Chapter 367

The weather was freezing cold; normally no one guarded it, let alone in this night of wind and snow filling the sky. Hu Xiaotian opened the wine cellar and entered, shaking off the snow all over his body; the wine cellar completely blocked the howling cold wind outside. Hu Xiaotian took a lantern and hurried down the secret passage. He, familiar with the route, arrived at the well inside Zilan Palace and climbed up along the well wall.

After he crawled out of the well mouth, he saw the snow outside falling even heavier; such weather naturally created excellent conditions for him to conceal his tracks, though movement became considerably more difficult. Looking toward Zilan Palace, he saw the halls pitch black, and Long Xi Yue's study had no lights lit—apparently the beautiful princess had gone to sleep, perhaps because she couldn't wait after his broken appointment, or perhaps she simply didn't understand the meaning of his gestures. Hu Xiaotian was about to turn back when he felt it a waste to have come all this way, so he tiptoed to the study's exterior, pressed his ear to the window and listened, hearing nothing; likely no one was inside.

Just as Hu Xiaotian decided to leave, he suddenly saw lights flicker on in the direction of Zilan Palace; not long after, the door opened and a girl wearing a deep Lan cloak stepped out, holding a lantern.

Hu Xiaotian judged from the other's build that it must be Long Xi Yue; he felt both startled and delighted, it seemed the Princess Anping had already been stirred by his charm, even at midnight she didn't forget to meet him—just as he was about to step forward and reveal himself, his mouth was suddenly covered from behind. Hu Xiaotian's shock was no small matter; the other pressed him against the wall, raised a finger to his lips: 'Shh!'—it was the Senior Eunuch Li Yuncong of the Cangshuge.

Hu Xiaotian broke out in a cold sweat; this Senior Eunuch must have been tailing him all the way. How careless of him—to have noticed nothing of his movements, thinking about it made him shudder with fear; if Li Yuncong wanted to kill him, he'd likely have lost ten lives already—this old fellow's martial arts are probably even superior to Quan De'an's and Ji Feihua's.

The two watched Long Xi Yue's movements together; Hu Xiaotian silently thought, 'Oh no,' this was troublesome—there was an eighty or ninety percent chance that Li Yuncong had stumbled upon his affair with Long Xi Yue. Long Xi Yue raised her lantern and looked around the courtyard, but saw no trace of Hu Xiaotian; she looked rather disappointed, let out a soft sigh, then turned and returned to the palace.

With Li Yuncong beside him, even borrowing Hu Xiaotian's courage, he dared not approach Long Xi Yue to reveal himself. After Long Xi Yue left, Li Yuncong pointed to the well and shot up first. Hu Xiaotian followed his steps closely, yet saw Li Yuncong gliding just above the snow without leaving a trace—such lightness was astonishing; by contrast, Hu Xiaotian had no such skill, though he tried to hide his footprints, he still left shallow marks in the snow. That didn't matter, though, as the heavy snowfall would soon cover them completely.

Li Yuncong gestured for Hu Xiaotian to enter the well first; after Hu Xiaotian went in, Li Yuncong waved his right hand, sending out an invisible palm strike like a gust of gusty wind on flat ground, scattering Hu Xiaotian's shallow footprints completely. This shows his caution.

The two returned to the underground cavern one after another; Hu Xiaotian wiped the sweat from his forehead, bowed to Li Yuncong and said, 'Senior Eunuch Li!'

Li Yuncong said, 'Sneaking into Zilan Palace at night—your courage is indeed not small; could it be you intend harm to the princess?'

Hu Xiaotian exclaimed in distress, 'Senior Eunuch Li, you've wronged me—you yourself said there was a secret passage leading to Illusory Mountain, so I took advantage of the wind and snow to search for its location.'

Li Yuncong was half‑believing, half‑doubting, and gave a cold smile: 'You really are something.'

Hu Xiaotian asked, 'How did you, Senior Eunuch, get here?' In his impression, the only place where the Cangshuge and the secret passage connect is a wrist‑thick hole—could Li Yuncong really have slipped through? Is this old fellow a snake spirit transformed? To be able to squeeze through such a tiny opening?

Li Yuncong said, 'Zilan Palace isn't some mysterious place—if you can get in, so can the Zajia.' As he spoke he turned back, with Hu Xiaotian following behind him; Hu Xiaotian couldn't help but curse inwardly, the secret passage? It's practically become a Star Avenue now—anyone can come and stroll around; Quan De'an knows, Ji Feihua knows, and now Li Yuncong knows too. Moreover, Li Yuncong likely knows even more of the inside story than he does, only he doesn't know whether Li Yuncong came to Zilan Palace by chance tonight or has been tailing him all the way.

At the fork in the road, Li Yuncong turned toward the Cangshuge; Hu Xiaotian had no intention of returning to the Si Yuan Bureau wine cellar, but instead continued following Li Yuncong. Li Yuncong said nothing and made no attempt to stop him, allowing Hu Xiaotian to follow him down to the cavern beneath the Cangshuge.

The Senior Eunuch lifted his head, glanced upward, then leapt into the air, tapping his feet lightly back and forth on the edge of the cavern. At this moment Li Yuncong bore no trace of an old man's frailty; his body rose steadily within the cavern, and in an instant he reached the top. He pushed upward with his hand, lifting the cavern's rock entirely to reveal an opening large enough for one person to pass through. Hu Xiaotian looked up, astonished—he and Baobao had once carefully inspected the place, but after searching for half a day they had found only a ventilation hole; who would have thought that what seemed the dead end at the top actually had an exit?

Li Yuncong glanced down at the still dazed Hu Xiaotian, gave a cold snort, and said, 'What are you standing there like an idiot for? Hurry up and come up!'

Only then did Hu Xiaotian snap back to reality—he didn't have Li Yuncong's abilities, but compared to last time he had now added the Golden Spider Eight Steps to his repertoire; using hands and feet together he scrambled up the wall quickly and soon reached the top. Halfway up, this guy suddenly thought, 'What if Li Yuncong kicked me in the face from above? Falling from this height, wouldn't I be doomed?' Fortunately Li Yuncong didn't pull such a petty stunt.

Climbing out of the cavern, what lay ahead was a narrow passage situated between the wall and a seated statue of Wen Sheng. The statue stood about two zhang tall and weighed over three thousand jin, exactly covering the cavern's upper side; its base matched the color of the surrounding rock strata. Not only had Hu Xiaotian failed to notice it at the time, but even if he had discovered the secret, his current strength would be insufficient to shift the statue and enter. Yet Li Yuncong, standing inside the cavern, managed to lift that massive Wen Sheng statue flat‑handed—his martial prowess had truly reached an astonishing, shocking level.

Going around the Wen Sheng statue into the room, he saw that the surroundings were filled with layer upon layer of bookshelves—clearly part of the Cangshuge. As Hu Xiaotian scanned the area, Li Yuncong lit the indoor candles; the flickering flame illuminated his wrinkled face, and in the shifting light and shadow Li Yuncong appeared ever more unfathomable.

Hu Xiaotian asked, 'Senior Eunuch Li, is this the Cangshuge?'

Li Yuncong laughed, 'This is naturally the Cangshuge; we are now on its sixth floor. In the imperial palace, aside from the Zajia and the Retired Emperor, you are the only one who has ever come here.'

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said, 'Then I must have run into extraordinary luck, huh?'

Li Yuncong said, 'Blessings and misfortunes depend on each other—no one can clearly say whether it's good or bad.'

Hu Xiaotian smiled, 'Senior Eunuch Li speaks the truth—just like when I was entrusted with the important duty of managing the Mingyue Palace, I thought it was a good thing, but only after taking over did I realize it was a task of unbearable bitterness.'

Li Yuncong said with deep meaning, 'Whether it's bitter or not, only you yourself know; but the Zajia have heard that after the Talented Person took charge of the Mingyue Palace, within days two lives were lost in succession, and many in the palace say this Talented Person is an ominous figure.'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Just rumors—actually, one of the so‑called two deaths was witnessed personally by Senior Eunuch Li.' When Ji Feihua killed Wang Decai, Li Yuncong happened to be on the scene, and at that time Wen Ya had not yet entered the palace.

Li Yuncong nodded and said, 'Now that you put it that way, the Zajia recall it.'

'As for the other death, it was actually done by Xiao Tian, and has nothing to do with the newly arrived Talented Person.' Having done it, there's no fear in admitting it—moreover, it's common knowledge.

Li Yuncong said, 'To kill someone in the imperial palace and still get away unscathed is truly rare.'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'The eunuch I killed was named Ma Liangpeng; he was a spy sent by Ji Feihua to the Mingyue Palace.'

Li Yuncong twitched his white brows and said, 'You aren't also someone sent by Ji Feihua? If that's the case, isn't it like a flood drowning the Dragon King's temple—family members not recognizing each other?'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Senior Eunuch Li, don't blame me—I had no prior knowledge of this.'

Li Yuncong said, 'It seems Ji Feihua doesn't fully trust you either; that little eunuch must have been sent to monitor you.'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'That makes sense—when I was talking with Baobao, he ran to the window to eavesdrop; luckily I noticed, so I acted against him.'

Li Yuncong murmured, 'Baobao! Has the thing the Zajia given you been put to use?'

Hu Xiaotian beamed, 'Senior Eunuch Li's flute that he gave me is truly a fine thing—just a gentle blow and it makes her unable to live or die, leaving her only able to obey meekly.'

Li Yuncong said, 'Then that palace maid is already completely obedient to you, right?'

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said, 'She can't just be obedient anymore—now I can make her do whatever I want, and she'll comply without question. Besides, Xiao Tian has also gained an unexpected windfall.'

Li Yuncong found it quite surprising to hear about the unexpected gain; after Hu Xiaotian finished explaining the matter of Lin Wan in the Lingyu Hall, Li Yuncong realized that this kid had actually used the revival flute to do all those things.

Hu Xiaotian said: "According to what they said, they have been poisoned with a chronic poison/drug of the Ten Thousand Insects Bone-Eroding Pill; once it flares up, it is quite painful, and only your antidote can relieve their pain." Hu Xiaotian flattered: "Lord Li's methods are truly high, indeed high!"

Li Yuncong said coldly: "The Ten Thousand Insects Bone-Eroding Pill they have been poisoned with has nothing at all to do with the Zajia."

Hu Xiaotian merely used this sentence to probe his words; now Hu Xiaotian even somewhat suspects that Li Yuncong is Hong Beimo.

Li Yuncong said: "How is the matter that the Zajia asked you to investigate?"

Seek Monthly Ticket! (To be continued~^~)