Chapter 15: Old Friends Reunite and Speak of the Yellow Court

When Su Mu awoke from five days of unconsciousness, the first person he saw was Jiang Yingying, who by all rights should have been at the Carefree Den. Still dazed from his long torpor, Su Mu’s senses were clouded, and Jiang Yingying, dressed now in men’s attire—an ill-fitting long robe from who knows where—looked so out of place that he failed to recognize her at first glance.

Jiang Yingying sat at his bedside, savoring a bowl of bird’s nest soup someone had brought, eating with relish. When she noticed Su Mu’s eyes open, she gave him a self-satisfied smile.

“I thought you were just a child intending to break his word, but who would have guessed you’d end up gravely injured? I nearly blamed you unjustly.”

Su Mu’s voice was weak as he managed to speak: “Jiang Yingying, why are you here? Ah, did anyone see you? You didn’t kill anyone, did you? Are my parents safe?”

Remembering Jiang Yingying’s strange illness, he quickly turned his concern to her.

Jiang Yingying set aside her bowl, dabbed at her mouth, and looked Su Mu in the eye. “You do have a lot of questions. Your parents are perfectly fine. So long as you behave and answer whatever I ask, I’ll have no reason to kill anyone.”

Su Mu frowned, ignoring her remark, and blurted out in a panic, “Where’s An Rui? Has she come back? And Xiao Lan—was she rescued?”

As he spoke, he tried to throw back the covers and get out of bed, only to find his body limp and powerless; he couldn’t so much as lift the blanket.

Jiang Yingying watched him with a cold smile. “Save your strength. If you can manage to stand and take a few steps, I’ll kill myself right here and now.” With that, she pressed Su Mu back onto the bed. He struggled, but her hands were like iron clamps—no matter how he fought, he could not break free.

“Calmed down now? If you keep squirming, you’ll never learn what became of your little sweetheart.”

At this, Su Mu immediately stilled, anxiously repeating, “I won’t move, I won’t move.”

Satisfied, Jiang Yingying released him and poured herself a cup of tea, sipping it with deliberate leisure as Su Mu watched, gritting his teeth in impatience. His mind raced with worry for An Rui, and Jiang Yingying’s indifference only made her seem all the more detestable.

He was about to sit up and question her when she shot him a warning glare, and he had no choice but to wait in silence as she finished her tea.

At last, Jiang Yingying set down her cup and said, “I don’t know where your little sweetheart is. As for the Xiao Lan you mentioned, I fear she didn’t survive.”

Seeing the anger on Su Mu’s face, she added, “But I do know who took her and can guess where they would go.”

Su Mu, in no mood for games, retorted: “No need to tell me—I already know. The man who took her is Zhou Chen of Pinglong Fort. I’m well aware.”

Jiang Yingying nodded, “So it’s as I thought. The one who wounded you is also from Pinglong Fort. From your injuries, it was clearly Zhou Chen’s handiwork. He’s always fancied himself a romantic, and whenever he takes a liking to some young lady, he abducts her for his own pleasure.”

Su Mu was baffled. “Why take people against their will? The girls are clearly unhappy—what does he mean by pleasure?”

Jiang Yingying nearly choked on her tea, staring at this clueless boy in disbelief and exasperation. “Don’t ask such foolish questions. Enough about that; let me ask you a few things. If your answers please me, I’ll tell you where your little sweetheart is being taken and how to rescue her.”

“Fine, ask away,” said Su Mu.

Jiang Yingying began, “Why did you go to Lu’an Villa that day? Who was there? How did you escape? Did you see or hear anything unusual?”

Over the past few days, Jiang Yingying had overheard the servants of the Su household gossip about what had happened, but their knowledge was limited and only left her more unsettled. Deciding to remain in Su Mu’s room, she’d hidden under the bed or in the wardrobe whenever the servants came to clean, thankful that the doctor had ordered Su Mu to rest and so few people disturbed him.

Su Mu considered her questions and replied, “I went to Lu’an Villa because An Rui wanted an explanation for something. I was trampled by their horses. Inside the villa were a group of men in black, and two especially formidable figures—one called Zhou Chen, the other Du Feiyang.”

At the mention of Zhou Chen’s name, Su Mu clenched his teeth in hatred. “Uncle Mu from An Rui’s family went with us. He beat down those unreasonable men in black, then fought with Du Feiyang. The scene was truly incredible…” The memory of Mu Zhenshan and Du Feiyang’s clash still filled Su Mu with dread.

Jiang Yingying, hearing Du Feiyang’s name, nodded slowly, indicating she understood.

“Go on.”

“Zhou Chen wanted An Rui to go with him. I refused, so he challenged me to a bet—if I could touch him within ten breaths, he’d let us go.”

Jiang Yingying looked Su Mu over in surprise. “That’s how you were injured? Zhou Chen, gambling with a mere child—ten of you together couldn’t have laid a finger on him. Isn’t he worried about ruining his reputation?”

Su Mu protested, “But I won! He’s the one who broke his word.”

Jiang Yingying burst out laughing, plainly incredulous. “Indeed, indeed. Zhou Chen should have knelt right there and admitted defeat—it was truly his fault.”

Hearing her obvious mockery, Su Mu turned away in a huff.

“All right, all right, I believe you. Go on,” she coaxed.

Without turning back, Su Mu continued, “Even though I won, Zhou Chen stabbed me full of holes with his flying swords—he’s incredibly skilled. He struck me with his palm; I passed out and don’t know how An Rui and the others got me out. When I woke, I saw An Rui being abducted by Zhou Chen in the woods, and then… and then I saw Du Feiyang kill Xiao Lan.”

His voice faltered, grief and anger mingling, Xiao Lan’s terrified, unwilling face still vivid in his mind.

“This is the way of the world,” Jiang Yingying said solemnly, eyes narrowing. “The strong prey on the weak—what you suffered happens every day. Ordinary folk like you have no way to resist, do you?”

She continued, “When I first met you, you were just an ordinary boy. Now you possess meridian power. Whom did you meet? Who opened your source? Was it that Mu fellow?”

Su Mu looked blank. “Open my source? What does that mean? What’s meridian power?” Then, as if realizing something, he brightened. “There’s this strange energy in my body—I don’t know what it is, but it feels wonderful.”

Jiang Yingying was skeptical. “So you awakened your starlight source on your own, without guidance? That’s unheard of.”

Su Mu asked, “What is starlight source? What does it mean to open the source?”

“It’s called different things in different places. Here, we call the wellspring of power in your body the starlight source. Ordinary people can’t sense it; it takes someone with the same source to guide and awaken it in another. Do you understand?”

Su Mu half-understood, but didn’t want Jiang Yingying to think him foolish, so he nodded.

She snorted, “Don’t pretend to understand what you don’t. I’ll explain it to you another time.”

Continuing, she said, “I could tell you’d opened your source the moment I saw you two days ago. Otherwise, with such severe injuries, you’d never recover so quickly. When a person opens their source, they’re infused with purest essence, which can refine and strengthen them. Since you did it on your own, with no one to guide you, all that power only healed your wounds and was mostly wasted—what a pity.”

Su Mu impatiently interrupted, “Let’s talk about this later. What about An Rui? How do we save her?”

Jiang Yingying was exasperated, cursing him inwardly for being such a lovesick child at his age.

“Since your little sweetheart was taken by Zhou Chen, she’s most likely being sent to the Water Blossom House in Heavenly Pavilion. That place has allied itself with Pinglong Fort. The brothel is notorious for training young girls into obedient, loyal servants, skilled in all manner of shameful arts. They also help certain patrons ‘break in’ abducted girls, currying favor and influence.”

The contempt in her voice for the Water Blossom House was unmistakable.

Su Mu was puzzled. “I don’t really understand what kind of place that is, or why Zhou Chen would send An Rui there. Since we know where she’s being taken, let’s go and demand her return—she certainly wouldn’t want to stay there.”

Jiang Yingying sneered, “You foolish boy. That place is a forbidden ground for women, where girls become mere playthings, tools for the brothel to make money and gather secrets. Zhou Chen is too busy and too perverse to personally train your sweetheart—he never uses brute force, so he’ll leave it to the brothel’s people. And as for you, do you really think you can just walk in and demand her release? They could snap their fingers and scatter your bones to the river. Do you think you’re a match for Zhou Chen?”

Clutching his head in despair, Su Mu groaned, “What do we do then? An Rui is waiting for me to save her. Oh, but I have this strange power you mentioned—can I defeat them?”

Jiang Yingying tapped his forehead in annoyance. “With your pitiful strength, you’d be hard-pressed to kill a chicken. Don’t worry—I have a plan.”

Su Mu grabbed the hem of her robe in excitement. “Yingying, tell me what to do!”

A faint, imperceptible smile touched Jiang Yingying’s lips. “Heh, what we cannot do ourselves, others can. If we find the right people and plead our case, I’m sure they’ll help us retrieve her.”

“Who are they? Let’s go beg for their help right now!” Su Mu pressed.

“Don’t be hasty,” Jiang Yingying replied. “You’ve just woken up. Your coma was due to the exhaustion of your source and meridian power. Let me teach you how to circulate your energy—rest for two days, and then we’ll set out. Otherwise, how will your body endure the journey?”

Anxious but powerless, Su Mu could only obey. Suddenly, a thought struck him: “Yingying, how did you find my house? And your face—it looks much better.”

She snorted. “What, is it so hard for the great young master Su’s house to be found? I waited all evening at the Carefree Den and when you didn’t come, I figured you’d been dragged off by wolves and went looking for you.”

The truth was, that night, worried Su Mu might have betrayed her, Jiang Yingying forced herself, despite pain and hunger, to crawl out of the cave. Fortunately, as one who cultivated the essence life, her self-healing abilities were extraordinary—so long as the wounds weren’t fatal, recovery was swift.

She’d slipped quietly into Jiangnan Town under cover of night, quickly learning from the gossiping townsfolk what had happened to Su Mu. She found his house and snuck in, thus hiding there until now.

“We who cultivate the essence life are granted self-healing by the heavens—that’s our greatest gift. As for our other abilities… well? Do you want to learn?”