きつね : Finally！ I've finished translating this chapter. Yay!
After leaving the dungeon, the fake Master of the Lihen Palace summoned the man in black. "Is there no other way to know the person responsible for setting up the mechanism in her silver warehouse apart from interrogating the people around her?"
The man in black replied, "I'm afraid it's hard for outsiders to know about such things. But I do have an idea."
"What kind of idea?"
"People like Murong Yunshu will definitely look for the best people in everything. In the jianghu world, Mister Shi Er's mechanisms are unparalleled. She will definitely look for him if she wants to set up a mechanism for her silver warehouse. If we take a thousand steps back, even if Mister Shi Er is not the one who set it up, he will definitely be able to crack it with just his excellent skills."
"That's right!" The fake Master of Lihen Palace clapped her hands and then pondered for a few seconds before saying, "Are you sure that Mister Shi Er's skills are the best in the jianghu? Could he also be Murong Yunshu's henchman?"
"Palace Master rarely walks in the jianghu, so Palace Master doesn't know much about the jianghu matters. Mister Shi Er is a proud and arrogant person. He always comes and goes alone, so he would never work for Murong Yunshu. Moreover, even if they are accomplices, it isn't our loss if we can catch and torture them together."
"That does make sense." When the fake Master of Lihen Palace finally made up her mind, she immediately ordered her people to arrest Mister Shi Er. She then said to the man in black, "After I get the mechanism diagram in hand, I will definitely reward you handsomely."
"I don't dare to expect any act of gratitude from the Palace Master. I'm already satisfied as long as Palace Master can let me follow Palace Master around."
"That depends on your loyalty to me." The fake Master of Lihen Palace added, "Although you have helped me by lending me the knife in eliminating her, you are the one she is looking for after all." [T/C]
"I can understand the Palace Master's concern. Please rest assured that I will prove my loyalty to you with my actions."
"Very well." With a wave of her hand, the fake Master of Lihen Palace said, "You will continue to stay in the Colour Palace for the time being. After I find Mister Shi Er and get the mechanism diagram, I will grant you the position of Palace Protector."
The position of Palace Protector was the highest position after the role of the Master of the Palace, which was also the position she had previously held. She affirmed his status in the Lihen Palace by letting him be the Palace Protector.
The man in black was overjoyed and cried out in gratitude, "Thank you, Palace Master."
At the same time, when the Lihen Palance's Master was sending her people to look for Mister Shi Er, Li Wunai and others were struggling to search for Lihen Palace. It was pretty euphemistic to say that they were seeking it. They were like blind cats wandering around, trying to bump into a dead rat. The Lihen Palace had never appeared in the jianghu before. Only a few have heard of its name, let alone its location. Seeing that it was getting late and sunset was approaching, the group parked their carriage in the grove beside the road, intending to rest for the night and set out again the next day. But before the following day came, they decided to determine a search plan first, as they could no longer stay aimless.
"Great Master, you are the most knowledgeable here. Say, how should we look for the Sect Leader and Madam?" East Guardian asked Li Wunai.
Li Wunai gave him a blank look. "I just studied the Buddhist scriptures a few more years longer than you guys. That doesn't make me the most knowledgeable one."
"It looks like you have studied it for decades rather than a few more years. I had never studied it even in my past life." East Guardian teased.
"Old East, how would you know about your past life? Perhaps you had been a bald monk from birth to death, just like the Great Master." West Guardian said with a chuckle.
The corners of Li Wunai's mouth twitched as he stated, "I used to be a lay disciple, and only later did I shave my head."
West Guardian waved his hand indifferently and said, "They are still called monks anyway, regardless of whether one is a layman or a proper one."
"......" Brainless people were really amazing creatures. Li Wunai decided not to lower himself to brainless people's level to maintain his ordinary people's demeanour.
"You guys are just making gags here. You might as well spend more effort on rescuing Miss and Guye." A pouted Lu-er coldly commented.
East Guardian sighed. "We also want to. The problem is that we can't think of anything. Miss Lu-er, if you have any brilliant ideas, you might as well share them with us?"
"Uh." Lu-er was incredibly embarrassed. "I have no brilliant ideas."
"Alas—" The sound of sighs rose and fell in the forest.
Suddenly, they could hear the galloping of horses' hooves, accompanied by the sound of wheels vigorously rubbing the ground. The crowd turned towards the sound, only to see a dilapidated carriage parked fifty meters ahead. A long-legged, waist-thin, full-figured woman came down from it. The crowd was overjoyed. Could this be the people of Lihen Palace?
When the woman raised her head, everyone immediately became frosted eggplants—they wilted.
"Yun Si Niang, what are you doing pretending to be a young lady when you can't even act properly for your age?" Li Wunai was the first to complain. He thought the one who came was a young and beautiful lady. Unexpectedly, it was an attractive middle-aged woman, and better yet, one that he was already familiar with. What a bummer.
Hearing Li Wunai's mocking tone, Yun Si Niang was neither angry nor sad. She walked over gracefully with her waist and hips twisted while saying with a coquettish smile. "Great Master Li, why are you acting romantically like a man when you can't even act properly as a monk?"
What did she mean by acting like a man? He was already a man, okay? Li Wunai was so angry that he had an internal injury.
Yun Si Niang gave him an infuriating look that said, 'I'll only feel good if you're unhappy', dusted her hands off afterwards and asked Lu-er. "Where's your ancestor?"
Lu-er was baffled. "Why are you looking for my ancestor?"
Yun Si Niang rolled her eyes at her. "I'm not asking about 'your ancestor' but the living ancestor of Murong Mansion."
"Oh, you mean Miss." Once Lu-er realised Yun Si Niang's question, her face fell again as she stammered, "Mi......Miss has been taken away by Guye."
Yun Si Niang was stunned. "They eloped?"
"They did not elope. Miss had indeed been taken away." Lu-er wiped her grieving tears. Then she told Yun Si Niang in great detail how Murong Yunshu had been taken away by Chu Changge and the Lihen Palace people's attempt to stop and kill them.
After listening to Lu-er's narration, Yun Si Niang muttered 'I see' three times before Lu-er realised.
"How come you are here? Where is Mister Shi Er? Didn't Miss ask you to bring Mister Shi Er along?" Lu-er stretched her neck to look left and right, but there was no sign of Mister Shi Er.
Yun Si Niang let out a long sigh and said, "It's a long story." After letting out several more sighs, she told her. "That day, after we parted at the Jiugua House, I found Shitou and convinced him to go with me to the silver warehouse in Tianlong Mountain. At first, he was afraid that Murong Yunshu would kill him and adamantly refused. But then, somehow, he suddenly figured something out. His mouth kept mumbling, 'impossible, absolutely impossible, there must be something wrong', and so on. I asked him what he was talking about, but he refused to tell me. He kept urging me to hurry up while on our way there. Originally, nothing wrong happened during our travel, and we were fine the whole way. However, a few days ago, he suddenly disappeared."
"Could it be that he couldn't stand your harassment and run away on his own?" Li Wunai asked.
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
Yun Si Niang rolled her eyes and said grumpily, "I harassed him because I think highly of him. He felt grateful towards me, so why would he run away? Do you think he is as insensitive as you are?" After saying this, her slender, lily-white hand brushed on Li Wunai's shoulder.
Li Wunai suddenly got goosebumps and fell to the ground. He took three steps back with a frightened look and nodded repeatedly. "Right, I am unable to tell the good from the bad. You'd better harass someone who loves a fragrant jade-like maid like Mister Shi Er."
Yun Si Niang snorted coldly and said, "Would I still look at you if he were here?"
Li Wunai resentfully rubbed his shiny head and asked, "Has there been no news since he disappeared?"
"If there is any news of him then, can he still be called missing?" Yun Si Niang glanced at him with a look that expressed how idiot he was, as she added. "Since there was no news of him from the beginning, I spurred my horse to full speed just to catch up with you guys, hoping that the highly intelligent Murong Meizi could come up with any ideas. To my surprise, she has disappeared too." Yun Si Niang sighed helplessly, and suddenly the corner of her eyebrows twitched as she wondered, "Could there be any connection between these two disappearances? First Murong Meizi, then Shitou. Maybe it will be us next."
When everyone recalled what had happened to them during the day, their expressions became sullen. They secretly agreed with Yun Siniang's point of view. The wind blew harder over time, and the place started to get cloudy. There was a tendency for the wind to sweep through the tower, heralding a rising storm in the mountains.
Everyone went silent for a long time. Li Wunai was the first one to speak. "If these two things are connected, then I'm afraid that Mister Shi Er is also in the hands of the Lihen Palace people."
"It's just as well that they have caught the brainless Ah Chang and Murong Meizi. After all, one of them is handsome and the other resourceful. The former can be their main face, and the latter can be their counsellor. But Shitou has nothing, so why would the people of Lihen Palace want to capture him?"
"Maybe the Master of Lihen Palace has the same unusual taste as you?" Li Wunai teased.
Yun Si Niang tried to kick him on the spot and angrily said, "The girl who takes a fancy to you is the one with the unusual taste!"
Li Wunai immediately darted out of the way and smiled smugly at her. He laughed happily when his mind suddenly became dizzy, and he could smell some fragrance in the air. "Do you guys smell that?" He asked everyone there. [+]
"Smell what?"
"That scent......" Before finishing his sentence, he had already fallen down and passed out.
Everyone was in shock and tried to gather closer. However, they instantly fell after taking a step, as if their energy had spontaneously drained from their bodies.
In the silence of the grove, the smoke curled up in the air. Deep in the clouds of smoke, a few yellow-clothed women sauntered towards the group of fallen people.
The following day.
Li Wunai was the first to wake up. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw his wealthy master⸺Murong Yunshu.
"It was you who saved us?" Li Wunai asked with a surprised look.
The corner of Murong Yunshu's forehead jumped slightly as she responded indifferently, "I was expecting to be saved by you guys."
Uh. Only then did Li Wunai notice that the layout of the surroundings was not quite right, which was quite out of style for a particularly wealthy person. The floor was wet, and there were iron railings on all sides. It seemed very much like a prison cell. Forgive him for using the word 'seemed' because he had never stayed in a prison cell and had no idea what it looked like. "You look like you've had a good time." Li Wunai laughed dryly and suddenly saw Chu Changge in Murong Yunshu's arms with his eyes tightly closed. His nerves immediately tensed up as he asked, "What happened to Chu Changge?"
Li Wunai's voice woke up the others who were sleeping.
"Madam? Leader!"
"Miss! I finally found you!"
"Murong Meizi? Why are you here? Where is this place? The dark energy in here is so heavy. It doesn't look like a place for people to stay at all."
Murong Yunshu calmly replied to their questions, "This is the Lihen Palace dungeon. When you were sent here last night, I had already been here for two days. Chu Changge is seriously injured. According to the Master of Lihen Palace, he only has five days to live. If he is not treated within those five days, he will become a walking dead person."
Everyone gasped! How could this happen?
All of a sudden, Lu-er bawled. "If Guye becomes a walking dead person, won't Miss become a widow with a husband......boo hoo......boo hoo......"
Everyone's face was full of black lines. Is this the main point of this situation?
"If you want to mourn, there is an order of priority, okay? We have not yet grieved for our Leader, but you already cried for your Miss. Where do you put our Leader?" North Guardian complained unhappily.
Lu-er glared and shouted at him with her snotty nose while still in tears, "Why are you arguing with me so much when your Leader is neither dead nor alive? My Miss is the most pitiful. She has become a widow with a husband at a young age!"
"Don't cry." Murong Yunshu gazed at Lu-er and frowned as she said, "Don't worry. I won't be a widow with a husband."
Eh, the weeping sound stopped abruptly. Lu-er asked, "Didn't Miss just say that Guye would become a walking dead person?"
Murong Yunshu: "He hasn't changed yet, but he will soon. Besides, I can still remarry even if he becomes the walking dead. With my current market price, I won't go as far as being a widow with a husband."
Lu-er instantly petrified. "Mi, Miss, I have not seen you for so many days, and you have become more unperturbed than before."
The East, South, North and West quartet wailed in their hearts. Leader, oh, Leader, the cost of neither dead nor alive is too high. You'd better live and come back quickly. If not, it's better if you just die before it's too late. Otherwise, you will be too embarrassed to become a ghost if you perish a bit later.
Li Wunai raised his head to look at the top of the prison. Brother Chu, do not worry. I will kill your love rivals for you. Come one, I will kill one. Come two, I will kill two. So, you can die in peace and wait for your enemies below. Then you will torture them till they wish they can be alive again.
On the other hand, Yun Si Niang clapped her hands in admiration. "Murong Meizi, I like your attitude. You still do what you should even when the sky is falling!"
Murong Yunshu glanced at her lightly as she responded indifferently, "You'd better don't fall in love with me. I'm not interested in women."
"......" Yun Si Niang blushed. "You're overthinking it. I'm not interested in women either."
"That's the best." After saying that, Murong Yunshu moved her eyesight away from her and rested on Li Wunai. "Try to see if your inner strength is still there."
Li Wunai froze up. "Of course......" Once the words were out of his mouth, he realised something was wrong. His breath had become lax, and he couldn't use his internal strength. He tried it several times, but it was still the same. He immediately frowned and stated, "I was drugged."
When South, East, North, West and Yun Si Niang heard his words, they hurriedly tried their luck, and they faced the same conditions as Li Wunai, where their internal strength had become lax.
Murong Yunshu was not surprised by the result. After all, the fake Master of the Lihen Palace was not a fool. She would not have locked up South, East, North and West, who had all their internal strength, next door to her and Chu Changge. Since she dared to do so, she must have taken some precautions.
Once South, East, North and West were aware that they no longer had their internal strength, they immediately panicked. They had the heart to joke about Chu Changge because they were confident they could heal his wounds. When they finally found out they had lost their internal strength, they instantly became grim and could no longer smile.
Li Wunai also secretly muttered, 'this is bad'. Although he did not expect the particular Chu to live a long life, he did not want to see him die at a young age. Their current situation was too difficult for them to deal with.
"Murong Meizi." Yun Si Niang was the first to break the silence as she continued with a smile. "The jianghu is forever like this. The light of the knife and the sword's shadow will constantly shed blood. People of the jianghu are always ready to kill and to be killed. Those who can survive will be the strongest. Chu Changge has done so much evil that he has exhausted all his bamboo slats. The depth of this crime should have received heavy punishment from people and Gods, but how come he is still alive and well until now? I have never believed in fate. But I'm convinced with the saying 'a scourge stays for thousands of years'. You don't have to worry. Chu Changge has someone up in heaven, so it won't be easy for him to die."
"Yes. Scourges are sent by God to test the limits of people. That's why they dare to run amok on this world." Li Wunai chimed in.
Although their words were clearly nonsense, more or less, it was able to give Murong Yunshu a little comfort. She tried several times to utter the phrase 'thank you', but in the end, she just swallowed them into her stomach. After dropping her eyes to organise her thoughts, Murong Yunshu asked. "With your experience in the jianghu, can you tell me what kind of poison he is currently poisoned with?"
Li Wunai shook his head. "I am rarely poisoned."
South, East, North and West also looked helpless. "Leader has the most abundant experiences of being poisoned. If even the Leader can be harmed by it, we're afraid this is a rare poison from ancient times."
When Murong Yunshu heard their answers, she sighed slightly and said, "In that case, we can only wait for death. But with you all buried together with me, the road to Yellow Springs will be too crowded."
When everyone heard her speech, they all thought in their hearts, her twisted nature won't even change until the end.
"I think......" Yun Si Niang suddenly stammered, "It could be an aphrodisiac."
"Ha?!" Everyone simultaneously cried out in astonishment. Can her answer be any more outrageous?
Yun Si Niang laughed a few times dryly before saying, "I will explain, but you guys better don't laugh at me for that."
Murong Yunshu nodded incomparably as she uttered, "I've seen many weirdos. It won't be too much for me to accept another one. You can just say it."
Several black lines suddenly appeared on Yun Si Niang's forehead. With a face full of grievance, she said, "You should just nod your head and keep your words to yourself. Don't you know your words can injure your liver, lungs and other people's feelings?"
Murong Yunshu raised her dark eyebrows without giving any comments.
Fine. Yun Si Niang knew that the more Murong Yunshu hurt, the more she would talk. She could already foresee what kind of ridicule she would face after laying out her reason. But human life was currently at stake, and there was no other way. Hey, being a great man was really a very sad job! After taking a deep breath, Yun Si Niang put on a brave face and said, "Before I became a widow, my departed one liked to go out and fool around. Twice every three days, he would run to the brothel. Thus, I feed him a heavy dose of aphrodisiac in a fit of anger, ten times the normal amount. I intended for him to die from excessive ejaculation at that pleasure quarter. As a result, he never went to the brothel again. But he directly treated his home as a brothel and started to treat his wife as a prostitute!"
Yun Si Niang told them with a face full of indignation, while black lines continuously appeared on everyone's face. You are his wife. Isn't it normal for him to do s*xual acts with you?
"I knew you guys would be like this." Yun Si Niang felt that she had just harmed her own reputation, and she soon entered a state of indignation again. "He is so filthy. There was no way I would let him do that to me. So I picked up a kitchen knife and castrated him. As a result, his injury became severe." After telling them that, Yun Si Niang appeared a little guilty.
Everyone's mind was in such a mess that they couldn't respond to her story for a long time. They initially thought for her to be the one who stopped having a s*xual relationship with her own husband was already weird enough. They did not expect her following action to be even more bizarre. She even castrated her own husband.
Only Murong Yunshu, who always calmed as God from the beginning until the end, spat out these words, "Get to the point."
Yun Si Niang replied, "Ah, the main point is that he could have dodged it with his martial arts skills, and my knife wouldn't be able to cut him. But, I did not know that he had already lost all his martial arts skills and used his home as a brothel because he had hallucinations. I always suspected the aphrodisiac had made him like that. I later tested it many times, and it worked every single time."
"May I ask how you tested it?" Li Wunai was more concerned about this issue.
Yun Si Niang rolled her eyes at him. "How do you think I got my reputation as a flirtatious widow?"
Li Wunai suddenly realised. "Then, have you tested it on Mister Shi Er?"
Yun Si Niang: "Yes, he was the only one who did not experience hallucinations. I guess this medicine doesn't affect people without internal strength much."
At this time, Murong Yunshu, who had been silent for a long time, wondered. "Since it doesn't affect people without internal strength, why did I also have hallucinations?"
"This......this I do not know." Yun Si Niang answered.
Li Wunai said, "Maybe Mister Shi Er has resistance to this much dosage of aphrodisiac."
"I think he should have resistance to any women." East Guardian said in a baffling manner.
The corners of Yun Si Niang's mouth suddenly twitched a few times viciously. Her memory flew to a particularly romantic night when the moon was bright, and the stars were few when a particular person treated her act of throwing herself in his arms indifferently......tut tut! Could it be that he was not a real man?! In an instant, the corner of Yun Siniang's mouth twitched once more.
"Our group of people, except Mister Shi Er, are locked up here. There is a good chance that Mister Shi Er has not yet been poisoned." Speaking of this, Murong Yunshu's taut heartstrings loosened slightly. Although Mister Shi Er was mediocre in martial arts, he was wise and resourceful. The other side had captured all the people around her but only omitted Mister Shi Er. Presumably, he had managed to escape from this disaster. Hopefully, he could bring them some reinforcements.
When Murong Yunshu thought of reinforcements, her mind couldn't help but turn to Feng Cheng. He had been going to the Wuhua Valley for some time now. She wondered what the progress of his mission was.
At the same time, Feng Cheng also thought about Murong Yunshu. But instead of missing her, he was cursing her instead. He had been stationed outside Wuhua Valley for nearly a month now. And there was a strong tendency for him to continue to do so. This month he did everything possible, even setting fire to the mountain. However, not even the birds of Wuhua Valley had been alarmed. Of course, he did not know if there were birds inside. If he could successfully meet with Bai Yefeng this time, he would suggest changing the place's name from Wuhua Valley to Wuren Valley.
As Feng Cheng was thinking of this, he suddenly heard the wind coming his way. His spirit immediately went into shock when a figure abruptly landed in front of him. Such a good skill! Feng Cheng secretly praised in his heart. Seeing the person's face, Feng Cheng frowned and said unhappily, "I have been keeping a watch out here for so many days, but they sent a woman to send me away? Where is your valley master? I want to see him in person."
The visitor stood motionless and said indifferently, "I will go with you to see Murong Yunshu."
Feng Cheng was startled when that person's voice came out. "You, you, you......you are a man?" He had always thought that he was already the limit of men. To his surprise, there were people in this world who looked even more feminine than him.
This was not the first time Bai Yefeng had been mistaken for a woman, so he didn't take any offence. Still, with his good-natured look, he nodded his head.
The feeling of sympathy suddenly rose in Feng Cheng's heart towards Bai Yefeng as if they shared the same illness. He said, "Although Murong Yunshu always takes the way she manages to make people gnash their teeth with hatred in stride, you will never ever die of anger. So you can rest assured that you can still return to your mountain when you go out this time."
The corner of Bai Yefeng's forehead twitched. Was he trying to comfort him or to forewarn him?
"Speaking of which, why did you suddenly change your mind?" Feng Cheng asked.
"The people in the valley revolted en masse and drove me out."
"Uh. Why?"
"They couldn't stand the endless ghosts wailing and wolves howling outside the valley."
The endless ghosts wailing and wolves howling outside the valley? Ghosts wailing and wolves howling outside the valley? Ghosts wailing and wolves howling? Feng Cheng's deathly white expression instantly became even more white. He didn't sound that mournful, right?
Feng Cheng wanted to take the Bai Yefeng to Shuzhong, but Bai Yefeng insisted on going to Tianlong Mountain. The two had an argument over this matter.
Feng Cheng: "I'm looking for you to take you to Murong Yunshu, not to her silver."
Bai Yefeng: "Her silver is in Tianlong Mountain?"
Feng Cheng: "......"
Bai Yefeng: "If you want to go to Shuzhong, you can go there yourself. I'm going to Tianlong Mountain."
"......" Feng Cheng would love to kidnap Bai Yefeng, but what could he do when he had the will, not the strength. Not only were his martial arts skills inferior to others, but even his excellent look was the same. He could neither be his rival nor seduce others with his face. He had no choice but to follow behind Bai Yefeng with his tail tucked between his legs. Hopefully, after Bai Yefeng had strolled enough around Tianlong Mountain, he would be willing to return to Shuzhong with him. Or else he could let Murong Yunshu go to Tianlong Mountain. Anyway, all her silver was hidden there, and she could also take this opportunity to count her possessions. With this just one move, he would gain two things simultaneously.
So, Feng Cheng sent a letter to Murong Yunshu by pigeon overnight, telling her that he would take Bai Yefeng to Tianlong Mountain.
On the other hand, Murong Yunshu and the others counted the days by intuition. They realised there were only three days left before Chu Changge's deadline, but there was no sign of Mister Shi Er.
"Instead of asking others, we should ask ourselves. From my point of view, that Shitou must have probably hidden in some nook or cranny somewhere. Murong Meizi, you'd better think about how to lift the poison from our bodies." Yun Shi Niang said very irritably.
"It's an aphrodisiac." Li Wunai corrected her and continued, "In my opinion, the road to lift the aphrodisiac is not feasible. Not to mention that we do not know how to detoxify it. Even if we do, we don't have any medicinal herbs either."
Everyone sighed at his words. They now couldn't count on the antidote for the poison.
At this point, Murong Yunshu, who had been silent about this discussion, suddenly spoke. "Aphrodisiacs do not need medicinal herbs to be detoxified."
Everyone was slightly flabbergasted and then turned embarrassed. Especially the four South, East, North and West people with rarely seen red faces.
The most relaxed one was Yun Si Niang, who laughingly questioned, "I am not even bashful. Why do you four big old men suddenly become so shy?"
South, East, North and West turned even more embarrassed. They looked at heaven, hoping they could see any Gods, and finally turned their eyesight at Murong Yunshu in the next cell. Madam, that's a terrible move. Can't you think of another way?
Murong Yunshu lowered her eyes. Of course, she knew this was a wrong move, and it did not necessarily work. After all, Chu Changge had also been 'detoxified' this way......suddenly, she remembered something. Chu Changge also had hallucinations at first, but he wasn't harmed. Only after drinking the teapot with aphrodisiac tea did he lose internal strength. So it seemed that he had resistance to this heavy dose of aphrodisiac. Still, the tea later became the last straw that managed to overwhelm him.
As Murong Yunshu thought of this, she felt so chagrined that she could not turn back the clock. If she could do it again, she would drink that pot of tea herself rather than let him have even a single drop.
When everyone saw Murong Yunshu become too silent, they thought she was genuinely considering the possibility of 'using that act as an antidote', and the atmosphere instantly became bizarre. Especially as the most likely candidate to be the 'antidote', Yun Si Niang felt very pressured.
"That......let me be frank first. If any of you touch me, this old woman, you will either become a eunuch or a monk. If not, this old woman has no choice but to bring you into my backyard. In addition, there is no fourth choice."
"......" All the menfolk looked at the sky speechlessly. After thinking for a moment, North Guardian weakly asked, "Can I just die?"
Yun Si Niang's willow eyebrows suddenly rose up. "You would rather die than join this old woman's backyard?!" There was an apparent threat between her words.
North Guardian's eyebrows twitched slightly as he explained, "No. I just don't want to be a eunuch or a monk."
In other words, he would not even consider the third option at all? Yun Si Niang was furious. Was her market that bad? She remembered that she had many admirers.
Li Wunai: "In that case, then let me do it. I am a monk anyway."
"Don't even say that." Murong Yunshu said, "This thing is not child's play. Si Niang, you should also stop being bold and unconstrained with your mouth. I can't apologise enough to Mister Shi Er."
At those words, Yun Si Niang's eyes suddenly became hot as she could not help herself. She hesitated for a long time before saying, "It's enough that you can understand me. As for Shitou, if we can be together, it's my good luck. But if we can't, then it's my fate. If my man is gone, I can still find another one. However, Murong Meizi, you will never get someone like your man back once you lose him. I at least have the lesser of two evils."
Murong Yunshu: "No human's feelings are less important than others. My feelings with Chu Changge are no more valuable than yours and Mister Shi Er. Don't mention this matter again. And it's no big deal. I'll go with him, and we can become a pair again in eighteen years."
"Murong Mei......" Before Yun Si Niang could finish uttering the word 'meizi', she was already in tears.
"Miss." Lu-er, who had been crouching in the corner while drawing circles on the wall, suddenly spoke. After getting everyone's attention, she continued with a determined face, "I'll give my life to Miss. For Miss's happiness, Lu-er is willing to do anything."
"Shut up!" Murong Yunshu, who had always been calm and collected, suddenly sank down and retorted, "Shut up, all of you! I, Murong Yunshu, have not fallen so low as to sacrifice the chastity of those around me just to save myself. No one is allowed to mention this matter again, and if anyone dares to, you should pray that I better die in this dungeon. Otherwise, I will kill you."
"Miss......"
"Madam......"
"Murong......"
"Murong Meizi......"
Murong Yunshu stopped looking at everyone's pleading face. She turned around as two lines of hot tears slowly flowed down, burning her cheeks like fire. For her, there could be no more heart-breaking torture than her being powerless at this moment.
Two more days have passed. Aside from the daily delivery of meals on time, there was no other movement from the people of Lihen Palace. As the time limit approached, everyone became increasingly restless.
"Madam, there is only one day left......" South, East, North and West wanted to say something several times but then hesitated.
Murong Yunshu did not respond to their statement. She did not even know that there was only one day left. The closer the deadline, the stronger her inside struggled. In fact, last night, when the last day came, she had already decided in her heart. After she made that decision, she became calm. No matter what consequences she would face, she was willing to bear them all.
There was a rumble, the sound of the stone door opening. As usual, only two palace maids came in, carrying their breakfast. After distributing the meal to everyone, Murong Yunshu called out when they were about to leave. "Please tell your Palace Master I am willing to hand over the mechanism diagram."
The two palace maids stopped in their tracks, nodded back at her, and left.
The dungeon blew up as soon as the palace maids left.
Lu-er: "Miss, how can you hand over the mechanism diagram......that is......the last dignity of Murong House."
"Madam, think twice. Instead of handing over the mechanism diagram, we should......" Murong Yunshu's killing eye stopped East Guardian from continuing his words.
"Murong Meizi, have you thought it over?" Yun Si Niang was the only one who calmly asked. It was because she could understand Murong Yunshu's feelings.
Li Wunai sighed. "Since you already make this decision, I'm afraid it's useless for us to say more."
No matter what other people said, Murong Yunshu remained silent. She, who was always eloquent, could not say a word of explanation at this time. She thought she could be noble and sacrifice her own happiness for the nation's sake, but at this moment, she was just a commoner. She was a commoner who would rather sacrifice the nation just to keep her beloved one.
Nobility was the epitaph of the noble; meanness was the permit of the despicable.
She had never been anything more than a vile villain. Even if all hell broke loose, she still had to move forward.
To Murong Yunshu's surprise, her decision to completely overturn her reasoning did not bring the expected results. At noon, the two palace maids came to deliver their meal. As usual, they immediately left after distributing the food without saying a single word.
In an instant, Murong Yunshu fell into the abyss of despair. Her heart turned into dead ashes.
"Miss ......" Lu-er was leaning on the railing between the two cells with teary eyes.
South, East, North and West kept swinging their fists at the railing. The backs of their hands were bloody, but they did not feel any pain. They secretly swore that one day, if they could leave this place alive, they would let the whole Lihen Palace be buried with them!
On the other hand, Li Wunai and Yun Si Niang turned their heads away and could not bear to watch any longer. Murong Yunshu's appearance was even more heart-wrenching than the unconscious Chu Changge. Please read this chapter at xinshou blogspot com.
The atmosphere was extremely tense as everyone was buried in their thoughts.
All of a sudden, Murong Yunshu thought of something. She suddenly came to life, and her eyes were shining brightly. She tore a piece of cloth from her body and laid it flat in the middle of the ground. She nipped at the tip of her finger and started to draw crazily. She looked like she had been possessed by a demon as she drew on the cloth non-stop. She didn't seem like she wanted to stop painting......
Lu-er cried out in anxiety. She hastily bit the tip of her finger and tried to reach over while crying and shouting, "Miss, use my blood. Please use my blood......"
Yun Shi Niang tore off a piece of cloth from her sleeve and used it to wrap Lu-er's finger while sighing. "She can't hear you right now." She added at the end, "If anyone asks, why does love exist in this world? You should straightly answer, it teaches people to live and die for others. Even a calm person like Murong Yunshu has difficulty escaping from the word love. If Chu Changge can't be saved this time, I'm afraid no one can stop her from sacrificing herself for love."
When Lu-er heard this, she cried even more. The sound was heart-wrenching and lung-tearing. Somehow, her cry stopped abruptly when she suddenly turned around, plopped down and kneeled in front of Li Wunai. She began to kowtow and beg, "Great Master, I'll help you detoxify. Please help Guye. Please save him."
"Miss Lu-er......" Li Wunai's heart ached. He also plopped down on the floor and knelt. "This Li is incompetent."
Lu-er did not listen to his words and kept on kowtowing. "You can. I'll help you detoxify. I will."
"You don't have to kowtow anymore. It's useless." North Guardian suddenly pulled her up and said, "We tried. This is not a normal aphrodisiac. Even if there are ten of you, you can't cure it. We can only wait for the effects to wear off slowly." In another half a month, they would be able to recover their internal strength. But half a month at this time was no different from half a year. Unless there was a way to delay the Leader's life.
Lu-er stopped crying after hearing his word. She instantly lost her energy, and her gaze became listless. Her weak body was solely supported by the strength of North Guardian's hand.
However, Yun Si Niang smelled something fishy when she heard North Guardian's words. "You've tried? How did you try?"
North Guardian suddenly blushed, tilted his head to the side, and remained silent.
The remaining four men also hung their heads. If it hadn't been proved useless, not to mention losing their modesty, even if they would lose their dignity, they still would have done it without hesitation.
Yun Si Niang: "How exactly did you guys try it?" [T/N]
Li Wunai: "You don't have to ask. Anyway, this aphrodisiac can not be solved for a while. If you want Chu Changge to live, we can only find a way to delay his time."
Yun Shi Niang was full of suspicions. Suddenly, a light flashed in her head. She exclaimed, "No wonder I heard a strange sound that night. I thought I was dreaming......" Then she turned the topic of the conversation. "Don't worry. I will keep this matter a secret. Murong Yunshu won’t know. Nor will it be passed from mouth to mouth. Apart from this dungeon, we'll just forget about it."
They didn't feel assured at all. But since the matter had come to this point, there was no way for it to be spread. The five men let the issue go with the mentality of people who had smashed a pot to pieces just because it was cracked. Li Wunai calmly stated, "It doesn't matter. You can pass it on. If the worst comes to worst, we can just kill those people to silence them."
"......" Is this what you called 'it doesn't matter'? Yun Si Niang glared at him and said, "Let's talk about killing people or something later. At this moment, let's shout at the top of our voice. I don't believe that the women of the Lihen Palace can stand the wails of ghosts and howls of wolves all day and all night."
"Yes. Let's scream. Let's scream as loud as we can. Let's scream until someone comes." Li Wunai said and hurriedly leaned over the iron railings while shouting at the door.
South, East, North and West also joined in, screaming at the top of their voices.
The scene could simply be described as a host of demons dancing wildly.
About half a column of incense later, the fake Master of the Lihen Palace came, followed by the man in black.
The fake Lihen Palace Master sneered. "Wailing for the dead in advance?"
Everyone held back their anger and clenched their teeth tightly to stop themselves from speaking. At this time, Murong Yunshu, who had been drawing furiously, finally stopped and raised her eyes at once. Although her appearance was wretched, her eyes had regained their usual calmness. "This is half of the mechanism diagram for the renewal of Chu Changge's life. After we reach Tianlong Mountain, I will give you the other half." Murong Yunshu handed her half of the mechanism diagram drawn in her blood.
"I want the whole diagram." The fake Lihen Palace Master did not take the blood-drawn diagram.
Murong Yunshu: "There is no second person in this world who knows the mechanism diagram of the silver warehouse except for me."
Fake Lihen Palace Master: "I remember you said there was another person who set up the mechanism."
"That was just my delaying tactic." Murong Yunshu suddenly curved her lips and smiled. Her smile was full of confidence. Had everyone not witnessed her breakdown just now, it would be hard to imagine that before this moment, she had been so mad that she almost lost herself. "If it were you, would you still let that person who set up the mechanism live in this world?"
The fake Lihen Palace Master was stunned by her words. Indeed, she would not have left any survivor behind if it were her. After pondering for a while, she said, "How do I know if this mechanism diagram in your hand is real?"
Murong Yunshu: "I will not joke with Chu Changge's life."
Fake Lihen Palace Master: "I don't believe you."
Murong Yunshu thought for a while and said, "After reaching Tianlong Mountain, I will follow you into the silver warehouse. If there is any fault with this mechanism diagram, you can just kill me."
The fake Lihen Palace Master hesitated momentarily and finally accepted half of the organ diagram. She then renewed Chu Changge's life for another seven days.
As soon as she left the dungeon, the fake Lihen Palace Master laughed at the sky and said, "You are really right. There is no one else who sets the mechanism. Only Murong Yunshu has the mechanism diagram in her hand! Speaking of which, since you knew it was only Murong Yunshu's delaying tactic, why didn't you say so earlier and wait until the last minute?"
The man in black: "It just occurred to me."
"Is that so?" The fake Lihen Palace Master stared at him and saw that he looked as he usually was, so she didn't ask any more questions.
The next day. The fake Lihen Palace Master took Murong Yunshu and the others to depart for Tianlong Mountain. Murong Yunshu, Chu Changge, Lu-er and Yun Si Niang shared a carriage. In contrast, South, East, North, West and Li Wunai shared another carriage. All nine of them were tied up. The first carriage was personally escorted by the fake Master of the Lihen Palace, the second one was by the man in black, and they were followed by dozens of red-clad palace maids trailing on horseback. The whole team was so majestic that it filled up the already not-so-wide road.
At noon, two purplish red horses came galloping in front of the team. "Whoa—" The two people on horseback hurriedly tightened their reins to slow down their horses. Unexpectedly, their arrival still managed to startle the horses in front of them. As a result, the continuous sound of horses neighing could be heard, one after another.
"Who has come and tried to create trouble?" The fake Master of the Lihen Palace had taken off her mask by now, and her tone was unhurried, making her look no different from that of a well-bred girl. [T/C]
"I am Feng Cheng. We were in such a hurry, and somehow our horses disturbed Miss' carriages. Hope Miss is magnanimous enough to forgive us."
When everyone inside the carriage heard the word Feng Cheng, they were shocked and overjoyed. However, they couldn't move and talk as their hands and feet had been tied, and their speech acupuncture point had been sealed. Their situation was like how they cried out to the heavens, but the heavens didn't respond. When they cried out to the earth, the earth was impervious. In the back carriage, the men threw their bodies to the carriage's wall, creating a continuous banging sound.
Feng Cheng furrowed his eyebrows. "What's that sound?"
The fake Lihen Palace Master smiled gently and explained, "They're the sounds of my family dogs raised by the servants."
Feng Cheng understood and sighed: rich people were really different. Even dogs could ride in carriages, or in this case, luxury carriages. How could poor people like him endure this unfairness? Naturally, Feng Cheng thought of another rich woman—Murong Yunshu. Suddenly, he raised his eyebrows in confusion and looked around.
"Brother Feng, what's wrong?" Bai Yefeng asked.
Feng Cheng looked around for a while before mumbling, "I always feel like Murong Yunshu is nearby."
As soon as he let out this statement, the fake Lihen Palace Master secretly muttered, 'this is bad', but she just shut her mouth.
The people in the carriage were all surprised, and their hearts kept shouting, Feng Cheng, your intuition is correct. Murong Yunshu is here, right in front of you.
Tags:
Black Belly Wife