Chapter 1008 The Invincible Man?
Deep within the Yunmeng Sword Marsh lies an island shrouded in mist.
Inside the grand hall atop a mountain.
The atmosphere was somewhat quiet.
There were several female figures sitting upright.
Speaking of which, the structure of this hall is somewhat peculiar. In the center of the hall, in addition to a row of chairs, there is a protruding wall at the back, on which hang a series of glass plaques with faint ancient characters.
Whenever someone enters the main hall from outside, the fierce wind from the mountaintop slips into the hall as the door opens, causing the glazed plaques on the walls to collide and rattle.
However, at this moment, the heavy doors of the main hall have been tightly shut for many days, obscuring the sun, moon, and stars.
The graceful figures who entered the hall had been there for many days, yet they remained patient.
Their figures were sitting on chairs in the center of the hall.
There was a beautiful noblewoman in white with her hair styled in two sideburns; there was a refined and gentle woman with bare feet and bells tied around her neck, holding a book and exuding a scholarly air.
There was also a lively young lady who looked very similar to the former but styled her double-looped sideburns to the right.
They were all dressed in snow-white Wu skirts and sat in their respective chairs in order.
These chairs were placed in front of the wall covered with glass plaques, arranged in a specific order.
However, what's a little strange is that there are two chairs at the very front seat.
At this moment, a chair is now empty.
On the other chair at the head of the table sat a tall, blonde oriental woman.
Her left hand gripped the dark metal armrest of the chair tightly, while her other hand clutched a glass pendant tied to her waist as if she wanted to crush it.
However, the blonde orchid's expression was somewhat unusual at this moment.
Sometimes deathly pale, sometimes flushed red.
He would sometimes show anger, and sometimes grit his teeth, as if he had suffered a great humiliation.
I don't know what kind of strange dream I was immersed in, but my reaction was so real.
The atmosphere inside the hall was quiet, and everyone's attention seemed to be focused on her.
No one knows what he went through, but after an incense stick's time, Xue Zhongzhu's expression finally softened. He frowned deeply and slowly opened his eyes.
However, her face looked rather unpleasant, and her emerald eyes seemed to be blazing with fire, on the verge of exploding.
Around the candle in the snow, pairs of eyes were staring intently at her.
The tall, orchid-skinned woman exhaled a long breath and looked around.
Yu Nianyuan, Yun Xiangyi, and Hua Xiangrong were all sitting in the seats below, looking at her with different expressions.
After a moment of quiet eye contact, Jun Hua Xiangrong, the most lively of the six girls, was the first to ask:
"Senior Sister, why are you awake? Weren't we supposed to wait for your hand signal before we acted? Why are you so fast this time?"
Xue Zhongzhu frowned, glanced at his sixth junior sister who was urging him with a puzzled look, and remained silent for a long time.
Beside her, Yu Nianyuan, who was closest to Xue Zhongzhu, had been carefully observing the subtle expressions on her fair face ever since Xue Zhongzhu closed her eyes and entered a dream as planned. As if she had noticed something, she pressed down the scroll she was tightly holding and spoke gently:
"Has the situation changed? Is that person acting unpredictably, not as we expected?"
Upon hearing her second senior sister's words, the impatient Hua Xiangrong glanced sideways, only to see her eldest senior sister on the head seat nod slightly, seemingly acknowledging her second senior sister's words.
Seeing this, everyone fell silent, unsure of what to say.
Inside the dimly lit hall, the air between the four women, who had been preparing for a long time, became somewhat quiet.
Xue Zhongzhu looked somewhat lost in thought.
Hua Xiangrong asked with a curious expression:
How did he figure it out?
The candle in the snow shook its head.
"I do not know."
Her voice sounded somewhat confused.
That guy seems capable of anything, even seeing through today's meticulously prepared trap and perfectly dodging it.
For a moment, Xue Zhongzhu also fell into a state of insecurity and began to re-examine herself... This was a feeling she had never had before.
Seeing this, Yu Nianyuan glanced at her senior sister with concern and comforted her:
"It's alright, take your time. Senior Sister, there's no need to be discouraged. Perhaps it's just a coincidence..."
Hua Xiangrong muttered, "That's too much of a coincidence."
At this point, she became even more curious: "Who exactly is this person? I really want to meet him."
"No."
Yu Nianyuan and Xue Zhongzhu spoke almost in unison, turning their heads to look at Hua Xiangrong.
The latter was also taken aback.
Then, under the sidelong glance of her older sister, she shrank back and whispered:
"Just saying."
The air fell silent for a moment.
Until a certain moment, Yun Xiangyi, who had been sitting quietly, put away something in her hand, stood up, and walked out of the hall... The other female rulers seemed to be holding similar things in their hands as well.
Xuezhongzhu and Yu Nianyuan did not stop them, seemingly tacitly agreeing to something. Hua Xiangrong glanced at her sister's tall, slender back, who remained silent.
Only the older sister would dare to do that. If she dared to leave early, the senior sister would definitely teach her a lesson on how to be a junior sister.
At this moment, the white-clad female ruler, who was walking towards the entrance of the main hall, paused and suddenly asked:
"Where is Junior Sister?"
Upon hearing this, the air in the hall suddenly fell into a deathly silence.
Hua Xiangrong waited for a moment, then realized the atmosphere was off and no one answered. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the expressions of her eldest and second eldest sisters had changed.
After that, the four women remained silent for a long time.
...
Ouyang Rong, far away on the small island of servants, was unaware that his seemingly ordinary actions would attract the attention of so many female rulers, nor did he know that he had inadvertently escaped an encirclement.
He gathered up the snow-white longsword, hid it back in the Peach Blossom Spring painting, then got up, left his desk, and went to the courtyard to wash up briefly.
Sha Ergou did not come again today, so Ouyang Rong did not linger in the courtyard for too long. As night fell, he went out as usual and headed to the Qingliang Valley Dining Hall.
"Liu Aliang".
As soon as Ouyang Rong arrived at the dining hall, Wu Cui stopped him.
The latter handed him a fresh peach, the flesh of which was covered in water droplets, indicating that it had just been washed.
Ouyang Rong glanced at it, took it, examined it, and didn't eat it immediately.
"Where did you pick it?"
Wu Cui nodded and said, "There is a peach tree in my yard."
Ouyang Rong and she exchanged a glance, as if asking what was wrong.
Wu Cui pulled him aside to a secluded spot and whispered:
"Thanks for your help last time, but there's something I'd like to ask you..."
Ouyang Rong put away the peaches and said seriously, "Go on."
"Is Fairy Chen busy lately? I went there as agreed, but was told that she's unavailable, apparently due to matters arranged by the goddess..."
Ouyang Rong nodded directly: "That's right, she and another fairy are on duty by the waterfall. I go there every night to deliver vegetarian meals and I see them."
Wu Cui immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Perhaps Chen Jiaxin's sudden disappearance made her worried about something, such as the previously agreed-upon plan to teach her swordsmanship falling through.
Ouyang Rong glanced at the freckled young woman in front of him, thinking to himself that he had almost forgotten about this matter.
Recently, he and Chen Jiaxin have been busy with matters related to the water prison. According to their agreement, Chen Jiaxin was supposed to go and give Wu Cui some pointers every few days...
"That's good. I'm fine now. Thank you, Liu Aliang."
"It's nothing."
Ouyang Rong nodded to Wu Cui, and the two then parted ways to attend to their own business.
Before long, the vegetarian meal was prepared before midnight.
Ouyang Rong was all ready to go. When Li Ruotong and the other Jade Hall Fairies arrived, he followed them into Qingliang Valley as usual. Then, they parted ways in front of the waterfall where the water prison was located.
As Ouyang Rong carried the food box past the pond, he noticed a gaze on his side and turned to see Chen Jiaxin.
Tonight, the latter, for the first time ever, looked at him and gave him a barely perceptible nod.
Ouyang Rong understood what she meant; it was something the two of them had discussed yesterday morning.
"stop."
Chen Jiaxin suddenly spoke, as if calling out to him.
Ouyang Rong feigned surprise, stopped in his tracks, and asked with his head down:
"What are your orders, Fairy Chen?"
Chen Jiaxin's face was cold, seemingly dissatisfied, as she questioned:
"Why have you been coming out so late these past two days? Does it really take this long to deliver a vegetarian meal? Did Master give you instructions? What are you doing lingering in the water dungeon for so long?"
After uttering a series of words, Enting glanced at Chen Jiaxin, whose face was stern and indifferent.
Ouyang Rong bowed his head and said, "Your Highness, I have been busy lately and am quite tired. These past two nights, while delivering food to the water prison and waiting for the food boxes to be handed over, I have been feeling sleepy and often overslept while waiting for you... I really shouldn't have done that, and I dare not do it again."
Chen Jiaxin stared at the dull-witted young man for a while with a cold expression.
Enting finally spoke, as if whispering a word of advice in Chen Jiaxin's ear.
The latter then reluctantly waved his hand, dismissing the conversation:
"I will explain this matter to her when Master returns. You should take care of yourself and correct your behavior as soon as possible. The matter of delivering vegetarian meals is the most important. Everything else can be put aside for now, understand?"
"Yes, I understand, Fairy Chen."
Chen Jiaxin turned her head away and closed her eyes to meditate again.
Enting, on behalf of Chen Jiaxin, gave Ouyang Rong a few more instructions, then pointed to the waterfall behind them, signaling him to continue going in to deliver the vegetarian meal.
Ouyang Rong looked dejected and lowered his head, then turned and walked towards the pool and waterfall.
However, once he passed beneath the rusty sword and entered the waterfall, his previously fearful expression vanished, replaced by a calm, expressionless face.
Actually, all of this was a little self-inflicted injury scheme that Ouyang Rong and Chen Jiaxin had discussed in advance yesterday.
Chen Jiaxin had a premonition that her master might suddenly return.
There are some things that are difficult to explain; you need to think of reasons in advance and lay the groundwork beforehand.
That's why what just happened occurred.
The two put on a show first, raising the issue in advance so that if Yun Xiangyi returned later, Chen Jiaxin would have something to say. At the same time, they could reprimand Ouyang Rong in advance, giving him a way out. This was called a buffer period...
However, women are better at acting; they're natural-born drama queens.
Chen Jiaxin's expression just now was so convincing; someone who didn't know her would probably have been fooled.
Even Ouyang Rong, who already knew her personality very well, had a moment of doubt that she might be taking the act too seriously... because her acting was just too convincing.
Even Ouyang Rong was somewhat suspicious, wondering if Chen Jiaxin was doing this on purpose, really intending to discard him as a pawn when Yun Xiangyi became suspicious and things didn't look right.
Ouyang Rong pursed his lips and stood at the cave entrance for a moment, not going down immediately, as if he was thinking about something.
At present, this idea is unlikely, because Chen Jiaxin is quite loyal to her own people, at least so far, that's how she has acted... although you can know a person's face but not their heart.
And while the possibility may be small, it doesn't mean it's impossible.
It's hard for Ouyang Rong to be sure whether Chen Jiaxin can stick to this if she really encounters a major event that she can't handle. So, in the end, all relationships between people have to be tested in real situations.
However, Ouyang Rong is no longer a three-year-old child. He wouldn't completely trust Chen Jiaxin, an outsider, to do anything. Just like when he took the initiative to find a way to distract Yun Xiangyi, Ouyang Rong also had a backup plan in case of unforeseen circumstances...
A moment later, the taciturn young man carrying the food box let out a long sigh, glanced at the dimly lit passage, and strode forward into it.
Fifteen minutes later, Ouyang Rong arrived with practiced ease, pushed open the wooden door, and found the house still the same as before.
This time, Ouyang Rong didn't doze off in the outer room. Instead, he took the vegetarian meal and entered the upward staircase, arriving at the dimly lit passageway.
He looked around. Because it was still late outside, the water curtain prison doors on both sides of the passage were pitch black, and he couldn't see what was inside.
Ouyang Rong withdrew his gaze, stepped forward, and delivered the food boxes one by one into the doors of the eight water dungeons.
After doing all that, he turned around and went back to the entrance of the passageway, which was also the location in front of the stairwell.
Ignoring the damp and cold ground, Ouyang Rong sat down on the spot, crossed his legs, hunched over, and closed his eyes, seemingly waiting for the prisoners to finish their vegetarian meal and bring out the food box. Whether he would fall asleep was still unknown.
Although he had just "admitted his mistake" outside, the dull young man continued to make the same mistakes after coming in.
This time, however, he seemed to have changed his approach, and instead of sleeping in the outer room until dawn before delivering the vegetarian meal, he did not do so.
Instead, the vegetarian meal was delivered to the eight prison cells in advance for the prisoners to eat first, which would reduce their resentment and avoid trouble... However, he then "tiredly" fell asleep in the outer corridor, and no one knew when he woke up and packed up the food box.
Time passed second by second.
Ouyang Rong sat leaning against the entrance of the passageway, keeping his eyes closed.
During this time, food boxes were pushed out of the water curtain prison door, one after another, at varying speeds, but the person remained fast asleep and did not react at all.
Originally, according to Ouyang Rong's plan set yesterday, he was to stand guard outside cell number "D" at this time and strike up a conversation with Old Daoist Sun when he approached the water curtain cell door and took out the food box.
However, there are more important matters to consider at the moment, so we have to abandon this plan for now and wait for a more flexible approach later...
After an unknown amount of time, the entire passageway gradually began to light up, and the colorful lights on the stalactites above his head became even more dazzling.
The entire water prison seemed to have come into daylight, its light and darkness shifting in sync with the day and night outside... This scene, viewed from afar, was somewhat dreamlike and surreal.
(End of this chapter)
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