Chapter 4 King of Jiyin

The red snow was suddenly crushed by the panicked cloth boots, but the owner of the boots didn't care and tried hard to climb out of the courtyard wall.

Behind him, there was the sound of a bowstring, and an arrow accurately pierced the back of his neck. Blood instantly gushed out of his mouth and spilled onto the snow-covered wall.

Xuan Jingtian put away his longbow and walked quickly towards the back house.

A maid with her face covered came out holding a bloodstained knife and reported: "Saint Princess, all the demons of the Xuanming Sect have been eliminated, the fire in the back house has been brought under control, and a secret passage has been discovered. Other than that, there is no trace of Ji Ruxue and the others."

"Have you found any other signs of fighting?"

"There is also a body of an old man in the yard, who must have died of poisoning. There was also a medicine boy, but he was already dead when we found him."

Xuan Jingtian frowned and strode into the bedroom, and indeed, he saw the dark secret passage.

She couldn't help but murmured: "Trouble..."

Although they had been keeping track of Ji Ruxue and the other person's movements, their original intention was to take advantage of the opportunity to get the truth about Xiao Yan and then finalize the next plan. And although they had expected that other forces would intervene, they had not expected this to happen.

Now that the initiative has turned into a passive state, it is very troublesome.

Another maid came in hurriedly and said, "Saint, all the sentries around have been cleared, but we don't know when the enemy will counterattack. Should we leave this place for the time being?"

"Let everyone retreat, go back to other hidden posts first, and pay attention to the tail behind you."

Xuan Jingtian immediately made up his mind, and then instructed one of them, "Take your people back to Zuiyin Tower, and ask the lady to withdraw all the people. Then ask her to send all the spies to observe the movements in various places. First, we must determine where this secret passage leads to."

"What about you, Saint Ji?"

"Two people, come with me."

Xuan Jingtian calmly rolled up his long sleeves at his wrists, took out a few pills and distributed them to the people, saying, "This medicine was given by the empress herself. It can protect you from most poisons in the world for two hours. The situation below is unclear, so take it first."

"Even if she is going to die, it is not the turn of that little girl Ji Ruxue yet!"

----

The secret passage is not narrow, but it is very complicated, with unnecessary forks appearing from time to time, making it difficult to distinguish.

Fortunately, Ji Ruxue found an abandoned torch. After lighting it, she was able to find the correct direction based on the bloodstains on the ground.

She felt a little heavy in her heart. The state Xiao Yan had just displayed was obviously not as weak as he looked.

Fortunately, she followed him quickly enough and was not left far behind by him. When she turned a corner again, she saw a figure at the end in the distance.

Ji Ruxue became alert instantly, pushed out the hilt of the sword with her thumb, and held the torch to illuminate the man's back.

It’s Xiao Yan.

Her gaze lingered on his back for a moment, and Ji Ruxue frowned and asked, "Did you lose him?"

"Yes, he has the advantage of location and is one step ahead of me."

When the firelight shone over, they could see that there was a fork in the road in front of Xiao Yan. The bloodstains on the ground also disappeared here for no reason, making it impossible to tell.

Things had become a little complicated. Ji Ruxue wanted to ask, but was concerned about his grandfather's safety, so she just asked, "The poisonous fog just now seemed very powerful. How do you feel now?"

"It's fine for now."

Xiao Yan naturally would not explain to her that when he was in the "Sword Intent" state, he was immune to all poisonous gas attacks outside the body.

"Who is Lin Dalang?"

"His father and my grandfather were colleagues in the previous dynasty, but I don't know when this man joined the Xuanming Sect, causing my grandfather and I to suffer heavy losses that night."

Former colleagues...

Ji Ruxue secretly took note of this in her heart, and then asked, "Are you really not the deposed emperor?"

"At least not now."

Xiao Yan took the torch from Ji Ruxue, and scanned the fork in the road ahead with a sharp gaze. At the same time, he said to Ji Ruxue, "Although this person is not good at fighting, he is always cunning. This time he may deliberately want to lure us down. In short, be careful."

The latter frowned and asked in confusion: "But why did he want to harm his father?"

"It's just a wolfish ambition."

Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes and smiled coldly: "Once we catch him, we will know everything."

The girl was a little confused, but now she had to trust Xiao Yan first, so she looked at the fork in the road: "What should I choose?"

"Go separately."

"No," Ji Ruxue shook her head and said, "No matter who you are, you can't leave my sight now."

Xiao Yan didn't care and took a step back in compromise: "Then you choose."

The girl seemed a little embarrassed, but she knew that now was not the time to waste time, so she hesitantly pointed to the passage on the left.

"Go this way."

"can."

Xiao Yan did not hesitate, and walked in first with a torch in hand.

Ji Ruxue was secretly annoyed that he had gotten there first again, but she could only hurriedly catch up.

...The secret passage at the back seemed to suddenly become shabby. Not only was the ground uneven, but the height also became lower.

The girl held her breath and stared at the boy's back, thinking that if something happened suddenly and the alley was narrow, she might not be able to save him in time.

Although it seems that Xiao Yan's martial arts skills are quite good.

Thinking of this in her heart, she said, "You..."

"Silence!"

Xiao Yan in front suddenly squatted down and lowered the torch slightly.

Ji Ruxue was stunned for a moment, and seemed to hear a faint cough and wheezing sound in her ears.

"follow me."

Immediately, Xiao Yan led her and walked over quickly.

At the end of the secret passage was a spacious and dark room. Wherever the firelight illuminated, there were almost entirely wooden boxes of varying sizes. There was also a square stove in the middle, with some residual ashes from some unknown time gathered underneath it.

In the corner, a faint cough sounded again. Xiao Yan swept over with the torch and saw a gray-haired old man with disheveled hair and dirty clothes. His hands and feet were bound by iron chains, curled up there, motionless.

Moreover, it is now the middle of winter, and he is only wearing a thin layer of clothes, which looks extremely miserable.

Ji Ruxue was surprised, but she had a vague guess in her heart, so she asked Xiao Yan, who was frowning beside her, in a low voice: "Who is he?"

The latter handed the torch to Ji Ruxue, walked forward and squatted, lifted the messy hair that was blocking the old man's face, but saw that his eyes were closed and he turned a deaf ear to what they were doing.

"He is the Divine Doctor Lin in the city."

Touching the old man's hot forehead, Xiao Yan took off his hooded robe, put it on him, and called out, "Uncle Lin, can you hear me clearly?"

But what was surprising was that the old man, who had been deaf to the outside world, shuddered all over immediately after hearing Xiao Yan's voice, and then struggled to open his eyes.

Perhaps because of the dazzling firelight, his eyes closed slightly again, but he could still vaguely see Xiao Yan's face.

Tears immediately rolled out of his eyes, and his hands trembled slightly as he touched the latter's face.

Ji Ruxue looked around warily, feeling a little surprised.

Xiao Yan didn't mind being touched by his dirty hands. He just asked, "When were you imprisoned here?"

The old man's hand paused slightly, and his eyes passed by Xiao Yan and fell on Ji Ruxue's face.

The former then explained: "That day, I was lucky enough not to die, it was this girl who saved me."

The girl couldn't tell the relationship between the old man and Xiao Yan, so she just nodded slightly.

The old man showed some gratitude on his face, then he opened his mouth and made a hoarse sound. He looked at Xiao Yan with a slightly anxious look.

"He's mute." Ji Ruxue frowned and said, "Should we take him out first?"

In her opinion, since the old man was not dead, he was the most crucial clue, and it would not be too late for Lin Dalang to investigate later. The most urgent task was to bring Xiao Yan and the old man back to Zuiyin Tower intact.

Unexpectedly, the old man suddenly became excited, and the chains on his limbs made swinging sounds with his movements.

Xiao Yan frowned, turned around to find a small piece of charcoal, and said to Ji Ruxue: "Chop the iron chain first."

"You stand back."

The long sword was quickly unsheathed, and in the flash of cold light, the iron chain broke.

The old man grabbed the charcoal with trembling hands, and then began to write on the stone wall with trembling hands.

When the firelight shone over, a few small words appeared on the stone wall.

"Bad flag, Yanzhou..."

He was about to write again, but he began to cough violently, as if his withered hands could no longer hold the charcoal, which slipped through his fingers.

Xiao Yan then stopped waiting and immediately carried the old man on his back, while asking, "Uncle Lin, do you know if there are any extra passages here?"

The old man raised his head with difficulty and pointed in a direction.

Ji Ruxue strode over with a torch in hand, and after pushing away the wooden box of miscellaneous items against the wall, she saw a place that was clearly inconsistent with the surrounding stone walls.

She reached out and knocked, and heard a hollow sound coming from inside, so she pushed with force.

An alley appeared.

She was delighted and called to Xiao Yan, "Follow me quickly."

But just as they were about to leave, a voice suddenly sounded from all directions of the room.

"Grandpa, you should know what I have placed here. If you are not afraid that my brother Yan will die here, you can just leave with him."

Ji Ruxue suddenly drew out her sword and looked around vigilantly: "It's that Lin Dalang!"

Xiao Yan also stopped and glanced around with his eyes half-closed.

It was impossible to tell where Lin Xiuzhi was hiding, but one could hear a hint of excitement in his tone. He panted slightly and laughed sinisterly.

"Brother Yan went to the palace. Could it be that he really thinks he is the King of Jiyin?"

(End of this chapter)