Chapter 40: Slipping Ouch, this posture is not comfortable. ...
Chen Yu did not respond immediately, but remained silent.
Qi Xin was not in a hurry either. He just stood there looking at him, paying attention to his every move.
After a while, Chen Yu placed the incense in his hand firmly in the incense burner. A faint smile appeared on the corner of his lips. He slowly stood up and said, "Shouldn't you know more about this matter than me?"
Qi Xin was speechless for a moment.
I originally asked that question because, on the one hand, I was thinking that since I had just returned to Shengdu, I was not sure about the strength of the two parties; on the other hand, I was really in the wrong and wanted to test his true feelings towards my father.
Even if a tiger is imprisoned in the city, it will eventually return to the mountains.
Qi Xin's eyes moved, hiding his inner panic. No matter how his master indulged him on a daily basis, when it came to the right and wrong that had accumulated over the years, he still had some bottom line.
My surname has destined me to have no chance of a peaceful and carefree life[1].
All we can do is to protect this right hand and guard the land of Dasheng.
Qi Xin's mouth twitched for a moment, and he met his inquiring gaze without dodging, and said with a half-smile:
"The Shicha Underground Casino and the Shadow Capital Guard are both emerging forces, and they're the legendary, mysterious entities. From what I understand, they've only grown in strength since my father ascended the throne, and both are renowned for assassinations. But what puzzles me is, if my father established the Shadow Capital Guard out of fear of a destabilized throne and to consolidate his power, then why did he allow the Shicha Underground Casino to flourish for years without taking action?"
Chen Yu's eyes flickered as he stroked his tiger's mouth and asked with an undiminished smile, "What do you think, Xiaojiu?"
At this critical juncture, Qi Xin felt that no matter how convoluted his thoughts were, he could not outsmart this talented general who was used to playing on the edge of a knife, so he simply spoke frankly:
"Father is the Son of Heaven. Is it possible that even with the whole nation's strength, he still can't control a local tyrant?"
"It is precisely because Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven that he knows how to reap the benefits rather than doing things that are thankless." Chen Yu cleaned the incense ash from his sleeves and said slowly:
"It's just dealing with an internal traitor. If handled well, Your Majesty won't even have to do it personally. The city lord will show his hand when he reveals his true colors, and then we'll see who can hold his composure longer." Qi Xin looked at him with his usual lazy look, and gradually relaxed, and began to blatantly trace his eyebrows with his eyes.
She really wanted to reach out and touch his eyelids, which were restless even in his dreams and kept twitching from time to time, to help him absorb some of the heavy melancholy and uneasiness.
As she thought about it, the delusions in her heart continued to ferment with overwhelming force:
Master, I can actually guess how you managed to get through those days that you avoid talking about.
I also know that if it weren't for my mother, you would never have saved me or paid any attention to me.
I also know that I have no right to defend my father...
But, what the emperor did to you, he also did to me, and perhaps even to the thousands of Dasheng people who have been hiding their identities and have nowhere to seek justice.
I can understand it, but I don’t agree with it, let alone agree with it.
Can you really do it in your heart, like Sister Shuang and the others said, and believe me completely?
Outside the dilapidated temple, the shadows of the trees sway, and the swallows and sparrows chirp. Occasionally, one or two wisps of breeze brush across the tips of the leaves, gently dragging them, counting the mottled and uneven textures on them as if protecting a treasure, like the silent and rich eyes of a lover, stirring this intoxicating spring.
The two people in the dilapidated temple looked out the window one after another, immersed in this moment of peace and tranquility.
After an unknown amount of time, the rustling of footsteps approached from afar, accompanied by the slight sound of metal rubbing against metal, startling the flock of sparrows resting on the branches. They scattered in all directions, and for a moment, there was no trace left.
At the same time, Qi Xin hurriedly grabbed Shen Yu's sleeves with both hands and pulled him to the corner behind the Buddha statue in the dilapidated temple. He squeezed in at the same time, not forgetting to turn his head to pay attention to every move outside the window.
"You!" Before Shen Yu could utter a word, Qi Xin covered his mouth tightly.
Qi Xin pushed him into the recess, his back to the wall. From this angle, his view of the entrance and the side windows was obstructed. However, judging by Qi Xin's reaction, it seemed that something had happened outside the temple, which was why she was so alert.
Chen Yu was more than a head taller than her. If he hadn't been weak from illness and completely defenseless, Qi Xin might not have been able to pull him.
As he stood up straight and didn't lower his head, Qi Xin stretched out his arm in a moment and barely covered his mouth.
After all, she had not yet resonated and could not mobilize the power of the blood pill as freely as Sister Shuang, so she had no time to explain anything. She could only hold her breath and concentrate, trying to circulate the power of the blood pill to make herself hear more clearly.
Judging from the footsteps, there were probably more than ten people, and there was no sound of horse hooves.
After the state funeral, Master was no different from an invisible man. The traitor in Shengjing must be unaware of Master's existence.
As for the Yue Kingdom, knowing that the master is still alive and that the power of the Jingguo Army is pressing on Ningbei, and that he, a zero-blood person, has escaped, they should have stopped their activities for the time being.
In the beginning, He Lianzhu went to such great lengths to develop the blood pill and transform himself into a zero-blood person, wasn't it just to strengthen the military strength of the Moon Kingdom and solve the problem once and for all?
If I allow myself to show my strength in Sheng State, wouldn't that be equivalent to making wedding clothes for others?
Or maybe I've been living too comfortably lately and have overlooked this matter.
Could it be that I recruited this group of people myself?
After all, his martial arts were crippled. Even if he was a zero-blood person, he would not resonate with them. It would be enough to send these people. Why should he make a big fuss in Sheng and let everyone know about it?
Come to think of it, people with zero blood are hard to come by, not to mention the complete resonance mentioned in the "Collection of Witch Doctors". He must be regretting not using the Night-Eating Gu on himself.
If it was for the sake of his zero-blood status, he would just follow them obediently, and he should be able to at least save his life.
As long as Rongrong is not exposed, Master should have no problem escaping on his own with his lightness skills.
As several dark shadows appeared one after another not far away, Chen Yu also sensed the footsteps approaching.
Although Xiaojiu never said it, he had noticed that her eyesight and hearing were different from ordinary people since she was in the farmyard, so he chose to teach her archery, at least it could be used in critical moments.
Besides, although he was used to pulling the broken bow and could not use hidden weapons like Xiuzhen, Xiaobai and Shuangshuang both loved to use hidden weapons. Xiaojiu learned archery to lay a good foundation, and if he became interested in hidden weapons in the future, it would be easy for him to get started.
Since Xiaojiu's return ceremony and the incident in the Imperial Garden's wing, her five senses have become increasingly refined, as has her agility, even surpassing that of a general with years of experience in leading troops.
He finally understood why Yueguo had devoted so much effort to researching the blood pill.
The space in this corner was already small, and with two young men and women of great stature squeezed in, it was really a bit cramped.
Chen Yu's collar was not low, but it could not withstand her increasingly hot breath as her nerves were tense. Even the exposed skin at the overlap of his front was itchy and unbearable due to the intermittent damp heat.
He tried to keep his body straight, trying to give her some space, but his back was already connected tightly to the thick wall behind him. In the end, there was no way to avoid it.
Qi Xin pressed her whole body against him, but she was still looking out of the temple. At this moment, a woman covered in blood came into her sight.
The woman's violet-colored top had been scratched by a sharp weapon, leaving several cuts that were oozing with blood.
Her pleated skirt was originally chestnut brown, and with several large dark stains on it, which looked like blood or mud, it was impossible to see the original pattern.
She dragged her heavy feet and sat down on the stone steps in front of the dilapidated temple. The half-tied bun on her head was already a little loose, and a few strands of black hair hung down in an orderly manner, half covering her cheekbones and the contours of her face, forming a small shadow, which just happened to hide her facial expression.
Although the woman was in a very miserable state, just looking at the clothes, accessories and her overall demeanor, she did not seem like a woman from an ordinary family.
From this angle, Chen Yu couldn't see what was happening outside the temple, so he could only rely on his hearing to make a rough judgment.
But since when, Qi Xin's body began to heat up little by little, and the temperature soared to a level that almost exceeded the high fever he had last night.
At the same time, she twisted her body slightly a few times, as if she was not feeling well.
Chen Yu had originally intended to avoid an untimely, accidental discharge of his weapon, so he kept his neck straight and the back of his head pressed against the wall. However, the friction caused by Qi Xin's twisting still rekindled his delusions.
He slowly clenched his hands, which were hanging at his sides, into fists, clenching and unclenching them, unclenching and clenching them again, over and over again. Finally, he spoke in an unnatural voice, as light as a feather:
"Um, um, you, you..."
"What?" Qi Xin still didn't turn around, but her tone was a little colder than in daily conversation. However, Shen Yu herself was in the midst of a burning body, and for a moment, she didn't notice anything unusual about her.
"You, could you please move a few inches away, or, or, I can just hide somewhere else by myself." The cold sweat on the back of Chen Yu's neck was densely distributed. He lowered his head and breathed heavily in her ear, as if he was suppressing something that was about to come out.
"What do you want to do? The background of that group of people outside the temple is unknown. Why are you throwing a tantrum at this time?" Qi Xin was a little angry and turned around to glance at him.
At this moment, the red lines that spread across half of her white eyes suddenly caught his sight, and his restless mind suddenly relaxed a lot.
Without hesitation, Chen Yu grabbed her shoulders and switched their positions in a flash. During the rotation, his right hand, which was protecting the back of her head, was squeezed against the wall due to inertia.
Before she could get angry, Shen Yu met her round eyes softly: "Be good, don't make a sound."
Shen Yu gently covered her mouth, controlled her body, and glanced sideways outside the temple.
A group of sturdy and thin masked men suddenly appeared at the temple gate, each holding a crossbow. They surrounded the woman who had just fallen on the steps, leaving a path between them. Then, the masked man in the lead approached step by step.
"Wait a minute, sir!" The voice of the woman on the stairs sounded faintly. Unlike her pitiful appearance, her resounding tone did not seem to come from the mouth of a lady from a wealthy family who had been protected since childhood.
The woman saw the masked man in the lead stop in front of her and said calmly, "There is no grudge in broad daylight. I wonder what your intention is in doing this?"
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The author has something to say: Note:
[1] “I seek peace amidst the blossoming flowers, and spend my life in the gentle clouds and flowing water” is from the poem “Wind Butterfly Order: A Startling Swan Rise” by the contemporary poet □□ Yuan.
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