Chapter 11 Chance Encounter
Above the treetops, the snow between the branches fell down, burying the already covered tree roots even deeper.

Ji Ruxue raised her sword and crouched among the thick branches.

She frowned and stared at the almost unresponsive tomb door.

Half an hour passed quietly. Not only did no one come out, but she also didn't know what happened to Xiao Yan.

Although we know that he has some skills, our opponent's strength is unknown after all. Besides, this is a branch after all, and there must be experts in it.

Therefore, she was a little worried. If she went in alone and was surrounded, she would be in trouble.

Of course, she was just worried that the plan would be disrupted, and she didn't care about Xiao Yan's life or death.

After finding an excuse for herself, she jumped down from the treetop and wanted to enter the tomb to find out what was going on.

However, before she could turn the offering table, the tomb door slowly opened to both sides.

At the same time, a faint smell of blood wafted out.

Ji Ruxue suddenly became alert, drew the sword in her hand, and stared over there intently.

Inside, Xiao Yan walked up the stone steps. He frowned and patted the bloodstains on his chest with great dissatisfaction.

But the cloth was soaked through and could not be wiped clean.

"hiss……"

He shook his hands helplessly and asked Ji Ruxue, who was a little stunned, "How is it? Did anyone escape?"

"No, no..." The girl was a little surprised, and then said blankly: "Is there no one inside?"

"There were some, but I don't know if it was because this branch was not very strong, so there was almost no resistance."

Xiao Yan took out a bloodstained letter and a handful of gold and silver from his sleeve and handed them to her, saying, "The opportunity to return to Caozhou and the money you can use to repay me are all here."

Ji Ruxue was still a little confused. She put the money in her arms, read the information on the paper first, and then asked him: "The Xuanming Sect has mobilized people from all over. Has it found the traces of you bad people?"

"It's all possible. Perhaps other forces have been exposed as well."

Ji Ruxue's heart sank. She had already caused a complete disaster to Zuiyinlou by ending up in this situation. What she was most worried about right now was whether the Caozhou secret agents of Huanyinfang would be affected by her.

If this is true, she may not be able to atone for her sin even if she dies.

Thinking of this, she hurriedly asked: "What should we do?"

"According to this order, the Huizhou branch of Xuanming Sect should send half of its personnel to be dispatched by Yuansheng Yanjun. However, the leaders and even the leader of this branch have been slaughtered by me. We can temporarily use the identity of the leader to participate in it."

"This plan is very dangerous..." Ji Ruxue thought about it carefully, shook her head and said, "You and I don't know the inside story, I'm afraid it will be easily exposed."

"It doesn't matter."

Xiao Yan put his hand on his head and said, "I am sure, and I still have the lives of the two ghost soldiers, so I can use them to make up for the shortcomings."

The girl didn't understand where his confidence came from, but based on her experiences, she still believed him and asked, "What can I do?"

"I don't know much about the situation in Caozhou, and you have been dormant in Caozhou for a long time, so I need you to stay by my side and act according to circumstances."

Xiao Yan put on the quilted clothes he had just taken off and said, "After this, you and I are completely even."

Ji Ruxue, who was walking towards the tomb passage, suddenly paused, but she did not look back, just responded coldly.

"can."

----

On the outskirts of Shan County, the official road extends all the way, but suddenly stops at a fork in the road.

There is a small market at the fork. It is not very big, but it can meet the needs of several nearby villages.

The nearest one to the main road was a tea stall, where twos and threes of pedestrians were stopping to rest. It was freezing in the dead of winter, but the heat was rising high enough to be seen from afar.

Xuan Jingtian wore a veiled hat and took a short rest here to recover his strength.

The veil hung from the brim of her hat, completely covering her face, but others could still tell from her graceful figure that she was a genuine beauty.

However, the men around were afraid of the longbow Xuan Jingtian was carrying and were reluctant to approach him to talk to him.

After coming from Caozhou, she had visited Chengwu, Yucheng and Shanfu counties in just two days, but had not found any trace of Xiao Yan and the others.

And the longer time passes, the more worried I become about Ji Ruxue's safety.

Xuan Jingtian frowned, thinking about the situation in Songzhou to the south, but a man next to her plucked up his courage and came towards her.

However, before the man could speak, everyone heard a series of horse hoof sounds coming from the north. The man looked back, his face suddenly changed, and he quickly moved aside.

Xuan Jingtian also glanced sideways towards the north, then calmly turned his body and lowered his head.

On the official road, nearly a hundred members of the Xuanming Sect came on horseback.

The snow on the road was very thick, but one could feel that they were all trying their best to speed up their horses, as if they were in a hurry to get somewhere else.

The horse team galloped past her in a hurry without stopping.

But just as the last horse was about to pass, a voice suddenly came from the horse team, calling on them to stop.

The trembling people in the tea stall looked over and saw a man dressed as a leader riding his horse from the end of the horse team to the front.

In front of him, the leader, whose armor was obviously much better, glanced at him sideways, and a deep voice came from behind his iron mask: "What's the matter?"

The leader then kept smirking at the man, pointed at the pretty figure in the tea stall, and whispered:

"Don't be offended, Captain. I see that the woman has a very good figure and must be a rare beauty. Captain, you have been busy with official duties recently and I am afraid you haven't tasted such a beauty for a long time. I dare to ask for your permission to capture her and present her to you."

While he was laughing evilly in a low voice, he did not forget to make some vulgar gestures with his hands, which made people feel extremely repulsive.

The captain said coldly: "There is an urgent task ahead, and I don't want to waste time on this kind of thing. If you are late, I will recognize you, but I won't recognize the knife in my hand."

Beside him, a slightly thin-looking believer placed his hand on the hilt of the sword on horseback, watching quietly.

At the same time, two ghost soldiers laughed dryly and advised the leader: "This kind of thing can never be done, just listen to the captain's arrangement."

Unexpectedly, the leader rode his horse closer to the helmsman, and said with a lewd smile: "Boss, you are pretending to be serious again. It only takes one day to go to Caozhou. Why waste this little time? Isn't it for doing these things that we wear this leather?"

After saying this, without waiting for the helmsman's reaction, he took the initiative to order his men behind him: "Come on, go and bring that beauty to the boss."

The helmsman sneered and immediately grasped the sword at his waist.

But the thin church member next to him suddenly grabbed his sleeve and then shook his head gently at him.

Upon seeing this, the helmsman loosened his grip on the knife, but the look in his eyes when he looked at the leader's back was as if he was looking at a dead man.

Over there, two dismounted ghost soldiers walked towards the woman wearing a veiled hat and said arrogantly at the same time: "Madam, my captain invites you."

Inside the tea stall, all the men kept their heads down, not daring to look at anything for even a moment.

The cold wind mixed with snow flakes blew, but the woman stood still.

The two ghost soldiers had already seen the longbow on her body, but they didn't care. One of them strode over and tried to pat the woman on the shoulder.

"Are you deaf..."

However, before his hand fell, the woman's hand suddenly raised up and swung backwards.

A flash of cold light came out from her sleeve and easily cut the throat of the evil soldier.

Then, the bench she was sitting on tilted to the side, and she suddenly stepped on the bench and flew backwards.

During this time, she had picked up the longbow. With the sound of the bow being drawn, the other ghost soldier was suddenly nailed to the ground by a cold green light.

Finally, the figure fell to the ground, and although there was no arrow in his hand, three cold lights still rose from the bow.

The bowstring sounded, and several cold rays of light shot straight towards the helmsman.

During this process, someone failed to dodge and was shot off his horse in an instant.

Until finally, the cold green light shaped like an arrow went unhindered and reached the helmsman in the blink of an eye.

The sound of metal collision was heard, and the helmsman raised his hand and gently slapped away the last ray of cold light.

The woman holding the bow was stunned.

After a series of movements, the veil in front of her face floated aside, allowing everyone to see her face clearly.

The helmsman glanced at his burned palm, looked at the skinny believer who was stunned beside him, smiled, and whispered.

"The women over there are all quite interesting."

　Please read and recommend.

(End of this chapter)