Цзянху место, где не причинят вреда

Глава 19

Hearing her strained voice, Jia Ling felt annoyed. A thought struck him: the Hundred Plum Palace was riddled with traps; he couldn't possibly escape on his own. He decided to leave first and then escape later. Young Master Jia clapped his hands and smiled, saying, "Good!" Dai San Niang then led him on his way.

Young Master Jia sipped his soy milk and ate his steamed bun with a cheerful grin. Suddenly, he recalled the days he and that swindler Ye Changsheng would share steamed buns. He wondered to himself where that swindler had gone. He finished the remaining half-bowl of soy milk in one gulp, clapped his hands, and stood up, glancing at the person next to him. Jia Ling was stunned, utterly astonished—the person drinking soy milk and eating steamed buns at the next table was clearly an acquaintance…

This acquaintance was no ordinary person. Young Master Jia recognized him, but he might not recognize him—the man was dressed in a long blue robe, with a cold and stern face; he was none other than Ye Junshan, the leader of the martial arts alliance.

The Emperor's favor remains unfulfilled

Jia Ling propped her head up, then sat back down. Logically, Ye Junshan shouldn't recognize her. In fact, Jia Ling wished that the martial arts alliance leader knew nothing about her.

A few days ago at Baitang Palace, he asked Dai San Niang to investigate who the big men in blue robes who filled the Lingjiang Tower that day were. Not long after, Dai San Niang handed him the results—not because Baitang Palace was so powerful, but because the waist badges of those blue-robed followers were too dazzling, so bright that everyone knew they were the family crest of the Ye family of Jiangling.

Needless to say, this greeting is absolutely out of the question; it must be kept hidden so he doesn't see it. Regardless of whether he recognizes him or not, if Ye Junshan sees his charming, irresistible smile and remembers some inappropriate things, it'll be all over. It was Ye Changsheng who sneaked into the Ye residence, and she's the one who caused this mess; I don't want to be implicated for nothing.

Suddenly remembering Ye Changsheng's face, as black as Bao Gong's, Young Master Jia shook his head, wondering why this legendary martial arts leader was in such a small town far from Jiangling, and was sitting next to him drinking soy milk and eating steamed buns.

With a "whoosh," a panting man in gray clothes suddenly darted in from outside the door.

Jia Ling was stunned for a moment, then her gaze shifted to the man in black. She saw him stagger, seemingly unsteady on his feet, and kneel down about three steps away. He bowed his head and presented a letter, his breath unsteady, his hands trembling, and he said intermittently, "Alliance Leader... a secret letter."

Ye Junshan kept his head down and did not look up. He slowly finished his breakfast, wiped his mouth with a light blue handkerchief, and then waved his hand to signal the people behind him to bring up the secret letter.

Ye Junshan slowly unfolded the letter, while Jia Ling at the next table craned her neck, trying to glean something from this seemingly urgent letter. With eyesight better than a cat's, the young master Jia managed to see the three words "Li Huangyin" between Ye Junshan's fingers.

With a "whoosh," Ye Junshan tucked the letter away, and with a slight flick of his right hand, the scraps of paper scattered like powder in the wind.

Young Master Jia frowned slightly—he could never forget the name Li Huangyin. That sultry afternoon seemed to be right before his eyes again, mixed with the hot, bloody smell. Jia Ling's face paled. She looked up and saw that Ye Junshan had already walked to the door. He nodded slightly and ordered the servants, "Let's set off today."

The servant ran to the stable in the backyard of the inn to fetch the horse, while Ye Junshan stood alone outside the courtyard with his hands behind his back, looking up into the distance with a solemn expression. A trace of darkness flashed in his eyes, gradually replaced by a suppressed excitement.

June 7th night

The night sky above Butterfly Valley was illuminated as bright as day by the fiery torches. Three thousand heroes of Wuling raised their arms and shouted, waiting for the rumored leader of the Wuling Alliance, Ye Junshan, who had been galloping down the mountain.

Before long, the crowd began to surge, and the flow of people in front had already automatically made way for Ye Junshan, who rode his horse at breakneck speed, his clothes fluttering, looking very dashing and domineering.

Ye Junshan dismounted, nodded to the many martial arts figures, and then strode towards the main tent.

There were about ten people in the tent. Bai Yinghong stood beside his new desk, his brows furrowed—the previous one had been smashed to pieces with a single blow. Gongsun Yunhe sat in a chair, his gaze cold and sharp, flanked by the expressionless Han Dang and the slightly frowning Zhong Qiniang. Ling Baiyu, still dressed in black, stood to the side with his arms crossed, seemingly indifferent to worldly affairs, with only Gongsun Xi occasionally speaking to him.

When Ye Junshan lifted the tent flap and entered, everyone bowed and greeted him as Alliance Leader. Ye Junshan sat down, his expression sorrowful, and whispered, "Where is Congming's body now?"

Gongsun Yunhe replied, "It was discovered by Abbess Huichong of Jinyun Temple early this morning."

"Take him back to Mingzhou and give him a proper burial." Ye Junshan sighed deeply, his eyes narrowed, and he said in a deep voice, "Tomorrow is the day to go up the mountain. At that time, we will split into two groups. Yunhe and Yinghong will each lead a thousand men from the front and rear routes to surround Luoyang Tower. Everyone should rest early tonight and not be careless."

As the sun set, two figures silently slipped through the red gauze curtains and into the inner sanctum of the pavilion. In a few leaps, they reached the inner sanctum. Here, the red gauze was ethereal, and the curtains stood in rows; the two figures vanished without a trace after entering the tent.

After a short while, the two searched the entire pavilion and climbed to the top. From there, they had a panoramic view of the entire Sunset Cliff. One of them complained, "Where exactly is it?"

Another person plopped down on the roof, completely ignoring the bottomless cliff behind the dilapidated building, and nodded repeatedly upon hearing this: "Let's look again."

These two were Qingluan and Heiyue, who had just arrived from Muzhou and Jiangning. Rumors in the martial arts world circulated that the Qingluan and Heiyue twins, dressed in green and black, were clever and ruthless, among the top masters of Luoyang Tower. However, they rarely left Luoyang Mountain, preferring to travel whenever they had free time. Although assassins, they still retained childlike habits—it was this seemingly fair-skinned, cute, and harmless Heiyue who threw Han Congming's corpse onto Abbess Huichong's bed at Jinyun Temple.

The two seemed somewhat dejected. Hei Yue's large, dark eyes darted around in circles before she finally sighed and turned to Qing Luan beside her, saying, "Ah Luan, how about... we go ask Jiang Qi?"

Qingluan frowned: "Will Jiangqi ignore us?"

Hei Yue tossed his head, grabbed Qing Luan who was sitting, and leaped down from the dangerous building. He disappeared again after a few leaps.

Half an hour later, Hei Yue pulled Qing Luan into Jiang Qi's room. Hei Yue blinked her dark eyes, looked around, but couldn't see her. Just as she was about to leave, a row of poisoned needles suddenly came from behind. The two of them flipped and dodged in mid-air. Qing Luan landed lightly, braced herself with one hand, raised her head, and smiled sweetly at Fei Ying at the door: "Sister Jiang Qi, don't be angry. We didn't mean to barge in."

The woman in red raised an eyebrow and sneered, "What are you two little brats up to, sneaking around in my room like this?"

Hei Yue clapped her hands, went up to greet them, and smiled as she grabbed Jiang Qi's arms and swayed them from side to side: "Sister Jiang Qi, we heard that the Lord brought back a girl, is that true? Where is she? We want to see her!"

Everyone in Luoyang Tower knows that Hei Yue's ability to entangle is first-rate. Jiang Qi had no other choice. After a long while, she sighed softly and said helplessly, "She lives in the East Warm Pavilion—just take a look, but don't let the Tower Master know."

With a whoosh, Black Moon flew out the door, and looking back, Azure Phoenix was already gone. Jiang Qi shook her head and smiled, a pang of jealousy rising in her heart for the person she had once considered to have nothing. No matter when or where, even without the glimmer of light above her head, even after so many rights and wrongs, so many grudges and affections, she was still herself—intriguing, irresistibly drawing people closer, making them want to understand her. A pearl covered in dust is still a pearl.

When Qingluan and Heiyue arrived at the East Warm Pavilion in high spirits, Ye Changsheng was chasing after the big fat rabbit, muttering, "Don't run away, don't run away... it won't hurt."

The rabbit ran incredibly fast, no less than the wild cats Ye Changsheng usually saw. With a "whoosh," it leaped over the threshold and slipped past Black Moon, who was standing outside the door.

Ye Changsheng looked up and noticed two people standing outside the door. He patted himself to the ground, smiled slightly, and asked, "May I ask who you two are?"

Hei Yue shook his head, widening his eyes to scrutinize the woman before him. He had assumed the woman the lord had brought back would be even more stunning than Jiang Qi, surpassing even Qu Shishi, the most beautiful woman in the martial world. But this woman before him was plain-faced, dressed in white, her hair simply tied back with a silver ribbon, without any hairpins or flowing skirts—though still quite pretty, she wasn't the adorned, boudoir-adorned, and alluring "beauty" he had imagined.

In an instant, Hei Yue smiled again, pointed at Qing Luan and then at herself, saying, "I am... his younger brother, and he is my older brother."

Ye Changsheng nodded as if she suddenly understood, seemingly quite satisfied with the explanation. Before she could even invite them in, the two brothers slipped inside, looking around her room with great curiosity.

"Tsk tsk, the host actually brought out this East Warm Pavilion." Qingluan grinned mischievously. "Luoyang Tower is bitterly cold all year round. I wonder if this young lady is used to living here."

Ye Changsheng pointed to the stove fire and said softly, "It's good to have it."

Hei Yue shook his head repeatedly, raised an eyebrow, and asked with a look of inquiry, "Does the master not know how to sneak into a young lady's room at night to warm her bed?"

"Ah..." Ye Changsheng seemed to finally realize something. He smiled and looked at the winking Hei Yue in front of him. He cleared his throat, moved a stool over, and said slowly, "This... uh... little brother, please sit down."

Hei Yue sat down cheerfully, waiting for the girl to recount her entire story with the landlord. But the moment he sat down, the stool shattered into four pieces with a "crack." Hei Yue landed hard on his backside, and to make matters worse, several broken pieces of wood poked his buttocks as he fell.

Qingluan was grinning from ear to ear, while Heiyue rubbed his bottom and stood up, glaring resentfully at the broken stool and Ye Changsheng, who had invited him to sit down.

Ye Changsheng looked apologetic; she swore she had just forgotten that the stool had been knocked over by the big fat rabbit and fallen down the stairs. She had also forgotten that it was covered in Big White's pee—

Black Moon's face darkened just like his name suggested. He rubbed his bottom and jumped out of the window. Azure Phoenix looked at Ye Changsheng with eyes full of respect, grinned, and flew out of the window as well.

Ye Changsheng peered out the window, inwardly lamenting why these two brothers couldn't walk properly and always had to climb through windows. Outside, the sky was still and quiet, the stars twinkling, vast as the sea. Luoyang Cliff remained utterly silent, devoid of any panic or vigilance at the approaching enemy. Li Huangyin's thoughts were always as unfathomable as the vast night sky.

After a while, he came to his senses and remembered the rabbit. He closed the doors and windows and went out to look for the rabbit.

As night deepened, Li Huangyin was asleep.

Someone gently knocked on the window outside. Li Huangyin slowly opened her eyes, turned her head away, and ignored it.

Someone pushed open the window and was inside the room in a flash, grinning as they spoke: "Master, I've seen the little beauty in the East Warm Pavilion."

Li Huangyin, who was lying on the bed with a sword wound on her back, turned her head upon hearing this and looked at Hei Yue, who was making faces at her in front of the bed, and said coldly, "You must have a lot of free time."

Black Moon grinned, revealing his teeth, and muttered to himself, "That girl is really something. I only mentioned that the host would warm his bed, and she made me slip and fall..."

Li Huangyin raised her long, dark eyebrows and chuckled, "Oh? Warming the bed... Black Moon, you really don't learn your lesson. Have you forgotten the days you were left in the Yellow Springs for three days without being able to escape? Or haven't you had enough... and want to go again?"

Sure enough, Hei Yue's expression changed again. The Yellow Springs, located in the Thousand Water Pool of Luoyang Mountain, was a punishment for wicked disciples within the sect. The Yellow Springs teemed with countless venomous snakes, leeches, scorpions, centipedes… Soaking in the Yellow Springs for a day, without profound internal energy and ample physical strength to dodge, meant certain death; one would be pulled ashore alive. He himself had spent three whole days in the Yellow Springs for failing to complete his mission on time. If it weren't for Jiang Qi Qing Luan's pleas and the subsequent medicine bestowed by the Sect Master, he would have truly perished.

After much deliberation, Black Moon chuckled and said, "Sleep well, Master," before flying out the window again.

Li Huangyin's eyes were dark and bright, wide open without blinking, as if she was thinking about something—upon closer inspection, there was a faint smile in those clear and charming eyes.

No way to Penglai

On the morning of June 8th.

Ye Junshan stood with his hands behind his back on the cliff of Butterfly Gorge. He saw light cavalry with golden swords, bows drawn high in the wind, and heroes of the martial world swearing a blood oath at the foot of Luoyang Mountain to eradicate the evil cult. This was bound to be a fierce battle.

The sunlight blazed across the sky, and a great eagle soared swiftly into the heavens.

The mountain path was winding and steep, and the group stood with their swords drawn.

The floating clouds, startled by its momentum, scattered and drifted away.

The wind howled and cranes cried, the sky suddenly darkened, and dark clouds rolled in.

Upon receiving the kill order, Gongsun Yunhe led the Shaolin, Wudang, Emei, Huashan, and Kunlun sects up Luoyang Mountain via the main road, and the others scattered like sparse trees. Han Dang spurred his horse forward, rushing towards the summit without regard for anything else. Bai Yinghong was unable to stop him and had to give up, instead fleeing quickly from the rear with the Lianhuan Eighteen Forts, the Five Elements Palace, and the Jiuhua Sect.

The silver torrent and the black tide surged forth in great numbers, swords clashed, and shouts of battle shook the heavens!

Ling Baiyu and Bai Yinghong's group took a detour from the back, winding their way along the rugged mountains, as if they might fall into a bottomless abyss at any moment. After walking for a while, they turned into an even steeper and more uneven mountain hollow. After walking about two more miles, they came to a cave. Strange rocks stood outside the cave, ancient trees were lush and verdant, and a cold wind blew in. There were neither human traces nor animal tracks. Bai Yinghong used his sword to push aside the weeds by the roadside and walked into the cave through the thicket of grass. The others followed suit and entered the cave one after another. Once inside, they found that apart from a faint light at the entrance, the path ahead was completely dark, and they could not see anything.

After walking for a while, the cave grew darker and darker until it was pitch black. Zhong Qiniang took out a tinderbox from her bosom, and the cave began to light up slightly.

As if suddenly snapping out of their daze, the group quickly took out their tinderboxes, feeling slightly relieved, and followed Bai Yinghong's footsteps forward. The firelight cast flickering shadows on the rock walls, and their footsteps echoed hollowly in the dark cave. Just then, a powerful force suddenly pushed from ahead, and in a daze, a strong wind rose up, extinguishing the candles in their hands. Zhong Qiniang felt a suffocating sensation in her chest, and several gusts of wind swept past her body, causing a sharp, cutting pain! She involuntarily stumbled back a few steps, suddenly disoriented, as if she had fallen into a thick fog, unable to discern her location.

Suddenly, a foul wind blew in, the scenery around me shifted, my eardrums vibrated, and it felt as if a thousand troops were rushing towards me. My body seemed to be falling straight into an abyss, with no one beside me. The wind howled in my ears, and a chill ran through my body, as if I were in hell.

"Ah..." Zhong Qiniang was pulled by the arm and she was lifted up, as if she was pulled back to reality. Her body was lifted into the air and, in a dizzying moment, she landed on the rock wall.

Zhong Qiniang came to her senses and looked up to see Ling Baiyu carrying her, his eyes stern and his expression serious as he looked at the people below the cliff.

"What's going on?" Before they could get an answer, another gust of cold wind swept past them. Like a thunderous tsunami, a gale suddenly rose, like a ferocious beast pouncing on them, making the two of them sway left and right, and they felt countless things flying past.

Many people below had gone mad, unable to distinguish friend from foe, and were wildly slashing with their knives.

Ling Baiyu slammed his hand on the rock wall and shouted sharply, "Hundred Ghosts Yin Wind Formation!"

Zhong Qiniang was shocked upon hearing this. This Hundred Ghosts Yin Wind Formation was created by the Five Ghosts of Shu, set up in the shadows. It comprised six elements: Qian, Kun, Life, Death, Water, and Fire, and its mysteries were boundless. If a person was caught in the formation, it was as if they had fallen into a thick fog, their senses and hearing would be rendered useless, and they would be unable to escape. Their minds would waver, creating all sorts of illusions. If Ling Baiyu hadn't pulled her back just now, she might already be trapped inside.

The air was filled with terrifying ghostly screams and groans, and the people in the cave were killing each other, with severed limbs falling like snowflakes.

"Boom!"—The sound of rocks rolling down his side reached his ears, followed by a violent shaking of the ground and a shower of countless pebbles falling down. Before long, the road he had come from was blocked.

The two exchanged a glance and flew forward together, quickly reaching the depths of the cave. The sounds of clashing weapons and screams grew fainter behind them. The two dared not relax for a moment, sensing a presence behind them. After an unknown amount of time, they saw a faint light shining through from ahead—the two quickened their pace by pressing down on their feet.

The moment I stepped out of the cave, all I saw was a sea of red, like fire and flame. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a vast expanse of crimson red spider lilies, with countless butterflies fluttering among them, shimmering with a dark red glow and creating countless halos.

—This is the legendary red spider lily, also known as the "path of fire," a flower that guides people to the underworld.

A woman, dressed in blood-red robes, stood amidst a vast expanse of flowers, her garments fluttering in the wind. She held a bronze curved sword as tall as a man, her beauty like that of a ghost from prison. This was none other than the Ripping Silk Technique from the Seventy-Two Blades.

Footsteps approached from behind, and Ling Baiyu turned around to see Bai Yinghong leading dozens of men. The men were all slightly unsteady on their feet, and upon seeing the beautiful scene before them, they were momentarily stunned, staring intently at the dreamlike beauty before them.

Bai Yinghong roared, "Everyone be careful! Don't look at that demoness!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a sudden gust of wind swept in front of them, causing the sea of flowers to sway and petals to fall like blood, filling the sky.

Ling Baiyu stared directly into the woman's eyes—eyes that were proud, even arrogant—and slowly said in a low voice, "You guys go first, I'll stay here to deal with her."

Bai Ying Hong hesitated for a moment, then nodded, patted him on the shoulder, and was about to lead the group forward.

Liu Chonghan, the second-in-command of the Eighteen Fortresses, stopped the crowd, swung the golden-threaded cold iron greatsword on his back, and sneered: "This witch's waist is not even as thick as my arm, yet she overestimates herself and carries a greatsword as tall as a man. Hmph, what a joke. Today I will show her what real swordsmanship is!"

He turned to Ling Baiyu and smiled, "I wonder if this young hero Ling would do me the honor of leaving with you all?"

Ling Baiyu paused, nodded, glanced at him, and said softly, "Be careful."

Beyond the sea of flowers, the woman smiled alluringly and said softly, "None of you can leave."

The sky suddenly darkened, and the woman in red flashed her sword, disappearing in a flash. Liu Hanzhong was on high alert, watching his surroundings closely, not missing a single spot.

A cool breeze swept past his ear, and before he could turn around, he felt a woman's fragrance lingering in his nostrils, and a crimson figure pounced on him from behind. He hurriedly turned around, raising his knife to block, but to his utter surprise, the woman possessed astonishing strength. With a single slash, she struck him, making his hand go numb, and he almost lost his grip on the knife.