Piaoling Mei Yuan, Bodhi Valley.
The Central Plains Sword Association and the Dissolute Shop clashed for the third time.
Ren Qingchou and Xifang Tao both perished at the hands of the Dissolute Shop's Raging Orchid No Trace.
It was said that the battle in the valley that day turned the heavens and earth dark, with the sun and moon losing their light. Raging Orchid No Trace's Essence of Demon's Pearl Spit burned vast stretches of forest into barren wasteland. His famed weapon, an eight-foot-long sword, was left shattered into several pieces on the battlefield—a testament to the sheer brutality of the fight.
Such shocking news spread throughout the Martial Arts World in less than a day, leaving everyone horrified. The Dissolute Shop's power was terrifying—even a long-absent figure like Raging Orchid No Trace could kill Ren Qingchou, the promising young disciple of Qu Zhiliang, and the renowned Peach Girl of the jianghu.
How could someone as beautiful as Peach Girl be so easily slain by Raging Orchid No Trace? What a tragic waste.
When the news reached the Central Plains Sword Association, Hong Guniang shattered several teacups in anger. Though her expression remained composed, everyone knew the princess was furious, deeply displeased by the deaths of Ren Qingchou and Xifang Tao. But what could be done? The Dissolute Shop was too powerful, and Raging Orchid No Trace too ferocious. With Peach Girl dead, the Sword Association's morale plummeted, and they had not dared to provoke Piaoling Mei Yuan for many days.
Ren Qingchou's death was unexpected for Hong Guniang. She had merely assigned the young man to stall Yu Konghou while Tang Lici freed Zhu Yan. She never imagined Ren Qingchou would fall to Yu Konghou's "Ten Thousand Miles of Peach Blossoms."
Yet this battle had its benefits. Yu Konghou could no longer maintain his guise as "Xifang Tao." According to Tang Lici's report, Yu Konghou and Fu Cui had been cultivating from the remnants of the Rebirth Scroll. The scroll contained a rapid cultivation method—first refining oneself, then aiding others. The accelerated section was called Dream of the Golden Millet, and Yu Konghou had been practicing an incomplete fragment titled "Regret That This Body Is Not My Own."
Even as a fragment, for masters like Yu Konghou and Fu Cui, the rapid cultivation method of Dream of the Golden Millet was enough to help them break through their limits and glimpse greater martial possibilities. Though "Regret That This Body Is Not My Own" was incomplete, with their intelligence and martial knowledge, they could easily supplement it. Thus, despite both wearing women's attire, the versions of Dream of the Golden Millet practiced by Fu Cui and Yu Konghou were not the same.
Yu Konghou's mastery far surpassed Fu Cui's. Unaware that Dream of the Golden Millet would ultimately serve another, he believed that mastering it would make him invincible. Amidst the flames, he used his years of cultivation in "Regret That This Body Is Not My Own" to heal Raging Orchid No Trace, Zhu Yan. Logically, most of his Dream of the Golden Millet should have been expended on Raging Orchid No Trace—ideally, his years of hard work would be wasted in an instant, leaving him crippled. At worst, his Internal Force would be severely damaged, requiring rare elixirs to recover.
Ren Qingchou never knew—this was the so-called "backup plan."
Killing Yu Konghou was no easy task. Stripping him of a layer of his disguise and dismantling his façade within the Central Plains Sword Association was already a major victory.
Yet no victory, no matter how great, could bring Ren Qingchou back.
Tang Lici had won—yet also lost.
The man in green brought Ren Qingchou back to Jiang Youyu's small courtyard at the foot of Funiu Mountain.
He buried Ren Qingchou beneath the Bodhi tree.
Mo Ziru, now dressed in blue, slowly emerged from the house. "Did you kill another one?"The man in blue wiped away the disguise on his forehead, revealing a small red mole—it was none other than the Golden Physician of the Bright Moon, Shui Duopo. He sighed, "It's true I was the one who failed to cure him, but he died without regrets. The real regret is that he died before I even got the chance to treat him."
Mo Ziru's clear eyes rested on the small mound beneath the bodhi tree as he remarked indifferently, "The dead live, the living die. The Great Dao is formless, life is impermanent. No need for sorrow."
Shui Duopo replied, "I'm soft-hearted and easily saddened. Can't help it." Though he spoke of sorrow, his handsome face remained as composed as ever. "When sad, one must eat. Where's lunch?"
"No lunch," Mo Ziru said calmly. "Tang Lici isn't here."
"Where is that short-lived rascal?" Shui Duopo sighed. "Bossing the two of us around—truly audacious."
"He was here earlier and left you a grand gift," Mo Ziru yawned. "He dragged a cook from Shaolin to prepare meals. The only downside is that this cook only knows how to make vegetarian dishes." Standing in the sunlight, though his face and gaze were as clear as a youth's, it was not the clarity of youth.
Just as Shui Duopo, with his delicate jawline, widow's peak, and the red mole between his brows, was the very image of a handsome gentleman—even if his voice still carried a youthful lilt, the moment he moved, his bearing betrayed his true age.
Mo Ziru and Shui Duopo had lived in seclusion for many years. Though the name "Golden Physician of the Bright Moon" carried some renown, it was far from shaking the martial world.
Who knew if, many years ago, these two had left their names in the jianghu—and who they had once been?
"Oh? Where's the cook?" Shui Duopo asked.
Mo Ziru replied placidly, "Meditating."
"What?" Shui Duopo fumed. "I traveled a thousand li, exhausted myself, and you tell me my cook is meditating? Where are the vegetarian dishes?"
"I assumed you wouldn’t like vegetarian fare, so as a good friend, I ate it for you earlier," Mo Ziru said. "No need for thanks or pleasantries."
As they bickered, a loud bang came from next door, accompanied by the sound of bursting energy. Mo Ziru and Shui Duopo froze mid-argument and rushed into the room to investigate. Inside, a young man in white monastic robes, his black hair cascading over his shoulders, lay unconscious on the bed, gripping an iron sword tightly.
Shui Duopo erupted in fury, "This is my cook?"
Mo Ziru coughed lightly. "This is the grand gift from that promising youth you favored." A single glance told him the sword-wielding monk had collapsed due to inner energy turmoil and a disturbed dantian—hardly life-threatening. "Though if Tang Lici finds out you let that boy die and now this cook too, I fear—"
"Ah!" Shui Duopo groaned in dismay. "Tang Lici is cunning and ruthless. The Bright Moon Tower of Huijing Mountain is doomed." He darted to the monk’s side, taking his pulse, then shook his head. "This monk is poisoned with seventeen or eighteen deadly venoms... Hmm?" His expression shifted to surprise. "Queen Bee Congealed Frost?"
Mo Ziru echoed, "Hmm? Then wouldn’t that mean 'Three Slumbers Sleepless Sky' is also present?"
"Exactly," Shui Duopo said. "'Queen Bee Congealed Frost' and 'Three Slumbers Sleepless Sky,' plus some other toxins I’ve never seen before." The red mole on his forehead gleamed faintly. "Could it be... the 'Summoning Lamp Decree' still has inheritors?""'Summoning Lamp Decree' was already killed by Zen Master Dahe twenty-three years ago," Mo Ziru mused. "Such a lineage of poison transmission harms both others and oneself—anyone would have the right to slay them. Even if Dahe hadn't stormed their gates, someone else would have taken care of it. But if Dahe had been thorough back then, today's 'Queen Bee Congealed Frost' and 'Three Slumbers Sleepless Sky' wouldn't be out harming people."
"Ah, those Shaolin monks are always so sluggish and indecisive," Shui Duopo waved his sleeve dismissively. "If it had been you who took care of it back then, we wouldn't have so much trouble today. 'Queen Bee Congealed Frost' and 'Three Slumbers Sleepless Sky'—a dual poison that nurtures gu and washes souls. And this monk even knows how to cook vegetarian dishes. If Wang Lingze of 'Summoning Lamp Decree' were alive today, he'd probably die of rage."
"Wang Lingze's poison arts were a prodigy even among 'Summoning Lamp Decree,' but Dahe killed him with a single sword stroke. Back then, Shaolin's Dahe was a master no less renowned than 'Sword King Yu Qifeng,'" Mo Ziru continued at his usual leisurely pace. "Pity that great masters always die young." After a pause, he slowly pointed at the white-robed sword monk on the bed. "I heard this cook is Dahe's nominal disciple. Do you think... it's a coincidence?"
"Ha..." Shui Duopo tilted his head. "After reading so many storybooks all these years, what do you think?"
"Storybooks always say that these inherited grudges, after all the fighting and killing, end in happy marriages," Mo Ziru sighed. "To think 'Summoning Lamp Decree' still has successors. If you don't cure this cook, he might slowly turn into the Mother of All Poisons, eventually locked in mutual destruction with all the world's toxins... Hmm?" Mo Ziru blinked and slowly asked, "...Does someone who takes the Nine Hearts Pill count as a poison?"
Shui Duopo paused unusually long. "That depends on what Dissolute Shop added when refining the Nine Hearts Pill." He helped Pu Zhu sit up, undid his monk robes, and began a thorough examination. "If 'Summoning Lamp Decree's' successor was entangled with Dissolute Shop long ago, then the 'Nine Hearts Pill' likely wasn't solely Liu Yan's doing. He might... just be one part of this pill."
Mo Ziru lowered his lashes. "This matter is grave. You..." He hesitated. "You..."
"I don't kill people," Shui Duopo said. "Golden Physician of the Bright Moon Shui Duopo charges dearly to save lives, but he doesn't refuse to save." Having finished examining Pu Zhu, he concluded, "This young monk's martial arts are well-trained, his will is strong. Though deeply poisoned, he's not beyond saving. My best plan is to capture 'Summoning Lamp Decree's' successor and force him to produce the antidote. The middling plan is to cut open this young monk, search his organs and meridians, and extract the implanted 'Queen Bee.'"
"And the worst plan?" Mo Ziru asked calmly. "Is it for me to kill this young monk with one sword stroke and be done with it?""Indeed..." Shui Duopo shook his head, swaying back and forth. "As longtime friends who share a deep understanding, why don't you just kill this harmful thing with a single sword strike to save all living beings from suffering? Once 'Queen Bee Congealed Frost' is mastered, Dahe's nominal disciple, the future abbot of Shaolin Temple, and our cook will turn into a monster covered in cold poison, seeking toxins wherever it goes... What if the 'Nine Hearts Pill' contains the very poison that 'Queen Bee Congealed Frost' craves? Then..." He spread his hands. "What do you think the battle between good and evil at Soul Prayer Mountain will become? Within the Central Plains Sword Association, those who have taken the 'Nine Hearts Pill' are no fewer than those in the Dissolute Shop."
"And in the rarest of rare cases... what if the poisons in the hands of the Dissolute Shop are all different? For example—what if the 'Nine Hearts Pill' they spread is not the same as the one they take themselves?" Mo Ziru said slowly. "Then 'Queen Bee Congealed Frost' becomes a controllable killing move, just like 'Raging Orchid No Trace'—though peerless in martial arts, it was manipulated by schemers into an endless cycle of death."
As the two chatted idly, someone entered the room silently, stepping softly to the bedside.
"How is he?" the newcomer asked in a gentle voice.
Mo Ziru retreated three steps, while Shui Duopo coughed lightly. "We were just discussing..."
The newcomer wore plain white robes, devoid of even the intricate hidden patterns that usually adorned his sleeves—just a simple white garment. Still speaking softly, he asked, "Discussing how to kill him with a single sword strike?"
Mo Ziru shook his head repeatedly. "How could we dare... That was all this quack doctor's idea. He couldn't save the young friend under the tree outside, so he's heartbroken, mentally disturbed, and deeply traumatized. Please forgive him." With the appearance of a young scholar, his clear eyes brimming with sincerity, anyone unfamiliar with him would surely take him for an upright gentleman, noble as pines and orchids.
Tang Lici smiled faintly, causing Mo Ziru to retreat another step. Shui Duopo grinned and said, "The Dissolute Shop has a successor of the 'Summoning Lamp Decree.' To save this cook, it's best to find that person and make him hand over the antidote." Then he pointed at Mo Ziru. "This man has a grudge against the 'Summoning Lamp Decree's' Wang Lingze—send him."
Mo Ziru immediately pointed at Shui Duopo. "This man once had the nickname 'Sword Emperor...'"
Tang Lici lifted his gaze to Shui Duopo. The crimson mole between Shui Duopo's eyebrows was eerie yet striking, and suddenly having his identity exposed by his treacherous friend, he froze in surprise.
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