Chapter 300 Catching a turtle in a urn
At dusk, five groups of people came out of the main gate of Prince Xian's Palace one after another.

The first three groups were the disciples of the Upper Three Sects, led by Su Tang. The fourth group was the disciples of the Jing Sect, led by Liao Chuan and Liao Hai. The last group was led by Luo Tianjin and Deng Quan.

There were five groups of people, totaling more than a hundred people, and almost all the remaining masters in the mansion came out.

From this, it can be seen that Luo Tianjin attaches great importance to tonight's matter and is determined to succeed.

As the sun set in the west, Luo Tianjin, dressed in plain clothes, appeared outside the mansion accompanied by Tang Ji and Tang Xiu.

Deng Quan checked the men and horses, while Luo Tianjin patrolled the streets with few pedestrians. He then instructed Luo Qi who came to see him off, "After I leave, guard the East Courtyard carefully. Don't make any mistakes."

"Don't worry, Lord!"

"Ah."

Luo Tianjin responded softly, looked around again, and then got into the carriage with Tang Ji and Tang Xiu. With Deng Quan's greeting, the last group of people slowly headed towards the Sixi Inn.

A moment later, a figure suddenly flashed out from the dark alley across from the Xianwang Mansion. The figure was hiding in the corner stealthily, with a pair of dark and bright eyes, staring at Luo Tianjin who was walking farther and farther away until he completely disappeared at the end of the street, and a strange smile quietly rose at the corner of his mouth.

Time flies, and the stars change. Today, Luoyang City is still a peaceful and prosperous place.

The night was deep, the bustle faded, every household closed their doors and went to sleep, and the city gradually fell into silence.

It was almost midnight. On the deserted street, several nimble figures rose and fell like eagles, climbed over walls and crossed courtyards, moving high and low, flashing and moving, and quietly came under the wall of Prince Xian's Mansion and hid in the shadows.

"Haitang, can you see clearly?"

Tang Xuan, who was wearing a black robe and a mask, looked around cautiously and confirmed again and again: "Has Luo Tianjin really left the Xianwang Mansion?"

"I saw it with my own eyes!" Li Haitang said confidently, "The Xianwang Mansion sent out five groups of people, and Luo Tianjin was the last one."

"In order to deal with us, Luo Tianjin actually mobilized a large number of troops. It seems that he has no intention of leaving us alive tonight." Hu Zhen sneered, "There are not many masters in the Xianwang Mansion now. If they come out in full force, it will be more convenient for us to act."

"Did you really hear with your own ears that the people from Jueqing Valley were imprisoned in the East Courtyard?" Yan Wuji's eyes flashed with suspicion.

Li Haitang nodded heavily and said, "I have been practicing archery and hidden weapons since I was young. Not only do I have extraordinary eyesight, but my hearing is also excellent. Although I did not hear the three words 'Jueqing Valley', I heard Luo Tianjin's order to 'carefully guard the East Courtyard'. Judging from his expression and actions at the time, I guessed that there must be something fishy in the East Courtyard."

"Since it means 'careful guard', then it is most likely the imprisoned disciples of Jueqing Valley." Hu Zhen guessed, "We will go straight to the East Courtyard later..."

"Don't be reckless!" Yan Wuji frowned and said in a deep voice, "Who is Luo Tianjin? How could he reveal his flaws so easily? From Tang Ji and Tang Xiu asking for help from the Xianwang Mansion, to Luo Tianjin helping them, especially tonight, everything was as we expected. It can be said that every step went as we wished, and we had planned everything out. Don't you think that this matter... seems to be too smooth?"

"What do you mean?" Li Haitang asked with an unhappy look on his face, "Master Yan Ling, do you not trust me? Or do you not trust my master?"

"No!" Yan Wuji shook his head and said, "I just want to be more cautious. After all, the Northern Sage King has come this far, he is definitely not an ordinary person. His mansion is not a place where outsiders can enter and leave as they please."

"you……"

"Master Yan Ling is absolutely right!" Without waiting for Li Haitang to refute, Tang Xuan suddenly interrupted, "After we go in, we must act carefully."

"Don't fight with others unless it's absolutely necessary." Yan Wuji added, "It's best not to alert anyone, find the people from Jueqing Valley without anyone noticing, and then retreat safely."

"And!" Long Yu continued, "Once Luo Tianjin notices something unusual, he will lead his men back quickly. So no matter whether we succeed or fail, we must leave the Xianwang Mansion within half an hour, otherwise there will be endless troubles."

After hearing this, Tang Xuan's eyes turned fierce, and he said quietly, "There is no time to lose, let's do it immediately!" Then, he instructed Li Haitang, "After you go in, find a place to hide in case of emergency."

"I understand, Master."

After the discussion, several people used their lightness skills to climb over the courtyard wall one after another.

After entering the mansion, Li Haitang jumped onto the roof and disappeared into the night in the blink of an eye.

Yan Wuji, Tang Xuan and others dispersed, alternating between left and right, walking close to the wall, and quietly rushed towards the East Courtyard.

The bright moonlight slanted down, as if covering the earth with a layer of silver frost.

There were many guards in the Xianwang Mansion, with a post every three steps and a sentry every five steps. If it weren't for the pavilions, attics, rockery, flowers and trees, no matter how good Yan Wuji and his men were at light work, they would definitely be noticed.

They stepped forward slowly, twisted their waists, and moved forward slowly. After about an incense stick of time, Tang Xuan and his companions successfully sneaked into the East Courtyard.

There is an open space in the middle of the East Courtyard, with the East Hall for meetings at the lower three gates to the north, and side rooms in a row on the other three sides. There is a long corridor outside the side rooms, and looking down, the whole East Courtyard is in the shape of a "concave" character.

At this moment, the courtyard was completely silent. Whether it was the East Hall or the surrounding rooms, most of them were dark and silent.

Only in the south wing, through the paper window, one could vaguely see the flickering candlelight and the shadows of people, and even vaguely hear a few "woohoo" sounds.

Tang Xuan, who was hiding under the west corridor, couldn't help but show joy on his face. He looked up and saw a dark shadow lurking on the top of the east hall under the night sky, appearing and disappearing. If you don't look carefully, you can't tell that there is a person hiding there. Seeing this, Tang Xuan's eyes condensed, and he turned to Yan Wuji, who was hiding under the east corridor, and nodded gently.

The two men's eyes met and then separated. Yan Wuji hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand in the air, sending a signal silently.

Suddenly, a black shadow flew down from the top of the west corridor like a ghost, rising and falling, and then lightly touched the ground with its toes, and then soared into the sky again. With a move of a swallow skimming the water, it landed outside the south wing in an instant.

Long Yu was as light as a swallow and landed silently. He crouched under the windowsill and listened attentively to the movements in the room.

At this moment, the three entrances and exits of the east, south and west were respectively guarded carefully by Hu Zhen, Huo Biao and Qiu Zheng hiding in the dark. Although the cooperation between them was not perfect, their offense and defense were orderly and they had a tacit understanding.

He held his breath and listened for a while. The look of Long Yu under the windowsill suddenly changed. He drew his sword from its sheath, flipped over, and instantly jumped four or five feet away.

"what happened?"

"There's an ambush! Go!"

Without waiting for Tang Xuan, who was looking surprised, to ask what was going on, Long Yu suddenly shouted loudly, then paused, flew up, and headed straight out of the courtyard.

In an instant, dozens of torches appeared all around the East Courtyard, illuminating the dim sky and earth as bright as day.

At the same time, hundreds of Xianwangfu disciples armed with swords and knives rushed out from the surrounding rooms. In the blink of an eye, they surrounded Yan Wuji and others.

"Keng!"

It happened so fast that there was a loud noise in the air. Long Yu, who wanted to escape, turned around and fell to the ground. Looking at his expression, he seemed quite angry.

Following closely behind was a young man with a burly build and a stern look.

This person holds a mandarin duck ring, steps on the dragon and phoenix steps, and holds two rings in his hands, one on the left and one on the right, one large and one small. The large ring is like a bowl, and the small ring is like a bracelet, one yin and one yang, one female and one male. The mandarin duck ring changes in a myriad of ways, is flexible and indestructible, and is hard to defend against.

He is Deng Quan, one of the seven heroes of the Xianwang Palace.

After Deng Quan landed, he did not rush to fight with Long Yu, but quickly retreated to the side and together with many disciples of the Xianwang Mansion, surrounded Yan Wuji, Tang Xuan and others.

"you……"

Hu Zhen looked around in astonishment, with mixed feelings in his heart for a moment, not knowing how to start.

"Master Yanling has come from afar to visit us. How dare I not personally come out to greet you? Haha..."

With a burst of hearty laughter, the disciples quickly made way for them. Behind the crowd, Luo Tianjin, accompanied by Tang Ji, Tang Xiu, Luo Hongxuan, Su Tang, Lin Fangda and others, walked slowly with a sneer on his face.

"Luo Tianjin?"

Upon seeing Luo Tianjin, Yan Wuji's heart sank and he immediately guessed everything.

Tang Xuan wanted to lure the tiger away from the mountain, but he failed to steal the chicken and lost the rice. In the end, not only did he fail to lure Luo Tianjin out of the hole, but he was lured into the trap by him. Now he reflected on it and felt very upset, but it was too late to regret.

“Haha…” Looking at the ugly faces of Tang Xuan and the others, Tang Xiu sneered without hesitation, then turned to Luo Tianjin and praised, “The Northern Sage King is worthy of being the Northern Sage King. He saw through their tricks at a glance, and used their tricks against them, trapping them.”

"I just used a little trick." Luo Tianjin looked at Yan Wuji with a smile, and replied indifferently, "If Lord Yan Ling wants to enter my house, he can just walk in through the main gate. I would love to do that. Why do you do such a sneaky thing and climb over the wall?"

Luo Hongxuan looked at Yan Wuji and the others and said sarcastically, "With your abilities, it would be easy for you to hide yourself. But you chose to expose yourself in public. It's obvious that you deliberately exposed yourself to attract our attention. How could such a petty trick fool my father?"

"You Han people have a saying, 'If you are willing to gamble, you will accept the loss.'" At this moment, Yan Wuji has calmed down. He has no fear on his face, his expression is open and he smiles calmly, "It is true that we were greedy and reckless tonight, so we were defeated by Lord Luo. Now that things have come to this, it is useless to regret. But who will win in the end? It is still unknown."

Luo Tianjin looked at Yan Wuji without looking away, frowned slightly, and asked suspiciously: "Luo and Master Yanling have never had any grudges, I wonder why this happened tonight?"

"Lord Luo is wrong." Facing the heavy siege, Yan Wuji remained calm and said with a smile, "In fact, there are both gratitude and resentment between you and me."

"Oh?" Luo Tianjin raised his eyebrows and asked with interest, "What do you mean? I don't know what kind of 'favor' Master Yan Ling is talking about? What kind of 'grudge' is it?"

"Lord Luo is such a forgetful person! Well, I will remind you a few words." Yan Wuji said with a smile, "Back then, the Qin Demon Wu Yao went to the General's Mansion to report that the Xianwang Mansion had slaughtered General Wang Xutong and his family. I argued for Lord Luo and tried my best to calm the situation. May I ask... is this considered a 'favor' from me to you?"

Hearing this, Luo Tianjin smiled without saying anything. He just stared at Yan Wuji quietly, as if he wanted to hear him continue.

"Afterwards, I sent someone to present the head of the 'Lutheran Demon Dancing Demon' to Lord Luo, and sincerely wanted to make friends with you." At this point, the smile on Yan Wuji's face gradually froze, and a bone-chilling coldness suddenly surged in his eyes, "But Lord Luo pretended to obey, openly accepting my gift, while secretly killing my people and slaughtering them all in the Lingqiu mountain stream. Does this matter count as a 'grudge' you owe me?"

……

(End of this chapter)