Chapter 17: Deciding to save people, falling into the pit he dug himself

From north to south, from south to north, the north and the south are connected. If you want to go to any place between the north and the south, you will pass through the border of the Yu Rou tribe. The only road you must pass through is a small canyon on the border of the Yu Rou tribe, Yuchuan Valley.

Yuchuan Valley is different from the previous canyons formed by strange rocks and towering valley walls. On the contrary, it has a wide road and low valley walls on both sides. However, the valley is very long and it takes more than ten minutes for a fast horse to run through it.

The exchanges between the northern and southern tribes are not very close. On weekdays, apart from the caravans and messengers from various families, there are only a few travelers and vagrants passing by.

There are even very few robbers. Due to the special nature of this place, the Fengyue and Yurou tribes would send their elite cavalry to patrol the area every hour, leaving no opportunity for those who want to rob caravans and assassinate messengers.

Wen Yuhan traveled south day and night, noting down the address Wen Ranqi had sent him on the way. He had already sent one letter after another to Baihua Valley as he hurried along. He was faster than Wen Shi's carriage, and he was already close to Wen Shi.

In the Valley of Flowers

Yue Chi had already received a second letter, sent 800 miles in urgency, signed by the Fire Tribe's chieftain, leaving him in a dilemma. If the letter was genuine, Wen Ranqi must be in danger and needed help. But if he handed it to Qiqi, she would definitely leave the valley, and even if she did, she would only die in vain. Wen Ranqi had instructed him to take good care of Qiqi, and if he couldn't even do that... Liang Sheng, noticing Yue Chi's hesitation, took the letter. Qiqi was currently doing her morning exercises in the back mountains, unaware of these events.

"If we want to return to Xue Ye City, we must pass through Yuchuan Valley. Yuchuan Valley is guarded by elite cavalry on both sides. We can only meet up with each other and make the next decision when they pass through Yuchuan Valley." Liang Sheng is already over fifty years old. As a senior, even though he has left the Fengyue clan and lived in seclusion for more than ten years, he is still very worried about the safety of Wen Yuechu's uncle and his nephew Wen Ranqi. But he cannot act as panicked as Yue Chi, who can see the flaws at a glance.

"Uncle Liang, do you have any ideas? If Qiqi knew, he would definitely go there at the risk of his life."

"I have a plan. Since we can't hide it from Qiqi, let's just go with the flow. Let him go, and let him see the gap between him and others and practice what he has learned."

"Aren't you sending him to his death? Wen Shi's martial arts have reached the eighth level. Apart from Wen Ranqi a few years ago, who else in the world can compare to him? Aren't you sending Qiqi to his death?"

Qiqi returned with a sword in hand, beads of sweat still glistening on his forehead. When he entered the room, he saw Uncle Liang and Yue Chi with grim expressions, looking at him with hesitation as if they wanted to say something.

"Uncle Liang, just tell me what you have to say. I can handle it." Qiqi poured herself a cup of tea and sat down, looking around. Liang Sheng handed the letter to Qiqi with a heavy face. Qiqi took it and read it, then continued reading the second letter.

Qiqi thought it was no big deal. After finishing the letter, he stood up and was about to rush out. Liangsheng threw the tea lid and knocked Qiqi to his knees. In a deep and resonant voice, he shouted, "Stop? Do you want to die?"

"As long as I can save Master, I will go even if I die.

"If you died because of your recklessness and the person was not rescued, would you have thought about your master? Could you defeat someone at the eighth level of the Traceless Sword Manual?"

Qiqi gripped the Fengyin Sword, veins bulging out. "But if I don't go, I'll regret it forever. I'd rather die!"

The noise in the hall startled Liang Yanyan and Wan'er, who rushed over from the kitchen. All three of them looked unhappy, and Qiqi was especially furious, her face flushed with anger.

"Sit down, I have a solution." Qiqi sat down reluctantly. Yue Chi held Wan'er's hand, and Liang Yanyan stood obediently next to Liang Sheng.

"Even the fastest horse would take three days and three nights to travel from north to south. We still have one day before Wen Shi's carriage reaches Yuchuan Valley. Once we get there, the distance between him and Xueye City will become increasingly shorter. We can only rescue him when he leaves the valley and reaches the Yurou Tribe's border. The canyon patrols can't handle matters outside the canyon, so we can then reunite with Wen Yuhan and, leveraging our cover along the border, find the perfect opportunity to launch a surprise attack."

"No matter who we are, we must avoid direct confrontation with Wen Shi. Regardless of success or failure, we cannot return here. Wen Shi will definitely pursue us. We have no choice but to find another place to go."

Wan'er put her hand on Yue Chi's shoulder worriedly. Baihua Valley was the last place where Yue Chi and Wan'er could stay during their confrontation with Yue Huainan. If they left Baihua Valley, Yue Huainan would regard Yue Chi's treaty as invalid. Could he and Wan'er escape from Yue Huainan?

"Dad, if we leave here, where will we go?

Liang Sheng looked embarrassed. He didn't know how to answer his daughter's question. Everyone was looking at him. He shook his head. He couldn't think of where it was safe or where to go.

But he wanted to give everyone an encouraging answer. He said firmly, "Don't worry, I know where the hiding place is. As long as you trust me, this old man."

Their eyes met, and the matter was settled. Qiqi stroked the blade of the sword, having already made up his mind: even if it meant risking his life tomorrow, he would do it.

Inside the carriage

Wen Shi looked frivolously at Wen Ranqi, who was lying on the car with his hands and feet tied. Wen Ranqi's eyes were half open. In his sight, Wen Shi looked tall and terrifying. His hands and feet had been tied for so long that they were numb. Every movement felt like a gnaw of ants, causing pain and itching.

"Chief, Yuchuan Valley isn't far ahead," Wan Ming said from outside the car. Wen Shi stared at Wen Ranqi with interest and replied, "Let's spend the night in the valley. We'll light a fire and cook some meat." He smiled at Wen Ranqi, and Wen Ranqi's hair stood on end. He turned his head with difficulty, fearing he would faint again if he saw Wen Shi smile at him again.

Why is Wen Ranqi so afraid of Wen Shi? It's all his own fault. In his book, he described the story after Wen Shi caught Wen Ranqi.

After years of refusing to believe Wen Ranqi was dead, Wen Shi finally found her after unremitting efforts. When he saw the still-living Wen Ranqi, he remembered how Wen Ranqi was admired, how Wen Yuechu favored and trusted her, and how she always appeared approachable, kind, and friendly in front of the tribe. But before his eyes, he could see Wen Yuechu's harsh and critical attitude, scolding and beating him, completely disregarding his dignity and making things difficult for him in front of the tribe. This was completely different from Wen Ranqi's behavior.

No matter what he did, he rarely received praise from Wen Yuechu, while Wen Ranqi would receive a reward for simply saving a stray dog. Under such extreme discrimination, Wen Shi gradually began to resent Wen Ranqi, his brother, who was eight years younger than him. He would try every possible means to take everything from Wen Ranqi, and he would sarcasticly fan the flames in front of Wen Yuechu, slowly causing Wen Ranqi to lose his favor. He gradually turned Wen Ranqi into a madman who only cared about martial arts and ignored his family. In the end, for his own sake, he not only made Wen Yuechu a cripple, but also forced Wen Ranqi to jump off a cliff.

His heart was filled with joy for his past achievements. He looked at Wen Ranqi, who was lying at his toes like a useless person. He had already thought of many tortures that could make Wen Ranqi's life worse than death.

Wen Ranqi was imprisoned in the villa by Wen Shi, with iron chains on his hands and feet. In addition to being tortured by the poison every day, he had to endure Wen Shi's water dungeon punishment every few days. Wen Ranqi's body was covered with knife wounds that Wen Shi had cut but were not fatal. He had to heal and then be cut again, and then treated and healed again repeatedly, suffering from the torture. It took him a full year and a half before he was rescued.

It took Wen Ranqi half a year to recover and regain the strength to walk several miles on his own.

Wen Ranqi was heartbroken. Thinking of the torture Wen Shi would use on him, he wished he could just ram his head into the car and die. Wen Ranqi could bear it, but he couldn't. If he died, how could he go back to the appointment?

Wen Ranqi was filled with regret and roared in his heart, "Why did I dig a hole for myself?"

"Don't get excited. You'll only hit your head like this, but you won't die." Wen Shi stepped over Wen Ranqi's body and got out of the car. Wen Ranqi was dragged out of the car by Wan Ming with force, and was pressed down on the stone to sit obediently. The hot stone didn't even have a cushion.

"Do you want it?" Wen Shi asked, holding up the cushion under his butt. Wen Ranqi turned his head away. He didn't want to face Wen Shi directly, even though he was mature and handsome.

Wen Ranqi complained to himself in his heart, "How can I still care whether he is handsome or not, I am going to die soon." The cold Yunshi stayed with Qiqi's jade pendant and was held in Wen Ranqi's arms. Wen Ranqi didn't know what was wrong with him. In such a tense and anxious atmosphere, he actually took Qiqi's jade pendant from Murong Gelie. After he fell asleep and woke up for the first time with Yunshi in his hand, he seemed to care about everything about Qiqi inexplicably. He had been obviously running away and avoiding what would happen, but he thought of using the beauty trap to carry out the assassination. If it failed, wouldn't it be in vain?

Despite Wen Shi's intense fear, that night, he'd actually thought he wasn't that ugly. Had he already started to unconsciously judge people by their looks? Why did he so desperately want to see Qi Qi now, hoping he could majestically rescue him from Wen Shi's clutches?

"Qiqi, Master misses you."

"What are you mumbling about? Are you scared silly? Eat meat." Wan Ming stretched out a skewer of meat in front of Wen Ranqi with an expressionless face. How could he eat with his hands and feet tied? Wen Shi asked Wan Ming to untie the rope of Wen Ranqi. Wen Ranqi grabbed the skewer of meat tremblingly and began to chew it stiffly like a machine.

"Will he be scared silly by you?" Wan Ming said as he sat down next to Wen Shi. Wen Shi glanced at him and said, "Maybe, huh!"