"It's normal that you haven't heard of them, young master. Luo Yi didn't have many soldiers before, and the Eighteen Riders of Yanyun were his most capable subordinates. Over the course of more than ten years, Luo Yi led them to carve out a formidable reputation in Youzhou, and countless orc experts died at their hands. Later, they gradually disappeared. Some people thought they had all died in battle. But I know that they didn't all die. Some became generals in Youzhou, while others protected Luo Yi's family."
People had only heard of the Eighteen Riders of Yanyun before, but did not know their real names. I only learned about them by chance. The middle-aged man explained.
"So that's how it is. In other words, those beastmen are no match for the two of them at all?" Li Chengdao asked, frowning.
"At least we can't do anything about them."
"In other words, my initial plan was not going to work."
"That's normal. Qin Shubao just found his lost son. How could he leave without strong protection?"
"Let's go. Since the plan has failed, let's think of another way," Li Chengdao said calmly.
"You..." The middle-aged man's expression changed, and he looked at Li Chengdao in shock. Then he tentatively asked, "You still want to obtain the inheritance of the School of Diplomacy?"
"good!"
"After Qin Qiong and the others return, their next step will definitely be to go back to Chang'an. Do you intend to make a move on the way?" the middle-aged man asked, taking a deep breath.
"Of course not! With Qin Shubao here, who do we use to attack? The orcs aren't that stupid." Li Chengdao looked at the middle-aged man in surprise, shook his head and answered.
"So you want to go back to Chang'an?"
"Yes! It's time to go back!" Li Chengdao sighed.
"Are you crazy! Chang'an is that person's stronghold. The slightest disturbance could lead to discovery," the middle-aged man roared excitedly, his eyes wide.
"What's there to be afraid of! The more this is the case, the less we need to worry. At worst, I'll just reveal my identity. Then he'll probably have to send people to protect me and pray that I don't get killed by someone else," Li Chengdao said with a hint of disdain.
"He won't kill you, but he'll keep you under house arrest for life!" the middle-aged man warned.
"So what! If I can't avenge my whole family, I'll live a life worse than death!" Li Chengdao's eyes were bloodshot, like a wounded lone wolf, as he roared.
"Calm down!" The middle-aged man slapped him hard on the shoulder and said in a deep voice.
"Huff...huff..." Li Chengdao took two deep breaths, closed his eyes, and then opened them, saying, "I'm fine, let's go."
The middle-aged man shook his head and followed.
"Damn it! Damn it! You're not some treacherous snake clan, you're just pigs! You stupid bastards who only know how to eat garbage! You dare to lay a hand on Qin Yao's son even if he were here!" Dreadlocks, who had just participated in the assassination, roared in a low voice in the underground chamber.
"Shut up! Every time, we're the ones risking our lives to fight, while you filthy bastards just hide in the back. Don't you see how many more of us have died?" The triangular-eyed man looked up and stared intently at the dreadlocks, shouting.
"How can that be the same? Do you know how hard it is to produce a priest! Because of your mistakes, thirteen people died this time." The dreadlocks weren't afraid of the bald man, and they retorted sharply with a gloomy face.
"It's alright, you've had too many children. If some don't die, how will you feed them?" the triangular-eyed man sneered.
"you…"
"Bang! Bang!" Before the two could continue arguing, they heard the sound of the main door being kicked down.
"Damn it! They came so fast!" the man with the triangular eyes exclaimed, his expression changing.
"You're about to kill Qin Yao's son, and you won't even let him get angry!" Dreadlocks sneered.
"If you keep causing trouble for me, none of us will be leaving."
"Hmph!" Dreadlocks snorted coldly, but did not argue further. The two exchanged a glance and then rushed out, immediately followed by a scream in the courtyard.
……………
"Outrageous! Seal off the city and find the assassin. Whoever he is, kill him without mercy!" Qin Yao, upon hearing the news, was furious. For years, no one had dared to make a move within Juyong Pass, whether it be orcs or other assassins.
Although orcs have secret methods to conceal themselves and enter the pass, they usually only use them to deliver messages and carry out minor actions. Assassinations in the street like this would not happen in the city.
"Brother, don't worry. The guard just said that Yue'er is fine, and the ones who escaped were orcs. Closing the city at this time would be too commotion and might cause panic among the people. Since these guys dared to assassinate, they must have planned their escape. Closing the city wouldn't be very effective. It would be better to keep a close watch on the city gates, with the elite troops deployed to keep a close watch on them," Qin Xian advised.
He appeared calm on the surface, but was actually very uneasy inside. He knew that Li Chengdao was still attached to Qin Mu's legacy, and the assassin was clearly after Qin Mu as well. After all, assassinating Qin Yue could have been done outside the city.
If Li Chengdao were to collude with the orcs, and it were discovered that he had dealings with Li Chengdao, he would be utterly unable to defend himself. Now, he could only secretly pray that Li Chengdao wouldn't be implicated, since his relationship with Li Chengdao wasn't exactly a secret.
"Yes, we'll do as you say, Second Brother. But didn't I tell you to increase manpower to protect Qin Mu? How come there were so many assassins and they didn't notice them beforehand?" Qin Yao frowned and said after a moment of silence.
“Master, your order is to increase manpower to protect the villa; the young master and the others are still in the city, so the guards did not follow them,” a guard replied, bowing.
"Really...really..." Qin Yao raised his arm and then lowered it again, utterly speechless. The guards at the three passes would never disobey his orders, and in this situation, he couldn't blame them for being stubborn.
"Yue'er, arrange for more manpower. This must never happen again. Second brother, lead a team to thoroughly investigate the city and its outskirts. We can't wait for the Mo family masters and the imperial craftsmen to laugh at the Qin family," Qin Yao instructed.
"Yes!" the two replied and went out.
Although they knew the assassination attempt was likely over, Qin Mu and his two companions had no intention of lingering outside and quickly returned to the villa.
"Brother Bu, those assassins must be after me, right?" Qin Mu asked, frowning.
Everyone understands this principle. If the reason for assassinating Qin Yue wasn't particularly urgent, why would they do it in the city?
“That’s right. It’s just that we don’t know whether these orcs chose to assassinate on their own, or if they were in league with the humans.” Bu Fang nodded and said.
"Judging from their appearance, they clearly want to kill us. They don't seem to be colluding with any humans," Bu Mang said thoughtfully.
The two understood his meaning: the orcs were only there to kill, while the humans must have had other motives for participating. But throughout the entire process, the orcs only attacked.
Of course, this is not absolute. After all, the orcs might only want to capture Qin Mu and don't care about the lives of the others.
"We don't need to think about this anymore. We'll just be more careful in the future. If someone really sets their sights on me, they'll slip up sooner or later. There's no need for us to waste our time on this," Qin Mu said, waving his hand.
“Yes, Huai Dao is right. No matter who it is, as long as they don’t give up, they will definitely slip up again. Once we return to Chang’an, we won’t have to worry about them,” Bu Fang agreed.
Encountering another assassination attempt only intensified Qin Mu's desire to become stronger. He had already decided to focus on his cultivation, and now he was even less inclined to go out.
He spent his days reading, practicing swordsmanship, cultivating the Fierce Beast Rotation Technique, and opening his meridians. His days were fulfilling, and his strength steadily increased. As he studied the two precious manuals, Qin Mu's admiration for Guiguzi grew even stronger.
It must be said that Guiguzi was very powerful. He could turn some of the seemingly trivial ideas he used to think of into various amazing methods. This made Qin Mu start to pay more attention to the core ideas of each school of thought.
He initially thought that cultivation was simply a matter of knowing the methods, but now he is completely captivated by Guiguzi's explanations. Listening to his teachings daily has become a habit. Furthermore, copying the Analects, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean has also become part of his routine.
It wasn't just reviewing; it was learning, but learning was much more difficult, requiring careful contemplation, unlike the treasure manual, which had a trace of Guiguzi's divine explanation.
The profound meaning conveyed in these concise words is not merely a matter of words; truly understanding the entire text is no easy feat, even for someone like Qin Mu who could recite it from memory. However, copying and reading it are not without their benefits; his sense of righteousness has increased far more than before.
Knowing too much was not necessarily a good thing for Qin Mu. The Guigu School was based on Taoist thought, which had some commonalities with Confucianism. However, it was precisely because of the strong Taoist influence that he wanted to study Taoist classics.
Since the righteous energy in the Tanzhong acupoint and the spiritual energy in the Qihai acupoint do not conflict, he couldn't help but think of the phrase "cultivating both Confucianism and Taoism." In fact, he has now embarked on this path. He started cultivating on a whim, but now that he's truly on this path, he's begun to feel apprehensive.
Is this feasible? Did any of our predecessors do this? What were their fates? Due to limited understanding, all of this remains unknown. But having already embarked on this path, there's no turning back. We can't simply abandon one of these methods, can we? Forget about potential side effects; the key is, we can't bear to give it up.
The Yin Fu Jing, whose name is similar to the Seven Arts of Yin Fu, was said by Zhiyuan to be one of the highest classics of Taoism, right? Qin Mu made another copy.
"Difficult! Extremely difficult." This was Qin Mu's feeling when reading the scriptures. Although he understood the individual words, he always had a vague sense of ambiguity when it came to truly comprehending their deeper meaning.
It was only then that he realized the importance of having a renowned teacher; without guidance, he would not be able to grasp many of the meanings.
"Huai Dao, what's wrong with you?" Qin Yue asked Qin Mu in surprise. Qin Mu looked much more haggard than she had seen in three days.
"I'm fine! I guess I've been too engrossed in reading these past few days," Qin Mu replied after a moment's hesitation.
"You haven't slept for the past few days?" Qin Yue asked curiously.
"Isn't cultivation the same as sleeping?" Qin Mu asked, his eyes wide.
"I see!" Qin Yue exclaimed with a smile, then explained, "Although cultivation and sleep can both keep one energetic, there are still differences. The only thing that can truly replace sleep is meditation, not cultivation."
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