Chapter 314: 314. What a despicable father and daughter pair

Translator: 549690339

In Yin Country, Xiangyue City.

The assassination and death of the crown prince’s concubine, Mu Ya, did not cause a real stir in the city. After every inn was investigated, two out-of-town men who arrived late at night the previous day were quickly identified as the suspects. However, no one knew who they were, and apart from the discarded horses, they left no trace.

The blood-drenched puppet doll, full of needles and bearing Su Liang’s name, found not far from Mu Ya’s body, was secretly sent to the palace of Yin Country.

After seeing it, the emperor of Yin Country asked, “Are we sure Su Liang and Gu

Ling are not in Jiaye City?”

With confirmation, the emperor of Yin Country issued a secret order. Anyone in Xiangyue City and nearby cities resembling a man and a woman or two men should be closely monitored. If any clue hinting towards Su Liang and Gu Ling is found, it should be reported immediately

Yin Country had previously lost in battle, including the death of a leading general. The setback had impacted the morale of their troops. The emperor of Yin Country was preparing to send someone to negotiate with Qian Country. The sudden suspicion that Gu Ling and Su Liang have arrived in Xiangyue City stirred him into wanting to apprehend them while also being wary of assassination attempts by them.

Su Liang, unaware, found safety due to the absence of Gu Ling, as she alone was not the target of the investigation.

Upon entering the city again, Su Liang disguised herself as a middle-aged man. She wandered alone for a long time before selecting a mansion for sale. She purchased the mansion, located not far from the main street, but nestled quietly in the middle of the hustle and bustle. Although it was not cheap, the price was not a concern for her.

The pseudonym Su Liang used for the paperwork was Xiang Gu, synonym for “thinking of Gu”, as she was currently thinking of Gu Ling.

Behind the closed front door, Su Liang picked out a room in the courtyard and sat down facing a tall pine tree after arranging her luggage inside the room and opening the window.

She was surprisingly calm then, not feeling sad, as she was certain Gu Ling wasn’t dead. Her task was not to grieve and shed tears, but to think of ways to find him.

She wondered, during the incident last night, why was there such a highly skilled master by Mu Ya’s side? If there was, Su Liang would have been targeted much earlier instead of Qiu Ming being deployed as a spy to poison her. Moreover, why did the man only appear after Mu Ya was killed? If he was indeed avenging Mu Ya, why did he not kill Gu Ling on the spot? Why did he let Su Liang escape?

The more she thought about it, the more it seemed to Su Liang that too many incidents from last night didn’t make sense.

Gu Ling wouldn’t have been alive if that man did not intend to keep him alive.

The man claimed to be Mu Ya’s foster father, but he probably never looked at Mu Ya — his gaze was fixed on Gu Ling.

If he was lying and trying to mislead Su Liang to attribute everything to Mu Ya, who was already dead, Su Liang would be caught in a stalemate.

Su Liang believed that the array of events from last night might not be a coincidence after all. The man made his move only when Mu Ya was killed. Thus, he claimed to act in Mu Ya’s interests, though Su Liang could no longer ask Mu Ya for confirmation.

Everything was set up to deceive Su Liang. That man was most certainly aware of Su Liang and Gu Ling’s identities and had targeted them early on! Otherwise, why would he be so sure that capturing Su Liang as a hostage would make Gu Ling compromise? Su Liang was disguised as a man at that time. Although the man was incredibly powerful, he chose to poison Gu Ling to control him. It seemed he was well aware of Gu Ling’s strength. No one in the unknown could act in such a manner!

Su Liang stared at the magpies perched on the old pine tree, her gaze frosty.

Today was the auspicious day chosen by Gu Ling. They were supposed to consummate their marriage tonight.

“Nangong Lin…” Su Liang murmured the name in a frosty tone.

There was no trouble for her and Gu Ling while travelling from Jiaye City to Hefeng City. It would be impossible for someone to follow them for so long without making a move. They were targeted as soon as they left Hefeng City, and Gu Ling was kidnapped. It seemed intentional to mislead Su Liang’s focus.

Except for Nangong Lin, Su Liang could not think of any other suspicious people. The old man from last night was not Nangong Lin, but definitely had something to do with him! Only Nangong Lin knew that Su Liang and Gu Ling were in Yin Country. He was also well aware that Su Liang was Gu Ling’s most significant and only weakness. Without her by his side, even if Nangong Lin made a personal move, it would be hard for him to do anything to Gu Ling!

Why… Su Liang wondered. If Nangong Lin was behind this, why kidnap Gu Ling? Why let her go? Was there a grievance between him and his student? Why take action at this time instead of at the Mid-hill Villa?

With her eyes closed, Su Liang thought about the purpose of their trip to Yin Country, Nangong Qian. She recalled Nangong Qian’s obsession when she first saw Gu Ling, and had a bold conjecture: Nangong Qian liked Gu Ling, and Nangong Lin wanted to fulfill his daughter’s wishes!

After all, Su Liang was sure of one thing, Nangong Lin was infatuated with Gu Ling’s mother, Situ Ning, in his youth, but had his advances rejected. He might believe that having Gu Ling with his daughter might make up for his past regret. Otherwise, he would not have asked Gu Ling to teach him martial arts. He would not have avoided causing trouble for Gu Ling all these years. The sudden change after a recent meeting must have been triggered by something happening recently.

Though it seemed absurd, Su Liang knew that there were certain people who could achieve the unimaginable.

“Too perfect, somewhat false,” commented Gu Ling, who had known Nangong Lin since childhood, when asked for his opinion about his master.

At the time, Su Liang didn’t pay much attention to Gu Ling’s casual remark, because they hadn’t noticed any inconsistency in Nangong Lin’s words or actions.

Even in the events of the previous night, when Gu Ling was seized and Su Liang was led to believe that it had something to do with Mu Ya. Nangong Lin was skilled at deception; it had become his second nature.

Su Liang took a deep breath, turned around to open the bundle on the table, and saw the wedding gifts Nangong Lin had given to her and Gu Ling; an irony in the extreme.

After she sorted out her thoughts, she finally understood why, before Gu Ling was taken away, he had said “I’m sorry” to her. He wasn’t apologizing for his departure, but because everything had been orchestrated by his master!

If Gu Ling had confronted him at that time, the old man might not have let Su Liang off easily, knowing that he had managed to deceive her.

After packing lightly, she hid her luggage and left her home in Xiangyue City.

Su Liang was dressed inconspicuously, seamlessly blending in with the crowd. She walked from one end of a street in the capital city to the other and back, eventually finding what she had been looking for: the symbol of the Yanyun Building.

The Yanyun Building was a business, and naturally had to provide channels for its “guests” to contact them. Although most people were unaware of this, if one was willing to spend money and had the right connections, they could easily track them down.

The last time she had seen Yan Shiba was the previous year. After Su Liang had saved her from Yan Shiqi again, Yan Shiba had disappeared without a trace, claiming she had gone to reorganize the Yanyun Building.

At this moment, Su Liang stood at a deserted stall. The stall owner, a ragged old man, was dozing off below a tree. He raised his eyelids upon seeing someone approach but remained silent.

Su Liang bent down to pick up a crudely-made clay doll from the stall. While the doll was ugly, the strange pattern on its shoulder represented the symbol of the Yanyun Building.

The old man noticed the item she had picked and his eyes flickered. He slowly stood up and asked for ninety-nine taels.

“Alright, I’ll take it,” Su Liang readily paid and left with the clay doll.

Once she reached a quiet alley, Su Liang smashed the clay doll and pulled out a paper from inside with an address.

After her departure, the old man replaced the broken doll with another identical one and returned to his nap.

At dusk, Su Liang ventured into a forest on the outskirts of the city. She st0DDed before a burnt. dead tree and waited.

After a while, a shadow darted past, and a tree nearby shook slightly. “Who are you? Whom do you want to kill? No lies.” A man’s voice echoed from the tree.

Su Liang remained calm, “I am looking for Yan Jiujiu.”

After a moment of silence, the man spoke again with utmost respect, “May I know where to meet the honorable guest?”

“I’ll wait here,” Su Liang breathed out softly.

The tree shook again and quickly returned to its usual stillness.

Yan Shiba had once mentioned that Su Liang was the only “honored guest” of the Yanyun Building. Wherever she was, if she could find someone from the Yanyun Building and used the code “I’m looking for Yan Jiujiu,” the person in charge would come to see her and take her orders.

Even though Su Liang had never used the “privilege” that Yan Shiba gave her, she had never forgotten about it.

And now, she needs help, which is what Yan Shiba owed her.

Dusk fell, the dense forest echoed with the cries of insects and birds, rustling sounds of crawling creatures, it was somewhat creepy.

Su Liang sat on the charred, dry wood, quietly waiting. She believed that Yan

Shiba would not give Yan Shiqi another opportunity to take advantage of them. The actions of the man just now led her to believe that Yan Shiba was in charge now.

The waiting time was longer than Su Liang had anticipated.

The sky was completely dark, and the moonlight trickled through the gaps in the leaves.

She felt that something was wrong, but she didn’t want to leave. Her family, friends, and master were all thousands of miles away, and the enemy was not far away. They were all strong, and she couldn’t act recklessly. Going home for backup would be too slow, her only option was to try and seek help from Yanyun Building.

She was a bit weary but later decided to continue waiting. If no one shows up by dawn, she would leave Xiangyue City and head to Hefeng City to think of another plan.

Su Liang suspected that Nangong Lin had taken Gu Ling for his daughter,

Nangong Qian. But she knew best the physical condition of Nangong Qian; even with her medicine and acupuncture skills, it would take at least three months for her to be self-reliant. It is unlikely that Nangong Lin would neglect Nangong Qian’s health and force Gu Ling to do something with her.

But even so, Su Liang still didn’t want Gu Ling to be held captive by those people, not even for an extra day or second.

Su Liang placed her dagger on the dry wood, its cold silver light flashed. She then climbed up the nearest tree to avoid bugs, snakes, rats, and ants.

After waiting for who knows how long, she looked up to see the moon was high up. She was about to close her eyes and doze off when she heard some noise.

Su Liang grasped her long sword and listened carefully. Someone was coming, and more than one.

“Where is she?”

A familiar woman’s voice rang in her ears. Su Liang was stunned, it was surprisingly Yan Shiba! Was she actually in Xiangyue City?!

She then felt relieved and leapt down from the tree. “I’m here.”

“Liang sister?!!!” Yan Shiba removed the ghost mask from her face and rushed over to hug Su Liang, “It really is you, haha! I thought it was your lover!”

Su Liang looked around and confirmed there were other people, but they all kept a safe distance and didn’t approach.

Yan Shiba released Su Liang, saw her disguised appearance, and frowned, “That’s ugly! Why did you make yourself look like this? If I hadn’t heard your voice, I wouldn’t have recognized you!”

“I came here secretly.” Su Liang said.

Yan Shiba nodded, “I know! Rumor had it that you were in Jiaye City. I

Luckily, I had made it clear before, your appearance would be Yanyun Building’s top priority!”

Even though she hadn’t considered Yan Shiba to be a proper friend due to some of her unagreeable behaviors, at this moment, she was still somewhat moved by these words. “I need your help.”

“What happened? Who bullied you?” Yan Shiba noticed her mood was off and frowned, “Tell me who to kill! Not a word more! By the way, where is your man? Why isn’t he by your side? Did he betray you? I’ve told you before, men can’t be relied on!”

Su Liang interrupted Yan Shiba’s wandering thoughts, “He didn’t betray me, he’s in trouble.”

Yan Shiba got even angrier when she heard this, “What kind of man did you pick? Not only does he not protect you, he even needs you to rescue him when something happens?”

“Shut up! Let me finish!” Su Liang stopped Yan Shiba’s incessant chatter.

Yan Shiba grumbled a bit, “Long time no see, and you’ve become more hot-tempered? You even yelled at me for your smelly man… Okay okay, tell me, I’m listening! What kind of trouble did he get himself into?”

“He was kidnapped.” Su Liang said, “I have a suspect in mind, and I know where they are, but I’m unsure if I can handle it alone.”

“Is that all? Sister will accompany you! After all, I had promised to give him to you, but I didn’t expect you two bastards to team up and deceive me, secretly being together, leaving me no chance to fulfill my commitment! Now what? This is clearly Heaven’s way of not tolerating your conniving behaviour, giving me another chance! Haha!” Yan Shiba laughed as she spoke.

Su Liang… she hasn’t changed, her words still make me want to smack her!

“How many people do you have?” Su Liang asked.

Yan Shiba shook her head, “No need. Just me accompanying you will suffice!”

“No!” Su Liang shook her head, “The other side has at least two masters, each of them stronger than your master.”

Yan Shiba was stunned for a moment, then she went serious, “Which old monster has appeared? I hate those old undying beings the most! They all have severe issues! Most of them are here for their damned descendants! All of them, without exception, are unreasonable!”

Although Su Liang felt Yan Shiba’s words had some merit, she reminded her to focus on the matter at hand.

Yan Shiba looked around, “I have… eight little brothers here now! I came to Yin Country to deal with the bastard who messed with me last time, it wasn’t easy, so it took quite a lot of effort, and I haven’t sought you out till now. Now it’s all done, I was actually… forget it, you’re not interested, you’re only concerned about your man, hmph! Speak up, what’s your plan?”

Su Liang looked towards the direction of Hefeng City, “I need to think it over, we’ll discuss it when we get there.”

“Whatever you say!” Yan Shiba called a subordinate and ordered them to wait at Hefeng City.

Soon, everyone else had left, leaving only the two of them.

“Look at how tired you are. Come on, let sister carry you!” Yan Shiba put on her mask, turned her back to Su Liang, and gestured for her to climb on. Su Liang shook her head, “No need.”

“Hurry up! Really! No point in disliking me now, your man isn’t here!” Yan Shiba couldn’t help but mock Gu Ling’s preference.

Su Liang, indeed, was truly tired, both physically and mentally. Knowing Yan Shiba’s obstinacy, she conceded.

“Haha, aren’t you afraid that I’ll take you away and hide you, forcing you to only be with me from now on?” Yan Shiba sprung up, with Su Liang on her back, and leapt towards the forest outside.

“Why would you hide me?” Su Liang closed her eyes and asked.

Yan Shiba chuckled, “Of course, because sister likes you!

“Oh, I don’t like you.” Su Liang bluntly replied.

Yan Shiba scoffed, “You imp, after we rescue Gu, I will duel with him. Whoever wins will decide who you will follow! Dare or not?”

“You can’t beat him.” Su Liang replied.

Yan Shiba snorted lightly, “Even so, aren’t you still begging me to rescue him now?”

“Two different things.” Su Liang shook her head. Gu Ling being in trouble this time was entirely because he was set up. The opponent was strong, and their plan was devious and unexpected. Yan Shiba seemed to have forgotten that she had been rescued by Su Liang and Gu Ling a few times, otherwise, she would have died more than once already.

“If he’s that powerful, how did he get caught? Right, you still haven’t told me, what do those kidnappers want with him?” Yan Shiba asked.

Su Liang spoke in a gloomy voice, “Seems like the mastermind’s daughter has taken a liking to Gu Ling, kidnapped him to be her husband. That’s my guess.”

Yan Shiba cursed angrily after hearing this, “What a pair of cheap father and daughter! They even dare snatch my sister’s man! They’re courting death!”