CH 23

That night, light rain drizzle down the mountains. The raindrops fell on the eaves, covering the stream and the sound of footsteps from far to near. A black shadow appeared downstream, jumped lightly several times, and quietly approached the wing of Zhu Li’s house.

Zhu Li’s house was not big, and there was only one wing room outside the main house, which was reserved for guests. The shadow lightly pierced the window paper, and peeked into the room with his eyes against the hole. There were two small beds and two futons inside the room, and four figures lying motionless and sound asleep.

The black shadow slowly extended a pipe-like object into the room and a wisp of blue smoke emerged from the chimney which emitted faint aroma that quickly spread inside of the room.

The sleeping incense produced by Linchun Pavilion produced a lot of smoke three times its weight, which can make people’s muscles and bones soft and lethargic.

After a stick of incense, the black shadow quietly made a sound transmission paper crane and gave out two orders. The paper crane flew and turned into a spot of light as it disappeared out of sight.

When the task was completed, and just as he was about to step back to join his companions, he was suddenly patted on the shoulder.

Someone asked in a very affectionate tone, “This brother, you…”

“Ahh—,” 

Before he could let out a scream, a slender and powerful hand covered his mouth instantly. Then the shadow swayed and fainted under the powerful spiritual pressure that suddenly surrounded his body.

Gu Qingqiao shrugged and made a helpless gesture. People in Baihua Valley really have no sense of humor.

The rain became heavier, and four figures quietly walked out of Zhu Li’s small courtyard, went downstream, and went rushing towards a group of people.

“Hey, Xiao Le!” Gu Qingqiao patted Qin Le’s shoulder. “You don’t look very happy!” 

Qin Le looked down at the short knife in his hand and whispered, “I don’t like violence.”

Gu Qingqiao laughed and remarked, “Since you entered Lingshan, I am afraid that escaping is not the way to go. What’s more, sometimes violence is not used to hurt people, but to protect them instead.”

Before Qin Le could say anything, he rushed like a meteor over to Mu Xiyun into the rain. Qi enveloped his body which blocked him from the raindrops as much as possible. The water droplets were like fine porcelain that was broken into tiny pieces by the Qi as it surrounded him, as if a circle of mist had been casted on his person.

Go! 

When the people in Baihua Valley heard the signal from their companions, they flanked proudly. But before they could do what they came for, they saw a figure roaring like a wolf. As soon as they met, a dagger flashed in the hand of the person who came, and two people flew out and fell to the ground, unable to move.

This was still Gu Qingqiao showing them mercy. When the dagger touched the body, the straight stab was changed to a horizontal strike. If they were really fighting for their lives, the two would have had their throats severed a long time ago.

The leader, Young Master Luo shouted loudly, and the disciples hurriedly began to form the formation. Where would Gu Qingqiao give them a chance? The flying figure flickered in the crowd in a dazzling movement that showed his skills to the extreme. The sword formation had not yet formed, however all disciples of Baihua Valley had collapsed to the ground screaming.

Gu Qingqiao wiped the rain off his face and pushed back Mu Xiyun who had just stepped out of the eaves. “It’s raining, be careful not to catch a cold!”

Luo Ziqi had just ordered the crowd to form the array just now, yet before he could step on the right position, he was immediately struck by Gu Qingqiao with a knife and fell into the stream. Seeing that the sword formation had dissipated, and all the disciples he had brought were lying on the ground, unable to fight any more, he couldn’t help but feel scared.

Before everyone noticed him, Luo Ziqi quietly climbed out of the creek and ran towards the woods beside it. Zhu Yicheng raised his eyes and saw Luo Ziqi running wildly, he couldn’t help shouting, “He’s running away!”

But before he could finish speaking, he saw that the figure that had just entered the dense forest shot backwards and out of the woods, followed by a silk with silver balls tied at each end which carried spiritual energy. It shot straight down just as fast under the heavy rain. 

The silk was soft and the spirit balls looked delicate. It seemed to be like those silk cloths that existed on a graceful stage in the hands of a dancer. However, such cloth was a killer that even wild wolves were afraid of. In the blink of an eye, the silver ball was in front of Luo Ziqi’s eyes, he screamed and fell to the ground, and kept on crawling backwards. The silver ball with the silk went around Luo Ziqi’s neck like a long snake, and pulled him straight up then a girl in green appeared from the forest.

“Luo Qingyao, you two-faced little girl who was raised by a slut, how dare you hurt me!” Luo Ziqi roared angrily. 

“Who are you calling a slut?”

The moment Zhu Yicheng saw the silk, he was already rushing towards the edge of the forest. Hearing Luo Ziqi’s roar, he was furious and threw a punch at his face.

“Young Master Zhu!” Luo Qingyao’s crisp voice sounded. “This is Baihua Valley family’s business, please let me do it myself.” Zhu Yicheng put down his fist angrily, instead he stood aside while still feeling uneasy.

“So you know that this is a family matter! Do you still consider yourself a member of Baihua Valley?” Luo Ziqi said angrily, “Is this how you treat your Little Valley Master, your elder brother?”

“Brother…” Luo Qingyao walked in front of Luo Ziqi, “I called you brother because we’re blood related. I can’t get rid of this, but it doesn’t prove that I agree with you.”

“You, you colluded with outsiders to murder the disciples of Baihua Valley. Now that the evidence is solid, what else is there to say? What are you planning? Do you think you can still compete with me for the position of the Valley Master of Baihua Valley?”

“No,” Luo Qingyao looked into Luo Ziqi’s eyes and said word by word, “I don’t care about being the Valley Master, I just want to get my mother’s things back.”

“Your mother, haha, your mother,” Luo Ziqi subconsciously stroked the red pouch on his waist and said contemptuously, “Your mother is just a dancer of the Luo family, who shamelessly climbed onto the master’s bed….” 

As soon as the silk cloth moved, Luo Ziqi’s neck was immediately tightened, and his face flushed red.

“Take it out!” Luo Qingyao said angrily, “Otherwise…”

Before she could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Zhu Yicheng.

“Don’t get your hands dirty, I’ll do it.” After that, he took out his folded fan, and its sharp fan bone immediately left a wound on Luo Ziqi’s temple. “Take it out, or your little white face will definitely bloom red!”

Warm blood flowed down to his cheeks from his temple, Luo Ziqi stared at Zhu Yicheng fiercely, his trembling hand reached to his sleeve pocket, took out a white satin embroidery, and held it tightly in his hand.

“Cough, cough,” he loosened the silk. Luo Ziqi bent down and coughed violently, but a vicious smile like that of a poisonous snake appeared on his face.

“Who cares about a concubine’s belongings!” Luo Ziqi threw the embroidered bag on the ground, took advantage of Luo Qingyao’s distracted gaze, clapped his hands, conjured a spiritual ball, and threw it towards the bag to smash it.

The speed of the spirit ball was extremely fast and it burst into a violent white light. Zhu Yicheng grabbed Luo Ziqi and sent one swipe of his folding fan, but Luo Ziqi had already rolled out.

Before standing up, he took out the teleportation jade plate, pressed his hands on the magic circle, and his figure immediately became blurred. In the dark night, Luo Ziqi’s vicious voice sounded, “This matter is not over, just you wait and see!”

When the white light dissipated, where the embroidery bag was, lay……..a half charred fish. Qin Le’s voice came from behind. “I’m sorry, I really don’t have anything else on my body to use.”

It’s a pity that a fish can’t stop an explosion caused by the spiritual ball. However, the white embroidered bag seemed to contain an attack spell and the huge impact of the spiritual force triggered the spell. But the bag was still blasted into pieces, it laid in taters in the grass along with what’s supposed to be inside, mixed in mud. It was a mess.

Luo Qingyao looked at the ground in astonishment. Not knowing whether it was rain or tears, it slowly dripped down her cheeks. “That…” 

Zhu Yicheng said loudly, “Don’t be sad, see if this is what you want?” 

Zhu Yicheng held a fan in his right hand to block the rain, and in his left was a red embroidered pouch, which was the one on Luo Ziqi’s waist just now.

Luo Qingyao was stunned for a while. As if in a daze, she reached out and gently took the embroidered bag. After a while, as if she had made up her mind, she opened the embroidered red pouch. Inside was a jade.

The eyes of the green-robed girl slowly brightened.

It was obviously a rainy and miserable weather, but Zhu Yicheng felt that a bright moon rose in front of him, and the girl’s smiling face illuminated the night sky, making the falling raindrops extraordinarily cheerful.

At this time, Mu Xiyun and Gu Qingqiao had also sent the disciples of Baihua Valley out of Lingshan. However, they did not approach the two after, and stood side by side under the eaves to watch them. Luo Qingyao wanted to look up and glanced at Zhu Yicheng, who was hesitant to speak.

Zhu Yicheng originally only knew that she was the Ninth Miss of Baihua Valley. After the conflict just now, he realized that Luo Qingyao’s situation in the Luo family was not as good as people imagined. For a while, he was curious about her life, angry towards Luo Ziqi, pity for Luo Qingyao’s sad tears, and that astonishing smile on her face all flooded into his heart, and the expression on Zhu Yicheng’s face became entangled in every possible way.

Luo Qingyao chuckled softly. “Simpleton.” 

The ‘simpleton’ suddenly laughed cheerfully, wiped the rain on his face, and invited her. “The rain is getting heavier, you should come with us into the house and rest.”

The girl walked into the direction of the house with a smile, and Zhu Yicheng quickly followed. Qin Le was standing in the stream, but at this time, he turned around and walked back, but also made a strange “cough” sound.

The stream that had not reached his waist just now retreated to his knees. The more they go upstream, the more shallow the water becomes.

The entire creek was losing water.

The stream quickly receded at a speed visible to the naked eye. When Zhu Yicheng walked to the edge of the stream, the pebbles at the bottom of the stream had already emerged from the water, and the stream disappeared, leaving only the dry channel. Several large fish struggled in the puddles at the bottom of the creek.

“What’s going on?” 

Zhu Yicheng and Qin Le looked at each other. A figure then flashed, Mu Xiyun, who was at a distance, realized that something was wrong, and ran to the stream with Gu Qingqiao. A bad premonition came to his mind, and the two looked at each other with a solemn expression.

“It’s not good, I’m afraid there will be a mountain torrent, go save people, and gather them at the village behind the mountain!” After Mu Xiyun said this, he immediately dashed into Zhu Li’s house and the other four instantly ran to the nearest houses upstream and downstream.