He Lan Tianxia

For several days in a row, Murong Junlan went to the cliff cave, but without any success. He sent Luo Xie and Ling Yi to look for Jiang He, but they haven't returned yet. Hong Xiuying also sent the martial monks of Anqiao Temple to search for him, but there was still no news.

After several more anxious days, an old woman arrived outside Anqiao Temple after lunch. The old woman claimed to know the whereabouts of the person they were looking for, and Hong Xiuying allowed her into the temple. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that this woman was no ordinary person. What was she doing at the temple? Since Prince Murong wasn't there, Hong Xiuying had no choice but to settle her in and secretly send people to monitor her every move.

The old woman was fairly well-behaved; she did nothing but eat and stay in the house. When Murong Junlan returned, she said she would personally take Prince Murong to find them. Murong Junlan had no choice but to believe her, whether it was true or not. Hong Xiuying, however, was still worried and secretly followed her.

On the first day, the old woman took Murong Junlan to the big tree where the bird's nest had been destroyed. The nest was gone, and the bird had flown away. Looking at the broken bird's nest on the ground, its pieces scattered and broken, the old woman's eyes were full of pride, but she hunched over and carefully covered everything up. She told Murong Junlan to look for any clues in the tree.

Murong Junlan had been feeling somewhat frustrated lately, even doubting his own judgment. Despite knowing there was nothing to find in the tree, he foolishly climbed up in search of a miracle. However, he seemed to see something in the tree; upon closer inspection, it looked like a hawk.

Wasn't the eagle in the Dark Woodcutter Temple? How come it's flying over the sea above the cliff cave? Murong Junlan watched silently for a while, and the old woman noticed his sullen expression.

The next day, the old woman took Murong Junlan to the place where they had barbecued last time. She said she had met someone like Jiang He there.

On the third day, the old woman took Murong Junlan to the top of Anqiao Temple. The autumn wind was howling at the top, but the old woman just sat quietly on the mountaintop, letting the wind blow, saying that this way she could smell the scent of Princess Yan'er. Murong Junlan believed her, but at this moment his eyes followed the shadow of a hawk flying over the sea outside the cliff cave in the distance.

On the fourth day, Murong Junlan declined the old woman's offer to lead the way and went out on his own. The old woman, who was being closely watched by Hong Xiuying, was caught in a dilemma, unable to go in or out.

Last night, Jiang He was rescued. He was deliberately tripped up by the woman with the Twin Snow Swords and fell into a trap, where he was tied up in the reeds. The old woman deliberately brought Murong Junlan there that day, not only to relive the romance of that night, but also to see if Jiang He had escaped.

Murong Junlan knew that the old woman was the woman with the Twin Snow Swords, but he couldn't understand why she had disguised herself and returned time and time again. He didn't want to expose her; now was probably not the right time.

Let her stay in the temple. Murong Junlan instructed Hong Xiuying to send people to keep a discreet watch over her. Before figuring out whether this woman was related to the white-haired woman, Murong Junlan did not want to alert her. Besides, keeping this woman here would be far less of a threat to Yan'er than leaving her outside.

Murong Junlan was away for two days and two nights. On the third day, he summoned Hong Xiuying to gather the skilled monks and set off in a grand manner towards the cliff cave, even bringing along the old woman. Ostensibly, they were going to find someone, but in reality, they were also on guard against a sudden attack from the old woman. Murong Junlan was more interested in finding out where the woman with the Twin Snow Swords had hidden his Yan'er.

The group quickly arrived at the bottom of the cliff cave. The sudden darkness inside made the old woman straighten her hunched body. She had tied Yan'er here; after all these days, she should have either starved to death or been skin and bones. She didn't know how Murong Junlan would react to that horrific scene, and she desperately wanted to see his heartbroken reaction. Perhaps she would be torn to pieces, her bones scattered to the winds; perhaps she could leap into the sea and escape at top speed. The old woman had made all sorts of preparations.

The two groups of monks entered the cave, and Murong Junlan let her go in first. Strange, Yan'er wasn't in the cave?

How could that be? With that huge knot she tied for her, there's no way she could escape. Let alone escape, even standing up would be difficult. She knows her martial arts skills very well; she's at least two or three times stronger than her.

The old woman tried her best to hunch over so that others wouldn't see her expression. But when she heard Murong Junlan speak, her body couldn't help but tremble.

"Your Highness, we haven't found any trace of the Princess here." The old woman was startled again when Jiang He came up from behind to report. Jiang He? He'd been rescued?

"I'm worried that Yan'er might be kidnapped by the white-haired woman." Murong Junlan deliberately slowed down as he said this.

Just then, a hawk flew over from the sea, and the monks somehow managed to get three wooden boats. At Murong Junlan's command, everyone, including the old woman, boarded the boats.

"Go to the deserted island across the way. I suspect that Yan'er has been kidnapped to the island by the white-haired woman."

Oh no! What bombshell news? The white-haired woman went to the island across the river? She has to escape. Wait, wait until the boat is in the middle of the river before jumping, that way these people won't be able to catch her. I thought Yan'er was dead, so I came back to stay a little longer, who knew Yan'er wasn't dead?

The old woman's panicked expression had already caught Murong Junlan's eye. In fact, he had only learned from the eagle these past few days that there was a small island across the water; it had seen the white-haired woman there, but hadn't seen the princess. Murong Junlan was taking a gamble on this trip, but he firmly believed that only the white-haired woman had the ability to make Yan'er disappear without a trace.

The old woman was afraid of meeting a woman with white hair? But Murong Junlan wanted to find a woman with white hair. Whatever the case, they were all in the same boat now.

When the boat reached the middle, the old woman suddenly straightened her hunched body, pushed off with her legs, and jumped into the water with a splash.

Hmm, what's going on? Her swimming skills weren't exceptional, but escaping from this kind of seawater was no problem for her. Why did she suddenly feel like she couldn't swim anymore? And she was being dragged forward. The old woman pushed off with her legs, her head breaking the surface for air. She looked up and saw Murong Junlan on the boat watching her with a half-smile. Heh, she'd been tricked. He was playing her like a fish in a barrel. She'd thought she was so clever; what a blunder!

It was all because she was delusional. She even went so far as to barge back onto someone else's roof twice, unaware that she had already become a laughingstock.

The old woman pulled out a short knife from her body and tried desperately to cut and saw, but to no avail. That net was Hong Xiuying's usual hunting net, specially used to catch jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards; its material was exceptionally tough.

As the boat slowly approached the island, the old woman's initial hope turned to resignation. She put away her dagger and lay in the net like a dead fish. Murong Junlan, as if he hadn't seen anything, ordered his men to pull her out of the sea.

Murong Junlan ordered his men to tie up the old woman and have her guarded by Hong Xiuying and the martial monks, while he himself hurriedly took Jiang He to find his Yan'er.

The weeds were tall and dense, and there were also many miscellaneous trees with horizontal branches growing in abundance. Occasionally, one or two black and white snake heads would peek out from the dense vegetation, flicking their tongues.

With no road, the monks broke off tree branches to make long sticks and swept across the area, startling snakes, insects, and rodents that fled in panic.

“Your Highness, look.” Jiang He picked up a half-eaten wild fruit from the ground. “They haven’t gone far.”

"Quickly." Murong Junlan's heart jumped into his throat. He took the fruit and smelled it, as if he could smell Yan'er's scent in it.

The group carefully made their way through the weeds when suddenly a figure flashed past with a "whoosh!" followed by another figure chasing after them. Their speed was so fast that Murong Junlan couldn't even see who it was. However, he sensed that both of them had excellent lightness skills. Murong Junlan felt a little disappointed, because it seemed that his beloved concubine Yan'er had little chance of getting close to him. He knew her martial arts skills very well.

"Ah!" Another figure flashed by, followed by another figure chasing after it, the one behind letting out a frantic scream.

Murong Junlan was momentarily distracted and still couldn't see clearly. The two people seemed oblivious to their arrival, completely absorbed in their pursuit.

Not wanting to alert the enemy, Murong Junlan gestured for the monks to stop, and then led Jiang He deeper into the woods.