Jingzhou is located in Hubei Province and is named after the winding and towering Jing Mountain within its borders.

This place has been a land of outstanding people and beautiful scenery since ancient times, producing many famous figures.

During the Three Kingdoms period, this area was the focus of contention among Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan. Cao Cao’s defeat at the Battle of Red Cliffs, Liu Bei’s acquisition of Nan Commandery, Guan Yu’s flooding of the seven armies, and Lü Meng’s crossing of the Yangtze River in disguise all took place on this land.

During the Ming Dynasty, Jingzhou was no longer one of the ancient Nine Provinces, but a prefecture under the Huguang Provincial Administration Commission, and its area was no more than the present-day Jingzhou City and Yichang City.

Although Jingzhou’s status has declined, its capital, Jiangling, remains an important transportation hub in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. As a result, merchants from all directions flock to the city, making it a bustling and lively place.

On this day, a middle-aged man came to the most famous Yunlai Inn in the city and asked for a superior room to stay in.

After settling in, he called over the waiter, gave him ten coins as a reward, and inquired in detail about the residences of the prefect and the famous Master Wan in the city.

Since the waiter had extra money to earn, he was naturally very forthcoming and told the man the exact locations of both places, which greatly satisfied him. The man then waved for him to leave.

This man was none other than Nie Yun, who had come from Mount Hua. In order not to reveal his whereabouts, he had specially disguised himself.

While it wasn’t a flawless disguise, his only goal was to conceal his true identity, so as long as others didn’t discover it, it was fine.

He came to Jiangling City for no other reason than to save the ill-fated couple in the story of Liancheng Jue: Ding Dian and Ling Shuanghua.

In this novel that exposes the ugliness of human nature, the love between these two is the only ray of light in a dark world.

Although Nie Yun wasn’t exactly a good person, he had been deeply moved by this love story when he read the novel in his previous life. Now that he had come to this world, he naturally wanted to help this pair of star-crossed lovers.

Of course, Shenzhaogong was also one of his targets.

Although this internal skill originated in a low-level martial arts world, its power and wonder are in no way inferior to the Nine Yin or Nine Yang. Ding Dian had his collarbone pierced and his Achilles tendon severed by Ling Tuisi, rendering him a cripple. However, thanks to the Divine Illumination Skill, he not only recovered his health but also became a peerless master. He even used it to revive Di Yun, who had been dead for nearly half an hour.

Di Yun, despite having his collarbone pierced, relied on his Divine Illumination Skill to rise again and ultimately overpower all the heroes.

Nie Yun felt that this had transcended the realm of martial arts and entered the realm of immortal cultivation techniques. Learning this skill wouldn’t guarantee survival, but it would definitely give him more lives.

The next day, Nie Yun walked through the streets and alleys of Jiangling City, comparing the information the waiter had given him with the actual terrain, and then went to the main hall to find out where the prison was located.

As night deepened, the city fell silent and peaceful.

Suddenly, the window of a superior room on the second floor of the Yunlai Inn opened silently. With a whoosh, a figure flew out of the room and headed straight for the city’s prison.

Inside the Jiangling prison, Ding Dian was being tortured by the jailers arranged by Ling Tuisi. He had not yet mastered the Divine Illumination Skill and was seriously injured, so he was being beaten like a dead dog.

A tall, burly jailer with a black mole on his left cheek kicked and punched Ding Dian while cursing, “Damn it! Someone like you wants to marry Master Ling’s daughter? You’re a toad trying to eat swan meat! Bah!”

As he spoke, he spat a mouthful of phlegm onto Ding Dian’s face.

A jailer nearby chuckled, “I think he’s gone mad with poverty. Miss Ling is the most beautiful woman in Jingzhou. This bastard, who’s like a dog, doesn’t even deserve to dream of her!”

As the group was getting into a good fight, they suddenly heard someone behind them say, “If he’s a dead dog, then what are you? Mad dogs?”

“Who goes there?” The group turned around quickly, but only saw a flash of silver light. Then they felt as if their bodies were floating, and then they knew nothing more.

Ding Dian had already looked over when the man was speaking, and saw that the newcomer was a yellow-faced man in his forties.

When the jailers turned around, he suddenly had a long sword in his hand.

A dazzling sword light flashed from his right hand, and several jailers were beheaded.

Ding Dian had never seen such superb swordsmanship before, and was momentarily stunned.

Nie Yun knelt down in front of Ding Dian, looked at his bloodied and wretched appearance, shook his head and sighed, “Brother Ding is a man who has been through the martial world, how can you be so stupid as a novice? It’s just a treasure, how could you make yourself look like this, and make Ling Shuanghua suffer along with you.”

When Ding Dian’s secret was exposed, his expression changed, and he shook his head, saying, “What treasure! I don’t know!”

Nie Yun shook his head, took the key from the jailer, and began to unlock Ding Dian’s shackles. As he did so, he casually said, “The first character is ‘four,’ the second character is ‘fifty-one,’ the third character is ‘thirty-three,’ and the fourth character is ‘fifty-three’…”

After removing all the shackles, he looked at the dumbfounded Ding Dian, shrugged, and said, “Brother Ding, don’t be nervous. I have no interest in that treasure. However, I’m a natural martial arts fanatic. How about we make a deal?”

Ding Dian frowned and asked, “What kind of deal?”

“I will take Brother Ding to see Ling Shuanghua and help you two live happily ever after.” Nie Yun pointed at Ding Dian. “But after it’s done, Brother Ding must memorize the Divine Illumination Scripture for me.”

Ding Dian thought for a moment and nodded, saying, “If you can rescue me and Shuanghua, I will give you the Divine Illumination Scripture.”

“It’s a deal.” Nie Yun helped Ding Dian up and walked towards the prison gate. Along the way, all the prison guards were dead, and the entire prison was a river of blood.

Ding Dian was increasingly astonished as he looked: so many people had died, yet not a sound had been made; this person’s martial arts skills were truly terrifying!

After leaving the prison, Nie Yun carried Ding Dian and leaped towards the Ling residence. Ding Dian’s eyes watered from the cool breeze, and he felt as if he were flying.

Upon arriving outside the Ling residence, Nie Yun placed Ding Dian on a large tree and said to him, “Brother Ding, please sit here. I’ll be right back.”

Ding Dian cupped his hands and said, “Thank you, young brother. Please be careful.”

Nie Yun nodded and was about to jump down when a thought suddenly struck him. He turned back to Ding Dian and asked, “Brother Ding, do you know of anything or any place in the Ling residence that I should be careful of?”

Ding Dian’s eyes flickered for a moment, and he said, “Although Ling Tuisi is an official of the court, he is just a scholar. Although the mansion is heavily guarded, young brother, you are skilled in light-footed martial arts. As long as you avoid the guards, you will naturally be able to find Shuanghua.”

Nie Yun narrowed his eyes slightly and asked again, “Brother Ding, you possess divine skills, so how did you end up being captured by Ling Tuisi?”

Ding Dian sighed, “It’s easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. At the time, I was focused on Shuanghua, so I wasn’t on guard. Ling Tuisi drugged my tea and food, which is why I was captured.”

Nie Yun smiled and said, “Brother Ding, don’t worry, I will be very careful.” After saying that, he took another deep look at Ding Dian, then jumped down from the tree and climbed over the wall into the Ling residence.

Not long after Nie Yun left, Ding Dian jumped down from the tree.

He carefully held onto the wall and slowly walked towards the city gate.

He was walking forward when he suddenly felt a gust of wind coming from behind him.

He was about to turn around when he felt a heavy blow to his neck, and then he knew nothing more.

********************

In the master bedroom of the Ling family mansion, Ling Tuisi, the prefect of Jingzhou, was lying in bed unable to sleep.

Although Ding Dian was imprisoned by him, this man had a very strange temper. No matter how severely he was tortured, he refused to reveal the whereabouts of the treasure, even when he offered to marry his daughter Ling Shuanghua to him.

“It’s like a rock from a latrine, smelly and hard!”

Ling Tuisi cursed inwardly, “That stupid girl is just like her dead mother, both of them are incredibly stubborn. In this world, nothing is real except wealth and power. All that talk about love and affection is just nonsense. But this girl is very filial and respects her mother the most. Maybe we can start from there.”

He pondered and pondered for a long time before finally falling asleep.

Suddenly, Ling Tuisi heard a noise in his sleep.

He quickly sat up, only to see a figure standing in front of the bed staring straight at him.

He was shocked and was about to shout when he saw the man reach out and tap him several times.

Ling Tuisi felt a numbness throughout his body; his acupoints had been sealed, and he couldn’t utter a single word.

After subduing Ling Tuisi, the man took out a pill from his person, pried open Ling’s mouth, and stuffed it into his mouth.

Ling Tuisi was completely disoriented, but with all his major acupoints pressed, he was powerless to resist and could only let the pill slide down his throat.

After doing all this, the man went to the table and lit the oil lamp.

Ling Tuisi looked closely and saw that the man was a sallow-faced man in his forties with a long scar on his left cheek, which looked like a centipede crawling on his face.

This person was Nie Yun. He looked completely different from before, especially with that very noticeable scar.

As Ling Tuisi was trying to recall when he had seen this person before, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, as if thousands of sharp needles were shooting around inside him.

Ling Tuisi’s eyes were wide open, his body was covered in sweat, and he let out a faint but pitiful groan from his throat.

Nie Yun sat at the table, quietly admiring the scene, nodding as he watched, seemingly very satisfied with Ling Tuisi’s reaction.

After a while, the pain subsided. Ling Tuisi’s eyes were lifeless, and he looked like he had been pulled out of the water, panting heavily. He looked at Nie Yun with pleading in his eyes.

Nie Yun shook his head and said softly, “Don’t rush, this is only the first half, there’s still the second half!”

Ling Tuisi didn’t understand what the second half was, but he knew that the effects of the drug didn’t seem to have completely worn off. Just as he was wondering about this, a smile suddenly appeared in his eyes, but the smile didn’t seem to be because of happiness or comfort.

Nie Yun looked at Ling Tuisi, whose expression was twitching, and shrugged, saying, “First it hurts, then it itches. The former is like being pierced by a fine needle, and the latter is like being swept by a cow’s hair. This is a new medicine I developed. You are the first user. How about it? Don’t you feel honored?”

If Ling Tuisi could speak, he would definitely curse her as a son of a bitch.

The tingling and itching sensation that spread throughout his internal organs made him wish he could cut his chest open, but his body was stiff and he could only endure it without moving.

Nie Yun admired it for a while with great interest, and only stepped forward after the effects of the medicine had completely worn off.

He looked at Ling Tuisi, whose eyes had rolled back and was about to faint, and laughed, “Do you know how potent this medicine is? If you do, blink twice.”

Ling Tuisi blinked rapidly, afraid that Nie Yun wouldn’t see him.

Nie Yun nodded and continued, “This medicine takes effect every day at 9 PM. First, there’s unbearable pain, making you reflect on the mistakes you made that day. Then, there’s an unbearable numbness and itching, making you greet the new day with a smile. So, Lord Ling, are you satisfied with my gift?”

Ling Tuisi’s face was filled with terror; he never expected that the medicine would be effective in the long term.

If he had to go through that agonizing, unbearable pain of wanting to live but not being able to die every day, he might as well be dead.

But having already risen to the position of prefect, how could he bear to give up this hard-won wealth and honor? Moreover, he had not yet found Emperor Liang Yuan’s treasure, and he was even less willing to die.

Seeing the fear in Ling Tuisi’s eyes, Nie Yun nodded in satisfaction and continued, “I will release your speech acupoint. You will answer any questions I ask.”

Ling Tuisi blinked again.

Nie Yun patted him a few times, and Ling Tuisi quickly said, “Great hero…”

Nie Yun glared at him, and Ling Tuisi quickly shut up.

Nie Yun sat on the table, tapped it, and asked, “Where did you get that Golden Wave Flower?”

Ling Tuisi was startled. The Golden Wave Flower was his trump card, and he had never used it except for the time he poisoned Ding Dian. He didn’t expect that this stranger would know about it.

Seeing that he didn’t speak, Nie Yun laughed and said, “I didn’t expect you to be so tough. Fine, then you can enjoy your happy time every night!” After saying that, he got up and left.

Ling Tuisi was taken aback and quickly said, “I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you. Back when I was in the Longsha Gang, I killed a merchant from the capital. There was a book in his bag that described this flower. Later, after I became the prefect, I sent people to Southeast Asia and they went to great lengths to find it. However, this Golden Wave Flower is native to India and it didn’t adapt well to the climate and soil of Jingzhou. Of the eight plants I brought back, only three remain. I later sent people to search for it again, but I heard that because this flower is too poisonous and difficult to cultivate, it has become extinct in India.”

And so, Ling Tuisi told everything about the Golden Wave Flower.

Just as Lan Fenghuang said, this flower is extremely poisonous; smelling it will cause dizziness, and touching it will cause death.

The gardeners in the manor had to cover their mouths and noses with two layers of damp cloths every time they tended to the plants, and they also had to wear thick leather gloves if they needed to move them.

Even so, every year gardeners often fall into a coma or even die from accidental poisoning.

Nie Yun felt a chill run down his spine, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness he hadn’t rashly gone to find Ling Shuanghua, or he might truly be dead. But this thing was so powerful; if it were used on the enemy…

Thinking of this, Nie Yun said to Ling Tuisi, “You should have already extracted the Golden Wave Venom, right? Give it all to me, along with the antidote. Don’t leave a single one behind.”

As he spoke, he placed his hand on Ling Tuisi’s shoulder.

Ling Tuisi felt the force that seemed to crush his bones, and dared not resist. He had no choice but to obediently hand over all those things.

Nie Yun collected them all and then tossed a red pill to Ling Tuisi.

Ling Tuisi quickly took it, but his face was full of unease.

Nie Yun smiled and said, “Don’t worry, this medicine can suppress the toxins in your body, but its effects will only last for three days. Tell your daughter tomorrow that Ding Dian has escaped and that the people monitoring her should be removed as well.”

Ling Tuisi was startled and quickly asked, “Is what you say true, sir?”

Nie Yun nodded and said, “By the way, do you know if your daughter has ever given Ding Dian any tokens or anything worth remembering?”

Ling Tuisi pondered for a moment and said, “When we put him in jail before, we searched his body, and even if he had anything, we threw it away. However, it seems that the sachet around his neck was a gift from my daughter on the Dragon Boat Festival, and we didn’t take it away at the time.”

Nie Yun’s eyes lit up, and he said, “Are you sure?”

Ling Tuisi quickly replied, “After I threw him into prison, I questioned my daughter’s maid in detail, and it is true that this happened. I dare not deceive you, sir.”

Nie Yun clapped his hands and laughed, “Excellent! Excellent!”

Ling Tuisi was puzzled, but dared not ask. He thought to himself, “Could it be that this villain has taken a fancy to Shuanghua? He asked me to remove the surveillance, could it be that he will go to see my daughter these next few nights?”

After laughing, Nie Yun picked up the oil lamp on the table and said to Ling Tuisi, “Take me to see the Golden Wave Flower.”

Ling Tuisi dared not say more and could only respectfully lead Nie Yun toward the flower room.

They encountered many night patrol guards along the way, but Ling Tuisi casually brushed them off.

Upon arriving outside the greenhouse, Ling Tuisi said to Nie Yun, “Great hero, the Golden Wave Flower is inside.”

Nie Yun opened the door and saw three flowerpots inside, each containing a particularly vibrant yellow flower.

The flower’s petals were as yellow as gold, shimmering brightly. The flower resembled a lotus, only much smaller.

Nie Yun nodded, threw the oil lamp in, and then threw in the tarpaulin that was used to keep out the rain. In the blink of an eye, the room was filled with firelight.

Ling Tuisi was shocked and was about to ask a question when Nie Yun said, “You shouldn’t keep this kind of thing!”

After saying that, he glanced at Ling Tuisi, whose cold gaze made him shudder. He quickly nodded and said, “Yes, yes, this kind of thing must be destroyed.”

Although I said that, my heart was bleeding.

Nie Yun’s lips curled up, and he vanished in a flash.

At this moment, the servants in the mansion had already run over to prepare to put out the fire. Seeing Ling Tuisi standing blankly to one side, they hurriedly stepped forward to ask him what was wrong.

Ling Tuisi waved his hand and said, “I accidentally broke the lamp. You all need to put it out quickly.”

Although the fire was quickly extinguished, all three flowerpots were charred because Nie Yun had thrown them directly at them.

Ling Tuisi returned to his bedroom, closed the door, and his eyes flashed with cold light as he said hatefully, “Bastard, how dare you mess with me! I won’t be Ling Tuisi if I don’t make sure you die a horrible death.”

He gritted his teeth for a while, then lifted the blanket on the bed and took out a small box from a hidden compartment in the bed board.

Ling Tuisi held the small box and murmured, “Thank goodness, I had a backup plan back then.”

Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and a figure walked in.

Ling Tuisi turned around and was terrified.

The man was none other than Nie Yun, who had returned. He walked up with a grin, took the wooden box from the terrified Ling Tuisi, and nodded, saying, “Thank you!”

Ling Tuisi was baffled, but Nie Yun obviously wouldn’t explain, and simply picked up the wooden box and turned to leave.

As he reached the door, he waved and said, “Don’t forget what I told you to do, bye-bye!”

After saying that, he disappeared again in a leap.

Ling Tuisi stood in the room, his face ashen, his teeth grinding together.