Chapter 70 The Tracking Tail Revealed
The city lord's attire was particularly strange.
His face was covered with a black scarf, but it was loose, almost pulled below his nose. His head was incongruously covered with a black cloth with delicate curled edges, but he was still wearing his usual gorgeous robe. He moved very carefully like a thief, and just after taking half a step, he froze in place.
The three of them looked at each other, and the air was silent for a moment.
The city lord pulled off his veil awkwardly and laughed dryly, "Qi Enren, didn't you take a break?"
Qi Qing stood with his arms folded, his eyes scanning him back and forth: "We've rested, but you're dressed like this..."
Yue Ji had bent down to pick up the thing he had put down. It was a plain white handkerchief, elegant in style, with a faint fragrance. It seemed to be some woman's thing, which made Yue Ji's face darken.
The city lord was slightly frightened by the knife-like gaze of the young man in black, and explained awkwardly: "It's not what you think, this is what Miao Zheng asked me to pass on to Qi Enren!"
Yue Ji's expression changed again, and he sneered, "A handkerchief conveying love?"
Qi Qing stretched out his hand and said, "Let me see."
Yue Ji raised his hand to avoid his move. The air pressure around him was shockingly low. He said in a cold tone: "When did Master become so close to Miao Zheng?"
"If there really was something, why would he just stand by and watch?" Qi Qing said unhappily.
The city lord nodded repeatedly: "That's right, if there is anything, it should be Qi Enren and me..."
Before he could finish his words, Yue Ji glared at him, and he immediately became silent and shut his mouth tactfully.
Qi Qing took off the handkerchief and looked at it over and over again. There was not a single word on the plain white brocade, and there were slight threads on the edges. It did not look like a special brocade handkerchief, but rather like one that had been torn off clothes in a hurry.
He stroked the texture of the fabric and suddenly asked, "Did Miao Zheng say anything else?"
"In the melee just now, Elder Wen suffered a loss and was very angry, you know that, right?" The city lord lowered his voice and said, "He was furious as soon as he came back. Miao Zheng took something from him during the chaos and made a copy of it without stopping, and asked me to send it over."
"He said that Wen Laoji is old and his actions are a bit extreme, but he is definitely not a bad person. This handkerchief is just an apology."
Qi Qing's eyes moved slightly, and he had something in mind.
There are only a few ways to hide information. He first soaked the handkerchief with spring water. After absorbing the water, the handkerchief remained as white as before. He then signaled Yue Ji to bake it over a low fire.
Sure enough, as the heat rose, some messy lines gradually appeared on the surface of the handkerchief.
Qi Qing looked intently at the firelight. The lines were of random density and length, and could not be distinguished by any specific shape or words. There were only a few densely packed small circles somewhere, as if they were deliberately marked.
"What is this?" The city lord took a closer look and said, "A knot in the thread?"
"No," Qi Qing's fingertips gently stroked the towel, and the lines under his fingertips were slightly raised, like some special ink. A light bulb suddenly flashed in his mind, and he whispered, "...It's a map!"
The curves outline a semi-enclosed area with straight lines interspersed between them. Although they are disorganized, the distribution of the sea of fire and the platform can be vaguely identified.
It's really like someone gave me a pillow just when I was dozing off. Is Miao Zheng so kind?
Qi Qing took a few glances and asked in confusion, "What does he want?"
It's like I really had an affair with him.
"There are words here." Yue Ji suddenly spoke and turned the handkerchief over.
Qi Qing took a look and saw a line of tiny characters written in the corner. The ink was so light that it was almost impossible to detect if one did not look closely: "If you can obtain it, the Fire Lotus will be yours, and the accompanying lotus leaves and lotus pods will be mine."
"He can't get it himself?" The young man raised his eyebrows.
The city lord thought about it, shook his head and said, "It's hard to say. If Master Wen gets the Fire Lotus, he will definitely give it to him, but the accompanying lotus leaves and lotus pods will have to be shared with other disciples. He may not be able to keep it all."
Qi Qing asked: "Isn't the Fire Lotus more precious?"
Yue Ji looked at the words and said calmly, "The lotus leaves and lotus pods can be used to make elixirs."
Thinking of the domineering nature of Huo Lian after she gained intelligence in the original novel, Qi Qing suddenly understood.
That treasure has been nurtured by the earth's spiritual fire for thousands of years. Not only can ordinary elixir fire not do anything to it, it can also easily backfire on it.
Miao Zheng has wood spiritual roots. Even if she is lucky enough to obtain the Fire Lotus, it would be like throwing a pearl into the dark. It is more valuable than the accompanying lotus leaves and lotus pods.
But if Master Wen took action, the Fire Lotus would definitely belong to Miao Zheng. If he continued to covet the lotus leaves and lotus pods, he would inevitably give others a reason to criticize him for being greedy.
Qi Qing shook his head, sighing in his heart that the clan really had so many rules.
It is better to be his disciple. All the rare treasures are for Yue Ji alone, and no one will compete with him.
Thinking of this, he held the handkerchief and pondered for a moment, and said: "If this map is real, we can indeed consider his request, but a copy of the companion item must be left to Yue Ji. If it is fake..."
The young man raised his lips in a meaningful arc. The city lord blinked and said carefully: "Then... I will go back and ask Miao Zheng whether it is true or not?"
Qi Qing smiled and said, "No need, but you go back first. I will find you if there is any problem."
This smile was like a spring breeze, dazzling the city lord. The young man looked a little haggard due to his injury, but his elegance was not affected at all. On the contrary, his pale face and lips gave him a hint of fragility that was heartbreaking.
He stared blankly for two seconds, and when Yue Ji's cold eyes came over, he woke up as if from a dream. He grabbed the black cloth and wrapped it around his head and face, almost covering his eyes. He walked out with a fluttering step, and waved to Qi Qing, stammering, "Then, then I'll go back first, take care, Qi Enren!"
He came stealthily and left stealthily.
"Master, do you really trust Miao Zheng?" Yue Ji said in a flat tone, looking in the direction where the city lord left.
"Why not give it a try?" Qi Qing folded the handkerchief carefully and said with a chuckle, "We don't want to be the first to do something, so we should just follow the original plan."
Yue Ji's chill subsided a little, and he raised his lips slightly: "Okay."
The two of them packed up and quietly followed the direction that Wen Lao had left. Because they were not familiar with the underground path -
Unfortunately, the distance was a little closer.
In just a cup of tea, the white clothes of the Danzong disciples could be vaguely seen in front.
The disciple seemed to notice someone peeping and turned around to look.
No one.
There was only the flickering light of a fire in the empty corridor. He felt a little puzzled and thought that he might be hallucinating from the heat down there, so he turned around and continued to follow the team.
When he looked away, the two little tails poked their heads out at the same time, and after making sure that the person in front hadn't noticed them, they quietly followed again.
The disciple took a few more steps, but still felt something was wrong.
This time he learned his lesson, and walked a dozen steps as if nothing had happened, then suddenly turned around -
Still no one!
Is this a ghost?
He frowned and looked for a long time. His companion in front called him, "Why don't you move? Hurry up, don't lose me."
“…Nothing.” The disciple had no choice but to follow. As he walked, he still looked back several times out of concern. Only after he turned the corner did the feeling of being watched finally disappear.
The old man of the Mirage Clan removed his cover, and with a gaze as sharp as lightning, he looked at the sneaky master and disciple, especially Qi Qing, and said, "What are you teaching him?"
The way he follows people is so shameless, he's no better than that damn city lord who just came!
Qi Qing chuckled and pulled Yue Ji forward: "It's fine as long as you can keep up."
Anyway, no one has set standard movements.
Just like that, the master and the disciple quietly followed the Danzong disciple for three whole hours. The disciple was confused at first, and then he thought that he had provoked something unclean. He was so scared that he kept looking back. Finally, when he looked back suddenly one time, his neck made a "crack" sound.
"Ah!" he screamed.
"What's wrong with you?" The companion in front stopped and asked helplessly.
The Dan Sect disciple held back his tears, grabbed him and pointed at his neck, saying, "Help me bend it...it's twisted!"
Qi Qing in the dark shook his head when he saw this. With such porous bones at such a young age, there was really no future for him in alchemy.
He was about to continue following, but Miao Zheng suddenly appeared.
After asking the reason, the man glanced in Qi Qing's direction, then raised his hand and pressed the disciple's neck.
There was another “crack” sound, and the disciple screamed even louder than before. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he could barely speak clearly: “Wuwu, thank you, Senior Sister Maozhe, it hurts so much…”
Miao Zheng said calmly, "Hurry up and follow us, there's no one behind us."
The disciples hurriedly caught up with the team. Miao Zheng walked behind. When she turned around, her sleeves suddenly moved and a handkerchief fell out.
Qi Qing held his breath and waited quietly, and only caught up with everyone after they had gone far away. He picked up the handkerchief and asked Yue Ji to burn out the words on it as usual.
"Don't hide, your tail is showing."
After seeing the second half of the sentence, Qi Qing reflexively looked behind him, and then realized that he had been teased by Miao Zheng.
He crumpled his handkerchief into a ball and snorted, "If you say that, I must follow you to the end!"
Yue Ji was still staring behind him. Qi Qing put away the handkerchief and followed his gaze: "What's wrong now?"
"Disciple was just wondering..." Yue Ji curved his lips, a hint of mischief flashed across his face: "If Master really had a tail, what would it look like?"
Qi Qing pulled his clothes with a dark face and said, "Go and dream on!"
The two followed for a while, and the team in front finally stopped.
When we got here, the sea of fire decreased, but the lava increased.
The group began to set up camp. The white-robed disciples were busy setting up the tents. Master Wen had a gloomy face all the way. After setting up a protective formation, he went straight into his own tent, leaving Miao Zheng and the city lord to command everyone.
Qi Qing also found a safe half-wall cave nearby, which could just avoid the sight of the camp below.
The master and the disciple crouched down and crawled in. The cave was dry and warm, and it was a good place to live.
Qi Qing pinched the air and said, "The fire spirit energy is getting stronger and stronger. The fire lotus should be nearby."
Yue Ji saw that Huo Lian had no intention of worrying about him, so he neatly spread a bamboo mat on the ground and said, "Let's rest for a while. Master doesn't look well."
Fatigue had already come up again, but when Qi Qing thought of the dark shadow, he didn't dare to fall asleep easily.
Yue Ji looked at him, not knowing whether he could see his hidden worries, and said, "I'll be on guard. If you have a nightmare, Master will call me."
Qi Qing hesitated for a moment, but still leaned against the rock wall.
Take a short nap, should be... okay?
The rock wall was extremely hard and he felt uncomfortable. As expected, he slept in a daze. He changed several positions in a half-asleep and half-awake state and could not sleep well.
Yue Ji noticed his discomfort, tiptoed over, carefully lifted his head, and rested it on his legs.
Qi Qing wanted to wake up, but couldn't bear to reject Yue Ji's kindness, so he had to close his eyes and pretend to sleep, deliberately slowing down his breathing.
In a trance, he felt a hand brushing away the strands of hair on his forehead, and then carefully covering him with his outer robe.
Qi Qing felt warm in his heart. He was pleased with his disciple's thoughtfulness. He tilted his head slightly and wanted to open his eyes. Suddenly, he felt something... poking his cheek hotly.
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