Liang Feng was an ordinary guard of the Thirteen Pavilions of Yunhai.
He was originally a disciple from one of the sects in Leling. His leader was killed by Yuan Sansi one random day and everyone within his sect who fought against him was killed as well. The people who remained, including himself, surrendered to Yuan Sansi and joined the Thirteen Pavilions of Yunhai as their side disciples.
The Thirteen Pavilions of Yunhai was wealthy and loud, so they weren't mistreated. However, to avoid them conspiring among themselves, Liang Feng and his people were separated. Liang Feng was assigned under Yuan Sansi in the Fourth Pavilion. From Leling to Tiannan Mountain, he had always been guarding within this cavern.
They were not allowed to descend the mountain or even the cave. Although their salary, food, and shelter were rich, they spent most of their time hidden in the cave, not even able to see the sun and the sky, so what use is there even if they had money? Additionally, they have been poisoned and without the antidote, they couldn't go far. The antidote was only given to them monthly when they receive their salary, otherwise, they could only prolong the poison from acting up. There was once two people who didn't believe it and tried to escape in the night. They had even asked Liang Feng to come with them, but Liang Feng was timid, so he didn't agree to it. In the end, these two were caught in less than just a few days after they fled. Their bodies were blue-black and incredibly unsightly. Liang Feng was scared stiff and believed it completely that they had indeed been poisoned.
Although the cave was huge, other than the people on duty, the rest of them were dull, difficult to put into words. As the days passed, Liang Feng muddled along aimlessly, forgetting even the time and date of the day. He only did what his manager asked him to do to pass the time, numbly standing guard.
Today was like any usual mundane day to him. Big shots came regularly and there was no shortage of people from the Jianghu, grandmasters of martial arts. However, these were none of Liang Feng's business, let alone the Zuoyue and Jiejian Bureaus. He would not even know what those places are, knowing only to obey orders and stand guard outside the kitchen.
It still wasn't the time to cook at this hour, so there was no one around. Liang Feng yawned, mustered his energy as he leaned against the stone wall before he saw, not far away, someone approaching.
At first, he thought it was a maidservant from the kitchen. However, very quickly he discovered that it wasn't. The other was tall, his back arched a little and was walking very slowly. From the looks of it, their body didn't look in its prime state, and when they came near one could even smell the scent of medical herbs up close.
"Stand right there." Liang Feng spoke, yet it wasn't any warning or the sort. His knife remained strapped by his waist, "Who are you?"
"This young Lord, I am the maidservant of Mistress Fong. She is unwell, so I've been asked to fetch some boiling water." The other's voice was a little low and hoarse, long hair covered half her face, shielding both her ears. In the dim light, Liang Feng couldn't see her face clearly, but he could only feel the other's compliant nature.
"Before the appropriate time comes, the kitchen cannot be lit," Liang Feng spoke methodically.
"But these are orders from Mistress Fong. If I don't fetch her warm water, she will punish me." The maidservant begged, pulling a silver ornament from her head to give Liang Feng, "Please, I beg you!"
Liang Feng knew Mistress Fong. He was lucky enough to have seen her once. That woman truly was a beauty he had never come across in his life, impossible to describe with words. As for her temperament, he knew nothing about it. However, located here, there was no use for money. He didn't take the silver hairpiece and resumed to forbid entry.
"These are orders from above; you can ask them yourself!" If not for the other being a woman and the fact that he hadn't spoken to someone for such a long time now, he would have already lost his patience.
"My Lord, are you someone from Leling?" The maidservant suddenly asked.
"How did you know?" Liang Feng knew that there was some accent in his speech.
"I am also someone from Leling, I followed Mistress Fong here." The maidservant immediately used the dialect from Liang Feng's hometown.
Liang Feng didn't know how much time had passed since he last heard the dialect of his hometown. Suddenly hearing it from the mouth of a stranger, he was stunned to the point he felt like crying.
After exchanging a few sentences, the relationship between both of them drew near unexpectedly. He got to know that this maidservant has angered Mistress Fong and after being whipped a few times she was sent here to get her water, thus feeling sympathy for her.
"How about this: You can go in and fetch water while I'll stand guard for you here. Since there won't be anyone coming here anyway. However, don't stay for too long!" Liang Feng released a breath.
The maidservant thanked him, using the walls to help herself in. After the time of one burning incense went by, she laboriously carried a bucket of water out. It shook, and not after two steps she could withstand it no longer and fell next to Liang Feng, practically spilling the water that she tried so hard to boil.
Liang Feng reached out to help her and heard her crying, "Could I please beg my Lord to do good until the end and help me carry this bucket of water to Mistress Fong's room? I would most certainly speak for you in front of her, convincing her to bring you along the next time she leaves."
The last sentence had moved Liang Feng's heart.
He knew that Mistress Feng and a few other big shots came here for meetings once in a while and would leave after a few days. If Mistress Feng asked for him from the housekeeper, and he was only just a little guard, the housekeeper would most certainly agree to it. When that time comes, he could leave this dark, sunless place.
The maidservant said again, "My Lord please help me carry this bucket of water over. However, you must remember to go along with the flow and leave an impression in front of Mistress Fong, so that she will remember you. Only in this way I can compliment you in front of her."
If one were to say that Liang Feng was only soft-hearted and sympathetic in the beginning, right now he genuinely wanted to help her. He received the bucket of water from the maidservant's hands and told her, "Rest here for a while. Wait for me to return."
Naturally, he wouldn't have known that the maidservant behind him would raise her head, the corner of her lips curling as she watched him from behind.
He also couldn't have known that not only did the maidservant know how to speak the Leling dialect, but a sentence or two from every other dialect that he could think of. He also couldn't have known that this moment of good-heartedness would become the key to his freedom in the end.
Cui Buqu's fragility wasn't a pretence.
However, with the treatment both Fan Yun and Feng Xiao had given him, all that inner strength channelled into him had worked its magic. Otherwise, let alone helping himself across the ally using the wall, he would even find it difficult to get down from his bed.
Watching Liang Feng travelling far, Cui Buqu took a deep breath. He rose to his feet slowly and walked into the kitchen, spraying kerosene before tossing the torch into the pile of logs.
It exploded. Sparkles of fire shot up into the air!
Cui Buqu flew out of the kitchen, leaving a trail of flammable oil along the way. Very quickly the fire spread and turned fierce as he had expected. It didn't only burn inside the kitchen, but also outside, the fire infesting the area, stretching until it took shape. In a situation where there was no source of water around them, it was impossible to put out the fire easily.
The nearby guards realized that a fire had broken out, yet found it difficult to control when it happened so suddenly. Everyone then decided to run outside to safety. Cui Buqu was not obvious among the chaos of people. The light of the luminous pearls was faint, to begin with, and now with the fire, no one noticed that he looked suspicious, neither did anyone notice how strange he looked. Everyone ran around and everywhere, exactly the way he had expected it.
Cui Buqu recalled Feng Xiao telling him that the Pavilion Lord would arrive here today to hold a meeting with them. With this chaos unfolding, if the Pavilion Lord knew about it, he would hurry over to handle the matter. He could leave quietly while this chaos took place to look for members of the Jiejian Bureau, before returning here to catch them all in one swipe.
He was in a little bit of hurry, paint rousing in his chest once more, so painful that he couldn't help bending over. His hair was loose like a blanket around him.
It was cold inside the cave. However, Cui Buqu had done so many things at once, added with his illness acting up again, sweat rolled down his temples. Very quickly, even his neck and back were drenched in sweat, soaking his hair, strands sticking to his neck, making him look ragged.
His eyesight blurred; the searing pain surging through his body was making him desperate to pass out, yet the existing consciousness in him forbade him to do that. Cui Buqu couldn't help not reaching out to punch the stone wall, using the pain in his hand in exchange for soberness.
Feng Xiao…
Cui Buqu leaned against the wall half-conscious. He could no longer sprint and could only wait as this wave of pain passed, yet this name came to his mind without delay.
As the pain reached its peak, his train of thought was broken, his mind a white sheet of emptiness. For some time, he couldn't think of anything. Firstly, there was a wilful and arrogantly handsome face floating up from his sea of memories, then he slowly recalled his name.
That's right. Feng Xiao was also present. However, that person had always been slippery, able to adapt to circumstances when favour was turned against them. There was no need to worry about him.
It was himself, instead, who needed to leave this place as soon as possible to avoid falling into the enemy's hands. Otherwise, this chaos would have been for nought.
As he thought until this point, Cui Buqu forced his body up and realized that he'd been drenched in sweat. Even his palm was dripping wet. When he touched the stone walls, it was left with slippery stickiness.
Too much sweat would make one feel strengthless; Cui Buqu felt his head spinning, both his legs felt like they were stepping on lumps of clouds. He closed his eyes, waiting for these feelings to go away, thus he didn't even realize that someone had come up from behind him.
That is because the other's speed was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, he came up to Cui Buqu from a few metres away, reaching out with a hand to grab his shoulder lightly. Cui Buqu turned around instinctively.
"It really was you." Yuan Sansi's voice was cold, "It seems like you are also responsible for the fire."
There was no need for Cui Buqu to undress himself to look, he knew that right now, there would be a lot of fingerprints on his shoulder. Even his tendons might have been injured.
However, compared to the searing pain in his chest that was like a burning fire, this bit of pain given by Yuan Sansi was nothing in comparison. Instead, it pulled Cui Buqu back from the haze of his thoughts.
"Yuan Sansi, regarding Maiden Yu that you've grown up with, the deeds you owed the Yu family, even the post of Prefecture Magistrate in Boling, these were all meaningless to you." Cui Buqu coughed a few times, and spoke in a low tone, "Your true interests have always just been on the Thirteen Pavilions of Yunhai. Am I right?"
Yuan Sansi, "Yes. I thought people like you would understand me. The lasting affections between men and women would only make you weak, not desiring improvement; as for the Prefecture Magistrate of Boling, that had just been an undercover identity for me. Relax, I won't kill you for now, in memory of your mother's past relationship with me. I will bring you to see the Pavilion Lord, and allow him to decide what to do with you."
Although his words were spoken in this manner, he strode forward as he held on tightly to Cui Buqu's robe, his strength incredibly merciless as if he was handling an item.
Cui Buqu was dragged by him 'till he fell forward, once again splitting open his wounds. It was difficult to stomach the pain, even someone like him who would never beg or yell in pain couldn't hold back his groaning.
Yuan Sansi laughed coldly, reaching out with a hand to grab his jaw and tip it up, examining him for a while.
"The Pavilion Lord has his integrity. He has never indulged himself in women and had never treated any of his enemies differently. He only looked up to you. Even someone like Feng Xiao would risk his life trying to save you. Looking at you closely now, you really do look a little bit like your mother…"
At that moment, Cui Buqu's mind blanked out. He heard perfectly well the other's words but didn't process the sentence, "Even someone like Feng Xiao would risk his life trying to save you" for quite a few moments after it reached his ears.
Confusion clouded his face as if he was trying his best to understand these words.
However, Yuan Sansi suddenly let go of him. Cui Buqu lost his balance and fell on the ground.
"What are you doing!" Yuan Sansi's furious bark sounded by his ears. He even fought the other as both parties engaged in combat of flying shadows in the dim light, their strengths filling the air, travelling in waves to where Cui Buqu was.
Cui Buqu took out the ceramic bottle from his bosom. It should be the same one that Fan Yun had left him and was taken away by Feng Xiao afterwards, not knowing since when it returned to him. He poured a few pellets out, not even glancing at it closely before swallowing them.
Now he could be certain that it was Fan Yun who drove the guards outside his door away on purpose and then drove the people who stood guard at the kitchen away as well, giving him the chance to create a fire.
"Fan Yun, do you want to betray the Pavilion Lord?!"
Yuan Sansi originally thought that Fan Yun was just harbouring old sentiments for his former student and wanted to save him, yet he couldn't have anticipated that the other would aim for a fatal spot with every move, wanting to claim his life! He couldn't help feeling furious.
Cui Buqu heard Fan Yun barking at him, "Feng Xiao and Yuxiu both went searching for you. They may have mistakenly stepped into the Twin Spinning Compass Array!"
Trap mechanisms were everywhere in the array. In a place where martial arts were supposedly free to develop, they were diminished instead. If Yuxiu was more familiar with the array compared to Feng Xiao, then the latter would be in more danger.
It was unknown whether the medicine had taken effect or not, for Cui Buqu didn't feel his chest hurt anymore. After listening to Fan Yun's words, he panted as he rose to his feet, even falling as he did so, but nevertheless, he went back into the direction of the cave.