Chapter 206: Keep the Trouble Away from Old Man

Deep night, dark alley without lights.

Two stunning bodies stepped through the sewage-filled alley, appearing out of place.

He Lan, or rather, Number Nine,

Turned her head from time to time to look back, her eyes full of struggle and reluctance.

From there, one could just see a corner of Zui Xian Lou, with festive red lanterns hanging high.

As a Charm Slave, she had long been able to see through a man's heart; He Shan was sincere to her.

"Why?"

"Don't know how many hundreds of men have ridden you, and you've ridden out true feelings?"

Liu Jiaoniang's eyes were full of mockery.

"Master, this slave dare not."

Number Nine hurriedly turned her head, her head hanging to her chest, not daring to say another word.

"Dare not?"

Liu Jiaoniang sneered: "You are someone I brought out; you should know that I hate men the most, and at the same time, I hate women who lose themselves for men the most."

Number Nine suddenly raised her head, her eyes full of horror, her body involuntarily retreating half a step.

Liu Jiaoniang approached, her words cold:

"To tell you the truth, what I gave you wasn't a secret medicine, it was poison; your lover is already dead."

"What?!"

Number Nine widened her eyes.

Looking at Liu Jiaoniang in disbelief; this was the first time she had looked directly at Liu Jiaoniang from so close: "You clearly told me it wasn't poison..."

"One who took the sect's heavy treasure, one who dared to seduce my Charm Slave—both deserve to die!"

Number Nine's body went limp.

Almost falling into the sewage, her eyes lost their luster in an instant, muttering to herself:

"It was me... who killed him?"

Seeing this scene, Liu Jiaoniang became even angrier for no reason.

Killing intent surged in her eyes.

Puchi!

A soft sound.

Number Nine seemed to have all her strength drained, slowly lowering her head, looking at the arm inserted into her chest, scarlet blood overflowing from the corners of her mouth.

She smiled miserably.

"What I owe you, I can only repay in the next life."

Liu Jiaoniang clearly heard what Number Nine said, her brows standing up, a soft snort.

The hand inserted into Number Nine's chest pulled out violently; her internal organs were destroyed in an instant, and even a Great Luo Immortal would find it hard to save her.

The graceful body fell to the ground, splashing a large area of sewage, and the world before her eyes turned pitch black.

She was already dead.

Liu Jiaoniang looked at Number Nine with disgust and walked toward the road out of the city without looking back.

Zui Xian Lou.

The room was dead silent; Li Rui slowly stood up and tidied his disheveled clothes.

Where was there any sign of being poisoned?

He first checked He Shan's breathing.

"Hmm, not dead."

Then he took a big step onto the window sill of the room, ten stories high, and jumped down.

His footsteps tapped lightly, walking on the roof tiles, his figure like a harrier hawk, agile and light.

A moment later.

He arrived at a small alley.

Lying in front of him was the corpse of a woman, surrounded by rats, with some parts already gnawed.

"I didn't not give you a chance."

Li Rui looked coldly at He Lan's corpse.

Everything today was a trap he had deliberately set, just to deceive Liu Jiaoniang, or rather, the Guiming Sect.

Possessing the "Wisdom Eye."

Almost the day he left the He residence, the smoke had already warned him.

He had long been on guard.

He Lan thought she had done it without anyone knowing when she left the military camp to find Liu Jiaoniang, little did she know, everything was seen by Li Rui.

This included her meeting with the Thousand-Faced Luo Sha.

The Thousand-Faced Luo Sha Liu Jiaoniang was not one of the twelve Blood Disciples who had hidden their identities; Li Rui had long since memorized the characteristics of those six Blood Disciples and recognized Liu Jiaoniang's identity at a glance, also guessing that the Guiming Sect was likely coming for the Immortal Qi.

Others didn't know about Immortal Qi, but the Guiming Sect definitely knew clearly.

As long as the Immortal Qi wasn't retrieved, they wouldn't give up, and the trouble would only be endless.

So Li Rui decided to return the Immortal Qi.

The Immortal Qi had already been absorbed and definitely couldn't be taken out, but Li Rui could use Immortal Xuan Qi to condense a wisp of Immortal Qi; what Liu Jiaoniang took was exactly the Immortal Xuan Qi he condensed that was comparable to Immortal Qi—there was no difference between the two, and the Guiming Sect definitely wouldn't see any flaws.

Although condensing this wisp of Immortal Qi cost a great deal of effort, Immortal Qi could be cultivated again with time.

He really didn't want to continue being targeted by people from the Guiming Sect.

Too much trouble.

As for this woman in front of him...

When Li Rui was at Zui Xian Lou, he had long since noticed the problem with the wine.

Asking He Lan to change the wine was a deliberate hint.

If He Lan had really changed the wine he mentioned, perhaps he would have found a way to save this young girl's life, but He Lan ultimately didn't change it and even brought Liu Jiaoniang.

Li Rui was destined not to save her again.

He recalled some Jianghu rumors; this woman in front of him should be the Charm Slave raised by the Thousand-Faced Luo Sha Liu Jiaoniang.

"Charm Slave."

Although she was a pitiful person, he wouldn't have overflowing sympathy to save someone who wanted to harm him.

Li Rui's footsteps tapped lightly.

And then he returned to Zui Xian Lou the same way, continuing to pretend to be poisoned.

The next morning.

When the Zui Xian Lou shopkeeper discovered the abnormality in this room, he immediately reported it to the Anning Guard.

After treatment by the divine doctor in the Anning Guard.

The two poisoned people were considered to have saved their lives.

To do the acting completely, Li Rui and He Shan being poisoned was of course true; otherwise, how could the Guiming Sect believe it?

It just wasn't Liu Jiaoniang's poison, but poison Li Rui took himself after returning.

The toxicity was fierce, but the dosage was controlled very precisely.

It wouldn't kill anyone.

That day.

He Lan's corpse was discovered in the alley.

He Shan was heartbroken looking at his beloved wife's corpse and swore to find the real culprit.

Li Rui didn't reveal the truth.

If He Shan knew that all the previous affection was acted out by He Lan, he might directly commit suicide.

Better to live a miserable life than to die; it was better to use hatred to support He Shan to continue living.

Time could heal all wounds in the world. A few days passed.

He Shan went to find Cao Wei and left the military register.

Before leaving, he specifically found Li Rui to say goodbye; according to He Shan, after leaving the Anning Guard, he would continue to be a blade-wielder and find the real culprit who killed his wife.

Li Rui didn't persuade him.

Persuasion was useless in this matter; it was like a heart demon, and the only one who could solve it was himself.

"Sentimental, yet troubled by the heartless."

Looking at He Shan's departing back.

Li Rui sighed softly.

"That's why I say, women only affect the speed of becoming stronger."

"Brother Li, do you think it could be some lecherous flower-thief who coveted the beauty of Brother He's wife?"

=9+Shu_Ba

"I heard it was even better-looking than the top courtesan of the Music Conservatory."

"Possible."

"I think so too."

Li Rui lay on the bed, listening to the few big heads talking one after another, speechless in his heart.

'Is this how you look at a patient?'

To the outside world.

He was still in the period of being poisoned and seriously injured.

So Ning Zhongtian arranged for Wei Ming, Ge Hong, and Tan Hu to visit.

There weren't many comforting words.

The focus was all on the wife.

Wei Ming sighed: "It's just a pity, I heard He Shan and his wife were affectionate, a match made in heaven, something to yearn for, it's just a pity..."

Clearly.

Wei Ming was yearning for beautiful love.

Li Rui sneered in his heart.

Charm Slave.

To use the words of his previous life, it was a female spy; this kind of person didn't know how many men's beds she had woken up from, her head was green, and she was always thinking of taking your life.

Something to yearn for?

Even if he saw that He Lan might have had other feelings for He Shan, the essence remained unchanged.

Women, where are they as important as practicing martial arts?

Looking at it this way, a certain blade technique called "Evil-Warding" still had some truth to it; directly cutting off the worldly roots, without this kind of trouble, wouldn't one be terrifyingly strong?

While everyone was talking.

Li Rui simply closed his eyes to rest.

To be precise, he was observing the smoke under the Wisdom Eye perspective.

It had turned into a nearly pure white color.

From that day to now, a full four days had passed; no matter how slow Liu Jiaoniang walked, she should have arrived at the Guiming Sect headquarters.

The smoke changed.

It meant that the Guiming Sect already believed the Immortal Qi had been retrieved.

Naturally, they wouldn't continue to send people to Qinghe.

"Finally leisure."

Li Rui leaned back comfortably.

Now that he had obtained the Immortal Qi and had the "Great Dream Wandering Immortal," supplemented by spiritual pills, practicing diligently was enough for him to reach the Fifth Rank.

"Trouble or whatever, it's better to stay away from me."

This matter was just a small interlude for the Anning Guard.

No one died.

It didn't attract the attention of any big figures or big forces, almost not causing any ripples.

Except for the Ding-grade Armory third floor missing a silent man.

Everything seemed to have no changes.

Li Rui heard from Liang He that He Shan's mansion was soon assigned to another military officer, a Platoon Leader.

With a temperament completely different from He Shan's.

That Platoon Leader had excellent popularity, and even better popularity with women, singing and dancing every night, and the birthdays of his concubines were almost enough to make up the twenty-four solar terms.

However, Li Rui still liked that silent man more.

Although if he did it all over again, he would still do the same.

Some things, from the beginning, could not be perfect.

He Lan was a Charm Slave; the moment she approached He Shan, her intentions weren't pure, and the tragedy was already destined, no matter what, it couldn't be changed.

Without the threat of the Guiming Sect.

And being a patient who couldn't get out of bed to the outside world, Li Rui had more time to study cultivation techniques.

Deep night.

Li Rui lay on the bed sleeping on the surface, but his consciousness had long been pulled by the "Great Dream Wandering Immortal," entering another world.

In the dream.

He sat cross-legged on a cloud that functioned as a meditation cushion.

Anyway, it was a dream; he had already skillfully mastered the most comfortable posture for enlightenment.

"Hidden Dragon, Do Not Act; both attack and defense, attack and defense without gaps—only then is it the way to cut down the enemy."

After the first move of the "Dragon Wandering Six Slashes," Hidden Dragon, Do Not Act, was created.

Li Rui didn't slack off because of this, didn't continue to create the second move, but spent a lot of time improving the first move, Hidden Dragon, Do Not Act.

Until it reached the perfect state in his heart.

Six mediocre blade techniques were far inferior to one.

Blade technique wasn't silver; it wasn't the more the better.

Suddenly.

Li Rui jumped off the cloud, his right hand gripped, and the Zhang Blade "Hidden Edge" appeared in his hand.

Instantly, blade light surged.

Pieces of clouds were wrapped by the blade wind, rotating around Li Rui, turning into a dragon with two wings, crouching on the cloud platform.

The dragon head hung low, hidden and not firing, yet there were no flaws to follow.

Wasn't that the true essence of Hidden Dragon, Do Not Act?

"That's the feeling!"

Bright light shot from his eyes.

Hidden Dragon, Do Not Act finally reached the degree he was satisfied with.

Li Rui felt his thoughts were clear, and he shouted at the clouds and mist in front of him:

"Come!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 207 =====