Deep night.
The capital, Loyal Righteousness Marquis Manor.
Feng Ke finished acupuncture for Li Ningfeng as usual. After coming out, he heard a subtle insect chirping sound.
His expression didn’t change. He added some Mengpo Soup to the burner. The fragrance mixed with medicinal scents. After everyone in the manor had become drowsy, Feng Ke went out and walked to a tree by the wall.
Someone flipped over the wall from outside.
Feng Ke asked, “Tian Nan? Why come so suddenly this late?”
Tian Nan’s complexion was very poor. He didn’t waste words and opened his palm. “Master Feng, Master is in danger.”
In his palm was a ceaselessly trembling child whistle.
Only when the mother whistle sounded would the child whistle vibrate, guiding its holder to find the mother whistle.
He’d carried this whistle on him for a long time. All these years, it had never been used. Who would have thought that Master, merely taking one southern tour trip, would need the whistle?
Feng Ke’s eyes darkened. “When did it start?”
Tian Nan replied, “It’s been a while already. From when the child whistle began vibrating until I came here, about a quarter-hour elapsed.”
He spoke rapidly, the anxiety on his face completely undisguised.
“Master should currently be in Jinling territory. It’s too far from the capital. Even if I rush over now, I won’t make it in time. Do you have any solution?”
“A quarter-hour?”
Before Lian Shenwei left the capital, Feng Ke had vaguely sensed this southern tour definitely wouldn’t be peaceful. Events had indeed unfolded as he predicted. From the news he’d received, in less than two months, the southern tour party had already suffered multiple assassination attempts.
Now with the child whistle vibrating, the southern tour party must have encountered trouble again. They didn’t know what specifically had happened. Even if news traveled to the capital at fastest speed, it would still take three days.
What he feared most was Lian Shenwei using internal energy.
Once the toxins in his blood became imbalanced, the damage and harm to his internal organs would be immeasurable and extremely life-shortening. Without timely treatment, his life would likely be in critical danger.
If it truly was like this, he could only hope Ming Zhu would quickly find him and give Lian Shenwei the pill he’d given her before, then rush back to the capital within a month for him to treat.
These thoughts circled through Feng Ke’s mind, ultimately becoming a sigh. “Don’t worry. Ming Zhu also has a child whistle. She’s always been quick-witted—she won’t let your master come to harm. Moreover, things may not be as we’re guessing. Wait for news. Watch the capital’s movements these days.”
Tian Nan could only suppress his anxiety. “Yes.”
–
On the other side, Qiu Che followed the footprints and found where the fleet was located.
The bloody scent hadn’t dissipated here. Fighting traces were even more obvious. Though he was devoted to swordsmanship, he understood some about jianghu and court matters.
The ships moored in the river should be the Crown Prince’s southern tour fleet. The endpoint of the footprints and blood traces was here.
But how could Ximian have gotten involved with the imperial family?
Qiu Che didn’t conceal his form. He just stood by the water with his sword on his back. Soon guards discovered him.
Having just experienced an assassination, the imperial guards were all extremely sensitive. The slightest disturbance would instantly put them on alert. A squad leader immediately shouted, “Who goes there?!”
Ying Jingjue, who was outside directing the search, looked up.
The swordsman standing on the shore showed no killing intent—black robes and hat, tall build. He appeared to be a jianghu figure. He couldn’t help recalling Young Master Ximian who’d just saved him.
Could this be a friend Young Master Ximian had mentioned?
At this moment, the imperial guards had already aggressively surrounded him.
Ying Jingjue hurriedly said, “Wait!”
While speaking, he quickly walked over. When he reached five meters before Qiu Che, maintaining a safe distance neither too far nor too close, he stopped. “May I ask who you are and what business brings you here?”
“Looking for someone.”
Ying Jingjue asked, “What person?”
Qiu Che looked up. His calm, waveless gaze fell on Ying Jingjue’s face. “Ximian.”
At these two words, the young Crown Prince’s expression showed subtle changes. Qiu Che took in all these changes. After a pause, he stated definitively, “You just saw him.”
“Where is he?”
Ying Jingjue’s brow furrowed. “What do you want with him?”
He didn’t much understand jianghu matters. He’d heard some of Ximian’s story from Li Ningfeng. This person came up directly asking for Ximian—who knew if he was friend or foe?
Qiu Che replied, “An agreement.”
Ying Jingjue asked, “An agreement? What’s your relationship?”
The swordsman before him fell into prolonged silence. He didn’t speak or leave, as if without getting an answer, he’d stand here indefinitely.
Little Zhizi said, “Your Highness, this…”
Ying Jingjue pondered for a moment. “Just now, Young Master Ximian saved me, but he’s not here. He left from the broken valley.”
“This Prince can only say this much. If you want to find him, you won’t see him here.”
After listening, Qiu Che said, “Thank you.”
He turned to leave. Glimpsing torches flickering in the forest, squad after squad of imperial guards searching for someone inside, his hearing was extremely good—he accidentally caught a few low murmurs.
They seemed to be searching for that Regent Prince reportedly ruthless and overwhelmingly powerful.
Stirring winds and clouds, schemes and calculations, factional intrigue—the Great Sheng Dynasty’s heir apparent seemed to have just experienced an assassination. The court was truly as filthy as ever across centuries.
Qiu Che withdrew his gaze, summoned his internal energy, and before long returned to the broken valley.
When he’d come, rain was still falling. Now it had stopped, though mist still pervaded the mountain forest. He’d already touched the threshold of Tianshu Realm. Without rain interference, sounds around him were incomparably clear to his ears.
Qiu Che removed his hat and flicked off the water droplets.
Unlike the urgency when following footprints earlier, Ximian wasn’t among those people. He’d lost the trail again. The closest he’d been to Ximian in nearly ten years—it seemed they’d brushed past each other when he himself hadn’t noticed.
He put his hat back on and continued walking. When reaching the corner of the broken valley, he suddenly stopped.
Southern rain fell finely. Some traces couldn’t be washed away. Shoes stepping on the ground would definitely leave footprints. Earlier he’d followed the chaotic footprints all the way to the southern tour fleet.
But…
Qiu Che crouched down and looked carefully. Suddenly he raised his head toward behind a certain rock—
There were footprints left separately there.
He went over to check. Behind the rock where rain couldn’t reach, there were several drops of blood in a dripping pattern. These traces were faint. If not for his unwillingness to overlook any detail while searching for Ximian these years, he definitely wouldn’t have noticed.
Following the blood traces and footprints, Qiu Che found a secluded small path. Lush vines hung down. In an extremely hidden place was an inconspicuous cave entrance.
There were also footprints there, indicating someone was inside the cave.
Only one set of prints, and they were one-way. That person had entered but not yet emerged.
Was it an assassin who’d attacked the heir apparent, wounded and recuperating?
Qiu Che reached the cave entrance but didn’t immediately enter. He listened carefully. After a moment, he frowned. Looking at the traces, there was clearly someone inside the cave. Yet why, aside from sounds of snake movements, couldn’t he sense any living person’s breathing inside?
Dead?
Qiu Che wasn’t someone who meddled unnecessarily. People or things unrelated to him—he rarely had idle time to spare them a glance.
Previously, he definitely would have turned and left. Today, perhaps because he’d heard news of Ximian, he inexplicably concealed his aura, lifted the vines outside the cave entrance, and directly entered.
He pulled out the fire starter at his waist and blew on it. Firelight instantly illuminated this small cave.
An extremely familiar sword on the ground entered his view.
Qiu Che froze.
His gaze slowly moved. His complexion suddenly darkened.
The Cangshan Sword’s owner lay collapsed beside it with closed eyes.
That face had shed its youthful immaturity. Between brows and eyes, not half a trace remained of former unrestrained boldness—vastly different from memory.
His clothes were stained with bloody scent, attracting several black snakes that had crawled from who knows where.
The snakes coiled around the youth’s waist and abdomen. They seemed to regard this body as their new nest, presenting a protective, clinging posture.
The blood on the white robes looked like spider lilies blooming on white bones, coexisting with snakes—eerie and sinister.
The youth was pale and emaciated. When illuminated by the fire starter’s light, the corners of his eyes cast shadows, heavily pressing down a melancholic air.
He lay there like a sacrificial offering presented by witchcraft to a snake totem.
At first glance, Qiu Che found him incomparably unfamiliar. He quickly came to his senses, rapidly shot out several pebbles to kill the snakes, crouched down to check Lian Shenwei’s breathing. “Ximian?!”
No warmth, no breathing detected either.
Qiu Che’s usually steady fingers trembled slightly.
His lips pressed tightly together as he untied the wrist wrap binding Lian Shenwei’s sleeve cuffs and firmly pressed on the pulse point.
For a long while.
A faint, illusion-like pulsing came from beneath his fingertip.
Qiu Che’s tense body relaxed. Only then did he suddenly realize that in this short time, his back was already soaked through, his heart racing.
At the same time, Ming Zhu, following the child whistle’s guidance in pursuit, was also rapidly approaching.
–
Inside the consciousness sea.
Little Light Orb, holding on by a thread, finally relaxed. “Thank goodness we found you! So scary! QAQ He almost thought you were really going to die, wuuwuu…”
Ever since learning that this randomized illness not only affected the body but also impacted the soul, it had been constantly in this anxious state.
Afraid that Gong Du, in a moment of displeasure, would slack off on the spot and actually play himself to death.
Gong Du actually very much wanted to die on the spot.
He didn’t care how he tormented himself—he was going to die anyway.
This time, he could have clearly collapsed in a more obvious place and waited for Qiu Che to come. Instead, he deliberately found a remote corner cave.
He truly hadn’t anticipated the snakes crawling over later. The cold, sticky sensation of scales rubbing against his skin made him very uncomfortable.
So Gong Du simply withdrew all consciousness and returned to the consciousness sea for a brief nap.
With consciousness withdrawn, that body’s interior was already tattered like a broken rag doll, without breathing. Aside from the body remaining soft, its condition wasn’t much different from a corpse.
It wasn’t until Little Light Orb frantically shook him awake that he discovered Qiu Che had already found him.
Gong Du was too sleepy to open his eyes. He grudgingly split off a trace of consciousness to make that body show signs he was still alive, to avoid truly being taken for a corpse.
He was listless, ears drooping. “First time using internal energy done. The second time also needs to be arranged.”
Mental exhaustion—the body would slowly synchronize too. He could perfectly attribute this body’s irreversible decline to blood toxin imbalance.
Originally, if it were just one toxin imbalance, with careful treatment, it could be alleviated and cured. But the additional illness brought by his descent had no medicine to cure it.
Now the body was in severe coma. He could sleep several more days. However, after waking, when initial symptoms of decline began showing, he still needed to think about how to perform them.
Little Light Orb transformed into butler papa, worriedly feeding Gong Du a few bites. “Eat some food before sleeping.”
The black dumpling bit the feeding spoon. When drowsy, he was comparatively obedient—eating however much was fed. Wrapped tightly in his embroidered little blanket, he drowsily fell asleep again.
#
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152