The moon turns and the stars turn, and the ground becomes white with frost.
An Yu walked forward quickly and looked at the closed gate, frowning worriedly.
"The door is closed! What should we do?"
"It's closed, you can open it again." Xie Weixing, who followed, glanced at the invisible entrance.
Yu Chen on the side approached the pool, slowly squatted down, stretched out his hand and groped around the edge of the pool. An Yu squatted down like him in confusion, and asked strangely: "Are you looking for that switch?" Seeing him nodding, he said worriedly, "But it seems that they didn't just press the switch just now. Even if we find it, There’s no way to open the entrance.”
"The switch can only open one entrance to the tunnel. They have closed the other small entrances just now. So as An Yu said, even if you find it, it will not help!" Xie Weixing supported his chin with one hand and looked at the persistent Yu Chen with a heavy gaze.
An Yu sighed softly, "It would be great if I could fly. Even if I fall into an abyss, I wouldn't fall to death. It's better now. I'm stuck here. There are wolves in front of me and tigers behind me. No matter how I go, I will be dead!"
"Our situation is not so bad." Xie Weixing glanced at Yu Chen who had been silent for no reason, "Maybe we just lack some geographical advantages."
An Yu was stunned when he heard this and recalled the scene they had on the gate of Nan Qi Palace. How similar was this? Thinking back on that situation again, it seems like everything happened yesterday.
"Found it!" Yu Chen exclaimed. Before they could react, they felt the ground shaking. An Yu quickly helped Yu Chen stand up and stood aside. Just like when the gate was opened just now, the water in the pool was undulating, imprinted with the bright moonlight and glowing with ripples.
After a while, a gate opened next to the pool, and then the second, third... and five-story gates opened one after another. Revealing the long stone staircase. The entrance can accommodate two people walking side by side, but deep inside the cave entrance, it is pitch black, and you can't see your fingers.
"This secret passage must have been established a long time ago, right? Is it safe? Are there any hidden weapons or traps down there?"
Xie Weixing got a torch from nowhere. Hearing An Yu's words, he couldn't help but sneer, "Maybe we won't know until we go down." After that, he walked to the entrance and swept the entrance below with the torch.
A gust of cold wind suddenly blew out of the faint cave entrance. The firelight swayed faintly with the cold wind, flickering brightly and dimly. An Yu looked back at the ghost-like tree shadows in the distance and suddenly shuddered. He couldn't help but lean towards Xie Weixing. This instinct made her ashamed. When they met again, she seemed to be more dependent on him.
At this moment, Xie Weixing suddenly put out the newly lit torch. He whispered "There is someone", and hurriedly took her right hand with his left hand and pushed Yu Chen toward the grass. The three of them had just hid in the grass when a group of guards wearing green brocade clothes and riding tall horses came running towards them.
"You search this way, and the other column searches that way!" After neatly dismounting from the horse, the leading bearded general ordered Weng Sheng.
"yes!"
The two groups of people quickly separated into two columns and ran towards the houses on both sides. The bearded general stayed where he was and looked at the entire school grounds. Look serious. Soon, the people who went to search came back.
"Go back to the General, there is no one!"
"General. There's no one here either!"
After the bearded general pondered for a moment, he raised his head and said loudly: "Continue to search, don't miss any house. Check whether clothes, food and other things are still there!"
"As you command!"
The two teams immediately turned around and continued searching. The three people hiding aside were holding their breath tightly and did not dare to make any move. Because the pool is on the left side of the school field. The entrance to the secret passage is behind the pool. If you stand on the school grounds and look towards the pool, you won't even see that there is a secret passage behind the pool. So Big Beard didn't discover the secret behind the pool.
It didn't take long. Another group of people appeared on the way the soldiers came. The leader was wearing black armor and had a wide-mouthed sword at his waist. But the most attractive thing is the upright and handsome face, which looks like it has been carefully crafted by a skilled craftsman. It has clear edges and corners, sharp yet soft. He is none other than Lu Yixiang, Zhongyou's newly appointed Minister of War. As soon as the bearded general saw his arrival, he quickly stepped forward and bowed to greet him.
"I will finally meet Mr. Lu!"
Lu Yixiang glanced at the school grounds, frowned, and felt unhappy: "Where are the people?"
"Sir, when the end of the world comes, the entire campus will be deserted. I have sent people to search everywhere, and the results will be available soon!" Just after saying this, the people sent out to search quickly ran back.
"General, there is no one in the house. All the clothes and food have been taken away!"
Another person reported the same thing. The bearded man nodded, looked at the expressionless Lu Yixiang, and said in a loud voice: "Sir, I'm afraid that the gangsters took advantage of me being trapped in the fog formation and packed up and ran away! Sir, do you want your subordinates to lead the troops to chase them?"
"This hilltop is surrounded by cliffs on three sides. There is only one way out when we came here. However, I walked all the way without encountering a single figure. They should not have come down from the mountain yet, but it is impossible for them to jump off the cliff." Lu Yixiang's voice was soothing. , glanced at the bearded man lightly, "From this point of view, there is only one possibility."
"What?" The bearded man took a step forward excitedly, his eyes bright.
"They took a road we don't know. It's getting late today. Let's take a rest here and make a decision after dawn."
"But… "
Now is the perfect opportunity to go find them, but the imperial envoy in front of them tells them to rest! Are you kidding me? If they were marching to fight, it would be fine if they didn't sleep for several days! Now they have all come to other people's homes and they are actually allowed to sleep!
"Do you want to resist, General Li?" Lu Yixiang glanced at the bearded man sarcastically and raised his voice.
"No, I don't dare!" The bearded man lowered his head and ordered his brother to camp where he was.
As the night grew darker, the school grounds fell silent. Occasionally, the cold wind blew through the cracks in the door of the assembly hall and turned into bursts of whistling. Beside the school pool, there is a figure quietly moving towards the pool...
In the meeting hall opposite the pool, Lu Yixiang was looking at the map hanging on the wall with a solemn expression. What is drawn on the map is a hilltop. The houses on the top of the hill are in the shape of a zigzag, and there are various marks on it.
"Sir, according to my subordinates, the entrance should be near here. There are many people in Shanlong Village, even if we are trapped in the mist formation. It took a short time, but they were able to evacuate so quickly. The entrance must be very big . Just now I looked at the topography of this place and found that most of the floors are made of bluestone. Bluestone is difficult to dig, and it is even more impossible to dig a tunnel."
The person who said this to Lu Yixiang was a middle-aged man with a mustache, a straight hat, and a slim build. He is Lu Yixiang's staff, named Nangong Wei.
"Then where are we going to find that secret passage? Do we need to send some people to dig out all these areas? Don't forget that we only have one month!" Lu Yixiang said lightly. "Are you sure you can find the entrance within a month?"
"My lord, you just need to figure out how to transport the gold and silver from the ancient city!" Nangong Wei said without thinking.
His words made Lu Yixiang raise his eyebrows, but in the end he said nothing.
Nangong Wei knew that he was wondering why he was so sure, and he sorted out his thoughts briefly. Then he slowly explained: "Sir, haven't you been wondering why I, Nangong Wei, am here?"
When Nangong Wei entered the Lu family, he was just an unknown pawn. At most, he followed Lu Yixiang around. However, when Lu Yixiang was appointed as the Minister of War, he volunteered to go with Lu Yixiang. Lu Yixiang had no intention of bringing him here. However, Nangong Wei only said two words to him, and Lu Yixiang was surprised and decided to take him.
As for Nangong Wei's financial background, the Lu family naturally investigated it thoroughly, but why did he know that the emperor not only sent him to remove the bandits' den in Shanlong Village, but also had another reason for him to find the bandits hidden in this village. The ancient city below is dark.
"You must also know that this hilltop was originally a private residence of a landowner. Later, it gradually declined and was sold. However, there is no record in the government office of who it was transferred to. It is also remote. No one lives in it, so it will change. It was completely desolate. Until Ou Yanan took several of his brothers and established Shanlong Village here."
"Is this probably the information you have?" Nangong Wei saw Lu Yixiang nodding, and then showed a strange smile, "Sir, I am a descendant of that family."
"You are Cheng Xuxing's grandson!" Lu Yixiang was shocked and turned around in surprise, his eyes widening. Staring straight at him.
"That's right. My grandfather was actually killed by someone, and my family was forced by that person and died one after another. If it weren't for my weak grandfather at the time, maybe I wouldn't be standing here today."
Lu Yixiang said thoughtfully: "The person you are talking about is the person who took over Cheng Zhai?"
"It's him!" Nangong Wei clenched his hands into fists and said through gritted teeth, "I want to avenge my family of more than 100 people!"
"Now that you have followed me here and here, how can you find him? Is he still hiding in this ancient city?"
"Sir, I don't know whether the ancient city of Netherworld exists or not, but since that person actually killed all my families, it means that the things under this house are very important to that person. So I am afraid that I will not attract him if I make these things public. Really? So I boldly entered the Lu family and took refuge with you. Now only you can help me!"
Nangong Wei fully revealed his life experience and his purpose of infiltrating the Lu family, not because he was not afraid of death, but because he knew Lu Yixiang would support him. I'm afraid no one can refuse a good thing that will benefit the Lu family without causing any harm. Just as he thought, Lu Yixiang agreed to help him.
"It's useless for me to nod. Since you are the owner here, you should know that the ancient city is very difficult to find. Your Cheng family has lived here for so many years, and your enemies have been looking for so many years, but there has been no news. Could it be that we are here, this short time Can we find it in just one month? If we don’t find it in this month, it will be a trivial matter for the emperor to convict me. I’m afraid that our Lu family will never even think of raising our heads among the courtiers in Zhongyou!”
"Please rest assured, sir. I will definitely find the entrance!"
The two discussed for a while before Nangong Wei withdrew. Not long after, Lu Yixiang also turned off the lights and went to rest. When the room became quiet, a dark figure jumped lightly from the roof of the council hall. After landing silently, the man slowly approached the map still hanging on the wall. Just when he was about to touch the map, a white light flashed next to him and struck him suddenly. The man rolled on the spot and narrowly escaped.
"Who are you?!" Lu Yixiang shouted sharply. The patrolling guards outside heard the movement and hurriedly ran towards here, "Sir, what happened?"
Seeing that the matter was exposed, the black shadow glanced at the door on the left side of the meeting hall. There was someone at the door. Lu Yixiang stood on the right, so he had no choice but to run to the left.
"Want to run?" Lu Yixiang noticed his intention and deflected the knife, blocking his way, and the two became entangled. The guard who knocked on the door became even more anxious when he heard the fighting inside.
"Ah!" With a scream, the guard who knocked on the door suddenly fell to the ground. Everyone looked back and saw a short and sharp three-edged gold steel needle inserted into the left chest of the fallen guard. The guards were shocked. At some point, two figures, one fat and one thin, appeared at the door of the council hall. They are all dressed in black. The fat one wields a hammer, and the thin one holds it. But it's a black folding fan. The folding fan has been opened, revealing an ink landscape painting with his face half-covered.
"Catch them!" The guard who knocked on the door raised the sword in his hand and shouted. Several people swarmed over and surrounded the two people. The man holding the fan laughed lightly. His eyes showed disdain.
"Leave these to me and you go help Third Sister."
Before she could finish saying "sister", the folding fan flew out and rushed towards the guard who had just spoken. The speed was so fast that the guard couldn't dodge, and the folding fan hit his chest, spurting out a mouthful of blood and knocking the door of the council chamber away.
The door opens. There was a dark figure running out from inside, it was the dark figure that wanted to steal the map just now.
"Third sister. Have you got it?"
"Um!"
"Quick fight, let's go!"
The three figures formed a Zigzag pattern and headed towards the gate of the village.
"Stop them!" Lu Yixiang kicked away the guard standing in front of him. He pointed bitterly at the three people who were trying to escape.
The fight in the council hall attracted all the guards, and no one noticed the movement in the pool.
"Let's go!" Xie Weixing glanced at the melee over there and pushed An Yu down who wanted to peek in to watch the excitement. Originally, they wanted to sneak into the secret passage in the dead of night. Unexpectedly, three black figures appeared in the middle of the road, but they just happened to lure everyone away.
The sound of "squeaking" sounded again. The five gates slowly closed, waiting for those people to notice. The secret passage has been sealed tightly.
"Who are those three people? Why do they look familiar?" An Yu frowned, looked at the closed gate, and murmured.
Yu Chen answered calmly: "It's Gui San and the others." He seemed to remember that An Yu didn't know who Gui San was, so he patiently explained, "They are the three people you fought against in Bafangju: Zhi Zhifan, He Sanniang They used swords and Zhuo Muji used hammers. They crossed the sea from the south of Beiyi and came to Zhongyou. The last time they came to me, they wanted to take away the remaining Fengzhan Book from me."
Xie Weixing raised the torch for a moment, then smiled: "That boring heavenly book?"
"Boring?" Yu Chen raised his eyebrows and looked at Xie Weixing, "Maybe you are the only one who finds it boring! But it was this boring book that caused the war in Dali, Southern Qi, and it was this boring book that made everyone in the world flock to it. "
An Yu was silent and Yu Chen's expression was self-deprecating, but more of it was sad. She didn't know what happened to him, but she couldn't bear to see him hurt.
"Didn't Master Yu get it? Why are you still sad?" Xie Weixing turned around and used a torch to illuminate the way forward, but his voice drifted over.
Yu Chen was shocked. He raised his head and looked at him looking for the source of heat. "Do you know who I am?" The voice was low. Although it was a question, the tone was extremely certain.
"So what if you know, but what if you don't know? Are you still planning to kill me, Master Yu?" Xie Weixing said with a sarcastic face and a bad tone. He stood in the narrow tunnel holding a torch, raising his chin and squinting his beautiful eyes. No matter how you look at it, it looks like he is provoking Yu Chen.
An Yu felt that the atmosphere was a little tense and glared at Xie Weixing, who was smiling inexplicably: "Stop saying a few words!"
She knew what she was doing was wrong, but Yu Chen had no other intentions, not to mention he was blind... Shouldn't disabled people, etc., have to give in more? Thinking about it this way, I felt a little guilty, but suddenly felt confident again. As if to make his position clear, he took Yu Chen's hand and walked towards a flat place.
Xie Weixing's expression changed and he closed his mouth expressionlessly.
"Since you all know my identity, you two might as well tell your origins. Besides, we don't know what is waiting for us ahead. We are not completely sure whether we can get out. We might as well confess everything." Yu Chen calmly road.
An Yu and Xie Weixing looked at each other after hearing this. Finally, An Yu spoke, "I am An Yu and she is Miss Si."
Unexpectedly, Yu Chen shook his head and waved his hand: "You have been pretending to be a man, and you... a man pretending to be a woman, you are obviously acquaintances, and your relationship is extraordinary. It happens that I met both of you, can you please Let me ask you, are you two hiding behind me because you want Feng to capture the remaining book?"
An Yu was stunned: "You actually know?! How did you know? You can't see anything, how do you know that we are all disguised?"
"It's precisely because I can't see that my ears and nose are more sensitive." As if thinking of something, Yu Chen's cheeks suddenly became hot, and he lowered his head slightly, trying to hide his strangeness at this moment.
It's just that his appearance has been seen by Xie Weixing for a long time, but An Yu was thinking about where he had exposed his whereabouts, which made him suspicious and didn't notice. The three people have different thoughts, and the outcome seems to be predetermined. But when they look back, the past is gone.
"Although blind people cannot see, many truths hidden under the disguised surface can often be discerned as quickly as possible. Young Master Yu is really a capable person!" Xie Weixing took a deep look at Yu Chen and couldn't help but sigh, "I'm going to Nan Qi Xie Weixing. Her name is indeed An Yu, the unparalleled An Yu."
His voice returned to its normal monotone, with a slight nasal sound, and was unusually lazy, which made An Yu, who was in a state of confusion, look up in surprise.
ps: I have something to say to everyone. Please check out the testimonials on the shelf—letters to readers who pass by. Thank you all for your continued support of Qianjin, I am really grateful!