Northland Inn
"Shh!"
A lean companion opposite him immediately interrupted him nervously.
He glanced around warily.
His gaze lingered briefly at Ling Zhan and the others' table before quickly shifting away, his voice lowered, carrying a barely perceptible hint of excitement and secrecy.
"It's better to cut it off! Only then can we have peace and quiet! Didn't you hear what they've been saying from 'the higher-ups'? That kid surnamed Huo is a jinx, bringing bloodshed wherever he goes! This time he's stirred up a hornet's nest and angered the wrong person. I'm afraid... hehe, he won't be coming back!"
"'Above'?" The hunchbacked merchant seemed puzzled. "Didn't you mean the Northern Barbarians..."
"The Northern Barbarians?" The lean merchant scoffed.
He picked up the rough earthenware bowl, took a swig of wine, and his cloudy eyes gleamed with a shrewd, mercenary light.
"The Northern Barbarians are nothing! It's the 'higher-ups'! The real higher-ups! Someone thought he was in their way, getting in the way of important people! Otherwise, do you think his elite force was 'accidentally' cut off at that crucial pass, becoming an isolated army? That terrain map was personally provided by 'the higher-ups'..."
The hunchbacked merchant gasped, his voice trembling.
"What...what nonsense are you spouting! How can you say such things? Are you out of your mind?!"
"What's there to be afraid of? The emperor is far away, and this is the middle of nowhere. Who cares about this place?"
The lean businessman seemed to be getting a little tipsy and bolder, but he still subconsciously kept his voice down.
"Just wait and see, this time, Huo won't be able to escape! An imperial decree... humph, that's called using someone else to do your dirty work! Do you understand?"
Just then, Shen Hong, who had been sitting quietly next to Ling Zhan, suddenly stiffened.
He tapped the rough earthenware bowl on the table with a soft "smack," causing some of the hot soup inside to spill out.
He raised his head, his clear eyes fixed on the lean businessman, a subtle glint of light flashing intensely deep within his pupils.
"mother……"
Shen Hong's voice was barely audible, with a slight, almost imperceptible tremor. He gripped Ling Zhan's sleeve tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.
"That person...he...has a 'smell'!"
Ling Zhan's heart skipped a beat, but he remained expressionless and asked in a low voice, "What's that smell?"
“It’s…a very strange taste,” Shen Hong tried to describe his extraordinary perception.
"It's like... an extremely precious incense, like imperial agarwood or something, but... hidden beneath a deep smell of blood and... a very, very cold malice... and... a very faint, very similar scent to the area around the imperial palace on the map of the capital that Master showed us!"
He paused, his face tense.
"Moreover... when he spoke of 'decree'... the malice that lingered in his words... was like a cold, venomous snake suddenly raising its head, particularly intense and piercing!"
The lingering scent of incense from the depths of the palace clung to the lean merchant!
The "decree" points to the fact that Hu Zi was deliberately framed!
Using someone else to do the dirty work! It's a big shot up there!
These fragments exploded instantly in Ling Zhan's mind.
Shen Hong's words were like a cold bolt of lightning.
It instantly cleaved through the turmoil in Ling Zhan's heart.
Incense burning deep within the palace? A potent malice hidden behind the imperial decree?
Using someone else to do the dirty work?
The target is... but it's related to Hu Zi!
"above"
Deep within her Asura warrior soul, she possessed an almost instinctive sensitivity to conspiracy and murderous intent.
This was by no means a simple battlefield accident or the ferocity of the Northern Barbarians; it was a meticulously planned murder!
Her target was her soon-to-be-adult "eldest son," Tiger?!
Not entirely; it should be the official surnamed Huo mentioned by the merchants.
Ling Zhan's hands, hidden under the table, were clenched so tightly his knuckles cracked.
A chilling, almost tearing-the-air killing intent silently emanated from her.
She took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed her surging anger.
It turned into a deeper layer of ice in my eyes.
Only then did he gently pat Shen Hong's hand, which was gripping his sleeve tightly and whose knuckles were white...
"Don't be afraid, Mother knows."
Her voice was extremely low, yet exceptionally clear, each word like it had been chilled to the bone: "Stare at him."
Shen Hong nodded vigorously.
Deep within his clear eyes, a subtle glint of light flickered even faster, like a high-speed precision instrument, firmly locking onto the trajectory of the "aura" emanating from the lean businessman, an aura imperceptible to ordinary people.
Just then, the lean merchant seemed to be infected by the fear of his hunchbacked companion.
He also realized that he had said something inappropriate while drunk.
A flicker of panic flashed in his cloudy eyes.
He gulped down the remaining wine in the bowl and rudely wiped his mouth.
"Alright, alright, don't take drunken talk seriously! Let's pay the bill and get out of here! This place is bad luck!"
The two hurriedly dropped off a few copper coins and got up to leave.
"Wait a minute."
A clear, calm female voice rang out, not loud, but clearly penetrating the slightly noisy inn lobby.
With an undeniable penetrating power, it instantly froze the two merchants in their tracks.
Ling Zhan slowly stood up.
She was tall and slender, dressed in a dark, fitted outfit suitable for long journeys.
Despite being travel-worn, his inherent uprightness and sharpness remained undeniable.
Her face was expressionless, but her eyes were like two invisible blades, piercing straight at the lean businessman.
The lean businessman felt a chill run down his spine from that gaze.
With a fierce but weak expression, he stuck out his neck and said, "W-what are you doing? We still have a long way to go!"
"The road ahead is still long."
Ling Zhan's voice remained calm.
"There are some things that need to be said before you leave. About 'the higher-ups,' about 'the imperial decree,' about... General Huo."
"What imperial decree? I... I don't know what you're talking about!"
The lean businessman's eyes gleamed.
He subconsciously took a step back, his hand unconsciously pressing against his waist—there was a bulge there, clearly hiding something.
The hunchbacked merchant was so frightened that he turned pale and waved his hands repeatedly.
"Misunderstanding! Misunderstanding! We're just traveling merchants spouting nonsense..."
"Nonsense?"
Ling Zhan's lips curled into a cold smile, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
"The smell of 'ambergris' on you, mixed with the stench of blood and the putridity of the sewers, can be smelled from a great distance."
This is not something an ordinary traveling merchant can get involved in.
The lean businessman's expression changed drastically!
Submerged ambergris?!
That's the finest incense, reserved for the imperial court and only accessible to the most elite members of the royal family and nobility!
How did she know? How could she smell it?!
"You...you're spouting nonsense!"
In his shock, his voice trembled, and he jerked his hand out from behind his waist—
It was a poisoned dagger that gleamed with a chilling blue light!
Desperate, the dog decided to strike first, aiming straight for Ling Zhan's throat! "Die!"
The dagger was as swift as a viper's flick!
However, Ling Zhan was even faster!
It was faster than the human eye could possibly perceive!
She didn't even dodge significantly.
His body simply tilted slightly to one side at an incredible angle.
The poisoned blade grazed her neck, the gust of wind ruffling a few strands of her hair.
At the same time, her right hand shot out like lightning, precisely grabbing the wrist of the person holding the dagger!
"Crack!" A sickeningly crisp sound of bone breaking!
The emaciated businessman's shrill scream had barely left his lips.
Ling Zhan flicked his wrist, and a tremendous force surged forth.
They actually swung him around like a broken sack and slammed him hard against the heavy log pillar next to them!
"Bang—crash!"
A heavy thud accompanied by flying sawdust; the lean businessman collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from his mouth and nose, and completely lost consciousness.
The poisoned dagger also flew out of his hand, embedding itself in a distant pillar and buzzing.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye!
The other diners in the inn were stunned by the sudden and fierce fight; a deathly silence fell, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The hunchbacked merchant was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, where the area was humid and hot.
Ling Zhan didn't even glance at the cripple on the ground.
The cold gaze swept over the silent crowd, finally settling on the hunchbacked merchant who was trembling.
"Speak." That single word carried immense weight.
The hunchbacked merchant was terrified and kowtowed repeatedly.
"Spare me! Spare me, heroine! I'll tell you everything! He... he's a trusted confidant of the Minister of Works in the capital, who specializes in running north and delivering messages! This time he was acting on orders... on the orders of 'that person'!"
"This time, I was ordered... to spread rumors in the north to sow discord and unsettle people! They said that General Huo was a jinx who had angered the heavens... and that the unfavorable war in the north was all because he was stubborn and disobeyed the secret orders from 'above'..."
"Let's try our best to get these words to the ears of the border troops."
"Especially...especially to those who might go to rescue General Huo..."
He spoke haltingly.
A piece of information flashed through Ling Zhan's mind instantly—the current Minister of Works, Jiang Wei!
The alarm blared!
This person is the nephew of the Dowager Consort Jiang, who has an inexplicable connection with the Crown Prince's wrongful conviction case back then!
That old concubine appeared to be detached from worldly affairs and lived a life of simplicity and detachment.
However, when Ling Zhan and Shen Yan were investigating the wrongful conviction of the Crown Prince, they discovered a very subtle clue.
Pointing to this seemingly harmless old concubine!
She is very likely one of the masterminds behind the framing of the Crown Prince back then.
She has always remained hidden behind layers of curtains, using the Jiang family's influence in the court to weave an invisible net!
The Jiang family!
The Dowager Consort!
It was them! They were the ones pulling the strings behind all this?!
Using the Northern Barbarians as a weapon, they set a trap with a possible "secret edict."
General Huo and Hu Zi must be buried completely in the ice and fire of the North!
A surge of overwhelming rage mixed with chilling killing intent nearly burst through Ling Zhan's chest.
Tiger!
"Awooo—!!!"
Just as the atmosphere inside the inn reached its peak and Ling Zhan's anger surged, a long, desolate, and penetrating wolf howl suddenly came from the hill not far from the inn!
The voice carried the chill of the snowfield and the solitude of the mountain peak.
It instantly drowned out all the noise in the inn and clearly reached everyone's ears!
Shen Hong's eyes lit up: "Mother! It's Lan Ying! She's back from her investigation."
As if to confirm Shen Hong's words, a huge, agile gray figure appeared, like a dark cloud skimming the ground.
They appeared silently at the entrance of the inn.
It was the snow wolf that Ling Zhan brought down from the mountain peak—Lan Ying!
It was nearly twice the size of an ordinary wolf, and its thick, silvery-gray fur shimmered with a metallic sheen in the dim light.
Its limbs are long and powerful, full of explosive beauty.
A pair of wolf eyes, cold amber in color, were now flashing with a sharp and wary light as they scanned the chaotic scene inside the inn.
Its gaze swept over the wiry, unconscious merchant on the ground, over the hunchbacked merchant paralyzed with fear, and finally landed on Ling Zhan.
A low, questioning sob escaped his throat.
The people in the inn were terrified when they saw such a huge wolf appear, and they all scurried into a corner.
Ling Zhan looked at Lan Ying, the fierceness in his eyes slightly subsided.
She nodded to Lan Ying.
He pointed to the lean, unconscious merchant on the ground, then to the hunchbacked merchant who was terrified, and made a simple gesture.
Lan Ying immediately understood.
It moved with silent yet imposing steps to the lean businessman, then lowered its head and sniffed.
The cold gaze then turned to the hunchbacked merchant.
The hunchbacked merchant, stared at by the giant wolf, rolled his eyes and fainted from fright.
Lan Ying ignored the two who had fainted.
It walked over to Ling Zhan, nuzzled his hand affectionately with its huge head, and then quietly squatted down.
Like the most loyal guardian.
Those amber wolf eyes looked past Ling Zhan and towards the northwest.
A low whimper escaped his throat again, carrying a hint of barely perceptible... anxiety?
Ling Zhan's heart stirred.
Lan Ying is a spirit creature from the far north, with exceptionally keen senses.
It seemed to sense something too.
Shen Hong looked at Lan Ying and whispered.
"Mother, Lan Ying... it's very worried about Big Brother. Facing northwest, it's suppressing a low growl in its throat. I can feel its powerful aura becoming as restless as a flame being stirred by the wind."
Ling Zhan took a deep breath.
He stroked Lan Ying's thick neck hair, feeling the coldness and power emanating from the snowfield.
"Lan Ying".
Ling Zhan's voice was deep and firm.
"You sensed it too, didn't you? Tiger's in trouble, there's something sinister behind it. We don't have time to waste."
Her gaze swept over the chaotic inn, her eyes devoid of any pity.
These lackeys deserve to die.
She bent down and groped around in the arms of the unconscious, lean businessman for a moment.
Sure enough, they found a small, sealed copper tube and a letter with a special mark.
Without even looking at it, she stuffed it directly into her bosom.
This is irrefutable evidence pointing to the Jiang family and the Dowager Empress!
They found another large bag of silver, but without even looking at it, they grabbed a handful of loose silver coins.
It was tossed precisely into the arms of the shopkeeper behind the counter, whose face had turned ashen.
"Shopkeeper, please calm your nerves."
"Hong'er, bring plenty of dry food."
"Lan Ying! You know the direction now! Take us to Hu Zi as fast as you can!"
Lan Ying suddenly stood up, her amber wolf eyes flashing with astonishing brilliance.
Its long, silvery-gray fur undulated in a ripple-like pattern as it moved.
It shimmered with a metallic sheen in the dim light.
It tilted its head back.
It let out another long howl that pierced through the clouds and split rocks.
Then, without hesitation, he turned around, like a gray lightning bolt released from a bow.
They rushed out of the inn's gate.
They plunged headlong into the vast darkness and snowstorm, heading straight for the northwest!
Ling Zhan grabbed Shen Hong, picked him up, and carried him on his back, following closely behind.
His figure flashed at the doorway and disappeared into the howling wind and snow, moving so fast that he left only a blur in place.
Inside the inn, only the terrified crowd and two unconscious merchants remained.
The wind and snow intensified, relentlessly battering the doors and windows of the inn.
Ling Zhan's heart was colder and more resolute than the wind and snow.
Tiger! Hang in there! Mom's coming!
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