Chapter 1081: Being Controlled by Others (I)

It was past midnight when the sound of almost inaudible footsteps could be heard in the dark corridor.

"who?"

"Whoosh!"

In the dim guest room, Yun Zhuiyue, who was sitting cross-legged in meditation, suddenly opened his eyes, and two terrifying rays of light shot out like knives and swords. At the same time, he flicked his fingers, and a sharp energy instantly penetrated the door and hit the sneaky figure outside the door without deviation.

"Forehead……"

The person outside the door was acupunctured by Yun Zhuiyue at lightning speed and subconsciously let out a muffled groan.

"Holy Lord, please have mercy. I... I am Wuming."

Hearing the pleading voice outside the door, Yun Zhuiyue flipped his palm and released a burst of internal energy again. While helping Wuming to unblock the acupoints, he also gently pushed open the door bolt. With a slight "creaking" sound, the tightly closed door slowly opened a gap.

"I'll seal your acupuncture points this time. If you dare to sneak around again next time, I'll pierce your head with one finger."

"Holy Lord, please calm down. I... will not dare to disturb you again."

When the anxious Wuming carefully opened the door and tiptoed into the guest room, Yun Zhuiyue had already jumped out of bed and slowly lit the candlestick on the table. The shining golden mask on his face was reflected, as well as the slightly pale face of Wuming, one of the four guardians of Longxiang Mountain, nicknamed "One Blood Every Ten Steps".

"Meet the Holy Lord!"

Facing Wuming's respectful greeting, Yun Zhuiyue turned a blind eye and turned a deaf ear to him, pouring tea and water. After the tea moistened his throat, he casually said, "I asked you to secretly 'look after' Valley Master Xiao, and you suddenly came back... Did Valley Master Xiao encounter some trouble?"

"Holy Lord, rest assured. Valley Master Xiao is doing well. The guards of the inner court have been replaced by people from the Jueqing Valley and the Xiangxi Teng Clan, led by Tang Afu, Chang Wuhui, Teng Cang, and Teng Qin'er. As for Valley Master Xiao... after arranging the personnel, he went into Liu Xunyi's room and has not come out since."

"A real man, why mobilize so many troops for just a minor skin injury?" Yun Zhuiyue said disdainfully, "He is a famous doctor and a rare treasure. It's not enough to spend a whole night to torture him. Now, Master Xiao is asked to stay up all night to watch over him. It's really... nonsense."

After complaining a few words, Yun Zhuiyue cast a suspicious look at Wuming who was hesitant to speak, and asked: "Where is Xie Xuan? Is he really confident in leaving the inner court? Isn't he afraid that his 'prestigious girl' will be snatched away by someone else?"

"Xie Xuan talked with Valley Master Xiao for a while before leaving the inner court and never came back." Wuming recalled carefully, "Oh, right! Xie Xuan talked with Xunzhen for a while before leaving the inner court. But I was worried about being discovered by them, so I kept a distance... I didn't hear what they talked about."

"They are of the same ilk, and are in cahoots with each other. What else can we talk about?" Yun Zhuiyue seemed to only care about Xiao Zhirou's condition, and had little interest in the news about Xie Xuan and Xunzhen, so she changed the subject and asked, "Has Patriarch Teng rested?"

"Yes."

"Are there any signs of movement from the others? Are there any abnormalities among these old foxes like Xuanming, Yin Baimei, and Zhonglimu?"

"On the surface... everything is calm and there seems to be nothing unusual." Wuming pondered, "At this moment, in and around Danfeng Garden, apart from the night patrol guards, there is hardly a single ghost to be seen."

"The calmer it seems on the surface, the more turbulent it is behind the scenes. These people are more cunning and treacherous than each other. No one is a fool. They are all carefully weighing their own pros and cons. I guess... few people in this Danfeng Garden will be able to sleep soundly tonight."

"The Holy Lord is absolutely right."

"Go ahead!" Yun Zhuiyue interrupted Wuming's compliment absentmindedly, "What are you doing here?"

"Holy Lord, Yan Wuji... has sent a letter."

Wuming was cheered up and respectfully handed the secret letter hidden in his arms to Yun Zhuiyue with both hands.

Hearing Yan Wuji's name, Yun Zhuiyue's eyes changed slightly. He slowly put the teacup that was raised to his lips back on the table. He reached out to take the letter and asked in a low voice, "When?"

"Half an hour ago, Yan Wuji sent someone to give the letter to our people hiding in Luoyang City. One stick of incense ago, our people used a secret code to contact the disciples in Danfeng Garden, and then I went out of the garden to get the letter." Wuming answered truthfully, "Don't worry, Saint Lord, I am extremely cautious about this matter. From beginning to end, I did not alarm anyone in Danfeng Garden. I delivered the letter here as soon as I received it..."

"very good."

Yun Zhuiyue, who was preoccupied with the details, had no intention of asking for details and hurriedly opened the letter to read it. Seeing this, Wuming very tactfully picked up the candlestick and illuminated the letter for Yun Zhuiyue at the right time.

It is worth mentioning that although Wuming and Yun Zhuiyue were very close, he deliberately looked elsewhere and was not curious about the contents of the letter at all.

"boom!"

Suddenly, Yun Zhuiyue, with a cold look in his eyes, slammed the letter on the table, which caught Wuming off guard so frightened that his face changed.

"Holy Lord, this is..."

"Humph! Yan Wuji has been secretly monitoring my every move. Not only does he know everything about the 'Eradication of Traitors Conference', he even knows which room I stayed in Danfeng Garden, what I ate, and what I said."

"What?" Wuming was shocked and said in surprise, "This place is heavily guarded, how could it be possible..." "How could it be impossible? Luoyang City has always been the territory of the Mongols, and Danfeng Garden is one of the most luxurious mansions in Luoyang City, so it naturally attracts a lot of attention. Among them are not only disciples of the Xianwang Mansion, but also hundreds of servants who have been repairing and managing it all year round. What's so strange about one or two Mongolian spies hiding among these people?"

"But Yan Wuji has just arrived..."

"Yan Wuji has just arrived, but the Luoyang General's Mansion, which is controlled by the Mongols, has been here for many years. With the 'Sword of Imperial Order' bestowed by the Mongolian Khan in Yan Wuji's hand, he can even dispatch tens of thousands of troops in the Jingbei Camp at will, let alone a small Luoyang General's Mansion?"

"I see." Seeing that Yun Zhuiyue was in a bad mood, Wuming didn't dare to make any more rash guesses.

"It's been less than four hours since the 'Eradication of Traitors' Conference ended, and Yan Wuji refused to let me get a good night's sleep, so he couldn't wait to send someone to deliver a message. What do you think...what does he mean?"

"This..." Facing Yun Zhuiyue's questioning, Wuming didn't dare to respond carelessly, and asked cautiously, "Could it be...he has something urgent?"

"Urgent? Oh, it is indeed urgent. He is eager to confront me and demand an explanation." Yun Zhuiyue sneered, "It is obvious that he is very dissatisfied with the outcome of the 'Eradication of Traitors Conference', and he has a lot of criticisms about my 'final decision'."

"This……"

"In the letter, he asked me to go to the General's Mansion in Luoyang immediately to have a talk with him, and wrote at the end, 'I hope you will understand' and 'I won't wait until you wake up'."

"Bastard!"

Until this moment, Wuming finally understood why Yun Zhuiyue, who usually kept his emotions to himself, was so furious. Yan Wuji's letter was full of arrogance and condescension. Not to mention Yun Zhuiyue, the protagonist, could not bear it, even Wuming, as a bystander, could not suppress his anger.

"Who is Yan Wuji? How dare he give orders to the Holy Lord? He neither cares about the complicated situation in Danfeng Garden nor considers whether the Holy Lord has the leisure time. With just one sentence, he asks the Holy Lord to drop everything and rush to the General's Mansion in Luoyang..." Before he finished speaking, Wuming seemed to have thought of something and became even more angry. "What is the General's Mansion in Luoyang? It is one of the most 'lively' and 'eye-catching' places in the entire Luoyang City. He knew that the General's Mansion must have been full of spies from all walks of life, but he still insisted on letting the Holy Lord go to the appointment. What does he mean? Is he afraid that outsiders don't know about our relationship with the Mongols? In my opinion, he is clearly deliberately making things difficult, and his heart is damnable. Holy Lord, we must not cater to this person, let alone pay attention to him..."

"Of course I know Yan Wuji did it on purpose. He was using this to express his dissatisfaction with my 'self-willedness'." Yun Zhuiyue took a deep breath, and her restless emotions gradually calmed down a little. "However, even if I am unwilling a thousand or ten thousand times, I have to go tonight."

"Why?"

"If I don't go, Yan Wuji will definitely think that I have ulterior motives. With his personality, he would rather fight me to the death than let us live freely. Once he makes public the secret of the secret alliance between Longxiang Mountain and the Mongols, not only will there be no place for us in Luoyang City, but there will also be no place for us in the Central Plains martial arts world. If that happens, with the Mongolian forces outside watching covetously and the various factions inside ready to make a move, we will be completely trapped in a dangerous dilemma. More importantly, our foundation in Dali has been destroyed. If we offend the Mongols again... the consequences will be disastrous."

"This……"

"From the day I decided to cooperate with Yan Wuji again, I have lost all my ways out." Perhaps due to his inner resentment, when Yun Zhuiyue said this, the teacup in his hand was crushed to pieces with a "bang".

Wuming saw this scene and was anxious, but there was nothing he could do.

"Forget it! Go get ready. We'll leave in... one stick of incense."

"Yes, sir!" Wuming accepted the order gladly at first, then asked carefully, "May I ask how many people you are bringing with you, Lord?"

"The more people there are, the easier it is to be exposed. Keep it simple."

"If we don't have enough manpower, and something goes wrong..."

"Don't worry! As long as I take the initiative to meet you, Yan Wuji won't dare to quarrel with me."

"Then...who does the Holy Lord want to accompany him?"

"Si Wudao, Tang Xuan, Shao Yuanqing and... you."

Although Yun Zhuiyue claimed that he was not worried about Yan Wuji turning against him, it was not difficult to see from his action of appointing the four Dharma protectors of Longxiang Mountain to accompany him that Yun Zhuiyue's real attitude towards Yan Wuji was not as reassured as he said.

"I will immediately arrange for Li Haitang and Xu Ren to lead people to guard the courtyard to prevent anyone from rashly barging in before the Holy Lord returns."

"Tell them that if anyone asks to see me... just say I'm meditating."

"understand……"

"More!" Before Wuming could turn around and leave, Yun Zhuiyue's voice rang out again, "Tell Si Wudao, Tang Xuan, and Shao Yuanqing to change into night clothes and try to escape. Remember to be careful and don't let anyone discover your whereabouts. In half an incense stick of time... we will meet under the locust tree outside the west wall of Danfeng Garden."

"I will obey the command of the Holy Lord."

"Go!"

……

(End of this chapter)