Chapter 14

While Sheng Yuanyao was blocking Liu Qingcang, at the back door of the trading firm, several ghostly figures jumped over the wall silently.

They were the death soldiers sent by Xu Bingkun.

The internal strife of the Profound Heaven Sword Sect, the Danxia Gang, and the City Master's death soldiers—the three parties were coordinating inside and out. Even with a group of loyal disciples protecting that lame Shen Tang, this time the world would be turned upside down.

Just as they entered the backyard, they saw a little Daoist boy sitting alone by the pond, rubbing his hands over a campfire on the ground.

The fragrance of roasted sweet potatoes drifted slowly.

The death soldiers looked at each other, but they all saw ruthlessness in each other's eyes.

Who told this little brat to be unlucky? Roasting sweet potatoes in the middle of the night!

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!" Everyone flew past the little Daoist boy, and the leader of the death soldiers wiped his sword across her neck in passing.

As soon as the sword was out, he suddenly said "Eh," as there was no feedback of the sword tip touching anything...

He turned his head in astonishment and saw that the little Daoist boy who had been roasting sweet potatoes over there just now had disappeared.

The cooking smoke curled up, spreading through the small courtyard, and the murky pond water seemed to twist, making it impossible to tell where the night was and where the water was for a moment.

Even the people around him were gone, leaving only the vast darkness.

"Damn it, an illusion array!" the leader of the death soldiers shouted sharply: "Stop moving forward, form a formation to defend yourselves!"

As soon as the words fell, the little Daoist boy's chubby face appeared in front of him again, eating a sweet potato in one hand and holding a small banner in the other, his big eyes staring at him roundly.

That banner even had "Fortune Telling" written on it.

The leader of the death soldiers shouted sharply: "Who are you, playing god and ghost here!"

"You're actually not afraid?" A-Nuo was very confused, turned her head to look at her small banner, realized suddenly, and reached out to flip the banner to the other side.

That side turned over, and it was finally not "Fortune Telling," but "Human Emperor Banner" written on it.

A-Nuo grinned: "Are you afraid now?"

The death soldiers did indeed feel some unspeakable panic in their hearts, not because of this bullshit Human Emperor Banner, but because the child herself was very strange. This panic grew stronger and stronger, and finally, they couldn't help but shout and stab with their swords.

The white banner moved slightly.

The sound of ghosts crying suddenly resounded through the night.

The death soldiers only felt a surge in their minds, their heads splitting with pain, and then there was no then.

The ghost crying stopped, and the courtyard became quiet again. A pile of corpses lay horizontally and vertically on the ground, all with their eyes wide open, as if they had seen the most terrifying nightmare before they died.

"I said how could you not be afraid? Master uses this pole to hit my butt, and even I'm afraid." A-Nuo put away the small banner and gnawed on the sweet potato all the way back to the west wing.

Lu Xingzhou was sitting in the middle of the courtyard with his eyes closed. At this time, he slowly opened them, looking at A-Nuo bouncing back, his eyes full of doting.

A-Nuo handed over the small banner: "Master, there is demon energy here."

Lu Xingzhou took the small banner, stared at it for a moment, frowned, and whispered: "They are not demons, but they have been contaminated... which means there are demons lurking near Xiazhou and have had contact with these people. Does Xu Bingkun know about this situation?"

…………

The night was cool as water, and Dugu Qingli pushed Shen Tang to Lu Xingzhou's west wing courtyard.

Lu Xingzhou did not return to his room to rest, nor did he refine elixirs endlessly as usual.

He just sat quietly in the courtyard, watching the cold moonlight in the sky. A-Nuo moved a small stool and sat beside him, also looking up at the moon.

The big one and the small one were like sculptures.

Shen Tang found it a bit funny and asked A-Nuo quietly: "What is A-Nuo looking at?"

A-Nuo muttered: "Master said there are rabbits and laurel trees in the moon, and people cutting down trees, but no matter how I look, I don't see them. Master just doesn't want me to think the moon looks like an elixir, so he lied to me that there are people inside and it can't be eaten."

Lu Xingzhou said helplessly: "If I didn't lie to you that there are people, could you eat it?"

A-Nuo drooled: "But it looks so delicious!"

Lu Xingzhou casually stuffed a piece of candy into her mouth: "Remember to brush your teeth and rinse your mouth after eating, then go to sleep. I have something to discuss with Miss Shen."

A-Nuo chewed the candy, wanting to say something but stopping.

"Are you going to say again that you are a cultivator and won't get cavities, so you don't need to rinse your mouth? I don't know such a filthy child."

"No..." A-Nuo sniffed: "Speaking of the moon, you haven't told me a story for a long time..."

"Be good." Lu Xingzhou rubbed her head: "We'll just say a few words, and I'll definitely tell you later, okay?"

"Okay." A-Nuo's expression brightened a little, she turned to look at Shen Tang and the other, and ran into the room with a thud-thud.

Not long after, she brought out a small tea table with teacups and a teapot, very obediently pouring tea for the guests.

Shen Tang felt that this little chubby girl didn't welcome her at all at first, thinking she was disturbing her Master telling her stories, but after getting the promise that he would definitely tell one later, she became happy and entertained the guests.

In fact, this little girl was also very lonely inside.

She only had her Master.

Everyone was silent for a while, the sound of tea being poured in the courtyard making the night even more quiet.

Lu Xingzhou finally spoke: "Miss Shen cleared the sect today, with unparalleled authority. Why didn't you take the opportunity to promote your confidants and purge the remnants, but instead ran to find me? What is the matter?"

"You are looking at the moon in the courtyard; aren't you waiting for me to find you?"

"That's not necessarily true." Lu Xingzhou smiled: "An alchemist really doesn't shrink by the alchemy furnace all day long; that kind of life can't be lived. Bringing up a child, enjoying the scenery, and telling stories is life."

"Then I guess I thought wrong." Shen Tang smiled very simply: "I'm just here to thank you. You not only helped guard the backyard but also dragged Sheng Yuanyao into it. You are sincerely doing your best to ensure that I am safe tonight."

"Since it is mutual assistance, it should be perfect. Later, I felt that I was doing something unnecessary." Lu Xingzhou looked at Dugu Qingli and sighed: "I guessed that Miss Qingli was very strong, but I didn't expect her to be this strong. If I had known, I would have let them break in and die. Especially Liu Qingcang, it would have saved me from having to spend effort later."

"That wouldn't be good. I can't let Qingli's strength be exposed too obviously to the outside world, and I don't want to be watched by the Demon Suppression Division as a criminal. Dealing with it like tonight is obviously the best."

"Hmm." Lu Xingzhou hummed, but didn't continue the conversation.

The atmosphere seemed a bit cold. Shen Tang hesitated for a long time before whispering: "What does Mr. think of my killing?"

Dugu Qingli couldn't help but glance at her.

Are you okay? Knowing that this person is nine-tenths likely to be from the demonic path, you are afraid that he will have an opinion on your mere bit of killing?

The people his apprentice killed in the backyard just now are probably more than the few we killed.

Lu Xingzhou smiled: "Miss Shen is actually worried that I will think your previous gentleness was faked, and tonight's domineering is your true nature. Then you suspect that you are acting, and from then on, you will be wary and distant."

Shen Tang didn't speak.

Dugu Qingli was slightly stunned, so that was it.

This man has such a clear heart.

Lu Xingzhou raised his teacup in a toast: "The softness in a person's heart is only given to certain things. I am actually very glad that you are not a little sun who is gentle to everyone. Thank you for your special treatment. To you."

Shen Tang let out a breath, bloomed with a smile again, and clinked cups with him.

The two drank it all in one gulp. Lu Xingzhou put down his cup and added: "However, Miss, this mutual assistance is complete, and the cooperation was pleasant. From now on, let's live our own lives. There is no need to feel that because you and I are both in wheelchairs, there is any special treatment."

Shen Tang looked at him quietly for a long time and nodded: "Okay."

The conversation ended here.

Lu Xingzhou looked at Dugu Qingli a few more times. This little white hair was still silent from beginning to end, like a doll.

Okay, white hair should be like this. Lu Xingzhou shrugged: "A-Nuo, let's go back and tell stories."

A-Nuo was overjoyed and jumped up.

Dugu Qingli pushed Shen Tang away for a long distance before finally whispering: "He knows everything about the changes here; it should be the result of his array. I was still wondering why he knew I was spying that day..."

"Hmm."

Dugu Qingli stopped talking.

Being watched for a long time, you actually don't care?

Then what about when we take a bath?

She didn't ask that in the end, just said: "You were actually afraid that he would have an opinion on you, so you came to resolve it?"

Shen Tang was a bit distracted, still just humming.

"What on earth are you thinking?"

Shen Tang finally said: "He is a very rare talent... and he seems to arm himself with cold schemes, but in fact, if you treat him well by one foot, he will repay you by ten."

Dugu Qingli thought about Lu Xingzhou's actions in this event and nodded in agreement: "So you just think this person should be befriended, that's all?"

Shen Tang pursed her lips and said: "That's all."

Dugu Qingli asked again: "Now that you have helped each other, and he also thinks that your special treatment of him is true, then according to common sense, you should start to be friends. Why did you suddenly become more distant and say let's live our own lives? And since you clearly intended to be friends, why did you end it so simply?"

Shen Tang laughed out loud: "Did the National Teacher let you come out of the mountain to let you see more of the world?"

Dugu Qingli shook her head: "I don't know what Master is thinking, and I don't think it's meaningful for me to see these."

"Since it's meaningless, why do you ask about everything like a curious baby?"

"Since I want to protect your safety, I must master everything around you. This person is the most unsolved variable around you and should be clearly understood."

Shen Tang looked up at the gentle moonlight for a long time before saying: "I am a dangerous wall, and isn't he one himself? Now he doesn't want to implicate you and me. And we have offended the City Master, and the external enemies are still there, so why implicate him?"

Dugu Qingli frowned slightly, a bit hard to understand, but didn't ask again in the end.

Lest she be treated as a curious baby.

Although she felt that this pair of man and woman were not very normal, where did so many tacit understandings come from.

A-Nuo was still more normal, and powerful... If the protected object was A-Nuo, it would be great, it wouldn't be so troublesome.

But she heard Shen Tang smile and say: "Even if it's just to better complete the task, since you are willing to say so much to me, it shows that you are not completely a block of ice. Then you can completely ask him directly. I think he will like it... After all, in just a few sentences of conversation just now, he looked at you eight times."

Dugu Qingli finally had a bit of a young girl's annoyance: "I am not a curious baby, and there is no need for him to look at me."

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