Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Now, the ‘Nan Tian Hero’ has been buried. In this breezy little town, although the funeral is unavoidably simple, it is also a solemn affair.

Xiao Yu’er and Hua Wu Que stood solemnly in front of Lu Zhong Yuan’s tomb, and with a cup of wine, paid their last respects to the heroic spirit of the great hero of their times.

In the deepening dusk, the earth slumbers, it’s now deep into autumn. Until night descends, the stars ascend, only then did they leave dejectedly.

Hua Wu Que looked heavenward and sobbed, lamenting, “The thieves are not eliminated, the martial arts realm is not at peace, Hero Lu really died too early a death… He did not even have time to reveal Hero Yan’s whereabouts and died with hatred.”

Xiao Yu’er smiled bitterly, “Maybe it’s because he does not wish for anyone to disturb Hero Yan’s peace, maybe… Hero Yan has already passed away, and he did not wish to say it out and make me sad.”

Hua Wu Que replied sadly, “I wish I can still see Hero Yan in this lifetime, or else…”

Xiao Yu’er suddenly puffed up his chest and said loudly, “Of course you can still see him, of course he will not die, he has not seen me become famous, how can he die in peace?”

Hua Wu Que stared at him, and smiled “That’s right, if Hero Yan is not willing to die, no one can make him die, even the King of Hades is no exception. One day, I will be able to see him again.”

Xiao Yu’er looked heavenward and laughed, “Well said, the way you speak, is almost the same as me, in another 75 days, even if I die, you can live for me.”

Hua Wu Que’s expression suddenly became sad again. He was silent for a long moment before suddenly saying, “Now you are rushing to Turtle Hill?”

“Let’s go together, I guarantee that you’ll watch an exciting and lively show.”

Hua Wu Que lowered his head and said, “A pity I can’t go with you.”

Xiao Yu’er was stunned for a moment before saying loudly, “We only have 75 days left, and you actually won’t accompany me?”

Hua Wu Que looked at the distant stars, and said slowly, “If what I am doing is successful, you and I can become more than 75 days of friends.”

Xiao Yu’er stared at him for a while, and asked loudly, “You want to return to Floral Palace?”

Hua Wu Que sighed, “I only want to go back and clarify, why do they insist that I kill you.”

Xiao Yu’er laughed loudly, “Do you think they will tell you?”

Hua Wu Que was silent for a long moment, and replied with a slight smile, “Jiang Xiao Yu, could it be that you’ve already bowed down to fate?”

Xiao Yu’er was stunned, and laughed loudly, “Fine, go then, no matter what, you and I will surely meet one more time, this is enough to make one happy at the thought of it!”

Here, the flowers were in full bloom. Chrysanthemums, peonies, rosebuds, plums, peach blossoms, orchid, moonflowers evening primrose, tulips… these flowers should not be blooming at the same place, and even more so, should not be blooming at the same time, were all blooming right here.

This is the deep mountain, the cliffs, it should be permeated dark fog and cold wind, but here, the sun is like rays of gold shining on the flowers, the weather so gentle that it’s been spring forever.

Whoever comes here, will be enchanted by this sea of flowers, and forget their troubles in the mundane world, and even more so, forget about danger, forget everything. But this is the world’s most mysterious and dangerous place, this place is Floral Palace!

But this time, there is a young girl who is climbing up, regardless of everything.

She was wearing snow-white clothes, but now it’s stained with mud and blood. She was very pretty, but now her face is frighteningly gaunt.

Anyone can see that she has spent a lot of effort, tolerated immense hardship before she came to this mysterious place.

When she reached the place, she collapsed. Her lips were cracked, her stomach acidic, she could not stand, but can only crawl.

She’ll crawl her way up even if she has to. The young girl who is climbing up, is Tie Xin Lan.

Of course she knows the mystery and danger of Floral Palace, but she must come regardless, the intention is also to ask the Floral Princesses a sentence, ‘Why must Hua Wu Que kill Jiang Xiao Yu?”

Now, she sees a sea of vibrant blooms, and unconsciously heaved a long sigh of relief. No matter what, all pain has passed! She fainted, and she thought that she would never wake again.

When she awoke, she found herself lying quietly on a soft and fragrant bed. The sun is gone, but the lamplight seems to be even more brilliant than sunlight. She shut her eyes, and when she opened them again, she saw Hua Wu Que.

Hua Wu Que was also looking at her gently, in these brilliant rays of light, he looks even more like a prince in a fairytale, so handsome, suave, and unreachable.

Tie Xin Lan groaned and asked, “Hua Wu Que, are you really Hua Wu Que.”

Hua Wu Que smiled gently, and said tenderly, “It’s me, I am standing right next to you, you do not have to be afraid.”

Tie Xin Lan suddenly struggled to get up, and begged hoarsely, “I beg of you, take me to see the Floral Princess, I came here regardless of hardship, with only the aim of begging her to see me just once.”

Hua Wu Que smiled bitterly, “I came back, also to beg an audience with her, but a pity, they’ve long left the palace.”

Tie Xin Lan collapsed on the bed and asked hoarsely, “They both are away?”

Hua Wu Que continued, “For both princesses to leave the palace at the same time, this is a very rare occurrence.”

Tie Xin Lan exclaimed piteously, “Why is my luck always so bad, I… I…” The words choked in her throat, she covered her head with the silk blanket, unable to talk anymore.

Hua Wu Que was silent for moment before slowly saying, “I think… I know the reason for your coming. I also thought of coming back to ask her the same thing, but I did not expect them to have left the palace for so long.”

Tie Xin Lan wept silently beneath the blanket, and suddenly asked, “During the past few days, have you already seen him?”

There’s no need to say aloud the name, others would know who the ‘him’ she was referring to.

Hua Wu Que replied with a gentle smile, “He’s very well now, you do not have to worry for him.”

Although he tried his best to pretend nonchalance, but his smile inevitably carried a sense of bitterness.

Tie Xin Lan finally stuck her head out from beneath the blanket, and mumbled, “Do you know, where is he now?”

Hua Wu Que tried his best to smile a little happier, and said gently, “I know, as long as you recover, I can bring you to look for him.”

Tie Xin Lan stared at him, tears flowing down her cheeks unconsciously, and said with a shivering voice, “You… why are you always so good to me, you… you…”

Suddenly, a strange sound was heard coming from the outside. This sound is neither shrill nor piteous, but it makes one’s hair stand up involuntarily.

The sound at first sounds like an iron saw sawing through wood, but on hearing it again, sounds like silkworms chewing on mulberry leaves. On closer hearing, it sounds like knives and swords rubbed against one another making anyone who hears it grit their teeth and weaken their legs. Later, screams of young girls are heard.

Hua Wu Que’s expression colored slightly, and said, “I’ll go out and take a look.”

He knows very well that although most of the disciples of Floral Palace are young girls, but none of them will be alarmed so easily. To be able to shock them into screaming, it is certainly no easy matter. Tie Xin Lan checked that she is neatly dressed, and jumped down from the bed, saying, “I’ll go with you.”

The two of them rushed out, only to see the young girls all hiding beneath the eaves, all frightened stiff, and some were even shivering in fright. On second look, amongst the sea of flowers, there were countless things moving.

Tie Xin Lan cried hoarsely, “Rats! Where did so many rats come from!” It’s really rats!

Thousands and hundreds of rats as large as cats, were weaving among the flowers, nibbling at the flower stems, eating the precious flowers.

Although the disciples of Floral Palace all were highly skilled, but still, they are all girls. They are not afraid of tigers, but to see so many rats, their legs all turned soft. Hua Wu Que leaped out and shouted, “Are those who have come disciples of Wei Wu Ya?”

There was silence everywhere, and no one could be seen. This sea of flowers, which countless hours have been spent to grow them, is now unkempt in the blink of an eye. Hua Wu Que was both stunned and furious, but faced with so many rats, there’s nothing he can do as well.

In Floral Palace, he can’t use fire to burn them, or water to drown them. Even if he were to chase them, these rats were not afraid of humans at all. He could not imagine the famous Floral Palace not being able to do anything to the most useless and crafty animal.

By now, a series of mad laughter could be heard from the darkness.

A shrill voice was laughing madly and saying, “A pity the Floral Princesses are not home, or else if they were to witness their precious flowers eaten up by our rats, I’m afraid they would be vomiting blood.”

By now, Hua Wu Que had calm down instead. He is no longer stunned or angry, it was as if he did not see even a single rat.

There was a slight smile on his face and he asked slowly, “Since the senior of Wu Ya Sect is here, why won’t you come out and see us?”

In the darkness, that person laughed loudly, “This lad is quite composed, do you know who he is?”

Hua Wu Que still did not move, and said lightly, “I am Hua Wu Que, also a disciple of Floral Palace!”

That person replied, “Hua Wu Que, I seemed to have heard this name.”

He has not finished his words, when in the dark corner, there was an eerie blue light suddenly, and in the flickering light, two human shapes slowly appeared.

These two people were tall and skinny, like bamboo poles, one wearing a green robe and the other wearing a yellow robe, but their faces were a glossy green, as if they were wearing masks. Without knowing why, they make one’s hair stand upon seeing them, and make one nauseous as well.

The bluish eyes of the man in green looked up and down Hua Wu Que a few times, and laughed wickedly, “Since you know that my brother and I are disciples of Wu Ya Sect, it shows that you are quite knowledgeable. So for you to die so young, I can’t help but feel that it’s a pity for you.”

The person in yellow laughed, “His name is Wei Qing Yi (Qing Yi = Green Robes), my name is Wei Huang Yi (Huang Yi = Yellow Robes). We did not want to kill you originally, but this time our Teacher is coming out to the martial arts world again, and the first thing he wants destroyed is Floral Palace, we don’t have a choice as well.”

The young girls, on hearing such inexplicably ugly laughter, on seeing those two people surrounded by rats, not one of them dared to strike.

Wei Qing Yi’s shoulder moved slightly, and Hua Wu Que flew up into the sky immediately, and instantaneously, there was a blue light shooting out from Wei Qing Yi’s palm!

But by now, Hua Wu Que has already moved away, and where the blue light stuck, a young girl had collapsed to the floor in a scream, but Hua Wu Que did not turn back, both his palms striking out at the top of Wei Qing Yi’s head!

Wei Qing Yi did not expect that his speed would be so fast, he took a wrong step and received the attack with his own palm. Wei Huang Yi also struck out with his palm, but who would have expect that Huq Wu Que’s mid-air palm attack is actually a false move. In the middle of the attack, he suddenly retracted his hand and did not receive Wei Qing Yi’s palm, but made an empty circle instead.

Wei Qing Yi only felt his palm attack losing it’s strength, and at this moment when the old strength is lost and he has yet to gather new strength, another strange force has swept his palm attack to the side. Without knowing why, this palm that was stuck out, was actually meeting Wei Huang Yi’s extended palm.

With a ‘pak’ sound, both palms met, followed by another sound. Wei Qing Yi’s arm, was actually broken by the impact from Wei Huang Yi!

Hua Wu Que actually used his alarming speed and making a calculated risk, used the marvelous ‘Shifting Flower Grafting Jade’ and gained the upper hand!

After the palm exchange, Wei Qing Yi and Wei Huang Yi were both stunned.

Although Wei Huang Yi was not injured, but on seeing that he has injured his partner, was even more flustered, his leg stomping down on the rats. The rats all escaped in fright.

Although Hua Wu Que gained the upper hand in one move, but he just stood there smiling, and did not take the opportunity to attack. This is because he has already tested these two person’s martial arts with his one move, and knows that they are not easy to deal with. He knows that he gained the upper hand through luck this round, and he should not be greedy for victory and press on an attack. He still wants these two to be tricked yet again. By now the rats have scattered all over, and weaving in all directions again.

Tie Xin Lan suddenly gritted her teeth, and pulled off a log of wood from the window eaves, and dash out with gritted teeth. She lifted the log in her hands and smashed it down on a rat.

The rats that were originally spreading out, now scurried towards Tie Xin Lan. Tie Xin Lan could feel cold shivers in her heart and her arms have turned soft, but she gritted her teeth and refused to retreat.

Finally one of the young girls hiding under the eaves dashed out. As long as one of them comes out, the rest will follow. As long as they can kill one rat, their courage will be emboldened.

Ten over gentle and pretty looking young girls, sweating, panting, has forgotten everything except to fight it out with the rats wholeheartedly! The rats finally lost, most of them beaten to death while the rest escaped.

The young girls stared at the bodies of the rats and stared at their hands, they almost could not believe these rats were killed by them. This feels just like a nightmare!

The, some of them threw down the logs and started vomiting, some shouted and laughed as if they’ve gone mad, and some started hugging one another, crying loudly.

These happenings, is something that will never happen in Floral Palace, but it has happened, because after this furious battle, they have subconsciously loosened up.

Only Tie Xin Lan, once she stopped, she went to look for Hua Wu Que immediately! But Hua wu Que is gone! Even Wei Qing Yi and Wei Huang Yi are gone too!

Tie Xin Lan looked around in a panic, feeling flustered and scared. She was totally concentrating on dealing with the rats earlier, that she forgot to take a look at what’s happening here!

Hua Wu Que may be highly skilled, but since these two people dared to create trouble at Floral Palace, they can’t be weak either. Hua Wu Que was up against the two of them, and he may not be their match. Tie Xin Lan was almost mad with worry.

Suddenly, she realized that among the crushed flowers, there seems to be a body. The right arm is broken, there’s a big, gaping bloody hole in the chest, the ghastly greenish face swollen up from a beating.

It’s indescribable how horrific that person looked, and Tie Xin Lan dare not look at it any longer! She hurriedly averted her eyes, and inadvertently saw Wei Qing Yi’s left hand.

On the first two fingers of his claw-like hands were two bloody eyeballs! Obviously he had dug it out from his own eyes! She started tearing unconsciously.

Suddenly, she heard a deep and frantic breathing, like the breathing of an injured beast, coming down from the cliff above. She immediately rushed there! She saw a person with a bloodied face, his arms hanging, squatting and panting underneath a tree, his eyes are now two bloody caves!

But this person is not Hua Wu Que either, but Wei Huang Yi. Obviously under the influence of the marvelous ‘Shifting Flower Grafting Jade’ move, his eyes have been gouged out by his own companion!