Chapter 50

"Uh—"

Deng Baixuan was blocked by Li Miao.

But he immediately changed his tune and smiled: "Yes, yes, yes, it was Deng who assumed too much."

"The Northern Office's Commander Bu is also famous!"

He secretly regretted in his heart that he had been too presumptuous and had accidentally committed a taboo. The Northern and Southern Offices are in the same yamen and have a competitive relationship. Flattering rashly, only to flatter the superior of the opposing side, was really not something he should have done.

But he heard Li Miao say: "I don't report to Bu Lei either."

"If you want to flatter my superior, then put your effort into Commander Zhu; don't flatter the wrong person."

In terms of establishment, Li Miao was from the Northern Office, and his salary was also issued by the Northern Office.

But he was special.

Li Miao had been a subordinate of Commander Zhu Zai for more than ten years. Over the years, Zhu Zai's cultivation and trust in him had been seen by everyone in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. And whenever Zhu Zai had a tough nut to crack, he would hand it directly to Li Miao to do.

And Li Miao's personality... those who know, know. The Northern Office had long reached a consensus in private: don't let Li Miao do things, otherwise, if the Commander assigns a task, he will use you as a shield and drag it out.

When the time comes, don't cry injustice when Zhu Zai throws his chopsticks at your face.

After all, the expenses of a Battalion Commander's office are not small. The Northern Office couldn't afford to support a Battalion Commander's office that listened to orders but didn't follow them. Over time, Li Miao's office gradually became independent, and Li Miao's salary began to be issued directly from Zhu Zai's side.

The "treasury" that Li Miao usually took money from also referred to Zhu Zai's private treasury.

It's not painful to sell your grandfather's fields, so Li Miao took money from it at will, Zhu Zai had no opinion, and no one else was qualified to manage it.

Returning to the present, the Embroidered Uniform Guard knew this well, but Deng Baixuan didn't know, and he was stunned for a moment.

He thought: "You don't report to the Southern Office, and you don't report to the Northern Office. I called you 'my lord,' and you pointed directly at the name."

"Where exactly are you from in the Embroidered Uniform Guard? Is this still the Great Shu?"

Looking at the Battalion Commander's waist token hanging on Li Miao's waist, it was real.

But that sentence "the superior is Commander Zhu" was clear.

Deng Baixuan thought: "Things are big."

If this Embroidered Uniform Guard Battalion Commander had accepted a task from the Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander, it meant that there was someone on Mount Taishan that the imperial court wanted to kill.

Before tonight was over, more than half of the people in the room would leave. Not knowing Li Miao's purpose, even the people from the Songshan, Hengshan, and Hengshan sects wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

Deng Baixuan stopped speaking.

Zuo Lishan was nowhere to be seen, and he wouldn't be the one to stick his neck out. Originally, his Hengshan Sect was located in the south and had never participated in suppressing the Huashan Sect; he just wanted to use the name of the "Five Mountains Sword Sects" to develop himself.

Usually, he could be the peacemaker, but he wouldn't do it if he had to block a disaster.

For a time, no one in the room spoke, only the sound of the teacup lid clashing when Li Miao drank tea could be heard from time to time.

And the Jianghu factions sitting close to Li Miao were sweating profusely, standing stiffly, fearing that they would be noticed by Li Miao.

Why hasn't Zuo Lishan come yet!?

As the host, he doesn't show his face and lets us stand in front; what kind of behavior is that!?

Everyone secretly slandered in their hearts.

Fortunately, a clever Taishan Sect disciple had already seen that the situation was not good and had run to report it.

The room was silent for a long time, and finally, someone walked in from the back hall.

"Zuo has had a breakthrough in his meditation recently, forgot the time, and neglected everyone. I hope you will forgive me."

The person hadn't arrived, but the words had.

The person speaking wore a long sword at his waist, his face was serious and upright, his clothes were meticulous, and he wore a glove on his right hand. He walked to the center of the room and stood still.

It was Zuo Lishan!

At this time, he was completely different from what Gao Ling saw yesterday. He had restored his usual "Zhen Yue Sword" demeanor, and from top to bottom, one could not find a trace of yesterday's crazy, inhuman appearance.

At this time, his gaze swept coldly over everyone in the room, first glancing at Gao Ling, and then locking his gaze on Li Miao.

Ignoring the surprised looks of the crowd, he looked straight ahead, didn't greet anyone else, and walked directly toward Li Miao.

"Lord Li."

Zuo Lishan stepped forward a few steps and stood in front of Li Miao: "Long time no see."

"Thank you for your guidance a few days ago, Lord Li. Zuo has—benefited—a—lot."

Li Miao didn't even lift his head: "You're welcome, just a small effort."

When Zuo Lishan heard this, bloodshot eyes immediately appeared on his eyeballs, and things seemed to crawl under his long gown.

This one sentence from Li Miao almost made his hard-won stable appearance show a flaw.

Small... effort?

You wounded me to the point of death, crippled my right hand, and forced me to use the Ming Cult's technique and insects ahead of time—and it was just a small effort?

Zuo Lishan's normal appearance at this time was just a cover; his inner body and temperament were completely different, and the crazy appearance in front of Gao Ling that day was definitely not fake. His inner self had truly and surely become a madman.

If that technique had no side effects and could allow a top expert to go further, why wouldn't the Ming Cult use it themselves?

The Ming Cult giving the thing to Zuo Lishan was definitely not out of kindness. It was sending a trap into Zuo Lishan's hands.

If you don't use it, you'll be stuck at the top. If you use it, you won't be able to hold your head up in front of my Ming Cult, otherwise, I'll spread the news, and the insects on your body and the alien internal energy that is different from the Central Plains martial arts won't be able to withstand inspection.

Zuo Lishan was overjoyed when he saw Li Miao and Gao Ling: the only two people who had seen him seriously injured had delivered themselves to his door.

If he silenced these two, he would have no more worries. As for the aftermath of the Ming Cult and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he could slowly maneuver it himself.

If it were the usual Zuo Lishan, he wouldn't be impulsive. But the current Zuo Lishan was almost unable to stop himself from exploding because of Li Miao's understated sentence.

Zuo Lishan suppressed the anger in his heart and nodded: "Lord Li can not ask for a reward, but Zuo needs to know gratitude."

"Since Lord Li has come to my Taishan Sect today, and Zuo has received a great favor from Lord Li, I should naturally do my best as a host."

"My lord has an official position, so you should naturally be different from us commoners. My Taishan Sect has a private residence in the back mountain, far away from other guest halls, so we Jianghu people won't disturb your peace."

"Lord Li, would you like to spend the night there?"

At this moment, even Mei Qinghe understood Zuo Lishan's meaning.

A challenge.

Zuo Lishan practiced evil arts, his martial arts were better than top-notch, and his body had been transformed by insects, making it tougher and weirder than ordinary people.

Li Miao had deliberately held back that day, and with the martial arts he showed that day, Zuo Lishan felt that he could already win.

So he was provoking.

He asked "would you like to," but the meaning was "do you dare."

Do you dare to live in a residence where others can't hear the sound, waiting for me to find you tonight?

"Sure."

Li Miao stood up: "Sect Leader Zuo's kindness is hard to refuse, so I will stay here for one more night."

(End of chapter)