Chapter 456 Beauty
I turned my head three times, that’s enough, if I turn my head back again I won’t be cool anymore.
Shan Ji said this in his heart, then quickly organized his thoughts and began to plan a plan to sneak into the palace and kill Nan Lijun.
He drove the horse so high that its four legs were almost off the ground, and he traveled day and night without stopping. He even drank water and ate bread on horseback. Except for urinating, he almost never stopped the horse.
By the fourth day, both the man and the horse were extremely exhausted. Shan Ji's eyelids were drooping, and the horse under him was panting like a bellows, almost suffocating.
After thinking about it, Shan Ji decided to find a place to rest for two hours before continuing. He looked up and saw an abandoned city not far ahead.
He led his horse over and took a look. On the dilapidated city gate was still hanging an old stone plaque with three large characters "Beauty Pass" written on it.
He searched the city thoroughly inside and outside, but found no one anywhere, not even a beggar. It was a safe and good place to rest.
But according to the cautious habit of the master, Shan Ji did not choose to rest in the house. Instead, he found a big tree with lush branches and leaves, hid in the tree canopy, and used the branches and leaves to cover his body.
He lay on a thick branch and listened attentively for a long time. When he felt that there was no unusual movement around him, he slowly relaxed and prepared to take a nap.
However, just after his eyelids closed for a while, the sound of hurried horse hooves woke him up from his half-sleep.
A familiar figure approached from afar, galloping on horseback, looking around and shouting anxiously:
“Master—Master—”
Hearing that it was Qing Yuan's voice, Shan Ji's heart sank, and he subconsciously thought that something had happened to Huo Luyu!
He somersaulted to his feet, jumped down from the tree and rushed to meet it, but he still kept his vigilance instinct in mind. He stopped a few dozen feet away, squinting his eyes to look at Qing Yuan carefully.
Seeing Qing Yuan with her clothes torn and covered in blood, falling off her horse and running towards him, Shan Ji took a step back calmly.
It was not until Qing Yuan knelt before him and took out the blood-stained hairpin that he had bought specifically for Huo Luyu's self-defense that he completely let down his guard and asked in surprise:
"What happened?"
Qing Yuan held the obvious and horrifying knife wound on her body, spat out a mouthful of blood, her forehead covered in cold sweat, her face pale, and she cried:
"Master, as soon as you left, a group of men in military uniforms rushed into the Taoist temple. They were all the imperial guards from the palace! I fought desperately, but they were too numerous. In the end... they kidnapped Master's wife!"
Shan Ji's scalp tingled and he felt furious. He cursed in his heart, "The dog emperor is smart. He probably guessed that he would join the capital to help Yun Chen and Huo Gan Nian, which would be disadvantageous to her, but he took action before him!"
"Which direction did they go? Did they take the same route to Kyoto as me?"
"Yes! They are so many and so slow! I took a long detour to catch up with you. Master, what should we do?"
"What should we do? Humph!" Shan Ji sneered, took out various hidden weapons and daggers from his body, and gave them all to Qing Yuan. He also took out Wuyi Xuewei's secret healing medicine and gave it to Qing Yuan to take.
He only took his usual short knife and called out to Qing Yuan:
"Let's go, turn around, and outflank those bastards and catch them off guard!"
After saying that, Shan Ji and Qing Yuan jumped on their horses one after another and galloped back.
But after running for a distance, Shan Ji suddenly realized that something was wrong.
According to Qing Yuan's life experience, she has been lonely since childhood and depends on her mother for survival.
He had never been to Kyoto, nor had he been to the palace to see the imperial guards. How could he recognize the crowd rushing into the Taoist temple as imperial guards from their uniforms?
Perhaps it was because he had been traveling day and night for too long and his body was too tired. Shan Ji was confused for a moment but did not react. He paused with the reins in his hand, and the horse also paused.
In just a moment, Qing Yuan, who was riding a horse closely behind him, suddenly jumped up from the horse's back at lightning speed, pounced on him with a sharp skill that Shan Ji had never seen before, and stabbed Shan Ji in the chest with a knife.
Shan Ji was knocked off his horse and rolled several times in the mud before he stopped.
He forced himself to stand up, trying to circulate his Qi to climb up, but he felt excruciating pain in his blood vessels, his vision was blurry, and he couldn't move at all.
"It's useless. Stop struggling. The poison on the tip of the knife is made from crabapple petals and platycodon roots that I have been collecting for over a year. I also went to your favorite lonely grave at the foot of the mountain and grabbed a handful of Ganoderma lucidum and put it there to counteract the Qi you cultivate."
Qing Yuan has changed from the immature, arrogant and youthful appearance she had over the past year.
He smiled like a sinister and experienced weasel, no longer trying to hide his excellent martial arts skills. He slowly walked up to Shan Ji with a fake smile:
"The Emperor said to give her regards to you, Sect Leader Shan Ji."
Shan Ji stared at Qing Yuan's face, and understood everything in his heart:
Qing Yuan is a killer that Nan Lijun had planted by his side early on. After lying dormant for more than a year, he willingly played the role of a young apprentice with personality, talent, and quite a bit of Shan Ji's former style. He swept the floor, cleaned the toilet, ran errands, and learned some martial arts moves that he had already memorized, just to wait for an opportunity that would absolutely succeed.
Qing Yuan is very smart. He knows that Shan Ji is a very cautious person who rarely lets his guard down.
He patiently spent more than a year to gain Shan Ji's trust, and waited patiently for Nan Lijun to throw out the bait of "Yun Chen".
When Shan Ji was most tired from traveling, worried about Yun Chen and most relaxed.
At this time, he deliberately made himself look covered with scars, and used Huo Luyu as the final critical blow to break through Shan Ji's defense line.
With such long-term planning and such carefulness, it would be hard not to succeed.
Shan Ji was unwilling to be defeated by such a villain.
But even though we are defeated, it is impossible to surrender and beg for mercy.
Even in this near-death situation, Shan Ji still smiled evilly and snorted contemptuously:
"You acted well, you beast, but you don't go on stage to be an actor, cough cough... What a pity..."
Shan Ji's speech became increasingly strained, and he began to feel the poison seeping deeply into his veins.
Qing Yuan shook her head indifferently, "I take this as a compliment!" Then she pulled out the hairpin from Shan Ji's arms, who was completely unable to resist.
He placed the tip of the hairpin against Shan Ji's heart, pushing it deeper and deeper, deliberately causing him great pain, while saying in a joking tone:
"Shan Ji, ah Shan Ji, you are not fit to be the leader, seriously. No matter how powerful you are, how can you challenge the emperor? You even dared to threaten to kill the emperor at Xiang Xiao Cliff. Do you really think a woman who can survive the purgatory of the Luojiang Royal Court can be frightened by you? To tell you the truth, she has never forgotten the hatred of you insulting and even trying to kill her for all these years."
The sharp long shaft of the hairpin completely penetrated Shan Ji's chest. Facing that still unyielding gaze, Qing Yuan smiled and said:
"Rest assured, Wuyi Blood Guard has me. As your last disciple, and with the Emperor's support, I will carry forward Wuyi Blood Guard. As for the 'Qi' you've always wanted to teach me, I will also ask other Wuyi Blood Guard masters for information. Don't worry—"
After saying that, Qing Yuan pressed the gem on the hairpin hard, and the sharp blade suddenly exploded in Shan Ji's chest.
Shan Ji's entire body trembled, and he spat out a large mouthful of black blood, then slowly fell to the ground...
Half an hour later.
Qing Yuan rode a horse, carrying Shan Ji's body, and came to a nearby city.
When passing by a huge puddle of rotten fish and shrimp, he threw Shan Ji's body into it.
Watching the red-dressed woman sink completely into the foul-smelling water little by little, with only two bubbles floating before there was no more movement, Qing Yuan performed a moment of silence in a comical manner, then whistled and slowly left.
At the same time, on the other side, in Tiaoyunlu in Guangyuan City, Huo Luyu woke up from a nightmare.
She rubbed her aching head and found that the hairpin with the sharp blade was gone.
Recalling what happened before she fell asleep, she drank a cup of tea handed to her by Qing Yuan, and then she felt very sleepy. She has been sleeping until now and she doesn't know how long it has been.
She endured the pain in her back, stood up and looked around, wanting to find Qing Yuan to ask, but she found that all of Qing Yuan's things in the side room were gone.
She had a bad premonition in her heart and ran hurriedly to the yard. It was quiet and empty everywhere. The winter wind was howling and bringing a chill that made her shiver.
Suddenly, she noticed that there seemed to be a vague blood-red figure next to the most prosperous crabapple tree on the wall.
She rubbed her eyes, but before she could see clearly, a cold wind suddenly blew, raising dust that blinded her eyes.
When she opened her eyes again, the wind blew, the figures disappeared, and the crabapple flowers fell.
The crabapple tree, which had been flourishing and beautiful just now, became wilted in an instant, and even the unopened buds all fell to the ground.
Huo Luyu stared blankly at the bare branches, and a huge nameless sadness came over her heart. She was so painful that she covered her chest and curled up.
She didn't know what was wrong with her, she just looked at the high wall through the tears that were pouring down, and she knew inexplicably -
From now on, that fiery figure in red will never appear again.
The man who smiled and said, "I will give this slave of gratitude to you," may... never come back.
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