late at night.

Capital, the Mansion of the Marquis of Loyalty.

Feng Ke finished giving Li Ningfeng acupuncture as usual, and when he came out he heard a faint insect chirping sound.

His expression did not change as he added some Meng Po soup into the stove. The fragrance mixed with the aroma of medicine. When everyone in the mansion was almost drowsy, Feng Ke went out and walked under a tree by the wall.

A man came in from outside the wall.

Feng Ke: "Tiannan? Why are you here so late at night?"

Tiannan's face looked very unhappy. He didn't say anything nonsense and spread out his palms, "Mr. Feng, the master is in danger."

In the palm of his hand was the whistle that was shaking continuously.

Only when the mother whistle is blown will the sub-whistle vibrate to guide the whistle holder to find the mother whistle.

He had kept this whistle for a long time and had never used it in all these years. Who would have thought that the master would use the whistle just during his southern tour.

Feng Ke's eyes darkened: "When did it start?"

Tiannan: "It's been a while. From the time the whistle sounded to the time I came over, it took about a quarter of an hour."

He spoke very quickly, his anxiety clearly visible on his face.

"My master should be in Jinling now, which is too far from the capital. Even if I rush over now, it will be too late. Do you have any solution?"

"A quarter of an hour?"

Before Lian Shenwei left the capital, Feng Ke had a premonition that this southern tour would not be peaceful. As he expected, from the news he received, the southern tour team suffered multiple assassinations in less than two months.

Now the whistle was ringing, it must be that something happened to the southern tour team again. They didn't know what happened, and even if the news reached the capital at the fastest speed, it would take three days.

What he feared most was Lian Shenwei using his internal energy.

Once the toxins in the blood become unbalanced, the damage and harm caused to the internal organs is immeasurable and extremely life-threatening. If not treated in time, one may even be in danger of death.

If this is really the case, then he can only hope that Ming Cang can find someone quickly, give the pills he gave her before to Lian Shenwei, and then rush back to the capital within a month for him to treat him.

These thoughts went around in Feng Ke's mind, and finally turned into a sigh: "Don't worry, Zi Shao Ming Cang also has it. She has always been smart and will not let your master get into trouble. And things may not be as we guessed. Wait for the news and pay attention to the movements in the capital in the next few days."

Tiannan had no choice but to hold back: "Yes."

On the other side, Qiu Che followed the footprints and found the location of the fleet.

The bloody smell was still here, and the traces of fighting were even more obvious. Although he was obsessed with swordsmanship, he also knew a little about the martial arts world and the court.

The fleet docked in the river should be the prince's southern tour fleet. The final destination of the footprints and bloodstains is here.

But how is Ximian related to the royal family?

Qiu Che did not hide his figure. He stood by the water with a sword on his back, and soon the guards discovered him.

Having just experienced an assassination attempt, the royal guards were extremely sensitive and would be on alert at the slightest sign of trouble. Immediately, a team leader shouted, "Who is it?!"

Ying Jingjue, who was directing the search for someone outside, raised his eyes.

The swordsman standing on the shore had no intention of killing. He was wearing a black robe and a martial arts hat, and was tall. He looked like a man of the world. He couldn't help but think of Master Ximian who had just saved him.

Could it be the friend mentioned by Master Ximian?

At this time, the royal guards had already surrounded them in a mighty manner.

Ying Jingjue hurriedly said: "Wait a moment!"

As he spoke, he walked over quickly, and stopped five meters in front of Qiu Che, keeping a safe distance. "Excuse me, who are you, and what brings you here?"

"Looking for someone."

Ying Jingjue: "Who?"

Qiu Che raised his head, his calm gaze fell on Ying Jingjue's face, "Rest and sleep."

As soon as these two words came out, the young Chu Jun's expression changed slightly. Qiu Che took in all these changes, paused, and said firmly: "You just met him."

"Where is he?"

Ying Jingjue frowned: "What do you want to do with him?"

He didn't know much about the world of martial arts. He had heard some stories about Ximian from Li Ningfeng. This man came looking for Ximian right away. It was hard to tell whether he was a friend or an enemy.

Qiu Che: "An agreement."

Ying Jingjue: "Agreement? What's your relationship?"

The swordsman in front of him fell into a long silence. He didn't say anything and didn't leave. It seemed that he would stand here until he got an answer.

Xiao Zhizi: "Your Highness, this..."

Ying Jingjue hesitated for a moment and said, "Just now, it was Master Ximian who saved me, but he is not here. He left from the broken valley."

"That's all I can say. If you want to find him, you won't find him here."

Qiu Che listened and said, "Thank you very much."

He turned and walked away, catching a glimpse of torches flickering in the forest and teams of royal guards looking for someone inside. He had excellent hearing and accidentally heard a whisper or two.

It seems that he is looking for the regent who is said to be cruel and powerful.

The situation was turbulent, the agencies were scheming, the factions were fighting each other, the crown prince of the Great Sheng Dynasty seemed to have just experienced an assassination, the court was really dirty for hundreds of years.

Qiu Che retracted his gaze, mobilized his inner strength, and soon returned to the broken valley.

It was raining when he came here, but now it has stopped, and the forest is still filled with fog. He has already touched the threshold of the Tianshu Realm. Without the interference of the rain, the sounds around him are extremely clear in his ears.

Qiu Che took off his hat and brushed off the water droplets on it.

Unlike the urgency of following the footprints just now, Ximian was not among those people, and he lost the clue again. The closest he had been to Ximian in the past ten years, it seemed that he had passed by her without her noticing.

He put on his hat and continued walking, but when he reached the corner of the ravine, he suddenly stopped.

The rain in the south is light and some traces cannot be washed away. Shoes will definitely leave footprints when they step on the ground. Just now, he followed the chaotic footprints and found the southern patrol fleet.

But……

Qiu Che squatted down, looked carefully, and suddenly looked up behind a rock——

There are solitary footprints left there.

He walked over to check it out. There were a few drops of blood behind the rocks where the rain could not reach. The traces were subtle, and if he had not been so careful to pay attention to every detail during his years of searching for Ximian, he would never have noticed it.

Qiu Che followed the bloodstains and footprints and found a secluded path with lush vines hanging down. In a very hidden place, there was an inconspicuous cave entrance.

There were also footprints there, indicating that there was someone in the cave.

There is only one set of footprints, and they are in one direction. The person went in and has not come out yet.

Is it the assassin who assassinated Prince Chu who is recovering from injuries?

Qiu Che arrived at the cave entrance but did not go in immediately. He listened carefully and frowned after a while. Looking at the traces, there was clearly someone in the cave, but why did he not feel the breathing of a living person except for the sound of snakes crawling?

Dead?

Qiu Che is not the type to meddle in other people's business. He seldom has the time to take a second look at people or things that have nothing to do with him.

Before, he would have definitely turned around and left, but today, perhaps because of the news he heard from Ximian, he inexplicably held his breath, lifted the vines outside the cave entrance, and went straight in.

He took out the fire starter from his waist and blew it. The fire instantly illuminated the small cave.

A very familiar sword on the ground came into view.

Qiu Che froze.

His eyes moved slowly and his face suddenly darkened.

The owner of the Cangshan Sword fell to the side with his eyes closed.

That face had lost the youthfulness of its youth, and there was no trace of the carefree and bold look it once had in its eyes and brows. It was very different from what I remembered.

His clothes were stained with the smell of blood, which attracted several black snakes that crawled out from nowhere.

The snakes coiled around the young man's waist and abdomen, as if they regarded this body as their new nest, showing a protective and clinging posture.

The blood on the white clothes looked like the red spider lily blooming on the bones and coexisting with snakes, weird and eerie.

The young man was pale and thin, with the light from the lighter casting a shadow on the corners of his eyes, and he was filled with a heavy sense of depression.

He lay there like a witch's sacrifice to the snake totem.

Qiu Che felt it was extremely strange when he first saw it. He quickly came to his senses and quickly threw a few stones to kill the snake. He squatted down to feel Lian Shenwei's breath, "Breathing?!"

There was no temperature, and no breath was detected.

Qiu Che's usually steady fingers trembled slightly.

He pursed his lips, untied the wristband on Lian Shenwei's cuffs, and pressed it tightly on the pulse point.

A long time.

There was an illusory slight movement under the fingertips.

Qiu Che's tense body relaxed, and he suddenly realized that his back was already wet and his heart was beating very fast.

At the same time, Ming Candle, who was following the whistle's instructions, was also approaching here quickly.

Know the country.

The little ball of light, who was holding his breath, finally felt relieved. "Fortunately I found you! I was so scared! QAQ He almost thought you were really going to die, wuwu..."

Ever since it knew that this random disease would not only affect the body but also the soul, it has been in this nervous mood all the time.

He was afraid that Gong Du would fail miserably and end up killing himself.

Gong Du really wanted to die on the spot.

It doesn't matter to him how he tortures himself, he will die anyway.

This time he could have fainted in a more conspicuous place and waited for Qiu Che to come, but he chose not to and instead found a cave in a remote corner.

He really didn't expect the snake to crawl towards him from behind, and the feeling of the cold and sticky scales rubbing against his skin made him very uncomfortable.

Gong Du simply withdrew all consciousness and returned to his sea of ​​​​consciousness and took a short nap.

The consciousness left the body, and the inside was as tattered as a rag doll. There was no breath, and except that the body was still soft, the condition was not much different from that of a dead person.

It was not until he was awakened by the small ball of light that he realized Qiu Che had found him.

Gong Du was so sleepy that he could not open his eyes. He reluctantly spared a bit of his consciousness to let the body show signs that he was still alive, so as to avoid being mistaken for a corpse.

He was listless, his ears drooping. "This is the first time I've used my inner strength, I have to plan for the second time as well."

As the mind fails, the body will slowly synchronize with it, and he can very well attribute this irreversible physical failure to the imbalance of blood toxins.

If it was just a toxin imbalance, it could be alleviated and cured with careful treatment, but the additional diseases brought by his presence are incurable.

Now that his body is in a deep coma, he can sleep for a few more days. However, after waking up, he will have to think about how to behave when the symptoms of exhaustion begin to appear.

Xiao Guangtuan turned into a housekeeper and fed Gong Du a few bites of food with a worried look on his face: "Eat something before you go to sleep."

The black ball bit the feeding spoon. He was more obedient when he was drowsy. He ate as much as he was fed, wrapped himself tightly in his embroidered quilt, and fell drowsy again.