Chapter 75 Parting ways
A day of silence passed, and the sun gradually set.

Liu Xunyi and Feng Tianba came to find Ding San as promised. After a whole day of thinking, although they were not even acquaintances with Bai Shuang, they had to save her now that the matter was at hand. Especially for Liu Xunyi, he still regarded Bai Shuang as his sister Liu Xunyu in his heart. Because of the sense of déjà vu when they met at Yuanyang Pavilion, Liu Xunyi, who loved his sister deeply, also developed some feelings for Bai Shuang.

In the guest room, three people sat down as host and guest. At this moment, they had three different thoughts in their minds and three completely different expressions on their faces. Among them, Liu Xunyi's eyes were the most complicated.

"I have already inquired about it. Bai Shuang is indeed imprisoned by Cao Qin in Yuhu Hall." Ding San said straight to the point, "But Cao Qin did not take her for himself. Instead, he wanted to offer her to the Lord of Yulong Palace to help him practice the art of replenishing yin and yang."

Liu Xunyi said in a deep voice: "I knew that Lu Tingxiang would never take the initiative to send someone to wish the Jade Dragon Palace Master a happy birthday. The Jiangnan Lu family has always prided itself on being a prestigious and upright family. How could they be willing to associate with a heresy like the Jade Dragon Palace?"

Hearing Liu Xunyi's words, a hint of coldness suddenly flashed in Ding San's eyes, but it disappeared in a flash, and was concealed by his cunning and greedy look, so Liu Xunyi did not notice it.

"Giving Bai Shuang as a birthday gift to the Jade Dragon Palace Master, only Cao Qin could come up with such a vicious idea." Feng Tianba angrily cursed with disdain, "We might as well break into the Jade Tiger Hall to demand the person and make the matter known to everyone. I don't believe that the Jade Dragon Palace Master can ignore his face and let Cao Qin do whatever he wants. After all, it is not glorious to forcibly rob a woman. After all, the Jade Dragon Palace Master is the head of a faction, so he should have some face, right?"

"If we rush into Yuhu Hall rashly, we may or may not be able to rescue Bai Shuang, but you and I will never be able to leave Huodu alive again." Liu Xunyi pondered, "Even if we make a big fuss, the Lord of Yulong Palace will definitely try to get rid of us to save face. This is the territory of Yulong Palace. If we anger the Lord of Yulong Palace, Bai Shuang and we will be stuck."

Ding San looked at Liu Xunyi and said with a smile, "Why do you care so much about a woman? If you can get the map, you can have as many women as you want. Now I have something serious to tell you. I have already found out Cao Qin's plan. Tomorrow morning, he will personally bring the map up the mountain."

"Then he won't save his son?" Liu Xunyi asked in surprise.

"Of course!" Ding San said, "He and the gang of thieves agreed that they would hand over the map to redeem him in person at Ye Zilin at the beginning of the morning tomorrow. Ye Zilin is the only way to Yulong Palace."

Feng Tianba looked at Ding San suspiciously, and asked doubtfully, "How can you find out so much?"

"This is how I make a living. Let me tell you how I will make a living in the future." Ding San sneered mysteriously, "The know-it-all in the Central Plains is doing the same business as me. You don't have to worry about how I got the information. It's absolutely true."

"Ye Zilin..." Liu Xunyi muttered to himself, "Will Cao Qin bring Bai Shuang with him tomorrow?"

"Since it's a birthday celebration, you should bring a 'birthday gift'." Ding San said, "But nothing is absolute in this world. Cao Qin already knows that you want to save that woman. Maybe in order to have a smooth tomorrow and avoid unnecessary trouble, he might keep Bai Shuang in Yuhu Hall and send her to Tianshan after he rescues his son. After all, the most important thing in this kind of thing is to be safe and not to rush. Hehe..."

Hearing this, Liu Xunyi and Feng Tianba couldn't help but look at each other, both with solemn expressions on their faces.

"I have already told you the most important news. Tomorrow in Yezilin will be the best time for you to take action." Ding San approached Liu Xunyi and insinuated, "I guess Cao Qin wants to kill all the thieves immediately after Yezilin rescues his precious son, and then take the map back. So tomorrow he will definitely prepare enough manpower to fight with the thieves. And the thieves are not stupid. If they dare to go to Yezilin for a meeting, they will definitely make full preparations in advance. So I predict that tomorrow in Yezilin, Cao Qin and the thieves will definitely be in a tit-for-tat situation, and it will be inevitable that there will be a melee of equal strength. At that time, it will be a good opportunity for you to take the map in the chaos."

"Take advantage of the chaos to seize the map?" Liu Xunyi stared at Ding San with contempt, and said faintly, "I think you want me to take advantage of the situation, right?"

Ding San was stunned and asked, "Why? Are you afraid that the two groups will join forces to deal with you?"

"Why not?"

"Little brother, you are still too naive." Ding San looked disappointed and shook his head repeatedly, "Think about it, that group of thieves gave Cao Qin a severed hand. They are sworn enemies and will never join forces no matter what happens. And you don't have to show up when they are fighting. You can wait until they are both injured before taking action. With your martial arts skills, it would be easy for you to snatch something from a group of defeated soldiers, wouldn't it?"

Facing Ding San's repeated lobbying, Liu Xunyi remained unmoved. He just stared at Ding San with a flickering gaze, as if he was thinking about something.

Seeing this, Ding San frowned and asked unhappily, "Brother, I have spent a lot of effort to find out this information. It has cost a lot of money. You are not afraid at this point, are you? I don't care. Anyway, you promised me one thousand taels of gold, not a penny less." Ding San muttered a lot of coaxing and threatening, and seeing that Liu Xunyi still did not express his attitude, he changed the subject and comforted him kindly, "Little brother, as the saying goes, wealth and honor are sought in danger. If you are not willing to take risks, how can you get the map easily? There are not so many good things in the world that are 90% sure. And if Bai Shuang also goes with Cao Qin tomorrow, you can rescue her and kill two birds with one stone. Why not?"

"I need to think about this matter again." Liu Xunyi looked solemn, and slowly stood up and said, "But don't worry, I won't let you get information for me in vain. If one day I have a thousand taels of gold, I will definitely give it to you." As he said that, Liu Xunyi took out a bulging purse from his arms, threw it in front of Ding San, and said, "The gold and silver in it should be worth one or two hundred taels, keep it for you first."

After saying that, without waiting for Ding San to persuade him again, Liu Xunyi took Feng Tianba and quickly left Long'an Inn.

Ding San picked up the purse on the table. The anxiety that had just spread across his face disappeared instantly, as did his previous greed for money. He snorted in an intriguing manner, half smiling.

"Where did you get that bag of silver just now?"

Liu Xunyi followed Feng Tianba back to Longfu Inn. Feng Tianba asked about the origin of the money bag along the way, but Liu Xunyi remained silent.

"Did you steal it again?" After returning to the guest room, Feng Tianba stared at Liu Xunyi with disdain, "You are such a thief, I really regret agreeing to do everything you say." "That's not stealing, it's just helping someone out in an emergency." Liu Xunyi chuckled and sat at the table, picked up the teacup and drank by himself, saying with a smile, "If we don't give Ding San some benefits, he might tell everyone that we want to save Bai Shuang."

"Are you really just afraid that he will tell others that we are going to rescue Bai Shuang?" Feng Tianba stared at Liu Xunyi with ill intentions and sneered, "Or are you afraid that he will spread the secret that you stole the Jingfenghuayutu?"

Liu Xunyi had always avoided talking about the Jingfenghuayu Tu in front of Feng Tianba, and had not shown any desire to ask for the Tu in front of Feng Tianba. However, he did not expect that Feng Tianba, a rough man, could hear some clues from Ding San's words, and even knew how to use it to test Liu Xunyi's real purpose.

Liu Xunyi's expression straightened up, and he said, "You are a government official, and I am a free-spirited person. You have your court laws, and I have my rules. Saving Bai Shuang is just a temporary alliance between you and me. After this is over, you and I will have nothing to do with each other. So you'd better put away your curiosity about my private affairs."

"You are right. I am a soldier and you are a thief. We can never be honest with each other, let alone become true friends." Feng Tianba replied with a serious face, "After rescuing Bai Shuang, I will still arrest you and bring you back to Pingjiang Prefecture to question you. As long as the truth about the death of Mr. Zhou in Qingsifang is not found out, you will not be able to escape suspicion." After that, Feng Tianba seemed to be still unsatisfied, and added righteously, "Also, don't use those bullshit rules of the martial arts world to evade me. There is only one court in the Song Dynasty, and there is only one kingly law in the world. I can't control you in Huodu now, but if you dare to act recklessly again when you return to the Central Plains in the future, I will definitely not let you go."

"Don't worry, I will never break my promise to you." Liu Xunyi was not angry, but smiled calmly, "After the matter of Huodu is settled, I will give you a chance to capture me back, but the prerequisite is that you and I can leave here alive." As he said that, Liu Xunyi slowly picked up the teapot and poured a cup for Feng Tianba.

"Hmph!" Feng Tianba snorted in annoyance, sat down opposite Liu Xunyi, and picked up the teacup and poured it into his mouth. The scalding hot tea made him scream repeatedly, and at the same time, it spurted out with a "poof". For a moment, Feng Tianba felt that his tongue was so hot that he couldn't move it. He opened his mouth and exhaled desperately, while glaring at Liu Xunyi, looking like he wanted to eat him alive.

Liu Xunyi tried hard to hold back her smile, her face flushed red, and she pretended to be aggrieved, waving her hands and saying, "You were careless, don't blame me."

"Stop talking nonsense, Bai Shuang, how are you going to save her?" Feng Tianba was angry and annoyed, but helpless.

Liu Xunyi's expression straightened up, and he whispered, "I've already thought about it. Tomorrow Cao Qin will redeem his son in Ye Zilin, and he will definitely take away all the good fighters in Yuhu Hall. So tomorrow Yuhu Hall will be empty. After Cao Qin and his men leave, sneak into the mansion quietly. If Bai Shuang is left there, you will rescue her."

Feng Tianba nodded, not quite understanding, and asked, "What about you?"

"You go to Yuhu Hall, and of course I will go to Ye Zilin." Liu Xunyi smiled, "What Ding San said makes sense. We don't know whether Cao Qin will bring Bai Shuang with him, so we can't let go of both Ye Zilin and Yuhu Hall. We will split into two groups and act separately. No matter whether we succeed or not, we don't need to wait for the other party to come back. We just need to leave here quickly." The last sentence Liu Xunyi said was obviously an instruction to Feng Tianba, meaning that no matter whether Feng Tianba found Bai Shuang in Yuhu Hall, he must leave Huodu as soon as he came out.

"I'll go to Ye Zilin, and you go to Yuhu Hall." Feng Tianba suddenly suggested, "How about keeping everything else the same?"

Liu Xunyi knew Feng Tianba's character. He made such a suggestion not because he did not trust himself, but because Feng Tianba knew very well that Ye Zilin would be far more dangerous than Yuhu Hall in the future, and Feng Tianba did not want to owe anyone a favor because of this.

"Are you better at martial arts than me?" Liu Xunyi looked at Feng Tianba and teased.

"How can you know who will win if you haven't had a proper fight?" Feng Tianba looked unconvinced.

At this moment, Liu Xunyi glanced out the window casually, his expression froze at first, and then he said to Feng Tianba nonchalantly: "There is no need to argue about this matter. Now you and I should save some energy. There is still a long way to go to decide the winner."

"What are you doing..." Seeing Liu Xunyi's absent-minded perfunctory response, Feng Tianba couldn't help but be stunned. Then he followed Liu Xunyi's gaze and looked out the window curiously, "It's dark outside, what are you looking at..."

"careful!"

Before Feng Tianba could finish his words, a ray of silver light suddenly shot in from the window like a meteor and headed straight for Feng Tianba's forehead.

Liu Xunyi was quick-witted and pushed Feng Tianba away, unsheathing him. With a clang, a silver light flashed beside Feng Tianba. Liu Xunyi flew up almost at the same time, somersaulted over the table, and stood firmly in front of Feng Tianba.

"The three days are up. I am here to take Feng Tianba's life."

A gust of cold wind blew into the guest room from the window. Feng Tianba was frightened and hurriedly looked towards Liu Xunyi, but saw a cold face suddenly appear.

The man who came was the ruthless swordsman, Tang Afu.

……

(End of this chapter)