Now that things had come to this, Lü Qiuwei took on a solemn expression as well. "Master Yu, you have traveled far as our guest. Please do not make things difficult for subordinates like us."
"Subordinates? Whose subordinate are you now?" Yu Zecheng swept his gaze across the room; there were roughly twenty Yangshan guards inside Nuanxiang Chamber.
Taking them down should not be difficult.
He glanced at the two guards behind him. Catching his meaning, the two quietly circulated their true power, preparing to draw their blades in a single strike.
Lü Qiuwei backed away two paces in apparent astonishment. "What do you gentlemen intend to do? Nuanxiang Chamber is no place for violence!"
With one hand tucked behind his back, he swiftly flashed several hand signals.
This signaled the others: Form up!
Not a tactical formation for battle, but a labyrinth formation.
The task his lord had given him was to detain Yu Zecheng without completely falling out and coming to blows—a tall order indeed.
Throwing up a few illusions to confound the man and stall for time was likely the optimal solution.
In the Yangshan Archipelago, Yu Zecheng could not rely on origin power to pierce illusions; he would have to dismantle them manually.
Lü Qiuwei's formation had already been laid out before the explosion at the docks; it only needed to be triggered.
Right at that moment, however, a stir arose outside, followed by several figures strolling leisurely into Nuanxiang Chamber.
While the other patrons were all scrambling toward the exits, this group moved against the tide, standing out conspicuously.
Curiously, upon seeing the person in the lead, quite a few fleeing travelers halted in their tracks with wide eyes, no longer jostling toward the doors.
Stepping over the threshold, this person asked in a calm, placid tone:
"What happened here?"
Yu Zecheng could not have been more familiar with this person and this face, yet coming face-to-face with him at this very moment sent a sharp chill creeping down his spine.
Twice before on the battlefield, he had brushed against death, and on both occasions his back had suddenly turned icy cold and his breath had quickened just like this.
The fellow before his eyes was the secondary target of tonight's operation—
He Lingchuan stood right in front of him with his hands clasped behind his back, his sleeves fluttering in the gentle breeze, with Lü Qiuwei and the others falling in behind him.
"With the hurricane approaching and trouble stirring outside, Mister Yu had best remain here." He Lingchuan's smile was exceedingly warm, like an earnest host offering well-meaning advice to a guest. "Out there, the wind and rain are wild. Caught in that, you would only end up soaked to the skin."
Yu Zecheng stared at him without blinking.
His subordinate Wang Xiang had clearly reported He Lingchuan's death, so how could this bastard suddenly appear before his very eyes?
An illusion!
The instant he saw He Lingchuan, he understood.
He Xiao must have employed some deceptive divine art to fool Moqi Song and Wang Xiang, all to bait him into committing to a move.
Those two useless fools!
One stood just inside the threshold and the other just outside, their locked gazes practically striking sparks.
After a long while, Mister Yu's Adam's apple bobbed. "Island Master He has worked hard, hurrying back and forth in such hurricane weather."
Things having reached this stage, he felt no panic over his scheme being laid bare.
The battle between Ye Qing's squad and the spider demon had already begun. Even if it was a trap, the reinforcements Yu Zecheng had requested from Lingxu City were hardly pushovers; who would ultimately prevail remained anyone's guess. And in the worst case—even if their efforts fell short at the final hurdle—they hailed from Beijia. What would He Lingchuan dare do to them?
"Not hard at all, not hard at all. It is only my duty." He Lingchuan beamed. "Last time we drank together, Mister Yu mentioned that you enjoy playing shuanglu. Tonight the wind and rain are raging, and since you have nowhere else to go anyway, why not keep your host company for a round or two?"
He heavily emphasized the words "nowhere else to go."
Yu Zecheng gave a faint sneer and gestured toward his guest room. "Very well. Please, come in."
When had he ever said he liked playing shuanglu? He had only mentioned playing a casual round now and then. But under the present circumstances, he also wanted to see what this man named He was scheming.
If the fellow named He dared follow him inside, he wouldn't mind—
He Lingchuan, however, shook his head and took a step back, pointing toward the center of Nuanxiang Chamber. "If we're going to play, let's play big."
He was pointing directly at the colossal shuanglu board on the ground floor of Nuanxiang Chamber!
Yu Zecheng's gaze narrowed slightly. What kind of trick was this He fellow pulling now?
He Lingchuan gave him no chance to refuse. Striding over to the board in a few quick paces, he gestured invitingly:
"Please step into the game, Mister Yu."
Looking at his characteristically sincere smile, Yu Zecheng let out a cold laugh and leisurely walked over.
A shuanglu set this large was a first for him as well.
This Island Master He certainly knew how to put on a spectacle.
The giant board was poised to become one of Hot Springs Retreat's landmarks, meant to leave a deep impression on seafarers visiting Suoding Island, but He Lingchuan had his own reasons for bringing it into play right now.
He made an inviting gesture toward Yu Zecheng.
At the same time, several people entered from outside and took seats at surrounding tables. Their eyes were sharp and piercing, every one of them possessing martial cultivation.
Yu Zecheng knew these were He Lingchuan's elites.
He glanced out the window, where shadowy figures swayed in the dim light—whether tree branches or people, he could not tell.
Outnumbered.
Yu Zecheng walked over slowly, coming to a halt less than three feet from He Lingchuan. "Who takes black?"
At this distance, could an explosive assault subdue He Lingchuan in a single move?
To catch bandits, first capture the ringleader. As long as he took He Lingchuan hostage, all their current troubles would resolve themselves instantly.
The thought was immensely tempting, but on second thought, Yu Zecheng recalled an old piece of news:
Fan Sheng, Vice Commander of the Tongxin Guard in Lingxu City, had once been defeated by He Xiao, and in thoroughly humiliating fashion.
Which meant this youth's personal martial prowess was anything but weak.
Could he dare get so close to Yu Zecheng without something to rely on?
Besides, since He Xiao had returned to Nuanxiang Chamber, what about the Bailong people who had launched the riot? Where were they now?
"Mister Yu is a guest from afar, and an honored guest from Beijia at that. This board was completed only a few days ago, so it is only fitting that you make the opening move," He Lingchuan said with a chuckle. "I shall let you take the first step."
A double entendre that subtly mirrored the current situation.
Nearby, Lü Qiuwei's lips twitched. Was it taking the first step, or walking straight into a trap? Even over a game of shuanglu, his lord never missed a chance to poke someone where it hurt.
Stiff-faced, Yu Zecheng brushed past He Lingchuan.
As their shoulders met, it took all his restraint to suppress the impulse to strike.
He had zero certainty of guaranteed success.
The two took their positions on the board.
Hot Springs Retreat was fully booked today. Seeing that the oversized board was not a mere ornament and that people were actually playing on it, the patrons milling about immediately crowded around.
Guests on the second and third floors leaned over the railings to peer down.
Shuanglu was widely popular, and seven out of ten guests here knew the game. With nowhere to go during the hurricane anyway, none of them minded watching the excitement.
Yu Zecheng picked up two dice and cast them out.
The pieces were massive, and the dice were equally impressive, each roughly the size of a watermelon, yet light enough that even a five-year-old child could lift them with ease.
Of the two dice, one showed a three and the other a two, totaling a mere five pips.
The pieces stood waist-high, forcing Yu Zecheng to physically haul a black horse into its new position.
Why had He Lingchuan come straight for him? He had remained properly inside the inn the entire time without taking a single step outside.
From He Lingchuan's faked death to his reappearance, barely half an incense stick of time had passed. Yu Zecheng found it hard to believe that within such a brief window, he could have dealt with Moqi Song and more than a hundred Bailong men, and then shown up here.
Merely covering the distance would have been tight enough, unless the scoundrel possessed some earth-burrowing divine skill.
Furthermore, the riot at the docks was still underway, and the Beijia squad was continuing its siege on the spider demon. Either crisis was more than Island Master He could afford to bear.
Instead of attending to either of those fronts, what did He Lingchuan mean by running back here just to play shuanglu with him?
"Oho, Mister Yu's luck isn't so good." He Lingchuan casually tossed the dice, rolling a five and a six. "Looks like my head start went to waste."
He hauled a white horse to a new spot, appearing far in the lead.
"Hard to say. The world is full of surprises." Yu Zecheng glanced up and saw that both of his guards were being closely watched. The Yangshan men were eyeing them like thieves, forbidding them from heading upstairs to their rooms, let alone making any suspicious movements.
He pointed toward them. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Focus!" He Lingchuan did not even look up, tapping the edge of the board twice with the toe of his boot. *Thump, thump.* "A poor opening. If Mister Yu does not pay attention, you will lose in no time."
Yu Zecheng looked at him, and realization suddenly dawned:
The kid had come in person to keep watch over him, preventing him from communicating with his subordinates.
By playing on this giant board, both of them were constantly pacing around in plain view. There was nowhere to conceal their hands or feet, and no opportunity to weave divine arts unnoticed.
The sheer nerve of this kid to devise such a scheme!
Yet that also meant He Lingchuan truly knew what the Beijia people were doing!
Cold sweat broke out across Yu Zecheng's back.
If he could not communicate with the outside, he could not direct his subordinates' battle in real time. In that case, what would become of Ye Qing and the others on the eastern side of Suoding Island?
He decided to drop the riddles. "He Xiao, what exactly are you doing?"
"On a hurricane night, I am ensuring that Mister Yu stays perfectly comfortable right here." He Lingchuan rolled the dice again. Instead of moving an established piece, he hauled two new pieces forward into the fray. "Such peace is worth cherishing. How many people brave wind and rain only to gain nothing in return?"
At this moment, inside Yu Zecheng's guest room, watermarks once again formed words upon the wine goblet tray.
Yet the room was empty, and the message received no reply.
Fighting amidst the wind and rain, Ye Qing and his comrades received no orders from Yu Zecheng.
On the ground floor of Nuanxiang Chamber, two of He Lingchuan's pieces landed on Yu Zecheng's point, and he cheerfully captured one of his black horses:
"Zhu Erniang refuses to leave, and Yangshan does not wish to offend Beijia. A difficult dilemma! Sigh, I truly brought the two of you together. Mister Yu, if there could be a fair contest—I only mean *if*—this would be a wonderful opportunity. Zhu Erniang has left her lair, and she has few offspring by her side. If your people can defeat Zhu Erniang, without another word, I will dispatch a large ship to see you safely on your return voyage at once!"
No matter how fine his diplomatic words sounded, Yu Zecheng remained unmoved.
"Is that so? Aside from Zhu Erniang, what else is on this island?"
Otherwise, the kid would not be so supremely confident.
Had his pre-battle intelligence overlooked some critical factor?
He Lingchuan thought for a moment and shrugged. "Mainly just spider demons."
***
Over the low hill ahead lay the Suoding Island docks.
The closer he drew to their destination, the more cautious Moqi Feng became. Lying prone atop the ridge and peering down, he saw that the fires at the docks had already been extinguished, though the wind blowing up still carried a scorched, smoky reek.
His confidant leaned close. "Young Master, something's wrong!"
Moqi Feng's face was dark as stagnant water. He had spotted the problem at a glance:
The docks were brightly lit. Looking down from their vantage point on the hill, they could clearly identify the location of the explosion—
It was not the planned cargo depot or warehouse at all!
The powder kegs the Bailong had planted beforehand had not been detonated.
Chapter 991