At first, it was just a tiny slapping noise, followed by similar sounds coming from outside the temple in quick succession.
As night fell, the mosquitoes became increasingly numerous, and with Mingchuan Temple bordering a stagnant pond, swarms of mosquitoes darkened the air. Usually, they could only feed on blood of the wild beasts on the mountain, but tonight, with so many people suddenly present, even the mosquitoes grew unusually excited, relentlessly attacking the humans.
The members of the Dragon Head Association arrived in haste, not everyone equipped with insect repellent pouches.
Although no noise could be heard from inside the temple, Elder Cai had been inside for half a day without emerging, causing the guards outside to grow increasingly anxious.
Anxiety naturally led to sweating.
Normally, a few mosquito bites were just itchy; one could endure them, and they would pass—after all, weren’t all men of the jianghu tough-skinned? But as time passed, it seemed there were more and more mosquitoes, especially after the moon rose, clearly revealing swarms of gray-black insects flying around, then landing directly on any exposed skin to bite, utterly brazen.
They were on the hands, the face; squinting one could even see one resting on the tip of one’s own nose.
How could one endure?
Not to speak of the jianghu gangs, even the soldiers in the imperial army, who were fed and paid by the government, couldn’t manage to stay completely still.
Elder Cai had just realized what the noise outside was about when a swarm of mosquitoes flew towards the wound on his right hand; he hurriedly waved them away.
The swarm dispersed and then regathered, some even turning to attack his head and face. Elder Cai had no choice but to channel his internal energy to keep these detestable insects at bay, which normally wouldn’t be difficult for an internal master who could stand in the rain without getting wet. However, he was old and had just suffered internal injuries, which left him somewhat lacking in strength.
Mo Li: “……”
Who would have thought that the first to besiege the Dragon Head Association would be a swarm of wild mosquitoes?
The leader of the Changxin Gang and Du Biaotou were covered in mud and filth, stinking and dirty, yet they were the lucky ones to avoid the worst.
Another member of the Dragon Head Association, a bookkeeper who fainted in the bushes, wasn’t so fortunate. He lay motionless, a piece of meat delivered to the door; the mosquitoes didn’t need to smell him to come—they stumbled upon food in the bushes and didn’t bother to be polite. Soon, he was awakened by the relentless biting.
The wild mosquitoes were poisonous; their bites were not only itchy but also painful.
“Ow.”
The bookkeeper jumped up, frantically slapping his arms and face.
Meng Qi’s thoughts stirred, and he suddenly laughed, saying, “The head of the Dragon Head Association’s neck, I do not want it. Heads are useless, can’t be sold for money nor given as gifts, what are they worth? But since Elder Cai feels that life in the jianghu is beyond one’s control, and that involving others in assassinations and traps is an accident, then a few mosquito bites are naturally nothing to fret about.”
Elder Cai sensed trouble, but before he could react, a small stone struck him right on his sea of qi point.
The force was neither too light nor too heavy, merely pushing him back a step.
But the qi he had just gathered was completely scattered, along with a stagnating force that clogged his meridians.
Elder Cai took a step back to steady himself, only to discover that Meng Qi and Mo Li had disappeared. The leader of the Changxin Gang, who had originally planned to take advantage of the chaos to escape, was standing in a strange posture, clearly having been hit on a vital point. Meanwhile, outside, there was a mix of shouting, the sound of weapons hitting the ground, and the noises of people hurriedly escaping.
After a few moments, all returned to quiet.
Elder Cai took a deep breath, turned around slowly, and saw Meng Qi with his hands behind his back, stepping into the broken temple with a smile on his face.
Who was this man? His martial skills were unreasonably high, his behavior unconventional… Elder Cai went through all the rumors he knew in the jianghu, and his heart finally skipped a beat, settling on a notion he had originally thought absurd.
Meng Qi slowly nodded and said, “Elder Cai really lives up to his reputation as a figure who has stood unshaken on the roads of Yuzhou for thirty years, neither attempting to flee nor making any rash moves.”
“If feeding mosquitoes could settle our grievances, I would be more than willing,” sighed Elder Cai.
People in the jianghu live lives on the knife-edge, accustomed to hardships.
Even if it’s tough, it’s not unbearable.
“Meng… National Master,” Elder Cai tentatively called out.
“Hmm?”
Meng Qi snapped back to attention, his expression revealing a hint of surprise.
He seemed to acknowledge the title, but Elder Cai, instead of feeling relieved, grew even more anxious.
—If the jianghu rumors were true, this abrupt appearance in Yongzhou and the capital by the former dynasty’s national master was demonic; despite his age, he maintained the appearance of a youth. If someone were using the name of the former national master to stir up trouble, his martial prowess was immense, yet he played these mysterious and ghostly tricks, clearly with ulterior motives.
Thinking of the late King Wu of Chu, and now this former national master’s identity, Elder Cai felt a headache coming on.
“So Elder Cai, being in Yuzhou, has also heard the idle gossip related to Meng?” Meng Qi said with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.
He made no attempt to hide his identity.
Was the identity of a national master something shameful? Of course not, especially since Doctor Mo already knew his age.
“I dare not,” Elder Cai said with a bitter smile, “Recently, the master who caused a great stir in the jianghu was none other than Master Meng, who crossed the Qing River on foot.”
Laughable that he had initially thought it was some young fraudster making grand claims, dismissing the rumors as far-fetched.
“Shouldn’t the hottest rumor in the jianghu be about the imperial tomb’s treasure on Shangyun Mountain?” Meng Qi asked with interest, a matter he couldn’t possibly be unaware of, having frequented many teahouses and taverns from the capital to Yuzhou.
“This…”
Elder Cai was at a loss for words; the imperial tomb’s treasure on Shangyun Mountain had been regarded as a joke, with many trapped on the mountain, and in the end, no tomb was found—instead, the Qi dynasty’s troops bombarded them with cannons. In retrospect, except for the Chunshan sect, no major schools had participated in this event.
If it were a real treasure, would the top figures of the jianghu turn back midway?
Indeed, the death of the Elder Qingwu was also mysterious, accused of plotting a rebellion and involved in a palace coup in the Qi dynasty. Yet, even with strict palace security, with Zhao Cangfeng’s martial prowess, entering and exiting seven times would not have been a problem. However, the incident happened inside the palace, the Qi Emperor died, and the truth remained unknown, only vague rumors circulated outside.
People in the jianghu said that Elder Qingwu had gone mad; his eldest disciple went to serve King Tianshou, and despite having a good life, he sought death instead.
Enduring the mosquito bites, Elder Cai stiffly said, “These jianghu rumors, true or false, should not be fully trusted. The Dragon Head Association, rooted in Yuzhou, doesn’t have the vast number of disciples and talents like the large sects. Even if there were treasures in the capital’s Shangyun Mountain, or even if a real dragon appeared, the brothers on the roads of Yuzhou wouldn’t bother joining the crowd.”
“Oh?” Meng Qi asked with a smile, “But haven’t I heard rumors in the jianghu about the real emergence of a dragon, and the Azure Dragon’s demise?”
“…That’s all nonsense.”
What about encountering a dying Azure Dragon deep in the mountains, or two dragons battling above the capital? Everyone knows everyone else. Even if there’s a cloud in the sky that might slightly resemble a dragon from edge to edge, by the time the word travels from the capital to Yuzhou, it turns into dragons swallowing fish and sun, celestial phenomena descending—whatever sounds more mysterious.
The treasure might have already been dug up, hence these nonsensical stories to muddle the waters.
Elder Cai now suffered from paranoia, feeling that Meng Qi’s repeated probing must be related to the treasure, and even if he wasn’t foolish, he had to pretend to be.
At this moment, Mo Li returned; noticing that Du Biaotou’s expression was off, he circled to Du’s side and startlingly discovered that Du had his hand stuck in his chest, as if trying to pull something out.
Meng Qi, with his high agility and swift movements, had subdued the people inside the temple before quickly stepping out, without a second glance.
Mo Li, after a thought, followed Du Biaotou’s movement and retrieved the item.
Meng Qi happened to see Doctor Mo reaching into Du Biaotou’s chest.
“…”
That guy was filthy and stinking all over!
Master Meng almost threw Du Biaotou back into the pond.
Mo Li pulled out a finely made bamboo tube, with a spring mechanism inside, clearly resembling a hidden weapon.
“This looks familiar.” Mo Li handed it over to Meng Qi.
“Lihua needles, used by the secret operatives of the Jinyiwei,” Meng Qi glanced at it and offhandedly said, “Didn’t the people at that manor use this during our encounter?”
He was referring to after Mo Li had left Zhushan County, sneaking into the residence of the Jinyiwei’s secret operatives, forcing them to reveal their origins. The result was one operative using a hidden weapon to kill another who was about to confess, then committing suicide. When Mo Li stepped out, he saw that everyone in the courtyard had been silently strangled by Meng Qi, who was suffering from an illness.
This was not a pleasant experience.
Mo Li put down the bamboo tube, his glance at Meng Qi reminding him of the taste of bitter medicine.
“So this guy is Jinyiwei?”
“Maybe. The Jinyiwei of the Qi dynasty are numerous, and the security agencies aren’t exactly hard labor; they’re also good for gathering information.”
Their conversation was not concealed, causing the expressions of both the leader of the Changxin Gang and Elder Cai to change repeatedly.
Meng Qi had mentioned before that the secret operatives of the Jinyiwei were ruthless in their methods, something he greatly disdained. Mo Li had encountered similar hidden weapons before, knowing the Lihua needles inside were laced with deadly poison. Although their martial prowess meant they weren’t at risk of being ambushed, Mo Li still frowned deeply,
Seeing this, Meng Qi’s heart skipped, knowing things were bad.
“I’ve searched him already.”
Meng Qi cautiously explained, “When I captured him, I already searched him thoroughly. The assassin from Piaoping Pavilion had hidden explosives, how could I be careless? I know the doctor blames me for not being thorough enough last time when I restrained Leader Liang, letting him deceive us, and I know the doctor worries about my safety. So this time I was extra careful when sealing his points, making sure there wouldn’t be another incident of someone pretending to be subdued then suddenly striking, especially not while carrying dangerous items…”
Mo Li instinctively wanted Meng Qi to stop talking. What worry, what safety, why start saying all this in front of others?
Then Mo Li realized Meng Qi wouldn’t lie in front of him. If he’d already searched, then where did this bamboo tube hidden weapon come from?
The tube was neither large nor small, two fingers wide, one finger long, hidden on the body…
Mo Li’s expression shifted subtly, and without another word, he turned and walked away.
Meng Qi, a second later, also realized and immediately used his internal energy to shatter the entire bamboo tube, while a single palm strike distorted Du Biaotou’s face to one side, then he followed Mo Li.
Elder Cai watched the two of them use light footwork to disappear into the distance, silently closing his mouth,
Feed the mosquitoes then, just for one night.
Good thing there were many people.
Meng Qi caught up with Mo Li by the river, two li away from the temple.
“Doctor, don’t be mad, from now on I’ll definitely shake them upside down a few times when I capture people!”
Mo Li casually washed his hands in the water, not really being that particular. He’d treated patients covered in pus and sores without blinking an eye. Du Biaotou being filthy and stinking didn’t bother him as long as he wasn’t vomiting in the pond, but thinking about where the guy might have hidden the bamboo tube, Mo Li felt it was good that Meng Qi hadn’t found it.
As for where it was hidden, naturally in the crotch area.
“Cough… It’s common to have a hidden pocket sewn along the thigh for self-defense or hidden weapons; you wouldn’t just let something with poisoned needles dangle casually.”
Meng Qi carefully said, “Later, he was under our eyes the whole time, probably moved it to his chest while rolling around in the mud pond. All this confusion, it’s no big deal. When I was leading troops, I even found spies’ messages hidden in stinky shoe soles, and ones with beeswax sealed in the Mingmen point.”
After all, a general wouldn’t personally search, at most just supervise.
“Stop talking.”
Mo Li told him to shut up.
“Should I find some more mosquitoes?” Meng Qi asked.
Mo Li: “…”
The spiritual energy of the dragon veins would disturb the wildlife.
Any animal with a bit of sense wouldn’t fall for it, only avoiding it in fright, but mosquitoes didn’t care.
It was just about finding the mosquitoes, then bringing them over…
