Cheng Yunpao and Shao Yanping were shocked and terrified—what kind of blade was this? How could it injure the black-clothed person from such a distance with one strike? After Xifang Tao escaped, a strange weapon gleaming with cold light fell from mid-air, landing before Tang Lici with a “clang.” Cheng Yunpao and Shao Yanping cried out in unison, “The Imperial Plum Blade!”
The blade’s edge was like waves, its petals divided into twin plums. When the blade emerged, its coldness was like snow, its sharp edge startling ghosts and spirits. This was precisely the “Imperial Plum Blade” that had shaken the jianghu for over thirty years! Under the extremely astonished gazes of the two men, a white-clothed, masked figure swept in from outside the door, helping Tang Lici up from the shattered bed curtains. “Are you alright?”
Tang Lici’s eyelashes drooped slightly, his voice unclear: “I’m fine…” The white-clothed person picked up the Imperial Plum Blade and turned to face Shao Yanping. Shao Yanping looked at this white-clothed person in amazement. He had thought the master of the Imperial Plum must be an old man, but though this person’s face was not visible, his voice was very young. He heard him say, “Master Shao, A’Li’s injuries are not serious. He just needs two days of rest to recover. I’m going to pursue that person just now. I’ll leave this place to you.” Before his words finished, the white-clothed person passed through the door and disappeared in an instant.
What swift movement skills! Shao Yanping and Cheng Yunpao looked at each other, the suspicion in their hearts only growing stronger. The Imperial Plum Master called him “A’Li”—could Tang Lici actually have some connection with the Imperial Plum Master? Looking back at Tang Lici, they saw him supporting himself against the bed fragments, slowly standing up. Though his complexion was poor, his mind was still clear, showing an elegant and gentle smile. “I… don’t feel very well.”
Shao Yanping gave a bitter laugh. He had a belly full of questions he wanted to ask, but Tang Lici just smiled slightly and with one sentence “I don’t feel very well” had lightly deflected them all. “I’ll immediately prepare a room for Young Master Tang to rest.” Tang Lici leaned against the bed post and nodded gently. His snow-white, delicate fingers lightly touched the bed post, a few strands of black hair fell down, his manner both languid and leisurely, as if the person who had just escaped death was not him at all.
Cheng Yunpao frowned as he looked at him. He too had countless doubts, but Tang Lici didn’t even glance at him. After thinking for a long while, he ultimately didn’t ask a single question.
Outside Shanfeng Hall.
Xifang Tao, dressed in black, fled rapidly forward. The injury to her tiger’s mouth was not severe, but this imperial blade strike made her extremely angry. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—she had clearly seen Tang Lici’s strange expression just moments ago. The chance had passed in an instant, and moreover, the situation had reversed, forcing her to retreat. That damned blade strike truly came at a most hateful moment! After fleeing more than two li, she suddenly turned around to see someone in snow-white clothes standing silently fifty zhang behind her. The white gauze covering his face fluttered slightly in the wind, and a stream of clear, cold air blew from beside him, cold as autumn water.
What great audacity. Xifang Tao stood straight, coldly staring at her opponent. In an instant, she had shifted from resentful fury to calmness, then to calmly assessing her opponent. That imperial blade strike just now was indeed world-shocking, but it didn’t necessarily mean she couldn’t handle it. Based on that one strike alone, she would kill this meddlesome interloper.
The sunlight was warm and gentle. Below Haoyun Mountain, the landscape was verdant, white clouds swept across the sky. The two figures, one black and one white, didn’t gaze at each other for long before suddenly brilliant light exploded. A mass of dazzling blade light made even daylight pale in comparison. With a thunderous crash, trees swayed and dust flew everywhere. After the dust settled, the black-clothed person had vanished like a ghost without a trace. The white-clothed person stood alone holding the Imperial Plum Blade, facing the dust explosion in the sky as bits of broken earth and dust drifted down, staining his white clothes yellow. After a long while, he sighed.
What a formidable opponent! This was the strongest opponent he had encountered in decades, actually escaping unharmed after his imperial blade strike. After Tang Lici killed Fang Zhou, he had left Tang Lici and Liu Yan, had another fortuitous encounter, and once again traversed the gaps of time and space to arrive thirty years ago. This was the reason the Imperial Plum Master’s legend could continue for thirty years. Multiple traversals through time and space had caused Fu Zhumei to escape normal temporal rules, his appearance remaining unchanged, actually looking one or two years younger than Tang Lici.
Ah… Fu Zhumei removed his face-covering white gauze, rubbed his hair, and looked at the azure sky in confusion. What exactly should he do? Stay at Haoyun Mountain to help A’Li? Go hunt down that black-clothed person? But if he stayed at Haoyun Mountain, A’Li would definitely be very unhappy. If he wanted to hunt down that black-clothed person, where would he go to find him? He hadn’t clearly seen what that black-clothed person looked like at all, and even if he had seen clearly, he probably wouldn’t be able to remember.
Where should he go? Go back? He asked himself, staring blankly at the blue sky. After a long time, a bird swept across the sky and landed on a nearby tree branch to build a nest. He watched for quite a while, then suddenly realized he had just been spacing out this whole time, and couldn’t help but sigh again. What to do? Find someone to ask, perhaps. Fu Zhumei looked up at the midday sun, hesitantly glanced back at Haoyun Mountain, and slowly headed north.