Knowing he couldn't defeat Yuan Suiyun on his own, Yan Liang paused for a moment and said quite naturally, "I didn't do anything. You trapped me in this coffin, so naturally I had to find a way to escape."
His voice was muffled due to the wooden planks separating them, but the ease in his tone was still quite evident. Yuan Suiyun smiled and said, "Aren't you going to ask me why I've trapped you here?"
Yan Liang said, "To avenge Wuhua? I thought you and I were friends, but it seems that you still can't compare to Wuhua's position in your heart."
Yuan Suiyun chuckled and said, "You actually think you and I are friends?"
Yan Liang countered, "Isn't that so?"
Yuan Suiyun sighed softly, "Brother Yan seems to be a bit too self-righteous." He paused, then asked again, "Since you can tell fortunes, why didn't you foresee that you would end up like this?"
Wow, you've hit the nail on the head.
Yan Liang said, "I cannot predict my own fate."
Because "he" was already dead.
Yuan Suiyun thought this was the same principle as "a doctor cannot heal himself," but then she heard Yan Liang ask, "I was just joking. Can you tell me why you trapped me here? Even if we're not friends, we're not enemies either."
"Because I can't stand you."
Yuan Suiyun said slowly.
Yan Liang was surprised and a little hurt: "...Am I really that annoying?"
Yuan Suiyun suddenly fell silent. Yan Liang pressed his ear against the wooden board and heard the other person's steady breathing—even when the other person was not trying to hide it.
"If you hate me, why did you invite me to travel with you? If I remember correctly, you were the one who invited me first." Yan Liang was puzzled; he really couldn't understand Yuan Suiyun's thoughts.
"If you don't like me, we can always meet again in the future."
Yuan Suiyun said, "Everyone in this world has curiosity. Do you really think that no one knows about your changes?"
Yan Liang's heart skipped a beat, realizing he was about to make a mistake, but he remained calm. He hadn't bothered to hide his identity after recognizing Wu Hua, and it wouldn't be a big deal if he was exposed.
"You're curious about me?" Yan Liang countered. "Then what changes do you know about me?"
When he asked the question, he already had a guess in his mind. Yuan Suiyun's identity was definitely not just that of the young master of Wuzheng Manor. He must have some special information channels.
"Shortly after Wuhua's death, you returned to secular life and left the Shaolin Temple area in Putian, where you began fortune-telling. That's one thing, but your words and actions became like those of a completely different person, and your divinations were always accurate—" Yuan Suiyun asked, "Don't you think this change arouses people's curiosity?"
Yan Liang remained silent: ...It seems it really does pique people's curiosity.
The two talked across a coffin lid for quite a while, and the conversation was about to reach a heated stage.
Yuan Suiyun continued to ask, "There's something I don't understand..."
He was speaking when there was a knock on the door. The person knocking said respectfully, "Ding Feng has welcomed Madam Lan to the ship and said he has something to report."
Yan Liang's heart stirred.
Yuan Suiyun frowned slightly and instructed, "Wait a moment, I'll go right away."
Yan Liang blinked in the darkness. Yuan Suiyun hadn't spoken since giving his instructions, and now he could only hear his own breathing and heartbeat.
Yuan Suiyun started to move and slowly walked outside. When he opened the door, Yan Liang heard the sound of wind and waves outside.
“Even if you come out of the coffin, you'll have nowhere to escape.” Yuan Suiyun offered this kind advice. “I won’t kill you now, so you’d better stay here quietly.”
Just because we won't kill now doesn't mean we won't kill later.
Yan Liang firmly adhered to the principle that silence is golden, remaining as quiet as a chicken.
After Yuan Suiyun closed the door, Yan Liang estimated that he had already gone far away, and quite decisively continued to stab the wooden board beside him with his dagger.
He had a vague sense of familiarity from his conversation with Yuan Suiyun.
Just like the feeling he had when he spoke with Mu Rufeng years ago. It was chilling, even more so.
The dagger cut through iron like mud, piercing the wooden board in an instant. Yan Liang gripped the dagger and slashed down, deftly dismantling the remaining parts and successfully sitting up.
Time waits for no one, the sooner we get it over with, the sooner we can finish. Yan Liang cut the rope around his ankle and stepped out of the coffin somewhat disheveled. Once he was standing still, he casually cut a piece of cloth from the bed beside him, wrapped the dagger in it, and stuffed it into his pocket.
The room was simply decorated, but the bedding and exquisite furniture subtly exuded an air of luxury. Even the cloth Yan Liang had used to wrap the dagger was made of the finest fabric, soft and silky.
Yan Liang tiptoed to the door, and the closer he got, the louder the sound he heard.
The sound of waves crashing against the shore filled the air, and the salty sea breeze seeped in through the cracks in the door. Yan Liang felt a chill run down his spine as he realized he had forgotten to wear his wig. He hurriedly retrieved it from the dark coffin and put it on.
Yan Liang leaned against the door and listened. Although his martial arts skills were not as high as Wu Hua's and Yuan Suiyun's, his hearing was still quite good. There was no one moving outside the door. Yan Liang gently pushed the door, and the lock on the door clicked against it.
Yan Liang: ...It even has a padlock??
Resigned to his fate, he put the dagger back on, inserted it into the gap, and with a gentle flick, the dagger, sharp as a knife, sliced open the lock.
The door lock fell to the ground, and Yan Liang pushed the door open and stuck his head out. Two burly men dressed as sailors walked towards him.
Yan Liang: ...Oh dear.
Without hesitation, he took out the powder and sprinkled it on the faces of the two men. With a thud, they fell to the ground, and he ran away without looking back.
About fifteen minutes after he left, Wu Hua, disguised as "Tian Shi," rounded the corner and saw two burly men lying in the corridor and an iron lock on the ground in front of the door. After a moment of silence, he calmly pushed open the door.
What came into his view was a dismantled coffin and wood chips on the ground.
Wu Hua: ...
They run really fast.
He told Yuan Suiyun what had happened, and the other party's expression was subtle. After ordering his men to search for Yan Liang, he smiled and said to Wuhua, "How do you think he escaped?"
Ding Feng, who was standing next to Yuan Suiyun, stared at Wuhua unhappily. Wuhua ignored him as usual. Since boarding this ship, Ding Feng had always regarded him as a thorn in his side.
Wu Hua: "I slashed the coffin open with a dagger."
Yuan Suiyun: "Where did he get that dagger?"
Wu Hua: "I don't know."
Yuan Suiyun: "How are the two men guarding him at the gate?"
Wu Hua: "He was drugged and is unconscious."
Yuan Suiyun: "I remember that everything on him was taken."
Wu Hua: "I don't remember."
Ding Feng seemed even more displeased by Wu Hua's reply.
Yuan Suiyun seemed to sense something and said to Ding Feng, "Go and settle Madam Lan properly, and make sure Yan Liang doesn't offend them. After you've settled her, go find the leader of the Purple Whale Gang, and you can handle the rest."
Ding Feng's expression brightened, he glanced smugly at Wu Hua, and strode away.
Wu Hua watched him leave with a smile, then turned and asked, "Madam Lan... could you be the renowned physician Madam Lan of Jiangzuo?"
Yuan Suiyun smiled enigmatically: "If that's how you see it, then so be it."
After pondering for a moment, Wu Hua decided not to ask any further questions.
Although Yuan Suiyun saved him, he didn't explicitly ask him to do anything. Even asking him to help look after Bat Island was just a casual remark, which Wuhua didn't believe; he believed in another possibility.
For example, selling him to someone else.
Ever since Chu Liuxiang made Wuhua's affair public, the government has issued a bounty on his head, and some people have even called him a demonic monk.
Countless people wanted to capture Wuhua to claim the bounty.
“Master Wuhua,” Yuan Suiyun continued, “do you know what Ding Feng just said to me?”
Previously, Wu Hua was in the room, and he wasn't listening when Ding Feng reported to Yuan Suiyun.
Unfortunately, Wuhua was a step too late.
Wuhua looked up at him: "What did he say?"
Yuan Suiyun smiled and said, "Chu Liuxiang and Hu Tiehua followed Madam Lan's ship... What do you think will happen to them later?"
Wu Hua: "..."
Chu Liuxiang, it's Chu Liuxiang again.
Wu Hua laughed and said, "Those two will definitely board this ship and remove your mask."
Yuan Suiyun smiled enigmatically and said, "Even if Chu Liuxiang defeated you, he cannot defeat me with his strength."
The implication is that even without flowers, one cannot win against Yuan Suiyun.
When subtly rebuked, Wu Hua smiled kindly and said, "You just wait and see."
No one understands Chu Liuxiang better than him; if he underestimates his opponent, he will suffer the same fate as his mother, Shi Guanyin.
When Wu Hua was disguised as Wu Juxuan, he advised Shi Guanyin to get rid of Chu Liuxiang, but Shi Guanyin was infatuated with Chu Liuxiang's good looks and did not heed the advice. Now, history is repeating itself, and this time Wu Hua has no intention of reminding Yuan Suiyun.
At this very moment, Yan Liang was moving stealthily and cautiously in the cabin on the second floor.
He had just come out of the room where he was locked up and was about to use his lightness skill to go up to a high place to get a better view when he found that his acupoints had been struck, and his true energy was stagnant. The technique was the same as that used by Shi Guanyin.
Shi Guanyin's acupuncture technique was created by herself; those affected by it cannot circulate their qi, but can move freely. Yan Liang's acupuncture removal technique, on the other hand, was obtained from the system shop as part of a set, and due to its specific targeting, it was twice as expensive as usual.
Fortunately, Wu Hua didn't know that it was he who had untied Chu Liuxiang and the others' acupoints.
After clearing his own acupoints, Yan Liang sighed.
After clearing the passage, Yan Liang jumped higher as he wished, gaining a clear view of the entire ship. However, he had planned to go to the hold to find a spare boat to escape before anyone noticed the commotion and before things got too big. But the ship was so large and spacious that he didn't know where to get to the hold.
Voices could be heard gradually rising from the deck, and Yan Liang listened intently. The sailors who were searching for Yan Liang also sent some men to guard the hold, and in an instant, the ship was on high alert.
Yan Liang recalled the sea he had seen from the top. The sea at night was no longer the deep blue of the day; it was a darkness that seemed to want to swallow everything.
He had many things on his mind at that moment.
Yan Liang had barely managed to break ties with Yuan Suiyun, and he had a premonition that he absolutely could not be caught. But the one thing he didn't understand was what had led to this situation.
Even if Yuan Suiyun was unwilling to hand over Wuhua, he didn't need to do this. He could have simply drugged him and taken Wuhua with him.
There was also something Yuan Suiyun hadn't finished saying; the question the other party clearly wanted to ask was the same one, just at the wrong time.
It's a bit awkward to have to use such flowery language to say something I don't understand, which leads to being interrupted. It would be better if I just said, "Why do you do ×××?" That way, I might be able to finish the conversation.
Yan Liang was very eager to know what Yuan Suiyun wanted to say.
Author's Note: The weather back home suddenly changed. Just two days ago it was sunny, but today it's freezing!
Everyone, take a shower, put down your phones, go to sleep, goodnight and sweet dreams, mwah! =3=
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