Chapter 40 Snowfield - 3 Lawson was also quite surprised, "The Divine Palace..."
Lawson was also quite surprised. "Do the disciples of the Divine Palace come here every winter for the hunt? Isn't that very dangerous?"
I'd never heard Wu Chen mention this before. Even his parents thought the snowfield was dangerous, yet several thousand disciples from the Divine Palace arrived at once. "Could it be that all the disciples of the Divine Palace are incredibly powerful?"
The five highwaymen shook their heads in unison. “No. It’s said that the Divine Palace’s winter hunt is only held once every fifty years. They’ve never been to the Western Wilderness Snowfield before. I heard that this time they chose a particularly dangerous place because they are selecting the next priest from among the divine servants.”
Lawson had a bad feeling. "If they were choosing priests, wouldn't it be enough for the four priests to come to the winter hunt? Why such a big commotion?"
The five highway robbers had also considered this question, but they all came to the same conclusion: "Presumably, the disciples of the Divine Palace all want to take this opportunity to gain some experience."
Lawson shook his head and looked at Lu Qing.
Lu Qing was fuming, thinking about Wu Chen who was trapped in a "pile of gentleness," and didn't dwell on the topic.
Lawson then looked at his parents.
Luo Yuan's expression remained calm and kind, as if he did not sense anything amiss.
Qi Wu, however, gazed at the campfire, remained silent for a while, and then suddenly smiled, “Disciples of the Divine Palace will not come if there is nothing wrong; if they come, there must be something wrong.”
This is somewhat like commenting on a romantic scene under the moon and a story of a weasel visiting a chicken coop three times.
"Huh?" Lawson was taken aback. Beneath his mother's gentle expression, a hint of disgust flashed through her face—a very rare expression.
"The Fruit of Spiritual Communication is almost ripe. The Divine Palace doesn't want the Fruit of Spiritual Communication to fall into the hands of others, so naturally they will mobilize all their forces." Qi Wu said with a faint smile, uttering a shocking statement that stunned everyone in the cave.
The five highway robbers were taken aback by the middle-aged woman's words and exchanged bewildered glances.
What is she saying?
"The Fruit of Spirit Communication?!"
"Is it really the Fruit of Spirit Communication?"
"Good heavens, who is she? How does she know the Spirit Fruit is almost ripe?"
"Mother, who have we messed with?"
"Look around you, do you think we can get out of this cave alive?"
Those who had been resting quietly around them turned to look in their direction. The campfire reflected in everyone's pupils, shining brightly red. For a moment, they seemed like pieces of meat being eyed by a pack of wolves.
Qi Wu chuckled, seemingly oblivious, and leaned against Luo Yuan's shoulder, closing her eyes to rest. Luo Yuan adjusted his position to make his wife more comfortable.
Lu Qingzheng angrily snatched Lawson's dagger and stabbed a piece of dead wood, as thick as a baby's arm, into pieces.
Lawson tilted his head back, looking deep in thought, seemingly lost in thought.
Only the five highway robbers were terrified, sweating profusely. They dared not stay, nor dared to leave, feeling miserable, resentful, desperate, and bewildered.
The cave fell into absolute silence. Everyone had heard Qi Wu's words clearly. Shocked, no one dared to make a move.
Everyone knew in their hearts that someone who dared to talk about the Fruit of Spiritual Communication so casually was definitely not an ordinary person.
Some people stood up, walked out of the cave, and, without hesitation, used their spiritual power to quickly disappear into the night.
Many more chose to remain silent and watch, like jackals who had finally caught their prey, arching their backs and ready to strike at any moment.
Lu Qing vented his anger on the wood for a while, then suddenly looked up and howled.
Everyone in the cave shuddered, their hands gripping their weapons, but no one dared to utter a sound.
Lu Qing pouted, lowered her eyelids, shook out a set of bedding from her spirit pouch, and crawled into it to sleep.
Lawson yawned, rested his chin on his hand, and sat there dozing off. None of the four of them stayed behind to keep watch; they all slept.
At this moment, a person stood up inside the cave and tiptoed over.
The five highway robbers saw it and were about to speak when the man glared at them fiercely, silencing them immediately.
But just ten steps away from Lu Qing and the others, the man collapsed to the ground without warning, without even a chance to struggle. He lay there, silent and motionless, his fate completely unknown.
Lu Qing closed his eyes and chuckled.
The boiling thoughts of everyone in the cave instantly cooled down, and they sat stiffly through the long night.
As dawn finally broke, a considerable commotion arose outside. Before anyone could be seen, Lu Qing suddenly sneezed twice. She groggily sat up, rubbing her sleepy eyes, "Who is this! Lighting this suffocating incense. Achoo...achoo, my nose is going deaf."
Lawson burst into laughter, "Your nose's gone deaf, hahaha..."
A silver bell rang out, accompanied by a delicate fragrance that drew nearer from afar.
Lu Qing's eyebrows twitched, and she muttered, "This kind of showy attitude seems somewhat familiar..."
A familiar-looking, openwork incense ball was carried in through the cave entrance, accompanied by a familiar arrogant tone, "Irrelevant people, leave immediately. Why don't you hurry up and drive them away? They stink! How can you let the young master into such a filthy place?"
Two groups of seemingly familiar black-clad warriors swiftly entered.
Lu Qing chuckled immediately; it was indeed the familiar formation, the familiar atmosphere. She glanced around and saw the water pouch laced with sleeping potion beside the five highwaymen's legs. She smiled and said, "Splash that ball."
"What?" The young man, still reeling from a night of fear and confusion, was somewhat bewildered.
“Use water…” Lu Qing pointed, “splash that incense ball. That thing goes out as soon as you splash it, it’s just something that looks nice but isn’t really useful.”
"Huh?" The young man looked at the two groups of warriors with a bit of fear.
"If you put it out, I'll let you go," Lu Qing said with a smile.
The desire for life extinguished all reason; the young man grabbed the water bag, pulled out the stopper, and threw it over there.
With a sizzle, the hollowed-out incense ball returned to its destined state once more.
Lu Qing laughed so hard she was pounding the ground, inexplicably overjoyed.
The maid screamed in anger, "How dare you!"
Lu Qing kept laughing.
Seeing the two groups of black-clad warriors closing in, the five highway robbers quickly fled. Lu Qing, too lazy to pay them any more attention, sat up, put away her bedding, and took the warm herbal tea that Lawson had prepared to rinse her mouth.
In just a short while, the maid had directed the black-clad warriors to surround them.
Lu Qing and the other three went about their business steadily, but when Lawson took out the ingredients to cook breakfast, Lu Qing stopped him, saying, "Don't waste it, put it away quickly, I'll treat you to something delicious later."
Lawson asked curiously, "Where did this sucker come from?"
Lu Qing patted his chest and said, "Your aunt has friends all over the world, so what's so strange about her treating you to a nice meal?"
The Luo family of three watched her boast quietly.
The maid had already walked to the side with a murderous look on her face and said coldly, "Are you the ones spreading rumors about the Fruit of Spirit Communication?"
Lu Qing looked at her with a smile, "The last maid who dared to speak to me like that, let me think about what your young master Jin said. Oh, I see..." She mimicked Jin Hua's expression, "So blind, she doesn't need to serve me anymore."
The maid's face grew even uglier. She looked Lu Qing up and down, her gaze finally settling on Lu Qing's delicate face. "Don't try to get close to him. Our young master isn't someone just anyone can covet."
"Heh." Lu Qing crossed her arms. "I'll definitely relay these words back to your young master later."
Just then, two groups of maids in flowing pink dresses entered the cave, followed by a woman adorned with jewels—none other than Jin Hua.
Jin Hua's inscrutable and aloof demeanor shattered upon seeing Lu Qing's face. "It's actually Miss Lu Qing! It's been a long time!"
Lu Qing said with a straight face, "To paraphrase your maid, please don't try to get close to me. I'm not someone you can just covet."
Upon hearing this, Jin Hua guessed most of what was going on and said to the maid, "You're so blind, you don't need to serve me anymore."
Before the words had even cooled down, they were slapped back, leaving the maid momentarily speechless.
Lu Qing chuckled, "Forget it, Young Master Jin, you didn't bring many people. If you chased them all away, you wouldn't be able to put on a proper show. How are you? Long time no see?"
Jin Hua quickly greeted her, "How have you been? May I ask who these gentlemen are?" The young man beside Lu Qing was unremarkable, but the two middle-aged men and women were so composed that they were clearly not ordinary people.
Lu Qing introduced Jin Hua to Luo Yuan and Qi Wu, "This is Jin Hua, the young master of Jin Man Lou. It is said that his family is so rich that he doesn't even know how much money he has." Then she looked at Jin Hua and said, "My sister, brother-in-law, and nephew." She didn't even plan to tell Jin Hua his name.
Jin Hua had come specifically for them, so why would he care about such a minor breach of etiquette? Especially since the person who came to sell him information said that Lu Qing's sister knew the whereabouts of the Spirit Fruit. Jin Hua bowed to them, "Sister Lu, Brother-in-law Lu, Nephew Lu."
Seeing that Luo Yuan didn't intend to introduce himself, Lu Qing smiled and said, "Young Master Jin, you've come so early, you must not have had breakfast yet. If you don't mind, you can have some with me."
Jinhua still remembered the first time they dined together, and very tactfully said, "Let me make the arrangements, please don't mind."
As he spoke, his maids immediately began to prepare. In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the entire cave became magnificent. The luminous pearls replaced the campfire for lighting, and the smell of smoke and fire was completely dispelled. The five of them sat on warm and soft leather blankets, with steaming delicacies laid out on the low table in front of them.
Lawson nodded repeatedly, "Auntie, your friend is indeed a good one."
Lu Qingchao gave him a look: This friend is only of this use. Hurry up and eat, then make a run for it.
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 16:30:33 on June 22, 2020 and 14:45:37 on June 23, 2020!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Repigon (10 bottles); someone else (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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