Qingyan watched curiously as Yu Konghou knelt on the ground. "Revered Master, please rise. Sister Su Su has prepared a secluded chamber for your recovery, and everything is ready inside."
Yu Konghou swayed as he stood up, his expression unchanged, and followed Qingyan toward the deepest prison within the Piaoling Eyebrow Garden.
Bai Suche gazed at his retreating figure.
Both of them understood clearly—this was but a fleeting moment.
After a while, several white-robed female attendants came to report, "Commander, Tang Lizci and several members of the Central Plains Sword Association forcibly entered the Revered Master's chambers. Kuang Lan Wuxing, Wang Lingqiu, and Bi Lianyi have all been taken away by them!"
Bai Suche nodded. "Lower the Green Lion Barrier."
"Yes!"
The white-robed attendants departed to carry out the order. Moments later, the sound of mechanisms echoed through Piaoling Eyebrow Garden once more. Several massive stone slabs descended, sealing off the fractured and collapsed passageways caused by the mountain wall's collapse. As the stones fell, the mountain's interior trembled again, and the entire Piaoling Eyebrow Garden slowly rose slightly.
Tang Lizci was burning incense.
He lit a golden thread of incense and placed it in a small celadon-glazed incense burner adorned with gold filigree. The faint white smoke rose in a straight line, indicating the incense's fine and even quality—a premium grade.
Yet the burner rested upon a moss-covered rock, the moss vibrant and fresh in the dawn light, still faintly damp with morning dew. The golden thread emitted a strong herbal fragrance—this was not sandalwood.
Behind the mossy rock lay a damp cave. The surrounding area was densely vegetated, utterly still and windless, with thick groves of trees. It was unclear where in the mountains this place was.
Inside the cave.
Kuang Lan Wuxing and Zheng Yue lay side by side on the ground.
Cheng Yunpao and Gu Xitan also lay side by side on the ground.
The difference was—one pair was dead, the other alive.
Zheng Yue had been killed by Kuang Lan Wuxing, his neck crushed.
Kuang Lan Wuxing had been beheaded by Tang Lizci's "Ten Thousand Miles of Peach Blossoms."
One was a madman of the martial world, nearly invincible under heaven.
The other was a young swordsman, his life barely begun.
They had not known each other, yet they died almost simultaneously, their deaths strikingly similar.
Had Kuang Lan Wuxing not been wholly focused on strangling Zheng Yue, Tang Lizci would not have had the chance to strike decisively.
Had Zheng Yue not arrived in time, Tang Lizci might not have been able to save Cheng Yunpao and Gu Xitan either.
Today, Tang Lizci had changed into a set of pale green robes—sheer plain gauze embroidered with delicate gold threads along the hems and cuffs. After wearing white for so long, his sudden shift to such finery made one wonder where he had changed the night before.
Not only had he donned elegant attire and brought an incense burner, but he also carried a qin zither, resting it horizontally across his lap.
The golden thread of incense quietly released its white smoke.
Tang Lizci positioned the qin, fingers poised over the strings, and plucked them slowly twice.
The trembling strings produced no melody.
After plucking twice, he fell silent for a while before plucking twice more.
Amid ancient trees and moss-covered rocks in the deep mountains, a man in green robes played the qin and burned incense.
The sound carried on the wind, whispering of lives cut short and deaths in vain.
To live was misfortune. To die was misfortune.
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