“He’s in trouble.” An Honghan reached out and straightened the ferret sitting on his shoulder to prevent it from falling off. “He needs my help. Otherwise, he would rather take these secrets to his grave than tell anyone.”
Oh... Xi Xizhi nodded as if she understood.
Qingyuan Pond is a wonderful place, gathering the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in one place. It is an excellent place for cultivation. I wonder what secrets are buried there?
"What kind of help does he need from you?" Xi Xizhi paused for a moment before getting back to the main topic.
An Honghan did not answer. His sword-like eyebrows furrowed slightly. Suddenly remembering something, he picked up the letter and read it again before confirming, "Southwest...that's Fengzhou."
Huh? Xi Xizhi lost her footing and almost stumbled off An Honghan's shoulder. Luckily, she reacted quickly and stretched out her little paws, grabbing onto An Honghan's dragon robe tightly, preventing her from falling to the ground.
How did this get involved with Fengzhou again?! Hearing two pieces of news like this in one day is too much for her heart to bear!
“He must have discovered something. No, I need to go to Fengzhou myself.” An Honghan crumpled the letter into a ball and threw it into the stove next to him.
The letter paper caught fire, hissed and burned, and quickly turned to ashes.
Before Xi Xizhi could ask what help they could offer in Fengzhou, An Honghan had already turned and headed towards the Imperial Study.
An Honghan walked very fast, and Xi Xizhi used all four limbs to grab onto An Honghan's clothes, fearing that he might accidentally throw her off.
Finally arriving at the door of the Imperial Study, before Xi Xizhi could even catch her breath, An Honghan dismissed the palace maids and eunuchs, walked to the bookshelf, picked up a vase, and turned it to the right.
The wall trembled slightly, then slowly moved, revealing the secret passage.
An Honghan strode inside.
Xi Xi had been here once before, so she wasn't nervous at all this time.
As if he hadn't seen the treasure chest in the secret room, An Honghan walked straight to the jade table and stopped.
He picked up the small wooden box on the table, slowly opened it, and took out the parchment that had been placed with the royal family genealogy.
Xi Xizhi had seen this piece of parchment once before.
It was because of that visit to the Imperial Study that Xi Xizhi saw An Honghan staring blankly at it that she later learned about the unknown past of the An imperial family.
What is he trying to do now? Xi Xizhi could no longer contain her doubts and jumped off An Honghan's shoulder. Suddenly, a blinding light appeared and surrounded Xi Xizhi's body.
When the light faded, a naked child appeared in the same spot.
"Why are you here? Or have you figured out a way to crack this paper?" Xi Xizhi curiously leaned forward, quietly gazing at the blueprint in An Honghan's hand.
She thought to herself, "What's wrong with An Honghan today? He's acting so strangely."
“There’s no way to crack it yet, but Master Feng has already told us the entrance to this blueprint.” An Honghan spread the parchment out in his palm and glanced at it. “We probably need to go to Qingyuan Pool first before we can find a way to crack it.”
"Really?" Xi Xizhi stood on tiptoe, examining the complex lines on the paper.
It turns out that the reason An Honghan imprisoned Master Feng was related to this blueprint.
The parchment might represent a treasure trove overflowing with gold and silver, and Master Feng holds the key to that treasure. No wonder An Honghan is reluctant to let Master Feng leave easily; after all, he carries a secret he refuses to reveal.
The lines on the drawing were winding and twisting. After looking at them a few more times, Xi Xizhi felt as if the lines were alive, writhing restlessly in her mind, trying to deviate from their original positions. Startled, Xi Xizhi took a step back and moved away from the drawing.
"What's wrong?" Seeing that the child's face looked pale, An Honghan reached out and touched her forehead. Only after confirming that Xi Xizhi did not have a fever did he withdraw his hand.
Xi Xizhi took a couple of deep breaths. "I'm fine."
Why did Xi Xizhi feel a sense of both familiarity and strangeness when looking at those lines? Xi Xizhi innocently looked up at An Honghan, wondering what this picture meant.
"If there's nothing else, let's go. Let's go check out Qingyuan Pond." An Honghan took Xi Xizhi's hand and walked out.
Since Master Feng has sent a letter to inform him, the trouble he has encountered this time is definitely something he cannot solve alone. He must hurry over as soon as possible, especially since there are only a few days left until the agreed meeting in January.
If I don't go to find the whereabouts of the Imperial Preceptor Xu, that half-demon might actually attack him.
Speaking of Grand Preceptor Xu, An Honghan naturally thought of Dongfang Youyu.
These days, Dongfang Youyu has been quite busy. Apart from eating and sleeping, he spends almost all his time searching for clues.
This was also thanks to An Honghan lending him a contingent of imperial guards, which he could command at will.
Qingyuan Pond is strictly off-limits to unauthorized personnel; in other words, it is a viewing pond that belongs entirely to An Honghan.
An Honghan dismissed the eunuchs who were responsible for feeding the Phoenix Golden Scale Fish in Qingyuan Pond.
Upon arriving at the destination, Xi Xizhi hurriedly transformed back into human form, smacked her lips, and asked hesitantly, "Did you already know all the secrets were hidden in Qingyuan Pond?"
Otherwise, why would they prohibit other people from entering?
An Honghan squatted down beside the pool, bent down to check the water temperature, and found it to be extremely cold, like melted ice water.
"If I had known, why would I have imprisoned Master Feng for five years?" He didn't like doing useless work. If he had known that the entrance was Qingyuan Pool, he would have gone in to explore long ago and wouldn't have wasted so much time.
“That makes sense.” Xi Xizhi nodded in agreement, then shook her head. “Then how could there be such a prohibition order?”
“Qingyuan Pool has been built for a hundred years; it existed even before I was born.” Having figured something out, An Honghan continued, “As for that prohibition order, it is a rule established by the previous emperor.”
Xi Xizhi suddenly understood. "You mean, perhaps many years ago, an emperor knew that Qingyuan Pool was the entrance, so... does the secret of the blueprint still exist?"
Xi Xizhi looked at Qingyuan Pond with considerable suspicion. She had jumped into the pond before to catch Phoenix Golden Scale Fish and knew that the water temperature there was unbearable for ordinary people.
Each time she fished, she relied on her spiritual power to barely move freely in the icy pool.
“It must still be there, because no one has been able to decipher the secret of the blueprints until now.” An Honghan was absolutely certain of this. “I’ll go down and take a look. You stay up here.”
As soon as An Honghan finished speaking, he stepped into the pool.
The fish in the pond were startled and all darted away at once.
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