Chapter Ninety-Six: Slaying the Enchantress with a Sword

An inn costing three taels of silver a night was expensive for good reason. It was already the hour of Hai, and at any other establishment the fires would have been out and the stoves sealed for the night, yet at this one a servant soon delivered a steaming table of food—meat and vegetable dishes alike, pleasing in color, aroma, and taste. An Yi and Young Master Gong were both famished, but they still maintained their elegant dining manners, refraining from wolfing down their meal.

After they finished this belated dinner, a servant brought a large wooden tub, hot water, and two sets of brand-new clothing.

Bathing immediately after a meal was contrary to the principles of health cultivation, but at that moment neither of them could spare a thought for such matters. The smell clinging to their bodies—others might endure it, but they themselves could not.

An Yi politely declined Qiao Zhen's offer to attend her in the bath, and sank into the warm, petal-strewn water. She had only gone a few days without bathing, so she finished fairly quickly. Qiao Zhen used a dry cloth to help dry An Yi's hair.

An Yi covered her mouth and yawned.

Qiao Zhen deftly pinned her hair into a sleeping bun and tied the long tresses falling down her back with a pale purple ribbon. "Miss Nineteen, shall this servant escort you to your room to rest?"

An Yi nodded, and stumbled off to bed, heavy with sleep.

Young Master Gong, who had not bathed for months, requested hot water three times in a row, seemingly determined to scrub his skin off before emerging. By the time he was clean and stepped out of his room in a loose, wide-sleeved robe of light yellow, it was already the hour of Zi. Qiao Zhen was leaning against a chair, nearly asleep.

"Miss Qiao Zhen," Young Master Gong called softly.

Qiao Zhen opened her eyes and looked at the man before her, stunned. Earlier, with Miss Nineteen present, she had not dared to look too closely. Now, gazing directly at this young gentleman, scrubbed clean of dust and restored to his true appearance, she understood that what Lady Cheng had said was absolutely true—gaze at a beauty by lamplight, and the longer you look, the lovelier she becomes.

Young Master Gong did not mind others staring at him in a daze, but it was the dead of night, and he had slept on a straw pallet for months. Now he longed for a high bed and warm pillow, craving nothing more than to lie down and sleep properly. He raised his voice slightly. "Miss Qiao Zhen. Miss Qiao Zhen."

Qiao Zhen snapped back to her senses, lowered her head in shame, and with a deep blush escorted the young master to the guest room.

The night was deep, and all was silent save for sparse lights scattered through the city. But outside the city walls, many were still awake, carrying torches and searching the mountains far and wide for Lady Cheng's junior sister and Wan Yanji, who had had one eye gouged out.

The night passed quickly. Young Master Gong stepped out of his room full of energy, made his way to the flower hall, and saw An Yi sitting opposite a youth, eating breakfast. The youth wore a brilliant smile, his gaze fixed on the girl across from him with burning intensity.

Young Master Gong narrowed his eyes slightly, walked over to sit beside An Yi, and looked at the youth opposite with a curl of his lips. "Xi'er, and this is?"

"My second senior sister's son, Cheng Ruizhi. Ruizhi, this is Young Master Gong of the Shengyi Sect." An Yi made the introductions and lowered her head to continue her breakfast.

"Greetings, Master Cheng." Young Master Gong clasped his hands.

"Greetings, Young Master Gong." Cheng Ruizhi returned the gesture.

"Xi'er, where are you off to after breakfast?" Young Master Gong picked up his chopsticks and placed a bite of pickled vegetable into An Yi's bowl.

An Yi, seeing the sudden addition to her bowl, nearly choked. She hastily swallowed the chicken congee in her mouth and turned to look at the man beside her, about to ask why he had put food in her bowl—but the words changed course before reaching her lips, becoming an answer to his question. "Up the mountain, to find my second senior sister."

"I'll go with you," said Young Master Gong.

"Thank you."

Young Master Gong gazed at her. "We are comrades in adversity. Xi'er need not stand on ceremony."

An Yi glanced at that devastatingly beautiful face, felt her eyelid twitch, and went back to drinking her congee.

Cheng Ruizhi looked from Young Master Gong to An Yi, then smiled faintly.

After breakfast, An Yi led her horse out of the inn's stable. She accompanied Young Master Gong to the horse market to pick out a mount, then they left the city and headed up the mountain in search of Li Ruoxian.

---

Once outside the city, An Yi urged her horse into a gallop. Hers was a steed capable of a thousand li a day, and in the blink of an eye she had left Young Master Gong far behind.

Watching her grow ever more distant, Young Master Gong summoned his breath and called urgently, "Xi'er, wait for me!"

An Yi reined in her horse and looked back to see Young Master Gong whipping his mount for all he was worth, yet the beast's speed refused to increase. Although the Wu Dynasty's regulation of horses was laxer than that of the previous dynasty, the finest steeds were mostly military horses, with a few reserved for the imperial family and nobility. The horses available among the common folk were largely inferior stock. The horse she rode could not be bought even for a thousand in gold.

For Young Master Gong's sake, An Yi slowed her pace.

They had ridden about three li up the mountain when suddenly An Yi spotted a figure stumbling out of the woods ahead. The person glanced back, then darted hastily back into the trees.

Though it was only a fleeting glimpse, An Yi's heart lurched. "Young Master Gong, that person ahead looks like Wan Yanji."

"Let's go after her." Young Master Gong kicked free of his stirrups, pressed his hand on the saddle, and launched himself into the air.

An Yi did not have his skill. She dismounted and gave chase with her lightness kung fu.

Young Master Gong's inner power had recovered, and he had rested well the night before. Now his energy brimmed, and his lightness kung fu was swift as a shooting star. In moments, he had cut off the woman fleeing in panic through the woods.

"My handsome young man, why are you blocking sister's path? Could it be you wish to offer yourself for her bed?"

That voice, that tone—An Yi did not need to look to know it was Wan Yanji beyond any doubt. She halted and said, "Young Master Gong, she is Wan Yanji. Grab her—don't let her escape!"

Wan Yanji turned her head and her face twisted with fury, her one remaining eye glaring fixedly at An Yi. "So it's you, you little slut!"

"Old witch, why aren't you dead yet?" An Yi shot back.

"You little bitch, you've got quite some tricks, haven't you? In just a few days, you've found yourself such a stunning man for a lover." Wan Yanji had hidden in the mountains all night, evading the search party of Li Ruoxian and her people. Only after watching them descend the mountain had she slipped out from her hiding place, never expecting to run into An Yi and Young Master Gong.

The moment the words left her mouth, Wan Yanji struck like the wind, her ten fingers clawing viciously at An Yi's face. An Yi had long been on guard for such an attack. She twisted her body and slid three feet away, dodging the yin claw technique.

Before Wan Yanji could strike again, Young Master Gong lunged forward in a single stride and placed himself before An Yi, his left palm driving toward Wan Yanji.

Wan Yanji retreated several paces in haste, flicked a lock of hair over her shoulder, and with a roving glance, asked in a coquettish voice, "My handsome young man, how can you bear to raise a hand against your sister?"

Her movements and expression were as lascivious and bewitching as ever—except she had forgotten that at this moment, her clothes were covered in wrinkles and mud, her hair was a tangled mess like a chicken's nest, her rouge was smeared into a palette of red and black, and she was missing an eye. She was positively hideous, and yet she still put on such seductive airs that An Yi and Young Master Gong felt their stomachs turn.

"Young Master Gong, she knows the soul-snatching art. When you trade blows with her, don't look into her eyes," An Yi warned.

"With a face as ugly as hers, if she managed to enchant me, I'd cut my own throat," Young Master Gong sneered coldly. His sword left its sheath like a dragon emerging from the sea, irresistible in its momentum.

Wan Yanji's greatest skill was seduction. With no weapon in hand and only her bare fists against Young Master Gong, she was utterly outmatched. In merely five exchanges, the sword pierced clean through her chest. In that moment before her last breath, Wan Yanji was consumed by deep regret—the moment she knew that little wretch was Ji Fanyi's disciple, she should have killed her. Raise a tiger as a pet, and in the end, it is the tiger that devours you.

"Cut off her head," An Yi said.

Young Master Gong startled. "You want to mutilate the corpse?"

An Yi shot him a sidelong glance. "I'm afraid she's playing dead."

"A fair point." Young Master Gong's sword rose and fell, and Wan Yanji's head parted from her neck. Now she was certainly dead beyond all doubt.

An Yi went forward and searched Wan Yanji's body, but she did not find what she wanted—the antidote to the Brain God Pill. "Let's continue up the mountain."

---

By the time the two reached Wanhua Palace, no one was there. Everywhere bore traces of scorching fire, a scene of utter ruin. The cave had been sealed shut by a massive boulder, impossible to enter.

Young Master Gong said, "Xi'er, it's getting late. We'd best hurry back to the city."

The two mounted their horses and returned by the same road, entering through the East Gate. Though they missed Li Ruoxian's party, who had entered through the South Gate, all roads lead to the same destination—they met outside the inn.

Seeing An Yi safe and sound, the knot of worry that had bound Li Ruoxian's heart for days finally loosened. She looked at the extraordinarily handsome man standing beside An Yi, sized him up, and asked with a smile, "Would you be Grandmaster Gong Yanzhou of the Shengyi Sect's Seventh Hall?"

"Yanzhou greets Lady Cheng." Young Master Gong clasped his hands and bowed.

"Young Master Gong need not stand on ceremony. Rui'er, look after Young Master Gong on your mother's behalf." Li Ruoxian pulled An Yi away into a room.

An Yi gave a simple account of what had happened over the past few days. When she learned that An Yi and Young Master Gong had spent three days alone together in the sinkhole, a subtle gleam passed through Li Ruoxian's eyes. She took An Yi's hand and smiled. "Heaven never seals off all roads of escape. Had you not understood medicine, and he not possessed such lightness kung fu, the two of you would never have survived that ordeal."

An Yi nodded, then asked, "Second senior sister, where are the people from Wanhua Palace now?"

"They're being held at the Dragon-Tiger Gate and the Beggars' Guild." Li Ruoxian frowned. "We found a great many pills at Wanhua Palace, but we have no idea which one is the antidote to the Brain God Pill."

"Where are the pills? I can tell them apart," An Yi said.

"I'll have them sent over right away." With that, Li Ruoxian rose and went out, instructing a servant to bring the pills to the room, along with An Yi's sleeve crossbow and needle pouch.

An Yi was overjoyed to see her recovered sleeve crossbow. She examined the mechanism and strapped it onto her arm.

"Junior sister Nineteen, I'll leave these pills to you. I won't be in the way here—I'll head out for now." Li Ruoxian left the room, pulled the door shut behind her, walked to the entrance of the flower hall, and beckoned a servant over. "Where is Young Master Gong at the moment?"

"He is speaking with the young master in the pavilion at the back courtyard, my lady."

"Go and invite him to the flower hall." Li Ruoxian entered the flower hall, took the seat of honor, and asked Qiao Zhu to bring in two cups of tea.

A short while later, Young Master Gong entered and bowed. "May I ask what important matter Lady Cheng has for Yanzhou?"

"Young Master Gong, please sit." Li Ruoxian said calmly.

Young Master Gong took the guest seat.

Qiao Zhu delivered the two cups of tea, then withdrew to stand guard outside the door.

"Young Master Gong, please have some tea." Li Ruoxian raised her cup.

"After you, Lady Cheng." Young Master Gong replied courteously.

Li Ruoxian took a small sip, set her cup back on the table, and fixed him with a sharp gaze. "Young Master Gong, I am not one to beat around the bush, so I'll speak plainly. Though we are people of the jianghu and do not stand on formality in small matters, the proper boundaries between men and women must still be observed. My junior sister is an unmarried young lady. You spent several days alone with her in that sinkhole. What do you intend to do about it?"