Gu Shengchao left Gaosheng Inn and planned to go back to his room to rest. He guessed that Liu Ximei was worried about his safety and could not sleep, so she was still waiting for him to return safely in the guest room. As soon as he turned the corner, a man in black walked up to him and said with cupped hands: "Thank you for saving my life, sir. I'm polite."
Judging from the man's attire, he should be the man who shot Liao Weikang three arrows outside the house. The situation was urgent at that time, and Gu Shengchao did not see the man's face clearly, but he could only identify it from the curved bow he carried on his back.
"This eldest brother deserves the award. It's just a coincidence. It's just a trivial matter." Gu Shengchao said politely, seeing that he was obviously older than himself.
The man said gratefully: "Young master, what are you talking about? You are a great benefactor to my people. I was entrusted by my people to prepare a vehicle specially. I troubled my benefactor to accompany me to my residence. My people would like to thank me in person."
Gu Shengchao looked over and saw a car parked on the roadside. The driver stood aside and waited patiently.
"This..." Gu Shengchao didn't think that he had done a big thing. Besides, Liao Weikang was killed after being trapped by Lu Chuan's Five Soul Array, which had no direct relationship with him.
But the man pulled him and left, "My benefactor, please don't refuse. If I can't invite you, I will make my tribe blame me when I go back." The man pulled Gu Shengchao into the car, and then he After Gu Shengchao sat down, the coachman drove the carriage slowly.
In the car, the man briefly introduced the whole story. The man's name was Ran Dengjia, a native of Xileng, who came to the Dawu Dynasty with his people to do fur business. They had just arrived in the capital and were not familiar with the place. After being introduced, they contacted Liao Weikang, the left envoy of King Wu's palace. Liao Weikang promised them the safety of doing business, but he would take 20% of the profits. So they invested in setting up a trading company and started working. The first two years were normal. With the protection of Wu Wangdian, no one dared to bully them. The profits were huge, and they also paid their dividends in full according to the agreed ratio.
In the third year, the business became more and more prosperous, and the capital turnover was difficult and the manpower was too busy. Liao Weikang introduced someone to join the company, but he had to share 10% of the profits. After everyone thought about it and thought it was feasible, they agreed. After everyone worked in harmony for another year, Liao Weikang suddenly turned against him, saying that they had deceived him because of their unclear accounts, and kicked them out of the business. Only then did they discover that the new investor turned out to be one of Liao Weikang's own, and had already figured out all aspects of the firm's operations. The firm actually became Liao Weikang's own business. They worked hard for several years and made Liao Weikang's wedding dress.
They were angry and went to Wuwangdian for comment. However, the store bully ignored them and went to Liao Weikang many times to argue with no result. The clan leader was really angry and stepped forward to beat Liao Weikang. Unexpectedly, Liao Weikang was ruthless and beat the clan leader to death in a few punches. Everyone was in a foreign land, and they were yelling at each other every day.
Ran Dengjia knew that he could not defeat Liao Weikang, so he relied on his superior archery skills to secretly attack him, but he was discovered and almost lost his life. He returned slowly and saw Liao Weikang dead on the way, so he quickly contacted the clan members and dragged Liao Weikang's body back to pay homage to the clan leader. He waited outside, waiting for Gu Shengchao.
The carriage jolted, obviously leaving the capital. The carriage stopped while the two were talking and came to a spacious courtyard. A memorial shed was set up in the yard, and spiritual flags fluttered in the wind to express grief for the deceased.
"My benefactor is here." The driver jumped out of the carriage and reported to everyone.
As soon as Gu Shengchao got down from the car, a girl wearing heavy mourning was helped by others and knelt down in front of him, crying: "My benefactor, thank you for avenging the murder of your father."
"Please get up quickly." Gu Shengchao felt guilty after receiving such a great gift and quickly helped the woman up. The woman has a beautiful face, and her pear blossoms look pitiful. Her beautiful eyes are red and swollen from crying and look very haggard.
Now that Gu Shengchao had arrived, he knelt in front of the portrait of the patriarch and burned incense. He saw Liao Weikang's body chopped into several pieces and placed on the case. After he stood up, people kept saluting him to express their gratitude, which made him even more uncomfortable. Gu Shengchao stayed for a while and was about to leave. Several people rushed to send him back to the capital.
"Thank you for your kindness. I don't want others to know where I live in the capital, lest the bad guys find out and it will be detrimental to my family. It is most appropriate for me to return alone. Please forgive me." Gu Shengchao declined everyone's kindness.
Everyone was helpless and Ran Dengjia sent him away.
"What are your plans in the future?" Gu Shengchao asked.
Ran Dengjia sighed and said in frustration: "The trading bank cannot be taken back. We will return to the Serang Kingdom after attending the funeral for the clan leader. We will not come here again."
Gu Shengchao reminded: "You must dispose of Liao Weikang's body. King Wu Palace is deeply entangled and powerful in the Dawu Dynasty. Be careful of getting into trouble."
Ran Dengjia said in a low voice: "Time is running out and we will conduct the funeral immediately, and the thief's body will be burned cleanly. It is too far away for the clan leader to bring him back. We have found a secluded place to bury him. No tombstones or graves are left. Others It won’t be found.”
"That's good, take care!"
"Take care of yourself!"
The two said goodbye, and the Ancient Sage returned to the capital as fast as flying. After confirming that no one was following him, he returned to Donglai Inn. Sure enough, the lights were on in the guest room, and Liu Ximei was reading "Iron Arm Magic" under the lights, waiting for the safe return of the ancient sage Chao.
"You're back, you make me so worried." Liu Ximei dropped the book and threw herself into Gu Shengchao's arms, acting like a girl.
"It's okay, I'm not coming back!" Gu Shengchao hugged her and was extremely happy, and the fatigue of the whole day was gone.
The two hugged each other and slept. Gu Shengchao told Liu Ximei what happened that day, and told her that the time of return was uncertain in the future, so not to wait. Liu Ximei happily agreed and fell asleep sweetly in Gu Shengchao's arms.
Early the next morning, Gu Shengchao rushed to Gaosheng Inn. Fan Lixin was already waiting for him. When he saw him, he asked: "Why did Liao Weikang's body disappear last night? I sent people there to find it but couldn't find it. Could it be that Wu Wangdian found it?" What?"
Gu Shengchao told the truth and said that Liao Weikang's body had been disposed of. Fan Lixin said with relief: "That's good. Your Highness also meant to find a place to bury it. Let's not make it public first and see what changes happen in King Wu Palace. Also, he killed Liao Weikang last night. Can you recommend those two seniors to me? If your Highness is looking for talents, I would like to recruit them for you."
"I'm afraid they will disappoint His Highness. They only came here for the disciple Ding Ying who is imprisoned in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment. They did not ask for him." Gu Shengchao refused on Lu Chuan's behalf. He knew that Lu Chuan would not agree even if he was present.
Fan Lixin smiled: "If His Highness agrees to provide them with farmland and silver, and reward them in the name of the Holy One, he can open a sect and recruit disciples from all over the world. Do you think this condition is satisfactory?"
"Oh, then let me tell you and then reply to Brother Fan!" This condition was so tempting that Gu Shengchao didn't dare to make the decision casually.
Fan Lixin patted Gu Shengchao on the shoulder and said with some embarrassment: "And when you see everyone in Longhu Village again, don't conflict with them. From now on, we are all our own people, so don't fight and kill them anymore. .”
"What?" Gu Shengchao couldn't believe it.
Fan Lixin coughed and said: "Last night I personally went to the house you mentioned, which is the property of the Ministry of Punishment, and met Xue Kui and others. After they heard that Liao Weikang was killed, they immediately expressed their willingness to follow His Highness the Ninth Prince. I promise Just follow His Highness and forget about their past. Brother Shengchao has had some issues with them. I hope we can get along with each other peacefully in the future and not cause trouble."
The ancient sage laughed happily and said: "I don't care, it depends on Wuyou Escort Agency, they are mortal enemies."
"I will explain to the Wuyou Escort Agency. Qi Tianzeng, the young master of the Escort Agency, is reasonable and should be able to understand." Fan Lixin asked cautiously: "I wonder what the water properties of Brother Shengchao are and how long they can hide in the water?"
The ancient sage said confidently: "At least for a moment, I should be able to hold on for a while longer."
Fan Lixin was very surprised and looked at Gu Shengchao in disbelief: "It's been so long, whether it's true or not, this is a matter of life and death."
Gu Shengchao laughed and said: "To be honest, Brother Fan, I was forced to fish in the water when I was a child. Only then did I develop my water skills and I won't lie to others."
Fan Lixin was overjoyed and handed Gu Shengchao a map and explained: "This is a detailed topographic map of the palace. Your Highness wants Brother Shengchao to explore the palace tonight. Since Wen Zhe can invite King Wu's Palace for his use, I’m afraid there are other secrets that we don’t know, what do you think of Brother Shengchao?”
"No problem." Gu Shengchao agreed readily. Fan Lixin pointed at the map and said: "The palace is heavily guarded. It is impossible to sneak in over the wall. The only feasible passage is here." He pointed there with his finger and said: "It's right here. There is a moat outside the palace. The water in the garden pool in the palace is connected to the moat from here. The moat overflows the embankment all year round. If you want to enter through this passage, you must enter the water from here so as not to be discovered by the people on the palace wall." He Pointing to another place, he worriedly said: "You must dive all the way into the water from here, and go through the underwater passage to the palace pool to take a breath. We have made calculations and it is impossible to pass if you hold your breath for less than a moment."
Gu Shengchao thought for a while and said: "There is no guardrail in the middle of the passage. Can they trust people to swim in?"
Fan Lixin stroked his beard and said: "There are guardrails, but they were many years ago, and they must be rusty now. Besides, there are very few people with excellent water skills, so the palace has neglected to mention this."
The two of them studied the palace map carefully, and Fan Lixin finally let Gu Shengchao go back to rest and recharge his batteries for the night's action.
Gu Shengchao was worried about Ran Dengjia and the others, fearing that there would be some mistakes left by improper handling last night. He borrowed a fast horse from Gaosheng Inn and went to check it out. He saw thick smoke billowing from a distance. When he got closer to the courtyard, he found that the courtyard had been reduced to ruins by fire and all the buildings collapsed. Gu Shengchao inquired about the surrounding villagers, and one villager said regretfully: "We didn't know either. The fire started to burst into the sky just before dawn. We thought it was a fire. Who would have thought that there was no one in the yard long ago? The fire was too big." It couldn't be put out, so we had to watch the house collapse. It's a shame, in such a good yard."
The ancient sage was so relieved that he returned to the inn and explained the situation to Liu Ximei. He slept peacefully in the guest room during the day and only waited for the night to take action.
