Futile Devices Scans

“No way.”

Cheng Yu flatly denied it. “Your memory is the one with problems.”

“…”

Grinding his back teeth, Xie Youlan let out a cold laugh and removed his hand from over Cheng Yu’s eyes. Then he suddenly leaned in close, clearly intending to startle him. Yet Cheng Yu merely blinked and did not even tilt his head back.

“That day, we were standing face-to-face too. About this close…” Xie Youlan lightly tapped the corner of his eye with a cool, dry finger. Leaning intimately against his ear, he reminisced in a low voice, “I even wiped away your tears. But I couldn’t wipe them all clean, so I had to use—”

Before he could finish, Cheng Yu angrily shoved him away with a palm strike and turned to leave. Xie Youlan staggered back two steps, covering his lips as he coughed twice, whether deliberately putting on an act or merely taking advantage of the opportunity.

“Sect Leader Cheng!”

Cheng Yu stopped but did not turn around. Thus he failed to see Xie Youlan smiling without the slightest remorse as his brazen gaze swept over him from head to toe.

The look was that of a predator sizing up its prey, lingering over Cheng Yu’s broad shoulders and narrow waist, carrying a faint desire to strip him apart skin and bone.

In a hoarse voice, he said, word by word, “My memory is excellent. You’re the one who forgets too much.”

After hearing this grand declaration, Cheng Yu reacted like a fish hearing about a carriage—completely unmoved. He simply walked off toward the Changchu Sect disciples.

The wind stirred by his sleeve brushed across Xie Youlan’s cheek, briefly melting the frosty pallor of his skin. Left behind, Xie Youlan muttered resentfully:

“Hmph. One day I’ll make you remember everything.”

The middle-aged boatman rowing them across the lake was also a disciple of the Changchu Sect. A passenger boat carried the group over the jade-colored waters, drifting leisurely toward the scattered islands dotting the center of the lake.

The cabin was spacious enough for six or seven people to sit face-to-face, with room for a small table in the middle. At the rear sat a small stove for making tea and cooking meals. Since they intended to inspect the islands one by one, they would inevitably be spending nights aboard the boat.

Some islands were large, some small. The smallest were little more than rocks protruding from the water. The larger ones held jagged stone outcroppings and wild flowers and trees of unknown varieties. Every one of them resembled the rumored “white sand shores and wild forests,” yet after visiting seven or eight islands in succession, they still found no sign of human habitation.

Half the day had been spent traveling. By afternoon they had only managed to inspect the cluster of islands closest to the southern shore, so that evening they stayed aboard the boat. The next day dawned gloomy and overcast, and wind swept across the lake. Fortunately, the vessel sat deep in the water. Though waves surged around them, the rocking remained relatively mild as they continued toward the deeper reaches of Yun Lake.

Looking out the window at the water, Yugong Zhaoye noticed that the lake was even whiter than before, almost resembling milk. Countless fine particles seemed suspended within it.

“The scenery here is beautiful,” he remarked. “Mountains, water, everything. Why are there so few villages nearby? Don’t people come here to sightsee?”

Cheng Yu replied calmly, “Being beautiful alone isn’t enough, Your Highness.”

The moment the words fell, the cabin became as silent as though someone had just died.

Only Xie Youlan reacted as though struck squarely in the chest by a heavy punch, erupting into two loud, violent coughs.

Everyone: “…”

Yugong Zhaoye clicked his tongue with exaggerated regret.

“See? Not even physically capable anymore…”

“Young Master Xie.”

Every word Xie Youlan forced through clenched teeth sounded as though it had been ground out on a whetstone.

“If I make it back alive with even one breath left in me, I’m going to repeat today’s conversation word for word to Chancellor Wei.”

The corners of Cheng Yu’s lips twitched upward ever so slightly. He looked at Yugong Zhaoye expectantly, hoping the assassin leader would deliver a crushing counterattack and finally put an end to this nuisance’s antics.

Yugong Zhaoye considered the matter seriously.

He pondered.

He weighed his options.

Then, with utmost solemnity, he declared:

“Being beautiful is enough. Beauty is a skill in itself.”

Cheng Yu turned expressionlessly toward Ying Yue.

“Longsha is finished.”

Ying Yue: “…Indeed.”

Xie Youlan raised an eyebrow triumphantly at Cheng Yu before smiling at Yugong Zhaoye.

“It seems great minds truly think alike. That fellow has nothing but a pretty face. His head is full of air. I’m delighted Your Highness shares my opinion.”

Yugong Zhaoye flicked his thumb, cracking his saber slightly free of its sheath. He returned the smile.

“Air is a wonderful thing. Too bad you won’t be breathing any more of it.”

Before he could chop Xie Youlan into pieces, however, a sinister gust of wind came from nowhere.

The boat lurched violently.

The deck suddenly tilted backward and to the side.

Yugong Zhaoye barely managed to steady himself.

Then a massive wave rose soundlessly from beneath the lake.

Crash!

Everyone was thrown into the air before slamming back down in a tangled heap.

Xie Youlan’s head rang.

“Why did the waves suddenly get so violent?!”

Cheng Yu replied, “Now you know why no one comes here, Your Highness. Strong currents appear without warning, especially during windy or rainy weather. The waves become highly unpredictable, and boats capsize easily.”

“You could have mentioned that earlier!”

Cheng Yu even tried to comfort him.

“Don’t worry, Your Highness. Yun Lake is an alkaline lake. If someone falls in, they’ll end up evenly coated in white sand. Have you ever eaten candied hawthorn balls? It’s more or less like that. Once you sink to the bottom, you’ll stay preserved for a hundred years.”

Yugong Zhaoye stared at him.

“What exactly does the Changchu Sect teach you? Even ‘when the sky falls, use it as a blanket’ has its limits!”

“Can you say something lucky for once?” Xie Youlan snapped. “Is there no way to survive without falling in?”

“There is.”

Cheng Yu remained perfectly calm.

“Grab onto the boat. Keep your mouth shut. As long as you don’t bite your tongue, you won’t die.”

The currents followed no discernible pattern. The wind spun the boat around the center of the lake like a hurricane.

The vessel became nothing more than a piece of floating duckweed, utterly powerless before nature’s might.

The three assassins and the former assassin managed reasonably well. After all, much of Longsha bordered the sea. They were accustomed to rough waters. Aside from the initial surprise, they quickly found ways to secure themselves.

Xie Youlan, however, was a native of the inland regions. Already suffering from internal injuries, every violent jolt tugged at his wounds. His lips turned white almost instantly. Cold sweat soaked through his clothing. The world spun before his eyes.

His grip weakened.

His hands slipped.

Unable to hold himself upright any longer, he went crashing toward the stern of the boat with a series of loud bangs and clatters.

Cheng Yu’s reaction was lightning-fast.

He immediately reached out.

Yet just as he did, another wave struck, tilting the vessel in the opposite direction.

His fingertips barely brushed the edge of Xie Youlan’s sleeve.

He missed.

The fingers that had failed to catch him curled spasmodically into his palm as though shocked by electricity.

In the next instant, Yugong Zhaoye moved like lightning.

Hooking one foot around the window frame, he bent his entire body into an impossible arc. With perfect precision, he thrust out his sheathed saber.

The tip snagged Xie Youlan’s belt.

His waist, abdomen, and arm exerted force simultaneously.

He hauled a man taller than himself back from the brink and tossed him directly toward Cheng Yu.

Rolling his wrist afterward, he muttered:

“He’s heavier than he looks.”

Xie Youlan had neither the strength to thank him nor the energy to argue.

His hair was soaked.

His face had gone deathly pale.

Every scrap of his willpower was focused on suppressing the blood surging violently within his chest.

Leaning against Cheng Yu’s shoulder, he panted continuously.

“There, there. You’re fine now.”

Cheng Yu wrapped an arm around him and sighed.

“What did I tell you?”

“Being beautiful really isn’t enough.”

No one knew whether it was rage surging into his heart or simply the end of his strength, but those words became the final grain of sand that broke Palace Master Xie’s back. The scorching surge churning in his chest could no longer be suppressed. He clutched tightly at the back of Cheng Yu’s robes. Darkness suddenly swallowed his vision, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Cheng Yu: “…”

It was warm, thick, and an ominous blackish-purple color. The taste of rust filled his throat.

“It’s blood…”

“Chancellor Wei! Someone, quickly! Summon the imperial physicians! Chancellor Wei is coughing up blood!”

Wei Fu’s gaze was unfocused. He stared at the blood staining his palm, watching with detached indifference as it dripped through his fingers.

So it had finally come to this.

He knew he ought to look more shocked—panicked, frail, perhaps even collapse unconscious on the spot—to provide the perfect finale for this farce and drive the already turbulent situation toward an even more irretrievable outcome.

But who was he supposed to perform for?

The person who would have cared about him was not by his side. Why should he display his suffering like a performing monkey for a crowd of irrelevant spectators?

The noise around him was chaotic. Some people were shouting, some were crying and arguing. A crowd surrounded him. Through the gaps between their overlapping shoulders, Wei Fu caught sight of the Longsha ruler, Yugong Lie, his face filled with shock and alarm.

“Chancellor Wei! Chancellor Wei!”

At a palace banquet, the Minister-Regent had suddenly begun vomiting blood after drinking wine. Who had struck with such a poisonous hand? What malicious scheme was this?

Whoever it was, Longsha would never let them go for harming this living ancestor.

Boom!

A flash of lightning tore across the black night like a cracking whip. One peal of thunder exploded before another followed, shaking the roof tiles and rattling the windows. The echoes droned through the vast palace halls, reverberating again and again above the rooftops.

All the clamorous voices gradually faded like a receding tide, swallowed by the overwhelming roar of the rain.