Chapter 381 Hiding deeply
May 1st, morning.

Di Mo, who was frustrated in his future, came to the south of Luoyang alone and stopped in front of a blacksmith shop called "Jinmingyuan".

The farm tools made here are excellent, durable, good quality and cheap, so they are highly favored by the people in Luoyang. In addition to farm tools, Jinmingyuan also makes weapons, but the price is extremely high, far higher than other iron shops, so there are very few customers.

Standing outside the door, you can hear the "ping pong pong" sound of iron hammering in Jinmingyuan and the shouts of the guys talking in a flurry.

"Master, please come in!"

When the waiter at the door saw Di Mo, he immediately greeted him with a smile and respectfully let him into the garden.

"What do you want, sir?" The waiter introduced attentively as he walked, "A plow, a hoe..."

"Where is the shopkeeper?" Di Mo interrupted impatiently, "I'm here to get the sword."

"Take the sword?" The man was startled and asked suspiciously, "Take what sword?"

Di Mo glanced at the waiter with an unfriendly look and said coldly, "A sword that kills people."

The waiter looked strange and asked again: "Who do you want to kill, sir?"

"Gods who stand in the way will be killed; Buddhas who stand in the way will be killed."

Hearing this, the waiter's face suddenly straightened, and he bowed to Di Mo and said, "Master, please take a rest in the teahouse. I will pass the message right away."

After saying that, the waiter led Di Mo into the tea room and ran towards the inner courtyard.

About half an incense stick of time later, a fat middle-aged man with a greasy face walked quickly towards the teahouse, holding a shining silver sword in his hand.

"Old Jia, how are you?"

Di Mo seemed to be quite familiar with the owner of Jinmingyuan. When he saw him come in, he did not stand up to greet him, but greeted him casually.

"Thanks to Brother Di, everything..."

Lao Jia's laughter stopped abruptly. He looked at Di Mo, who had only one arm left, with shock in his eyes. An indescribable complexity suddenly appeared on his face.

"What are you looking at?" Di Mo smiled nonchalantly, "You know everything about any disturbance in Luoyang City. There's no way you don't know about my affairs."

"I heard a little bit about it and thought it was just a rumor, but I didn't expect..."

Lao Jia's smile became a little unnatural. He stepped forward quickly, and under Di Mo's calm gaze, he stretched out his trembling hands, groped back and forth on the empty sleeves, and a hint of bitterness flashed in his eyes.

"Brother Di, your arm..."

"It's okay! It's my left arm that's broken, it won't affect my ability to use the sword." While talking and laughing, Di Mo's eyes were fixed on the silver sword in Lao Jia's hand, and he asked curiously, "Is it for me?"

"That's right." Lao Jia calmed down and hurriedly handed the sword to Di Mo, saying with a smile, "Try it and see if it fits your hand."

"No need for that! There is no weapon you forge that is not useful. Haha..." After saying that, Di Mo took out a bulging purse from his arms, threw it on the table, then took the sword, stood up and was about to leave.

"Brother Di!"

Old Jia looked at Di Mo's elegant back and suddenly said, "We have known each other for more than ten years. I wonder if we will have the chance to meet again in this life after today's separation?"

"It's been more than ten years?" Di Mo chuckled without turning his head, "Really? Why do I feel like you and I have never met before?"

"Over the years, you always came and left in a hurry. I'm afraid that the total amount of words we have said is no more than a hundred." Lao Jia smiled bitterly, "Brother Di, navigating the world is like walking on the edge of a knife. Every time I see you, I feel lucky. And every time I say goodbye to you, I feel worried."

"What are you worried about?"

"I'm worried that if you leave this time, will you be able to come back?"

"Whether I come back or not, it's my own choice and has nothing to do with you." Di Mo said self-deprecatingly, "Even though someone chopped off an arm this time, I can still come back to see you. If someone chops off my head next time, I'm afraid we'll only meet again in the next life."

"In that case, how about we have a drink together today?" Lao Jia said excitedly, "This way, even if we say goodbye forever, we will have no regrets."

"Since the first day I came to Luoyang City, I have no regrets." Di Mo said contemptuously, "Old Jia, why are you so long-winded today? You are not like before, but more like a woman."

"Who cares?" Old Jia waved his hand nonchalantly and asked, "This wine..."

"I don't want to drink anymore!" Di Mo said bluntly, "Right now, I only have one hand left, and I can only hold one between wine and sword. Compared to your wine, I like your sword better."

"Brother Di..."

"Take care of yourself, I'm leaving!"

Without waiting for Lao Jia to stammer, Di Mo suddenly raised his sword high, waved it at Lao Jia a few times without looking back as a farewell, and then strode away from Jinming Garden.

Looking at Di Mo's lonely back, Lao Jia couldn't help but let out a helpless sigh.

After leaving Jinming Garden, Di Mo did not rush back to Prince Xian's Palace, but rode out of the city on horseback and headed all the way to the bank of Luo River.

Finding a secluded and deserted place, Di Mo with a stern expression suddenly drew his sword from its sheath. With a slight sound, a silver light flashed, and a cold glow suddenly shone.

Di Mo held the sword in one hand, and placed the tip of the sword against a huge pebble. Suddenly, his eyes turned fierce, and he used his inner strength to push his wrist downwards. With a crisp "crack", the pebble instantly broke into pieces. At the same time, the sharp sword broke along with the broken pebble.

The sword was broken into two parts, and it was discovered that the sword body was not solid, but hollow.

Di Mo had no expression on his face, as if he was not surprised by this. He picked up the half-broken sword, tapped it lightly on the ground a few times, and a curled note slowly slipped out of the sword.

Seeing this, Di Mo's eyes suddenly focused, and he quickly unfolded the note, and saw a line of beautiful small characters neatly written on it. "Kill one person every ten steps, and leave no trace in a thousand miles. When the task is completed, leave with a clean coat, and hide your identity and name."

……

Afternoon, Luoyang City, Donghai Teahouse.

"Master Jiang, you are here..."

"Stop talking nonsense. Where is the person?"

"Please upstairs!"

Without any unnecessary greetings and without the need for a waiter to lead the way, Jiang Yiwei, looking hurried, walked quickly through the lobby and headed straight for the private room upstairs as if he was familiar with the route.

When he reached the door, Jiang Yiwei suddenly slowed down his pace, quickly suppressed the urgency on his face, and took a deep breath, as if trying to calm his inner fluctuations. Then he gently knocked on the door and called in a low voice: "Jiang Yiwei wants to see you."

"come in!"

A woman's voice came from the private room. Her tone was calm as water, yet mixed with a hint of majesty without anger.

"squeak!"

With a slight sound, the door opened. Jiang Yiwei looked around, entered the room, and then closed the door tightly.

In the private room, a graceful and elegant woman sat upright, her face solemn, as if she was worried. The tea on the table had already turned lukewarm, but not a drop of it was touched.

This woman was actually Luo Tianjin's wife, Ling Xiaoxiao.

"Meet Madam!"

In front of Ling Xiaoxiao, Jiang Yiwei didn't dare to act rashly. He stood respectfully in front of the table, his eyes looking at his nose, his nose looking at his mouth, and his mouth looking at his heart. He never dared to look directly into Ling Xiaoxiao's eyes.

"I should have come to you earlier, but the Palace Master has been in a bad mood recently and needs me to be by his side all the time, so he has no time to look after other things." Ling Xiaoxiao said faintly, "However, I didn't come to find you, and you didn't come to find me either. Do you think I have forgotten all those old things?"

"I don't dare!" Jiang Yiwei's face suddenly changed, and he said hurriedly, "I just don't dare to disturb you rashly..."

"Forget it!" Ling Xiaoxiao interrupted, "Let's get back to the point. I'm sure you should know about the various rumors about the Lord of Jueqing Valley?"

"Yes."

"Since you knew, why didn't you report it to me in time?" Ling Xiaoxiao said angrily, "If I didn't ask, how long would you have kept it from me?"

"It's not that I'm hiding it on purpose, it's really..." Jiang Yiwei hesitated, looking embarrassed.

Ling Xiaoxiao raised her eyebrows and asked, "What is it really?"

"It's really hard to tell whether this is true or not. It's probably just a rumor. Xiao Zhirou can't be the Teng Rou of the past." Jiang Yiwei was evasive and hesitant, "That's why I didn't disturb Madam..."

"Excuses!" Ling Xiaoxiao said angrily, "It was obviously you who failed to do your job well back then, and yet you shamelessly come up with some childish excuses to put me off today?"

"Unfair!" Jiang Yiwei knelt on the ground with a plop, and said tremblingly, "No one has ever seen the Lord of Jueqing Valley in person, how can they be sure that she is Teng Rou? This matter is indeed strange. It is probably a rumor deliberately spread by Jin Fuyu, with the purpose of slandering the Lord of the Palace and defaming that the Xianwang Palace has an affair with Jueqing Valley..."

"That's enough!" Ling Xiaoxiao glared with her beautiful eyes and said in a cold voice, "Since you can't tell whether Xiao Zhirou is real or fake, then let me tell you that this is absolutely true. The Lord of Jueqing Valley is the former eldest lady of the Teng clan, absolutely genuine!"

Jiang Yiwei was surprised and asked, "Madam, why are you so sure?"

"Because the mansion master has told me everything that happened that year." Ling Xiaoxiao said in a deep voice, "He has personally admitted that Xiao Zhirou is Teng Rou. Outsiders cannot tell the truth of such things, but the mansion master and Teng Rou are so close, how could he admit his mistake?"

"This……"

"What did you promise me back then? And how do you explain it now?" Ling Xiaoxiao pressed. "Teng Rou disappeared from the martial arts world for more than 20 years, and even I was convinced that she was dead. Now she suddenly appears and is linked to the Mansion Master again. Tell me, what is going on? When did her and the Mansion Master rekindle their old relationship? Or... has she been secretly communicating with the Mansion Master all these years and has never really disappeared?"

"Impossible!" Jiang Yiwei said firmly, "If the Palace Master knew that Xiao Zhirou was Teng Rou, he would never let the Xianwang Palace and Jueqing Valley be irreconcilable. In the past, the Palace Master only had hatred for Jueqing Valley and never showed any sympathy. I dare to assert that the Palace Master must not have known that Teng Rou was still alive before..."

At this point, Jiang Yiwei suddenly had an idea, and said thoughtfully: "I know, it was Liu Xunyi who told the Lord of the Mansion!"

"Liu Xunyi?"

"That's right! The Palace Master once sent Liu Xunyi to Jueqing Valley to find out the truth. Not long after Liu Xunyi came back, the Palace Master let Tang Afu and the others go safely. It was also from then on that the Palace Master became particularly concerned about Jueqing Valley. As long as we mention this matter, he will be very impatient and strictly forbid us to interfere." Jiang Yiwei pondered, "Now that I think about it, the Palace Master should have guessed Xiao Zhirou's true identity at that time."

"It's Liu Xunyi again!" Ling Xiaoxiao said angrily, "No wonder the Palace Master is so partial to him, it turns out he has done so many 'good things' for the Palace Master in secret. As long as Xiao Zhirou appears, the Xianwang Mansion will be doomed. We must not let her disturb the Palace Master, let alone let her get entangled with the Palace Master."

"Madam, you are absolutely right!" Jiang Yiwei echoed, "Let's not talk about the past grudges for now. Today, she is already a notorious heretic demon. Once she gets involved with the Palace Master, the reputation of the Northern Sage King will be ruined, and the foundation that the Sage King Palace has worked so hard to accumulate will also be destroyed."

Ling Xiaoxiao said coldly: "This disaster was caused by you, so you have to clean up the mess. Xiao Zhirou or Teng Rou. In short, I don't want another woman beside Brother Jin to appear beside me!"

"Madam, Xiao Zhirou is no longer the same as before. I am afraid..."

"That's your problem!"

Ling Xiaoxiao was unhappy and stood up to leave. When she reached the door, she suddenly stopped and reminded without turning back: "Except for you, everyone else involved in that incident is no longer alive. If you don't want to follow in their footsteps, you should resolve this matter before it is exposed. Otherwise... you'll have to take care of yourself!"

Before he finished speaking, Ling Xiaoxiao had already opened the door and walked quickly downstairs.

In the private room, Jiang Yiwei, terrified and chilled, collapsed to the ground in an instant, at a loss what to do and it took him a long time to recover.

……

(End of this chapter)