Chapter 981 A near miss
"I have personally led people to investigate the surrounding area and captured all the spies left by the Gan family."

Half an hour later, Abaolu, full of energy, led seven or eight Western Region masters back to Luzhou Inn in a hurry.

At this moment, Xiao Yang, Su Hu, Xun Budao and other Western Region masters gathered in the hall with knives and swords in hand. They formed a circle with cautious eyes, protecting Xunzhen and Pan Yuyin who were sitting cross-legged.

Su He and Tang Afu were on the left and right. The former leaned against the window frame, staring at the heavy rain, seemingly lost in thought. The latter sat cross-legged on a shabby table, picking up a half-jar of muddy wine from somewhere and taking a few sips from time to time.

At this moment, each of them had their own thoughts and did not say a word.

"Xunzhen, how is your recovery?"

Abaolu threw the wet oil-paper umbrella aside, waved his hand to brush off the raindrops that fell on his body, and walked towards Xunzhen with big strides.

Abaolu, Xiao Yang and others were all strong men, and they recovered as before in a short time after taking the antidote. However, Xunzhen and Pan Yuyin recovered a little slower because of their weak bodies.

"Luckily Miss Pan prepared the antidote in advance, otherwise we would not be able to wake up at dawn."

As if disturbed by Abaolu's voice, Xunzhen slowly opened his eyes and said with a wry smile: "Fortunately, hard work pays off. Although the process was a bit tortuous, the result is still in our plan."

"According to your original idea, they put knockout drugs in the food and wine in order to capture us all." Abaolu said with lingering fear, "You asked Su He and Tang Afu to ambush outside the city and rescue us after dawn. However, you didn't expect that Xie Xuanzhong was useless, and the real power of life and death was in the hands of Yan Bugui."

"Yes!" Xunzhen sighed helplessly, "I never expected Yan Bugui to be so cruel. I also never expected Xie Xuan, as the lord of the Xianwang Mansion, couldn't even decide the life and death of several captives. Alas! This matter is my fault for not thinking carefully, which almost caused a disaster."

"If we had known this, we shouldn't have deliberately eaten the food and wine mixed with knockout drugs." Abaolu curled his lips, as if blaming Xunzhen for his stubbornness, "At most... we can just pretend to fool around, why put ourselves in danger?"

"Do you think Yan Bugui and those Xianwangfu disciples are blind?" Xunzhen did not answer but asked, "Are you really poisoned or faking it? In front of those veterans who have been walking the rivers and lakes for many years, they can tell the truth at a glance, and there is no way for you to pretend to be crazy and stupid."

Sensing Xunzhen's displeasure, Abaolu muttered unwillingly: "If they burn their boats, we won't even have the strength to lift our swords, and we will just be slaughtered..."

"Liu Xunyi soaked in the Dragon Burial Pond for seven days and seven nights. His body was tempered by the poison and he is now immune to all poisons. With him here, what are you worried about? At worst, both sides will die. Are you afraid that he will not help you?"

"Oh!" Hearing Xunzhen's increasingly impatient tone, Abaolu stuck out his tongue awkwardly and dared not talk back anymore.

Xunzhen rolled his eyes at Abaolu in annoyance, raised his eyebrows slightly, and cast a suspicious look at Su He and Tang Afu, curiously asking: "You clearly left Luzhou in disguise, why did you come back? Did you guess...that we would be in trouble?"

"We found Wudang troops outside the city and realized that something was wrong, so we rushed back to the inn before they entered the city." Su He stretched his hand out of the window, letting the cold rain "crackle" on his palm, and replied without turning his head, "We didn't want to show up easily, but we didn't expect Yan Bugui to kill you, forcing us to show up."

“No wonder Gu Ri and the Wudang disciples came right after you, it wasn’t a coincidence.” Xun Zhen suddenly realized, “Fortunately you acted decisively, otherwise Gu Ri and Yan Bugui would have joined forces and the situation tonight would have been difficult to resolve…”

"What should we do about Xun Yi?" Before Xun Zhen finished speaking, the worried Su He could no longer suppress his inner anxiety. He suddenly turned around, and stared at Xun Zhen who was hesitant to speak with his piercing eyes. "The Central Plains martial arts community regards him as a traitor who killed his master. The people in the Xianwang Mansion will definitely not let him go. If he suddenly becomes murderous like he did tonight, then..."

"Brother Su's worry is not without reason!" Pan Yuyin had woken up from her coma. "Those people are lunatics who kill without blinking an eye. We can't take risks with Brother Liu's life."

"I understand what you mean." Xunzhen didn't dare to make a promise after having just experienced a dangerous situation. He pondered and said, "Although I can't figure out Qingfeng and Ling Xiaoxiao's thoughts, there is one thing I dare to guarantee with my life."

"What's the matter?"

"Before they return to the Xianwang Mansion, no one dares to harm Liu Xunyi's life." Xunzhen's eyes flashed, and his words became more and more confident. "You might as well recall carefully, when Xie Xuan wanted to kill Liu Xunyi just now, how did Yan Bugui react? She personally admitted that Liu Xunyi was still useful. This shows that only Qingfeng and Ling Xiaoxiao can decide Liu Xunyi's life or death. Apart from the two of them, no one can influence Liu Xunyi's fate."

"Miss Xunzhen means..."

"I know that Hero Su and Liu Xunyi are close friends, and I also know that you are worried..." Xunzhen's beautiful eyes turned and suggested, "In this case, why don't you go to Luoyang City first? In this way, you can monitor the actions of the Xianwang Mansion and protect Liu Xunyi in secret. If...he really encounters any trouble, you can also help him in time."

"So good..."

"I'll go with you." Before Su He could happily agree, Tang Afu came forward with a wine jug in his hand, "More people means more care."

"This……"

Although Su He, Tang Afu, and Xunzhen were independent of each other, all the major and minor matters encountered along the way from the outside of the pass to the south were decided by Liu Xunyi and Xunzhen. Although Su He and Tang Afu were not under their command, they had no objection.

Therefore, when Tang Afu took the initiative to ask Su He to go to Luoyang City, Su He did not take the initiative out of courtesy. Instead, she looked at Xunzhen hesitantly, as if asking for her opinion. However, Xunzhen did not expect Tang Afu to take the initiative to ask for it. She was stunned and a hint of intriguing light flashed in her eyes. After thinking for a while, she nodded slightly and said two words lightly: "Okay."

"We should set off immediately without delay." Seeing Xunzhen's agreement, Su He said impatiently, "We don't need to follow Gu Ri and Yan Bugui to avoid unnecessary trouble. I suggest... heading south overnight and sneaking into Luoyang City before they arrive at the Xianwang Mansion."

"If we travel light and without stopping, we can enter the city tomorrow afternoon." Tang Afu replied nonchalantly, "Gu Ri and his men are redundant, so their speed will definitely not be as fast as ours."

"It makes sense."

"After entering the city, you can contact Lei Zhen first, and he will arrange your accommodation." Xunzhen took off the jade pendant from his waist and handed it to Su He, and said, "Give the jade pendant to Lei Zhen and let him know that you are one of us. By the way, tell him that Abaolu and I will arrive in Luoyang in three days... that is, at noon on March 19th, and let him make proper arrangements."

"no problem."

"Then...be careful on your journey, we will meet again in Luoyang City in three days."

"Take care, Miss Xunzhen!"

After a brief greeting, Su He and Tang Afu left Luzhou Inn in the rain and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.

"Miss, Su He has a generous personality and is Liu Xunyi's sworn brother. It's not surprising that he misses Liu Xunyi. But why does Tang Afu..."

"Tang Afu wants to take this opportunity to get rid of us." Xunzhen blurted out, but suddenly he noticed that Pan Yuyin was staring at him blankly. He immediately changed the subject and said, "After all, the 'Ruthless Swordsman' is used to living a free life. How can he tolerate our restraints?"

In fact, Xunzhen's implication was that "Tang Afu doesn't want to be monitored by us day and night, and even be restricted when writing a 'letter home'."

Due to the presence of Pan Yuyin, there were some things Xunzhen could not say explicitly and could only stop at the point.

"Miss, how do we deal with the Gan family's spies?"

"Xiao Yang, send Miss Pan upstairs to pack her things."

"As ordered."

When Xiao Yang escorted Pan Yuyin, who was still feeling dizzy, upstairs, the gentle smile on Xunzhen's face suddenly disappeared, replaced by an intriguing sinister look.

"You knew that Liu Xunyi would not be in danger in the short term, but you acquiesced to Su He's concerns and even agreed that they should go ahead. Did you...want to send them away on purpose?" Abaolu was frightened by Xunzhen's "temperamental" and his face changed. After thinking it over again and again, he gradually realized something was wrong, so he cautiously asked, "Now you are looking for an excuse to send Pan Yuyin away. Did you...have any special instructions?"

"Abaolu, it seems that you have made a lot of progress during this period of time." Xunzhen got straight to the point, "Right now, there is indeed a thorny problem... I must solve it myself before I can feel at ease."

"What trouble?"

"Capturing Liu Xunyi alive will surely make Xie Xuan's status in the hearts of Qingfeng and his daughter rise sharply. But since it concerns their own lives, with their shrewdness and cunning, they will not easily believe Xie Xuan's 'loyalty'. I predict that Qingfeng and his daughter will most likely send people to investigate every detail."

"One by one...investigate what?"

"Investigate every detail of Xie Xuan's pursuit of Liu Xunyi, as well as every suspicious point in the whole incident."

"Gu Ri and Yan Bu Gui witnessed what happened tonight. We worked together with Xie Xuan perfectly. It seems... there are no flaws?"

"Maybe not tonight, but what about before tonight?" Xunzhen asked in a veiled manner, "Great sounds are silent, great things are invisible. In fact, a huge flaw is right in front of everyone. Gu Ri and Yan Bugui just captured Liu Xunyi, and they were so excited that they were inevitably overwhelmed by the victory. Therefore, it is not surprising that they are confused and have no eyes or ears. But you are different. As a bystander, can't you see the flaw?"

"This..." Abaolu racked his brains but couldn't figure it out. "The flaw you are talking about is..."

"The Gan family of Luzhou provided 'clues' to Xie Xuan and served the Xianwang Mansion at the expense of his servants."

……

(End of this chapter)