Chapter 72 072 It's all fake, fake, all fake. ...
Jiang Ling'er's voice is very hoarse:
"When...did you find out?"
"I knew that from the first time I met you in Qing Shi Town."
As Pei Xuan finished speaking, his gaze shifted downwards, and Jiang Ling'er followed his gaze to his chest...
Jiang Ling'er frowned, puzzled by his meaning: "?"
The young Taoist priest suddenly said, "Excuse me."
Jiang Ling'er: "???"
Pei Xuan grabbed one of her wrists and reached towards his chest...
Jiang Ling'er choked, then immediately became angry: "What time is it and you're still..."
Pei Xuan used Jiang Ling'er's hand to lift a corner of his clothes, revealing a faint charred palm print on his white jade chest.
That was the first time she met Chunhua, when she slapped him on the chest from his back.
Jiang Ling'er paused, then stopped struggling.
"I've long heard that Old Escort Jiang Leilong's Thunderclap Palm is unparalleled in the world. A single strike is like a thunderbolt from the sky, a lightning bolt striking with incredible speed. Only Old Escort Jiang's Thunderclap Palm could leave such a charred palm mark… So, you must be Old Escort Jiang's only daughter, Jiang Ling'er." Seeing that the person had finally calmed down, the pain from the beating surged up like a hundred thousand times over. The young Taoist grimaced and cursed under his breath, "Hiss… I knew nothing good ever came from seeing you…"
The two were very close, their hot breaths spraying onto Jiang Ling'er's hair. In contrast, Jiang Ling'er's hair, long eyelashes, and sideburns were covered with snowflakes and ice particles.
After extreme anger came an unusual calm.
"Since you knew it was him... why didn't you arrest him yesterday?"
Pei Xuan seemed to know she had asked this question beforehand, and answered quickly: "I don't want to dishonor my old friend."
Jiang Ling'er was taken aback upon hearing this.
"The old镖头 (镖头 is a nickname for a镖头 is a term of respect for a镖头) is a man of great integrity and has made many friends throughout the world. I am fortunate to have met him. If others were to find out that his only daughter is involved with the old poisoner's accomplice, how ridiculous it would be for the world to laugh at us."
As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Ling'er's face turned deathly pale, even paler than the snowflakes falling on her nose.
Pei Xuan glanced at her discreetly, then scoffed, "She's not entirely hopeless yet, but hold off on blaming yourself. It seems... we have other problems to solve."
The young Taoist priest slowly released Jiang Ling'er's shackles, his phoenix eyes like blades staring straight out of the dark alley, where the exit was blocked by a large number of people wearing ghost masks.
Countless sinister and terrifying faces, like those of demons and monsters, stared at them menacingly, just as they had that night.
The young Taoist priest held his breath for a moment, muttering:
"I knew it... nothing good ever comes of running into you!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a whole bunch of demons and monsters pounced on him!
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On the other side of the dark alley, the little poisoner had already left.
At this moment, no matter how heavy the wind and snow were, they could not conceal the chilling atmosphere of clashing blades and the pervasive bloodshed just a wall away.
Xue Sangui was stunned: "Luo Chong, didn't you just promise that the little poisoner wouldn't touch Jiang's only daughter? What if he finds out..."
"If she simply disappears into this snowy night, no one will know."
The boy, still recovering from serious injuries and calling the little poisoner "senior brother," was named "Luo Chong."
Fang and the other two were indeed unaware of Jiang Ling'er and Pei Xuan's presence in the dark alley, but Luo Chong's spies were all around them. He had already found out Jiang Ling'er's appearance, so as soon as the little poisoner left, he gave the order.
Leave no survivors, kill them.
Xue Sangui, however, still looked worried. Unlike Luo Chong, who had only been under the tutelage of the old poison master for two years and now, with both the big and small poison masters gone, the monkey had become king and thought he could inherit the old poison master's mantle. He was not as insightful as Xue Sangui, an outsider.
idiot.
Because of the trumpet creeper, he had genuinely dealt with both the big and small poisonous creatures for several years, and knew the small poisonous creature well. Just thinking about the consequences of the small poisonous creature's rage... made him shudder. Xue Sangui's prematurely mature face scrunched up:
"You don't understand your senior brother at all. He mastered the art of Gu cultivation, a skill most people couldn't learn in a lifetime, in just three years. So young yet so cunning and ruthless..." He is the one most likely to inherit the old poison master's mantle and surpass him...
"Are you also saying that I'm not as good as him?"
Luo Chong, who had been overjoyed just moments before, now stared at Xue Sangui with a dark and sinister expression, clutching the "Longevity Manual".
Xue Sangui paused, then immediately forced a smile and said, "I...I absolutely didn't mean that! Brother Luo, you know that since my master came to me, I've been doing business with the Old Poisoner, the Little Poisoner...and you too, for over a decade. You should know I'm one of yours...especially yours. I just wanted to remind you that since you joined the Old Poisoner's ranks, the Little Poisoner has been traveling far and wide. You haven't dealt with him, so you don't know how incredibly clever he is. He won't let go of any clue, and he's extremely vengeful and has a strong desire for revenge. If he finds out even the slightest clue, he'll..."
Xue Sangui was interrupted abruptly before he could finish speaking:
"Why don't you just not tell me?"
Xue Sangui was stunned and hadn't realized what was going on when a cold light flashed past, and he clutched his neck and fell to the ground.
Blood gushed out like ink in an instant, covering the ground.
Luo Chong spat at the boy on the ground, then carefully put the "Longevity Manual" into his bosom.
As I walked out of the alley, I remembered to take a picture of the outermost ox-headed and horse-faced statues.
“The man and woman inside are the ‘Asura Duo’ whom the Demonic Sect has offered a bounty of ten thousand taels of gold for. Especially the woman, Sun Moon Fortress has offered a bounty of one hundred thousand taels of gold. You should weigh the consequences yourselves and be careful not to let them escape.”
Luo Chong's voice was very soft, and soon it dissipated into the air along with the fierce hurricane.
But it was like a campfire that instantly lit up the greedy eyes beneath the masks of the Ox-Head and Horse-Face.
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Little Poison had said that Qing Shi Town was full of desperate criminals, and Jiang Ling'er didn't believe it at first, but now she does.
The thought that these men in front of her, wearing sinister masks and acting ruthlessly, were actually kind-looking villagers from the town whom she might have greeted during the day...
Suddenly, a shout came from beside her. It didn't sound like Pei Xuan's voice, and it wasn't anyone else's. In the narrow, dark alley, the demons and monsters scattered them. She struggled to resist, using her hands in Thunderclap Palm techniques and her legs in the Thirty-Six Forms of the Unseen Legs taught by Master Ma. She barely managed to hold her own against the people around her. She wondered how Pei Xuan was doing. That scoundrel Taoist priest only knew how to take a beating. What if he was beaten to death? Where would she find a little immortal then?!
In a moment of panic, just as she was about to fight her way to find Pei Xuan, she was suddenly pinched hard on the shoulder, as if she had been pricked by a needle. Jiang Ling'er endured the pain in her shoulder and suddenly looked up, meeting a pair of deep, white eyes!
"Girl, I'm your opponent!"
Unlike the others who wore masks, the newcomer was an elderly man with gray hair combed into two buns. Seemingly displeased with the swarming crowd of ox-headed and horse-faced demons around him, the old man spat out, "A bunch of scum, an eyesore!"
With one hand on each of them, in the blink of an eye, he snapped the necks of the circle of bull-headed and horse-faced demons around him!
Before the people whose necks had been snapped could even react, they had already stopped breathing and collapsed to the ground.
Jiang Ling'er had never seen such a ghostly and extraordinary figure and technique in her life. Even the old镖头 (bodyguard) and He Yong, Uncle He Wu, did not have such a figure and palm power that made people feel...frightened!
Just when she thought her neck was about to be snapped, the hand that was about to snap her neck moved downwards and snatched the bamboo flute from her waist!
He muttered something under his breath, looking quite surprised: "My 'good' disciple actually gave you even this."
The moment the bamboo flute left her body, it was as if her soul had been drawn away as well. Jiang Ling'er shuddered and staggered forward as if all her strength had been lost. Instead of falling onto the bluestone ground covered with the stench of blood and remnants of snow as expected, she fell into an embrace filled with the fragrance of trumpet creeper flowers.
Perhaps due to the exertion of fighting just now, cold, lifeless spots crept up her eyelids in a short while. Jiang Ling'er laboriously raised her eyes to look at the sky:
"bamboo……"
A flash of emerald green appeared in an instant; it was the old man carrying a bamboo flute, his figure as elusive as a ghost, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Cold rain fell in droplets, and blizzards raged.
A wave of coldness and weariness washed over Jiang Ling'er, and she gradually lost the strength to even open her eyes. Just as she thought she was about to close her eyes and sleep forever... someone suddenly stuffed a flower with a familiar fragrance into her mouth...
She could smell it; it was a trumpet vine.
Lately, I've been able to smell the fragrance of trumpet vine flowers.
She didn't know why they were feeding her trumpet creeper flowers; all she knew was that death was dragging her into an abyss. Gradually, even thinking became difficult, and her consciousness dwindled to a sliver. She vaguely heard the people beside her saying something, but she couldn't quite make out what they were saying...
"You don't even have the strength to chew anymore..."
"I did all this to save you. Let's make it clear first, you're not allowed to hit me..."
Just a second before her consciousness was about to plunge into an endless abyss of darkness, a sweet and refreshing fragrance was pushed by something and exploded on the tip of her tongue!
In an instant, her senses returned, and the coldness and overwhelming weariness crumbled before this delicate fragrance. Her wandering consciousness and strength returned, and Jiang Ling'er slowly opened her eyes...
She felt as if she were nestled in someone's arms, and in her hazy state, she quickly recognized the owner of those arms—
Pei Xuan took out a handful of trumpet creeper flowers from his bosom, stuffed them into his mouth, chewed them a few times, then suddenly lowered his head, grabbed her chin with his other hand, forced her to open her mouth, and fed her the trumpet creeper flower juice by pushing it in with his lips and tongue.
Jiang Ling'er: "!!!"
After a long while, they looked up, a silver thread still lingering between their lips... then snapped.
Pei Xuan wiped away the juice that had spilled from the corner of her lips with his thumb, then suddenly raised an eyebrow and saw her staring at him with a pair of round, almond-shaped eyes, like a startled squirrel...
"woke up?"
This was the only person Jiang Ling'er encountered after the little poison creature who saved her... and who didn't require Netherfire.
Upon realizing this, I was immediately stunned.
"Don't worry, you won't die. However, the trumpet creeper can only temporarily stop the bleeding for at most six hours." Seeing the man staring at him in a daze, the young Taoist narrowed his eyes and muttered, "Could it be... that he wasn't fed enough?"
Thinking this, Pei Xuan took out a trumpet creeper from his pocket and put it in his mouth. He lifted Jiang Ling'er's chin with one hand and leaned down to kiss her lips. Just as Jiang Ling'er was staring at the handsome thin lips getting closer and closer, she suddenly widened her eyes and woke up with a start. She quickly covered her lips with her hands!
Pei Xuan's lips pressed against her palm, and their eyes met...
To her surprise, the young Taoist priest reacted even more strongly, abruptly standing up and covering his head with one hand: "Don't hit me!"
Jiang Ling'er: "..."
Jiang Ling'er remained silent for a while, still somewhat dazed, as she propped herself up from Pei Xuan's arms. Suddenly, she remembered something and abruptly raised her eyes: "Those people..." Then, her eyes brightened slightly, and she called out, "Third Master Ma, Master Lu, Sister Qin Xiangyu, and... Uncle Shui!"
The once swarming ox-headed and horse-faced demons had been mostly defeated by Master Ma, Master Lu, Qin Xiangyu, and Uncle Shui, and the rest, seeing the situation was not good, wisely ran away.
Jiang Ling'er later learned that Pei Xuan had come here tonight to avoid Qin Xiangyu. When Qin Xiangyu saw the two of them surrounded, she went to call Master Ma, Master Lu, and Uncle Shui to help them out. It was thanks to them that they were able to escape danger.
Seeing Pei Xuan standing unharmed beside her, Jiang Ling'er breathed a sigh of relief. The sweet fragrance of trumpet creeper still lingered on her tongue, but then an even bigger question exploded in her mind...
"I think you've been bewitched by the 'Heart-to-Heart Gu'."
Jiang Ling'er was taken aback upon hearing this, and turned her head to look at him: "The Heart-Connecting Gu?"
That sounds familiar; I feel like I've heard it somewhere before...
Seemingly sensing her thoughts, Pei Xuan said calmly, "The old poison master Gongye Chi was most renowned for his unparalleled Gu-making skills. Among them, the 'Heart-to-Heart Gu' was the most exquisite. The person afflicted by the Gu was at the beck and call of the Gu master, becoming one with him, and could not leave the Gu master's side for even a moment, unless there was the Gu master's blood essence, hair, or Gu worms that sucked his blood essence as a medium. I think your bamboo flute may contain Gu worms, otherwise, leaving even half a step would result in a sudden death."
Jiang Ling'er listened blankly, and in an instant, Huo Wu's aged and resentful voice rushed into her mind—
No wonder... no wonder targeting you from behind didn't work, it turns out it was the Heart-to-Heart Gu...
So it was... a love potion.
Her fingernails dug deep into her palms, but Jiang Ling'er felt no pain. The cold snow mixed with raindrops poured over her, making her feel as if she were drowning in the rain and snow, unable to breathe.
During the time Pei Xuan disappeared, he not only staked out Little Poison in the Ghost Market, but also repeatedly went back and forth to the Lingxiao Sect's library to browse through the classics, and he actually found him.
“The old poison master may have some connection with my Lingxiao ancestor. He comprehended the art of witchcraft from the sacred spring of my Great Lonely Mountain. The trumpet creeper flower nurtured by the sacred spring is not only excellent nourishment for the Gu worms he refines, but it can also make the Gu worms quiet and suppress them. That’s why the old poison master and the young poison master have come to my Lingxiao Sect to steal trumpet creeper flowers time and time again.” Pei Xuan glanced at Jiang Ling’er’s dazed look and frowned, adding, “Now, do you understand everything?”
It turns out that all that talk about fate being sealed and the "three fires" (a metaphor for a dramatic change in fortune) were just lies...
It turns out that she couldn't leave him because of the Love-Binding Gu.
So that's where the scent of trumpet creeper came from on him.
He brought her to Dagushan not to help her, but for his own sake...
He never thought of helping her.
It's fake, it's fake, it's all fake.
It turns out that the little poisoner... had been lying to her all along.
A sharp, shrill female voice suddenly broke Jiang Ling'er's thoughts. It was Qin Xiangyu, the tofu beauty, who, not content with killing the last Ox-Head and Horse-Face demons, was now going to kill Pei Xuan!
"You damned, stinking Taoist priest! I've been chasing you all night! Don't hide behind Anu, get out here!"
Jiang Ling'er thought Qin Xiangyu had gone mad and mistook Pei Xuan for a demon, so she quickly stopped Qin Xiangyu. But to her surprise, Qin Xiangyu suddenly burst into tears:
"I'll kill him! It's all his fault for cursing my husband to death with his cursed mouth. I'll tear his mouth apart!"
Pei Xuan, innocent, peeked out from behind Jiang Ling'er:
"Look at the people who come to me for fortune telling. Some hope their sons will become dragons, some want to curry favor with the powerful, and some think that finding a good husband will guarantee them a worry-free life... That widower is destined to die young. You can't rely on him at all, and he can't help you either. Most good things are not lasting; colorful clouds easily disperse, and glass is fragile. Qin Xiangyu, losing three husbands is not a big deal, falling to the bottom is not terrible. What's terrible is relying on others for everything—that's truly a lamentable situation!"
Pei Xuan spoke to Qin Xiangyu, but his eyes were glancing at Jiang Ling'er out of the corner of his eye.
Her phoenix eyes were cold and indifferent, showing neither sorrow nor joy.
Qin Xiangyu collapsed and sat on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, while Jiang Ling'er swayed in the cold wind and rain...
"girl!"
She refused Mr. Lu's help, her face pale like a ghost... and stumbled away in the rain.
Only when that slender figure was completely swallowed by the night and the raging wind and rain did the young Taoist withdraw his gaze, give a self-deprecating laugh with a blank expression.
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The author notes: ① This is from the poem by Shi Zongzhen. ② This is from Bai Juyi's poem "Jianjian Yin".
Ahhh, thank you everyone!!! Before, when the data was so bad and the writing was so unpopular, I always doubted myself, wondering how I dared to write martial arts novels, wondering if my writing was terrible… Thank you all for your support! I will never doubt myself again! This is a training ground for both Jiang Ling'er and me, and I will do my best to show everyone the martial arts world I envision. Thank you again, everyone! See you tomorrow night at 9 PM sharp! Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2024-03-17 19:35:55 and 2024-03-18 19:53:05!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Wind Waiting for Burial (45 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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