novelAbuy Chapter 368 Xu Longxiang, who has reached the end of his rope!
Chapter 368 Xu Longxiang, who has reached the end of his rope!
Mo Ya sat on the second floor of a secluded inn in the east of Linyuan City for the entire night.
He didn't light a lamp; moonlight leaked in through the holes in the window paper, casting a small patch of silvery-white light on the ground, like a forgotten copper coin.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, his eyes slightly closed, his breathing long and even, like a stone statue forgotten in a corner, with even the rise and fall of his chest barely perceptible.
He tapped his fingers lightly on his knee twice, opened his eyes, and looked at the increasingly bright spot of light on the window paper.
Its daybreak.
He calculated the time; a full day had passed since he left the Moon Goddess Cult's headquarters, and His Highness should have already received his secret report.
A very soft fluttering sound came from outside the window. A grayish-white homing pigeon landed on the windowsill, tilted its head, and looked at him with its black bean-like eyes. A thin bamboo tube was tied to its ankle.
Mo Ya got up, pushed open the window, and the morning breeze, carrying the dampness of dew, rushed in and brushed against his face.
He removed the thin bamboo tube sealed with wax from the pigeon's leg, and the pigeon flapped its wings and flew away, its grayish-white figure quickly swallowed by the eastern glow of dawn.
He crushed the wax seal and pulled out the paper rolled into thin strips inside.
The handwriting on the paper was small, but each stroke was neat and precise—it was Xu Longxiang's own handwriting.
"No matter the cost, we must forge an alliance with the Cult of the Moon. The North needs the Cult of the Moon."
Mo Ya stared at those two lines of text for a long time.
His fingers gently caressed the paper, feeling the subtle bumps left after the ink dried, as if touching the heavy anxiety that His Highness had left on the paper when he wrote.
His Highness's handwriting was steady, but he read something else in those two lines—urgency.
It's like someone who has walked too long in the desert and sees an oasis in the distance. Even though they know it might be a mirage, they can't help but run towards it. Their lips are cracked, their throat is parched, and only one thought remains in their mind: water.
Mo Ya sighed inwardly.
He could tell that His Highness was anxious, even desperate.
Therefore, he is now very eager to find an ally.
The Moon Goddess Cult is clearly in dire straits, and the imperial court's 50,000 elite troops will arrive in three days. Yet now it's as if the Northern Border is in trouble, begging others for an alliance. Their humble posture makes even his subordinate feel ashamed.
He brought the paper close to the candlelight, the flame licking the corner of the paper, and black ash curled and fell.
The more you do this, the easier it is for the other party to lead you by the nose.
Your Highness is not unaware of this principle, it's just that the Northern Frontier is currently besieged on all sides.
Li Yang is gone, allies are gone, my sister is trapped in the deep palace, my childhood sweetheart has become someone else's concubine, and my beloved has married my enemy.
He couldn't wait any longer, not even a day.
Mo Ya watched as the last bit of ashes fell onto the windowsill, scattered by the morning breeze, leaving no trace.
Since His Highness has made his decision, he has no choice but to go see the Moon Goddess again.
He remembered the woman wearing the white jade mask, and how she sat in the moonlight, saying without even glancing at him, "Since you have arrived, please come out."
Those eyes were like two bottomless wells. He stood on the edge of the well and looked down, only to see his own shadow swallowed by the darkness, and his heart turned cold.
Mo Ya's fingers tightened slightly.
That woman was powerful, so powerful that he was wary of her, but precisely because of that, she did have the means to ally with the North.
In this dog-eat-dog world, only the strong are worthy of being allies, and the weak are only worthy of being vassals.
This was what His Highness taught him, and it was a belief he had never doubted.
He stood up, tucked the dagger into his waistband, pushed open the door, and went out.
The corridor was dark, and his footsteps were very light, the wooden planks made no sound, like a cat gliding across the roof.
He walked down the stairs, through the empty lobby, and pushed open the back door of the inn.
The morning light streamed in, casting his long, dark shadow on the bluestone path outside the door.
He took the grayish-white carrier pigeon out of his sleeve, held it in both hands, and sent it into the air.
The pigeon flapped its wings, circled once on the rooftop, and flew towards the northern horizon.
He stared at the white dot, which grew smaller and smaller, until it disappeared into the clouds, before turning and walking into the depths of the alley.
Unbeknownst to him, on the second floor of the teahouse across the street, by the window, Qin Mu was holding a teacup, watching his every move through a half-rolled bamboo curtain.
The Biluochun tea in the cup has been steeped three times, and the tea soup is still clear and bright. The tea leaves slowly unfurl in the cup, like flowers that have just woken up.
Qin Mu put down his teacup, and a slow smile curved his lips.
"It seems Xu Longxiang has reached his limit."
His voice was soft, with a hint of a smile, as if he were watching a play whose ending he already knew, where every twist and turn was predictable, yet he still watched with great interest.
"Let's go, let's see how they'll team up."
He stood up, his moon-white robe sliding off the chair without making a sound.
Zhao Qingxue, Jiang Zhaoyue, and Yun Luan also stood up. The three figures followed Qin Mu silently out of the teahouse and caught up with Mo Ya's back.
The morning light shone on the bluestone path, casting long, long shadows of the five people.
The dark figure in front walked quickly, and the four shadows behind followed even faster, neither too close nor too far, just a street corner away.
Qin Mu walked at the front, his hands behind his back, his moon-white robe fluttering gently in the morning breeze, like a silent flag.
The corners of his mouth always held that ambiguous smile, but there was a glint in his eyes, like a hunter seeing his prey walk into his encirclement.
"Interesting. Very interesting."
When Mo Ya stepped into the Moon Goddess Cult's headquarters again, he did not conceal his presence.
He walked along the narrow mountain path to the entrance of the cave, where the stone gate was tightly closed.
Two white-clad, masked men stood in front of the door, holding spears and with eagle-like eyes; the spear tips gleamed coldly in the morning light.
Mo Ya stopped, raised his head, and spoke in a hoarse but steady voice.
"The envoy from the North requests an audience with the Moon Goddess."
The man in white on the left glanced at him, but did not question him or announce his arrival. He simply turned slightly to the side and pointed into the cave.
"The Moon Goddess is waiting for you. Please come with me."
Mo Ya felt a slight tremor in his heart.
He knew the Moon Goddess was no ordinary person, but he never expected her to have already calculated this far.
Because what the other party said wasn't "Are you there?" or "Let me inform you," but rather "I'm waiting for you."
It was as if her arrival today was entirely within her expectations, part of the game she had laid out, with even the speed at which he walked calculated perfectly.
His expression remained unchanged; he simply nodded and followed the man in white into the passageway.
The candlelight on both sides of the passageway flickered gently in the wind, casting the shadows of the two people onto the stone wall, sometimes long, sometimes short, like two knives being blown by the wind.
Passing through stone walls, through corridors, through layers of white buildings.
The man in white stopped in front of a white jade door, bowed and stepped aside, his steps as light as if he were walking on cotton.
Mo Ya took a deep breath and pushed open the door.
The main hall was brightly lit by candles, and moonlight poured down from the skylight, casting silvery beams of light onto the high platform, illuminating the entire hall as if it were daytime.
The Moon Goddess sat on a white jade chair on a high platform, dressed in white like snow, with long hair like a waterfall. Her white jade mask gleamed with a cold light under the moonlight, like a piece of ice that had been polished to an extremely thin thickness. You could vaguely see the outline underneath, but you couldn't see her true face.
Her posture was exactly the same as last time: her back was straight, her hands were folded on her knees, like a statue that had been worshipped for thousands of years, and even the amplitude of her breathing was so small that it was almost invisible.
Those eyes were half-open, half-closed, making it impossible to tell where they were looking or what they were thinking; not even a tremor of their eyelashes could be seen.
"It seems you've already made up your minds."
Her voice was ethereal and melodious, like wind chimes gently tinkling in the night breeze. Each word carried a unique echo that reverberated throughout the hall, lingering for a long time.
Mo Ya's lips twitched slightly.
He remembered clearly that when he was leaving last time, he said, "I need to go back and report to the Prince," and the Moon Goddess said, "Then I will consider it."
How did it go from "she's considering" to "the North has made up its mind" in just one day?
This woman, without making a sound, seized the initiative again, like a snake slowly tightening its grip. By the time he realized what was happening, he was already half-entwined.
He took a deep breath, suppressing the slight displeasure in his heart, and a perfectly timed smile appeared on his lips.
"My lord has long admired the Moon Goddess Cult and believes that your esteemed sect has a profound history and should not be destroyed. The Northern Border is willing to form an alliance with the Moon Goddess Cult to jointly resist the Great Qin."
His voice was steady, each word deliberate and clear, neither arrogant nor humble, each word sounding as if it had been carved from stone.
The moon goddess's eyes narrowed slightly, like a lazy cat being blinded by sunlight.
"Admiration? To resist together?" She smiled softly, her laughter echoing in the hall like shattered ice falling onto a jade plate.
"Mr. Mo Ya, let's skip the formalities and get to the point."
Mo Ya stood with his hands behind his back, his spine ramrod straight.
"The 300,000 iron cavalry of the Northern Border are ready to march south at any time. As long as the Moon Goddess Cult launches an uprising in the southwest to tie down the Qin army, my lord can lead his troops straight to the capital. After the success, the Qin Dynasty will be divided in two, with the Northern Border taking the north and the Moon Goddess Cult taking the south. The Northern Border will not interfere with your cult's missionary work in the southwest."
The moon goddess leaned back in her chair, tapping her fingers lightly twice on the armrest. The sound was slow and steady, like some kind of ancient timer.
"Sounds good. But how do I know you won't turn on me after it's done?"
Mo Ya smiled faintly, as faint as a thin layer of frost on a windowpane in winter.
"Your Majesty, you are overthinking this. The Northern Territory and the Moon Goddess Cult have no conflict of interest. One is in the north, and the other is in the south; they keep to themselves. Besides—my lord's enemy is Qin Mu, not the Moon Goddess Cult."
The moon goddess's finger paused for a moment, hovering in mid-air, like a butterfly suspended in front of a flower.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend? Mr. Mo Ya, even commoners would say that."
Her voice carried a hint of sarcasm, just enough to be heard without causing a complete falling out.
Mo Ya was not angered by her attitude. Instead, he smiled more calmly, like a bronze mirror that had been splashed with water, becoming brighter the more it was wiped.
"What does the Moon Goddess desire? Please speak plainly."
The Moon Goddess straightened up, placing her hands folded on her knees. Her eyes, like cold stars, stared straight at the Ink Crow, her gaze like two unsheathed swords, their sharpness already felt through the scabbard.
"I don't want empty promises. I want the North to show some sincerity first."