Wanyu Yuedan stepped back. The clear, cold wind of autumn evening swept past his robes, lifting his clothes to flutter lightly. He raised his head toward the sky, remembering in his heart the colors of dusk—so many autumn dusks, so many lives and deaths, many wishes unrealized, yet many green grasses on yellow earth had already bloomed and borne fruit.
The two stood quietly in the cemetery for a moment. Behind them, someone walked past the carved flower corridor. Fu Zhumei turned around and saw it was a woman in red with a graceful figure who disappeared behind the garden’s circular archway. “She’s been following you,” Fu Zhumei turned to look at Wanyu Yuedan. “Is there no problem? Who is she?” Wanyu Yuedan said, “She’s a clever woman in the midst of hesitation.” Fu Zhumei looked in the direction she had gone. “Hesitating about what?” Wanyu Yuedan said, “Hesitating whether emotions that give without expecting return are precious, or whether emotions that can receive gentleness and consideration for small efforts are more alluring.” Fu Zhumei sighed. “Of course everyone hopes that giving emotion will receive an equal degree of return, but such things are ultimately very, very rare.” Wanyu Yuedan’s expression was very gentle. “Conceited people are always obstinate. I only hope that after she makes her choice, there will be fewer regrets between them.” Fu Zhumei rubbed his hair. “Is her choice very important?” Wanyu Yuedan laughed lightly. “Very important.”
While they were talking, Fu Zhumei saw that red-clothed woman again from afar. She stood under a tree not far away, and a man in azure clothes handed her a cup of tea. She lowered her head without speaking, and the azure-clothed man also said nothing, standing with her for a while before turning and leaving. “Eh? Is that Bi Lianyi?” Fu Zhumei suddenly understood. “Ah! So she’s Xiao Bi’s sweetheart, but why is she following you?” Wanyu Yuedan smiled. “Xiao Fu is always very perceptive. How did you know she’s Big Brother Bi’s sweetheart?” Fu Zhumei naturally widened his eyes. “Eh? Feeling, of course. The feeling is just different.” Wanyu Yuedan said gently, “Is that so? By the way, I’m worried about something. Can Xiao Fu lend me a hand?” Fu Zhumei nodded repeatedly. “What is it?” Wanyu Yuedan said, “I have a patient here whose joints throughout his body have been nailed with over a hundred poisoned spikes. He can’t move or speak. If no one can help expel the poisoned spikes from his body, I’m afraid he won’t be able to hold on. Though there are many martial artists in Biluo Palace, none possess such power…”
Fu Zhumei hurriedly said, “I’ll try. Where is he?”
“He’s in Wanglan Pavilion.” Wanyu Yuedan led the way ahead. Though he couldn’t see, his steps were calm and leisurely. As he walked, he laughed and said, “Actually, for many years I haven’t understood—Xiao Fu is so warm-hearted, simple, and has no desire for fame and glory, so why do you completely change when you pick up the Imperial Plum Blade? When drawing the blade to kill, what are you thinking?” Fu Zhumei fell slightly silent. After quite a while, he said, “Actually, I feel that no matter what you do, if you’ve decided it should be done, you must do it well, whether it’s something you like to do or don’t like to do. Once you’ve decided to do it, you must put in your greatest effort to do it well. So…” He sighed. “So when holding a blade, I’m very committed to being a blade master, and it’s the same when doing other things. When not holding a blade, I seriously try to be myself. All these years, I haven’t wanted to be changed, because I think I’m very good this way.” Wanyu Yuedan smiled. “Being able to reach a realm beyond ordinary people when fully committed—not everyone can do this. Seriously being oneself—how many people in the world can have such honesty and confidence in themselves? Ha, you and Young Master Tang are both such people… Ah, don’t go forward, this way.” He grabbed Fu Zhumei’s sleeve, just like grabbing the sleeve of a child who might easily get lost, and slowly stepped into a courtyard.
This was a courtyard full of orchids. A few autumn orchids were blooming—not any remarkable varieties. Though they weren’t rare orchids, they still had an elegant, subtle fragrance. Fu Zhumei looked at those orchids curiously. Undoubtedly he didn’t recognize a single one, but obviously he greatly admired the person who planted these orchids. After looking at the orchids for quite a while, he turned to look into the house, only to see two young men in azure clothes working together to carry out a tall man with a stiff body and disheveled long hair. That person wore purple clothes, somewhat tattered but washed very clean, obviously cleaned and dressed by people from Biluo Palace.
“He…” Fu Zhumei looked at that person in confusion. “Who is he?”
“Kuanglan Wuxing.” Wanyu Yuedan said gently. “One of the Seven Flower Cloud Travelers, a fierce warrior skilled with an eight-foot long sword.” Fu Zhumei rubbed his hair, his gaze even more confused. Perhaps he had once heard this name and now forgotten it, but more likely he had never remembered it at all. “Where are the spikes on his body?”
“Starting from his eye sockets, all joints in his body that can move have two or more small spikes.” Wanyu Yuedan sighed. “Even if they can be expelled, after forcing out one hundred and seven poisoned spikes, Xiao Fu, you will inevitably be greatly weakened.” Fu Zhumei smiled sincerely, his expression somewhat shy. He originally wanted to say something but ultimately didn’t. “The spikes? Where are the spikes?” Wanyu Yuedan reached out to feel around on Kuanglan Wuxing’s body, slowly pressing to a spot on his shoulder. “Let’s start from here.”
East Mountain.
Fang Pingzhai, in yellow clothes with a red fan, after eavesdropping on the conversation between those two men and women from the tree, drifted away and pondered as he traveled. Government troops were searching for Princess Langya. Since this matter had been going on for a long time and was so secretive, it must involve more secrets. Once they obtained clues, they absolutely wouldn’t give up halfway. To lead the troops away, the first method would be for that purple-clothed young lady to suddenly appear, making this group rush off upon hearing the news. The second method would be to raise his blade and chop off the heads of these twenty to thirty people, which would also temporarily resolve matters, but killing imperial relatives would bring endless troubles.
Should he kill… or help with the search? Fang Pingzhai tried hard to recall the direction the purple-clothed young lady had ridden away, but after thinking for a long time, couldn’t understand. If he didn’t know which direction she went, then he should think about why she came. What at East Mountain’s Ling Yuan Temple would attract her to come? Ling Yuan Temple was famous only for its Biluochun tea, at most adding the spiritual spring in the mountains. What would be worth a young lady traveling thousands of li to come for? Hmm… the spiritual spring? Rumors said the spiritual spring could cure heart diseases. Seeing her kill with one sword strike, ruthless and merciless, her psychology must be abnormal. Perhaps she came precisely for the spiritual spring. Fang Pingzhai laughed heartily and waved his fan toward the back of Ling Yuan Temple.
Dense green woods where flowers had withered but various fruits grew, the forest still filled with fruit fragrance. Fang Pingzhai used his fan to push through layers of branches, following the clear stream upward. After walking several li, he saw a place where spring water gurgled forth. There was no one around the spring, and the muddy ground had chaotic footprints. Fang Pingzhai stepped onto the mud, looking left and right, when suddenly he saw a corner of purple dress in the dense forest not far from the spiritual spring.
Hmm? He raised his fan to push aside the bushes and saw lying in the forest seventeen or eighteen steps from the spiritual spring a purple-clothed young lady, soaking wet all over, with disheveled long hair and snow-white complexion, already unconscious. Fang Pingzhai recognized at a glance that this young lady was the woman who had pierced Lin Bu’s chest with one sword that day. He crouched down to check her pulse—she wasn’t injured, just severely chilled. “Aiya ya, what’s to be done? Said I wanted to find someone, didn’t expect to actually find her. Heaven ah heaven, tell me—should I take her to the government office to claim the reward of several hundred taels of silver, or let her stay here until she dies of illness and gets torn apart by wild dogs, beauty becoming skeleton? A noble young master with conscience and tender feelings toward women like me naturally has conscience and tender feelings. Come, let this noble young master save your life.” While talking to himself, he picked up the purple-clothed young lady from the ground, his figure flickering as he passed through the dense forest.
Not far from Ling Yuan Temple, outside the village residences, after a fruitless effort, more than ten small squads withdrew one after another, surrounding a residence. The residence’s original owners, having received a hundred taels of silver, had already moved out happily, and those living in this residence were naturally the man and woman searching for their “little sister.”
“Big brother, are you tired?” The woman in tight-fitting clothes picked up a teapot and poured a cup of water, handing it to the man in tight-fitting clothes. “Searching in many places, still finding nothing. Perhaps… sigh…” The man took the teacup and drank a sip. “Shh! Don’t talk nonsense! Little sister has great fortune and destiny. Since she didn’t die in the tomb back then, naturally she won’t die in the future either. She’s of golden branch and jade leaf.” The woman showed a bitter smile and sighed gently. Just as the two were sighing, suddenly there was light laughter outside the door: “Princess Langya has arrived, catch her!” Both being martial artists, upon hearing the laughter they leaped up. Suddenly with a loud “bang,” something crashed through the window, flying horizontally toward them. The man shouted loudly, grasped with both hands, struggled to pull and turn, spinning around twice before dissipating this flying impact force. Looking down, he was greatly shocked. “This is…” The woman in tight-fitting clothes cried out in alarm, “Little sister!”
What crashed through the window was precisely a purple-clothed young lady soaked through, with beautiful features but an extremely haggard complexion, deep sorrow between her brows. The man in tight-fitting clothes raised his head to look at the woman in tight-fitting clothes, then looked at the purple-clothed young lady in his arms. These two people’s faces were actually five or six parts similar, except the woman in tight-fitting clothes showed spirited vigor while the purple-clothed young lady appeared more delicate and elegant. “She… how did she fly in from outside the window?” The woman in tight-fitting clothes felt around the purple-clothed young lady’s body. The purple-clothed young lady had nothing on her except a hanging long sword. Her heart felt both alarmed and joyful. “Little sister actually knows martial arts. No wonder we couldn’t find her at the place where she was fostered back then. But she… how is she unconscious… and who sent her here? Eh…” She felt something on the purple-clothed young lady’s body. “This is…”