Chapter 1078: Old Debts

"Once there is one, there will be two. Once there is two, there will be three. As long as Xie Xuan speaks for us once in front of Liu Xunyi, he will speak for us a second time, a third time... Over time, even if Xie Xuan does not admit that he is one of us, Liu Xunyi will think that he is a supporter of the Young King of Qin. If he goes back on his words later, he will definitely be regarded as an erratic villain, and he will not only lose his prestige, but also lose Liu Xunyi's trust."

Abaolu's sudden realization not only did not win Xunzhen's praise, but instead attracted her warning: "Some things are better known, and there is no need to be smart and say them out. Right now, the situation in Danfeng Garden is complicated and changeable, and the slightest mistake will give others an advantage. Therefore, you... and Xiao Yang, Su Hu and others, remember to control your mouth in front of outsiders, and never speak without restraint."

"take note of it!"

"Is my brother back?"

"Not yet." Gradually realizing that Xunzhen was dissatisfied with him, Abaolu dared not flatter him anymore and answered honestly and respectfully, "But Lei Zhen and the others have spread the news. As long as you don't leave Luoyang, they will know that we are staying in Danfeng Garden."

"Before leaving, my brother... said he was sent by the young king of Qin to meet a friend. Do you know who it is?"

"This..." Abaolu shook his head repeatedly with a confused look on his face, "How could I know something that even you don't know?"

"You really don't know?"

"Absolutely not!"

Seeing that Abaolu was so confident and didn't seem to be lying, Xunzhen nodded slightly, half believing and half not believing: "What on earth are you up to, brother?"

"Don't worry, Young Master is not a person without sense of propriety..."

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound of footsteps in the darkness, which startled Xunzhen, who was deep in thought, and also made Abaolu's voice stop abruptly.

The two of them looked sideways and saw more than a dozen disciples from the Jueqing Valley headed by Tang Afu and Chang Wuhui, and twenty or thirty disciples from the Teng tribe headed by Teng Cang and Teng Qiner, coming hurriedly with knives and swords in hand.

Among them, the disciples of Jueqing Valley came here to wait for orders from Xiao Zhirou. As for the disciples of Teng Clan... it was because Teng Sanshi was worried about his daughter and grandson, so he took the initiative to send them here to "help" Xiao Zhirou. By the way, they also served as spies for him to prevent any accidents from happening in the inner court.

"Why are you here?"

"Why are you here?"

When Tang Afu and his group met Xunzhen and Abaolu, both of them looked surprised at the same time and asked questions at the same time.

"We are worried about Liu Xunyi's injury, so we came to check on him." Xunzhen answered without hesitation. Before Tang Afu could question her, she asked meaningfully, "You came here... Is it Master Xiao's idea?"

"This……"

"The affairs of Jueqing Valley have nothing to do with outsiders, and there is no need to explain them to outsiders." Before Tang Afu could hesitate, the expressionless Chang Wuhui had already rejected Xunzhen's "test" without hesitation, and then leaned close to Tang Afu's ear, who was hesitant to speak, and whispered a reminder, "Big Brother, the Valley Master is waiting for us, don't get entangled with outsiders."

Chang Wuhui is different from Tang Afu. He and Xunzhen have never had any dealings with each other, let alone any friendship. Therefore, he can uphold the usual style of Jueqing Valley and treat the "outsider" in front of him with indifference and arrogance.

Tang Afu stared at Xunzhen, who was unperturbed by praise or criticism, with his narrow eyes, and said to Chang Wuhui and the others without turning his head, "You go in first."

"But……"

"Get in!"

"Yes."

Seeing Tang Afu's firm attitude, Chang Wuhui, knowing that it was useless to say more, nodded resentfully, and then led the "Eight Pretty Women in White Face and Green Clothes" to walk quickly towards the inner court. The rest of the disciples and the Teng clan members, as they were not summoned, stayed outside the door very tactfully.

After the others gradually walked away, Tang Afu, who was very frugal with words, finally said quietly, "Xunzhen, you and Liu Xunyi have achieved your wish. I wonder... when you plan to fulfill your promise to me?"

Hearing this, Xunzhen was stunned. After a moment's thought, he suddenly realized what was going on. He smiled calmly and said, "Liu Xunyi is the son of Valley Master Xiao, and you are his beloved disciple. With this relationship... even if there was no previous agreement, he would do his best to help you get revenge."

"What do you mean?" Tang Afu's eyelids twitched slightly, and his tone was quite unfriendly. "From what you said... it seems that you want to put the whole thing on Liu Xunyi and clear yourself of all blame? Don't forget, it was you who suggested that I go along with you and help Liu Xunyi deal with Qingfeng. Now that things have come to this, do you want to stay out of it?"

"Tang Afu, you are so outrageous..."

"I don't mean that!" Seeing Tang Afu's rude words, Abaolu was furious. However, before he could refute him, Xunzhen waved his hands seriously and said, "What I mean is... you and Liu Xunyi are 'close relatives', and he has no choice but to avenge you."

"What do you mean by 'close relatives'? What do you mean by 'duty'? According to what you said... it seems that I am using the favor of the Valley Master to win your charity? The agreement between us has been a fair deal from beginning to end. It has nothing to do with other people, let alone 'human relations'. I will help you avoid being hunted down and deal with Qingfeng and his daughter. You will help me track down the culprit and settle the hatred of the extermination of the family. Everyone gets what they need and owes nothing to each other. Whether he is the son of the Valley Master... what does it matter?" At this point, Tang Afu suddenly had a flash of inspiration in his mind, and his eyes became more suspicious when he looked at Xunzhen, "Wait! You already knew the relationship between Liu Xunyi and the Valley Master, right? You pulled me in... not out of trust in me, but because you have always held my handle, a handle that can make me 'die-hard' for you anytime and anywhere. You know very well the relationship between the Valley Master and me, and you know even more that as long as this layer of window paper is broken, I, Tang Afu, will not do anything to your disadvantage no matter how vicious I am."

"This..." Faced with Tang Afu's aggressive questioning, Xunzhen didn't know how to answer.

Seeing this, Tang Afu understood what he meant and said self-deprecatingly, "I should have expected that you wouldn't trust me so easily. If it weren't for the special relationship between the Valley Master and Liu Xunyi, how dare you keep the 'Ruthless Swordsman' by your side?"

"It's called 'ruthless', but in fact it's full of affection and righteousness." Xunzhen hastily corrected, "I can see that you have long regarded Liu Xunyi as a friend. Even if he is not the son of Master Xiao, you will not harm him."

"What about you?" Tang Afu's eyes sparkled, and his words became more intriguing. "Will you harm him?"

"If I wanted to harm him, Liu Xunyi wouldn't be alive today..."

"Your sophistry may be useful in fooling others, but to fool me... is a bit naive. The reason Liu Xunyi is still alive today is not because you are kind, but because he is still useful to you."

"Well said!" Xunzhen laughed instead of getting angry after Tang Afu revealed the secret. "It cannot be denied that Liu Xunyi is indeed useful to me. Not only that, he is also useful to you. Otherwise, you wouldn't be standing here, asking us to fulfill our promise."

Looking at Xunzhen, who was smiling like a flower, Tang Afu frowned slightly and said lightly: "I am different from you."

"The positions may be different, but the goals... are similar." Xunzhen spoke playfully, and the smile on his face became brighter and brighter. "The past is a fact, so it's better not to mention it. The future has not happened yet, so there is no need to say more. Why don't we talk about the present?"

It was obvious that Xunzhen had no intention of "bringing up old issues" with Tang Afu, so he took the opportunity to change the subject.

"That's exactly what I want." Tang Afu still had a grudge and didn't want to get entangled with Xunzhen about the past. "Right now, Liu Xunyi's injury hasn't healed yet, so there are some things I can only ask you for advice."

"I know what you want to ask, but it has been more than 20 years since the Tang family was exterminated, and many clues have long been lost. Therefore, if we want to trace the whole story and find the main culprit, it will not be a matter of a few words or a day. Maybe... many of the thieves who participated in the massacre of the Tang family are no longer alive." Xunzhen thought, "Now, the easiest clue for us to find is you."

"I?"

"That's right!" Xunzhen nodded heavily. "After all, we are outsiders to the Tang family's extermination and know very little about the inside story. In your opinion... where should we start?"

"The identities and whereabouts of other enemies are unknown, so I have no idea where to start. But there is one enemy... He bullied me because I was young, stole my family property, and tried to take my life. More importantly... He is the biggest beneficiary of the Tang family's extermination, and he is very likely to have a close connection with those thieves. I have long sworn to heaven that I will never coexist with this man in this life!" As soon as these words came out, a cold light flashed in Tang Afu's eyes, and a breathtakingly cold murderous intent burst out, causing Xunzhen and Abaolu, who were caught off guard, to feel a palpitation for no reason.

"you are right……"

"A shameless profiteer who speaks sweet words but has a sharp tongue, a despicable villain who appears to be righteous, Shen Dongshan!"

Abaolu was surprised: "Could it be the 'richest businessman in Song Dynasty'..."

"That's right! This person has always been a flatterer and a beggar. He is especially good at the art of flattering others and flattering others." Tang Afu gritted his teeth and said, "Now that Qingfeng is dead and Liu Xunyi is about to become powerful, I think Shen Dongshan will not turn a blind eye and will definitely find an opportunity to flatter him and make friends with him."

"hiss!"

Xunzhen heard a clue from Tang Afu's words, and was secretly surprised while cautiously testing: "You mean..."

"If he dares to show up, I will kill him." Facing Xunzhen's question, Tang Afu got straight to the point and did not hide his strong desire to kill Shen Dongshan. "When the time comes, I hope you can fulfill your promise and lend me a helping hand when necessary."

"As the saying goes, 'Don't hit a smiling person.' If Shen Dongshan comes to show his goodwill in a big way, he will be a guest... Liu Xunyi is no longer the lonely man he was before. Even if he hates Shen Dongshan in his heart, he has to consider the attitudes of various forces and the eyes of the world. How can he do whatever he wants..."

"This is his problem, not mine. Since you promised me, you shouldn't be so evasive and bargain. I'm saying this to you tonight, and I'm saying the same thing to Liu Xunyi tomorrow."

After saying this, Tang Afu, who was determined, did not give Xunzhen any chance to explain himself. He bumped into Abaolu, who was distracted, and strode towards the inner court.

……

(End of this chapter)