Chapter 634: Backfire (I)

After a night of rapid travel, Liu Xunyi, Zheng Songren and Zhang Songyi arrived in Xuzhou before dawn.

As soon as they entered Xuzhou, Zheng Songren and Zhang Songyi behaved strangely. They deliberately whispered to each other behind Liu Xunyi's back, as if they were discussing something in secret. Then Zhang Songyi rode away alone, while Zheng Songren took Liu Xunyi to another place.

Liu Xunyi was very confused about this and asked several times, but unexpectedly, Zheng Songren gave her a perfunctory response.

Because Liu Xunyi had other things on his mind, he had no intention of pursuing Zhang Songyi's whereabouts. He followed Zheng Songren around and came to Qizhen Pavilion in the west of Xuzhou City.

Contrary to what Ling Xiaoxiao said, Zheng Songren and the owner of Qizhen Pavilion were not familiar with each other, and they had never met before. Liu Xunyi saw this and was suspicious, but did not ask any more questions.

Zheng Songren wanted to select the treasures as quickly as possible and rush back to Luoyang City in time, but he kept delaying on the grounds that Zhang Songyi was out and had not returned.

Although Liu Xunyi was anxious, Ling Xiaoxiao had already said that everything on the trip to Xuzhou would be arranged by Zheng Songren, so Liu Xunyi had to be patient and wait.

It was not until dusk that Zhang Songyi, who had disappeared for a day, came to Qizhen Pavilion in a hurry.

"Brother Zhang, you are finally back!"

"I have kept Liu Zhishan waiting for so long, please forgive me."

As soon as he entered the Qizhen Pavilion, Zhang Songyi first greeted Liu Xunyi warmly, and then walked up to Zheng Songren and whispered to him under Liu Xunyi's confused gaze.

Looking at Zhang Songyi with a strange look on his face and Zheng Songren with a wandering look, Liu Xunyi became even more curious and asked, "Brother Zheng, Brother Zhang, what are you doing..."

"Liu Zhishan, please be patient!" Zheng Songren's expression eased and he explained, "Before we return to Luoyang, we still need to do a small thing."

"It's a small matter?" Liu Xunyi asked suspiciously, "What small matter?"

"We dare not delay what Senior Sister has told us." Zheng Songren evaded the question, "Liu Zhishan, there is no need to intervene. Just come with us."

"But……"

"Don't worry, Liu Zhishan, it won't take too long." Zhang Songyi interrupted, "After finishing the task, we will travel overnight and return to the Xianwang Mansion early tomorrow morning."

"Oh well!"

Although he was somewhat reluctant, seeing Zheng Songren and Zhang Songyi's sincere words and bringing up Ling Xiaoxiao's name, Liu Xunyi did not dare to insist on his own opinion and could only agree reluctantly.

"Where are we going now?"

"East of the city, Yuanshan Inn!"

At night, under the guidance of Zhang Songyi, Liu Xunyi and the other two arrived at Yuanshan Inn.

Strangely, they did not enter through the main door, but went around to the back door of the inn and climbed over the wall without being noticed.

"What's going on? Why are you so secretive?"

Facing Liu Xunyi's repeated questioning, Zheng Songren's eyes flashed with a thoughtful look, as if he was hesitating whether to tell Liu Xunyi about this.

"one two Three……"

On the side, Zhang Songyi stared at the windows on the second floor of the inn, muttering to himself, "The seventh from the left, that's right!"

"What do you mean the seventh room from the left?" Liu Xunyi asked in astonishment, "Brother Zhang, what are you counting? Who lives in the seventh room?"

"Liu Zhishan, we are not being mysterious, but this matter is our Wudang sect's family affair, and we really don't want to trouble you with it."

"Brother Zheng, what are you talking about? Xianwang Mansion and Wudang Sect are of the same blood and are as close as one family. How can we talk about you and me?" Liu Xunyi said righteously, "Let's not talk about the relationship between my wife and Taoist Qingfeng. Just talking about my mansion master, he is also Taoist Qingfeng's favorite disciple. As a disciple of Xianwang Mansion, how can I sit idly by when encountering Wudang's affairs?"

Although Liu Xunyi's words were grand, he was actually worried. Since entering Xuzhou this morning, Zheng Songren and Zhang Songyi suddenly became mysterious, talking and behaving strangely, as if they were distracted.

Liu Xunyi thought for a moment and guessed that the strange behavior of Zheng and Zhang today was most likely related to the "seventh room from the left" at this time.

Seeing Liu Xunyi speaking for justice, Zheng Songren and Zhang Songyi exchanged a glance, and then explained to Liu Xunyi: "To be honest, a mortal enemy of the Wudang Sect lives in the seventh guest room on the second floor. The two of us are here to kill him on the orders of our senior sister."

"The mortal enemy of Wudang Sect?" Liu Xunyi was horrified. He looked up at the dark window and asked hesitantly, "May I ask who is the mortal enemy?"

“This…” Zheng Songren pondered, “A mortal enemy is a mortal enemy. Even Liu Zhishan may not recognize him if he is mentioned.”

Liu Xunyi frowned, and naturally heard the perfunctory meaning in Zheng Songren's words, and asked again: "What are you going to do?"

"I have bribed the innkeepers to burn incense in their rooms in the evening, which is enough to make people fall asleep in a short while..."

"Wait!" Liu Xunyi's eyes moved and he interrupted, "Them? Do you want to kill more than one person?"

"This..." Realizing that he had made a mistake in his words, Zhang Songyi was speechless. Seeing this, Zheng Songren tried to smooth things over by saying, "Wudang is a well-known and upright sect. How could they kill innocent people? In fact, there is only one person we want to kill, but he has several helpers by his side, so we used the incense to knock them down together to prevent innocent people from being hurt in the fight."

Facing the ambiguous words of Zheng Songren and Zhang Songyi, Liu Xunyi was naturally skeptical. He looked up at the second floor and said worriedly, "Although this is the backyard of the inn, it is too quiet. Especially the second floor, it is as quiet as death, which seems a bit weird."

"What does Liu Zhishan mean?"

"I'm worried that something is fishy..."

"Hey!" Before Liu Xunyi finished speaking, Zhang Songyi smiled confidently and said, "Liu Zhishan, you are worrying too much. They have been knocked out by the incense and are naturally quiet. You might as well listen carefully. There are even breathing sounds and slight snoring in the guest room on the second floor. It is clearly a sign of deep sleep."

"But……"

"Now that things have come to this, we two have no choice! Liu Zhishan, please wait here for a moment, we will be back soon."

Zheng Songren suddenly felt uneasy, perhaps because of Liu Xunyi's "reminder". In order to avoid any more trouble, he made up his mind and decided to fight quickly.

After saying that, without waiting for Liu Xunyi to speak again, Zheng Songren and Zhang Songyi suddenly jumped into the air, climbed up to the second floor along the wall like a gecko, then used a knife to pry open the window latch, pushed open a gap, and dived into the darkness one after another.

"How could a dignified Wudang sect actually use such a despicable move? This is truly bizarre."

Although Liu Xunyi was confused, Zheng Songren had already made it clear that since it was a Wudang family affair, it was naturally inconvenient for Liu Xunyi as an outsider to interfere, so he could only stand in the yard and wait.

"Keng!"

Just as Liu Xunyi was lost in thought, a loud noise suddenly came from the silent guest room on the second floor, which immediately frightened his face.

"No! We fell into a trap!"

Then, Zheng Songren shouted in shock and anger from the guest room. At the same time, a candlelight lit up in the dark room, and through the window, Liu Xunyi could vaguely see someone fighting in the room.

"Ugh!"

After a moment of hesitation, Liu Xunyi suddenly sighed, then stepped forward and leaped up to the second floor.

However, when Liu Xunyi broke into the room through the window, the scene in the room surprised him.

At this moment, Zheng Songren, with a ferocious look on his face, stood by the window with a sword in his hand, looking hesitant as if he was about to escape or fight.

In front of him, Zhang Songyi was lying on the ground in a state of utter disgrace, with his sword thrown aside. On Zhang Songyi's back, a foot was stepping on him tightly, making him unable to move.

What surprised Liu Xunyi the most was that the person who stepped on Zhang Songyi was the "ruthless swordsman" Tang Afu who had not been seen for a long time.

"How could it be you?"

Seeing the cold and frosty Tang Afu, Liu Xunyi was stunned and said in astonishment: "Brother Tang, what are you doing..."

"Liu Xunyi, so you are in the same group with them?" Tang Afu was also surprised by Liu Xunyi's appearance. He pointed his sword at Liu Xunyi with a fierce look in his eyes and said coldly, "I thought you were an upright person, but you did such a despicable thing! When we were in Huashan, you repeatedly begged me to help you keep Yun Jianping. Was it just to facilitate your assassination tonight?"

"What?" The sudden change caught Liu Xunyi off guard, and he was confused for a moment, "Why are you here? What does this have to do with Miss Yun? Could it be that the mortal enemy of Wudang they are talking about... is you?"

"It's not him, it's me!"

Before Tang Afu could speak, the tightly closed door was suddenly pushed open. Then, the furious Yun Jianping, accompanied by Xiao Zhirou, Teng Sanshi, Chang Wuhui, Teng Cang and others, strode into the guest room.

The appearance of Yun Jianping surprised and delighted Liu Xunyi, who was full of doubts, and at the same time, the confusion in his heart became more and more intense.

"Ms. Yun... Miss Yun, what exactly is going on?"

"This was originally my room. If Master and Chief Teng hadn't told me that someone was sneaking around the inn with ill intentions, I would have been knocked unconscious by the incense and become a wronged soul killed by their swords!"

While speaking, Yun Jianping raised the handful of incense in his hand high up, and then threw it in front of Liu Xunyi and Zheng Songren.

"Zheng Songren, you are a Wudang disciple, claiming to be a gentleman and a hero. But I didn't expect that you would do such a dirty thing behind the scenes." Teng Sanshi stared at the sweaty Zheng Songren with his tiger eyes, and said in a deep voice, "Does your master Qingfeng know what you did tonight? Wudang Sect has always been upright. As a Wudang disciple, you acted so badly. Aren't you afraid of humiliating the reputation of your master?"

Facing the scolding from Yun Jianping and Teng Sanshi, Zheng Songren, knowing that he was in the wrong, blushed with shame, resentment, annoyance and helplessness. He said nothing for a long while and just stood there in a daze.

"With your childish tricks, you dare to show off in front of me?" Teng Sanshi pointed at the incense on the ground and shouted, "When I was traveling around the world, your parents were still young and ignorant, let alone you guys who are still wet behind the ears? You dare to do evil with a few incense sticks. Do you really think that the people of the Xiangxi Teng Clan and the Jueqing Valley are all three-year-old children?"

"And you, Liu Xunyi!" Teng Cang stared at Liu Xunyi unkindly, and said unhappily, "Is this how Alliance Leader Luo treats guests? He sends wedding invitations to heroes all over the world, is he trying to invite us to a Hongmen Banquet full of murderous intentions? The dignified leader of the martial arts world actually likes such despicable tricks, which is no different from chicken-stealing and dog-stealing people. What exactly are your intentions?"

……

(End of this chapter)