Chapter 220

"!!!?"

Who to kill?!

Fan Xiaoxiao was a little dazed and couldn't believe her ears.

Whom did Gu Zhongtai just mention? The Heavenly Venerable?

Fan Xiaoxiao felt a little dizzy, but a soft laugh from Gu Zhongtai across from her brought her back to her senses.

"What? You don't believe me?"

She shook her head. When will you, Boss Gu, ever treat something like a joke? If you say you're going to kill the Celestial Venerable, then you really mean it.

But even though she said that, she still felt a little dizzy. In the end, Fan Xiaoxiao had to brace herself on the corner of the table to keep herself from sitting on the ground.

“You say you want to kill the Heavenly Venerable, I believe you. But you want Renle to kill him, I don’t believe you. Renle doesn’t have that ability.”

Fan Xiaoxiao spoke with certainty that although Ren Le was a princess of a country, her martial arts skills were indeed at a normal level. In fact, she was even inferior to Sang Lan'er, who served by the Heavenly Venerable.

Given her current level of ability, how easy would it be for her to kill the Celestial Venerable?

If we look at it from another angle, if Renle used the power of the imperial court to kill the Heavenly Venerable, then the barbarians on the other side of Tianshan would invade the Central Plains in no time. Renle would never do something so thankless and exhausting.

No, this matter is not as simple as I think.

Fan Xiaoxiao frowned slightly and looked up at Gu Zhongtai again. She saw that he had a smile on his lips and was lightly tapping the table with one hand.

She suddenly realized something: "How did you get Princess Renle to agree to this?"

"As I just said, it's a treasure map."

Gu Zhongtai raised his glass to his lips, his voice languid and tinged with disdain.

Fan Xiaoxiao rubbed her temples, feeling like her brain wasn't working properly.

"No, you probably didn't give her everything. Otherwise, Renle wouldn't have listened to you so obediently; she's a notorious madwoman."

"You still have half of the treasure map. And the one you have—is fake."

Fan Xiaoxiao was certain; Ren Le wasn't a fool. What she had just thought of, Ren Le probably had too. Gu Zhongtai giving her the real treasure map was a deliberate act of concealing his true abilities, a deliberate handing over of his most valuable asset.

Moreover, there's a high chance that Ren Le can tell the difference between a real and a fake treasure map.

He also showed Renle the treasure map in his hand, which Gu Zhongtai used as a pretext. He was trying to mislead Renle, implying that the real treasure map was still in the hands of the Heavenly Venerable! In this way, Renle would inevitably take action against the Heavenly Venerable no matter what.

However, having a reason to take action is still far from enough.

After all, the Celestial Venerable's kung fu has been unparalleled in the martial arts world for a long time. If it were really that easy to kill him, he wouldn't be called the Celestial Venerable.

Moreover, the feeling she got from Gu Zhongtai in front of her was that he didn't really want the Heavenly Venerable to die.

Fan Xiaoxiao was pondering the mystery of this place when Xiao Hei's voice suddenly rang out from outside the tent.

"Miss Xiao, a customer has arrived!"

She was slightly taken aback, then quickly looked up and replied.

Uncle Wang, who lived nearby, went out first. Before leaving, Fan Xiaoxiao glanced back at Gu Zhongtai, who was still leaning against the table, slowly and methodically drinking his wine.

I wasn't prepared to get up, nor was I prepared to answer her questions.

She shook her head, forced herself to cheer up, and followed Uncle Wang outside.

Outside were the Imperial Guards that Renle had brought earlier. However, there weren't many of them, only about seven or eight or nine. Uncle Wang, who had gone out before her, was already busy, and Xiao Hei outside was also helping to light the charcoal.

Seeing Fan Xiaoxiao come out, Xiao Hei took a moment to say to her, "The soldiers who came with Princess Renle just now wanted to buy some kebabs, and they've already paid. I just counted, and they just sold out of meat. If you need any help, my lady, please just let me know!"

"Thank you for your trouble, young hero. Could you please help your uncle grill some?"

The soldiers opposite them watched as Fan Xiaoxiao and her group got busy, and their expressions softened considerably. They even had the energy to exchange a few jokes with Fan Xiaoxiao.

"Hai, it's us who have troubled you, my lady. When we were here earlier, we found that everything here smelled so delicious!"

"Yes, yes! That aroma is no joke! I just ate a steamed bun last night, and now I feel like I haven't eaten anything at all. My stomach is churning with hunger!"

"Stop talking, my mouth is watering! Ladies, please hurry up! The brothers are starving!"

"Yeah! We'll roast all the purple gourds left!"

"Don't worry, we'll pay. We don't want to be like that tall guy from earlier, so stingy."

Someone added that comment, which caused everyone to burst into laughter.

Fan Xiaoxiao pursed her lips. As Uncle Wang was getting skewers, he quietly asked her, "Girl, you didn't leave just now because you were waiting for them?"

"Yes, we sell a lot of pork. If we don't sell more every day, the meat will probably all go bad!"

Fan Xiaoxiao's eyes crinkled with laughter as she flipped the skewers in her hands up and down very quickly, making them look like fluttering butterflies.

When Ren Le was still there, she noticed that the soldiers kept swallowing their saliva.

Moreover, the food in Tianshan Town is mostly bland and lacks oil. Fan Xiaoxiao listened carefully to their conversation. Most of them were from Yongzhou.

The food in Yongzhou is more flavorful than that in Tianshan. Also, since the people there are mostly soldiers, eating meat and drinking alcohol are commonplace.

In that kind of life, there's no shortage of lucrative opportunities.

The food in Tianshan Town was bland and lacked oil, and the weather was cold. They must have been fed up with eating the same steamed buns and pickled vegetables every day.

Moreover, these soldiers were mostly sons of officials and commoners. Few were from impoverished families, so Fan Xiaoxiao's kebabs were just a drop in the ocean for them.

Fan Xiaoxiao had guessed most of these things, so her appearance didn't surprise her much.

Hey! Shopkeeper! How much longer will it take for your skewers to arrive?!

The officer who appeared to be the leader saw that Fan Xiaoxiao and the others seemed to be chatting and assumed that the two of them were not paying attention to their skewers. He frowned and shouted loudly at Fan Xiaoxiao.

She quickly waved to Uncle Wang, flipped the skewers in her hands again, and shouted back at him.

"Coming right away, sir! Please wait a moment! Our skewers will be ready soon. You may come in and have a seat."

When the topic of going inside to sit down came up, the soldiers showed signs of hesitation.

Fan Xiaoxiao noticed that one of them glanced at Xiao Hei, as if he was wary of something.

With just one glance, she knew that this group of people were wary of Gu Zhongtai inside. She frowned slightly, taking this matter to heart.

One of the younger men, who looked rather kind, smiled at Fan Xiaoxiao. As if worried that she might have noticed something, he added, "My dear wife, my brother has been through some trouble."

Fan Xiaoxiao smiled kindly, indicating her understanding. However, his words immediately caused the person who had spoken rudely to explode: "Who the hell is being bullied! He's just a pretty boy from Tianshan! Why the hell do you take him so seriously!"

"Hiss! Shhh! Shhh!"

The generals were startled and hurriedly stepped forward to cover his mouth.

"Hehe, my wife, please don't be offended. My brother is just talking nonsense."

Fan Xiaoxiao smiled sheepishly and nodded in understanding. She lowered her eyes and continued grilling her skewers.

After this little incident, the soldiers on the other side dared not act recklessly anymore. They stood obediently in front of the stall waiting for their skewers.

A faint, dark light flickered in Fan Xiaoxiao's lowered eyes.

Tianshan, pretty boy.

I see.

(End of this chapter)