Chapter 59 of 90
A Midnight Visit from Yun Xianchen
At last, Li Yuguo and Ximen Lang came back across the yard from their corner.
Both of them were smiling. Wide, satisfied, contented smiles. They walked side by side, close enough for their sleeves to brush, like a pair of newlyweds on the morning after the wedding. Anyone watching would have said they looked very much in love.
When Ximen Lang reached his people, he coughed.
"Disciples of the True Yuan Sect, hear me. After investigation, the fire crystal has been taken by the Blood-Clothed Sect. This is no longer a situation we disciples can handle. We'll go back and report to the sect master and the elders."
"Wait a moment!"
Ye Qiong pushed forward.
"Everyone here is a thief! Are we really going to just let it go?"
"Junior Brother Ye." Ximen Lang turned and looked at him. "The sect entrusted us with a mission this time. To obtain the fire crystal. And this time, the fault is yours. It was you who told the sect about the fire crystal. And now we're going back with nothing." His voice was cool. "This farce ends here."
"That's right." One of the other disciples was already nodding. "The information was wrong. And he went running to the sect master with it anyway. As if our lives were worth nothing. Wasn't that just sending us to die for nothing?"
"Yeah," said another. "Ye Qiong thinks he's the genius of the True Yuan Sect. He wanted us to help him get the fire crystal—and once he had it, he'd be the one who got all the credit!"
"I didn't!"
Ye Qiong shouted it at all of them. His face was red. He felt deeply wronged. This was supposed to have been his moment—his time in the limelight. And because Li Yuguo had shown up, suddenly he was the target of everyone's criticism.
Even Yun Xianchen was looking at him with disappointment.
In a sect, it was a taboo. To rush everyone into danger without first making sure of your information. Situations like that almost always ended in accidents. And people died in accidents.
Li Yuguo watched all this from a little way off, and was very happy.
So what if Ye Qiong has the protagonist's halo?
The boy was talented. But his character was too self-righteous. If it had worked—if he had come back with the fire crystal—his reputation would have soared, and he could have walked through the sect with his chin in the air. But that kind of thing cut both ways. When it went wrong, you carried the whole weight of it.
Of course, the protagonist's halo was something else. With a protagonist's halo, even a one-in-a-hundred chance would come true. But the numbers had moved now. A great deal.
[ Halo ]
Current Villain Halo: 15% — Owner: Li Yuguo Current Protagonist Halo: 93% — Owner: Ye Qiong
Fifteen percent. The spirit spring, the bloodline, the chance on Ling Snake Mountain—all of it had poured into his side of the scale at once. And Ye Qiong's had dropped. It meant that Ye Qiong no longer held the very highest degree of the protagonist's halo. If something happened to him in the future, and he did not have the experience or the brains to handle it—it would only get worse and worse for him.
"Since the fire crystal isn't here," said Yun Xianchen indifferently, "I'll go."
But she did not go. She walked toward Li Yuguo instead, and stopped in front of him.
"Consort. Could you give me some of the Snake Spring?" Her voice was cool and level. "Of course, I'll give you some spirit stones in return."
Her proud expression made Li Yuguo unhappy.
He could admit it: Yun Xianchen was beautiful. So beautiful it bubbled up out of her like spring water. But the people of the True Yuan Sect had praised her for so long that she still carried herself as if the world owed her something.
Her words had not been very polite. Li Yuguo smiled.
"The Snake Spring and spirit stones are two completely different things. If you want to buy—fine. A thousand spirit stones, and I'll give you one bottle of Snake Spring. How about it?"
"You—"
Yun Xianchen was very annoyed. But there was nothing she could do. The Snake Spring was on him. She could not exactly snatch it.
"We're going home," said Ximen Lang. He turned to Ma Daha. "But before I leave, let me say this. If your men go around doing evil again, I won't let you off so lightly next time. This time, it's for the Consort's sake."
"Yes. Thank you, Daoist Ximen, for sparing us," said Ma Daha. He swallowed the humiliation, and clasped his fists.
"But Senior Brother—" Ye Qiong's fists were clenched. He hesitated.
"Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough?" Ximen Lang snarled. "Dragging all of us around with you—do you think this is a game of house?"
Ye Qiong had nothing to say. But in his heart, he hated Li Yuguo even more.
Li Yuguo did not leave the cottage after he had seen the True Yuan Sect off.
He stood in the middle of the yard with his arms folded and looked around at the fires, still burning in the timber halls.
"Ma Daha," he said. "You should know why I'm here."
"Thank you for speaking for us," said Ma Daha, turning his head. "And for saving the lives of so many of my brothers."
The huge man was covered in scars. Clearly, the fight just now had not hurt him much at all.
Li Yuguo smiled.
"I thought the bandits of Ling Snake Mountain were a band of heroes," he said. "I never expected you to be a pack of cowards. If that's how it is… then I'll leave." And he turned as if to go.
"Wait!" Ma Daha shouted. "Consort—what do you mean by that?"
"What do I mean?"
Li Yuguo turned back.
"Obviously, you're nothing but a pile of rubbish that bullies good people and the common folk. Li Yutang betrayed you, and you can't even bring yourselves to cut him loose. You're still here like obedient dogs, being somebody else's lackeys. Sooner or later, you won't even have a pair of trousers left to sell!"
He said it sharply. Without the least courtesy.
Ma Daha ground his teeth. He stamped his foot. "Even if you helped us, you can't insult us like this! A bandit's dignity is defended with his life!"
"Hahaha! Ridiculous!"
Li Yuguo's eyes blazed. He looked Ma Daha up and down.
"Defend it with your life? What are you defending—lies? It's obvious. Li Yutang thinks you're not worth anything anymore. And you know what? You're not. In front of a behemoth like the True Yuan Sect, what's a little gang of thieves on Ling Snake Mountain? If you didn't have the overlord of this mountain at your back, keeping everyone else out, they'd have flattened you to the ground long ago. Am I right or not?"
He tore Ma Daha's dignity apart without mercy.
For a while, Ma Daha was silent. Then his shoulders sagged.
"I know," he said. "Before, I promised Li Yutang I'd have you assassinated. Several times. They failed. But you hold a grudge against us for it. I know." He looked at Li Yuguo. "So I'll only ask you one thing. Kill me. And let these brothers of mine go."
He dropped the mace from his hand. It hit the earth with a thud.
"Big Brother!"
All around the yard, the bandits came crowding in, closing around Ma Daha, holding onto his arms.
Ma Daha was a hateful man. But he was a loyal one. And Li Yuguo found that, despite himself, he admired him for it.
It took a long while after that to sort everything out between them. When it was done, every one of them left the cottage.
Li Yuguo went back down the mountain, through the dark, to the canyon. He found the shelter where he had left it, and Nalan Meng under the leaves, awake now, with the empty water bottle in her hand and her spear across her knees. She looked at the red robe and the ponytail and the saber on his back for a long moment, and did not ask. He carried her to Tongming Spring. The King of Thieves and Jun Xue were already there, and the Poison Emperor arrived an hour later, sulking, with half his guards and a sack of bandit weapons.
Back at the City Lord's Mansion, everyone set about putting things in order.
After all, something very big had just happened. And the City Lord's Mansion had a great deal of work to catch up on.
As prefect, Nalan Meng was naturally buried in official business. She went straight to her study. Sure enough, the desk was piled high with documents. She sighed, and said out of habit:
"Xiaocui. Bring me a brush and ink."
No one answered.
Only then did Nalan Meng remember. Xiaocui was gone. A few days ago she had asked to be released from Nalan Meng's service, and gone over to serve in Li Yutang's household instead, and Nalan Meng—still angry over the slap, and over the words that had earned it—had let her go without asking why.
Her brows drew together.
At that moment, Jun Xue came in. She was carrying a brush and ink, paper and an inkstone, all on a little tray.
"Madam."
"You're here…" Nalan Meng was surprised.
Jun Xue set everything out on the desk neatly, and made Nalan Meng a cup of tea.
"The young master is practicing in the guest room," she said. "He says he wants to practice Blood Escape. He told me to come and serve Madam."
"Blood Escape." Nalan Meng shook her head.
It was the secret technique of the Blood-Clothed Sect. A manual for it had been sewn into the lining of the robe Li Yuguo had taken from the dead disciple; he had found it on the walk down the mountain.
"I'll have to tell him later," she said. "Not to practice Blood-Clothed Sect techniques too much. The Blood-Clothed Sect is very powerful. If they find out someone has taken their secret scriptures—there'll be trouble…"
"The young master knows what he's doing," said Jun Xue, smiling.
Nalan Meng opened a dossier on the water conservancy works, and began to read through it.
Outside the window, the stars had come out. The moon was very round tonight.
In Li Yuguo's room, he was meditating.
A dark shadow flickered past the window.
Li Yuguo opened his eyes slowly, and got up. "Don't hide. Come out."
"As expected of the Consort."
The shadow came in over the sill. At a glance, Li Yuguo knew who it was. It was Yun Xianchen. But tonight she was wearing black—a close black dress that clung to her from throat to ankle—and her face was covered.
She walked to the little stool beside his bed and sat on it.
"I never expected the dignified Consort to live apart from the County Lord," she said. "It surprised me."
"Greetings, Senior Sister Yun." Li Yuguo got up off his cushion. "I wonder what brings you here so late at night?"
Yun Xianchen went stiff.
"How do you know it's me?"
"Don't you know that Li Yuguo is the number one prodigal son of Nalan City?" said Li Yuguo. "I know women. I've never been able to resist a pretty face. And smell—the fairy-grass and flower-dew on you. That scent is the only one of its kind in the world."
Yun Xianchen ground her teeth. "As I thought. You're a pervert!"
"Since you know I'm a man," said Li Yuguo with a smile, "and you've still come here in the middle of the night—do you want to chat with me about life, as a woman? Admire the bright moon together?"
Li Yuguo did not care about his reputation. Anyway, a man with a villain's halo might as well do things a little villainously. As long as it did not break his principles, there was no problem.
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