Chapter 223: This Boat Is Yours
The next day, when they saw the dog-man and woman, although they clearly felt Lu Xingzhou had not changed at all, still looking spirited and smiling cheerfully, yet Ye Tinglan could inexplicably see in him the image of a withered man with sunken cheeks.
Ye Tinglan had never hated her physiognomy so much; what was there to see in that!
So her tone of speaking grew three degrees colder, as if frost had risen in this summer: "Leave today, immediately."
Lu Xingzhou tried to bluff for two more days: "Mr., we just subdued the Lingyun Gate, there are still some tails to deal with, and then the Dongjiang Gang over there..."
"Wasn't the process of subduing the Lingyun Gate just you playing with tails?"
Lu Xingzhou: "?"
Shen Tang: "..."
Ye Tinglan suddenly felt quite pleased with the retort, elegantly lifted a cup of soy milk from the stone table and took a sip: "As for the Dongjiang Gang, their morale has already declined; if the Governor and the Demon Suppressing Office are both on our side, and Shen Sect Master still cannot completely subdue a mere Dongjiang Gang, that would be too disappointing."
Shen Tang could only hide the whimpering in her belly and seriously declared: "I can do it."
Ye Tinglan finished the soy milk with satisfaction: "Then come with me."
Shen Tang looked at the soy milk on the corner of Ye Tinglan's lips and lowered her eyes, unable to look directly.
Is there any difference between this and last night?
Indeed, the higher the position of a goddess, the more captivating she looks like this; no wonder Lu Xingzhou didn't speak last night.
Actually, Lu Xingzhou's feeling at this moment was seeing the vicious Fahai who beat the mandarin ducks apart: "Mr. hasn't said where our next stop is yet, is it the Leifeng Pagoda?"
"What is that?" Ye Tinglan said indifferently: "I am taking you beyond the national border, to the Frozen Moon Cold River."
Lu Xingzhou felt it sounded familiar: "The place where Miss Qingli stayed since childhood?"
Ye Tinglan glanced at him, and Lu Xingzhou immediately said: "Oh, Miss Dugu."
Ye Tinglan said: "What do you want to say?"
"I want to say, a place where Miss Dugu could survive even as a child, and after leaving, she didn't even reach fourth grade, indicates the survival conditions aren't very difficult; what value could it have for our trial now?"
"You are going for an Alchemist trial, not martial arts cultivation; what does that have to do with this? There are places there suitable for your Alchemist improvement."
"Understood." Lu Xingzhou couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed; essentially, he hoped more for an improvement in his own cultivation rather than being limited to alchemy.
But he heard Ye Tinglan add a sentence: "Besides, who told you the Frozen Moon Cold River is good for survival?"
"Then Miss Dugu..."
"Qingli has extraordinary talent and fears no severe cold. Do you really think any child can live in the Frozen Moon Cold River? You let Lu Nuonuo stay alone in there for a month and see; if she doesn't cry out loud, that counts as her ability."
A-Nuo had a bun stuck in her mouth, looking up innocently at Mr.
I've been so well-behaved eating buns on the side, why do you have to point me out...
I stayed alone in the treasure vault for half the night last night and didn't see me wanting to cry; the one wanting to cry was that the Lingyun Gate's treasury was worse than imagined... After searching with great difficulty for a long time, there were hardly any items worth looking at, and in the end, I only brought some talismans for Master to replenish supplies.
It's at least a Daoist sect, shouldn't there be a wide variety of things especially many?
But A-Nuo forgot she was from the Yipinmo Sect's Yanluo Hall, and a high-ranking member with resources to use freely, long past the stage where seeing any magical treasure felt fresh. And her nature was extremely special, purest physical speed and strength; very few things suited her use. Yuan Muyu's suggestion back then was to get a big hammer, and best to find a suit of armor...
Who wants to wear a full suit of armor; anyway, now that Yuan Ci big flatbread might be the best match.
Sure enough, they heard Shen Tang ask: "Did A-Nuo find anything good?"
A-Nuo shook her head, the flesh on her face trembling: "The Lingyun Gate is so poor..."
"For such poor county sects, you have to be mentally prepared for this; back then the Incense Burning Pavilion claimed to be a wealthy Alchemist sect, but in the end, there were hardly any items worth looking at." Lu Xingzhou sighed: "But A-Nuo, don't you feel you lack a flying artifact?"
A-Nuo paused: "Master can just hold me and fly on the wheelchair, why do I need a flying artifact? Could Master possibly kick me out on a long journey alone..."
Lu Xingzhou immediately declared: "That is absolutely impossible."
A-Nuo grinned: "Anyway, I feel I won't need long before I can fly on my own."
Ye Tinglan finally couldn't help saying: "Even if you can fly on your own, a flying artifact is still useful. Just like you can walk on your own, people still take carriages. It saves effort, is convenient, and can integrate some offensive and defensive functions."
Both Lu Xingzhou and A-Nuo stared straight at her.
You mean you have such a flying artifact, and haven't seen you use it since leaving the capital... Those first few days it even rained heavily, trapping us drilling through caves in the mountains.
Ye Tinglan naturally couldn't use it; her carriage was too grand, easily exposing her identity. At this moment, she looked at Shen Tang, and Shen Tang guessed her meaning, painfully took out her own ride, the small boat: "This is the ride I have been crafting these past few months; I give it to Mr. as a gift, please take good care of my Xingzhou..."
Ye Tinglan had hacked Shen Tang's airship, feeling very good; let you tear me apart, and also trap me into listening to so many days of bed.
One must always pay a price!
Lu Xingzhou was actually left speechless; when did the relationship between these two change, and why are they now demanding bribes... Tangtang, last night you almost stripped me bare targeting Mr. Ye, so what is this now, aiding the enemy? But then again, just based on Mr. Ye's snap of the fingers charm, it's worth sending a treasure as thanks. Anyway, Shen Tang is very rich in resources now, easily crafting another better ride, so Lu Xingzhou said nothing.
He did want to ask: "Why is your ride a small boat? Others have phoenix litters and such..."
Shen Tang answered naturally: "My ride should naturally be a small boat..."
Since the Imperial Preceptor insists, then give it; grasp it well.
Ye Tinglan didn't catch the meaning inside, tested by casually tossing it; the small boat "Bang" expanded in mid-air, truly becoming the shape of a boat, not small either, like a common black-canopied boat in the river, the cabin could seat four or five people, and the deck could even be slept on.
A-Nuo was delighted, jumping straight onto it; the small boat was very stable, not shaking at all.
Ye Tinglan stepped onto the bow, looking down at Lu Xingzhou: "Still reluctant to leave?"
Lu Xingzhou gritted his teeth, ignoring whatever looking down one's nose or high heels stepping on the chest she was doing, turned around, grabbed Shen Tang, and kissed her forcefully.
Shen Tang embraced him back; the two openly tangled lips and tongues in front of the expressionless, cold Imperial Preceptor, kissing until heaven and earth were dark.
Ye Tinglan felt the speechlessness of this lifetime wasn't as much as the sum accumulated after knowing Lu Xingzhou; her jade hand unconsciously clenched, making a creaking sound.
A-Nuo's expression twitched: "Mr.... my bones..."
The seat of the Xiazhou commandery changed; due to geographical shifts, conflicts among the strongest forces within the range intensified; who would hold the bull's horn, everyone watched for a time.
Five days after Lu Xingzhou returned to the Tianxing Sword Sect, the Tianxing Sword Sect decisively defeated the allied forces of the Dongjiang Gang and several other famous strong sects on the arena; a Yipinmo strong enemy was broken in Xiazhou.
That night, elders of the Lingyun Gate rebelled, killing the Gate Master Jingxu Daozi and other dissenters, and the whole sect surrendered to the Tianxing Sword Sect.
When the news spread, the Tianxing Sword Sect shook a thousand li, and Sect Master Shen Tang became famous throughout the world.
Among them, the guest advisor Lu Xingzhou, internally connected with the Governor and the Demon Suppressing Office, externally communicated with the Demon Gates; all enemy first and second-grade external reinforcements died silently, and to this day, no one in the world knows.
A schemer has no glorious merit, just served as the bed companion for the world-famous Sect Master for one night.
One for a broken skin, one for fullness.
Inside the imperial palace, Gu Zhanting stared at the report, his brows tightly furrowed, remaining silent for a long time without making a decision. Hai Xian beside him watched him cautiously, unsure how Your Majesty would react this time.
"Truly like me back in the day," Gu Zhanting finally sighed softly after a long while: "This sword points to the First Grade, with a nature that refuses to lose."
In the end, no decision was made; Hai Xian knew Your Majesty was hesitating.
But in the short term, having no decision was the best outcome.
In the south, Miao Yin Mountain.
"This move doesn't fit; the Chana Nü Hehuan Sect and the Blood Refining Sect acting abruptly is likely no coincidence, it feels more like Old Lu's style," Eastern Ghost Emperor Ji Wenchuan was conversing with another masked figure: "We should report this separately to the Yan Lord, not together... The Yan Lord knows Old Lu better than we do; if she finds out that Old Lu, who should have been studying in the Capital, traveled all the way to Xiazhou to offer strategies, you and I will likely have to endure a month of cold faces and frost again."
The masked figure was Northern Ghost Emperor Dong Chengbi, who chuckled upon hearing this: "It has nothing to do with me; I am about to head north to work."
Ji Wenchuan put on a shameless face and said: "I've been doing nothing but moving one Yin Corpse Sect for so long, I'm truly bored out of my mind; how about you let me handle this job?"
Dong Chengbi smiled: "Do you even know what kind of job it is before you rush to do it?"
"No matter what job it is, since you can do it, how could it possibly stump me?"
"Go eat ice on the Frozen Moon Cold River, will you go?"
Ji Wenchuan: "... Why would I go to such a barren place where not even birds shit?"
"I heard ancient dragon bones with vitality have appeared beneath the Central Glacier... I am just going to test the truth of it; if it is true, the Yan Lord will likely have to make the final decision herself." Dong Chengbi's voice grew seven or eight parts more serious: "This kind of matter, the Demon Emperor might personally descend; at that time, it will be beyond our ability to handle."
Ji Wenchuan was overjoyed: "Such an interesting matter, I must go."
Dong Chengbi laughed helplessly: "I can't figure out how you and Lu Xingzhou became so close; your nature of looking for trouble is the exact opposite of his."
"Complementarity allows for connection; two identical people would just fight," Ji Wenchuan said leisurely: "Just like Old Lu and the Yan Lord; both are equally stubborn, so they just endure it, waiting to see who regrets it first when their hair turns white."
Dong Chengbi sighed softly: "The Yan Lord is more complex than a Judge; it's not just a matter of being stubborn... At a certain threshold, she will naturally hesitate; the matter of love, is it eternal falling into the abyss or a path to heaven? Precisely at the moment of greatest hesitation, Xingzhou forced the palace... Well then, once the Yan Lord's mouth, harder than iron, started talking, everything just collapsed..."
Ji Wenchuan said: "Should we say that facts prove cutting off emotions is better? After Old Lu left, the Yan Lord secluded herself for three months, angrily breaking through to the Super Grade, at an unprecedented age."
"Yes, so she refuses to look for him again," Dong Chengbi said leisurely: "However, whether this breakthrough to the Super Grade was due to cutting off emotions, or due to a breath of 'I want to show you I can live better without you'... neither you nor I know, nor does the Yan Lord know?"
Ji Wenchuan finally laughed out loud: "Fine, your love histories are rich; I, Old Ji, walk the Path of No Emotions and know nothing of these matters; I just eat melon seeds and watch the show. I just wonder when they will finish setting up the stage for this play; I am truly impatient."
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PS: Begging for monthly tickets again~
(End of this chapter)
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