Chapter 12 Return again
On the official road leading to Caozhou, nearly a hundred cavalrymen formed a long line.

Xiao Yan, who had been acting as the helmsman for two days, loosened the reins and wrapped his slightly burned right hand with gauze.

He looked through the iron mask on his face at Xuan Jingtian, who looked a little embarrassed.

The latter gritted his teeth, still with a cruel look on his face, and glared at him hatefully.

But her mute point was locked and she couldn't make a sound for two hours.

Behind her, Ji Ruxue, who was also wearing Xuanming Sect clothing, was riding on the same horse with her, and was almost half-hugging Xuan Jingtian.

Behind them, the leader came up angrily, glanced at Xuan Jingtian with lingering fear, and said with a wry smile: "Captain, I didn't hurt you just now, did I?"

Xiao Yan didn't even look at him, and said in a cold voice: "What a bunch of losers, a mere Saint Ji from Huanyinfang actually injured dozens of people. If I wasn't here, would you still be unable to capture her?"

"I am not as good as you, but she is one of the nine holy maidens of Huanyinfang after all. She is too powerful for us to fight against. I hope you will forgive me. Now that I have captured her, I can report this great achievement to the Hades, right?"

The chief nodded and smiled apologetically: "Captain, can you please mention my name in the report? After all, I was the one who discovered the person..."

"I don't even bother to take away your tiny contribution."

"That's right, that's right. The helmsman has extraordinary martial arts skills and can capture people with one hand. He is someone that I look up to. With such power, even if you face the five Yama Kings, the helmsman can still compete!"

After the leader flattered her for a while, he looked at Xuan Jingtian's perfect body, swallowed greedily, and said flatteringly: "If the captain is not interested in this saint, can you let her ride on my horse? It would be worth it if I could hug such a beauty in my life..."

Xuan Jingtian, who was accompanying them, was extremely anxious. She was so angry that her whole body was shaking. She stared with her beautiful eyes, which were filled with anger.

The leader was wearing a mask, and his dirty look seemed to be revealed in his tone, which made people feel sick.

Here, Xiao Yan glanced at him sideways and uttered a word.

"roll."

The leader was anxious and wanted to beg again, but suddenly he felt that the eyes under Xiao Yan's mask were extremely cold. Just one look at him and countless chills seeped out of his heart.

He didn't dare to fight anymore and fell behind by a few horse lengths.

Next to them, the only remaining ghost soldiers in the two tombs shrank their necks in fear.

Ji Ruxue hugged Xuan Jingtian, feeling the envious gazes of everyone, and then gave Xiao Yan a grateful look.

But the latter ignored her completely and looked into the distance with empty eyes.

The outline of Caozhou's city walls has gradually emerged.

After three days' absence, he finally returned here again.

This time, it is time for him to rise up.

----

In the city, the woman's body was hung on the top of the city wall for three days.

Miao Chengtian stood on the top of Zuiyin Tower, looking at it from afar, in silence.

Behind her, the two maids had already red eyes and clenched their fists in anger.

"Don't be impulsive. It's a trap. Whoever goes there will die."

Miao Chengtian sighed. She had a great responsibility for the current situation where every step was restricted.

If she hadn't wanted to play this risky game with Xuan Jingtian and find out the truth behind Xiao Yan as soon as possible, she wouldn't have ended up like this.

At present, the four city gates are closed, and only peddlers arranged by the governor's office are allowed to enter and exit to transport supplies every day. No one else is allowed to leave the city.

What's more troublesome is that there are more and more Xuanming Sect demons in the city. They are like mad dogs, biting the suspects they have identified.

The Governor's Office did interfere a little, but it still made the people of Caozhou panic-stricken.

Even in Zuiyin Tower, there was almost no one coming to listen to the music.

She was holding a piece of letter in her hand, which was the letter Xuan Jingtian had sent her the day before. It briefly described their situation and the news of Ji Ruxue and the other person's disappearance.

There was also a piece of paper on the table, which was a letter from Fengxiang. The meaning of it was to send Xiao Yan out of Caozhou at the right time, and then they would stay and wait and see. If there was any news about the second King of Jiyin, Miao Chengtian would act at his discretion.

So, all of this fell into her hands.

The empress's punishment was insignificant, and Miao Chengtian would be willing to accept it even if she was sentenced to death. But if the entire Caozhou branch was really implicated, she would be the one who would be blamed for her death.

She clasped her hands together in front of her chest and whispered, "May Xuan Jingtian be able to successfully find the two of you and return to Fengxiang safely..."

In fact, as long as nothing unexpected happened to Xiao Yan, Miao Chengtian would not have to worry. But he was the one who was uncertain at the moment, and from what he saw now, Xiao Yan was more like a bait cast by the Xuanming Cult.

She sighed inwardly, but remained calm on the surface. She said to everyone in the room, "The secret agents in various places in Songzhou have been dispatched. All crises will be resolved quickly in a short time. Now, you need to make everyone in the building calm down and not reveal any flaws."

The maids all said in surprise:

"Follow the order!"

At this moment, a maid rushed in from outside. She looked anxious, but when she saw that everyone was there, she did not speak directly.

Miao Chengtian saw her and calmly asked everyone to leave before asking, "What happened?"

"Sheng Ji, I just received news that Xuan Jingtian has been arrested..."

The maid turned pale and stammered, "She has been escorted to Caozhou by a group of Xuanming Sect members."

"That Shuzi..."

Miao Chengtian suddenly felt dizzy. The first thing she thought of was that Xiao Yan had colluded with the people from Xuanming Sect, which enabled them to capture Xuan Jingtian.

She held on to the table to prevent herself from falling down immediately, and then whispered, "Seal this news and don't let it spread. Send more people to find out the inside story."

"Yes." The maid hurried out without stopping.

Sweat broke out on Miao Chengtian's forehead.

Xuan Jingtian is her biological sister, and can be said to be the closest person to her in this world. She will not tolerate any mistake on her part.

But now, her first priority is to safely transfer everyone in Zuiyin Building.

If it was really Xiao Yan who was secretly connected to the Xuanming Sect, this place would have been exposed.

She gritted her teeth and held on to the eaves with both hands.

The huge net above Caozhou finally pounced on her.

----

At the city gate, the armored soldiers inspected Xiao Yan's token, then removed the barricades and allowed the group of more than a hundred people to pass.

Xiao Yanxu closed his eyes and glanced at the streets ahead.

This was the first time he had seen Caozhou in the daytime since he woke up. But at this moment, it was like an empty city. Occasionally, there were pedestrians, but they walked in a hurry. Especially when they saw their figures, they avoided them as if they were escaping.

He turned around and saw the female corpse on the top of the city wall.

Behind them, a group of Xuanming Sect's Yin soldiers belonging to the Huizhou branch were so domineering that they laughed even louder when they saw the people fleeing in panic.

This shows the notorious behavior of this organization.

I heard that most of the high-ranking members of the sect used evil methods to gain merit, and they had to kill countless innocent people in the process of cultivation. But in his memory, after Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty, he reduced taxes and levies, and cultivated mulberry trees in his hometown, which restored a lot of vitality to the devastated Central Plains.

But now it seems that Zhu Wen in this world is a completely different person. And the Hades Emperor and the Ghost King under him are really interesting enough...

He narrowed his eyes and put his hand on the hilt of the knife at his waist.

Behind him, Ji Ruxue withdrew her gaze from the top of the city wall and clenched her fists tightly.

In front of them, people from the Governor's Mansion were slowly coming towards them.

(End of this chapter)