Zhang Zheliang apparently had met Shuqin while bringing Jinshui back to Baiyu Shan. Shuqin then escorted him to meet Gu Chenhui.
Zhang Zheliang was the one responsible for the death of Wu Youwei, Gu Chenhui's husband and Jinshui's father. The destruction of Yumen in the past was partly because of this Liangtian Jian Shen too. But Zhang Zheliang was Wu Youwei's good friend, and thirteen years ago Wu Youwei died as the result of a fair fight. At that time Zhang Zheliang was also injured badly, and Wu Youwei himself ordered his wife to ensure his safety upon leaving Baiyu Shan.
When Zhang Zheliang told Gu Chenhui his current condition, Gu Chenhui then asked Shuqin to take him to the octagonal room. Zhang Zheliang used to spend a lot of time there with Wu Youwei looking for ways to perfect the wuqing xue without sacrificing a shengnu. He returned there to spend the rest of his life was also quite appropriate.
Zhang Zheliang asked for a chain and tied his own feet to one of the walls, then also asked Shuqin to provide him with jars of wine. A number of blankets and warm clothes were also prepared, and a servant was asked to deliver food every day.
Jinshui went to see that old man there that day. The pain in his heart from Xu Qiao's departure had not yet disappeared and he still wanted to be with this person who had once claimed to be his father. They still had an agreement to drink wine to celebrate the meeting. When Jinshui appeared, Zhang Zheliang immediately handed him wine.
"Laoqianbei, you haven't had a sleep until this day?" Jinshui asked him.
That old man's mind was still clear. He didn't consider himself Wu Youwei or others, meaning he was still under the influence of huanming yao pill.
"I don't want to sleep yet, there is still an appointment to celebrate meeting with you that can't be missed," said the old man, "Jinshui, I will spend my old age here, this is more than enough. For the sake of old age that is not too long, let's have a drink together."
It wasn't long before both the old and the young were drunk. Wine can make someone lose consciousness, and the loss of consciousness meant no more pain. Jinshui didn't want to just celebrate the meeting. That night they drank together, sang, and laughed together.
Xu Qiao's farewell that day changed everything. Jinshui didn't want to think about anything, even the duties of the descendants. He only wanted to forget about everything. His world had drifted away, so he fled to another world. Only in this drunken state, Jinshui could laugh, so he wanted to stay here. Behind his laughter was a deepening pain, he didn't mind it anymore.
As the day passed, the wine was almost gone, and the two of them were still laughing and talking non-stop. They talked about Yumen, talked about Wu Youwei, talked about Xie Tianhu and Xun Tianyi, talked about Zeng Baifeng.
"That old poison master is really unlucky," Zhang Zheliang said with a chuckle. "He only had two disciples. One of them became a monk, the other one is a traitor. Same with me, we both have traitor disciples. Ha ha ha...."
"Xie Tianhu is dead," Jinshui was drunk too, also talking while laughing and crying. "I already helped Qiao-er get revenge, Qiao-er should be thanking me."
"Did she?" asked Zhang Zheliang.
"She did, and she also.. had...."
"Jinshui...."
A voice that was very familiar to Jinshui, sounded real at his side. He turned his head and saw a girl already standing beside him. His face didn't change much, only the look in his eyes showed a little surprise. Zhang Zheliang stared at the girl for a while, then took another sip of the wine jar, he laughed heartily.
"You have wine and beauty... great... haha... really great...."
Jinshui also laughed. Whether he realized it or not when he handed the bowl of wine to the girl.
"Qiao-er," he called perfunctorily, "You've come back, you can accompany me for a drink here, whatever you want to say, you can say it later."
"Jinshui, why this girl of yours doesn't look like the lady who's always with you?" Zhang Zheliang asked subconsciously. "Never mind, I don't care. There are many rooms here, you may choose one... I want to sleep...."
The old man was lying on the floor, not even a second had fallen asleep, either asleep or passed out from a terrible hangover. Jinshui paid no heed, his attention turned to the girl in front of him. He raised the bowl in his hand.
"Qiao-er, why don't you say something?" he asked. "This is a good wine. Come, have a sip."
"Jinshui," that girl was of course not Xu Qiao. "I'm back, you don't need to be like this anymore. Xu Qiao left a lot of pain for you, let me help erase it, how about it?"
The girl grabbed Jinshui's arm, leading him to another part of the octagonal room to keep him away from Zhang Zheliang. Jinshui was already heavily drunk, he didn't resist. Vaguely he smelled some kind of distinctive fragrance, he rubbed his nose to get rid of it.
That girl was Qingyi. She gave Jinshui a hug, once again exerting influence on that former lover of hers. Jinshui chuckled, in his memory this girl had also given him deep wounds. When in Wansui Gu, Qingyi mentioned several times about his father not wanting him, the problem of origin that had hit him, finally caused him to be injured in the hands of Ma Yaolun, almost costing him his legs.
"Qiao-er...." Jinshui whispered silently, "Besides Qiao-er no one else will be able to help me remove the wounds. Apart from Qiao-er, I don't want anyone else...."
Qingyi let him go and looked at him. A drunk person would usually speak the truth. She knew that she couldn't get rid of Xu Qiao's name from Jinshui's life in just a moment. Although she had the ability to influence someone else, it was also difficult to control a drunk person.
"Then, right now you can think of me as Qiao-er," she said. "When you forget her, I can stay by your side, never leaving you."
"Qiao-er is Qiao-er... no one can replace her...."
Jinshui slumped to the floor of the room, laughing for a while then still and didn't move anymore. Qingyi kicked him lightly, Jinshui seemed to have completely lost consciousness.
"Just because of Xu Qiao you are like this, really a disgrace," she hissed softly. "I will definitely win you back and kill that girl in front of you one day."
The doors to the octagonal room were all open. When Jinshui entered here, he deliberately left all the doors open. The people who were curious about Zhang Zheliang's inheritance had already left, and no one was still curious and desperate enough to come back to Baiyu Shan. Jinshui just accompanied Zhang Zheliang here, just wanted to chat with him, and naturally didn't think it was necessary to close all the doors.
"I followed your friends all the way to Baiyu Shan and have wanted to enter this room several times," Qingyi again said to Jinshui. "My mother once mentioned to me about a secret octagonal room. Thanks for letting me see it."
Jinshui coughed once. The words reached him, entered his mind, and immediately had no small impact. But his body was still controlled by the wine, he just remained silent and didn't react.
"She won't be back, Jinshui," Qingyi said again, "never coming back. Don't worry, I'll help you get rid of her for good. After that you only have me. You have become the new jiaozhu of Yumen Jiao and I am your jiaozhu furen."
Qingyi observed one by one the rooms in the octagonal room. The seven swords had already been returned there, but she had no interest in weapons. She also didn't pay attention to the section containing the water source and secret weapons as well as the door leading to the Bai Family's tomb.
Her attention was fixed on one of the rooms whose walls were filled with carved letters. Ancient letters, not all of which she recognized, but she knew that these writings were the work of Zhang Zheliang. They had become a bone of contention in the world of martial arts, of course, they should not be wasted.
Two of the eight doors in the octagonal room were the way to the Bai Family's tomb and the way out. The other two were where water traps and secret arrows come from, which didn't work when all doors were open. One more room was a storage area for swords, while the remaining three rooms contained copies of various arts including taiyang gong and fayi chuan.
"Why there are no manuals of leng qing yu hua and yin feng nong yue here?" Qingyi apparently was looking for those two secret manuals of Baiyu Shan.
"Leng qing yu hua and yin feng nong yue manuals were kept by the great master of Baiyu Shan," Zhang Zheliang answered her question in sudden.
Qingyi turned her head and found the old man still sleeping. She took out a knife from under her shirt and approached Zhang Zheliang warily.
Zhang Zheliang stretched awake. "I thought you wanted to be alone with Jinshui and I didn't want to disturb you, so I tried to sleep earlier," he said again. "But you kick him instead, then get busy with other business, so I can't help but interfere."
He laid still and spoke in a drunken manner. Qingyi reached for the candle on the number circle table, trying to recognize the old man.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"I'm Zhang Zheliang, do you not recognize me?" Zhang Zheliang asked back.
Qingyi put down the candle again, really looking like she was trying to stay away from its light, not wanting to feel even a bit of its heat. Zhang Zheliang laughed ridiculously.
"Miss, if you want to study the manual crafted on those walls, go ahead," the old man said, "Laofu is here. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. The letters on the wall are a bit hard to read, should I read them to you? However, Laofu wrote this manual a long time ago. Maybe one or two letters have been a bit forgotten, but it is still enough...."
Qingyi approached him, then knock several blood points in his body so he couldn't move anymore. "I can read it myself, no need to trouble you," she said. "Laoqianbei please just rest."
She left Zhang Zheliang, and returned to the room containing the manuals. She still didn't kill the old man because she wasn't sure she could read all the writings engraved on the wall. Jinshui was also left alive because Jinshui was Jinshui.
Qingyi touched the letters engraved on the wall, trying to memorize them. Unrecognized letters were also just memorized to be solved later. She did not put the candlelight closer and just read like a blind.
Jinshui opened his eyes, and slowly crawled up to Zhang Zheliang, trying not to attract Qingyi's attention. He was still awake. The effect of the wine had not disappeared but he was conscious enough to know what was going on.
"Laoqianbei," he called out to Zhang Zheliang.
"I know," Zhang Zheliang replied in a whisper. Apparently, even though he was drunk he was still quite conscious. Ever since learning of Qingyi's presence, he had been on guard, still pretending to be drunk but paying attention to everything that was going on. "The smell of the fragrance brought by the woman, it seems that this is the one called qian li xiang wei (thousand li of fragrant) and xian nu xiang du."
Qingyi came out of the room, and heard the sound of the two whispering. Of course, she realized Jinshui and Zhang Zheliang's abilities. If those two men were conscious, she would definitely not be able to escape from them. She approached Jinshui and knocked his blood paths so he couldn't move either.
"Qiao-er, I still want to drink with laoqianbei, you immobilize me like this, do you want to feed us both?" Jinshui asked and was immediately answered with laughter by Zhang Zheliang. Qingyi looked irritated.
"I'm letting you live for a while, just be quiet," she said, then she released a few of the acupuncture knocks on Jinshui's body. She still needed to memorize the contents of the manual and still had to be in this room with them long enough. Apparently, she thought it was better to let Jinshui keep drinking and stay drunk than to sober up and be able to open his own acupuncture knocks.
She left the two men and returned to continue her efforts to memorize the manual.
"Laoqianbei, we shall drink again," she heard Jinshui sing.
"Drink," Zhang Zheliang replied and laughed.
"I don't know when did she learn qian li xiang wei," Jinshui whispered to Zhang Zheliang. "Xian nu xiang du was the result of invading Wansui Gu. This skill and poison, if combined, will have the power to influence other people. At that time I was almost paralyzed and could have died without anyone knowing, all because of her."
"Qian li xiang wei is classified as a heretic art and is very dangerous. It can affect other people's minds, and the consequences are hard to imagine. I thought you were already under her influence," Zhang Zheliang pretended to laugh, he secretly used his remaining internal energy to dispel the effects of the wine, motioning for Jinshui to do the same.
"There's a beautiful woman here but she doesn't want to drink with us, but that's fine," Jinshui deliberately spoke in a loud voice, pretending to remain drunk. "I fell for that fragrance once and I don't want to lose to it the second time," he whispered anyway.
"She's just a girl and I don't deal with girls," said Zhang Zheliang. "Although no one cares anymore because people out there think I'm dead, but this principle of not facing the young still applies. Son, it all depends on you."
"I suffer some internal injuries," Jinshui replied honestly, "I'm not too sure I can win if I have to engage in one-on-one combat with her. Moreover, this woman masters the ability to control others. She's very shrewd. Laoqianbei, do you have any plans?"
"I actually do," Zhang Zheliang was having a lot of experience in the martial world and surely he knew the weakness in Qingyi's qian li xiang wei. "However, we would have to destroy this place, it seems too bad."
"I can still explain some little damage to Gu Chenhui Daniang. Laoqianbei, what plan is there do you have in mind?" Jinshui asked.
"You can just throw the rest of this wine to the manuals room there, then light the fire. There wasn't much wine left, but still enough."
"Laoqianbei, what are you saying about burning that girl?" Jinshui eyed the chains on Zhang Zheliang's feet. If he wanted to burn the entire octagonal room, he had to get Zhang Zheliang out first. But he didn't know how to unlock those chains. Burning this place down was the same as killing Zhang Zheliang as well.
"No, you don't have to burn the entire place," Zhang Zheliang had his own calculation. "Someone who learned qian li xiang wei should stay away from the heat of the fire. As long as you could make this place light up a little, then she wouldn't dare to mess around anymore. After that, she would not be able to use her heretic arts to influence people anymore."
"But...." Jinshui hesitated. He could still escape, but Zhang Zheliang's safety was at stake. Qingyi was so cunning, might use this old man's life to threaten him.
"That woman won't be able to do anything to me," Zhang Zheliang understood his worry. "You need to get rid of the effects of the alcohol in your body first. Dealing with a girl like her is easier when drunk, but it's even better when you're sober."
"I know," Jinshui finally said.
He tried to exert the wine out of his body by using inner energy. Qingyi was still in the manuals room and Jinshui knew he had to deal with that girl first before looking for Huang Yu and asking for an explanation or finding Xu Qiao and sorting things out. The wine was prepared, finishing off Qingyi might not be easy, but it could at least injure her and be enough to destroy that dangerous qian li xiang wei art of hers.
Jinshui's consciousness had already returned to almost half. He pretended to be lying unconscious near the number circle table, preparing the lighter in his hand and ready to lite fire at any moment. He still managed to sneak a glance and saw Qingyi coming out of the manuals room. He did not know how much of the manual script had been memorized by that woman but he didn't plan to let her memorize everything.
Qingyi wedged the door of the manual room using a long iron blade, then stepped into the center of the room. She marked the correct order on the number of circles, then rotated the circles randomly. The doors of the eight rooms closed, except for the manuals room which had been propped up. That surprised Jinshui, and warned him that if he burned this place, then everyone will die in it.
"Wake up, there's no need to pretend anymore," Qingyi suddenly said to Jinshui. "I know you're actually awake, aware enough to harm me."
Jinshui was barely swayed by her words. Qingyi already knew he was only pretending to be unconscious. Wait a minute, he thought, her tone suggested otherwise. It was just an inducement, Qingyi didn't really know.
Jinshui laid still.
"All right, you ask for this."
What now? Jinshui didn't have time to think further, Qingyi had already on his side, took out her dagger, and sliced Jinshui's left hand without any hesitation. Since Jinshui was conscious, he felt the pain and reacted. The dagger strike had scratched his left hand. The lighter in his right hand fell, and his scheme was exposed.
"I thought I can take some of your blood to copy those scripts into your coat, but since you are really awake, I take it you would not give me some," Qingyi's smile was cold and piercing, full of hatred, disappointment and heartache when her sight turned the lighter falling on the floor. "You once promised my mother that you would take care of me forever, today you want to burn me alive. Hua Jinshui, you really are a heartless ruthless human!"
"You're the one who..." Jinshui lost his next words. Indeed, he once promised Menggui that he would take care of Qingyi for the rest of her life. Recently he was unable to carry out this task, Qingyi's position had also turned into that of an enemy, and he also felt a slight regret. But time could not be turned back, he knew that promise made to Menggui would never be fulfilled.
"All because of that woman," Qingyi mentioned Xu Qiao again. "You have given your heart to her, of course, you will not keep your promise to take care of me. I can't take you from her, so I can only make her unable to have you too!"
It was a hateful tone. Next, she grabbed the candle that was on the table, extinguished it, then attacked, desperate to compete with Jinshui in a confined space.
The room darkened instantly. Jinshui tried to rack his brains and put up a fight. He threw the jar of wine in his hand, but clearly missed the target. The important thing was to find the lighter again and turn it on. For a moment he evaded and searched for the lighter, not realizing that the dagger in Qingyi's hand contained poison.
Qingyi was becoming more and more indifferent to her own safety, slashing her dagger everywhere. In this darkness, she was as blind as Jinshui but she didn't care. Under normal circumstances, Jinshui would obviously have no trouble knocking the small weapon out of her hand, then knocking her out. But at this moment he couldn't see anything, his body was still a bit overpowered by wine, not to mention his mind was in turmoil. One more slash of the dagger managed to tear his clothes.
He caught Qingyi's wrist the next second and quickly removed the dangerous dagger, but at that moment he felt his injured arm begin to swell and go numb. Qingyi flinched and escaped in an instant, her smile was that of victory.
"I've soaked the dagger with poison," she said, "deadly enough, you can taste it yourself."
Jinshui quickly tapped himself so the poison wouldn't spread any further. Qingyi picked up her dagger, preparing to attack again, apparently, she didn't care about anything anymore. Jinshui couldn't come back to her, so it was better to just finish him off.
But Jinshui still harbored curiosity about Xu Qiao, not wanting to die a silly death without any explanation. He tried to maintain his consciousness.
Good luck was still on his side. The door suddenly opened, and the incoming light gave Jinshui an opportunity. He hit Qingyi once with one hand. The woman regained her balance quickly, about to give chase. But at that time, in the hall of the secret room door, the servant who brought food had appeared. A lit candle was in his hand, Jinshui grabbed it and threw it inside.
Flames instantly flared up, trapping Qingyi inside of it.