"What I promised you?" Tuoba Ze summoned a guard and moved Yi Shangyun closer to him. Then, turning around, he strolled towards Long Ye, smiling as he said:
"Ah, yes, yes, I remember now. Last night you said you were framed by your enemy, tied up in the woods and almost attacked by wild beasts. Luckily, I happened to be passing by and rescued you. You also said you had a way to help me find the woman I'm looking for, so I promised you that if you could bring her to me unharmed, I would reward you with another thousand taels of gold. Is that right?"
"When I first saw this brother, he was handsome and had an extraordinary bearing. I knew he must be a man of great talent. You have a good memory. I was talking about this very thing!" Long Ye said with a fawning smile.
Undoubtedly, Long Ye, having already learned the true relationship between Long En and Lan Xiang, knew that Long En would definitely not let him go again. Therefore, he had to make plans for himself and his men as soon as possible, and could not sit idly by and wait for his doom. Thus, when this benefactor unexpectedly appeared, he became his lifeline.
Tuoba Ze stretched out an arm and put it on Long Ye's shoulder, and they walked arm in arm towards the roaring sea. Tuoba Ze pretended to be mysterious, put his hand behind his back and pointed to the foot of the rocky mountain, asking him, "Look, what can you see from here?"
Long Ye was completely unaware that the patron he had encountered was no saint; his ruthlessness and methods far surpassed his own self-righteousness. He actually foolishly took two steps forward, then crouched down and earnestly searched the deep sea beneath his feet, puzzled as he searched, saying, "Isn't this just seawater?"
Tuoba Ze stood behind him with his hands behind his back, glaring at his greedy back without taking it seriously. He insisted on being mysterious and said, "No, this is no ordinary seawater. Take a closer look and make sure you remember it!"
"But no matter how I look at it, it's just ordinary seawater. Brother, what exactly do you mean? What treasures are in this seawater? You might as well just tell me! If there's really something good, we can split it when we bring it up. You get six, I get four; you get seven, I get three... it doesn't matter, okay?"
Towards the end, Long Ye was so anxious that he knelt down by the rocky hill, staring down with wide eyes for a long, long time, but he still couldn't see any clues. So he simply and somewhat impatiently suggested something.
Unexpectedly, Tuoba Ze suddenly narrowed his eyes at him, slowly lifted the hem of his robe, and then gently raised his foot and kicked down hard on Long Ye's erect buttocks:
"Die! This is the bounty you wanted! I just wanted you to see clearly and remember where you'll die. Hmph, you think you can fool me? You think I don't know you're the vice leader of the Xiaolong Society? You, a treacherous, shameless traitor, dare to negotiate with me? Trying to squeeze money out of me? You're delusional and courting death! What use is such a stupid person?"
Tuoba Ze gritted his teeth and said fiercely to Long Ye's disheveled figure as he fell into the sea.
With a "plop," the sound of Long Ye falling heavily into the water filled their ears.
Tuoba Ze, his anger still burning, glared at the bobbing water below, pounding the surface with his arms and gasping for breath. But after a few more struggles, he seemed to give up and slowly ceased his efforts. Gradually, he seemed to sink completely into the sea, until his increasingly blurry figure in the water became completely still.
On the boundless sea, a hurricane suddenly arose, and in an instant, the surging waves roared and crashed against the layered rocks beneath the feet of Tuoba Ze, who was looking up at this magnificent spectacle, sending sprays several feet high into the air...
When Long En rushed back to the place where Long Ye was bound, he found that, as expected, nothing was left except for an empty bundle of rope lying on the ground.
He silently picked up the rope from the ground, filled with regret and unease. After a moment of silence, he and Xuan Yuanhan finally shook hands and reached a consensus to cooperate in finding Yi Shangyun.
Therefore, under the rearrangement of Long En, who was most familiar with the terrain, the Xiaolong Society, together with the guards brought by Xuan Yuanhan, and of course, Mei Zhixuan and Yi Sanshao, whom they finally met halfway, temporarily put aside all their grudges and seized the time to search for Yi Shangyun, Long Ye, and Tuoba Ze.
However, it is clear that they have searched all the places that Long En had set up, but there has been no news at all.
At this moment, everyone was gathered in the Xiaolong Hall. On the surface, everything seemed calm, but in reality, everyone was restless and uneasy. Xuan Yuanhan was personally overseeing all the actions. At this moment, everyone placed their last hope on Mei Zhixuan and Yi Sanshao, who had not yet returned, hoping that the place they had gone to would bring back the only good news.
"Your Highness, Young Master Yi and the Third Prince have returned," Cheng Liang suddenly announced as he hurried in.
This sound finally broke the oppressive silence that had gripped the air, making everyone almost afraid to breathe loudly, as if they were about to suffocate.
As soon as the two stepped into the room side by side, Xuan Yuanhan hurriedly got up and went to greet them, anxiously asking, "How is it?"
Before he could finish speaking, Young Master Yi gritted his teeth, grabbed Xuan Yuanhan by the collar, and brought him close to his face, snarling angrily, "Xuan Yuanhan, I've said it before, nothing good ever comes of that girl being with you. Why do you always pester her? Why won't you let her go? Why? Why?"
"Young Master Yi..." Upon seeing this, everyone present was shocked and stood up to stop him loudly.
And because of this, everyone instantly understood that all their previous high hopes had ultimately been dashed. Neither of them could find any information about Yi Shangyun.
At this moment, Mei Zhixuan spoke up, advising, "Third Young Master, let go! Your impulsiveness is futile. The fact that there's no news is good news. Presumably, they won't do anything to the girl. Do they want a ransom? Instead of wasting time arguing here, let's all think about what to do next."
Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuanhan, seemingly lost in thought, mechanically broke free from the gradually loosening restraint of Young Master Yi, and swayed as he slowly walked to Long En, meeting his gaze and saying:
"I don't believe it! I don't believe she's so heartless as to leave me again without saying goodbye. I finally managed to wake her up and win her heart. I promised her that I would bring her back to my palace this time and make her my true woman, the happiest woman in the world. She can't, she can't keep treating me like this, making me feel so insecure... Tell me, tell me quickly, is there something I've overlooked, something I've neglected? Or is it a dangerous and secluded place that few people know about? Or... or... tell me quickly, tell me now..."
Xuan Yuanhan's heartfelt words rose from a low to a high pitch, culminating in a desperate, desperate roar that brought tears to the eyes of everyone around him, leaving them deeply moved and heartbroken.
Long En pondered for a moment, then his eyes suddenly met Xuan Yuanhan's firm and expectant gaze, and he froze. As soon as Xuan Yuanhan realized the strangeness in his eyes, he widened his eyes excitedly and asked, "Is it...is it really true?"
Long En stared intently into his eyes and said in a deep, serious voice, "There is also a stone mountain, and at its foot... there is a vast ocean, there..."
"Hurry up and leave..." Xuan Yuanhan said, then turned around, picked up the sword on the table, and rushed out the door.
Following Long En's footsteps, the group arrived at the foot of the stone mountain as the sun was already setting in the west.
A sea breeze blew against her face, and Lanxiang's frail body shivered involuntarily. Seeing this, Long En quickly took off his cloak and helped Lanxiang put it on, saying with concern, "Put this on. It will get colder and colder here after noon!"
Receiving such care from this man for the first time, Lanxiang couldn't help but show a faint, almost imperceptible warmth on her face. However, she remained silent, unable to utter a single word. Perhaps because she had been hurt so deeply and her defenses were already as hard as a rock, she had not yet truly forgiven this heartless man who had abandoned his wife and children.
Or perhaps, something was still missing? But in any case, the fact that she didn't reject him at this moment was completely unexpected for both of them.
"Help! Help! Help me!"
Just as everyone had stepped onto the top of the stone mountain and were staring in disbelief at the spectacular view where the sky and water met in the distance, a faint cry for help from a man suddenly came from somewhere.
Long En listened intently and immediately recognized the voice: "It's Long Ye! Over there!"
With that, he took off running towards the sea.
Long Ye's hands were covered in blood, yet he clung to a layered rock near the sea with all his might. Most of his body was submerged in the cold seawater, and his face was deathly pale.
Seeing this, Long En raised his voice against the raging sea wind and asked, "Long Ye, what... what's wrong with you?"
"Big brother, save me, please save me, I don't want to die! Please save me!" Long Ye cried out, extremely nervous and frightened, because his hands were too weak to support him any longer.
Seeing him, who was usually so arrogant and domineering, acting as if he were the only one worthy of respect in the world, now crying, and seeing the surging seawater rushing towards him all around, Long En became extremely anxious. He straightened up and fumbled for the rope he had brought with him, saying, "Wait, your brother is coming to save you right away. Hold on, you must hold on..."
"Stop! What are you doing?"
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