After watching Han Teng help Hu Lu'an leave, Yongzhen and Yu'er finally emerged from the darkness to join Zhang Lie and the others.
Zhang Lie touched the thick beard on his chin and asked, "Miss Yongzhen, is the plan accomplished?"
Yongzhen replied with some uncertainty: "The failure to reveal Dugu Ningke's true colors on the spot was only half the battle. She was too vigilant."
Zhang Lie sighed and said: "With Master Yuwen's mind, I believe he can detect some clues from this incident."
"By the way, Miss Yongzhen, there is one thing I forgot to say."
Zhang Lie solemnly said: "When we left the inn, Brother Chen and Miss Xiaoxue and I were followed. It was difficult to escape surveillance by taking advantage of the dense crowd in the city."
"Do you and Brother Lu know the origins of these stalkers?"
Yongzhen frowned: "Stalker? Starting from outside the inn?"
After lowering his head and thinking for a while, Yongzhen shook his head and said: "No, we have been living in seclusion since we rented the inn, and we have almost never been out."
"Could he be following you, Brother Zhang, or Jingchou?"
"Um……"
Zhang Lie stroked his beard and muttered: "There were indeed many people following me before entering Daxing City. They were the enemies I made in the Western Regions in my early years, but those people should not follow the Sui people in the city."
"So..."
Yongzhen and Zhang Lie looked at Chen Jingchou and Xiaoxue at the same time.
"Could it be?"
Thinking of the worst possibility, Zhang Lie and Yongzhen's expressions turned gloomy.
Zhang Lie immediately quickened his pace and headed towards the exit of the secret passage: "Let's go! Hurry back to Daxing City as soon as possible, I have a bad feeling."
…
Dugu Ningke, who was rushing back to Daxing, also looked unhappy.
Yuchi Yanhong's magic power is limited and cannot move long distances in space.
After sending Dugu Ningke out of the ancient tomb, the two of them immediately rushed back to Daxing City.
"Yanhong, is there any news from Xiaoxiao?"
"No."
Yuchi Yanhong replied doubtfully: "Since arriving in Dunhuang, Xiaoxiao has never contacted us again. Could it be that something unexpected happened?"
"Tsk!"
Dugu Ningke said with a sinister expression: "We have been plotted against!"
'Who is it? Why do you know that I am Lord Satan's subordinate?'
A fierce light flashed in Dugu Ningke's eyes, "No matter who it is, we must activate all intelligence networks to catch him and deal with him!"
"Yan Hong! Speed up, I'm afraid something may have happened over there!"
"yes!"
…
In terms of straight-line distance, the Bashu region, separated only by the Qinling Mountains, is definitely closer to Daxing.
However, since ancient times, there has been a saying that the road to Shu is difficult and difficult to reach the sky. It is not easy to bypass the rugged mountain roads in the Bashu region.
In contrast, from Dunhuang to Daxing, you can run at full speed on the vast Gobi and plains.
As expected, Lu Xiao, who was in charge of Daxing, first waited for the dusty Shangguan Zhenyuan and watched him ride on horseback and carry the coffin straight to the Taishi Mansion.
Dugu Ningke was not much slower. Shangguan Zhenyuan only returned to the city in the morning. In the afternoon, she and Yuchi Yanhong hurried back on the thousand-mile horse presented by Yang Guang.
Although it is only a few hours late, in the most critical period of intelligence warfare, even a few minutes late will have a huge impact on the final result.
Taishi Mansion
Yuwen Tuo pointed the Xuanyuan Sword on Shan Xiaoxiao's body that showed no signs of corruption with a solemn expression.
Xuanyuan Sword is a symbol of power among the ten sacred weapons, a sword of the holy way that can exorcise evil and punish evil.
The moment it was touched by the power of the Xuanyuan Sword, Shan Xiaoxiao's body immediately transformed into its original form, turning into a broken jade pipa.
"She really is a master of jade pipa."
Yuwen Tuo's face was uncertain, and Shan Xiaoxiao's status as a spirit made him feel very complicated.
'The maid is a monster who has been practicing for thousands of years and transformed into a human form. Will the princess know nothing about it?'
'Is what the mysterious person who delivered the news before told the truth? The princess has already been possessed by the female demon general sent by the Demon King of the West?'
"Master."
A personal guard of the Grand Master's Mansion suddenly reported at the door: "Princess Dugu wants to see you."
"Ha~ It came so quickly."
Yuwen Tuo smiled mockingly: "Just say that I caught the wind and cold occasionally, so it is temporarily inconvenient to see guests."
"yes."
Yuwen Tuo's bitter expression made Shangguan Zhenyuan a little bit intolerable: "Master, maybe the princess doesn't know about this matter..."
Raising his hand to stop Shangguan Zhenyuan's consolation, Yuwen Tuo calmed down his emotions and regained his resolute look: "General Shangguan, not long ago, the princess suddenly proposed to Your Majesty that she wanted to go sightseeing in the Bashu region."
"With this incident, do you think her schedule was just a coincidence?"
Shangguan Zhenyuan: "This..."
As the noise outside the Grand Master's Mansion gradually faded away, Yuwen Tuo recovered his thoughts and continued correcting documents.
"Wait, wait until old general Han Teng and Hu Lu'an return, everything will be revealed."
…
In early August, the day after Shangguan Zhenyuan and Dugu Ningke hurriedly returned to Daxing, the Han Teng duo entered Daxing City one after another with Zhang Lie and others.
Lu Xiao ignored the surveillance eyes in the dark and came to the city gate to greet him openly.
At this time, Yu'er had already put on the assassin uniform designed by Lu Xiao and sewn for her by Yong Zhen.
With her favorite red as the main color, some local modifications were made to the assassin uniform according to the characteristics of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. She also wore a dark red jumpsuit hood on her head.
"Haha~ It looks good."
Lu Xiao smiled and joked to Yu'er: "How is it? If there is any inconvenience when wearing it, feel free to tell it so that Yongzhen can help you modify it in time."
Yu'er twisted her body flexibly. She was very satisfied with this light, breathable and sun-blocking clothing: "No, it fits very well. As expected, it was made by Sister Yongzhen herself. I can't learn the skills of female prostitutes anyway."
"That's good."
When Lu Xiao turned around to lead the way, he glanced at the monitor hiding in the dark without leaving any trace.
"Let's go, Mr. Chen Fu is still waiting in the inn."
After a period of precipitation, Chen Fu calmed down and reflected for a long time, and finally let go of his unrealistic obsession with rejuvenating the country.
The princes and ministers of Chen State in the Southern Dynasty seemed to be born with the potential of artists.
Chen Fu, who had given up everything, had been depressed for a while, and seemed to have found new fun recently. He practiced landscape painting and calligraphy in the courtyard of the inn every day.
When Lu Xiao and a group of people returned to the inn, Chen Fu had just finished a copybook in a hurry.
Jingqiu and Xiaoxue, who were left with a surprise, surrounded the master with a satisfied smile and flattered him. Lu Xiao took Zhang Lie, Yu'er and Yongzhen upstairs to exchange information.
"Shan Xiaoxiao is dead?!"
When they heard the news, Yongzhen and the other three were shocked at the same time.
Lu Xiao nodded and said, "I have personally confirmed that Shangguan Zhenyuan just carried her coffin and galloped into the city yesterday. It is said that during the morning of the court today, Yang Guang called her over and scolded her on the grounds that it was unlucky."
After being surprised for a while, Yongzhen also told Lu Xiao in detail what happened in the tomb of the ancient king of Bashu.
"One thing can be said to be a coincidence, two things can be said to be accidental, and three things come together inadvertently..."
A sneer appeared at the corner of Lu Xiao's lips: "The last piece of the puzzle is in place, it's almost time for Yuwen Tuo to take action."