Chapter 117

The three-courtyard mansion was brightly lit. Soldiers holding torches patrolled everywhere, searching room by room. The commotion was quite loud, making the originally central area seem somewhat quieter by contrast.

There was a moon tonight, hanging high in the sky. The soft moonlight fell on the roofs, the trees, and the people.

The moonlight stretched out shadows of varying lengths behind the two people walking side by side. Qin Shaozong cast his eyes down at the ground.

The shadows on the ground were solid and real, without the slightest hint of falsehood.

She was right beside him, within arm's reach.

Yet, the things she had described were scenes he could neither understand nor imagine.

Daili glanced at him sideways, not surprised by Qin Shaozong's current silence.

Anyone would be unsettled upon hearing such bizarre things that completely subverted their worldview. It was only because he was no longer an impulsive youth that he could suppress all his shock, doubt, and objections within.

He did not speak, and neither did Daili, giving him time to process it.

After a long while, Daili saw the man beside her shake his head. Madam, I cannot understand.

Daili said calmly, Qin Changgeng, power is something you fight for. When female soldiers put on armor and go into battle, are they not fighting for a voice? Only by rewriting national policies and laws can everything else follow. But here, women are never given a chance from the very beginning—no chance to study, no chance to become officials, no chance to join the army. Nothing at all.

Qin Shaozong's expression shifted slightly, deep in thought.

Daili continued, You cannot understand the ways of the Peach Blossom Spring, just as I cannot get used to this place. This is completely normal because our environments are different. Just as Mozi said: Dyed in pale silk, it becomes pale; dyed in yellow, it becomes yellow. As the dye changes, so does the color.

Qin Shaozong was about to say something when he suddenly heard someone shout from nearby, There's a secret passage here!

Both of their gazes sharpened, and they immediately followed the sound.

It was Wei Qing who had discovered the secret passage.

Perhaps because he was frequently suppressed, both openly and secretly, by the legitimate sons of the Wei family during his childhood, Wei Qing had learned how to hide from a young age. He would hide himself so that others could not find him, thereby suffering less bullying.

Having hidden so much, his experience was remarkably rich.

Among the four squad leaders of the Xuanxiao Cavalry, Wei Qing was particularly outstanding at treasure hunting.

Back when Qin Shaozong conquered Bingzhou and moved into the provincial governor's mansion, they had originally just conducted a routine confiscation of the enemy's storehouses. Unexpectedly, after walking around the mansion a few times, Wei Qing actually discovered a hidden vault.

The value of the treasures inside this hidden vault was more than ten times that of what was found on the surface.

...

In the back garden.

Seeing Qin Shaozong and Daili approach, the torch-bearing soldiers automatically parted to make way.

Wei Qing reported, My Lord, this rockery formation is quite ingenious. It is roughly composed of four interconnected rockeries, pieced together into a small maze. The light inside is dim, and the paths zigzag and intersect. If not for careful inspection, it would be truly easy to miss the hidden mechanism.

Qin Qinian rubbed his hands together eagerly. Father, that White Elephant character must be hiding inside. May your son lead men down to capture him?

Qin Shaozong agreed.

Qin Qinian entered the secret passage holding a saber in one hand and a torch in the other. Worried about potential mishaps, Wei Qing followed closely behind him.

The firelight seemed to transform into a fierce beast; the moment it entered, it violently devoured the surrounding darkness.

Huh.

Daili faintly heard a sound of confusion drift up.

Without needing anyone else to pass on the message, Qin Qinian called out himself, Father, it's really quite spacious in here!

Daili suddenly remembered something and hurriedly took a few steps toward the entrance of the passage. But before she could enter, her arm was suddenly grasped by a large, dark-skinned hand.

He didn't use much force, merely stopping her from moving forward.

Unable to enter, Daili simply stood outside and said, Qinian, beware of a dust explosion. If you see any flour, evacuate immediately.

Got it! came the reply from below.

Almost as soon as the words fell, the clashing sound of swords and sabers rang out from underground, along with Qin Qinian's fierce shout, White Elephant, cease your arrogance!

The sounds of fighting grew increasingly intense. Amidst the battle, Qin Qinian could be heard continuously unleashing a verbal assault. For as long as the clashing of weapons rang out, he kept cursing.

His voice was loud and full of energy, without a single pause for breath.

Daili: ...

Daili listened for a moment and couldn't help but turn her head, whispering to the man behind her, Your son's way of handling enemies is rather novel.

The torch-bearing soldiers stood behind Qin Shaozong. The man's face was shrouded in darkness, his brown eyes obscure, making his expression hard to read clearly.

Madam. He dropped the heavy word.

He didn't say much, but Daili knew exactly what he meant. This man particularly disliked hearing phrases like your son, which drew such a clear line between them.

Daili said no more.

*

Inside the passage below.

The passage connected to a small chamber, where Qin Qinian was ambushed the moment he arrived.

There were five people in total. Four were dressed ordinarily and were clearly older than the fifth, who was dressed in luxurious clothing.

The guards engaged the four men in a chaotic brawl, while Qin Qinian focused his attacks on their leader. The youth held a saber in one hand and a torch in the other, attacking the young man in black with both hands simultaneously.

Wei Qing did not join the fray. He stood outside the circle of combat, watching the fight intently and ready to support Qin Qinian at a moment's notice.

And the more he watched, the more surprised he became.

This young man in black looked young, but his skills were not weak at all. Moreover, his martial arts style... was very familiar.

After observing for a moment, Wei Qing's pupils contracted slightly.

He remembered now. It was indeed familiar, because it was exceptionally similar to Young Master Qin's!

Qin Qinian's strike failed, and he was fiercely blocked and pushed back. Using the momentum of his retreat, the youth deflected most of the force, then lunged forward, spun around, raised his knee, and twisted his hips, delivering a heavy kick like a rabbit kicking a falcon. Scoundrel, eat my kick!

This series of movements was incredibly fast; his retreat and advance were as quick as a flash of lightning.

The young man in black, holding a saber in his right hand, possessed equally astonishing speed and even seemed to anticipate Qin Qinian's moves. As the heavy kick flew toward him, he crossed his arms, stacking them to form a point of impact, and forcefully withstood Qin Qinian's heavy kick.

His lower body was extremely stable. After taking the blow, he merely swayed slightly, not even taking a single step back.

Alright, you really do have some skills. It's a pity that those who aid evildoers will meet a bad end! Qin Qinian's fighting spirit surged. He forcibly changed his posture in mid-air and swung the torch in his hand fiercely. Scoundrel, eat my club!

The torch traced an arc of light, spilling countless sparks from its edges.

The flames were truly scorching. As the young man in black dodged sideways, he abruptly thrust his saber forward, precisely slicing off the head of the torch. However, he didn't expect Qin Qinian to be using a diversionary tactic—drawing his attention with the torch on one side while sneakily striking with the saber on the other.

This slash was clean and decisive. Even though the opponent quickly sensed something was wrong and twisted his waist to avoid a vital strike, he was ultimately a little too late.

The blade cut into flesh.

Qin Qinian grinned broadly. Seeing my young age, you got careless, didn't you? Hahaha.

...

Daili listened to the clanging sounds below and Qin Qinian's non-repeating verbal barrage, unwittingly becoming engrossed. By the time she snapped out of it, she suddenly felt an itch on the back of her hand.

Daili subconsciously scratched it.

She scratched again and again, feeling something was wrong. She looked down, and well, a mosquito bite had swelled up on the back of her hand.

It was a huge one, bright red.

Daili pressed a cross shape into the mosquito bite with her fingernail, but it only helped for a moment. A short while later, it started itching again. Furrowing her delicate brows, she scratched it once more in irritation.

Before Dai Li could scratch a second time, her hand was grasped.

Qin Shaozong was tall with long limbs, and his palms were unusually broad. At this moment, he spread his fingers, wrapping them around Dai Li's delicate hand from below. He pressed his thumb against the swollen mosquito bite, slowly rubbing it for her.

There was a thick layer of calluses on his hand, making it quite rough.

In the past, Dai Li used to despise it, always feeling that his hands were no different from sandpaper. When he deliberately teased her, they could drive her absolutely crazy.

But at this moment, she felt that those thick calluses weren't entirely useless.

At least they felt very comfortable when rubbing a mosquito bite.

"Qin San, speed it up," Qin Shaozong said to the people below.

He had called Qin Qinian's name, but Wei Qing, who had entered with the young man, instantly caught his superior's underlying meaning.

They couldn't delay any longer.

Abandoning his previous role as a bystander, he immediately joined the fray.

About fifteen minutes later, Dai Li heard footsteps coming up. Soon, Qin Qinian returned to the surface, dragging a young man in black clothes who was tightly bound with hemp rope.

The man was dressed in black, making it hard to tell the extent of his injuries, but the path he was dragged up left a heavy trail of blood.

"White Elephant, behave yourself!" Seeing the man still trying to struggle, Qin Qinian gave him a kick.

Behind them, Wei Qing and the others also came up, each holding a person in one hand. Among those four, three were dead. Counting the one in Qin Qinian's hands, there were two survivors in total.

"Tossing and turning all night, we finally caught someone. You're quite cunning, White Elephant, actually hiding underground. You almost managed to escape!" The more Qin Qinian spoke, the angrier he got, and he couldn't resist kicking him again.

If they hadn't learned about the Laimo Bookstore and the osmanthus petals on the carriage wheels from Miss Fan; if it wasn't for the curfew, with his father specially setting up investigative guards in every street and alley; if they hadn't had the right time, place, and people, there really would have been a risk of letting them slip away.

"Winners are kings, losers are bandits. Having fallen into your hands, I have nothing to say. Kill me or torture me as you please." The man spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

"Kill or torture? Heh, before you truthfully confess all the secrets of the Green Lotus Cult, don't even think about a quick death." Qin Qinian hurriedly pulled out a piece of coarse cloth, casually crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into the man's mouth to prevent him from biting his tongue to commit suicide.

"Except for the one in Qin San's hands, take the others over there," Qin Shaozong suddenly said.

Qin Qinian froze, instinctively looking at the one in front of him, and then at the ones in Wei Qing and the others' hands.

Was there any difference?

It was just the difference between being alive and dead. Oh, at most, one of them had a palm chopped off.

Wei Qing was as meticulous as a strand of hair. He noticed that ever since they came up, Dai Li had been keeping her head down. She only looked at the small patch of ground beneath her feet, not even glancing in their direction.

He understood in his heart. Carrying the dead man in his hand, he quickly moved to the side, retreating far enough away.

The bloody smell lingering around her nose faded a bit. Dai Li suppressed her discomfort and looked up at the man at Qin Qinian's feet.

The man was dressed in black, his limbs intact. At a quick glance, one could only see the bright red exposed after his black clothes were slashed, and nothing more. Dai Li let her gaze rest only on his face.

Two soldiers holding torches stood on either side, the firelight illuminating the man's face very clearly. A large wad of coarse cloth was stuffed in his mouth, the fabric stretching his cheeks out of shape.

At first glance, Dai Li let out a puzzled hum. She looked at him more carefully, from his temples to his brows and eyes, to his nose, then to his mouth, and finally to the overall contour of his face.

"Qinian, pull out that piece of cloth first," Dai Li said.

The young man didn't understand why, but he did as he was told.

After the cloth was removed, the young man's bulging cheeks returned to normal. He suddenly looked up, locking eyes with Dai Li. "What are you looking at?"

The more Dai Li looked, the more solemn her expression became. "There is no disguise on his face, yet his features bear no resemblance to Diting. It's not him; he's not White Elephant."

The young man's pupils shrank for a moment.

"He's not White Elephant?" Qin Qinian was greatly shocked.

He wasn't the only one astonished; Qin Shaozong, Wei Qing, and the others were all stunned.

They had never seen White Elephant, nor had they seen his twin brother Diting. They didn't know what these two looked like previously, only hearing from a young servant that they were very young.

And the young man in front of them certainly fit the description of being young.

"Speak quickly, where is the real White Elephant?" Qin Qinian placed his blade against the man's neck.

The young man laughed aloud, revealing a mouthful of bloody teeth. "Mister left long ago. Why would he sit around waiting for death?"

Qin Qinian was furious and was just about to make him suffer when he suddenly heard a gentle female voice say, "No, I think White Elephant should still be here. They are just a smokescreen."

Dai Li said with certainty, "From the time we got the clue from Miss Fan to throwing the net now, less than a day has passed. There's a curfew tonight, and there are both stationary sentries and patrolling guards on the streets. Even if they knew we were coming to arrest them, they would have nowhere to run. White Elephant must still be here!"

Qin Shaozong turned his jade thumb ring. "Wei Qing, go down and search carefully. Don't miss a single spot."

After these words, the tightly bound young man visibly struggled for a moment.

Qin Qinian noticed it and was both surprised and angry. "He really is here. Fortunately, Madam Dai has sharp eyes, otherwise we would have been fooled by you."

About half a quarter of an hour after Wei Qing went down, the sounds of fighting came from below.

Qin Qinian grabbed his blade and hurried down. Soon, he was heard roaring, "Ha, there really is one who slipped through the net! I advise you to surrender quickly, or else you'll have plenty of suffering ahead of you."

Dai Li looked at the dim entrance of the passage. "I'll go down and take a look too."

"Madam," Qin Shaozong's tone showed his disapproval.

Dai Li, however, felt very safe. "They invested heavily in the smokescreen, and their combat power is already depleted by more than ninety percent. Plus, Qinian just said there's only one of him."

Just as she finished speaking, a figure was seen running out of the passage.

Who else could it be but Qin Qinian.

"While we were fighting, he suddenly spat out black blood and lost the strength to fight. I suspect he took poison earlier. Father, this person is very valuable. Should we go invite Mr. Ding to save him?" the young man said.

Qin Shaozong, however, said, "Since he already had the resolve to die, how could the poison he took be ordinary? I'm afraid it's too late to notify Ding Congjian now."

The opponent must have been very clear about the intensity of the interrogations in the North. Rather than suffering endless physical torment, it was better to seek a quick end now.

Qin Qinian muttered something under his breath.

While the father and son were talking, Dai Li suddenly entered the passage.

Seeing this, Qin Shaozong immediately followed close behind her.

After walking past the initial section, Dai Li arrived at a small platform.

The place was a mess. A torch head had fallen to the ground and was still burning brightly. The space here wasn't large; it was oval-shaped, with some tables and chairs arranged. In one corner, there was an open hidden door, suggesting someone had just been hiding there.

A few steps away, Wei Qing and Hu Bao flanked a figure on the left and right, trapping him in a corner.

The young man leaned against the wall, his long sword sheathed. At this moment, the tip of the sword rested on the ground, seemingly serving as a support. He was dressed in black and had fair skin. There was black blood at the corner of his mouth, and dark red bloodstains could also be seen on his neck where it wasn't covered by his clothes, likely accidentally smeared when he was vomiting blood earlier.

The very first time Dai Li laid eyes on him, she thought she was looking at Diting.

This place was not far below the surface; words spoken above ground could easily be heard down below. Everything Dai Li had just said up there had fallen completely into Bai Xiang's ears.

The moment Dai Li saw him, Bai Xiang saw her too.

Their gazes met in the air.

Looking at Dai Li's delicate features, he suddenly chuckled. The resemblance is indeed there. My skills were inferior, and I made a wrong move. I have nothing to say about losing to you this time.

With that laugh, he coughed up another mouthful of black blood.

Dai Li clenched her fists tightly, forcing herself not to look away. Did they pick him up ten years ago, or was it after the great famine?

It wasn't that her son had never told her about the past, but she later realized that those ten years had been heavily sugarcoated.

Those ten years were the past, yet they were also a hurdle she could never get over.

Bai Xiang smiled and shook his head. Madam Dai, I know what else you want to ask... cough, but I can only tell you that my uncle truly treated him as his own nephew. Not only because Mingdeng had great potential, but even more so because he was a natural-born believer. He once said he wanted to go to a place where everyone was equal, and he was only ten years old when he said that.

Dai Li's pupils trembled slightly, and her eyes instantly turned red.

No, that wasn't it.

At that time, her Zhou Zhou only wanted to go home.

A large, dark-skinned hand reached up and covered Dai Li's eyes. Almost in the next instant, she heard a violent, earth-shattering fit of coughing, sounding as if the person were about to cough their lungs out.

The scent of blood suddenly grew much thicker.