Wang Lingqiu’s face twitched at the sight of the object Liu Yan had thrown, and with a resentful glare, he turned and fled.
But his escape was already exposed. He Yan’er of Biluo Palace shattered the stone wall, and Dong Hubi gave chase, capturing him in just a few moves.
What Liu Yan had thrown was his mud-soaked black outer robe.
No matter what Wang Lingqiu had hurled, it was wrapped in that dripping robe and landed together on the waterlogged muddy ground. The crowd stared at Liu Yan, now covered in filth, their emotions a tangled mess. For a moment, they didn’t know what to do with him.
Behind the shattered stone wall lay a maze of railings and charred corpses.
After enduring fire and flood, the bodies looked especially grotesque and horrifying.
The members of the Central Plains Sword Assembly faced these inexplicably charred remains in stunned silence. Their mission had been to storm Piaoling Meiyuan, to kill Liu Yan, Tang Lizhi, and Yu Konghou. Yet in the end, Liu Yan had saved them with his sonic attack, Tang Lizhi had thrown himself into the flames, and Yu Konghou was nowhere to be found. Piaoling Meiyuan had collapsed from within, leaving behind not a single word for the Central Plains Sword Assembly—only a field of corpses.
Lady Hong and Bi Lianyi approached. Gazing at the ghastly remains, Lady Hong murmured, “So this is… the reason Young Master Tang set up the barrier and ordered us to stand down.”
Meng Qinglei had taken many lives with his sword, but he had never seen so many corpses gathered in one place. Stunned, he turned his head at her words. “What?”
Lady Hong crouched down, examining each of the horrifically charred bodies one by one—unafraid. Bi Lianyi asked softly, “Who are you looking for?”
“Bai Suche,” Lady Hong replied slowly.
The minds of the Central Plains Sword Assembly members, still reeling from Tang Lizhi’s life hanging by a thread, suddenly fixated on the name “Bai Suche.” Meng Qinglei gasped, “Could it be… she wasn’t willingly corrupted?”
“I don’t know,” Lady Hong whispered. “But fire… doesn’t start without reason. Bai Suche rebelled against Yu Konghou and succeeded him as the leader of Fengliudian. Tell me—shouldn’t she be among these charred remains?” She paused. The bodies behind the stone wall had burned together, making it impossible to identify Bai Suche. Lady Hong reached out, gently touching the corpses. “I don’t know if she was ‘willingly corrupted’ or not. Maybe she didn’t care. Little Bai was ambitious, but I never knew what her ambitions were.”
Lady Hong looked toward Liu Yan. Before, I thought she was just like the others, competing with me for you.
But in truth, her eyes might have held neither me nor you.
By now, the crowd had realized that what Wang Lingqiu had thrown was a thunderfire bomb. Fortunately, it had been wrapped in Liu Yan’s soaked robe and hadn’t detonated. Otherwise, those gathered around Tang Lizhi moments ago would have suffered heavy casualties. Saved by Liu Yan yet again, the Central Plains Sword Assembly members felt even more conflicted. Seized by sudden inspiration, Meng Qinglei quickly brought the little girl Yu Tuan’er—whose acupoints had been sealed—to Liu Yan’s side.
Tang Lizhi, whose acupoints had been sealed by Cheng Yunpao, was carefully carried on Tie Jing’s back to Wan Yu Yuedan. Several skilled physicians from Biluo Palace crowded around him. Moments later, the healers exchanged uneasy glances, unsure of what to say.
There was no need to check his pulse or observe his complexion. Just unwrapping the crimson silk bandages around his wounds revealed sword injuries deep enough to reach his organs. It was clear this man’s life was nearly over.Even his survival to this day was strange.
But Tang Lichen clung to a single breath, refusing to die.
It didn’t seem like a miracle of life—more like an unfulfilled wish, a stubborn refusal to let go no matter what.
Tang Lichen refused to die, and he refused to lose consciousness. He stared at Tie Jing, his chest rising and falling as if he had much to say. Tie Jing, having just realized the severity of his injuries, was overwhelmed with mixed emotions and couldn’t bring himself to meet Tang Lichen’s gaze, turning away instead.
Liu Yan staggered forward. Some members of the Central Plains Sword Association drew their swords, hesitating for a moment, unsure whether to act or not, but still preventing him from approaching Tang Lichen. Like many Sword Association disciples who remained oblivious to the situation, they looked at Tang Lichen—now immobilized by pressure points—with undisguised contempt, utterly baffled as to why Lady Hong hadn’t yet ordered him to be thrown out.
"Un... Unseal his pressure points," Liu Yan ground out through clenched teeth. "He wants to speak—can’t you see he has something to say?"
But he was far outside the crowd. Cheng Yunpao and others surrounded Tang Lichen, while the Biluo Palace quickly set up a tent again. Soon, Tang Lichen, Wan Yu Yuedan, and Lady Hong were all ushered inside.
"Hey." Yu Tuan’er had just regained consciousness. Seeing the battlefield of Soul Prayer Mountain in utter chaos, she gasped in shock and jumped up, shielding Liu Yan behind her. "Wh... What happened here? Are you hurt?"
Liu Yan turned to her. Yu Tuan’er’s face was smeared with blood—half of it from when he had struck her with his zither. He sighed wearily. "It’s... it’s nothing..." His own face was ashen, his legs injured from the fall into the muddy pit beneath Piaoling Meiyuan earlier. But compared to Tang Lichen’s condition, these injuries were insignificant.
"Is it over? Did Fengliudian lose?" Yu Tuan’er brightened, grabbing his hand. "Then let’s go."
Liu Yan frowned. "Go where?"
"The Central Plains Sword Association and Fengliudian are done fighting. You’ve already taught them the antidote and the cure. They don’t like you, and they don’t like me either," Yu Tuan’er said matter-of-factly. "Let’s go home."
Liu Yan exhaled deeply, murmuring, "Home..."
Home.
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