After eating, Liang Shu made a special trip to find Liu Xianche and ask him about what happened in Chuqiu City.

“The behavior of that group of people was very strange. It wasn’t sinister or loathsome, but rather, they had a sense of being out of place in the world,” Liu Xianche recalled. “I guessed at the time that they might have come from an isolated island in the eastern sea and had little contact with the world, so their words and actions seemed clearly different from others.”

But now that he thought about it, it was more likely that the other party lived in the dense forest than an island, because all the young men and women in the group had fair skin, and even their lips had no color at all. This was indeed a symptom of not seeing the sun all year round.

Liang Shu asked: “How did they conduct themselves in society?”

“They knew etiquette very well. Even when they were driven away by other doctors at the beginning, they did not get angry or make a fuss. Instead, they bowed and left, neither humble nor arrogant.” Liu Xianche said, “If it is really them in the dense forest, then they should be able to sit down and discuss terms with the prince.”

. . . . . . .

The fact that Liang Shu used the wind wings to speak to the forest tribe also spread to the Baifu Sect’s lair.

The gloomy weather made it so that even though the front hall was filled with candles, it wasn’t very bright, but rather a bit more depressing. Among them sat several Nanyang wizards wearing black robes. They were the guests that Mu Zhe had paid a large sum of money to invite, and were also old acquaintances he had met when he lived in the islands in his early years.

“Does Master Mu think that Liang Shu has the ability to convince those bandits living in the dense forest?” asked a woman in her twenties.

“Whether he can persuade them or not, both of them will die,” Mu Zhe said. “It doesn’t matter.”

The woman cackled. She had no objection to the fact that “anyone who went against them would die,” but what she objected to was the price. A pair of pretty eyes glanced at the next door, and she warned: “Master Mu, our efforts this time are much greater than yours. We are the ones who plotted and carried out the capture of Ku You. I fear you will still have to rely on us to recover the lost silver in the future. I’ve heard that your precious apprentice has been lying in bed for many days. Is he almost recovered?”

Mu Zhe said: “He is not the only assassin in the Baifu Sect.”

“I know, there is another one.” The woman’s gaze fell outside the window. Feng Xiaojin was walking through the courtyard holding a bowl of medicine. “But with all due respect, he doesn’t seem to want to do anything for Master Mu.”

Feng Xiaojin opened the door and saw Wumeng Yunyou reclining on the bedside, turning over a wooden sparrow in his hand.

“Where did that come from?” he asked.

“A-Le bought it when she went out.” Wumeng Yunyou tossed the bird onto the bed. “She said that everyone is rushing to get them and they are very rare, but I find it boring.”

Feng Xiaojin smiled. He sat on the side of the bed and handed him the medicine bowl: “A-Le has come to stay with you a lot recently.”

“Yes.” Wumeng Yunyou said leisurely, “She is just like me during this time, unnecessary.”

Under the offensive of Liang Shu and the Southwest Garrison, the Baifu Sect had stopped most of its external activities, leaving the Holy Maiden with nothing to do. Feng Xiaojin said: “This is a good thing.”

“I heard that the Master caught Ku You.” Wumeng Yunyou returned the empty bowl. “Has he been killed?”

“He is still valuable for now,” Feng Xiaojin said. “All those who enter the Baifu Sect must be drained of their last remaining value before they die.”

Wumeng Yunyou didn’t hear the deeper meaning in his words. He just held the wound under his ribs, slowly moved to sit up higher, and said with a frown: “Hiss…..I would like to see him.”

“Why see him, to look at how disgraced Ku You is now?”

Wumeng Yunyou didn’t deny it. Over the years, all members of the Baifu Sect had suffered a lot because of Ku You. Coupled with the deliberate exaggeration in their doctrine, everyone hated him deeply. For such a person to be imprisoned within the Baifu Sect, anyone would want to watch the fun.

Feng Xiaojin shook his head: “You have grown up. There is no need to look for such childish entertainment.”

“I also wanted to do something less childish, but alas.” Wumeng Yunyou patted his injury in boredom and asked, “Uncle, since the Master has kidnapped Ku You this time, Liang Shu will be furious. If he really fights with us, tsk…..will both sides suffer?”

“At that time, I will take you and Yunle and leave,” Feng Xiaojin said lightly.

Wumeng Yunyou opened his eyes wide. This was a path he had never imagined. “Leave?”

Feng Xiaojin nodded and left.

Even if the lives of this brother and sister were as short as fireworks after they left, they would not die in a cruel war or by Liang Shu’s sword, but by his side, among the beautiful green mountains and rivers of the Southwest.

Ku You was imprisoned in a secret cell not far from there. His eyes were still covered with silver gauze and he could not see anything. He could only rely on his hearing to make judgments.

A girl’s footsteps were different from those of an adult man, light and nimble. The fabric of the dress rubbed against itself, and the silver jewelry on her wrists jingled. When the guard saw her, he hurriedly bowed his head and saluted: “Holy Maiden.”

“Open the cell door,” Wumeng Yunle ordered. “I want to go in and take a look.”

The guard’s face showed reluctance, but he did not dare to disobey the Holy Maiden’s order. After much hesitation, he untied the chains and covertly signaled with his eyes for his companion to report the matter to the Master as soon as possible.

Wumeng Yunle ignored their small movements and bent down to enter the cell. She had heard Ku You’s name long ago and knew that he was the Baifu Sect’s third enemy behind Liang Yu and Liang Shu. Born in a nomadic tribe in the Northwest, he had the appearance of an evil god but prided himself on being righteous. She looked at the silver-haired young man in the shadows for a moment, then suddenly reached out and pulled off the silver gauze covering his eyes.

She wanted to see the rumored ominous golden eyes, but was shocked instead. The moment the silver gauze fell off, Wumeng Yunle let out a small exclamation and stepped back, a small dagger falling from her sleeve. She had never thought that there could be such eyes in the world, like mountains of gold illuminated by the sun, or like some kind of strange beast that only appeared in paintings.

Ku You turned to follow her voice. His gaze seemed stern and grave, but upon closer inspection, his pupils were still unfocused.

Wumeng Yunle breathed a sigh of relief and sheathed the dagger: “I thought you could see.”

Ku You asked: “Are you here to negotiate terms with me?”

“Interrogating you is for the Master to do.” Wumeng Yunle sat across from him. “I was just bored, so I came over to take a look. I heard that you personally signed the order to kill us all.”

“Shouldn’t an evil cult be killed?” Ku You asked.

“Evil or not evil, this isn’t for your emperor to say.” Wumeng Yunle looked at him. “Why can people live by following you, but believe in us and die?”

“What you say isn’t wrong. If people believe in your cause, they will die,” Ku You said. “It is not the Imperial court that wants them dead, but you and the so-called Baifu Buddha Mother behind you who want them to die. How many innocent people have been bewitched by you and have no intention of working honestly anymore? They abandon their fertile fields and sell their wives and daughters just to meet you once in exchange for eternal life at the end of the world. With such despicable and absurd teachings, do you still think you are not evil?”

Wumeng Yunle said unhappily: “That is because they want to offer their wealth and family members in exchange for eternal life. They are not bewitched by me.”

She threw the silver gauze in her hand back at the young man: “When you can see my face, you will not speak so rudely, but kneel on the ground in fear like the rest of them.”

Ku You closed his eyes and scoffed: “You are just an accomplice to evil.”

Wumeng Yunle had been instilled since childhood with the concept that all men should surrender to the compassion and beauty of the Baifu Buddha Mother. She raised her hand to touch her cheek, feeling angry that the other person was blind. She turned around to leave, but remembered another thing and asked: “Have you met Liu Nanyuan? I hear that she is also very beautiful.”

“I have never seen her,” Ku You said. “But every garrison officer wants to see her, and it has nothing to do with her beauty. The southwest is full of poisonous insects. Third Young Lady Liu once made three cartloads of cooling ointment and had it delivered for free, and also sent a large number of carefully developed prescriptions to traveling doctors across the southwest. In this way, if we really want to talk about the reincarnation of a compassionate Bodhisattva, I’m afraid it will not be your turn.”

Wumeng Yunle was extremely unhappy: “I will find someone to cure your eyes!”

“So the only weapon you can rely on is just an empty face.” Ku You’s voice was cold. “Even if you are really more beautiful than Third Young Lady Liu, so what?”

Wumeng Yunle didn’t want to talk to him anymore. She turned around and ran out, but instead of looking for Feng Xiaojin and Wumeng Yunyou, she broke into Liu Hengchang’s residence—this was the only doctor she knew who could possibly help her.

. . . . . . .

Outside the Valley of Ten Faces, Gao Lin chewed on a sesame seed cake without the ability to swallow it. While looking at the sky, he felt that Ku You was probably being hung up and beaten at this moment, and as he became more and more anxious, he turned to ask his sister: “It’s already the third day. Will the prince’s trick work?”

“Even if it doesn’t work, the army will be able to cut down the trees and enter the mountains tomorrow,” Cheng Suyue said. “If we can’t trick them, we’ll fight our way in. Even if the people living in the forest are really immortals, as long as they are not the same race as Second Young Master Liu, they should not be able to defeat our prince.”

Liu Xian’an’s nose was itchy from being talked about, and he squatted in the courtyard to sneeze a series of times. He felt dizzy and was not able to move for a long time. Liang Shu watched from a distance. It was as if he had fallen asleep with his arms hugging his knees again. Just as he was about to go out and bring him back, a soldier rushed in and said: “Reporting—”

The raised voice made Liu Xian’an tremble with fright, and when he looked up, he saw a black shadow rushing toward him and was instantly stunned. The soldier also ran forward, only to realize that there was someone crouching on the path. He tried to stop, but was too late, and could only scream “Aaah!” At the critical moment, His Royal Highness Xiao Wang descended from the sky and lifted the lazy egg into his arms, also giving a hand to the soldier who was tripping over himself.

“Your High-high-high—” The soldier was in shock, and it took him a long moment to say his next words. “Your Highness, the people from the forest are really here, a whole group of them!”

As for the specific extent of a ‘whole group,’ it was difficult to describe, but when they walked out of the forest with their snow clothes flying, the first reaction of the garrison was — could it be that the prince’s festive suona was really effective enough that the tribe was so annoyed that they moved out with their families?

Liang Shu walked quickly and asked: “What are they like?”

“Answering the prince, they all have excellent looks and communication skills,” the soldier replied. “They look similar to the two young masters of the Liu family.”

They had excellent looks and communication skills. Liu Xian’an thought, ah, there is an eighty percent chance Da-ge is really going to be sent out in exchange for the gold.

Gao Lin and Cheng Suyue wanted to receive the news first, and were already approaching the front hall. Gao Lin took a look from afar, and suddenly reached out and grasped his sister’s wrist: “Don’t go yet, look at me, am I seeing things clearly? Why is there a child in their arms?”

Cheng Suyue said: “They aren’t just holding a child.”

Among them was an old man with snow-white hair, a truly old man with a beard that could drag on the ground. And there was a woman with a big belly. Why would she participate in such activities even though she was pregnant? Cheng Suyue said in admiration: “Those who can pave the ground with gold bricks are truly different. I have changed my opinion now. I fear that our prince will not be able to control this kind of situation, and Second Young Master Liu will have to do it.”

The soldiers in charge of the reception were also very polite to this group of people. They felt that they were not like a wild tribe in the dense forest, but like gods. Thinking again, this group of gods had once robbed Mu Zhe of his gold and silver and injured his arm. With even more awe in their hearts, the scholars raised their hands and said loudly: “Everyone, please drink some tea first. Our prince will be here soon.”

One of them asked: “We heard that First Young Master Liu from Baihe Mountain Village is also here?”

“Yes, not only is First Young Master Liu here, but Second Young Master Liu is also here,” the soldier introduced enthusiastically. “So if any of you distinguished guests are ill, you can rest assured and look ahead boldly.”

Gao Lin stood at the door and sighed in distress.

How could he put it? The cultural quality of the entire Dayan garrison had truly plummeted.

Rushing out to the sea, never to return.

It needed to be improved urgently, urgently.

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Chapter One Hundred << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Two