I Can Strengthen Infinitely-Chapter 113 - 95: Sea of Red Spider Lilies

The night was deep, the moon was full, and silence prevailed.

The occasional sound of insects chirping came from the garden outside the house. A lamp was placed at the center of the room, lighting up everyone’s face.

Youlan sat quietly at the desk writing, while Qin Yuesheng sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, practicing the Profound Celestial Scripture.

Xuerong was engrossed in the books collected at Youlan’s home, while Chen Chun, who could barely read any big characters, sat nervously on a chair, fidgeting with fingers and pulling at clothes.

Tonight’s mission determined whether they could leave Ten Thousand Flowers City alive. For ordinary people accustomed to a life of regularity and routine, suddenly exposing them to excitement made them so nervous their teeth chattered and hands and feet turned cold.

Yet, due to Qin Yuesheng’s previous orders, they glanced at each other in silence, fearing to disturb Qin Yuesheng’s cultivation.

"The time has come, let’s move," Youlan suddenly lifted her head and said, putting down the brush.

This proclamation was like the drumbeat before two armies clashed, instantly tearing apart the long-standing silence inside the room.

Chen Chun and the others shuddered, their bodies stiffly rising from the chairs.

The white aura emanating from behind Qin Yuesheng gradually faded as, under everyone’s gaze, he suddenly opened his eyes.

He asked, "Is everything ready?"

Chen Chun nodded quickly, "It’s ready. We’ve tied all the fabric in Youlan’s house into a rope as you instructed, securely."

Qin Yuesheng glanced at the pile of cloth near them, "Very well, there’s no time to waste, let’s set off."

The group quickly sprang into action.

As Xuerong walked beside him, Qin Yuesheng patted her shoulder reassuringly, "I apologize for any offense tonight, Miss Xue. Once we reach the Celestial Star, I’ll set you free."

Upon hearing Qin Yuesheng speak, Xuerong’s cheeks flushed, unable to meet his gaze.

For some reason, she began to feel a familiar, reminiscent sense of closeness from Qin Yuesheng. This closeness made her inexplicably shy and made her heart race whenever she saw him, leaving her without the courage to speak or look him in the eye.

"Mm." After stammering for a moment, Xuerong finally uttered a word, circling around Qin Yuesheng and rushing outside.

Watching Xuerong’s demeanor, Qin Yuesheng’s expression turned a bit peculiar.

Goodness! The ’dreamlike familiarity’ effect is quite powerful.

Perhaps he’ll become the heartthrob of both elderly women as well as young girls, earning titles like ’Women’s Dream Lover,’ ’Dream of Thirty Million Maidens,’ ’People are like jade, Yuesheng is unmatched,’ and many others.

Too handsome, favored everywhere, and like Hero Yang, maybe he’ll need to wear a mask when traveling in the martial world to prevent naive young girls from falling in love, only to cry about the Jianghu tale of ’Seeing Yuesheng ruins one’s life’ when rejected.

Such tales would ruin his reputation, making people think he is a trifling rogue, a despicable person playing with women’s emotions, which would be extremely detrimental to his martial journeys.

"Alas, too much charm is also a burden," Qin Yuesheng sighed from the bottom of his heart.

Standing nearby, Chen Chun and others gazed at him with puzzled expressions, wondering why Qin Yuesheng suddenly uttered such a shameless remark.

However, they dared not question him, knowing their lives depended entirely on him, and angering Qin Yuesheng now was not wise.

Before leaving the room, passing by Youlan’s desk, Qin Yuesheng instinctively glanced at the rice paper weighted with a paperweight.

On it was written, ’Fragrant orchids bloom in April in secluded valleys, Celestial Stars fall upon the long river.’

The handwriting was elegant, somewhat vibrant, revealing the quiet aura of the female author at a glance.

Aside from this paper, many other sheets were weighted in the same manner, yet all bore the same sentence, making Qin Yuesheng wonder if there was a special meaning.

Not having time to ponder, only Qin Yuesheng remained in the room, forcing him to mentally note the words and swiftly dash outside.

...

Led by Youlan, the group swiftly traversed Ten Thousand Flowers City under cover of night.

Youlan knew well the patrol routes within the city, allowing her to guide the group to avoid encounters with patrols perfectly, minimizing pressure remarkably.

Soon, they reached a large hall near the Inner City, differing from other city halls as it housed no women.

Crack!

The large hall doors were slowly pushed open until Qin Yuesheng could barely squeeze through sideways, whereupon he halted immediately.

Any sound might alert patrols, so he must be cautious.

One by one, they slipped into the hall, where a vast, vacant, dark space greeted them.

You can vaguely see that in the southern part of the large hall, there is a giant figure, like some kind of deity or Buddha, but it’s so dark here that Qin Yuesheng cannot clearly see the true form of the giant statue.

"Can we light a fire?" Qin Yuesheng asked softly.

"Yes."

With Youlan’s permission, Qin Yuesheng then took out a fire starter to illuminate, barely illuminating the area around them.

"Follow me." Youlan walked directly toward the giant statue, with Qin Yuesheng following closely behind, and the others catching up one after another.

They had reached the final step of the operation; anyone who didn’t catch up would likely be stuck in Ten Thousand Flowers City for a long time.

"The entrance to the underground palace is actually in the Inner City, but this place here is the weakest link between the outer city and that palace." Youlan circled behind the base of the statue and began to slowly feel around the stone bricks above.

She pressed on the stone bricks in a seemingly patterned sequence, and with a click, a square section of stone brick wall slowly descended, revealing a passageway so deep that it was unfathomable.

"Whoa!"

"I never expected such a mechanism to exist here; it’s truly amazing."

Youlan glanced back at Qin Yuesheng: "If you keep going from here, you’ll reach that underground palace. Are you ready to deal with the flower field filled with threats?"

Qin Yuesheng threw a large bundle of assembled ropes he was carrying onto the ground: "Come on, everyone take a rope and tie it around your waist, attaching the other end to me. Even if you pass out, I’ll drag you forward."

Chen Chun and others immediately complied.

Xuerong was about to grab a rope for herself, but Youlan grabbed her wrist and said, "We can’t go to the narrow pass; once we go down, I’ll protect you — just follow me."

Qin Yuesheng glanced at Youlan, this woman indeed had hidden cards up her sleeve. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

After preparations, Qin Yuesheng took the lead, holding the fire starter and entering the passage first, followed closely by the five connected to him with ropes, while Youlan and Xuerong took up the rear.

"How did you know?" Youlan suddenly leaned over and whispered in Xuerong’s ear.

"Huh?" Xuerong was startled.

"Earlier, when that person tried to kill me, you said I could help them escape Ten Thousand Flowers City, and mentioned that I’ve done such things before." Youlan asked curiously, "How did you know?"

"I, I..." Xuerong stammered, but finally, under Youlan’s gaze, she confessed the reason.

"Sister Youlan, when I was a child, I loved running up to the Drum Tower at night to watch stars. One night, while stargazing, I saw you and a man running nervously in the street. The next day, I heard other sisters say a man was missing in Ten Thousand Flowers City."

Youlan turned her head and smiled: "You’re clever, but how did you know the person running in the street was me? The city is unlit at night."

Xuerong responded mysteriously: "Heh, because my eyes can see clearly even at night."

After descending about a hundred feet deep underground, the end of the passage suddenly opened up, revealing an endless field of stunningly beautiful flowers to everyone’s view.

These were brilliant red exotic flowers, each bloom adorned with long, narrow red petals, and each petal was spaced one or two fingers’ width apart.

A golden slim stamen, pitch-black slender stem — this is the foreboding flower.

Upon seeing this flower field, Qin Yuesheng’s instinctive reaction was to hold his breath.

Earlier this afternoon, Youlan had explained the dangers of this flower field to everyone very clearly.

The scent of the foreboding flowers has a hallucinogenic effect; inhaling it causes disorientation, unclear consciousness, like being drunk.

In such a state, without others rescuing you, your life is essentially as good as over.

The scent of just one foreboding flower is not to be underestimated, let alone an immeasurable vast field of them.

Once trapped within, you’ll be enslaved for life until death ends your suffering.

Youlan waved her hand, creating a circular ice shield around herself and Xuerong, enclosing them completely, preventing any exchange of air and thus avoiding inhaling the foreboding flower’s scent.

Although air cannot flow through, it’s no problem at all for Youlan and Xuerong to maintain the shield for nearly half an hour.

"What’s the plan now?" Qin Yuesheng asked.

"Northward, there is a slope on the north side of the flower field. Once you reach the end, you will see the Dragon-locking Dao."

Without a word, Qin Yuesheng drew the Evil-Subduing Saber and began carving a path through the flower field.

From above the foreboding flower field, it looked like a red cloth being split by a black line cutting through its edge, continually tearing it apart.