no.
Did that brat Yan Xiyue leave out some details in her story?
For example, her royal uncle might have had epilepsy, been kicked in the head by a donkey, been bitten by a rabid dog, or suffered some kind of emotional trauma that makes him easily agitated, thus causing him to go crazy and beat people indiscriminately.
It can't be that he was actually bitten by a five-step snake and suddenly became delirious from the venom...
What surprised her even more was that Yan Yuyao's skills were actually quite good.
It wasn't some fancy, half-baked skill; it was something real and solid. Of course, he still couldn't beat her.
If we're really going to compare their skill levels, Zhan Xinjia could only say that she's about 30/70 on par with Yan Yuyao.
She struck him three times with a bang, and he passed away on his seventh day after death.
Considering that he needed the other party's help with something important at the moment, and that he was Yan Xiyue's uncle, the hot-tempered Zhan Xinjia did not go all out. Instead, he played a game of cat and mouse with Yan Yuyao, pulling and tugging at each other in place.
She responded to his questions one by one while trying to soothe him.
"Master Miaoyu, we mean no harm. We just want to ask you for a favor. Besides, we are acquaintances."
Yan Yuyao snorted coldly, showing no interest.
"No matter how many times you come, I'm not interested! Tell your goddess not to waste her time here anymore, or I'll find your headquarters and pour manure on your gate one day."
ah? ?
A goddess?
Zhan Xinjia was stunned.
She stopped awkwardly and looked blankly at Yan Yuyao.
"Who the hell is this?"
——
In the pavilion in the backyard, Yan Yuyao poured flower tea for the two little girls.
He rubbed his nose, which had almost been knocked crooked, with a sullen expression.
"Oh, so you're Xiaoyue's friend. Why didn't you say so earlier? I thought it was that stupid cult trying to poach people again."
According to Yan Yuyao, ever since he was a monk more than ten years ago, he has been harassed by a group of idiots called Lanjiang, who tried to recruit him and promised to make him a general if things went well.
Yan Yuyao:? ? ?
Yan Yuyao: Am I crazy? Why would I give up being a prince to work for you guys as a general? Do you know what kind of treatment our only General of the Cavalry is receiving now? Come on, go to the slums in the south of the city. He should be squatting there begging for food right now.
Lan Jiang: ...
After listening, Zhan Xinjia replied: ...
Kids, this is not funny.
Across the table, Yan Yuyao was still bragging.
"Although that group of people are pretty brain-dead, they do have some skills. Their leader, who is called Goddess, is said to be able to go up to the heavens and down to the underworld, go back to the past and reverse the future. In order to make me believe in their strength, she even gave me a few prophecies."
At this point, Yan Yuyao proudly crossed her legs.
His serene, snow-lotus-like beauty, coupled with his carefree, slacker demeanor, left Zhan Xinjia utterly disillusioned. But from a certain perspective, he and Cui Wanzhao were actually quite a good match…
"They predicted that when I was seventeen, a villain would poison my food and I would be on the verge of death. How could I stand for that? I went on a hunger strike on the spot! If my body hadn't been so weak, I would have endured it for a whole year!"
Then they said I would marry the eldest daughter of Minister Jiang in the second half of the year. I didn't even eat and went straight to the Western Regions to collect manure, and it took me half a year to return.
Finally, when they couldn't take it anymore and got desperate, they even broke their guard and sent someone to assassinate me. I immediately pulled out my family's ancestral secret imperial medicine, the Yan Clan's Old Formula, and killed all those little bastards.
Frankly, what's the point of their lousy prophecies? They're laughable. Do they even understand my life plans? Can they keep up with my train of thought? Could their goddess have predicted I'd be out there collecting manure for six months and not coming home? Ha!
Yan Yuyao took a sip of tea, leaned back in her chair, and gave a disdainful smile.
Zhan Xinjia: "..."
Damn, so that's what happened back then. This is the first time she's met someone who can make her fall silent.
She now seriously suspects that Yan Yuyao was bitten by a five-step snake.
A kind-hearted person is attempting a year-long hunger strike.
What kind of good person would stubbornly carry manure for half a year just out of spite?
The two sat there chatting for a while before belatedly realizing that someone was still motionless. Upon closer inspection, they found that Cui Wanzhao had collapsed onto the stone table and fainted.
Yan Yuyao was startled.
"Damn! I didn't pour any boiling water, and this tea isn't even that hot, is it?"
Zhan Xinjia stared at the few glistening drops of drool at the corners of Cui Wanzhao's mouth and fell into deep thought.
"She's never been this close to a handsome guy before, and she couldn't resist being overwhelmed by your good looks... By the way, why did you suddenly become a monk later?"
"So their cult is so powerful? Then I'll join a more authoritative cult too. If they try to recruit me into the Greedy Land, I'll just turn around and persuade them to become monks with me. But those assassins they train are really loyal, like they've had their brains removed and can't think independently."
At this point, Yan Yuyao became somewhat smug, her lips curling into a wide smile.
"However, there are still successful examples. Take those two monks who were making the vegetarian meal just now, for instance. They used to be from Xinjiang, but a couple of years ago I brainwashed them and they came to serve Buddha together. If you want to know anything, I can take you to ask them."
That would be great!
After settling Cui Wanzhao into a side room to rest, Zhan Xinjia turned to follow Yan Yuyao to find the two cooks, hoping to find out about Lan Jiang's stronghold in Yaozhou City and help Lord Shen.
Passing by a strange palace, Zhan Xinjia subconsciously glanced inside a few more times.
The palace was filled with ever-burning lamps, all made of bamboo frames and red paper, covered with gold leaf and cinnabar. They were arranged in neat rows like memorial tablets in an ancestral hall, with young monks keeping watch to keep the lamps burning.
It's normal for temples to have ever-burning lamps, but Zhan Xinjia always felt that some unseen force was drawing her in, making her unconsciously want to go inside.
Seeing her enter the Changming Hall, although she didn't understand what the little girl was up to, Yan Yuyao still kindly explained a few things.
"These are usually lamps that worshippers invite for their deceased relatives and offer them before the Buddha, praying that the Buddha will protect their relatives so that they will not suffer in the underworld and that they can live a carefree and peaceful life in the next life."
I received your letter, but you did not reply.
She frowned and walked around the entire countertop, but still couldn't figure out what was wrong. Upon closer inspection of the lamps, she noticed that not only were the names of the deceased written on them, but also the names of the people who offered the lamps were written in small print in the lower left corner.
…Never mind, business is more important.
Zhan Xinjia shook his head to dispel his discomfort and was about to go out when he caught a glimpse of an old, ever-burning lamp with faded red paper.
It was placed in a rather corner location, and its light appeared slightly dimmer compared to the new lamp next to it.
"My wife Yu's A-Zhi... the lamp provider... Meng Zhiyuan... Meng?"
Although there are many people with the surname Meng in the world, for some inexplicable reason, the first person that came to Zhan Xinjia's mind was the poor old man with the surname Meng that she had met on the way here.
Could it be that Old Man Meng is Meng Zhiyuan?
Yan Yuyao wasn't very familiar with these things at Hongfu Temple, since he became a monk simply because he was a troll who was always arguing with Lan Jiang. But the little novice monk who was in charge of guarding these lamps knew a lot about them.
When the story of this lamp was mentioned, the two young craftsmen exchanged a glance and sighed helplessly.
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