Chapter 45: The True and False Prince
After passing the crowded arena and walking further back and around a grove of trees, you'll see the Temple of King Huainan of the Han Dynasty. This temple was built on the mountain, and the stone peak behind it is the highest peak in the entire Sixian Terrace.
When Feng Yanyuan chased Yue Nancang and King Changshan to this place, he could no longer see them, so he pushed open the half-open temple door.
The dilapidated temple was dimly lit, with only a few rays of the setting sun filtering through the window lattices, slanting across the mottled statue. The main deity, its paint peeling, still wore a benevolent smile, its right hand clutching a ochre pill between its damaged fingertips. Four attendant deities flanked each other, some playing a zither, others holding scrolls. Their faded garments evoked a hint of their former splendor, enjoying themselves amidst the dust, seemingly oblivious to the intruder.
As Feng Yanyuan entered the dark temple, the decayed door behind him slammed shut. A sudden sound of air breaking was heard overhead—and a fishing net soaked in tung oil fell over him.
He suddenly sank like a swimming fish, his left leg hooked around the net rope, and as he spun, his right foot planted on the edge. The ambushers had no time to react and were thrown back, stumbling. Feng Yanyuan's palms flew like cranes spreading their wings, sending the attackers crashing into the wall, sending dust cascading down from the beams. Some tried to rise, but his fingertips pecked the knee, sending them collapsing.
But within a few breaths, the ground was filled with people lying in all directions, and only the dust in the temple was left floating slowly in the beam of light.
Feng Yanyuan's ears twitched slightly—he seemed to hear a dull thud from behind the stone wall. He circled behind the statue, his fingertips tracing the mottled surface until he felt a barely perceptible crack. The outline of a stone doorway was faintly visible beneath the moss.
It's an agency.
He took three steps back and looked around the temple.
Nine colored statues lay silent in the dim light, their strings dusty, their chessboards grimy. He rubbed each one, testing them. When his fingertips touched the white jade chess piece in the hands of the old man on his left—it actually spun left and right! He applied pressure with his fingertips, and heard a soft "click"—the stone door moved!
The moment the stone gate burst open, the Prince of Changshan was seen bruised and purple from being strangled by the tendon rope, and the hemp seed in his mouth was soaked with blood foam. When the prince raised his eyes, his cloudy eyes suddenly flashed with light, and a muffled "woooo" sound came from his throat.
Feng Yanyuan's eyes were slightly cold, and he suddenly thought of the genuine appearance of Senior Yue. A flash of thought flashed through his mind - he stopped and picked up a green sword that was scattered by the assassins outside the door.
The tip of the sword lightly lifted the ox-tendon rope, and it broke with a sound.
At this moment, a cold light suddenly flashed from the sleeves of the "King of Changshan"!
Feng Yanyuan turned sideways like a dragon swinging its tail, and a poisonous needle passed by his throat half an inch away. He then chopped the opponent's neck with his left palm.
After a dull "bang", the fake prince fell limply to the ground, and the black and red poisonous needle between his fingers fell on the blue brick with a "ding" sound, and the tip of the needle turned purple.
Feng Yanyuan picked up the poison needle and pointed it at the sky. The tail of the needle was engraved with spiral patterns as thin as a hair - this must be the poison needle that injured Senior Yue.
He looked back at the man - even though he knew it might be a trick, he couldn't see through it. Fortunately, he was a little more cautious. No wonder Senior Yue was caught off guard.
Feng Yanyuan brushed his fingertips across the man's jaw, but couldn't find the slightest seam of the mask. His brow furrowed in thought—how could such a disguise exist in this world?
Just as he was taking a closer look, there was a sudden loud noise, and the stone door slammed shut, raising a cloud of dust all over the ground, and everything in front of him suddenly became pitch black.
Feng Yanyuan's heart suddenly sank - he was careless!
This stone chamber must have been designed specifically to imprison experts. Opening it from the inside was impossible. He ran his fingertips over the cold stone surface, and suddenly remembered what he had seen—the towering stone peak behind the temple. This secret chamber must be embedded in the mountain. Even with a thousand pounds of strength, it would be difficult to break through the mountain. The only option was to try to break through the stone door.
Thinking of this, he tried to use his palm power to attack the stone gate.
"boom!"
The stone gate remained motionless after the violent tremor, only rocks and dust rained down from the top. Feng Yanyuan dodged the falling rocks as he gathered his strength, his brow furrowed. If he pressed harder, he'd be buried here before he could even break through the stone gate.
Feng Yanyuan was hesitating when he heard a faint rustling sound coming from outside the stone door. He looked in alertly, only to see wisps of green smoke seeping in through the slit like a venomous snake, spreading throughout the stone chamber.
He held his breath and retreated. It was poison! He was actually going to poison them all to death!
It turns out that this carefully trained substitute for King Changshan is nothing more than a discarded pawn in the game.
There is nothing we can do.
He suddenly remembered his brother's sarcasm: "A person who doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth, no matter how great his martial arts skills are, is nothing more than an ant under the feet of the people in the martial arts world."
In the darkness, he leaned against the stone wall and couldn't help laughing at himself.
His dangling fingertips touched the sachet on his waist. He picked up the sachet and sniffed it. The familiar fragrance of cold plum blossoms came through the brocade.
In a trance, he seemed to see her back as she was dressing by the window.
What was she doing at this moment? Was she...worried about him?
Feng Yanyuan's grip on the sachet suddenly tightened. Suddenly, the sound of metal clashing rang out from outside the door. The crisp clashing of swords and knives mixed with a few muffled groans, then quickly fell silent. The poisonous mist stopped seeping in, but the stone door remained tightly closed.
Feng Yanyuan didn't understand what was going on, so he just frowned, and suddenly -
“Boom!”
Without warning, the stone door swung open, shaking the ground slightly. Dazzling light poured down like a waterfall, illuminating every speck of dust within the stone chamber.
He raised his sleeves to shield his eyes, and could only hear the cheers and encouragements from the Sixian Terrace coming one after another.
"good!"
"The young are truly formidable!"
Cheers surged like waves. A young knight, having defeated renowned veterans one after another, now clasped his fists and gazed around, proudly challenging all to battle. His longsword, still dripping with blood, shone brightly in the sunlight.
The King of Changshan was watching the arena with great interest when he suddenly noticed an unusual silence beside him. Turning around, he saw Yun Yuan, his face pale, his eyes unfocused, his fingertips tightly grasping the corner of his clothes, and he seemed to be oblivious to his three inquiries.
He flicked his finger against her forehead and said, "Speak!"
Yun Yuan came back to his senses and said, "Young Master has important matters to attend to in the same palace... Once you have a talk, you will ask us to wait for him at the agreed place. Please follow me."
Seeing her nervous yet determined expression, Prince Changshan was momentarily bewildered. "What does he want to tell me?"
"I can't explain it clearly, so you'd better follow me." Yun Yuan said as she ran quickly down the mountain.
King Changshan looked back at the fighting arena. He had wanted to watch the martial arts masters sparring for a while longer, but when he turned around, he saw that the little girl was very fast and had already walked a long way. He could only shout helplessly, "Wait a moment, why are you so impatient?"
Yun Yuan looked back at King Changshan who was catching up.
As Feng Yanyuan had said, the Prince of Changshan was in danger, and we had to stabilize him first. If we revealed the truth to him now, given the young prince's temperament, he would surely seek out Feng Yanyuan, and who knows what trap he might fall into.
So, she couldn't tell him the truth yet.
Just now she observed the burning incense on the fighting arena. The banquet must have ended long ago. Feng Yanyuan has not appeared yet, which can only mean that he has moved to another place. If he is in danger, he must have been trapped. They may not be able to rush there in time, and if he breaks through and rushes back, they may be distracted and even drag him down.
She had just contacted You Xiao in the canyon—asking them to keep an eye on Yue Nancang and the King of Changshan at the birthday banquet, and to secretly assist Feng Yanyuan if necessary. You Xiao was always thorough and efficient. With the situation so fraught with danger, they were far more suitable than a weak woman like her or the impulsive King of Changshan.
Therefore, the best strategy now is to wait for Feng Yanyuan in the canyon with King Changshan.
Seeing that King Changshan had followed her reluctantly, she turned around and ran away quickly.
"Hey, I say! You girl!"
King Changshan watched her figure suddenly disappear into the distance, and he angrily put his hands on his hips and sighed. He then looked back at the arena reluctantly, and then quickly chased after Yun Yuan.
Finally they arrived at the canyon. King Changshan found a huge rock to sit on. After a long while, there was no sign of Feng Yanyuan, so he could only wrestle with the weeds in the cracks of the rock out of boredom.
Every time I looked up, I saw the girl standing far away like a small tree, motionless and silent.
The King of Changshan finally lost patience and said with a smile, "Why are you always so far away from me?"
Yun Yuan said, "I am a humble servant and I am afraid of offending Your Highness."
The King of Changshan laughed helplessly and said, "You are the same as Zishang."
He waited for a long while after he finished speaking, then looked at Yun Yuan again. Seeing that she showed no intention of responding, he endured it again and again, but he couldn't help but asked, "Do you know what it looks like?"
Yun Yuan replied, "It is whatever your Highness says it is."
Prince Changshan choked for a long moment, then shook his head and smiled, "Exactly the same." He stood up and looked towards the Sixian Terrace. The cheers from the other side made his heart itch, and he couldn't help complaining, "How long will it take for him to wait..."
Yun Yuan felt nervous and just bit her lower lip as she stared at the crowded Sixiantai.
King Changshan laughed and said, "Is he going to face danger? Why are you so nervous?"
"The servant is not nervous."
If you're not nervous, why is your voice trembling?
King Changshan chuckled inwardly. He felt that Feng Zishang was fortunate to have such concern, but he wasn't worried at all—after all, Zishang's kung fu was such that only his master could match it.
"Don't worry, even if there are mountains of swords and seas of fire, Feng Zishang will come back to you." King Changshan said with a knowing smile.
"Your Highness is absolutely right."
Seeing Yun Yuan's expression remained unchanged and she was just trying to answer him, the King of Changshan finally gave up the conversation and continued to play with the grass. Suddenly, he was startled and leaned down to listen. He asked, "Has Zi Shang ridden a horse?"
When he turned around to look at Yun Yuan, she was nowhere to be seen. He looked left and right, up and down, but found that she had already hidden in the branches of the tree. Under the lush leaves, he could only see the pink hem of her skirt, and could not tell what she was doing.
"Your Qinggong is amazing!" King Changshan laughed and said, "I'm just too timid. It's just the sound of two horses' hooves. What's there to be afraid of?"
Yun Yuan was standing on the treetop, looking out from between the leaves. When he saw the person coming clearly, he breathed a sigh of relief and jumped down from the tree.
"Young Master is back." Yun Yuan said with a smile.
Seeing that she was completely relaxed, Prince Changshan laughed out loud: "He came back to marry you, so happy?"
Feng Yanyuan and a knight, each riding a horse, approached at full speed, then reined in their horses and stopped. Feng Yanyuan was stunned to see the King of Changshan. He glanced at Yun Yuan, and she nodded.
When the other knight saw King Changshan, he was so frightened as if he had seen a ghost, and he stared at him with fear.
King Changshan was embarrassed and at a loss, but he recognized the man's sword and said with a smile, "Is this the Lord of Qingcheng, the hero Luo Jiangpingluo?"
Luo Jiangping did not respond and looked at Feng Yanyuan in horror.
"You're carrying a person on this horse?" Seeing that Luo Jiangping ignored him, King Changshan could only turn to Feng Yanyuan.
Feng Yanyuan leaped off his horse and threw the man he was carrying in front of King Changshan. The young prince jumped three feet in shock: How could this man look exactly like me?!
“What…what’s going on?!”
Luo Jiangping pointed his sword at King Changshan's face and shouted, "Who are you?!"
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