Chapter 233 Mid-Autumn Festival (Part )

Li Xingyun killed his way out with a single sword, which was intentionally or unintentionally given by Wen Tao. He took Lu Linxuan and fled from the pursuit of the Black and White Impermanence and nearly a hundred ghosts of the Xuanming Sect. They left the Sword Hut where they had lived for six years, and inevitably left the Qingcheng Mountain that had sheltered the two of them for six years.

The Mid-Autumn moon is full, and relatives and friends are not around, so the summer wind seems chilly.

And at the foot of the mountain, Shangguan Yunque, who was rushing along the night road, could only watch from afar at the foot of the mountain the huge fire on the top of the mountain, illuminating the night sky.

By the time he and several bad guys from Yanzhou hurriedly climbed up the mountain, the bamboo-walled and thatched-roofed sword hut built on the terrace by the pool had already been half reduced to ashes, and the fire was raging, as if it would devour everything in this very short period of time, leaving not a trace behind.

"It's over..."

Shangguan Yunque was panting and looked terrified. He was caught off guard by the heat wave and collapsed to the ground.

As for the other few Yanzhou bad guys, they just looked calm, and even put out the fire in an unusually tacit manner. It was not that they were trying to save anything, but they were thinking about preventing the fire from spreading to the large bamboo forest on the left and right.

"The man should have gone to the back hill."

A bad guy crouched on the ground, carefully observing the two pools of blood, rubbed them with his hands, and then looked at the green bamboos on both sides that were occasionally scratched by people, and analyzed: "The fire should have been set two hours ago. Someone fought here and two people died. They should have been injured head-on and then escaped through this side."

He pointed in the direction of the back mountain, while simulating the scene of Li Xingyun beheading the two ghost soldiers, he slowly stroked his chin and frowned, saying: "Don't worry, Tianqiaoxing, the people should be fine. Judging from the traces, although the other party is at least dozens of people, since the two grew up in Qingcheng Mountain, they should be more familiar with the terrain than others, not to mention..."

"Oh, how can I not be worried..." Shangguan Yunque was extremely anxious. When he was sent by Xiao Yan to see if Li Xingyun was still in Jianlu, he had actually been thinking that there might be unexpected events. After all, Xiao Yan would not have sent him here for no reason. He must have had some relationship in mind.

But I never expected that the sword pavilion was burned down!
For a moment, Shangguan Yunque didn't even dare to guess whether this was Yuan Tiangang's assignment, let alone what Li Xingyun and Lu Linxuan had encountered.

After all, not to mention Li Xingyun's identity as the orphan of the previous emperor, even if he was just an ordinary person, he was a young man whom he watched grow up in secret. In addition, Yang Shuzi was his good friend. According to Yang Shuzi's feelings for Li Xingyun, it is basically not an exaggeration to say that he is the son of a good friend.

It’s okay to explain to Xiao Yan, but how should I explain to Yang Shuzi?

Just one step, just two hours, Shangguan Yunque really regretted why he didn't hurry up a little. Although his cheeks had become a little thinner due to traveling day and night during these months, he still regretted it.

The bad guy was helpless, suspecting that Shangguan Yunque didn't even listen to him, so he just talked to himself: "Let's not talk about how dozens of people besieged a boy and a girl and failed. According to the situation, the boy and girl should have entered the encirclement first and then fought their way out. But according to the arrangement, the four sides of the sword pavilion were already in the hands of the enemy, but they were still easily killed by the two. It shouldn't be... The direction of the back mountain, anyone with a normal brain will know that it should be the focus of defense..."

"You mean?" Shangguan Yunque was startled and stood up and asked, "Did someone do this on purpose?"

"It's not impossible..." The Yanzhou Bad Man no longer hesitated and called to his colleagues who were still putting out the fire, "Leave two people here and wait for the orders from the God of Fortune, and the rest of you follow me to the back mountain to investigate."

"I'll go as well."

Shangguan Yunque gritted his teeth, picked up his sword and was about to follow.

"It's better for Tianqiaoxing to stay here." The bad guy said, "This sword hut has been burned down, and if the two young men are not captured, the other party may send people back to keep an eye on this place. Among us, you are the most powerful martial artist, Tianqiaoxing, so if the other party is a strong opponent, you will not be outdone."

In fact, he saw that Shangguan Yunque had obviously lost his sense of proportion, so he had to make this suggestion. Xiao Yan had given orders, not to bring Li Xingyun back to Bian Jing, but at least to know a little about the latter's movements in order to avoid losing the initiative.

Bringing Shangguan Yunque along might cause trouble.

Shangguan Yunque naturally had no choice but to accept it, watching several people hurried away with Tang swords on their backs. You could only watch as Jianlu, which was basically beyond saving and only had a terrace left.

It is impossible to know what he is thinking.

But a fire burned down the sword hut, the only thing the young man loved, and also burned down the peaceful place that had been uncontaminated by the world for six or even more than ten years.

The moon is high in the sky, and below it are embers that flicker in the night. In this festive occasion of family joy, there is no longer the noise that should have been there in the past, nor the scolding and pleading of the so-called strict teacher and the stubborn students.

Only Shangguan Yunque was silent and confused, sitting on the terrace anxiously and helplessly, biting his nails over and over again.

All of this seemed to be told by the three hundred year old commander to the so-called prince who was thousands of miles away.

Things in the world will eventually be set right.

Under these big hands, no one can escape...

------

"You mean, Zhu Youzhen is urging me?"

A pair of hands gently lifted the tea lid, and wisps of tea aroma floated out of the cup and lingered in the small building.

Xiao Yan blew the tea vapor, his eyes seemed very indifferent behind the smoke, and then after taking a few sips, he closed the lid again, stood up and stood by the window with his hands behind his back.

Looking out through the window of this small building, many lanterns of various shapes have been set up on the Imperial Street in the distance. Among them, there are countless pedestrians, and many beautiful young ladies wearing beautiful chest-binding skirts are wandering around, adding a bit of beauty.

The moonlight coming in from the window also made his red robe particularly dazzling. Just looking at his back, one could feel his aura.

After a moment, he retracted his gaze, turned around, and chuckled, "What's the hurry?"

"You said last year that you would give him the Longquan treasure. Now that a year has passed, he is naturally anxious. His temper has always been like this. It is not easy for him to keep his composure this year."

The petite loli who was speaking had a stern look on her face and her voice was crisp but not pleasant, which was seriously inconsistent with her appearance.

It was Zhong Xiaokui from Xuanming Sect, who stood there sternly, like a subordinate reporting to Xiao Yan: "Zhu Youzhen always acts without regard for the consequences. If it weren't for my dissuasion, he would have come to you in person... You left him alone for so long, if he didn't need you, Zhu Youzhen might have been impatient and forced you."

"It's not me who left him alone."

Xiao Yan leaned lazily on the chair again, picked up the teacup and played with it, saying calmly: "This Longquan treasure is of great importance. Once it is opened, people from all over the world will rush to it. You can ask him, at this time, does he, the King Jun, have the confidence to compete with the Dark Emperor for the Longquan treasure? In addition to the Dark Emperor, there are also Your Majesty, Li Keyong, Li Maozhen and other princes. The surname of Daliang is Zhu, not Zhu of Zhu Youzhen.

This Longquan treasure was accumulated by several generations of the Li Tang royal family for the use of the later generations to restore the Tang Dynasty. How rich is it? Not to mention the gold and silver money, martial arts secrets, weapons and armor that are rich enough to rival a country, just the immortality medicine that can bring the dead back to life and make the living live forever is enough to attract the princes of the world to fight to the death. What can Zhu Youzhen fight with? What can he fight with? "

Zhong Xiaokui frowned slightly with her dark red, thick little eyebrows. She opened her mouth but found herself speechless.

After a long while, she managed to utter, "Do you mean to forget what we said that day?"

Xiao Yan asked vaguely, "What?"

Zhong Xiaokui was speechless for a moment.

She really couldn't tell what Xiao Yan said to Zhu Youzhen last year, not to mention the twists and turns in it. So after holding it in for a long time, she said coldly: "Aren't you afraid that Zhu Youzhen will be angry and give you away after hearing these words?" "Why would he give me away?" Xiao Yan frowned and said: "I said, the time is not right now. The Longquan treasure is not something he can fight for now. The immortality medicine will attract the world's greed. As long as his father is here, he has no right to get the immortality medicine. Don't you understand?"

After that, he placed the teacup on the table and said coldly, "Or as you said, he wants to betray me... But I'm really curious, how can he betray me? And what can he betray me?"

Zhong Xiaokui was surprised for a moment, then frowned and thought, and became speechless again.

She thought about it for a long time, and really had no idea what kind of threat Zhu Youzhen could pose to Xiao Yan. Not to mention that the words of the national teacher were a joke, the so-called Longquan treasure was completely nowhere to be found. Telling it to others might make Xiao Yan more respected by Zhu Wen, so what was the point of telling it out?
"Go back and tell him exactly what I said." Xiao Yan saw that she couldn't say anything, and instead became bored. He stroked the jade belt around his waist and said, "When he can confront the Hades head-on and get a glimpse of the throne, it won't be too late to worry."

Zhong Xiaokui looked at Xiao Yan's official robe and knew that he was about to go to the palace for a banquet. This little time was squeezed out for her temporarily, so she didn't want to waste any more words. After hesitating for a moment, she finally told him the real purpose of this trip.

"You said before that if I help you monitor Zhu Youzhen, you will tell me the true whereabouts of the Ghost King..."

Then, she glanced at Xiao Yan's expression, which was indescribable, and her heart sank. She took a step forward, raised her head, clenched her fist, and said, "Are you lying to me about this, too?"

"What do you mean?" Xiao Yan couldn't help but laugh: "According to what you said, you have even determined that I was deceiving Zhu Youzhen in the first place?"

Zhong Xiaokui had a stern face, as if he agreed to it.

Xiao Yan pondered for a moment, then stood up and said, "What's the use of knowing it? Just like even if I tell Zhu Youzhen where the Longquan treasure is, what can he do?"

"I don't care what happens to Zhu Youzhen." Zhong Xiaokui said in a deep voice, "I only care about where the Ghost King is."

Xiao Yan nodded, as if acknowledging her loyalty, and then waved his hand after a faint laugh.

"Jiao Landian, go and look for it."

After saying that, he went straight out, and the man in red robe disappeared outside the door in an instant. Two bad guys dressed in military uniforms glanced at her coldly outside the door before leaving.

Zhong Xiaokui, who finally got the news as he wished, was stunned for a moment.

Jiaolan Palace?
How could she find the Imperial Palace, the place where the emperor and his ministers held court? How could she find it?

Besides, how could the Ghost King, a living person, be hidden in the Jiaolan Palace?
She subconsciously wanted to refute the question, but when she looked up and saw Xiao Yan's red-robed back leaving, she stopped abruptly.

In any case, this person was the first one to tell her in several years that he knew the whereabouts of the Ghost King. He was the Ghost King's former apprentice, Black and White Impermanence. She had also secretly investigated over the years, but had not been able to find out anything from these two people.

Someone like Meng Po might know something, but she is no match for him, and she is not sure, let alone having the conditions to make him cooperate with her. So all these years, she can only endure Zhu Youzhen's stupid behavior while waiting secretly.

From the current perspective, perhaps the only way to find a breakthrough is from Xiao Yan...

Zhong Xiaokui thought about it for a long time, but in the end he could only admit the reality. No matter what, if he wanted to find the Ghost King, he might really need to be Xiao Yan's hidden man for a while.

However, she did not have much psychological burden because she was not loyal to Zhu Youzhen at all.

The only thing he needed to worry about now was how to tell Zhu Youzhen what Xiao Yan said in a tactful way, and whether he should take the risk of going to Jiao Lan Palace to investigate...

……

Coming out of the small building, Xiao Yan could already see from afar that the lanterns on the Drum and Horn Gate illuminated half of the Imperial Street, which was extremely dazzling.

At the Drum and Horn Gate, many officials were already queuing up, and all of them had to be checked by the Jinwu Guards before they could enter the palace.

Wanyan Agunai was wearing a hat, but he was leading a few Jurchens who had fallen into the river and was waiting downstairs with his horses.

They have all started to grow their hair, but because their heads are too bald, they need to wear hats to cover it. Even so, you can still see the gray light at their temples, and their different appearance makes it easy for people to recognize them as foreigners.

However, Xiao Yan originally returned from Hebei and had fought in the war, so it was normal for him to have foreigners among his family generals. It was just that it would easily make others feel strange.

After all, in this era, the Han people were obviously several levels stronger than the foreigners. As a champion marquis who was famous in Bianjing, it was really strange to use a foreigner as a general. But it also proved that Xiao Yan had made great achievements in the battles outside the Great Wall, which made it reasonable in some ways.

"Sweaty..."

When Wanyan Agunai saw Xiao Yan, he opened his mouth subconsciously, but when he saw the latter frowning, he immediately changed his words and said in Mobei dialect: "The boys are ready, they rarely show up, and they can be deployed at any time outside the city."

Xiao Yan nodded, gently stroked the top of the mount's head, and said, "Go outside the city and take charge in person, and see if you can capture some people."

The former was not surprised and naturally bowed: "I obey your order."

"Let's go."

Xiao Yan boarded a carriage next to him and lowered the curtain: "It's about to begin."

……

Outside Anle Pavilion, the entire long street was bustling with activity, with clusters of flowers and as bright as day.

Outside a mask shop, a young man wearing a mask stood in the crowd with his arms folded, staring at Anle Pavilion, which was considered the best building in Bianjing, and marveled at it.

"That kid's master is imprisoned in here?"

"Yes."

Beside him, a tall warrior responded in a low voice.

"You are enjoying yourself." The young man sneered and nodded: "Start saving people."

At the same time, a voice called out from the side.

"Brother Xiaobei, it's so lively today, but your shopkeeper Duan hasn't come out yet?"

"Shhhhh, don't call me!"

Naturally, the young man looked back and saw a child about ten years old running among the crowd, nervous and excited.

(End of this chapter)