Liu Xian’an was still waiting for Liang Shu to explain where the path was, but Liang Shu turned his head and asked Chang Xiaoqiu: “How much do you know about Zhao Xiang and those who attended the banquet tonight?”

“What do I know?” Chang Xiaoqiu slowed down and managed to organize his thoughts before replying, “I didn’t know much about Zhao Xiang at first. He used to only contact my father, but during this trip to the south, I intended to get close to the people around him, and could more or less get some inside information about Dawn’s Gate. This person is actually a gambler, and has already lost his family fortune. It’s likely that he got dragged into the water by being tricked by the cult at the gambling table.”

As for the other sects attending the banquet that night, although Chang Xiaoqiu knew most of them, they were only acquaintances and not very familiar. He said: “Only the uncle in the green robes, Song Changsheng, has come to my home twice for drinks, so there is somewhat of a friendship. He’s a well-known swordsmith in the Central Plains, but he believes in the Baifu Sect for some reason.”

When everyone was tearing off their masks, Chang Xiaoqiu found that Song Changsheng was also at the banquet. He was so surprised that he couldn’t help taking a second look, but Song Changhsheng turned a blind eye to him and didn’t even meet his gaze, just chanting slogans and drinking.

“Maybe people who believe in cults are just like this,” Chang Xiaoqiu said. “In their eyes and hearts, only the Holy Maiden is left, and they no longer care about their relatives and friends in the past.”

Liang Shu said: “It is more convenient that the believers are insane.”

Liu Xian’an said: “How is that convenient?”

“It’s convenient for us to go up the mountain openly.” Liang Shu gave Chang Xiaoqiu some instructions. The young man was shocked at first, but then gradually became delighted, and asked with nervous excitement, “Just like that?”

Liang Shu nodded: “Just like that. It’s getting late, you should go back to your room in any case, lest Zhao Xiang get suspicious. In the next few days, you should observe clearly, and be clever.”

“Yes!” Chang Xiaoqiu said, “Then I’ll head back.”

Liu Xian’an also thought that this method of ascending the mountain was very feasible, at least much better than the climbing path.

After Chang Xiaoqiu left, he stood up from Liang Shu’s arms and was about to analyze the entire plan in detail, when thud, thud, footsteps suddenly sounded in the courtyard. Then they saw Chang Xiaoqiu appear at the door again, out of breath and unspeaking. He didn’t enter the room, but looked inside with a puzzled expression.

“Young Head Escort Chang, is there something else?”

“…….No, there isn’t,” Chang Xiaoqiu said hesitantly. It was actually that he ran out the door just now, and when the cool wind woke him up, he began to feel that something wasn’t right. As for what was wrong specifically, when everyone was discussing the plan just now, Doctor Liu seemed to have been sitting in His Royal Highness Xiao Wang’s arms?

Chang Xiaoqiu was stunned by the intimate image that emerged in his mind, and his first reaction was that he was hysterical after drinking that blood. He absolutely couldn’t believe that such a thing could happen, so he simply ran back to verify it with his own eyes. But there was nothing to see – His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was at the table drinking tea, while Doctor Liu was standing neatly beside him.

He consulted the doctor in a realistic fashion: “Doctor Liu, I seemed to have a bit of blurred vision just now, and had some uncontrollable imaginings.”

Liu Xian’an found some calming pills for him, and Chang Xiaoqiu swallowed them on the spot. Looking at His Royal Highness Xiao Wang and Doctor Liu again, they were innocent and decent, so it must have just been him earlier. Thus, he put this absurd matter behind him and returned to the inn to concentrate on being an undercover agent.

Zhao Xiang didn’t make things difficult for him because of taking off his mask, but on the contrary, he even praised him a little more. Because of Chang Xiaoqiu’s behavior of being the one to go first, he accidentally won Holy Envoy Yang’s favor and greatly increased Dawn’s Gate’s status among all the jianghu sects. Zhao Xiang changed his previous perfunctory and impatient attitude, and offered to take Chang Xiaoqiu up the mountain with him.

The time soon came to the nineteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, which was also the day everyone paid homage to the saint.

Liang Shu asked: “Do you want to go up the mountain?”

Liu Xian’an was a little surprised, not expecting that he would go along too, but he would go now that Liang Shu had proposed it.

He could go up the mountain tomorrow, but it was fine to go to the inn tonight.

Zhao Xiang had come to Raven City with a total of five disciples. It was unknown if he wanted to keep a low profile and avoid attracting attention, or if it was because he had already lost his whole family fortune gambling and couldn’t afford to hire more servants. In the dead of night, he put out the lights and went to bed. When he was about to close his eyes, the bed curtain shook slightly.

There was no one in the jianghu who wasn’t vigilant, not to mention that Zhao Xiang could be regarded as a master. He immediately noticed the abnormality in the breeze that should not have appeared, and reached his hand under the pillow to draw his knife, but it was already too late.

The severe pain in his neck made his eyes fly open wide, and he was furious that someone would dare attack him. He struggled to raise his upper body, but only had time to see a pair of eyes in the darkness, like lone stars hanging high above in the clear night.

Liang Shu raised his hand and hit him again, knocking him out completely. The candles in the room were re-lit, and Liu Xian’an took out the mask from his robes. Chang Xiaoqiu also slipped in from next door and saw the miracle doctor arranging tools on the table. He thought that he was about to change the prince’s appearance, never thinking that it would be the other way around.

Liang Shu ordered: “Lift your head a little bit.”

Liu Xian’an did as he said. He raised his head and closed his eyes, his long eyebrows like faint ink strokes. 

The beauty under the candlelight was fair enough to capture people’s souls – the soul of His Royal Highness Xiao Wang in particular, because only he could see it. Liang Shu felt refreshed to have been captured, and worked more gently as he held his chin.

And with such a meticulous Royal Highness Xiao Wang, the young man to the side began to stare dumbly again, and in the end, Gao Lin slapped him sober.

“Uh, I…….”

“Let’s leave them alone.” Gao Lin held his shoulders. “Go get ready, ba. We don’t know what’s going on atop that mountain yet, so you should be more careful.”

Chang Xiaoqiu nodded, and after a moment, he couldn’t help but ask: “Lieutenant General Gao, the prince is disguising himself to go up the mountain, but why is he bringing Doctor Liu with him?”

Gao Lin answered firmly, if there is a conflict and someone was injured, wouldn’t they need a doctor’s treatment?

Chang Xiaoqiu: “They would.”

Gao Lin: “Then that’s why.”

Just like that, he fooled the unfortunate boy.

When it was nearly dawn, Liang Shu and Liu Xian’an had disguised themselves as Zhao Xiang and another Dawn’s Gate disciple respectively. After they waited in the room for a short time, someone knocked on the door. “Master Zhao, Young Head Escort Chang, it’s clear.”

In the early morning light, Raven City was still half-awake and half-asleep. The streets were quiet, and only five large carriages were parked outside the city, each of which could hold nearly ten people. Liang Shu boarded one of them. The people inside the carriage saw this and said in displeasure: “Master Zhao, we’re all going alone. Why did you bring followers?”

Liang Shu pointed to his throat and coughed twice. Chang Xiaoqiu explained: “Master Li, Uncle Zhao is unable to make a sound because of his cold. He is also worried that the saint will ask questions, so he brought confidants who can understand his gestures and looks. It is entirely for convenience, not for putting on airs.”

The other party scoffed and did not speak further, reluctantly accepting this statement.

The carriage jolted, and the people inside grabbed onto the armrests. Song Changsheng was also in this carriage. Liu Xian’an had heard from his elder brother before that there was such a swordsmith in the Central Plains, and countless famous swords all over the country were made by him. Why would such a person who was not short of money or reputation, and was young and strong, join a cult?

Halfway through the journey, one person smiled and tried to strike up a conversation with him, but as a result, the moment he called out, “Mr. Song,” he received the cold sentence, “Why do you have to smile so ingratiatingly when we’re going to pay homage to the saint?” He was snubbed despite showing good intentions, and had no choice but to shut up.

The carriage finally stopped at the foot of the mountain, and they had to climb up on foot. It would take ordinary people several hours, but for martial arts masters, this rugged mountain road was trivial. Everyone leaped up one after another, and Liang Shu also grabbed Liu Xian’an’s waist and flew up with him. Chang Xiaoqiu watched from afar, and seeing that His Royal Highness Xiao Wang could match Zhao Xiang’s qinggong by seventy or eighty percent, he admired him even more and hurriedly followed.

At the highest peak of White Crown, a flower platform had been set up. The cold winter wind had frozen the petals transparent, and the saint was sitting on the stage in white robes, half of her face covered with a veil, and only her eyes exposed. She folded her hands in front of her, and her ten fingers were slender, her whole body as clear and beautiful as the flower bed. Her hair was black like clouds, and there were a few exquisite silver butterflies attached to it, their winds flapping slightly.

One disciple couldn’t help but take a second look.

“Bold!” The maid to the side scolded. Only then did the man come to his senses. A layer of cold sweat broke out on his back, and he quickly knelt on the ground to plead guilty, but someone had already stepped forward to drag him down. A tearing cry for help pierced through the air. Liu Xian’an looked sideways, and saw that the disciple was actually lifted up and thrown down the mountain alive.

Everyone at the scene turned a blind eye toward this, as if it was a mosquito or an ant that had died just now. Liu Xian’an glanced at the saint sitting on the flower platform again. She was about the same age as A-Yuan, but her whole person was ice cold, as if she had a pair of beautiful glass beads in her eye sockets, which could only rotate emotionlessly.

He lowered his gaze, but Wumeng Yunle also looked his way at the same time.

After checking the list that day, the maid said that the two men she had seen in the teahouse were not there, and asked: “The two of them were not good looking, why does the Miss want to investigate them?”

Wumeng Yunle didn’t know why she wanted to investigate them, and couldn’t just say that it was because they looked good from the back. In addition, she had sneaked out to the teahouse, which was a violation of religious decree. She must be punished if the Master found out, so she asked the maids not to mention this matter, and reluctantly moved on.

But now, she felt that the two people in front of her and the two people at the teahouse seemed to have some subtle overlaps. She couldn’t say where they looked alike, and couldn’t tell where they didn’t look alike. 

“Holy Maiden.” Seeing her lose her bearing, Master Yang had to cough and remind her.

Wumeng Yunle turned her gaze back, but was still internally mystified. She planned to remember the identities of these two and ask her brother later. The worship meeting was about to begin, and as always, Master Yang would say a lot of blatant nonsense about bringing glory to the world. All of the believers stood there and listened. There was a couple among them, and the husband was worried that the wife would be cold, so he kept holding her hand. The two of them were intimate and affectionate. Wumeng Yunle was looking at them, as well as Song Changsheng, but their attitudes were different. One was innocently envious of a girl, and the other was unspeakably mournful.

Because the teachings of the Baifu Sect were so long, obscure, boring, and nonsensical, the whole spiel nothing but oblations, Liu Xian’an could almost push out the next ten paragraphs after listening to just one. He began to feel sleepy, so sleepy that his eyes drooped.

Chang Xiaoqiu stood by his side. He could clearly see this, and was anxious, but didn’t dare warn him. He feared that if he woke him up, there would be a bigger commotion if the other party asked him about it in a daze, so he could only ask for help and gently clear his throat, trying to attract Liang Shu’s attention. When Liang Shu heard the sound, he glanced back, but wasn’t angry. He just took a step back and gently tugged this person to lie against his back so that he could sleep more comfortably.

“……..”

Young Head Escort Chang: I really don’t understand.

Liu Xian’an wasn’t completely asleep yet. He was still explaining to his friends in the Three Thousand Worlds, I have something to do today, so I don’t have time to talk. You fellows go back first.

The sages asked, if you have no time, then why did you come?

Liu Xian’an replied, I didn’t want to come either. I just closed my eyes a little bit, but the prince let me sleep on his back for a while.

It would be disrespectful to decline, you know?

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Chapter Seventy-Seven << Table of Contents >> Chapter Seventy-Nine