Yin Bitong's eyes, she was probably just a clueless, silly girl with no desires.
She was truly naive. Not only did she risk her life to save this ruthless killer, but she was also fooled by his question, "Have you fallen in love with me?" and thought there was some ambiguity between them. She had always known that people who fell in love could be manipulated, but she never imagined that someone as unmoved as her lover could still be manipulated.
She was like that random passerby in a storybook who accidentally stumbled into the clutches of a villain, always dying before she could even utter a sound, let alone leave her name.
From then on, the righteous and the evil factions, Baili Wuhen, Qingyi Bitong, fought to the death. What a great legend in the martial arts world! What business is it of yours?
Shui Wu'er chuckled softly and walked downstairs. Damn it, what's she afraid of?
Descending the steps, she was plunged into complete darkness. There were no lights below, and even the moonlight couldn't penetrate. Shui Wu'er straightened her back, slowed her pace, and carefully tested the steps beneath her feet. Behind her, Yin Bitong's footsteps were barely audible. Slightly annoyed, she tripped and stumbled forward, not knowing what she was about to fall on.
Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind, stopping her fall. The arm was positioned perfectly, neither too high nor too low, but just right in the hollow below her chest.
Shui Wu'er cursed under her breath, and as she regained her footing, she tried to slap away the arm that was on her body, but unexpectedly her wrist was grabbed and something was stuffed into her palm.
The object was round and cool, hard and smooth. Shui Wu'er held it up to her eyes and opened her palm, and the surroundings gradually brightened. It turned out to be a luminous pearl the size of a glutinous rice ball.
Bathed in the glow of the luminous pearl, Yin Bitong smiled radiantly, her spring dream fading away without a trace. Shui Wu'er glanced at her calmly, then continued walking forward.
The dungeon was very spacious, with small cubicles on both sides, all sealed off with steel bars, but no one was inside. The air was filled with the smell of decaying earth, and a chill ran through Shui Wu'er. With each step she took, she felt as if the earth would shake violently the next second.
However, the journey had been uneventful, which made both Shui Wu'er and Yin Bitong somewhat suspicious.
As they walked further, they suddenly noticed figures appearing in the cubicles on either side, yet those figures remained completely still. Shui Wu'er moved the luminous pearl in her hand to shine its light on it, and was so startled that she nearly dropped it. Fortunately, Yin Bitong covered her hand with hers, preventing the precious object from falling.
Those figures were actually pieces of clothing arranged in the shape of human figures!
The clothes included men's and women's clothing, some luxurious and some simple, but they were all neatly draped against the wall, as if... as if a person dressed in clothes had suddenly disappeared for some reason, leaving the clothes behind as they were.
This situation couldn't be more bizarre. Even someone as calm as Shui Wu'er couldn't help but wonder how the owners of those clothes had suddenly vanished, or whether it wasn't an instantaneous event, but rather a slow dissolution of the body until the skin and flesh disappeared, the blood drained away, and the bones turned to ash.
Upon realizing this, Shui Wu'er couldn't help but gasp and take two steps back. She glanced at Yin Bitong, and both of them felt beads of sweat forming on their foreheads.
Chapter Five: Flowers Have a Delicate Fragrance, the Moon Has a Shade (Part Two)
Yin Bitong, after all, was a worldly person. She squeezed Shui Wu'er's hand and then pushed her to continue walking forward.
Shui Wu'er gripped the luminous pearl tightly, her palms damp with sweat, making it slippery and sticky. Since it was a dungeon, it should first and foremost be a place for imprisoning people. But this place seemed more like a place for imprisoning ghosts and monsters; after walking for so long, she hadn't seen a single person. Then, belatedly, it dawned on her: if someone discovered signs of intrusion from the pavilion at the entrance and closed the gate, wouldn't she and Yin Bitong be doomed here?
She glanced at Yin Bitong stealing a glance.
She might have thought before that dying alongside such a handsome man would be incredibly romantic and charming. But now, she absolutely refuses to die with him.
The dungeon in Baili Prefecture stretched so far underground; they had walked for a quarter of an hour and still couldn't see the end. No wonder Baili Prefecture didn't have money for lanterns; it turned out all their money had been spent building the dungeon.
Thinking of this, Shui Wu'er found it very amusing and smiled slightly.
Yin Bitong stared at her as if he'd seen a ghost. Although he wasn't exactly losing his composure, he was genuinely surprised that Shui Wu'er, a woman with no strength to even kill a chicken, could actually laugh under these circumstances.
Shui Wu'er felt dissatisfied. He couldn't even laugh himself, yet he was jealous of her, who could laugh? So she quickened her pace, deliberately leaving Yin Bitong a few feet behind. She listened intently as she walked, realizing that Yin Bitong wasn't following.
She believed that people become bolder when they are about to die, so she relaxed and began to appreciate the deep and secluded scenery of the dungeon.
Shui Wu'er stopped outside a cell. She recognized the clothes in the cell very well; they were the red robes of the Qiao Gang, and upon closer inspection, they were clearly the colors of Chi Baitang's uniform!
Why were the Qiao Gang members imprisoned in the dungeon of Baili Prefecture? As she pondered this, a faint, eerie call suddenly echoed in the empty dungeon:
"Young Miss?"
A chill ran from her toes to the tips of her hair.
She stared at the red-clad man in the cell, and the clothes actually moved! All the cells she had been in on her way here were filled with clothes, and she hadn't even noticed that there was a living person in this cell! The man's black hair was tangled and covered his face, and at first glance, his neck and above were hidden in darkness, as if he only had one set of clothes.
The man, his eyes wide and staring through his disheveled hair, spotted Shui Wu'er and charged forward with a bang, only to crash into the steel bar.
"Young Miss!" The man laughed loudly, his body slamming back and forth on the steel bar. Only then did Shui Wu'er realize that one of his arms had been chopped off!
Mizuki screamed and retreated abruptly, leaning against the steel bar on the other side.
This person… this person is clearly Yu Mengjie, the leader of the Chi Baitang branch of the Qiao Gang. How could he be here? In her memory, Yu Mengjie was a middle-aged man with a hooked nose and a thin face. She had met him a few times before. Now, he looked like a stray dog, practically a madman.
At this moment, Yu Mengjie was blocked by the steel bars and could not get close to her. Shui Wu'er relaxed slightly and took a few breaths.
Just when she thought this was the biggest shock she had suffered that night, she suddenly felt a chill on her neck.
A gleaming white hand emerged from the steel bars behind her and gripped her neck. Shui Wu'er looked down and could only see a section of her bright red sleeve.
She could feel the owner of the sleeve bringing her lips to her ear, stammering, "Whose daughter are you, coming here to play?"
The luminous pearl fell to the ground with a clang and rolled into the cell behind it.
Shui Wu'er's breathing nearly stopped. She thought she was going to die, and she didn't dare to struggle.
It turns out that she was killed by a ghost in the end, which is both sad and bitter.
At that moment, a low, stern voice said, "If you strangle her, you will die a horrible death."
That seemed to be Yin Bitong's voice.
The light from the luminous pearl behind her was so dazzling that she couldn't see the figure in front of her clearly, nor could she be sure if the speaker was indeed Yin Bitong. After all, Yin Bitong's tone had always been either malicious and smug or indifferent; she had never heard him speak so solemnly before. This tone was somewhat like Cen Lu, and also somewhat like Baili Qingyi.
Unexpectedly, the hand that was choking her neck obediently let go of her.
Shui Wu'er was both surprised and suspicious. She coughed twice, clutching her neck, and turned around to look.
A woman in red stood gracefully in the cell, her bright eyes captivating and her charm enchanting.
She snorted, "Yin Bitong, don't tell me this is your woman."
Yin Bitong silently pulled Shui Wu'er to her side and then asked, "Where is what Master wanted?"
The woman in red exclaimed, "Oh dear! What does Master want?" She gave him a very charming wink, "I wonder which one you mean? I have quite a few things on me that Master wants."
Yin Bitong coldly stared at her swaying waist, then suddenly waved the back of her hand in front of her eyes.
Shui Wu'er could see clearly that Yin Bitong had indeed just casually swung her hand, but the woman in red cried out in pain and crashed into the wall behind her.
Rumors circulated that Yin Bitong's fingertips could form blades, and Shui Wu'er had already witnessed it firsthand; her breath could also form palms, and it turned out to be true.
"Yin Bitong!" The woman in red spat out a mouthful of blood, her alluring beauty vanished, replaced by jealousy and hatred filling her beautiful face. "Even Baili Qingyi has never treated me like this!"
This woman in red is none other than Fang Yan Zui, the courtesan who was captured by the young man in green at the Jue Se Lou that day.
Yin Bitong gently pulled at the corners of her beautifully shaped lips and said, "Take the things out."
Fang Yanzui leaned against the wall, barely managing to stand up. Reluctantly, she pulled a small cloth bag from her chest and stuffed it into Yin Bitong's hand.
"I was detained here by that damned Baili Qingyi. I imagine Cui Cui must be very lonely all by herself," Fang Yanzui forced a smile.
Yin Bitong weighed the small bag in his hand and said, "She has her own mission, she won't be any more lonely than you are here." After saying that, he pulled Shui Wu'er and was about to leave.
Her beautiful face turned deathly pale: "Didn't you come here to let me out?"
Yin Bitong raised an eyebrow, amused: "Who said that? I just came to see you."
"You!" Fangyan shouted angrily, "Master will not let you get away with this!"
No sooner had she finished speaking than Fang Yanzui was struck in the chest by Yin Bitong's palm strike from a distance, and fell to the ground.
"I hate being threatened the most." Yin Bitong snorted and turned to leave.
Shui Wu'er was pulled off a tumble by him and turned to look at Fang Yan Zui. She saw Fang Yan Zui lying motionless in the cell, her figure appearing particularly forlorn in the soft light of the luminous pearl.
Yin Bitong's beating was far too brutal. Shui Wu'er even felt a pang of sorrow, a sense of shared fate. In the eyes of these monstrous martial arts masters, not only were human lives worthless, but beauties were also worthless.
Someone like her, who isn't even a beauty... is naturally not even worth as much as weeds.
Yin Bitong dragged Shui Wu'er out of the dungeon in the dark and into the pavilion. Without the illumination of the luminous pearl, Yin Bitong's pace didn't slow down at all, while Shui Wu'er struggled to keep up. Sadly, Yin Bitong didn't seem to realize this, and the way out seemed to be faster than the way in.
Yin Bitong tossed Shui Wu'er aside, and Shui Wu'er caught the stone pillar with perfect accuracy. By a stroke of luck, although the Baili family was poor, the stone pillars of this pavilion were still remarkably smooth.
Shui Wu'er steadied herself, staring at the bottomless abyss, which seemed like a gaping maw ready to swallow her whole. She thought with lingering fear, "How could the prestigious Baili family, so upright and virtuous, have such a sinister and terrifying place? This proves that everyone harbors dark desires."
She glanced at Yin Bitong again. The assassin had already calmly put away the mysterious little bag he had obtained from Fang Yanzui. Shouldn't the assassin have exercised a little more professionalism and closed the hole first? If the people from Baili Prefecture discovered this, it wouldn't be something that could be explained away with words alone.
She was about to remind Yin Bitong of this when Yin Bitong suddenly blurted out, "Why does he call you 'Miss'?"
"Huh?" Shui Wu'er was bewildered. "Who?"
Yin Bitong snorted heavily, extremely dissatisfied with her feigned madness: "That madwoman."
Shui Wu'er brushed off the dust that had settled on her clothes from the dungeon and sat down at the stone table: "He's a madman, how would I know why he called me 'Young Miss'?"
Yin Bitong didn't say much, and pulled her to leave. Shui Wu'er quickly stopped him: "Aren't you going to close that hole? What if someone finds out someone's been here?" Is this person really a top-tier assassin? Doesn't he even understand the basic principle of wiping your mouth after stealing food?
Yin Bitong turned her face around, her eyes filled with tenderness: "Wu'er, who said I knew how to close it?"
Shui Wu'er was completely speechless.
"Let's go." Surely we don't expect this lonely little woman to educate the "Traceless" number one killer on how to commit crimes.
Moreover, the night went by inexplicably smoothly. Although she wasn't a member of the martial arts world, she still felt that the guarding of the legendary Baili Prefecture dungeon was terrible.
People in the underworld often do one thing, say another, and have yet another set of plans in their minds. People like Shi Mansi and Yin Zhangzhang, on the other hand, wear an additional layer of facade.
Shui Wu'er lifted her foot to walk forward, but Yin Bitong did not move her foot.
He suddenly pulled Shui Wu'er behind him and stepped forward to block her.