Chapter 992 Forbearance and restraint
"Second Master, what happened to Ningyu?"

When Xie Xuan walked out of the dungeon carrying the unconscious Luo Ningyu, Lin Fangda, Xu Heng and others all changed their expressions suddenly. They hurried forward and asked him the reason. Among them, Lin Fangda's reaction was the most urgent.

"Yu'er's illness has not yet healed. She was already very weak. She was also overly sad after seeing Liu Xunyi. She cried so hard that she fainted." Xie Xuan said perfunctorily, "You guys guard the dungeon well. I'll take Yu'er back to rest."

"But……"

"Master of the Palace!"

Before Lin Fang could say anything, an urgent voice suddenly came from the darkness. Then, a white figure jumped over the wall and landed lightly in front of everyone.

"Greetings, Seventh Master!" Upon seeing the newcomer, Lin Fangda and his companions were stunned at first, and then they all bowed and saluted.

However, Murong Bai walked straight to Xie Xuan and whispered to him. After a while, Xie Xuan, with a frown on his face, handed Luo Ningyu to Murong Bai and whispered something in his ear.

When Murong Bai, with a bewildered look on his face, lifted the cloak covering Luo Ningyu's face, his eyes suddenly changed. He wanted to ask further questions, but was interrupted by Xie Xuan's wave of his hand.

Urged by his eager and determined eyes, Murong Bai, who was hesitant to speak, no longer hesitated. He flew up with Luo Ningyu in his arms, and disappeared into the end of the night in the blink of an eye.

"Seventh Master..."

"If you still admit in your heart that you are a disciple of the Xianwang Mansion, and you still have me, the Mansion Master, in your eyes, then from now on, keep your mouth shut and don't say anything nonsense. Don't mention anything that just happened...especially about Yu'er. Otherwise, don't blame me for not remembering our friendship."

"This……"

Xie Xuan's sudden threat frightened Xu Heng and the others who didn't know the truth. Even though they were full of doubts, they didn't dare to ask any more questions.

"In the future, I will give you a satisfactory explanation." Looking at the uneasy people, Xie Xuan's tone softened and he consoled them kindly, "Remember! As long as you are loyal to the Xianwang Mansion and the deceased mansion master, I, Xie Xuan... will always stand on the same side with you."

"Is it Wudang..."

"Are you still asking?" Xie Xuan pointed at Ling Qing and immediately choked back the rest of his words.

"No matter what, we swear to defend the Xianwang Mansion to the death, swear allegiance to the 'first lord' to the death, and swear to follow the second master to the death!" Xu Heng's eyes were fierce and he was the first to express his position.

"The same goes for us." Ling Qing, Liao Chuan and Liao Hai put aside all distractions and followed closely.

Only Lin Fangda, concerned about Luo Ningyu's safety, had no intention of guessing what Xie Xuan meant, and acted absent-minded from beginning to end.

"Fang Da, what are you thinking about?" Xie Xuan had already seen through Lin Fangda's thoughts, but he pretended to be confused.

"Second Master, please forgive me for being so nosy. Just now in the dungeon...what did Ning Yu and Liu Xun Yi say?"

"Are you worried about Yu'er? Or are you worried about Liu Xunyi?" Xie Xuan asked instead of answering.

"Of course..." Lin Fangda blurted out without thinking, but he hesitated halfway through his words. His eyes became extremely tangled, and his face became extremely ugly. "Of course I care about Ningyu! Liu Xunyi is a traitor who betrayed the Xianwang Mansion and a villain who killed the Lord of the Mansion. I can't live with him..."

"If I remember correctly, he is your sworn brother." Xie Xuan stared at the ferocious-looking Lin Fangda and asked meaningfully, "You two once swore to live and die together. You also strongly recommended him to enter the Xianwang Mansion. Now, can you really break off all ties and ties of friendship and never live with him?"

"Don't you trust me, Master?" Perhaps because of his excitement or because of his inner shame and indignation, Lin Fangda's eyes were fierce, his breathing was heavy, his muscles were tense as iron, his fists were clenched so hard that the knuckles turned white, and he gritted his teeth and said, "He was unkind first, how can you blame me for being unjust?"

"Unjust?" Xie Xuan's eyes narrowed slightly, and his tone became more intriguing. "How do you intend to be 'unjust'? Could it be that... you can kill your own sworn brother?"

"I……"

Faced with Xie Xuan's relentless and aggressive pressure, Lin Fangda was in a dilemma and was speechless.

At this moment, he wanted to agree without hesitation. However, when he mustered up the courage to express his firm stance several times, he could not say the words he vowed to, and he secretly cursed himself for being "soft-hearted".

Finally, Lin Fangda was like a deflated ball, his mighty aura suddenly became weak, and he murmured, "To be honest, Second Master, I... can't do it."

Hearing this, Xie Xuan's gaze towards Lin Fangda changed quietly. The murderous intent lurking in the depths of his eyes quickly dissipated, and was replaced by a hint of relief.

"As Liu Xunyi's sworn brother, he committed a heinous crime, and I am also to blame." Lin Fangda looked dejected, and every word pierced his heart, "He deserves to die, and I don't deserve to live..."

"Master Lin, you..."

"Thank you, Lord!"

Before the bewildered Xu Heng and his companions could try to persuade them, an old voice suddenly came from a distance. Then, a chaotic and noisy sound of footsteps approached from afar, hurrying in from the darkness.

In the blink of an eye, more than ten Wudang disciples led by Zhang Songyi, Liu Songli, Hu Songzhi and Ma Songxin came to the outside of the dungeon, surrounding the two Taoist priests Gu Ri and Gu Yue like stars surrounding the moon.

Seeing that the other party had returned with a fierce momentum, Lin Fangda and others were furious and reached for the swords at their waists. "What are you doing?"

Xie Xuan frowned and shouted at Lin Fangda and his men who were ready to make a move. He stepped forward and bowed to Gu Ri and Gu Yue nonchalantly, while casting a scrutinizing look at the Wudang disciples.

"Master Xie, please don't misunderstand me!" As if seeing Xie Xuan's dissatisfaction, Gu Ri bowed and smiled, "My junior brother and I have no other intention in coming here, but Zhang Songyi, Liu Songli and other young disciples are frivolous and talk nonsense. They hesitated for a long time and didn't explain why they left their posts. We are really worried, so we came to take a look."

"I saw that the Wudang disciples were very hardworking and dedicated to their duties, so I sent three disciples to take their place and let Zhang Songyi and the others go back to rest." Xie Xuan replied indifferently, "It was just a trivial matter, but I didn't expect it to alarm the two Taoist masters."

"Replacement? Why didn't we know about it?" Gu Yue asked suspiciously, "During the prior discussion, Palace Master Xie personally agreed that the Wudang disciples would be fully responsible for guarding the dungeon. Why did he send someone to replace them tonight? And... it was so sudden."

"It was Xie who had this idea on impulse. I hope Taoist Gu Yue will forgive me." Xie Xuan was not surprised by the praise or criticism and spoke directly, "Of course, if the two Taoists do not trust Xie, or do not trust the disciples of the Xianwang Mansion, you can always change them back."

"Master Xie, you are too kind! Wudang and Xianwang Mansion are of the same blood. We are one family. How can we talk about belief or disbelief?" Gu Ri subtly stopped Gu Yue who was about to retort, pretending to be humble with a fake smile, "It's just that guarding Liu Xunyi is a serious matter. Although Master Xie understands the hard work of Wudang disciples and is well-intentioned, it is a bit... unexpected to change people at this time. It would be fine if nothing goes wrong. If something goes wrong, it will be difficult for us to explain to the leader of the Wulin. Haha..."

Facing Gu Ri who was smiling but had a dagger hidden behind his face, a cold light suddenly flashed in Xie Xuan's eyes, but it was fleeting.

In the end, he swallowed his shame and anger, suppressed his rage in his heart, pretended to be suddenly enlightened, and hurriedly bowed his hands to apologize: "Master Gu Ri is teaching me that this matter is due to my lack of consideration and rudeness."

"Eh!" Gu Ri waved his hands pretending to be displeased. "How could Lord Xie be rude? He clearly loves his juniors! If it weren't for the mixed crowd in Luoyang City right now, and the headmaster repeatedly warned me, I would never dare to take chicken feathers as a token of authority, let alone disappoint Lord Xie's kindness. This matter... I hope Lord Xie will be magnanimous and not take it to heart."

"Don't dare!" After saying that, Xie Xuan waved his hand at the indignant Lin Fangda and the others and ordered, "Let your people go back to sleep, and let the Wudang disciples guard the dungeon."

"Master of the Palace..."

"Didn't you hear my order?" Xie Xuan's face darkened and his tone became unquestionable.

"As ordered!"

Lin Fangda and his companions, unwillingly accepting the order, reluctantly bowed and called their disciples to leave the dungeon angrily.

"Young people don't know the rules, I hope the two Taoists will forgive me."

"Young people are full of vigor and vitality. It's inevitable that they will behave like this. Zhang Songyi and his men also colliding with Palace Master Xie just now. Let's just call it even on this matter."

"Everything depends on Master Gu Ri! I am tied up in worldly affairs, so I will take my leave first."

"Thank you, Lord!"

After the brief greetings, Xie Xuan, with a forced smile, said goodbye in a hurry to Gu Ri and Gu Yue, who were in high spirits.

"Brother, what exactly is Xie Xuan up to?" Looking at Xie Xuan who was gradually disappearing into the darkness, Gu Yue could no longer suppress her curiosity, "This farce tonight...what exactly is he up to?"

"I don't know." Gu Ri's smile gradually froze, and his pair of old eyes flickered. "But from what I know about Xie Xuan, he would never do anything without a reason."

"No matter what, we finally had a safe night tonight. We didn't provoke any bigger conflicts, otherwise it would have been another trouble."

"It's obvious that Xie Xuan doesn't want to make things worse, otherwise he wouldn't compromise easily."

"Fortunately, Zhang Songyi notified us in time..."

"He informed us in time, but not to us, but to Yan Bugui." Suddenly, Gu Ri's face darkened, and his cold eyes shot directly at Zhang Songyi who was in a state of fear and trepidation. "Because he was afraid of being punished by us, he asked Yan Bugui for help. Do you have a brain? Do you want them to fall out over a small matter? What did the leader say before coming here? Before the 'Eradication of Traitors Conference' is over, no one can cause any trouble. Especially Xie Xuan, he is the most important contributor to the capture of Liu Xunyi, and he is the object of everyone's admiration for heroes in the world, and he must not be provoked."

“We originally went to ask our senior sister for help, but Fourth Master Yan was there too, so she insisted on telling you…” Zhang Songyi defended timidly.

The "senior sister" he was referring to was Ling Xiaoxiao.

"Luckily Yan Bugui told us, otherwise tonight would not have ended! Xie Xuan gave us face, but he may not give them face." Gu Ri scolded, "What's more, there are so many guests in the Xianwang Mansion. How can your senior sister, as the widow of Luo Tianjin, interfere with Xie Xuan's decision? Don't forget that Xie Xuan is the lord of the Xianwang Mansion. What if he refuses to give in, what if this matter becomes known to everyone, how do you let Ling Xiaoxiao deal with it?"

"This……"

"Remember! If you encounter anything in the Xianwang Mansion, you must tell us immediately. You must not act on your own because you are afraid of being punished, and you must not bring disaster upon Ling Xiaoxiao and Yan Bugui. In the eyes of the heroes of the world, they and Xie Xuan... are always a family that shares the same hatred and enemies, and their relationship is much closer than ours."

"remember!"

"Go to the dungeon and see if Liu Xunyi is abnormal." Gu Ri interrupted Zhang Songyi impatiently, and said worriedly, "I don't know why? After Xie Xuan's disturbance, I have been uneasy. It seems that what happened tonight is not over, on the contrary... it is just the beginning."

……

(End of this chapter)