Chapter 28: You are so unreasonable! Oops, I seem to be exhausted...
"Convincing people with reason" and "convincing people with virtue" ultimately lead to "pointing out the way to enlightenment."
Lou Wanqiao reached out and brushed the falling snow off his shoulders. He lowered his eyes to look at the people lying on the ground, then walked over to Wen Xuechi and said, "Go in and take a look."
"good."
The believers in the temple glared at them, but the force displayed by these two men was too terrifying, so they dared not say anything.
"Wow, it seems you still cherish your life." Lou Wanqiao snorted and looked down at the monk. "Master, your inner demons have been eliminated. It all depends on me to guide you."
He was speechless.
Lou Wanqiao and Wen Xuechi walked further inside together. She took a quick look at the decorations inside the hall and had a general idea in her mind.
She had been to temples in the capital before, but they were different from the ones here. Both the Buddha statues and the atmosphere were very different.
Unlike the peace and tranquility of ordinary temples, even the smell of incense ash is pungent, as if... mixed with something else.
Lou Wanqiao couldn't explain it clearly. She didn't know much about this area, but her intuition told her that something was wrong.
This city...
She stopped and turned to look at Wen Xuechi.
The sound of chaotic footsteps outside reached my ears faintly.
"Should we retreat first?" Wen Xuechi asked for her opinion.
Lou Wanqiao calculated the time and felt something was amiss. The battle had ended so quickly that even if someone had reported it to the police, they wouldn't have arrived so quickly.
Unless... their whereabouts had been monitored earlier.
"Don't leave yet. Stay and take a look." Lou Wanqiao quickened his pace, searching the rooms one by one. "You just stay on the tree in the middle of the yard."
"good."
She hurriedly searched, hoping to find some clues. Based on Yu Xiang's words and the actions of the believers and monks before her, this place was very suspicious.
Not long after, Wen Xuechi's signal came from outside. She walked out of the house, and Wen Xuechi just jumped down from the tree and stood beside her.
A group of people squeezed in from the courtyard gate.
There are believers, officers and soldiers, and...
Lou Wanqiao looked at the person walking in front, and his eyes darkened.
It is Lian Yuxiang.
Her gaze was like a pool of still, stagnant water. The corners of her lips were stretched wide, but her voice was light and fluttering, dissipated by the wind: "I told you... this whole street is full of them."
So...her words cannot be believed from the beginning.
Lou Wanqiao rubbed his brows and quickly thought of a solution within a few seconds of raising his hand.
Given her and Wen Xuechi's strength, escaping from here shouldn't be difficult. But the matter wasn't resolved, and she hadn't even uncovered the tip of the iceberg of the Youzhou incident.
Are you really going to leave like this without knowing the reason?
How many people can they kill with the power of the two of them?
Lou Wanqiao was thinking in his mind, and Wen Xuechi also stepped forward and got into a fighting stance.
She suddenly took a step back and said to Wen Xuechi expressionlessly, "Oh, no, Brother Wen, I seem to be exhausted."
Wen Xuechi slowly turned his head, and a huge question mark slowly appeared on his head.
But Lou Wanqiao nodded firmly: "I'm exhausted and can't fight anymore. Run away."
Wen Xuechi looked unconvinced.
But when he turned to face the group, his expression changed to one of grief, anger and helplessness: "How could you...how could you...Alas!"
He shook his head and sighed, feeling deeply saddened.
The group of people opposite them looked at each other in confusion.
Lou Wanqiao turned his head away and said righteously: "Run away!"
"I will come back to save you!" Wen Xuechi climbed over the wall and escaped.
A group of people suddenly woke up: "Chase him! Don't let him get away! Take him back first!"
"yes!"
…
The wind and snow blew against the wooden door, making it creak. A Buddha statue stood in the dilapidated temple. Lou Wanqiao was tied up in the corner, with two people guarding her.
There were footsteps coming from the compartment, and a group of people were discussing something in low voices.
Lou Wanqiao pretended to be weak and leaned against the corner, but in fact he was putting his ear against the wall and listening secretly.
"This month's sacrifice... let's use him..."
"But... there aren't many boys and girls left..."
"Wait until the other one catches... together..."
“I won’t let you go…”
Lou Wanqiao only heard fragments, but he roughly understood what they were talking about. It seemed that there was indeed a problem here. He imagined that it was somewhat similar to what happened in the Jianghu Sword Contest, but much more serious.
It feels like the whole city is closed off.
As night fell, the wind outside grew stronger. The room was eerily quiet, save for the constant creaking of the old wooden door. Lou Wanqiao opened his eyes in the darkness and slowly scanned his surroundings.
They didn't seem to care about the life or death of the hostage. They just held her there and casually threw half a hard steamed bun on the ground.
She estimated the weather and asked, "What are you going to do with me?"
One of them turned his gaze to her and sneered, "You're lucky. The city just needs new sacrifices."
"Sacrifice? Is this some kind of ceremony?"
"You wouldn't understand even if I told you, you outsider." The man said disdainfully, "The God Yi'a will protect us!"
Yia Shen...
Lou Wanqiao raised his eyes to look at the Buddha statue.
No, wait…
That's not a Buddha statue!
I didn't look up to see it because the light was dim before, but now I can make out the outline.
A huge statue stood in the center of the temple. Its eyes were closed and its appearance was very strange. It had three hands, eight eyes, and five legs...
Lou Wanqiao had always thought that the people here believed in Buddhism, but unexpectedly...
Yia Shen...
Yia...
What a familiar name.
Her heart skipped a beat, and memories flooded back. This was exactly what Qinse had told her!
The ancient Yia tribe lived in the west of the continent.
Now this Yi'a God must have some connection with the Yi'a tribe!
The Yia clan, the Immortal Gate, the government...
There is a thread somewhere connecting these scattered fragments together.
After integrating the information he had collected, Lou Wanqiao felt that it was almost ready.
Night is a good time to gather intelligence and take action.
She secretly cut the ropes that bound their wrists and broke free. With a slight force from her fingertips, the sharp stones were ejected and hit their foreheads. Their bodies collapsed silently.
Lou Wanqiao stood up, dusted off the dust on his body, and walked towards the cubicle.
Only two people remained in the temple to guard it; the others had already left through the secret passage. Lou Wanqiao leaned over, clenched his fist, and gently tapped the ground, listening intently.
A gust of cool wind blew straight into the collar of her neck. She turned around and saw a dark figure squatting on the window.
The snow outside poured in through the wide-open window. The man blocked most of the wind and snow and smiled gently: "Zizhao, I'm here."
"It's cold outside, come in." Lou Wanqiao found the mechanism of the secret passage and waved at him, "Have you found anything over there?"
"I went to the government office and actually found out something." Wen Xuechi jumped in briskly, reaching out to close the window to block out the wind and snow. "The security there is very tight, and it doesn't look like an ordinary government office. There are actually some monks mixed in. I saw how they were dressed, and they don't look like people from our area..."
Lou Wanqiao raised his head alertly: "You mean..."
Wen Xuechi nodded.
Their dress and appearance don't match the people here. Apart from being an ancient ethnic group, they are just foreigners!
Who is the person pulling the strings here, and who is behind the scenes...
The combination of several forces is complex and intricate. Although they do the same things on the surface, their goals should be different.
Lou Wanqiao opened the secret passage and walked in. Wen Xuechi followed her: "What did you think of?"
"You've been around the martial arts world for a long time. Have you heard about the goings-on in the imperial court?" Lou Wanqiao asked. "The imperial court is not stable, and some rumors have spread to the martial arts world. I'm curious, what does the imperial court look like in your eyes?"
Wen Xuechi was silent for a moment and did not answer immediately.
The surroundings were so quiet that even the sound of footsteps could hardly be heard. They walked one after the other in a narrow secret passage that led nowhere.
After walking a little further, Lou Wanqiao heard him mutter, "Life is hard, it shouldn't be like this."
She seemed lost in thought.
At the end of the road, there was a ladder leading up. Lou Wanqiao was the first to climb up to another house.
She looked around, made sure there was no one around, and motioned Wen Xuechi to come up.
The two of them walked around the room and roughly grasped the layout. Lou Wanqiao, a junior official at the Dali Temple, knew perfectly well that everything about the exhibits pointed to a single clue.
This is the government office.
The underground passage in the dilapidated temple leads to the government office.
Lou Wanqiao looked serious as he turned to look at the door, already having a guess in his mind.
This matter is very unusual. It is not just about "evil forces" or "mysterious rituals", it is more likely to be... treason.
If this is true, this matter cannot be solved by her alone, and she needs to contact Li Lie.
"Go back first, don't alert the enemy." Lou Wanqiao held down Wen Xuechi's hand as he was about to open the door. "Wait until the information is passed back."
She was not sure if there was anyone around, so she was not afraid of being discovered. However, if she was discovered, it might have a big impact. The best strategy now was to leave first and catch them all in one swoop later.
Just at this moment, there was a chaotic sound of footsteps outside. Lou Wanqiao and Wen Xuechi found a place to hide as quickly as possible, but the footsteps just passed by the door in a hurry and did not push the door open.
She had doubts in her mind.
It's so late, what's the rush?
Lou Wanqiao changed her mind and decided to follow. She exchanged glances with Wen Xuechi in the darkness, and he understood her thoughts and nodded slightly.
Until the footsteps outside faded away, they walked out of the door and walked forward in the darkness.
The wind and snow were still strong, and the cold snow hit his face, feeling both icy and painful. Lou Wanqiao followed the footprints in the snow to catch up with the group, his doubts growing even more intense.
After about a moment, she stopped, hid behind a dry tree trunk, and quietly stuck her head out.
In the fierce snowstorm, a group of people gathered together with a bonfire burning in the middle of them. The flames jumped high and showed no signs of being extinguished even in the snow.
There was a frenzy in everyone's eyes, reflecting the blazing flames.
Among them was a man tied to a stake.
After seeing the man's face, Lou Wanqiao opened his eyes wide.
It’s Cen Luye.
The author has something to say:
----------------------
Sorry, babies!!! (flying here) (sliding on my knees) >< I've been having a serious problem with my writing these past few days, and I've been busy with school, so the updates have been a bit slow. TT sincerely apologizes again!!! I'll try my best to update every 2-3 days, and I definitely won't let you down!!! Thank you for your love, and thank you for coming to read~ (holding a flower) (waving a handkerchief)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com