Chapter 251: Carrier Pigeon

It was the middle of the night, a time when sleepiness was at its peak. The Temple Keeper turned over, but was suddenly woken by an urgent need to urinate. He squinted and reached under the bed, groping for quite a while, only then remembering that when he washed the chamber pot this morning, he had accidentally dropped and shattered it, and he hadn't bought a new one yet.

"Damn it!"

The Temple Keeper muttered, wrapped himself in his quilt, and went back to sleep. The chamber pot was broken, and in the dead of winter, he really didn't want to get up and suffer the cold, so he held his bladder and continued to sleep.

But before long, clearly because the urge was too overwhelming, the Temple Keeper still threw off the quilt, draped his cotton-padded coat over his shoulders, walked out the door, went to the vegetable patch in the corner of the courtyard, and unzipped his pants...

Just as the Temple Keeper finished relieving himself and shivered, a black shadow suddenly jumped in from outside the courtyard.

"Who?" the Temple Keeper demanded while pulling up his pants.

The black shadow coughed and said, "It's me."

The Temple Keeper's expression changed upon hearing this, and the pants he was holding almost slipped off. He said, "What is the meaning of this? You didn't use such a secret method of contact; why did you come directly to see me?"

"The matter is urgent, there was no time. Just now, Wei Yutian's Secret Chamber Mandala was taken down by Shen Yanliu!"

"What..." This time the Temple Keeper's pants really fell down, revealing two legs that were quite smooth and round; they were not at all the withered, shriveled legs of a sixty-year-old man.

In the heavy darkness of the night, the back door of the City God Temple opened a crack, and a beggar walked out with a stumbling gait. The back door of the City God Temple faced that Wild Lake directly. This time, the beggar did not use his movement technique to cross the Wild Lake again, but instead stumbled along the lake...

After sending the beggar off, the Temple Keeper carried a lantern to a cage in the Back Courtyard. There were more than a dozen pigeons kept in that cage, but only three were letter pigeons.

The Temple Keeper, by the dim light of the lantern, peered at the pigeons in the cage. After making sure, he reached in and pulled one out, discovered it wasn't the one for Jiuzhong County, and put it back.

It was only on the second try that the Temple Keeper managed to grab the letter pigeon he was looking for.

Xiangu County, Tanghe County, and Jiuzhong County formed a tripod formation, with Tanghe County in the center.

Moreover, Tanghe County had not established a Branch of the Filthy Blood Sect.

The Temple Keeper pinched the pigeon, carefully tied the thin wooden tube containing the rolled-up paper message onto the pigeon's thin leg, then stroked the pigeon's head and released it into the night.

The pigeon flew out of the City God Temple, flapped its wings, and flew into the pitch-black night.

The Temple Keeper watched the pigeon disappear into the night sky, his eyes flickering as he muttered, "It should be in time... If it's not, this old Daoist will have to change locations... I've been here for most of my life, every blade of grass and every tree is so familiar, and life has been comfortable; I really can't bear to leave..."

As the Temple Keeper spoke, he no longer felt sleepy and actually began to practice his arts in the open space of the Back Courtyard.

The Temple Keeper had only been practicing for a short while when a thin thread of blood suddenly emerged from his ear. The Temple Keeper's heart stirred, and he immediately covered it with his hand, saying, "I know you are hungry, and I am hungry too, but what can I do? The situation is tense, just endure it a little longer..."

The Temple Keeper sighed helplessly as he spoke.

The Helmsman had originally disagreed with Wei Yutian building a Secret Chamber Mandala in that residence; the eyes and ears in the city were too mixed, and once exposed, there would be no room for maneuver.

But later, because Wei Yutian insisted time and again, the Helmsman let him be, but the Helmsman also strictly forbade other sect members in the Branch from practicing inside Wei Yutian's Secret Chamber Mandala.

Only Luan Jingfu and Wei Yutian, who were already on good terms, went there privately a few times, and the Helmsman just turned a blind eye.

Unexpectedly, something really did happen on Wei Yutian's side.

Fortunately, the Helmsman was wise; otherwise, wouldn't the brothers of the Branch have been wiped out in one fell swoop?

Thinking this, the Temple Keeper's respect for Ruan Fengshan deepened a little more. This Temple Keeper was already over sixty years old, and he had only joined the Filthy Blood Sect two years ago. Two years ago, he had fallen gravely ill and was on the verge of death when Ruan Fengshan came to visit and quietly told him that there was a martial art that could cure his illness.

The Temple Keeper had already been in despair, and at that moment, it was as if a drowning man had grabbed a straw.

Ruan Fengshan then took him to a mysterious place and began to teach him a strange martial art.

This martial art did indeed cure the Temple Keeper's illness, and all his chronic ailments and minor sicknesses were swept away; even the jock itch at the base of his thighs was healed.

But this martial art was truly bizarre and terrifying to practice!

Gradually, the Temple Keeper had come to know what kind of martial art he was practicing. This was the Filthy Blood Sect, which was wanted throughout the entire territory by the Taiyi Sect.

But by then, the Temple Keeper could no longer extricate himself. Because the Filthy Blood Divine Art could not only cure illnesses but also nourish oneself by devouring the flesh and blood of others, delaying aging and effectively increasing one's lifespan.

Over here, Shen Yanliu and Li Chong had already led a large group of men to surround Luan Jingfu's mansion.

Li Chong channeled his Internal Breath, exerting the full force of his Inner Breath Realm Third Layer, and with one palm, he shattered the bolt of the Luan Mansion's gate. Amidst flying wood splinters, a group of people rushed in.

The gatekeeper had just rushed out when he was knocked unconscious by a bailiff with a water-and-fire staff.

Inside the mansion, chaotic shouts erupted everywhere.

Luan Bao rushed out holding a saber and slashed at a bailiff. Just as Li Chong was about to go over, Shen Yanliu suddenly flashed out and struck Luan Bao's dantian with one palm.

Shen Yanliu controlled his strength, merely destroying Luan Bao's dantian without taking his life.

But even so, Luan Bao flew backward like a kite with a broken string, fell to the ground, blood spilling from his mouth and nose, his face ashen.

He knew his dantian had been destroyed.

The moment a person realizes they have become a cripple, they are actually dazed... let alone Luan Bao, who still had the temperament of a youth...

Just then, the sound of horses neighing rang out from the Back Courtyard of the Luan Mansion; the chaotic noises everywhere had clearly startled the horses in the stables.

Shen Yanliu looked at Li Chong and said, "Li Chong, keep everyone under guard, wait for me to return to interrogate them."

"Yes!" Li Chong cupped his fists and said in a low voice.

After Shen Yanliu finished speaking, his figure flashed, and he arrived at the stables in the Back Courtyard. There were five fine horses in the stables. Shen Yanliu chose a black steed that looked quite spirited, mounted it, rode across the courtyard, and whistled away from the front gate...

Luan Bao, blood in his mouth, watched Shen Yanliu ride away and muttered, "Black Spirit is my horse! Mine..."

Shen Yanliu galloped wildly; in the pitch-black night, the horse's hooves trod on the bluestone slabs, emitting the sound of metal striking stone, disturbing the peaceful dreams of countless people...

Shen Yanliu rode to the East City Gate and shouted, "Open the gate!"

The bailiff guarding the gate shouted, "Who is it? In the middle of the night, in such a rush..."

As the man spoke, he approached holding a torch. Under the roaring flames, he saw that Shen Yanliu was in his official robes, his face livid.

The man was so scared he shivered, and the torch in his hand tilted, almost singeing his own hair. "C-County Magistrate..."

"Shut up, open the gate!" Shen Yanliu roared.

The city gate opened with a boom, and Shen Yanliu rode along the Official Road; that was the direction toward the neighboring Tanghe County.

It is said that in the afternoon, Luan Jingfu and Sun Huang, one person on one horse, leisurely rode out of the East City Gate. After leaving the city, they followed the Official Road for quite a while before they began to speed up.

When the two arrived at Tanghe County, it was already dusk. Sun Huang was anxious to return, but seeing Luan Jingfu's slow and leisurely manner, he found it hard to urge him on.

After finally delivering that Letter Escort, Luan Jingfu actually wanted to invite Sun Huang to drink flower wine.

Sun Huang would not agree, saying that his wife at home was fierce, and if she found out he was drinking flower wine, she would make a scene with him.

"A real man! We live a life of licking blood from the blade; what's wrong with drinking flower wine once? Besides, this is Tanghe County; how would your wife know? Listen to me, nothing will happen!"

Sun Huang saw that he could not decline, so he had no choice but to go with Luan Jingfu.

Although the brothels in Tanghe County were not as famous as Huaying Pavilion in Xiangu County, the wine, food, and courtesans were not bad either; after one night passed, both men were drunk.

When the sky was just beginning to brighten, they walked out with unsteady steps; the brothel's pimp brought over their horses, and the two mounted them, swaying as they headed toward the West City Gate.

(End of this chapter)