Chapter 1018 True or False
"Ben Khan?"
Young Master Jia looked Ashina Zhuxie up and down, and said with some doubt, "You are—Ashina Tong?...No, he's not that big."
Upon hearing Ashina Tong's name, Ashina Zhuxie's eyes flashed with a sharp coldness, yet he calmly replied, "Do you think I'm some yellow-haired brat who only knows how to hide under women's skirts?"
Upon hearing this, Young Master Jia immediately understood what was going on, but still looked at him with suspicion: "Even Ashina Shali isn't as young as you."
Ashina Zhuxie's gaze sharpened further: "Father Khan has passed away."
Young Master Jia's eyes widened slightly.
After a long pause, he sighed and said, "So that's how it is."
Ashina Zhuxie stared intently at him, about to say something, when the young master Jia suddenly said, "If you want to come in, then come in, if you don't mind that my thatched hut is too simple and can't accommodate people."
After saying that, he let go of her hand, turned around, and went back into the house.
His sudden change in attitude surprised Ashina Zhuxie. Moreover, judging from the tone of this young master Jia just now, he seemed to be familiar with the people and situation of the Eastern and Western Turks, but he knew nothing about the change of power in the Western Turks, which seemed very strange. In addition, he already knew Ashina Zhuxie's identity as the Khan of the Western Turks, but he showed neither interest nor fear in this important figure, merely allowing him to enter the house in a lukewarm manner, which also seemed very unusual.
However, being able to stay and enter this room was still a good thing for Ashina Zhuxie. However, he couldn't let everyone in, as the room was simply too small. So he gave Wang Shaoqiu a wink and then gave the order. The Turkic soldiers outside immediately set up camp on the mountaintop in a well-trained manner. Seeing this, Shang Ruyi's other accompanying guards also knew that they couldn't leave tonight, so they all settled into their lodgings.
Ashina Zhuxie and Wang Shaoqiu entered the room together.
The room wasn't very big to begin with, but it was spacious enough for a cultivator who had no desires. However, the arrival of several people had already made the room feel a bit crowded, and the presence of these two tall men made the small wooden room seem even narrower and more cramped.
Wang Shaoqiu immediately frowned, because the strong fragrance of sandalwood in the air hit his nose. He took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the tip of his nose, then carefully examined the house.
Ashina Zhuxie didn't say or do anything immediately. Instead, he stood in the main room, quietly looked around, and glanced at Shang Ruyi, who was lying unconscious on the bed. Then, he asked the young master Jia, who had returned to the east room and knelt on the prayer mat to continue chanting scriptures, "What is your name?"
Young Master Jia ignored him, and simply lowered his head to pick up the wooden fish and gently tapped it.
Lei Yu said, "This young master's surname is Jia."
"Jia?"
Upon hearing the surname, Ashina Zhuxie didn't react much. Wang Shaoqiu, who was standing to the side, turned his gaze away from Shang Ruyi on the bed and Lüxiao beside the bed, glanced at the young master Jia, and then said with a half-smile, "The fake one is real, but the surname Jia is real."
Ashina Zhuxie seemed to realize something at first, and looked intently at the young master Jia who had closed his eyes and was now familiarly reciting scriptures.
But now, nobody pays attention to these words, and nobody listens to them.
Wang Shaoqiu was alright, but Ashina Zhuxie couldn't bear being looked down upon like this. He walked to the east room, looked at the bare walls, and then at the unfamiliar shrine, which was covered with a black cloth. He didn't know what deity was enshrined there.
Of course, he didn't care.
Having seen through everything, Ashina Zhuxie asked, "Do you know Zuo Chen'an?"
There were seven people standing or huddled in the room, each with their own thoughts and breathing heavily. But when they heard him say Zuo Chen'an's name, everyone held their breath for a moment.
Only the sound of the wooden fish echoed, unhurriedly.
Ashina Zhuxie walked over step by step until he reached the back of the young master Jia, but he continued to calmly strike the wooden fish as if he hadn't heard anything. Ashina Zhuxie continued, "I heard that he has set up his own false tombs in several places in the Central Plains, but only one of them is real."
"..."
"And this place seems to be on Tian Ding Mountain."
"..."
"You've been here for many years now. Do you know where he's buried?"
Young Master Jia continued striking the wooden fish, his deep voice slowly saying, "The person has already been laid to rest, why disturb them?"
"It seems you know."
"I have no idea."
"Then why don't you let us disturb him? What's your relationship with him?"
"Just because I've heard of it."
Is that all?
Young Master Jia paused in striking the wooden fish, turned his head to look at him, and said indifferently, "If you don't believe me, then don't ask."
His voice was still somewhat hoarse, but it was no longer the kind of hoarseness that came from deliberately lowering his tone. Instead, it sounded like his throat was overwhelmed by the sudden flurry of words after not speaking for a long time. He even coughed lightly twice after speaking, but those two short sentences seemed to contain an indescribable sense of pressure.
Ashina Zhuxie looked at the eyes hidden in the thick beard and hair, and fell silent.
Meanwhile, Wang Shaoqiu walked over and whispered a few words in his ear. Since entering the room, apart from uttering that piercing sentence, he had been silently observing his surroundings, seemingly searching for something, but he couldn't find it. At this moment, he whispered a few words to Ashina Zhuxie, and the two seemed to have reached some kind of tacit understanding.
Wang Shaoqiu said, "Is this all there is to Young Master Jia's hospitality?"
The young master Jia said, "You are not my guests."
"..."
"This room is only so big. Please make yourselves at home. I don't have the time or inclination to entertain you."
Hearing him say that, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, everyone knew from the moment they entered this simple house that it was not a place where they could rest properly. They had been standing for a long time, and only after hearing these words did they find a place to sit down.
Ashina Zhuxie even took Lei Yu's sleeve and led her directly to the foot of the bed, making her sit there, and then said, "Sleep peacefully, I'm here."
"..."
Lei Yu lowered her eyes and didn't look at him, only nodding slightly.
Young Master Jia remained kneeling before the prayer mat, striking his wooden fish drum.
The sound of the wooden fish drum, a monotonous and lonely sound, was particularly soothing to sleep on such a quiet night. Before long, Lei Yu's eyelids began to droop, and in her hazy state, she listened to the rising and falling breathing of everyone, and finally slowly drifted off to sleep.
The night passed in this eerily calm atmosphere.
After an unknown amount of time, a sharp pain shot through her stiff neck. Lei Yu opened her eyes groggily and was immediately startled.
"What are you doing!?"
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