Shao Yanping secretly praised the excellent technique – in the turning and opening of five fingers, he lightly evaded Pu Kuisheng’s finger force without leaving the slightest trace. It was a pity that he still didn’t use his inner qi, so his cultivation level couldn’t be discerned. “Excellent skill!” Several people at the table praised simultaneously. With this cup of wine down, everyone felt goodwill toward Tang Lici, and the conversation at the table became increasingly frank and bold.
Chi Yun drank coldly. The white-haired fox’s methods of winning people’s hearts were always sophisticated – no matter who it was, as long as he wanted to win them over, no one could escape from his grasp. From the corner of his eye, he saw Yu Furen holding chopsticks and listening quietly, drinking silently. Though the entire banquet was filled with praise and laughter, it seemed not to enter his ears – this person didn’t know what he was thinking about.
When this person wasn’t smiling, he looked somewhat familiar. Chi Yun felt a slight trace of surprise in his heart, but his memory was always poor, and he couldn’t say who he resembled.
A female servant walked up quietly and whispered a few words in Shao Yanping’s ear. Shao Yanping waved his hand to dismiss her, then turned to Tang Lici and said, “The Assembly has a distinguished guest who wishes to speak with Young Master Tang tonight. Would Young Master Tang be willing to meet her?” Tang Lici smiled slightly, “Since she’s a distinguished guest of the Assembly, how could I not meet her?” Shao Yanping laughed heartily and said to everyone, “This distinguished guest has a special identity, so I cannot explain further. Please forgive me.”
Everyone at the table nodded, the banquet continued cheerfully, and confidence in eliminating the Romantic Shop greatly increased. Various plans were discussed in detail one by one—
Some fool pasted and left out a section when copying, so Chapter 11 starts from here…
The following—
After the banquet.
Shao Yanping invited Tang Lici to a side room to meet the guest. Chi Yun originally wanted to follow and watch the excitement, but was politely asked back. In a fit of anger, he returned to his room and lay down to sleep. After the martial world elders exchanged pleasantries, they each dispersed – some went fishing in the back mountains under the moonlight and west wind, others returned to their rooms to practice and regulate their breathing. Different people had very different styles of conduct.
In the side room, a bright lamp was lit, its light neither too bright nor too dim, perfectly illuminated.
When Tang Lici pushed the door open, he saw an azure-clad woman sitting by the lamp, holding needle and thread, raising a needle and carefully embroidering a doll on her wishful undergarment. Seeing him enter, she looked up and smiled slightly.
He had thought he wouldn’t be surprised no matter who he saw, but he was indeed surprised, “Miss A’Shui…”
Shao Yanping smiled, “It seems you two are indeed old acquaintances. Miss A’Shui’s arrival here wasn’t easy. Please take your time talking, I’ll take my leave first.” He closed the door, the smile on his face clearly thinking that since Tang Lici was young and handsome, tonight would add another romantic affair.
A’Shui put the wishful embroidered pouch back in her bosom and stood up, “Young Master Tang.”
Tang Lici supported himself on the sandalwood chair beside him and sat down, “Cough cough…” He coughed softly, breathing slowly and steadying his breath for several moments before saying, “How did you come here…”
A’Shui reached out to support him, crouching in front of him, “Are you injured?”
Tang Lici smiled slightly, “It doesn’t matter. For you to risk coming here, there must be important business.” His complexion wasn’t good. After the banquet, the wine had gone to his head, and traces of weariness and pain showed between his brows. The flush on his face revealed some illness, yet the beauty of that flush showed a soul-stirring charm in the lamplight.
“The Romantic Shop’s current location is in Bifeng Forest, not far from Haoyun Mountain.” A’Shui took out a handkerchief from her bosom and placed it in Tang Lici’s hand, “Tonight he took me out to drink at Wanfeng Hall, then he got drunk and went somewhere unknown.” She gazed at Tang Lici’s complexion, “So I came.”
“You came… do you want to see Fengfeng, or do you want to see me?” Tang Lici asked gently. His question was completely unrelated to what A’Shui had said. His breath still carried a slight wine fragrance, and in the lamplight, it was intoxicatingly alluring.
She sighed softly, “I… really want to see Fengfeng, but I also wanted to come see you.” She didn’t look at Tang Lici’s face; she looked at her own fingers, which appeared white and smooth in the lamplight, quite beautiful. “I heard that you…” She paused slightly, “haven’t been well lately.”
“I… have never been well.” Tang Lici said gently, “From birth until now, I’ve never been well. So what?”
She hadn’t expected him to say this and was slightly startled, “You… are in a bad mood?”
Tang Lici’s eyes moved, his gaze lifting slightly, eyelashes raised, quietly looking at her, then smiled gently with great abandon, “My mood has never been good. Don’t you know?”
She gazed into his eyes without responding. Under the gentle lamplight, with quiet composure, she waited for him to continue speaking – or not to continue. She showed no expression of shock or fear, only a kind of concentration that sparkled in her eyes. A calm and intelligent heart was perhaps this woman’s treasure for walking through all thorns.
But he didn’t continue. Instead, he slowly reached out his hand, gently touching her forehead, covering her eyes, slowly stroking downward… “If you keep looking at me like this, I’ll dig out your eyes… Don’t open them.”
She closed her eyes and still said nothing.
Tang Lici’s warm fingers slowly left her cheek, like a net gently being withdrawn. Though the net was gone, she still felt herself caught within it. Just then, Tang Lici said gently, “My mood has never been good… When I was small, I wanted freedom but had none… Later I abandoned my parents and gained extreme freedom, but that freedom nearly destroyed me. I wanted friends… but no one was willing or dared to be my friend… When I understood that no one dared be my friend because my freedom made them afraid – I found it ridiculous – I abandoned that ridiculous freedom, regained my parents and friends, but things regained after being lost… don’t you always feel they still don’t belong to you? Like a dream… I often suspect the emotions I’ve regained are false, but if the only things I possess are false, then what is real? I’ve never gotten much, I don’t want to lose any of it…” He said in an extremely low, gentle voice, “I also believed I wouldn’t lose any of it, but I’ve already lost it. What should I do?”
She was silent for a long time. When her lips barely parted, his warm hand covered them again, blocking her mouth, “Don’t speak.” he said.
Things already lost were lost, never to be retrieved. Either you learn to endure and accept, then seek new replacements while spending a lifetime remembering what was lost; or you escape and deny, then convince yourself you never lost anything; or – you go mad from this point, and the matter of losing or not losing never needs to be thought about again. Besides that… what else could be done? Her lips were covered by his hand, and she slowly opened her eyes, looking into his.
He had his eyes closed, and something glittered and trembled between his eyelashes.
Right… when you’ve lost something… you can still cry…
The room was quiet for a long time. After a while, Tang Lici slowly withdrew his hand, “I’m sorry, I’m a bit…” He supported his forehead with the back of his hand, “I’m a bit confused…”
She smiled slightly, “I didn’t understand what Young Master Tang said just now either, so it doesn’t matter.” She patted the back of his other hand, “Young Master Tang holds an important position with great influence on the martial world situation. Eliminating the Romantic Shop is such a difficult task that will surely require you to exhaust your heart and blood. You should understand the weight of your responsibilities – the lives and futures of so many humble women like A’Shui in the martial world rest on your shoulders alone…” She sighed softly, “A’Shui also has countless worries in her heart, innumerable things that trouble and distress her, but… at this moment, eliminating the Romantic Shop’s Crimson Ghost Nine Heart Pills should take priority.”
“Mm…” Tang Lici closed his eyes for a moment, smiled slightly, and opened them, “Your worries – can you tell me about them?” His emotions had been chaotic just moments ago, but now his mind was somewhat clearer, and his smile showed hints of stability.
“I…” she said softly, “I…” She ultimately didn’t speak, stood up, and smiled slightly, “I should go.”
Tang Lici stood to see her off. With his keen eyesight, from her embroidering the undergarment just now, he knew… she was probably carrying Liu Yan’s child. A young woman who knew no martial arts, repeatedly kidnapped and raped, giving birth to two children from different fathers – one entrusted to others, the other’s fate unknown… And she herself was among an evil cult, serving as slave and servant, subject to everyone’s suspicion and distrust, her life hanging by a thread. Under such circumstances, she hadn’t chosen to die.
She walked out and went far away. Shao Yanping had arranged things very properly – a swordsman escorted her to a nearby bustling town, had her enter a teahouse to drink tea and listen to opera, then left. The Romantic Shop would naturally find her, and when they did, they would assume Liu Yan had abandoned her on the road and she had gotten lost wandering here.
Tang Lici leaned against the doorframe, hand pressed to his heart.
She was a woman with inner charm, restrained elegance, beauty in her bones – no man could resist her.
But her most moving quality wasn’t her inner charm.
Just then, there was a sudden “buzz” from behind the door panel, and a sword blade pierced through the door, stabbing directly at Tang Lici’s back.
With a “clang,” something shot out rapidly from the darkness, striking the blade. That sword’s aim was slightly deflected, light flashed, and it disappeared into the darkness without a trace.
“Good sword.” Someone outside the corridor said indifferently, “What a pity.”
Tang Lici still leaned against the doorframe, his expression unchanged, “A pity it’s not as good as you.”
Someone outside the corridor leaped gracefully over the railing, “If he weren’t afraid to reveal his identity, with ten or eight more sword strikes, perhaps one or two would be ones I couldn’t block.” This unremarkable-looking person was Shen Langhun. He had suddenly left before the banquet, but now appeared here as if he had been lurking in the shadows for a long time.
Tang Lici’s lips curved slightly in an ambiguous smile, “If he were determined to kill me, if this attempt failed, there would be a next time, and the time after that… Cough cough… There would always be opportunities.” He coughed twice and slowly left the doorframe, “Haha, you saved my life – I’ll treat you to drinks.”
Shen Langhun also showed a faint smile, “Saving your life is that easy? If I hadn’t acted just now, would you have killed him?” Tang Lici raised his eyebrows, laughing with considerable wildness, “Hahaha… A useless person who’s lost all martial arts and scattered all inner qi – could he still kill people?” Shen Langhun didn’t laugh, saying indifferently, “I think when you’ve lost all martial arts, you’re probably even more ruthless than when your inner qi was intact.” Tang Lici turned around, sleeves flowing as he smiled, “Haha, hahahaha… This way to drink.”
Chi Yun called him “white-haired fox.” Shen Langhun watched his retreating figure – one person embodying both demonic air and wildness, elegance and cruelty. He curved his lips slightly – indeed a white-haired fox. Tang Lici led the way, passing through several doorways into a room. Shen Langhun was slightly startled – before him were chimneys and water tanks, with a woodshed to the side. Wasn’t this the kitchen? Tang Lici entered the kitchen, which had just been cleaned. Night had fallen and the servants had all gone down, leaving it quiet and empty. He walked directly to the cutting board, reached out to grasp the cleaver still beaded with water, his snow-white fingers lightly stroking the blade spine, suddenly smiling, “What do you want to eat?”
“Bitter melon scrambled with eggs.” Shen Langhun said indifferently.
With a “thunk,” Tang Lici picked up the cleaver and chopped it heavily on the cutting board, “Bitter melon scrambled with eggs, red peppers stir-fried with green peppers.”
An incense stick’s time later, two small dishes sat on the kitchen table – one plate of bitter melon scrambled with eggs, one plate of red peppers stir-fried with green peppers, colors bright and steaming hot. Shen Langhun looked at the two large bowls on the table, “I never knew you drank wine from bowls.”
“Whether using bowls or small cups, isn’t it all drinking wine?” Tang Lici took a sip, his eyes moving, “Just like whether you sip it or gulp it down, isn’t this wine stolen all the same?” Shen Langhun burst out laughing at these words, “This is the wine you’re treating me to?” Tang Lici tilted his head back and drained a bowl, saying indifferently, “The wine was stolen by me, not by you.”
Shen Langhun picked up some bitter melon and took a bite, chewing a few times with considerable surprise, “Good eggs, good bitter melon.” Tang Lici picked up a pepper strip and smelled the pungent pepper aroma, “Cough…” Shen Langhun was astonished, “You can’t eat spicy food?” Tang Lici nodded and smiled delicately, “I can drink wine, but I can’t eat spicy food.” Shen Langhun said, “Then why did you stir-fry peppers?” Tang Lici smiled slightly, “Because I felt like it.” Shen Langhun ate a bite of peppers, “Excellent flavor, great cooking skills!” Putting down his chopsticks, he drank some wine and changed the topic, “That person changed swords – how did you recognize his identity?”
“His surname is Yu.” Tang Lici said, “He’s a sword master with an unfamiliar face, holds high position in the Assembly, and deliberately carried a famous sword with him…” He smiled lightly, “Though I don’t know if Yu Qifeng had any sons, I’m at least not foolish enough to think that after Yu Qifeng’s death, no one would really come looking for me.” Shen Langhun chewed peppers heartily, “You said he carries Azure Jade – do you want to prove that the person who tried to assassinate you wasn’t him?” Tang Lici smiled, “That’s at least one of his reasons for carrying Azure Jade. However, Yu Furen has clear bones and uncommon insight – he’s not a blind follower, nor a mediocre person. I quite admire him.” Shen Langhun drank down a bowl of wine, “One strike missed, then immediate retreat – his determination and confidence in killing you are both strong.” Tang Lici lightly stirred his wine cup with chopsticks, saying slowly, “A good assassin.” Shen Langhun smiled faintly, “Drink!” Tang Lici raised his bowl in response, “Drink.”