Chapter 61: It’s better for me to stay away from him. This person is really bad...
She always felt that Young Master Jin Sheng was leading the affairs of the martial arts world here, and that everything was strange. This feeling became even stronger, especially after being "escorted" by the Helan tribe.
"Just an old woman...who has lived long enough and is afraid of dying quickly." Behind her, Shen Yansheng thought for a moment and finally replied, "The Empress Dowager of the Northern Dynasty."
The voice was soft, a cautious one from Young Master Jinsheng. "The Northern Dynasty Empress Dowager has been bedridden for a long time, and doctors are helpless. The Helan tribe is the Empress Dowager's maternal clan, which is why the kidnapping outside Yuzhou City took place."
"Empress Dowager?" Qing Guiyu frowned. The waters of imperial power and nobility were deeper and muddier than she had imagined. "Did you know this already?"
No wonder the Helan tribe went to such great lengths, even venturing deep into the heart of the Southern Dynasty to capture her. This was no longer just a simple request for medical treatment, but a conflict concerning the power of a nation, and even the fate of the world.
"It's not easy for northerners to travel to the southern border, so we have to ask the Tianji Pavilion to act and invite the young lady."
"Please?" Qing Guiyu rubbed his nose, which had been chilled by the cool breeze. "Thank goodness I know how to say 'please!'" Remembering the frustration of being forcibly taken away from Yaowang Valley, and the chaotic entanglement in the carriage, he couldn't help but turn around and glare at Chen Juansheng. Chen Juansheng immediately lowered his eyelashes, casting a faint shadow on his pale face.
"If you knew it all along, why didn't you tell me then?" She paused, examining him. "Why are you telling me now?"
Shen Juansheng continued gently, "Even if I told you at that time, Miss Qing might not believe me."
Qing Guiyu turned his head and looked him up and down.
...No, I may not believe you now.
"Don't be afraid, Miss Qing, don't be afraid." Shen Jiansheng turned his head to look at her, seemingly unaware of the doubts in her heart, and just whispered to himself, "As long as Shen Jiansheng can still think of something, don't be afraid."
He leaned forward slightly and stretched out his hand quite naturally, his fingertips slightly cold, wanting to tidy up her hair that was messed up by the wind.
"What are you afraid of?" Qing Guiyu thought for a moment and brushed his fingers away. "Stop touching me."
"So fierce." Shen Juansheng chuckled softly, his eyebrows curved, and he raised his hands obediently. The gold wire hanging from his wrists made his wrists look even more slender and pale. "I won't dare to do that anymore. Miss Qing, calm down."
He held the word "calm down" between his lips, speaking softly and gently, with a slight rise at the end, as if ready to be picked. Qing Guiyu had no choice but to leave him and head back to the market town.
The market town wasn't large, but it was well-organized. Roofs were covered in thick thatch or clay tiles. The streets, though not wide, were clean, lined with shops with Chinese-inscribed signs: a grain store, a cloth shop, a blacksmith's forge, a wine shop, and even a small bookshop.
The air was mixed with the smell of livestock and the aroma of burnt noodles, which was completely different from the damp vapor of Yuzhou City in the Southern Dynasty and the prosperous and powdery smell of Zhongzhou City.
Pedestrians, wrapped in thick cloth, spoke distinctly Chinese, albeit with a harsh accent. Children chased each other and played, while vendors shouted "steamed buns" and "newly arrived Jiangnan fine cloth."
"Northern Frontier... is this the case?" Qing Guiyu looked around, a little surprised.
Shen Juansheng lagged behind her half a step, his black robes fluttering in the wind, the golden threads casting a cold light. His face remained pale, having not practiced his cold energy in recent days. The needle marks at the corners of his eyes had faded considerably. Only the fine red mark at the base of his ear, left by the golden threads, was still faintly visible.
He followed her gaze. "Ever since the Northern Dynasty established its capital in Longcheng a hundred years ago, it has become increasingly influenced by Chinese culture. Although this place is a remote borderland, it is a place where commerce and etiquette are practiced. The Northern Dynasty Empress Dowager... well, she admired the elegance and grace of the Southern Dynasty even more."
Despite being home to many Han Chinese, the products of the northern border region possess their own unique characteristics. The market isn't large, with few vendors, but it does offer dried goods, medicinal herbs, furs, and mountain products rarely seen in the Southern Dynasties. It's a bit dusty, though, so someone is always tending to the shops.
Qing Guiyu stopped in front of a herbal medicine shop. The shop was filled with dried roots, oddly shaped mushrooms, and a few bundles of thick, dark green grasses with a frosty scent.
"Old man, how much is this 'Cold Cistanche'?" Qing Guiyu picked up a herb that resembled Cistanche deserticola but was darker in color. It was a good herb for warming the meridians and resisting cold poisons. It might even be helpful for a body suffering from the dual suppression of Cold Marrow Gong and Mysterious Ice.
The old man in the shop raised his eyes from under his black and white eyebrows, glanced at her, and stretched out three fingers that looked like bark.
"Three taels of silver per plant?" Qing Guiyu had traded in medicinal herbs during her early years of seclusion in Yuzhou. Seeing the old man's exorbitant price, the bitter experience she'd suffered as a young girl suddenly came to mind. "Old man, don't take advantage of me, a southerner who doesn't know much! This quality of Cistanche deserticola costs only one and a half taels!"
The old man stared at her, mumbling a few words in the northern dialect, and his momentum gradually diminished.
But before she could feel proud, a hand with distinct joints and wrapped with several strands of gold thread stretched out, holding a small ingot of five taels of silver between its fingers, and gently placed it on the shop surface.
"I want them all." Shen Juansheng's voice was gentle.
"Shen Juansheng!" Qing Guiyu glared at him fiercely, exasperated, "You..."
You are clearly disrupting the market. How can others open their businesses?
The old man was overjoyed and quickly wrapped a few Cistanche plants in a clean piece of coarse cloth and handed them over. Shen Juansheng took it naturally and held it for her. "We have to go," he leaned over to her and said softly, "Something is not right."
But once this shiny silver ingot was revealed, some people naturally didn't want him to leave.
A middle-aged woman suddenly took two quick steps from the side and grabbed the corner of Chen Juansheng's sleeve. In her palm was a piece of stone the size of a fingernail, the color of frozen pond water.
"Sir, look, this is the 'Snow Mountain God's Tears'...it can keep you safe..."
"Snow Mountain Divine Tears?" Qing Guiyu's attention was drawn to the name. He leaned over and took a look at what she was holding. "Blue iron ore? It's quite rare."
"Young Master and Young Lady, you've come from the south, so I'm afraid you haven't heard of the customs here," the woman said hurriedly. "They say that on the top of the snowy mountain, there are gods and ghosts who bestow swords. Swordsmen walking around in the martial arts world usually wear something to protect themselves and their lives."
How could Qing Guiyu believe this? He pushed Chen Juansheng behind him, shook his bamboo flute, raised his eyebrows and said angrily, "Why isn't it called 'Ghost Tears'?"
"Oh... this..." The woman was choked and paused, laughing awkwardly, "Miss... this title... doesn't it sound too auspicious..."
Qing Guiyu was just about to continue this auspicious conversation when Shen Juansheng very naturally took half a step towards her side, his tall figure just covering her. She was startled and suddenly caught a glimpse of a short and strong man in front of the meat stall across the street who was arguing with the stall owner with saliva flying. His figure paused very slightly.
The pause was extremely brief, but Qing Guiyu had sharp eyesight thanks to years of acupuncture practice.
She pulled out the bamboo flute, and in that split second, a cold light flashed under the man's coarse sleeves.
"Be careful." Young Master Jin Sheng turned his head, and three crossbow arrows shot out at such a speed that only three dark green afterimages were left, tearing through the noisy air of the market and coming straight towards him.
The air was cold and filled with murderous intent.
Young Master Jin Sheng's wrist, shrouded in golden thread, flicked, and the blade slashed diagonally towards the deadly green light. Two crisp sounds, almost overlapping, shattered the two crossbow bolts, splattering poisonous liquid as they landed on the dusty ground, hissing and billowing with white smoke.
The third arrow pierced through the intercepting golden thread and, with a sharp sound of breaking through the air, pierced Young Master Jinsheng's throat.
At this moment, a figure in a scarlet robe walked towards this place.
The nine connected buildings of Tianji Pavilion, the leader of the nine dragons "Fuxi",
He strolled past the simple blacksmith shop on the street without even looking at it and grabbed it.
A dusty, ordinary-looking longsword, lying beside the fire, fell into his hands. The blade was rusty, its edge blunt, and even stained with a few blackened iron filings, making it look completely out of place with the luxurious scarlet robe.
He flicked his wrist, and the rusty sword actually emitted a dull sound. The tip of the sword did not strike the arrowhead directly, but rather struck it diagonally, seemingly casually, hitting the middle of the poisoned arrow's shaft.
The poisonous arrow, which was infused with internal energy and had a ferocious momentum, was knocked by the rusty sword and abruptly changed its direction, flying towards the short and strong man.
How could this man have imagined that the poisoned arrow he had shot would turn against him? Before he could even react, the greenish arrow pierced his chest.
The poison spread instantly, the man's face froze in a ferocious ferocity, his skin visibly turning purple and stiff. He stumbled forward, his hand twitching as he reached for his waist, as if trying to extract the antidote. However, his body was already convulsing violently, blood foaming from the corners of his mouth, and he finally collapsed to the ground, apparently dead.
Several wisps of white smoke emerged strangely from his wounds, mouth and nose.
"Tsk, so poisonous." Fuxi swung his rusty sword, and the old iron filings on the blade fell off. Between his eyebrows, there was still the lazy smile of a playboy from a noble family. "Using poison in front of the doctor means that you are a bunch of useless people who are not worthy of the table."
He then brushed off the non-existent dust on the sleeves of his crimson robe, still with that cynical air of a young man, and walked forward, kicking the stiff corpse on the ground with the tip of his boot. However, his eyes turned with interest to Chen Juansheng and Qing Guiyu behind him, and his tone was as frivolous as if he was commenting on a good play.
"After not seeing you for so long, the Pavilion Master's love poison... seems to have become even more ingrained in his bones? Everyone at the Yikou Inn is rushing to congratulate him, and rumors are spreading throughout the martial arts world, saying that Master Jin Sheng was trapped by love and drowned in the land of tenderness..."
He drew out his words, his eyes scanning meaningfully over the way Shen Juansheng clung to Qing Guiyu. "What? Do you really think that because our Pavilion Master is 'indulging in love' and 'lacking on his guard', you rats will be able to take advantage of the situation and claim his head for glory?"
He bent down and swiftly took out a token from the waist of the corpse. He weighed it and started to walk over here.
"Wait a moment," Shen Juansheng suddenly spoke, his voice calm but with a commanding tone.
"Fuxi..." The Tianji Pavilion Master didn't even look at him, but quickly glanced at Qing Guiyu who was frowning and alert beside him, and then added hurriedly, with a hint of disgust in his tone,
"...Stay away. Just stand there, that's all."
As he spoke, instead of relaxing because of Fuxi's rescue, he leaned back slightly to block Qing Guiyu even more tightly.
Seeing his reaction, Qing Guiyu felt something was wrong and subconsciously clenched the bamboo flute in his hand, becoming fully alert.
Fuxi was also stunned. He looked up at his own Pavilion Master, completely bewildered and not knowing what was going on.
Young Master Jinsheng seemed a little uncomfortable with Fuxi's puzzled gaze. He pursed his bloodless lips slightly, and lowered his long eyelashes, as if he was really thinking carefully about a comprehensive reason.
After a moment, Chen Juansheng turned around in embarrassment and looked at Qing Guiyu.
"No, Miss Qing," he continued hurriedly, pointing at the seemingly dashing young man in a scarlet robe a few steps away. "This guy is used to going to those shady places to drink and have sex. He's... a very bad person."
Young Master Jin Sheng paused, his eyelashes trembling slightly as his eyes moved, with a desperate and decisive determination.
"He's not as good as me."
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