Chapter 708: Hard to Distinguish True from False

"Commandant, urgent letter from Southern Zhili, it's a great omen!"

Pingyang Prefecture River Patrol Office.

Seeing Ran Zhongshi rushed into the third-floor study, slapped down the document, and was ecstatic.

"A great omen?"

Xu Yuelong stood up abruptly and opened the volume.

Below the ghost-drawn-talisman-like characters, it was clearly written: depart immediately, victory is certain, no defeat.

His brows gradually knitted together.

"In mid-February, the reply from Southern Zhili still clearly stated 'minor ominous'. How, after a month, has it suddenly become a 'great omen'?"

Seeing Ran Zhongshi said: "Could it be that there is a change within the enemy? And Southern Zhili happened to capture it?"

"How could it be so simple... The way of divination cannot be fully trusted; having three or four tenths is already remarkable. We haven't changed, can Southern Zhili directly divine the movements of the Ghost Mother Sect? If they had such ability, why set up a separate prefecture?"

Seeing Ran Zhongshi was equally puzzled.

They hadn't changed, and Southern Zhili had changed the divination from 'minor ominous' to 'great omen', which clearly meant that the Ghost Mother Sect's actions had been captured.

"Might as well ask the newly appointed Registrar?"

The newly appointed Registrar?

Xu Yuelong was stunned for a moment, unable to think of who it was.

"Frog Duke?"

"Croak!"

The old toad scratched its belly.

The water-land map flipped over a corner, rustling.

Xiang Zhangsong was curious, leaned forward to take a look, and saw the otter use its claws to poke a small hole in a certain point.

"Almost to Cangzhou?"

"Two and a half days out, not much difference. It's also a place with good feng shui." Cao Rang leaned against the ship railing. "I heard that anyone passing through Cangzhou, whether black or white, water transport or land travel, must lower their flags and pass quietly. Otherwise, no matter how big your name or how good your skills, you will stumble. I don't know if it's true."

"How can there be such a strange saying?" Xiang Zhangsong was puzzled. "We didn't see Mr. Lan lower his flags when we came."

"Because a strong dragon does not suppress the local snake. Cangzhou is a hub for water and land traffic between the north and south, a must-pass place for commodity circulation in the northern large states and prefectures, and a main route for official and wealthy merchants."

Cao Rang pointed to the Great River. "Eating by this, there are many capable people. As for not lowering the flags when we came... we were sitting on a Golden Leaf Ship, which belongs to the King's Way, so of course it's different."

"Should we dock and take a look?"

"Better to avoid trouble." Lu Gang rejected the proposal. "Two days out of the capital, why do we need supplies?"

The senior brothers chatted.

Liang Qu looked out at the water, just about to interject with a joke, when his heart suddenly stopped, followed by a sense of helplessness and palpitations from weightlessness at high altitude, and his forehead pressed against the ship railing.

Long Eying's perception was keen: "My lord?"

"Nothing..."

The strangeness came and went quickly, as if it had never appeared in the blink of an eye.

Liang Qu exhaled a breath of turbid air, feeling inexplicable, and at the same time, he suddenly remembered something, his mouth dry.

"Eying, what does a 'sudden heart-felt feeling' feel like?"

"I have never experienced it. I heard from the Elder that individual expressions vary—some have palpitations, some have heart pain, some are weak and powerless, some are irritable. Even more, some will have an inexplicable appetite or lust, as if a person is about to die and wants to eat their fill and pass on their bloodline. My lord, did you have a sudden heart-felt feeling just now?" Long Eying was not stupid, secretly gripping the hilt of her sword to be on guard.

Liang Qu was terrified.

A real sudden heart-felt feeling?

For the Hunting Tiger realm, a sudden heart-felt feeling is mostly due to the accidental death of a close relative, or that one is about to encounter danger.

And it's not comparable to a Jiang Zongshi or Wu Sheng realm.

When a Hunting Tiger has a sudden heart-felt feeling, the event has often already happened or is about to happen in the next moment!

Did something happen to Master? Did an enemy come to the door?

Thinking of this.

Liang Qu's nerves were taut, his golden eyes ignited, and he reached out to grip his belt, which was stuffed with many things.

The wooden plaque given by Master had a shelf life of one month and was already useless. It had been several months since leaving Huangzhou, and the silver light was dim.

The old monk's Golden Body Token was barely usable; there were two.

Perhaps it was because monks don't tell lies, the old monk said the shelf life was one month, but Liang Qu tested it and it had several months, at least a season. It was just that the effect was best around one month, and it would decay slightly afterward.

In addition, the Cloud Thunder Clothes given by the Holy Emperor had an unknown shelf life due to their characteristics.

The jade plaque given by the King of Yue had a shelf life of five years and contained a strike from a Wu Sheng.

Although he didn't know why he had a sudden heart-felt feeling.

Just in case, Liang Qu pinched the token with his left hand and went to grip the jade plaque with his right hand.

Finger touched finger.

Empty.

"Last year, the Marquis of Weining was enfeoffed in Ningjiang, traveling south from the capital, recruiting soldiers and buying horses, testing talent with several Han white jade pillars imprinted with a trace of will. Only when he came to Pingyang Prefecture did he give a jade plaque, which was said to contain a strike from a Wu Sheng, looking quite ordinary."

Gulp!

Liang Qu swallowed, cold sweat gathering and flowing down his spine.

Intense malice chiseled through flesh and blood like a needle, nailing straight into his heart!

Lu Gang and Xu Zishuai protected the junior brothers and sisters, and Long Eying took a half-step sideways, blocking Liang Qu.

Between the two sides.

A middle-aged man in green stood gracefully, turning a mutton-fat jade plaque in his palm.

No one knew how the other party got on the ship.

But at just one glance, the hearts of everyone in the field were pounding, smelling an extremely rich crisis.

The middle-aged man stood casually, but it was like a high mountain and dangerous peak, creating a sense of oppression.

Jiang Zongshi...

Long Binglin exhaled gently and walked out of the cabin: "Your Excellency, coming uninvited..."

"Binglin! Shut up, it's not your turn to speak!"

Liang Qu roared and interrupted, pressing on Long Eying's shoulder and pulling her behind him.

The man in green put down the jade plaque: "You are quite alert, a sudden heart-felt feeling?"

"Senior! Have you and I met? I don't know if Liang has offended you, or if there is a chance to make amends?"

The man in green put his hands behind his back: "It doesn't matter if I tell you, my surname is Ning."

Surname Ning?

Liang Qu's brain spun rapidly, and a balloon poodle suddenly jumped out of his memory.

Ning Chaoqing's father??

Lu Gang and the others also recalled the encounter on the Five Old Peaks of Lushan, failing to ambush the junior brother, and all four limbs were pinched and crippled by the Dragon Man, so they couldn't help but swallow their saliva.

"I think you have already guessed, but there is no need to be nervous." Ning Gongcai raised his hand to soothe. "Although you killed my son, he was just an illegitimate child, something that couldn't be brought to the table. Just find a woman and give birth to another one. The girl behind you is quite good."

Liang Qu's face tightened.

"Heh... quite attentive. I didn't come today to avenge my son. Tell me where your white ape friend is, and I will leave you a whole corpse."

Cold sweat was dripping.

Liang Qu was about to open his mouth.

Swish!

Feet off the ground.

A sense of weightlessness surged into his heart.

Ning Gongcai spread his five fingers, firmly pinching Liang Qu's skull, lifting him into mid-air.

Liang Qu tried to resist, but was completely powerless. The forearm of the man in green was like copper and iron, unable to be shaken in the slightest.

"Quite a bit of strength."

Ning Gongcai felt the brute force on his arm and gripped it backhand.

"Ah!"

"Liang Shidi!"

"Senior, don't be impatient. Ning Chaoqing is not dead. You can take my Liang Shidi to exchange!" Xu Zishuai shouted.

Ning Gongcai ignored him completely: "Where is the white ape!? If you say another word of irrelevant nonsense, my fingers will pinch down another fraction. If you are not afraid of death, it doesn't matter."

He opened his mouth to breathe, and a trace of gray mist appeared out of thin air. The entire deck was quietly worn away into a hole a zhang wide, penetrating all the way to the bottom of the ship, and river water poured in.

Everyone's hearts jumped, and they retreated and scattered.

"Soul-Destroying and Bone-Eroding Wind, my divine ability. Below the Jiang Zongshi realm, no matter how heaven-defying your means, you will turn into a pool of blood and thick mist upon contact. Even gods cannot save you. If you are not afraid of death, for every foot the ship sinks, I will kill one of your senior brothers..."

Liang Qu had his eyes covered by the palm, unable to see the situation outside, but it was as if he had lost his mind from pain, indifferent.

Ning Gongcai's brows wrinkled slightly, and the gray wind rolled toward Lu Gang.

But before the gray wind touched him.

Boom!

The world shook, and the river cracked.

Everyone felt empty under their feet.

The entire large ship sank straight into the water!

Waves layered and collapsed toward the east and west.

"Hmph, quite dishonest!"

Ning Gongcai floated onto the water surface, standing on the water, ignoring the people who fell into the water, and his five fingers pinched down fiercely.

Bang!

The golden light dissipated and shattered.

The skull creaked, and intense pain penetrated the brain. But taking advantage of the moment the Golden Body persisted, Liang Qu endured the pain, reached for his lower back, and pulled out a jade plaque the size of a palm.

Ning Gongcai's movements paused.

He didn't pause when the ship sank.

He didn't pause when Liang Qu hid other Jiang Zongshi means.

But looking at the jade plaque exactly the same as the one in his hand.

He was stunned.

Swish!

The jade plaque shattered.

Between heaven and earth.

Silver light shone brightly.

A trace of a silver ring expanded infinitely!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 709 =====