Free Web NovelRealizing that the man before her might be the legendary Nanling Prince Longxiang, Lu Yibei instinctively touched the Lingtai Pure Karma in her embrace.
The token she had found in the dilapidated small temple was stored within the Lingtai Pure Karma.
She had previously shown the token to Professor Ma, who analyzed that it was not just a token, but also a credential similar to a Dan Shu Tie Qi, which was rumored to be a death-exemption gold medal.
Although having a Dan Shu Tie Qi did not truly mean "death exemption," otherwise those nobles and favored officials in history who held Dan Shu Tie Qi would not have died, it still gave the Nanling Commander some capital to "act arrogantly due to favor."
Even if the Emperor was enraged by his killing of the envoy sent, as long as he came up with a reasonable excuse, he could probably muddle through, at least ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) avoiding overt punishment.
This reminded Lu Yibei of a time when she disassembled a collectible card pack that her Old Dad treasured as a financial product and used it to play "pat-a-cake." Her Old Dad took out his belt to whip her, but she pulled out a perfect score exam paper from her final exams, thus escaping overt punishment. free𝑤ebnovel.com
Of course, she still couldn't escape covert punishment. After seeing that perfect score exam paper, her Old Dad forced a smile, praised her for her learning talent, and then immediately signed her up for three summer tutoring classes. It was only after attending tutoring classes for more than a week straight that she realized it might be a form of punishment.
...
After the woman finished applying medicine to the man's wounds, bandaged them with clean cotton cloth, and helped him put on his clothes, she spoke again, "No matter what, your actions were still too impulsive."
"Even if the Saint doesn't punish you, you still need to consider your wife and children far away in Chang'an, and your family in Xiaoxiang... they will inevitably be implicated."
Hearing this, the man turned around, gazed at the woman for a few seconds, nodded, and said somewhat perfunctorily, "Mm, got it." Then he stood up.
"There are still some matters to attend to in the camp, so I'll leave first. I won't have time to come over for a while. Take care of yourself."
He paused, as if feeling it necessary to tell the woman his destination, and added, "It's the beginning of winter in another ten days, and our provisions are a bit tight. I plan to take some men to help the Shaman King acquire some cattle, sheep, and fine wine."
"This..." The woman's expression changed, and she said in surprise, "Isn't Holy Monk Hongbian here? Why must General take such a risk?"
Hearing the woman mention Hong Bian Monk, the man's face darkened, and he frowned, "Some things are inconvenient to explain to you, but what I can tell you is that the provisions he provided... are problematic! It's fine to eat them once or twice in an emergency, but it's definitely not a long-term solution."
"Problematic?" The woman was stunned, her face full of disbelief, "How could that be? Holy Monk has been helping everyone since he arrived at Yumen Pass! How could he harm everyone?"
"Hmm..." The man mused for a moment, explaining somewhat perfunctorily, "He might also have some unspeakable difficulties, and was forced to do it!"
Hearing this, Lu Yibei pondered their conversation and had a rough guess.
The man said he was going to "acquire" from the Shaman King. The two sides were originally hostile forces, fighting to the death, so how could he acquire anything? So he must be going to rob.
From the woman's perspective, robbing would definitely involve fighting the Huihe Tribe under the Shaman King with real swords and spears. This action was already dangerous, and the man was currently severely wounded, which made it even more perilous, potentially leading to his demise.
However, inside Yumen Pass, there was the powerful Hong Bian Monk who could conjure food and wine out of thin air, so the man didn't need to take such a risk.
But food and wine conjured out of thin air could almost certainly be related to some kind of authority...
Food produced through authority would more or less have residual Spiritual Energy fluctuations, and residual Spiritual Energy fluctuations meant the presence of night erosion.
Eating too much of such food would make it hard not to turn into a urban legend! Lu Yibei thought.
She had personally seen okin rod turn anything it touched into gold, and she was even in a state of gold poisoning caused by okin rod, her whole body gleaming with metallic luster, like a bronze man escaped from Shaolin Temple. Without the Zhu Yan Gai (Rosy Cheeks Change) Curse Solidification Mask to change her appearance, she couldn't meet anyone.
She also heard Fang Ji's low incantation of the authority description when opening the Yumen Pass city gate, which was about gold, fine wine, and swords. Thinking carefully, it probably corresponded to a few other items similar to okin rod.
And it was recorded in the Night Watch archives that Hong Bian Monk Hong Bian was suspected of having close contact with the predecessor of the Miracle Order—Zoroastrianism. This meant that the supplies he provided to the man and to Yumen Pass were mostly created using things similar to okin rod.
Dare to casually eat food given by the Miracle Order?
Would you drink the red tea brewed by the Disaster?
The kind that makes you lose your kidneys after drinking...
The man, suspected to be the Nanling Commander, most likely realized that eating too much of the grain provided by Hong Bian Monk would cause problems, which is why he risked danger to plunder the Huihe Tribe and try to solve the problem of material shortages. However, he couldn't tell this to the woman.
After all, judging from the woman's reaction, Hong Bian Monk seemed to have a good reputation in the Yumen Pass area...
Perhaps he wanted to strengthen his authority by collecting faith and advancing?
Therefore, even if the man discovered that Hong Bian Monk had a problem, no one would believe him without concrete evidence.
"..."
No, even with concrete evidence, some people wouldn't believe the man.
It's like some people are immersed in the world they've created for themselves and don't believe that "God is a fabrication."
They don't have to do anything themselves, relying on "miracles" created by others to live a life where everything is provided. Who wouldn't like that? Even if it requires some not-so-obvious cost... Lu Yibei thought.
After a moment of thought, when she came back to her senses, the man, suspected to be the Nanling Commander, had already left. After seeing him off, the woman extinguished most of the lamps in the room, leaving only one candle lamp.
Under the dim yellow light of the candle, the woman leaned alone by the window, gazing into the distance, lost in thought.
Suddenly, only she and the woman were left in the room. Thinking of the embroidered shoes hanging overhead that she had seen in the mirror earlier, Lu Yibei frowned.
Being in the same room with a "cat demon" in the middle of the night, although she had experienced such things before, it still gave her the creeps.
It wasn't that she was worried about the "cat demon" doing anything to her. It was just that this kind of thing was like being locked in a room with a big gray rat. Even if she knew a rat couldn't bite a person to death and could be kicked away with one foot, she would still feel uneasy.
In short, when it came to urban legend, she was never afraid when she should be, but always afraid when she shouldn't be, just like some people always want to sleep except when they're supposed to be sleeping.
A living person can't be suffocated by urine. If you're uncomfortable in one place, just move to another.
Lu Yibei felt she should leave and let the "cat demon" Miss enjoy her late-night emo time. She would go back to the next room to see if the man and woman pressing on the girl were done. If not, she would go downstairs and continue causing trouble.
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Just then, a gust of strong wind suddenly blew in from outside the window, causing the bead curtain in the room to clink softly. The candle lamp in the woman's hand suddenly extinguished, plunging the entire room into darkness.
With her extraordinary eyesight, Lu Yibei clearly saw a black shadow flying in from outside the window, landing behind the woman, and revealing its figure.
The newcomer was dressed in a black close-fitting outfit. From the curves of her body, she seemed to be a woman. She wore a bamboo hat with a black veil hanging down, covering her face. Beneath the black veil, her eyes glowed with a faint green light, like a nocturnal animal's.
The wind stopped. The woman turned around, looked at the person in black who had appeared behind her, and her face darkened, "Why are you here? Aren't you afraid of being captured by the Long Xiang Army?"
"Heh!" The person in black sneered, "Afraid, of course I'm afraid! But I'm more afraid that Sister you've truly fallen for that man surnamed Long and forgotten why you're here."
"..." The woman was silent for a few seconds, then took two steps forward and lowered her voice, "Did Lord Xiangxiong send you, or was this your own idea? I clearly sent out all the intelligence I knew..."
Lu Yibei followed the woman's steps, crept up to the two, and slyly pressed her ear within ten centimeters of them to eavesdrop. Upon hearing the woman's words, her pupils trembled slightly.
She had checked the Yumen Pass related archives on the Night Watch intranet a long time ago and clearly remembered that the high-level urban legend behind the Tubo people repelled by the Nanling Commander was called "Xiangxiong Siba Ben."
"..."
Good heavens! You guard against everything, but it's hard to guard against the person next to you. I can't believe you're also a double agent?
Since she was a pawn placed by Xiangxiong Siba Ben, she should have deeply resented Hong Bian Monk, who helped the Nanling Commander repel the Tubo people. You acted so well just now.
As Lu Yibei was thinking, the person in black spoke again, interrupting her thoughts.
"I came on my own," said the person in black. "Sister, I hope you'll be clear-headed. Although you report every move of that man surnamed Long to Lord Xiangxiong, do you think Lord Xiangxiong won't notice that you deliberately wait until he starts acting to report, helping him delay time?"
"Once or twice, I could explain it by saying that Yumen Pass was heavily guarded and it was impossible to transmit the message immediately. But after too many times, Lord Xiangxiong and Shaman King have already started to be dissatisfied with you."
Upon hearing this, the woman looked hesitant, tried to speak several times, then lowered her head.
"If this continues, they'll sooner or later want to replace you. Wake up, you and that man surnamed Long won't have a future. He has a wife and children in Chang'an, and he's just playing along with you."
Seeing the woman's indecisive look, the person in black clearly became anxious, and her voice rose a few octaves.
"Sister, he must have told you something again just now, right? Tell me, and I'll immediately take the news out to make amends. Perhaps the two Lords will still consider your past loyalty and give you a break."
Hearing this, Lu Yibei looked at the "cat demon" Miss, then at the person in black, crossed her arms over her chest, and pouted.
Isn't it just helping the Nanling Commander delay for a bit?
That's already pretty good. If it were me, if I could help the person I liked, I would have sent out false intelligence long ago...
I'd make sure they got screwed! Lu Yibei thought to herself.
As she was pondering, the person in black spoke again, changing her strategy of persuasion, "Sister, perhaps you don't know, but a few days ago, the two Lords already sent envoys to Chang'an. Perhaps peace talks will begin soon."
"So, even if you report that man surnamed Long's movements to the two Lords now, the Lords won't take his life. At most, they'll make him suffer some physical pain and win a few battles, so they'll have more leverage when it's time for peace talks."
Hearing the person in black say this, the woman was clearly swayed, her eyes trembling as she looked up, "Really? Are they really going to have peace talks?"
"I'm your own Sister, would I lie to you?" The person in black patted her chest and said, "I heard Lord Xiangxiong say it with my own ears!"
"Alright..." As if finally making up her mind, the woman bit her lip and said earnestly, "Go back and report to Lord Xiangxiong that General will leave the pass tomorrow to cause trouble for the various tribes and also solve the winter provisions problem at Yumen Pass. I don't know the exact departure time, so tell them to prepare early."
Oh no, trouble's coming, the double agent is going to mess things up! Lu Yibei's heart skipped a beat, and she turned to look at the "cat demon" Miss, frowning.
A biological sister can usually be trusted, but her information was only heard second-hand. She wasn't the executor, so how could she confirm its authenticity?
Hearing it with your own ears makes it true? I also said with my own mouth that I, Gu Qianqian, wanted to eat Little Freak!
All's fair in war. What if Xiangxiong deliberately said it for her to hear?
This is troublesome now. Indeed, a hero finds it hard to overcome a beauty. I wonder if I can squeeze out a few pounds of calamity water from this beauty... Lu Yibei thought worriedly.
Unlike the worried Lu Yibei, the person in black was clearly relieved after hearing the woman's words, as if she had seen a family member who had gone astray finally turn over a new leaf. She said excitedly, "That's right! I'll go back and report this now, and then I'll make sure Sister gets proper credit!"
With that, she flashed out the window, turning into a black wind once more, and flew into the distance.
She doesn't look strong!
She can actually fly?
Lu Yibei watched the person in black's departing figure with a hint of resentment in her eyes.
Immediately after, as the person in black disappeared from her sight, a warmth quietly rose in her eyes, then became scalding hot.
The objects before her began to blur, and the flow of time accelerated. Outside the window, the moon set and the sun rose, the sky changed colors several times, but the woman remained leaning by the window, gazing into the distance, as if waiting for something, like she had turned to stone.
After an unknown period, the room door suddenly opened, and a young man in tattered armor, covered in blood, stumbled into the room, came to the woman's side, and before he could speak, collapsed to the ground.
"Dragon Tang, what, what happened to you? How did you get so hurt? Where's General? Is he okay?" The woman said, her expression panicked, stepping forward to help the young man up.
"Get away! I have a message from him for you." The young man pushed her hand away, then sat up, staring at the woman with bloodshot eyes, his cracked, pale lips trembling, and said with a weak breath, "He told you to run, and... he said he doesn't blame you."
As if understanding the meaning of the young man's words, the woman's eyes reddened, her cherry lips parted slightly, but the words caught in her throat, unable to be spoken.
"Don't be happy too soon! All of us, all five thousand Long Xiang Army soldiers, will blame you. Even if we die and become ghosts, we will continue to curse you to a terrible end!"
As the young man's voice fell, the scene before Lu Yibei's eyes suddenly plunged into darkness. After waiting for a few seconds, when her vision became clear again, she only saw the woman hanging a three-foot white silk strip from the beam...
