Immortal God of War
At least Li Chongyu will not have any safety issues along the way.
In the Southern Dynasty, the two people who most want Li Chongyu to get into trouble are undoubtedly Mu Huaying and Pei Yu, but at the moment, both of them are probably tied up with other matters.
Xiao Chang'an asked again, "Do you know where the Marquis of Guannei is now?"
The soldier reported, "Judging from the direction, they should have gone to Beining Pavilion and joined up with the three thousand troops that the Shuofang Army had arrived earlier."
A Qiu then asked, "Why did the Marquis of Guannei arrive so quickly?" She exchanged a glance with Xiao Chang'an and asked the question that had been on her mind: "It was already two days earlier than the originally scheduled time. They said they would arrive in the capital at midnight tonight, but they've come even earlier!"
The soldier replied respectfully, "I heard that when the Marquis of Guannei heard the news of the death of the military advisor's wife, he immediately rushed here day and night, which greatly shortened the time."
A Qiu's expression suddenly turned serious.
Lady Hu Miaorong, the wife of the military advisor, had been entrusted by Lady Yao to raise and care for Li Chongyu when he was young. She died from the poisoning of the drug Qianji San. The establishment of the capital of the Southern Dynasty, Jianzhang, was destined to become an obstacle between Li Chongyu and the Southern Dynasty, one that neither of them could bypass.
Gu Yi wants to form an alliance with Li Chongyu, which will be a problem he urgently needs to solve.
Thinking of this, A Qiu said to Xiao Chang'an, "Xiao Xiao, I suddenly remembered that I have other things to do, so I won't accompany you to Beining Pavilion."
Xiao Chang'an's eyes were clear and bright. He glanced at her face and said without answering, "You're coming to Beining with me to do things for the Young Master."
A Qiu said, "There is..." She wanted to say that Chu Huaiming and his son would naturally explain Hu Miaorong's death, and that she needed to go to Luoyufang to keep an eye on Su Rouhua's actions. But thinking that Xiao Chang'an's friend and foe were currently unclear, and that she didn't need to let him know everything about her side, she stopped talking and said stiffly, "I have a bit of a headache and want to go back to Jinlingtai to rest."
Xiao Chang'an was taken aback when he heard this. After a moment, he immediately reached out to touch her forehead, but A Qiu instinctively slapped his hand away.
He seemed to sense something, and his usually carefree and playful smile suddenly became slightly stiff.
But time was of the essence, and he could not say anything more. He could only say, "Then be careful."
A Qiu stood before the Xuanfeng Gate of the inner palace, bowed to him, and remained silent.
Soldiers had already brought over a horse from one side. A Qiu watched Xiao Chang'an mount his horse and gallop away before turning around and speeding off in another direction.
Even under the cover of night, Luoyufang remained brightly lit and bustling with activity. Although Su Rouhua had issued an order prohibiting Southern Dynasty military officers from entering after Xiao Chang'an's last disturbance, the business's prosperity remained undiminished.
A-Qiu dared not presume to enter again, but instead lay prone on the nearby roof ridge, closely monitoring the movements in the back garden from a high vantage point.
Li Chongyu is entering the capital tonight. Given the mother-son relationship between him and Su Rouhua, the leader of the Hidden Moon Clan, there should be some unusual activity.
The Hidden Moon Clan has spent so many years painstakingly building the Luoyu Workshop in Jianzhang, the central city of the Southern Dynasty, so their ambitions are naturally far-reaching.
As the night deepened, a nearly full moon appeared and disappeared among the clouds in the sky.
Suddenly, all the lights went out in the white stone palace-like building by the pond in the back garden, plunging it into darkness.
A Qiu immediately perked up and kept a close eye on the other party's movements.
A woman's figure appeared like a ghost at the entrance of the small hall. She was dressed in a flowing white robe and had a tall but graceful figure. A Qiu recognized her at a glance as Su Rouhua, the clan leader of the Hidden Moon Clan.
Although all the women of the Hidden Moon Clan dressed the same in white robes and gold rings, Su Rouhua possessed a particularly memorable mysterious and aloof aura.
Wherever she is, she evokes images of the golden sunset over the desert sands, a scene of intense heat and frigid cold as day and night alternate.
Su Rouhua's martial arts skills must be close to those of her master, Wan Qiqing. Her figure flashed and then disappeared at the back garden gate, leaving alone without anyone with her.
A-Qiu focused his mind to the extreme, not missing a single whisper or the trace of wheels rolling across the ground on this street.
Soon, she was able to grasp the unique rhythm of Su Rouhua's movements amidst the surging and mixed sound stream.
As the number one assassin on the Immortal Ranking, A Qiu's eavesdropping and tracking skills are unparalleled.
She moved silently through the crowd, zigzagging her way along, keeping a distance from the delicate flowers.
Following someone undetected requires a high level of skill. Following someone in a bustling city is far easier than in the wilderness. This is because the noise and sounds of the crowd in the city make it much easier to conceal one's presence.
But Su Rouhua's direction kept veering further and further away from the hustle and bustle of the city. As a result, A Qiu had to increase the distance between them to avoid getting too close and being noticed.
Her "Earth Concealment" technique is adept at hiding her own fluctuations within all things, almost without a trace. Even experts like Gu Yi or Wan Qiqing would not notice her presence unless they specifically and deliberately investigated her. They would not notice her presence even if they glanced at the forest bushes, streets, and courtyards.
The further off the path he strayed, the more uneasy A-Qiu felt. It was an assassin's instinct for danger. A dark and windy night is ideal for killing, and desolate wilderness is ideal for hiding a corpse—this was a well-known principle among those in the martial arts world.
But she was certain that she had no flaws and that Su Rouhua would never have done this because of her.
While everyone's attention was focused on Li Chongyu, Su Rouhua could never have imagined that someone would target her instead.
Then a dilapidated temple suddenly appeared in the night ahead, and a white figure with delicate white hair gracefully floated in.
A-Qiu did not follow immediately, but instead hid behind a large tree and waited patiently.
She had already witnessed Su Rouhua's abilities before. She and Gu Yi had eavesdropped on most of their conversation, but Su Rouhua eventually discovered them and chased them out through the window.
Afterwards, A Qiu reflected on the incident and concluded that she must have been completely absorbed in the conversation between Su Rouhua and Princess Wansui at some point, causing her breathing to quicken several times.
This is one of the consequences of "joining the WTO".
If it were the former leader of the Divine Weapon Hall, "Jing Ke," he would never have been moved by the content of others' conversations.
Not only did she dare not get too close, but she also had to regulate her breathing several times to make her breathing and heartbeat slow and deep, so as to reduce the chances of being discovered by Su Rouhua.
Su Rouhua came to this place on the very night her biological son, Li Chongyu, entered the city. She must have made an appointment with someone or come here to see someone. There is no third possibility.
It would be safer for her to wait until they had met and were talking, when their attention would be occupied, before getting close enough to eavesdrop.
Even amidst the shadowy darkness, with her keen eyesight, she could still see the plaque hanging above the temple, bearing the three characters "Martial Saint Shrine," though most of the gold paint had peeled off.
She looked around again and realized that she had followed Su Rouhua to the desolate riverside area on the outskirts of the capital.
A night breeze blew, dispersing most of the dark clouds. The moon rose high in the sky, and the reeds in the distance withered. There were no fishing lights or village houses, indicating that it was a sparsely populated place.
Where there is a shrine, there should be a gathering of people to provide for the worship of the local deities. However, judging from the desolation and ruin of this place, even if there were villages or settlements nearby, they must have been established many years ago. Since the time when the Hu people invaded the river, this place has been ravaged by war several times, and there are probably no living beings left here.
But this Martial Saint Shrine remains.
For some reason, amidst the strange silence, A Qiu vaguely sensed a desolate yet tragic atmosphere, making her unwilling to linger. If she hadn't already heard the commotion—that someone was rapidly approaching from the official road—she would almost have considered turning back.
This has nothing to do with courage, but rather with the principle that a wise person avoids dangerous situations.
Under the moonlight, a young man of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with a robust build, jet-black hair, and eyes as bright as lightning, strode towards this place.
The most eye-catching thing was the strangely shaped curved knife, more than five feet long and gleaming, that he held upside down behind him.
A-Qiu immediately entered a state of tranquility, like still water.
She had never met Li Chongyu, the Marquis of Guannei, who was famous throughout the northern frontier, but at this moment, she could guess who he was from the xiezhi-patterned military uniform he was wearing, which was exactly the same as that of Zhu Mao and his son.
Who else but Li Chongyu would be a soldier from Shuofang who would come here late at night at Su Rouhua's invitation?
Moreover, Li Chongyu had a unique appearance, a powerful gait, and an inner strength that made him a hidden martial arts master at first glance. Such a person was not someone you could just grab anywhere in the Shuofang army.
She held her breath, making sure she didn't reveal a trace of herself.
Li Chongyu made no attempt to conceal his presence, and boldly and confidently strode into the temple gate.
From the way he walked past him, A Qiu could tell that although he appeared calm on the surface, he was actually suppressing some kind of strong emotion.
But from his straight, spear-like posture and his piercing, lightning-like eyes, one can tell that he is a man of deep cunning, who does not show his emotions.
Otherwise, one could not have become the Great Wall of the North and an immortal military god at such a young age.
Although he had benefited somewhat from his father's legacy, he was only a boy of ten years old when he led his defeated army in retreat. Afterwards, relying on the strength of his maternal family, the Yao clan, in Youzhou, he constantly recruited soldiers and horses, and fought battles everywhere. He gradually rose to become a regional warlord, but he earned it through his own battles.
At the same time Li Chongyu entered the temple, the lights on all four sides of the temple suddenly lit up, illuminating his shadow so clearly that he had nowhere to hide.
Before the altar, Su Rouhua, who had been sitting cross-legged, gracefully rose and gazed at him with her beautiful eyes. In her usually indifferent and weary expression, a rare hint of deep tenderness appeared.
"For more than ten years, you have never refused to see me. I never expected that you would come here tonight."
Upon seeing the Su Rou flower, Li Chongyu's body trembled violently, and his tiger-like eyes revealed disbelief.
It was you!
Su Rouhua's face showed a sad smile, and she said, "You never thought that your birth mother, Su Rouhua, the leader of the Yinyue Clan, whom you have always refused to see, was actually someone you met when you were a child, and who even taught you martial arts, right?"
Li Chongyu's hand holding the knife trembled slightly uncontrollably. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and pursed his lips, saying, "That encounter must have been something you deliberately planned."
He stepped forward, dragging the blade on the ground, and smiled, "I never imagined that I would have to use the sword techniques you taught me to avenge you. I'm truly sorry."
Su Rouhua said calmly, "I only taught you some martial arts because I saw that Li Mingyuan abandoned you among the Xianbei people and didn't care about you. I was afraid that you would grow up to be useless and easily hurt in the war-torn era. But your physique and foundation are ultimately inherited from your father, and you are truly a prodigy in martial arts." She seemed to be lost in memories, and laughed self-deprecatingly, "Your progress is so great and so fast that it far surpasses that of my other children and disciples..."
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