Unauthorized movement
Xie Yan ignored him completely, launching a fierce attack. His jade flute transformed into a green light curtain, completely enveloping Gu Jinghong. He had been holding back for too long, and now all he wanted to do was tear the woman in front of him to pieces!
The sharp wind stung Gu Jinghong's cheeks, and she could only rely on her agile movements and anticipation to stay upright.
After more than twenty moves...
"Bang!" Another hard-fought blow.
Gu Jinghong was jolted backward, his back slamming heavily against a thick bamboo pole. He groaned, and a trickle of blood escaped from the corner of his mouth.
Xie Yan's movements faltered slightly due to the aggravation of his shoulder injury. His face turned pale, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. However, the killing intent in his eyes did not diminish at all. He pounced again, his jade flute aimed directly at Gu Jinghong's throat.
Seeing the jade flute only inches from his throat, Gu Jinghong stared intently into Xie Yan's eyes and said, "Have you had enough, you madman! You're in big trouble!"
Xie Yan's rushing figure seemed to be paused, stopping abruptly less than three feet in front of Gu Jinghong.
He looked at Gu Jinghong's sharp expression, his eyes serious and angry, not at all like he was joking, and suddenly froze for a few moments.
The next second, Xie Yan's pupils suddenly contracted to pinpoints, and the murderous intent on his face was instantly replaced by immense shock. His Adam's apple bobbed violently, aggravating his wound and causing him to let out a suppressed groan of pain.
"What...what do you mean? What did you find out?" His voice was dry and hoarse, trembling with disbelief.
Gu Jinghong abruptly withdrew his hand, his eyes sharp as an eagle's: "It's not safe here. If you want to see what you've gotten yourself into, come with me!"
Xie Yan's expression shifted uncertainly. After weighing his options, he squeezed out two words through gritted teeth: "Lead the way!"
Gu Jinghong led him through secluded paths, and after going around two streets, she suddenly lightly touched the ground with her toes and flew away.
Xie Yan naturally followed closely behind Gu Jinghong.
Both remained silent, maintaining a wary distance, until Gu Jinghong finally settled in an abandoned courtyard.
Looking at the dilapidated scene, Xie Yan sneered, his tone full of mockery: "Grand Secretary Gu chose such a godforsaken place to discuss matters of life and death? Really..."
Gu Jinghong's lips curled into a smile: "Minister Xie, no wonder you've brought me to this state. Don't you remember this place? This isn't your first time here."
A scene slowly surfaced in Xie Yan's mind—a dark and windy night a few months ago, when he and Gu Jinghong came out of the Prince's mansion, and this was the place Gu Jinghong brought them to.
He remembered that there were two figures, one in green and one in red, there at the time. They were Yun Ni and Qing Wu, and they scared him half to death.
Xie Yan scoffed, pretending nothing had happened, and followed Gu Jinghong downstairs.
When the wall slid open to reveal the stairs, the mockery in Xie Yan's eyes was instantly replaced by genuine shock, and even a hint of barely perceptible apprehension—this woman was more cunning than he had imagined!
Gu Jinghong glanced back at Xie Yan, then walked down the stairs on her own.
After looking around, Xie Yan followed Gu Jinghong downstairs.
Upon entering the secret room, a faint scent of paper and ink wafted towards you.
Xie Yan quickly scanned the surroundings. The furnishings were simple, with only a table and two chairs. The rest of the room was filled with stacks of boxes, which contained files and a large number of papers that someone had casually drawn or written on.
After confirming that it was safe, he glanced at Gu Jinghong again, pulled out one of the chairs, and sat down. "Hurry up and talk, I'm very busy!"
Gu Jinghong slammed the list onto Xie Yan with a "whoosh": "Tell me, what exactly did you do?! How did you get on the purge list?"
Xie Yan slowly pressed down on the list on his body, then picked it up to look at it.
Gu Jinghong's gaze was sharp as he stared intently at Xie Yan's instantly pale face. Without waiting for his reply, he continued.
"Don't think I'm here to save you. The mechanism of the South Wind Secret Box uses the 'Exquisite Technique' unique to the South Wind royal family. There are no more than three people in the entire Dayong who can unlock it. This clue points directly to the Southwest epidemic of that year!"
Seeing Xie Yan's stunned expression, Gu Jinghong continued, "Isn't the Southwest epidemic a matter for the imperial court? How come you're on this list?! Xie Yan, you've been in the Qianyuan Pavilion for many years, you should know how much trouble you've gotten yourself into. I don't need to explain, do I?"
Xie Yan did not answer, but instead looked at the list with one hand.
His narrow, phoenix-shaped eyes were fixed on the names in his hand, looking at them one by one. His previously limp body slowly straightened up—Liang Xingqiang, Wei Lai, He Xinrong, Zhou Rui… Xie Yan.
With each name crossed out in red, Xie Yan's expression grew colder... But the moment he saw his own name, Xie Yan's once vibrant face turned ashen.
Gu Jinghong's gaze fell on Xie Yan's slightly trembling fingers—she had never seen this madman ever "fear" before, but she hadn't expected to see it twice in such a short time.
One time was in the water dungeon, when she desperately wanted to kill him; the other time is now.
She looked at Xie Yan, as if suddenly realizing something, her eyes flashing, "Are you still investigating something in private? Could it be that there's something fishy about what happened in the southwest back then?"
Gu Jinghong grabbed the list of people to be removed from the purge and looked at Xie Yan: "You tell me!"
A rare hint of melancholy appeared in Xie Yan's eyes, followed by a hoarse, broken voice.
“The people in the Southwest and Quanzuoge... have died too many times in the past few years. Of course, it is inevitable that some people lose their lives when Quanzuoge is carrying out dangerous missions. But the problem is that I did not send many missions there, yet so many people still died. When I dug further, I discovered a characteristic: these people who lost their lives... were all people who had dealt with the epidemic back then.”
"Southwest China outbreak?"
Xie Yan nodded, looking at Gu Jinghong with a complicated expression. Although her eyes were not entirely calm, there was also a rare hint of rationality: "Do you remember..."
Gu Jinghong continued, "During the Southwest epidemic, you were sick for more than a month, vomiting and having diarrhea, almost collapsing from exhaustion, and lying in bed every day."
Xie Yan nodded. He had always been in good health, but that illness was indeed strange. Later, he consulted a doctor, who said it was due to the changing seasons and his body's condition. The doctor prescribed some medicine and said that he would recover after taking it for a month.
He foolishly followed the doctor's instructions and took the medicine for a month, and sure enough, he got better after finishing it.
Xie Yan suddenly seemed to remember something, his eyes snapping at Gu Jinghong, bloodshot, "Where did you get this list?!"
"Never mind where my list came from, just tell me the truth about the Southwest epidemic that you know!"
Xie Yan frowned and lowered his eyes, his fingers holding the jade flute turning slightly white: "Actually, I only investigated a little. I only know that I was bedridden for a month back then, and many people from the Southwest Quanzuo Pavilion died or were injured during that month. I found it strange, so I took the opportunity to go to the Southwest and found that things were far more complicated than I thought."
Xie Yan raised his eyes: "Only a portion of the assassins in the Southwest are genuine members of the Quanzuoge, while a large portion die under the name of the Quanzuoge. I don't understand why they have to die in the name of the Quanzuoge... That pandemic was the one in which King Jin, Xiao Chengyan, achieved his reputation."
After speaking, Xie Yan glanced at Gu Jinghong's expression.
As Gu Jinghong listened to Xie Yan's words, she grew increasingly angry. Soon, she stepped forward, grabbed Xie Yan's clothes with both hands, and pulled hard, forcing Xie Yan to stand up from his seat, placing him at a very close distance to Gu Jinghong.
"Why didn't you tell me?! Investigating these kinds of inside stories is the duty of the Zhuangmu Pavilion! What can you find out by yourself?! Alerting the enemy will only make the truth more elusive and hasten everyone's demise!"
Xie Yan's face turned ashen as she questioned him, a hint of embarrassment flashing in his eyes, but more so a sense of being exposed and resentment.
He avoided eye contact, his voice filled with chilling sarcasm: "Tell you? So you can go and fawn over Guo Da, hoping to get rid of me sooner?"
Gu Jinghong's chest heaved with anger at his malicious speculation.
Xie Yan then asked, "Where did you get this list? Why is my name on it?"
Gu Jinghong sneered: "The list was taken from Nanfeng's secret box, I..."
Xie Yan was stunned, his eyes widening, quickly filling with murderous intent. He punched the cabinet beside him, smashing a hole in it: "The Southern Wind Secret Box?! So, that old bastard Guoda has already..."
Gu Jinghong rolled her eyes at Xie Yan and said coldly, "This cabinet... costs ten taels of silver."
Xie Yan: "Hmm?"
Gu Jinghong added, "You don't need to act like you want to kill the sect leader. You're not on the purge list the sect leader got."
"Without me?"
Xie Yan thought for a moment, then suddenly revealed a bewitching yet sinister smile. He then reached out and pinned Gu Jinghong between him and the wall of the secret room, looking her up and down: "Ah Hong, did you do this? Tell me, what new trick are you planning to play this time? Or are you thinking of using this to blackmail me?"
He put his hands behind his back, his index finger lightly touching Gu Jinghong's cheek. "Are you doing me a favor? Or are you unwilling to let me die?"
Xie Yan was suddenly seized by a strange sense of understanding and excitement, and then burst into laughter: "Haha, Gu Jinghong, you're still pretending! You clearly enjoy our games just like me!"
With a "whoosh," Gu Jinghong suddenly held a short blade in his hand, pressing it against Xie Yan's throat, his eyes icy cold: "Xie Yan, put away your madness! Touch me again, and you won't need anyone else to cleanse you; you can die right now!"
Xie Yan lowered his eyes to look at the short blade, and finally lowered his hand.
Gu Jinghong continued to stare at Xie Yan, her eyes venomous: "The poison of the Silent Cicada will render you unable to speak for a month. How did you manage to cure it?... Valley Master Xuan of Medicine Master Valley? What makes Xuan Ru think he could save you?"
Xie Yan looked at Gu Jinghong as if she were a demon.
"Ha, Master Xuan Valley has the heart of a bodhisattva, unable to bear seeing handsome men suffer." Xie Yan's hoarse voice was full of sarcasm as he deliberately ran his fingertips across his pale face. "Especially someone like me."
"Shameless!" Gu Jinghong was disgusted by him, and even more shocked that Xuan Ru had actually helped that bastard Xie Yan!
But the weight of the list left her no time to examine it closely. She turned to leave.
"Qingwu," Xie Yan's icy voice rang out, filled with murderous intent, "I'll take care of it for you. Tonight."
Gu Jinghong turned around abruptly, her gaze like an ice pick: "Xie Yan! Listen carefully! You have no right to touch the people of Zhuangmu Pavilion! Mind your own life!"
She pointed to the list on the table, her tone icy and resolute: "The Southern Wind Secret Box, the matter in the Southwest, I will investigate. Until I find out—behave yourself! Any further misbehavior will harm yourself and others. I will stand by and watch you, and everyone else…die!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she reached out and activated the secret chamber mechanism, then said without turning her head, "Xie Yan, you overestimate yourself. You are nothing more than a pawn on my chessboard that I have to protect."
"I'm protecting you because your investigation into the Southwest epidemic touched a nerve, leading to the 'Southern Wind Secret Box' lead. This lead directly to the Imperial Intelligence Bureau, where the truth I need lies. If you die, the trail will be broken. Until I get what I want, your life is in my hands!"
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