When Ye Qi spoke to this point, even Seventh Uncle, who had been unaware of previous events, reacted. His face immediately changed color. “Young master, do you mean that if we leave now, Xiaoyao Valley will actually send people to secretly attack us?”
“Obviously,” Ye Qi said calmly, “To them, a sudden departure would definitely be suspicious. How could they easily let us go?”
Seventh Uncle snorted coldly. “A mere Xiaoyao Valley—would the He family fear them? As long as the young master consents, I’ll immediately send up the signal flare…”
Ye Qi raised his hand, gesturing for him to stop. “Right now, Longmen Mountain isn’t only watched by Xiaoyao Sect. Xixia, Dayan, Shen Yao, and Minister Fu’s forces are all watching like tigers eyeing their prey. Once our people infiltrate early, it would be like beating the grass and alerting the snake. At that time, forget about taking medicine and circulating cultivation—just dealing with them alone would be damaging. Remember, we must not act rashly.”
Hearing him say “early,” Changling knew that with his cautiousness, he would naturally arrange for his own people outside. She said, “Then disguise yourself and sneak out. Once you’re beyond Longmen Mountain’s boundaries, they won’t be able to easily move against you.”
“At this critical juncture, everyone in the valley can only enter but not leave. No matter who we disguise ourselves as, as soon as those monitoring us don’t see us for a while, they’ll become suspicious…” Ye Qi patiently explained to Changling, “Inside Xiaoyao Valley, there’s still Dean Mo and the Martial Arts Alliance. They can’t be too unrestrained. But once we leave, other matters aside, placing myself in the most dangerous situation is certainly not a wise move.”
Changling’s heart was entirely focused on his dying body. Now with the medicine close at hand, he presented several reasons not to take it. Yet every word he said was reasonable, and she couldn’t refute him. She couldn’t help but glare at him angrily. “I told you that day you should have gone to meet with Ji Beilan first. Now look—we can neither advance nor retreat.”
Ye Qi choked slightly and smiled bitterly. “I originally thought once the medicine was in hand, I could just take it. Who knew there would be so many considerations?”
Just as he was about to put away the medicine box, Changling grabbed it first. She removed the longevity lock from around her neck, reached out to pry it open, and saw that it was hollow inside—just large enough to accommodate a thumb-sized space.
She wrapped the pill carefully with a brocade handkerchief, stuffed it into the silver lock, fastened it securely, then carefully checked the chain once more before putting it on him. “Carrying a box around might get lost at some point. Hiding it in the lock is safer.”
Ye Qi was slightly dazed. From the night she got this lock from Mo Daoyun, she had wiped it with silk cloth for a long time. He had never seen her treasure any external object so much. Now, without a second thought, she gave it to him. The depth of this sentiment was beyond words.
Seventh Uncle said, “Since the young master has decided to stay, Tao Feng and I will also stay. Young master, you absolutely cannot refuse this time.”
“Alright,” Ye Qi said. “It just so happens we haven’t yet figured out the depths of this Xiaoyao Sect. Leaving it to Seventh Uncle to investigate puts my mind at ease.”
Having temporarily finished discussing the medicine, Seventh Uncle spoke with Ye Qi about some He family household matters. Changling had no interest in listening, so she let the master and servant be and went back first to see if Zhou Qin had returned to the room. After she left, Ye Qi asked, “Have the imperial troops already made moves?”
Seventh Uncle nodded. “There are signs of military consolidation from Liang Province to Leping Commandery in Feng Province, and from Xu Province to Yang Province, defenses have been drawn up. Especially the several major commanders of the original Jing family forces—within just a few months, they’ve been quietly purged. Now we’re watching them, and they’re likewise monitoring the He family troops. Once trouble arises here in Yu Province, both sides will inevitably face each other directly. Although our military strength is not inferior to Minister Fu’s, their reserves are endless in the rear. The longer it drags on, the more disadvantageous for us. But if we withdraw… going further west reaches Xixia territory. I’m worried…”
Ye Qi paced a few steps thoughtfully and said, “There’s no need to worry about that. I have backup plans. Deploying the He family army was originally to prevent Shen Yao from completely wiping out martial arts practitioners. But Fu Yangui is a clever person—he won’t easily make moves without certainty… Now the key is still to pay attention to Fu Yangui… Has he already arrived in Yu Province?”
Seventh Uncle shook his head. “Speaking of which, it’s strange. Minister Fu has been bedridden all along and hasn’t even left Jinling City.”
“That’s impossible.” Ye Qi said decisively, “If he’s truly never left the Fu residence, it can only mean the Minister Fu in the Fu residence is no longer him.”
“Young master means he’s trying to cover people’s eyes and ears?” Seventh Uncle was shocked. “Then where could he be?”
River waters broke through walls and pierced mountains. Steep ridges stretched endlessly along both banks. In the mist, a small boat could vaguely be seen moving unhurriedly forward. The setting sun dyed both sky and water red, even the boatman seemed to blend into this landscape beyond the mountains.
The small boat passed strange peaks. The river waters split and flowed separately. The boatman squinted toward the front. When he clearly saw several abruptly rising rocky caves, he made an “ah” sound and said, “That’s it, that’s it! My lord, that’s the pool you’re looking for!”
The boat swayed slightly as someone emerged from the canopy—it was precisely Fu Yangui.
Not far away, between two opposing cliffs, a deep pool was embedded, like a dragon gate about to close. He identified the direction and gestured for the boatman to continue rowing. Amid the churning pool waters, a few scattered white petals drifted downstream.
“Falling into pool waters at dawn, white as fluttering snow within the ravine…” He murmured two lines, his eyes trembling slightly. “This is the place.”
After Changling returned to her room and waited a short while, she saw the other martial artists gradually return to the compound, but Zhou Qin alone was nowhere to be seen. Naturally, she couldn’t sit still. Just as she was about to go search for her, she had barely opened the door when she saw Zhou Qin stumbling in, with Fu Yanyang following behind. Before she could ask in detail, Zhou Qin spoke first: “Master, Dean Shu, Dean Shu has disappeared!”
“What do you mean disappeared?”
Zhou Qin caught her breath and said, “I gave him the sachet. He opened it, looked only once, then hurried away. Master, didn’t you instruct me to follow Dean Shu? So I followed, but my qinggong isn’t good. I lost him by the Nine Linked Pool valley…”
Changling’s brows furrowed. “Nine Linked Pool valley?”
Fu Yanyang helped explain. “The highest mountain in Xiaoyao Valley is Nine Linked Mountain. The pool valley below the mountain is called Nine Linked Pool.”
Changling looked at him again. “Why did you also go with Zhou Qin?”
“Sister Ting, don’t misunderstand,” Fu Yanyang said. “I just happened to see Little Qin running into that remote forest and was worried, so I followed.”
Zhou Qin nodded. “That’s right, Master. If Second Young Master Fu hadn’t followed me, I might not have made it back alive.”
Changling was stunned. “What do you mean?”
“I didn’t see anyone by Nine Linked Pool, so I thought of going up the mountain to look…”
Zhou Qin followed the mountain path upward. Along the way, she didn’t see a single person. When she reached the mountainside, she saw two figures descending from the mountain in the distance. Just as she was about to approach and inquire, someone covered her mouth and pulled her back into the forest. When she looked back, it was Fu Yanyang who had followed her.
She thought he was playing a prank and hadn’t had time to get angry when she heard someone say, “That old man is just gone like that. I wonder if his student will become suspicious?”
Another person made a sound. “They can suspect anyone but won’t suspect us. What does Senior Brother have to worry about?”
Hearing this, a sense of foreboding already grew in Changling’s heart. “Did you see their faces clearly?”
Both disciples shook their heads in unison. Fu Yanyang said, “We were far away and didn’t dare look closely. Moreover, they were both wearing black outer robes with hat brims covering most of their faces. We couldn’t see anything. However, just from their voices, they should both be getting on in years—at least over fifty.”
Zhou Qin was so anxious her voice nearly broke into sobs. “Master, were they talking about Dean Shu? If so… has Dean Shu already…”
“Hard to say. We can only go to Nine Linked Pool first to take a look.”
Considering the situation’s development was too inexplicable, Changling brought along Ye Qi and Seventh Uncle. The five of them rushed to Nine Linked Mountain before the sun had completely set. Having listened all the way, Ye Qi still couldn’t sort out the threads. He only said, “Since those people came down from the mountain, let’s follow the route up to the mountaintop and see if there are any clues.”
At this hour, the sky was completely dark. Everyone held torches and wandered around. Never mind people—they didn’t even see any birds or beasts. After Seventh Uncle conducted a carpet search around the area, he said to Ye Qi, “Young master, the forest at the mountaintop’s edge shows no signs of disturbed earth.”
Zhou Qin asked in confusion, “Why check the earth?”
Ye Qi sighed with difficulty explaining. Fu Yanyang said, “Those people mentioned ‘just gone like that.’ If someone truly fell into their hands, they might have already destroyed the evidence… Now that the earth on this mountaintop hasn’t been turned over, at least it means no one was buried. It’s just… there are no other hiding places on this mountain either…”
Ye Qi walked to the mountain peak’s edge and saw Changling crouching at the cliff’s edge looking down. He asked, “Do you suspect…”
Before he finished, she seemed to suddenly see something and reached down to grab it. Ye Qi quickly supported her arm. “What’s wrong?”
Changling straightened up and handed over a piece of torn cloth in her hand. “It’s Dean Shu’s scholar’s robe… He jumped down.”
Hearing this, Fu Yanyang immediately stepped forward. Seeing the torn cloth, he was momentarily speechless. Tears immediately surged from Zhou Qin’s eyes. “Who, who was so cruel to do such a thing to the dean…”
“With Dean Shu’s martial arts, to force him to retreat to a cliff in one move would require at least a master like the ten elders of the Martial Arts Alliance.” Changling murmured, “What I can’t understand now is what exactly he saw in the sachet. Why would he come to this Nine Linked Mountain? And the sachet—Zhou Qin only gave it temporarily. Could the person who attacked Dean Shu just happen to also be on the mountain?”
These questions were indeed confusing. Ye Qi’s heart only vaguely formed an outline. He gazed toward the deep night. Ahead, steep mountain rocks faced Nine Linked Mountain, forming an arc. The deep valley seemed bound into circles by these mountain ranges. Although he couldn’t see the scene below, he could imagine that with such low valley terrain, water very likely accumulated into an abyss below.
Ye Qi turned around and asked Zhou Qin, “You said you lost him at Nine Linked Pool. Where is the pond?”
The pond was right beside Nine Linked Mountain—a small pond only a few dozen zhang in length. Many pebbles were piled on the shore. The pond was shallow and clear—one could see the bottom at a glance.
Ye Qi took Seventh Uncle’s torch and tilted his head to look along the water flow’s direction. He saw the water gurgling—the water source seeped from a mountain crevice. Calculating from there, on the other side of this mountain crevice, there should also be an inner lake.
Seeing him stare for a long time, Changling asked in a low voice, “What are you looking at?”
Just as Ye Qi was about to answer, at that moment, a black shadow suddenly flashed past on the opposite shore of the pond. He said alertly, “Who’s there?”
The person in the tall grass, hearing this, stood straight up. “Little Ye Zi, is that you?”
Changling had originally planned to strike but, hearing this voice, couldn’t help but be stunned. Ye Qi was also dazed and asked tentatively, “Master?”