He Lan Tianxia

The old pine tree spirit had been following Murong Junlan and his companions, but dared not get too close. The aura emanating from these people could destroy it at any moment, especially the aura of authority emanating from Prince Murong, which it absolutely dared not disregard. However, the prince didn't seem to kill innocent people indiscriminately. Now, after the woman disappeared for a while, she seemed to have eaten something good, and suddenly a powerful aura emanated from her. So, even as it watched them enter the pale-faced scholar's courtyard, it dared not approach. To avoid attracting attention, it could only revert to its tree form and watch from afar.

What puzzled the old pine tree spirit was that the men were constantly moving stones, while the prince and his queen sat there. If it weren't for the later arrival of a cartload of grapes, the old pine tree spirit would have started to doze off. Just as it was salivating, a sudden burst of red light emanated from the cave. My goodness, the weather was about to change! The old pine tree spirit was so frightened that it didn't even have time to transform into its old man form; the whole tree fled on the spot. Alas, how tragic its fate was! The white-haired woman's poison hadn't been cured yet, and now a deadly explosion was about to occur. Had its curiosity killed the cat?

The old pine tree spirit hurried along for a while, and only stopped to catch its breath when it was sure there was no danger.

With a few sharp cracks, two thick branches snapped, and the tree trunk shook violently. The old pine spirit felt as if its back was broken.

"Who is it? Are you trying to kill me?" The old pine spirit hunched over, struggling to breathe. Hmm? And why is it so heavy on the back of the tree? The old pine spirit looked up and was startled. Oh dear, there were two people hanging from the tree! One of them was even dripping blood. Where did they come from? The old pine spirit shook and shook, trying to shake the two people off the tree, but even though it shook like a category 10 typhoon, the two people on the tree swayed back and forth like swings and wouldn't fall. Forget it, it wouldn't shake anymore. These two uninvited guests were like glue, almost uprooting its roots. Just as the old pine spirit was about to see who was on the tree, it heard footsteps chasing after it. "Run!" it thought, and the old pine spirit took off running.

"Old pine tree spirit, do you want to die?" Luo Xie blocked his way.

"Is it you?" The old pine tree spirit was taken aback.

"You carried someone else's prince and princess on your back, who else could it be but them?" The pale-faced scholar walked over, fanning himself. He then said to Jiang He and the others, "Go, take your prince and princess back to the courtyard." Without waiting for their reaction, he turned and walked away.

Everyone worked together to rescue the two adults hanging from the tree. Jiang He was in a dilemma. The prince was alright, but who would carry the princess back? Jiang He glanced at Luo Xie, who avoided him. Oh dear, words can be easy to say, but actually carrying the princess was something he wouldn't dare do. Ling Yi also kept his distance. Just when everyone was at a loss, the old pine tree spirit suddenly spoke.

"I'll do it. You two take off your outer robes and give them to me."

"Hmm?" Everyone looked at the old pine tree spirit in confusion, thinking, "Are you going to hang these two people up again?"

The old pine spirit watched the two of them intently, until Jiang He and Luo Xie had no choice but to take off their outer robes and throw them over. The old pine spirit then tied the two robes to the tree.

"Help him up."

The group realized it had some cleverness, so they quickly helped the prince and princess to lie down and returned to the White Stone Courtyard together.

"If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have brought back twenty cartloads of stones. Now look what's happened, the cave dwelling is gone." The pale-faced scholar glanced at Jiang He, his meaning quite clear.

"Are you going to save him or not?" Luo Xie was an impatient man, and he grabbed the pale-faced scholar by the neck with one hand.

"You'd better strangle me to death." The pale-faced scholar glanced at the two people in the tree, surprised that they had sent him over like this.

"No rush, it's not too late once you've healed the prince and princess," Luo Xie said with a sly smile.

"Once you're cured, you won't have a say in anything." The pale-faced scholar took a few deep breaths.

"Chanyu, helpers." Jiang Hecai couldn't stand seeing them feasting; the prince and princess were still waiting for the pale-faced scholar to save them.

"Help them into the cave dwelling." The pale-faced scholar said, rubbing his sore neck.

"You're asking for death. How can anyone live in that dilapidated cave dwelling?" Luo Xie moved his hand and grabbed the pale-faced scholar's neck again.

"There are no more side rooms here." The pale-faced scholar wanted to say that his pageboy had some, but then he remembered that those rooms were full of junk.

"Go and help the prince and princess to your residence."

"No, that's my private room," the pale-faced scholar said anxiously.

"What?" Luo Xie's eyes widened as she looked the pale-faced scholar up and down, asking suspiciously, "Are you a woman or a man?"

"Don't you dare insult my character." The pale-faced scholar reached out to strike Luo Xie, but Luo Xie deflected his attack with a single palm strike.

"Hurry up and help the prince and princess inside, or I'll get rough with you." Luo Xie hated people who dawdled the most.

Knowing the other party's prowess, the pale-faced scholar had no choice but to have his page escort the two into his room. He absolutely refused to let Luo Xie, Jiang He, and Ling Yi in.

The pale-faced scholar's boudoir was indeed very clean, spotless, and at first glance, it really felt like one had mistakenly entered a young lady's room. There was only one bed in the room. The pale-faced scholar and his page helped the two of them to lie down on the bed, and then instructed the page to call three people outside to pick grapes, ten cartloads of them. Luo Xie and the others knew that the pale-faced scholar was using grapes to save people, so they each went up the mountain to pick grapes, which will not be described here.

The pale-faced scholar walked up to Murong Junlan, looked at his still-bleeding arm, took out a packet of powder from his sleeve, and sprinkled it on the wound. The bleeding stopped visibly and then healed completely. The scholar clapped his hands, and with a flick of his right hand, a bolt of white silk flew through the air. He wrapped the silk around two horizontal beams, then leaped onto it and lay down to sleep.

About half an hour later, Murong Junlan slowly woke up. He saw that Yan'er, who was lying next to him, was still asleep. Just as he was about to reach out and touch her, he heard the voice of the pale-faced scholar on the beam.

You'd better not touch her.

Murong Junlan was startled, only then noticing the person sleeping above. Murong Junlan frowned, suddenly feeling uneasy about the person above who could overlook them. He secretly tightened his grip, and the pale-faced scholar's voice came again.

“Knocking me down won’t do her any good for her illness.”

Hearing this, Murong Junlan had no choice but to withdraw the force she had been secretly exerting. However, having her completely exposed made her feel uneasy, so Murong Junlan suggested, "Could you find another way to stay in this room?"

"You don't want to see me?" the pale-faced scholar asked knowingly.

"..." Murong Junlan.

"I'd rather not see you in my room. No one else has ever slept in my bed, especially not a woman," the pale-faced scholar began to vent his resentment.

"..." Murong Junlan.

"If you don't want to stay on my bed, then come up here." With that, the pale-faced scholar raised his hands, and two long ribbons wrapped around the beam.

Murong Junlan glanced at the two horses, then looked back at his Yan'er, and declined, saying, "Never mind."

"I reckon none of you will come up." The pale-faced scholar retracted his two ribbons.

"There's something I've never been able to figure out: when was my wife poisoned?" Murong Junlan felt there was definitely something fishy about it.

"When I entered," the pale-faced scholar said without hesitation.

"That……"

"Did I poison her?" Murong Junlan clenched his fists upon hearing this. Before he could ask why, the pale-faced scholar said bluntly, "The situation was quite urgent at the time. If I hadn't poisoned her, your wife would probably be dead by now."

Murong Junlan didn't reply. He waited for the pale-faced scholar to explain, but the scholar said, "Your wife has too much yang fire, it's like she ate the sun, understand?"

Murong Junlan nodded slightly.

“I gave her the most Yin poison. This Yin and Yang should have been able to resolve each other within the body, but I never expected that the Yin and Yang energies could not be integrated. So, your wife’s body immediately became a battleground of Yin and Yang, with water and fire being incompatible. But the Yang energy was endless. In this emergency, I had no choice but to fight poison with poison, using the strong properties of the Spicy Eagle to invigorate that Yang fire, which actually blew away half of the Yang fire.”

"How do we dispel the remaining yang fire?"

"That depends on her constitution. I've already sent them to pick grapes." The pale-faced scholar then abruptly changed the subject, "My old kiln was destroyed by your wife. How do you plan to compensate me?"

Murong Junlan was speechless for a moment, but he quickly recovered and said calmly, "I'll have Guard Jiang make up for the money for the Jian kiln."

"I don't want your money, I want you to rebuild the ancient kiln."

"OK, no problem."

Ten cartloads of grapes were harvested. One cartload was kept for consumption, and the pale-faced scholar instructed everyone to throw the grapes into a large vat and juice them by hand. The pulp was discarded, leaving only grape juice in the vat. And you know what? The wild grape juice had a truly fragrant aroma. The pale-faced scholar sprinkled some medicinal powder into the grape juice and then told Murong Junlan to put the woman in to soak. This time, the pale-faced scholar very conscientiously left the room.

"What about the rest of the grapes?" Murong Junlan asked.

"We'll all eat, but you'll need to make some grape juice for your wife." After saying this, the pale-faced scholar sat down in the courtyard and started eating grapes. As for how to feed her grape juice, that was Murong Junlan's own business.

How many days will it take to soak?

"We also need to change the grapes every ten days, once a month."

"A month? Can your skin handle that?"

"Won't it be more delicate after shedding a layer of skin?"

"Huh?" Murong Junlan frowned upon hearing this. What kind of treatment was this? However, since there were no other options, this was the only way. Still, Murong Junlan asked with great hope, "When will my wife wake up?"

"That depends on her own ability to resolve things," the pale-faced scholar replied while munching on a grape.

A month is neither a long nor a short time, and Murong Junlan felt he needed to find something meaningful to do. So he instructed Jiang He and the others to help the pale-faced scholar rebuild his cave dwelling and to bring back the grapes on time. Then he slammed the door to the pale-faced scholar's room shut and went into seclusion with his Yan'er.

The pale-faced scholar, who had been somewhat smug, belatedly realized as he closed the door that his house had been completely occupied by Murong Junlan and his companion. Just as he was about to walk towards the door, Jiang He and Luo Xie stood guard on either side of him. The pale-faced scholar could only glare at them a few times before turning away. After taking a few steps, he turned back and said to Jiang He and Luo Xie, "You two, don't forget to build me a cave dwelling, or I'll poison you to death."

"Hmph, you can't bear to part with it," Luo Xie said dismissively.

"Then give it a try."

For three consecutive days, the pale-faced scholar stayed in the dilapidated cave and didn't come out, with only his page coming out to prepare food. Jiang He and the others took turns guarding the door and didn't pay any attention to the construction of the cave. Ten days passed, and the pale-faced scholar still didn't show his face. Twenty days passed, and the pale-faced scholar still didn't leave the cave. Luo Xie and Jiang He were both puzzled. What on earth was that guy up to hiding in that dilapidated cave?

That day, Luo Xie couldn't hold back any longer. Seeing that the page had gone out, he tiptoed to the outside of the dilapidated cave, slipped inside, and found it empty and deserted.

Nobody's here? He and Jiang He had been guarding the prince's door the whole time, and the door of the house was directly opposite the cave dwelling door. There was no way they didn't know when that pale-faced scholar had run away.

"Don't trespass on other people's private space." A voice came from behind. Luo Xie turned around and only met the pale-faced scholar. The scholar raised his hand, and something invisible attacked. Luo Xie felt his vision go black and he fainted on the spot.

"I told you I would poison you all directly." The pale-faced scholar calmly ordered, "Put him aside."

At this moment, the page boy came in, dragged Luo Xie to a corner of the cave, and then left on his own. The pale-faced scholar then went to the stone table and fiddled with a pile of white powder. Sunlight fell from the broken cave, forming a dazzling beam of light.

Jiang He noticed that Luo Xie was missing and began to speculate. He was about to walk to the outside of the dilapidated cave to take a look when Ling Yi stopped him. Ling Yi gestured for Jiang He to guard the door, and then he flicked his tail and turned to the outside of the cave.

"Spirit Serpent, you'd better mind your own business." Ling Yi heard the pale-faced scholar's warning before he even poked his head into the cave.

"You seem to know me?" Lingyi finally asked the question that had been on her mind.

"Have you already forgotten me?" The pale-faced scholar continued to fiddle with the powder in his hands.

Indeed, may I ask who you are, sir...?

"Don't worry about who I am. Just mind your own business." After saying that, the pale-faced scholar stopped talking.

Silence fell again. The serpent was caught between a rock and a hard place. When its gaze fell upon Luo Xie, it frowned and then lashed out with its tail. Just as the tail touched Luo Xie's body, the pale-faced scholar flicked his wrist, sending a cloud of powder flying. Even though Ling Yi dodged quickly, he still got a nose full of dust. Ling Yi swayed a few times, feeling dizzy and disoriented, and then his body went limp. With a crack, the entire serpent collapsed in front of the pale-faced scholar.

Hearing the noise, Jiang He was about to rush over when he heard Murong Junlan's voice: "Don't move, guard the door." Jiang He stopped abruptly and stood there.

The pale-faced scholar was still fiddling with the powder in his hands, seemingly oblivious to what had just happened. At that moment, a page entered, intending to drag Lingyi aside, but the scholar gestured for him to stay put, and the page left on his own. Then, the scholar looked up at the location of Murong Junlan's house; though separated by a wall, a fleeting, dark glint flashed across his face.

Time passed slowly, but Lingyi and Luoxie remained unconscious.

"Your Highness," Jiang He said, unable to contain himself any longer.

"Don't worry, Luo Xie and Ling Yi are fine. It's no use for you to go there. His target is the princess." Murong Junlan reminded Jiang He using illusory mystical sound.

Murong Junlan's estimation was correct; the pale-faced scholar's target was his princess. Ever since seeing the woman at the tavern, he had decided to keep her there, and so, without Murong Junlan's knowledge, he poisoned her. He wasn't entirely sure if Murong Junlan would send the woman to his White Stone Courtyard, but he hadn't expected Murong Junlan to actually come. Although the pale-faced scholar didn't show much outward expression, seeing Murong Junlan's constant care for the woman, he was extremely displeased. He knew these people were skilled in martial arts, and besides, Prince Murong himself was a formidable opponent. After careful consideration, he decided to play dirty. Hmph, this was his forte.

After a short while, the pale-faced scholar emerged from the dilapidated cave. Seeing this, Jiang He eagerly slipped into the cave, ignoring Murong Junlan's warning. However, once inside, Jiang He couldn't find Luo Xie and Ling Yi. Strange? How could they have disappeared without him? Jiang He looked around; the walls were bare. Could there be a hidden room? Jiang He began searching the cave walls, but after half an hour of fruitless searching, just as he was about to turn and leave, a bizarre sight appeared: a spiral of white powder surging upwards towards the cave entrance. Before Jiang He could see clearly, the white powder enveloped him, blinding him. Then, he felt his body being hollowed out, and he was uncontrollably propelled upwards…