Wumeng Yunyou relied on his familiarity with the terrain and various hidden weapons designed in advance to shuttle through the dense forest like a dexterous ape. Seeing that the other party was fleeing farther and farther away, the guards of Xiao Wang Palace waved their hands and ordered everyone to bend their bows into full moons. For a time, the arrows were like heavy rain. Wumeng Yunyou’s steps seemed to stagger slightly due to this, but he did not stop, and instead quickly rolled down a short cliff.

He escaped without a trace once more.

Liu Xianche in the military camp also sighed upon hearing the news of Wumeng Yunle’s death. After a good while, he ordered: “Have her remains cremated, otherwise the Gu in her body will be buried deep in the ground, which will inevitably give rise to other poisonous Gu.”

Liu Nanyuan nodded: “Okay.”

The girl whose life was ruined by the Baifu Sect finally turned into a wisp of slim and graceful smoke. Swept by the summer wind, it disappeared into the dense forest in all directions, leaving no trace.

In the middle of the night, a heavy rain fell across the entire southwest. The rumbling thunder practically tore through the sky, and the loud noise rolled into Second Young Master Liu’s dreams. He trembled in shock, and the Three Thousands Worlds turned into dancing butterflies. Liang Shu tightened his arms. “Were you frightened awake?”

Liu Xian’an was semi-conscious, and replied without losing his principles, I wasn’t frightened awake. I can still sleep a bit more.

Liang Shu lowered his head and rubbed his chin, which rubbed his sleepiness away. The night rain in the dense southwest forests was actually very beautiful. It hit the roof of the bamboo building with pattering sounds, soaking the surrounding areas with moisture and greenness, and the air was also filled with the fragrance of flowers. But it was still not as fragrant as the beauty in his arms. He took advantage of his person’s sleep to pull open his robe bit by bit, like peeling a tender fruit hanging on a branch. It trembled when you poked it, and when you took a bite, even the skin and flesh were sweet.

Liu Xian’an somewhat reluctantly reached out to pull his sleeping clothes, but it was obvious that he couldn’t hold onto them. Liang Shu smiled and turned over to embrace him, whispering in his ear: “No sleep allowed.”

In the middle of the night, everything was quiet. Even the chirping of the insects had subsided, but he couldn’t sleep. Liu Xian’an felt that there was no such principle in the world, so he opened his mouth and responded with an “Mm, wu,” and at the same time crawled toward the corner with his hands and feet, trying to shake this person off him. However, Liang Shu leaned over and pressed him down, biting the small red mole on his snow-white neck with his teeth. Liu Xian’an was really sleepy, but he couldn’t sleep. Half-conscious, he had a dream full of philosophical thoughts about sacrificing his life to feed a tiger, and was finally bitten awake.

After waking up, the current situation was no better than the dream, because at least the tiger in the dream could not catch up with the white crane in the clouds thirty thousand li away. But in reality, there was only a thin, creak-creaking bamboo bed for the two of them. Its sturdiness was worrisome, but His Royal Highness Xiao Wang seemed to have taken the wrong medicine. He bit and licked, grasping that soft waist with his big hands, and there was also moist water vapor in his voice: “Don’t move.”

Liu Xian’an: “……”

Liang Shu rubbed the side of his face with his thumb: “Don’t close your eyes. Look at me.”

Liu Xian’an didn’t want to cooperate, mainly because if he looked again, he might not be able to sleep later. So he immediately closed his eyes, stretched his hand forward, and managed to deal with what must be dealt with. And because of this, he felt confident enough to sleep for an extra half hour the next morning.

He wanted to sleep more, but was unable to, because the entire military camp was currently pretending to be sick, and this required the cooperation of many doctors to pretend. Even Liang Shu himself held his chest and coughed twice. The aunt in charge of cleaning was frightened when she took out two bloodstained handkerchiefs.

“What illness does the prince have?”

“He isn’t ill, it’s just a cough!”

With a gloomy look on his face, Gao Lin ordered the aunt to burn the handkerchiefs and not say anything more in the future. But the news eventually spread, and even Yuan Yu heard about it. He asked probingly: “Why haven’t I seen the prince in recent days?”

“He’s ill.” Gao Lin didn’t hide anything from him. He sat on a chair and complained, “I don’t know where this strange disease came from. It’s not the plague, and it isn’t just the prince who is sick. Didn’t you notice when you were walking these past few days? There are coughs everywhere.”

“Is there nothing Baihe Mountain Village can do?”

“Baihe Mountain Village has doctors, not gods,” Gao Lin said. “I came to tell you that you should not go out in the next few days to avoid getting infected. I’ll get someone to spread lime around your house later.”

“Okay, I’ll stay here,” Yuan Yu said. “I’ll just stay here and wait.”

He thought he had successfully accomplished his goal, and was very proud of himself. He would just wait for Mu Zhe’s next move.

At the same time, the Holy Maiden of the Baifu Sect began to wander around the southwest lands. 

Different from the coldness and aloofness of the past, this time the saintess was finally willing to step down from that high platform and allow many believers to worship her amazing beauty more closely. They knelt on the ground, their faces flushed with excitement. Like loyal but stupid dogs, they crawled forward, vying to kiss those bare white toes.

The Nanyang woman giggled and raised the face of one of them with her toes: “Let me see your loyalty.”

The man quickly took a cloth bag from his sleeve, and after opening it, a heavy amount of silver rolled down all around. The Nanyang woman turned to look at the other person: “Where is yours?”

The other person also took two gold bars out of his sleeve. He offered them devoutly and nervously, saying: “This is, this is what I got for selling my wife, daughter, and ancestral property!”

“Good, very good. Gold.” The Nanyang woman stepped lightly on the gold and silver on the ground. “With such sincerity, the Baifu Buddha Mother will protect you from illness and disaster.”

As she spoke, she glanced around the room, but not every believer had gold and silver, and they feared punishment from the Baifu Buddha Mother. The Nanyang woman turned around to sit on the high platform, taking the initiative to comfort them: “It doesn’t matter. Without gold or silver, you can also receive blessings if you kill demons with only your strength. Who is a demon?”

“Liang Shu!” They shouted in unison.

The Nanyang woman covered her mouth and smiled. She reclined slightly and leaned her head on one hand. With her clothes half-undone, she pointed her polished toes at the man who sold his wife and daughter: “You, come up.”

The man was overjoyed, and climbed all the way up the steps on his knees, stretching out his hands tremblingly.

Wind filled the entire room, whimpering and wailing, like the sharp, wanton laugh of a demon.

. . . . . . .

Wumeng Yunyou removed the bandages and looked down at the wound on his shoulder. He was injured by a stray arrow that day in the forest and gritted his teeth, fleeing to a secret contact point of the Baifu Sect. However, he was no longer being tracked by the officials. After being nursed for so many days, the arrow wound had finally scarred over. 

He had no intention of going back. At least, not until he killed Liu Nanyuan.

“Uncle Qian.” Wumeng Yunyou asked the middle-aged man in the courtyard, “How is the matter I asked you to inquire about?”

“Everything is normal in the Dayan military camp.” The middle-aged man lowered his voice. “There is no news that anyone important has been killed, though there is a bigger fuss about the plague. I heard that even Liang Shu is ill. Doctors kept running to his room all day long, but nothing could be done. Those are doctors of Baihe Mountain Village.”

Wumeng Yunyou said leisurely: “Where is Liu Nanyuan?”

“Busy treating everyone’s illnesses.” The middle-aged man said, “But she will only practice medicine in the military camp now, and will not go to other places to visit patients. If Young Master Yunyou intends to kill her, I fear it will take a lot of effort. In my opinion, it would be better to just wait until she falls ill too, and save the trouble.”

“She provoked A-Le. I will definitely kill her.” Wumeng Yunyou glanced at his sword. “Never mind. Uncle Qian, help me send a letter to A-Le first.”

“This…..I’m afraid it won’t be easy to send, ah.” The middle-aged man felt awkward. “The Holy Maiden’s whereabouts have been uncertain recently. She is in this city today and will go to that city tomorrow. I have not received news for three to five days. My guess is that she went back to the sect.”

“Isn’t she in Shuhua City?”

“She was originally going to Shuhua City, but there was some trouble there.” The middle-aged man said, “It is said that there was a believer who wanted to stay at the Holy Maiden’s bedside, but couldn’t assemble the money, so he cut off his own finger to show his loyalty, which finally alerted the government—”

“Wait.” Wumeng Yunyou frowned. “What do you mean he wanted to stay at the Holy Maiden’s bedside?”

“That’s right, that’s right…..Young Master Yunyou, don’t you know?” The middle-aged man hesitated. “The saint’s touring activities this time are…..very different from the previous ones. I thought Young Master Yunyou had known this for a long time.”

“Those men stay in A-Le’s room?”

“Yes, yes, ah.” The middle-aged man nodded. “There are many people, including our shop’s Wang Zhu. He has worked hard for the holy religion for seven or eight years, and this was the Holy Maiden’s reward for him…..Young Master Yunyou, Young Master Yunyou!”

Wumeng Yunyou descended from the eaves of the back courtyard as leisurely as a vulture and grabbed the man by the collar: “Did you go to see A-Le?”

“Yes.” Wang Zhu grinned, looking a little simple and embarrassed. He said: “The Holy Maiden was very satisfied with me, and said she would reward me next time.”

Wumeng Yunyou stood there for a moment as if struck by a thunderbolt, then staggered and ran out.

He swung onto a fast horse, passing through the town and forest like lightning.

At that same time, the Dayan army was also ready to go. 

Liu Xian’an tried to place Liang Shu’s armor, but he was not very good at the job. The result was not a majestic general, but a dissolute prince who didn’t look like he could win a battle. In the end, he simply gave up and said: “Do it yourself.”

Liang Shu shook his head and sighed. Alas, I have a bad fate, and did not find a virtuous and capable person.

Liu Xian’an raised his leg and kicked him.

Liang Shu quickly ducked aside. He straightened his clothes and opened his hands again: “Come here and give me a kiss, one kiss before we leave. The army is still waiting.”

Liu Xian’an hugged his waist. His hands touched a part that was cold and icy, and he frowned slightly.

Liang Shu wanted to play the scoundrel: “How about it? Does it feel as good as it did last night? I say, I shouldn’t have put on clothes.”

Liu Xian’an’s eyelid twitched slightly. He didn’t want to think about last night. Liang Shu picked him up with a smile and told him softly: “The Imperial guards will protect you. Don’t run around, just stay with the team, understand?”

“I understand.” Liu Xian’an held his face, lowered his head, and kissed him. “There’s no need for you to worry about me. It is best not to use your attention on me.”

“En, I won’t get hurt, and I won’t worry about you.” Liang Shu led him out and said, “Just watch the fun and be a comfortable lazy person. But you must remember the details of our victory very clearly, so that when we return to the Three Thousand Worlds in the future, we can speak in detail to those white-bearded old men for three days and three nights.”

“They won’t want to listen.”

“Not listening is beyond their control!”

Liu Xian’an: “…..Okay, ba. That is also fine.”

In any case, you are the only one in that world who has a very long sword and a grumpy face, and no one dares to provoke you.

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Chapter One Hundred Nineteen << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Twenty-One