The few of them observed the mountain peak once more. Apart from being taller than the surrounding hills, they really could not see anything special about this summit.
Tian Yu’s gaze returned to Yu Qing’s face. “You are not clear either? Is this supposed to be an explanation? How are we meant to believe this?”
Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie, being questioned, felt secretly nervous.
Yu Qing, however, spread his hands once again, ready with a perfunctory reply. “Third Cave Master, Yun Xi suddenly told me this. I do not know if it is true or false, nor do I know her intentions. Things have come to this point, and we are now gambling with our lives. If the so-called cave residence opening day arrives and nothing happens, we ourselves do not know what to do. Can we defeat you, or can we escape? Even if we escape for a time, offending all three of your factions at once, what then for our future?”
Hearing this, the leaders of the three factions considered it. This was already the other party’s only chance to survive.
Meng Po suddenly spoke. “Enough. He has said what he needed to say. He is a citizen of Jin, so I will take him back first. You three, come with me.” He waved towards Yu Qing and his two companions.
“Hold on!” Tian Yu called out, warning Meng Po. “Skull Head, do not try that with me. Come with you? How do I know if he is telling the truth? How do I know he will not tell you more once he is away from us?”
Xiang Lanxuan also giggled. “Meng Po, that is not right of you. Setting aside whether I, a princess of Yin, am fond of him or not, at the very least, several of us have taken an oath. If what he says is true, we are meant to ensure his safety. If you take him away and something happens to him, would I not suffer divine retribution?”
Tian Yu hummed in agreement. “That makes sense. We have all taken oaths.”
Xiang Lanxuan added, “To keep things fair, let us keep them where we can all see them. That way, everyone can be at ease.”
Meng Po said grimly, “You come to my Jin country to snatch a share of the meat, and you still dare to haggle over conditions?”
Tian Yu replied, “Skull Head, with no subordinates below, it is just us few here. Do not spout your grand principles at us. Your Sinan Mansion has done no less of such things in our Demon Realm. The situation is plain now. Either we all wait for the opportunity and see who is quicker and more capable, or our two factions fight your one. You decide!”
These words were too direct, making the three sworn brothers feel rather awkward, fearing they knew too much and might be silenced.
Meng Po kept silent, his face dark.
Xiang Lanxuan smiled brightly, looking Yu Qing up and down for a moment, then suddenly called out, “Top Scholar, write a poem to praise me, won’t you?”
Yu Qing immediately cursed her to make a brothel her home in his heart. Lowering his brows and eyes, he expressionlessly replied, “I am Yu Qing, not any Top Scholar, and I cannot write poetry.”
Xiang Lanxuan giggled. Seeing he would not comply, she did not press, but teased instead, “So young, why keep such an unsightly little moustache?”
Yu Qing doubted her taste. He raised a hand to touch his moustache, found it was indeed a bit long, and replied at once, “It has simply not been trimmed for a while.”
Xiang Lanxuan said, “A tender sprout pretending to be an old stalk. Just shave it off.”
Yu Qing, slightly displeased, replied, “Does my moustache interfere with your search for the immortal cave residence?”
“Enough, you two stop chattering.” Tian Yu could listen no more. He raised a hand and pointed to the highest peak. “Up there. You three will stay at the very top. Until the day the cave residence opens, none of you is to leave the summit by even half a step.”
Meng Po looked up and nodded slightly. This was fine. All three factions could keep the three fellows in view at all times, and no one could take them away alone.
Xiang Lanxuan also agreed. “Very well. This way, everyone can be reassured.”
The three sworn brothers, however, changed expression. Yu Qing objected first. “Up there, exposed to wind and sun, do you know how great the temperature difference is between day and night on a high mountain peak? Bare and without any shelter, is that a place for people to live?”
Tian Yu frowned. “Do you have the right to bargain? If you want comfort, do not resign from your official post.”
Xiang Lanxuan giggled. “Alright, alright. We will put up a shed for you, and all food and drink will be provided.”
Circumstances being stronger than will, they had to bow their heads. With no choice, the three sworn brothers were ultimately driven up to the mountain peak to sunbathe.
However, soon after, someone dragged a pile of felled trees and branches up, and indeed erected a shed on the summit.
It was just one shed, with no shelter on any side, so that the sightlines of the three factions could always see them.
And so, the three sworn brothers took up residence in this place open to the winds from all directions.
“If we really find an immortal cave residence because of this, then we have truly lost out badly.”
Nan Zhu, sitting cross-legged, muttered softly.
Speaking of this, the hearts of all three bled. They felt like embracing one another and having a good cry.
So grievous!
They had been robbed, forced into hard labour, risked their lives in an ancient tomb, nearly lost their lives, and even ended up serving as household servants for several months. All this running about in wind and rain, covering far more than ten thousand li, so much effort spent on planning. Just as the fruit was about to ripen, it became someone else’s.
On what grounds? If you are so capable, go find it yourselves. Why rob us, mere small fry?
The key was, they had nowhere to voice their grievances, and dared not resist. As the others said, they were not qualified.
No, they even had to hope that others could successfully pick their fruit. Otherwise, their own lives might be in danger.
The three sworn brothers sat together, the tall, the stout, and the thin leaning against one another, looking at the mountain scenery outside the shed. Recalling past events, recalling the hardships along the way, all wore expressions as if they had lost their parents…
A new day dawned, with fine weather and sunshine everywhere.
In Youma Town, at a ancestral hall built against the mountainside, two people dressed as mountain folk, with headscarves wrapped around their heads, were escorted in.
These two were none other than Qin Jue and his subordinate Cui You. Their disguise as mountain folk had been seen through, and they had been captured.
In a way, Yu Qing and his two sworn brothers had indeed been cautious enough along the way. They had not even gone ashore at Shiji Bay, only confirming the coordinates from a distance before leaving immediately.
Qin Jue himself had few people at his disposal, and was not even a member of the Red Orchid Pavilion. He merely had connections with someone within the Pavilion, relying on that relationship to make slight use of the Pavilion’s name for convenience in his affairs.
With his limited manpower, there was simply no way to locate the three sworn brothers.
The Daye Bureau knew of his existence but could not be bothered to deal with him, not taking him seriously at all. They merely kept watch in secret, to see if he could manage anything.
His people had not discovered the movements of the three sworn brothers, but had instead noticed the activities of the Sinan Mansion. Because the Sinan Mansion had been making rather large moves recently, they followed here, hoping to blend in by disguising themselves to probe the situation.
What he had not expected was that Youma Town had temporarily been placed under secret martial law by the Sinan Mansion. Coming here to join the fun was like running headlong into a net. He was captured as soon as he arrived, taken prisoner without a struggle. Surrounded by a group of Sinan Mansion personnel who suddenly appeared, he dared not resist.
Inside the ancestral hall, a grey-clad figure stood with hands behind his back. When the two were brought before him, the grey-clad man circled them, then returned to face them and asked, “Who are you?”
Qin Jue said, “This is a misunderstanding. I…”
Slap! The grey-clad man raised a hand and delivered an unexpected slap.
Cui You was startled.
Qin Jue was also stunned by the blow. His eyes widened as he stared blankly at the other man. A trace of blood already appeared at the corner of his mouth.
The cultivation abilities of both men had been suppressed, so they were temporarily unable to resist and could only endure the slap.
The grey-clad man asked again, “Who are you?”
Qin Jue, restraining his anger, said, “You have truly misunderstood…”
Slap, another slap.
“Who are you?”
This time, Qin Jue learned his lesson. He had been taught properly. The other party’s meaning was simple: answer what is asked, no need for so many useless words. He immediately reached into his robe, took out a blood jade token, and offered it, saying gravely, “I am a person of the Red Orchid Pavilion.”
The grey-clad man took the blood jade token, examined it, his eyebrows lifting slightly. Then, with a clench of his palm, before the other’s eyes, with a crisp crack, he crushed the token directly into fragments, which scattered on the ground.
“You…” Qin Jue was greatly shocked and enraged. This token, which had always been effective, had never encountered such a disrespectful person before.
Slap! Another slap.
“This is the Red Orchid Pavilion…”
Slap! Another slap.
His face already swollen, and having had two molars knocked out, Qin Jue, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, finally fell silent.
The grey-clad man asked, “What does the Red Orchid Pavilion do?”
Qin Jue, holding back his fury, replied, “Nothing much. A place of cultivation in one region.”
The grey-clad man said, “I hear the Pavilion Master was once the lover of the old demon of Qianliu Mountain?”
Qin Jue wanted to refute or remind the other to be more respectful, but meeting the other’s expressionless eyes, he had to restrain himself again. “Yes.”
The grey-clad man asked, “Do you know who we are?”
Qin Jue replied, “Presumably people of the Sinan Mansion.”
Slap! Another slap.
Qin Jue raised a hand to cover his face, not understanding why the other had struck again when he was already answering honestly.
The grey-clad man said, “Was she not just someone who slept with the old demon? You have great nerve, daring to come and probe the Sinan Mansion. Drag them away for strict interrogation. Notify the Red Orchid Pavilion to come and collect their people. Tell them, if they do not provide an explanation, then send people to collect the corpses!”
“Yes.”
Immediately, someone came to seize Qin Jue and Cui You by the back of their necks and escort them away.
Only now did Qin Jue realise why he had been struck at the end. The other party simply did not take the Red Orchid Pavilion seriously. If they dared to be presumptuous, they would strike the face of the Red Orchid Pavilion itself.
The fact that they would notify the Red Orchid Pavilion to come and collect their people was already considered giving face.
The arrogance and domineering nature of the Sinan Mansion, he had truly experienced it this time. They simply did not reason with you.
There was blood on the ground, and a few molars…
More than half a month passed in a blink. The mountain folk of Youma Town, regardless of outside affairs, celebrated the arrival of the New Year as lively as ever.
On the first day of the New Year, the night of the new moon, the sky was full of stars with no moon visible. The mountain folk gathered around bonfires, singing and dancing.
On the distant highest peak, the three sworn brothers living in the shed had fully satisfied their desire to live on the mountaintop. When rain fell at night, the cold wind on the high mountain blew with quite an exhilarating effect.
Perhaps knowing they had had their fill, a few figures flashed over and helped them dismantle the shed, throwing it directly down the mountain to avoid being in the way.
The three sworn brothers looked down the mountainside. Many people from the three factions were making ready, awaiting the moment the immortal cave residence would open.
A short while later, the leaders of the three factions arrived again.
After meeting, Xiang Lanxuan suddenly asked, “Top Scholar, there is something I really cannot understand. Why did you involve yourself in the literary gathering of the Wen family in Ningzhou, exposing yourself? If you had not been exposed, then today, if the immortal gate had opened, apart from you three, no one else would have been fortunate enough to share in it.”
Not to mention her, even Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie could not understand what that fool, the fifteenth young master, had been thinking.