Bai Li’s Dream – Chapter 99

Chapter 99: Playing Around

Although Zhang Ze didn’t believe in ghosts killing people, given the recent situation and the truly strange cause of Zhu Shan’s death, he still informed the Temple of the Holy Ancestor.

However, Xuanyangzi seemed to disdain dealing with people unrelated to the Emperor or his heir and still didn’t show up, only sending Wang Tong.

Shangguan Yue looked Wang Tong up and down: “Don’t you only know how to light lamps?”

“Don’t underestimate me.” Wang Tong said, putting on an arrogant air, “I was chosen to enter the Temple of the Holy Ancestor because of my extraordinary talent.”

“Wasn’t it because your grandfather bribed his way in for you?” Shangguan Yue laughed heartily again.

“There are so many descendants in the Wang family, and they only spent money for me, which shows that I have talent.” Wang Tong said with a smile, flicking his horsetail whisk.

Shangguan Yue nodded, smiling: “That does sound somewhat enlightened, you haven’t lit lamps in vain for so long.”

Mentioning lighting lamps, Wang Tong couldn’t hold back anymore, he directly lay down on the ground and wailed: “Don’t mention lighting lamps anymore, if I keep lighting them, I’ll be worn out to death. I came to the capital yearning for a prosperous place, who would have thought I’d be locked up in the temple day after day.”

He spat on the ground as he said this.

“It’s all Li Shilang’s fault.”

If Grand General Li heard this, he would be furious again, Shangguan Yue thought, squatting down and looking at Wang Tong: “Keep your voice down, be careful of Li Shilang’s ghost coming to scare you.”

Wang Tong held his horsetail whisk in one hand and pressed the bell at his waist with the other, looking around vigilantly: “This young master is afraid of him? It would be great if he came, I’ll make his soul scatter.”

Shangguan Yue understood, looking at the horsetail whisk and the bell: “Are these magical treasures Xuanyangzi gave you?” He asked curiously, “So, was that Zhu Shan really killed by a ghost?”

Wang Tong looked disappointed.

“There was no reaction at all.” He said, “Laozu said that as long as the bell rings, it means there’s something strange, but I walked all over Zhu Shan’s house, and it didn’t ring.”

He shook the bell as he spoke.

Shangguan Yue looked curiously at the silent bell, listening to Wang Tong’s continued words.

“It’s indeed strange that Zhu Shan strangled himself to death, but the coroner said that some people have sleepwalking, and they kill people in their dreams. What if Zhu Shan killed himself in his dream? What if he dreamt that he was killing someone, but he was actually killing himself?”

The more Wang Tong talked, the more amused he became by his own speculation, and he burst into laughter.

Killing himself in his dream? Shangguan Yue pondered, it’s unlikely to kill oneself, especially someone like Zhu Shan, but what if he dreamt of being killed by someone else? Could it be that…

This sounded even more absurd.

“There are only two ghosts rumored in the capital now, one is Hua Xiaoxian, the other is Empress Jiang. But these two, no, two ghosts, one is entangled with Li Shilang, the other only stares at the Imperial Palace, I’m afraid they don’t even know who Zhu Shan is, what’s the use of killing him?”

Well, actually not, Shangguan Yue thought, besides these two ghosts, there is another one in the capital, Bai Xun’s daughter, Bai Li.

Speaking of which, Zhu Shan was investigating Empress Jiang’s faction, and Bai Xun’s family died because of this, so Bai Li killing Zhu Shan is the most reasonable explanation.

The more Shangguan Yue thought about it, the more amused he found his speculation, and he burst into laughter too.

After a night of revelry, the people on the pleasure boat looked more haggard than ghosts, they were picked up by servants and helped onto carriages and horses like wandering souls in the morning light, dispersing in their own directions.

The lights on the boat were extinguished, the sounds of people faded away, Shangguan Yue slowly walked outside the cabin, seemingly unable to adapt to the morning light, he closed his eyes.

Suddenly, his ears twitched slightly, and he abruptly lunged forward. Just as his body leaned forward, a whooshing sound passed by his ear, and an arrow embedded itself in the cabin.

At the same time, the slumbering pleasure boat came alive, countless figures rushed around, instantly surrounding Shangguan Yue who had thrown himself to the ground.

Another dozen figures dashed from the boat towards the direction the arrow had come from.

All of this happened in an instant, and in an instant, the pleasure boat fell silent again.

No second arrow came, nor did any other killing intent surge. If not for the arrow still quivering in the cabin, it would have been like an illusion.

Shangguan Yue lay on the ground, resting his head on his hand, looking at the arrow above him and smiling.

“Young Master—” Ruibo flipped down from upstairs.

“I’m fine.” Shangguan Yue said, waving to the surrounding guards, “Stand down, this is an expert archer, aiming for a one-shot kill, once they miss, they’re gone.”

The guards dispersed, Ruibo looked at Shangguan Yue who was still lying on the ground, and said: “The archer ran away, but someone else didn’t.”

Shangguan Yue looked at him, asking with interest: “Who wants me dead? Expert archers aren’t cheap.”

Ruibo’s expression was filled with anger: “Shangguan Kejiu.”

Shangguan Yue laughed, saying faintly: “I knew it, my life is only worthy of being tangled with this kind of thing.”

“This damned thing, he’s still not giving up, thinking that by killing you, he can cut off Imperial Consort’s Husband Shangguan’s path, and he can become the Princess’s adopted son.” Ruibo sneered.

“Don’t be angry, don’t be angry.” Shangguan Yue said, propping himself up from the floor, clapping his hands, and looking towards the shore, “Go and capture Shangguan Kejiu, and then go see where the Princess is.”

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Shangguan Kejiu was dragged out from a small alley in Sanqu Lane. Having also reveled all night, he was sound asleep. When he was woken up, he thought there was good news, but the first thing he saw was Shangguan Yue’s infuriatingly lively face.

Then a blade was pressed against his neck, and he was dragged in front of a horse.

“Who dares to follow?” Shangguan Yue sneered at Shangguan Kejiu’s servants, “For every one who follows, I’ll give him a cut.”

As soon as his voice fell, he indeed swung his blade and grazed Shangguan Kejiu’s arm.

A blood-red flower instantly bloomed on Shangguan Kejiu’s fine silk clothing.

With a scream, the servants hurriedly backed away, watching as Shangguan Yue threw Shangguan Kejiu onto the horse’s back, then mounted the horse himself, holding the blade and urging the horse to gallop away.

“Quickly go and tell the family—”

“Quickly go and find the Imperial Consort’s Husband—”

“Find the Imperial Consort’s Husband or the Princess?”

“Of course the Princess, the Imperial Consort’s Husband doesn’t care about our Young Master’s life or death.”

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“Do you think the Princess cares about your life or death?”

On the mountain road of Dongshan outside the city, Shangguan Yue dragged the exhausted Shangguan Kejiu, who had been jolted by the horse all the way, walking and laughing as he spoke.

Shangguan Kejiu’s face was pale, he stumbled, originally unable to take a single step, but Shangguan Yue gave him another cut without hesitation.

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“Every time you stop, I’ll give you a cut.”

This villain! This scoundrel! This madman!

Shangguan Kejiu cursed wildly in his heart, snot and tears streaming down his face, desperately crawling up the mountain.

“Young Sir, you misunderstood, it wasn’t me who wanted to harm you—it was all my subordinates, those damned slaves acted on their own.”

“I’ll go back and chop them up to make amends to you.”

He began to plead and apologize again.

But no matter what he said, Shangguan Yue only escorted him up the mountain with a smile, whenever he slowed down, the cold blade would leave a mark on his body.

Shangguan Kejiu felt like he had become a b*oody mess, he didn’t even know why he wasn’t dead yet: “Shangguan Yue, what exactly do you want? I’m your cousin!”

Shangguan Yue laughed heartily: “Now you know I’m your cousin? You forgot when you tried to kill me?” He said, patting Shangguan Kejiu’s face with the blade, “I’m letting you know now, even if I kill you, the Princess won’t save you.”

With that, he pressed the blade against Shangguan Kejiu’s back.

This time, it wasn’t a graze, but a stab into his flesh.

Shangguan Kejiu screamed and lunged forward.

Shangguan Yue didn’t chase after him, but lifted his chin towards the top: “The Princess is at Lingquan Temple, go and beg for help. If you can enter the temple gate, consider yourself lucky, otherwise, I’m not joking with you—”

He swung the long blade fiercely, and an old tree by the roadside was instantly stripped of half its bark, dead branches and leaves scattering.

Shangguan Kejiu scrambled up the mountain, before he even reached the temple gate, his b*oody appearance almost got him hacked to death by the guards outside.

“Get lost, the Princess is here, unauthorized personnel keep out.”

“I’m Shangguan Kejiu.” He cried, holding his head, “Quickly invite the Princess to save me, Shangguan Yue wants to kill me—”

Although the guards weren’t so familiar with Shangguan Kejiu, they were very familiar with Shangguan Yue. The guards looked at each other.

Shangguan Yue wants to kill someone and cause trouble? The Princess would probably be very happy to know, right?

One guard was about to go in and report, but refused to take Shangguan Kejiu inside: “You look too ugly, you’ll scare the Princess.”

Shangguan Kejiu could only wait outside with wide eyes, enduring the pain. After a while, the guard returned.

“What did the Princess say?” Shangguan Kejiu rushed over and asked.

The guard smiled: “The Princess said to rest assured, after Shangguan Yue kills you, she will definitely punish him.”

Shangguan Kejiu was dumbfounded, what kind of reassurance is this?

“Princess.” He cried out towards the inside.

The next moment, he was kicked away by the guard: “Hurry up and go, the Princess is waiting for you to die.”

Shangguan Kejiu fell onto the mountain road, screaming in agony. The guards in front of him raised their blades, looking like they couldn’t wait to kill him first and then frame Shangguan Yue.

Shangguan Kejiu felt like he had nowhere to go, fortunately, he glanced at the mountain road, because the Princess also forbade Shangguan Yue from appearing before her, Shangguan Yue didn’t get too close, his shadow was not visible on the mountain road.

Shangguan Kejiu dragged his battered body and detoured to the side.

The cries from the mountain temple gradually faded away.

Leaning against a tree trunk with his blade in his arms, a sneer appeared on Shangguan Yue’s lips.

He knew best how heartless and ruthless the Princess was.

She didn’t even care about her own brother, how could she care about an unrelated Shangguan Kejiu?

He pushed off the tree trunk with his blade and leaped into the thicket of grass and trees.

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Screams echoed in the mountain valley.

Shangguan Kejiu saw the blade pressed against his face from the corner of his eye.

Even running to a remote part of the mountain, he didn’t escape Shangguan Yue. After being caught up with and kicked to the ground, this time the blade was actually aimed at his face.

His face!

“If it weren’t for the sake of the Shangguan surname.” Shangguan Yue’s voice fell, “I would really kill you.”

He half-kneeled, pinning Shangguan Kejiu firmly, the blade in his hand steadily landing on his face.

“I’ll cut your face and leave a scar, so you’ll give up, the Princess will never adopt an ugly son.”

“Don’t try to kill me again in the future, if you kill me, the Princess will adopt someone else, and you’ll just be working for someone else’s benefit.”

As he spoke, the blade cut across Shangguan Kejiu’s face.

Shangguan Kejiu’s screams were heart-wrenching, echoing through the mountains.

Hurried footsteps approached, accompanied by a male voice: “Who’s there!”

There’s someone else in this remote mountain forest? Shangguan Yue looked up and first saw a figure in a black cloak and brown clothes emerge from the trees, followed by a long sword in his hand. Looking up further, he saw a face as handsome as jade under the moonlight.

Marquis Zhou’s Heir, huh.

His gaze flickered as he saw another person walk out beside Zhou Jingyun.

A red cloak, moon-white dress, a red hood with white fox fur trim, in the winter’s withered woods, her face was like white snow, glowing luminously, forcing one to avert their gaze.

Zhou Jingyun’s wife… is it?

He had seen her before, but he couldn’t seem to recall what she looked like.

The one who can stand beside Zhou Jingyun is naturally his beloved wife!

Shangguan Yue averted his gaze, hanging his head and pouting.

To actually run into this couple.

Since he decided he didn’t want to see her again, why is it that he always sees her whenever he looks up?

Shangguan Yue raised his head again, smiling brightly: “What a coincidence, to actually run into the Marquis’s Heir.” He then introduced proactively, “I’m just playing with my cousin.”