The second day of the first month.
Under Mount Tai, Feng Gao Xinggong.
The palace guard who was watching the night turned around the corner of the corridor, and suddenly felt that he heard something, and raised his head in doubt: "Who is there..."
Not far away, a small stone was shot lightly, passed through the flowers, and hit the palace man on the back of the neck in an instant.
The palace man fell to the ground with a plop, and lost consciousness without even making a sound.
Shan Chao jumped straight up to the eaves, and landed silently on the crystal clear glazed tiles, then walked a few steps, jumped over the narrow gap between the side hall and the back hall, and stopped somewhere on the roof ridge.
——After Shengjia traveled to Fenggao, he visited here several times as an Ouchi guard, and he was very familiar with the terrain and routes.
After Yin Kaiyang returned to the court, he was inseparable from Shengjia for most of the time, and put the emperor firmly under his own surveillance. Therefore, coming here is the only way to find Yin Kaiyang.
Shan Chao half-kneeled on the ridge of the roof, and was about to stretch out his hand to lift off the tiles when he suddenly stopped and looked up.
The moonlight rushes in the long curved corridor like a long river, and the vermilion stone pillars on the side of the jade railing seem to be covered with a hazy layer of frost. A figure in loose clothes and wide sleeves was walking along the long corridor. Except for the light blue glazed lamp in his hand, the sleeves and hem of the robe were all lost in the mist, like a soul ferryed from another world.
The dark and obscure jealousy quietly rose from the bottom of Shan Chao's heart.
That is Xie Yun.
- Injured left shoulder.
Xie Yun's neckline was loosely wound with a piece of thin rope, and the left side of the skirt was slightly opened, and one could see the slender neck under the moonlight and the layers of bandages wrapped inside. Shan Chao knew he was going to use force without even thinking about it. There is only one thing in this world that can make Xie Yun risk his life to use force - power.
He participated in the World Martial Arts Association held on Mount Suran during the day.
Shan Chaozhong closed his eyes, and took a deep breath of the cold night air like masochistic. When he calmed down and opened his eyes again, he saw that Xie Yun had passed through the curved corridor, climbed up the jade steps, and stopped in front of the back hall of the bedroom. Immediately there was a sound of "Zhi Ya -", someone opened the vermilion palace door from inside, Xie Yun raised his foot and stepped over the threshold.
… who is it
It couldn't be Yin Kaiyang who opened the door for Xie Yun. Could it be that Empress Wu was accompanying him today
Shan Chao grabbed the roof tile, covered it with the other hand, and violently lifted it with his internal force. Only a slight crack sound was heard, and the glazed tile had been broken into two pieces, and the red dress in the apse could be vaguely seen through the gap—it was really Empress Wu!
"Are you injured?" Empress Wu asked with a frown.
Xie Yun shook his head, did not answer, and asked, "Where is the Holy One?"
The emperor was dressed in bright yellow pajamas lying on his side on the bed, turned over, his brows were slightly frowned, obviously he was not peaceful in his sleep. Xie Yun stretched out his hand to brush the sleeping hole on the side of his skull, as if a feather had passed over his head, and soon the emperor's breathing became steady and heavy, and he didn't even move.
"Why isn't Yin Kaiyang here?" Xie Yun stretched his hand to the back of his head and asked Empress Wu without looking back.
Empress Wu hesitated for a moment: "... Yin Kaiyang... seems to be injured."
"what?"
"On the day Shengjia set off from Puyang Palace, my confidant maid came to report that she saw Yin Kaiyang rubbing his chest and coughing when she was serving the Holy Majesty. The Majesty asked what was the matter, and Yin Kaiyang replied that nothing was wrong; but the palace maid caught a glimpse of blood seeping from his chest. It seems to be caused by a sharp weapon being drawn across." Empress Wu frowned sullenly, and said: "After I heard about it, I originally wanted to summon He Lanmin to inquire about it. He was found to have fallen into the water and died within a few days, and no conclusive evidence has been found so far... "
"Since then, Yin Kaiyang has avoided everyone. Except for seeing him alone, he no longer appears on any occasion with outsiders. He seems to be extremely taboo about his own injuries-tonight, he also avoided the palace because the Holy Spirit summoned me. unseen."
This is strange, who can hurt Yin Kaiyang
Xie Yun's eyes moved slightly, as if he suddenly remembered something, but then he shook his head slightly self-deprecatingly, and said, "I see."
His hair was originally tied behind his head with a dark red ribbon, but now he is pulling it up with one hand, and at the same time, he pulled out something from the back of his head. In the candlelight, he saw that it was a three-inch long golden needle, which was so tiny. Compared with vellus hair, if it is not for the pure gold material that shines in the dark, it will be difficult to find even if you hold it in your hand.
On the roof, Shan Chao's pupils suddenly tightened.
Empress Wu asked in astonishment, "What is this?"
"Soul-fixing needle," Xie Yun said.
"In the early years, there was a small gang outside the Great Wall who could use black fire to refine secret gold. After Yin Kaiyang learned about it, he slaughtered the whole gang and brought back the secret gold to make twelve soul-fixing needles. This needle can be inserted into the back of the head with a certain technique to make people lose their memory. , piercing the temples and the middle of the human body can make people resist illusions and prevent evil spirits from invading."
He handed out the needle, signaled the queen to continue, and said in a deep voice: "In the arena of the gods and ghosts on the first mountain of Tomorrow Society, if my situation is not good or I am in danger of being killed by Yin Kaiyang, please insert this needle into it." Holy temple…”
Empress Wu's raised hand froze for an instant, and said in surprise, "What if I really killed the king?!"
Xie Yun looked at her and smiled.
"..." After a long silence, Empress Wu finally realized something, and asked in a trembling voice: "You said that this needle piercing the temple can make people resist illusions? Could it be that the Holy Majesty..."
"Your Majesty, don't you think that since Yin Kaiyang returned to court and had a closed-door conversation with the Holy Majesty for three days, the Holy Majesty has obeyed him in everything and acted like a puppet, which is extremely inappropriate?"
Empress Wu's eyebrows twitched suddenly.
"Xuanwuyin is naturally good at illusion, and legend has it that he can manipulate other people's minds, but I'm not sure if Yin Kaiyang has done anything to the Holy One. The only thing I know is that if he did, he must have spent most of his efforts on puppetry. Once the technique is broken, it will have a great impact on himself."
Xie Yun paused, and fixed his eyes on Empress Wu: "But if the Holy Majesty hadn't been hit by the puppet technique, I dare not say whether it would be life-threatening after the golden needle pierced the temple..."
Empress Wu's fingertips were slightly unsteady, as if she was afraid to receive the needle.
"Is there no other way to verify whether the Holy Majesty has been under the illusion?" She asked without any hope.
"No," Xie Yun said quietly.
Empress Wu and Xie Yun looked at each other, the candlelight flickered slightly in the dormitory, the mahogany tables decorated with gold and sapphire curtains were hidden in the shadows, only the shadows of wealth and glory appeared.
"So I ask you to decide whether to pierce the soul-fixing needle when my life is at stake..." Xie Yun finally said after a long time, the ending sound drifting gently in the cold winter night: "Yin Kaiyang is much older than me, it is exactly the Spring and Autumn Period In the heyday, even if the seal is opened, Yin Tianqing may not be the opponent of the adult Xuanwu seal... Interfering with him in this way is the only way I can think of at present."
Empress Wu stared at the shimmering soul-fixing needle for a long time. She didn't know how long it had passed. It seemed that time was about to freeze in this high and empty hall before she slowly stretched out her hand.
At this moment, there was a slight "click" sound from the roof.
——Shan Chao suddenly retracted his fingers, but it was too late, the half of the glazed tile broken by him couldn't bear the weight, and suddenly cracked open.
Xie Yun raised his eyes suddenly: "Who?"
With a whoosh, his clothes flapped, and Shan Chao got up and left. At the same time, Xie Yun flew out of the bedroom like a shooting star and flew towards the roof!
"Who? Stop!"
Shan Chao turned a deaf ear, and the black figure disappeared into the night like a ghost. Xie Yun couldn't let people know that he was secretly visiting the emperor's bedroom late at night, so he didn't question him loudly, he just followed the direction where the black shadow disappeared, and the red roof and green tiles under his feet turned into an invisible background and quickly passed by. But the scene in front of him has changed, and he has already entered the palace and imperial garden.
Covered by the moonlight, the flowers and trees are deep, and the surroundings are quiet and far away, only the faint ringing of the watch in the distance can be heard.
Xie Yun stopped in his tracks.
He looked around, his eyes gradually changed from vigilant to quiet, and after a long while, he finally let go of the hand holding Tai'a's sword hilt, and let out a long breath.
Because lightness kung fu needs to bring breath to the extreme, the wound under his left shoulder was torn open, and where no one saw, blood was slowly oozing out of the bandage, Xie Yun stretched out his hand and pressed the wound.
"...Is it Shan Chao?" He looked into the depths of the night and asked hoarsely.
"What else... what are you doing back here?"
The north wind swept from the end of the sky, brushed over the palace walls, and brushed the hair on his side.
A familiar and cold voice finally sounded from behind:
"—Come back and see how you are an extremely human minister, or whether you will die without a place to die..."
"No matter what happens tomorrow, I won't help you."
Xie Yun seemed to have expected this result, he closed his eyes, smiled slightly, and said, "It should be so."
Those four words were obviously not heavy, even very gentle, but they seemed to be pierced into the heart and lungs by some kind of sharp weapon, and even his throat felt sour with the smell of rust in an instant——Shan Chao's mind went blank, and when the last word fell to the ground , he had fallen from a height without a sound, like a bird of prey pounced on its prey, and volleyed behind Xie Yun.
At that moment, the back of Xie Yun's neck was within his reach, so close, so defenseless, he could easily strangle that beautiful and fragile throat with his hand.
—If the scene freezes at this point, it will be an extremely tense picture.
But then, Shan Chao stretched out his hand to twist the vermilion ribbon in Xie Yun's hair, and twitched it lightly.
His long hair was scattered like running water, Xie Yun turned his head suddenly, only to see Shan Chao holding the hair band in his palm, his handsome face was close at hand, his eyes were shining with resentment, pain and a trace of infatuation.
Xie Yun froze.
The next moment, Shan Chao lifted the hairband to his lips and kissed it lightly, then raised his breath and swept back, like a falcon soaring up to the sky, and disappeared into the shadows of the palace under the moonlight in an instant.