Outside the cave, night wind howled through the mountain forest. Yashu silently observed the two before him. They should have already been affected by the intoxicating drug. If he truly wanted to take their lives here… No, as long as sounds of fighting came from within the cave, the personal guards lying in ambush outside would immediately rush in. With Xia Xiuyan’s skills, he didn’t have complete confidence he could immediately kill him here. The king was still waiting for good news from the capital—he absolutely could not fail at this critical juncture.
At this thought, Yashu softened his expression: “If the Marquis only wishes to take General Gao’s younger sister back, there’s truly no need for all this. I can have her brought here right now.” After saying this, he exchanged a glance with his subordinates beside him. The other party received the instruction and, though his expression showed indignation, ultimately sheathed his sword unwillingly and reluctantly, then turned and walked out of the cave.
“Lord Yashu truly deeply understands what we Han people call ‘a wise man submits to circumstances.'” Xia Xiuyan’s words carried a trace of mockery. Yashu pretended not to understand and continued: “However, next I’d like to have a few words alone with the Marquis.”
Xia Xiuyan glanced at him sideways: “What makes you think you’re still in a position to negotiate conditions with me?”
Yashu received a blade from a subordinate beside him and used the tip to lightly lift the velvet carpet at his feet. Gao Yang looked closely and saw a short fuse exposed underneath, hidden beneath the dry straw, extending he knew not where. His expression darkened: “You’re planning to perish together with us?”
“Unless absolutely necessary, I don’t want things to come to this either.” Yashu reached out to take a candle from the stone wall. “I must trouble General Gao to go out and notify the people outside—otherwise, when they come in, it will be too late.”
When Qiu Xinran was brought up, she heard Gao Yang angrily shouting: “No! At worst, I’ll stay!” She was moved in her heart. Gao Yang truly was a man of honor and righteousness. Knowing the kidnapped person wasn’t his own younger sister, he still came—it showed the Marquis Dingbei’s household still had some conscience after all. She had been blindfolded the entire way, passing through a section of winding, twisting small paths. She vaguely felt she was walking uphill, and when she reached level ground, someone suddenly shoved her hard from behind. She stumbled and nearly fell.
The slight commotion startled the others in the cave, who turned their heads to look. They saw the woman who had just been brought in had her face covered with black cloth, her hands bound with rope. She had barely managed to stand steady and her expression still showed some confusion, but it appeared she truly hadn’t suffered any hardship.
The burly man who brought her over impatiently struck her from behind with his knife handle. The cave floor was uneven, and this time she fell solidly to the ground. Qiu Xinran drew in a sharp breath with a “hiss,” sat on the ground pitifully rubbing her palm. The burly man impatiently reached out to grab her collar, intending to lift her up from the ground.
Qiu Xinran’s eyes were covered with cloth and she knew nothing of what was happening outside. She only felt a gust of sharp wind brush past her cheek. Before she knew what had happened, she heard a miserable scream, and several drops of warm liquid splashed onto her face. She froze for a moment, not daring to reach up and wipe it away.
Instead, the dancing girls cowering to the side let out startled cries, their gazes fearfully fixed on the masked man in the center. Just now, in that split second like lightning and flint, not to mention them—no one had clearly seen how this man picked up chopsticks from the table and in the space of a breath threw them out, instantly piercing through that burly man’s palm.
“If you move her, there’s no need for us to continue this discussion.” Xia Xiuyan said indifferently.
Being threatened on his own territory, Yashu’s expression didn’t look good. The atmosphere instantly became tense again. He studied his opponent with an expression alternating between dark and light. The intoxicating drug on the letter just now seemed to have had no effect on him whatsoever. If this was truly the case, then matters were becoming somewhat thorny.
The mustachioed man adjusted his expression and waved his hand around. Several subordinates looked disgruntled, resentfully sheathing their swords again. Someone helped the injured companion withdraw from the cave. Another Dayue person guarding Qiu Xinran seemed wary of that earlier move, and when he stepped forward to remove her blindfold, his movements carried some caution.
The moment Qiu Xinran opened her eyes, she only saw a few spots of blood at her feet, then her gaze shifted to the two surrounded in the center. At the same time, she couldn’t help wondering: Gao Yang coming was one thing, but why would Zhao Rong also come along?
Just as she was thinking this, Yashu slowly spoke again: “To show sincerity, the person has been brought over, without a hair harmed.”
Under the gaze of everyone in the room, Qiu Xinran hesitated in her heart for a moment, quietly pinched the flesh of her leg, and the pain instantly squeezed out two tears. Looking at Gao Yang, her voice trembling, she opened her mouth: “Elder brother—”
Gao Yang was just hating Yashu’s endless cunning schemes, his face full of anger. In that instant, hearing her call “elder brother,” his expression was as if struck by lightning. However, the masked man beside him, in this tense atmosphere, lowered his head and laughed softly at her call of “elder brother.” Seeing their reaction, Qiu Xinran was completely baffled: What, had Yashu already discovered they had kidnapped the wrong person?
Though their situation appeared somewhat strange to others, it wasn’t enough to make people overthink it. After all, if this woman weren’t Gao Yue, Gao Yang truly had no reason to obediently take the bait.
Xia Xiuyan covered his lips and cleared his throat lightly. In a moment, he made his decision: “Gao Yang goes out, and your subordinates must also leave.”
“Acceptable.”
Gao Yang’s expression changed. He was about to say something but was stopped by Xia Xiuyan’s glance. He clenched his fists—his internal energy had not yet recovered, and he only hated that he hadn’t been careful enough earlier. Xia Xiuyan then shifted his gaze to the woman beside him: “Take her along.”
Qiu Xinran didn’t know what exactly had happened, but seeing Gao Yang walk toward her, she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief in her heart. No matter what, going out with Gao Yang had to be safer than staying here.
“Wait,” Yashu suddenly spoke, “she can’t leave.” Xia Xiuyan paused, knowing this was because he worried that if the two were alone together, he feared a sudden attack. Keeping one more person here would provide some constraint.
He had also touched the intoxicating drug on that letter. At this moment, he was also forcing himself to not let anyone see through the flaw. His earlier injury of that man was intentionally meant to intimidate, but now it seemed to have had the opposite effect, making Yashu even more cautious.
Only Qiu Xinran still knew nothing about the current situation. She only saw those people bring her out one moment, then keep her here the next, not knowing what they actually wanted to do. In just moments, all the other people in this cave had completely withdrawn, leaving only the three of them.
As soon as Gao Yang and the others withdrew, Qiu Xinran hurriedly ran to hide behind the masked man. Xia Xiuyan glanced at her and drew his sword to cut through the rope on her hands. Turning back, he saw Yashu take out a key from his bosom: “This key in my hand can open a box. Inside that box are the defense maps of Luzhou that Lord Wu sent to the royal court years ago, along with my king’s personal seal. That box is carefully stored somewhere by me. As long as you agree to my conditions, I can give you both the location where the box is stored and this key together.”
Xia Xiuyan raised an eyebrow: “How do I know you’re not deceiving me this time?”
“Since you had made complete preparations before coming here, at this point I dare not deceive you.” Yashu said humbly. “If you don’t believe me, have this young lady come to my side, and I can first tell her the location where the box is stored.”
“What if I don’t agree?”
“Then you’ll never obtain what you want.”
Xia Xiuyan sneered: “You know what I want?”
Yashu said with certainty: “You want all under heaven to know what truly happened in Luzhou back then.”
Xia Xiuyan’s gaze turned cold. He was right. Back then in the siege of Luzhou, the Xia family suffered injustice, and Xia Hongying was accused of collaborating with the enemy. This was the shame of the Changwu Army’s lifetime. If the truth were to be revealed to all under heaven, there needed to be sufficient evidence to prove that the one who colluded with the Dayue people back then was Wu Guangda.
Although Qiu Xinran didn’t understand what they were discussing, at this point she had discerned some clues. Seeing the two in silent standoff, she couldn’t help clearing her throat and volunteering: “If the General has concerns, I’m willing to go up and listen.” She recalled what Gao Yue had told her at the restaurant and applied it right away: “In Luzhou, even ordinary women and children were willing to risk their lives to resist the enemy at any time. Naturally, I cannot only consider personal safety and live in cowardly survival.”
Xia Xiuyan glanced at her and tacitly agreed to her proposal. Qiu Xinran walked before Yashu. The other party beckoned to her. She hesitated for a moment but still leaned her ear close. Throughout, Xia Xiuyan gripped the sword at his waist tightly, his gaze fixed on her without blinking. Fortunately, Yashu truly didn’t play any tricks. He saw the woman turn around after listening, her expression hesitant as she nodded to him.
Xia Xiuyan slightly loosened his tight grip on the sword hilt: “I must obtain the item first.”
“If you obtain the item, you will definitely keep your promise?”
“Naturally.”
Yashu seemed to hesitate slightly for a moment, then finally nodded. He placed the key in his hand. Qiu Xinran was just walking back when the man behind the table indicated he would come get it himself. Xia Xiuyan stepped forward several paces. Just as he was about to reach him, Yashu suddenly withdrew the key: “Will you truly help the king return to the royal court?”
Qiu Xinran hadn’t expected that the transaction he spoke of referred to this. Slightly surprised, she looked up. She saw the masked man’s expression calm as he nodded: “Truly.”
Yashu’s expression suddenly changed. He fiercely lowered his gaze and laughed eerily: “These words can deceive others but cannot deceive me.” He lowered his hand, his eyes cold: “As long as you die here, what worry is there that the king’s great undertaking won’t succeed?”
Xia Xiuyan’s eyelid twitched. He heard an extremely faint hissing sound by his ear. His gaze fell to his feet, only then discovering that at some unknown moment, the person behind the table had already lit the fuse of the gunpowder. He saw sparks rapidly following the fuse forward at great speed, in the blink of an eye burning beneath the dry straw. For a moment, he couldn’t find where the fuse head was, nor could he discover the gunpowder’s location.
It seemed that just now Yashu had deliberately called Qiu Xinran close precisely with the intention of taking advantage of his distraction to light the fuse. Seeing Xia Xiuyan fall into the trap, Yashu’s face revealed a trace of smug smile. He raised his hand and threw the key in his palm toward the cave entrance.
Under the candlelight, the silver key flashed through the air. Without thinking, Xia Xiuyan instinctively chased after the key, leaping through the air toward the cave entrance. Only after taking off did he realize something was wrong. From the corner of his eye, he indeed saw the mustachioed man standing behind the table turn his head and run toward the back.
Xia Xiuyan caught the key with one hand. When he landed, he rolled on the ground. Turning back was already too late. Just as he watched Yashu about to escape by taking advantage of this opportunity, he suddenly heard a heavy collision sound not far away, immediately followed by a man’s angry roar. Seeing the mustached man turn to flee, Qiu Xinran in her desperation threw herself forward recklessly, tackling him to the ground. The other party had originally been focused on drawing Xia Xiuyan away and hadn’t expected her to suddenly crash into him. She truly managed to drag him rolling several times on the ground.
Yashu’s plan was disrupted by her. Seeing the scattered spark of light on the fuse about to burn to the end, his heart fell into chaos. In violent rage, he kicked at her body. Qiu Xinran didn’t know where the strength came from. At this moment, anger rose from her heart and evil grew at her side. She only felt her life was too bitter. Since there was no way to settle accounts with Xia Xiuyan, even if she died, she had to drag someone down with her. She actually continued to hold onto his leg and refused to let go.
Yashu struggled to get up, desperately crawling toward the other end of the cave entrance with all his might. He glanced at the woman lying on the ground tightly hugging his calf and refusing to let go no matter what, his chest full of vicious anger. He raised his other foot, about to kick toward her head. Suddenly, a cold light flashed before his eyes. With only a “chi” sound, he looked down incredulously at the long sword piercing through his chest, as if he still hadn’t processed what had happened. Not far away, the masked man had already flipped several times on the spot and in the blink of an eye rushed to the table. He grabbed the collar of the woman lying on the ground: “Let go!”
Hearing the voice, Qiu Xinran froze. The hands that had just been tightly holding Yashu loosened, and she was lifted from the ground and held in an embrace. Xia Xiuyan pulled the sword from the man’s chest with one hand, kicked his corpse aside with one foot, and struck forcefully with his sword at the wooden-planked floor. Underneath was indeed hollow. Without time for further thought, he stretched out his leg and kicked forcefully, actually kicking through a large hole in the wooden planks.
Behind them, the fuse had burned to its end. With only a thunderous boom, the mountain shook and the earth trembled. Qiu Xinran instinctively grabbed the front of the garment of the person beside her. She only felt the ground beneath her feet give way, and a wave of heat from above had already singed her hair it seemed. Before she could cry out, her vision went black and she had already fallen into the mine tunnel below.