Chapter 252: Lure the Tiger Away from the Mountain

As the raindrops dripped, a round golden elixir took shape in Lian Chengyue's body. Today is the third year that Lian Chengyue has entered Qingji Sect.

Ning Mingmei withdrew the true energy from his fingers and allowed Lian Chengyue to continue meditating. Over there, Bai Bugui and Hua Paofu had already caught pheasants in the mountains and were roasting the chickens with other disciples.

"Song Mingke."

Song Mingke walked silently with Ning Mingmei to a secluded place. Ning Mingmei put his hands behind his back and looked at his simple clothes: "Lu Youyu and Zheng Yinshang came from the Northern Expedition Army, but you and them should not be in the same group."

"Logically, I shouldn't ask too much. But your master and I are good friends. The demon world is now in a complicated situation, with all kinds of people. We also have important matters to attend to in the demon world, and the disturbances we stir up may affect you. So I have to ask."

Ning Mingmei's words were quite sincere. Yanyun Tower is the all-round strategic partner of Qingji Sect, and the relationship between him and Lu Mengqing is more than just a formal one. If Lu Mengqing and Wen Siheng were in their shoes, Lu Mengqing would make the same choice.

A subtle hint of panic flashed across Song Mingke's eyes. After a moment, he said respectfully, "Yes. I came to the demon world because I have something important to do."

"Important?"

"Kill the traitors and clean up the house."

These six short words were chilling. Song Mingke said slowly, "The defector is Tan Zhongxing, a disciple of Elder Jindao. He has always been arrogant and conceited, and is at odds with other disciples in the sect. A few days ago, he lost the election for the position of manager of the sect's library, and was resentful, so he stole the books, severely injured other disciples, and defected to the demon world."

Ning Mingmei asked: "Lu Mengqing only sent you?"

Song Mingke said, "Ning Xianzun knows. There have always been many conflicts between Jindao and Sidao in Yanyun Tower. Jindao has always been resentful about something that happened many years ago, and believes that Master took away the position of the head that should have belonged to Jindao. Although Master is the head, he is also a member of Sidao. So many things... But now that the enemy is at hand, Yanyun Tower should unite to fight against the demons, and should be a whole. So the fewer people who know about this, the better."

"Lu Youyu and Zheng Yinshang don't know either?" Ning Mingmei asked.

"have no idea."

In fact, this sentence is a question that is asked even though you already know the answer. Since Song Mingke was secretly ordered by the head of the sect to kill the traitors, how could Lu Youyu and Zheng Yinshang, who were in the north of the foreign aid, know anything about this?

But that feeling came again - as if there was a spider silk hanging on my heart, and occasionally I could hear the sound of the silk thread being plucked. Ning Mingmei asked: "Did that person escape to the demon world?"

"Yes. I tracked him to where the fox tribe gathered. He was injured and couldn't run far."

"We will cause a big disturbance in the Fox Tribe these days, which may hinder your plan." Ning Mingmei thought again and again, and did not tell Song Mingke the whole story. "Do you need our help?"

Of course, it won't be free. However, Yanyunlou is a wealthy family, so they probably don't need that much money.

Bai Bugui’s matter is important. Ning Mingmei said this because he was worried that after completing his mission, the Demon Fox Clan would launch a wanted human hunt, leading to Song Mingke's capture, which would affect the diplomatic relations between Qingji Sect and Yanyun Tower. Secondly, he was worried that Song Mingke's cleansing of the clan would cause too much noise, causing the Demon Fox Clan to become more alert, making it difficult for him to carry out his work.

Song Mingke's reaction caught Ning Mingmei's attention: "After all, this is Yanyun Tower's family affair. There is no need to trouble Elder Ning."

Ning Mingmei didn't force him. After Song Mingke went back, Wu Yun came out to find him.

"Boss, what do you think?" he said.

Compared to Gui Ruoxue, hundreds of years of wandering in the human world have made Wu Yun more indifferent and more aware of the dark side of the world. Ning Mingmei pondered for a moment and said, "There must be something wrong. There is no credit, no subsidy, and I am doing the task alone. There is no public recognition, but Song Mingke has no regrets about it. He also doesn't allow me to provide help and share the work with him. This is really against human nature and logic. It is impossible that Lu Mengqing's PUA skills have become more advanced than mine."

Wu Yun: ...

"I need to find someone to keep an eye on Song Mingke, to prevent him from ruining my plans." Ning Mingmei thought for a moment, "You have to go with me to use the Demon Fox Tribe's altar, and this matter will be the responsibility of Gui Ruoxue. Let Gui Ruoxue go with him."

Ning Mingmei called Gui Ruoxue out again. Gui Ruoxue was suddenly given an additional surveillance mission, but she did not complain as usual.

"Song Mingke... is her disciple."

Ning Mingmei: "Yes, your childhood sweetheart."

"Jin Dao's skills are inferior to others, and he is still the same after hundreds of years. This is not surprising. However, there is indeed a problem." Gui Ruoxue said, "I will pay attention to it."

He would pay attention, Shi Ruzhuo exploded. Lian Chengyue heard Shi Ruzhuo's weird voice as soon as she woke up, and thought it was her inner demon speaking: "Childhood sweetheart? That sounds really intimate."

Lian Chengyue said: "Senior, why are you crazy?"

Shi Ruzhuo: “…”

Lian Chengyue: "Senior, I have made a breakthrough. You can no longer control me to slap myself."

At this moment, Ning Mingmei turned around and saw Lu Youyu and Zheng Yinshang flipping the roast chicken. Zheng Yinshang passed the chicken leg to Lu Youyu, and Lu Youyu passed the chicken leg to Song Mingke. The three disciples of Yanyun Tower were laughing together. Song Mingke was smiling on the surface, but there was sadness in his eyes.

These children from Yanyun Tower have had a good relationship since childhood. In the hearts of Lu Youyu and Zheng Yinshang, Song Mingke has been their best senior brother since the time in Yaochuan City.

Seeing that Lian Chengyue had broken through and the injuries of the Yanyun Tower disciples had improved, Ning Mingmei asked Lao Shiba to pass on the message: "We will set out early tomorrow morning."

In a corner where no one was paying attention, Song Mingke's ears moved.

…

"Song Mingke is gone?"

Everyone rested for a whole night, but the next morning, there was no trace of Song Mingke. Lu Youyu said: "Brother left a note saying that he had detected Tan Zhongxing's presence. Because the situation was urgent, he had to leave first."

The person who was on guard last night was Lao Shiba. He was a little embarrassed: "Song Mingke was in a hurry to leave in the middle of the night yesterday, so I didn't stop him."

After all, there is a layer between Qingji Sect and Yanyun Tower. Lu Youyu said, "Brother must have his reasons for doing this. Immortal Ning, I am truly sorry."

Although she said this, Ning Mingmei could still see the worry and concern in her eyes. But because of their deep friendship over the years, she still chose to believe Song Mingke.

"Since he wants to leave, let him go." Ning Mingmei said.

This sudden situation made Ning Mingmei feel embarrassed to tell Gui Ruoxue to follow Song Mingke. Mentioning it again at this moment would sound like suspicion and surveillance. Ning Mingmei and others sent away two disciples of Yanyun Tower. As soon as they recovered from their injuries, they had to go to the front line again.

"Ning Xianzun, the last time I saw Wen Siheng, he said that after the war is over..."

Ning Mingmei interrupted coldly: "There's no need to say that."

"Haha." Lu Youyu laughed, "Now Wen Siheng and the others have become powerful figures who can stand on their own! Especially Mu Hanshan, many people say that he seems to be risking his life on the battlefield. We in Yanyun Tower cannot be outdone!"

The two men left. Ning Mingmei and his group set off on their journey. Gui Ruoxue asked Ning Mingmei: "Just let it go like this?"

Ning Mingmei said: "Last night, I expected that Song Mingke might leave early. So, I left a backup plan on him to monitor him."

"As expected of you."

Moreover, he discovered that the other person also had a backup plan.

Thinking of this, Ning Mingmei glanced at Lian Chengyue who had just broken through. Hua Puff was pestering Lian Chengyue to ask for breakthrough techniques, and Lian Chengyue was sharing his learning experience with her, looking very honest.

Who would have thought that Lian Chengyue’s little paper man was also following Song Mingke?

No matter how honest he looks on a daily basis, Lian Chengyue is still a wolf waiting for an opportunity.

A little wolf that can't be tamed.

Finally, sparse villages appeared in the distance. These villages were built in dense forests and all the houses were built on trees. There are wind chimes on the tree, which make cool sounds when the wind blows.

This familiar scene, which had never belonged to him, made Bai Bugui's throat tighten.

"Here we are," he said.

The clan's homeland was the "home" that never expected Bai Bugui to return.

Ning Mingmei said: "Lie in wait for three days, find out the terrain, and then make plans."

…

The paper man chased Song Mingke and ran through the dense forest. Song Mingke was agile, quick in movements, and looked alert.

Downstream, Song Mingke finally saw a trail of blood. Until this moment, he felt a little relieved.

Found it!

He finally found traces of Tan Zhongxing.

When leaving the cave, Song Mingke did not find any trace of Tan Zhongxing, but he knew that if he didn't leave now, he might not be able to leave.

This matter must never be known to outsiders.

Tan Zhongxing should have been killed on the spot long ago, but Song Mingke didn't expect that he actually had a magic weapon to protect himself, which allowed him to survive for these days. The handsome young man now had a gloomy face and a frown on his face. He lowered his body and found the direction of Tan Zhongxing again based on the bloodstains.

He didn't want to do that if he could.

Finally, when passing by a huge rock, Song Mingke felt a flash of cold light on the back of his neck!

"Song Mingke"'s head flew out and fell down softly. However, the person who died was not Song Mingke, but a substitute. When Tan Zhongxing turned around suddenly, a sword from the zither had already stabbed into his back.

The sword was supposed to go straight to his back, but it deviated at the moment of stabbing... and finally stabbed into his dantian.

Just like, he couldn't bear to kill Tan Zhongxing after all.

But it also gave Tan Zhongxing time to catch his breath.

"Song Mingke..." He said with blood in his mouth and gritted his teeth, "After all, you found me..."

Tan Zhongxing collapsed to the ground. Song Mingke held the sword and looked around to see if there were any backup plans left by Tan Zhongxing. When seeing Tan Zhongxing finally caught, he didn't feel the slightest bit of joy.

On the contrary, Tan Zhongxing looked at him with a look of despair turning into a desperate mockery.

"Song Mingke, you guessed right. In the past few days, I have been near the cave, roaming around and monitoring you, looking for an opportunity to contact the Qingji Sect. What a pity! I failed at the last moment because you took the initiative!"

"Tan Zhongxing." Song Mingke said slowly, "I don't understand what you are saying."

"Don't play dumb. You couldn't sleep well at night during those days you were with those people from Qingji Sect, right?" Tan Zhongxing laughed, "You were afraid that I would show up and tell them..."

"Shut up!" Song Mingke's face turned pale, and the red mole on his forehead also dimmed.

But Tan Zhongxing's words, mixed with his arrogant laughter, still penetrated the dense forest: "You are afraid that I will tell them that you are the remnant of the Liaoyuan Clan! You and Yu Niao are both the remnants of the Liaoyuan Clan!"

A flock of crows were startled in the woods. Song Mingke's body shook slightly, as if he couldn't bear it.

“I said that Yu Niao and I were fighting for the position of the library manager. I told you, why did you react so strongly after I found out something about Yu Niao’s background… It turns out that you and Yu Niao are both remnants of the Liaoyuan Clan. What a bold Lord Lu, to let scum like you take advantage of the situation and use any means to suppress Jindao.” Tan Zhongxing said, “I, Tan Zhongxing, feel sick when I think about it. In the past hundred years, I actually became friends with a remnant of the Liaoyuan Clan! Hahahaha!”

"Remnants, scum, bastards!"

With every word Tan Zhongxing spoke, Song Mingke's face turned paler. Even his hand holding the sword was shaking slightly.

Song Mingke is an orphan, a genius, and Lu Mengqing's first disciple. With such a background and such a status, how could one not be jealous? For many years, before Song Mingke became so outstanding, he was often assassinated and attacked in Yanyun Tower. Especially Jindao, which is hostile to Sidao, the young boy Song Mingke is weak, so they often use Song Mingke as Sidao's weakness and attack him wantonly.

Only Tan Zhongxing admired powerful people and would rebuke those disciples for their actions. That is why they are friends despite coming from two hostile islands. Even though Song Mingke knew that Tan Zhongxing was narrow-minded and could not tolerate anyone who stood in his way, Song Mingke always had a deep friendship for him in his heart.

But Yu Niao is also Song Mingke's friend. Moreover, Yu Niao has the same background as him, just like his sister. In the election for the library manager, Tan Zhongxing lost because his character was inferior to Yu Niao's. He was greatly upset by this and spoke ill of Yu Niao, but what Song Mingke wanted to do was still to mediate between them, hoping that they could reconcile.

But what he should never have done was that Tan Zhongxing actually found out Yu Niao's background and planned to make a big fuss about it!

Song Mingke still remembers the devastated feeling he felt when he learned about his life story. He is the descendant of a devil in the eyes of everyone. His real mother and father were a pair of hardworking and kind-hearted businessmen, but they died tragically because of the Liaoyuan clan incident. Lu Mengqing knew this, but still made up a false life story for him. Before knowing the truth, every Qingming Festival, he visited the graves of fictional people who were not his family members... After that, even when he looked at his beloved master, he felt complicated and unfamiliar.

And the more he looked through the materials from those years, the more nervous Song Mingke felt. When he was sleeping in bed, he would occasionally be awakened by the swaying shadows of the trees outside the window. He always dreamed that his background was exposed and he was arrested while he was sleeping, just like those "remnants of the party" back then. He would be killed in the most cruel way, just as recorded in those volumes. No matter how he cried out in his dreams or how he explained, those faces would only look at him with mockery, fabricate charges against him, overturn his past, and his fellow apprentice sisters and brothers would hate and fear him, and eventually, send him to the guillotine.

So he gradually became silent and quiet. Sometimes Song Mingke thought that he could still maintain his superficial calm only because he was only one step away from collapse.

If Tan Zhongxing were to reveal Yu Niao's background, Song Mingke had no idea what the result would be. Moreover, Tan Zhongxing hated Yu Niao so much that he didn't believe that a female disciple could surpass him in the election. He wanted to bring her to the bottom and she would never be able to stand up again. He got Tan Zhongxing drunk and took away the evidence. Until then, he had not wanted to kill him.

He tried to cover up the matter by promising Tan Zhongxing another position. But he didn't expect that Tan Zhongxing agreed on the surface but continued the investigation secretly.

And also investigated Song Mingke's true life experience.

Song Mingke had no choice but to take action. He set up a trap in the library, and Tan Zhongxing really stepped in and seriously injured several disciples - two of the seriously injured disciples were Song Mingke who disguised himself as Tan Zhongxing. Afterwards, he planned Tan Zhongxing's defection, blocked all of Tan Zhongxing's accounts that could be used to speak and even the network disk where data could be stored, cut off his Internet service, and half-by order and half-secretly launched a hunt for Tan Zhongxing.

But just now, Song Mingke still hesitated. The sword in the zither deflected and he stabbed it into the opponent's dantian.

It was not until Tan Zhongxing's words today that his last fantasy was shattered.

"... scum, bastard?" Song Mingke said softly, "Is that what you think?"

Tan Zhongxing's laughter gradually faded away. He said: "Song Mingke... I just..."

"I just didn't expect that you would attack me for Yu Niao. Aren't we friends? I just want to take revenge on Yu Niao. I will never reveal your background to others. Why did you do this to me?"

At that moment, Song Mingke was moved for a moment. He looked at the blood gushing out of Tan Zhongxing's body and couldn't help but move forward.

Right now.

"Go to hell!"

The arrow in the throat shot towards Song Mingke. It shot straight into Song Mingke's shoulder.

“Hmm!”

Song Mingke discovered that this was not Tan Zhongxing's real purpose. What Tan Zhongxing sent with all his strength was the letter in his hand.

A letter written in blood shot up into the sky.

"Song Mingke, you will not have a good ending. You and Yu Niao, the world will not tolerate you, you both must die——"

Tan Zhongxing couldn't finish the last half of his sentence. He opened his eyes wide, and what finally came into his sight was the blood letter shot down by magic.

Song Mingke stabbed his sword at his vital points without hesitation.

The backup plan Song Mingke left behind finally worked.

The blood letter burned to ashes. Tan Zhongxing died suddenly on the spot. His soul left his body and wailed to escape, but the gray soul was held in the hands of someone.

Song Mingke was covered in blood. The sword was still stuck in Tan Zhongxing's head. At the moment when the sword was thrust down and the backhand took effect, he, as a zither practitioner, heard the sound of the zither strings breaking.

"bump!"

At that moment he knew that everything had changed. His state of mind also changed completely.

There's no going back.

He tilted his head and looked at the man coming out of the forest. The red mole on his forehead was eerily red, but his eyes were calm.

So indifferent that it's a bit crazy.

"This ghost is very noisy." said the man.

"Who are you?" Song Mingke said.

The man laughed quietly, "It's not like we haven't seen each other for many years. Didn't we meet once in the secret realm a few years ago? Have you forgotten me now? - Young Monk Song."

Song Mingke looked at him with his clear black and white eyes.

"Oh, I remember now..." Song Mingke said, "You are the big demon."

He did not make a move, because he knew very well that the big demon was stronger than him, and it happened at such a bad time. The big demon said, "I heard such a commotion in the deep forest, so I came out to see. I didn't expect it to be my little cultivator. The affairs of you humans are really complicated."

Song Mingke looked at him calmly: "What do you want?"

Both his life experience and the fact that he murdered his fellow disciples were enough to constitute a serious crime, causing this respected senior brother of Yanyun Tower to be thrown into the abyss and never to recover. The demon then asked with great interest: "Guess what I want?"

“……”Song Mingke looked at him indifferently.

After killing Tan Zhongxing, he seemed like a different person. Just like now, he said: "I know what you want. If you want it, come and get it."

"oh?"

"But I want you to keep your mouth shut." Song Mingke said, "And..."

With a "puff" sound, Tan Zhongxing's soul was crushed to pieces. His last scream was also silenced by the burning of the demonic fire.

It turns out that the disappearance of a person's soul is so simple. Song Mingke thought that if Tan Zhongxing had been killed earlier, there would not have been so much trouble.

If we had already started fighting when we first met...

When the big monster held his lower lip, Song Mingke still looked at him coldly. The demon said, "What are you thinking about?"

Song Mingke: "How much did you hear?"

"We, the demon race, have no interest in the disputes of your race that exclude dissidents. In the end, it's all scheming and dirty. But we, the demon race, keep our promises. Since I promised not to tell anyone about this, I will keep my promise." The big demon said, frowning, "Are you poisoned?"

Song Mingke lowered his head and noticed a purple-black spot on his left shoulder. Until this moment, he actually laughed: "It seems that what you want can't be given to you now..."

"What a weird thing to say... Damn..."

In just a moment, Song Mingke fainted.

When he closed his eyes, he thought that he would probably never be able to return to the position of the eldest senior brother of Yanyun Tower.

He sank and sank in darkness until the end of the world.

…

Ning Mingmei called Bai Bugui in and asked him, "The patterns on the belts of your demon fox tribe are divided into different classes, right?"

Bai Bugui nodded. Ning Mingmei handed him the drawn pattern and said, "Identify it."

"This is the general of the Demon Fox Clan, responsible for guarding the forbidden area." Bai Bugui said, a little puzzled, "Master, how do you know the pattern on his belt?"

"It's okay, you can go down first."

After Bai Bugui left, Ning Mingmei called Wu Yun and Gui Ruoxue. He did not mention the specific matters, but only said that the general of the Demon Fox Clan was not in the Demon Fox Clan's territory now. Wu Yun said: "If that's the case, things will be much easier."

Ning Mingmei never expected that the big monster that was harassing Song Mingke was actually the fox responsible for guarding the forbidden area.

This person won't be able to return to the Fox Clan for a while. Ning Mingmei saw him taking Song Mingke to his cave to find an antidote to heal Song Mingke's injuries. The good news is that the guards will be much more relaxed, but the bad news is that Ning Mingmei witnessed an incident in Yanyun Tower, and he does not have the time to deal with it at the moment.

"No matter what, let's get what we need first." Ning Mingmei said.

Wu Yun asked: "What are you going to do?"

Ning Mingmei said, "Lure the tiger out of the mountain. I have already used my money to speed up Bai Bugui's previous purchasing and shipping, and asked the e-commerce company to launch a complicated rule-based stacking fox + sweeping blessing overseas shopping event. Now the entire demon fox clan is either busy unpacking the sea freight, putting together orders, trying to get discounts, or sweeping blessings."

Wu Yun: “…”