Chapter 281: Crashing Through

Bowang Prefecture City.

Immortal Platform.

It was the dead of night, and the cold white moonlight spilled into the room through the window lattice. The door on the fourth floor was pushed open with a "creak," and outside the door was the figure of An Cang carrying a sword.

Wudong raised his head and divided a cup of tea to the side.

"What is it?" The Tianshan Sifeng sat cross-legged and put down his sword.

"There was movement last night." Wudong said.

An Cang raised an eyebrow.

"Li Weiru just sent news that someone has targeted that residence. There were traces of it being probed last night, but they haven't gone in yet." Wudong looked up, his gray-white eyes looking over, "Prepare yourself these two days."

An Cang thought for a moment: "I looked at the transcript from Luo Defeng's side yesterday, saying that Shang Huaitong's state of mind has broken, and he can no longer use that sword of intent?"

"No matter, by the time the Huan Si Lou knows, they will already be in the trap." Wudong said.

An Cang nodded and was silent for a while: "But I still have one worry."

"Hmm?"

"Have you ever thought... what if the person who comes is someone who has already completed the 'Mystic Gate Ascension'?"

"Does An Sifeng think a Third Rank Master will come?" Wudong looked at him.

An Cang did not speak.

"The Huan Si Lou indeed has this kind of power in Shaolong..." Wudong thought for a moment and closed the booklet, "but we still haven't seen where this case requires them to enter the field."

"Precisely because we know nothing, I worry that its severity will far exceed expectations."

"Has An Sifeng already requested a Third Rank Master from Tianshan?"

". Ask Wu Wu He Jian for his opinion first."

Wudong nodded slowly and smiled faintly: "Since that's the case, there's no rush—anyway, there are ways to deal with the Third Rank for the time being."

Not long after An Cang left the Immortal Platform and headed south, he pushed open the courtyard gate of the Tianshan small courtyard.

Under the clear moon and tree shadows, Shi Zanxue and Gu Yunfu sat at the table flipping through documents. Red brushes and colored ink were placed to the side, and a map of the two paths of Xilong and Shaolong was spread on the table, with books scattered everywhere.

"Any gains?" An Cang walked in with a smile.

"To find any valuable text in Bowang is really too difficult for me and Zhang Shixiong." Shi Zanxue looked up at this uncle-master, "Did Xilong send news again? Is that thing from the Hushanjian Sect definitely..."

"Most likely." Door pillars, treetops, eaves... Tianshan's secret-guarding array connected in a mysterious way, then flashed and vanished. An Cang also sat down at the table and smiled, "Who will say again that my love for reading idle books and wild histories is useless?"

Gu Yunfu smiled: "This is really looking for words to say; no one has ever said that about you."

Shi Zanxue opened her eyes wide to the side: "How did you trace it?"

An Cang restrained his smile, his voice becoming lower and more solemn: "Do you still remember the 'Precepts Against Theft' chapter we memorized when we were young? 'To the mountain of many woods, the King climbed it, stayed for a long time and returned; the jade was lost from the carriage, he warned three times, no one returned, the King then beheaded the daughter of the Ling clan, and the jade came out from the corpse.'"

After An Cang finished reciting this passage, he said: "When Zhou Zhou Muwang returned from touring the mountains, something was lost from the carriage parked at the foot of the mountain. He could identify the thief without asking or investigating—【Zhaoyou】 observing the outside, isn't that the principle?"

"So..."

"So the legend of 【Zhaoyou】 is most likely true. When Zhou Zhou Muwang traveled west that year, he might have been carrying this magical artifact."

"And how can it be proven that it is an object of the Hushanjian Sect?"

"It can't be 'proven,' but there is indeed this saying." An Cang unfolded the Tianshan message he had just received, "I haven't seen this passage before, but the archivists in the sect say it is credible: The time was after Zhou Zhou Muwang left Qunyu Mountain and before building the secret palace. There is a record in history, which is 'Benrong stole the King's sword, the followers lifted him, killed him, and the corpse was bestowed to Yan Shi.'"

"." Shi and Gu both stopped the pens in their hands.

"Is it?" An Cang handed the letter to them, "Why is it that this time, it had to be 'the followers lifted him' for Zhou Zhou Muwang to know who stole his sword?"

The two lowered their heads to read the letter.

"Therefore, for some reason, Zhou Zhou Muwang left this prison-guarding artifact on the way. When the sword was stolen, he no longer had the prison-guarding artifact in his hand." An Cang said, "Zhou Zhou Muwang returned east, first south then east—six hundred miles south of Tianshan is..."

The man knocked on the map: "Today's Yangzhou."

"So that ancient legendary object is really this 【Zhaoyou】?" Shi Zanxue closed the letter and thought, "Is the 'Soul-Snatching Bead' also derived from the principle of the divine artifact 'Zhu Nei'?"

"Presumably so."

Gu Yunfu looked at the two and interjected: "Then are we going to take it? Is this thing really important?"

Shi Zanxue smiled: "Zhang Shixiong Gu has really stayed in the Divine Capital for too long—for things related to Zhou Zhou Muwang, how could they not be important to Tianshan?"

An Cang also smiled: "See how you compare it—about as important as my Second Rank of the Mystic Gate."

Gu Yunfu laughed: "I think it's just a prison-guarding artifact after all. Although it is very miraculous, it seems to have nothing to do with the things Tianshan has been pursuing for generations."

"The truth is pieced together bit by bit." An Cang sighed lightly, "Obtaining this thing can trace the reason why Zhou Zhou Muwang left it behind. All the fragmented and incomplete news about 'Zhou Zhou Muwang's Immortal Treasury' until now, isn't it all deduced bit by bit like this?"

Gu Yunfu nodded and cupped his hands. Shi Zanxue thought for a while: "What did Uncle-Master say after returning from the Immortal Platform side?"

An Cang hummed and smiled: "The old fox is very shrewd. Seeing that we only have one Second Rank here, he is also unhurried."

He sighed again: "The two paths of the Immortal Platform are so far apart, and there is no connection on weekdays, but once a case arises, the contact and cooperation are mutually trusting without reservation..."

Shi Zanxue said: "Did they find anything on the Xilong side?"

"Where could they find anything?" An Cang smiled lightly, "Once this matter was connected to the two words 'Zhou Zhou Muwang,' the Immortal Platform over there stopped working, only following behind Tianshan to probe, unable to be scolded away, unable to be shaken off..."

Gu Yunfu laughed: "Anyway, it's just such a thing. If it really falls into their hands, we'll just find a way to exchange it back."

An Cang also nodded: "Yes, with such a big commotion, I'm always afraid of making things sensitive. Now... at least for the time being, it seems just right in size, and we few are enough to handle it."

Shi Zanxue to the side was silent for a while, then suddenly said with some embarrassment: "However, I also told that Pei Ye about the 【Zhaoyou】 matter that day."

"?" Gu Yunfu tilted his head.

"It was just that night when Uncle-Master told me as an anecdote, I happened to run into him when I went out, so I used it to make friends."

". Sigh." Gu Yunfu sighed lightly, "I finally know why Junior Sister Shi's reputation is so good."

"?"

Gu Yunfu laughed: "I have been in the Divine Capital for a long time. Every time I return to the mountain, when people mention Fairy 【An Xiang】, they all say she is pure-hearted and has few desires, is single-mindedly devoted to the Dao, and is a very good person. At the time, I thought, she was clearly the most sensible and well-behaved when we were little, so how has she become 'pure-hearted and with few desires' now? Ji Ji Shijie 【Fei Qiong】 is also single-mindedly devoted to the Dao, so why doesn't she have such a good reputation?"

"Later, when I put you and Junior Brother Shang together and saw that you two could actually chat, I was even more surprised—"

Shi Zanxue supported her chin and smiled faintly: "Can't Ji Ji Shijie Zuo and Junior Brother Shang chat?"

"Not just can't chat!" Gu Yunfu looked up, "If they don't fight, I'll thank the heavens!"

Both laughed. Shi Zanxue said: "Ji Ji Shijie Zuo is a genius who is truly devoted to the Dao. She doesn't care how others see her, nor does she care."

"Now that I've come down the mountain this time, Pavilion Master Chu also told me about Junior Sister Shi—I was thinking, what is Junior Sister doing down the mountain with such a person?" Gu Yunfu sighed lightly, "Now that I've come to Bowang, I gave someone a precious pill that day, and we didn't even talk much, but Junior Sister Shi chatted familiarly first—only then did I understand, so she is still just as exquisite!"

"Where, this is making a mistake."

"What kind of mistake is this?" Gu Yunfu laughed, "If Junior Sister is more exquisite, and rolls him back to Tianshan, won't he be one of our own? If not, Uncle-Master can 'carry' him a bit, and he'll be back!"

"." Shi Zanxue smiled politely, "Zhang Shixiong's jokes are still just as boring."

". Sigh—Uncle-Master, look, sure enough, I have no talent and no status, and Junior Sister Shi can't be bothered to deal with me."

————

Xiangzhou City, Bixiao Pavilion.

The dead of night was silent, with only the bleak moonlight covering the small pavilion in the backyard.

The door was closed but not locked, firmly blocking the moonlight outside, but unable to block anyone's gentle push.

Deep in the pavilion, the young girl was still standing quietly holding a scroll.

Li Piaoqing was stunned for a long time before she remembered that the name "Yu Zhaocai" was the Inspector from twenty years ago.

The young girl knew nothing about this official who had passed away before she was born, but she knew that Bowang Prefecture was currently investigating the Heart Amber case. Worried that she had remembered it wrong, she tore off these few pages and rolled them in her hand, then closed the booklet and put it back.

The ghostly blue precious fire burned silently again, and the lock melted back into one.

Li Piaoqing carefully wiped away the traces of her visit again, left this small room, and came to the pavilion hall.

She was not in a hurry to leave. Since Pei Ye confirmed that the proprietor was still in Qijiu City, there was no harm in searching as thoroughly as possible here.

Along the dazzling shelves, she came to the calligraphy and painting section, Li Piaoqing scanned up and down, wanting to see if she could find an authentic work of Fang Xitian...

—She actually found one.

But it was a painting that had not appeared in the previous ledger, nor was it on the shelf, but placed on the table and chairs provided for people to read, rolled up and placed there.

The young girl pulled open the scroll, and the ink characters at the head were "New Year's Eve Night Record of Wine."

The young girl was stunned for a moment and pulled it open.

A finely detailed large scroll.

It was indeed New Year's Eve. In the painting was a happy family of five. Even though the paper was old and the ink was aged, it could not hide the warmth of that New Year's Eve.

In the center was a woman of about twenty, with a beautiful and gentle appearance, and a clear red dot on her forehead. She looked at the outside of the painting with a smile, her left hand holding a boy of four or five, and her right hand holding a one-year-old toddler who had just been able to stand, all wrapped up like little rice dumplings.

Their biological mother was in the layer behind, a woman in her forties with a pale and weak complexion, as if, like many mothers, she was accustomed to showing her children as much as possible, while she herself hid behind the painting with a faint smile, revealing only a small part of her body.

The tall father was further behind, the only person in the whole painting who was not smiling. His face was solemn, and in the snowy day, he actually revealed two steaming arms, with a silver long spear lying horizontally behind his back, as if he had just finished tempering his body.

Li Piaoqing was stunned for a while, remembering that the "County Annals" said Fang Xitian lived alone from childhood and did not mention that he had so many family members.

Frowning as she thought, the young girl slowly closed the scroll. With this painting placed here, she didn't quite dare to steal it.

That's right, why was it placed here?

The young girl tilted her head and looked blankly, only then noticing the irregular object on the bookshelf beside the table, inverted like a bowl or basin.

This was not the position for a collection. Thinking about who had placed it here casually, the young girl had already picked it up in her hand, and turning it over was...

A theater mask.

The young girl froze in place.

The silent moon fell on it through the window lattice, and the blue and white painted shape appeared even more ghostly and cold.

Right in this cold silence, the black cat suddenly straightened its body: "Run."

Li Piaoqing turned her head in astonishment.

"Pei Ye said that the person we ran into when night fell was not Yi Nandai; that person is not in Qijiu City right now."

"." Li Piaoqing's heart clenched violently, and she immediately put the mask back, but at this very instant, an extremely cold gaze had already fallen on her back.

The martial artist's keen intuition made the young girl's back stiffen at this moment, as if a cold ice sheet had been pasted onto her warm spine, but it was even more ghostly and poisonous. Li Piaoqing did not move, and her hair stood on end.

The door that had been closed earlier had now been pushed open silently.

A figure stood before the door, the cold moon casting his long shadow into the pavilion, right to the young girl's feet, and the cool little pendant by his ear swayed quietly on the ground.

"Who are you?" The man's indifferent voice knocked on the young girl's clenched heart.

"Ah?" Li Piaoqing turned her head in shock, her hand already holding the painting on the table behind her back, "Ah, you scared me—are you a guard?"

Without waiting for the man to answer, Li Piaoqing already panted slightly and raised the painting in her hand with a smile: "Your head manager bluffed me saying there were no authentic works of Master Fang left, but who knows what this is?"

"Who are you?" The man repeated.

"Oh..." Li Piaoqing was stunned for a moment, revealing an apologetic expression, "I am Li Piaoqing, a disciple of the Bowang Cuiyu Sect. I am staying here tonight, and I was strolling around when I was idle at night. Seeing that this pavilion wasn't locked, I was a bit curious and presumptuous... I am truly sorry."

The man looked at her quietly, with no expression on his extremely white face, his eyes looking like they had been dug out of a python's eye sockets.

Eighth Life. Li Piaoqing thought with her nerves tensed.

There wasn't even a chance to draw her sword—if he wanted to kill her, it would only take one move.

Finally, the man walked slowly inside, heading straight for the small pavilion where the private accounts were kept.

Li Piaoqing tried hard not to hold her breath, and also tried hard to maintain a normal heartbeat.

I don't know how long it took, but the light footsteps sounded again. The man walked out, his eyes still fixed on her.

". I didn't take anything from your pavilion." Li Piaoqing revealed a helpless smile.

She raised the painting in her hand again: "This doesn't count, I was going to take it to settle the account with your head manager."

The man looked at her quietly: "Open it and let me see."

"." Li Piaoqing's heart sank to the bottom.

In her haste, the few pages torn from the ledger were only in time to be rolled inside, and the bit of paper corner revealed was still covered by her fingers.

"It was just taken from that table." The young girl pointed inside.

The man did not say a word, and the atmosphere grew colder.

Suddenly, her fingers felt slightly empty. The young girl immediately smiled helplessly, placed the painting before her, and slowly opened it toward the man.

"Look, it's just this one—this is Fang Xitian's seal..."

The scroll slowly unfolded, and the figures soaked in time were slowly revealed before the man. Nothing fell out. In the scroll that had not yet been opened, film-like ghostly blue fire threads crawled all over those few pages of account paper, and in silence and formlessness, turned them into things that didn't even leave ashes.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 282 =====