Chapter 822: Watching and helping each other
"I have already arranged for Feng Tianba and the others to rest. You don't have to worry about anything in my house. Just stay here and recuperate."

It was past the middle of the fourth watch, and except for a few disciples who were on night watch, most of the Qin family disciples were dreaming about meeting Zhou Gong. The huge Qin Mansion was dark and quiet, giving people a feeling of peace and tranquility.

Qin Ku did not arrange a guest room for Liu Xunyi, but took him to his own room, intending to chat with him all night and sleep with him.

"Xunyi, there are some things I really can't stand, and I have to nag a little." Qin Ku carefully changed the bandage for Liu Xunyi while muttering absentmindedly, "Feng Tianba and Li Haitang are big and strong men, it's okay for them to stay up all night for days and nights. But you are injured, how can you abuse yourself? Even if you don't care, Miss Pan doesn't care either? She is a weak woman and can't stand this kind of torture. Just now I sent someone to help her bathe and change clothes, but before the water was full, she was already sleeping on the table. Look how tired the girl is, you really don't know how to be gentle with women."

"This..." Being reminded by Qin Ku, Liu Xunyi couldn't help but look ashamed, "Brother Qin is teaching me a lesson, I was negligent."

"Miss Pan is a sensible and lovely person. She is not willing to hold you back no matter how hard or tired she is. There are not many good girls like her in the world." Qin Ku smiled meaningfully, "Your 'Golden Phoenix' has flown away. When will you meet again..."

"Cough cough!"

Before Qin Ku finished speaking, Liu Xunyi suddenly coughed twice and hurriedly changed the subject: "Brother Qin, how do you know our whereabouts?"

"Don't forget whose territory this is? Ever since you entered the Hexi territory, I have known your whereabouts very well. You deliberately bypassed Xijing and ran to the Jingbei camp. I know all these things. I also know that you deliberately avoided me, so I waited for you on the road you had to take to go south."

"I see!" Liu Xunyi understood. "Since you have been waiting in the woods, why didn't you show up earlier?"

"I'm worried about that little bald donkey!" Qin Ku pouted, "Look at his stupid and foolish appearance, he must be a man of few words. What if I show up early and he leaks the news of our meeting after he leaves? Wouldn't that be asking for trouble?"

Liu Xunyi knew that Qin Ku was just suspicious of Wuchan and not slandering him maliciously, so he just laughed it off.

At this point, Qin Ku's face suddenly darkened and he asked, "I want to ask you, why are you avoiding me? Don't you consider me a friend?"

"Now I am like a plague god, everyone avoids me." Liu Xunyi said self-deprecatingly, "I don't want to implicate you..."

"Bullshit!" Qin Ku glared and said angrily, "If I was afraid of getting into trouble, I would have tied you up and sent you to the Xianwang Mansion long ago. Why would I have run to the Weizhou Inn to save you?"

"Brother Qin, I..." Seeing Qin Ku rarely angry, Liu Xunyi couldn't help but feel flustered and speechless.

"Hehe... I was just joking!" Suddenly, Qin Ku's attitude changed drastically, and his frowning expression instantly turned into a playful smile, and he even took the initiative to admit his mistake, "If I really wasn't afraid of being implicated, why would I sneak in to pick you up in the middle of the night?"

At this point, the smile on Qin Ku's face gradually froze, a hint of melancholy floated on his brows, and he said ashamedly: "Looking for clothes, it's not that I'm afraid of death, but the future and fate of the Qin family are in my hands, I have to be careful..."

"How could I not know your difficulties?" Liu Xunyi interrupted nonchalantly, "In fact, I really don't want you to get involved in this matter..."

"When traveling in the martial arts world, there are always risks. If you were just taking ordinary risks, I might not get involved, but the mess you made this time is too big. If I don't help you... you will most likely not be able to return to Lin'an." Qin Ku said helplessly, "Do you know how many people are sharpening their knives outside, waiting for you to show up? If you go out like a fool, they will gnaw you to pieces in the blink of an eye."

"This……"

"The world has changed!" Qin Ku sighed to the sky, his tone intriguing, "When you were escorting your bride, you had the protection of the Song government in the south, the support of the Mongolian army in the north, and a 'princess' who worked for the country and the people beside you, which made most people in the martial arts world wary and afraid to act rashly. Along the way, the biggest trouble you encountered was the ambush in Yunya Town and Weizhou Inn, and the biggest threat was Lu Tingxiang from the Jiangnan Lu Mansion. But now is different from the past, the princess is married, you have lost your life-saving talisman, the Song Dynasty and Mongolia no longer care about your safety, and more and more people in the martial arts world are eager to try you. As far as I know, even the self-righteous head of Wudang, the dignified leader of the martial arts world, couldn't help but mobilize his troops this time, and no longer used the hands of others."

"It's as expected." Liu Xunyi smiled bitterly, "Qingfeng has been the leader of the martial arts world for more than half a year. He vowed to use my head to sacrifice to the spirit of Lord Luo, but now, as time goes by, I am still alive and well, which makes him lose face and his reputation is greatly damaged. If this continues, the heroes of the martial arts world will inevitably become dissatisfied with him. As long as I am alive, Qingfeng's position as the leader will be unstable."

"These are just expected, and some are unexpected."

"Oh?" Liu Xunyi raised his eyebrows and asked curiously, "What's the matter?"

"look by youself!"

While he was talking, Qin Ku took out a roll of yellow paper from the cabinet. When he slowly unfolded the yellow paper in front of Liu Xunyi, the content on it shocked the suspicious Liu Xunyi and made him dumbfounded.

"This...this is..."

"This is a portrait of you, Feng Tianba, Li Haitang, and Pan Yuyin. Not only are there your appearances, but your features are also marked below for easy recognition. Liu Xunyi is sanctimonious and hypocritical. Feng Tianba is old-fashioned, pedantic, and rough. Li Haitang is very smart and never lets go of his bow. Pan Yuyin is well-educated and well-versed in medicine. There was also Wuchan, but he has left. I believe that in a few days, Shaolin will come forward to clarify and let Wuchan sever his ties with you." Qin Ku looked at the portraits one by one and commented with interest, "I can't believe that Qingfeng actually borrowed from the government's wanted notice and sent a copy to each of the well-known sects and forces in the martial arts world. I also received it a few days ago. I have always thought that although Qingfeng is not a man of high moral character, he is at least mature and prudent. I didn't expect that he would be so reckless and unscrupulous this time."

"This..." Liu Xunyi looked at the lifelike portraits, feeling surprised and moved, and even a little amused. "In order to deal with me, Qingfeng has really put a lot of effort into it."

"Do you know your situation now?" Qin Ku teased, "At this rate, the drama at the Weizhou Inn will repeat itself every day. You may be able to get away with it once or twice, but you can't be lucky every time."

"It would be fine if they were just hunting me down, but this time they even went after innocent people. They are so... cruel!"

"What I'm more curious about is, where did these portraits come from?" Qin Ku narrowed his eyes slightly, and his fingers moved back and forth on the portraits. "Even I didn't know that Miss Pan was traveling with you. Qingfeng is far away in Wudang... How could he know everything about the people around you? I guess... someone must have tipped him off, and this person is quite familiar with you, otherwise he wouldn't have known that the four of you were traveling together. Qingfeng distributed these portraits everywhere, just to use more clues to expose you as soon as possible." "That makes sense." Liu Xunyi seemed to be thinking about it, "In that case, this person must have been to Mobei..."

At this point, he suddenly had an idea, his face gradually darkened, and he said in a cold voice: "There is one person who is the most suspicious."

"Who?"

"Ding Qinghong!"

"Ding Qinghong?" Qin Ku frowned and said thoughtfully, "Although I don't know much about this person, I have heard of his various misdeeds. He left Mobei before you did, and he did have the opportunity to do something bad."

"Hmm?" Liu Xunyi seemed to hear a hint of hesitation in Qin Ku's words, and asked hesitantly, "Could it be that Brother Qin has other suspicions?"

"What you just said is correct!" Qin Ku replied, "The person who tipped off Wudang must have been to Mobei, but have you ever thought that besides being in Mobei, there is another possibility?"

"What's possible?"

"He has been in Mobei."

"Hiss!" Qin Ku's bold guess startled Liu Xunyi, and hesitantly asked, "Brother Qin, do you mean... someone in Mongolia is trying to harm me?"

"I should be the one asking you this question." Qin Ku did not answer but asked, "Did you offend anyone on your trip to Mobei? And it was someone who was powerful and could pass on your news to Qingfeng thousands of miles away."

"This……"

Qin Ku's words awakened Liu Xunyi from his dream, and countless figures flashed through his mind in an instant, among which Hu Lie and Wang Dechen appeared the most times.

"If I think about it carefully, it's possible..." Liu Xunyi was in a state of confusion, muttering to himself, "As early as the 'Nadam' conference, Wang Dechen repeatedly urged Hu Lan to kill me..."

"I think you really have too many lice to itch, and too many debts to worry about." Qin Ku teased, "You already have countless enemies in the Central Plains, and now you have even attracted enemies from Mobei..."

“Brother Qin!” Liu Xunyi stood up suddenly and bowed to the stunned Qin Ku, begging, “Please take care of Miss Pan and the others for me. I have to go first, so that you and them can be spared from being affected…”

"and many more!"

Looking at the impatient and resolute Liu Xunyi, Qin Ku asked in a pretentious manner: "Is it too late for you to leave now?"

"Late?" Liu Xunyi was startled, "What do you mean?"

"It means that 'Liu Xunyi and the other four' have already left the Jingbei camp. According to the time, they should be a hundred miles away now." Qin Ku smiled mysteriously, "If you 'leave and come back', won't it arouse suspicion?"

"This..." Liu Xunyi became more and more confused as he listened, "Brother Qin, what exactly are you up to?"

"True and false, false and true." Qin Ku said with a wicked smile, "Since so many people outside are asking about Liu Xunyi's whereabouts, I might as well satisfy their wishes. Not only will I give them one 'Liu Xunyi', but I will also give them a dozen or twenty 'Liu Xunyi' as a gift, haha..."

"This……"

"Qingfeng's cleverness backfired this time. He spread the portraits of the four of you all over the world, intending to force you to reveal your true colors. However, he accidentally made more people focus on the characteristics of the 'three men and one woman', and thus neglected the pursuit of Liu Xunyi." Qin Ku said calmly, "I have just sent the 'three men and one woman' to imitate your dress, speech and behavior, and headed south to Lin'an."

"You mean... find someone to pretend to be us?"

"Not only that! Starting from tomorrow morning, I will send out more than a dozen groups of 'three men and one woman', all under the banner of 'Liu Xunyi', to Lin'an from different routes." Qin Ku said cunningly, "What's the old saying? The first effort is strong, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted. I don't believe they can keep looking for one after another. I want them to be overwhelmed and confused, unable to tell which is real and which is fake. I want to mess up the dragnet that Qingfeng has worked so hard to weave."

"Then I..."

"As for you... just stay here and eat and drink well, and conserve your energy. The people in the inner courtyard are all my trusted ones, and no one will leak the news. When the time is right, I will arrange for you to take advantage of the chaos and go south and return to Lin'an."

……

(End of this chapter)