Huameng Tower issued two new rules in succession. First, the number of participants selected in the preliminary round was increased. Then tonight, another rule was added that even after passing the preliminary round, losing the Moon Shadow Branch would still count as elimination. Whether those who had passed the preliminaries or those who had already been eliminated in earlier matches, all began searching for participants who possessed the Moon Shadow Branch.
The former did it to reduce competition in the finals, while the latter harbored resentment and waited for a chance to take revenge. Some even offered heavy bounties for it.
The Moonlit Night Tour had not yet arrived, but the fighting had already begun in advance.
Lin Yueying stood before a one-way glazed mirror and pointed toward a spot across the lake. “Look, that’s the bounty board. It has portraits of everyone who passed the preliminary round at Huameng Tower. The stronger they are, the higher the bounty. You and I are in the first row on the left, and our bounty is the lowest there, only five taels of gold.”
When Jiang Yin had just been looking for Xie Huaian earlier, she had seen those portraits. But with the height difference from the sixth floor and the bustling crowd on the street, she could not see them clearly and had assumed they were just vendors selling paintings.
Now, hearing Lin Yueying’s words, she leaned by the window and strained her eyes to look. She could barely make out some familiar traces.
The most eye-catching among them were two portraits, one in red and one in white. They were none other than Zhu Nian in a red dress and the male lead Xiao Lingchuan with white hair and black robes.
Aside from the male and female leads, the portraits of her and Lin Yueying also accurately depicted the colors of the clothes they were wearing today.
No wonder Lin Yueying had thrown away her clothes. With these portraits around, the garments she had hung out to dry on the balcony would sooner or later expose her location.
Looking at those portraits, Jiang Yin felt an indescribable sense of unease.
Especially Xiao Lingchuan’s white hair. If she remembered correctly, in the book Xiao Lingchuan still had black hair before participating in the preliminary round. It was only after he fought Zhu Nian in the Dream Tower and his body automatically absorbed the medicinal aura from her that his cultivation method became disordered. After the match, he found a place to regulate his breathing, but was disturbed by someone, causing his attempt to fail and the backlash to worsen. Only then did his hair turn white.
So even those who had participated in the preliminary round together with Xiao Lingchuan today did not know that he currently appeared with white hair.
Jiang Yin frowned. “Who put up this bounty board?”
Lin Yueying said, “The person offering the bounty is anonymous, but judging from the brushwork, these portraits were all done by the same person. Think about it. In Lin’an City, who could gather so many portraits of the participants in such a short time?”
The answer was obvious.
Jiang Yin said, “You suspect it’s Huameng Tower?”
“Not suspect. Certain!” Lin Yueying tapped on the window, her expression indignant. “Don’t you think this behavior of assigning bounty amounts based on strength is exactly the same as today’s numbered Moon Shadow Flowers from Huameng Tower? Putting our portraits at the very front is basically announcing to the entire city that we’re the easiest to bully among this group. With such an obvious targeted approach, who else could it be but Huameng Tower? That flower demon has really gone to great lengths to stop you and me from entering the finals.”
Jiang Yin thought it over again and again, but still felt something was off.
“Although a low bounty means easy to bully, there will definitely be more people going after the high rewards. As you said, the flower demon should only be targeting you and me, but this bounty board has exposed all participants to the public. That means the ones eliminated will definitely not be just you and me. Since Huameng Tower expanded the number of people selected in the preliminaries, it should be hoping that more people participate in the Moonlit Night Tour. Wouldn’t doing this go against its original intention?”
“Which is why Huameng Tower released new information.” Lin Yueying moved the finger she had been pressing against the glazed window to another spot, pointing toward a flower boat not far away. “The Moon Drifting Boat has opened early. There’s an incense burner placed at the front of the boat. As long as you sincerely pray for blessings for the master of Huameng Tower and light a stick of incense, you can board tonight. Before the Moonlit Night Tour begins, all fighting inside the boat is prohibited. Once you board, the spirit lamp on the portraits will automatically go out. Right now, only six lamps are still lit. Aside from you and me, and the boy beside you named Xue Zhuang’er, the other three are nowhere to be found.”
Jiang Yin felt a headache coming on.
Whether it was the bounty board or the early opening of the flower boat, none of these had happened in the original text. Even in the deviated plotline, Huameng Tower had never changed its rules one after another like this.
‘Could it be the butterfly effect from me transmigrating here?’
She rubbed her temples. The pain made her voice sound weak. “Then we can just board the boat too, right?”
“Do you think the flower demon will let us board so easily?” Lin Yueying emphasized again, “Lighting incense to board requires sincerity. If your heart is not sincere, the incense will not burn. She only needs to use a bit of magic to claim we are not sincere enough, and we won’t be able to get on the boat.”
Jiang Yin covered her head and slumped onto the table, a few muffled whimpers escaping her throat.
Lin Yueying had originally wanted to further heighten the tension, but when she saw this, she froze for a moment and quickly said, “Although the situation is not optimistic, it’s not without a turning point. We can hide first. I know a place where absolutely no one will be able to find us. Miss Jiang, you don’t need to worry, and don’t cry.”
She circled around Jiang Yin, turning left and right, even bending down to look at her expression, only to be pushed away.
“I don’t believe you,” Jiang Yin said in a muffled voice. “Who knows if you’re trying to trick me again.”
Earlier in the Dream Tower, they had agreed that Jiang Yin would stall in front while Lin Yueying would use numbing needles from behind to eliminate others.
In the end, Lin Yueying did eliminate the man who used a bow, but before being ejected from the Dream Tower, Jiang Yin had clearly seen that the wooden box she used to store the numbing poison needles was empty.
She had deceived Jiang Yin. She only had one numbing poison needle. If Xie Yunlin had not temporarily reversed the formation and taken another person’s Moon Shadow Branch, then the second person to be eliminated would have been Jiang Yin, who had voluntarily stepped forward.
“So I’ve come to apologize and accept punishment,” Lin Yueying said ingratiatingly. “Miss Jiang, just give me a chance to make up for my mistake. I truly want to compensate you.”
“Really?” Jiang Yin raised her head and extended a hand toward her. “Then give me the Life-Extending Pill.”
Lin Yueying immediately clutched her storage pouch and exclaimed, “How did you know I have a Life-Extending Pill?”
Jiang Yin did not answer her, only raised her palm slightly higher.
Lin Yueying reluctantly took out a pill from her storage pouch, broke off a quarter of it, and handed it over while muttering, “Don’t think this is too little. Even this much could sell for a hundred taels of gold outside. I even added Tianshan honey into it. The taste is crisp and sweet. Let it slowly dissolve in your mouth. Doesn’t it feel like you’re standing at the peak of a snowy mountain…”
Before she could finish, Jiang Yin grabbed the medicine and swallowed it in one gulp. Afterward, she smacked her lips. “Didn’t taste anything. How about giving me a bit more?”
She stared at the remaining pill in Lin Yueying’s hand with undisguised intent.
Lin Yueying quickly put the pill back into her storage pouch, clutching it tightly, and rebuked her in distress, “Do you even know how precious the Life-Extending Pill is? And how rare Tianshan honey is? Eating it like that is simply a complete waste of a priceless treasure!”
Of course Jiang Yin knew.
Lin Yueying was not exaggerating when she said the pill could be worth a hundred gold. The effect of the Life-Extending Pill could block out all pain in the body. In critical moments, having no pain to interfere could very well mean the difference between life and death.
However, the Divine Numbing Grass required to refine the Life-Extending Pill was extremely rare. The original text had mentioned that there seemed to be only a few plants left in the entire Eastern Profound Continent.
Moreover, each Divine Numbing Grass grew in pairs, producing two different effects. One was a poisonous herb that could render a person unable to move, and the other was a divine herb that, when consumed, would not affect mobility but would block pain. The Life-Extending Pill was refined from the latter.
The numbing poison needles Lin Yueying used were made from the poisonous herb, which was why Jiang Yin had guessed that she also possessed the Life-Extending Pill.
After taking the medicine, the needle-like pain in Jiang Yin’s head finally disappeared. With her strength returning, a smile appeared on her face. “You’re right, that was my fault. How about giving me a bit more? This time I’ll definitely savor it slowly.”
Hearing this, the pained expression on Lin Yueying’s face shifted into contemplation. “The effect of what you just took will last for twelve hours. Why do you still want more?”
She reached out to take Jiang Yin’s pulse. Jiang Yin extended her hand and did not hide anything. “I don’t know what’s been going on today. As long as I try to think about something, my head starts to ache like it’s being pricked by needles. It’s like something is urgently trying to force its way into my mind, and I can even see some blurry images.”
Lin Yueying carefully examined her pulse, but did not find anything unusual. “Miss Jiang, your pulse is very steady. It doesn’t seem like you’re ill… Could it be that you’ve fallen under the flower demon’s illusion? Tell me, what exactly are the images you’re seeing?”
“I can’t see clearly. It’s like there’s a layer of fog over it,” Jiang Yin said. “It shouldn’t be an illusion. The first time I had a headache, I hadn’t even entered Huameng Tower yet.”
At that time, she had been on Sanfeng Mountain and had just picked up the wooden hairpin that Liu Niang had dropped.
There was no way the flower demon had been targeting her that early.
Moreover, afterward, when she first met Lin Yueying and even before stepping onto the vine bridge, she had experienced headaches as well. It was just that the pain had not been severe at the time, so she had not paid much attention to it.
It was worth mentioning that after the headache on the vine bridge, she had inexplicably felt a sense of fear when looking at the lake, which made her hesitate for a long time before crossing.
But she had grown up in the water towns of Jiangnan and had never been afraid of water.
Combined with the vague images that did not belong to the modern world appearing before her eyes every time the headaches struck, she faintly felt that these images might be remnants of the original host’s memories.
Anyway, that was how it was always written in transmigration novels. Perhaps because she had physically transmigrated, the original host’s memories had only arrived a few days late and needed time for her to slowly process.
Thinking this way, she no longer felt worried.
After all, with the Life-Extending Pill, she would not suffer unbearable headaches, so she could just let her brain gradually process those memories.
Lin Yueying thought for a moment, then broke off another small piece of the Life-Extending Pill and handed it to her. “I can only give you this much more. I still need the rest for the finals.”
“Alright.” Jiang Yin put the medicine into her storage pouch, then took out two wooden swords. Her almond-shaped eyes curved as she smiled. “Didn’t you say you wanted to keep them as souvenirs? I specially brought them out for you. I was planning to give them to you after the finals, but with this headache problem of mine, I don’t know if I’ll be able to hold on until then, so I’d better give them to you now.”
She placed particular emphasis on the words ‘specially’ and ‘headache.’
Lin Yueying: “…”
She looked at the wooden swords in Jiang Yin’s hands, gritted her teeth, and broke off another half of the pill. “This is enough medicine for three days. It’ll be enough for you to last until the finals!”
“Oh, that’s not what I meant.” Jiang Yin smiled, dimples forming at the corners of her lips. As she took the medicine, she said cheerfully, “But since Miss Lin is so kind, I’ll accept it.”
Having taken advantage and still acting innocent, Jiang Yin made Lin Yueying feel irritated. She deliberately said, “Now we’re even. That place where we can hide from the bounty hunters, I don’t need to tell you anymore… though if you beg me, I might consider taking you along.”
“Thank you for your kindness, Miss Lin, but I won’t trouble you.”
Jiang Yin put away the letter on the table, then picked up a brush and wrote a new note, which she pasted on the door.
Lin Yueying caught a glimpse of the contents on the paper and asked curiously, “Going out for three days to avoid bounty hunters… you’re leaving? Then why don’t you ask me where that safe place is? Or do you have somewhere else to go? Where is it?”
“Want to know?” Jiang Yin extended her hand toward her again.
Lin Yueying clutched her storage pouch tightly. “Jiang Yin, I really can’t give you any more of the medicine I have left. If I give you more, I won’t have any for myself.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t want your medicine.” Jiang Yin rubbed her thumb and index finger together, smiling brightly. “Lend me some money, and I’ll tell you.”
After successfully borrowing money for sending a letter from Lin Yueying, Jiang Yin casually took two masks from the prop cabinet in the room and went downstairs.
Lin Yueying followed closely behind her, refusing to give up. “I’ve given you the money, now tell me. Where are you going?”
Jiang Yin knocked on Xue Zhuang’er’s door and spoke four words.
“The bottom of Moon Lake.”