Free Web NovelAfter Dragon Tang met with Xia Lianqing, he had been busy arranging defenses around Daimu Courtyard.
Although the three hundred Long Xiang Army Armored Soldiers he led, plus the fifty-two strong men sent by Wang Lingpa, a major salt merchant, did not seem like a particularly large number.
At present, it might be even less than the number of students in one grade of a high school.
However, before this, Dragon Tang had commanded at most three squads, just over 150 Long Xiang Army soldiers. Now, with the number suddenly doubling, the things he needed to consider also increased severalfold.
To orderly arrange these 352 people around Daimu Courtyard, relying on existing buildings to secretly construct defensive fortifications, and to reasonably distribute the equipment forged by Yu the blacksmith to them, was indeed a major project.
By the time Dragon Tang had almost all matters, big and small, prepared, the time had shifted from noon to evening. Finally, he got a moment of leisure. He climbed alone to the highest point of Daimu Courtyard, sat on the ridge of the roof, letting his tired and aching legs hang naturally along the sloping roof, and gazed into the distance.
The blood-red sun slowly set amidst scattered, chaotic clouds, weaving half of the sky into a glowing brocade with its rose-colored slanting rays.
Beneath the firmament, countless small buildings with reddened roofs were tightly packed together, cut apart by streets. A few wisps of cooking smoke drifted sporadically among them. Surrounded by these small buildings, like stars circling the moon, the Lords Manor, resembling a gray behemoth, was entrenched in the center of the city pass.
Looking further out, past the towering, grim city walls, one could vaguely see undulating golden-yellow sand dunes, shimmering with flickering light, like ripples on a lake stirred by the wind.
“What a good place!” Dragon Tang murmured softly.
It had been more than six years since he came to Yumen Pass with his elder brother during his foreign tutelage. The world said the frontier was poor, but he particularly liked it here; to be precise, he loved all magnificent mountains and rivers.
Sometimes he would think that if he hadn't been born into the Long family, if he wasn't the Nangling Commander's younger brother, he would have long since set off to visit famous mountains and great rivers.
What a pity... what a pity....
As he pondered, Dragon Tang suddenly felt his consciousness waver, as if he were drunk and about to fall into a deep sleep.
When he steadied himself and his consciousness became clear again, he suddenly heard a soft, sweet voice float into his ears, as if it had completely seen through his thoughts.`
“It seems you really like this place, Yumen Pass?”
Lu Yibei, who had appeared behind Dragon Tang at some unknown time, quietly withdrew the pale tendrils she had extended by borrowing Mengmeng's ability. Looking at Dragon Tang's back, she gently shook her head.
After using the dream-entering ability to peek into Dragon Tang's memories, she suddenly felt that she had been overthinking things.
This guy was as easy to understand as he appeared on the surface, completely without any schemes.~
He was as simple as a boy experiencing his first crush, whose burning gaze he couldn't suppress when he accidentally met the girl he secretly liked from the next class in the hallway during recess.
“Of course!” Dragon Tang replied subconsciously upon hearing the question.
“Then, to protect Yumen Pass, are you willing to do anything?”
The voice sounded again, as if it had a strange magic, inducing Dragon Tang to answer. He paused, frowned, and looked in the direction the voice came from, seeing the young girl who had appeared behind him at some unknown time.~
After sizing up the girl behind him, Dragon Tang rolled his eyes and said with a stern face, “Jian Province Shen Baiwei, right? I know you!”
“Old Qin told me about you instigating that woman Xia Lianqing to abandon the search for enemies who infiltrated the city. I can't control whether that woman listens to you; that's her business. But don't even think about spreading your deceptive words here!”
Clearly, Dragon Tang held considerable hostility towards “Shen Baiwei.”
However, this couldn't be entirely blamed on him. In his eyes, “Shen Baiwei” was younger than him, came from an unknown background, and even proposed the terrible idea of abandoning the search...
How could a plan proposed by such a person be effective?
He couldn't control Xia Lianqing now; he only hoped that Xia Lianqing wouldn't cause irreparable consequences by foolishly following “Shen Baiwei” and delaying important matters.
After waiting for a moment and seeing that “Shen Baiwei” was unmoved by his words, Dragon Tang frowned, racked his brain for a long time, and finally managed to blurt out, “Hurry up and leave, ugly monster! Just looking at you annoys me!”
This was already the most vicious language he could think of.
Upon hearing this, Lu Yibei was slightly taken aback and raised a finger to point at her nose.
Does this young man have something wrong with his eyesight?
In this world, someone actually thinks a Witch Breed looks ugly? Lu Yibei thought.
Although she didn't particularly like her transformed urban legend appearance, generally speaking, with a few rare exceptions, a Witch Breed could not be ugly. freёwebnovel.com
“Of course I'm talking about you!” Dragon Tang gritted his teeth and said fiercely, “You're like a skinny monkey, with a small butt, clearly not good for bearing children. You definitely won't find a good husband in the future!”
Lu Yibei, “...” Is that all? You can't even get to the point with your personal attacks? I thought you could say something more impressive, but it's just like a wild child spitting at someone when they can't win a fight.
As an adult, Lu Yibei naturally disdained “spitting” back at Dragon Tang.
Stubborn children like him care about their pride the most.
So, a quick “Face-Splitting Uppercut” would do the trick.
“In the eighth year of Dazhong, by Dongting Lake, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month during the Lantern Festival, Dragon Tang lingered among the lanterns, unknowingly getting separated from his family. Suddenly, he heard a shout from behind, ‘Who wants to eat Ma Bing?’ He went happily...”
“Shut up!” Dragon Tang's face turned red as he interrupted halfway, “You, how do you know this? Who told you? Was it that woman Xia Lianqing?”
He knew “Shen Baiwei” was talking about the time he accidentally got separated at the Lantern Festival when he was little, but he hadn't realized that when he heard someone ask “Who wants to eat Ma Bing?”, he followed them and ate three portions in one go, then was stared at like a monster by a family of seven he didn't know at all.
But this was almost ten years ago. If no one told her, how could “Shen Baiwei” know?
The only person he could think of who would tell “Shen Baiwei” about this was Xia Lianqing, and Xia Lianqing most likely heard it from his brother.
Lu Yibei, whose speech was interrupted by Dragon Tang, expressionlessly observed him for a few seconds before continuing, “You don't want to hear this? Alright! Then I'll switch to something else.”
“On the third day of the eighth month in the seventh year of Dazhong, Dragon Tang went out for a morning stroll and encountered a vicious dog...”
“Wait! Don't say it!”
This time, Lu Yibei had barely started when Dragon Tang, his face ashen, cut her off with lightning speed.
This time, she was about to talk about how, when he was little, he went out to play alone and was chased by a dog half his height all the way into a dead-end alley. In desperation, he knelt down and adopted the big yellow dog as his brother, gradually becoming playmates. Then, when he learned the big yellow dog had frozen to death in the deep winter the following spring, he cried for three days at home.
Upon realizing that “Shen Baiwei” knew about this, he suddenly felt something was wrong because no one could have told “Shen Baiwei” about this.
Not «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» even his brother!
This wasn't just his own embarrassing secret; it was also his brother's.
After all, the content of his three days of wailing basically never deviated from the central theme of “Brother, you died so tragically!” This made the entire family believe that Dragon Xiang had died in battle on the battlefield, and even half a year later, when Dragon Xiang returned home for a visit, some unaware servants thought they had seen a ghost.
This “Shen Baiwei” is truly sinister!
If I don't go along with her, and she tells these things to the brothers of the Long Xiang Army, won't I lose all my prestige?
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How will I present myself in the future?
Dragon Tang thought, then glared at “Shen Baiwei” and said, “What exactly do you want me to do? Just say it directly, stop talking about all that nonsense.”
“Oh, it's nothing big.” Lu Yibei said lightly, “Didn't I just ask you if you'd do anything to protect Yumen Pass?”
“Of course!” Dragon Tang said.
Lu Yibei nodded, twirling a strand of hair at her temple with her finger, and asked expressionlessly, “Then, for you to disguise yourself as Xia Lianqing and lure the enemies who infiltrated the city...”
“No!” Dragon Tang refused without hesitation.
Lu Yibei frowned, tilted her head, stared at Dragon Tang for two seconds, and said expressionlessly, “Perhaps you should think about it again?”
“No need to think. I am a dignified seven-foot man...”
“Alright, then I'll have to talk about the messy things you did when you first joined the Long Xiang Army Camp to avoid training. Oh, and I'll tell your subordinates too.”
“...” Dragon Tang gaped at “Shen Baiwei,” hesitated for a moment, and ultimately didn't say the latter half of his sentence. Instead, he changed the subject, “A true man knows when to yield and when to stand firm!”
————
Five minutes later.
Daimu Courtyard, Xia Lianqing's room.
Watching Dragon Tang, after being tidied up by “Shen Baiwei,” perfectly transform into “another” herself, Xia Lianqing couldn't help but exclaim, “Tsk tsk, seeing Dragon Commandant, I almost felt like I was looking in a mirror. Senior Shen's methods are truly divine!”
“Just so-so!” Lu Yibei waved her hand, “It's not mainly because my skill is good; it's mainly because young master Dragon Tang has a good figure, naturally slender waist and small butt, not good for bearing children.”
Dragon Tang's eyes widened as he looked over, letting out a cold snort, “Hmph! I am a grown man with a big... Ouch!”
Before he could finish speaking, Lu Yibei smacked him on the back of the head.
“What did I just tell you? If you go out like this, you'll be exposed, do you know that? Come on, practice again exactly as I told you!”
Upon hearing this, Dragon Tang's face instantly flushed red. After a long pause, he said in a strained voice, “Sister, don't always chew on gossip. It wouldn't be good if it broke one day.”
Looking at Dragon Tang's appearance, which was three parts delicate and seven parts resentful, Lu Yibei silently gave a thumbs-up.
He learned too quickly; he's teachable!
She could now suddenly understand Chatterbox Girl's psychology when she urged her to get used to her urban legend form as soon as possible.
This feeling of “forcing someone into prostitution” was truly ♦ awesome!
While Lu Yibei was secretly enjoying herself, Xia Lianqing glanced out the window. Seeing that the sky was gradually darkening, she also put away her teasing thoughts about Dragon Tang and said seriously, “The time mentioned in the message is almost here. Shouldn't we get going?”
“Mm, let's start then!” Lu Yibei nodded.
————
On the other side.
To find an opportunity to approach the Disaster alone, Shen Baiwei had been feigning sleep on the bed. Whether Nanling Yaohua used silver needles to prick her acupoints or Lord Huaiyuan attacked her face with an iron fist, she remained motionless.
The art of feigning death, she had already mastered it perfectly back at Tethys Laboratory to escape torture, even managing to evade some of the Eclipse Society's professional detection equipment.
For people like Nanling Yaohua and Lord Huaiyuan, who lacked professional skills, unless they genuinely intended to kill her, they would never be able to see through her act.
So, after several attempts, seeing that Shen Baiwei truly seemed to be in a deep, unconscious sleep, the two lost patience and interest. They set up a simple sealing Spell and left her alone in the room.
Time slowly passed. The already dim sky in Yumen Pass became even darker and deeper. Inside the room, the only faint light was quickly swallowed by the darkness.
Lying on the bed, Shen Baiwei could initially hear occasional exchanges between Nanling Yaohua and Lord Huaiyuan from outside the room, but as time went on, all she could hear were the screams of unlucky individuals outside the window, attacked by the Shaman King or local urban legend.
But even at this point, she showed no intention of moving. Instead, she continuously used her Spiritual Energy perception to monitor the Spiritual Energy fluctuations of Nanling Yaohua and Lord Huaiyuan.
She was extremely patient!
Would waiting for those two to rest be more painful than feigning death for three days and three nights in the “waste material warehouse” full of corpses at Tethys Laboratory?
No way!
This level of waiting was as easy as pretending to sleep in bed as a child, waiting for parents to fall asleep, then getting up to play games, compared to those three days and three nights.
Finally, after approximately three hours, the Spiritual Energy fluctuations of Nanling Yaohua and Lord Huaiyuan, as detected by Shen Baiwei's Spiritual Energy perception, gradually stabilized.
This meant they had entered a state of rest.
Although they were both high-level Psychic, the possibility of them sleeping so deeply that they couldn't be roused was low, but once they entered a resting state, their perception of their surroundings would be reduced to some extent.
Seeing that the time was ripe, Shen Baiwei suppressed her Spiritual Energy fluctuations, carefully climbed out of bed, and stood still. While slowly moving her stiff limbs, she continued to monitor the movements of Nanling Yaohua and Lord Huaiyuan.
A moment later, seeing that Nanling Yaohua and Lord Huaiyuan had not noticed, and having stretched her muscles and bones, she quietly left her room and headed towards the Disaster's room.
Silently, like a shadow spreading with the night.
Then...
When she pushed open the door to the Disaster's room, she nearly screamed in fright and quickly covered her mouth with both hands.
Under the deep night, the not-so-spacious room was crowded with figures. free𝑤ebnovel.com
A “female ghost” with a purplish face and blood-stained clothes, a male ghost with a twisted body, and even more terrifying urban legend clad in tattered black armor, holding weapons, with eerie green flames flickering in their eye sockets.
At a glance, a dozen or twenty figures were all guarding the Disaster's bedside, as if they were a group of visiting relatives and friends.
Not good, it's a trap! Shen Baiwei's heart rate suddenly accelerated.
Immediately after, she took a few deep breaths to force herself to calm down, then bowed slightly and whispered, “Excuse me, I apologize for the disturbance. I'll leave now.”
Having said that, she turned around expressionlessly and started to slip away. The next moment, her eyes widened, and her legs stiffened.
Several cold arms wrapped in black armor silently reached out from behind her, skillfully grabbing her hands, feet, and torso, covering her mouth and nose, and forcibly dragging her into the room.
Then.
The door closed softly...
