Chapter 16

Once Yu Liancheng finished speaking, Xue'er emerged from the shadows and said with a grin, "Half-master, you are so clever; you guessed it right away."

Yu Liancheng gave a cold snort and said, "You aren't even my disciple yet, and you're already pulling tricks on your master. If I were to truly take you in, wouldn't you just betray your master and ancestors in the future?"

Xue'er shook Yu Liancheng's arm and acted spoiled, "That won't happen, I will treat you with great respect. Besides, she is my cousin and also a princess, how could I not listen to her?"

As it turned out, the woman disguised as Xue'er was the "Shangguan Danfeng" whom Yu Liancheng had once met at an inn.

It was also she who had previously launched the "Full Sky Stars" to ambush Xue'er and Yu Liancheng.

After firing the hidden weapons, she hid, and then Gongsun Lan took over, appearing as Xiong Popo.

When Yu Liancheng went to chase Gongsun Lan, she revealed herself to Xue'er and conspired with her to use disguise to tease Yu Liancheng.

But Xue'er was, after all, a little girl of twelve or thirteen; even though "Shangguan Danfeng's" disguise skills were quite good, Yu Liancheng recognized her at a glance.

"She is not a princess." Yu Liancheng reached out and grabbed "Shangguan Danfeng" again; her face changed once more, revealing features as exquisite as a fairy in the clouds, a face with a hint of shock that had not a single flaw.

"Sister, why is it you?" Shangguan Xueer was startled.

She had always believed her sister had been killed by Princess Danfeng, but the actual situation was that her sister Shangguan Feiyan had killed Shangguan Danfeng and then pretended to be Princess Danfeng to stir up trouble everywhere.

"Why couldn't it be me? You girl, you're always causing me trouble," said Shangguan Feiyan.

The two sisters met again, but the atmosphere was far from harmonious.

Yu Liancheng couldn't be bothered to care and turned his gaze to Gongsun Daniang: "Gongsun Lan, I know you are the leader of the Red Shoes organization and have many nicknames, such as Peach Blossom Bee, Five Poisons Lady, Granny Xiong, Xiaohun Polao..."

Gongsun Lan's beautiful eyes revealed a look of surprise: "Young Master Yu's information is truly well-informed; even the Great Wisdom and Great Intelligence might not know these things."

Yu Liancheng said, "Are you willing to admit it?"

Gongsun Daniang sighed softly, with an indescribable, mournful grace: "This weak woman has already fallen into your hands, Young Master. Whatever you want me to do, I can only do, let alone just admitting to a few insignificant nicknames."

Yu Liancheng sighed and said, "Since you are so obedient, you might as well remove your disguise first."

An old woman with wrinkles deep enough to pinch a mosquito to death was speaking with a voice more pleasant than an oriole leaving the valley, occasionally giggling or feigning anger; this feeling was truly unpleasant.

Gongsun Lan gave a delicate laugh and calmly removed her disguise.

Soon, a beautiful woman, as brilliant as the morning glow, as noble as an Empress, and as graceful as a fairy, appeared before Yu Liancheng.

In terms of beauty, she was not the least bit inferior to Shangguan Feiyan. Furthermore, that noble temperament was something no other woman could compare to. Even though it was just a gray dress covered in patches, worn on her, it seemed like QicaiNishang—gorgeous, beautiful, and dazzling.

Yu Liancheng looked her up and down and sighed, "I really cannot understand why a beauty like you would want to dress up as an old woman. If it were anyone else, I fear they wouldn't even do it with a blade held to their throat."

Gongsun Lan giggled, "In reality, as long as a woman is willing to dress up, she won't be too ugly. There are only lazy women, not ugly women."

Yu Liancheng nodded and said, "That is not wrong."

Gongsun Lan's beautiful eyes shifted: "I have done as you said; now I also ask one thing of you."

"No." Yu Liancheng seemed to know what Gongsun Lan was going to say and smiled, "I have already seen your face; if I were to let go of your hand now, I would surely be the world's greatest fool."

Gongsun Lan sighed softly, "This is the reason why I like to use disguises; there are always some ignorant, stinking men pestering me. Fortunately, Young Master is not annoying, but rather quite likable. I just don't know how you intend to deal with this little woman."

Yu Liancheng said, "Dealing with you is not urgent. Let me ask you, do you know of the 'Invisible Men Organization'?"

"'Invisible Men'?" Gongsun Lan's brows furrowed slightly, and she shook her head: "I do not."

Judging by her expression, she did not seem to be lying.

"So you really don't know." Yu Liancheng frowned slightly.

In this world, besides his cheap father Yu Luosha, the only other person who made him feel wary was Xiao Laotou.

Xiao Laotou was a rare genius whose martial arts and learning were unfathomable. He single-handedly created the "Invisible Men Organization" and used the Invisible Men to orchestrate many robberies, thereby gradually acquiring vast wealth.

Yu Liancheng had suspected that Gongsun Lan was a member of the Invisible Men, but upon closer thought, she did not fit the criteria.

The Invisible Men were not truly invisible; rather, even if they committed major crimes, no one would suspect them...

For example, Laoshi Heshang, one of the Four Great Divine Monks, never lied; in the eyes of outsiders, he was the symbol of honesty.

For example, Jin Jiuling, he was the top catcher of the Six Fan School; even if the Embroidered Bandit case had a thousand threads of connection to him, few would suspect him.

As for Gongsun Lan, her reputation was notorious, and her standing in the martial arts world was extremely poor. This was also the reason why Jin Jiuling would frame her in the Embroidered Bandit case.

Yu Liancheng said, "I need you to do a few things for me."

Gongsun Lan said, "And then you will be willing to let me go?"

Yu Liancheng said, "Correct."

Gongsun Lan said, "What things?"

Yu Liancheng said, "First, have your people investigate when Dugu Yihe will arrive in Guanxi."

Dugu Yihe had already arrived in Shanxi.

He stood before Yan Tieshan's coffin; after receiving the news of Yan Tieshan's death, he had rushed over without stopping to see this old friend one last time.

At this moment, this leader of the Emei Sect, a pillar of the martial arts world, and a top expert hailed by Lu Xiaofeng as one of the five or six people with the highest martial arts in the world, was dripping with cold sweat.

He was striking out with both hands, competing in internal energy with the General Manager of the Zhuguang Baoqi Pavilion, Huo Tianqing.

This General Manager Huo, who looked very young and refined, possessed deep and powerful cultivation; in a short time, he had already consumed half of his True Qi.

Just as he kicked out with his right foot and gripped his sword hilt with his right hand, preparing to execute the Forty-Nine Styles of Blade and Sword, Huo Tianqing actually used the force of his palm strike to fly away lightly, vanishing into the night.

Dugu Yihe exhaled and suddenly felt very tired; he was, after all, an old man.

He walked out slowly, and in the darkness, it seemed as if a pair of bright eyes were watching him coldly.

Dugu Yihe looked up and saw a person standing motionless under the poplar tree in the courtyard. His snow-white clothes were spotless, his face was completely expressionless, and a long sword with a black scabbard of a strange shape was slung across his back, his entire body radiating a chilling Sword Qi.

With this attire and that chilling Sword Qi, he did not need to ask to know the identity of the visitor.

—Ximen Chuixue!