Chapter 62 Choice: "Should we choose General Xuantian to live, or this ugly one..."
Upon hearing Zhe Qing's order, Zhang Yushu subconsciously glanced inside, then touched the back of his neck with some difficulty, his face showing hesitation:
"Replying to...Replying to Your Excellency, as you know, we are all criminals exiled here. My ancestors committed lesser crimes, which is why we have been assigned to guard this place for generations, maintaining order. But we are not allowed to leave."
He laid out a long preamble, his voice gradually fading, "So there are some things we can't report in a timely manner..."
Zhe Qing's eyes sharpened: "What do you mean? He ran away?"
"Yes... he ran away a long time ago. When he came here back then, he was so strange. He was shrouded in black mist and looked sinister and evil. He was quite scary."
Zhang Yushu lowered his head and said somewhat ashamedly, "He claimed to be the deposed crown prince of the Heavenly Clan, a criminal awaiting punishment, and was sentenced to exile before coming here. He also proved his identity, confirming that he was indeed a member of the Heavenly Clan. I saw that he looked intimidating, and I was afraid that saying or asking too many questions would only displease him and cause further trouble. Since he had already proven himself, I let him in."
At this point, he licked his lips curiously and couldn't help but ask, "My lord, is that really the Crown Prince of the Celestial Clan? Why is he surrounded by a cloud of black mist? What crime did he commit?"
Zhe Qing glanced at him: "Answer me."
“Oh, okay,” Zhang Yushu nodded and continued, “That person is very strange. He came in quietly, found a secluded corner to rest in, and didn’t leave the room all day long. In fact, apart from me guarding the door here, no one in Tiancang Realm knows about him.”
Perhaps it was because so much time had passed, Zhang Yushu said slowly as he recalled, "He just stayed here quietly, without making a sound. Until one night, for some reason, he suddenly strode out of here—without saying a word, without doing anything else, just swaggering away. From then on, I never saw him again..."
Zhe Qing frowned deeply and asked in return, "He walked right up to you. As the person in charge of the Dai clan's supervision, didn't you ask him anything?"
Zhang Yushu rubbed his hands awkwardly, stammering, "My lord, you don't know... When this person arrived, he was merely strange and unapproachable, but he still seemed a bit weak. However, I don't know how the Heavenly Granary nurtured him. When he left that day, the spiritual power emanating from that black aura was extremely strong, with an unprecedented oppressive force... In all my years of life, I have never seen such powerful spiritual power. How could I dare to ask a single question? I'm just grateful he didn't take my life..."
He blinked in fear, looking at Zhe Qing uneasily, his gaze sliding from his silver mask to the scars on his face—he didn't look like someone easy to deal with, who knew if he was a harsh and cruel official? Zhang Yushu's heart sank, silently waiting for the other party's blame.
Zhe Qing didn't say anything. He sighed slightly and said, "Alright, then I'll go and investigate where he lives."
Zhang Yushu dared not ask any more questions and quickly pointed out the way: "Please, sir, go straight ahead from here, turn right at the next hill, go straight to the end, do not cross the river, look to the left there is a hidden cave, he used to live there."
Respectfully watching the esteemed man depart, Zhang Yushu withdrew his gaze and continued to stand upright at the entrance to guard the border.
An hour later, Mu Meng and his party arrived.
Seeing three more people approaching from afar, Zhang Yushu blinked. Their Heavenly Granary hadn't seen a single person for hundreds of years, and today they had just had one Celestial Clan member. Now, seeing three more approaching, he was puzzled but still dutifully said, "Halt."
"May I ask what brings you here? This is the Heavenly Granary, the exile ground of the Celestial Clan. It is inhabited by Celestial Clan members who have been convicted of crimes. Outsiders are not allowed to enter."
Unexpectedly, he said the same thing twice within a short period of time.
Mu Meng was quite succinct: "The Celestial Princess has come to find a thief within your territory."
She was anxious and didn't want to waste any more time at the border crossing. Without saying a word, she gave Sheng Yuanting a wink, and he immediately understood.
The two of them walked quickly to the edge of the spirit pool, each pricking their own veins to draw a drop of blood. Soon, the blood rose into two wisps of red smoke.
Zhang Yushu's next words, demanding they prove themselves, were still stuck in his throat. He never expected the people who came this time to act so decisively and efficiently. Now he dared not say anything and hurriedly bowed and asked, "Your Highness, please come in. May I ask who you are looking for? I will show you the way."
Where is Lou Qingshuang?
"Lou Qingshuang? She...she didn't run off again—to do something bad??"
Sheng Yuanting stepped forward, his tone heavy: "Zhang Yushu, she escaped once many years ago, and I personally caught her and brought her back. How could you have made such a solemn promise back then? With such inadequate supervision, you don't need to stay in your position as the border guard."
Zhang Yushu was startled. He stared wide-eyed for a moment before breaking into a cold sweat and stammering, "So it's General Xuantian! This humble one dares not... this humble one..."
Good heavens! Lou Qingshuang had run away once before, and it was General Xuantian who personally brought her back. Presumably, she hadn't caused too much trouble that time, so General Xuantian didn't punish her severely, and simply sent her back and ordered him to keep a close watch on her.
Who knew that even Her Highness the Princess would be alarmed this time? Just how big of a mess did Lou Qingshuang get into?
"Enough with the nonsense, we're in a hurry," Mu Meng waved his hand impatiently. "I know you can't leave here on your own. Give me directions, we'll find her ourselves."
...
Throughout the journey, Feng Xixue remained silent. As they approached Lou Qingshuang's residence, Mu Meng pursed her lips and whispered, "Feng Xixue, I heard from Brother Sheng that Lou Qingshuang is cunning and treacherous. We mustn't act rashly later, lest she destroy everything in her path. Right now, protecting Miss Yu Sheng's Si'an Flower is the most important thing. Lou Qingshuang could take your life at any time."
Feng Xixue nodded slightly: "I know what's important."
His eyes were slightly bloodshot, and his gaze held a deep chill. "Though I hate you to the extreme, I will not lose my mind."
That's good. Mu Meng felt much relieved and quickened his pace. He could see that Lou Qingshuang's residence was just across the suspension bridge. However, upon closer inspection, he noticed that there was a person occupying the suspension bridge.
Standing here, it's as if I'm waiting for them to arrive.
Sheng Yuanting was the first to recognize her: "Your Highness, this is Lou Qingshuang."
Mu Meng paused, squinting at the person in the distance—she was dressed in a light purple dress, with a charming and beautiful appearance, and her narrow, phoenix-shaped eyes seemed to have hooks. She was standing calmly on the suspension bridge, staring at them.
Judging from her arrogant demeanor, Mu Meng sensed her spiritual power and felt a slight sinking feeling in his heart, quietly clenching his fist.
Lou Qingshuang couldn't possibly have predicted their arrival in advance; since she was already standing here waiting, she must have sensed their spiritual energy. Given the immense power of the heavens and her keen perception, her strength was definitely not to be underestimated.
Mu Meng pursed her lips slightly. Although the three of them didn't need to fear her strength, they had to be cautious about harming Si Anhua because she held it in her hands.
Before the thought could even fully form in her mind, the very thing she feared happened. Lou Qingshuang stretched out her left hand, and a blooming Si'an flower appeared in her palm. Her voice was sweet and melodious: "Don't come any closer. I know the three of you are all masters among masters, but I am no less skilled. If you come at me rashly, you can kill me, but you won't get this flower back."
She gently closed her slender white fingers as a threat.
Feng Xixue's gaze sharpened, and she said in a deep voice, "Don't touch it. What are your conditions?"
Lou Qingshuang chuckled and said, "Want to talk about a deal? I'm not stupid. You care so much about this flower, no matter how many conditions I offer, once I give you the flower, you might turn on me and kill me, and I won't be able to resist."
Her eyes flickered slightly, and a faint, malicious smile crept across her lips: "Of course, it's not like we can't negotiate. If two of you three are willing to die by my sword, and the other one cripples their spiritual power, then I can give you this flower."
Mu Meng sneered inwardly, his gaze toward Lou Qingshuang growing even darker: "That's not how you negotiate a deal."
She lowered her eyelashes and thought for a moment, then raised her voice, "Lou Qingshuang, the Si'an Flower is a spiritual medicine that can strengthen the body, nourish the spirit, and calm the soul. I see you are full of energy, so you probably didn't steal it for yourself. Since you are willing to take such a risk to steal this flower, this person must be very important to you. How about this, the person you want to save doesn't only have this one way to be cured. I can also help him stabilize his soul. Once his soul is preserved, you can return the Si'an Flower to me. You shouldn't lose out on this deal, right?"
Lou Qingshuang gripped the flower stem tightly, lowered her eyes, and pondered for a while.
After a moment, she raised her head and smiled, "With your spiritual power being so high, surely you can protect someone? The person you want to save absolutely needs this Si'an Flower, but the conditions set by Her Highness the Princess... don't offer me much benefit."
"I only took a flower, yet Your Highness has gone to such lengths. It seems one really cannot do anything wrong. Even if I had agreed, judging from Your Highness's demeanor, it seems you intend to take my life."
Mu Meng's expression was icy: "First of all, let me correct you, what you did was steal, not take. Secondly, you took someone's life, so it's not unfair to make you pay for it."
She knew that Lou Qingshuang probably didn't know that picking the flower would cut off someone else's path, but now that she had told her frankly, she still showed no remorse and held the flower stem tightly, her expression extremely cold.
After talking to her for so long, Mu Meng felt his patience being worn down little by little, so he simply abandoned his gentle approach and resorted to force: "Lou Qingshuang, if you agree to my proposal just now, at least the person you want to save can be spared; but if you destroy this flower—I swear to you with the blood of the Celestial Clan, not only you, but also the person you save, I will kill them all."
This statement worked perfectly. Lou Qingshuang's eyes widened instantly, and she shouted angrily, "I stole this flower by myself. What does it have to do with my father? What right do you have to kill someone?!"
It turned out that she wanted to save her father, the criminal official who had been sentenced to exile by her father. Mu Meng sneered: "Don't ask why. Whoever I want to save, must live; whoever I want to kill, must die. It's fair that everyone has a bargaining chip. You threatened me with the Si'an Flower, so naturally I have to retaliate in kind."
Lou Qingshuang glared angrily at Mu Meng, her icy gaze fixed on her for a long time before she finally uttered a few words in a low voice: "Fine. You can."
He added, "Words are meaningless. I don't believe your sincerity. Hand over the Celestial Clan's secret pill you're carrying, then come with me to rescue people. I will naturally return this Si'an Flower to you then."
Mu Meng raised his chin: "Okay."
She spoke casually, clearly not taking Lou Qingshuang seriously at all, and strode towards the bridge.
"Wait—" Lou Qingshuang suddenly stretched out her hand and pointed at Sheng Yuanting, "I don't want you to deliver it, I want him to deliver it."
Her tone left no room for argument. She raised her hand, her two fingers gripping the flower stem tightly, making it clear that there was no room for bargaining.
Mu Meng hesitated slightly: Lou Qingshuang was born in this place with scarce spiritual energy, yet she had cultivated a high level of magic—that was genuine skill. Brother Sheng was strong enough to probably fight her to a draw. But this was, after all, Lou Qingshuang's territory, and she wasn't a simple person. Considering all this, sending Brother Sheng there would be somewhat risky.
Sheng Yuanting noticed Mu Meng's hesitation and stepped forward, whispering, "Your Highness need not worry, I will go over. Although she has high spiritual power, I may not necessarily lose."
"Besides, this person is cunning and treacherous, and dealing with her is too dangerous. Your Highness, you should wait here."
Mu Meng glanced ahead, and Lou Qingshuang noticed her gaze. She raised the flower in her hand and gave her a defiant eyebrow raise, while pointing her free hand at Sheng Yuanting, indicating that she couldn't live without him.
Mu Meng's pupils were calm as he turned his head and said, "Alright, go ahead, but be careful."
Sheng Yuanting responded, took the things Mu Meng had given him, and stepped onto the suspension bridge. As soon as he stepped onto it, the bridge swayed slightly, but he didn't pay attention and calmly walked towards Lou Qingshuang.
Lou Qingshuang lowered her eyes slightly, looking at the white porcelain bottle that Sheng Yuanting handed over, but did not immediately reach out to take it.
With her eyes full of allure, she examined the flower in her hand for a moment, then lowered her head and gently sniffed it.
Suddenly, Lou Qingshuang's eyes sharpened, and with a flick of her wrist, she tossed the flower into the air, sending it plunging straight off the cliff!
The change happened too fast. In the nick of time, Sheng Yuanting didn't think twice and leaped out—the young prince valued this flower so much, he absolutely couldn't let it be thrown off the cliff in front of him!
"Brother Sheng!" Mu Meng stood at a distance, watching intently, and vaguely recognized that it wasn't the real Si'an Flower, but an illusion. However, Brother Sheng was too close to react in time, and since he had never seen a real Si'an Flower before, he didn't recognize it for a moment.
Mu Meng watched helplessly as he lunged off the cliff. Her brows furrowed, and she immediately ran forward. However, a figure in green was faster than her, flashing past her like a shooting star, heading straight for the plummeting Sheng Yuanting—
In an instant, the green shadow grabbed Sheng Yuanting's arm, and the next moment, a barrier suddenly appeared on Sheng Yuanting's body, splitting in two and trapping the two of them respectively.
Instantly, the two of them were suspended in the air, their bodies tightly bound by a barrier. The space within the barrier was so small that even turning around was difficult.
"Hahahahaha... This is really interesting. Although it was a little different from what I imagined, I didn't expect that it would still trap two people in the end..." Lou Qingshuang laughed, clapping her hands and shaking her shoulders.
Mu Meng had already seen Sheng Yuanting's face when the green figure grabbed his wrist—Zhe Qing. Why was Zhe Qing here?
Regardless of the reason for now, Mu Meng stared intently at the two barrier-like structures—the two were suspended in mid-air, trapped within but unharmed. Moreover, the spiritual energy of the barrier didn't seem particularly strong; they should be able to handle it.
The next moment, Zhe Qing calmly tapped the edge of the barrier with a bamboo stick, causing the barrier to falter and immediately break off a corner.
However, although his barrier was breached, it was not fully opened. Instead, Sheng Yuanting fell more than ten feet, and dozens of steel needles suddenly appeared in the narrow space. He managed to dodge some of them, but a few needles were too late to avoid and pierced his body deeply.
In fact, no matter how fast the hidden weapon was, if the space hadn't been so small, Sheng Yuanting would never have been unable to dodge it.
Mu Meng's eyes darkened at the sight before him, as if he understood something.
"Hey, you ugly thing, I advise you not to try to break the barrier. This barrier is a treasure that I painstakingly developed and invented over a long period of time."
Lou Qingshuang covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled, "This is a twin barrier, the two are tightly connected. If you try to open it, you can indeed escape unscathed, but the other person will be riddled with countless steel needles inside and turned into a hedgehog. Conversely, if the other person tries to break the barrier, you will die too. So you two need to think carefully about what to do. I know you both have the ability to open the barrier, but while saving yourselves, you also have to kill others."
She laughed heartily, clapping her hands repeatedly, and turned to Mu Meng with regret, saying, "Your Highness, my original plan was for you to rescue General Xuan Tian. I believed that a hero like General Xuan Tian, who would sacrifice himself for a beauty, would rather die than harm Your Highness. In that way, I could eliminate a formidable enemy and capture Your Highness to do more. It's just a pity that such an ugly monster came and ruined my plans."
She was initially smiling smugly, but her expression gradually darkened towards the end, and she pointed at Zhe Qing and cursed.
Zhe Qing said nothing. Ever since he discovered that breaking the barrier would injure Sheng Yuanting, he had not acted rashly again. He carefully looked around, seemingly pondering the perfect way to break the barrier.
“Young master, please don’t worry about me,” Sheng Yuanting said, bowing to Zhe Qing as he saw that Zhe Qing stopped moving and instead carefully examined the barrier. “Just break through the barrier and get out. If it weren’t for saving me, you wouldn’t be in this situation. If something happens to you, I will never have peace of mind for the rest of my life.”
As he spoke, a resolute glint appeared in his eyes, and he drew his sword, bringing it to his neck—
"Wait!" Zhe Qing shouted sharply. Seeing that he had stopped Sheng Yuanting, he frowned and said in a deep voice, "I want to save you, but not in this way. You don't need to say that. This barrier is not a dead end. We can find a way to break it."
Mu Meng also called out, "Brother Sheng, Zhe Qing, you two must not make any rash moves. I will ensure your safety."
"Really? But there isn't that much time to come up with a solution," Lou Qingshuang said with a smile. "Don't hesitate, let's discuss who lives and who dies. In the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, if neither of you breaks the barrier, then both barriers will fire steel needles at the same time, and then you'll all die together."
With a flick of her wrist, she conjured a Si'an flower, and looked at Mu Meng with a smile, "What I threw down just now was merely a decoy. This is what you truly desire, however..."
She paused for a moment.
Lou Qingshuang seemed to be pondering. Mu Meng looked at her expression and vaguely understood what she was planning. Although she now had three chips in her hand, including Zhe Qing, Brother Sheng, and Si Anhua, if Brother Sheng and Zhe Qing were to give way to each other and neither was willing to let the other die, Lou Qingshuang would lose two chips in an instant.
Thinking about it this way, Lou Qingshuang should be even more anxious for the two of them to make a decision.
Mu Meng's eyes flickered slightly, and a solution gradually emerged in his mind.
Sure enough, Lou Qingshuang realized this, her long eyelashes drooped, she thought for a moment, and then raised a playful smile: "Your Highness, it seems that General Xuantian and this ugly monster are both willing to do anything for you. In that case, they will surely take your words as gospel. How about this, Your Highness decides: whoever lives, dies."
Mu Meng slowly lifted his eyelids, staring at Lou Qingshuang with a chilling gaze.
Lou Qingshuang showed no fear whatsoever; in fact, she pointed at Sheng Yuanting with curiosity, "It's about letting him live—"
She pointed to Zhe Qing again, "—Should we let him live?"
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