Chapter 768: Drinking ice from the fire [Monthly ticket lottery in progress]
Xunyang Prince's Mansion is located in the back half of Xiushui Square.
Adjacent to Kuanglu Mountain.
In fact, if you climb over the wall from the back garden of the house, you can find a forest path for collecting firewood and plunge into Kuanglu Mountain.
However, go straight ahead on Xiushufang Main Street and you will find a road that leads directly to the deeper part of Kuanglu Mountain.
The construction of this road was a gift from the Xunyang Palace to the Jiangzhou government to facilitate hundreds of famous people to enter Kuanglu Mountain.
But Kuanglu Mountain is a group of mountains, not a single mountain, and this avenue only passes through its periphery.
But this also makes riding a carriage into the mountains much faster than climbing through the back garden of Prince Xunyang's mansion and walking into the mountains.
At this moment, this has become a tricky place for the Hukou County water thieves who plan to raid the Xunyang Prince's Mansion.
According to one of the arrested stewards, two quarters of an hour ago, a carriage belonging to the "Ice Drinking Room" that had finished transporting ice quietly drove out of the back door and took the main road deep into Kuanglu Mountain.
Then there was a strange fire in the palace, which seemed to be one step ahead of the three hundred Hukou County water thieves.
It seemed as if someone wanted to burn the palace to the ground without leaving any useful clues for the raiding water thieves.
This vague anticipation of the abnormality, which was one step ahead, made the face of a water thief leader wearing a white cloth strip on his forehead so gloomy that it was about to drip, and his sinister eyes were fixed on the fierce fire in front of him that showed no signs of weakening.
In fact, they had a "water thief vanguard" that had been ambushing them for a long time. They arrived at the palace one step ahead of the water thief army, climbed over the wall and entered the inner house, preparing to control Prince Xunyang's family.
But this strange fire suddenly appeared, and the water pirate vanguard of about ten people seemed to be completely wiped out.
No one could escape alive. He reported on the situation in the inner house at that time. He didn't know if King Xunyang's family also perished in the fire like them...
At the moment, the inner residence of Prince Xunyang's Mansion is engulfed in a sea of green fire. No one dares to approach it, and no living thing dares to be in it, being completely roasted by the strange fire.
Because the wall blocked the fire, the outer house was temporarily spared from damage.
Three hundred water thieves, each wearing white cloth strips on their heads, completely occupied the Xunyang Prince's Mansion in a silent atmosphere.
After controlling the small number of maids and stewards left behind, they blindfolded them, tied them up and threw them into the dark room in the kitchen. Several water thieves gathered together in a tacit understanding.
The reason why they were left alive was to easily prove after the murder that they were water thieves from Hukou County, and that they were the rebel gangsters from Tiannan Jianghu who attacked the palace.
But now, although the whole play has been completed, there is no clear trace of the most important target. I don't know if he was buried in the Youlu fire, or if he escaped and ran into Kuanglu Mountain.
In the hall of the outer house, the tables and chairs fell over, and the pears rolled to the floor, their juices splashing everywhere after being stepped on by the water thieves in the hall.
A lean man dressed as a water thief walked in. He subconsciously used the kneeling etiquette reported by the military. After reacting, he immediately stood upright and cupped his fists:
"Head, according to what a steward said, King Xunyang Lixian transferred all the guards of the Xunyang Palace in the morning; Princess Wei Mei started to dismiss the maids and servants in the inner house an hour ago; and the ice-drinking carriage,
He arrived at the palace just half an hour ago and was personally taken in by Xie Lingjiang.
In the past, the ice carriage would have to wait for a long time to unload the goods. However, this time, I stayed for less than a quarter of an hour before leaving the inner house. As usual, I returned to the ice-making cave in Kuanglu Mountain, which belongs to a company called Drinking Ice.
The business name of the house; and then there was the sudden fire in the inner house."
A one-eyed man dressed as a water pirate leader asked:
"After the ice carriage left the palace, has anyone seen Prince Xunyang's family?"
"No, mainly because Princess Wei Mei issued a strict order not to allow any servants to approach the inner house during the day. The reason is that the prince has a headache and needs to be quiet... However, a steward said that after the ice carriage drove out of the back door
, I heard Xie Lingjiang’s voice coming from inside, telling them to let them go immediately.”
In the hall, a group of water thieves looked at each other and exchanged gloomy looks.
Someone said coldly:
"This Xie girl is the companion of the little princess. However, according to the tip, she is actually the guard of Prince Xunyang's family. And because her elder brother is Ouyang Lianghan, the chief counselor of Prince Xunyang's palace, she has a transcendent status in the palace and is the leader of the family.
The guest of honor is also one of the two middle-grade Qi practitioners who appear to be around King Xunyang; the other one is a slovenly Shangqing Taoist priest who lives in seclusion and has an unknown name. He is also suspected of having a middle-grade red Qi cultivation.
…”
After hearing this, everyone in the hall didn't show any panic at all, and some even twitched the corners of their mouths.
I saw these eleven men in the hall, all wearing white cloth strips on their heads, tall and tall, with breaths as deep as the abyss. When they heard about the middle-grade Qi Refiner, there was no fear in their eyes. Instead, many of them were either grinning or eager to try.
.
There was a bald man standing behind and said in a stern tone:
"Then what are you waiting for? King Xunyang has already run into the mountains, let's hurry up and chase him. There are only two middle-grade Qi practitioners, and eleven of us are red Qi. It is more than enough to deal with them, even if they have a few hidden secretly.
How much more can there be?
Besides us, there are also three hundred elite dead soldiers who have been trained by the Northern Border Army. They are not inferior to those White Tigers and Xuanwu Imperial Guards outside the city. Just forming a formation and besieging them will kill the two middle-level Qi Refiners.
, we can only run away, but we can’t save King Xunyang.”
The one-eyed man stared at the former and said coldly:
"Cheng Tuzi, what are you anxious about? Are you allowed to leave? The prince raised you not to let you leave the team and act without authorization at critical moments. Please listen to my arrangements today. Otherwise, if you miss something important, just go back to see the prince and Lord Wu with your head high.
"
The unruly man let out a cold "hum" and calmed down a little.
Another fat-faced man dressed as a water thief spoke slowly:
"This fire is so weird that it burns when touched. It is impossible for anyone to survive. Even if you hide, the thick smoke and high temperature and lack of air will kill you. It is very likely that you have escaped into Kuanglu Mountain. We can't delay any longer.
, the plan was to clean up the palace and leave, but the plan couldn’t keep up with the changes, so we had to pursue it immediately.”
This analysis made most people in the hall nod in agreement.
The one-eyed man kept a straight face and did not answer for the time being. He ignored the gazes from everyone and turned his head to look at the green fire that was still burning the remains of the house in the inner house.
For some reason, this fire gave him a strange feeling.
Not only was the timing of the burning strange, the color was strange, but the intensity of the fire was also strange, giving it an indescribable taste, as if something was missing.
But fire is fire, unpretentious, very simple, what else can it lack?
After a while, the one-eyed man who was the leader withdrew his gaze, looked around the hall, glanced at everyone's faces one by one, and calmly made arrangements:
"First of all, send someone back immediately to ask Master Wu for instructions and report the situation.
"Secondly, divide half of the manpower and Qi Refiners and immediately enter Kuanglu Mountain to chase the people. The other half..."
He turned to the previously unruly bald man and said:
"Cheng Tuozi, take a small group of people and take the mountain path behind the palace into Kuanglu Mountain. Chase them along the road. Since they are escaping, every road must be searched. The roads in Kuanglu Mountain are rugged. They can't run far. The biggest
Maybe he found a cave to hide and pretended to be dead."
The one-eyed man finally pointed around:
"As for the remaining people, stay here with me, wait for the fire to go out, and go in to investigate one by one."
Some water thieves asked: "Would it not be good to divide the troops like this?"
The one-eyed man shook his head indifferently:
"We have sufficient manpower, and the number of Qi Refiners is already greater than theirs. It is okay to divide the troops, and it has advantages. However, no matter which side we are on, if we find Queen Xunyang, we must immediately send a signal to call everyone to join together."
When everyone heard this, their eyes lit up and they all agreed.
The fat-faced man asked again:
"We left nearly half of the people here waiting for the fire to stop. Isn't it unnecessary? The fire is so big. What if King Xunyang's family is all burned to ashes? There is no result in searching."
The one-eyed man glanced fiercely at the audience and said word by word:
"Master Wu said today that if you are alive, you must see a person, and if you die, you must see a corpse!
"I will lead people to stay here. If the two of you go into the mountain and find a target, we can rush to the rescue immediately. As for whether the corpse will be burned to ashes... there will always be clues left! Search the ruins first.
"I still don't believe it. They could have figured out early that our action to destroy the government today was not successful? Then why didn't they escape early? There is something fishy about it... Anyway, we have plenty of time today, don't be in a hurry, let's do it one by one!"
"yes!"
…
While the water thieves in the outer hall were discussing matters intensively.
The entire inner house outside was filled with green and blazing light, which made people feel intimidated.
The study room where Li Xian loved to have secret discussions in the past was also submerged in the sea of fire.
Next to the blazing study building, there is a rockery where the pool of water has been evaporated. Twenty feet underground, there is a sealed stone room filled with ice cubes, wine jars, and soup cans.
Check out the correct version one by one!
It looks like an ice cellar with bursts of cold air.
The high temperature of the flames transmitted from the ground above was offset by the large number of ice cubes arranged neatly in the stone chamber.
The phenomenon of ice and fire blending together causes a steady stream of cool and hazy "white smoke" to appear when these ice cubes melt.
It permeated the crowd hiding in the ice cellar.
The atmosphere in the ice cellar was a bit dead.
Li Xian, Wei Mei, and Li Bao'er are sitting, standing, or pacing.
In addition to them, there are also Li Guo'er's personal maid Cai Shou, Li Dalang's teacher Mr. Yuan, the old housekeeper Shun Bo, and a middle-aged maid, Li Dalang, who Li Guo'er usually calls Aunt Qi.
The maid Wei Mei brought as a dowry from Wei's natal family was determined to follow her all the way, even blocking the knife from Li Xian and Wei Mei...
At this moment, all of them, the confidants of the palace, were all here, standing quietly in the corner of the ice cellar, not daring to make a sound.
Most of the people's eyes were fixed on the figure of a young man with a paralyzed face in front of him.
It's Lu Ya.
Wearing a dirty monk's robe, he stood at the door of the ice cellar that had been sealed by a huge stone.
There are seven or eight corpses at the feet, dressed as water thieves.
The original mahogany sword on his back had been cut off, and a section was inserted into the back of the heart of a burly man who seemed to be dying with an angry look.
There is another piece, the one with the hilt, at Lu Ya's feet.
It seemed to have slipped from his trembling hands.
At this moment, the condition of this young man with a paralyzed face was not good. Blood was dripping from the tiger's mouth. He stood motionless and his breathing was a little uneven.
Li Xian and others were each wrapped in a brand new blanket, which must have been prepared in advance. They even had colorful ribbons and Shun Bo.
But only Lu Ya didn't.
Li Xian looked at Lu Ya with worried eyes and asked:
"Is Mr. Xiao Lu okay?"
Li Guo'er said nothing, frowning and looking at the corpses on the ground.
Wei Mei's eyebrows were a little upturned. Anyone who knew her well knew that she was dissatisfied and angry. Princess Xunyang suppressed her tone a little and said:
"Director Lu, why didn't you follow Tan Lang and Ling Jiang's plan? You should have gone to find Ling Jiang and drove to Kuanglu Mountain together. Why did you come back? It's easy for you to do bad things if you act without permission."
Lu Ya remained silent, looking straight at the two slightly special corpses of water thieves among the many corpses in front of him. The one with a sword in his chest was one of them.
There is also a corpse, embedded on the wall in front, with a tiger-like beard and head hanging down, lifeless. There is a purple-gold talisman attached to his chest, and the burly bronze muscles all over his body are slowly oozing out at this moment.
There were drops of blood, and the heart was beating again and again in the electric current of the thunder talisman. It was obvious that the person was dead, but the heart was still beating, and the corpse was still full of energy.
What a fierce military warrior, like a dragon and an elephant on land.
These two military masters, one of sixth grade and one of seventh grade, were both solved by Lu Ya himself, but he borrowed the thunder talisman that the Tianshi Mansion in Xialonghu Mountain sent away from Li Guo'er.
Otherwise, with the tacit cooperation of these two well-hidden Wei family masters, it would be difficult for Lu Ya to suppress him in a narrow space. The most important thing is that Li Xian and others were in the ice cellar, and he was still protecting him. So,
We can only use this thunder talisman, which contains part of the power of Taiqing's secret knowledge, to suppress it with a thunderous strike.
Li Xian hesitated and said:
"Alright, Sister Mei, Taoist Lu didn't do it on purpose. If it hadn't been for him, Uncle Shun, and Cai Shou, they wouldn't have had time to enter the grotto, and the huge stone would have sealed the entrance."
Wei Mei was still a little unhappy and said:
"But it was also this delay that allowed these thieves to come in and almost hurt you, Qilang. Fortunately, Bao'er's treasure talisman was there."
Li Xian laughed.
Cai Shou, Uncle Sun and others on the side heard this and knew that the mistress was displeased, so they did not dare to look at Lu Ya with too many grateful eyes.
Their original plan was that Li Xian, Li Bao'er, and Wei Mei would hide in the ice cave to "drink the ice" first, while Cai Shou and the others would light the burning dragon oil and set fire to the inner house.
However, a small team of water thieves arrived in advance. During the search, they found Cai Shou and the others who set the fire, and were ready to arrest them.
In a critical situation, Lu Ya appeared and rescued them, while continuing to set fires.
The group of water thieves, because they had early warning when their companions were killed, followed Lu Ya and others who retreated to the ice cave and found the entrance to the ice cellar before they were buried in the flames of the inner house.
Just before the huge stone gate was about to close, some of the water thieves were lucky enough to rush in, so they and Lu Ya were in a narrow space, and had a brief but dangerous fight for ten seconds... Fortunately, Li Xian and others were okay for the time being.
Although there have been twists and turns, all the water thieves who broke in have been dealt with. The remaining water thieves outside who knew about it should also have perished in the sea of fire. The ice cave was sealed by a huge stone and is temporarily safe.