Jinshui and Xu Qiao continued their journey, taking the road on the left, and galloping their horses slowly. The sky was getting dark, but there were no signs of human settlements around, only a road leading to a fairly dense forest.
"We should have taken the right road earlier and headed to Nanyang City for a while," Jinshui said, "we took the left road, now we have to spend the night in the forest."
Xu Qiao turned her horse to the left, intending to pass through the edge of the forest, hoping to find a village or some peasant houses, at least a more comfortable place to spend the night. After all, she was the daughter of the owner of Huofeng Lou and she didn't really like spending the night in the dark forest. However, after walking for a while, in front of them appeared a vast valley, and it was no better than the forest.
"Jinshui Gege, looks like there is a graveyard in that valley," Xu Qiao replied, "I don't want to spend the night there."
"Since there is a graveyard here, perhaps there is a resident's village nearby," said Jinshui. "We can walk along the edge of the valley, and I hope we can find lodging for the night. It's a long journey to Baiyu Shan, but we are not in a hurry either. Taking a longer path a bit doesn't seem to be a problem."
"Jinshui Gege, look."
On the edge of the graveyard, there were two horses with two riders. It turned out to be Liuxin and Yue Songdai. Indeed, the distance between the descendants was not far and along the way, they might meet each other just as Liao Xian had said. Jinshui and Xu Qiao walked to them.
"Hua Gege, this graveyard seems unusual." Liuxin said to Jinshui. "It's very clean and neatly arranged, there is also a garden around it."
"There might be a caretaker too," Yue Songdai added. "We can ask him where the road to the nearest village is."
At the foot of the hill overlooking a wide valley were several large boulders. They were not natural stones, but tombstones. They looked well-maintained as there wasn't much grass around them, and the trace of incense sticks was still there. Although there was no light source other than the moon in the sky, there was no scary impression. It felt like the graveyard was keeping an interesting story, attracting those who saw it.
"I remember this place," Jinshui said again. "More than ten years ago when I fled with Moying Shifu, we passed by this place. This graveyard belongs to the people of Qingxiang Zhuang (Fragrant Mansion)."
"Qingxiang Zhuang?" Xu Qiao never heard the name. "What place is that?"
"Qingxiang Zhuang is a mansion where it is said that all the residents are women. The owner of that place is surnamed Xi, if I am not mistaken her title is Long Jian Ying Kui (The Demon Shadow of Dragon Sword). She should be seven or eighty years old, but in these tens of years she has never interfered in the affairs of the martial world, and people don't know much about her either. But there are still some people who have mentioned Qingren Mu (Tomb of the Beloved), that is, this graveyard in front of us."
"Qingren Mu?" asked Yue Songdai. "What kind of beloved's grave? Is the tomb for lovers who can be together until they are old or vice versa, who cannot be together?"
"We can take a closer look," asked Liuxin. "I see that in front of the tomb there is some kind of inscription."
They approached the graveyard. There were no fences, nor was anyone guarding it, as if this place was indeed open to anyone who wanted to witness the results of an atrocity in the past. On the side of the graveyard, there was a gazebo with a carved stone in the middle.
But when Jinshui and the others looked there, only found a date that mentioned one day sixty-three years ago on the top right of the rock. There was no written story, and no story was revealed as if the person who wanted to make this inscription never found the right words to tell what happened. It was just a silent inscription. Regarding the story behind the graveyard, perhaps, everyone should have their own interpretation.
"My father never mentioned this Qingxiang Zhuang or the tomb of the beloved," Xu Qiao said. "Jinshui Gege, they are good or bad people?"
"Neither," Jinshui replied. "For decades, no one in the martial world had ever discussed of them because the people of Qingxiang Zhuang had never interfered in wulin affairs. They never committed a crime, but also never helped anyone. Their job was only guarding the graveyard."
They approached dozens of tombstones. At the very front, there were two stones, one large and one small. On the large mubei (tombstone), were inscribed the words "noble father Xi Junhao" and on the small tombstone are engraved the words "little sister Miaoxie".
They soon found out, these two graves were the graves of the father and his little daughter. The ten tombs behind each were inscribed with the names of women and one without inscriptions, another large tomb at the back, the headstone was a large boulder carved with hundreds of names and a line of words. None of the names were recognized by Jinshui and the others.
"Moying Shifu said, tens of years ago, this valley was named Qingxiang Gu (Fragrant Valley)," Jinshui said again. "It was a beautiful valley, planted with various types of flowers, and there was also a palace-like mansion where there was only one man surrounded by hundreds of women, all of whom were concubines or lovers."
"One man and hundreds of women?" Xu Qiao stuck out her tongue. "Besides the emperor, I don't know what kind of figure had that many concubines and lovers."
"Lao Zhu Wang said, back in the heyday of Yumen Jiao, many women were taken when they were children, said to be prepared for the leader," Yue Songdai said without thinking. "The leader of Yumen can have any woman, just like..." he suddenly covered his mouth when Liuxin tugged at his sleeve. It was only then that he remembered that Jinshui was the son of the previous leader of Yumen.
"According to Moying Shifu, Xi Junhao was the owner of Qianxiang Gu," Jinshui paid no heed to his ramblings. "Tens of years ago he was known as a flower-picking criminal. He collected beautiful girls from eight directions. No one knew how he had gathered so many wives and concubines in his small palace. At this time there were probably only a few people left who still remember the name of this criminal and his reputation."
"If Han Budian is here, he might be able to tell us more," Yue Songdai rambled again. "He knew a lot about the happenings in the martial world even back in the hundred years past when he wasn't even born."
"And then what happened?" Liuxin asked Jinshui. "How come decades later Qianxiang Gu turned into a graveyard, and why is there still a Qingxiang Zhuang?"
"At that time, it was said that Xi Junhao had a relationship with a lady from Baiyu Shan, but Moying Master was also not clear about what happened. Only know that the name Miaoxie on the tomb at the very front was the name of their daughter."
"Baiyu Shan?" Liuxin and Xu Qiao asked at once.
"Someone from Yumen Jiao?" asked Yue Songdai.
"Yumen's headquarters was only moved to Baiyu Shan during my father's reign," Jinshui replied, "before that, Baiyu Shan was just Baiyu Shan, it had nothing to do with Yumen. I also don't know Baiyu Shan's reputation in the past because not many people talk about it nowadays. But Moying Shifu told me that Qianxiang Gu's downfall was the work of the people of Baiyu Shan. It was said that overnight, Xi Junhao and all the inhabitants of his little palace were killed, and their small palace was burned down. The tombs that we see today are their tombs."
"If everyone was killed, then who made these tombs?" asked Liuxin.
"Xi Junhao had a remaining daughter, and she was the current owner of Qingxiang Zhuang," Jinshui said again. "She was the one who created this tomb of the beloved, in honor of her father."
Liuxin and Xu Qiao looked around, trying to find any human residential buildings around the graveyard, but all they found was a wide-open vast valley and the cliffs were in the distance. There was no sign of any building quite suitable to be called a mansion. They wondered which part of the valley the Qingxiang Zhuang was hidden.
"I'd also tried to find Qingxiang Zhuang, but it was said that the people guarding this graveyard could never be found unless they're the ones who want to see us," Jinshui said, understanding their confusion. "But today we don't want to deal with them, it's better to continue our journey."
The sky above was already getting dark. Jinshui and the others left the graveyard and took a leisurely walk along the edge of the valley, about two hours later they found a wooden lofted building by the road. The sign showed the place as an inn called Chunjie Kecan (Spring Inn).
It was just an old building with no settlements in the vicinity. But the inn looked quite clean and bright enough, not in the least bit it looked like a spooky place or a dangerous dark inn. Spending the night here was of course better than having to sleep in the forest.
They went inside. The inn was guarded by a sleepy-looking young couple, who were either the owners or just the servants. The front section of the inn was a small restaurant consisting of only two round tables and one small table at the end. When Jinshui asked if they could still provide food, the two innkeepers asked them to wait in an even tone, then before long rice and some simple vegetables and tea were already served on the table.
There was nothing suspicious, but this kind of inn in the middle of a desolate valley certainly made anyone feel the need to be alerted.
But they were all already hungry, so they didn't want to think too much either. It was in a remote inn, but the simple vegetables served turned out to be very delicious and the rice was very fragrant. In no time, the dishes on the table were all gone.
It was at that moment they heard the sound of neighing horses outside. The two riders soon stepped in before Jinshui and the others left their seats. One of them was a young man dressed all in white while his fellow hunters wearing dark gray clothes.
Jinshui and Xu Qiao immediately recognized them as two members of the Yongjun Hui, one of whom had fought with Lin Jixuan at wulin dahui in Yiling District some time ago. They were Huan Jiaozheng's son, named Huan Chaoyu, and Yongjun Hui's second-in-command, Li Zuyang.
Huan Chaoyu and Li Zuyang apparently recognized Jinshui. The two of them did not immediately draw their weapons but were obviously immediately alerted. Jinshui was in a group of four while there were only two of them, naturally, they knew that fighting would be unbalanced.
"Hua Shaoxia," Huan Chaoyu reprimanded Jinshui and greeted him politely. He tried to identify the three friends who were with the primary descendant of Yumen. Xu Qiao was known to him as Jinshui's lover. He knew Yue Songdai enough to know that his abilities were ordinary and that he was not part of the eight descendants. Then his gaze fell on Liuxin, staring at her for a while.
This little princess was still a stranger to him, because at the wulin dahui at Yiling District at that time, Liuxin was still being held captive by Yuan Wancui and only released later by Xianjing Wang's interference. But for a moment Huan Chaoyu seemed to have completely forgotten that the group in front of him was never an ally.
"Huan Gongzi," Jinshui returned the greeting, averting his eyes from Liuxin.
"We never thought that we would meet Hua Jinshui, Hua Shaoxia here," Li Zuyang also reprimanded Jinshui, making him divert his attention. "The other day we met at Yiling District, we didn't have time to get acquainted and drink wine together, instead there was a bit of a misunderstanding, I hope Hua Shaoxia doesn't take it to heart."
"That's right, we haven't had a chance to get acquainted and drink wine together," Jinshui replied. "In fact, I intended to go to Nanyang City to visit Huan Menzhu, but Hua Jinshui is just an unknown person, I'm afraid I don't have enough of a name to visit a leader of a major sect."
"My surname is Huan, and my name is Chaoyu," Huan Chaoyu spoke without being asked. His introduction was specifically aimed at Liuxin. He once again tried to look at the princess, making Liuxin feel uncomfortable.
"Zaixia surnames Li," his friend continued, "I'm just a servant, don't deserve to mention my name."
"Yongjun Hui's second-in-command is said to be a young man surnamed Li, titled Heimo Laoying, named Li Zuyang," Yue Songdai said, blocking Liuxin's way so Huan Chaoyu couldn't look at her anymore. "I don't know if you are this Li Xiansheng."
"I'm just a helper, how can one say a second-in-command of all sorts," Li Zuyang lowered his head with an unsightly smile. "The two of us today also only got lost all the way here, not expecting to run into Hua Shaoxia and his friends. But it's late now, we're tired and just want to have some rest, we couldn't drink wine with you today."
He wanted to take his young master away quickly. Jinshui let the two leave. The two of them quickly booked a room and left the dining area. Jinshui then also booked two rooms. One for himself and Yue Songdai, and another for Xu Qiao and Liuxin.
That night passed without any incident. Jinshui didn't feel the need to worry about the young master of Yongjun Hui. He would be more concerned if the one they met just now was Han Budian.
Huan Chaoyu and Li Zuyang's horses disappeared the next morning. It seemed that the two had already left the inn at dawn. Jinshui and the others had no interest in chasing after them, and they prepared to continue on their way.
However, as they were about to take their horses, the innkeeper and her five younger sisters came to meet them. The girls were in their early twenties, and they were friendly and didn't look like they were looking for trouble. Their faces were plain, their clothes were all white, which were relatively simple, and each girl holding a thin sword.
Jinshui and the others didn't recognize them, but one of the girls who seemed to be the oldest could immediately mention the names of the four of them correctly.
"Xiaonuzi Jiaping, my four sisters here are Xiaoyue, Xiaoxi, Xiaowen, and Xiaoqian," the girl introduced herself and her four sisters succinctly, "we want to invite Hua Shaoxia to meet our master."
"Jiaping Guniang, If I may ask, who is your master?" Jinshui asked. "How did your master know that Hua Jinshui is in Chunjie Kecan?"
"Chunjie Kecan is Qingxiang Zhuang, of course, my master knows that Hua Shaoxia comes here," the girl smilingly answered.
"Qingxiang Zhuang is here?" asked Jinshui. He immediately realized one thing. His master Moying once said to him that no one could meet the people of Qingxiang Zhuang unless they wanted to meet themselves. In the vicinity of the tomb of the beloved, there was never a building that resembled a mansion, and the only human residence within a twenty li radius was only this inn which was too secluded in a valley. Since no one had been able to find Qingxiang Zhuang in decades, apparently the entrance was in this inn.
Jinshui looked at this young girl in front of him, as well as the girls who came with her. Since last night there was nothing unusual about the sleepy-looking couple in the Chunjie Kecan lobby, but the figure and shape of this young girl's face clearly matched the figure and shape of the husband's face. Presumably, since last night when Huan Chaoyu and Li Zuyang arrived, the two innkeepers already knew the identities of Jinshui and his friends.
"Hua Shaoxia, please," the girl said again.
"Jinshui Gege," Xu Qiao held him. "We would like to meet your master too," she said to Jiaping.
"Our master only wants to see Hua Shaoxia alone, you three please wait here," said the girl.
"How could that be?" Yue Songdai protested. "We came together, we...."
"If you're worried about the Yongjun Hui, I can guarantee, they won't return before we bring Hua Shaoxia back here," Jiaping quickly said. "If you're worried that we'll harm one of you, that also doesn't feel necessary. You've been here safely since last night. If we wanted to do any harm, would it be too much trouble to wait until morning?"
"Qingxiang Zhuang has no enmity with anyone," Jinshui assured them all. "Jiaping Guniang, please."
Jiaping and the innkeeper who was called Chen Daniang both led Jinshui inside the inn while the other four girls looked after Xu Qiao and the others. Liuxin had her eyes on these four girls. Although their expressions were not mean and they looked friendly, but the four of them never spoke a word, it seemed that they were very careful to protect the secrecy of Qingxiang Zhuang.
In the middle of Chunjie Kecan there was a simple garden with some neatly arranged flower plants. After passing through the garden, there were five small huts. But in contrast to the outside which was made of wood, these huts were all made of bamboo. Jiaping and Chen Daniang led Jinshui into the middle of the hut.
"Hua Shaoxia, please."
A staircase descended and immediately greeted them. There was a passage to the underground. Jinshui counted thirty-six steps as they turned through a door in the wall, then descended another thirty-six steps before finding another door.
They entered a natural underground cave chamber. Several women were there, all wearing white clothes, and their makeup was the same as Jiaping and her younger siblings. Dishes and wine have been prepared on the table in the middle of the room, but for the time being no one had sat down to enjoy them. They seemed to be waiting for the arrival of an important guest.