“Young Master Tang!”
On Haoyun Mountain, a Songshan Sect disciple rushed into Tang Lici’s courtyard. “Something terrible has happened!”
Tang Lici wore white robes. Since Chi Yun’s death, he had almost never worn gray clothes. If Shao Yanping were still alive, he would certainly have laughed and said his mood was very poor, but Shao Yanping was dead, and no one would make such jokes anymore.
When the Songshan Sect disciple entered his courtyard, Tang Lici was practicing calligraphy. Whenever he had leisure time, he would always take up his brush to practice writing. His calligraphy was not particularly good. He was accustomed to writing with his left hand, because originally his left hand could not write at all.
He did not permit himself to have any shortcomings.
“What’s the matter?” Tang Lici lifted his goat-hair brush and gently hung it on the brush stand. His voice was gentle, without a trace of surprise.
“We went to Jihe Manor to pick up the people according to your instructions, but Liu Yan was already gone, and Miss A’Shui was stabbed and is in mortal danger!” The disciple stepped into the room, so nervous his voice changed pitch. “We don’t know who learned of Jihe Manor’s location first. Young Master Tang, what should we do now?”
“How badly is Miss A’Shui injured?” Tang Lici’s questioning voice was also very calm – one couldn’t tell whether he was concerned or just asking casually. The Songshan Sect disciple respectfully replied, “We’ve already found a doctor to treat her on the way. She’s severely injured, but should be saveable.”
Tang Lici nodded. “What about the weapon?”
The Songshan Sect disciple handed over a bright, curved flying blade, only about an inch long. “This is it. It pierced about an inch into Miss A’Shui’s chest. Fortunately it was too short to reach her heart.”
Tang Lici took the bright flying blade and glanced at it, then smiled slightly. With the martial arts of the weapon’s owner, even a pebble could kill someone. Yet using such a specialized hidden weapon without achieving a fatal blow could only mean he originally had no intention of killing.
But… once the move was made, there could be no turning back. Showing mercy only happened once – next time he would show no mercy.
“Jiang Fei, where is Miss A’Shui now?” Tang Lici rolled up the scroll he had just written, his snow-white fingers pausing slightly. “In your judgment, what do you think the assassin intended?”
“My… my judgment?” Jiang Fei was dumbfounded that Tang Lici would ask him such a question. “We’ve already sent Miss A’Shui to Wanfu Inn, together with Shen Langhun and Miss Yu. I… I think the assassin was from the House of Pleasure, who discovered Jihe Valley’s location early and committed the crime.”
“Obviously, the assassin is from the House of Pleasure…” Tang Lici smiled slightly. “You spoke very well.”
Jiang Fei was flattered beyond measure, staring blankly at Tang Lici, not knowing what earth-shattering judgment he had made. Tang Lici gently waved his snow-white sleeves and said calmly, “You may go now.”
“Yes.” Jiang Fei withdrew, still puzzled in his heart, not knowing which sentence or point Tang Lici had praised him for.
The assassin was Fang Pingzhai. Obviously, the assassin was also from the House of Pleasure, so Fang Pingzhai had already become a member of the House of Pleasure. Tang Lici held the famous ink stick on the table, slowly turning it in the inkstone. Though everything was as expected, he still didn’t know by what method Yu Konghou could overturn a person’s heart in such a short time.
Anything unpredictable was a crisis. He could not leave Haoyun Mountain and could not stop Fang Pingzhai from taking Liu Yan away. No matter how many people he stationed around Liu Yan, it would be the same – Liu Yan would never believe Fang Pingzhai would harm him. So he simply had not arranged guards around Liu Yan. Though Fang Pingzhai’s nature had changed, even if he kidnapped Liu Yan, he would not harm him.
He slowly turned that piece of famous ink. Since Fang Pingzhai had kidnapped Liu Yan, he would come up the mountain within a day or two, while there were still three days until Miss Hong’s return.
How could he endure these three days without giving Yu Konghou an opportunity to exploit? Whether he struck first to seize Liu Yan back from Fang Pingzhai’s hands, or endured humiliation and waited until Liu Yan was brought to Haoyun Mountain before rescuing him, the result would be the same – he would be proven to have colluded with Liu Yan.
If he had never dug out Fang Zhou’s heart, never shattered Chi Yun’s head, perhaps he would choose to kill Liu Yan.
But…
Perhaps he had grown weak, perhaps he was too tired now – he could not do it.
“Knock, knock, knock.” Someone knocked at the door. Tang Lici paused slightly, only then realizing he had ground away half a piece of ink. He stopped his hand. “Come in.”
“Creak” – the door opened and Qi Xing pushed the door and entered, his expression grave. “Young Master Tang, Senior Xue Xianzi’s room is completely empty. Did you have someone take him away?”
Tang Lici’s brow furrowed. “No.”
Qi Xing’s expression became even more grave. “He’s disappeared. I’m worried there are House of Pleasure spies within Shenfeng Hall who unsealed his pressure points to make him do something.”
Tang Lici stood up. “This is bad, come with me!” He grabbed Qi Xing’s wrist and rushed out the door, shooting forward directly.
Qi Xing felt himself seized by the wrist, Tang Lici’s five fingers firm as iron and stone, impossible to break free from. He was secretly amazed in his heart. In moments, Tang Lici had pulled him to Cheng Yunpao’s door.
After the last ambush on Cheng Yunpao, Cheng Yunpao had not developed any suspicions about Tang Lici. His martial arts ranked among the best on Haoyun Mountain, and he was also a leader figure. If Xue Xianzi had been released by someone, the greatest possibility was to kill Cheng Yunpao!
“Bang” – a muffled sound came from inside Cheng Yunpao’s room. The very instant Tang Lici and Qi Xing arrived, the window lattice of Cheng Yunpao’s room shattered, and a figure crashed through the window flying backward, followed by drops of fresh blood staining the wall red – it was Gu Xitan. He flew backward and fell, barely managing to catch his breath, turned over and stood up, about to raise his sword to fight again when Tang Lici pressed him down. “Qi Xing, take him down to treat his wounds.”
Qi Xing quickly supported Gu Xitan, who spat out a mouthful of blood and pointed toward the room. “Senior Xue Xianzi…”
“I understand.” Tang Lici swept his sleeve and the room door opened wide. Inside, they saw Cheng Yunpao’s sword light swirling as he fought with Xue Xianzi. Xue Xianzi’s mind was unclear, and when he struck he showed no mercy. Palm shadows flew everywhere, suppressing Cheng Yunpao’s sword light to contract slightly. The might of his decades of accumulated power actually forced Cheng Yunpao’s sword momentum to be unable to extend fully – truly shocking and unprecedented.
Earlier, Gu Xitan had been practicing swordplay with Cheng Yunpao when suddenly Xue Xianzi burst in. If the two had not had their long swords in hand, Cheng Yunpao would likely have been injured under Xue Xianzi’s sudden palm strike.
“Tang Lici…” Cheng Yunpao’s sword momentum was constrained, and he dared not easily strike to injure Xue Xianzi. Tang Lici’s snow-white sleeve swept out, rolling toward Xue Xianzi’s palms. Cheng Yunpao took advantage of the momentum to break free from Xue Xianzi’s palm force restraint, gave a great shout, and with one move “Big Dipper Seven Stars,” his sword tip shook out seven points of cold light. Tang Lici struck his sleeve-concealed palm against Xue Xianzi’s palm with a “crack.” Right at this pause, Cheng Yunpao’s “Big Dipper Seven Stars” struck Xue Xianzi with three sword wounds. The seemingly mad Xue Xianzi collapsed to the ground, motionless.
Cheng Yunpao withdrew his sword and leaped back. Tang Lici helped Xue Xianzi up. Though his pressure points were restricted, from his expression he was obviously in great pain. Haoyun Mountain had no highly skilled doctors. Even though Tang Lici clearly knew Xue Xianzi was harmed by thread worms, he was helpless to do anything. Just then, Zhang Hemo, Master Wenxiu and others heard the news and came. Seeing Xue Xianzi’s painful condition, they all felt pity but were powerless to help.