“When dog meat rolls three times, even immortals can’t stay steady.” If the rabbit meat rolled a few more times, it would disintegrate in the pot and become inedible. Yun Ye opened the door waiting for his guest to enter, but after waiting left and right with no one appearing, he couldn’t help feeling somewhat annoyed. He’d already said he was inviting someone—the bastard wasn’t even enthusiastic about eating.
“Are you coming down or not? If not, I’ll eat it all myself.” Yun Ye spoke to the empty room, then fished out a chopstick full of meat from the pot and stuffed it in his mouth. It was so hot he gasped and panted, pulled over the wine jar, and took a satisfying gulp.
“Look, there’s no poison in the wine or the food. Don’t worry—I’m at least a marquis of the Great Tang. I have that much credibility. Your credibility, on the other hand, is questionable.” Wiping his mouth, Yun Ye propped one leg on the chair and spoke carelessly to the air.
“Sigh, no help for it—being careful is never wrong. Those who believed you were an upright gentleman are either in hell, desperately rebelling, or biting their fingers in the darkness cursing you. I don’t plan to follow in their footsteps.” A somewhat delicate-sounding voice slowly rang out from the roof.
“You know my culinary skills. Today there happens to be a plump rabbit. After braising and slow-stewing, the flavor is excellent. You’ll regret it if you don’t eat.”
“Who says I’m not eating? I’ve had your cooking twice before—it really is good. However, I still prefer the braised pork from the Academy. That stuff tastes best when stewed in a big pot. Give me more fatty meat and some soup too.” With these words, a small silver bowl suspended by rope descended from the rafters.
Yun Ye was unsurprised. He ladled a full bowl of meat from the large pot and poured soup over it. The bowl of meat quickly ascended to the rafters. Someone drank a mouthful of soup, then seemed to remember something and asked: “You did pick out the star anise grass seeds from the star anise, right?”
“Nonsense. That stuff is barely acceptable as medicinal material—using it as seasoning means you’re afraid you won’t die fast enough. I originally planned to use it to harm someone, but you beat me to it.”
“In this world, even staying alive is an incredibly difficult matter. The slightest carelessness and you’ll die more miserably than a pig. Like that fellow who didn’t heed warnings and planned to crouch in the grass to stab you once—he ended up stabbed three times himself and roasted like a pig by you. Honestly, can you really extract information from him? If you can, you’ve struck gold. This fellow holds a considerable position and knows quite a few things. The Emperor will surely thank you.”
Yun Ye continued filling the silver bowl with meat and soup. Hearing this, he asked curiously: “You’re not worried? You’re all in the same group—aren’t you afraid secrets will leak?”
“Of course I’m worried, but the person is in your hands—what can I do? By the way, I’m very curious—where did you send that other fellow? I didn’t see you send anyone out.”
“The road wasn’t easy to traverse—could only use the tunnel. The palace has plenty of experts at torture and interrogation. Some secrets I’d rather not know. I’m afraid if I know too much, the Emperor will cut off my head.”
“You dug it yourself? Oh right, how could I forget about Huang Shu? That damned big rat ruined my grand plan. This round of the wager, your Emperor has won.”
“Old Yan gave me a book before he died. It mentioned you people. I initially thought it was the old man’s delusion. Who knew that just a few months later, I’d be locked in a death struggle with you? Does the Land of Huaxu truly exist? Tell me—you tell me this, and I’ll tell you where the White Jade Capital jade tokens are hidden. Absolutely no deception. I have three of them. Really.”
The silver bowl descended from the rafters again. “Pour me a bowl of wine, fill it up. Whoever believes your words has truly had rotten luck. I really want to know about White Jade Capital, but ever since you schemed Tian Xiangzi to death, I’ve forcibly suppressed myself from thinking about White Jade Capital. Once greed arises in my heart, you’ll send me to some desolate wasteland to die. I won’t make a move without certainty.”
“Besides, you hid the jade tokens in the Enchanted Forest and let the whole world know, getting all the thieves to steal them and die, continuously becoming specimens in Sun Simiao’s medicine hut, while you yourself sleep safely at home. I just wonder—we’re all clever people, so how do they fall for your vicious tricks?”
Yun Ye fished out a piece of meat for himself, ate it, spit out the bone, and wiped his hands saying: “Tell the truth—did you send people or not?”
“Still couldn’t resist. Sent an expert to follow the Goguryeo people inside, thinking to enter after the poisonous creatures in the Enchanted Forest had eaten their fill. Result? Bitten once by a spider in the treetops—he had to chop off his own arm to escape back. Sigh, ultimately my skill at cultivating qi isn’t up to par. After that subordinate returned, I imitated the Academy’s method and made him into a specimen, placed in my room as a memento. Absolutely cannot make such mistakes again in the future.”
Yun Ye nodded and said: “People constantly learn lessons from failure. Congratulations on being able to summarize again. By the way, from what you’re saying, I won this wager. Since I’m the winner, where’s my prize? You ate my rabbit meat and drank my good wine for nothing—won’t you leave some memento?”
“The Emperor’s wager has naturally been delivered to the Emperor. You have the Nine Corpse Welcome—isn’t that enough? This is the supreme ritual that worldly commoners have no way to enjoy.”
“That’s precisely what worries me. Nine Corpse Welcome—I’ve only seen one corpse. When are you sending the other eight? Give me advance notice when you send them so I can personally receive them. I have many girls at home—don’t want to frighten them.”
“I also have a younger sister. If one day you plan to give me a gift, don’t frighten her either. She’s very timid. Once frightened, she has nightmares and can’t be comforted for several days. Very troublesome.”
“Alright, it’s settled. If you die, how do you think your sister should be arranged?”
“If you could marry her, that would be best, but she probably won’t be willing to be a concubine. If you die, are there any potential enemies to deal with? I’ll help you.”
“None.” Having said this, Yun Ye raised his arm and shot crossbow bolts toward the rafters, then without even looking at the result, prepared to roll out through the door. As long as he got out alive today, all would be well. If he wanted to engage with this madman, he’d have to wait for next time.
Heaven knows where it fell from, but a huge boulder thunderously dropped down, blocking the door completely tight. The entire room seemed to bounce. Yun Ye quickly stood up against the wall. In the vast room, only the brazier emitted flickering firelight.
“Your crossbow bolts didn’t hit me. Now it’s your turn to die.” That voice without tonal variation rang out from inside the room. Yun Ye shot three more arrows toward where the sound came from—these were the last three arrows in his hand crossbow.
Hearing three thud-thud-thud sounds, he knew he’d missed again. A tall, thin figure in black appeared beside the brazier. As if knowing Yun Ye had no escape route, he prepared to light a candle before toying with Yun Ye. Laughing cruelly, he waved his hand but discovered two of his fingers had detached from his palm. His body rapidly leaned back, and another bloody mark appeared on his shoulder and back. Greatly alarmed, he swung his short spear around—it seemed to touch many soft walls.
Yun Ye seized this opportunity to flip out through the window, scattering all the mushroom powder from his small pouch, then dove headfirst into the rain-catching urn.
He loaded the crossbow and fitted bolts to it. Only then did his heart settle slightly. The room was utterly silent. Just as Yun Ye planned to crouch in the rain-catching urn until dawn, that room collapsed with a thunderous crash. Dust flew everywhere. Yun Ye had no choice but to burrow into the narrow tunnel, stretching his ears to listen for movement.
The house collapsed, the dust settled, and moonlight poured down. Yun Ye discovered with surprise that the fellow was flying in the sky, circling around as if searching for him. After rubbing his eyes twice, he realized the fellow had ropes on his body. Looking further up, he involuntarily shrank his head halfway into the tunnel. At this moment, Yun Ye felt like a prairie dog that needed to constantly guard against eagle attacks.
What huge eagles—and two of them at once! Ropes tied to their talons suspended this fellow flying through the air. The airflow fanned by their enormous wings stirred up the dust that had just settled. Tomorrow he must ask Li Gang what kind of eagles these were—how could they be so large? Where did this fellow find them? Yun Ye wanted some too.
Watching the fellow being carried away by eagles, Yun Ye crawled out from the hole and sat dazed on the ruins, covered in dust and grime. So this was his future enemy? What a headache! There were still eight corpses left. Who knew when they’d be delivered right to his doorstep?
Master Yan had said these people could fly—so this was how they flew. With eagles like these, completely disappearing without a trace probably wasn’t easy, right? The truth of matters could never withstand scrutiny—there would always be loopholes.
Outside was too cold. Yun Ye had no choice but to hide back in the tunnel. It was pitch black outside. If another fellow came, dying like that would be too unjust. Someone touched his foot in the tunnel. Yun Ye had initially planned to kick but lowered his foot instead, then heard Liu Jinbao’s voice coming from below: “Marquis, it’s me. Are you alright?”
What could be wrong? Apart from being half-frozen to death, this kind of real combat with others truly wasn’t his forte. Yun Ye sighed deeply. Ambushing someone or delivering a sneak attack might be possible, but once encountering an expert, the hope of survival was too slim. If he hadn’t strung silk threads in the room, today he’d be dead or at least skinned alive. The fellow had never really intended to take his life—probably White Jade Capital had saved him once again.
A casual remark made back then had now become his final life-saving talisman. In the Great Tang, human lives weren’t worth much—whether nobles’, commoners’, or even royalty’s, there was no security. This was a hunting ground for the strong. The Land of Huaxu? A group of people who considered themselves gods!
Before dying, the Peacock King had opened his eyes wide wanting to witness divine retribution, but nothing appeared—not even a speck of dust fell from the dungeon ceiling. Having traveled ten thousand li to Chang’an planning to participate in the wager, he had silently turned to ashes. This was what he himself had requested—wanting to return to Earth’s embrace.