In the impression of Qian Chao and the other five people, Hou Bao, Fan Fu and Shen Qiube were all working for Shangguan Hong.
This situation has always existed in the Wuling Sect, and it can be said to be commonplace.
As long as there are people in the sect who have some status background, extraordinary background, or even some ordinary people who already have teachers, they don't need to recruit them themselves. There will always be people willing to follow these people and contribute to their busy schedule.
Most of these people are dandies within the sect. A ready-made example is Bai Lin, who once found trouble for Qian Chao. The last time Qian Chao accepted a challenge outside the sect and won ten games in a row, the scene was not a big one. A big scene was made possible by the efforts of those who were willing to work for Bai Lin.
Further ahead, there was Wen Zhang who was kicked out of the sect by Senior Wen Mian of Jiu Xuan. He was Senior Sister Wenyuan's cousin. Before he was kicked out, there were people around him besides Han Tian who had been surrounding him. Work for it to make a profit.
Another example is Shangguan Hong. After she returned to the sect, she immediately gathered many people around her to take advantage of her.
Even in the eyes of many people, the reason why Qian Chao and Qian Chao are always together is actually because Qian Chao, Li Jian, Yan Xuan and Lu Pingchuan have always been entangled in Tang Ping's relationship because of Tang Ping's extraordinary life experience and noble background. I don’t want to leave my side.
But the current situation is that Hou Bao and the three people are hiding under the big tree with white light, but there is no Shangguan Hong beside them, but two strangers.
Qian Chao and others did not have the slightest doubt about Li Jian's feelings. Since he said so, the actual situation must be like this.
But... why are they two strangers?
Where did Shangguan Hong go?
If Shangguan Hong also heard rumors in the sect that someone had seen a suspected Qingluan near Shou Wo Mountain, and then took Hou Bao and three others into Shou Wo Mountain to find out, this would make sense. After all, since Shangguan Hong As soon as they returned to the sect, Hou Bao and the three guys kept appearing next to Shangguan Hong, so these three guys should be working for her.
The reason why Qian Chao and the other two people thought that the three Hou Bao guys were working for Shangguan Hong was because Shangguan Hong dealt with Ma Hu not long after she returned to Wuling Sect and chased Ma Hu outside the sect. However, She and Ma Hu had an agreement. As long as Ma Hu could escape back to the sect in her hands, Ma Hu would be considered the winner and would never cause trouble to him again. Otherwise, Ma Hu might just follow Shangguan Hong's orders from now on. For her; or... having her hands and feet broken by Shangguan Hong would be an unbearable humiliation. At that time, the people sent by Shangguan Hong to hunt down Ma Hu were the three Hou Bao. When he first saw Ma Hu being chased by those three guys, Qian Chao thought that Hou Bao and the others were working for Wen Liang, so he went to save Ma Hu. Later, he found out that these three guys were willing to be Shangguan Hong's lackeys, and later for In order to save Ma Hu's hands and feet, Qian Chao proposed to fight the three guys Hou Bao one against three. As long as he won, Shangguan Hong would not be allowed to cause trouble to Ma Hu again.
Well, that fight was also very thrilling. Hou Bao and the other two people never paid attention to Qian Chao from the beginning, and they hated him for his bad deeds, so they killed him everywhere. In the end, not only were all three of them injured by Qian Chao, but Hou Bao also lost. The spirit beast Nightmare Snake was taken in by Qian Chao using his jar, and naturally died. The other spirit beasts Shen Qiu, the Ruler, were burned to ashes by Qian Chao's multiple "Wild Fire Talismans" attached to their bodies. In addition, the spiritual weapon "Boiling Bell" regarded as a treasure by Fan Fu was also taken away by Qian Chao. From that time on, these three guys deeply hated Qian Chao.
(Readers who are somewhat vague about the above plot can refer to Volume 5: First Ming, Chapters 9 to 11.)
The question now is: Why did Hou Bao, the three people who had been serving Shangguanhong, enter Shouwo Mountain but not with Shangguanhong.
Who are the two strange young men Li Jian mentioned?
"Hey, could it be that those two boys are also members of Shangguan's wife?" Lu Pingchuan said.
Tang Ping thought so too.
"Probably not," Qian Chao said thoughtfully, "Shangguan Hong is a lonely and suspicious person. If it is really Qingluan's egg, there is no way she would let anyone else pick it up for her."
After the big tide in Hanquan Valley, Qian Chao and the other five people didn't pay much attention to Shangguan Hong. Of course, it was also because Lin Jian fled back to the Lin family after the big tide in Hanquan Valley. Shangguan Hong's goal was achieved, and she, Luo Ying and others The conflicts among the high-level disciples of the Five Spirits have eased a lot as the truth about the old incident came to light. In addition, Shangguan Hong acted in a timely and low-key manner, and it no longer attracts so much attention. Therefore, in the eyes of Qian Chao and others, the three Hou Bao guys still serve Shangguan Hong.
But now, in Qian Chao's view, it has become a questionable matter whether the three guys Hou Bao are sincerely serving Shangguan Hong.
"We all know about the grudge between Shangguan Hong and Lin Jian after the great tide in Hanquan Valley. Let me ask, who hates Shangguan Hong the most in this world of cultivation? And who is the person Shangguan Hong needs to be wary of the most? Who? It must be each other. Well, we have always thought that those three guys Hou Bao, Fan Fu and Shen Qiubai worked for Shangguanhong, but now it seems that there may be another hidden secret. Can't remember? I remember that before the big tide in Hanquan Valley, Senior Sister Luo Ying led many people to confront those who were attached to Shangguan Hong. The scene was huge, there were many people, and there was great hostility between them. They almost got into a fight. Why? It seems that two senior brothers, one surnamed Wang and the other Feng, were injured by people around Shangguan Hong outside, which almost led to a fight between high-level disciples in the sect..."
"Of course I remember," Lu Pingchuan said, "That time we beat up a few boys who came to stir up trouble. Then I followed Sister Tang's instructions and went out to speak, and then I helped Senior Brother Fan calm down the situation and let that Both groups dispersed, and later Senior Brother Fan thanked us very much."
(For the above plot, please see Volume 5: First Ming, Volume 22: Chaos.)
"Yes," Qian Chao had an excellent memory. He continued, "I still remember that time when Shangguan Hong was having a fight with Senior Sister Luo Ying, he once said, 'Open your eyes and take a look. I have only been back a few days.'" God, it’s already like this. I struggled with that situation for a long time back then. Well, that’s probably what I said. At the time, I just thought it was Shangguan Hong showing off her strength in numbers, but now I think about it. She seemed to have something on her mind. It seemed that she was not showing off, but... reminding Senior Sister Luo Ying and others that the people who gathered around her were people who had ulterior motives and came uninvited, hitting her everywhere. To do things under the banner of the Communist Party of China, and think about the development of things that day, although Shangguan Hong was aggressive when he arrived, he kept clear of the relationship with the injured Senior Brother Wang and Senior Brother Feng, but those people who were obviously serving her It seemed that they were worried that things would not escalate that day, so when things were over, they would take random actions, trying to mess up the situation, and eventually make it a mess, and then there would be blood and it would be out of control. Think about it, if I was like this His subordinates will definitely be dragged down by it."
"What will happen if there is a real fight that day?" Yanxuan asked.
"If we really fight, now that I think about it, under the control of people with ulterior motives, people will definitely die that day, and many people will die. And they will do it near the sect just after leaving the sect. So many people coming and going will see such a thing. They will definitely ask questions. Maybe Senior Sister Luo Ying and others will unanimously put the blame on Shangguan Hong. She has been expelled before and caused such a big incident just after returning to the sect. She will definitely be punished again. He might be expelled from the sect again, in this case, who would be most beneficial?"
"Lin Jian." Li Jian said.
"Yes, Lin Jian, from this we can know that there are so many people willing to serve Shangguan Hong just after she returned to the sect. It is likely that she was instigated by others, and the purpose is to harm her, and the sect has the strength to instigate so many people. There shouldn't be many people who can do it, and it shouldn't be difficult for Lin Jian to do it with his background."
Tang Ping said:
"You mean, those three guys from Hou Bao are actually working for Lin Jian, and they are agents sent by Lin Jian to work around Shangguan Hong?"
"It's very possible." Qian Chao said.
"Then how should we explain what happened today?" Tang Ping asked again.
"Girl Tang, based on your knowledge of Lin Jian, guess if Lin Jian is forced to flee back to the Lin family, do you think he will be convinced, or will he try to take revenge on Shangguan Hong?"
Seeing Tang Ping nod, Qian Chao continued:
"You see, you attach great importance to the Green Luan Egg. Judging from our previous encounter with Shangguanhong at Pinghai Peak, she must also be determined to obtain the Green Luan Egg. Therefore, the relationship between you and her There is a kind of competing relationship between them. Well, I shouldn't always think of people in such bad terms, but if Hou Bao, who has been working for her, knows about this matter, and then he passes it through If someone passes this to Lin Jian, what do you think Lin Jian will do?"
Tang Ping took a breath and said:
"Spread rumors, lure Shangguan Hong here, and then... get rid of her!"
"good."
"But... Mr. Qian, I do attach great importance to the matter of Qingluan's Egg, but at the same time, this matter must be kept extremely confidential by me. Only my master and a few of us know about this matter. Even I If Senior Sister Yun doesn't know about this, then how could Shangguan Hong leak such an important matter if he is very careful in his work?"
This indeed makes sense, but Qian Chao smiled softly after hearing this:
"I just said that I shouldn't always think bad things about people. Then think about it for yourself. Since this matter is extremely important to both of you, why would you let Hou Bao know about it?"
"Does she want to... test or get rid of Hou Bao and those people?" Yanxuan said from the side.
Li Jian shook his head after hearing this.
Tang Ping's face darkened and she said:
"No, Sister Yan, if that's the case, what Shangguan Senior Sister really wants to get rid of is not Hou Bao, nor is it just to make Lin Jian suffer a big loss. What she wants... is me!"
"ah……"
"Hmph! That woman is really not a good person. I'll just beat her to death next time I meet her!"
Li Jian said:
"If that's the case, then Shangguan Hong may be in Shouwo Mountain now. Unfortunately, if she hides far away, I won't be able to find her."
"It is possible," Qian Chao said, "Brother Li, you are also a well-known figure in the sect, and you have not deliberately kept it secret before, so your methods will be known to some extent. If Shangguan Hong knows that you have to sense If her strength is amazing, she will follow you from a distance because she is afraid of you. Maybe she will stare at us from a distance outside, and after entering Shouwo Mountain, she will deliberately hide, so you will naturally not be able to find us."
Li Jian nodded after listening.
"Then..." Tang Ping didn't say anything and looked at Qian Chao.
"What we said above is just a possibility. It is also possible that Shangguan Hong accidentally told Shangguan Hong, or that Hou Bao found out in some way. That's why Lin Jian arranged for Shangguan Hong to be killed here. Hong lured them here to get rid of them. Well, the rumors they spread were heard by Sister Yan again, so we were also lured here. This is also possible. But in any case, these are our speculations. And, Brother Li said that the closer you get to that big glowing tree, the fewer monsters there will be. Whether the reason is because there are monsters below or because the spiritual veins are entangled there to create a place of divine power. We still don’t know. One...well...if there is even a slight possibility of finding the Qingluan Egg, we shouldn't leave here now."
"Well, yes, let's go over and give that guy Hou Bao a good beating. Alas, Brother Qian fought the three of them last time. Although he won, it was better to get rid of them then." Lu Pingchuan said. .
"It's always necessary to go take a look, but we still have to rely on Brother Li. If we go there rashly, we might suffer a loss, and Shangguan Hong might really be watching somewhere. I just want to go there quietly, no. How about we be spotted by Hou Bao and the others, and then we can confirm whether there is the Qingluan egg that Miss Tang is looking for?"
Just leaving like this, although it was the safest and most secure way, but after all, I didn't come close to go and look for it with my own eyes. Even though there was a high chance that there was no Green Luan Egg there, leaving like this, Tang Ping felt in her heart It is human nature to not feel at ease, so what Qian Chao said is a safer approach.
Several people nodded.
Tang Ping said:
"If all this is really arranged by Shangguan Hong, then she will definitely be guarding Wok Mountain here. If you want to harm others here without getting blood on your hands, there are two ways. One is to find a way to wake up the screen. Let it go through an earth-shaking toss; another more powerful method is to cast a spell to make Pingpeng give birth to a child in advance, which will inevitably make Pingpeng and all the monsters in the entire Shouwo Mountain go crazy... It is best not to be this kind of mantis. It’s a situation where the cicada and the oriole are behind.”
…
During the next journey, although there were no more monsters to worry about, the five of them still walked cautiously, deliberately hiding their figures among the rocks and trees. Even Lu Pingchuan remained quiet.
The towering tree with white light in the center of Shouwo Mountain is not flat, but is located among rocks. Qian Chao and others did not dare to approach the big tree directly. Under the tree, but after getting closer, I observed it carefully.
"Right there, they are hiding among some big rocks over there." Li Jian whispered, and then pointed with his hand. The direction of his finger was exactly where Hou Bao and others were hiding.
Qian Chao and others looked there carefully, and then Li Jian immediately said:
"careful!"
Then, the five people quietly saw a figure flickering among a few rocks, as if someone was looking out from between the rocks.
"Well, it seems to be the boy named Fan." Lu Pingchuan said.
Then Tang Ping pointed to a place and said:
"Look there."
Under the strong white light, a line of white steam steamed up from where Tang Ping pointed. The five people squinted their eyes and looked up carefully, and found that the white steam actually went straight into the thick black fog above. .
In order to see more clearly, under the leadership of Li Jian, the five people quietly changed their position. At this time, the terrain they were on was already very low. Under this situation, they could easily be spotted from nearby high places. , so the five people walked very carefully.
The place where the white steam was rising was a stone platform, facing the big tree and very close to where Hou Bao and others were hiding.
There is a floating flame on the empty brazier, and there is a suspended pottery cauldron above the flame. I don't know what has been boiled inside. The white steam goes straight upward and merges with the black mist above. These should be It was arranged by the ancestors of the Five Spirits.
"What's cooked in that?" Lu Pingchuan asked quietly.
"I don't know, but it's probably because of that thing that the black fog above is there." Tang Ping replied. She kept staring at the big glowing tree, squinting her eyes to look for possible traces of the Green Luan Egg. .
"Array!" Qian Chao suddenly said, his voice trembling slightly.
"What?"
Only then did the four companions realize that Qian Chao had fully used his Blue Eyes Technique at this time. The blue light in his eyes was looking straight at the stone platform, and the whites and pupils of his original eyes could not be seen at all. Under the eyelids are two shining beads of blue light.
"So it's here, no wonder I haven't been able to find it." Qian Chao murmured again.
There was a distance between the five people and the stone platform, but Qian Chao's Blue Eyes Technique didn't know whether it was due to frequent use or the improvement of his cultivation level. In short, it was as if he had advanced. He could clearly see there. After watching it for a while , Qian Chao became more and more excited, so he didn't even need a desk, he just took out a pen and paper, looked at the stone platform, and drew the scene on the stone platform on the spot.
"Here is the brazier and the pottery cauldron, and there are reliefs on it. Yeah, it looks like this. There is a tree, with two sleeping piglets sticking their heads out on the left and right. Well, the two piglets are surrounded by this tree. It is blocked, and it should refer to the ferocious beast screen, and the way they look like this probably explains the matter of the screen being blocked by the evil tree, and then there are layers of rune formations inside the stone platform. , ah... it’s so amazing. The ancestors’ methods of setting up formations were so incomparable. In such a vast Shouwo Mountain, the spiritual veins are very different from other places, but we can’t find any trace of formations along the way. , I didn’t expect that such a small arrangement in the center can control such a vast area, it’s really impressive!”
Although Qian Chao's eyes were still shining with blue light, it could be seen from the expression on his face that he was extremely excited at this time. Several companions rarely saw Qian Chao like this. The formation there must be extraordinary, and then he heard Qian Chao continued:
"That stone platform should be the safest place in the Wokou Mountain. Tang Yatou once said that this Pingpeng gives birth to a baby every five hundred years, which means that there will be a big chaos here every five hundred years, and then all the monsters here will They scrambled and fought like crazy, but look at the stone platform. It has been fine for so many years. Well, the flames and pottery cauldron above must have a lot to do with the black mist above. It is bound to block the Wushan Mountain. It is very important that they are safe and sound, and have you noticed that there are almost no rocks near the stone platform. They must be protected. It only happens once in five hundred years. The ancestors of the Five Spirits must have also expected this, so they were on the stone platform. Arrangements have been made on the platform. Under normal circumstances, as long as there is chaos here, a formation on the stone platform will inevitably be activated. Even if there is chaos here, the stone platform will be safe because of the barrier of the formation. Otherwise, If the stone platform is destroyed by the monsters here, no matter Pingpeng, at least the monsters here will have escaped long ago."
"Also, the embossed pig is also weird. Well, a ferocious beast like Ping Peng should have two souls in one body. There is a formation inside the embossed pig, which is a powerful formation that seals the soul. The Ping Peng will Ping Peng's two souls each separated some of them and were sealed in Xiaozhu's relief. The souls are incomplete. It is probably for this reason that Ping Peng has been sleeping. Well, Girl Tang, I probably understand what you mean about waking Ping Peng. The trick is to contaminate the piggy relief with dirt, and the formation will be temporarily disabled. The Pingpeng will surely wake up with its soul intact, and then there will be an earth-shaking torment. In that case, no one around here will be able to You can’t escape, but you can stay safe hiding on that stone platform.”
When Lu Pingchuan heard this, he immediately asked:
"Sister Tang also said that there is a way to make the Ping Peng give birth to babies in advance. How did you do that?"
"That is purely a method of controlling spirits, and has little to do with the formation." Tang Ping said, "Boy Qian, then... is that the place of power you mentioned, and is it the place where Qingluan can lay eggs?" place?"
"According to what you said, Qingluan's egg is the size of a small wine jar, but in this big tree, something the size of a small wine jar is really inconspicuous, and it's hard to tell whether this is the Land of Mighty Heaven. There is a powerful ferocious beast like Pingpeng here. Even if it has been sleeping, the power it exudes is enough to scare away the monsters here. Therefore... To determine whether there is the Green Luan Egg you are looking for, you can only go there. Just search carefully."
"But... won't we be discovered by Hou Bao and the others when we go there?" Tang Ping asked again.
After hearing this, Qian Chao suddenly smiled and said:
"I didn't dare to praise this Haikou before I saw this stone platform, but as long as you give me some more time, don't tell them to wake up Pingpeng. Even if someone makes Pingpeng give birth to a baby early, the whole wok guarding pheasant will be in a hurry. Yes, we can be safe and sound!"
