Chapter 11: Midnight Jingyun (2)

Huang Fei's handsome eyes lifted slightly, looking at her for a moment, then suddenly smiled, raising his hand to drink the wine, showing the cup. When she added wine for him, he asked calmly: "The 'Youluo Profound Clothes' on your body are treasures of the Phoenix Clan, and 'Liebing' and 'Flame Butterfly' are secret techniques of the Witch Clan. It is not easy to obtain one of them, but you have both. May I ask who you are?"

Zi Rao spread her sleeves lightly. Huang Fei's eyes were sharp, unexpectedly seeing that her collar was embroidered with exquisite coiled-dragon patterns. "I am the owner of the Mingyi Tower." Her light answer also surprised him greatly. He did not expect the owner of the Mingyi Tower, who shook the world of martial arts, to be such a charming and peerless woman, and what was her purpose?

"Disrespect." Huang Fei looked her up and down again, his gaze sweeping over the depths of her eyes, re-evaluating the truth of these words. She met his gaze calmly, a charming faint smile always at the corners of her lips, her eyes calm, not showing any clues.

Huang Fei thought for a moment, then asked slowly: "You specially invited me to this Jingyun Holy Domain tonight, I think it's not just to drink and apologize."

Zi Rao stood up gracefully, "I want to invite Young Master to the top of Jingyun Mountain to watch a good show of the mountains and rivers, I wonder what Young Master thinks?"

"Oh?" Huang Fei looked at her with interest. She made a gesture of invitation, then moved gracefully and led the way.

Passing through the entire dense bamboo forest, she led him along the cliff, the peak steep and almost impassable, but she chose the dangerous places to step, her sleeves flying, her posture drifting like the wind, as if she had the intention to test his light-footed skill. When he paid attention, he saw that he was always half a step behind her, his pace calm and composed, not fast or slow, as if walking on flat ground, and he couldn't help but secretly praise that with this demeanor, Shao Yuan Jun was indeed not a false name.

The peak reached the firmament, and standing on it, one could almost hold the stars. The mountain wind was vast, blowing the boundless clouds and mist past them, actually giving people the illusion of walking in the clouds. However, the mountain road suddenly ended, and before them was only a narrow blue stone. Zi Rao flew and landed on that blue stone, looked back at Huang Fei, and then turned and walked away, her graceful figure instantly disappearing into the depths of the floating clouds.

Huang Fei smiled, also displaying his movement technique, following closely, not fearing the unknown danger before him at all.

The two walked through the clouds one after another. Not long after, the wind cleared and the fog scattered, and there was a feeling of sudden enlightenment. It turned out that the end of this blue stone was another mountain peak. Nature was a master of craftsmanship, turning stone into a bridge, cleverly connecting the two peaks, passing through the clouds, with a different world.

The stars were deep and clear, scattering onto the mountains and fields. With his extraordinary eyesight, Huang Fei discovered that there were continuous buildings on this mountain peak, seven halls dotted among the emerald green rocks, hidden in the shape of the Big Dipper, guarding a majestic hall in the center.

Zi Rao stood gracefully at the end of the stone bridge, and when he approached, she introduced casually, "This is the general altar of my Mingyi Tower."

Huang Fei looked back from the mountains, "You brought me into the forbidden place of the gang, aren't you afraid that if something happens in the future, it will cause trouble?"

Zi Rao smiled charmingly, "Without me leading the way, you can't pass that 'Cloud Rope Flying Bridge'. If I don't take you back later, you won't be able to get out either."

Huang Fei also smiled: "Young Master forgets that I walked once, if I go out, what then?"

Zi Rao didn't care at all, raising her brows, "If you go out, you will never be able to come in again. Even if your master Zhong Yanzi comes here in person, he may not be able to come and go freely." When she spoke, her flying demeanor was quite charming, and she didn't know how, but it actually made Huang Fei's heart move, "In this way, could it be that you are familiar with my master?"

She only

Light clouds brushed past his sleeves, his robes fluttering in the wind. At that moment, standing in the vast and boundless world, no one could help but feel their own insignificance; yet, with the power to hold the world in one's hands, a heroic spirit of "who but me" arose, soaring to the clouds.

"Does the Young Master know why I brought you here?" Zi Rao's clear and soft voice came to his ears. Huang Fei took a long breath and turned to ask, "I would like to hear the details."

Zi Rao answered nonchalantly: "I would like to ask the Young Master to withdraw your troops from Xichuan."

Such words drew an unexpected smile from Huang Fei. "Does the young lady think I will agree?"

Zi Rao walked forward a few steps, standing alone on the edge of the cloud terrace, quietly looking into the distance. Her sleeves fluttered in the mist, as if she were a celestial being. "The Young Master will certainly agree."

This exchange of questions and answers encompassed the shifting winds and clouds of the human world; whether to fight or not was entirely within her single thought. In this vast royal domain, she could not bear to see anyone trample it with troops. She raised her hand and pointed to the southwest. "The hour of Zi has passed; Young Master, please look."

The place she pointed to was the border of the Chu State, not far from Jingyun Mountain. Huang Fei looked over; at first, he saw nothing unusual, but after only a moment, he suddenly and keenly noticed a beacon fire unexpectedly rising where his eyes could reach, located exactly at the border between Chu and Mu. As a Shangqing holding the rank of General-in-Chief, he knew the military and political affairs of the Chu State like the back of his hand, and he immediately knew this was the wolf-smoke of a border city encountering an emergency and calling for help. His heart was filled with extraordinary shock. Sure enough, the beacon fires ignited one after another, heading straight toward the capital, Shangying, leaving distinct traces upon the previously calm earth.

Eight-hundred-li beacon fires reported an emergency; unless a large enemy army was invading, they were not to be used lightly. After all, Huang Fei had frequented the imperial court and led armies on the battlefield; a calm composure in the face of events was already deep in his marrow. Even though stormy waves surged in his heart, his face remained as still as a calm lake, though the eyes with which he looked at Zi Rao inevitably carried a faint sharpness. "The Mingyi Tower truly has extraordinary means, to actually be able to make the Mu General Wei Yuan launch an attack on Chu. Such brilliance—I must say I am impressed."

That he could immediately determine the enemy's momentum accurately based on such a situation also made Zi Rao's heart tighten. Looking back, their eyes met; his face was as if covered in a light frost, wisps of coldness carving rugged lines into his handsome features. Under the starlight of the firmament, he possessed a daunting aura, making one seem to feel the invisible killing intent of ten thousand troops confronting each other in an instant. Under the pressure of such a gaze, Zi Rao slowly smiled. "Young Master, you flatter me. I am but a small woman; how could I make a Mu General-in-Chief bow and obey? Wei Yuan's action is merely a trend of the situation, happening to coincide with my own desire to ask the Young Master to withdraw your troops from Xichuan."

Huang Fei said coldly: "And if I do not agree?"

Zi Rao sighed softly, lowering her head to examine her slender, beautiful fingers. A smile like silk played on the corners of her lips, as if a charming poison were devouring bones and snatching souls. "There are ten types of poison on my fingertips. Outside Xichuan city, you touched my nail polish; that was the juice of the Phoenix Flower. Of the three cups of wine you just drank, I originally intended to use Datura in the first, Red Brocade in the second, and Blue Smoke for the third. But these medicines would do you no harm even if you drank them, because they counteract each other. Unless, I used this Thousand-Purple-Ten-Thousand-Red."

Pale purple nail polish adorned her fingertips, set against skin like congealed fat and white jade; a touch of vibrant color, bewitching. Huang Fei's expression was calm and cold; he stood with his hands behind his back and said lightly: "It is a pity that you have now lost your chance."

Zi Rao glanced at him from beneath her eyelashes with a look that was not quite a smile. "So at this moment, I can do nothing to you. Your sword is too sharp, and I do not have the certainty of victory."

Huang Fei did not speak, only quietly watching her, waiting for her to finish. She turned her body to look back at the place of the beacon fires, her long hair dancing in the wind, her bearing wild and unrestrained, almost stealing the color of the stars. Between smiles, she spoke each word clearly: "If you want the Chu army to withdraw, there is another way, and that is to assassinate the King of Chu. For the Mingyi Tower, this is by no means a difficult task."

Huang Fei's brows knit together sharply, a flash of anger crossing his eyes, but he gave a cold laugh. "If any harm comes to my King, the Chu army will surely raze the Mingyi Tower to the ground, including the Di Du and the Wang Cheng."

Zi Rao also knit her brows, turning to look at him steadily. "The power of the Mingyi Tower and the Royal Clan is not so easily broken. Even if razed to the ground, it would be enough to severely cripple the Chu State. Young Master, think carefully: if both sides suffer, who will be the one to benefit?"

Huang Fei's gaze seemed to have the power of penetration, as if he wanted to see through the thoughts of the woman before him. Even the most formidable opponents did not have her variety of tricks; from the very beginning, she had been planning every step. Had she already calculated that he would inevitably agree to her request? How many traps had she set beneath these slender, soft hands? Why did this piece of broken landscape make her go to such great lengths? And what was the relationship between the Mingyi Tower behind her and the Royal Clan? The movements of Mo Heng in the Di Du flashed through his mind; the clues were gradually forming a dense spiderweb, and behind it, it seemed a hand had already stirred the winds and clouds.

Time passed second by second; black robes danced like fire, white robes were as cold as snow. Between their gazes, there were thoughts that leaked not a drop, and the agitation of winds and clouds colliding. After a moment, Huang Fei suddenly laughed aloud. "The highest military strategy is to attack the plan. I, Huang Fei, have fought for many years, and today I have met my match! The Chu army will withdraw to Xichuan; the Di Du shall reward the army with one hundred pairs of jade discs, one thousand jars of fine wine, and thirty thousand in gold and silk. If Chu and Mu go to war, the Royal Army must send troops to assist my Chu State; there shall be no fewer than five hundred war chariots, and the soldiers must number ten thousand."

Zi Rao's eyes flickered, and she immediately said: "One hundred pairs of jade discs, one thousand jars of fine wine, ten thousand in gold and silk. If Chu and Mu go to war, the Di Du will send envoys to mediate, and will not send troops to participate in the battle."

As long as the Liefeng Cavalry returned to the Chu State, everything would be solved, and there would be no need for others to intervene. Huang Fei had not originally intended for that anyway, so he let her bargain. "The Royal Clan must give the world an explanation. The Jiuyi tribe was slaughtered without cause and nearly faced the disaster of extermination. How shall this be handled?"

"As long as the Jiuyi tribe is willing to withdraw their troops and cease fighting, the Royal Clan will naturally return justice to them."

Her demeanor in answering was proud and composed, unable to hide the nobility born within her, with decisions held in the palm of her hand. Huang Fei saw it clearly, his ink-colored pupils slightly contracting. Zi Rao was startled by his scrutiny; her bright eyes turned, and she asked with a lingering smile: "I wonder what the relationship is between Princess Qielan and the Young Master, that it is worth the Young Master coming to the battlefield in person to plan for her like this?"

Huang Fei said unhurriedly: "We are friends, not enemies. May I ask what the relationship is between the young lady and the Royal Clan?"

Zi Rao was also composed. "We are friends, not enemies."

Huang Fei laughed upon hearing this, though his brows carried a hint of gravity. Now that Xichuan was gained, it was of no use; the Royal Clan's fate was not yet exhausted, and since the Mu army's sharp edge had appeared, the Xuan State would naturally not remain indifferent. The situation was unclear; watching the changes was the best policy, but he feared that the Jiuyi army had already reached the Di Du, and he had no certainty of being able to stop them in time. Huang Fei looked deeply at Zi Rao. "The Jiuyi tribe may not necessarily let the matter rest. In the towering Wang Cheng, the young lady had best be careful."

Zi Rao smiled without a word, looking far into the vast mountains and rivers. In the center of the Nine Domains, deep within the clouds and mist, a magnificent city could be vaguely seen—the Di Du; she had no need to worry about it.

(End of chapter)