The same two words, the tone, timbre, and even the indifferent tone are exactly the same.
"We just met by chance, so why make things difficult for each other?"
The man in the long gown said this, then glanced in her direction, unlocked the door, and went inside. He waved to the man in green who was still standing at the door, looking a little tired: "Wei Xiang, I'm a little tired."
Her eyes were fixed on the hand that flashed by. The slender hand was wearing a string of heavy Buddhist beads, which looked particularly familiar.
The man in blue said nothing more after hearing this, and followed him into the inner room. The two of them closed the partition of the inner room, lowered the heavy curtains, and then there was no sound.
Xiao Nanhui's thoughts were still lingering on what he had just seen, and he was a little stunned. Shrike had already extended his hand to the shopkeeper: "It's a good room in the top grade, but we only got half of it. Please return half of the money."
The shopkeeper's eyes were tangled together, and he reluctantly took out two silver coins: "I don't have any small change..."
Before he could finish his words, the Shrike's claws had already reached into his waist bag, searched out a silver dollar, and with a force of two fingers, the silver dollar broke in two.
Shrike threw half of it back to the shopkeeper, and stuffed the other half together with the twenty taels of silver back into the bag. He took Xiao Nanhui's hand and walked into the house in a heroic and arrogant manner, closing the door with a "bang".
As soon as the door was closed, she lowered her voice and said hurriedly, "Shrike, I have seen those two people."
The Shrike let out an "Oh" and kicked off his two wet boots that were soaked in rain. He lowered his head and started moving his frozen toes.
"I saw one of them at the main hall entrance the day I went to Yongye Temple. The sword he was carrying was five or six inches longer than usual, and I noticed it early on.
I've never seen the other person's face, but I remember his voice. And the Buddhist beads in his hand, and…" She choked before continuing hesitantly, "He had a scent I'd smelled in the hall before."
"Smell?" The Shrike finally looked over. "What smell?"
"I can't describe it. It smells like old incense ash from a temple mixed with some kind of grass, a bit bitter. It makes your bones and forehead feel cold."
"Is that the smell of camphor you're describing?" Shrike sniffed hard, seemingly not smelling the faint odor. After verifying it was harmless, he didn't pay much attention to it. He winked at Xiao Nanhui, indicating that walls had ears, and yawned as he said, "Alright, alright. We've been busy all day. We'll deal with the big things tomorrow."
However, Xiao Nanhui couldn't get over the hurdle in her heart. The news of the secret seal had been secretly leaked, and people from all walks of life would definitely take action. Her origin from a marquis's mansion was indeed open, and she could not compare with those secret forces that never took action personally and used the hands of others.
There are many forces in the dark, one of which is naturally Emperor Tiancheng's own confidants. After all, no matter whether the secret seal is real or fake, if it falls into the hands of others, they will definitely make some trouble.
The second is the Bai family of Bijiang who is currently entrenched. The Bai family has always been scheming to turn the tables. If they can get the help of the secret seal, it will be in line with the will of heaven. If they can persuade the overlords who are still neutral, they may be able to change the hands of the country.
As for the third, they are the local forces that are now scattered all over the place and have not yet submitted to Tiancheng. The first to be affected is the northern capital Huozhou, which is closest to the Northland Swamp. Huozhou is occupied by the Shen family, who are related to the Qiu family by marriage. Huozhou has poor land and backward agriculture, but is rich in iron ore and has a strong military. After the Su family established the Tiancheng Dynasty, Huozhou did not submit to it, but still had frequent trade exchanges with Tiancheng. They have been at peace for nearly a hundred years. However, the situation is so delicate that it may be turned upside down overnight, and the matter of the secret seal is the variable.
In the end, although the Niehyun Dynasty had been gone for a hundred years, she always felt that the Qiu family might not be dead yet, and was currently spying on what originally belonged to her in some dark corner.
Was her encounter at Yongye Temple a coincidence? Was her identity exposed? How many people in this small inn tonight harbored ulterior motives, and when would their true identities be revealed?
Xiao Nanhui was thinking hard and was very worried.
On the other side of the wall, a young man in a long gown was leaning on the bed. His narrow eyes no longer restrained their brilliance, revealing a sharpness that was completely different from his indifference. His left hand was stroking the Buddhist beads on his wrist, and it was unknown what he was thinking.
Ding Weixiang was checking the doors and windows, examining almost every gap.
"Wei Xiang."
Ding Weixiang collected his thoughts and bowed his head in response: "Master, go to bed early. I will keep watch."
The man on the bed shook his head and said, "You don't need to keep watch tonight. You haven't had a good night's sleep these days. Get some sleep tonight. You'll be busy in the next few days."
Ding Weixiang was a little puzzled, but still insisted: "Subordinate..."
"Okay, go to sleep if you want." He paused, the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously, "Someone will be watching over us tonight."
Outside the window, the rain continued at night. It seemed that because of the drop in temperature, there were some tiny ice particles mixed in, hitting the tiles and making a crackling sound.
Xiao Nanhui stayed awake all night, alertly darting his eyes open at the slightest sign of trouble. Sometimes he'd eavesdropped from the wall, sometimes he'd peeked through the window. By the end of the night, his eyes were bruised. Shrike, on the other hand, slept soundly, sleeping through the night.
The rain, which had lasted for half a month, finally stopped, but a thick fog settled outside. In the early morning, exhausted from a night of tossing and turning, Xiao Nanhui finally gave in and dozed off. Suddenly, a soft banging sounded against the window frame, instantly waking her up. She scrambled to her feet, only to discover that the room next door was empty, the lights off, and she quickly went to the window to check.
There was only a tiny scratch on the window frame, as if it had been hit by a small stone or something. Looking out the window, the fog limited my view to only six or seven feet. There were no suspicious figures in sight, and no sound was heard.
Shrike also got up, took a closer look, and came to a conclusion: "This man's stone-throwing skills are far worse than yours."
She had a different opinion: "Not being good at throwing stones doesn't necessarily mean you're not a master. You know, it's not easy to see the target clearly in weather like today."
The Shrike blinked. "What does it mean that he throws a stone and runs away?"
She shook her head and put her hand out the window to make sure the rain had stopped.
"Pack your things and go to the ferry."
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