Li Shan put down his chopsticks, wiped the oil stains on his mouth with the back of his hand, and said with some doubt.
"Brother Yan, you don't need money now, so you can just throw away the old things. Why don't you bring this to Chang Bo?"
Li Yu also echoed in a low voice.
"Yes, Brother Yan, you are so powerful now. You have all the power and wealth you want, and yet you are still so frugal."
Chen An and Li Yin at the other table had been keeping an eye on Li Yan all the time, so they saw what was happening here. At the moment, they looked at Li Yan with some confusion.
They knew that this gentleman was a spendthrift, so why would he take the used belt back today
Li Yan smiled.
"What do you know? This is the belt that my master gave me. Take it back and let my parents see it."
After hearing this, Li Yu suddenly realized.
"I understand. This is what storytellers often talk about, like the Imperial Sword. If there are any problems that cannot be solved in the village in the future, we can use this to ward off disasters, right?"
Li Shan nodded frequently at the side. Chen An and Li Yin also understood the reason. Such things happened a lot in official circles.
Often, the hometown houses of some officials would contain items such as jackets, hairpins, fans, and even swords bestowed by the emperor or some high-ranking officials. These items were sometimes more useful than notices from the government offices.
Lord Ji is an important figure in this area. The things he gave to me are more useful than some documents when placed in my old house.
Li Yan had this idea on impulse. After all, he had only worn this belt for a few months. Although he bought a few more belts later, this one was the one he used the longest. He gave this belt to his parents as a keepsake!
This was an impulsive act. When he saw that Chen An and Li Yin were confused, he regretted it. Fortunately, he thought quickly and Li Yu responded well, so he didn't have to explain himself inadvertently.
"You just know a lot, hehe..."
Li Yan smiled and patted Li Yu's shoulder, then looked at the direct sunlight outside and sighed in his heart.
"It's finally about to begin. Maybe today will be the day I die. No matter what, let's fight to the death!"
… …
At this time, in the sky of Daqing Mountain, tens of thousands of miles away from Qingshan Pass, a ray of light was flying from the west to the east. In this ray of light, there was a shuttle-shaped object, and three young men were talking on it.
"Brother Wu, have the brothers from the law enforcement team confirmed that the person from the 'Xunxian Lineage' is in the imperial territory?"
The person who spoke was a slightly plump young man with a round face and big eyes, while the person he was asking was a thin man with a face like a horse's face, dark skin and a gloomy complexion.
Next to him was a young man, about twenty years old, with a fair face and no beard, and a gentle expression. All three of them were wearing dark green robes.
From time to time, a few colorful centipedes would slither out from the cuffs of the robe of the man called Senior Brother Wu, cross his chest and back, and then crawl into the cuffs of his robe...
After a while, those colorful centipedes would come out again and move around, then drill into the robe again, which was really creepy, but the other two people on the shuttle seemed to see nothing.
"Yes, we are here on orders from our law enforcement brothers. Their orders say that this man is in Qingshan Pass City in the imperial territory and is the military advisor of the local garrison.
After we go there this time, we can kill it after confirming it again. But the law enforcement brother said that the law enforcement hall master wants to take it alive, and then take it back to feed the soul-binding silkworm. "
"Ah, soul-binding silkworms?"
The round-faced, big-eyed young man couldn't help but exclaim after hearing this. That was an extremely cruel punishment. Just thinking about it made him shudder and his face turned blue.
The other young man with a white face and no beard also froze in his gentle expression at this moment.
"Brother Wu, are you mistaken? Using this kind of torture is against the harmony of nature."
"Humph! How could I be wrong? I have confirmed this over and over again. When I first received the order, I reacted just like you two do now. I wonder what those lunatics in the Law Enforcement Hall are thinking."
"Hush, don't discuss the Law Enforcement Hall. Among our peaks, except for the peak of Grandmaster Wei, which does not have a Law Enforcement Hall, the Law Enforcement Halls of the other peaks are all staffed by ruthless people.
But this is not something that we, the Qi Condensation Stage disciples, can discuss. Otherwise, if they find out, our fate will not be any better."
The gentle young man's expression changed, and he spoke to the other two.
After hearing this, the two men's faces also changed, and they stopped talking about this topic. Senior Brother Wu said again.
“Originally, this is not something we should do, but for this five-year competition within the sect, the brothers and uncles from the Law Enforcement Hall who are away from home have to go back.
Now we have no choice but to leave this matter to us. Fortunately, the cultivation level of the people from the "Xunxian Lineage" is not very high. They may be at the second or third level of Qi Condensation, or even at the first level.
With our strength, even one person can complete the task, but they wanted to capture him alive, so they sent three of us to go with them.
At the same time, we also need to obtain the original entry-level skills of this peak from him, and we must bring it back with us."
The two nodded after hearing this. They still admired the methods of their senior brothers and uncles in the Law Enforcement Hall. They were always very accurate in their predictions and did not have any suspicions.
Since we have mentioned that person's realm, I think the highest will not exceed the third level of Qi Condensation Stage. Among the three of them, two are at the ninth level of Qi Condensation Stage, and one is at the tenth level of Qi Condensation Stage. It's not just overestimating that person, it's simply a waste of manpower.
"However, there is one more thing. The brother from the Law Enforcement Hall said that a senior uncle recently discovered that the man from the 'Xunxian Lineage' might have accepted another disciple.
But this disciple is not from the "Xunxian Lineage", he is just a mortal with spiritual roots that the man found in the mortal world, so this disciple of his must be captured as well."
Senior Brother Wu spoke again.
"Oh? There's another disciple?"
The gentle young man asked.
"Yes, we'll capture them together then."
Senior Brother Wu said with a gloomy look.
"That guy is really pitiful. After being captured, I don't know what to do with him. If he is implicated, he will really die unjustly."
The round-faced young man had a somewhat sympathetic expression.
As he was speaking, the light was rushing eastward, and the voices in it were getting farther and farther away.
… …
In the military camp inside Qingshanai City, Liu Chengyong walked back and forth in his own barracks, looking outside from time to time. He was on duty today, but received a secret order from the Marshal, asking him to change shifts and wait for Li Yan in the army.
Everything will be done according to the order at that time. It is already past noon, but Li Yan has not come yet... In the Marshal's Mansion, Military Advisor Ji was sitting in the lobby discussing with Marshal Hong.
"General, why don't you hold a meeting in the army today?"
Ji Wenhe glanced at Hong Linying and asked calmly.
"Because today's incident was just reported back by the spy in the Meng Kingdom's outpost, I think it is not appropriate for too many people to know about it, so we will discuss it first and then make a decision with the generals."
Hong Linying took a sip of tea and said seriously.
"Oh? What did the spies in the Meng Kingdom outpost discover?"
After hearing this, Ji Wenhe sat up straight. After all, he still had to do his job.
"This morning, we received a message that the Meng Kingdom will transfer troops from several other places and then head towards Luoxianpo."
Li Yan looked at the sun outside the window. It was about half a quarter past noon. He stood up and smiled at Li Shan and Li Yu.
"I have to go back. My training has been getting more intense recently. We may not be able to meet for some time."
Li Shan and Li Yu did not think much of what they heard. Everyone in their village knew that Li Yan had become Master Ji's disciple and was practicing martial arts diligently. This was something that others would envy, so they also stood up.
"Brother Yan, we know about it, and we will explain your situation to the uncles from the village."
"Well, I'm back then!"
After saying that, Li Yan casually threw a silver ingot on the table, turned around and walked out, and Chen An and Li Yin hurriedly followed.
After the three of them left the tavern, they untied the horses under a tree, mounted their horses, and galloped towards the north gate.
After a short while, they arrived at the north gate of the city. When the soldiers saw that it was the three of them, they saluted quickly, removed the obstacles blocking the road and let them go out. Now among the several teams of soldiers on duty at the north gate, there were few who did not recognize Li Yan.
The journey was very smooth. Li Yan was worried that Strategist Ji might be delayed by something and come out late, which would conflict with the time he had planned. It would be difficult to deal with if he met him head-on.
This was also the reason why they were delayed in the city for another half a quarter of an hour after noon, but fortunately these worries were unnecessary. Nothing happened along the way and the three of them quickly returned to the military advisor's residence.
After Li Yan got off the horse, he threw away the reins and walked slowly into the valley. Chen An and Li Yin went to take care of the horses, and they were very relieved today.
Apart from eating and drinking, the gentleman did not have any illness today, and did not go shopping for anything. If he did buy anything, he only bought a belt, which he still wears around his waist.
After Li Yan entered the valley, he immediately perked up his spirits. However, he did not notice any spiritual awareness coming out, which made him feel a little relieved.
Next, he did not hesitate and walked straight to the first stone house. The door of the stone house was not closed, so he came to the door and bowed.
"Teacher, I want to see you."
After pausing for a while, there was no response from inside the house, so he walked into the house. After entering the house, he looked around and saw that there was really no one inside. He then secretly relaxed and turned around and walked quickly into his room.
After entering the house, he quickly took out pen, ink and paper, held his breath, calmed his mind, and began to write.
After a while, he put down his pen, picked up the paper, looked at it repeatedly, and then tore it up with a "whoosh".
Then, he started to rewrite it... He repeated this process several times, with more and more sweat on his forehead. When he finished writing for the fourth time, he looked at it carefully again.
At this time, sweat was already pouring down his head. Finally, he let out a long breath, put the paper on the table to cool down, turned around and lit the pieces of paper he had just torn.
After the paper was burned out, he carefully put the black ashes into a small cloth bag and put it in his arms. He stood up and walked to the edge of the pond. He looked around and made sure there was no one around.
He bent down and scattered the black ashes into the flower beds around the pond, and turned the soil over a few times.
After washing his face in the pool, Li Yan quickly turned around and returned to the stone house. When he came back, the ink on the paper had basically dried.
He picked up the page of paper, looked inside the room, and then looked around himself. After making sure that there was nothing he could take with him, he turned around and walked out quickly. He was not sure how long Hong Linying could delay Ji Wenhe.
When he arrived at the entrance of the valley, he started shouting at Chen An.
"Chen An, Chen An!!"
Chen An was taking a nap. He had just drunk some wine and felt a little dizzy. He just wanted to have a good sleep.
Just as he fell asleep, he heard a familiar voice. He jumped up instinctively, grabbed his clothes, put them on and rushed out. It was not until he walked out the door that he realized it was Li Yan calling him.
I couldn't help but feel uneasy. I just got back, why was he called again? Has he fallen ill again
When he arrived at the front of the valley, Li Yin was already standing in front of Li Yan, looking at a piece of paper in his hand. He took a few steps towards Li Yan.
"Sir, what's the matter?"
Li Yan glanced at him.
"You'll know after you take a look."
Chen An looked at Li Yin as he was told. Li Yin did not say anything and handed the paper to Chen An. Chen An took it with a puzzled look and then looked up.
There were only a few words scribbled on it, which seemed to have been written by the writer in a hurry.
"Tuqi, when you see this letter, come to the military camp in the city as soon as possible. Your master will be waiting for you in the camp. Hurry!"
Chen An saw that this was Lord Ji's handwriting and was a little sloppy, so he looked up at Li Yan.
"Sir, this is a letter from Master Ji."
"Nonsense, of course I know this is a letter from the teacher. I think after we left, the teacher went to the army for something, and maybe he wanted me to go with him for something."
Having said that, he kept silent.
Chen An and Li Yin looked at each other, and Chen An said.
"But... we are in the city. If Lord Ji has something to do, he will definitely send someone to look for us..."
"Then I don't know. You seem to be very worried about it, right?"
Li Yan's tone began to become unfriendly.