Tang Lici frowned slightly. The corpses of Chi Yun and the two heads of Plum Blossom Mountain had long been burned to ash by him. Bai Suche wasn’t present at the time and didn’t know, so she could casually claim to have “stolen Chi Yun’s corpse.” But Yu Konghou was at the Central Plains Sword Association at the time—how could he not know? Why would Yu Konghou believe she had stolen Chi Yun’s corpse? Unless—
The corners of his eyes slightly widened as he lifted his lashes, looking from Bai Suche’s jaw, inch by inch, up to her eyes.
“You… when did you—steal his corpse?” Tang Lici asked softly.
Bai Suche lowered her lashes and said flatly, “…In any case, I stole Chi Yun’s corpse and sank it in the cold pool at Cold Jade Peak.”
Tang Lici frowned slightly, staring at Bai Suche’s eyes.
Bai Suche’s eyes moved. Tang Lici’s gaze made her sense something unusual. “What?”
“Chi Yun’s corpse was burned to ash by me long ago.” Tang Lici said softly. “Even his ashes were scattered.” His gaze slowly moved from Bai Suche’s face to that sword. “How did you steal his corpse? Why does Yu Konghou believe you stole Chi Yun’s corpse?”
Bai Suche suddenly raised her head, her gaze meeting Tang Lici’s like swords clashing, as if they could produce the sound of metal striking metal. “Are you saying—”
“I’m saying… if Yu Konghou believes Chi Yun’s corpse was stolen—then Chi Yun’s corpse must have been stolen.” Tang Lici said slowly, his tone gentle, seemingly not angry at all. “It’s just that he initially thought it was me, and now he thinks it’s you…” After a slight pause, he said softly, “But since it was neither me nor you—then what happened in between? Yu Konghou was at the Central Plains Sword Association at the time… and I…”
He stopped.
Bai Suche said flatly, “Oh, whose ashes were burned—you actually don’t know.”
Tang Lici turned to look at the sword hanging on her wall, still not angry. “That One Ring Crossing the Moon…”
Bai Suche interrupted him. “You’re quite strange.” She stared at Tang Lici. “Young Master Tang leaves nothing to chance, Young Master Tang never gets discouraged. Chi Yun’s corpse was most likely truly stolen, and you don’t know—this matter is suspicious, yet you remain unmoved.”
“Young Master Tang never gets discouraged,” Tang Lici said. “Correct. I will eventually investigate this matter clearly. Chi Yun’s corpse was stolen, I burned someone unknown—so what?” He finally curved his lips slightly, as if smiling. “I will win in the end.”
“You’re truly very strange…” Bai Suche frowned. “That One Ring Crossing the Moon is…”
Before she could explain where the One Ring Crossing the Moon in her hand came from, the earth suddenly shook violently. An indescribable enormous strange sound came from underground. The ground’s rock and soil trembled, walls cracked, and the roof beams above creaked as if they would collapse at any moment, with sand and stones falling down. In the midst of this earth-shattering change, Tang Lici flashed away and disappeared from her room.
Bai Suche took down “Like Pine” from the wall and casually threw it under the bed.
Turning around, she drew the broken precept blade and walked out step by step, extremely cautiously.
The corridor outside had already been damaged when the Drifting Brow Garden sank underground. Now it was gradually cracking. The underground tremors were slowly stopping, but the heart-pounding feeling had not disappeared.
Several white-clothed female attendants ran from the distance. “Commander, underground… underground has cracked open!”
“Commander, the rocks at the Red Snake Cave entrance have collapsed, all the spring water has flowed into the cracks—what should we do?”
“The Red Snake Cave entrance has cracked open, that person… that person seems to be stirring…”
“Sister Susu! A passage has opened on the cliff!”
The last white-clothed woman who came running was very young, only thirteen or fourteen years old, and not wearing a veil. Her face was full of panic. “The Central Plains Sword Association used some unknown method to open several cracks on the cliff, and then I saw the big rocks on the cliff fall down!”
Bai Suche remained expressionless upon hearing the first few sentences, but suddenly hearing the last one, even she was stunned and asked incredulously, “What fell down?”
The white-clothed girl gestured with her hands. “Those strange people opened several cracks on the cliff wall, and then the cliff near Red Snake Cave… the Toad Moon Platform on the cliff fell down, and Red Snake Cave was close to that cliff, so it was torn… torn open by the Toad Moon Platform. I saw it with my own eyes!”
Bai Suche suddenly turned around. On the cliff outside Red Snake Cave, there was a giant rock about two zhang high that protruded from the cliff like a toad, called “Toad Moon Platform.” There were no paths above or below Toad Moon Platform. Only after the Drifting Brow Garden sank did the cave dug years ago, under violent tremors, crack open a fissure leading directly to Toad Moon Platform.
This young white-clothed girl was named Qing Yan. She was Wen Hui’s junior sister, only fourteen years old. Both of them were disciples of the Qingcheng Sect, not direct disciples of Sect Leader Dongfang Jian, but only registered disciples of Dongfang Jian’s junior brother. Like countless young men and women in the myriad sects of the martial world, those with stunning talent were but sparks, and the vast majority were such ordinary youths, carrying a bit of hope and endless confusion, flowing east and west with the rivers, sun, and moon.
She followed Wen Hui in joining the Romantic Shop. Though young, she had killed quite a few people and got along well with Guan’er. Later, when Guan’er died at Wangting Manor, Qing Yan was sad for quite a while, asking around who killed Guan’er, but no one knew.
Recently, the Drifting Brow Garden sank underground, Yu Konghou returned severely injured, and Liu Yan was said to have been rescued by Tang Lici and remained missing. Many white-clothed female attendants were infatuated with Liu Yan, their longing growing deeper by the day. Yu Konghou didn’t know the String-Drawing Life-Seizing technique. After Xiao Hong left, Bai Suche controlled everyone. She was ruthless and harsh, giving heavy drugs to both red-clothed and white-clothed female attendants, causing them to become mentally unclear and mad. Some even needed others to care for their daily needs. Those most deeply poisoned had almost become puppets who only knew how to kill.
Qing Yan, being still young with low martial arts skills, was assigned to serve the red-clothed female attendants, so her mind remained relatively clear and she didn’t wear a veil. Today she was being lazy and wanted to go play on Toad Moon Platform, but suddenly saw more than ten black-clothed people lurking above and below Toad Moon Platform. She didn’t know what these people did, but suddenly two cracks appeared on either side of Toad Moon Platform. The cracks rapidly expanded, and the giant rock slowly sank. With a thunderous roar, it tore open a large hole in the cliff wall.
As Toad Moon Platform sank, the original crack in the Drifting Brow Garden appeared under daylight. Those black-clothed people threw thunder-fire bombs into the crack. The earth shook and mountains swayed, black fire spread, mixed with flickering explosive light. Qing Yan was scared out of her wits. When the smoke and dust cleared, the narrow, winding natural crack had been blasted open into a half-person-high opening. Those black-clothed people had also disappeared, unknown whether they had entered the Drifting Brow Garden or had quietly retreated.
After hearing her confused account, Bai Suche shook her sleeve. A bell in her sleeve chimed three times. Though the sound was faint, it carried very far. Several red-clothed women with light veils emerged slowly from behind the cracked stone walls, their postures stiff, standing at the collapsed cave entrance.
“If anyone breaks through, kill without mercy!” Bai Suche ordered, then hurried toward the depths of the Drifting Brow Garden.
The Central Plains Sword Association indeed wouldn’t abandon Bi Lianyi. This kind of supernatural method of breaking mountains to attack was something she had never imagined.
And since the Central Plains Sword Association had boldly broken through the mountain, how could Tang Lici not take the opportunity to act?
Yu Konghou was severely injured, and Gui Mudan had not yet returned.
If not now, when?
She hurried toward Yu Konghou’s sleeping quarters, but had Yu Konghou really sunk the Drifting Brow Garden just to sit in the mountains awaiting death?
She didn’t know.
Just as before, no matter what methods she used, she couldn’t know what had happened to Puzhu, didn’t know when Wang Lingqiu had joined forces with the Romantic Shop, and didn’t know whether Yu Konghou’s “severe injury” was real or fake.
Her foothold was still too humble and weak.
Thinking of this, Bai Suche’s slender willow-like eyebrows furrowed as an object fell into her palm from her sleeve.
It was a small black stone that looked completely ordinary.
But Bai Suche knew this was a piece of rubble unique to the peaks of the high cold mountain range, from when Biluo Palace had long resided on Cat Sprout Peak.
Bi Lianyi had left this stone at the entrance of Yu Konghou’s courtyard, certainly for guidance.
There must be more than just this one stone he had left along the way.
With a soft “snap,” that black stone dropped at the entrance to Yu Konghou’s sleeping quarters.
Wang Lingqiu and Bi Lianyi were in the middle of their conversation when the earth suddenly shook violently. The floor of the room suddenly cracked open with an extremely deep fissure. Then sand and stones flew up from the bottom of the crack, and several people jumped out from within. Wang Lingqiu was stunned. Bi Lianyi reacted extremely quickly—though his hands were weak, he grabbed Wang Lingqiu’s sleeve and pulled hard.
Wang Lingqiu was advanced in years. Being pulled by him, he swayed.
A person who jumped out from the crack pointed his long sword, the blade directly placed against Wang Lingqiu’s neck.
Wang Lingqiu grabbed back, seizing Bi Lianyi’s right hand vital point, then raised his head.
The person whose sword had nearly taken his life wore black clothes—it was Cheng Yunpao.
When Cheng Yunpao restrained this person, he hadn’t expected such a fortunate coincidence—it was this long-browed old man. Seeing him gripping Bi Lianyi’s pulse point, he frowned.
The one who jumped out after him was Meng Qinglei. Seeing Cheng Yunpao had restrained Wang Lingqiu with one sword, he was first shocked then overjoyed. Seeing Bi Lianyi’s pale face, he quickly supported him and took out a pill from his bosom, stuffing it into Bi Lianyi’s mouth.
Wang Lingqiu laughed coldly, gripping Bi Lianyi’s pulse point tightly, his five fingers leaving five bloody marks on the pulse point. The blood was darker in color than usual. Wang Lingqiu chanted a Buddha’s name, “Amitabha… Benefactors, this old monk is friend, not enemy to you all, and desires to kill Yu Konghou…”
Cheng Yunpao didn’t listen. This person had viciously harmed Bi Lianyi and was definitely not good. His sword twisted, and a stream of icy internal power penetrated the body. Wang Lingqiu felt his whole body turn cold, his fingers stiff and numb, and had no choice but to release Bi Lianyi.
Rescuing Bi Lianyi was so smooth that even Meng Qinglei found it unbelievable, but getting the person was only the beginning. Since they had broken through the mountain, besides taking Bi Lianyi back, they wanted to test whether Yu Konghou—could be killed—or could not be killed!
Without Tang Lici, could the Central Plains Sword Association not face the enemy directly?
The sword—three feet of blue steel.
Sacrificing life for righteousness, giving one’s body for justice.
Upholding the righteous qi of heaven and earth, establishing the sacred way of humanity.
Swordsmen should act accordingly.
The five bound Wang Lingqiu’s pressure points and cleared out various bottles and jars from his pockets—powders and poison sacs. Xu Qingbo shook out a large cloth bag, tied up Wang Lingqiu’s hands and feet, stuffed him inside, and carried him on his back.
Meng Qinglei also carried Bi Lianyi on his back.
They planned to split into two groups.
Xu Qingbo, Zheng Yue, and Meng Qinglei would escort these two back to the Central Plains Sword Association, while Cheng Yunpao and Gu Xitan prepared to follow the magnetic stone trail left by Bi Lianyi, penetrating deep into the Romantic Shop—to kill Yu Konghou.