Chapter 69 Rivals
Rong Linyan told Bai Hua to rest a while longer. After Ning Jue and the others changed areas to search, they would find an opportunity to take a carriage out of the city.
In Ye City, Ning Jue had a greater advantage in terms of timing and location than they did, so the longer they stayed, the greater the risks they would face.
Bai Hua, as if remembering something, asked him, "Cousin, where are we right now?"
Rong Linyan replied, "We're still in the alley you ran into earlier. It's an abandoned courtyard. Ning Jue searched here once before, and at that time I was hiding with you in the next alley. When he searched elsewhere, I brought you back to sneak in again, which allowed us to perfectly avoid him. Ning Jue is always meticulous and thorough in his work. If he hadn't panicked and acted hastily this time, we wouldn't have been able to successfully outmaneuver him. Hua'er, it seems you've infiltrated very successfully, as Ning Jue values you so much."
Upon hearing this, Bai Hua's heart skipped a beat. Her cousin's second half of the sentence was quite meaningful, with a hint of doubt mixed in with his probing, and his gaze also carried a sense of inquiry.
She calmly met his gaze and said, "Cousin, you've misunderstood. Ning Jue's anxiety wasn't solely because of me. We were searching separately for a figure in purple; that person was one of our companions who went to the Southern Region. During the search, I followed closely but also disappeared. Something seemed amiss, so naturally Ning Jue became suspicious. His meticulous search of house to house wasn't so much about urgently finding me, but rather about anxiously confirming Miss A Qiu's safety..."
Bai Hua deliberately said this, intending to steer Rong Linyan's thoughts astray.
Sure enough, after hearing her words, Rong Linyan remained silent for a while, looking thoughtful.
After a moment, following her words, he asked tentatively, "That woman, is her relationship with Ning Jue unusual?"
Bai Hua nodded and began to make up a story: "Yes, I've observed them secretly. There seems to be a budding romance between them, but neither of them has taken the initiative to break the ice. They're still getting along in an ambiguous way."
Rong Linyan pressed on, "What is the woman's identity?"
After two months of lying in wait, Bai Hua's ability to cover up lies has become increasingly strong.
She said without changing her expression, "Ning Jue met her by chance in Ye City. She is quite beautiful. She is not a member of the martial arts world, so she should not hinder our plans."
Rong Linyan chuckled, his gaze lingering on Bai Hua: "I've seen what she looks like from afar. While she is quite beautiful, she's still far inferior to Hua'er."
Bai Hua found this uninteresting and replied calmly, "I am stating the facts, not asking my cousin to judge the appearance of the women."
"After two months apart, Hua'er has become a bit temperamental."
Rong Linyan wasn't annoyed. On the contrary, he found her temperamental nature even more endearing. Compared to her previous restrained and aggrieved demeanor, her genuine and outward expression of emotions was undoubtedly more appealing to him.
"It was my cousin who spoke inappropriately. It's just that Ning Jue is really restless; he always has romantic entanglements wherever he goes." Rong Linyan's tone was apologetic in the first half of his sentence, and he looked at Bai Hua gently as he spoke. However, when he mentioned Ning Jue later, his eyes clearly showed contempt.
Seeing that her cousin had actually followed her lead and hadn't gone any further to investigate Ning Jue's concern and special attention towards her, Bai Hua had achieved her goal and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Having waited a long time for Bai Hua's reply, Rong Linyan mistakenly thought she was still being petulant, so he smiled at her in a conciliatory manner and continued, "What does it matter to me if Ning Jue likes someone else? You've spent so many days with him, and I'm incredibly grateful that he hasn't set his sights on you."
Upon hearing this, Bai Hua's fingers, hidden under her sleeve, twitched slightly.
These are small, unconscious gestures she makes when she's nervous; besides slightly curling her fingers, she sometimes also has a darting gaze.
But at this moment, she and Rong Linyan were facing each other at close range. If she were to dodge now, it would be too obvious that she was feeling guilty. So she deliberately pretended, only curling her fingertips lightly in the dark, trying her best to hide her feelings that leaned towards Ning Jue.
Bai Hua changed the subject and asked another question: "That purple-clad figure who led us into the deep alley, wasn't that really Miss A Qiu?"
Rong Linyan didn't hide anything and nodded truthfully, "The shadow you saw was someone I had disguised. I knew that girl had been in your team before, and then I saw her leave the city alone, so I came up with this plan to lure you out and then find an opportunity to contact you alone. To be honest, the fact that the process went so smoothly was beyond my expectations."
Bai Hua sighed inwardly, feeling a pang of melancholy...
It seems that everything is arranged by God.
Just as she was struggling with her decision, unsure how to say her final goodbye to the young master, fate intervened suddenly, forcefully pulling her aside and saving her from this predicament.
Bai Hua was completely unprepared. Her mind went blank for a moment, and when she woke up, everything was irreversible.
...
Bai Hua had just regained some strength when Rong Linyan came in to inform her that the carriage to leave the city was ready, and the spies responsible for reconnaissance had confirmed that the surrounding area was safe and that they could set off at any time.
There's no point in lingering here any longer. Does she expect the young master to descend from the sky and abduct her?
Such unrealistic fantasies did flash through her mind, but Bai Hua knew clearly that she had no right to be saved.
Rong Linyan brought only a few men to Ye City, no more than fifteen including himself, making them a small target. When leaving the city, they carefully split into three groups and deliberately disguised themselves as ordinary people, thus avoiding attracting anyone's attention.
Bai Hua and Rong Linyan were in the same carriage. When they heard the soldiers guarding the city shout "Let them pass," she couldn't tell whether she felt relieved or more depressed.
The wheels rumbled along for a while, and Bai Hua couldn't resist lifting a corner of the carriage curtain, instinctively wanting to look back.
Before she could make a move, she suddenly noticed her cousin's gaze fixed on her, and he remained motionless.
She hesitated before letting go, without looking around, suppressing her reluctance in her heart.
The fastest route from Yecheng to Jiling is by water, but Ning Jue had visited the Duan family, who had many informants along the shipping routes. Traveling by water would greatly increase the chances of their whereabouts being exposed, so it would be safer to take the official road.
The return route was jointly decided by Rong Linyan and Fu Wei. They would not only take the official road, but also deliberately take detours. They would rather take more detours than be followed by someone, so they were extra cautious.
Actually, traveling on the official road was fine; at least the road was flat and there were fewer bumps.
However, when they traveled along the jungle trails, the bumps became even more intense, and with frequent stops and starts, Bai Hua not only felt exhausted but also had a churning stomach and felt like vomiting.
Seeing that she was in great pain and her face had turned pale, Rong Linyan specially found a post station along the way, bought horses, and suggested that she ride with him.
Riding a horse would be less bumpy, but Bai Hua couldn't stand the intimacy of riding together. She would rather continue to suffer in the carriage than be back to back with her cousin, which was very inappropriate.
So she used her fear of heights as an excuse to decline.
Rong Linyan seemed to feel he had lost face in front of his subordinates. He handed the horse to Fu Wei and returned to the carriage, his expression not very good.
Bai Hua apologized profusely, saying, "It's my fault. I made my cousin waste his money."
"You refused long ago, but I insisted on it and made a fool of myself." Rong Linyan said self-deprecatingly, raising an eyebrow as he waited to see her show weakness.
But no matter how long they waited, Bai Hua remained unmoved.
Rong Linyan felt a little uncomfortable. He had a feeling that Hua'er had changed a lot in the two months she had been away from him. She had become more opinionated, and... less obedient and dependent on him.
Perhaps she was still blaming herself for being heartless, for being willing to send her to Ning Jue's side to risk her life and infiltrate, to investigate secrets in danger. Thinking of this, Rong Linyan felt much better.
His brow relaxed, and his expression softened. He changed the subject: "Hua'er, I didn't have time to ask you more earlier. Now that we're out of the city, we've successfully escaped. Now we should have a good talk. Why did Ning Jue suddenly bring you to Ye City? What did you do? And where did you go afterward? Can you tell me these things?"
This time, Rong Linyan spoke in a much gentler tone, trying to soothe Bai Hua's aggrieved emotions and make her rely on him again.
Bai Hua didn't go into details, and replied perfunctorily, "I am just a maid serving Ning Jue. Naturally, I follow my master wherever he goes. As for what he wants to do, it is not convenient for me to ask more about it given my status."
Rong Linyan: "After so many days, you must have seen and heard something, right? Being by his side every day, how could you not have any doubts or suspicions?"
Continuing to give evasive answers would seem insincere, so Bai Hua vaguely revealed some clues: "I suspect... From what I've observed, Ning Jue seems to be visiting a friend in Ye City. That tea merchant, Boss Duan, is someone he used to have a personal relationship with. Businessmen and江湖人士 (jianghu figures) love to travel between the north and south, so it's not surprising that they know each other, is it?"
It's not surprising, but it would be a bit strange if the other party was Ning Jue.
Ning Jue doesn't like making friends, everyone knows that. What kind of friendship could make him travel thousands of miles by sea and go through all the trouble just to catch up with old friends?
Rong Linyan asked with doubt, "Are there really no other suspicious points?"
Bai Hua shook her head, looking self-reproachful: "It's all Hua'er's fault for being so stupid and not being a good cousin's eyes."
Right now, Bai Hua's appropriate show of weakness is extremely effective for Rong Linyan. He thinks he has regained Bai Hua's reliance and is too happy to investigate or question her further.
He spoke gently again, "Hua'er, it's not your fault. You've done enough. These things are priceless. You've helped your cousin a lot."
As he spoke, he patted his chest with an air of importance, his eyes filled with deep meaning.
Bai Hua didn't look at him; her gaze naturally fell upon him. She knew that he was carefully carrying in his arms the sword move diagrams she had drawn herself. They were the last twenty moves of the Lone Goose Sword Technique, priceless treasures that she had stolen.
Rong Linyan didn't notice the fleeting guilt in Bai Hua's eyes. He simply took the blueprints out of his pocket and examined a few of them closely.
While watching, he asked, "How is Ning Jue doing with the last twenty moves?"
Let's just tell the truth.
Bai Hua said, "Very skilled and very fluent."
She gave a rough description using layman's terms.
Rong Linyan: "How long do you think it would take to reach that level of skill?"
Bai Hua didn't understand and casually said, "It must have taken a long time. You can't master martial arts overnight."
Rong Linyan thought so too.
Therefore, even though he obtained the first twenty moves of the latter chapter of the Lone Goose Sword Technique, which were the same as the sword techniques Ning Jue practiced, he still lacked confidence. At the very least, Ning Jue was more familiar with the same sword techniques than him, and his sword strikes were naturally more powerful. It was already quite an achievement for him to be able to integrate the latter chapter with the former.
A solid foundation is built up over time, not overnight.
Hua'er acquired the Lone Goose Sword Technique too late, and he didn't have enough time to adapt and break through. With the competition about to begin, Rong Linyan still wasn't entirely confident that he could defeat Ning Jue, and he felt very bad.
Unless, something can render Ning Jue unable to lift his sword, rendering him powerless to fight...
The idea flashed into my mind, and my thoughts immediately began to wander, with each step of my plan unfolding in turn.
This was his first time in Ye City. While waiting for news of Hua'er's whereabouts, he met many merchants from Southern Fujian and also saw many fine pills.
Thinking that he might need it someday while traveling the martial arts world, he bought a lot of strange medicine bottles. One of them was a powder that could soften bones and muscles. When taken, it could effectively block the heart meridian, hinder the flow of qi, and prevent people from using their skills.
Furthermore, the higher one's martial arts skills, the more pronounced the effects of the medicine.
Rong Linyan didn't believe it at the time, and even tried it himself. To be on the safe side, he only ate half a pill. As a result, when the effect took hold, he almost couldn't stand up. He couldn't help but admire the alchemists of the Southern Region.
If you buy it, you'll naturally use it; you can't let the money go to waste.
If a strong competitor is destined to appear on the way to the ring, it's better to strike first and nip the crisis in the bud by preventing him from taking the stage.
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