Chapter 22

"Then my earlier guess was correct." Li Musheng did not seem surprised by this.

"The General Wu An's mansion secretly searched for the whereabouts of the lost Seventh Imperial Prince, while the two of them fabricated identities and deliberately allowed themselves to be discovered, thus following the people from General Wu An's mansion to Shangyang City."

As Cang Yin Yue spoke, she glanced at the ugly woman on the ground.

At this moment, the woman withdrew her gaze from the dead scholar, her eyes filled with terror, and hurriedly said:

"The matter of the Great Li Court's Seventh Imperial Prince is known throughout the entire Jianghu. My junior brother and I merely wanted to try to see if we could fool our way through, thinking that if we truly succeeded, future glory and wealth would be inexhaustible."

Hearing this, Li Musheng looked as if he suddenly understood:

"Indeed, excellent hunters often appear in the guise of prey."

Cang Yin Yue's gaze shifted, yet she suddenly spoke up and asked:

"You seemed to know earlier that this scholar had a problem. How did you discover it?"

Li Musheng stroked his chin and said:

"This scholar's disguise was not very good. Whether walking along this steep mountain road or being chased by the Yuxue Alliance later, although he feigned exhaustion and weakness on the surface, he was actually at ease."

"Not only did he have not a single wound on his body, but after such turmoil for a whole day, he was still as if nothing had happened, which is very abnormal."

"Of course, when his senior sister was being chased by the Yuxue Alliance, he might have unintentionally revealed a trace of his aura out of concern for her, which also made me confirm he had a problem."

Hearing this, Cang Yin Yue nodded thoughtfully.

And after listening to Li Musheng's words, the ugly woman's head suddenly drooped, murmuring:

"I said my junior brother could not be heartless to me... we were childhood sweethearts, and when he was young, he even said he would marry me."

"If it were not for practicing the poison technique which ruined my face, I felt I was not worthy of him; perhaps we would already be husband and wife..."

The ugly woman's gaze turned to the scholar's bloody corpse, and suddenly she laughed:

"My junior brother also said that once he became the Seventh Imperial Prince, he would have the imperial physicians with the best medical skills in the palace treat my face, allowing me to restore my appearance..."

Speaking of this, the ugly woman fell silent for a while.

Then, with tears streaming down her face, she slowly raised her head, looked at Li Musheng with a cold gaze, and said viciously:

"You killed my junior brother. I know I cannot escape death tonight, but even if I die, I will make you pay the price."

Having said this, the ugly woman suddenly seemed to bite through something, and immediately let out a malicious laugh:

"My master will avenge us!"

Visible to the naked eye, the other person's face began to corrode and melt from the inside out, then spread to the entire body.

Within a few breaths, the ugly woman's skin, flesh, and bones all turned into black water and thick smoke, emitting an extremely strong fishy stench that scattered and drifted away, floating towards the high mountains and forests.

Seeing this, Cang Yin Yue's face looked somewhat unpleasant, and she said:

"Doing this, she must be sending out a special signal; she is transmitting a message to that Wu Xiang Lao Ren."

Li Musheng waved his hand, frowned, and said:

"It's too smelly; let's continue on our way."

Cang Yin Yue turned her head to look at him:

"Don't you worry at all?"

Li Musheng glanced at the scholar's corpse, then leaped onto the mule, chuckled, and said:

"The apprentice did not give me what she owed; having the master come all this way to deliver it, I suppose she was considerate."

Hearing this, Cang Yin Yue silently stared at Li Musheng for a while, her curved eyebrows unconsciously furrowing, and she said:

"You could kill this scholar, so your strength must be at least at the Wudao Sect Master realm. Although I know I should not pry too much into your affairs."

"But I guess you must have encountered some opportunity, and one capable of making countless Jianghu people fight until their heads bleed; otherwise, you could not possess such astonishing cultivation at such a young age, nor possess that rare Wu Gong of pressing acupoints from a distance."

Speaking thus, a complex expression arose in Cang Yin Yue's eyes, and she said:

"However, I still must advise you: before confirming the Imperial Prince's identity, unless absolutely necessary, try not to expose your strength."

"The Imperial Capital is far more complex than you imagine; before the dust settles, anything can happen, and you could lose your life at any moment."

"Also, once you reach Shangyang City, do not easily trust anyone, not even me."

Hearing this, Li Musheng immediately showed a strange expression and asked curiously:

"Why?"

"There is no reason. My words end here; you only need to remember what I said tonight. I will not say this again in the future."

Having said this, Cang Yin Yue turned and walked towards the valley, personally cutting off the heads of the three experts from the Yuxue Alliance who were suffering deeply from their injuries.

Undoubtedly, these three were naturally also on the court's list for extermination.

Then, Cang Yin Yue glanced at Mengshan and Yuan Mei, but ultimately did not act, returned to the side of the mountain road, and lightly leaped onto the mule.

"Let's go."

She calmly called out, then took the lead along the mountain road.

Li Musheng shrugged; the other party had said so much just now, but he let it go in one ear and out the other.

Immediately, he patted the mule beneath him and stepped onto the mountain road under the night. At this moment, the moonlight emerged, illuminating the forest ahead, making it appear exceptionally quiet and bright.

The horse gradually moved away from the valley filled with gruesome corpses, as if they were two different worlds.

Two days passed; Cang Yin Yue and Li Musheng encountered no obstacles along the way and smoothly entered the territory of Jingzhou.

Upon entering Jingzhou, Li Musheng immediately felt it was different from the other prefectures of Great Li.

The cities here were orderly, and agriculture and commerce were both very prosperous. Although Jianghu people holding knives and swords were not uncommon, along the way, not a single scene of fighting or killing had been witnessed.

The Jianghu forces here seemed to have changed their nature, treating the government Constables politely whenever they met them.

They even encountered on the road a group of government soldiers marching in great numbers to a mountain peak to exterminate mountain bandits, among whom were quite a few Jianghu knights who voluntarily joined to help halfway.

"Miss Cang, this Jingzhou looks quite good. Is Shangyang City, which is under the Emperor's feet, really as wretched as you say?"

Since that night, whenever Li Musheng tried to talk to Cang Yin Yue along the way, the other party was not very willing to respond, appearing weighed down by worries.

Li Musheng felt that the main cause of this matter should still be that he had killed that scholar, after slightly revealing a bit of his strength.

At that time, Cang Cang Yin Yue had spoken quite a lot to him; although he had not taken it much to heart, he had seen with his own eyes the change in the other party's attitude toward him, the Seventh Imperial Prince.

This Miss must be hiding something from me.

Li Musheng gazed at Cang Cang Yin Yue's back, lost in thought.

At this moment, Cang Cang Yin Yue suddenly turned her head and said:

"Jingzhou is indeed peaceful; if you were just an ordinary commoner, you could spend your life here in stability."

"But unfortunately, you are not. Moreover, between a fierce tiger and a venomous snake, who would easily reveal their sharp claws and poisonous fangs?"

"When they reveal their claws and fangs, it is time to eat people, and in that Shangyang City, there are hidden far too many fierce tigers and venomous snakes."

(End of this chapter)