Chapter 1461: Three-Way Interplay

The three men did not run around blindly. They first hurried to the All-Under-Heaven Money House. Two remained outside while the leader went directly to find the manager.

“How many medicine shops are there in Nanzhou’s provincial capital?”

“Eleven in all, large and small.”

“Do you have their exact locations?”

“Yes.”

The manager quickly pulled out a detailed map of the city. Relying on his familiarity with Nanzhou’s provincial capital, he moved street by street with his brush and rapidly circled the locations of all eleven medicine shops.

After taking the map, the man asked the manager for several reliable helpers and led them into the streets.

The group spread out and quickly headed for every street that had a medicine shop, entering each shop to investigate.

After an urgent search, they finally found their target inside one medicine shop where a carriage stood waiting outside.

Yan Baoru was dressed like an ordinary married woman in coarse clothes with a plain hairpin. She was speaking with the shopkeeper.

A clerk packed up the entire stock of a certain medicinal herb and carried the sack over for the customer to inspect.

Yan Baoru crouched down, opened the mouth of the sack with both hands, and checked its contents. Satisfied, she nodded, then took out three gold coins and handed them to the shopkeeper, indicating that he could keep the change.

The shopkeeper thanked her repeatedly and ordered the clerk to carry the sack outside and load it onto the carriage.

Before Yan Baoru climbed aboard, the driver gave her a slight nod. Her gaze flickered briefly left and right, but she showed no haste. She boarded the carriage and entered the compartment.

The driver cracked his whip, and the carriage rolled through the streets at an unhurried pace. It did not visit any other medicine shops, heading straight for the city gate instead.

The carriage had barely gone one street before the three men from Dayuan Sacred Land, having received word, appeared behind it. They sent the Money House helpers back and personally followed the carriage.

What the three did not know was that from the moment they left Maolu Annex, they themselves had been watched. The several helpers they later borrowed from the Money House had all been watched as well.

When they discovered Yan Baoru, the people watching them also knew they had found her.

The people who had laid this trap were no ordinary figures. The resources they could mobilize were enormous. Keeping watch on a few individuals like these was nothing.

When the trackers saw that the carriage was leaving the city, one of them immediately broke away at speed. Before long, a carriage had been arranged farther ahead. When the other two passed, all three quickly climbed aboard.

Yan Baoru’s carriage began to gallop once it left the city. The second carriage followed at a distance, neither too near nor too far.

Inside her carriage, Yan Baoru sat in silence. She knew only that she was acting on Sha Rulai’s orders. She had no idea what she was actually doing or what sort of affair she had been dragged into, though she had already realized something was wrong.

But she had no choice. Faced with a powerful figure like Sha Rulai, her status as the supposed number-one expert on the Golden Core Ranking meant nothing. Even the Ghost Doctor and his disciples were helpless. What could she possibly do?

After traveling more than twenty li beyond the city, the carriage turned onto a country road and headed toward a village ahead.

The carriage following behind did not make the turn, afraid of alerting the target. But three men quickly shot out of it and disappeared into the nearby woods. Using the forest for cover, they moved parallel to the road and continued tracking Yan Baoru’s carriage.

Her carriage went nowhere else. The village was its destination.

After entering the village, it stopped outside a relatively large farmhouse courtyard.

The gate stood open. Yan Baoru climbed down and called out. Wuxiang, wearing a veiled conical hat, came over and helped unload sack after sack of medicine.

At the courtyard entrance, a table had been set up. Ghost Doctor Hei Li himself sat behind it, seeing villagers who stood in line for treatment, while Wuxin worked beside him as an assistant.

Yan Baoru and Wuxiang carried the sacks of medicine into the courtyard one after another.

What did it mean to have no control over one’s own fate?

At this moment, master and disciples understood the feeling with exceptional clarity. Even putting on this performance here was something they had no choice about.

The stranger their actions became, the less secure they felt, and the more anxious they grew...

Someone returned to Maolu Annex and went directly to Consort Yuan. Beneath a tree, he reported in a low voice, “We found them. The target is outside the city, and the Ghost Doctor and his disciples are there as well...” He explained everything they had discovered in detail. From what they had learned by questioning the villagers, the Ghost Doctor and his disciples seemed merely to be passing through.

“Wait for now.” Consort Yuan waved him away and fell into thought.

When she first heard Yan Baoru’s name, she had already found it strange. Wasn’t Yan Baoru traveling with the Ghost Doctor and his disciples? Why had she appeared here? Could the Ghost Doctor and his disciples be nearby as well?

Consort Yuan had received word that they had already left Medicine Valley. Naturally, she had kept a close watch on their situation there, since they were connected to the matter she cared about most.

To verify her suspicion, she had sent people to investigate.

And sure enough, wherever Yan Baoru was, the Ghost Doctor and his disciples were nearby. They were actually in Nanzhou, treating patients in some village.

Instead of properly searching for what she needed, what were they doing here?

She made no immediate move.

Only after Yuan Se had finished his meal and everything had been settled did she climb into a carriage.

The man who had brought the report drove. They left Maolu Annex through a side gate.

Inside a pavilion, Guan Fangyi stood at a window and watched the carriage depart through a narrow gap.

She breathed a little easier.

Master Dao’s arrangement could probably be considered a success, though in a certain sense this particular affair was not entirely his arrangement.

Within Maolu Annex at present, Guan Fangyi was probably the only person who understood the overall situation.

Yuan Se had seized Luo Fangfei and laid a trap of his own. Whatever he was plotting, it was clearly no small matter.

The affair now unfolding had been laid by Luo Qiu, and whatever he sought was likewise certain to be significant.

Meanwhile Master Dao was operating another scheme from behind the scenes, and he was no easy opponent either.

The only difference was that Yuan Se and Luo Qiu did not know each other was laying a trap, while Master Dao was the one pushing the entire situation forward and understood what was happening on all three sides.

The three parties crossed and recrossed one another, each plotting in secret. Yuan Se thought Luo Qiu had fallen into his scheme. Luo Qiu thought Yuan Se had fallen into his. Master Dao, meanwhile, was manipulating the overall situation among all three.

Taken as a whole, Yuan Se and Luo Qiu suffered from being in the light. Master Dao remained hidden behind the scenes, ignored by everyone, and thus held the advantage of being one move ahead.

This tiny Maolu Annex, this tiny corner of Nanzhou’s provincial capital, looked peaceful on the surface.

Beneath that calm, however, wind and thunder were surging.

Under the stillness lay an extraordinarily dangerous whirlpool that seemed capable of swallowing everything. One unexpected turn was enough to ruin the game for any side.

Yet not one of the three parties was easy to deal with. No matter how dangerous matters became, all three had locked horns here, each determined to decide the victor.

Guan Fangyi was grateful she knew as much as she did.

Otherwise, with all three sides throwing out one dazzling scheme after another, if she had been the one opposing any of them, she would never have been able to endure it. She would have been played to death.

In truth, even now she only understood the broad outline.

Because she could not remain beside Niu Youdao at all times, she did not know exactly what the three sides were doing. She knew only that she had unquestionably become one of the pieces on the board in this hidden struggle.

Next door, the Prince’s residence was annexing and administering vast territories.

Yet Guan Fangyi understood very clearly that although the Prince’s residence seemed to be operating on an enormous scale, the quiet struggle hidden inside this tiny Maolu Annex involved matters far beyond anything on the other side.

Three sides intertwined here.

Whichever side lost would drag a great many lives down with it.

And she could feel that the moment when victory and defeat would be decided was no longer far away.

After leaving the pavilion, Guan Fangyi appeared to stroll around at an unhurried pace. In truth, she needed to send word out as quickly as possible.

Master Dao had to understand every shift on the board in as much detail as possible.

...

After the carriage left the city, it was soon abandoned in a secluded place.

Consort Yuan climbed out. Together with the driver, she entered the mountain forest, and the two moved at flying speed through the depths of the woods toward their destination.

She had to move quickly.

Yuan Se was still here, and Consort Yuan could not remain away from his side for long.

She only wanted to see what exactly the Ghost Doctor was doing, whether he had truly kept her matter in mind, and naturally to press him again while she was there.

She had to press him.

What sort of state was she in now?

She spent every day wearing a veiled hat. She did not even dare show her face behind a false mask. A mask was easy enough, but what was she supposed to do about the missing eye?

Because she always wore a veil and never showed her face, she had even grown too lazy to bother with makeup. In the past, her makeup had always been exquisitely done and pleasing to the eye.

...

Inside the hidden mountain cave, Guan Fangyi’s message arrived.

After reading it, Niu Youdao handed it to Lü Wushuang beside him. “The fish has taken the bait. Now we wait and see what Luo Qiu does.”

Yun Ji, who had delivered the message, said, “Can they really use this to get a grip on Consort Yuan? Why do I feel it isn’t entirely reliable?”

Niu Youdao smiled without answering.

After reading the message, Lü Wushuang spoke instead. “Yun Ji, you underestimate Luo Qiu too much. There used to be plenty of Nascent Soul cultivators. Luo Qiu was one of the few who survived the elimination and stood at the end. He is no harmless man. With an opening like this in his hands, if he cannot even subdue one Consort Yuan, then he has spent all these years for nothing. Just wait and watch. Consort Yuan is no match for Luo Qiu. She will certainly submit. Fatty Yuan is in for a difficult time this round!”

Niu Youdao smiled at Yun Ji. “Keep watch for any word Sha Rulai sends back.”

...

Consort Yuan arrived at the mountain village.

She did not storm into the village with a group of people and had no desire to create some conspicuous disturbance. She left the man who had accompanied her waiting in the hills and entered alone.

What she did not know was that even if she had brought him with her, some outcomes still would not have changed.

Wearing her veiled hat, she approached the target courtyard and saw that the clinic outside the gate had closed.

She stopped a passing villager and asked about it. Only then did she learn that the Ghost Doctor had merely stopped to rest for a while. Once the midday break was over and the sun had begun to slant, he would continue seeing patients.

She walked to the farmhouse gate and saw Guo Man and Yan Baoru sorting things in the courtyard, rummaging through the medicinal herbs they had purchased.

Seeing someone enter, Guo Man immediately went forward. “Sir is resting. If you seek treatment, please return at the shen hour.”

Consort Yuan said nothing.

She simply raised a hand and swept aside the veil hanging before her face, revealing herself to the two women.

Both froze when they saw her. They were about to salute, but Consort Yuan raised a hand and stopped them.

“Where is Hei Li?”

“Resting inside,” Guo Man answered quietly.

Consort Yuan immediately turned and headed into the house.

Behind her, Guo Man and Yan Baoru exchanged a subtle glance.

Both had realized that the person waiting inside was probably waiting precisely for this woman.

Inside the main room, the Ghost Doctor and his two disciples, some standing and some seated, all turned toward the unexpected visitor.

Consort Yuan entered and stopped.

She raised one hand, removed her veiled hat completely, and stood expressionless for a moment before forcing out a smile. “Sir seems quite at leisure.”

The Ghost Doctor and his two disciples all straightened.

No one spoke.

Instead, each of them glanced toward one side of the room.

Their reaction made Consort Yuan faintly sense that something was wrong.

She abruptly turned her head.

Standing in the doorway to an inner room was a man in green robes, lean and vigorous, hands clasped behind his back.

He was staring at her coldly.

[End of Chapter 1461]