Shortly after, Le Jiang’s footsteps echoed again. Upon returning to the room, Le Jiang’s face darkened as he tossed a small wooden box to Master Liang, saying, “I’ve ordered people to dispose of those four. You have what you want now. I’ll have someone escort you to the Nanzhao capital later.”
Master Liang opened the box and looked inside, nodding with satisfaction. “Very good. In that case, let’s not waste any more time. Where are my butler and guard?”
Le Jiang sneered contemptuously, “That butler of yours is still too weak in the legs to walk. As for that guard, he’s even more useless—fell to the bottom of the cliff on the way down. These Central Plains people are such weaklings!”
“You—!” Master Liang suppressed his anger and said, “I understand. Just get me to Nanzhao quickly.”
“Very good.” Le Jiang nodded with satisfaction. “Rest for now. We’ll depart shortly.”
Outside the hall, Ye Li glanced at Han Mingshi. Han Mingshi silently shook his head—while there were indeed many corpses at the bottom of the cliff, they were all old bones that had been exposed to wind and rain for many days. There was no sign of Zheng Kui’s body. It seemed Zheng Kui hadn’t accidentally fallen off the cliff but had been disposed of by these Nanjiang people.
The Sick Scholar didn’t rush to do anything to Master Liang, as the two Nanjiang people he had previously poisoned to death had already been discovered. The previously quiet underground palace suddenly became noisy. Master Liang left under heavy guard protection, forcing Ye Li’s group of four to split up and hide from the guards’ search while preparing to leave. Dark Three naturally went with Ye Li, while Han Mingshi reluctantly followed the Sick Scholar.
“Young Master, we…”
Ye Li shook her head: “We’re not leaving yet. Let’s go in and look around.” Without the Sick Scholar and Han Mingshi getting in the way, the two could act much more freely. They carefully snuck into the depths of the underground palace. The palace wasn’t very large, divided into only seven or eight rooms. After searching through several rooms without finding anything useful, they finally focused their attention on the deepest room. Unlike the other rooms, this one had its doors tightly shut with two armed Nanjiang guards standing watch.
Ye Li glanced at Dark Three, skillfully making a hand signal: You left, I right!
Dark Three nodded, and the two stealthily approached the door before simultaneously subduing the two guards. Dark Three silently broke his target’s neck, while Ye Li frowned at the unconscious guard in her hands before moving him to a hidden spot nearby. Looking at the lock on the door, Ye Li frowned again before pulling out a golden hairpin from her sleeve. With a gentle twist, she extracted a sharp golden needle from within and manipulated it in the lock for a few moments until there was a click as the lock opened. Ye Li nodded to Dark Three hiding in the shadows before pushing open the door and slipping inside. Dark Three remained crouched vigilantly in the darkness watching their surroundings. After quite a while, Ye Li emerged again and relocked the door.
Likely because Han Mingshi and the Sick Scholar’s group had drawn away much of the military force, Ye Li and Dark Three noticed significantly fewer searchers than before. Following the markers Han Mingshi had secretly left behind, it took less than fifteen minutes for the two to see the light from the cave entrance ahead. However, from quite a distance from the entrance, they could already smell the dangerous flower fragrance wafting in from outside—identical to the scent from the mountain above.
Dark Three pulled out several pills from his robes and handed them to Ye Li. She crushed one and sniffed it, chuckling softly: “Got these from the Sick Scholar?” With no outsiders present, Dark Three’s expression became much more animated. He smiled somewhat proudly: “Indeed. He carries too many poisons. I was afraid of taking the wrong ones, so I didn’t dare take more. These are the same medicines he gave us before. Should last about an hour and a half.”
“Excellent.” They each took a pill, and Dark Three took point to check the cave entrance before turning back to beckon to Ye Li. The two carefully slipped out of the cave only to be stunned by the sight before them—a sea of red stretching as far as the eye could see. The cave opening was less than two meters up from the bottom of the cliff, where crimson flowers bloomed everywhere. Almost every flower had a red and black striped snake coiled beneath it, with some even climbing and slithering among the stems and blooms. Ye Li could finally understand why Han Mingshi had cursed uncontrollably after coming down earlier. This hellish place was enough to chill anyone to the bone. Though having the exit in such a dangerous location meant the Nanjiang people didn’t need many guards or sentries—it wasn’t mere arrogance after all.
“Can we get across?” Ye Li pointed to the opposite cliff.
Dark Three looked and nodded: “Should be possible.”
“Be careful. If you fall, no one will be able to save you.” Falling into that flower sea would mean being devoured instantly by the flowers and snakes, leaving no trace behind. Dark Three frowned: “How will Young Master cross?” He could use qinggong to fly across, but not while carrying someone. The Young Master’s qinggong likely wasn’t sufficient to make it alone either. The terrain was too low for ropes to be very effective. One wrong move and they might get bitten by the snakes that could strike at any moment.
Ye Li sighed helplessly: “This awful place is giving me a headache. But if we can get out, this adventure will have been worth it. You cross first, I’ll take another route.”
Dark Three didn’t move. Though he knew Wang Fei was very capable, he really couldn’t see any other path available. Staying here wasn’t safe either—while there was no one here now, that didn’t mean it would stay that way.
Seeing Dark Three’s stubborn expression, Ye Li waved her hand resignedly: “Fine. I’ll go first, you watch from here and cross after I make it. I don’t understand why you all have to be so stubborn.” Dark Three said solemnly: “We are Young Master’s Dark Guards. Naturally, we must put Young Master’s safety first.” Ye Li rolled her eyes at the sky, “Thanks. It would be even better if you had more faith in me.”
It wasn’t until the sky began to darken that Ye Li emerged from the cave mouth, using her dagger to climb up the cliff face. Before she had climbed very far, she looked down at Dark Three following behind and asked: “What are you doing?” Dark Three replied gravely: “I’m going with Young Master.”
“You think I want to do this? If I had your qinggong I would have just gone straight across.” Giving Dark Three an exasperated look, Ye Li raised her head and continued climbing. Dark Three had already reached Ye Li’s side and said: “This cliff is at least a hundred zhang high. It would be quite difficult for Young Master to climb up.” Ye Li laughed softly: “Who said I was going to climb all the way? Just a bit higher is fine. There’s a protruding rock up there, that’s the spot.” Dark Three looked at the fairly large jutting stone not far above and nodded: “I understand. Young Master, I’ll go first.”
“Be careful,” Ye Li cautioned.
Dark Three nodded, then kicked off the cliff face with his left foot and shot outward. However, perhaps due to his previous climbing position on the cliff, he showed signs of failing strength midair. While he could use the flower bed below for leverage, getting bitten by a snake now when they had no antidote would be fatal. Ye Li cursed under her breath and threw her left hand’s dagger toward Dark Three’s feet. Using the dagger as a stepping point, Dark Three leaped again and made it to the opposite slope in several bounds. Having lost one dagger, it took Ye Li some extra effort to climb up to the protruding rock on the cliff. The rock wasn’t large—even with Ye Li pressed tightly against the cliff face, she could barely maintain her footing. This appeared to be part of a massive boulder embedded in the mountain that jutted out. After steadying herself on the rock, Ye Li caught her breath before taking out a rope from her bundle, securing one end to her sleeve arrow, and shooting it across.
Dark Three on the other side caught the rope end and found a place to secure it, then tugged the rope to signal to Ye Li he was ready. Ye Li also secured her end well and tested it with a strong pull before gripping the rope and sliding down along its downward angle.
“Young Master!” Seeing Ye Li land safely, Dark Three secretly let out a relieved breath. Ye Li dusted off her clothes and said: “Let’s go. This should be the back side of the stockade where we stayed before. We should be able to find a way out from this side.” Dark Three nodded, following behind Ye Li while saying: “Young Master, I’ve realized what this place is. This is Snake Valley.”
“Snake Valley?”
Dark Three nodded: “Some seniors among the Dark Guards who previously campaigned in Nanjiang with the Wang Ye said there was a Snake Valley filled with red poisonous flowers. But it’s said that Wang Ye burned Snake Valley completely to the ground back then. Unexpected that in less than ten years it has already recovered. However… the location seems wrong. Snake Valley should be in southwestern Nanjiang. How could it be so close to Suixue Pass?”
Ye Li shook her head: “This place must have been specially cultivated by someone. Didn’t you notice those snake flowers are all arranged in rows, with almost identical spacing between each one? This isn’t natural growth. And those snakes too. Even if the snake flowers rose from the ashes, there couldn’t possibly be so many red-banded snakes here. Both the flowers and snakes must have been deliberately planted and raised.”
Recalling the pristine state of that flower sea earlier, Dark Three couldn’t help but curse: “Are all Nanjiang people insane? Such dangerous things…”
“Nanjiang people aren’t afraid of snakes,” Ye Li smiled. “The Nanjiang people must have set up this forbidding Snake Valley here specifically to conceal what’s inside this mountain.”
“A weapons forge?” Dark Three asked puzzled.
Ye Li smiled: “No, something even more interesting. Let’s leave this place first. Have you seen any of Han Mingshi’s markers?”
Dark Three was crouched on the ground, looking at something: “Something must have happened to them. These markers… they’re very chaotic.” It was already night, making it impossible to see any footprints or similar traces. It had taken Dark Three quite a while just to find this marker left by Han Mingshi. Ye Li frowned, crouching down to look while thinking aloud quietly, “It’s been two hours since we separated from them. Walking for an hour should cover about twenty li, and they both know qinggong… though qinggong isn’t for travel, let’s say thirty li. Under normal circumstances they should be sixty li away by now. So… was Han Mingshi ambushed? Or were they both captured?”
“The Sick Scholar wouldn’t ambush Han Mingshi,” Dark Three said. “Tianyi Pavilion has many informants, and someone in Yonglin City must have seen the Sick Scholar and Han Mingshi together. If anything happened to Han Mingshi, the Sick Scholar couldn’t explain it to the Tianyi Pavilion Master.”
Ye Li frowned: “Then… they might have been captured? Dark Three, let’s split up and look for any other markers Han Mingshi might have left.” If something happened to Han Mingshi, not only would the Sick Scholar have trouble explaining, but they would also have difficulty accounting for Han Mingyue. After all, it was she who first sought out Han Mingshi, leading him to follow them to Nanjiang. If they were truly captured, they could only pray Han Mingshi hadn’t been killed yet.
In a hidden stockade somewhere in Nanjiang, Han Mingshi lay limply on the ground, bound tightly with ropes and unable to move. The Sick Scholar nearby was in even worse shape, not only chained but covered in wounds, constantly coughing and looking barely alive. Ignoring his sorry state, Han Mingshi looked at the Sick Scholar with a grin: “How are you holding up? Can you still manage?”
“You’re that certain they’ll come to rescue us?” the Sick Scholar coughed lightly and raised his head to ask.
Han Mingshi grinned: “I believe Jun Wei won’t abandon me.”
The Sick Scholar snorted softly: “I believe he’s coming to save you for Tianyi Pavilion’s sake.”
Han Mingshi didn’t get angry, just smiled: “So what? He certainly wouldn’t come especially to save you for being Yanwang Pavilion’s Third Master. Right now it seems we can only wait for Jun Wei to rescue us, right? As for you, Third Young Master, why don’t you get someone to come save us?” Looking up sideways at the suspended Sick Scholar, Han Mingshi was full of resentment. If this fellow hadn’t forced them to come looking for some Biluo Flower, how would he have ended up in these people’s hands? Now he hadn’t seen any Biluo Flower, but they might soon be heading to the Yellow Springs. That would fulfill Jun Wei’s saying about “searching up to the blue sky and down to the yellow springs.”
The Sick Scholar coughed violently several times before saying: “Since you’re so confident in Chu Jun Wei, why keep going on about it?” Han Mingshi choked, then said quietly: “Didn’t you see where we came out? Jun Wei isn’t like you—he doesn’t have medicine to counter snake venom. Who knows if they can even get out? Maybe they’ll be knocked out by those ghostly flowers as soon as they exit the cave. And… those venomous snakes…” The Sick Scholar was silent for a moment before saying flatly: “Zhuo Jing took some medicine from me when we were coming down the cliff.” Seeing Han Mingshi glaring at him, he twisted his lips and added: “No need to look at me like that. I only realized after parting with them. He took the anti-dizziness medicine and muscle relaxant from me—the same kind I gave you on the mountain.”
Han Mingshi rolled his eyes, “So that’s why you could only give me one type of medicine later—and it stank!”
“Don’t worry, they’ll be fine,” the Sick Scholar said gravely, suppressing his cough.
Han Mingshi glanced at him: “How do you know?”
“That Liang fellow wanted to kill us immediately. But Le Jiang still hasn’t made a move—must be waiting for them to come.”
“They want to catch everyone at once?” Han Mingshi frowned. The Sick Scholar said: “Don’t forget Chu Jun Wei was behind us the whole time, and they didn’t follow when we left the cave. After we left, they must have done something back there. That’s why these people must catch them. You think they didn’t see all those markers you left along the way?” Han Mingshi raged: “You knew they were using us as bait to lure Jun Wei in—why didn’t you warn me?” The Sick Scholar sneered coldly, “Why should I warn you? At least now Chu Jun Wei has a chance to rescue us. If he doesn’t come, you and I are dead for sure.”
“If he comes, he might die with us!”
“So what?”
Pat pat…
Two soft sounds came from the window lattice outside, and both men froze and looked toward the window. An agile figure quickly flipped in through the window and turned back to smile at them: “Brother Han, rest assured. I absolutely won’t die with you.”
“Jun Wei!” Han Mingshi called out joyfully.
“Shh…” Ye Li pressed a finger to her lips and winked at him. Han Mingshi quickly lowered his voice: “How did you get in? This stockade is full of ambushes.” Ye Li smiled: “No security in this world is 100% perfect—it’s just a matter of finding where to break through. Well… Brother Han, and Third Master, you both owe me your lives now.” The Sick Scholar snorted lightly: “That only counts after we all escape safely.” He and Han Mingshi’s earlier conversation had certainly been heard by Chu Jun Wei, but seeing the youth’s bright and clear smile now, the Sick Scholar couldn’t be sure if he held a grudge.
“Alright, you’re right,” Ye Li said helplessly. She quickly cut Han Mingshi’s ropes with her dagger and tossed him a sword: “Good weapons are hard to find in Nanjiang—make do with this.” Han Mingshi took the sword and smiled: “Thanks, Jun Wei.” While Han Mingshi’s ropes were easy to deal with, the Sick Scholar’s chains were more troublesome. It took Ye Li some time to undo the chains. The Sick Scholar flexed his muscles before asking: “Where’s your guard?” Ye Li smiled: “He’s preparing a gift for the Luoyi clan.” Going to the window, Ye Li imitated several bird calls of varying lengths. Soon, a commotion broke out in one part of the stockade, then spread to more areas until the entire stockade seemed to come alive with activity. Ye Li smiled with satisfaction: “Good, let’s go!”
As soon as the Sick Scholar pushed open the door, several arrows shot toward them. Han Mingshi quickly pulled him back from behind, while Ye Li kicked the door shut. Several arrows thudded into the wooden door. The Sick Scholar glared at Ye Li, who smiled kindly at him: “That’s my thank-you gift for the Third Master’s invitation to die together.”
The Sick Scholar knew he was in the wrong and just snorted without saying more.
Outside, the archers were watching the doorway vigilantly when bang!—the wooden door opened again and a dark shadow darted out. Whoosh whoosh… a cluster of arrows shot out.
Bang bang! A person leaped out from windows on either side of the small building. Several swishes later, the archers felt sharp pains in their bodies and collapsed one after another. Ye Li walked out from the doorway and looked at the bundle on the ground riddled with arrows like a porcupine, then at the bodies strewn about, her eyes darkening slightly. “Let’s hurry. Zhuo Jing won’t last much longer.” The entire stockade was in chaos now, with fires breaking out in several places. It seemed Zhuo Jing had set quite a few fires, and not in ordinary locations either. Strange bird calls sounded from not far away, and Ye Li led Han Mingshi and the Sick Scholar unhesitatingly in that direction.
Passing by a spring, the Sick Scholar sneered and threw something from his robes into it. Han Mingshi saw this and his eyes flickered, but he said nothing and hurried to catch up with Ye Li ahead. When they arrived, Dark Three was surrounded and struggling to hold on. Looking around, Ye Li saw all the stockade’s main figures were present—no wonder only a dozen men had been left to guard their side. Ye Li thought of what she’d taken from the underground palace; clearly, that item was far more important to Le Jiang than Han Mingshi and the Sick Scholar’s lives.
“Trading two rescues for one loss—that’s not worth it,” Ye Li frowned helplessly. “Brother Han, can you catch that old man?” She pointed at Master Liang standing amid heavy protection and asked softly. Han Mingshi frowned: “There are too many people around him. And… that old man is too fat.” The Sick Scholar held out two items: “Scatter this in the air, and get this one directly into Liang’s mouth.”
“That’s more like it,” Han Mingshi nodded, weighing them in his hand.
Dark Three looked impassively at the people in Nanjiang clothing surrounding him, wielding his weapon mercilessly.
“Zhuo Jing, hold your breath!” Han Mingshi’s voice suddenly rang out as a dark figure darted through the air toward the crowd. Dark Three instantly held his breath—unlike Xiling, few in Nanjiang understood the Central Plains language. As soon as Han Mingshi landed, people started dropping to the ground one after another. Dark Three took advantage of the chaos to break free from the encirclement and leap onto a nearby rooftop. Han Mingshi smoothly reached Master Liang’s side, ignoring his sprawled form and groaning, forced open his mouth to stuff in the medicine, then patted his face with a bright smile: “Old fellow, you’re finished.”
Le Jiang was one of the few Nanjiang people still standing. Seeing everyone lying on the ground, his expression was extremely ugly. He looked at Master Liang, who was pitifully begging him for help, more like he was looking at an enemy and a curse. “Damned Central Plains people! What did you do?!” Han Mingshi was in great spirits now, his whole day’s frustration largely dissipated. He tossed Master Liang toward the Sick Scholar while laughing: “Chief Le Jiang, you have the nerve to ask what we did? Why don’t you think about what you have done?” Le Jiang snorted, saying disdainfully: “You think mere poison can trouble the people of the Luoyi clan?”
Han Mingshi shrugged carelessly and smiled: “The poison isn’t mine—what does it matter to me whether it works or not? Go ahead, make your people stand up.”
The Sick Scholar dragged out the corpulent Master Liang, whose face had turned as black as ink and looked barely alive. One look was enough to tell he’d been severely poisoned. Le Jiang was greatly alarmed. Although he was skilled with poisons and snake charming, he couldn’t immediately tell what poison Master Liang had been given, and this detestable Central Plains merchant absolutely could not die now. “What do you want?”
The Sick Scholar said flatly: “Let us leave, and don’t send anyone after us. Otherwise… I’ll kill him.”
Le Jiang pondered for a moment before nodding: “Fine. But… return what you took from the underground palace!” He pointed at Ye Li and Dark Three with murderous intent in his eyes. Ye Li blinked, smiling innocently: “It’s nothing valuable—why so serious? I’ll return it; who knows what those crooked scribbles mean anyway?” Le Jiang stared at him suspiciously: “If you can’t read it, why did you take it?” Ye Li smiled: “If it’s something important, I suggest you don’t decorate it so lavishly in the future—isn’t that just asking for someone to take it? This young master especially loves beautiful trinkets. Here, take back this useless thing.” With that, Ye Li tossed over an object. Le Jiang caught it—a dark wooden box with strange twisted markings on the lid that might have been writing or drawings. One could tell the box had originally been decorated with various ornaments, but now its surface was covered in uneven dents where the decorations had been pried off.
Le Jiang checked the box’s mechanical lock and found no signs it had been triggered, letting out a heavy sigh of relief. His expression improved considerably. He watched as Ye Li arrogantly played with something golden and shiny, saying: “I also took a few other things from the table. I trust Chief Le Jiang isn’t so petty as to begrudge me a few souvenirs?”
Le Jiang snorted: “You may leave.” He certainly knew what other items were missing from the underground palace, but they weren’t important enough to pursue now. The Sick Scholar dragged Master Liang along, warning finally: “Don’t try anything—or I guarantee he’ll die without a trace left.”
Ye Li and Dark Three had prepared horses in advance. Once out of the stockade, all four mounted and galloped northwest. They finally saw the main road as day was breaking and all breathed sighs of relief. Han Mingshi smiled: “Yesterday was quite exciting—thanks to Jun Wei. Let’s rest here for a bit. The next town is only about ten li away; we can rest there for a day. If the journey goes smoothly, we can reach the Nanzhao capital in seven or eight days at most.”
The Sick Scholar objected: “We’ll bypass the town and head straight for the Nanzhao capital.”
“You might not be tired, but we are,” Han Mingshi said unhappily.
The Sick Scholar looked at him coldly: “We have him with us—you think we can stay at inns? Besides, you think Le Jiang won’t send people after us?”
Han Mingshi snorted, “Who’s ‘we’? You found who you were looking for, so go ask him where your thing is yourself. Let’s part ways here. Wasn’t yesterday’s disaster because of you? Right, Jun Wei?”
Ye Li played with the delicate jeweled ornament in hand and smiled faintly: “It wasn’t so bad. But… if we split up, will Third Master give me the reward he promised?” The Sick Scholar’s eyes flickered, “So it’s better if we stay together, isn’t it? Young Master Chu wouldn’t feel at ease otherwise.” Ye Li smiled: “We’ve been through so much already, a bit more won’t hurt. Wouldn’t it be a waste of everything I did yesterday to give up halfway?”
Seeing Ye Li speak thus, Han Mingshi could only nod helplessly: “I hope this young master won’t get killed because of you.”
Ye Li smiled: “Actually, Brother Han could return to the Central Plains early—after all, Brother Han has no interest in what Third Master is looking for, right?” Han Mingshi turned his head away and flatly refused: “This young master finds it fun following Jun Wei—wherever Jun Wei goes, I’ll go too. If we’re traveling together, so be it! Who am I afraid of?”
The four decided to rest briefly. The Sick Scholar, unwilling to wait even a moment, dragged Master Liang aside to interrogate him. Han Mingshi, also harboring resentment toward Master Liang, followed to watch. Ye Li expressed no interest, and while Dark Three was interested, he would never show it in front of others, so he stayed to protect Ye Li. Ye Li sat down under a large tree and, after glancing at Han Mingshi and the Sick Scholar in the distance, took out various small items from his sleeve. Among them were two sheets of white paper. Ye Li contentedly took out a sharpened charcoal pen from his bundle and began writing and drawing on the paper.
Dark Three stood guard nearby, looking at the strange twisted characters on the paper, and asked curiously: “Young Master said you couldn’t read these characters—were you deceiving them?”
Ye Li shook his head and smiled: “I don’t recognize them, but others do. Though it is difficult to remember things you don’t recognize—I should have written them down yesterday, but I was worried it would cause trouble if discovered. Now… I shouldn’t have made any mistakes.” Finishing speaking, Ye Li lowered his head and continued making twisted lines on the paper. He said to Dark Three: “Actually, I’m not quite sure what this is either, but I do recognize that box. The things I pried off it seemed to be the Nanjiang Holy Maiden’s seal, so this should be important.” She had seen some more interesting things, but since she could read those, she remembered them well. She had just glanced at them once before putting them back, so naturally there was no rush to write them down now.
Dark Three nodded, silently pitying the Luoyi chief who thought his treasure was undamaged. He would never know that while waiting for nightfall at the Snake Valley cave entrance, the Young Master had already taken out the contents to study for half an hour before putting them back. Privately, Dark Three greatly admired his master’s lock-picking skills and considered when to ask the Young Master for instruction.
After quite a while, Ye Li finally filled one sheet of paper. Satisfied after checking against his memory twice, he handed it to Dark Three: “Have someone send this home quickly to see what this is.”
Dark Three nodded, then looked at Ye Li hesitantly, wanting to speak but holding back. Ye Li looked at him somewhat amused: “Just say what’s on your mind.” Dark Three glanced at the paper in his hand and asked quietly: “We’ve been away for quite some time. Since Young Master is sending a message home, perhaps you should write a family letter, to let them know Young Master is safe.”
Family letter? Ye Li froze. Since leaving, to avoid detection she hadn’t sent Mo Xiuyao any messages. She hadn’t even contacted the Dark Guards stationed in various places. Remembering Mo Xiuyao’s instructions, Ye Li felt somewhat guilty. Looking at the extra paper in hand, since there was some left, perhaps she should write a letter.