Chapter 52: Invitation to Battle

"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 North Office's Commander Bu is also famous!"

He regretted it inwardly; he had assumed too much and accidentally committed a taboo. The North and South Offices compete in the same yamen; flattering rashly and ending up flattering the superior of the opposite side was truly inappropriate.

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

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

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

But he was a bit special.

Li Miao was a veteran 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 Imperial Guard. And whenever Zhu Zai had a tough nut to crack, he would hand it directly to Li Miao.

And Li Miao's temperament... those who know, know. The North Office had long formed a consensus in private: don't let Li Miao do things; otherwise, when 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 North Office couldn't afford to support a Battalion Commander who listened to the call but didn't follow the orders for nothing. 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" from which Li Miao usually took money also referred to Zhu Zai's private treasury.

The cub doesn't feel pain when selling the grandfather's field, so Li Miao took money from it at will, Zhu Zai had no opinion, and no one else had the right to manage it.

Back to the present, the Imperial 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 South Office, and you don't report to the North Office. I called you 'my lord', and you directly named names."

"Which Imperial Guard are you exactly? Is this still the Great Dashuo?"

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

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

Deng Baixuan thought: "Things are big."

If this Imperial Guard Battalion Commander had accepted the task of the Imperial Guard Commander, it meant that there was someone on Mount Tai that the Imperial Court wanted to kill.

Before tonight was over, most 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 said no more.

Zuo Lishan didn't show up, so 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 the suppression of the Huashan Sect; he just wanted to develop himself under the name of the "Five Mountains Sword Sects."

Usually, he could be the peacemaker, but he wouldn't be the one to block the disaster.

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

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

Why hasn't Zuo Lishan come yet!?

He is the host, yet he doesn't show up and lets us stand in front; what kind of behavior is this!?

Everyone cursed inwardly.

Fortunately, a clever Taishan Sect disciple had seen that the situation was bad and had already run to report it.

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

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

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

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, restoring the demeanor of the "Zhenyue Sword" of the past, and from top to bottom, there was not a trace of the crazy, inhuman appearance of yesterday.

At this time, his eyes coldly scanned everyone in the room, first looking at Gao Ling, and then locking his gaze on Li Miao.

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

"My lord Li."

Zuo Lishan took a few steps forward and walked to Li Miao: "Long time no see."

"Thank you for your guidance a few days ago, my lord Li; Zuo has—benefited—greatly."

Li Miao didn't look up: "You're welcome, a small effort."

When Zuo Lishan heard this, bloodshot eyes instantly appeared in his pupils, 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.

A small... effort?

You injured me to the point of near-death, crippled my right hand, and forced me to use the Ming Sect's technique and witchcraft in advance—and it was just a small effort?

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

If that technique had no side effects and could allow peak experts to go further, why wouldn't the Ming Sect use it themselves?

The Ming Sect gave the things to Zuo Lishan, 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 peak. If you use it, you won't be able to lift your head in front of my Ming Sect in the future; otherwise, I will spread the news, and the witchcraft and alien true energy on your body that are different from the Central Plains martial arts won't be able to withstand verification.

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

Silencing these two people would leave him with no future troubles. As for the accounts of the Ming Sect and the Imperial Guard, he could turn them around slowly.

If it were the Zuo Lishan of the past, he wouldn't be impulsive. But the Zuo Lishan of today, Li Miao's understated sentence, almost made him unable to help but explode.

Zuo Lishan endured the anger in his heart at this time and nodded: "My lord Li can choose not to seek reward, but Zuo must know kindness."

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

"My lord has an official position, and naturally is different from us commoners. My Taishan Sect has a private residence in the back mountain, far away from other guest halls, which will not let us Jianghu people disturb my lord's peace."

"My lord Li, would you like to spend the night here?"

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

Invitation to battle.

Zuo Lishan practiced evil arts, his martial arts were better than the peak, and his body had been transformed by witchcraft, making it tougher and more bizarre than ordinary people.

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

So he was provoking.

What he asked was "would you like to," but what he meant 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) ===== CHAPTER 53 =====