"That's my business." Shi Lan replied in a stiff tone.
Gu Xun couldn't help but laugh, "Okay, let's not talk about this."
"Then what do you want from me? This should have something to do with me."
Shi Lan hesitated for a moment, and finally whispered, "I want to save my brother."
Gu Xun crossed his fingers and propped himself up on the table, nodded calmly and replied, "I know this even if you don't tell me."
"What, you want me to help you?"
"Are you willing to help me?" Shi Lan asked immediately after hearing this.
"The price you pay me is a bit high." Gu Xun did not deny it, but reminded him with a smile.
Shi Lan's expression remained unchanged and she asked, "Then what's the price if you don't make a move?"
"Not taking action?" Gu Xun was stunned for a moment before he came to his senses and nodded suddenly, "Oh, it turns out you were worried that I would prevent you from boarding the ship to rescue people. I said why is it so rare to come and visit in person?"
Gu Xun's emotion of not going to the Three Treasures Palace for nothing made Shi Lan a little embarrassed, and a blush flashed on her face.
Although she believed that she had a sworn feud with the empire, Shi Lan had to admit that Gu Xun, the imperial master, had been helping her from the moment she met him.
But he never gave anything in return.
She was a little shy as she was not very shameless.
Gu Xun ignored the little girl's embarrassment and continued, "If it's just to save your brother, I have no interest in getting involved anyway."
"But..." Gu Xun changed the topic, "I don't recommend that you, or your two friends, do any unnecessary actions now."
Shi Lan's heart suddenly rose again after she had just put it down. After a few breaths of silence, she asked, "Why?"
"Don't worry, let alone think too much." Gu Xun calmly reassured Shi Lan, "I said I won't get involved. This is really just a suggestion."
"As for why this is recommended...sometimes, giving up is also an option, and it may also be a better option."
"I must save my brother!" Shi Lan replied without hesitation.
"I know, I know." Gu Xun raised his hand and pressed it softly, telling her not to be impatient. "I'm just making a suggestion. It's up to you whether to adopt it or not. I'm not forcing you to do it."
Gu Xun's calmness contrasted with Shi Lan's, who seemed to be making trouble unreasonably, which caused another blush to appear on her face.
Then she wanted to leave quickly.
However, after several hesitations, he did not move his legs, but continued to ask in a low voice:
"Why do you suggest this? You clearly know that I must save my brother."
Gu Xun did not answer, but asked her another question that was closely related to her:
"The mirage is about to go out to sea, can you still get the Fuso sacred tree back?"
Shi Lan lowered her head and was speechless.
From the beginning to the end, she didn't know how to get back the Fuso Sacred Tree... even though she and the other surviving tribesmen were all unswervingly committed to it.
After her brother disappeared, Shi Lan's attention shifted to rescuing people, and she put aside the fuso tree for the time being.
Once you put it down, you can never pick it up again...
It’s not surprising that Shi Lan didn’t have perseverance. In fact, there was absolutely no way to start this matter.
After a long time, she raised her head and replied, "At least... I want to save my brother!"
Gu Xun's tone remained unchanged, calm as if with a hint of indifference, and pointed out:
"When the Shushan tribe perished, you survived by chance, but you worked tirelessly to pursue Songhai across thousands of miles, just because you were obsessed with the Fusang sacred tree."
"But what was the result?"
"You couldn't take the sacred tree back, but instead you got your brother into it again."
"Do you still want to get yourself involved?"
"Those are two different things." Shi Lan was not distracted by Gu Xun's words and calmly pointed out the difference.
It may have been an unwise and blind choice for them to follow the Fuso tree to Songhai, but it was not the case for her to save her brother.
It is true that there is no way to snatch away Shenmu, but it is possible to rescue people. She just needs to be fully prepared.
"I can't take back the Fuso tree now, but I can save my brother."
"I'm not talking about difficult issues." Gu Xun picked up the tea cup, took a leisurely sip and continued, "I just want to remind you that sometimes you shouldn't do things too hastily."
"If you had been more rational and calmed down back then, you wouldn't have rushed into the mirage."
"Things will go well if they are slow, don't be too anxious."
"You said that the mirage is going to sea."
"Yeah." Gu Xun snorted, took another sip of tea, and turned to look at the majestic mirage on the seaside, "So what?"
"Ships that go out to sea will always return, and people who leave will always return. Your brother's situation cannot be worse."
"It doesn't make any difference if you rescue her sooner or later."
"How is he doing now?" After hearing the last sentence, the worried Shi Lan couldn't help but asked sharply.
"It's almost the same as when you separated from him before." Gu Xun didn't hold back and told her directly, "I told you, his situation won't get worse."
"...I'm leaving." Taking a deep breath, Shi Lan calmed down her mood of not knowing whether to be happy or sad, stopped arguing with Gu Xun, and planned to leave.
Gu Xun didn't care and raised his hand as a sign of not giving.
Shi Lan stood up and left. After taking two steps, he stopped and turned around to look at Gu Xun with a complicated expression:
"Anyway...thank you."
"I will repay you if I have the chance."
Gu Xun still didn't care, and raised his glass to her with a smile, "Take care of yourself first, little girl."
………………
After nightfall, outside Songhai Port, inside a cabin in the mirage.
In the dim room, Chitaki, wearing a beige embroidered skirt, leaned against the window, holding her head with one hand and looking at the moon hanging in the sky.
The weather tonight is average, the moon is a little hazy and the stars are dim.
Fortunately, Chitaki's attention was not focused on the stars. The thoughts in her mind were constantly surging, thinking about everything that had happened these days, and also thinking about Tianming and the others.
At this time, a figure appeared in the shadow of the room - of course it was Qiantaki's mother, Concubine Yan.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! As soon as she raised her hand and waved it, all the candles in the room were immediately lit, and the bright yellow light immediately filled the space.
Chitaki also came to his senses, turned to his mother, and showed a cute smile:
"Mom, you are back."
Concubine Yan nodded lightly, then sat next to her daughter and asked with concern, "Why don't you light the lamp?"
"I was just thinking about something and forgot about it, hehe." Chitaki explained to her mother with a smile.
"What are you thinking about?" Concubine Yan asked in a gentle tone.
Qiantaki sighed softly, "It's a matter of tomorrow."
"He wants to help his friends and the Mo family to rescue people from the ship. I'm a little worried that something will happen to him."
After answering, Qiantaki looked up at her mother, "Mom, do you think something will happen to him?"
Concubine Yan stroked her daughter's long, silky hair and comforted her softly, "Don't worry, your father will take care of him."
"But what happened in the mirage, dad can do it in time..."
Chitaki doesn't know much about his father's current situation, but he probably knows that his attention to Mirage is relatively... idle.
Seeing that her daughter couldn't let go, Concubine Yan simply broke the news with no pain or itch:
"Even if your father doesn't care, the Yin Yang family won't do anything to him."
"He and his friends board the ship frequently these days. If something happened, it would have happened long ago."
"Ah?" Qiantaki didn't understand the situation and was very surprised when he heard this. "So, the people of the Yin Yang family are deliberately letting Tian Ming board the ship? What do they want to do?"
Concubine Yan was silent for a few moments, then corrected, "To be precise, it's not the Yin Yang family, it's everyone who is letting Tianming do what they do."
"Ah?" There were more question marks on Chitaki's head. He opened his mouth slightly and stared at his mother in shock. He was stunned for a while and then asked blankly, "Mother, are you also..."
Concubine Yan did not shy away and nodded and replied, "Me too, we are all taking advantage of that child."
"That father?" Chitaki immediately thought of his father again.
When mentioning Gu Xun, Concubine Yan changed her tune, "Your father is different. He didn't want to take advantage of Tianming, he just... sat back and watched everything develop naturally."
"He actually didn't want the situation to develop like this, but he couldn't stop Tianming's spontaneous behavior and could only watch silently."
"Mom, you..." Qiantaki looked at her mother timidly, her confusion welling up in her heart again, and she couldn't help but ask.
She wanted to ask her mother what exactly she wanted to do and why she and her father were so quarrelsome.
Concubine Yan directly saw what she wanted to ask and simply interrupted her, "I have my reasons, Qianlong, believe me, I am doing it for your father's good."
"Don't worry, mother will tell you everything when the time comes."
"Yeah." Chitaki, who didn't get an answer, could only nod his head and stop talking for the time being.
She still believed in her mother, but she was really confused.
Seeing this, Concubine Yan thoughtfully changed the subject, "Have you seen the dawn today?"
"Yeah." Qiantaki's attention was immediately diverted and he nodded suddenly, "Tianming broke into the Toad Palace, and then entered the Phantom Sound Treasure Box. I went to see him."
Then she asked curiously, "Mom, why can only Tianming enter that place?"
Concubine Yan did not hide anything and explained frankly, "Tianming is special just like you."
"He doesn't have the ability to control the Phantom Sound Box like you, but he has a special physique that carries power."
"Carrying...power?" Chitaki repeated doubtfully, then raised his head and asked, "What power?"
"You will know later."
This time Concubine Yan didn't answer, she just rubbed her daughter's head and whispered perfunctorily.
Then, Concubine Yan asked, "Qianlong, when you entered there today, did you notice any changes?"
"Changes..." Chitaki frowned. After thinking carefully, he replied uncertainly, "The situation inside the tower has not changed at all, but the sky outside seems... seems to be a little darker."
Concubine Yan did not doubt whether Qianlong's feeling was accurate, she nodded and believed it directly.
"Well...I know."
"Go to rest early. It shouldn't take long, Chitaki."
Qiantaki nodded obediently at first, then suddenly remembered Tianming's instructions and quickly asked, "By the way, mother, do you know what the elder of the Yin Yang family named Yunzhong Jun is doing recently?"
"Jun Yun Zhong?" Concubine Yan was stunned for a moment and asked, "Why do you ask this?"
Qiantaki hugged her mother's arm and said coquettishly, "The brother of one of Tianming's friends was arrested by Yun Zhongjun. They want to save him, but they can't find him yet."
"I want to check it for him to prevent him from doing anything wrong."
Concubine Yan didn't have any objections to her daughter's behavior of favoring the will-o'-the-wisp boy. She nodded calmly to show her understanding, and then replied:
"This... Chitaki, maybe you can try to find it yourself."
"Me? Is it really okay?" Chitaki pointed back at herself and asked in confusion.
"You are capable enough now." Concubine Yan nodded and replied without hesitation.
"But what should we do?" Qiantaki was a little confused, "I can only see the situation in the Toad Palace, but it doesn't seem to work in other places. Do I have to go out and look for it?"
Seeing this, Concubine Yan reminded her softly, "There's no need to go to such trouble, Qianlong."
"The Toad Palace is located at the highest point of the mirage. There is an armillary stargazer installed on it. You can use it and star mapping to monitor the movements of the entire mirage and find the target easily."
"Uh..." Qiantaki touched his head in distress, "Even though you said so, mother, I still don't know what to do!"
"Keep working hard, try to further feel and control the power of the Phantom Sound Box, and then you will know what to do." Concubine Yan showed a warm smile, stroked her daughter's hair, and replied softly.
………………
Two days passed by in a flash, and Ying Zheng's east patrol convoy finally arrived at the border of Songhai, less than a hundred miles away from Songhai City.
If it were a separate carriage, the distance of a hundred miles would only take an hour at most if it was a fast one, and two or three hours if it was a slow one.
But for this short distance of less than a hundred miles, the Eastern Patrol Team takes at least five or six hours, averaging about fifteen miles per hour, which is slower than the average person.
There's nothing we can do about it. The Eastern Tour Team is too large and can't go any faster.
It's like a group of people whose legs are tied up two by two. They can't move slowly if they walk alone. But if they walk together, they can only move forward slowly to pupate.
According to the current speed of the convoy, they will arrive at Songhai between midnight and midnight tomorrow morning according to the scheduled plan - yes, it is late at night, the first hour of the night.
The next place they were going to pass was the Xixiang Valley Road, which was chosen by the Mohists as the ambush location.
Just as the Mo family expected, the Eastern Patrol Team took this route without any accidents.
This is also normal.
If you don't take the Xixiang Valley Road, you will have to take a detour, which will cost you at least twenty miles more.
Ordinary people who are rushing may not care about the extra twenty miles, but for the east patrol team, it means at least an extra hour of delay.
If it is not necessary, it is not appropriate to waste time.
Under the darkness of night, the advance delaying troops arranged by the Mohists on the Xixiang Valley Road had quietly taken up their positions.
Gao Jianli, Big Iron Hammer, and Pirate Zhi were responsible for leading this group of vanguard troops to delay the east patrol convoy and delay the reinforcements hidden in the Xixiang Col.
Above the valley, Gao Jianli and Big Iron Hammer carefully hid under the night, quietly observing the situation in the valley, chatting while observing.
Robber Zhi is not here, he has gone to serve as a scout.
In order to obtain the movement of the convoy in time to avoid unexpected situations, they had to arrange their wait. However, in order to avoid catching the enemy unawares and failing in their efforts, this task ultimately fell to the thieves.
