Chapter 59 Dare to Twist the Tiger's Whiskers
There is a mansion covering an area of ​​100 hectares on the outskirts of Huodu City. This is the location of the Jade Tiger Hall, one of the twelve halls of the Jade Dragon Palace.

At night, in the main hall of Yuhu, a thin man wearing a snow-white fur coat leaned on a high seat. He was only about fifty years old, with a face like a scorpion, and his eyebrows, eyes, mouth and nose all revealed a hint of meanness and viciousness. At this moment, his left hand was playing with a dagger, and his right hand was on the armrest of the chair, shaking it carelessly. He looked gloomy and seemed to be worried.

This person is Cao Qin, the head of the Jade Tiger Hall under the Tianshan Jade Dragon Palace.

In the hall, besides Cao Qin, there were Lei Biao and several Yuhu Hall disciples sitting on the left and right, as well as Su He, Chagan, Bater and Zhuo Ya, the four people who were brought back by Lei Biao from Long'an Inn.

"Nine years ago, a young man came down from Chifengling and defeated the masters of 24 cities in Mobei by himself, making the 24 cities willingly submit to the Mongolian Khan. Seven years ago, this man rode alone to attend the Hongmen Banquet of the Huma Gang, the largest gang on the grassland. At the banquet, he fought his way out of the siege of hundreds of desperate men of the Huma Gang. Not only did he defeat the three leaders of the Huma Gang, but he also held their leader hostage and forced him to accept the amnesty of the Mongolian court." Cao Qin looked at Su He deeply and said, "For a time, Chifengling became the leader of all forces in the northern border, and the name of Su He, 'the fastest knife in the northern border', was well-known. No one in the northern border was not afraid of him. Your reputation was earned by killing with one sword, and Cao admires you very much."

Lei Biao couldn't help but feel a little nervous when he heard this. Just now at Long'an Inn, he didn't know the origins of Su He and his men, and they almost got into a fight. It was not until he heard Cao Qin personally narrate Su He's glorious battle record that Lei Biao realized how lucky he was that he didn't act rashly just now.

Bater and the other two were all proud of Cao Qin's compliment, but Su He was the only one who looked humble and waved his hand, saying, "The title of Mobei's best swordsman is just a false reputation. I am not as good as the rumors say. Master Cao thinks too highly of me."

"No, you are too modest." Cao Qin replied with a wry smile, "Your Excellency Su Wen's grandfather was a general under Temujin. As the saying goes, a good father will have a good son. The Su family is full of heroes, and you are even better than your father."

"The general's talk is nonsense." Su He explained, "My grandfather was just a small servant who led the Khan's horse and carried a sword. He had no merit and never held an official position. The Su family has been blessed by the Khan until now only because of his generosity and kindness. I really feel unworthy of this."

"Eh!" Cao Qin waved his hand and said, "How can anyone lead Genghis Khan's horse and carry his sword? Those who can do this must be his trusted ones. This shows that your ancestor's position must be very important in Genghis Khan's heart."

Su He just smiled slightly when he heard this, but he didn't say anything more. Cao Qin coughed twice and asked, "It's just that our Yulong Palace and Chifengling have always kept to themselves and have had no contact for many years. I wonder why you came to Huo this time..."

"We are here with a small gift from the Lord of the Mountains to pay a visit to the Lord of the Jade Dragon Palace," Su He answered straight to the point. He then turned around and pointed at Bater and the other two, introducing them, "These three are the personal envoys sent by the Lord of the Mountains. They are Chagan, Zhuoya and Bater. They are all very important figures in the northern frontier."

Cao Qin nodded nonchalantly and said, "Please forgive me for being blunt. Although the Lord of Red Wind Ridge has good intentions, I don't think the Palace Master would want to see you."

"Why?" Bartel asked anxiously.

Cao Qin said: "Although Chifengling is known as a powerful force in the martial arts world, in fact, you and I both know that the three major forces in Mobei have long become vassals of the Mongolian court. You masters are now working for the government, and my Yulong Palace has always disliked dealing with the government. Whether it is the Song Dynasty court or the Mongolian court, Yulong Palace does not want to be too involved. I think you should have heard about this before you came. Although Yulong Palace and Chifengling are in the same martial arts world and seem to be on the same path, they are actually on different paths. Although I don’t know why the Lord of Chifengling sent you here, there is no benefit without early action. I think he must have something to ask of us."

Su He said, "Master Cao has misunderstood. We have no request here. We just heard that the annual Jade Dragon Festival is approaching, so we came to give birthday gifts to the Jade Dragon Palace Master to express our gratitude."

The Jade Dragon Festival is a unique festival of the Tianshan Jade Dragon Palace. In fact, it is the birthday of the master of the Jade Dragon Palace.

"If you are just here to celebrate my birthday, my Yulong Palace will treat you with courtesy." Cao Qin said tiredly, "It was just a misunderstanding at Long'an Inn just now. I'm really sorry that Lei Biao invited you here so rashly. I hope you four won't mind." As he spoke, Cao Qin winked at Lei Biao. Seeing this, Lei Biao hurriedly stood up and bowed to Su He and the others to apologize.

"Today I saw that the people in Huodu City were in a panic, and the trees and grass in Yuhu Hall were all on the alert. I also saw that Hall Master Cao looked unwell. What happened?" Su He thought for a moment and asked, "Can we help?"

Cao Qin smiled and said, "I appreciate your kindness, but this is my family affair and it's a small matter, so I don't need to trouble you. Thank you."

"But……"

"Report!"

Before Bater could interrupt, a hurried report suddenly came from a distance, and then a disciple of Yuhu Hall rushed into the hall. But when he saw Su He and others in the hall, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue and just looked at Cao Qin anxiously, as if he wanted to say something but stopped.

Seeing this, Su He took the initiative to stand up and say goodbye, "Master Cao has to deal with family affairs, so I'll take my leave first!"

"Excuse me." Cao Qin nodded gently and ordered, "Lei Biao, see the guests off for me!"

After Lei Biao led Su He and the others away, Cao Qin's gloomy eyes fell on the disciple. Seeing this, the disciple hurriedly reported: "Master, two people came outside and said they knew the whereabouts of the young master."

Upon hearing this, Cao Qin stood up in an instant, rushed forward in three or two steps, and asked anxiously, "Where is the person?"

"Waiting in the side hall."

In the side hall, a burly man was gently fiddling with the candlestick with his fingers, causing the flickering shadows to make the entire side hall dim and bright. A woman with a pleasant demeanor was sitting nearby, admiring the furnishings in the side hall with great interest.

If Liu Xunyi were here, he would be shocked. Because he recognized both the man and the woman. The woman was Xunzhen whom he met outside Longxiang Inn, and the burly man was Abaolu, Xunzhen's accomplice who had fought with Qin Wei at Yanmen Pass.

"Who are you two?" Cao Qin, accompanied by two disciples, walked into the side hall in a hurry. When they met, there was no extra greeting and he went straight to the point.

"It's a destined person." Xunzhen replied with a half-smile, "I know that Master Cao is extremely worried now because he lost his son, so I came to reassure Master Cao."

Cao Qin raised his eyebrows, looked at Xunzhen and Abaolu from head to toe, and asked, "Do you know where your son is now?" "Yes." Xunzhen nodded solemnly, "Not only do I know where your son is, but I also know who kidnapped him from Tianxiang Tower."

Hearing this, Cao Qin wanted to ask about his son's whereabouts, but suddenly changed his mind and asked suspiciously: "What benefits do you want?"

Cao Qin has been in the underworld for many years and is naturally not a fool. It is impossible for this man and woman to visit him late at night and take the initiative to tell him the whereabouts of his son. Therefore, before asking about his son's whereabouts, it is better to find out their intentions first, so that Cao Qin can have more time to think about how to deal with it.

Hearing this, Xunzhen was stunned at first, then he chuckled and said, "Since Hall Master Cao is straightforward, I won't beat around the bush. We want to get a picture from Hall Master Cao, the Picture of Shocking Wind and Turning Rain."

Xunzhen's words hit the nail on the head, which shocked Cao Qin. He did not rush to answer, but pretended to be puzzled and asked back: "I don't understand what you mean. Why did you come to me if you want the Jingfenghuayu Tu? I don't have it here..."

"Just now I said that Master Cao was quick to speak, how come you are playing dumb in the blink of an eye?" Xunzhen said with a smile, "Why don't I remind you that more than a month ago, Master Cao went to the Lu Mansion in Quanzhou and snatched the Jingfenghuayu Tu from Mo Cen under the noses of the martial arts heroes in the Central Plains. How come you have completely forgotten about this matter in just over a month?"

"hiss!"

At this moment, the air in the side hall froze instantly, and Cao Qin's blood almost ran cold all at once, with waves of bone-chilling coldness emanating from his back.

After a long while, Cao Qin finally calmed down. He was not in a hurry to negotiate with Xunzhen. Instead, he dismissed his attendants and waited until there were no more outsiders in the side room. Then he stared at Xunzhen with a gloomy look and asked viciously, "How did you know about this?"

"There is no such thing as a wall that is impenetrable." Xunzhen smiled and said, "Master Cao, there is a saying you should know: If you don't want others to know, then don't do it yourself."

"Who are you?" Cao Qin asked in a deep voice, suppressing his anger.

Xunzhen smiled at Abao Lu Wan'er and said jokingly, "It seems that Master Cao is not pretending to be confused, but he really has a bad memory. I just told him that we are destined to be together, but I didn't expect him to forget it now. Haha..."

"Where is my son?" At this moment, Cao Qin gradually realized that the man and woman in front of him were well prepared. "Who kidnapped my son?"

"Me!" Xunzhen admitted it directly without any concealment.

"you……"

"But your young master is eating and drinking well now, and he has definitely not suffered any injustice." Before Cao Qin could speak, Xunzhen had already comforted him, "Master Cao, don't be angry. Back then, when you were in Lu's mansion, didn't you also use Mo Cen's son as a threat to get the Jingfenghuayu Tu? Now we are just giving him a taste of his own medicine. But I believe that Young Master Cao's luck will definitely be better than Young Master Mo's, and Master Cao's ending will definitely be better than Mo Cen's."

"Little girl, do you know that you are playing with fire and getting burned?" Although Cao Qin was angry, at least he knew the whereabouts of his son, so his heart, which had been hanging for a day, was slightly relieved. After thinking for a moment, Cao Qin spoke coldly: "I am not Mo Cen, and Huo Du is not Quanzhou. You dare to touch the earth on the head of Tai Sui. Have you ever thought about the consequences of your actions?"

"To borrow a phrase that Hall Master Cao said when we were at the Lu Mansion." Xunzhen looked relaxed, not at all timid, and even smiled playfully at Cao Qin, saying, "If I were afraid of death, I wouldn't have come."

"Little girl, you think too highly of yourself. Now that you are here tonight, don't even think about leaving." Cao Qin said coldly, "If you can get your people to bring my son back safely, I might consider letting you live. If anything happens to my son, I guarantee that more people will be buried with him, and you, this ignorant little girl, will be the first one."

"If the two of us don't return within an hour, your son's life will be in danger, and I guarantee that you, Hall Master Cao, won't even be able to find your body." Xunzhen sneered disdainfully, "Not only that, Hall Master Cao's actions in Quanzhou will spread throughout the martial arts world within a day. By then, the fact that the Jingfenghuayu Tu was stolen by you will no longer be known only to heaven, earth, you and me, but to everyone in the world. Do you think that the four great families or the six major sects will turn a deaf ear to this? Especially the Jiangnan Lu Mansion that you offended, will Lu Tingxiang swallow his anger? And those Mongols in Chifengling that you just saw, will they covet the Jingfenghuayu Tu? I'm afraid that the troubles that Yulong Palace will face by then will be far more dangerous than my current situation."

"You dare to threaten me?" Cao Qin clenched his fists. He wished he could eat Xunzhen alive.

"I am threatening you." Xunzhen's face turned cold, and he said bluntly, "The Jade Dragon Palace wanted to keep this a secret, fearing that they would become the target of public criticism. If I make this public, I wonder how Master Cao will explain it to your master? I heard that Tianshan Jade Dragon Palace has many rules, but I don't know which rule your master will follow to punish Master Cao for failing to do his job well? Will he be cut into pieces? Or buried alive on the spot?"

Xunzhen's words were like a sword piercing his heart, causing Cao Qin's originally firm belief to slowly waver, and his eyes became somewhat erratic.

"The Jade Dragon Festival is three days from now. I know you will go to the Jade Dragon Palace to present the Jingfenghuayu painting." Xunzhen ignored Cao Qin's reaction and said calmly, "In other words, you have three days from now to think about whether your precious son is more important or the Jingfenghuayu painting that never belonged to you."

"you……"

"Oh, that's right!" Without waiting for Cao Qin to speak, Xunzhen pretended to be enlightened and said hurriedly, "Temple Master Cao was wrong in what he said just now. After the fight is over, it's not me who will be buried with your son, but your son, you, and even your whole family. Temple Master Cao is a smart man, I think you should understand what I mean."

After saying that, Xunzhen, accompanied by Abaolu, slowly stood up and walked out of the hall, while Cao Qin just stood in the hall with a gloomy face, but did not order to stop them.

"If there is a chance, I will come to visit you again. I hope that Master Cao can give us a satisfactory answer by then."

Having said this, Xunzhen and Abaolu had already disappeared into the dark night.

……

(End of this chapter)