Chapter 922: Return the needle to me (1/2)

Gu Beiyue had disappeared!

Bai Yanqing’s eyes turned icy before he rushed back out and started to search for the man like mad. Gu Beiyue was the biggest ace in his sleeve, the only thing capable of dealing with the double danger of Long Feiye and Han Yunxi. If he couldn’t sow discord between them, then his only method was to use Gu Beiyue as a backup plan!

But Gu Beiyue was gone! Where was he?!

The Prancing Dragon Gorge was a deeply concealed location that was completely cut off from the outside world. How could Gu Beiyue have escaped? Leaving aside his serious injuries, he was also poisoned. How could he break free of the various poison guards lying in ambush and run away? Moreover, why would he want to run away? Had he discovered something?

“Someone come! Someone!” Bai Yanqing shouted as he stood in the courtyard. Unfortunately, no one answered him. He couldn’t believe his ears and went searching around the property. Soon enough, he found a pile of corpses in the bamboo forest behind the house. All of them were his poison guards, each of whom had perished by a single stab.

Bai Yanqing was stunned. Gu Beiyue had no skills to assassinate so many guards, so someone must have slipped in and whisked him away. Who could it be? Someone capable of avoiding the guards’ poison and able to find his way here? As his rage simmered within his chest, Bai Yanqing unsheathed his sword and slashed wildly at the surrounding bamboo. First he was schemed against in Blacktower and forced to flee in a wretched state, then he discovered that Han Yunxi and Long Feiye didn’t hate each other. Both of these were enough to incite his ire, but now he’d lost Gu Beiyue too.

He’d planned and plotted for so many years, endured and waited for so very long, so where did he go wrong? Why did things turn out like this? East and West Qin should’ve been fighting up a storm by now! He should be sitting on the sidelines and watching the show! Why was he in such a sorry state?

After lashing out for awhile, Bai Yanqing finally regained his composure. He stabbed his sword into the dirt and lifted his head with eyes shut, his old brow wrinkled with pain. In the end, his loss could be summed up by the combination of Han Yunxi and Long Feiye.

Why? Why can they join hands and work together? It’s not just a simple alliance, either. Anyone can tell how intimate they are! Their old feelings never died!

How can they endure those years of hatred to stay together? On what grounds? How can they do it despite their national enmity?!

Why...why couldn’t the woman I love do the same? I told her the truth--I said everything between East and West Qin was just a misunderstanding to sow discord. But she still wouldn’t believe me!

Why?

How could that woman’s daughter carry the status of West Qin princess and still entangle herself with the East Qin crown prince? Why couldn’t she accept him, a descendant of the Wind Clan?

When he thought of the past, Bai Yanqing broke into a frenzy of madness once again. He grabbed his sword and slashed at the skies while howling a single name.

“Mu Xin!”

“Mu Xin, you let me down! You were the one who disappointed me!”

“Mu Xin, I’ll never forgive you, even if you’re dead! Never!”

“Mu Xin, open your eyes and look! Just look at your daughter!”

“Mu Xin, tell me why? Why?!”

“Mu Xin, I actually lost to your daughter…”

After the bamboo forest was chopped into pieces, Bai Yanqing tossed aside his sword and keeled over on the ground. Although his eyes were open, his gaze was unfocused and empty. While he’d hidden himself in Prancing Dragon Gorge, the ignorant Jun Yixie was still searching everywhere for signs of his master. By now, Bai Yuqiao and the poison guard from Blacktower had already delivered Ning Cheng and Su Xiaoyu to Skyriver City in Northern Li. Bai Yuqiao had Brother Qi bring along Su Xiaoyu to find her senior brother in the barracks while she stayed behind to talk to Ning Cheng.

Currently, Ning Cheng was wearing a reticulated face mask that covered the right side of his face, thus hiding his blinded eye. The mask was made of silver and exquisitely wrought into the shape of a half-furled phoenix wing. Bai Yuqiao didn’t limit any of Ning Cheng’s freedoms during their trip, but it was impossible for the man to escape. After treating his eye, Bai Yuqiao had given him another strange poison. If he didn’t take an antidote daily, he’d figuratively burn to death from the inside out. Of course, that was the real reason Ning Cheng stayed put. His other purpose was to see Jun Yixie. Bai Yuqiao had said that Jun Yixie was completely ignorant of everything their master had done over the years. She was afraid that he wouldn’t believe her, so she wanted Ning Cheng to stand as witness. She promised that she’d give Ning Cheng the final antidote as soon as he gave testimony.

Currently, the two of them were in a private room at a teahouse in Skyriver City whose seats bordered a railing. Ning Cheng loved wine and wasn’t used to tea, so he hadn’t touched anything on the table. Meanwhile, Bai Yuqiao carefully tasted her tea with pleasure. When she noticed Ning Cheng staring out the window, she secretly studied his phoenix face mask. He had designed it personally before telling her to have it made.

“Hey, is the phoenix wing birthmark on Han Yunxi’s back shaped like that? Have you seen it before?” Bai Yuqiao had been curious for awhile now.

Ning Cheng didn’t turn back, but his eye grew gloomy. “When are you planning to let me see Jun Yixie?”

The relationship between Bai Yanqing and Jun Yixie had exceeded his expectations. If there was really a gap between master and disciple, this was a big chance for the Di Clan!

“Ning Cheng, you really like Han Yunxi, huh! She blinded you, what’s there to like?” Bai Yuqiao asked.

Ning Cheng’s hand on the table gradually formed into a fist. In the past, Bai Yuqiao used to fear him, but not anymore. After all, Ning Cheng was limited by her poison and she was certain he wouldn’t go beg Han Yunxi to save him now. Nor did he have enough time. Moreover, she could guess that Ning Cheng was interested in working with her senior brother! She darted a glance at his clenched fist and continued to grin.

“You couldn’t be concerned about the position of son-in-law for the West Qin imperial clan, right? Heheh, if Han Yunxi ever ascends the throne as a female emperor someday, you’d be a rather fitting match as the Di Clan Head and Great General Ning. Ning Cheng--”