Chapter 86 Having both sides
As the sky gradually darkened and the sun gradually set, the disciples from the Three Flags and Twelve Halls who came to pay their respects to the birthday gradually left the mountain, and the Jade Dragon Palace gradually returned to its former tranquility.

Ding Ao strolled in front of the temple, occasionally chatting with the disciples who were about to leave the mountain, and then watched them leave with a smile. It was not until the sun set and the sky was completely dark that Ding Ao suddenly changed his pace, lowered his head and walked quickly towards the side hall.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Accompanied by several dull and rhythmic knocks on the door, the dark side hall suddenly lit up with a faint yellow light, and through the door and window, one could see the shadows of people swaying in the hall. After a moment, footsteps approached, and at the same time a low voice asked, "Who is it?"

"Ding San." Ding Ao replied quickly.

After a moment's silence, the door opened a crack and Ding Ao went in without hesitation. Then the door slammed shut again.

"Master Ding San, I have been waiting for you in this corner for a whole day."

A rather resentful female voice sounded quietly from behind the curtain, and then, under Ding Ao's guilty gaze, a white figure slowly walked out from behind the curtain. When Ding Ao saw her, a sly smile appeared on both of their faces almost at the same time.

This woman turned out to be Xunzhen, the mastermind behind the kidnapping of Cao Qin's son. And the man who just opened the door for Ding Ao was Abaolu.

"Miss, you haven't waited in vain this day." Ding Ao chuckled, quickly took out a black bamboo tube from his sleeve, handed it to Xunzhen, and said with a mysterious smile, "I've brought you what you want. I will never break my promise."

"Oh?"

When Xunzhen saw the black bamboo tube, his eyes lit up immediately and he reached out to take it. But Ding Ao seemed to be deliberately teasing him. He suddenly took the bamboo tube into his arms and asked with a meaningful smile, "I brought what you wanted. What about the thing you promised to give me?"

Xunzhen remained calm, and slowly took out a jade tablet from his waist, saying, "This is the Great Liao Jade Tablet. If you are in trouble in the future, you only need to take out this tablet, and you will surely receive help from the entire Great Liao."

"The Liao Dynasty has already perished, so why would we need to mobilize the whole country?" Ding Ao said with a smile, "The reason why my Yulong Palace wants to exchange the "Jingfenghuayu Tu" for this jade slip is actually mainly because we want to make friends with you, the eldest lady, and the forces behind you. We can be friends and help each other in the future. This "Jingfenghuayu Tu" and this jade slip can be regarded as tokens of friendship between our two families, exchanging sincerity for sincerity. Miss, I think you should understand what I mean. Hehe..."

Xunzhen smiled slightly and replied, "There are only seven jade slips in total. Now that I can give one to the Jade Dragon Palace, it should be enough to show our sincerity, right?"

"That's right! That's right!" Ding Ao nodded and smiled, "The eldest lady and I have known each other for several years, and naturally I trust her as a person." As he said that, Ding Ao took the initiative to hand the black bamboo tube in his hand to Xunzhen, and then he was about to take the jade slip, but this time it was Xunzhen's turn to make things difficult for him, and he deliberately held the jade slip in his hand.

Facing Ding Ao's stunned expression, Xunzhen asked with a half-smile, "It's just that... we are sincere, but I don't know how sincere the Jade Dragon Palace is?"

"What do you mean, Miss?" Ding Ao slowly retracted his hand and asked suspiciously, "If I hadn't taken the initiative to tell you about the Jingfenghuayutu, how would you know its whereabouts? If we didn't have sincerity, why would we ask for trouble? And Cao Qin's fatal weakness is the news about his precious son, which I told you myself. Otherwise, what can you rely on to threaten Cao Qin?"

"But Cao Qin didn't accept my threat in the end." Xunzhen pretended to be resentful and said, "Not only did he not use the map to exchange for his son, but he also set an ambush in Ye Zilin and killed all my men. Who should I hold accountable for this?"

"Cao Qin may offer to trade for his son, or he may not compromise. I warned you about this from the beginning." Ding Ao retorted unconvincedly, "Although Cao Rui is Cao Qin's lifeblood, Cao Qin is the head of Yuhu Hall after all, and has been loyal to the Palace Master for many years. His sincerity and loyalty should not be underestimated. Whether his son is more important or obeying the Palace Master's orders is more important, no one can be sure. I warned you at the beginning that if you threatened him with Cao Rui, the chance of success was only 70%. As for whether to use this trick or not, it was up to you. Now how can you blame me for your failure? I didn't expect Cao Qin to be so loyal. In order to obey the Palace Master's orders, he would even abandon his own son."

Ding Ao said this, then suddenly changed the subject and said in a hurry: "Don't forget that Cao Qin came to Yulong Palace to ask for help and set an ambush in Yezilin to deal with you. I told you this. If it weren't for me, I'm afraid that the person who died tragically in Yezilin today would not only be your men, but also you. I reminded you yesterday not to go to Yezilin. But you insisted on your own way. Although you didn't show up in person, you were still unwilling to miss the Jingfenghuayu Tu. In the end, you sent your men to Yezilin to exchange people for the map. Unfortunately, the whole army was wiped out in the end. In the final analysis, it was still your mistake, not my fault. Even so, you suddenly came up the mountain today, and I still tried to deliver the Jingfenghuayu Tu to you. Isn't this enough to show our sincerity? In fact, even if you didn't go up the mountain today, I would personally deliver the map to you tomorrow."

"Since Yulong Palace is so sincere, why did they go to so much trouble from the beginning?" Abaolu asked coldly, "Ren Wuya could have just ordered Cao Qin to hand over the map to us. Why did he ask you to mediate? As a result, there were unnecessary embarrassing incidents such as 'kidnapping Cao Rui' and 'replacing Ye Zilin'?"

"This..." Hearing Abaolu's question, Ding Ao, who was full of anger, was suddenly speechless. He hesitantly explained, "My palace master naturally has his own considerations for this matter... Anyway, no matter how complicated it is, I have brought the map to you now, right? Although you have lost some men, many disciples of my Yulong Palace have also been killed or injured, so we are even now."

"I don't think so." Xunzhen curled his lips and shook his head. "Palace Master Ren asked you to befriend us, but also issued a death order to Cao Qin, asking him to bring the map to Tianshan. This contradiction is bound to arouse suspicion. Master Ding San, I don't think the reason why Cao Qin didn't fall for our plan is that he didn't want to save his son, but he didn't dare to save him."

"What do you mean?" Ding Ao hesitated, "Why doesn't he dare?"

"Isn't it because of you, Master Ding San, who is interfering?" Xunzhen sneered, "In my opinion, you suddenly appeared in Huodu, ostensibly to support us, but in fact to secretly monitor Cao Qin's every move. With you watching from the side, let alone us kidnapping his son, even if I kidnapped his ancestors, I'm afraid Cao Qin would not dare to act rashly."

Abaolu said angrily, "What is your palace master up to? He is so distant with us. On the one hand, he asks you to help us with strategies, and on the other hand, he asks you to monitor Cao Qin and not let him act rashly. It's like two different people performing the same play. Is this sincerity or insincerity? Is he deliberately putting on a show in front of us?"

"You even treated us as actors, making a fool of yourself with you." Xunzhen nodded in agreement.

“This…” Ding Ao had not expected Xunzhen to be so alert after seeing the Jingfenghuayu map. He could not help but feel abrupt and smiled awkwardly, “This will never happen. Actually, this matter… the reason why we have to go through so much trouble… actually… the Palace Master has his own considerations… and although Cao Qin did not hand over the map, the Palace Master still asked me to give it to you in the end… it seems that the previous trouble was unnecessary… but the result is still the same…”

Ding Ao's speech was somewhat incoherent, and his words did not make sense, which showed that he was guilty. "Mr. Ding has been very honest with us these days, and he has helped me a lot." Xunzhen saw that Ding Ao's forehead was sweating from anxiety, and took the initiative to speak with a smile, "In fact, the reason why I have so many concerns is that this morning, when I first arrived at Yulong Palace, I accidentally saw a person. It was precisely because of this person's appearance that I had to make many speculations."

"Who?" Ding Ao was shocked and asked solemnly.

"Song Yu!" Xunzhen's smile slowly faded, and he said seriously, "One of the four great masters of Jinjianwu, 'Divine Calculator' Song Yu. Mr. Ding San, don't tell me that he came here to celebrate Palace Master Ren's birthday? If I hadn't come here uninvited today, I would never have thought that someone from Jinjianwu would get involved in this matter."

"This……"

Ding Ao didn't want to tell Xunzhen about Song Yu's visit to Yulong Palace, and he never planned to let them meet. But this morning, Xunzhen and Abaolu suddenly came uninvited. To avoid embarrassment, Ding Ao took Xunzhen and Abaolu to the side hall to wait. But there is no wall that can't be penetrated, and Song Yu was still seen by Xunzhen, who had a sharp eye.

"Now that things have come to this, doesn't Mr. Ding San still want to tell us the truth?" Xunzhen sneered, "Since Mr. Ding San is unwilling to say it, let me guess. The Lord of Yulong Palace is determined to unify the martial arts world. This matter has long been known to everyone in the world. In order to achieve this goal, Yulong Palace will not hesitate to use any means to expand its power. But there are countless sects in the martial arts world, and there are always higher mountains. Even if Yulong Palace has achieved this point today, it can still only be regarded as a strong party in front of the huge Central Plains martial arts world. It is even regarded as one of the four major heresies by the orthodox martial arts world. It is as difficult as ascending to heaven to compete with the entire Central Plains martial arts world with the power of one sect. Since the affairs of the martial arts world cannot be settled in the martial arts world, then the Palace Master Ren plans to make a feint to the east and attack the west, and seek other strategies to achieve hegemony."

Hearing Xunzhen's words, Ding Ao's face changed color, it was really interesting.

Xunzhen's beautiful eyes closely watched Ding Ao's reaction. She was sure that her guess was almost right, so she continued, "So, Palace Master Ren turned his attention to the struggles between countries. The most powerful one at the moment was the Great Mongolian Empire, but the Great Mongolian Empire had the three major sects in the northern frontier under its command. Even if he pacified the Central Plains in the future, only one of the three major sects in the northern frontier would be in charge of the martial arts world, and it would be difficult for the Tianshan Jade Dragon Palace to take its turn. As the saying goes, it is better to send charcoal in the snow than to add flowers to the icing on the cake. Therefore, Palace Master Ren made a second choice and turned his attention to the destroyed Jin Kingdom and the Liao Dynasty. He knew that although the Jin Kingdom and the Liao Dynasty were Although the country is nominally destroyed, in reality, it is still turbulent, and the remaining forces are still very large. Maybe one day they will make a comeback and restore the country. Mr. Ding San found me because I have the support of the old Liao people and the help of the three major sects in the Western Regions. If the Liao army marches eastward, the Tianshan Yulong Palace will take advantage of the situation to rush into the Central Plains and unify the world by taking advantage of the change of dynasty. At that time, in order to stabilize the overall situation, we will inevitably use the power of the three major sects in the Western Regions, and then the Yulong Palace can take advantage of the opportunity. If we become the masters of the temple, the Yulong Palace will be able to become the masters of the world, right?"

"This..." In response to Xunzhen's speculation, Ding Ao just smiled bitterly and said nothing.

"Palace Master Ren is indeed a senior in the martial arts world. He is indeed brave and resourceful, and knows how to leave a way out for himself." Xunzhen continued, "He not only places his hopes on the Liao Dynasty, but also makes friends with the old members of the Jin Dynasty. Rumor has it that the owner of the Golden Sword Dock is a descendant of the royal family of the Jin Dynasty. Whether this is true or not, I don't think it will prevent Palace Master Ren from giving it a try. Anyway... it won't hurt to have more friends. I wonder if I'm right?"

Abaolu suddenly understood what was going on and said in a muffled voice, "So you asked us to do this on purpose just to put on a show for the people of Jinjianwu? So that Jinjianwu will believe you without a doubt?"

"Young lady is thoughtful and smart. I am ashamed..."

"Haha..." Just as Ding Ao was hesitant to admit it, Xunzhen, who had been unhappy, suddenly laughed out loud, which made Ding Ao and Abaolu stunned at the same time, and both of them were confused.

"Why is the young lady laughing?"

"It is human nature to divide the troops into two groups and leave more routes for yourself." Xunzhen smiled, "In fact, Palace Master Ren's approach is not wrong, and I can understand Palace Master Ren's good intentions. If it were me, I would definitely not bet everything on such an important matter, and I would definitely leave myself more room for choice."

"So, Miss doesn't blame us for deliberately deceiving you?" Ding Ao asked in surprise.

"Of course." Xunzhen took the initiative to hand the jade slip to Ding Ao and said with a smile, "I don't care how many friends Palace Master Ren makes. I just hope that Yulong Palace can be honest with me, just like I am with your sect. What's more, I am absolutely confident that Liao will be stronger than Jin. As for Jinjianwu... it is nothing to be afraid of for us."

"That's right! That's right!" Ding Ao was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly, "In fact, my palace master made friends with Jinjianwu just to be on the safe side, just for fun. The friends that Yulong Palace really wants to make are you from the beginning to the end."

"That's great! I hope that in the future our two families will not deceive each other again. After all, we are now in the same boat." Xunzhen shook the black bamboo tube in his hand and smiled strangely, "If my guess is correct, you should give Song Yu a fake painting of the Wind and Rain. I just don't know what the painting in my hand is..."

"I, Ding San, guarantee with my life that the picture I gave to Miss is absolutely real!" Ding Ao is not a fool. Of course, he understood what Xunzhen meant. He quickly patted his chest and guaranteed, "The picture that Song Yu took away today is indeed... hehe... The reason why we have to spend so much time and effort these days is to hide it from the people of Jinjianwu. If Cao Qin did not go through thousands of hardships and directly delivered the picture to Song Yu, I am afraid that this 'magician' would not believe it easily. So we have no choice but to ask Miss to cooperate in a play. Hehe... If I had known that Miss was so reasonable, I would not have to bother hiding it and would have told you earlier."

"Hey! If you had told me earlier, this play wouldn't have been real. Mr. Ding was honest with me, so I didn't dare to have any doubts anymore. After all, mutual trust is the prerequisite for making friends." Xunzhen waved his hand and smiled.

After saying that, Xunzhen put the bamboo tube away without opening it to check. This move touched Ding Ao greatly.

"It's getting late today, Miss, do you think you can take a rest..."

"No need! It's better to take the map back and report as soon as possible." Xunzhen said with a wry smile, "Since you have fallen into the underworld, you are a miserable person. No matter how hard it is, you have to endure it, hehe..." As he said this, Xunzhen suddenly seemed to remember something, and changed the subject, saying with a smile, "Master Ding San, there is one person I want to see before I leave..."

"We've prepared it a long time ago." Before Xunzhen could finish his words, Ding Ao responded, "That guy is lucky. The arrow didn't hit his vitals. Hehe... I'll take you to see him now."

……

(End of this chapter)