Murong Xiao was captured by a traitor from the South Border?!
Little Li was lost in deep thought.
No, how could Brother Murong even be in Yunzhou? And what a coincidence to run into a traitor.
From a certain twisted perspective, that’s actually somewhat lucky.
“Chang Bolong should’ve just run away; why drag Murong Xiao into this? Isn’t that just adding baggage?”
Qian Bufan sighed, feeling mentally exhausted.
The group was supposed to be heading back to Ziyang Mansion, but instead, they stumbled across this mess.
“We searched for ages with the external affairs clerk from Sword City, yet we found no trace of the enemy.”
“And I don’t even know if that punk Murong Xiao is still alive…”
Xue Jing furrowed his brow.
“Specialized skills have their limits; tracking isn’t really a swordsman’s forte.”
Li Mo pondered for a moment and analyzed:
“Chang Bolong is being hunted by the officials, and he’s dragging along Brother Murong, which indicates he has ulterior motives, such as…”
Shang Wu’s eyes widened:
“Such as he’s fond of dashing, handsome young lads? You better be careful, precious disciple!”
Li Mo: “……”
Setting aside the ridiculous speculation from his master, he still loved hearing it.
Seeing his beautiful master become serious, Li Mo pulled out a bottle of aged liquor and placed it in her hand:
“I don’t rule out that possibility.”
Shang Wu hmphed, indicating that as long as she was there, she would definitely protect her precious disciple.
Only then did Li Mo continue:
“But let’s get back to the point.”
“We shouldn’t worry too much about Brother Murong’s safety; our primary goal now is to locate him.”
Everyone nodded; Li Shidi’s analysis was quite reasonable.
When Little Li really put his mind to it, he was reliable, and everyone suddenly felt a sense of backbone.
Ying Bing slightly tilted her head, her gaze reflecting the image of the young man animatedly talking.
She gently poured a cup of tea and placed it quietly beside him.
Qian Bufan said, “Let the swordsmen from Sword City take action. They definitely won’t hold back, but we don’t even have Chang Bolong’s whereabouts right now.”
Swordsmen are strong, love fancy clothes and horses, and show off their prowess in public.
But when it comes to gathering information or tracking, they look down on it.
You expect them to crouch in gutters like assassins, disguised as beggars to scrounge up intel?
Sword City, while willing to provide strong support, only does so when it involves fighting.
“Yunzhou isn’t like Ziyang Mansion; we can’t cause a ruckus.”
Xue Jing nodded.
“Actually, the solution is right in front of us.”
Li Mo suddenly smiled and said.
Everyone was taken aback.
He stepped out onto the street and shouted loudly:
“Brothers, we’ve got new work!”
In an instant, the once lively long street fell silent.
Countless vendors, street performers, all stopped their actions.
Even the old man playing chess and the hobbled beggar got up and lined up at the tavern entrance.
“Master Li, what are your orders?”
“Who do you want dead? Just give a signal!”
“How do you want them dead? Shall we chop them fined?”
The atmosphere at the entrance of the tavern became overwhelmingly enthusiastic. The assassins were brimming with motivation and ambition for their performance.
Now that’s what I call a hardworking bunch, trying to get rich through diligence!
“Ahem, let me say a few simple words.”
“Recently, I pulled back my bounty, but I haven’t rescinded the reward yet, so…”
Watching Li Mo stand in front of a group of assassins lecturing them,
The crowd inside the tavern fell into contemplation.
If outsiders saw this, they might think Li Mo was the manager of Misty Rain Tower’s Yunzhou branch. And honestly, they even started to feel that way themselves!
Our Qingyuan Sect is a reputable sect, for crying out loud!
Not long after,
Little Li arranged for the assassins to head out.
He planned to return to the tavern and discuss things further with everyone.
“Brother Li.”
A voice suddenly came from behind – a waxy-faced man in his thirties.
“I’m Huang Donglai.”
Huang Donglai feared Li Mo wouldn’t recognize him and returned to his original voice.
“Oh, it’s Brother Huang. You came looking for a room? Unfortunately, I’m a bit too busy to entertain you right now…”
“No, I’m here to lend Brother Li a hand.”
Huang Donglai clasped his hands and earnestly said, “Tracking down clues is also my specialty.”
“You’ve got a knack for this kind of work?”
“Just a little knowledge, especially in how to dispose of bodies and hide one’s tracks.”
“……”
Li Mo looked at Huang Donglai as he pretended to be an ordinary man.
If he didn’t use his divine eye, even he wouldn’t have recognized him.
Clearly, he genuinely had a bit of expertise. He was quite the talented individual.
………
While turmoil surged in the city,
A certain temple, however, was particularly peaceful at this moment.
Located on the outskirts of Yunzhou City, it didn’t usually attract many visitors, but it had lush waters and beautiful mountains – a rare place for quiet contemplation.
However…
At this moment, the temple had seen an entire new group of monks from the abbot to the novices.
Creak—
After the last group of visitors was sent away, a monk closed the heavy temple door and kicked aside a blocking wooden fish, approaching the abbot.
“General….”
“Hmm?”
The thick-browed abbot opened his eyes slightly, a hint of ferocity shining in them.
The monk quickly changed his words: “Abbot, as monks here, living on tofu and vegetables every day is making me long for the outside world. When can we go back?”
The monks pretending to be from “Golden Light Temple” had met with misfortune.
The temple was taken over by a group of traitors.
“You’re too eager.”
Chang Bolong snorted:
“Yunzhou City is in chaos right now; we can’t leave for the time being. We can only wait here until the storm blows over. Those Yunzhou swordsmen are all a bunch of self-important fools. No matter how hard they think, they will never figure out that we’ve ‘become monks’.”
“Right now, ‘the Deity’ has issued a decree.”
He glanced at the statue behind him and grinned:
“We’ve found the deity’s chosen one; there’ll naturally be rewards in the sect later.”
“As long as we endure this period, we’ll fly high and free, and we won’t have to endure the hardship of that godforsaken place in the South Border again.”
As soon as he said this, the ‘monks’ all showed expressions of joy.
“With the general’s contributions, you’ll certainly be promoted to a protecting hall master.”
“Or even join the Divine Sect! I was stuck at a bottleneck for five years, and just yesterday I broke through.”
“Hahaha, how could those stupid Yunzhou swordsmen ever catch us?”
“Wait, don’t you guys think… this incense is a bit too strong?”
“It’s too strong… and making me a bit dizzy…”
…..
At that moment, Chang Bolong, disguised as the abbot, suddenly sensed something was off and sharply held his breath.
“This incense is poisonous!”
He shouted.
The next moment—
Bang—
The temple door was kicked open.
“Misty Rain Tower is in operation; get down and cover your heads!”
The ‘monks’: “?”
What the heck? Misty Rain Tower??
No, wait a minute. Why does this whole entrance scene feel a bit too familiar?!
Although they were now fugitives, they used to be in the army, actually in official uniforms…
In the past, they were the ones breaking down others’ doors.
Now they were being barged in by a bunch of assassins, proudly kicking open doors?
This is rather shocking.
