Chapter 686: I

Mo Zhanggeng's head tilted slightly, his ears twitched.

Tuan Tuan was taken aback, then softly called out again: "Master! It's me!"

Mo Zhanggeng suddenly opened his eyes and immediately saw Tuan Tuan.

He jumped up from the bed: "Good disciple! You've finally come! The Guoshi Residence is on fire—are you hurt?"

"No! We hid long ago!" Tuan Tuan was so anxious she was about to cry: "Master, are you sick?"

Still, my disciple is the best!

Mo Zhanggeng felt greatly relieved: "Don't rush, don't rush, I'm fine! I'm just pretending to be sick!"

Tuan Tuan blinked: "Feigning sickness?"

"Exactly!" Mo Zhanggeng nodded, "I couldn't be bothered to cure those two beasts, so I took the medicine I mixed myself and have been pretending to be sick these past days—did I scare you?"

He wore a satisfied grin: "How's that? Master's feigning sickness isn't bad, huh—you even believed it!"

Xiao Ningyuan sighed, while Xiao Er and Lu Qi looked torn between laughter and tears.

Divine Doctor Mo, you're really something!

Tuan Tuan slipped her small hand through the crack, gave a thumbs‑up: "Master, you're awesome!"

"But," she thought, then added worriedly, "Will those villains believe it?"

"Believe it or not!" Mo Zhanggeng snorted, "They need me, they know I'm sick—aside from treating me well, what else can they do?"

"Filial piety?" Tuan Tuan perked up, "How are they showing you filial piety?"

Mo Zhanggeng jumped off the bed, lifted the lid of a small porcelain bowl on the table: "Look, this is ginseng soup. It was personally simmered by that old lady surnamed Liu."

He set the lid down, then lifted another: "This is deer antler soup."

"Master nowadays eats ginseng and deer antler as if they were rice."

"Master, yesterday you even got a nosebleed from over‑tonic! Today you really can't eat any more—look, only half a bowl remains of one kind."

"If I don't eat it, they won't let up—they keep urging me one by one."

Tuan Tuan burst into giggles.

Mo Zhanggeng suddenly remembered: "By the way, I heard the Guoshi Residence burned down, so I even went to see the National Preceptor to ask about your whereabouts!"

"Master?" Tuan Tuan asked anxiously, "Where is he?"

Mo Zhanggeng froze: "The National Preceptor is also your master?"

"Exactly!"

Mo Zhanggeng was a bit unhappy: "How come you took him as your master without telling me?"

"Master, don't be angry!" Tuan Tuan hurriedly soothed him: "When I was at the border keeping my father company in battle, it was the National Preceptor who saved my life!"

"Oh, forget it," Mo Zhanggeng then muttered grudgingly, "Since it's a life‑saving favor, Master won't say anything more."

"He now lives at the last house on Jade Belt Lane in the northeast of Jingcheng."

"By the way, I couldn't find you, so I gave him a pill that can fake death for an escape."

"Don't forget to come back—that's something Master gave you; don't let him take it."

"Taken? By the National Preceptor?"

The several adults exchanged a glance and couldn't help curling the corners of their mouths.

"I've got it!" Tuan Tuan nodded with a smile: "Thank you, Master!"

Xiao Ningyuan tugged at his sister's sleeve.

He didn't dare provoke Divine Doctor Mo any further, so he let his sister ask.

"By the way," Tuan Tuan hurriedly asked, "Master, have you seen any particularly skilled fighters following Lu Wu?"

Mo Zhanggeng blinked: "Nope—aside from Lu Wu and me, there are only a few servants here."

"They may know a bit of boxing and kicking, but it's all ordinary—just enough to guard the house, nothing worth calling real skill."

Xiao Er leaned close to Tuan Tuan's ear: "Miss, ask about Cheng Jing's place."

Tuan Tuan nodded: "What about Cheng Jing's place—anything there?"

"None either—I've never seen them." Mo Zhanggeng shook his head. "Are you looking for them? Master will certainly keep an eye out."

The several adults' hearts sank—none? Then where could they be?

"Thank you, Master!" Tuan Tuan glanced at the soup on the table: "Master, if you don't want to drink it, just pour it out—why force yourself?"

"I'd like to!" Mo Zhanggeng pursed his lips: "But there's nowhere in this room to pour it out."

"Right now, the moment I step out the door someone's tailing me—I can't find a chance."

Tuan Tuan looked around with her big eyes, pointed a small finger: "Master, are your clothes in that cabinet?"

Mo Zhanggeng turned his head and glanced: "Yes."

"That's easy!" Tuan Tuan clapped her hands: "Master, just pour it into a thick garment!"

"Great idea!" Mo Zhanggeng raised his eyebrows: "The fabric will soak up the soup, and besides, I won't have to wash it."

"Speaking frankly to Master, Tuan Tuan," he lifted his head, narrowed his eyes at his own disciple, "When you were in the Prince's Mansion, didn't you also secretly dump the medicine like this?"

"No way!" Tuan Tuan pouted her little mouth: "I've been good—Master, you're not allowed to spout nonsense!"

"Hahaha," Mo Zhanggeng felt relieved, "Master won't say any more, won't say any more."

Xiao Er tugged at Tuan Tuan's clothes again.

Tuan Tuan waved her little hand: "Master, I'm off now—don't let them bully you!"

"Bully me?" Mo Zhanggeng scoffed, "They're just dreaming in vain!"

"Go on," he sighed, his disciple leaving again, "Be careful with everything!"

"Got it!"

Several people said farewell to Mo Zhanggeng, then, following the route drawn in Xiao Ran's diagram, they all the way arrived near the Xuanwu Gate where he had sneaked into Jingcheng.

Night deep, people quiet, a torch burns every few steps on the city wall; most of the patrolling soldiers lean against the wall, dozing.

Several people pressed themselves into the shadow at the base of the wall and walked to a section beneath the city wall.

Along the wall, a long row of rust-speckled iron rings is set, one every few steps, extending along the base of the wall.

"As the Ninth Prince said," Xiao Er pointed and whispered, "After he came out of here, the Second Young Master closed the door, and the iron ring on the door is exactly the sixth from the right."

"Uncle, what are these for?" Tuan Tuan poked her head out from Xiao Er's shoulder.

"These are for tethering livestock."

"When townsfolk enter the city, they tie any donkeys or horses that are inconvenient to bring inside to these iron rings."

Tuan Tuan let out an "oh" and curiously examined those iron rings.

Xiao Ningyuan walked to the sixth iron ring, grabbed it, and pulled outward with force.

It didn't budge at all.

He then tried twisting it left and right, but the iron ring remained completely still.

"Let me," Lu Qi stepped forward, gripped the iron ring with his big hand, sank his wrist, first pulled outward, then tried twisting it.

The iron ring moved!

Everyone's eyes lit up.

"Nice! Brother Lu." Xiao Er praised.

Lu Qi laughed, kept twisting, but the iron ring only turned a few cycles with no change.

He furrowed his brow, turning it left for a moment, then right for a moment.

The iron ring spun rapidly, yet there was not the slightest movement around it.

"No good," he released his hand, "Just spinning won't work; there must be some trick."

Xiao Er also stepped forward to try, but likewise came away empty-handed.

Xiao Ningyuan brought the sister on his back over, leaned close to the iron ring, and said, "Be good, try it, okay?"

Tuan Tuan tilted her head, stared at the rust-speckled iron ring for a moment, and reached out with her two small hands.

She muttered, "Hurry up and open! I want to see Second Brother!"

After saying that, she gripped both sides of the iron ring with her left and right hands and pushed inward hard.

"Click."

A soft sound.

The wall brick where the iron ring was silently receded inward, revealing a dark opening.

Lu Qi's eyes widened instantly, while Xiao Er and Xiao Ningyuan exchanged a faint smile.

Xiao Ningyuan kissed Tuan Tuan's cheek and said, "Tuan Tuan, you're amazing!"

"Big Brother, hurry up," Tuan Tuan said, wrapping her arms around his neck, laughing with deep dimples, "We'll be able to see Second Brother right away!"

Lu Qi darted inside, walked a few steps forward, and struck a fire starter.

The others followed him inside, and Xiao Er turned back to close the door.

"Whoosh—"

A tearing-through-air sound rang out, and a feathered arrow shot swiftly from the depths of the secret passage.