There were quite a few people at the entrance of the inn, coming and going, and they all heard what Xu Yunzhong said. Those who knew who he was were inevitably surprised, because this talented man from Hecheng was really famous for his laziness and alcoholism. He could get drunk 200 days a year, and when he was sober, he would mostly lie on the soft couch in the yard, watching the sky above his head, and reciting poems all the time. It was difficult for him to move his feet to eat a meal with his relatives, so why did he have to go north
Zhu Yanyin said: "We are going to attack the Burning Fire Palace. We may encounter dangers frequently. I am afraid it is not very convenient."
Xu Yunzhong's reason was simple. He said that he had an old friend named Song Yu, who lived in Shuangpi City and had been ill for many years. He had wanted to visit him a long time ago, but the road after the royal city was not safe, so he had not been able to go. This time, he finally caught up with the Wulin League team, and it was reasonable for him to want to travel together.
Frostskin City is also in the northeast. It is said that there are hundreds of trees with snow-white branches in the city. From a distance, it looks like frost on the bark, hence the name. It is indeed very close to Snow City.
The Zhu family was a large family with great wealth. The motorcade could accommodate ten more people. Besides, there was a certain sympathy between the talented people. Zhu Yanyin asked the housekeeper to take Xu Yunzhong to the hall for tea. He found Li Sui and told him the general situation. He then asked, "What do you think?"
Li Sui said: "If you really want to seek refuge with relatives and friends, it's okay if you want to take in ten or twenty people."
Zhu Yanyin was worried: "I am afraid that he has bad intentions."
Although it cannot be said that he did anything wrong for the time being, Mr. Zhu Er has read the martial arts books for a long time and is very familiar with all kinds of tricks, especially this kind of person who is not related to him but suddenly asks to join the team. He cannot take it lightly no matter how he thinks about it.
Li Sui sent someone to the north of the city to take a look. The inkstone shop was still open, and the young clerk was alone in the shop. He explained to all the guests who came to visit the great scholar Xu that my boss had gone to the northeast with the Wulin Alliance to visit Mr. Song in Frostskin City, and might not be back for a few months.
There seems to be nothing unusual.
Li Sui said: "Whether you want to take him with you or not is up to you."
Zhu Yanyin thought, I'll just take it with me. If there is no problem, that's the best. If there is a problem, it's better to keep it by my side and keep an eye on it than to hide in the corner secretly.
So he arranged a seat for Xu Yunzhong in his own luxury fleet and assigned five guards to him - it seemed appropriate and thoughtful, but it also had a bit of surveillance in it.
In the afternoon, the Wulin League team set out again. There was a faint snow in the sky. Zhu Yanyin asked Zhu Xiaosui to invite Li Sui into his carriage, saying that he wanted to listen to a story, but in fact he didn't want him to continue riding in the cold wind. There is a kind of coldness, called the Jiangnan nobleman holding a hand warmer feels that you are cold.
The rest of the people in the martial arts world: Very surprised, now even Palace Master Li has started to expand the storytelling business!
Zhu Yanyin lowered the carriage curtain and said mysteriously, "Just now the servant came to report that Xu Yunzhong had been sleeping in the carriage and had not done anything strange."
Li Sui pinched his nose and said, "He just got into your convoy. Even if there is a problem, he can't take action immediately."
"Anyway, I will send someone to keep an eye on him." Zhu Yanyin said, "I've already made up my mind. I won't take the initiative to look for him along the way. I'll just wait and see how he reacts."
Li Sui raised the corner of his mouth: "Okay."
As a result, it took three days to dry.
Xu Yunzhong only did three things every day: eating, sleeping and drinking. He was not picky. After he finished the wine he brought with him, he would buy some cheap liquor in the streets of villages and towns when passing by, and he could drink it with relish. He would eat with the Zhu family - they paid for the food, and they paid for two months at a time.
The Zhu family was particular about food, clothing and other expenses, and two months' food expenses were not a small amount.
After hearing this, Zhu Yanyin asked Li Sui, "But when we went to buy the inkstone that night, the clerk clearly said that there was no money in the account. Xu Yunzhong's precious and rare inkstone was finally sold obediently. Why is he so generous now? Where did he get the money?"
Li Sui said: "Maybe he is a disciple from another sect."
Zhu Yanyin: “Ah?”
Li Sui lifted the curtain of the carriage window and motioned him to look forward.
A young man in brocade clothes was getting into Xu Yunzhong's carriage with a smile on his face, followed by a young disciple with gift boxes full of supplements in his hands.
Zhu Yanyin: “…”
Sure enough, beautiful women are easy to talk to no matter where they are.
Although Zhu Yanyin was also a scholar with extraordinary appearance, his family background was too prominent, so prominent that the others could only look up to him with emotion, and had no confidence in being able to hook up with the second son of the Zhu family who was so ethereal. But Xu Yunzhong was different. Although he was talented, he was just a small boss who ran a brush shop... or an inkstone shop. It didn't matter. Anyway, compared with the famous major sects, the gap was still quite large, so all the young heroes with a strong love of beauty came with full confidence.
"This won't do." Zhu Yanyin sat up straight and said worriedly, "We haven't figured out whether Xu Yunzhong is a friend or an enemy yet, how can we allow him to contact martial arts sects?"
Li Sui leaned on the couch and fed him plums: "You can ask Zhao Mingchuan to check it out."
Zhu Yanyin took two bites of candied fruit: "Why do I feel like you're not worried at all?"
Li Sui wiped his fingers clean and pinched the back of his neck from time to time: "Why should I worry when you are here?"
Zhu Yanyin was stressed by his laziness and relaxation of complete trust. He sat beside him and thought for a while, then asked, "Do you trust me, or do you just not bother?"
Li Sui replied: "I don't care."
Zhu Yanyin: I knew it. You are not allowed to eat it. Put down my plums!
Li Sui smiled and hugged him, lowered his head and kissed his neck. A few strands of hair fell on the side of his face, making him look very idle and indulgent.
Zhu Yanyin didn't have a good temper. He had discovered that although Li Sui wanted to kill Chi Tian, he had never really thought about cooperating with the Wulin Alliance. Even when he went north with everyone else, he was just "traveling together". Sometimes he became unruly and even had a nonchalant temperament, as if "even if Chi Tian has dragged all the martial arts world into the Demon Cult, I can kill a thousand by myself".
Even though you are very skilled in Kung Fu, it shouldn't be like this. It really shouldn't be like this.
Zhu Yanyin was being flattened and rounded by him while thinking about how to solve this problem. Although he didn't like the Wulin Alliance very much, it was always good to have dozens or hundreds of helpers.
Not far away, the young man in brocade clothes had come out of Xu Yunzhong's carriage. He didn't give out any gifts, but he seemed to be in a good mood. He rode his horse with a sword in hand, looking very elegant.
Zhu Yanyin frowned slightly. If the great scholar Xu did not accept the gift, where did the money come from
In order to find out the truth as soon as possible, he found Zhao Mingchuan that night and told him his doubts.
Zhao Ming preached: "I have heard about it too."
Zhu Yanyin urged: "Tell me in detail."
Zhao Mingchuan has good relationships with people, so he naturally has many ways to get information. According to him, all the people who visited Xu Yunzhong in the past few days had a good chat with him, and the topics of conversation were also varied. For example, Xu Yunzhong talked to him about the four-season spring scenery and cross-bridge rice noodles in Yunnan City, and talked about Zhuyeqing wine in Jindi. In the northwest, he talked about the desert, and in the southeast, he talked about going to sea. Anyway, they could always find common ground.
Zhu Yanyin had mixed feelings: "He is quite knowledgeable. After the chat, did he really not accept any gifts?"
"No, not only do they not accept gifts, they seem to give gifts." Zhao Ming said, "They are not rare things, just some jade pendants and fan pendants, but they are not cheap."
Zhu Yanyin was even more confused. What was going on with this guy
Zhao Mingchuan lowered his voice and asked, "Brother, do you think there is something wrong with him?"
"There is no evidence, but I always feel it is a little strange." Zhu Yanyin recounted what happened that night when he went to the inkstone shop.
Zhao Ming preached: "Why don't I go check it out first."
"That's what I mean." Zhu Yanyin said, "At least find out where his money comes from."
Zhao Mingchuan asked again: "What does Palace Master Li think?"
Zhu Yanyin nearly choked on the tea, feeling guilty as a thief. What would Palace Master Li think
Zhao Mingchuan further explained, Oh, I see that Palace Master Li often stays in your carriage recently, and it seems that they are very close. Haven’t you told Palace Master Li about your doubts about Xu Yunzhong
Zhu Yanyin: "No, he never mentioned it, and he didn't seem to care much about it."
Zhao Mingchuan sighed, "That's right. Palace Master Li has never been interested in the people of Jianghu or the affairs of Jianghu. If it weren't for my brother's sake, I'm afraid he wouldn't be willing to go north with us."
Zhu Yanyin remained calm: "Yeah."
This is the advantage of having a sour face and a bad temper. Although everyone in the martial arts world knows that Li Sui wants to kill Chi Tian and also knows that Li Sui is seriously injured, no one thinks that Li Sui actually needs the help of the Wulin Alliance. They all worship him like an ancestor with fear and trepidation. This is basically due to the cold face of Palace Master Li that says "You all must die". It's so scary.
Zhu Yanyin asked again: "What does Chi Tian look like?"
Zhao Mingchuan: "You haven't asked Palace Master Li?"
"Why do you ask me to ask Palace Master Li for everything?"
"..." Because you are obviously together all the time. It was fine a while ago, but now you are inseparable.
Zhu Yanyin really hadn't asked, not because he didn't dare, but because he felt that the time they spent alone was truly wonderful and he didn't want to ruin the atmosphere.
Zhao Ming preached: "In recent years, all those who have seen Chi Tian have died. According to those who dealt with him in the early years, Chi Tian had an ordinary face, a hooked nose, triangular eyes, sallow skin, and a thin body."
Zhu Yanyin commented truthfully: "With this appearance, how can he have the nerve to stir up trouble in the martial arts world? The old man selling soup dumplings outside my house looks more like a cult leader than him."
Zhao Mingchuan advised sincerely that one should not judge a person by his appearance.
Several miles away, the masked man that night was standing on a low slope. The moonlight was dim, and his face was dim as well. He was truly an ordinary man with triangular eyes and a hooked nose.
There was a woman in green clothes beside him. She looked hesitant, but she couldn't help asking, "Why did the leader suddenly try to win over Xu Yunzhong?"
Chi Tian said: "It's not about winning over, it's about taking advantage."
"But Xu Yunzhong is just a scholar who is powerless."
"So he is more useful than a master."
The woman in green shirt lowered her head: "I don't understand."
Chi Tian spoke calmly and continued to ask slowly, "Can you beat Lan Yan?"
"able."
"Can all sixteen of you together defeat Li Sui? Or taking a step back, can you defeat one of his hands?"
"… cannot."
"What about the sixteen of you, plus me?"
"The leader has unparalleled magical powers—"
"I have no idea!"
"… "
The woman in green fell silent, and said anxiously, "It was me who spoke too much."
"For so many years, Li Sui has been hiding in the underground palace in the northwest. No one knows how far he has practiced martial arts." Chi Tian half closed his eyes, "But I know his talent. I don't want to confront him head-on. Even if I have to stay in the snowfield for another year or five years, as long as I can wait until God takes him away, I am willing to do so."
The woman in green was one of the sixteen guardians of the Burning Fire Hall, her name was Yuan Yeyue. She had only met Li Sui briefly on that snowy night, but the other party was already dying at that time, so she really didn't understand what the leader had been hiding from all these years.
"But he just doesn't want to stay in the northwest and wait for death." Chi Tian asked, "Are you ready?"
"Yes." Yuan Yeyue said, "Everything has been prepared according to the leader's instructions."
Chi Tian turned around, and his skinny figure disappeared into the night in an instant like a ghost.
…
Li Sui was also watching the moon with Zhu Yanyin on a winter night, riding on the same horse.
In fact, in such a cold and windy weather, one should stay in the carriage with a hand warmer to keep warm. But Zhu Yanyin mentioned in a casual chat that before he lost his memory, he seemed to often drink and enjoy the moon with many close friends on winter nights, and write poems and guess riddles by the way, which was very carefree. So Palace Master Li took him to relive the old days and enjoy the moon.
Zhu Yanyin asked: "Guess a riddle?"
Li Sui replied: "No guessing."
Zhu Yanyin smiled and looked back at him: "What are you afraid of? I won't ask you any difficult questions. I guarantee you will guess it right."
"No guessing." The big devil is so principled.
Zhu Yanyin cleared his throat and said, "I'm going to start talking."
Li Sui covered his mouth with one hand.
Zhu Yanyin laughed even more happily, holding his wrist with both hands and insisting on speaking, but Li Sui tightened his arms: "Stop it, there are people here."
"… "
There really is someone there. The beautiful and talented man from Hecheng was standing alone on a rock, with his hands behind his back, his long robe blown by the wind. He was charming, like an immortal under the moon, but he just looked a little cold.
Li Sui asked in a low voice: "Are you going?"
"No." Zhu Yanyin made up his mind to leave Xu Yunzhong alone, "Let's go back to the camp."
Li Sui turned his horse around.
Xu Yunzhong, who had been standing there for half a day, asked: "?"
Wait a minute, you guys are leaving now