——And this first stop is exactly half a day’s journey from the inn.
After arriving, the group of people chose their own houses to live in.
Jin Baohui had the largest number of people accompanying him, so he naturally chose the largest room to live in. Lan Tianyu also followed.
Zhou Zhiqin and Dongfang Xiao only had two people, so they stayed in the smallest room.
The remaining nine people, all of whom happened to be in groups of three, were looking for houses independently.
I don't know if it was intentional or not, but Mu Qingyan deliberately chose the one farthest from the group of houses.
Seeing Mu Qingyan and Qian Xueshen carrying firewood and meat from the sleigh, Cai Zhao consciously rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward to help, but was pushed away by Mu Qingyan. Cai Zhao was unhappy and lowered his voice: "Since We agreed to go to the snow-capped mountains together, and I won’t shirk my role when it’s my turn to do my part, and you shouldn’t play pity on her.”
Mu Qingyan scoffed with eyes: "Love the beauty and cherish the jade? Don't be ridiculous. We walked for half a day on the snowy road with one foot high and one foot low. Half of the men in the team were tired. Fatty Jin was almost dying, but Xiao Cai, the heroine You are not blushing and out of breath, you are still full of energy, and now you are even more excited to do heavy work - is this still my delicate sister who is not familiar with martial arts?"
Cai Zhao blushed. Sorry, she forgot.
Mu Qingyan looked at her intently.
Cai Zhao held out for a moment and then surrendered.
She slumped her shoulders softly and said in a weak manner, "Brother, why am I feeling dizzy?" What a humiliation!
Mu Qingyan hugged her gently and smiled lovingly, "Children are not sensible. They have said that the mountains here are high and the atmosphere is low. Don't be too excited. You will lose your strength now."
——Leave Qianxue Shen where he was, struggling to carry the supplies that the three of them would need in the next few days.
The hunting house had been uninhabited all winter, and it was cold and humid. Mu Qingyan took off his cloak and asked Cai Zhao to tie his armbands. Then he started to clean it, tied hay into bundles to sweep the ground, lit a piece of firewood as a torch, and The four corners were burned to drive away the ice crystals that seeped into the house.
Cai Zhao didn't need to pretend anymore in the house, so he tied up his sleeves and helped with the work. However, her two swords could not compare to Mu Qingyan's sharp and efficient movements. She couldn't help but sigh: "I have to thank you, your father, for teaching you so well."
Mu Qingyan looked up and smiled: "Actually, I also want to thank your aunt."
When Qian Xue Shen dragged a large pile of luggage in, she found that the room was clean and tidy, and a warm fire was burning in the middle. Her resentment immediately dissipated. She secretly felt that although Mu and Cai were more venomous than the other, Deep down, he is ten thousand times stronger than those bossy men outside.
After nightfall, the three of them sat around the fire roasting dried meat, boiled snow water in a copper kettle, and soaked the dry food until soft.
Qian Xueshen couldn't help but ask: "Who do you think killed the shopkeeper?"
"You care so much about this matter." Cai Zhao lazily leaned against the straw pile.
Qian Xueshen was so excited that she almost shook off the dried meat on the wooden fork: "My Heavenly Palace Queen, if I hadn't happened to go to the kitchen to ask for food, the cook and the proprietress would have been blamed for the murder! Maybe the murderer was Among those people outside, I can’t even sleep when I think about this, how can I not care!”
"Don't worry, I will keep you safe until I find the Snow Lindramon." Cai Zhao bit his lip, "What I care about is what the waiters and the cook said."
Qianxue was startled: "Man? Cook? What did they say?"
Mu Qingyan suddenly said: "The waiter said that the shopkeeper went to bed after receiving Fatty Jin and his gang. The cook said that he saw Fatty Jin and his gang coming and realized that there were more people going up the mountain tomorrow than the shopkeeper had told him before, so The dry food prepared in advance is not enough.”
"So you heard it too." Cai Zhao raised his eyes and looked at him, "The shopkeeper seemed to know that many people would come last night, and told the cook in advance to prepare enough dry food. When Fatty Jin and his party arrived, everyone was there, so the shopkeeper felt at ease Go to sleep."
Qian Xueshen blinked: "Maybe someone sent someone in advance to tell the shopkeeper to prepare for going up the mountain. So what?"
Cai Zhao glared: "Do you think a guy like Fatty Jin, who has a delicate body and a pampered body, would come to such a ghost place to endure hardship for no reason? What could be on the snow-capped mountains that would make him come here? Medicinal materials, animal skins... no matter how precious they are. You can buy it with money, not to mention that the Siqi sect is not particular about it, and money comes more easily, so what on earth is Fatty Jin doing here? If something goes wrong, there must be something fishy!"
Qianxue Shen blurted out, "Could it be that there is a priceless treasure on the mountain?"
Cai Zhao threw a branch at him hard, "Idiot, I just said that the Siqi Sect has a lot of money!"
Qian Xueshen covered her head, "That's the secret book of martial arts!"
Cai Zhao threw another twig, "After Patriarch Beichen, the most powerful kung fu in the world is either in Beichen or in the Demon Sect. What other great martial arts secrets can be found elsewhere!"
Qian Xueshen had no choice but to shrink aside.
Cai Zhao turned to Mu Qingyan, "Why don't you speak?"
Mu Qingyan said with a calm expression, "Instead of guessing their purpose for going up the mountain, why not guess how many there are there? We don't care what they do when they go up the mountain, but we must guard against them doing us harm. After all, they are outnumbered, even the waiter Concubine Qinong is actually not weak in martial arts, and we only have two and a half." He was used to preparing for the worst in everything.
Qianxue was deeply dissatisfied: "Hey, is that half talking about me..."
"Don't interrupt, let's go." Cai Zhao turned around, "I've thought about this too. First of all, we are definitely not included in the shopkeeper's calculations, and secondly, Uncle Zhou must have come here by mistake. Although his only son died here last year, but No one could have predicted when he would come - in order to see his son's burial place, he didn't even go to Beichen Ancestor's ceremony. Who are the remaining people, Fatty Jin must be, because the shopkeeper will know it when he sees him Everyone is here, what about Lan Tianyu..."
"I think he is also in the shopkeeper's calculations." Qian Xueshen interjected, "I just saw him entering the house with Fatty Jin and his group. They must have known each other for a long time. I said, Si Qimen also belongs to Beichen, a famous family. Can a decent person associate with thieves casually?"
Cai Zhao was helpless: "Actually, except for the Demonic Cult, which is our life and death enemy, we are not afraid of making friends with other gray people or sects in the world. When my uncle Cai Changfeng was young, he almost got married to a counterfeit medicine seller. I figured it out, and I was finally persuaded."
She added, "Besides, Lan Tianyu and Jin Fatty are in the same room. Maybe it's a friendship they just made on the road, and they may not have known each other for a long time. For the rest, we don't even know their names. , and even more nonsense about the intention of going up the mountain."
Mu Qingyan raised his head and looked at the beams, "Yes, I can't figure out who the taciturn master and the two servants are."
Cai Zhao blinked: "There is also Miss Qinong's owner. We don't know who he is."
"I know." Mu Qingyan said.
Cai Zhao: "?"
The firelight reflected on the young man's handsome face, half-bright and half-dark, "His surname is Hu, and his name is Hu Tianwei. He was the eldest disciple of Elder Tianji Duan Jiuxiu. Nie Hengcheng's eldest disciple was called Zhao Tianba, and Duan Jiuxiu called him his eldest disciple." Named Hu Tianwei - in order to keep away from Nie Hengcheng."
Cai Zhao was stunned for a long time and then said, "But Duan Jiuxiu died so early, how could you have met his eldest disciple?"
Mu Qingyan raised his head and glanced lightly. Qian Xueshen caught his cold gaze, as if he was being stared at by a wild beast in a cave in the wilderness. After trembling for a moment, he immediately said obediently that he would go out to relieve himself.
Cai Zhao waited silently for Qian Xueshen to go out, then asked softly: "Is it related to your father?" She found that Mu Qingyan didn't like to mention his father in front of others.
Mu Qingyan hummed, "After Nie Hengcheng's death, the church was in chaos for several years. First, Zhao Tianba and Han Yisu went around killing each other like crazy dogs. Not long after, in the battle of Qingluo River, one of them died and the other was seriously injured. Then Nie Zhe held Tiangang Earthly Demon in his arms. The remnants of the battalion established themselves as the acting leader, and the two remaining Seven-Star Elders originally complained, but it just so happened that my father’s injuries were relieved and he was discharged from seclusion..."
"Your father is injured?!" Cai Zhao exclaimed.
Mu Qingyan looked at her with dark eyes.
Cai Zhao suddenly realized: "Your father died of serious injuries... I thought he died of illness."
Mu Qingyan lowered his thick long eyelashes: "He was originally well, but when I was born, he was suddenly attacked and seriously injured. At that time, many people thought he was dead. Fortunately, he had been indifferent for many years, and his joys and sorrows were not affected. After several years of recuperation, he created a set of mental methods to nourish his energy and protect his pulse, which stabilized his injuries. Unfortunately, that set of mental methods could only allow his father to live for more than ten years, and could not cure the disease. He left before now."
Cai Zhao's heart was up and down, and he said after a while: "...Who hurt your father?"
Mu Qingyan frowned: "Father didn't tell me. He only said that the man was dead. I guess he was from the cult, because not long before I was born, Qiu Baigang, the elder of Tianquan, died."
"Who is this?"
"He is the eldest of the Seven Star Elders. He is only ten years younger than my great-grandfather. He is also the leader of the forces in the cult that are loyal to the Mu family."
Mu Qingyan slowly stirred the firewood, his eyebrows were unusually calm, "Elder Qiu's death is unknown. Everyone guessed that it was the hand of Nie Hengcheng's subordinates, but there is no evidence. If my prediction is correct, it should be Nie Hengcheng's confidant. The elder is dead, so I decided to strike first because I was afraid of my father’s revenge.”
"After the death of Elder Qiu, my father was seriously injured and his whereabouts are unknown. The divine sect founded by the Mu family is about to be named Nie. Unfortunately, Nie Hengcheng was happy for only a year before he was shot to death by your aunt in Tushan. It is ridiculous that Wang Tu's dominance disappeared in the blink of an eye. Very tight."
Cai Zhao's heart moved and he suddenly asked: "How many years has your father been hiding in hiding to recuperate?"
Mu Qingyan stared at the flames: "Five years."
Cai Zhao felt like he had touched something, "Who raised you before you were five years old?"
Mu Qingyan stared at her quietly.
"Is she your mother?" Cai Zhao asked.
The corners of Mu Qingyan's mouth curved in a sarcastic arc.
Cai Zhao breathed quickly, "You, you..."
Her anxious and overwhelmed look was so cute. The young man was fascinated by it and unconsciously stretched out his hand to her. Just when his palm was about to touch her face, the girl turned away hurriedly and whispered, " When did you meet Hu Tianwei?"
Mu Qingyan laughed at himself in his heart, and then said, "When I was about six or seven years old, Hu Tianwei came to see my father at night and said that Nie Zhe was incompetent and asked my father to come out. The forces of Duan Jiuxiu's lineage are willing to help."
Cai Zhao: "A person as indifferent as your father must have refused - but does Duan Jiuxiu still have any influence left?" According to my aunt, all the bad guys in that legendary story have been eliminated.
Mu Qingyan continued to stir the fire: "You may not believe it, but your aunt's reputation is much louder in our religious sect than in the six Beichen sects."
"Why don't I believe it? Before old Sect Master Yin Dai died, he naturally didn't want others to be more prestigious than himself. No matter what great things my aunt did, he would definitely try his best to suppress it. But your Demon Sect is really serious. I have suffered a lot from my aunt, how can I not remember it forever?"
Mu Qingyan smiled: "That's right. Even today, when many old people in the church talk about your aunt, they are as terrifying as the arrival of a murderous star. Especially when the tragedy of the destruction of Qingfeng Temple came out, your aunt was furious and insisted on Pursuing Tianji's lineage. Duan Jiuxiu's subordinates, who were originally known as the Seven Disciples and the Eight Vajras, were killed by your aunt. The rest of Duan's gang members also had heads... Only Hu Tianwei had practiced the turtle's head-shrinking technique. , I hid in the mountains in Leng'ao and couldn't survive, so I escaped with my life."
He smiled and said, "So, where is the 'power of Duan Jiuxiu'? Hu Tianwei is bragging in front of my father."
He moved his gaze downwards and saw the girl silently pressing her hands on her belt, her eyes flashing, "What do you want to do?"
Cai Zhao raised his head: "My aunt's man slipped through the net and shouldn't have lived for many more years. Ask me to kill him."
Mu Qingyan stopped him and said, "Take the saliva of the Snow Lindra Beast first. Your father is more important and it is not appropriate to cause unnecessary complications. As long as Hu Tianwei is alive, you can always kill him. Right now you are still a delicate and weak woman."
"...Okay." Cai Zhao slowly let go of his hand.
The fire light danced, and she suddenly thought of something, "Wait a minute, wait a minute."
She raised her head and said excitedly, "Even if I hide it from Uncle Zhou now, when I get married to Brother Yuqi, Uncle Zhou will recognize me when he sees me!"
Mu Qingyan's eyes were pure: "Really? Zhao Zhao is so smart, I didn't expect it."
Cai Zhao beat his legs and regretted: "I should have asked Qian Xueshen to disguise myself, but now I'm in trouble!"
The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became. She said, "Then why should I pretend? I'll tell Uncle Zhou directly tomorrow morning."
"It's best not to." Mu Qingyan stretched out his palms and approached the fire with a calm expression, "No matter how depressed Duan Jiuxiu's lineage is now, Hu Tianwei was once an important figure in the sect, and there are also the master and the two servants whose origins are unclear. . Once your identity is revealed, unless you kill them all before going down the mountain, it is hard to say whether they will endanger your father if they contact the brothers in the church after going down the mountain."
"So, you should continue to pretend. The situation is unclear now. The more we hide, the safer we will be."
Cai Zhao felt a chill in his heart and became quiet.
Mu Qingyan smiled softly when he saw her biting her cheek, then waved her right hand towards the door panel, causing the door to open slightly.
He joked, "Daqiang, come in."
Qian Xueshen moved into the house shivering, her hair and eyebrows were covered with white, she looked like a little old man, Cai Zhao couldn't help but smile. Qian Xueshen carefully explained, "This house is made of bricks and tiles, and the door is made of thick boards. I didn't hear anything."
Mu Qingyan: "I know, I saw it when I was cleaning the house just now."
Cai Zhao saw Qian Xue Shen's sleeves bulging and moved, and asked curiously: "What do you have in your sleeves?"
"I just grabbed it when I was relieving myself in the forest." Qian Xueshen quickly took out the thing from his sleeve, and it turned out to be a big gray rabbit that couldn't stop kicking its legs. "I didn't eat enough, so why don't I roast it?" .”
Cai Zhao's eyes lit up: "Okay, before we set off, I wrapped some salt and spices from the inn kitchen and brought it out. But I'm not good at crafts. Can you roast a rabbit?" She is used to eating delicious food, and she will eat dry food tonight. She wanted to cry but had no tears.
Qianxue's eyebrows flew up and down, and she said with a smile: "I'm not bragging, just look at it, Miss Cai... Hey, what are you doing..."
While the two were talking, Mu Qingyan struck out like lightning and snatched the big gray rabbit in his hand. He said solemnly: "The identities of the master and the two servants are not clear, and I am always uneasy in my heart."
Qianxue stared closely at the rabbit, and was even more excited than being caught. "Then go and find out why you caught my rabbit!"
Cai Zhao also advised, "Brother, calm down and don't be impulsive. Everything can be discussed. Put that rabbit down first... Hey, hey..."
——The corners of his clothes fluttered when he stood up. Mu Qingyan opened the door and walked out. Cai Qian and the others had to crawl out to follow.
Mu Qingyan's method of 'figuring it out' was simple and crude. He used his luck to slap the door of the master and the two servants.
In the middle of the night, the mountains were silent, and the sound of knocking on the door was particularly shocking.
