In Green Mountain Pass, inside the Marshal's Residence, the great hall of the rear manor was as empty as ever.
Into the silence, that gruff, booming voice suddenly echoed, "Senior Brother, are we just going to keep waiting like this? The initiative is not with us, which makes it inevitable that unexpected changes will occur."
The brilliant sunlight slanted in through the main door, illuminating the hall. Hong Linying, sitting in his wide chair, tilted his reflective bald head.
"This boy is not only cautious, but also quite slippery. In the last few meetings, he only confirmed his intentions through a few verbal messages from Liu Chengyyiong and the letters he brought. Liu Chengyong's verbal messages are always just a few key sentences, and the letters never mention the cultivation technique or escaping. They only say that if there is good wine next time, he will bring his family's secret recipe for cured meat. He is extremely careful. He's afraid the letters will fall into Ji Wenhe's hands and become evidence against him.
The initiative is now truly in his hands. We gave him a method to escape last time, but he rejected it.
The plan was for him to come into the city one time, and I would send men disguised as assassins who had secretly infiltrated from the State of Meng to assassinate our key personnel. They would unexpectedly run into him on the street and recognize him as Ji Wenhe's disciple. Then, they would first take care of Chen An and Li Yin on the street, and then hide him in a secret passage for a month or two. After Ji Wenhe had searched for a long time and could do nothing about it, he would give me the cultivation technique, and I would secretly send him away from this place. But he was firmly against it. This also thwarted our plan to capture him first and then use threats and inducements."
"Senior Brother, why don't we just have me dress as an assassin and grab him the next time he enters the city, then find a chance to take him to the secret room?"
"I have also considered your idea, but there are some problems with doing so. After we forcibly capture him, will he cooperate? Will he be able to give us the cultivation technique? Should we use torture then? Who can guarantee that he won't harbor resentment? If a few parts of the cultivation technique are changed, for an internal energy technique, this would be eternally damning."
"This won't work, that won't work. It's really infuriating. I don't believe he wouldn't tell the truth under my Tendon-Splitting and Bone-Grinding Hand."
"Junior Brother, be patient. Let's wait a little longer. If it doesn't work, we'll have to do it that way," Hong Linying said, patting his bald head.
Just then, the sound of footsteps was heard from outside. A moment later, the footsteps stopped outside the main door. Then a voice came from outside. "Marshal, Captain Liu is here to see you."
"Oh? He's here. Quickly, call him in." Hong Linying sat up straight. After a moment's thought, a strange light flashed in his eyes.
Chen An and Li Yin looked with shame at Li Yan, who was galloping wildly on his horse in front of them. They helplessly slapped their own mounts and chased after him with a clatter and clang of metal.
After entering the city today, not only had Li Yan bought some clothes, but he had also become quite interested in some of the things in Liu Chengyong's military camp. In the end, Chen An and Li Yin's horses were laden with helmets, armor, and military boots. The most unbearable thing was that there was even a large pot and a large ladle hanging from the horse's rump. Amidst the amused gazes of the military camp, Chen An covered his face and, to the sound of clanging, made his way in a sorry state towards the north gate.
After they entered the Strategist's Manor, they walked towards the inner valley under a barrage of astonished and amazed gazes. This time, they even had to lead the horses in. Just as they entered the valley, a wisp of divine sense swept over. When this divine sense swept over the two warhorses, it trembled for a moment, and then retracted as if it couldn't bear to be seen.
Li Yan walked in front. After feeling that the divine sense had been withdrawn, a cold smile hung on the corner of his mouth. Behind him, Chen An and Li Yin led the horses into the valley with their heads down, as if they didn't want to get too close to him.
'Keep scanning. I'll bring back more things every time I come back, so you can have a good look,' Li Yan thought to himself.
He then turned his head nonchalantly and pointed to the area outside his own house. "Put today's things over there."
Chen An and Li Yin looked and said with a mournful face, "Young Master, your doorway is almost blocked." At this moment, at the entrance of the stone house where Li Yan lived, there were two or three wooden cabinets. The cabinet doors were wide open, but inside they were filled with farming tools such as plows, rakes, shovels, and stone mortars. Next to the door was also a candied hawthorn stick, with many already dried candied hawthorns still on it. This was from the last time Li Yan had entered the city. On a whim, he had taken the entire pot from a candied hawthorn seller and brought it back.
"What's with all the nonsense? Just put them where I tell you. Are you going to put them in my room? How am I supposed to sleep then?" Li Yan began to look at the two of them with an unfriendly gaze.
"Alright, we'll put them down right away." Chen An and Li Yin shivered and quickly agreed. Amidst a clanging sound, they unloaded everything on the ground. Then Chen An and Li Yin quickly led the horses away, covering their faces.
From beginning to end, there was no movement from the first stone house, nor did anyone open the door.
Li Yan nodded with satisfaction, then walked around the things on the ground a few times. He picked up a helmet and a suit of armor and held them against his body for a few moments. After a while, as if he were not satisfied, he threw them back into the pile with a clang. He muttered a few words and then turned to walk into his room.
After entering the room, Li Yan poured a glass of water, took a sip, and then lay down on the bed, lazily closing his eyes, looking content. In fact, his heart was in a turmoil at this moment.
It had been more than half a month since he had made his decision last time. Today, he had gone into the city to find Liu Chengyong and had given him a letter. The letter stated that he wanted to get his family's ancestral recipe for cured meat, which his clan uncles would be bringing during the farming season in over a month. He would go to get the meat at noon, and with the travel time, it would take about an hour. He asked Liu Chengyong to prepare some fine wine in advance, and they would go to the inn to drink together. If the wine was not good, then he would take the cured meat back and enjoy it himself.
This was one of the secret codes he had agreed upon with Hong Linying. It meant, "He plans to escape on the day the farming season begins (the beginning of summer), in about a month and a half. He needs Hong Linying to find a reason to lure Strategist Ji away for about an hour at noon. Then he will find Liu Chengyong and act. If it goes smoothly, he will give them the cultivation technique."
After he had truly made this decision, his heart began to grow tense. After returning, he lay on the bed, closing his eyes to calm the waves in his heart.
He was by no means planning to escape on his own. He was planning how to take Strategist Ji's life. He had been planning it repeatedly for several months, but to this day, his chances of winning were still extremely slim. The thought of the legendary terrifying martial arts of Strategist Ji—no, it should be called immortal arts—gave him no confidence at all. Although he had not seen immortal arts like the Wood Thorn Art, Fireball Art, or Wind Blade Art, just thinking about these names gave him a sense of powerlessness.
But he absolutely could not wait for half a year or a year. By then, before he could think of a way, Strategist Ji would come for him. Facing someone who knew immortal arts, and who was already prepared to kill him, he truly had no chance of winning at all. But now, if he acted unexpectedly, there might still be a chance to find life in death. The worst that could happen was death. If he really died in front of him, Strategist Ji would probably not have the mind to deal with his family anymore.
After lying on the bed for a long while, Li Yan felt his mood calm down a bit. He stood up and walked towards the pool outside. His current task was still to cultivate, cultivate, and cultivate relentlessly.
In the passage of time, the willow catkins had reached the time to fly, and the sun grew warmer. The valley was already in full bloom, and some trees had shed their dark-colored leaves and put on tender green shoots.
Strategist Ji looked at the valley and placed a hand on his forehead. The valley was truly in full bloom. Li Yan had transplanted almost entire patches of wildflowers from all around the outside of the valley. Now, from the pool south to the foot of the mountain, and from the pool north to a few zhang in front of the stone houses, there were colorful wildflowers everywhere: large, small, tall, short. The mixed fragrance in this spring was so thick it was dizzying. Even in his room, his nose was filled with the scents of various flowers.
He shook his head and looked at the pool amidst the flowers. There, Li Yan was cultivating with a stable aura. At this moment, his aura was already on the verge of breaking through the early stage of the first layer of Qi Condensation.
"Alright, you can do whatever you want now. If you continue to cultivate like this, you might be able to break through to the late stage or peak of the first layer of Qi Condensation in another year. At that time, regardless of whether you have reached the peak of the first layer, I will have to give it a try. Now, it's a problem for me to even use more than thirty percent of my spiritual power. In a year, I'll probably only be able to use twenty percent of my spiritual power. Twenty percent of my spiritual power is the minimum requirement to deal with the late stage of the first layer of Qi Condensation. Otherwise, if it's delayed any longer, it will be hard to say who can suppress whom," a ferocious look appeared on Strategist Ji's face, which was streaked with black energy.
Half an hour later, it was around mid-morning. Li Yan walked out of the pool. After returning to his room and changing into a clean black robe, he came to the front of the first stone house.
"Teacher, I want to go into the city today. I haven't taken last month's silver to my family yet."
"Alright, you may go," a voice came from within the room. Strategist Ji was already used to Li Yan leaving the valley every half a month or a month. Anyway, every time he came back, his cultivation would improve for a period of time, and his spirit would also be stable for a while.
Li Yan bowed and was about to go back to his room to get the silver and leave. But at this moment, Strategist Ji's somewhat hesitant voice came from behind again. "Disciple, you... after you go into the city this time, try to leave more silver for your family to use. Don't waste it all on some useless things. You bring back big and small bags of things every time, but I don't see you using much of them."
Li Yan was stunned for a moment, then smiled knowingly. He turned back again and replied, "Teacher, you can rest assured, I won't buy too much."
"Oh..." There was a moment of silence in the room.
Not long after, there was a commotion outside the valley. Amidst shouts, Chen An and Li Yin led the horses away.
Time passed bit by bit. By noon, inside the Strategist's Manor, "My Lord, someone from the city has come to find you. Marshal Hong needs you to go over. He says there is an important matter to discuss."
"Oh, it's already noon. What important matter could there be?" Strategist Ji was meditating in his room. Since returning from the Great Green Mountains half a year ago, he had gone from going into the army every few days to only once every ten days or even half a month. He was usually meditating in the valley. He had just gone into the city two days ago to discuss the defense against the State of Meng. Why did he have to go again today? Could it be that something major had happened? Although he didn't want to go, he still had to rely on this place for now, so he couldn't just ignore it.
Thinking of this, Strategist Ji stood up and walked outside.
Li Yan looked at the sun, then smiled at Li Yu and Li Shan, who were at the same table. Today, there were only the three of them at one table; he had not called anyone else. Chen An and Li Yin had to sit at a separate table not far away.
"Li Yu, in the past six months, I've seen your cooking skills improve a lot. You've gone from being a helper to a prep cook. I was hoping I could eat a dish you stir-fried. Hehe."
Li Yu's face turned red. "Brother Yan, I'm still a long way from being a stir-fry cook. Mm, maybe in another year or so, I'll be able to start learning. Then, I'll make whatever you want to eat."
"Alright, Brother Yan will definitely come and eat then," Li Yan said. As he spoke, a trace of almost imperceptible loneliness appeared on his face.
Li Yu and Li Shan didn't notice this slight change in him. Half of their attention was on the delicious food on the table. Every time Li Yan entered the city, he would always invite them for a good meal, which made the two of them very happy.
Li Yan paused for a moment, then looked at Li Shan with a smile. "Li Shan, did you buy the belt I asked you to buy for me last time?"
Li Shan's mouth was full. He looked up and smiled, saying indistinctly, "Yes, yes, it's here." As he spoke, he reached into his robes with one hand and took out a belt, handing it to Li Yan.
Li Yan reached out and took it. It was a purple belt, a palm's width wide. He stood up happily, untied the black belt around his waist, and put on this purple one. Paired with his black robe, it really made him look quite handsome.
Chen An and Li Yin looked up in this direction for a moment, then lowered their heads and continued to drink. They were already speechless about this young master's shopping addiction. When his nerves acted up, he would buy anything, but he would rarely use any of it when he got back.
Li Yan hesitated for a moment, then handed the original black belt in his hand to Li Shan. "Li Shan, you give this and the silver I gave you earlier to the uncle who comes into the city next time. Let them take it to my parents." As he said the last words, his tone became a little low.
Li Shan and Li Yu looked at each other, feeling that something was off with Li Yan today.