Liu San had already made up his mind and rushed forward along the official road. So what if it was really a confusing formation? Is it really possible to reverse the direction of the strong official road under your feet? As soon as he rushed out, he turned the horse's head and went back, giving Qu Wuming a good slap on the face.
Thinking of this, Liu San waved his riding whip to speed up.
The fog around him became more and more dense, and after a while, he could no longer see his fingers.
Liu San couldn't help but feel a little panicked, but now that it was over, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue to urge his horse forward.
After about another three to forty feet, the fog in front finally began to thin again, and it seemed that the trees beside the road outside could be vaguely seen.
"Humph, I guessed it right. The guy named Qu is just alarmist!" Liu San's face was filled with joy. He was about to pull the reins and turn the horse's head when he heard someone calling his name right in front of him——
"San'er, come back quickly!"
It was the voice of uncle Liu Kui.
Liu San took a closer look and saw that at the end of the fog, a group of people were waving to him. The one shouting on the horse in front was not his uncle Liu Kui or who else?
…
After using practical actions to prove that Qu Wuming's judgment was correct, Liu San lowered his head dejectedly and stopped making any sound, following the team back to Dongsheng City.
Everyone found an inn on Chenghuang Temple Street in the east of the city and stayed there again. Under Liu Kui's repeated restrictions, no one was allowed to go out. They just waited for the fog outside the city to dissipate before embarking on the journey home again. road.
When all the escorts from the Fuwei Escort Agency were restrained in the inn and did not dare to go out, Qu Wuming could not sit still.
Without him, since there are cultivators who dare to risk the world's disapproval and block the way out of Dongsheng City, it not only touches Qu Wuming's bottom line, but also makes Qu Wuming feel a little uneasy, feeling that the situation in Dongsheng City has gone far beyond Your expectations may develop in unexpected directions at any time.
Now that this is known, Yi Qu Wuming's character will naturally not sit in the inn and wait for death with his eyes darkened.
After nightfall, Qu Wuming said hello to Liu Kui and Lin Wanqing early, saying that he was feeling unwell and needed to rest early. After returning to the room, he closed the door, changed into a set of black night clothes, and then quietly jumped out of the window...
————
The main palace of Dongsheng City.
As Liu Kui said, the city lord's palace in Dongsheng City also has cultivators.
It's just that Dongsheng City is located in a remote area with thin spiritual energy. No cultivator with real background and connections is willing to hold the position of city lord in such a place - a typical mismatch between responsibilities and benefits - here Being a city lord brings great responsibilities and many things to do. Not only does it delay cultivation, but the spiritual stones provided by the superiors are few, and the oil and water that can be obtained to help cultivation is even more limited.
But after all, it is a city with more than 300,000 residents, and it must be managed by a city lord.
Bai Qiulai is a person with no background or connections, but he has been the lord of Dongsheng City for more than 40 years.
Of course, to be able to become the city lord and sit firmly on it, one cannot be someone without any relevant background.
Although he is still several levels away from the core of the direct line of the two major families, Wushi and Bai, who control Hulan County, Xilin County, Bayan County and other large areas, Bai Qiulai, as a monk in the middle stage of Yuan Ying, is in Hulan County. A branch of the Bai family in Lan County was considered an important figure. After some work, he became the lord of Dongsheng City.
In the eyes of others, this is a chore that delays the future of cultivation and money, but for Bai Qiulai, who has limited qualifications and a short lifespan, this is a good place to retire.
Since cultivation would come to an end in a few decades, Bai Qiulai spent the rest of his time in Dongsheng City. For more than 40 years, Bai Qiulai built houses, built roads, planted trees, expanded fields, and encouraged commerce in Dongsheng City, and he turned a shabby small town into one of the famous prosperous cities in Hulan County. This is the achievement that Bai Qiulai is most proud of when reporting on his work every year.
Of course, there were also things that Bai Qiulai was dissatisfied with over the years, such as the Yunzhong Mansion of the Wushi clan.
Ever since Bai Qiulai built Dongsheng City into a prosperous town, Yunzhong Mansion also came.
The person in charge of Yunzhong Mansion is Wushilan, the youngest son of the current head of the Wushi family. This person has ruthless methods and a flexible mind. Although his cultivation level is not high, he has built Yunzhong Mansion from scratch into a "business" spanning dozens of big cities and almost monopolizing various industries in a few years. More than 80% of the city is occupied by brothels and gambling houses.
Originally, Bai Qiulai believed that brothels and gambling houses in Dongsheng City were not conducive to people's livelihood, so he imposed more restrictions on them. But when Dongsheng City came into the sight of Yunzhong Mansion, brothels and gambling houses sprung up in the city, and Bai Qiulai was unable to stop them and did not dare to stop them.
Ever since the people from Yunzhong Mansion started making trouble in Dongsheng City, Bai Qiulai often felt headaches. Because even though he is nominally the lord of Dongsheng City, no matter in terms of manpower, cultivation, or backing, Bai Qiulai has only one choice, and that is to turn a blind eye to Yunzhong Mansion. Eye.
However, in the past six months or so, Bai Qiulai has had another headache, and he even feels that Yunzhong Mansion is nothing compared to it.
Ever since news spread that a short-lived sword art that appeared more than 2,000 years ago would appear in Dongsheng City, more than 200 killings have been identified in Dongsheng City, killing innocent people. There were dozens of people killed and injured in Dongsheng City.
For more than half a year, Bai Qiulai was either putting out fires and investigating cases for these troublemaking warriors, or on the way to putting out fires and investigating cases, and his furrowed brows almost never relaxed again.
Moreover, there are more and more troubles coming to your door...
————
"City Master Bai, those martial artists have been struggling for half a year, but has any definite news been released?"
In a study room of the City Lord's Mansion, a long-bearded old man put down the tea cup in his hand and asked with concern.
Hearing this, Bai Qiulai bowed slightly and replied respectfully: "Currently, the south, west and east of the city have been plowed through almost twice. It must be that even if the sword technique is born, it is unlikely to be in these areas. Only There is the north of the city - although there are often people from the Jianghu and my city lord's palace there to investigate, many of them are blocked by the people from the Yunzhong mansion."
Bai Qiulai's tone was very sincere and seemed impartial, but the old man sitting next to him naturally understood the meaning of Bai Qiulai's words and couldn't help but frown.
"We, the Iron Sword Sect, have come all the way here just to find the sword technique. As long as City Master Bai can provide enough useful information, a mere Yunzhong Mansion can't block the way of our Iron Sword Sect."
The long-bearded old man is none other than a Supreme Elder of the Iron Sword Sect named Qiao Qianmu. After the news of "The Divine Sword Art of Sympathy between Heaven and Man" spread, Qiao Qianmu was appointed by the leader of the Iron Sword Sect to investigate the matter. It was not until three months ago that he finally tracked down the monastic in Dongsheng City. A small border town that has never been paid much attention to.
I originally thought that with the prestige of the Iron Sword Sect and the hundreds of disciples he had brought, it would be easy to find a sword technique in a small city of more than 300,000 people. However, I did not expect that more than three people were searched in a row. Months and months, but still found nothing.
Not only that, the low-level disciples of the Iron Sword Sect also lost several people, and the murderers were actually secular warriors.
Although they were all low-level disciples in the Qi refining stage, to Qiao Qianmu, it was no different than someone giving her an old face a few hard slaps.
In anger, Qiao Qianmu set up Thousand Illusion Tracing Arrays on several roads outside Dongsheng City in the name of looking for enemies for his disciples. Although it could not stop the cultivators from crossing the mountains and entering Dongsheng. city, but also trapped most of the ordinary warriors in the city.
"Yes, yes, what Elder Qiao said is true." Bai Qiulai nodded with a smile on his face, "Iron Sword Sect is a well-known sect among the nine sects, eight sects and thirteen sects, so Yunzhong Mansion must not dare to make mistakes. It's just that After all, Yunzhong Mansion is a local snake. Under their deliberate management, even my orders are not so effective in the north of the city. Now there is new news coming out, saying that the sword that carries the sword secret should be a sword. Rather than ordinary jade slips or the like."
"A sword?" Qiao Qianmu pondered for a moment, then continued to ask, "Do you know where this news came from?"
"I... I really don't know." Bai Qiulai shook his head and replied helplessly, "I have already arranged for people to trace the sources of various information, but unfortunately it is difficult to find out. It is difficult to rule out that someone is doing it deliberately. With this information released, it is uncertain whether the sword technique is real or not."
"You don't have to doubt the authenticity." Qiao Qianmu said, "I, the Iron Sword Sect, established the sect with swords, and will definitely not make mistakes in this matter. As long as someone uses the sword technique or the fairy sword in the city, I, the Iron Sword Sect, will The Sword Sect naturally has a way to find it. I wonder if there is anything else to say about that sword?"
"Back to Elder Qiao, the current news we have received is that the sword has not yet been born, and I am afraid that no one will know the corresponding sword technique." Bai Qiulai replied, "Currently, the people in the City Lord's Mansion and part of the city guards have already disguised themselves and dispersed. Everywhere in the city, we are keeping an eye on all the people traveling with swords, but we haven’t found anyone suspicious so far.”
"In this case, I would like to ask City Lord Bai to pay more attention and keep an eye on me. If there is any news, I will inform you in time. After the completion of the matter, I will hand over the remaining reward and the elixir to City Lord. It is still not possible to extend City Lord Bai's life for more than a hundred years. questionable."
"Elder Qiao is so polite. It's Bai's honor to help Iron Sword Sect, haha..."
————
At the same time, Miaoyinfang in the north of the city.
"Lao Qi, how long will it take for the person promised by the family to arrive?" A young man with a face as white as jade sat in a study room, his eyes fell on a map of Dongsheng City. There are many in the picture The locations have been filled with red circles, leaving only a few areas that are still blank.
"Report to the Palace Master! Tomorrow morning, two seniors, Wushi Tianlong and Wushi Dijiao, will lead people to sneak into Dongsheng City." Opposite the man, a middle-aged man in black replied.
"Oh? It's actually the third uncle and the fourth uncle who came here in person?" The young man looked happy, "Go ahead and tell us to keep a close eye on the areas that haven't been investigated yet. We must not alert others before tomorrow morning."
"Yes! Palace Master."
"You go down first."
"Subordinates resign!"
The young man is the master of Yunzhong Mansion, Wushilan.
After the man in black left, Wu Shilan's eyes fell on the map of Dongsheng City again. In the picture, several dark red circles are particularly eye-catching.
"Qiao Qianmu, haha... There are only a few disciples in the Qi Refining stage, and only a few are in the Foundation Establishment stage, and they want to come to our Dongsheng City to grab things? Do you think your Iron Sword Sect is the largest sect in the world?" Wushilan There was a hint of evil in his eyes, and he said to himself...
————
To the east of the city, Baotong Pavilion.
One of the few pawn shops in Dongsheng City that is independent of Yunzhong Mansion.
Although it was already Haishi, there were still lights on in a courtyard at the back of Baotong Pavilion. There was a slightly stooped old man standing outside the door, as if he was waiting for someone.
In a dark ravine five miles away from Dongsheng City, a circular light door about as tall as a person suddenly lit up. It emitted a soft white light and illuminated half of the ravine in an instant.
After a moment, the originally quiet light door suddenly rippled like water waves, and figures jumped out of the light. Not long after, more than a dozen figures emerged from it. These dozen people were of different heights, short, fat, and thin, but they were all wearing the same style of black robes.
Perhaps the space teleportation distance this time was too far. After jumping out of the light door, many of them turned pale, felt dizzy, and their auras became a little confused. They hurriedly found an open space to sit down.
After more than ten breaths, the light door stopped flickering, and suddenly turned into specks of light that disappeared, and the ravine fell into darkness again.
One person in the team stood up and whispered a few words. Then the group jumped out of the ravine and headed straight for Dongsheng City in the distance...
