Chapter 86

A large group of troops hurriedly arrived, surrounding the field where Chen Yi He had disappeared, then launched a carpet‑style search, with a radius of thirty li, all deploying the Embroidered Uniform Guard in heavy blockade.

Led personally by Zhang Gonggong, he took command and stood guard.

Lu Qianchuan rode his horse from afar to Zhang Gonggong's presence, dismounted, and said, "Zhang Gonggong, we have basically searched everywhere, but we haven't found Chen Yi He."

"He couldn't have gone far; he must be hidden." Zhang Gonggong's eyes narrowed, shooting out a cold light.

No one can escape safely under his "Boundless Sea"; he still has that confidence.

Lu Qianchuan jumped in fright, "No…… impossible that anyone would dare conceal anything from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, right?"

"Think carefully, mark out the doubtful spots for me, and I'll go myself."

"Okay."

Lu Qianchuan led Zhang Gonggong to Long Yue's thatched hut; he waved his hand, and eight hundred Embroidered Uniform Guard surrounded the small hut seven or eight layers deep.

Long Yue was bending over in the small vegetable garden in front of the hut, picking vegetables.

Long Yue put down the vegetable basket in his hand, stood up, and stared expressionlessly at the group of uninvited guests before him.

"We, the Western Depot, now suspect that your thatched hut hides a serious criminal of the court, and we have come specially to search it," Lu Qianchuan announced as he stepped forward.

Zhang Gonggong stood there, closed his eyes. His mind and spirit were searching.

No one can escape his divine sense; he will conduct the most precise search.

Long Yue gently wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and said, "You've already searched here before."

"Men, search, search carefully—don't let even a speck of dust or a crack go unnoticed." Lu Qianchuan ignored Long Yue and waved his hand directly.

"Aren't you being too rude?" Long Yue stepped out of the vegetable garden and stood before the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard walked past Long Yue's side and entered the hut.

Over the past month, the Embroidered Uniform Guard has searched Long Yue's thatched hut three times. Each time they turned the place upside down, leaving the interior in utter disarray.

Thus Long Yue's annoyance is entirely understandable.

"How can my body be used to hide your soul?" That jet‑black large hand flipped down from the heavens and pressed down on Chen Yi He.

A bottomless black hole appeared, tightly coiling around Chen Yi He's feet.

Chen Yi He fell into an endless abyss.

Above him was immense pressure, below him an abyss.

Chen Yi He, asleep, jolted awake; the cold sweat on his body might have come from the summer heat, or from sensing that external force.

Zhang Gonggong's body shuddered, his spirit trembled; in that brief instant everything flashed and vanished! "That…" he wanted to probe again, but found his divine sense empty, unable to sense anything; that tremor seemed like a short circuit of the soul—"Was I overthinking it?"

Afterward, no matter how Zhang Gonggong searched, there was nothing in the hut.

Chen Yi He slowly sat up, sitting on the edge of the bed.

His thoughts were unsettled; the movements outside made him uneasy, and he knew this time the Embroidered Uniform Guard had come for real.

Because he sensed Zhang Gonggong's aura.

Since he could sense Zhang Gonggong's qi, Zhang Gonggong could certainly sense his as well.

Chen Yi He's heart nearly jumped into his throat; nervous and drenched in sweat, he quietly clenched the Purple Tempered Sword.

"Deputy commander, there's a crack in this wall!" the Embroidered Uniform Guard pulled aside the pile of dry firewood.

"Where is it?"

Chen Yi He heard Lu Qianchuan's voice; they were separated by only a wall.

That wall was the line between life and death for Chen Yi He.

Lu Qianchuan needed only one strike to split the wall, find the hidden chamber, and drag Chen Yi He out. "Hand me my sword."

"Are you trying to destroy my house?" Long Yue stood behind Lu Qianchuan and asked. His tone remained low, his composure unflappable even in the face of change.

Zhang Gonggong sensed Long Yue's unruffled heart. He could now conclude that his earlier feeling was a mistake; he had always trusted his judgment, and there was no one else in the hut.

"Do you intend to obstruct the Western Depot's work?" Lu Qianchuan, without turning, sneered at the woman behind him, "I tell you, no one can stop us."

Chen Yi He heard everything clearly in the hidden chamber; he gripped his sword, ready to fight to the death, but dared not release even a wisp of true qi.

Long Yue pulled a jade pendant from his chest pocket and said, "Take a look at this."

After a long while, Chen Yi He heard Lu Qianchuan say, "Leave." Immediately afterward, he heard the disordered footsteps fade, growing more distant until they vanished.

"Sir, I always feel something is off." Lu Qianchuan didn't know why Zhang Gonggong had just ordered him to withdraw the troops.

"That woman's family bears a grudge against Chen Yi He no less than ours; besides, my divine sense has already combed every corner, so there's no need to stir up trouble."

"Then what's our next step?" Lu Qianchuan asked.

"Return to the Western Depot."

Chen Yi He knew that his rescue was not only due to Long Yue, but also to that jet‑black large hand inside him, which, when Zhang Gonggong's divine sense was about to reach him, suppressed his true qi and concealed his life force, allowing him to escape disaster.

Zhang Gonggong was old and crafty, yet he never expected Chen Yi He to have such a "behind‑the‑scenes helper."

"Although I don't know what you are, I won't thank you for this." Chen Yi He muttered to himself, as if speaking to himself and also to that jet‑black hand within him.

Chen Yi He had read many online martial‑arts novels and knew of the concept of "possession." If the host dies, the possessing person or spirit also dies. When the time is ripe, it will break through the host's body and even take over!

In the end, it will emerge in the form of a living person, while the host will most likely have his life and body taken away.

"I won't let you succeed." This thing is like a tumor growing inside Chen Yi He's body, ready to kill him at any moment; yet when the time is not ripe, it also preserves his life.

Because it, too, needs to survive.

It gave no answer to Chen Yi He.

"How can my body be used to hide your soul?" Chen Yi He kept pondering this line; its rough meaning is "How could my body conceal your soul?" or "Could it be that I have seized his body?"

In short, Chen Yi He never imagined he would end up in such a situation.

At the same time, he also didn't know what method Long Yue used to stop the Embroidered Uniform Guard from smashing the wall.

Only toward evening did Long Yue carry a tray of food into the hidden chamber.

At the instant the hidden door opened, moonlight streamed in; Long Yue's tall, graceful figure became visible, and in the moon's bath it grew ever more sacred.

"Thank you." Chen Yi He thanked Long Yue.

Long Yue didn't speak, just put down the food, then turned to leave. She was still so sad.

"Why did you save me?" Chen Yi He finally asked the question he had held in his heart for a long time.

Long Yue was so aloof.

"Never mind, it's fine if you don't want to say, but I still want to thank you! The most sincere thanks." Chen Yi He rarely spoke such sincere thanks.