Langhuan Jade Grotto

Yan Ruhua wheeled around and looked toward the west wing, its doors and windows tightly shut. The fat on her face quivered as she thought, No wonder I haven't found a single thread of a clue all these years. The entrance was hidden in the young lady's courtyard all along.

"Move!"

She raised her iron staff and pressed it against the girl's shoulder, urging her to lead the way.

"Nanny Chen..."

Wang Yuyan looked back with every step at Chen Ping lying below the steps, worry filling the space between her delicate brows on her snow-white face. The distance was only fifteen or sixteen paces. One behind the other, neither fast nor slow, they finally reached the west wing.

"Open the door!"

Yan Ruhua stopped, holding her iron staff before her defensively as she watched the white-robed girl's back intently.

"What are you dawdling for? Hoping reinforcements will come? Or are there hidden weapons and traps inside?"

Wang Yuyan glanced back at the short, fat old woman, then calmly pushed open the wooden door. No lamps were lit inside, and it was black as ink, with only the faint outlines of wooden racks visible. Suddenly, the girl lifted her skirts and ran inside.

"Stop! You little bitch..."

Yan Ruhua sprang forward. The instant she rushed into the room, she felt a chill behind her head.

Not good!

Whoosh!

Cold light descended from above, like a bright moon plummeting, like a willow branch swaying. In an instant, it became four sword shadows that hissed through the darkness. Her iron staff shot upward, while arrows came hurtling through the air from ahead...

She truly had not expected experts to be lying in ambush in the west wing, refusing to act even while Chen Ping lay gravely wounded and dying...

"Damn it!"

Squelch!

"Urgh..."

In those few short breaths, blades and swords flashed through the little room, phantom forms crisscrossing amid the clash of weapons and muffled groans of pain... It was as though an iron wok had been set up, with oil, salt, sauces, vinegar, scallions, ginger, garlic, and cinnamon swirling and colliding as they were stir-fried over a roaring flame.

"Aah-"

With a heavy thud against the floor, everything fell quiet again.

The white-robed girl crouched in a corner, clutching her head, utterly dazed. Only when a candle flame appeared before her did she slowly open her phoenix eyes. She saw two dark shadows spilling across the floor and looked up.

"You..."

One in green and one in black, the two stood shoulder to shoulder, holding a saber and a sword. Bamboo hats covered their heads, leaving only their eyes exposed. The one on the right carried a faint, delicate fragrance, and a trace of hostility lurked in those eyes like cold moons.

These... clearly weren't the manor's servants or guards!

I got it wrong!

Remembering the chaos that had broken out in the manor earlier, Wang Yuyan understood a little. Her face paled slightly. She felt as though she had just escaped a tiger's jaws only to enter a wolf's den. Forcing herself to remain calm, she slowly stood.

"Thank you both... brave heroes, for saving my life."

Holding a candlestick, Li Yu said coldly, "You knew we were hiding here? You deliberately diverted the flood our way!"

Hearing his unfriendly tone, Wang Yuyan first nodded, then shook her head. "Nanny Chen gave me a hint before she lost consciousness. I thought... I thought the manor's guards were hiding in the west wing, waiting for a chance to launch a surprise attack."

"Did you?"

Wang Yuyan lifted her face and looked earnestly into the bright peach-blossom eyes behind the green gauze.

"I'm not lying to you."

Holding his bloodstained steel sword, Li Yu studied the girl. She was fifteen or sixteen, with a trace of childishness amid her poise, and possessed a beauty beyond compare. She seemed shrouded in rosy mist, unlike someone of the mortal world.

He chuckled. "Whether you did it deliberately or it was all a twist of fate, as things stand, we did put ourselves in danger to save you. Miss Wang, surely you ought to repay us somehow?"

Mu Wanqing shot him a glare. She knew he was a decent man, yet he always loved saying things that were anything but decent.

Wang Yuyan's face paled slightly. "You... how do you want me to repay you?"

Li Yu smiled faintly. "To be frank, the Langhuan Jade Grotto is renowned throughout the martial world. We would very much like to take a look inside. Please grant us this favor."

The chill in Mu Wanqing's eyes eased a little.

Li Yu thought to himself that he had crossed to the island tonight and, forced by circumstances, killed Old Woman Yan, ridding himself of this thorn in his heart. That counted as an unexpected delight. From the conversation he had just overheard in the courtyard, Yan Ruhua's goal had also been the Langhuan Jade Grotto. He might as well kill three birds with one stone...

It would be one thing if Mantuo Manor never traced this back to him. If it did, it would become a formidable enemy. Since he had already offended it thoroughly anyway, he might as well take a few advanced martial arts back with him before leaving, so he would have some means of responding if the truth came out.

"Preferably a first-rate internal cultivation art!"

To truly establish himself in the jianghu, he needed a first-rate internal cultivation art as his foundation.

"All right."

Wang Yuyan actually agreed with remarkable readiness.

"Wait!"

Mu Wanqing took a few steps forward and stood between them, looking at the girl who was a little less than half a head shorter than herself. "When Yan Ruhua wanted to enter the Langhuan Jade Grotto, you refused at every turn, regardless of whether you lived or died. Now you agree at once. Is this another trick?"

"No!"

"No what?" Mu Wanqing demanded.

Wang Yuyan shook her head slightly and explained, "If the martial arts manuals in the Langhuan Jade Grotto fall into the hands of someone with an evil heart, they will surely bring calamity upon the jianghu. Nanny Yan was vicious, which was why I refused to take her there."

Mu Wanqing sneered. "Now that is strange. We've only just met... no, you haven't even seen our real faces. How can you tell whether we're good or bad? For all you know... we might be even more wicked than Yan Ruhua."

Hearing this, Wang Yuyan smiled instead. "Though you two are gentlemen merely passing through, and I've never seen your faces, I have seen your eyes clearly."

"Eyes?" Mu Wanqing asked with a frown.

"Yes. Books say that when judging someone, you needn't look at anything else. Their eyes are enough. Like my cousin-his eyes are always looking into the distance... because he has tremendous ambitions he wants to realize, yet often lacks the strength to accomplish what his heart desires..."

As the girl spoke, her voice suddenly sank.

She had grown up without a father. Though her mother was close at hand, she was often distant. In her heart, she regarded Murong Fu, seven or eight years her senior, as the person she would rely upon for the rest of her life. Tonight, she had narrowly escaped death, and Nanny Chen was gravely wounded and unconscious. Had her cousin been there, things surely would not have come to this.

Seeing the tenderness that flowed like water when she mentioned her cousin, Mu Wanqing secretly felt reassured as well.

She asked again.

"What do you make of our eyes?"

Wang Yuyan looked up, first turning to the man in green. "This young master's eyes are lively but not frivolous, focused and spirited... You are openhearted, loyal and affectionate, and clear about gratitude and grudges."

Li Yu raised his thumb in agreement. "Spot on!"

"You're making him sound far too good," Mu Wanqing said with a laugh.

"As for this young lady..."

Seeing Wang Yuyan turn toward her, Mu Wanqing hurriedly waved her off. "I believe you. There's no need to read my face."

Wang Yuyan looked at Li Yu and pleaded, "Let me move Nanny Chen into the building and settle her in first, and then I'll go with you to the Langhuan Jade Grotto."

Li Yu looked out into the courtyard and nodded slightly.

The daughter takes after neither her mother nor her ways. If she can show such affection for a servant, she is a kind person after all.

The three walked out of the west wing. The wooden door slowly swung shut, concealing the last sliver of white moonlight on the floor.

The short, fat old woman lay on her back, her eyes wide open, revealing utter unwillingness to accept her fate.

Two short arrows protruded from the left side of her chest, though they had not penetrated deeply. The fatal wound was a sword thrust to the throat, from which blood gushed like a spring.

Wisps of white smoke rose from both her palms, giving off an indescribably foul, scorched stench. Her silk gloves had burned away, exposing stark white bones. Together with her defiance, indignation, and resentment, they were all swallowed by the darkness.