Chapter 356: Guan Yu's Counterattack
The tenth day of October, Pingliang Prefecture, Hanxuan Tower.

At night, Liu Xunyi sat alone by the window, holding a jar of wine, leaning on the railing and overlooking the empty streets of Pingliang City. His eyes flickered, and it was unknown what he was thinking about.

"Bang, bang, bang."

The sudden knock on the door pulled Liu Xunyi back to reality from his "dream". Before he could get up to greet the guest, the tightly closed door was gently pushed open, and Xunzhen walked in without being invited, holding a letter in his hand.

"Since returning from the Western Regions, you have been worried and unhappy. Tonight you didn't even eat dinner and just locked yourself in your room to drink. What's the matter?" Xunzhen asked curiously as he walked towards Liu Xunyi, "Are you still blaming yourself for Tang Cong's death? Or... are you missing the beauty far away?"

Liu Xunyi smiled slightly, then picked up the wine jar and walked to the table, jokingly saying, "When did Miss Xunzhen become so interested in my private affairs?"

"Because you are important to me."

Xunzhen blurted out, making Liu Xunyi stunned. She frowned slightly, as if she also realized that her words were wrong, and hurriedly explained: "Don't forget the three rules between you and me. Now that the matter of Yulong Palace has been completed, the relationship between Shao Qin Wang and Beixian Wang has undoubtedly taken a step forward. At this critical juncture, I don't want you to cause trouble."

Liu Xunyi smiled bitterly: "You worry too much. I also hope that the Northern Sage King can smoothly take the throne of the leader of the martial arts world, and will never affect the overall situation because of his own selfishness."

"That's good!" Xunzhen nodded with satisfaction, then his eyes moved and he asked suspiciously, "Before entering Pingliang, you already knew there was a Hanxuan Tower in the city. Have you been here before?"

"Not only did I come here, but I almost died here."

Liu Xunyi laughed at himself, and at the same time, the past scenes came to his mind again. Although he didn't say much, Xunzhen could still sense a strong sense of melancholy from his tone.

"The only things that can make a man so sad are fame, wealth and women." Xunzhen asked meaningfully, "Master Liu is obsessed with this place. Is it because of that 'handkerchief'? Or that 'gold hairpin'?"

In the past, Liu Xunyi left a will to Xunzhen in Tianshan, in which the handkerchief refers to Zhao Xin who is far away in Lin'an, and the gold hairpin refers to Bai Shuang in Sushui Pavilion in Quanzhou.

The person who set a trap in Hanxuan Tower and almost killed Liu Xunyi was Bai Shuang.

At that time, Bai Shuang followed Liu Xunyi to Pingliang City on Lu Tingxiang's orders to steal the Jingfenghuayu Tu. Sikong Zhu secretly laid a trap to capture both the man and the Tu. Fortunately, Bai Shuang had a kind heart and made Liu Xunyi prepare in advance. He used a trick of flower-transferring and tree-grafting, and only then did he escape.

Revisiting the old place today, it is inevitable that the sight of things reminds him of the past, which makes Liu Xunyi feel overwhelmed and sad.

Although he and Bai Shuang have drawn a clear line between themselves, the longing for Liu Xunyu in his heart has long turned into an unsolvable knot, which makes him secretly entangled and unable to let go of Bai Shuang, who is seven points similar to Liu Xunyu.

Seeing Liu Xunyi's lonely expression and silence, Xunzhen's eyes could not help but change slightly, and then handed the letter in his hand to him, and said with relief: "Forget it! Since Master Liu doesn't like outsiders to ask about his private affairs, let's talk about some official business."

"This is……"

"A handwritten letter from the Northern Sage King." Xunzhen explained, "Something happened in Jiangzhou."

Liu Xunyi was shocked, and hurriedly took the letter and read it hastily. After a while, the melancholy on his face disappeared, replaced by a deep solemnity.

"How is it?" Xunzhen asked curiously, "What do you think of the contents of the letter?"

"First, the Palace Master did not hesitate to oppose the Kunlun Clan in order to resolve the crisis in Jueqing Valley. I guess the relationship between the Palace Master and the Lord of Jueqing Valley must be unusual." Liu Xunyi speculated, "Second, Jin Fuyu stepped in and seemed to be standing up for the Kunlun Clan, but in fact he wanted to take the opportunity to win over the Palace Master and suppress the Palace Master's prestige in the martial arts world. Third, the Kunlun Clan's leader Yin Baimei not only did not obstruct Jin Fuyu's interference, but instead pretended to be deaf and dumb and went with the flow. It seems that he is dissatisfied with the Xianwang Mansion, or even... has ulterior motives."

Looking at Liu Xunyi's confident words, Xunzhen nodded slightly and continued, "Fourthly, Jin Fuyu specifically asked you to go to Jiangzhou to rescue people, which clearly shows that he has other intentions. The reason why he is so 'caring' for you is most likely because of your trip to the Western Regions, and you ruined his good deeds."

"That makes sense." Liu Xunyi nodded and said, "To be precise, since the fight for the 'Wind and Rain Map' began, I have repeatedly disrupted Jin Jianwu's plans. Jin Fuyu is an experienced and vindictive man. I have repeatedly ruined his plans. How can he not hate me to the core?"

"There is one more part." Xunzhen said sternly, "You killed Jian Zhong! Although I don't know what the relationship between Jian Zhong and Jin Fuyu is, he was able to go deep into Tubo for Jin Fuyu without fear of life and death, which shows that the two of them have a deep friendship."

"You mean... Jin Fuyu wants to avenge Jian Zhong?"

"Most likely!"

"Why?"

"If we talk about people who ruined Jin Fuyu's good deeds, you, Liu Xunyi, are definitely not the first, nor the last, and certainly not the most eye-catching one. Jin Fuyu has been able to reach his current status in the martial arts world because he has countless enemies and friends. It's not quite right to say that he is a narrow-minded person." Xunzhen analyzed, "But he didn't target anyone, but you, Liu Xunyi, by name. Don't you think that Jin Fuyu's actions are very contradictory to his introverted character of keeping a low profile and knowing honor and disgrace?"

"You mean... what really angered him was not that I ruined his good deeds, but that I killed Jian Zhong?"

"That's right!" Xunzhen's eyes sparkled, and he said quietly, "Jian Zhong must be extremely important to Jin Fuyu, otherwise he would never do such a reckless thing."

"What is their relationship?" Liu Xunyi felt a chill on his back and muttered to himself, "They are not related at all. Even if Jin Fuyu saved Jian Zhong's life, he wouldn't care about him so much? Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless Jian Zhong is extremely useful to Jin Fuyu." Liu Xunyi said in a deep voice, "Losing Jian Zhong is like losing one of his arms. Only in this way will Jin Fuyu be so angry."

"Use value..." Xunzhen frowned slightly and thought, "Jian Zhong is not from Jinjianwu, nor is he among the four great masters. What value does he have to Jin Fuyu?" At this point, Xunzhen's eyes suddenly lit up and he boldly speculated, "Could it be that Jin Fuyu is secretly brewing some conspiracy outside Jinjianwu? This matter is not convenient for Jinjianwu's people to intervene directly, so it is handed over to Jian Zhong, who seems to have nothing to do with Jinjianwu, to let him act in secret. In this way, Jin Fuyu can use Jinjianwu to cover up his tracks, so that his secret conspiracy can be carried out smoothly."

"Openly repairing the plank road, secretly attacking Chencang!" Liu Xunyi exclaimed, "Not long ago, when Qingcheng, Emei and Xianwang Mansion gradually alienated each other and turned to Jinjianwu in the face of battle, I boldly suspected that Jin Fuyu might have some hidden strengths that are little known to the public. And these secrets hidden outside Jinjianwu may be Jin Fuyu's magic weapon to win the martial arts conference. Do you think Jian Zhong is related to this matter?"

Liu Xunyi's bold speculation was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the Central Plains martial arts world. If what he said was true, the real strength of Jinjianwu was far from what it seemed.

According to the Jianghu structure, the power of the Xianwang Mansion is far superior to that of the Jinjianwu, but why would Qingcheng and Emei be easily shaken, or even turn against each other in the face of battle? On the other hand, the four great families are loyal to Jin Fuyu, and no matter how Luo Tianjin tries to alienate them, he can never shake their relationship with the Jinjianwu.

Putting all these seemingly accidental events together, and raising their suspicions and pondering them carefully, Liu Xunyi and Xunzhen could not help but feel terrified and chilled to the bone.

"It seems that we underestimated Jin Fuyu before." Xunzhen murmured solemnly, "If you hadn't accidentally eliminated Jian Zhong, I'm afraid we wouldn't have noticed Jin Fuyu's strangeness until the day of the martial arts conference."

"Jian Zhong's death must have had a huge impact on Jin Fuyu." Liu Xunyi said in a serious tone, "Otherwise he would never reveal his true colors."

"Showing one's true colors..." Xunzhen frowned, as if thinking hard, "The dead are gone, and even revenge cannot bring them back to life. Jin Fuyu is extremely smart, will he really show his true colors just because of a momentary impulse?"

Liu Xunyi asked in surprise, "Do you think Jin Fuyu didn't come to me out of anger? But did it on purpose?"

Hearing this, Xunzhen felt as if he had been awakened, and an expression of incredible enlightenment instantly appeared on his face.

"Xunzhen, you..."

"Liu Xunyi!" Xunzhen's beautiful eyes turned and looked at Liu Xunyi meaningfully, and said faintly, "Jin Fuyu pointed out your name, not necessarily to take your life, to avenge Jian Zhong."

"What do you mean?" Liu Xunyi was cheered up, but his mind was in a mess.

"Do you still remember the jokes we had?" Xunzhen smiled in a secretive manner, "In a short period of time, you have become famous all over the world. Looking at the current martial arts world, the only legendary figure who has a similar experience to you is Jian Zhong. You once boasted that you 'practiced a hundred schools of martial arts, learned the strengths of a thousand schools, and was proficient in all the southern fists and northern kicks, and knew all the bows, horses, swords and arrows', and Jian Zhong also said that 'my martial arts are the strengths of a hundred schools, and I am proficient in all the fists, kicks, weapons, and swords, and I know all the hidden weapons and light skills'... Don't you think that you have many similarities with the famous 'Nine Lives No Return'?"

"This……"

"Although outsiders do not know your true identity, I know that Lord Liu is a close confidant of the imperial court." Xunzhen said with a half-smile, "Thinking about it this way, you are even more alike with Jian Zhong."

"What exactly do you want to say?"

Liu Xunyi seemed to have heard a clue from Xunzhen's words, but his thoughts were like catching a shadow in the wind, making it difficult to grasp.

"What I mean is... although Jian Zhong is dead, Jin Fuyu's secret conspiracy will never end easily." Xunzhen seemed to be thinking about something and answered slowly, "Therefore, I suspect that Jin Fuyu specifically asked you to replace Jian Zhong and complete the secret mission that Jian Zhong has not yet completed."

"Is this... possible?" Liu Xunyi smacked his lips in surprise.

"I don't know." Xunzhen shrugged lightly and smiled bitterly, "Since it's just speculation, why not be bolder?"

"They say good fortune never comes alone, and misfortunes never come singly. I never expected that I, Liu Xunyi, would suddenly become such a popular figure." Liu Xunyi laughed at himself, his face full of bitterness.

"Good fortune never comes in pairs? Bare hands can be hot?" Xunzhen was meticulous and instantly heard the flaw in Liu Xunyi's words, and asked, "Why? Could it be that besides Jin Fuyu, there are other people who are eager to recruit talents from Master Liu?"

Liu Xunyi was stunned, and felt that Xunzhen was indeed very smart. He must be careful in what he said and did in front of her in the future. If he slacked off for a moment, she would see through his thoughts and reveal all his secrets.

"Don't be afraid of you laughing at me. In fact, Ren Wuya also said to me..." At this point, Liu Xunyi suddenly changed the subject and vowed, "No matter what, I will never betray Lord Luo."

"Of course." Xunzhen said with a sarcastic smile, "The court only allowed you to sneak into the Xianwang Mansion, but did not allow you to sneak into the Yulong Palace."

Faced with Xunzhen's open and hidden sarcasm, Liu Xunyi could only force a smile and not argue.

"Lord Luo has stated in his letter that it is up to you to decide where to go." Xunzhen said seriously, "So what? Do you plan to go south to Jiangzhou? Or east to Luoyang?"

Liu Xunyi chuckled and said, "Here is the letter written by the Palace Master himself. Can I still choose?"

"You have just made great contributions to the Xianwang Mansion, so Lord Luo will not blame you if you don't go to Jiangzhou."

"Forget it!" Liu Xunyi sighed, then straightened his eyes and said quietly, "Even if it's not for the Lord's order, just to find out Jin Fuyu's secret, I will definitely go to Jiangzhou this time!"

Xunzhen raised his eyebrows slightly and said jokingly, "You will be alone and without help when you go to Jiangzhou. Aren't you afraid that you may never come back?"

"If we are not afraid of Tubo, why should we be afraid of Jiangzhou?"

……

(End of this chapter)