Silver Willow Orchid was a type of flower, as well as the designation of a cell in the Heaven-Tier Prison. Confined within was an octogenarian elder with hair and beard turned completely white, known as Wuming.
The prisoners held in the Black Prison's Heaven-Tier Prison were all exceptional figures. In Cangyuan, a great many of them had side quests attached to them. Completing those quests yielded handsome rewards—some gave money, some bestowed cultivation techniques, and some simply pledged their allegiance to follow you.
Due to his background, Xu Yuan was naturally at odds with the inmates in the Heaven-Tier Prison, rendering most of the intelligence from Cangyuan useless. However, that did not apply to the old man known as Wuming.
In the game, when the protagonist took advantage of the Prime Minister's Manor being emptied to raise havoc in the Black Prison and rescue him, the old man remained remarkably placid. Confined to the Black Prison for decades by the Prime Minister, he harbored surprisingly little hatred toward Xu Yinhe. He merely chuckled, asked the protagonist about what had transpired in the outside world during his imprisonment, and then went on his way.
When they met again, Wuming—whose level had originally been capped at ninety-nine—displayed a level surpassing one hundred above his head. At that point, players could accept his quest.
A treasure quest.
Though Xu Yuan roughly remembered the treasure's location and had his treasure-hunting maiden right beside him, the place required a token to enter, and that token could only be obtained from Wuming.
It was precisely because of this that Xu Yuan had made a mental note of the old man when he passed by the Silver Willow Orchid cell some time ago, intending to use the knowledge gleaned from Cangyuan to squeeze the rewards out of him when the need arose.
Yet listening to Qing just now, Xu Yuan suddenly realized that an information gap seemed to exist between what he knew and what she knew.
After a moment of quiet contemplation, however, Xu Yuan suppressed the urge to probe with words.
His momentary hesitation had already drawn a suspicious gaze from Qing. As the Minister of Justice of the Black Prison, she might not be entirely sane, but she still retained the fundamental instincts of an interrogator.
The more he said, the more mistakes he would make.
That was not good.
His scheme to squeeze loot from the old man hinged entirely on playing both ends against the middle, banking on the fact that Qing could not cross-check stories with his father. If he aroused her suspicion, she might not report directly to Xu Yinhe, but she would certainly refuse to lead the way any further.
If that happened, visiting the Silver Willow Orchid would require turning to Lou Ji. Not only would explaining everything be a colossal headache, but worse, that insufferable woman would certainly fleece him of his money.
The footsteps of the three echoed through the cramped corridor, while the torches lining both walls flickered in the eerie, drafting chill.
Advancing in silence, Xu Yuan silently turned over Qing's earlier words in his mind.
There had not been much information, but extracting the useful bits proved rather intriguing.
First, Wuming's true identity was a closely guarded secret within the Prime Minister's Manor; Qing, as the Minister of Justice of the Black Prison, knew it only by virtue of her post.
Second were the scattered remarks and Qing's matter-of-fact attitude.
The first day of the New Year... Qing taking it for granted... Xu Yinhe's arrangement... himself... Wuming.
Piecing these fragmented clues together...
Qing believed it was only natural for his father to arrange for Xu Yuan to see Wuming on the first day of the New Year.
Connecting that to the information acquired from Cangyuan...
As he pondered, Xu Yuan suddenly felt Ran Qingmo give him a gentle tug. Turning his head, he heard her murmur softly,
"We're here..."
"......"
Xu Yuan looked ahead.
Qing had already come to a halt before a sealed iron cell door.
Raising a brow, Xu Yuan asked with mild puzzlement, "I recall the Silver Willow Orchid wasn't this close to your study."
Qing replied in an ill-tempered tone, "Who do you think caused that? That battle between Feng Jiuxuan and the Sien Saint tore half the Black Prison apart. If we hadn't activated the Qiankun Mechanism Array ahead of time, nearly half the prisoners in the Heaven-Tier Prison would have used the chaos to escape!"
Xu Yuan had completely forgotten about that.
The Black Prison was a colossal subterranean labyrinth constructed beneath the Prime Minister's Manor. Every single cell was a movable component that could be shifted and reoriented via clockwork mechanisms.
The clash of Saints that night must have inflicted massive damage on the Black Prison; Qing had likely been swamped with damage control all this time.
With a faint smile, Xu Yuan shrugged. "My father was the one who signed off on that plan. I was merely the executor."
Hearing this, Qing instantly lost her bluster, letting out a soft huff. "Enough chatter. I'm opening the door now."
Saying so, she glanced at the black-clad maiden beside Xu Yuan. "You're taking her in as well?"
After a brief hesitation, Xu Yuan nodded. "Since she's already come this far, she should accompany me inside, of course."
"Hmph."
With another cold snort, Qing extended an emaciated, withered arm from beneath her black robe and pressed it lightly against the door, offering a routine warning: "Because of the breach Feng Jiuxuan cleaved open, a great deal of spiritual qi surged back into the Black Prison. Although that massive hole has been sealed and the Source Qi inside was extracted once using specialized artifacts, some traces inevitably remain. That meager amount of Source Qi may be useless to ordinary cultivators, but the old man inside is different. Remember not to get too close."
Sensing the iron door begin to vibrate, Xu Yuan smiled. "Rest assured, I'm only here to exchange a few words with him."
"I hope so."
After murmuring that, Qing asked softly, "Do you need me to accompany you inside to see him?"
Considering the nature of the conversation that was to follow, Xu Yuan pondered for a moment and shook his head. "No need. Private matters aren't suitable for outside ears."
"Is that so..."
Qing seemed unsurprised and continued her instructions: "Though the likelihood of him attacking you is slim, after all these years of... forget it. I'll seal my hearing and wait for you at the door. If anything unexpected happens..."
At that, Qing looked past Xu Yuan and glanced at Ran Qingmo. "Notify me directly using Source Qi or your intent-soul."
As her words fell, accompanied by the heavy grinding of metal, the sealed iron door slowly parted, revealing a dimly lit room within.
The moment he saw the interior layout, Xu Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly.
It was dim, but there was light...
That was unusual.
Prisoners in this era possessed no human rights to speak of. The cells in the Black Prison were typically like the one holding Orenli—shrouded in absolute darkness. Yet this Silver Willow Orchid actually contained light.
Puzzled, Xu Yuan was about to ask Qing why, only to see the woman already leaning against the adjacent wall with her eyes closed in rest.
"She has already sealed her hearing," Ran Qingmo whispered softly beside him. "Shall we go in now?"
"Of course."
Xu Yuan chuckled and strode directly into the cell. Upon seeing the layout inside, a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes.
Unlike in Cangyuan, this cell was actually a suite.
Illuminated by a flickering oil lamp, the room was dim but not cramped, spanning roughly twenty square meters, with a wooden door at the far end.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
The cell contained a few pieces of aged furniture, though their surfaces were coated in a layer of dust. The prisoner living here clearly had not ventured out to this front room in a very long time. Yet judging from the wood grain of the furniture, the materials were anything but ordinary, reminiscent of the specially provisioned cell Xu Yuan had once stayed in.
Stepping forward at a measured pace, Xu Yuan retrieved two silk handkerchiefs, handing one to Ran Qingmo to cover her nose and mouth against the dust. He then walked silently to the wooden door and came to a stop.
After a moment's thought, Xu Yuan decided it was better to be polite and knock first.
Thump, thump, thump.
The gentle knocking echoed in the quiet cell, but within, complete silence reigned.
Seeing no response, Xu Yuan reflexively glanced at the maiden beside him, only to find Ran Qingmo blinking back at him.
"......"
"......"
Big eyes stared at big eyes.
When undecided, people naturally sought the counsel of whoever was beside them. Unfortunately, the person accompanying him now was the Big Ice Block; had it been Li Qingyan, she might have offered a few suggestions.
Smiling faintly, Xu Yuan knocked on the door once more and called out, "Excuse me, may I come in?"
"......"
A pitch-black environment, an ancient, deserted cell, accompanied by the chilling draft—it carried an undeniably eerie atmosphere.
Yet there was still no response from within.
Amusement welled up in Xu Yuan's chest.
The old man inside who was about to be shaken down for rewards had definitely heard the commotion. To put on the airs of an aloof master despite being a caged prisoner—was there really any need?
Creak—
With a strained groan from the ancient wooden door, Xu Yuan pushed it open and stepped inside. Holding the handkerchief over his nose and mouth, he said softly,
"Since you haven't spoken, I'll take that as your consent..."
Boom!
Before his words could finish, a resounding blast exploded right before Xu Yuan, the fierce gale kicked up by immense force stinging his cheeks.
When his pupils refocused, Xu Yuan saw an ink sword barring the space right in front of his eyes, and gripped tightly upon its razor-sharp edge was a withered palm.
Wuming had made a move.
And Ran Qingmo had blocked the blow for him.
The moment that thought surfaced in his mind, several sharp gusts tore in from behind!
Six withered, emaciated arms shot past Xu Yuan and Ran Qingmo like a spider's limbs, slamming heavily into the grey-robed elder before them.
Sensing the fluctuation of Source Qi, Qing had struck as well.
The air hung silent for an instant, followed by a dull thud.
Bam!
That single strike earlier seemed to have exhausted all the Source Qi Wuming had managed to gather. Bereft of any means to resist, the elder was sent flying backward by the impact.
In the span of a spark, everything settled.
However, Qing seemed to have pulled her blow; the grey-clad elder twisted a few times in midair before landing steadily on the floor.
Wuming's frame was hunched with advanced age, and his hair and beard, untrimmed for years, appeared disheveled, obscuring his true features. Yet the gaze piercing through the mess locked firmly onto Xu Yuan's face.
Meeting that gaze for an instant,
Xu Yuan's expression turned somewhat unkind. "Old man, that welcoming gift of yours was quite the surprise. I nearly lost my head."
"......"
The elder did not speak.
Yet, whether it was merely an illusion or not, Xu Yuan noticed that upon hearing those words, the hunched, grey-clad old man's eyes took on a look of flustered helplessness, and his stooped back seemed to droop even lower.
After several breaths of silence,
the elder's snow-white beard twitched, and he offered a sheepish chuckle. "This... this old man, heheh... don't be angry, don't be angry. Since you're here, why... why don't you sit for a bit? Ah, look at my memory. Let me tidy up for you two first... It's too messy... far too messy."
Perhaps because he had gone without speaking for so long, the elder's voice was trembling and disjointed. As he spoke, beneath Xu Yuan's slightly puzzled gaze, the stooped old man with white hair trailing to the floor began tidying the room entirely of his own accord.
The inner room was cleaner than the outer chamber. Perhaps because the elder had remained active within it, there was not much accumulated dust, but the furniture and floor were strewn with all manner of books, seemingly meant for his pastime.
As he tidied the inner chamber, the elder stole glances toward Xu Yuan at the doorway, continuing to chat in a gentle tone: "Heheh... the young lady you brought is quite pretty, and her cultivation isn't bad either. Mm... you two should have already held your wedding banquet, yes?"
"......"
Xu Yuan frowned and said nothing.
Seeing this, the elder hastily offered a sheepish laugh. "Ahem, this old man was getting ahead of himself. Sit first, sit first. We can talk after you sit down..."
Watching the cautious, walking-on-eggshells manner this Semi-Saint elder displayed toward him, Xu Yuan reflexively glanced back at the cell entrance, only to see that Qing had already stepped back outside. She did not seem at all concerned that the old man would attack him again.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan grew a few degrees more certain of his guess regarding the elder's identity.
With that thought, Xu Yuan suddenly asked in a quiet voice, "You wanted to kill me just now, didn't you?"
The room fell instantly silent. The elder froze in the middle of gathering books.
After a long while,
the elder slowly straightened his frame. Looking at Xu Yuan, his wrinkled hands rubbed nervously against his grey robe as he said softly, "This old man did not know it was you who came. Don't... don't be angry."
"......" Xu Yuan remained silent.
The elder hastily looked toward Ran Qingmo, speaking in a rush: "Don't disbelieve me. If this old man truly wanted your life, that young lady wouldn't have been able to stop me just now. Right, young lady?"
As his words fell, the oil lamp flickered in the silence.
Beside him, Ran Qingmo tugged gently on the hem of Xu Yuan's robe and whispered, "Xu Yuan... that old grandpa really did stop on his own just now."
The elder instantly brightened, nodding vigorously. "Yes, yes! That's it, exactly that..."
Having said that,
the elder paused, then asked tentatively, "Changtian, do you... want to sit for a while before leaving?"
"......"
After a moment of silence, having confirmed the elder's identity in his heart, Xu Yuan let out a soft breath. Taking Ran Qingmo by the hand, he stepped slowly into the inner room, asking as he walked, "How did you recognize me, Grandfather?"
"......"
The moment he heard that form of address, Feng Yuanqin's cloudy eyes lit up instantly. Rubbing his hands together, he said, "How could this old man fail to recognize Qian'er's child? She was always talking about you three brothers. Judging by your bone age, you could only be the youngest. It's a bit messy here... Next time, the next time you come, your grandfather will definitely have it properly tidied up for you."
With that,
Feng Yuanqin tentatively watched Xu Yuan's expression.
Xu Yuan looked at the gingerly cautious old man for a moment, then smiled faintly.
"All right."
Chapter 533