Yu Gong Zhao Ye snapped a tree branch as thick as a wrist with a crack. He very much wanted to throw the firewood he had gathered onto Xie You Lan and roast him on the spot. Ying Yue hurriedly smoothed things over. “Forget it, forget it. My sister is still in his hands. Your Highness, you’re magnanimous. Endure it one more time, and then one more time after that. Take a step back, and then another step back.”
Yu Gong Zhao Ye: “…”
Filled with emotion, Cheng Yu reiterated, “Longsha is finished.”
Everyone’s clothes were soaked through. Although it was now springtime and they were sheltering in a wind-protected sinkhole, the deep mountains were chilly. They might not freeze to death, but it was certainly miserable. Even the boatman was helping clear a space and prepare a fire, yet Cheng Yu—a perfectly healthy man with all four limbs intact—had been monopolized by Xie You Lan alone. Unable to move, he could only sit on the ground and serve as a pillow.
But that still was not the end of it. Even with his eyes closed, Xie You Lan would not behave himself. Apparently dissatisfied that Cheng Yu’s attention had been stolen by others, he scratched lightly at Cheng Yu’s palm and complained petulantly, “Guide Cheng, you were the one leading the way. How did you guide us into a pit? Look at us, soaked from head to toe. Were you trying to turn us all into sugar figurines?”
Cheng Yu flicked away the offending fingers and said patiently, “The credit does not belong to me. Rather, Palace Master Xie is blessed by fate. Heaven could not bear to see you drifting around on the lake, so it sent favorable winds and smooth waters to carry you here.”
Xie You Lan resentfully withdrew the hand that had been flicked away, then stubbornly laid his other hand over Cheng Yu’s again. “I know you’re speaking sarcastically. What Sect Master Cheng really wants to say is that Heaven punishes evil people. Right?”
Expressionless, Cheng Yu lowered his gaze to him and pinched the inside of his arm. Though he did not use much strength, the spot was sensitive. Xie You Lan nearly sprang into the air from the pinch, hissing through his teeth. Yet rather than getting angry, he smiled up at Cheng Yu. “Fine, fine, I’ll stop talking. So what exactly happened?”
Not only was Longsha finished—Beizhu Palace was finished too.
“After you clutched your chest, coughed up blood, and passed out, the wind and waves on the lake grew stronger. Then a storm rolled in. Our boat struck a hidden reef beneath the water and the hull was breached, so everyone had no choice but to abandon ship and enter the water.”
Cheng Yu continued calmly, “Originally, we planned to wait for the waves to calm down and find a nearby island to shelter from the storm. Then His Highness suddenly had an inspiration and remembered that, according to the rumors, the woman who threw herself into the lake had done so under the same weather conditions. We searched more than a dozen islands the previous day and found nothing. If we were searching in the wrong direction, continuing like that would only waste time. His Highness thought that since the opportunity was rare, if we could recreate the exact same conditions and retrace her movements, we might discover where she ultimately came ashore.”
Xie You Lan: “…”
“You call that an inspiration?” He sat bolt upright in Cheng Yu’s lap and swept a blazing gaze across the group of outrageously reckless assassins. “Everyone, how do you people still have the nerve to call me the madman?”
Ying Yue stared at the sky.
Cheng Yu stared at the ground.
Only Yu Gong Zhao Ye wore an expression that clearly said, What nonsense are you arguing about now? He replied righteously, “That’s a problem with your character. I’m simply willing to try things. How are those the same? Besides, didn’t we end up finding the right place?”
“So all of you brought your entire group here to this godforsaken wilderness without hesitation. Not one person thought about how we would get back if the boat sank. You even skipped the step of bringing reinforcements.” Xie You Lan applauded them coldly. “Truly courageous and resourceful. Excellent.”
The boatman lowered his head in shame.
But Yu Gong Zhao Ye would never admit defeat so easily. “People have floated ashore clinging to a single log before. If there’s no boat, we can swim back. What’s the big deal? When you were unconscious and half dead, nobody let you sink to the bottom of the lake, did they?”
Xie You Lan: “…”
Yu Gong Zhao Ye delivered the finishing blow with a cold smile. “You should spend your time taking care of that body of yours that coughs up blood whenever the wind blows, Palace Master Xie, instead of worrying about pointless things.”
Unable to refute him, Xie You Lan lay back down. “How long was I unconscious?”
“Not long. Less than two hours.” No smile showed on Cheng Yu’s face. “Your internal injuries are severe. His Highness and I both tried to help treat them, but your internal energy was weak, while the true qi within your meridians was chaotic, violent, and domineering. It would not tolerate interference from outsiders. We feared that forcing our own qi into you might only worsen the damage, so we did not dare act rashly.”
“You…” He paused, seeming to weigh his words over and over in his mind, as though speaking them aloud would send him tumbling into some unseen and irreparable abyss.
Xie You Lan met his gaze in silence.
Cheng Yu’s voice became as soft as leaves rustling in the wind. “Why, after all this time… have your internal injuries still not healed?”
Among martial sects that cultivated internal techniques, every school possessed methods for treating injuries caused by qi. Such knowledge was essential for survival. A great sect like Beizhu Palace possessed countless miracle medicines and secret manuals. How could Xie You Lan’s injuries have remained unresolved for so long? Or perhaps they had already reached a stage that even Beizhu Palace could no longer cure?
Anyone who had examined his condition could infer the ominous implications hidden within it. That was precisely why Xie You Lan preferred seeking help from outsiders rather than relying on his own people. The internal turmoil within Beizhu Palace had not yet fully settled. Without the strength to protect himself, if someone seized upon this weakness, his choices would be either death—or something even worse than death. He wanted neither.
“What a question.” Xie You Lan laughed and traced circles across Cheng Yu’s palm with a touch so intimate it bordered on provocation. “Are you reluctant to see me die?”
Given what he knew of Cheng Yu, Xie You Lan expected some grand, righteous response—or perhaps for him to pretend he had heard nothing at all.
Instead, Cheng Yu nodded. Not solemnly, but sincerely.
“Don’t die.”
Xie You Lan: “Oh.”
Xie You Lan: “Then I’ll keep hanging on a little longer.”
A moment later, he added, “While I was unconscious, were you holding my hand because you wanted to take advantage of me?”
Cheng Yu: “… It was because your hands kept moving around while you were unconscious. You kept hitting rocks and scraping your skin, so I held them still.”
“Which hand?”
Cheng Yu lifted his left hand.
Raising it before his eyes, Xie You Lan found a bloodstain the size of a fingernail across the back of his hand and knuckles. A thin crimson scab had already formed. There were traces of plant juice staining the skin and the faint scent of medicinal herbs. Clearly, Cheng Yu had treated the wound for him.
Turning the hand over, he stared at a long scar across his palm. “No wonder. I kept feeling pain in my hand in the dream.”
“What did you dream about?”
Xie You Lan shook his hand as though trying to fling away phantom droplets of icy water. “Nothing. I dreamed about that debt collector…”
Then he paused.
“Did you feed me medicine while I was unconscious? What kind of medicine was it?”
“Pills for preventing epidemics,” Cheng Yu replied. “His Highness said that if this truly was the place where that woman finally came ashore, we should be wary of disease and plague.”
Xie You Lan nodded. Then suddenly realized something.
“Wait. Aren’t pills supposed to be swallowed whole? Why was it so bitter?”
For the first time, a hint of a smile appeared on Cheng Yu’s face, softening the curve of his eyes. “His Highness was worried that you might not be able to swallow while unconscious and would choke to death. So I dissolved them into a medicinal soup and poured it down your throat.”
“Yu Gong Zhao Ye!”
Xie You Lan exploded upright.
“You’re vicious!”
Yu Gong Zhao Ye, who was warming himself by the fire: “?”
He casually plucked a burr and threw it at Xie You Lan.
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“That was not a compliment.” Leaning against Cheng Yu, Xie You Lan finally returned to the interrupted topic. “What happened after we fell into the water? How did you get through the mountains?”
Ever the responsible guide, Cheng Yu answered, “This place is what the mountain villagers call a Heavenly Pit. Some also call it a Dragon Pool. These sinkholes are usually hidden deep within mountain ranges, with underground rivers running through them. No one knows where those rivers ultimately connect. Because such places are rarely visited by people and possess many strange features, locals often believe they are the dwellings of divine beasts and monsters.”
He pointed toward the cave entrance where the sound of flowing water echoed softly.
“This underground river extends all the way into the reefs deep within Yun Lake. Whenever heavy rains raise the water level, lake water floods back through the opposite end, creating a powerful current. We followed that current into the underground river and eventually swam here.”
Seizing his opportunity for revenge, Xie You Lan grabbed several burrs and flicked them back at Yu Gong Zhao Ye. Though burdened by internal injuries, he still possessed the skill to snap swords with a flick of his fingers. The burrs shot through the air with sharp whistling sounds.
“So you mean that woman was swept into an underground river by the current and had some strange adventure in the mountains. The story about the white sand shore and wilderness forest was entirely fabricated. Why would she lie?”
Tilting his head to avoid the incoming projectiles, Yu Gong Zhao Ye answered steadily, “Because someone told her not to reveal the truth.”
“Who?”
A long wind swept down from the sky into the sinkhole, circling through the treetops.
As the branches swayed, Ying Yue suddenly caught sight of a black-clad figure standing atop one of them, silently looking down at the group from above. Every hair on Ying Yue’s body stood on end. His blade left its sheath with a ringing sound. His scalp prickled. He had never reacted so quickly in his life.
Yet in the next instant, Yu Gong Zhao Ye had already appeared before the shadow like a ghost, launching a sweeping kick through the air.
No one saw when he moved. No one even heard a sound.
He simply appeared, intercepting the hidden observer with effortless elegance and lethal precision. Both wore black. Their robes flared as they rose and fell through the air, resembling two great birds battling in flight. Their exchange of techniques was so swift that the fight became strangely beautiful to watch.
Squinting at the figure overhead, Xie You Lan commented critically, “Did a monkey spirit cultivate into human form?”
Cheng Yu glanced at him. “Can’t beat them anymore, can you?”
“Nonsense.” Xie You Lan denied it immediately. “I’m injured. That’s why I let him handle it. Besides, you noticed too, didn’t you?”
Ying Yue’s eyes widened in astonishment.
Cheng Yu smiled at him and pointed at the burrs scattered on the ground. “Walls have ears.”
Only then did Ying Yue realize that the two men had not been acting foolish. They had been signaling each other and discussing the best moment to strike. The performance had been frighteningly convincing. It had not looked like acting at all.
Within moments, the battle above had already produced a clear victor. Though the stranger’s movement techniques were strange and agile, they were no match for Yu Gong Zhao Ye. Unable to escape, the figure took a palm strike to the shoulder and fell from the air, stumbling upon landing before regaining balance.
Ying Yue and Cheng Yu moved to block the escape routes from both sides. Like a bird trapped in a cage, there was nowhere left to run.
At some point, the cloth wrapped around the figure’s head had been cut loose. It slid down over the shoulders, revealing a pale face.
It was a woman.
Her hair at the temples was completely white and held up by a simple tree branch, yet her features were far from withered. In fact, she was strikingly beautiful. Most captivating of all were her peach blossom eyes, deep and mesmerizing enough to steal a person’s soul.
For a moment, everyone’s gaze shifted repeatedly between her face and Xie You Lan’s.
Yu Gong Zhao Ye coughed lightly and offered an awkward apology. “This junior has offended you. Please forgive my rudeness… Madam Jiang.”
She did not respond.
As though she had heard nothing, she stared fixedly at Xie You Lan, as if trapped in a dream.
Chaotic qi surged violently through his chest.
The corner of Xie You Lan’s mouth twitched upward into a smile that seemed joyful, sorrowful, nostalgic, and mocking all at once.
“Long time no see, Mother.” His voice carried a faint laugh.
“I’ve been looking for you for a very long time…”
Futile Devices Scans 
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