Luring the Snake out of Its Hole

At the Yang Family Martial Arts Hall, on the training grounds.

A new, large wooden barrel had been placed on the sandy ground and filled with water. Several apprentices took turns laboriously pushing the stone ball around inside it, utterly unable to create a whirlpool.

Thump! Thump, thump!

On the other side, Meng Yue's eyes were icy and his face gloomy, his entire bearing warning others not to cross him. His punches and kicks shook the jujube-wood post again and again, sending grit flying from its base.

"Damn it, is that brat Hong a turtle? Does he know nothing but hiding in his shell?"

Another three days had passed in the blink of an eye, and Meng Yue still had not found a way to lure Hong Yuan out of the martial arts hall.

He had urged Li Hai and another apprentice who followed him to invite Hong Yuan out twice more. Whenever Hong Yuan instructed the other apprentices, he too would go over now and then to curry favor and act familiar.

But none of it worked.

What do I do? What do I do? Mr. Cui is already getting very impatient. I can't drag this out any longer. Should I try drugging him? But...

As Meng Yue fretted and racked his brains for a solution, he heard the apprentices calling out, "Senior brother!" His gaze shifted, and he saw Hong Yuan dressed not in his usual training clothes, but in a fitted outfit of black cloud brocade, with a long saber at his waist.

Meng Yue's heart leaped, and a thought sprang into his mind.

"Senior Brother Hong, are you going out?" an apprentice asked.

"Yes!" Hong Yuan nodded, swept his gaze over the dozen or so apprentices on the training grounds, and smiled. "I'm going to Little Lone Mountain outside the city to practice the Ape Movement Technique. Keep training hard, all of you. Don't slack off."

The Body Strengthening Method Yang Erhu had taught him, along with the tendon-stretching, bone-strengthening exercises and stone-lock and stone-ball lifting of the Rock-Solid Skill, could all be practiced in the martial arts hall. But its grounds were a little too cramped for the Ape Movement Technique, which trained movement.

Besides, the Ape Movement Technique had been developed by imitating the climbing, leaping, and tumbling movements of apes. Naturally, the mountains and forests were the best places to practice it.

Hong Yuan said goodbye to everyone and strolled out through the martial arts hall's gates.

On the training grounds, Meng Yue watched Hong Yuan's back recede into the distance. For a moment, he almost felt tears welling in his eyes, like a daughter-in-law who had finally endured long enough to become the mother-in-law.

It had been so damned hard. That turtle Hong had finally agreed to leave his shell.

At this point, Meng Yue no longer cared whether he aroused suspicion. He called Li Hai over and asked him to request leave from Yang Erhu on his behalf, claiming something had come up at home. Then he dashed out of the martial arts hall.

"Little Lone Mountain... Little Lone Mountain, is it? You won't be coming back from this trip."

Meng Yue ground his teeth, vicious resolve filling his heart. Without slowing, he hurried down a long street to find the contact Yan Tieshan had arranged.

"Ah! I haven't bothered a soul, yet these treacherous commoners are always plotting against their emperor..."

A tall, slender figure stood at the corner of an alley, his face hidden in the shadow of a wall, and let out a quiet sigh.

It was Hong Yuan!

After his comprehension had improved again, Hong Yuan had also acquired a faint, mysterious spiritual sensitivity.

Although Meng Yue usually acted very attentive and respectful toward him, Hong Yuan could occasionally sense traces of malice coming from him.

Moreover, lately, the idlers and peddlers on the streets had been peering into the martial arts hall whenever they passed, whether casually or deliberately. Their gazes often fell on him, putting Hong Yuan even more on his guard.

Hong Yuan had not forgotten the incident at the Jade Wutong Immortal Realm. His relentless training was also intended to help him withstand Wei Zhenzhu's vengeance, which could arrive at any time.

His first suspicion had been that Wei Zhenzhu's people had tracked him down. Then he had decided that seemed unlikely, since Meng Yue had already been at the Yang Family Martial Arts Hall for two years.

Hong Yuan had always been a man of action. Since he felt something was wrong with Meng Yue, he certainly would not spend a thousand days guarding against a thief. Thinking of the repeated invitations to gatherings from the apprentices lately, he vaguely suspected Meng Yue had put them up to it. He might as well grant the man his wish.

Lure the snake out of its hole!

Hopefully, I'm just paranoid. Otherwise, having my first saber strike since leaving Fat Pig Manor land on a fellow disciple would be truly heartbreaking... Oh! He doesn't really count as a fellow disciple, does he? Never mind, then.

Hong Yuan still had leisure to entertain idle thoughts as he followed Meng Yue at an unhurried pace. Only when passing a general store did he casually toss over a little broken silver and take a bamboo hat to put on his head.

Ordinary people generally used copper coins or bartered for their daily needs, but Hong Yuan found copper coins troublesome to carry, so all the money he kept on him was silver.

Once he lowered the brim to conceal half his face, hardly anyone paid him any attention.

The world was in turmoil, with bandits springing up everywhere. Over the past dozen years, wandering adventurers carrying sabers and swords had also become as plentiful as crucian carp crossing a river.

Meng Yue was not particularly vigilant. After all, he had never imagined someone might follow him. He only glanced back occasionally out of habit, and Hong Yuan always slipped out of his line of sight beforehand.

The Ape Movement Technique was naturally best practiced in the mountain wilderness.

But Hong Yuan's root bone was so outstanding that the setting made no difference when it came to such technical skills. He could learn them after seeing them once, and a little practice made them as easy as driving a familiar carriage down a well-known road.

After several turns and roughly a quarter of an hour of brisk walking, Meng Yue arrived at a secluded, detached courtyard.

Meng Yue knocked on the gate, but no one answered at first. He had to pound on it until it boomed before, a short while later, a burly man opened it amid a stream of curses and let him inside.

An old scholar tree stood to the left of the courtyard, its trunk thick and its branches extending over the wall.

Any thief could have climbed along those branches and slipped inside without even needing a ladder.

But Hong Yuan knew that if there were guards inside, this would be the most closely watched spot. He went straight around to the back of the house instead. With a slight push of his feet, his body became as light and nimble as an old ape's. One spring of his legs and one reach of his hand carried him onto the roof, more than ten feet high.

His feet settled soundlessly on the roof tiles.

A noisy clamor rose from the large room beneath him. The jumble of voices alone told him there were plenty of people inside, and the smell of liquor drifted up as well.

Hong Yuan lowered himself, lifted a roof tile just enough to expose a narrow gap, and peered inside.

The room was spacious, with liquor warming on a stove and steam rising from it.

Despite the autumn weather, more than a dozen burly men sat bare-chested around two tables, drinking liquor and eating meat, enjoying themselves immensely.

Hong Yuan withdrew his gaze and surveyed the entire courtyard. He felt his caution had been entirely unnecessary. Everyone was enjoying themselves inside, and no one stood guard outside.

Meng Yue's heavy pounding earlier had interrupted their merriment. As he was led into the room, someone cursed through drunken, bleary eyes, "Fuck, who's here?"

Meng Yue frowned deeply.

At that moment, someone sober spotted Meng Yue and hurriedly rose with a smile. "Oh, Brother Meng's here! Come on, take a seat! Have a drink!"

Meng Yue's face turned ashen. He drew a deep breath and asked, "Is Military Advisor Qian here?"

Military Advisor Qian was the Poison-Heart Scholar who served under Yan Tieshan. Meng Yue had no desire to make small talk with this pack of thugs and hoodlums, so he asked directly for the man in charge.

"Military Advisor Qian? Of course he's gone back to the Third Master. Brother Meng, a hairless lip means an unreliable hand! You still haven't lured that brat Hong out, so all we can do is sit here drinking to pass the time..."

A somewhat drunken man gave Meng Yue a sidelong look, staggered over, and blew a liquor-reeking breath into his face.

Furious, Meng Yue hurriedly dodged aside.

The man roared with laughter and headed outside, belly thrust forward. "Urgh... I'm going out to take a piss first. My bladder's about to burst."

"Brother, wait for us!"

Two more men immediately rose with cheerful grins and went out with him.

Smelling the pungent liquor fumes in the room, Meng Yue looked at the dozen or so men before him. More than half were visibly drunk. His brow tightened further as he said gravely, "That brat Hong went out today. Go find Military Advisor Qian immediately and have him arrange an ambush. Don't miss this opportunity."

"Huh? That little bastard finally poked his head out? Good! Where is he? Tell me, quick!"

"That's right! He's kept us brothers waiting for so many days. I'll make him suffer!"

Several drunkards immediately began shouting. Another stumbled to his feet, lost his balance, and fell to the floor. Still sprawled half on his side, he yelled with a thick tongue, "Where's my saber? Who hid my fucking saber... Give me my saber! I'm going to kill someone!"

Veins bulged on Meng Yue's forehead, and his hands clenched into fists. He wished he could slaughter a few of these men first to vent his anger.

He knew perfectly well that this was because he had failed to lure Hong Yuan out for so long. Given these street ruffians' habits, they could barely have restrained themselves for two or three days. After nearly ten days of delay, they had simply cast off all restraint.

They were only drinking and eating meat in the room. Not kidnapping a few women to rape already counted as restraint.

The few ruffians who were still reasonably sober exchanged glances. Looking at their dead-drunk companions, they felt their scalps prickle. These men could not even walk straight—how were they supposed to kill anyone?

"Leave someone here to watch the brothers. Anyone whose head's still clear, come with me. Brother Meng, let's go find the Third Master together."

A ruffian who looked like their leader steadied himself and spoke.

"Good. Let's do that!"

Meng Yue nodded as well.

The leader immediately strode past Meng Yue and took the lead. As he approached the half-closed door, he seemed to remember something and turned around. "Right, Brother Meng, is anyone keeping an eye on that brat Hong? It'd be a shame if he finally came out only for us to lose him."

"Don't worry. He went to Little Lone Mountain outside the city," Meng Yue said.

"Good, then..."

Shrrk!

Before the ruffian leader had finished saying "good," a soft tearing sound suddenly rang out. Before he could react, he felt a chill in his chest.

He looked down blankly. A steel saber had thrust through the half-closed doorway and pierced him squarely through the chest where he stood beside the door.

The leader's pupils widened, and the smile froze on his face. Agony surged through him, but before he could cry out, a bang thundered out. The door instantly shattered, fragments spraying everywhere.

Chunks of wood shot in every direction, pelting the men inside. At the same time, the ruffian seemed to be struck by a tremendous force, his body flying sideways toward Meng Yue and the others.

Meng Yue reacted fastest. He stepped back, dodging the hurtling body, and flicked up a steel saber with his foot. It flew into his palm, and he raised it horizontally to block!

Clang!

Almost at the same instant he blocked, a streak of saber light darted in from outside and struck his raised blade, showering sparks. The newcomer chuckled, pivoted away from Meng Yue, and threaded his way among the few sober ruffians with a rapid series of steps.

A succession of slicing sounds rang out, the saber light joining into a single line like a startled swan flashing past. The ruffians' throats had already been cut open. Blood gushed out as they fell in utter terror, clutching their throats, unable to make a sound.

Swish!

The newcomer flicked his arm, shaking the droplets of blood from his blade. Only then did he turn to Meng Yue and say with a soft laugh, "Junior brother, you've really disappointed me!"