Zhou Xingchuan nodded, his face grim, and said, "Let's go see our senior brother."
Lanqin asked in surprise, "Didn't you say you wanted to rescue my master? What if your senior brother has already been taken away by them?"
“Your grandfather is locked up over there,” Zhou Xingchuan said.
Lanqin felt a pang in her heart, realizing that to rescue Fourth Master, she first needed to persuade Yuan Xinghui.
Zhou Xingchuan, accompanied by two disciples and several junior Taoists, headed towards Zixiao Palace. Zixiao Palace, located in the central part of Wudang Mountain, was likely the finest palace. This suggests that the eldest disciple held a prominent position within the sect.
When Lanqin arrived at Zixiao Palace with Zhou Xingchuan, she was immediately struck by its magnificent grandeur. It truly resembled a palace more than any other; the green glazed tiles were striking, and the guardian beasts on the roof ridges were dignified. The walls were painted vermilion, giving the entire palace a solemn and imposing air.
"Master Zhou, is this where my master is imprisoned?" Lanqin asked.
“Yes. At that time, all four of your servants were imprisoned with me, but the only one was imprisoned here by the eldest brother. If you want to save your master, you still have to talk to the eldest brother first,” Zhou Xingchuan said.
Lanqin felt a sudden heaviness in her heart. She had a premonition that this senior brother was probably not as easy to talk to as Zhou Xingchuan, otherwise why wasn't he the first person that old Taoist priest mentioned?
As the group entered Zixiao Palace and passed through several doors, Lanqin and the others finally arrived at the reception room of their senior brother, Yuan Xinghui.
After exchanging pleasantries, Yuan Xinghui gestured for Zhou Xingchuan to sit down. Once seated as host and guest, they began their conversation. Lan Qin stood behind Zhou Xingchuan, silently observing Yuan Xinghui, who sat in the main seat.
He appeared to be around sixty years old, possibly a disciple Zhou Zhenggang had taken in when he was young. He had a long goatee, a thick pipe, and gray hair. Dressed in a greyish-black Taoist robe, he sat there exuding an air of authority.
"Second Junior Brother, is something the matter?" Yuan Xinghui asked.
“Senior brother, Master just sent someone to say that we’ll be going to the Golden Cauldron for a meeting tomorrow. I wanted to see if we should interrogate the person we arrested that day. We can’t just keep him locked up like this.” Zhou Xingchuan said.
Yuan Xinghui said, "You mean, Master summoned us to the Golden Cauldron just now to ask how to deal with this person?"
“That should be it. He went to Dumenpo with that rebellious disciple of mine. How much did they see and know? We have to ask him. We can’t go to see our master without knowing anything,” Zhou Xingchuan said.
Yuan Xinghui said, "This person has been sitting cross-legged in meditation the whole time, eating very little and not saying a word. He does have a certain air about him, but I wonder what his background is."
When Lanqin heard Yuan Xinghui mention "him," she thought about how Fourth Master hadn't been eating much for the past ten days and must have lost a lot of weight! Lanqin felt a little anxious and just wanted to see Fourth Master as soon as possible.
“Senior brother, why don’t we go take a look now? I just thought of a few questions, let’s ask this person first?” Zhou Xingchuan said.
“Since Junior Brother wants to go and see, then I, as your elder brother, will accompany you,” Yuan Xinghui said.
Lanqin breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time felt a surge of joy, because she would soon be able to see the Fourth Master.
"What, are they going too?" Yuan Xinghui frowned and asked when he saw Lan Qin and the others following Zhou Xingchuan.
"Heh, you all stay here. You, come with me." Zhou Xingchuan instructed the other disciples, then pointed at Lan Qin.
Yuan Xinghui looked at Lan Qin and saw that she was a very handsome young Taoist priest. He asked, "Junior brother, who is he?"
"Senior brother, let her come along. She can read people's faces; letting her take a look at that person might be helpful," Zhou Xingchuan suggested, offering a reason.
Yuan Xinghui took another good look at Lan Qin. Seeing that she had beautiful features and looked especially pretty in her Taoist robe, he said nothing more and led the two of them to the place in Zixiao Palace where people were imprisoned.
Lanqin discovered that this place was much better than the underground prison in the Five Dragons Palace; Fourth Master no longer had to suffer the torment of being deprived of sunlight. They entered a room with its doors and windows tightly closed, and a Taoist priest was guarding the door.
"Open the door!" Yuan Xinghui said.
When the Taoist priest opened the door and Lanqin followed Zhou Xingchuan into the room, she could already see the environment inside.
The inside was no different from the other rooms. After the three of them went in, Yuan Xinghui led the way to a portrait in the center, and then went up to fiddle with a bottle under the portrait.
Lanqin watched what he was doing, and then she saw the wall where the portraits were hanging recede. A door appeared.
Are all mechanisms made the same? Lanqin couldn't help but wonder.
After the three of them passed through the door, Lanqin saw the same prison cell as the one in the manor, and Fourth Master was sitting inside. His cheeks were sunken, clearly indicating that he hadn't eaten properly for the past ten days. Fortunately, it wasn't completely dark here; at least it was bright. Lanqin wanted to call out to him, but she held back.
Fourth Master sat cross-legged on the ground. Hearing someone approaching, he opened his eyes and looked at the three people who had arrived. When his gaze settled on the person behind the two old Taoist priests, his pupils suddenly dilated.
Lanqin also looked at Fourth Master, and she secretly shook her head at him, signaling him to keep quiet.
Fourth Master suppressed his shock and quietly watched them.
"Senior brother, I have something to say to you. Can you come outside for a moment?" Zhou Xingchuan suddenly said.
"Why didn't you say so earlier? Are we still going to interrogate this person?" Yuan Xinghui frowned when he saw his junior brother say this.
“Let my junior disciple conduct the interrogation. I have something to say to you,” Zhou Xingchuan said.
Yuan Xinghui followed Zhou Xingchuan out, and the door behind Lan Qin closed behind them. Yuan Xinghui was indeed very cautious; he wouldn't allow anyone inside even the slightest possibility of escaping.
The two looked at each other through the wooden fence, neither of them saying a word.
"Why are you here, and dressed like this?" Fourth Master looked at Lanqin. He had thought that Lingfeng would send troops to approach Wudang Mountain and force them to release the people. But ten days had passed, and there was still no movement. Fourth Master was still uneasy. He was worried about Lanqin's safety, but he was trapped here and couldn't move.
"If I don't come soon, will you grow thinner like this, Master? Look at how you look, it makes me feel terrible!" Lanqin said.
Seeing Lanqin's stubborn appearance, Fourth Master felt that this little woman might not be as fragile as he had imagined. In fact, she was quite determined, and the fact that she could stand in front of him like this meant that she already had her own methods.
"How did you do that?" Fourth Master asked directly.
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