A’Shui pulled Yu Tuan’er’s hand, holding Fengfeng as they slowly retreated to one side. Several swordsmen from the Central Plains Sword Association protected their safety. Yu Tuan’er looked around in the crowd, hoping to catch sight of Liu Yan. A’Shui tightly held Fengfeng, standing motionless.
This place gathered several hundred people… each person was determined to capture Liu Yan. She stared straight ahead, many people swaying before her eyes, but she saw nothing, only remembering that moment… that day, his sorrowful gaze.
Fengfeng’s head rested on her shoulder as she slept. Only when feeling Fengfeng’s warmth did she feel secure, only then could she believe she could continue living normally. In the future she had set for herself, there were no other men, only Fengfeng. So no matter how sorrowfully Liu Yan looked at her, she would not change.
But he… was truly pitiful… She secretly hoped he wouldn’t come, that he would hide in any corner of this world, just not appear today. Yu Tuan’er tugged her hand, whispering, “These people are all cursing him.” A’Shui nodded, “He has done many wrong things, harmed many people.” Yu Tuan’er asked quietly, “Are they all poisoned by him?” A’Shui sighed, “Yes, many people are poisoned by him. Whoever can capture him can control all these many people. Everyone wants the antidote.” Yu Tuan’er whispered, “He doesn’t have an antidote.” A’Shui was slightly startled, “How do you know?” Yu Tuan’er snorted, “I’ve even helped him bathe! He has nothing on his entire body, where would there be any antidote.” A’Shui smiled slightly, “You’re truly good to him.” Yu Tuan’er laughed, “Of course! Because he’s very good to me too.” She pointed to her face, “He healed my face and saved my life.” A’Shui touched her face, saying softly, “He really treats you very, very well.” Yu Tuan’er nodded repeatedly, her whole body radiating joy and happiness.
If she weren’t strong enough, would she collapse under such a smile, becoming shattered? A’Shui felt somewhat dazed. People were always tolerant and fond of innocent, kind things… but for women like her who only knew how to endure, weren’t they accustomed to nitpicking, accustomed to wanting to provoke the limits of her endurance, wanting to see her collapse… then taking pleasure in it, then proving that actually she was no different from others, that after being exposed she was just the same heap of unsightly things? People could not be compared – she had known this early on, but sometimes… sometimes it was truly… very difficult to accept… difficult to accept that she was a woman who was far inferior even to Yu Tuan’er.
She had always worked very hard at living… working hard not to appear embarrassing, working hard to have her own life, not depending on anyone. But no one had ever looked up to her. They would love and indulge things more fragile and ignorant than her, but didn’t know how to treat her well, and had never planned to treat her well.
They all expected her to be good to them, and would be hurt because she wasn’t considerate enough, enthusiastic enough, or even sincere enough. Hao Wenhou, Liu Yan, Tang Lici were all like this, but… but… the rules of the world shouldn’t be this way. She deeply understood that all this was wrong and absurd, but reality was just so.
She had no one to rely on. The only thing she could maintain was that she could still endure.
“Sister A’Shui?” Yu Tuan’er saw her silently gazing into the distance, “What’s wrong?” A’Shui shook her head, smiling slightly, “Nothing.”
The second floor of Beautiful Lady Residence was unusually quiet, as if Lin Bu being kidnapped was insignificant to them. Dong Hubi and Master Wenxiu discussed and divided the twenty-six sects with six hundred thirty-nine people who had come to Beautiful Lady Residence into twenty small teams, both to monitor the movements of the Romantic Shop people and to observe if anyone approached.
However, as the day passed noon and then dusk, Beautiful Lady Residence’s kitchen continuously sent dishes to the second floor, but no one came.
Liu Yan and Xue Xianzi hid in the dense forest of the mountain valley. Earth dogs roamed everywhere. Though the two weren’t afraid of the dogs, being discovered would be troublesome. Xue Xianzi sprinkled flower pollen all over Liu Yan. He had always been lustful and fond of flowers, carrying many rare flower pollens in his bosom to please beauties, but today he used them on Liu Yan. The pollen’s scent wasn’t strong, emitting a clear, exotic fragrance. Xue Xianzi hoped this rare flower’s fragrance could mask Liu Yan’s scent and confuse those dogs’ sense of smell, but whether it actually worked, no one knew. The two watched Fang Pingzhai leave. The Demon Soul Death Warriors below the mountain hadn’t yet regrouped and were still in chaos. Xue Xianzi had a sudden inspiration – he went down and captured two men, brought them up, struck their pressure points, stripped off their clothes, and buried the two naked men in the mountain’s grass pile. He and Liu Yan put on the Demon Soul Death Warriors’ black clothes, wore their human skin masks, and swaggered down the mountain.
Walking into the enemy’s main camp, Xue Xianzi supported Liu Yan. Many had been injured by Fang Pingzhai, so seeing Liu Yan limping, others found nothing strange. The two found an unburned tent and crawled in. Inside lay five people who were knocked unconscious by Xue Xianzi before they could even speak. The two grabbed the wine and food on the table and ate heartily until full, then rested briefly. After eating, Xue Xianzi swaggered out again to gather information. He returned saying Lin Bu had been rescued – it wasn’t clear who had rescued him, but he was no longer at Beautiful Lady Residence’s upper floor. After hearing this, Liu Yan was silent for a while, “Are those poisoned people still there?”
“Sects with poisoned members are all waiting at Beautiful Lady Residence. Romantic Shop lost Lin Bu but hasn’t withdrawn either. I see everyone’s waiting for you, this big fish. Anyway, Lin Bu has already been rescued, so why don’t you just slip away? At worst, I’ll secretly notify your disciple and have him search for you to the ends of the earth.” Xue Xianzi shook his head, “Your appearing now has no benefits whatsoever.” Liu Yan said slowly, “If I don’t appear, everyone will either think I’m dead or think I’ve hidden away and will never appear again – then so many poisoned people in the martial world will have no choice but to submit to Romantic Shop, because only Romantic Shop has the Crimson Ghost Nine Heart Pills that can extend life and enhance martial power. Romantic Shop absolutely must capture me, first because they themselves desperately want the so-called antidote; second because they fear I truly have the so-called antidote. So if I don’t appear, the martial world’s overall situation will favor Romantic Shop, and a large portion of those waiting outside Beautiful Lady Residence will have no choice but to make decisions that go against their conscience. That’s all karma I created…” Xue Xianzi nearly spat out the soup he had just drunk, “According to martial world legends, the Romantic Guest Liu Yan is a sinister, vicious demon who is both lustful and evil, Little Tang’s mortal enemy. I think you’re quite decent as a person! And you and Little Tang are clearly life-and-death friends. For your sake, Little Tang even dared to drag this old man into the water. It shows martial world rumors really can’t be trusted completely. Sigh!” Liu Yan remained silent. After a while he said, “I must go out and tell them the Crimson Ghost Nine Heart Pills have an antidote, that I’m not dead yet, so everyone needn’t listen to Romantic Shop’s threats.” Xue Xianzi shook his head repeatedly, “Your thinking is very good and noble, but unfortunately if you go out, even two Xue Xianzis might not be able to preserve your life. What use is a Liu Yan without life? Can your corpse transform into an antidote to cure the Crimson Ghost Nine Heart Pills’ poison? Even if it could, one person’s hundred-some pounds including hair wouldn’t be enough for all these people to consume, and even if you died, others would say you’re being partial.”
“Without making the antidote, no one dares take my life.” Liu Yan said in a deep voice. Xue Xianzi laughed heartily, “That depends on whether you have the power to resist both sides. With just me alone, it’s far from enough. Romantic Shop wants to throw you in a frying pan, the righteous martial world wants to capture you for slow slicing. Unless you find immortals as backing, otherwise even if you make the antidote you’ll still die, and the antidote you make will still become someone else’s bargaining chip to ascend to martial world supremacy.” Liu Yan’s eyes moved slightly, “Immortals?” Xue Xianzi nodded, “Immortals – the Jade Emperor, Supreme Lord Lao, Erlang Shen and such…” Liu Yan said quietly, “What about Tang Lici?” Xue Xianzi heavily knocked his head, “Do you want to harm Little Tang to death? No one knows what past friendship you and Little Tang have. He has no reason whatsoever to back you up. If he stands out to back you up, others will all think he’s not doing it for you Liu Yan, but for martial world supremacy. All who oppose Little Tang will immediately find an excuse, proving his ulterior motives. Little Tang will immediately fall to the point where everyone wants to destroy him.” Liu Yan fell silent. Whenever encountering thorny matters, he habitually thought A’Li could solve everything, even for things he clearly knew couldn’t be done he still harbored fantasies, but obviously he was wrong. After a while, he said slowly, “I’ll write a letter. Help me take it to Beautiful Lady Residence and give it to Cheng Yunpao.” Xue Xianzi beamed with joy, “Ah, wonderful method, wonderful method! Write quickly, write quickly.”