Whispers of Fate (Shui Long Yin)

Good Cloud Mountain.

A swift horse galloped up the mountain. The guards at the South Gate were on duty when they suddenly saw the approaching rider. Song Lin shouted, "Who goes there?" The rider let out a loud cry, urging the horse even faster. The steed neighed and reared up on its hind legs at the gate, allowing the rider to leap off and vault over the high wall into the Hall of Sharp Virtue.

Song Lin stood dumbfounded. The guards were too slow to react. After a long pause, someone muttered, "We should set up tripwires at the gate. If everyone barges in like this, how are we supposed to stop them..."

Inside the Hall of Sharp Virtue, Gu Xitan was patrolling with his hand on his sword when he suddenly saw a figure leap in. "Who are you?" he demanded. Yu Tuan'er landed and tried to push past him, glaring back. "Move aside!" Gu Xitan didn't recognize Yu Tuan'er and drew his sword with a hiss. "Which family's young lady are you? State your name!" Yu Tuan'er glanced around but saw no familiar faces. "Who are you? State your name!" Gu Xitan found this both exasperating and amusing. "If you refuse to give your name, young lady, I must apologize for my rudeness."

"Hold on!" Cheng Yunpao arrived quickly upon hearing the commotion. "This is Yu Guniang." Gu Xitan was surprised. "Yu Guniang?" Ignoring him, Yu Tuan'er turned to Cheng Yunpao and shouted, "Where's Tang Lici? I need to see Tang Lici!" Cheng Yunpao replied calmly, "Young Master Tang is away and hasn't returned. You can tell me whatever matter you have." Yu Tuan'er glared at him. "I don't want to tell you!" Cheng Yunpao was taken aback. Gu Xitan interjected, "Speak properly, young lady. What's the urgent matter?" Yu Tuan'er stamped her foot. "I don't care! I need to see Tang Lici right now!" Gu Xitan lost his patience. "You're being unreasonable. Young Master Tang isn't on the mountain—how do you expect to see him?" Yu Tuan'er snapped, "Then go find him quickly! I have something important to tell him—right now! Right this instant!" Gu Xitan was speechless, torn between frustration and amusement. Cheng Yunpao flicked his sleeve and sealed Yu Tuan'er's acupoint. "Take her to a room to rest. We'll deal with this when Young Master Tang returns."

Just as Yu Tuan'er was immobilized, Song Lin rushed in, reporting that the Azure Fall Palace delegation had arrived at the gate. Cheng Yunpao went to greet them. Bi Lianyi, dressed in green, stood tall and straight, while Tie Jing clasped his hands in salute. Bi Lianyi also nodded in acknowledgment. Though they were subordinates of Azure Fall Palace, they never demeaned themselves before outsiders. None of them were skilled in small talk, so after brief nods, Bi Lianyi asked, "Who is this young lady?"

Yu Tuan'er was still in Gu Xitan's grasp. Cheng Yunpao replied indifferently, "A reckless little girl who doesn't know her place." He glanced at Hong Guniang standing behind Bi Lianyi. "This must be Hong Guniang? The one who masterminded schemes at Dissolute Shop, costing many lives." Hong Guniang gave him a cold look and ignored him, her gaze fixed solely on Yu Tuan'er. Bi Lianyi said, "We came at the invitation. Where is Young Master Tang?"

"Young Master Tang is away and should return by this time tomorrow. Please rest inside while you wait." Cheng Yunpao ushered the Azure Fall Palace group inside. Bi Lianyi led the way, but Hong Guniang remained still, staring intently at Yu Tuan'er. "Cheng Daxia," she said softly, "I want to stay with this young lady." Cheng Yunpao was surprised. Hong Guniang kept her eyes on Yu Tuan'er and added, "Don't worry—I won't harm her." After a moment's thought, Cheng Yunpao nodded. "Very well."After some time, Bi Lianyi and Tie Jing, along with the others, went to discuss important matters with Cheng Yunpao and his group. Hong Guniang slowly entered Yu Tuan'er's room, sat by the bed, and gazed at her face. This little girl was far less beautiful than herself, so why could she stay by his side? Wouldn’t he grow tired of her? Wouldn’t he drive her away? Why hadn’t he killed her?

Yu Tuan'er had been struck in her acupoints. After a while, Hong Guniang slowly drew a golden needle from her sleeve and pricked three of Yu Tuan'er's acupoints. Yu Tuan'er opened her eyes, startled by the beautiful woman before her. "Who are you?" Hong Guniang looked at her coldly. With her delicate brows and elegant eyes, even in her frosty demeanor, there was an air of melancholy. Yu Tuan'er, who adored beauty by nature, immediately smiled upon seeing another kind of loveliness. "Who are you? You're so pretty." Hong Guniang didn’t answer. After a pause, Yu Tuan'er looked at her curiously and asked again, "Who upset you?"

"No one upset me," she murmured, staring at the girl before her. She truly wanted to plunge the needle into her eyes, to blind her. But if she blinded Yu Tuan'er, Bi Lianyi would surely be furious. Yu Tuan'er said, "If no one upset you, why are you crying?" Hong Guniang was startled. "I'm not crying." Yu Tuan'er laughed again. She could only speak—Hong Guniang had no martial skills, and the golden needle couldn’t restore her movement. Otherwise, she would have clapped her hands in delight. "You just look like you're in such a bad mood, wishing a big rock would fall from the sky and crush you. Don’t cry. Do you know me? Why did you save me?"

Save you? Hong Guniang gripped the long golden needle in her hand. I could kill you at any moment. Her eyelashes fluttered slightly. "Do you know Liu Yan?" Yu Tuan'er nodded. Hong Guniang asked softly, "Are you two close?" Yu Tuan'er widened her eyes and gasped. "Ah! I get it—you like him too!" Hong Guniang flushed crimson. "Nonsense! I was just... asking casually." Yu Tuan'er rolled her eyes. "If you like him, just say so. How will he know if you don’t tell him? I tell him every day I want to be with him, and he still ignores me. If you like him but don’t say anything, he’ll ignore you even more!"

Hong Guniang bit her lip. "You... you tell him every day you want to be with him? Then why... why does he ignore you?" Yu Tuan'er puffed her cheeks and pouted for a moment. "I don’t know. I used to think he wanted to be with A Shui-jie, but later it didn’t seem that way." Hong Guniang whispered, "He... he’s infatuated with A Shui." Yu Tuan'er said, "I don’t know." She thought for a moment. "I think he doesn’t dare to ask to be with A Shui-jie forever. Just like you—if you say it, you blush and feel like you’ve done something wrong." Hong Guniang’s bitten lip trembled. "It’s because... because I know he doesn’t like me, so I can’t say it. Loving someone means you shouldn’t force them. You should make them happy, right?" Yu Tuan'er replied matter-of-factly, "That’s what he thinks too. So he won’t say he wants to be with A Shui-jie, because A Shui-jie doesn’t like him.""Would he give up A Shui just because she doesn't love him?" Hong Guniang said mournfully. "Is he really that considerate?" Yu Tuan'er replied, "Of course! He wouldn't even kill a little fox. I caught one for him to test medicine on, but he let it escape, which made me furious. Sometimes I pretend to stay in his Elixir chamber because it's warmer, though I'm not actually cold. Even though he ignores me, he's afraid I might really be cold and doesn't dare chase me out. Xiao Fang is the most shameless—always bullying him, making him go fishing. He catches fish only to release them, over and over, never bringing any back. When told to catch grouse, he just sits there watching the male and female birds fly around. Sometimes when a fox comes to hunt them, he even drives the fox away!" Hong Guniang bit her lip until it bled. "Is... is that so... he... he..." Yu Tuan'er burst into laughter. "Isn't he ridiculous?" Seeing her smile, Hong Guniang's heart wavered. "If he won't kill foxes, why does he kill people? If he's truly this kind, why would he take lives?"

"Are you talking about that medicine he made, which killed countless people?" Yu Tuan'er said. "He regrets it too, though he won't admit it. Do you blame him for all those deaths? I think his only mistake was listening to bad people and making harmful medicine. He's just foolish, not evil." Hong Guniang stared at her in disbelief. She called Liu Yan "foolish"—so different from the Liu Yan she remembered. Were they even talking about the same person? "Foolish?" she whispered.

"Of course he's foolish! Who else would believe whatever others say or do whatever they tell him? Even now, if you repeat the same thing to him ten times, he'll listen to you—no matter how unhappy he looks or how bad his temper is, he'll believe you," Yu Tuan'er said. "Were you afraid of him before, so you didn't dare pester him?"

"I... I..." Hong Guniang murmured. "I thought he wanted the world, so I sought to conquer it for him. I didn't care about killing because he didn't care. If he could bear the heaviest, darkest sins, then so could I." She pressed her injured lip and whispered, "I always... believed that. Whatever benefited him, I did. I didn't care about murder or arson, didn't care who died—as long as it helped him, I could be a servant, do anything, even let him never know I loved him, as long as he succeeded."

"The world? What world?" Yu Tuan'er looked at her in surprise. "He just hates Tang Lici."

"Is that so? He just... just hates Tang Lici." Hong Guniang murmured. "Then what was everything I did for?"

"Are you sad?" Yu Tuan'er asked. "Don't be. You just misunderstood. It's his fault—he never properly told anyone what he was thinking, so you got it wrong.""Just a mistake?" Tears welled up in her eyes. "He only listened to others, only disliked Tang Lici, he never wanted the world. Then... then what about all those people he killed, the ones I killed? Those countless, innumerable wronged souls—what was it all for? He bears unforgivable sins, I became a sinister villain. All that sacrifice... was it truly meaningless?"

"Meaning?" Yu Tuan'er blinked. "What meaning?"

Hong Guniang shook her head, staring blankly at Yu Tuan'er. "You've been with him all this time?"

"Yes."

"Now I understand why he never drove you away," she murmured. "Only you... truly care for him. I... was just dreaming, always dreaming."

"Ah!" Yu Tuan'er suddenly cried out. "Where's Tang Lici? I have something important to tell him!" Hong Guniang jolted in alarm, lifting her head. "Don't worry, I know what it is. I'll go find him." She hastily stood up, wiped her tears, and rushed out the door.

Not far outside, Bi Lianyi stood in the garden. Startled, she ran a few steps toward him. Though he was too distant to hear their conversation, as she approached, he opened his arms. Without thinking, she threw herself into his embrace, at first just clutching his sleeves tightly. As he gently stroked her head, she could no longer hold back and burst into heart-wrenching sobs.

Bi Lianyi asked nothing, said nothing, only continued to softly stroke her hair and wipe her tears.

After crying long enough to soak half his front robe, Hong Guniang looked up and clung tightly to his waist. "Why are you so good to me? I'm not good at all. I'm a wicked woman—I've never cared about justice or righteousness, truly never."

"I don't know if you're good or not," Bi Lianyi murmured, cradling her head against his chest. "Good or bad, it's all the same to me."

Hong Guniang grasped his hand fiercely, intertwining their fingers as if without that desperate grip, she would shatter, would die.

"Don't cry," Bi Lianyi said after holding her a while, then gently released her. "You rushed out earlier—was there something urgent?" Hong Guniang tensed. "Yes, that girl has something important to tell Tang Lici. I think—" She lowered her voice to a whisper. "It's about the antidote for the Ape-Demon Nine Heart Pill." Bi Lianyi stiffened slightly and seized her hand. "Tang Lici should be back by now."

"Wait!" Hong Guniang's mind raced. "Bring the girl with us. Leaving her alone in the room might be dangerous." Bi Lianyi nodded, keeping hold of Hong Guniang with one hand while returning to the room to release Yu Tuan'er's acupoint. Yu Tuan'er sprang up, and the three hurried toward the main hall.Not far behind the house, a figure emerged, clad in peach-colored robes—it was Yu Konghou. Watching as Yu Tuan'er was taken away by Bi Lianyi, his gaze turned toward Hong Guniang, a flicker of killing intent flashing in his eyes. He harbored the desire to kill Yu Tuan'er. At such a delicate moment, her sudden arrival on horseback was no mystery to anyone with a sharp mind. Gu Xitan had placed Yu Tuan'er in the side room, and Yu Konghou had been trailing behind, only for Hong Guniang to enter shortly after. The moment she stepped in, Bi Lianyi stood guard outside, robbing him of the chance to strike. Though with Yu Konghou's skills, killing Yu Tuan'er, Hong Guniang, and Bi Lianyi would not be difficult, alerting others would make the effort not worth the cost. Now, with Hong Guniang instructing Bi Lianyi to take Yu Tuan'er away, he lost his second opportunity. This girl had shifted her affections to Bi Lianyi and was too sharp-minded—she had to be eliminated.