Sigh, if not for this dreadful situation, wandering the jianghu would actually be quite a pleasant journey.
Xu Qi’an pinched his brow and tucked the letter into his robe.
The Great Feng was on the verge of collapse. If it fell, his own life would likely end as well.
The Jianzheng had once said that half the nation’s fortune was tied to him, his fate had become one with that of the Great Feng.
The nation survived, he survived; if the nation perished, so would he.
For now, the top priority is to restore my cultivation. Even if I can’t pull out all the demon-suppressing nails, removing a few would allow me to regain some strength. Only then will I be able to face this dire situation.
Besides, although I spent a fortune yesterday, the benefits of dual cultivation are truly remarkable, my dantian feels like it’s about to explode. This thick, abundant Qi…
Last night, he and Luo Yuheng had practised all of the Daoist ancient bedroom arts together.
Forget about knees touching shoulders, even bolder positions had been explored. Now, whenever he closed his eyes, the image of the National Teacher’s long, fair legs, flat stomach, ample chest, and peach-like bottom would unfailingly appear…
His kidneys were howling, but his dantian had become a veritable tycoon overnight.
If it had been any other woman, aside from that diva Flower God, such results would never have been possible.
After all as a second-rank Daoist Leader of the Human Sect, dual cultivation with her was indeed astonishingly effective.
If we continue like this without pause, in at most half a year, I would reach the level of the former Zhenbei King, the peak of third rank.
Xu Qi’an mused to himself.
However, after these seven days, with Luo Yuheng’s reserved and proud nature, she would most likely refuse to dual cultivate with him again.
It’s all those fish like Lin’an’s fault for being useless, if only they were second rank…
Li Lingsu was dying of curiosity to see the letter’s contents, but Xu Qian had guarded against him at every turn, giving him no chance.
“Oh, there’s something I forgot to mention.” Xu Qi’an said suddenly.
Seeing his serious expression, Li Lingsu also became grave. “Please speak, senior.”
“In the coming days, if you encounter secret signals from the Heaven Sect, ignore them, even if the contact is your master,” he said.
Signals from the Heaven Sect? My master? The amount of information contained in that sentence was staggering, Li Lingsu was both confused and shocked.
“What do you mean by this, senior?”
“It’s a long story,” Xu Qi’an took a sip of the sweet gojiberry tea and spoke slowly, “Bingyi Yuanjun and Daoist Xuancheng from the Heaven Sect have come down the mountain to capture you and Li Miaozhen and bring you back to the sect for confinement. Li Miaozhen has already fallen into their hands.”
???
Li Lingsu’s mind was a mess of question marks.
He composed himself and asked his questions one by one, “Why are Senior Uncle Bingyi and my master capturing Miaozhen and I? And how do you know about this, senior? From what you’re saying, they’re nearly in Yongzhou?”
Xu Qi’an answered him point by point:
“As for the Heaven Sect’s business, I’m not clear; but my intelligence network covers the Great Feng, and your sect hasn’t tried to keep a low profile. They’ll be arriving in Yongzhou any day now.”
Xu Qi’an believed this warning was enough.
After spending so long together, he had come to understand Li Lingsu’s character. This scoundrel’s greatest virtue was his ability to take advice.
No matter how unbelievable, if someone he trusted said something, Li Lingsu would take it to heart, watch out for it, and act accordingly.
This was a rare strength lacking in many of the younger generation’s experts.
“Senior, you must be joking, the Heaven Sect would never try to capture me or Miaozhen,” Li Lingsu forced out a smile.
…
At the southern gate of Yongzhou city.
Passers-by turned their heads to look at a trio: a coldly beautiful female Daoist, a middle-aged Daoist with a long beard, and a spirited young woman.
What’s more, the coldly beautiful Daoist was holding a rope that was tied to the young woman with heroic bearing.
The young woman’s hands were bound and she followed the cold Daoist obediently.
So humiliating, if anyone I knew saw this, Lady Flying Swallow’s reputation would be shattered… Li Miaozhen, trailing her master, grumbled,
“I won’t run away. I can’t even escape if I wanted to. Master, please at least remove this Spirit-Binding Cord.”
Bingyi Yuanjun’s face remained cold and indifferent, refusing to answer.
“If my friends see, I’ll lose all face,” Li Miaozhen muttered.
Only then did Bingyi Yuanjun speak in an icy tone, “If you could truly forget your emotions, you would not care about such trifles as losing face.”
Li Miaozhen protested, arguing back, “Then why don’t you crawl on the ground and bark like a dog?”
Bingyi Yuanjun stopped, staring at her with cold, black, and gradually glassy eyes.
In the next moment, Li Miaozhen was shocked to find her mouth had betrayed her, making barking sounds: “Woof woof.”
She hurriedly clamped her mouth shut.
“Woof woof…”
But it was no use.
“Mas, Master, I was wrong, your disciple was wrong, you can’t do this to me… woof woof!”
Bingyi Yuanjun turned around, continuing to walk with her in tow.
“Woof woof, woof woof!”
As Li Miaozhen walked, she barked like a dog, her tears of shame falling under the pointed stares of people on the street.
I must have spent too long around that mutt Xu Qi’an, I’ve picked up his worst habits… Li Miaozhen opened her mouth and let out a few more dog barks.
“Woof woof!”
…
Dajiao Square, the Barracks.
Ji Xuan was seated in the hall, with his core team members, Liu Hongmian, Daoist Jiaoye, and a few others, on either side.
“That’s roughly how the events unfolded. What are your thoughts?” Ji Xuan looked around at everyone.
Xu Yuanshuang pondered for a moment, then spoke in her pleasant voice:
“Strictly speaking, since the person in question came for the Martial Assembly, he would sooner or later come to Dajiao Square. But it has been several days now and I have not sensed his presence.
“There are two possibilities: First, he might have already come, but happened to miss me while I was resting. That would be the Dragon Qi host’s good fortune.
“Second, something has delayed him. That too is likely the Dragon Qi host’s fortune working unseen.”
As for fortune, Xu Yuanshuang, being an Arcanist, was the expert.
Liu Hongmian frowned, “Didn’t you say that as long as we hold onto a Dragon Qi host, due to the Dragon Qi attracting each other, he would run into us sooner or later?”
Xu Yuanshuang curled her lips in mockery, “Your memory serves you well. I said ‘sooner or later.’ But who can say when that would be? Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe even longer.”
“And before then, if someone else gets to him, all our efforts in trailing him from Qingzhou to here would be wasted.” Qihuan Danxiang wrapped her colourful robe tighter around herself, reminding them:
“Don’t forget that that Xu Qian is also collecting Dragon Qi. He already holds two strands. With Dragon Qi drawing each other together, the likelihood of him encountering the boy before us is even higher.”
Daoist Jiaoye stroked his beard. “I have a few ideas.”
Ji Xuan smiled, “Daoist, we’ve been waiting for you to speak.”
In terms of experience and knowledge of the Jianghu, no one present could match the Daoist Jiaoye. Experience could often be transformed into solutions.
“If we leave things to unfold naturally, that boy would almost certainly be found by Xu Qian first. So what we must do is slow down Xu Qian and speed up our own search. How do we obstruct Xu Qian? Simple, have the eminent monks patrol the city. And if those monks possess secret arts that allow them to discover him at close range, so much the better.
“As for finding the boy ourselves: on one hand, surveil the Gongsun clan. On the other, have our informants in the city’s major inns inquire for information, it simply costs a bit of silver.
“For monitoring the Gongsun family, let Qihuan Danxiang handle it. He’s a Desire Gu master, he has plenty of ‘hands’ and excels at concealment. For information gathering, let the Tianjigong spies handle it.
“Additionally, Miss Yuanshuang will need to go out more, using the Qi-watching technique to search. It would be best to bring along our Dragon Qi host, too.”
After hearing the Daoist’s plan, the others nodded slightly.
Just then, Xu Yuanshuang suddenly said, “The Azure Dragon Seven Constellations have arrived.”
Azure Dragon Constellations… The room fell silent.
The National Teacher in Qianlong City had three main forces under direct command: the city’s arcanist organisation, the Twenty-Eight Constellations, and the Tianjigong.
Of these, the Tianjigong was the most mysterious, serving as the intelligence network, outsiders knew little about them.
But the arcanist organisation and the Twenty-Eight Constellations were widely known within Qianlong City’s upper echelons.
Within the Twenty-Eight Constellations, the Vermilion Bird Seven served in the army, commanding an elite aerial corps of eight thousand, and were the finest scouts.
The White Tiger Guard, led by the White Tiger Seven, acted as bodyguards, assigned to the National Teacher’s close confidants and some key ministers.
The Black Warrior Seven made up a force of five thousand heavy cavalry.
As for the Azure Dragon Seven, including Azure Dragon himself, they comprised only eight people, but was a hit squad of the most fearsome reputation.
They were the elite fighting force personally forged by the National Teacher. The eight could, using combined tactics and magic weapons, unleash the destructive power of a third rank.
Third rank beyond-mortal, at any time in any faction, this was the very apex of strength.
The burly man, White Tiger, laughed. “Now that Azure Dragon is here, there won’t be any surprises in Yongzhou City. What we should worry about instead is whether the Buddhist sect will go back on their word.”
Ji Xuan shook his head, “Tianjigong has long made a deal with the Buddhists. It’s not our business. No need to worry.”
Xu Yuanhuai snorted, “Once we’ve caught Xu Qian, I’ll kill him with my own hands.”
He still believed Xu Qian had defiled his sister.
At this, the others couldn’t help glancing at Xu Yuanshuang. The White Tiger chuckled in a booming voice, “When the time comes, Master Yuanhuai can deal with him as he sees fit.”
Qihuan Danxiang said dismissively, “I have plenty of torturous poison Gu here. But really, killing him with a single blow is enough, no need for such suffering.”
This Desire Gu master could have extremem temper changes, but in his normal state, did not particularly delight in killing.
Liu Hongmian played with her nails without comment.
With her outstanding looks, most men failed to catch her attention. The only men in the world who interested her were either of extraordinary status, or exceptional cultivation.
Among the younger generation, the only one present who piqued her interest was Ji Xuan.
Even someone with Xu Yuanhuai’s background didn’t impress her. Of course, since he was a naive youth, she did find it fun to occasionally tease him.
…
Afternoon, at dusk.
Xu Qi’an and Li Lingsu walked back towards the inn in the orange glow.
After leaving the teahouse, they had visited the Liubo gambling den, but it was already closed.
Given that this matter also concerned Tianjigong and even the Buddhist monks, Xu Qi’an did not make further enquiries. He had already learned the details through intelligence from the Gongsun family.
There had been no witnesses at the scene, but judging from the Gongsun family head’s conjectures and the testimony of the den’s staff, the gambling boss named Chen Er had most likely been killed after trying to rob an out-of-towner who had won too much silver, a fatal miscalculation.
“You inform Gongsun Xiangyang to keep an eye on the inns in the city. outsiders always need a place to stay.”
Li Lingsu grunted his assent, eyes looking ahead, suddenly spotting a brawny monk in orange-and-red robes coming along the street.
He was eight feet tall, towering more than two heads above the crowd, and stood out like a crane among chickens.
Vajra Du’nan!
Li Lingsu’s heart trembled, and he nearly bowed his head.
“Don’t panic, keep your composure.”
Xu Qian’s voice sounded in his ear.
As expected of a real expert. So calm in such a situation… Li Lingsu took a deep breath, his nerves settling, expression unchanged.
Fuckin hell, how did I run into Du’nan here of all places? He absolutely must not recognise me, my back is killing me… Xu Qi’an secretly gritted his teeth.
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