Chapter 1397: Snow in June (Part 2) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
The avatar arguing with the real person is essentially just talking to oneself.
Shen Tang has been taking the blame for everything, no matter who tries to shift it.
"Chase after her? Does she think she can just sprout wings and fly away?" Shen Tang was certain that this Madam Shen was a completely ordinary person with no talent for cultivation. She couldn't run far on her own, even if she wore herself out. "Unless someone comes to meet her."
Shen Tang had a general idea in mind.
Seeing the teahouse reduced to ashes in just a dozen breaths, my suspicions were further confirmed. Thinking about it again, it made sense. Chaotic times are like a furnace; ordinary people struggle to survive even in familiar surroundings, let alone someone like Madam Shen who runs teahouses everywhere.
Who knows how many dangers we might encounter on the road.
She's only managed to live peacefully until now thanks to the fact that the Central Branch is secretly and extensively hunting down special descendants; without some kind of backing, she really wouldn't be doing well. Regardless of whether Shen Tang exposed Madam Shen's identity, Madam Shen slipped away the moment Shen Tang left.
Without even a second's hesitation.
"The weather today is also helping her." The rain not only diluted her scent but also concealed her tracks. Shen Tang looked down at the muddy puddles at her feet and muttered to herself, "I didn't notice a third person nearby just now. To fool me, it's not enough for her to be stronger than me... But if the other party has such strength, why would she obey her commands?"
The stronger the martial artist, the harder they are to subdue.
The voice of the original self echoed in my mind.
"It's not impossible for her to take orders. Xiang Zhao and Gongyang Yongye are extremely special cases. There are always exceptions. If there really is such a master willing to help Madam Shen, why doesn't Madam Shen let the other party go straight to the heart of the matter single-handedly?"
There's absolutely no need to go to such lengths.
Or is it—
"Another trap?"
Were all of Madam Shen's previous statements false?
"No, what I mean is that the person who came to meet her might not be someone with a high level of strength, but someone with special teleportation and escape abilities?" The main body can only see the surrounding environment through the vision of the avatar, but cannot parachute over to help. "Let's not worry about Madam Shen for now. Meng Yuan has been missing for too long, and this matter must be resolved as soon as possible."
No matter what Madam Shen is up to, going there will reveal the truth, won't it? Even if it's a carefully planned trap, what's there to be afraid of if Wu You is the embodiment of evil? At worst, we can smash the cups, overturn the table, and cause chaos.
The Feast at Hongmen?
Ha, don't they even know who's the dish being served?
"Hurry up, hurry up! What kind of inhuman capitalist are you? You even exploit your own incarnation. Be careful you don't end up hanging from a street lamp one day."
The avatar held the blood-written letter carefully, sensing its meaning.
Focus all your attention on perceiving.
A vague, inexplicable intuition quietly surfaced in my mind.
This feeling was very mysterious, as if it were telling her which direction to take, and Shen Tang chose to trust this intuition. She didn't know that a quarter of an hour after she left, the puddles in the ruins of the teahouse came alive, attracting and flowing together until they finally merged into one.
The puddle gradually stretched out, taking on the shape of a person.
It wasn't one person, it was two people.
One of them was none other than Madam Shen, who had fled.
The other was a strikingly beautiful young woman, but her face was frail, suggesting anemia. Both women gazed in the direction Shen Tang had left, their eyes still etched with lingering fear and worry. The young woman craned her neck and asked, "She's really gone?"
Madam Shen, clutching her aching back, slumped to the ground in a disheveled state.
He replied, panting, "It's probably impossible for him to come back."
The young woman asked doubtfully, "Are you so sure?"
Madam Shen dared not claim to know Shen Tang intimately, but she had gleaned a general idea of her personality from the latter's life trajectory over the years. She was quite certain: "Her suspicion is within the normal range. If she were pathologically suspicious, how could she have amassed such a large fortune in Kangguo?"
What subject would like a ruler who is so suspicious that he is paranoid?
Shen Youli, a special kind of "femme fatale".
A unique individual whose upright and honest conduct is praised by both enemies and allies.
Wasn't Gong Cheng a very typical example back then?
Madam Shen had interacted with Gong Cheng several times and heard many of his evaluations of Shen Tang. If it weren't for the calm expression on Gong Cheng's face and the pure admiration and praise in his eyes when he spoke those words, Madam Shen would have suspected that Gong Cheng actually had ulterior motives.
Keep in mind that these two are an "engaged couple".
At this moment, Madam Shen noticed out of the corner of her eye the young woman's pale, bloodless face and the subconscious gesture of the woman clutching her lower abdomen. She asked, "Isn't your bleeding condition getting better?"
The so-called "bleeding syndrome" refers to a hidden gynecological condition in women that causes persistent bleeding.
The young woman contracted this hidden ailment not because of any promiscuity, but because of a forced abortion. The abortifacient she took was extremely potent; she lost the baby, but her body was severely weakened. Only through careful recuperation did she manage to recover somewhat.
Looking back now, I realize the other party was lying to me.
The young woman's voice was weak: "It's alright."
Seeing her stubborn insistence, Madam Shen propped herself up on her knees and said, "Let's go, let's go see our victory one last time."
All that painstaking planning and scheming, isn't it all for that one moment of triumph?
She never imagined that Shen Youli would be the one to come.
Although it wasn't Shen Jun herself, the avatar knowing was equivalent to the real Shen Jun knowing. Madam Shen was very curious about how furious she would be when she learned the truth. Madam Shen murmured, "Furious is good! When the emperor is angry, blood flows like rivers. Let's kill to our hearts' content!"
No amount of blood shed by those people could atone for their sins!
Madam Shen's words were like a shot of adrenaline, and the young woman's face visibly flushed with excitement: "Let's go!"
She grabbed Madam Shen's wrist.
In the next instant, the two figures became transparent again, turning into two pools of living, writhing liquid that merged with the rainwater covering the ground.
Two flowers bloom, each representing a different branch.
As they drew closer, the "intuition" that the blood-written letter gave Shen Tang became increasingly clear and intense. As night fell, the drizzling rain finally stopped completely, and a clear, full moon hung in the night sky. Oh, and she ended up circling back to where she started.
The blood-written note indicated that the target was within the county where the porter was located.
Isn't that a coincidence?
Even more coincidentally, Shen Tang also saw the porters.
He covered the other person's mouth and whispered a warning: "Shut up!"
The porter's momentary murderous intent vanished the instant he saw the newcomer's face. However, he didn't overlook the fact that Shen Tang had one hand gripping his groin, clearly intending to kill him to silence him. He nervously swallowed and whispered, "What is the envoy doing?"
Shen Tang countered, "That's the question I should be asking you."
Why are the porters here?
This answer is very easy to give.
Because this is how porters make a living.
Carrying supplies on their shoulders and backs, they transported them from the foot of the mountain to the top. The mountain was steep, and the mountain path was narrow and difficult to traverse, making it impossible for vehicles to make the way. The necessities of life could only be carried by manpower. Shen Tang was skeptical of this, because the power of words proved that he was telling the truth and had not lied, but the coincidences seemed too great.
What families live on the mountain?
"It's said that these are the mistresses kept by important figures outside the home? The goods sent to them each time are items for women and infants."
"Besides that, are there any others?"
"That important man has a very strange temper. He doesn't allow any outside men to even glance at these mistresses. The courtyard is heavily guarded." The level of guarding is beyond normal. Even porters have to have their identification checked carefully before they can go up the mountain. There are sentries every few hundred steps.
If anything goes wrong, they could be beaten to death with sticks.
Despite the very strict rules, porters still fight tooth and nail for this job because of the excellent pay.
One load is enough for the whole family to eat and use for ten days.
Shen Tang countered, "Is it just that the guards are so tight?"
The porter thought carefully: "...There are many other unfounded rumors, one of which is that the big shot keeping a mistress is a lie, and the truth is that the big shot is using the guise of being a womanizer to raise a private army in the mountains with the intention of rebellion! However, this rumor is also not credible. If it were about rebellion and training troops... how could such a small amount of resources be enough?"
Although porters dare not dismantle goods privately, they can still determine what the goods are by their weight and shape, but they cannot afford to support a private army.
but--
The porter whispered, "This mountain is indeed hollow."
He has a physical disability, and going down the mountain is much more strenuous than going up.
Once, he slipped and nearly fell to his death, only to discover that the mountain was hollow, its interior a labyrinth of interconnected, winding passages, much like an enlarged anthill. He heard patrolling footsteps and, fearing exposure and death, fled without lingering. A hapless porter became his scapegoat.
After that, he knew this place was unusual.
The interior of the mountain may also connect to other mountains.
Ants shouldn't be too curious, or they'll lose their lives.
Shen Tang: "The mountain is hollow?"
"Is the person the messenger is looking for trapped here?"
"Not sure, we haven't found her yet." Tan Ting might not be here, but the "kindred spirit" that Madam Shen mentioned is most likely here, as evidenced by the porter's statement that the goods he always delivered were women's and infant supplies. Since she's already here, even if Tan Ting isn't here, she won't just sit idly by. Before taking action, Shen Tang wants to deal with the porter first. "You do it, I'll do it?"
Without hesitation, the porter chose to do it himself.
He raised his hand and delivered a powerful chop to knock himself unconscious!
Shen Tang cast a spell on him to solidify his deep, infant-like sleep, then hid him away. She didn't kill him to prevent future trouble, still considering Qi Shan's feelings. Her figure glided nimbly into the darkness like a fish: "I hope this trip will be fruitful."
The act of turning into nothingness kept the original being awake at night.
The Venerable One even gave Qi Shan a live broadcast.
When Qi Shan learned that the operation had made progress, he came over specifically to inquire about the details—no matter what, he didn't want to see anything happen to Tan Ting.
However, his expression froze for a moment when he heard that some members of the Chinese community intended to "breed" special bloodlines.
“My lord, something has suddenly come to mind.”
Both Shen Tang himself and Wu You could hear his voice.
Wu You even spared some attention to listen.
"Please feel free to speak."
Qi Shan's expression was strange: "Meng Yuan's body..."
His words immediately jolted the original owner and Wu Liang awake, and the two silently cursed in unison. Tan Ting's body was extraordinary; he was neither male nor female, possessing all the qualities of a man and a woman. Shen Tang even had Dong Dao examine Tan Ting.
One of Dong Dao's remarks left a deep impression on Shen Tang.
There are many men and women in this world with physical deformities.
While rare, cases of two sexes coexisting in one body are not unheard of. Dong Dao has encountered several such cases, spanning different age groups. These cases share a common characteristic: their organs are not fully developed; either the male organ is unusable, the female organ is unusable, or neither is usable. Tan Ting, however, is an exceptional case among exceptional cases, with both parts of her body functioning almost identically to those of a normal male and female.
In other words—
Tan Ting may also have been captured as the mother.
Wu You, who made this judgment, wanted nothing more than to pound his own legs and curse, "You damn leg, run faster!" Just as the porter had said, the defenses here were indeed tight, but trying to stop an infiltrator of Wu You's caliber was simply a pipe dream. The routes inside the mountain were complex, and soon they had everyone dizzy and disoriented. Fortunately, Shen Tang had the blood-written scroll in his hand.
This thing comes in very handy at crucial moments!
Shen Tang found a stone chamber.
The stone chamber is quite large, and the interior is decorated with great care.
A young woman, around twenty years old, lay curled up asleep on the soft couch. The stone room was dimly lit by candlelight, and Shen Tang could see the woman's slightly protruding belly by the only light source. Perhaps due to the lack of sunlight for so long, the woman's face was frighteningly pale.
Shen Tang then went to find other stone chambers.
They searched each room one by one.
Some stone chambers were inhabited by young pregnant women, while others housed mothers and their daughters, ranging in age from fourteen or fifteen to forty or fifty, with an astonishingly high pregnancy rate. The atmosphere among them varied; some were numb, while others were filled with laughter and joy…
There are only women here, pregnant women, and children.
Shen Tang also noticed that all the children were girls.
There wasn't a single boy.
Is Meng Yuan not here?
After searching everywhere, I still couldn't find Tan Ting's whereabouts.
Shen Tang was feeling conflicted. He hoped to find Tan Ting as soon as possible, but he also hoped that Tan Ting would not appear in this strange place.
This hope was answered in the next stone chamber.
It was a very special stone chamber.
Unlike the spacious and comfortable stone chamber before, this one was only large enough for three or four people to fit in. Not only was the floor damp and dark, but the air was also poorly ventilated. In the corner sat a wooden bucket for defecating and urinating, from which maggots occasionally crawled out... Several untouched, rotten, and moldy pieces of food lay on the ground... All sorts of smells mingled together, brewing into a stench.
Shen Tang's pupils suddenly contracted.
He saw the person shrouded in darkness thanks to his exceptional eyesight.
She threw a pebble into it.
The sound of the pebbles rolling was very faint, not enough to attract the attention of patrolling guards, but enough to wake up the person meditating with their eyes closed in the stone chamber.
"who?"
He had been detained for so long that he could only judge time by his biological clock, and it shouldn't be mealtime yet.
Shen Tang felt a pang of heartache upon hearing the hoarse voice.
"Wait a minute, Mengyuan, I'll get you out."
Damn it, how long has Tan Ting been locked up?
Tan Ting was still somewhat dazed when someone called out his name accurately, until he was led out of that damned stone house. The person grabbed his arm and led him into an empty but normally laid-out stone house. Before Chen Tang could speak, a sharp object was pressed against her neck, and in the darkness, Tan Ting's cold eyes could be seen: "Who are you?"
At this point, no one will come to his rescue.
Rather than believing it was a savior sent from heaven, he was more convinced that the person in front of him was deliberately playing the "hero saves the beauty, and then offers himself in return" game to lower his guard—what could be more interesting than fooling a prey who thought he had escaped?
Shen Tang wanted to answer, but she felt that it was more important to get Tan Ting to change his clothes, as he smelled too strongly.
Do you still remember Qi Yuanliang?
Tan Ting released his hand: "I'll remember him even if he turns to ashes."
|ω`)
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