Human Skin Lantern 7
After the figure disappeared, Xiao Congzhi hurriedly got up and ran towards the villa where Mo Huan lived, leaving a group of martial arts practitioners in chaos.
The two were evenly matched. Mo Huan, or rather Xie Mowen, could never withstand the internal force pressure of the nine sect leaders, nor could he possibly fight them without being at a disadvantage.
Xiao Congzhi kicked open the door and bumped into Xie Mowen, who was still changing clothes.
"Don't look at what you shouldn't see! Don't look at what you shouldn't see! You go first..."
Xiao Congzhi strode forward and put his arm around Xie Mowen's waist, asking anxiously, "Are you injured? Any internal injuries?" As he spoke, he reached out to feel for Xie Mowen's pulse.
Although his pulse indicated internal injuries, they were not serious. Xiao Congzhi breathed a sigh of relief and then asked, "Did you use Qilin blood again?"
"No."
"How could that be..."
"Couldn't it be because I have strong internal energy and superior martial arts skills..."
Xiao Congzhi interrupted: "No matter how skilled you are in martial arts, you are only in your early twenties. Except for Ji Buyu of the Snow Mountain Sect, the leaders of the nine major sects are all in their forties or fifties, and their internal strength is at its peak."
Xie Mowen hadn't expected Xiao Congzhi to be so worried about him; it was a strange feeling. Xiao Congzhi wasn't originally part of his plan for today; he intended for Xiao Congzhi to be a spectator, enjoying the carefully crafted spectacle. But he hadn't anticipated that the other party wasn't in the mood to relax and watch.
In truth, Xiao Congzhi hadn't expected to be so worried about Xie Mowen. Ever since learning of Xie Mowen's scheme last night, Xiao Congzhi had been restless, his heart seemingly suspended in mid-air, unable to settle down. Xie Mowen's appearance in front of so many martial arts masters just now was truly dangerous, and it was at that moment that Xiao Congzhi finally realized that his constant restlessness stemmed from worry.
They looked at each other in silence for a long time before Xie Mowen finally said, "Shao Cheng gave them some medicine."
"?"
"Shao Cheng is skilled in herbal medicine, and today's drinks contain a considerable amount of hallucinogens."
Xiao Congzhi blinked and asked, "What is the effect of this medicine?"
"It can make them feel a decline in sensation, slow their movements, and become unaware of what's happening."
"Such a herb actually exists in the world?!"
"It was developed by Shao Cheng."
"In that case, you have also taken a risk today."
Xie Mowen didn't answer, but hugged Xiao Congzhi with a grin.
Xiao Congzhi did not resist at first, but after pondering for a while, he squinted and asked, "Xie Mowen?"
"Uh-huh?"
"After trying to get information out of me for so long, I was worried that it was some kind of shameful name."
"...Does this name still suit Brother Xiao's taste?"
"Heh~" Xiao Congzhi sneered, "And what's Mo Huan's name?"
"It was made up on the spot. I really didn't expect to see anyone at the entrance of Qilin Village that day, and I didn't prepare a fake name in advance."
"..."
Xiao Congzhi silently tightened his arms around Xie Mowen. Xie Mowen's body temperature was slightly elevated, which made Xiao Congzhi feel a little scared.
Xie Mowen gently stroked Xiao Congzhi's hair, and for a moment the two were very quiet and peaceful.
"Speaking of which, how did you knock that Broken Water Sect disciple away?" Xiao Congzhi felt that he had not been drugged, but he hadn't even seen the action clearly.
"...That was Shao Cheng who hit him."
"..."
"This person was also deliberately arranged."
Xiao Congzhi asked in bewilderment, "This person can be deliberately arranged?"
"Shao Cheng also studied Gu worms. He placed a child Gu on that person and made him follow the instructions of the mother Gu."
Xiao Congzhi never expected that Yun Shaocheng knew so much, and couldn't help but ask, "As your man, Yun Shaocheng shouldn't betray you, right?"
"..." Xie Mowen replied blankly, "That is the Left Protector of my Demonic Sect, he shouldn't be like that."
Xie Mowen released Xiao Congzhi, touched Xiao Congzhi's forehead with his, and asked, "Xu Tan and the nine sect leaders are probably talking right now. Do you want to go and listen?"
With nothing else to do, Xiao Congzhi agreed.
At this moment, Xu Tan, along with the leaders of the nine major sects and several promising young members, were in the main hall of the Martial Alliance. As Xiao Congzhi and Xie Mowen climbed onto the roof, Xu Tan was showing everyone a letter.
"Is this the letter that the leader of the Demonic Sect mentioned, the one that was sent to you before?" asked Jiang Ai, the head of the Qingcheng Sect.
Xu Tan nodded and said, "I've been very busy with other things, and I was planning to take it out after my daughter's coming-of-age ceremony."
Out of politeness, no one present intended to call him out, and they took it as a sign of belief.
Jiang Ai unfolded the letter and read it aloud softly; the contents were not many.
"Greetings. I have heard that the martial arts world of the Central Plains has been recuperating and producing many talented individuals over the past century, all led by the Martial Arts Alliance Leader Xu Tan. I admire him greatly and believe it would be beneficial to make his acquaintance with him. I hope that Alliance Leader Xu will choose an auspicious day and a propitious place to lead the heroes of the martial arts world in a celebration of the Demonic Sect's return to the Central Plains. Sincerely, Xie Mowen, Leader of the Demonic Sect."
After Jiang Ai finished reading, the atmosphere fell silent for a moment. The first to speak was Ji Buyu: "This person is quite polite."
"They're utterly arrogant and disrespectful!" The Shaolin sect leader cursed angrily, as if he hadn't heard what Ji Buyu had said.
Jiang Ai pondered: "The other party does indeed have the right to be arrogant."
When this was mentioned, those present who had fought Xie Mowen began to offer their opinions.
"His internal strength is unfathomable, yet he doesn't look very old?"
"The martial arts style is very different from that of the Central Plains; it is probably some kind of evil art."
"To fight against the nine of us and not be at a disadvantage... I had only heard my master mention the power of the Demonic Sect a hundred years ago, but now I see it for myself..."
How can we boost the morale of others while diminishing our own?
"You were knocked away in one move, what's there to say?"
"And what makes you any better?"
"Alright, is this the time for infighting?"
"Looking at it this way, the death of the Emei Sect Leader and his disappearance over the past month are both inextricably linked to the Demonic Sect."
These words were spoken by Qian Lin, the leader of the Diancang Sect, and almost everyone present tacitly agreed.
Ji Buyu abruptly asked, "When was this letter delivered?"
“Half a month ago,” Xu Tan replied.
"But the disappearance case started a month ago."
Xu Tan added, "Although I don't know the purpose of this time difference, the sudden increase in the frequency of disappearances started half a month ago."
"That makes sense now," the Kunlun Sect leader concluded, then asked, "What should we do now?"
The Shaolin and Wudang sects, being extremely traditional, immediately declared, "Naturally, we should punish the evil cult."
Ji Buyu disagreed: "Even the nine of us combined couldn't stop Xie Mowen, how can we possibly defeat him?"
"So, are we really going to Anling to celebrate with them during the Mid-Autumn Festival?" the Huashan Sect leader retorted.
Ji Buyu sneered and mocked, "I wonder what the Huashan Sect Leader's plan is for the campaign against the Demonic Sect?"
"you!"
"Alright." Xu Tan's face darkened, stopping everyone from arguing openly. He said, "We can't go to Anling to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. We also need to give an explanation to the martial arts world of the Central Plains."
Jiang Ai asked, "What does Brother Xu mean?"
Xu Tan was a junior to the leaders of Shaolin and Wudang, so he bowed to them first and said, "The Demonic Sect is currently in the shadows while we are in the light. If we rashly attack the Demonic Sect, we may suffer heavy losses. The martial world has only been peaceful for two hundred years and is just beginning to recover. We cannot afford to fail now."
After finishing his sentence, Xu Tan looked at the others present and said with righteous indignation, "But with the disappearance case first and the Emei Sect Leader's death following, our Martial Alliance cannot allow the Demonic Sect to run rampant in the martial world. Half a month later, after I have settled all matters in Xiacheng, I will personally go to Youheng Mountain to explore the way."
“Brother Xu! This is too risky. I’ll go with you,” Jiang Ai said hurriedly.
Xu Tan waved his hand, refusing, saying, "The key to this matter is secrecy; too many people would easily expose it."
The Shaolin Sect leader nodded and said, "Since Alliance Leader Xu has this intention, so be it. If the Demonic Sect is playing the empty city ploy, we can just wipe them out."
“Xie Mowen alone cannot pull off the Empty City Stratagem,” Ji Buyu retorted.
The Shaolin sect leader, relying on his seniority in the martial arts world, was rarely contradicted. Now that he had lost face, he was about to say a few words when a commotion broke out outside.
Xu Tan frowned and called out, "There are important matters being discussed here, we can't..."
"Something terrible has happened!" the person cried out in a panic. "The young lady is missing!"
Xu Tan: "!!! What did you say?"
The man replied breathlessly, "After escorting the young lady back to her room, the guards were still on duty as before, but when the maid went to deliver the sweet soup, there was no one inside."
"Then why don't we hurry up and go find her?!" Xu Tan was truly anxious now. Xu Shuyan's coming-of-age ceremony couldn't be considered complete, and her betrothal wasn't officially arranged. They had planned to hold a belated ceremony five or six days before her birthday, but now, what if they couldn't find her...
Seeing this, the others all tactfully said goodbye.
Hidden on the rooftop, Xiao Congzhi and Xie Mowen quietly returned to the villa.
"Now, both the missing persons case and the Emei Sect Leader case are being pushed onto you," Xiao Congzhi said slowly after taking a sip of water after sitting down.
"I had already made arrangements, so there shouldn't be any major problems."
Xiao Congzhi believed it, and besides, he had some plans. But now, something else was more important: "Although these people are outwardly friendly but inwardly hostile, they all want to eradicate the Demonic Sect."
“Not so.” Xie Mowen shook his finger and continued, “Shaolin and Wudang do think that way, but the reasons are different. A hundred years ago, the Shaolin sect almost lost its lineage because of Xing Feng. The master of the current Shaolin abbot’s master died under Xing Feng’s blade, so naturally they would advocate for the extermination of the demonic sect. Wudang, on the other hand, is based on tradition and is a righteous sect, so they take it as their duty to exterminate the demonic sect.”
Xiao Congzhi's knowledge of the various sects in the martial arts world was not so detailed, so he nodded to signal Xie Mowen to continue.
"The Huashan Sect Leader is simply harboring resentment because I knocked him away with a single strike tonight."
"Kunlun, Kongtong, Diancang, Qingcheng, and Xueshan have little intention of attacking the Demonic Sect."
Xiao Congzhi said, "If the matter of the Emei Sect leader can be clarified, Emei and the Demonic Sect will have no enmity between them."
"More than two hundred years have passed since Xing Feng led the Demonic Sect to wreak havoc in the Central Plains martial arts world. Nowadays, almost no sect in the martial arts world has any real grudges against the Demonic Sect. Although these people do not want the Demonic Sect to return to the Central Plains, it is estimated that it will take them several years to expend manpower and effort to fight against the Demonic Sect due to buck-passing and procrastination."
"I think I know what you're up to. Oh well, Xu Tan's words tonight are probably just empty talk. In half a month, he'll probably find an excuse to back out."
Xie Mowen shrugged in agreement, then pulled up a chair and sat down next to Xiao Congzhi, saying, "I've had my men keep an eye on Xu Shuyan's movements. Can you go and bring her back?"
Xiao Congzhi paused for a moment and said, "Even if I bring Xu Shuyan back now, it will be difficult to change my image in Xu Tan's eyes."
Xie Mowen asked with a smile, "What if you managed to rescue his daughter from the masked man's near-death experience?"
Xiao Congzhi frowned and asked, "You want to use Xu Shuyan as bait?"
"Shao Cheng has been keeping a close eye on things these past few days, but investigating the masked man's identity through Xu Tan's network of connections might take several months to reach a conclusion." Xie Mowen paused, then added a cruel remark: "Several months later, we won't know whether Xu Shuyan is alive or dead."
Xie Mowen was referring to the fact that half of the curse on Xu Shuyan had been lifted. If they couldn't finalize the marriage, Xu Shuyan would only have five or six days left. After that, she wouldn't be able to use bait to lure people away anymore.
Xiao Congzhi understood that Xie Mowen's words made sense. He originally thought that Xie Mowen wanted him to gain Xu Tan's appreciation by finding Xu Shuyan, so that he could go to Anling with the Martial Alliance during the Mid-Autumn Festival. But now it seemed that Xie Mowen wanted to kill two birds with one stone.
“I can, but I can’t stay at the Martial Alliance after that. You need to come to the Bai Mansion in the east of the city to find me.”
"No rush, we can set off tomorrow. The masked man is most likely among the nine major sects, and he certainly won't be in the mood tonight."
"Speaking of this, one of the masked man's purposes in killing the Emei Sect leader was definitely to frame the Demonic Sect. And the Demonic Sect just happened to appear at this juncture. Could it be that they were the ones who knew about your letter?"
Xie Mowen lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then hesitated and said, "It's hard to say. If I'm not mistaken, Xu Tan didn't tell anyone about that letter, but Xu Tan couldn't possibly be the masked man."
"If it's a coincidence, then it really is a coincidence. He started kidnapping people a month ago, and the frequency increased half a month later, which coincided with the time you sent the letter. Later, the disappearance case could no longer be concealed, and multiple forces intervened to investigate. In order to divert attention, this person killed the Emei Sect leader and framed the Demonic Sect. However, the Demonic Sect leader appeared a few days later."
The more Xiao Congzhi analyzed, the more uneasy he felt. The events that had occurred in Xiacheng were intricately connected, but he just couldn't grasp the thread that linked them all together.
"Alright, let's not think about it anymore. We have enough to do tonight. If we keep thinking about it, it'll be dawn soon." With that, Xie Mowen put his arm around Xiao Congzhi's shoulder and pushed him toward the bed.
Xiao Congzhi was baffled: "You're going to share a bed with me tonight?"
"Hmm..." Xie Mowen took out his other hand and rubbed his nose.
Xiao Congzhi looked at the bed in front of him and narrowed his eyes: "What else do you want to do tonight?"
"Ahem, time is of the essence, we must make the most of every second."
"..." Never mind, Xiao Congzhi let Xie Mowen pull him onto the bed, and the two lay down fully clothed.
The two were lying face up when, as one of them began to breathe heavily, Xie Mowen turned over and wrapped his arms around Xiao Congzhi's waist.
This night was destined to be a noisy and eventful one. No one knew how long the two had slept when suddenly the lights outside were on, the candlelight was very strong, and from the sound, it seemed that many people were running around, making a lot of noise.
When Xiao Congzhi was woken up, he was lying on his side in Xie Mowen's arms, at a distance where he could see the length of the person's eyelashes as soon as he opened his eyes.
Xiao Congzhi raised his hand and gently pressed Xie Mowen's eyebrows. Xie Mowen did not open his eyes; he simply frowned and tightened his arms around Xiao Congzhi.
Xiao Congzhi found this amusing and was about to say something when Xie Mowen suddenly buried his head in Xiao Congzhi's neck, took a deep breath, then abruptly pulled back, rolled off the bed, and moved nimbly, his eyes showing no sign of sleepiness.
Xie Mowen casually put on his coat and walked out, with Xiao Congzhi following closely behind.
"But what happened?" Coincidentally, just as Xie Mowen was leaving, Ji Buyu, the leader of the Snow Mountain Sect, was passing by with an excited expression on his face.
"Oh, it's Young Master Mo, Young Master Xiao! Young Master Mo, have you recovered from your injuries?"
"Thank you for your concern. I'm almost fully recovered. What happened?" Xie Mowen asked again.
"Haha." Ji Buyu laughed and said, "Something happened at the prefectural government office. In the middle of the night, I heard the ground collapsed and the buildings burned down."
After saying that, Ji Buyu left with light steps, heading in the direction of Xu Tan.
After Ji Buyu went far away, Yun Shaocheng came again, with someone following behind him. Who else could it be but Shen Zhuo?
"This person said he wants to see Young Master Xiao," Yun Shaocheng explained with a smile.
With a cold face and without saying a word, Shen Zhuo took two steps forward and stood in front of Xiao Congzhi.
Xie Mowen tactfully pulled Yun Shaocheng aside to talk.
Xie Mo asked, "What happened?"
Xiao Congzhi also asked, "What happened?"
"Alan and his men were ordered to set fire to the prefectural government office, but unfortunately someone was digging a tunnel and the ground collapsed."
"Chen Yan led her men to dig a tunnel at the prefectural government office as instructed by the master, but someone set it on fire."
"The minor injuries are nothing serious, but it's no longer possible to steal the account books while the fire is raging."
"Some people were still injured, and because someone set fire to the place, the prepared replicas didn't get a chance to be put in."
Xiao Congzhi: "..."
Xie Mowen: "..."
Taking a deep breath, the two turned around at the same time, walked towards each other, and blurted out.
"You were the madman who ordered the arson?"
"You must have ordered the tunnel to be dug?"
"..."
"..."
Xie Mowen was unconvinced: "What's so crazy about arson? A few buckets of water put it out, and the tunnels they dug caused the entire prefectural government office to collapse."
Xiao Congzhi avoided talking about the prefectural government office, which was now almost in ruins, and said, "So you have to stick with me tonight. A fire can really cause quite a stir."
"You're still acting like nothing happened? The ground has collapsed, do you really expect things to stay calm until sunrise?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Zhuo and Yun Shaocheng immediately felt they shouldn't be there. They exchanged a glance and silently withdrew. One was going out of the manor to spread rumors, and the other was going to see Xu Tan.
Xie Mowen and Xiao Congzhi were left looking at each other in silence for a long time. Finally, Xie Mowen managed to stammer out, "So, is it time to go back to sleep?"
"It's almost dawn."
Xie Mowen took a few steps closer and looked at Xiao Congzhi.
Xiao Congzhi was defeated and turned to walk into the house, saying as he went, "My original plan was to have Shen Zhuo spread rumors in Xiacheng that Prefect Zhou Zhengqi had accepted bribes, which would lead the court to send an imperial envoy. The tunnel was dug to make this rumor seem plausible."
Xie Mowen jogged a few steps to catch up with Xiao Congzhi and said, "I originally wanted to steal the account books from the tunnel, and I set the fire to make the theft seem more organized."
After saying that, the two smiled at each other and then rolled onto the bed again, all lovey-dovey.
The long night slowly returned to calm.
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