Chapter 69

He is investigating me, he has been investigating me!

At this moment, this sentence repeated in Liu Xiaolou's mind, and his mind went blank for a moment, because the opponent saying this sentence meant that he had already linked the escape of Xingde Jun with himself. He could not imagine what he would face next.

But the blankness was only for a moment. He quickly regained his composure—an extremely reluctant composure—pretending to ponder, his eyes turning upward, but in fact, he did not want to look directly at the opponent.

"Yes, I did go to Tianmen Market once. I was in seclusion for half a month, and my dry rations were eaten up, so I had to go buy some food. But I didn't finish seclusion. After buying enough food, I went back to continue seclusion."

"Where did you buy it?"

"Hongji Restaurant."

"How long did you stay?"

"I ordered a banquet and ate until very late."

"With whom?"

"The proprietor of Hongji Restaurant. I knew him before, and later he became successful, but whenever I had time, I would occasionally visit him."

"Wei Hongqing?"

"Yes."

"What did you talk about?"

"Just what we saw and heard after parting... um, I also told him about my refining of the array plate. By the way, the reason I went up to Xingde Mountain in the first place was also on his advice. He said there was a rogue cultivator named Xingde Jun on Xingde Mountain who was good at refining array plates. Otherwise, how would I know there was such a person?"

Hou Sheng suddenly stopped asking and stared at Liu Xiaolou with suspicious eyes. At this moment, Liu Xiaolou had regained his calm and looked at him frankly, his eyes full of sincerity.

I don't know how long it took, but Hou Sheng finally asked the question he most wanted to ask today: "Where is Xingde Jun?"

Liu Xiaolou opened his eyes wide and asked back in confusion: "Xingde Jun? Isn't he on Xingde Mountain?"

Hou Sheng narrowed his eyes and said: "Take out everything in your bosom."

Liu Xiaolou asked in confusion: "What is Hou Zhishi doing? What did I do?"

Hou Sheng suddenly made a move, grabbing Liu Xiaolou's shoulder blade, and a force of true qi penetrated. Liu Xiaolou forcibly suppressed the thought of counterattacking. Being penetrated by that force of true qi, his whole arm felt like ten thousand ants biting his bones, and large drops of sweat kept rolling down his forehead.

"Where is Xingde Jun? If you say it, it will be a meritorious service. Everything before will not be investigated, and you will be given a heavy reward. Think about it carefully."

While speaking, he reached into Liu Xiaolou's bosom and took out a few pieces of dried meat, more than three taels of silver, and a piece of ordinary soft jade. Seeing there was nothing, he took off the jade pendant worn on his waist and turned it over and over in front of his eyes: "Is this that array plate?"

Liu Xiaolou was in so much pain that he couldn't bear it and groaned: "After I left the mountain... I haven't seen Xingde Jun. I really don't know... where he is, and he... wouldn't tell me... Hou Zhishi, I can't do it anymore, my arm is going to be ruined... I am wronged..." He was also terrified in his heart. Fortunately, he didn't carry some things on him, otherwise, he would be finished today!

Hou Sheng stared at Liu Xiaolou for a long time. Seeing that he still wouldn't spit it out, he finally withdrew his true qi and let go of Liu Xiaolou. Liu Xiaolou immediately collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.

"Xingde Jun committed a crime and caused a great disaster. Even if he escapes to the ends of the earth, the Qingyu Sect will pursue him to the end. Think about it carefully when you go back. If you remember anything, inform me immediately—go to the north of Dongting Lake, where there is a lotus pond reaching the sky. There is a lotus pavilion by the pond. Leave the address under the third stone slab on the left side of the pavilion entrance. Within three days at the latest, I will come to find you."

He shook the array plate in his hand: "This array plate is stolen goods from a criminal. I will take it first. Whenever you think of it, come find me, and it will naturally be returned to its original owner. Remember?"

He squatted down and patted Liu Xiaolou's cheek: "You must think about it carefully. Xingde Jun cannot escape. After he is caught, if he confesses you, you will have no life!"

After Hou Sheng left for a long time, Liu Xiaolou finally regained his strength, walked out of Toutiao Lane while leaning against the wall, recalled everything that had just happened, and kept pondering in his heart.

What can be determined is that Hou Sheng only suspects him, and the suspicion is not deep. Perhaps he is just one of the several breakthroughs he thought of, otherwise, how could he let him go just like that?

But how did he know that he had been to Hongji Restaurant? Only a few people had seen him and could recognize him that day, and only Young Master Lu and Steward Zhang really knew his intentions. These two had already become corpses in coffins and could not confess him.

Wei Hongqing could not confess him either, so only the proprietor and the waiter were left. These people did not know the truth, so just because he had been to Hongji Restaurant could not prove anything.

But no matter what, since he had been listed as a suspect by Hou Sheng, it was not a solution after all. In the eyes of a prominent sect, a small rogue cultivator like him was like an ant. Once they were targeted, whether there was real evidence or not was actually not important.

Thinking all the way, Liu Xiaolou went to the side of Wuchao River, strolled along the river for two miles, suddenly jumped into the river with a splash, grabbed the water plants under the river embankment and slowly moved for a mile in the water. When the sky was completely dark, he found a hidden place to go ashore. After confirming that no one was following, he quietly sneaked back to the house in the town.

Hou Sheng should not know that he had a house in Wuchao Town, otherwise, as long as he searched the house carefully, he would find the Ziji Sect Master token and the "Thousand Calculation Formula" left by Xingde Jun, then the questioning just now would not be that simple.

After entering the house, the big white goose was gnawing on a piece of cured meat in the kitchen. Seeing Liu Xiaolou return, it flapped its wings and rushed over.

Liu Xiaolou hugged its long neck for a while, seized the time to check the house, and found that there were no traces of being searched anywhere in the house. The most important thing was that his package was lying safely in the sandwich of the bed board, and the knots were the same as before. Opening it, the token, array book, scripture, and five spirit stones were all there. Liu Xiaolou breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't dare to light a lamp, so he pondered silently in the darkness, thinking of the array plate he had refined with his heart's blood, and his heart couldn't help but drip blood. Three whole months, how many places he had walked, how many materials he had collected, how many spirit stones he had spent, the scenes of hard work came to his mind, and the more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt.

After pondering for a long time, he carried the package on his back, hugged the big white goose, and returned to Wulong Mountain overnight. He hid the package, settled the big white goose, changed his clothes, immediately went down the mountain, and headed straight for the Tianmen Mountain Market.

At dawn, he arrived at the market, found a quiet corner to wait, and waited until noon when the crowd on the street began to rise. Only then did he press his bamboo hat down and squeeze into the crowd to approach Hongji Restaurant.

Just as he was about to reach the restaurant and was about to take the opportunity to mix in, someone behind him said with surprise: "Brother, we meet again!"

Liu Xiaolou shivered, slowly turned around to look, and saw the person clearly.

This person was also wearing a bamboo hat, with a wretched figure. It was Yan Sanfei, who had sold him the Heart-Nourishing Pill last winter.