Chapter Twenty-Five: The Meeting

The bandits had surrendered; their lives were no longer in danger. Those who had been held captive for a day and a night were now collapsed limply on the ground. Even though the air was thick with the stench of blood and filth, for those who had grown used to it, seeing men in military uniforms was the only source of true reassurance at this moment.

Of course, there were those who, after surviving the ordeal, broke down in tears, some who sat bewildered and incredulous, and others who quickly adapted to their surroundings.

Take Lu Yalan, for example.

She didn’t spare a glance to closely observe what the excellent son, as Mrs. Mu had called him, actually looked like. Instead, leaving space for the mother and son to reunite, she hurried to check on Master Lianyuan.

Master Lianyuan had been unconscious for quite some time, and Lu Yalan was gravely concerned. He was badly injured; not only had his head been struck and split open, but he had also been shot earlier. Having lost so much blood, he had fallen into a coma.

The formidable Old Master Zeng Yiqian, once a dominant force along the southern banks, had cultivated for most of his life, yet even now he was no more than a second-rank energy master.

His temper was notorious. A single retort could leave him riddled with contradictions, making it all the easier for Nangong Yu to extract information from him.

The battle grew ever more brutal, with the chaos of war raging on, thick smoke churning in the sky, and wave after wave of enemy soldiers charging forward, relentless and unyielding. The slaughter continued for an entire day, and only at sunset did the assaults finally cease, leaving the ground strewn with corpses as the enemy withdrew to set up camp.

Long Li Po was just basking in her triumph, having made her way to the doorway, when she was suddenly startled so badly that she fell headfirst off her horse.

Once again, Shilong Garden returned to the topic of jade gambling; after all, that was the true theme of the night—saving lives had only been a twist of fate.

Inside the cave, the lights blazed bright. The group descended more than thirty feet before reaching the bottom. There, they found a spacious chamber furnished with extravagant opulence: above them, a radiant lamp of eight treasures; underfoot, a carpet woven with peonies and dragons; before them, a screen of golden nanmu inlaid with a myriad of gems; all around, ornate beams and painted rafters gleamed in splendor.

Years later, when Ma Yong looked back on this moment, he wondered: If they had not appeared before Tan Jiantao just then, would Tan Jiantao ever have truly accepted them? As the old saying goes: “The strength of a bond is proven by deeds.”

But on second thought, since he did not fear the tiger demon, and since the others couldn’t even defeat the tiger demon, then… there really wasn’t much to be afraid of.

After all, Wang Lin was someone who didn’t even fear Lu Yun. At this moment, Wang Lin could clearly feel the others deliberately distancing themselves from him.

“I need you to determine whether it’s poisonous and, moreover, whether it can be mass-produced!” Mu Tian slapped the table, silencing all the surrounding chatter.

“Yes, it needs to be intense,” the man said. “From now on, we’re strangers. I want us to remain forever in each other’s hearts, holding that place as the most important memory.”

After seeing Mrs. He off, Qiu Kai called Li Wei to ask if she needed another housekeeper. Li Wei politely declined. Living alone, she didn’t have so many chores that needed help.

Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that things were not so simple. Was Mo Qiulan gathering the Sword Command merely to provoke Hentian Chang into acting just once? Regardless, when he first met Hentian Chang, he had made his position clear. Whether he had fulfilled the third promise to Mo Qiulan, he did not know.

Suddenly, everyone realized that this enormous imperial jadeite had been bought by Chu Chen and Bai Shijing, each contributing five hundred thousand.

Master Konghai slowly pressed his palms together in prayer; his movements were exceptionally slow and arduous, and his aura extremely faint.

Because of the rain that night, the road home was a little more difficult. Still, they managed to arrive before eight o’clock.

At that very moment, Gu Yue was indeed shocked and excited, for after cycling his breath and energy, he discovered, to his astonishment, that a trace of genuine energy had begun to form in his dantian.

“Buy it!” Despite his complaints, when faced with something this valuable, Mu Tian was never stingy with his gene points.

Eunuch Wei received the order and, in less than half an hour, hurriedly summoned both the Prince of Fenyang and Prince An to the Hall of Clear Transference. After the time it takes to burn an incense stick, the two men emerged, their faces black as thunder.

“Ninety-nine already?” Sakura Ruoxue was surprised. One more level and it would be maxed out.

If he had not rejected her at the very start, perhaps they would already be married, maybe even have a child by now. That house, too, would have truly been a home.