Tan Congye seemed prone to erratic agitation in everything he did, and horse riding was no exception. Ying Laixian was jolted dizzy all the way, his stomach churning violently. Tan Congye saw every bit of it , after all, the beauty’s complexion was far too wretched.
Yet he pretended not to notice until their galloping mounts tore into Yishui City. Bringing them to his estate, he hoisted Ying Laixian up by the back of his collar and dumped him straight off the horse, then dismounted himself.
Ying Laixian had already fractured a rib, and colliding with the hard-packed ground sent a wave of agonizing pain that broke him out in a cold sweat. If Tan Congye hadn’t ridden so recklessly fast and left Fang Xu and the others far behind, he wouldn’t have had to endure this suffering.
“If looking at me offends your eyes so much, you didn’t have to drag me to your estate.”
Tan Congye sneered, his dark eyebrows lifting as he looked down at Ying Laixian from on high. “Since you still have the breath to talk, it seems you aren’t going to die.”
He grabbed Ying Laixian by the robes, practically hoisting him off the ground as he dragged him into the courtyard.
“Let go!” Ying Laixian struggled to push him away, but Tan Congye pressed firmly down on his fractured rib, causing Ying Laixian to lose his voice from the sudden, sharp pain.
Dragging him straight into the room, Tan Congye shoved Ying Laixian down onto a wooden chair. Seeming disgusted by the dust Ying Laixian had accumulated while tumbling around outside, he brushed off his own clothes where they had barely brushed against him, then spoke coldly to Ying Laixian: “It seems I was too gentle last time, giving you the wrong idea.”
Ying Laixian pressed a hand against his waist to ease the ache, offering no quarter in his retort: “If you place no hope in the information I hold, you could have simply left me to rot.”
Furious, Tan Congye clamped a hand around Ying Laixian’s throat. “You know precisely why I rescued you. Given everything so far, Gentleman Liuyu should have thoroughly considered what I said back in Quedu. Since that’s the case, shouldn’t you start by telling me what you actually know? My patience is finite.”
To fall into the same person’s hands time and time again, to be manipulated by a nineteen-year-old youth, these weren’t the real issues; rather, Ying Laixian’s attitude served as the fuse for Tan Congye’s pent-up rage. It felt as though the other was mocking him, mocking the fact that the clues he had spent years hunting down had already been snared in another’s net, leaving him waiting like a fool to take the bait.
Tan Congye exerted his full strength, exacerbating the agony radiating through Ying Laixian’s battered body. Struggling through a couple of coughs, Ying Laixian managed to force a coherent sentence past his tight throat: “You want to investigate the truth behind the destruction of Changye Temple? Why? That seemingly has nothing whatsoever to do with Yishui City.”
“And does it have anything to do with you?” The conversation finally veered toward the core issue. Loosening his grip slightly, Tan Congye watched Ying Laixian grimace in pain, finding the sight inexplicably striking. He averted his gaze and said coldly, “Riding at breakneck speed for two months straight from Quedu to reach this place, are you planning to head into Yunchen? With the entire martial world buzzing about the Changye Temple treasure, are you heading to White Paper Hall or Muyun upon entering Yunchen? Do those two sects happen to have your people planted within them as well?”
Tan Congye had spent a vast amount of time and effort merely to unearth a shred of useful intelligence concerning Liuyu Shouxue, yet when laid before Ying Laixian, those findings felt utterly petty. He had never fully committed to the certainty that Ying Laixian held the key to the Changye Temple massacre, but whether it was the sudden assassination attempt on the road or Ying Laixian’s unyielding posture, everything pointed toward a single conclusion.
The back of Ying Laixian’s neck felt stiff and sore. His throat was parched, rendering his voice raspy and hoarse. “The City Lord holds this one in too high a regard. Since you’ve investigated me, you should know this is my first time stepping foot outside Yunhu.”
“Who knows if that’s true or false? A fox is far too cunning; I can only tether its tail to get answers.”
“You want the clues?” Ying Laixian gripped Tan Congye’s wrist. “I want them just as much. Whatever you hold, I possess; but whatever I hold, City Lord Tan certainly does not. One should not be overly arrogant, City Lord Tan. Coercion and temptation are tactics meant for those sitting on high. Neither of you and I are such people, why not drop the pretense and talk cooperation?”
“Cooperation?” Tan Congye seemed amused by the word. He hooked a finger under Ying Laixian’s chin, his voice dropping to a cold chill. “Yishui City borders Yunchen to the left and connects with Yunhu to the right. Though we never meddle in imperial affairs, we form the central artery between the two nations. You wish to cooperate with me—what kind of schemes are you plotting, what towering ambitions lie in your heart? Did you honestly believe I was unaware? Gentleman Liuyu, my sole interest lies in the truth behind the destruction of Changye Temple. You expect to trade cooperation with mere scraps of information like that? You’ve got a high opinion of yourself!”
In truth, Tan Congye admired Ying Laixian to a degree. The youth had never once explicitly laid bare his ambitions, yet every action he took and every word he spoke subtly drew people into speculation. No faction in the world occupied a more advantageous geographic position than Yishui City; allying with it meant gaining command over the vast majority of intelligence networks and human resources across the land. Cooperation was not entirely out of the question, but Tan Congye simply refused to grant it so easily, he wanted to see just how many hidden claws this youth truly possessed.
Ying Laixian managed a bitter smile. “If you had no intention of cooperating, you would have left me to perish in the desert. City Lord Tan, you detest me, and I certainly hold no fondness for you either. Cooperation is the sole relationship that allows us to speak to one another on civilized terms. Moreover, the moment you tracked me down in Quedu, you already stepped onto the board. It’s either mutual destruction or pressing forward step by step; surely you can weigh the stakes.”
The world was crawling with ambitious wolves, and Ying Laixian was undoubtedly one of them. Yet he didn’t quite fit the mold of a wolf; rather, he was a fox, standing openly in plain sight while coveting everything from the shadows, cunning beyond measure.
“Ying Laixian,” Tan Congye ground out between his teeth. “I was wondering why news of the Changye Temple treasure suddenly surfaced, so you were waiting for me right here. Wei Heng’s disciple, yet harboring backing far more formidable than his own. You intend to grasp both the imperial court and the martial world in your palms. Is this entirely your own design, or are you merely a pawn serving as a decoy? It seems rather a waste of talent if so. Forget about cooperation, why not simply join Yishui City outright? Sooner or later, you’ll have to lay everything bare before me anyway.”
“Tan Congye,” Ying Laixian let out a dry, scornful laugh. “Everything you’ve managed to dig up on me was meticulously arranged by myself. A perilous road may not lack travelers, but your piece on this board is bound permanently to mine. I desire the truth of what happened back then far more than anyone else, and furthermore, I do not fear death. Do you genuinely believe the meager clues in your hands are enough to unearth a mystery Master spent twelve grueling years failing to unravel?”
The fox had finally bared its clever nature. Tan Congye gazed down at that breathtaking face, a visage every soul in the world yearned to behold just once. Yet beneath that bewitching facade dwelt a frantic demon.
A demon that drank blood.
Tan Congye’s patience felt ground down as if ground between millstones, suspended in midair with no landing point in sight. He shoved Ying Laixian away, strode over to the table to pour a cup of tea, and marched back to thrust it into Ying Laixian’s hands. “I loathe being threatened above all else. Consider yourself fortunate that, given the current circumstances, I have no intention of taking your life.”
Ying Laixian took the cup and drank. The cold water slid down his parched throat, abruptly setting his raw airways ablaze with a dull ache. “The martial world has dissolved into utter chaos; the rumors surrounding the Changye Temple treasure are more than enough to ignite a bloodbath.”
Studying him intently, Tan Congye remarked, “You orchestrated it on purpose.”
He had vastly underestimated the youth’s scheming capabilities. Neither his age nor his worldly experience suggested Ying Laixian should possess such terrifying methods. Tan Congye wondered whether the youth was merely a decoy, and whether the true mastermind pulling the strings lay elsewhere, perhaps someone within the imperial court of Yunhu?
“Believe what you wish.” Ying Laixian had no desire to offer explanations, for given that person’s methods, any justification would be entirely futile.
Tan Congye detested this attitude above all else, the irritating way Ying Laixian acted as though nothing mattered, yet understood everything while stubbornly keeping it to himself. “The Changye Temple treasure is coveted by everyone under heaven. After all, it belonged to the wealthiest sect of a decade past, with halls towering even higher than the imperial palace. Are you entirely indifferent to the treasure itself?”
“Hm?”
Tan Congye: “How foolish of me; Gentleman Liuyu owns numerous flourishing establishments across Yunhu, and even the Drunken Jade and Waning Mountain Zhong Xiwu relies on you for everything. Naturally, you have no shortage of silver.”
Ying Laixian: “…”
When it came to sarcastic, petty needling, Tan Congye truly stood peerless.
Having delivered his parting shots of sarcasm, Tan Congye turned and walked out. Outside, Chen Wen was already locked in a fierce, chaotic brawl with Jiang Ni and Fang Xu. Seeing someone finally emerge from the room, all three instantly halted their movements as if choreographed. Jiang Ni and Fang Xu rushed inside the doorway, while Chen Wen hurried over to report: “Another wave of people just entered Yishui City. They belong to Zhong Xiwu, and it looks like they’ve been tailing the Gentleman the entire way.”
Tan Congye issued a low grunt of assent, his deep eyes flickering with unreadable intent. “The Drunken Jade has rather long reach. Wipe them all out, leave no survivors.”
Chen Wen looked slightly startled. “My Lord, from what I observed, they seem to be acting as an escort. If we slaughter them rashly, I’m afraid.”
“An escort?” Tan Congye recalled the scene back in the desert. “When his life was genuinely on the line, those people didn’t lift a finger. Call it protection, surveillance, or a smokescreen, even he might not be able to give a straight answer. Ying Laixian plays a brilliant game, but the wolf or hound he lured onto his trail remains to be seen. Zhong Xiwu, what manner of man is he to meddle here?”
“It’s just that the Gentleman and Zhong Xiwu share the same master; they are hardly passing acquaintances. The former devises strategies for the latter while they simultaneously guard against one another. One wonders what kind of feelings Zhong Xiwu truly harbors toward the Gentleman.”
An image flashed through Tan Congye’s mind: Ying Laixian’s seductive face, and the striking visual of that slender body pressing against his own amidst the friction of their garments. He forcefully shoved the distraction away, dragging himself out of the alluring reverie.
“Heroes struggle to pass the trials of a beauty; the Drunken Jade… I suspect this ‘Jade’ belongs to someone else entirely.”
Chen Wen looked as though he had just stumbled upon a monumental secret. “This, yet Zhong Xiwu’s men made no move when the Gentleman was injured.”
Tan Congye saw the situation far more clearly than his subordinate. “Because he knew Ying Laixian is never someone who leaves his own safety to chance. But I wonder, does our Gentleman Liuyu realize the hidden sentiments harbored toward him?”
Chen Wen couldn’t answer that; he could indulge in shallow gossip, but probing deeper was out of the question.
“Go fetch a physician to look him over,” Tan Congye ordered in a low voice. “His ribs fractured from a simple fall, is it really because his waist is entirely too slender?”
Inside the room, Fang Xu readjusted the long saber at his waist and poured a fresh cup of tea for Ying Laixian. Lowering her head, Jiang Ni murmured her apology, “It was this subordinate’s dereliction of duty. I failed to protect the lord properly.”
Ying Laixian waved a hand dismissively. “It’s no fault of yours. This was entirely within my calculations; the fact that you managed to accompany me all the way to Yunchen is already commendable enough.”
Neither Jiang Ni nor Fang Xu had ever pried into his ultimate objectives, nor did they ever question his decisions, yet they executed every single command with absolute obedience. Ying Laixian noted all of this in his heart, especially since this particular crisis had been entirely self-engineered.
“The lord need not shoulder the blame for us,” Fang Xu muttered, feeling rather sheepish. “It is simply our incompetence.”
Ying Laixian smiled. “Shifting blame isn’t your usual style. Put aside the guilt and collect yourselves; we have critical tasks awaiting us once we settle in Yunchen. Have you received any word from Ah You?”
Jiang Ni replied, “The master hasn’t replied yet. Perhaps he is still finalizing his plans.”
Ying Laixian wasn’t in a rush. “Tell him to take his time. For now, Tan Congye won’t allow me to die easily. How are the rumors we instructed you to spread playing out?”
Fang Xu chuckled. “The Changye Temple treasure is an irresistible temptation. Right now, both the martial world and the imperial court have begun turning their gaze toward it. We need only wait for the lord to drop the next clue.”
Ying Laixian took a sip of tea, speaking with unhurried leisure: “No need to rush. Let’s head into Yunchen first and settle matters there, then take things one step at a time. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be nearly as amusing.”
Pacing back and forth across the room for a moment, Fang Xu emphasized once more, “Even so, the lord must place your own safety above all else. Put yourself first in everything.”
“You’ve recited those exact words so many times I could practically recite them in my sleep. Guard my own skin carefully, or else I won’t be able to answer to Ah You.”
Fang Xu curled his lip. “The master cares most about the lord; I’d be the one getting punished for negligence.”
“And what of it? You’re complaining to me right now, do you dare repeat those words to your master?”
Fang Xu certainly did not dare.
Amused, Ying Laixian laughed softly. “Ah You has truly foisted two absolute handfuls onto me. By the way, what about Wen Zhaolin?”
Exchanging a glance, Jiang Ni and Fang Xu replied, “The moment he entered the city, he spurred his horse away at a dead gallop, looking terribly anxious. He asked us to pass along a message to the lord: until we meet again.”
Ying Laixian rested his head in the palm of his hand, asking slowly, “Did you investigate his background?”
“No,” Fang Xu muttered defensively. “Our manpower in Yunchen is limited, and intelligence is scarce. We haven’t been able to dig up anything on him yet.”
Ying Laixian wasn’t particularly anxious either. It was simply that Wen Zhaolin’s sudden appearance and abrupt departure were too anomalous, leaving no traceable trail. For now, they would simply have to wait and see what the future brought.