Through a ray of skylight on the top of the grotto, Hua Qian saw the appearance of the young man. He was in his thirties, with regular features and a thick build. He was sitting there silently and quietly. He should be a very calm and steady person.
Although the clothes are not gorgeous, you can occasionally see dark textures, which are obviously low-key and luxurious materials.
Is this Shi Chunqing?
Of course Hua Qian knew Shi Chunqing. Although Wei Se didn't say it explicitly, as Madam Huarong's first right-hand man, he was very familiar with the information about Zhuoyu Villa. At least he knew the news that was circulating openly in the world, and he also knew the information that was circulating secretly.
Know.
He knew that the organization he was lurking in was a turtle bandit, so he was not surprised at all by the "general" on the left and the "shangqing" on the right. He also knew that Shi Chunqing was a traitor to Zhuoyu Villa. Since he had become a traitor, he would take this opportunity to come back and bite him.
Not normal?
Only...Shi Chunqing is already a minister?
He was promoted so quickly.
Even if the turtle bandit is a ridiculous little exile in the imperial court, with excessive titles and rewards, the minister is still in a high position, right? There are many people under him, right? Shi Chunqing doesn't seem to be an outstanding talent. He only rebelled once and was able to reach this position. After all,
What capital do you have?
Hua Qian lowered his eyes and calculated in his mind - how much is this target with the dual blessings of rebellion and official position worth?
Just as he was thinking, Shi Chunqing stood up slowly and said, "Only the four of you are here? What are your names?"
He spoke and behaved very arrogantly, as if he were in a superior position. Several people obeyed and gave their names one by one. As expected, they were all pseudonyms. Hua Qian also gave his name as "Zhang Chengyi".
Shi Chunqing just asked, obviously not caring what their names were, and said calmly: "Okay, you can return to the team. You are very lucky. At the last moment, you came to the only team that can make a contribution in this trip."
He spoke arrogantly, looking down on the others. Except for Hua Qianquan who didn't care, the others were somewhat dissatisfied, and it showed on their faces.
Shi Chunqing glanced at it and said, "Don't you believe it? They think that their arrangements are perfect, but I know that most of the external and internal routes will fail. They underestimate Zhuoyu Villa."
"Even those of you who only know a little bit about Zhuoyu Villa still look down on Zhuoyu Villa. You think it is a sect with two or three kittens, and you think it is a group of useless nerds, or people like me before.
But the trump card of Zhuoyu Villa has never been its disciples. It is its special status. It is the only swordsmith sect available in Yunzhou. This ensures that it is actually an important chess piece for Marquis Gao Yuan, rather than an abandoned piece.
"
He stood in the middle of the big rocks and talked, just like standing on a handsome platform to point out the country. Only then did Hua Qian discover that he was not as taciturn as he appeared, but was actually very eager to talk.
"But why did the center ignore it? One is that Zhuoyu Villa has never shown excessive collusion with the imperial court, and it has not even held a false position in the government. Why would it involve the power of the Hou Mansion with its own sword? Secondly, here
After all, this is Yunzhou. Even if we know that we are going to fight against the Hou Mansion, the power we can use is limited, so we have to pretend that we don’t know, just for peace of mind. Otherwise, why would we have recruited so many thugs?"
Hua Qian thought for a while and then realized that the "center" refers to the small court of the turtle bandit, and also the Zhu Kingdom and the Shangqing. What's wrong with calling him the center?
"In the past, Zhuoyu Villa and Marquis Gao Yuan were estranged because Zhuoyu Villa took the initiative to distance themselves. Villa Master Xue is a self-proclaimed person. He knew that he could take advantage of the situation by just waving to Marquis Gao Yuan, but not only did he not take the initiative
, but rejected him. Many hermits have this problem. It seems that borrowing the power of an official family has tainted him. Especially his second disciple Xu Zhongnan, who was despised by him because he became an official. The same is true for the disciples he accepted before.
He is extremely arrogant and does not accept favors from others. Even if there is any foreign help, he refuses to seek it out for fear of losing his standing. Even when the other party comes to help him, he has to push it back. Only in recent years, he has accepted a young disciple, which is different. "
When talking about the little disciple, Shi Chunqing paused slightly.
"This guy just says he's talented and smart, but one good thing is that he doesn't care about outsiders. When he wants to help people, he really helps people. He can be humble enough to ask for help, and he doesn't shy away from the exchange of favors. Moreover, he has a special status, so he can naturally connect with others.
A major pillar of Yunzhou Gaoyuan Marquis is the District Procuratorate. Moreover, he also has an identity in the District Procuratorate of Jichun City, and Jichun City is his back garden. Zhuguo and Chuncheng are the fulcrums of the layout, which is like falling into a trap. Maybe there is no sound.
Wuxi, all the strongholds have become a sieve for others. So the way of pretending to be guests is impossible, maybe they even have the list."
Hua Qian thought: This is not bad, you have something.
"As for the mountain climbing outside, it is even more ridiculous. Can you climb to Zhuoyu Villa by climbing over the snow mountain? Zhuoyu Villa is a landowner and occupies a favorable location. Without more than ten times the strength, it is impossible to attack from the outside in. Moreover, it is impossible to attack from the outside in.
Again, how can the thugs recruited from outside be trusted? I know that the Major General drove back outsiders to serve as vanguards to fill the ravines and consume the strength of Zhuoyu Villa, but as long as Zhuoyu Villa invites a few swordsmen from the inspection department, then
What’s the use of having too many knights and knights?”
"There is no way to go inside or outside. The only flaw in Zhuoyu Villa is known to me. Only I can lead you to achieve this great success. I even saved your lives, saving you from plunging into a dead end."
Hua Qian's heart moved, and she secretly hoped that he would continue and tell all his plans, so that the task would be completed tonight. All he had to do was find a loophole at night, use a move to seal Shi Chunqing's throat, and then put the plan to death.
If you take him out, won't you overfulfill the task?
Unexpectedly, Shi Chunqing glanced at these new reinforcements coldly, "That's all, you just need to wait peacefully and listen to my instructions. After three days, follow me up the mountain." He sat down again.
No one spoke anymore in the grotto.
Hua Qian had no choice but to go with others to make temporary arrangements. It would be a pity not to have the other party explain the plan in person, and it would delay time and affect the task turnover. He thought to himself: Three days? Isn't that the eve of the sword-making conference? Three days later.
Now, how long will it take to go up the mountain? Why does it seem like you'll be there in the blink of an eye?
These three days can only be wasted here. I wonder how other aspects are going?
…
"What's the situation now? Are we lost?" Black Widow opened her mouth, took a mouthful of flying snow foam, and finally had to shut up. She asked these two questions in a very low voice.
At this time, the group was already walking through the mountains of Jiugao Mountain, walking all the way above the snow line.
This is already the third day.
Since setting off from the Jiugao Mountain pass, the team of fifty people has been heading north according to the planned route. It went smoothly at first. After all, they are martial arts masters. They can fly over eaves and walk over walls as light as a swallow. Their internal strength and physical endurance are extraordinary. Others have walked through it in ten days.
The journey takes them only one day.
However, once we reach above the snow line, the road suddenly becomes difficult.
The temperature has plummeted, the mountains are steep, and the snow is difficult to walk on. Even warriors cannot walk on flat ground. What's more, wind and snow blow from time to time.
Strong winds will make it difficult for people to move, and will also cause the body to cool down rapidly, and the blowing snow will seriously obstruct the line of sight. Although the internal energy can resist the cold, it is not infinite. In such severe cold, it disappears very quickly, even with the force of death.
The wind seemed to blow away all the energy. The group kept in formation at first, but gradually some people began to fall behind. And these people were not close friends, and they rarely offered help to those who fell behind.
After walking on the snow line for a whole day, there were already four or five people missing from the team.
Even the strangers and competitive people realized that this could not go on. So the leading bronze-faced man took out a rope and asked everyone to hold on to it and move forward together. However, some individual people were unwilling and walking hard, and it seemed that they would be threatened at any time.
The knights who had fallen behind joined together and were finally divided into five teams according to their strength. Among them, the individual warriors were divided into one team. The knights were equally divided into three teams regardless of their strength. The direct descendants of the bronze-faced man were divided into another team.
Ten people in each team pull a rope to count the blessings and misfortunes.
Black Widow was divided into three teams of vigilantes because of her hiding ability, and her flower protector Li Laosan was naturally crowded around her.
Originally, everything was fine after they were divided into teams. The Sanren did not deliberately abandon the knights. Instead, they joined the direct lineage of the Bronze Mask Man, sandwiching the three teams in the middle. The speed increased slightly. But it didn't take long for them to catch up again.
A snowstorm.
That blizzard was truly a nightmare. The sound of wind filled everyone's eardrums, and snowflakes filled everyone's vision. And because there was no warning, it was encountered suddenly while walking, so everyone could only use their inner strength at full strength to survive deep in the wind and snow.
We moved forward one foot at a time, just to find a shelter from the wind.
At that time, Black Widow seemed to hear a strange cry, but at that time, people's brains were stupid, and their memories seemed to be blank. They only remembered that a group of people walked and walked and walked, and finally found a leeward recess.
, gathered together to keep warm and avoid the wind.
After more than half an hour, the wind and snow subsided, and the team found that they could no longer find the other team.
It's just that it can't reach the sky, it can't reach the earth, and no one can be seen in it.
very dangerous!
Everyone became somewhat frightened. Even though they were all people with swords licking blood, they were not afraid of death, but fighting with others and the power of nature were completely different concepts. People who had been taught a lesson by the snowy mountains had to be in awe.
Nature.
At this time, someone shouted in displeasure: "Why is the leader leading the way? Why don't you just follow the team in front?"
The leader was a middle-aged knight with rich experience and one of the best martial arts skills in the team. He said: "The wind and snow blocked us just now, who can find the team? And..." He touched his forehead and murmured in his heart: Why did he feel so stupid at that time?
Same thing?
"And what? Were you stupid at that time? Or were you seduced by the snow mountain monster?"
Black Widow hugged her shoulders and suddenly said: "Did you hear anything in the snow and wind?"
When everyone was silent, someone whispered: "It seems there is..."
"Yeah, I heard it too."
"I heard it, but I can't remember what it was. My mind went blank."
"Ah, me too. I heard a strange sound and my mind went numb. I just walked forward in a daze."
"Really a monster? Phantom?"
Sometimes, there are places where it is not appropriate to talk about these supernatural things, such as at night, in underground caves, or deep in the snow-capped mountains.
Seeing that everyone was getting more and more frightened as they talked and almost collapsed, Black Widow suppressed her panic and tried to force herself to say something.
"唳——"
A voice came from above.
Black Widow straightened up and shouted: "That's the voice! It's in the sky!"
Everyone looked up together and saw an elegant figure in black and white.