Chapter 768 Drinking Ice in Fire
The Xunyang Prince's Mansion is located in the latter half of Xiushuifang.
It is adjacent to Mount Lu.
Actually, if you climb over the wall from the back garden of the mansion, you can find a forest path for gathering firewood and plunge into the Lushan Mountains.
However, if you continue straight along Xiushuifang Main Street, there will be a main road that leads directly to a deeper part of Mount Kuanglu.
The construction of this road was a gift from the Xunyang Prince's Mansion to the Jiangzhou government, to facilitate the entry of common people and scholars into Mount Lu.
However, Mount Lu is a group of high mountains, not just a single mountain, and this road only barely passes through its outer perimeter.
However, this also meant that traveling by carriage into the mountains was much faster than walking through the back garden of the Xunyang Prince's Palace into the mountains.
At this moment, this also became a troublesome point for the bandits from Hukou County who were planning to raid the Xunyang Prince's Mansion.
According to a trembling manager who was arrested, about 15 minutes earlier, a carriage from the "Ice Drinking Room" business, which had just finished delivering ice, quietly drove out the back door and took the main road deep into the Lushan Mountains.
Immediately following was a strange fire in the inner quarters of the Prince's mansion, a fire that seemed to have started even faster than the three hundred bandits from Hukou County.
It seemed as if someone wanted to burn the Prince's mansion to the ground, leaving no useful clues for these raiding pirates.
This unexpected and anticipated anomaly caused the face of a bandit leader wearing a white cloth strip on his forehead to darken to the point of being almost dripping with water, his sinister eyes fixed on the raging fire in front of him that showed no signs of abating.
In fact, they had a "pirate vanguard" that had been lying in wait, ahead of the main pirate force, arriving at the Prince's mansion a step ahead, scaling the walls to enter the inner quarters, and preparing to take control of the Xunyang Prince's family.
But then this strange fire suddenly appeared, and it seemed that the vanguard of the pirates, numbering about ten men, had been completely wiped out.
No one escaped to report what happened inside the inner quarters. It's unknown whether the Xunyang Prince's family also perished in the fire like them…
Right now, the inner quarters of the Xunyang Prince's Mansion are engulfed in a sea of eerie green flames. No one dares to approach, and no living being dares to stand in it, lest they be thoroughly roasted by the strange fire.
Because the wall blocked the fire, the outer house was temporarily spared from destruction.
Three hundred river pirates, each wearing a white headband, completely occupied the Xunyang Prince's Mansion in a silent atmosphere.
After controlling the few remaining maids and stewards, blindfolding them, tying them up, and throwing them into the dark kitchen, the pirates tacitly gathered together.
The reason for leaving some survivors was to make it easier to prove after the attack that they were water bandits from Hukou County, or that the Prince's Mansion was attacked by accomplices of rebels from the Tiannan Jianghu.
However, although the whole charade has been completed, the most important target has yet to be found. It is unknown whether he perished in the eerie green fire or escaped and fled to Mount Lu.
Inside the outer hall, tables and chairs were overturned, and pears were scattered all over the floor, their juice splashing everywhere as they were trampled by the group of pirate leaders in the hall.
A lean man dressed as a pirate walked in. He instinctively knelt down on one knee as a military officer would when reporting to his superiors, but quickly straightened up and clasped his hands in greeting:
"Boss, according to a steward, Prince Xunyang, Li Xian, transferred all the guards of the Prince Xunyang's mansion this morning; Princess Wei Mei began to dismiss the maids and servants in the inner quarters an hour ago; and the ice-drinking carriage only arrived at the mansion half an hour ago, and was personally escorted into the inner quarters by Xie Lingjiang. Usually, the ice-drinking carriage would take a long time to unload, but this time, it only stayed for less than a quarter of an hour before leaving the inner quarters and returning to the ice-making cave in Kuanglu Mountain, which belongs to a business called Yinbingshi; and then there was this sudden fire in the inner quarters."
A one-eyed man dressed as a pirate leader asked:
"After the ice-carrying carriage left the palace, did anyone else see the Xunyang Prince's family?"
"No, mainly because Princess Wei Mei issued a strict order that no servants are allowed to approach the inner quarters during the day, because the Prince has a headache and needs some peace and quiet... However, one of the stewards said that after the ice-carrying carriage drove out of the back gate, Xie Lingjiang's voice was heard coming from inside, and she ordered them to let it pass immediately."
Inside the hall, the group of pirates exchanged gloomy glances.
Someone said coldly:
"This Xie woman is the little princess's companion, but according to intelligence, she is actually a guard for the Xunyang Prince's family. Because her senior brother is Ouyang Lianghan, the chief strategist of the Xunyang Prince's mansion, she holds a very high position in the mansion and is an honored guest. She is also one of the two publicly known mid-grade Qi cultivators by the Xunyang Prince's side. The other one is a disheveled Shangqing Taoist priest who lives a secluded life and whose name is unknown, but he is suspected to also have mid-grade red Qi cultivation..."
Hearing this, the people in the hall remained completely calm; some even smirked.
The eleven men in the hall all wore white headbands. They were tall and robust, with auras as deep as an abyss. When they heard that they were mid-level Qi cultivators, their eyes showed no fear. On the contrary, many of them either grinned maliciously or were eager to try.
A bald man standing at the back said arrogantly:
"Then what are we waiting for? Prince Xunyang has already fled into the mountains. Let's hurry and give chase. There are only two mid-level Qi Refiners. All eleven of us are at the Red Qi level. We can easily deal with them. Even if they have a few more hidden in secret, how many more could there be? Besides, in addition to us, there are three hundred elite death squads who have been trained in the northern border army. They are no less capable than the White Tiger and Black Tortoise Imperial Guards outside the city. Just by forming a formation and besieging them, those two mid-level Qi Refiners will be worn down and can only flee. They won't be able to protect Prince Xunyang."
The one-eyed man stared at the former and spoke coldly:
"Baldy Cheng, what's the rush? Did I say you could leave? The Prince raised you, not so you could leave the group and act on your own at crucial moments. Listen to my arrangements today, or if you mess things up, you'll be carrying your heads back to see the Prince and Lord Wu."
The arrogant man gave a cold "humph" and calmed down a bit.
Another fat-faced man dressed as a pirate slowly spoke:
"This fire is strange; it burns instantly upon contact, and no one can survive. Even if you hide, the thick smoke, high temperature, and lack of air will suffocate you. It is very likely that it has escaped into Mount Lu. We can't delay any longer. The plan is to clean up the Prince's Mansion and leave, but plans can't keep up with changes. We have to chase after it immediately."
This analysis garnered nods of agreement from most of the people in the hall.
The one-eyed man kept a straight face and did not answer for the time being. He ignored the gazes cast at him, turned his head, and looked at the eerie green fire that was still burning fiercely over the ruins of the house in the inner courtyard.
For some reason, this fire gave him a strange feeling.
Not only was the timing of the burning strange, but the color was also strange, and even the intensity of the fire was strange, giving him an indescribable feeling, as if something was missing.
But fire is fire, simple and unadorned, what more could it possibly lack?
A moment later, the one-eyed man leading the group withdrew his gaze, surveyed the hall, and calmly deployed his plan, his eyes sweeping over everyone's faces:
"First, immediately send someone back to consult with Master Wu and report the situation."
"Secondly, send half of our manpower and Qi cultivators to immediately enter Mount Lu to pursue them, while the other half..."
He turned to the previously unruly, bald, burly man and said:
“Cheng the Bald, you take a small team and go into Mount Lu through the mountain path behind the Prince’s Mansion. Follow them along the way. Since they are trying to escape, we must search every road. The roads in Mount Lu are rugged. They can’t have gone far. At most, they’ll find a cave to hide in and pretend to be dead.”
The one-eyed man finally pointed around:
"As for the rest of you, stay here with me and wait for the fire to be extinguished before we go in and check you one by one."
One of the pirates questioned, "Wouldn't it be a bad idea to divide our forces like this?"
The one-eyed man shook his head indifferently:
“We have plenty of manpower, and we have more Qi Refiners than them, so splitting up won’t be a problem and will even be an advantage. However, no matter which side we are on, once we find the King of Xunyang, we must immediately send a signal to call everyone to regroup.”
Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up, and they all agreed.
The chubby-faced man had asked again:
“We’ve left nearly half of our people here to wait for the fire to stop. Is that really necessary? The fire is so big. What if the entire Xunyang Prince’s family is burned to ashes? We’ll have no chance of finding them.”
The one-eyed man's fierce gaze swept across the entire room as he spoke, word by word:
"Master Wu said today, he wants to see the person alive or dead!"
“I’ll stay here with some men. If you two groups find the target in the mountains, we can rush to your aid immediately. As for whether the remains will be burned to ashes… there will always be some clues left behind! Let’s search the ruins first.”
"I still don't quite believe it. Could they have known about our plan to destroy the entire mansion so early on? Then why didn't they escape sooner? There's something fishy going on... Anyway, we have plenty of time today, no rush, we'll take them one by one!"
"yes!"
...
While the group of pirates were having a tense discussion in the outer hall,
The entire inner courtyard outside was engulfed in eerie green flames, making it too dangerous to approach.
The study where Li Xian used to hold secret meetings was also submerged in this sea of fire.
Beside the burning study building, there is a rockery with a dried-up pond. Twenty feet underground, there is a sealed stone chamber filled with ice, wine jars, and soup pots.
It was like an ice cellar, with chilling air emanating from it.
The intense heat from the flames above was neutralized by the large number of neatly arranged ice blocks inside the stone chamber.
The phenomenon of ice and fire merging causes these ice blocks to continuously emit cool, hazy "white smoke" as they melt.
It permeated the atmosphere among the people hiding in the ice cellar.
The atmosphere inside the ice cellar was deathly still.
Li Xian, Wei Mei, and Li Guo'er were either sitting, standing, or pacing back and forth.
Besides them, there was Cai Shou, Li Guo'er's personal maid; Mr. Yuan, Li Dalang's teacher; Uncle Shun, the old steward; and a middle-aged maid whom Li Dalang and Li Guo'er usually called Aunt Qi. She was a maid who came with Wei Mei from her maternal family when she was a bride. She was devoted to Wei Mei and followed her all the way. She even took a knife for Li Xian and Wei Mei...
At this moment, all the trusted elders of the Prince's mansion were present, standing quietly in the corner of the ice cellar, not daring to utter a sound.
Most of the people's eyes were drawn to the figure of a young man with a blank expression in front of them.
It is Lu Ya.
He stood at the entrance of the ice cellar, which had been sealed off by huge rocks, wearing a dirty Taoist robe.
There were seven or eight corpses at my feet, dressed as river pirates.
The peach wood sword that had been on his back had been cut off, with one piece stuck in the back of the heart of a burly man who seemed to have died with a furious look on his face.
There was another section, the one with the hilt, at Lu Ya's feet.
It seemed to slip from his trembling palm.
At this moment, the young man with the expressionless face was also in bad shape. Blood was dripping from his hand, and he stood motionless in place, breathing unevenly.
Li Xian and the others were each wrapped in a brand new blanket, which must have been prepared in advance. Even Cai Shou and Shun Bo had blankets.
However, Lu Ya was the only one who didn't have it.
Li Xian looked at Lu Ya with some worry in his eyes and asked:
"Is Master Lu alright?"
Li Guo'er remained silent, frowning as she looked at the corpses on the ground.
Wei Mei's eyebrows furrowed slightly, a gesture those who knew her well understood as a sign of displeasure and anger. The Princess of Xunyang, slightly suppressing her urge to speak, said:
“Master Lu, why didn’t you follow Tanlang and Lingjiang’s plan? You should have gone to find Lingjiang and driven to Mount Lu together. Why did you come back? Your unauthorized actions could easily ruin things.”
Lu Ya remained silent, his eyes fixed on two slightly unusual pirate corpses among the many bodies in front of him; one of them had a sword stuck in its chest.
There was another corpse embedded in the wall in front of him. His tiger-like beard and head were drooping. He was lifeless. A purple-gold talisman was pasted on his chest. His bronze-colored, muscular body was slowly oozing blood. His heart was beating again and again in the electric current of the thunder talisman. Although he was dead, his heart was still beating. This corpse was still full of energy.
What a formidable military strategist, like a dragon or elephant on land.
These two military strategists, one a sixth-rank and the other a seventh-rank, were both dealt with by Lu Ya himself, though he borrowed the thunder talisman that the Celestial Master's Mansion of Longhu Mountain had used to send Li Guo'er away.
Otherwise, with the tacit cooperation of these two unassuming Wei family experts, Lu Ya would have had difficulty suppressing them in the narrow space. Most importantly, Li Xian and the others were in the ice cellar, and he had to spare some attention to protect them. Therefore, he could only use this thunder talisman, which contained some of the power of the Taiqing ultimate technique, to suppress them with a thunderous strike.
Li Xian hesitated for a moment, then said:
"Alright, Mei Niang, Master Lu didn't do it on purpose. If it weren't for him, Uncle Shun and Cai Shou wouldn't have had time to enter the cave, and the boulder would have sealed the entrance."
Wei Mei, still somewhat displeased, said:
"But it was this delay that allowed these thieves to get in, and they almost hurt you, Qilang. Luckily, Guo'er had her magic talisman."
Li Xian chuckled sarcastically.
Upon hearing this, Cai Shou, Sun Bo, and the others knew that the mistress was in a bad mood, so they did not dare to cast too many grateful glances at Lu Ya and all lowered their heads.
Their original plan was for Li Xian, Li Guo'er, and Wei Mei to first hide in the ice cave to "drink ice," while Cai Shou and the others would ignite the Burning Heaven Dragon Oil and set fire to the inner courtyard.
However, a small team of pirates arrived ahead of time. During their search, they discovered Cai Shou and his group who had set the fire and prepared to arrest them.
In the critical moment, Lu Ya appeared and saved them, while continuing to set the fire.
Thanks to the warning given when their comrades were killed, that group of pirates, before perishing in the fire inside the inner courtyard, followed Lu Ya and the others who were retreating to the ice cave and found the entrance to the ice cellar.
Just before the giant stone gate was about to close, some of the pirates managed to rush in, and a brief but dangerous ten-breath battle ensued between them and Lu Ya in the narrow space... Fortunately, Li Xian and the others were unharmed for the time being.
Although it was a bumpy ride, all the intruding pirates have now been dealt with, and the remaining pirates who knew about the intrusion should have perished in the fire. The ice cave has been sealed by a giant rock and is temporarily safe.
The people's anxiety eased slightly.
(End of this chapter)
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