Chapter 133: Lady Yuanzhen

The climate around the Bolong River is treacherous and unpredictable, with four seasons changing across a single mountain and completely different weather every ten miles. They had not been traveling along the mountain path for long when the clear blue sky suddenly turned overcast, and a torrential downpour began to pour, while the warm climate abruptly shifted to a damp and chilly cold.

Only three days had passed since they left the valley where the monk Wuhua and the others were in hiding, and many people in the caravan had already fallen ill.

In the distant jungle, a mist as brilliant as rosy clouds rose after the rain, looking like beautiful celestial beings dancing gracefully.

"The Huangmei miasma! Everyone, quickly drink a few mouthfuls of strong liquor and hurry down the mountain." Wang Qi's expression changed drastically as he shouted loudly to the crowd.

The caravan quickened its pace. Before they had traveled much further, a faint white mist was already blanketing the path.

"Hurry! Hurry!" Wang Qi urged the caravan to speed up again and again, his complexion extremely ugly.

"It's just a tiny white mist miasma, is there any need to be scared like this?" Ayuduo, along with some injured disciples of the Five Poisons Sect, followed in the middle of the caravan, closely watched by more than a dozen hidden guards holding powerful crossbows. Seeing that everyone looked somewhat panicked, she curled her lips and muttered under her breath.

"So you're saying you're not afraid of the poison of this miasma, is that right?" Lu Lule, with his sharp ears, turned his head and stared at Ayuduo with a half-smile.

Ayuduo smiled charmingly at Lu Lule: "Why does this little brother of mine look somewhat familiar? Have we met before? Let me tell you, the disciples of my Five Poisons Sect frequently consume adlay seeds; how could we possibly be afraid of this white mist miasma? How about this, once we get down the mountain later, elder sister will help you brew some antidote. I guarantee that after taking it, you won't be afraid of these miasmic poisons ever again."

Who knows what was going on with Ayuduo, but more than five years had passed, and time seemed to have left no trace on her. She still looked like a bright and pretty young woman of seventeen or eighteen.

"We wouldn't dare to take the medicine concocted by you, the Holy Scorpion Envoy of the Five Poisons Sect," Lu Lule said with a bantering tone before turning his head away.

"Oh!" Ayuduo looked at Lu Lule thoughtfully. "Sister here ceased to be the Holy Scorpion Envoy among the Five Sacred Envoys several years ago; instead, I am the Holy Maiden destined to inherit the position of the leader of the Five Poisons Sect. Who on earth are you, and how do you know I used to be the Holy Scorpion Envoy?"

"I was merely a humble medicine slave back then, how could someone as high and mighty as you, Ayuduo, the direct disciple of the sect leader, remember me?" Lu Lule muttered to himself, rubbed his nose, and did not answer Ayuduo's question.

Just as the caravan rounded a mountain pass, they found several large trees lying across the road, blocking their way. A dozen men with long sabers hanging at their waists and bows drawn aimed at the guards in the caravan.

A few Wang family guards instinctively raised their crossbow mechanisms, confronting these men.

These dark-skinned, robust men did not retreat a single step; instead, they curled their fingers into their mouths and let out loud whistles.

From the dense forests and grass on both sides of the road, dense crowds of people suddenly stood up. Some held wooden hunting bows, while others held wooden staves and iron hoes, staring at Lu Lule and his party with hatred in their eyes.

"You Tang people invaded my Nanzhao Kingdom for no reason, killing our people and destroying our villages. This trade route has long seen no merchants passing through. Could this caravan of yours be spies for the Tang?"

A strongly built middle-aged man standing in the middle of the road shouted loudly at the caravan.

"Are you friends from the Baiman tribe? I am Wang Qi of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce, and I have traveled this trade route for many years. Come to think of it, I am a friend who has drunk wine with your Baiman King Feng Qinhu. Everyone, put down your weapons and let's talk things over nicely."

Wang Qi hurried forward with a smiling face.

"What kind of damned friends! You Tang people drink together to your faces and call each other brothers, but the moment you turn around, you draw your knives. Our tribal king was injured precisely at the hands of you shameless Tang people, and he still cannot get up to this day."

The man spat on the ground and still showed no intention of putting down his weapon.

***

Lu Lule glanced at the hundreds of Baiman tribesmen surrounding the caravan and shook his head with a bitter smile. The vast majority of these hundreds of Baiman people were women and some old folks. If a conflict truly broke out, they probably wouldn't even be a match for his own side of more than sixty people.

"There's no misunderstanding, no misunderstanding at all! My Four Seas Chamber of Commerce has been traveling this trade route for nearly ten years, when have we ever done anything unrighteous to our friends? We have come this time merely to explore the trade route, and we are certainly not spies. If you don't believe me, you can have the person in charge come and negotiate with me."

Wang Qi hurriedly waved his hands continuously, signaling the other side to put down their weapons.

"What goods have you brought?" An elderly, white-haired man among the Baiman crowd stepped forward.

"Grain, almost entirely grain, no other goods." Wang Qi's face was piled with smiles as he pointed to the row of carts behind him.

"Grain? My Baiman tribe wants all of it." Hearing that it was grain, the old man walked tremblingly toward the caravan.

"Uncle!" The middle-aged man blocking the middle of the road shouted anxiously.

The old man waved a hand dismissively at the middle-aged man: "Wu Gui! I, Dao Baishan, only know that if we have no more grain, my Baiman tribe will starve to death. If you are not convinced, take them to the Madam's presence and let her make the decision."

The middle-aged man, Wu Gui, let out a helpless sigh and motioned for the few young men around him to move the trees aside, clearing a path. Hundreds of people together escorted the caravan down the mountain.

Walking down the mountain into the flat dam, the weather grew hot again. In the fields on both sides of the road, sparse rice seedlings had been planted, swaying continuously in the wind. They were the hope of the Baiman people living in this area.

These Baiman people, who had narrowly survived the war, alternately cast vigilant gazes at the Tang people in the caravan, their greedy eyes pausing from time to time on the carts filled with grain.

Arriving at a valley surrounded by mountains on three sides, crisscrossed with streams and lined with ancient trees, dozens of heavily armed Baiman guards suddenly blocked the large troop.

"This is the dwelling place of Madam Yuanzhen of our Nanzhao Kingdom. Why have you gathered and come here, what is your plot?" A young man who looked like a leader drew his long saber with a "clang."

"We intercepted a caravan coming from the Great Tang on the mountain path, and they brought countless amounts of grain. Wu Gui was worried that they might be spies of the Great Tang, so everyone came along, wanting the Madam to make the decision."

The old man Dao Baishan walked out tremblingly and bowed respectfully to the guard leader.

"If you think they are spies, just kill them. If they are not spies, trade some things with them for the grain. Go, go, go! Don't bother the Madam with such trivial matters."

The guard leader waved his hand impatiently.

"In such extraordinary times, a caravan that still dares to come to our Nanzhao—could it be the caravan of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce?" Within the group of guards, a gentle voice sounded, and a serene-looking, brightly dressed beautiful woman walked out.

"Sister Fengyao!" The moment Lu Lule saw the beautiful woman, his emotions stirred, and he rushed forward recklessly.

"What person? Halt!" The guard leader pointed his long saber straight at Lu Lule. The remaining guards either nocked arrows or brandished sabers, waiting only for their leader's command to launch an attack on Lu Lule.

Fengyao smoothed her hair and frowned as she looked Lu Lule up and down as he rushed over. Suddenly, her brow unfurled and she broke into a radiant smile.

"So it's you, little imp Lu Lule. You've grown up so much that sister almost didn't recognize you."

"I recognized Sister Fengyao at a single glance. So many years have passed, and you haven't changed at all," Lu Lule said with a happy smile.

"You ah! Your mouth is still this sweet. You must have tricked quite a few girls with it." Fengyao shook her head and tapped Lu Lule on the forehead with her finger, then turned to give a gentle smile to the guards who were treating the situation as a formidable enemy.

"Put away your weapons. This is a younger brother I recognized many years ago. I thought there would be no chance of meeting him again in this lifetime, but I never expected him to actually come here."

"Oh! I never thought that Fengyao, the Jade Toad Envoy of my Five Sacred Sect, would now be so majestic. It seems that for the sake of wealth and power, the ancestral precept of our Sacred Sect that holy maidens must not marry can be discarded after all."

Ayuduo poked her head out from the crowd, looking at Fengyao with a mocking expression.

"Ayuduo, why did you also come here?" Fengyao showed no sign of minding Ayuduo's mockery and instead asked with surprise.

"Her? She was captured and taken prisoner by me!" Lu Lule cut in before Ayuduo, raising his head proudly.

Ayuduo curled her lips: "I thought she looked somewhat familiar; so she was the stupid girl Fang Gege's runaway medicine slave. But I must thank you, elder sister. If not for you, this position as the Holy Maiden of the Sacred Sect wouldn't have fallen onto my head."

"What on earth is going on here?" Fengyao looked at the two of them, somewhat bewildered.

"Is your Five Poisons Sect Holy Maiden so remarkable? Not to mention you, even your sect leader, Jade Rakshasa, would have to flee in panic upon meeting me. What is a puppet-like Holy Maiden like you worth?"

Lu Lule looked coldly at Ayuduo, showing utmost disdain.

"You!..." Ayuduo pointed at Lu Lule, unable to speak out of anger.

"What on earth is going on here!" Fengyao to the side grew somewhat annoyed.

"Hehe!" Lu Lule curried favor with a smile toward Fengyao. "Since Sister Fengyao is the master of this place, why don't you first take us to settle down, and then I will slowly tell you all about it?"

Lu Lule never expected that in this beautiful valley where Fengyao lived, there was actually a hot spring. Soaking comfortably in the hot spring for a while, the fatigue of many days seemed to be swept away entirely.

Changing into fresh and crisp new clothes, Lu Lule was led to the pavilion where Fengyao lived.

Fengyao looked at Lu Lule with a complex expression: "I never expected that you would actually marry Princess Xiangcao. Her mother, Madam Xianghua, weeps and wails to the Great King every day over her affairs, and was locked away in the cold palace in a fit of anger by the Great King. For you to return with Xiangcao this time is truly somewhat troublesome."

Lu Lule happily sipped a mouthful of fragrant tea and looked up at the worried Fengyao.

"My business on this trip is somewhat complicated; later on, I will explain it in detail to you, sister. But weren't you married to that Nanzhao King Geluofeng and deeply favored by him? How is it that you are living all alone in this valley once more?"

Fengyao shook her head with a desolate expression: "Back then, I suffered the humiliation of that wicked scoundrel Zhang Qiantuo. After the Great King rescued me back, he cast me aside like worn-out shoes. If my Baiman tribe were not a powerful force around Dahacheng, my end might have been even more miserable than that of Madam Xianghua.

Later on, the Jiannan Jiedushi Xianyu Zhongtong led troops to invade Nanzhao, and my Baiman tribe suffered heavy losses, with seventy percent of the men in the tribe dying in battle. Seeing that our tribe's power was severely depleted, the Great King sent me back to the Bolong River and married the daughter of the Wuman King as his new wife, favoring her beyond measure.

However, it is just as well. Here, I am actually much happier than in that royal courtyard."