Chapter 53

Fang Fucang, sitting in the tree, was playing with a jade slip in his hand.

After a few breaths, the jade slip lit up, revealing a message from someone named Wu Zhi.

Wu Zhi: [Received]

Wu Zhi: [I will depart at the hour of Zi tonight, aiming to capture the Tianyin Tower in Taiping City before the hour of Mao. It’s more convenient to act under the cover of night. Sorry for the trouble, please coordinate on your end.]

Fang Fucang immediately noticed the terms “Zi hour” and “Mao hour.”

Damn it.

Looks like there’s no sleep tonight.

He bit down on his pipe, his chin stubbled from days of neglecting to shave. He glanced coldly at the jade slip, idly scratching out some characters.

Fang Fucang: [Mm, okay, no problem.]

He recognized the name Wu Zhi.

When he had been ordered by the Jiufang family to assault Taiping City, Wu Zhi was the commander stationed there, a subordinate of Yinshan Qi.

According to Liuyu, although she had removed Yinshan Qi from Taiping City, pretending to let others fight for control over the “fat piece of land” that was the city, in truth, she had left Wu Zhi, an eight-level practitioner, and his hundred-man iron cavalry behind.

After Xiang Li arrived in Taiping City, Wu Zhi and his men had hidden within the city, living quietly until the right moment arrived for them to act.

Clearly, that moment had come.

Fang Fucang anticipated that he would not sleep tonight. Just as he was about to light his pipe to keep himself awake, he heard hurried footsteps approaching from the forest.

“…Why the rush? Is someone chasing you?”

He put away his pipe and looked down at the young girl below him, who was sweating and out of breath.

Yue Niang took a while to catch her breath before speaking:

“Really… there… is… it’s my brother…”

Yan Wushu?

After catching her breath, Yue Niang told Fang Fucang the story.

Fang Fucang thought for a moment and then realized it wasn’t surprising. Yan Wushu had always been secretly serving the Zhongli family, and now it seemed he had moved from the shadows to the forefront, which explained why he was now openly accompanying Zhongli Lingzhao to this place.

Yan Wushu was a seventh-level practitioner, which meant that the main residence now had another troublesome enemy to deal with.

Yue Niang tugged at Fang Fucang’s sleeve, still a bit frightened:

“Let’s hurry and leave. What if my brother is still chasing after us? If he catches me, I definitely…”

“Definitely what?”

Fang Fucang jumped down from the tree.

“It seems you still don’t understand the situation.”

Yue Niang stared at the man before her, confused and uncertain.

Normally, he was always gloomy and slack, but at this moment, he stared directly into Yue Niang’s eyes and spoke slowly, word by word:

“After all this time, haven’t you realized that the young lady and your brother have a grudge?”

Yue Niang shook her head in confusion.

She had been so focused on cultivation and refining weapons every day that she had no time to notice such twists and turns.

Fang Fucang raised his eyes and glanced around to confirm that no one was near the grove before saying to her:

“Remember, although you rely on your own abilities to stand by the young lady, your brother’s presence will greatly affect your future position by her side. If you want to rise higher, you cannot keep acting like this. Every time your brother is mentioned, you act like a mouse facing a cat—”

“You must be calmer than your brother, more resolute than he is, so the young lady will believe that all her investment in you is worthwhile, not that she’s raising a white-eyed wolf who could turn against her at any moment.”

At this point, Fang Fucang sighed with a bit of helplessness.

“This may be a bit harsh for someone as young as you, but there’s no choice. The children of poor families don’t have as many opportunities to make mistakes as those from noble families—”

“I understand!” Yue Niang suddenly exclaimed, startling Fang Fucang.

“I just didn’t know before that the young lady and my brother had old grievances. Now I understand. I… I will work hard. Next time I see my brother, I will behave well. I will not disappoint the young lady!”

The little girl clenched her fists, trying her best to show strength, much like a small beast baring its teeth.

Yue Niang knew how rare such advice was.

From childhood, this was the kind of treatment only her brother received.

The elders of the Yan family had always carefully taught him how to handle people and gave him opportunities to show himself among the local gentry, teaching him from a young age how to be resourceful and tactful.

Yue Niang had never had the chance to receive such guidance.

Fang Fucang stared at Yue Niang’s eyes, momentarily stunned.

…He should let his daughter, who sleeps six hours a day, see how ambitious this young girl is!

Just as he thought this, Fang Fucang suddenly sensed something and his gaze darkened.

Two swords were unsheathed, surrounded by fiery sparks, heading toward the source of the breath—

The shadow wavered slightly.

Then, it returned to its original state.

It was the figure of a young man.

“You… are you planning to attack the Xiangli family?” he asked.

He wore noble clothing, with his long hair half-bound, looking like a gentleman of a noble family. But the blue shadow was not a physical entity, almost ghostly in the silent forest.

Fang Fucang protected Yue Niang behind him, narrowing his eyes as he observed.

No, this must be the soul of someone already dead.

There was a technique to summon ghosts in the world, binding the souls of the deceased to this realm and using them for menial tasks.

This person wore shackles on his feet, clearly the soul of someone imprisoned.

“Who are you from the Xiangli family?” Fang Fucang asked, examining the insignia on his clothing.

The young man met their hostile glares and bowed respectfully.

“If you two wish to attack the Xiangli family, I may be of help. I only ask that you deliver a message for me.”

He raised his head, his gaze warm.

“I am Xiangli Ling, and I ask that you inform my sister, Xiangli Hualian, of my death.”

—-

Later in the morning, Liuyu slowly opened her eyes after a restless night.

Perhaps it was because her mind had been too active last night, but she felt uneasy and had a rare case of insomnia.

Even while washing up, she noticed the slight dark circles under her eyes in the water’s reflection.

After putting away the water storage bead and changing her clothes and disguise paper, she stood up and happened to notice the bamboo tube at the bedside.

In the past few days, no matter how busy the daytime tasks were, Mo Lin always remembered to change the water in the bamboo tube and, while going out in the morning to fetch water, would sneak some flowers and plants into it.

Today, the flowers in the bamboo tube were nearly wilting.

Liuyu gently patted the wilted flowers’ heads and replaced the water with a new storage bead, hoping they could last a little longer.

Just as she finished, she received a jade slip message from the ghost girl.

Ghost Girl: 【This is bad, Your Majesty! The mountain demon who was supposed to return the cultivator distribution map from the main estate last night has gone silent!】

Liu Yu stared at the words on the jade slip.

A breath later, she left without hesitation.

“…What happened?”

On the way to the Xiangli family’s main estate, Liuyu asked the ghost girl with a serious expression.

As they traveled, the ghost girl explained briefly.

It turned out that recently, the mountain demon had been passing information from the main estate using the ghost girl’s ghost magic.

They had agreed to exchange information at the hour of Zi (midnight), and three hours later, the mountain demon would light a candle on the corner tower of the main estate to ensure his safety after delivering the message.

But when the ghost girl woke up this morning, she did not see the mountain demon’s candle.

Such an important task, the mountain demon would never oversleep and delay it. The only possibility was that something had happened to him.

The ghost girl then informed Dan Sui, who had recently been sent to the main estate.

Dan Sui was particularly intelligent, and after Lei Yan removed the breeding manager from the estate, he secretly sent Dan Sui to the courtyard of Xiangli Hualian, hoping she could learn more before her marriage and compensate for the Xiangli family’s loss of a genius.

When Dan Sui heard that the mountain demon might have had an accident, she passed on another message.

—Last night, there had been a commotion in Hualian’s courtyard, and a suspicious servant was captured.

Connecting the two pieces of information, Dan Sui suspected the person might be the mountain demon.

The ghost girl gazed intently at Liuyu.

After hearing this, Liuyu nodded, staring ahead.

“Understood. I will figure out what happened to the mountain demon at the main estate. If necessary, I’ll plan ahead. Before entering, please use the jade slip to notify Lan Zhu.”

The ghost woman asked worriedly, “Is it okay to move the plan forward?”

“There’s no problem.”

Liuyu replied confidently:

“The matter of stealing the dragon and changing the phoenix was never something that could be hidden for long. The plan being moved forward was already considered. Though it’s a bit rushed given our current situation, as long as we take the initiative, we’ll have the advantage.”

The ghost woman, who had been anxious, felt a bit more at ease after hearing this.

She gazed at the side profile of the empress, her heart pounding in admiration.

The empress is really reliable! Not at all inferior to the empress dowager!

However, in reality, standing outside the Xiangli family’s mansion, Liuyu’s palms were slightly sweaty.

The situation inside was unclear, but if the mountain demon’s identity was exposed and used as a hostage to control them by Zhongli Lingzhao, the situation would become much more passive.

Liuyu turned to the ghost woman.

“Do you remember your identity?”

The ghost woman froze for a moment, then quickly nodded:

“Of course, I remember! Born a member of the Jimo family, I’ll die as a ghost of the Jimo family! I won’t say anything wrong!”

Hearing the ghost woman’s lighthearted tone, Liuyu’s slightly heavy mood also lightened.

“Very clever.”

When Liuyu and the ghost woman sneaked into the courtyard of Xiangli Hualian, it was already the early hours of the day. The owner of the courtyard had just risen, attended by her maid, and was combing her hair in front of a copper mirror.

Taking advantage of this time, Xiangli Hualian lowered her gaze and flipped through the book in her hands.

“Miss, how did you sleep last night?”

Turning a page, Xiangli Hualian’s gaze moved with the text, and without raising her head, she took a piece of pastry from a nearby plate and ate it.

“It was fine,” she answered indifferently. “It’s not the first time something like this has happened.”

The maid, however, appeared upset, muttering:

“Why search the lady’s chamber when investigating an assassin… Miss, could it be that they weren’t from our side this time?”

Xiangli Hualian slowly raised her eyes and glanced at her.

“What do you think?”

The maid lowered her head awkwardly.

It probably wasn’t. Since last year’s plan failed, the Xiangli family had strengthened the security of this courtyard, with two shifts of guards, each consisting of five or six practitioners at the sixth stage.

It would be a dream to confront them head-on with their abilities.

Once the maid finished dressing Xiangli Hualian, she quietly withdrew.

Next was the time the lady dedicated to her research. No one could disturb her unless summoned.

As the maid turned to leave, she suddenly felt a drop of water on her forehead.

Has it started raining?

She looked up. It was sunny, yet water droplets continued to fall on her face. She touched the water drop and looked down—

It was red.

Inside the room, Xiangli Hualian glanced at the direction of the closed door. After locking it, she moved aside the beaded curtain and walked toward the dark room where she usually studied agricultural matters.

The hem of her dress brushed the muddy floor as she stopped before the mountain demon, who was bound tightly.

“Have you thought it through?”

She helped the young man she had drugged to sit up and slapped his face to wake him.

Her strikingly beautiful face held no expression, her eyes fixed intently on the mountain demon’s dazed gaze.

“Will you help me escape the Xiangli family, or die here? You don’t have much time to decide.”

After drinking the drugged tea she gave him last night, the mountain demon’s head had been foggy, though he was starting to feel a bit better, still weak and drained.

He met her gaze.

Just as he was thinking about whether to bash her head in with a headbutt, a shadow suddenly appeared in his line of sight.

“Will you let me go, or die here… You don’t have much time left.”

The mountain demon smiled, raising his face with bruises and purple marks. Xiangli Hualian furrowed her brow.

“—It seems the one who created the limitless sea was truly you, wasn’t it?”

The voice that suddenly rang out behind her startled Xiangli Hualian so much that her heart nearly jumped out of her chest.

She spun around quickly, only to see two unfamiliar women who had somehow bypassed the outer guards and appeared inside her secret study.

Her heart raced.

Xiangli Hualian could feel that their cultivation level was far beyond her own.

She glanced at the young man behind her, quickly deducing that these two were here to rescue him, and then forced herself to remain calm.

“Of course, it was me. You… are here to save him, right? Actually, I didn’t want to harm him, so why don’t we sit down and talk?”

She believed her words were innocuous enough to avoid angering them.

However, after the first four words left her mouth, she distinctly noticed the blackness in the younger woman’s pupils deepen.

After a long pause, the woman finally spoke two words.

“Fine.”

Xiangli Hualian breathed a sigh of relief, raised her chin slightly, and was about to invite the two women to sit down when Liuyu suddenly grabbed her collar.

Bang! Bang!!

In the shocked gazes of the ghost woman and the mountain demon, Liuyu punched Xiangli Hualian twice before slowly releasing her collar.

Xiangli Hualian, now with two dark circles under her eyes, looked at her in disbelief, pitiably.

Liuyu, however, seemed as if nothing had happened. She gently straightened Xiangli Hualian’s clothes with her fingers and smiled.

“Now, we can talk.”

Zhongli Lingzhao set out to return to the Xiangli family mansion at dawn. Yan Wushu, who hadn’t slept all night, saw them off outside the manor gates.

“Once the matter is handled, return.”

Zhongli Lingzhao tapped the armrest of the palanquin.

“It must be done well. My people are not allowed to make any mistakes.”

Yan Wushu glanced at Mo Lin, who was standing among the palanquin bearers, his eyes dark as ink.

After sending the group off, Yan Wushu slowly straightened up.

He couldn’t stay.

Whether it was the woman Zhongli Lingzhao had asked him to test today, or the man who had seen the golden-threaded jade handkerchief.

Though eliminating the latter would be somewhat risky, judging by that person’s aura, they were definitely not a weak opponent.

As long as this person remained by Zhongli Lingzhao’s side, he would inevitably learn about Yinshan Liuyu. Rather than wait until that person had opened their Qi Sea and become harder to handle, it would be better to eliminate them now, while they were still an ordinary mortal.

Yan Wushu’s face was grim as he pondered his next move.

“—You’re looking for a woman named Ming Gui?”

On the field path, Lei Yan, who had been stopped by Yan Wushu, was taken aback when he heard this name.

Yan Wushu glanced around.

Was it his imagination?

When Lei Yan had mentioned this name, Yan Wushu felt as though numerous pairs of eyes had simultaneously fallen upon him in that instant.

“This person, doesn’t exist?”

“Not exactly,” Lei Yan replied. “She exists, and she’s quite well-known in the manor.”

Yan Wushu felt as though he had caught a lead, and with a firm pull, he could unravel something hidden beneath the manor—something unknown.

Not far off, a demon was observing the scene and asked Lan Zhu beside him:

“Lord Lan Zhu, was the name he just mentioned the fake name of the Empress? Should we…”

Lan Zhu was also deep in thought.

The Empress had just left the manor to rescue the mountain demon, and the Lord was not present. He didn’t dare to casually use the jade slip to contact them, so he could only make the decision himself.

To kill or let go…

At this moment, the jade slip flickered, and Lan Zhu immediately opened it to check the message.

Mo Lin: [Let him go]

Lan Zhu furrowed his brows, seemingly wanting to reply, but quickly received a second message from Mo Lin.

Mo Lin: [Kill him after he leaves the manor]

—-

Inside the Xiangli family mansion, Zhongli Lingzhao, seated at the head of the table, noticed Mo Lin was staring at the jade slip in his hand and casually asked:

“Have you learned how to use the jade slip?”

Mo Lin slowly raised his gaze.

It was clearly a calm look, but for some reason, Zhongli Lingzhao felt that beneath those eyes, which were as still as a lake, there was something hidden—some unknown emotion.

“Thanks to Miss Lingzhao, I’ve learned.”

Even these seemingly humble words felt rather harsh to Zhongli Lingzhao’s ears, as they didn’t feel humble at all.

Though talented individuals should be treated with courtesy to win their hearts, everything has its limits.

He must be taught the rules sooner rather than later.

During the dinner, Jiu Fang Shao Geng, who had just returned from Longdui City in the afternoon, learned that Zhongli Lingzhao had taken on a commoner as her subordinate.

He glanced at Mo Lin, then gave a devilish smile, addressing Zhongli Lingzhao:

“How strange, I thought you were only interested in things that Yinshan Liuyu likes.”

Mo Lin remained silent as he picked up his food.

Zhongli Lingzhao paused for a moment, but said nothing, seeming uninterested in responding to his provocation.

“With two days until we depart, Lingzhao, don’t you want to take the opportunity to see the other end of the Demon-ghost Great Wall?”

“I don’t want to,” she replied, her tone flat and without a hint of emotion.

“I heard that when the Demon-ghost Lord burned Wuse City, he summoned sixteen tentacles, had a pair of seven-inch-long dragon horns growing from his forehead, his body covered in snake scales and demonic patterns. Anything he touched would be burned to ashes.”

Jiu Fang Shao Geng absentmindedly stirred his food, wearing a five-colored silk bracelet on his left wrist.

His face, with sharp brows and bright eyes, showed a mischievous smile.

“Don’t you want to see how terrifying Yinshan Liuyu’s demon-ghost husband looks? I know you must want to see it. Don’t pretend. I, for one, am very curious to see what it’s like when that young lady, whose eyes are as big as the sky, now lives and dines with a monster…”

Mo Lin’s eyebrows twitched.

However, more noticeable than his movement was the servant girl pouring wine opposite him.

— She spilled the entire wine from the jug onto Mo Lin’s robe.

The commotion was noticeable, and even those at the head of the table glanced over.

But Mo Lin didn’t get angry. Instead, he grabbed the servant girl’s wrist, fixing her with a steady gaze.

The senior servant, who had been in charge of the manor, returned to her senses and immediately scolded:

“What are you doing, you fool! Hurry up and apologize to the young lord for spilling his wine…”

Mo Lin lifted his head and gave the senior servant a look.

She met his cold, deep gaze and, for a moment, forgot what she was about to say, intimidated by the force of his presence.

The young man, who was sparing with words, spoke:

“Don’t speak of her.”

Zhongli Lingzhao’s eyes shifted slightly.

She had grown up in a noble family and had attended countless banquets, so this scene was nothing new to her.

However, this person didn’t even flinch when meeting her gaze directly. She had originally thought he might be fond of handsome men, but to her surprise, he seemed more interested in a minor servant girl at the banquet.

This intrigued her, and she wondered what the servant girl looked like.

Zhongli Lingzhao said, “Since you’ve ruined the clothing, you can assist the young lord in changing.”

The servant girl nodded, and as she stood up, she revealed half of her face, which entered the line of sight of those at the head of the table.

It was an utterly plain face.

Zhongli Lingzhao felt disinterested and averted her gaze.

Once Mo Lin and the servant girl left the brightly lit hall, the surroundings fell silent. The servant girl then chuckled softly.

“You’re so impatient. How did you manage to stay by Zhongli Lingzhao’s side?”

What did “don’t speak of her” even mean?

It was lucky that the two people at the head weren’t particularly sharp, or they might have noticed something unusual.

After laughing, Liuyu finally looked up, her eyes shining as she gazed at him.

“I’ve changed my face again. How did you recognize me?”

Mo Lin didn’t want to respond, but seeing Liuyu’s curious expression, he had no choice but to speak:

“…Even if you turned to ash, I’d still recognize you.”

Apart from her face and voice, she had actually disguised her movements very well.

Mo Lin didn’t know how she had acquired such a skill, but to him, even if she altered her appearance beyond recognition, he could still sense her presence among millions of people.

That presence, once detected, would make every part of his body stir, responding in kind.

Liuyu quietly watched his profile, not saying anything.

It was strange.

Yan Wushu had recognized her by the contour of her ear, and she had found it chilling and disgusting.

But when Mo Lin said such a murderous thing, she felt no discomfort at all. In fact, she thought the way he said it was… rather endearing.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Liuyu casually explained the reason she was here while walking.

The situation began with Xiang Li Hualian.

She had learned that Xiang Li Hualian was at odds with the Xiang Li family and wanted to escape, which she initially thought was a perfect match.

But then Fang Fucang had sent her a jade slip, saying he had seen someone claiming to be Xiang Li Ling and instructed them to tell Xiang Li Hualian that he had died and to not let the Xiang Li family restrain her anymore.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Xiang Li Hualian went mad and refused to leave with them.

Mo Lin was somewhat surprised. He frowned and asked,
“What happened next?”

“We knocked her out and tied her up, then had the ghost girl carry her away,” Liuyu said casually. “I didn’t have the time to try convincing her. If it weren’t for her still being useful, at such a critical moment, who would have cared about her?”

When she saw the mountain demon tied up today, she instantly thought of Chao Yuan and Chao Ming from her previous life, who had been captured by the Xiang Li family and died from the test drugs.

If the mountain demon hadn’t spoken up, she would’ve already twisted Xiang Li Hualian’s head off.

Mo Lin looked at the dark color in Liuyu’s eyes.

“Are we going to act tonight?”

“Yes,” Liuyu replied decisively.

“I dressed like this because I’ve already alerted the guards in the main residence.”

Mo Lin stared ahead and said, “Yan Wushu was ordered to kill you today. I’ll notify Lan Zhu to intercept him midway. If he doesn’t return to the main residence soon, Zhongli Lingzhao will become suspicious. We can’t afford to delay any longer—has Wu Zhi prepared?”

Liuyu nodded.

“What about Fang Fucang?”

“He’s almost ready too.”

“Then—have you eaten today?”

Liuyu suddenly froze.

Mo Lin saw her calm expression suddenly turn confused. His mood, which had been heavy after hearing Shao Geng’s words in the inner room, lightened a little.

He held her hand and led her toward the kitchen.

Liuyu followed, still confused as to why the topic had shifted to food.

With strong enemies surrounding them and war about to break out,

Liuyu was surprised to hear him speak in a tone that brooked no refusal,
“Let’s eat first.”

“Even if the sky were to fall, I wouldn’t let the young lady go hungry.”