Chapter 257: Soul-Falling Formation (2)
The palace was ablaze with golden lanterns, and carriages of luxury were filled with flying flowers. Teams of gorgeously dressed maids and attendants, carrying square lanterns, carried wine, cold dishes, and a variety of meat and vegetable dishes as they passed through rockery after rockery, skirted corridors and ponds, and presented them to the pavilions and terraces.
Following the maids and servants, Luo Xuanyi passed through the heavily armored guards and floated high on a platform. Looking down, she just happened to catch the true faces of the mayor Li Zhiyan and the grain officer who were drinking together.
Town Mayor Li Zhiyan, his face flushed, drank deeply from his round-necked, light red uniform. The wine soaked his long, spiky beard, making him look quite drunk. The grain official, drinking with him, sipped his wine from a small celadon cup, his eyes still shrewd and sober.
Only Li Zhiyan was talking drunkenly loudly on the platform, with the servants beside him pouring him wine. Luo Xuanyi was too lazy to listen to what he said, but she noticed a man in a green robe who was also drinking in a corner.
The green-robed man didn't have the insignia of the six major alliances embroidered on his clothes, but the storage bag on his waist bore the same black bamboo pattern as Xi Xingji. Luo Xuanyi could tell at a glance that he was a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator who had at least studied medicine. He exuded a familiar aura.
Judging from "Old Things and Anecdotes", there are many noble families in the mortal world who offer sacrifices to Xiao Xiu, and some officials also offer sacrifices, so it is not a rare thing.
Luo Xuanyi stared at the man in green robe, then turned away and thought about who to catch.
The Soul-Falling Formation used real-world locations as a cage for illusory confinement, but Luo Xuanyi wasn't sure how this would work. Simply put, would it be more effective if it simulated a familiar location, or an unfamiliar one?
The only place Luo Xuanyi could simulate transparently was Guhu Town; she hadn't been able to clearly see the specific housing styles of Fuji Town. Therefore, to resolve her confusion, she needed to gather a few people unfamiliar with Guhu Town and compare them with the locals.
Luo Xuanyi lowered her eyes and glanced at the platform, quietly dispersing the deathly aura.
"I, I knew that the Duke still remembered me! Haha!"
Li Yuanmiao held a green cup in his hand, his narrow eyes scanning from the wine swaying on the cup surface to Li Zhiyan's face who was laughing and drinking across from him, and he was casually thinking about finding a topic to end the banquet.
Li Yuanmiao was the younger brother of Duke Yu, Li Yuanchang. He served as a fourth-rank grain official at the imperial court, managing the grain supplies for Longlan City and Fanghui City, directly controlling the nation's food supply. Although a fourth-rank official, he was effectively on par with a first-rank official at court, and usually resided in Fanghui City.
Li Zhiyan was just a distant relative of the Li family, and if it weren't for the fact that the eldest brother's request was difficult to convey via letter, Li Yuanmiao would not have traveled thousands of miles to this remote place, and would not have listened to the nonsense of this drunkard.
Li Yuanmiao put down the wine cup and was about to utter the familiar clichés in his mind to Li Zhiyan who was looking at him, when he suddenly felt a tightness in his waist.
"how……?!"
Li Yuanmiao barely managed to exclaim when the world spun around, sending him reeling. He shook his head, barely hearing the screams below him. He opened his eyes and realized he was suspended in mid-air, headfirst.
The ground was in chaos. Li Zhiyan stared with his eyes wide open, not noticing the wine spilling out. A bowl of wine, fruit, and vegetables had been spilled on the platform. The attendants, maids, and the green-robed attendant were gone. Li Yuanmiao frantically searched for his private soldiers, but they were nowhere to be found.
"Don't kill me..."
“Oh my god…”
Li Yuanmiao calmed down from his panic, suddenly realizing how close the screams were. With difficulty, he turned his head to look, his remaining thoughts shuddering. Everyone he hadn't seen on the ground was floating in the air like him. Even Fei Han, the Blackwood Sect cultivator whom Li Zhiyan had boasted so much about, looked unconscious.
Thousands of thoughts flashed through his mind, but he dismissed them one by one. Whether it was the assassins sent by King Yu or his political enemies in the court, there shouldn't be such a big fuss if they want to capture him.
The black mist enveloping them seemed alive, rapidly carrying them in a certain direction, away from the chaotic mayor's residence. Seeing this, Li Yuanmiao immediately wanted to untie the jade pendant from his waist and throw it down as a mark, but the black mist entangled him and prevented him from moving.
Unable to struggle against the black fog, Li Yuanmiao had no choice but to watch himself and others being carried away from the light and into the darkness.
"Let me choose you first."
Suddenly, a woman's voice rang out in his ears, full of interest. "Who are you?" Li Yuanmiao hadn't even begun to question before he was thrown into the black mist and fell diagonally.
"Hey, get up! I'm going to open the door, don't sleep here!"
Li Yuanmiao shuddered as he saw a pair of black cloth shoes, their sides spread wide open, facing him. His mind was dazed, and he felt cold and hungry. He slowly climbed to his feet, barely reaching the butcher's waist.
Seeing Li Yuanmiao in a daze, the butcher waved the door panel impatiently and said, "Go away! You're blocking my business."
Who are you? Li Yuanmiao subconsciously frowned, about to yell, but was slapped by the door, sending him tumbling lightly to the side of the street gutter. His bony bones ached from the hard stone slabs, and he cried out, "Ouch!" He habitually raised his arms, hoping for help, but all he got was the scornful avoidance of passersby.
"The little beggar from the Li family is still alive."
The burly man carrying the wine walked by and strode around: "You stink so much, please don't spoil my wine."
Beggar? Li Yuanmiao, feeling pain all over his body, lowered his head and saw the dirty, skinny little face in the canal.
Yes, he was a beggar. An orphan from Guhu Town, his parents both dead, targeted by the town's mayor, Li Zhiyan, an orphan no one dared to use.
Neat towns, the sound of flowing water, noisy conversations of people, a lively day is unfolding in "Guhu Town". Beggar Li Yuanmiao stands up and begins his life of making a living.
He walked along the main street, his dazed vision gradually becoming timid. This main street stretched out to the endless fields, and beyond that, to the swirling rain clouds.
Beyond the rain clouds, a pair of arms embraced "Guhu Town." Luo Xuanyi lowered her head, her face obscured by the clouds, making it impossible to see her expression.
She stared at Gu Huzhen in her arms, her fingers moving slightly, like a puppeteer playing with strings, or like a chess player placing chess pieces on the chessboard.
The spectator said that the play directed by Luo Xuanyi was about to begin.
Second update~
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