Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 16 Who Builds the Dangerous Wall
When Sheng Yuanyao blocked Liu Qingcang, several ghostly figures silently climbed over the wall and entered the back door of the business.

They were the assassins sent by Xu Bingkun.

The Tianxing Sword Sect, the Danxia Gang, and the City Lord's assassins are working together. Even if there is a group of loyal disciples protecting the cripple Shen Tang, this time the situation will be turned upside down.

As soon as I entered the backyard, I saw a little Taoist boy sitting alone by the pond, rubbing his hands in front of the campfire on the ground.

The aroma of roasted sweet potatoes wafts in the air.

The assassins looked at each other, but they all saw ruthlessness in each other's eyes.

Who made this kid so unlucky? Why is he roasting sweet potatoes so late at night!
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!" Everyone flew past the little Taoist boy, and the leader of the assassins slashed her neck with a sword.

Just as he thrust his sword, he suddenly heard a "Huh!" sound. There was no feedback from the tip of his sword making contact with anything...

He turned around in surprise and saw that the little Taoist boy who was roasting sweet potatoes just now had disappeared without a trace.

The smoke from the cooking stove curled up and spread across the courtyard. The turbid pond water seemed to twist, and for a moment it was impossible to tell where the night was and where the water was.

Even the people around me disappeared, leaving only the vast darkness.

"Oh no! It's an illusion!" the leader of the death squad shouted sternly, "Stop moving forward and form a defensive formation!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the chubby face of the little Taoist boy appeared in front of him again, eating a sweet potato in one hand and holding a small banner in the other, staring at him with his big black eyes.

The banner also had the words "divination by characters" written on it.

The leader of the death squad shouted angrily: "Who are you? You are playing tricks here!"

"You are not afraid?" Anuo was very confused. He turned his head to look at his small flag, and suddenly realized something. He reached out and flipped the flag to one side.

The other side turned over, and it was finally not "divination and fortune-telling", but "Human Emperor Banner" was written on it.

Anuo grinned: "Are you scared now?"

The assassins were genuinely filled with a sense of unspeakable fear. It wasn't because of the idiotic Emperor Banner, but rather because the child himself was incredibly strange. Their fear grew stronger, and they finally couldn't help but cry out, stabbing with their swords.

The white flag moved lightly.

The sound of ghosts crying suddenly resounded through the night.

The assassins only felt a churning in their heads and splitting headaches, and then nothing happened.

The ghostly cries ceased, and the courtyard became quiet once more. A pile of corpses lay scattered across the ground, their eyes wide open, as if they had just witnessed their most terrifying nightmare before their death.

"I said how could you not be afraid? I was afraid even when my master hit my butt with this stick." Anuo put away the small banner and went back to the west wing while chewing sweet potatoes.

Lu Xingzhou was sitting in the middle of the yard with his eyes closed. He slowly opened them and looked at Anuo jumping back with a doting look in his eyes.

Ah Nuo handed the small banner over: "Master, there is an evil spirit here."

Lu Xingzhou took the small banner, stared at it for a moment, frowned, and whispered, "They're not demons, but they've been contaminated... This means there's a demon lurking near Xiazhou and has come into contact with these people. Does Xu Bingkun know about this?"

…………

The night was as cool as water, and Dugu Qingli pushed Shen Tang to Lu Xingzhou's west wing courtyard.

Lu Xingzhou did not go back to the house to rest, nor did he continue to refine pills as usual.

He sat quietly in the courtyard, looking at the cold moonlight in the sky. Anuo moved a small stool to sit beside him and also looked up at the moon.

One big and one small, like sculptures.

Shen Tang found it a little funny and asked An Nuo quietly, "What are you looking at?"

Ah Nuo muttered, "Master said there were rabbits and osmanthus trees in the moon, and people were chopping trees, but I can't see anything. Master just didn't want me to think the moon was a pill, so he lied to me that there were people inside and I couldn't eat it."

Lu Xingzhou said helplessly: "I'm not lying to you. If I have someone, you can eat him?"

Ah Nuo drooled: "But it looks delicious!"

Lu Xingzhou casually stuffed a piece of candy into her mouth: "Remember to brush your teeth and rinse your mouth after eating, then go to bed. I have something to tell Miss Shen."

Anuo moved his cheeks as he ate the candy, wanting to say something but stopping himself.

"Are you trying to tell me again that you're a cultivator and won't get cavities, so you don't need to rinse your mouth? I don't know such a filthy kid."

"No..." Anuo sniffed: "Speaking of the moon, you haven't told me a story for a long time..."

"Be good." Lu Xingzhou rubbed her head: "Let's just talk for a few minutes. I'll tell you later, okay?"

"Okay." Anuo's expression brightened a little. He turned around to look at Shen Tang and the others, then ran into the house.

Not long after, he brought out a small tea table with teacups and teapots on it, and he obediently made tea for the guests.

Shen Tang felt that the little fat girl did not welcome him at all at first, and felt that she had disturbed her master from telling her a story. But after getting the promise that she would tell the story later, she became happy to entertain the guest.

In fact, this little girl is also very lonely inside.

She only has a master.

Everyone was speechless for a moment. The sound of tea being poured could be heard in the courtyard, making the night even more quiet.

Lu Xingzhou finally spoke, "Miss Shen, you've purged the sect today and hold unparalleled authority. Why don't you take this opportunity to promote your trusted followers and purge the remaining evildoers? Instead, you come to me. What's your business?" "You were gazing at the moon in the courtyard. Aren't you waiting for me to come find you?"

"That's not necessarily true." Lu Xingzhou smiled. "An alchemist really doesn't stay huddled by the alchemy furnace all day long. That kind of life is unbearable. Taking children to enjoy the scenery and telling stories is life."

"Then I guess I was mistaken." Shen Tang smiled simply, "I just came to thank you. Not only did you help guard the backyard, you even dragged Sheng Yuanyao into it. You really did your best to ensure that I was safe tonight."

"Since we're helping each other, we should be able to complete it. Later, I felt that I had done something unnecessary." Lu Xingzhou looked at Dugu Qingli and sighed, "I guessed that Miss Qingli was strong, but I didn't expect her to be this strong. If I had known this, I would have let them fight to their deaths. Especially Liu Qingcang, it would have saved me the trouble later."

"That's not good. I can't let Qingli's strength be exposed too obviously to the outside world, and I don't want to be targeted by the Demon Suppression Division as a wanted criminal. It's obviously best to handle it like tonight."

"Yeah." Lu Xingzhou hummed, but didn't say anything else.

The atmosphere seemed a little cold. Shen Tang hesitated for a long time before whispering, "Sir, what do you think of my killing?"

Dugu Qingli couldn't help but glance at her.

Are you okay? Knowing this person is 90% from the demonic sect, are you afraid he'll take issue with your mere act of killing?

I'm afraid his apprentice killed more people in the backyard just now than we did.

Lu Xingzhou smiled and said, "Miss Shen is actually worried that I will think that your gentleness before was fake, and your domineering attitude tonight is your true nature. Then I will suspect that you are pretending to be me and become wary and distant from you from now on."

Shen Tang remained silent.

Dugu Qingli was slightly stunned. So that's how it is.

This man has such a clear heart.

Lu Xingzhou raised his teacup and saluted: "The tenderness in people's hearts is only given to certain things. I am very glad that you are not a little sun that is gentle to everyone. Thank you for your special treatment, and I toast to you."

Shen Tang sighed, smiled again, and clinked his glass.

The two drank it in one gulp. Lu Xingzhou put down his cup and said, "But young lady, we have helped each other this time and it was a pleasure working together. From now on, we can each live our own lives. There is no need to treat us differently just because we are in wheelchairs."

Shen Tang looked at him quietly for a while, then nodded: "Okay."

The conversation ended there.

Lu Xingzhou looked at Dugu Qingli a few more times. The little white-haired boy still didn't say a word from beginning to end, like a puppet.

Yes, that's how Baimao should be. Lu Xingzhou shrugged: "Anuo, let's go back and tell the story."

Anuo was overjoyed and jumped up.

Dugu Qingli pushed Shen Tang far away before finally whispering, "He's well aware of all the changes here. It must be the result of his formation. I was wondering how he knew I was spying on him the other day..."

"Ah."

Dugu Qingli seemed to want to say something but stopped himself.

You don't care about being under surveillance for a long time?
What about us taking a shower?
She didn't ask that question after all, but just said, "Are you really afraid that he will have an opinion of you, so you come here to explain it?"

Shen Tang was a little absent-minded and still just said "hmm".

"What on earth are you thinking about?"

Shen Tang finally said, "He's a rare talent... He may seem to be armed with cold scheming, but in reality, if you treat him well, he'll return the favor."

Dugu Qingli thought about Lu Xingzhou's actions in this incident and nodded in agreement: "So you just think this person should be befriended, that's all?"

Shen Tang pursed his lips and said, "That's all."

Dugu Qingli asked again, "Now that you've helped each other, and he believes your special treatment of him is genuine, then logically you should start to become close friends. Why have you suddenly become more distant, saying you want to live your own lives? And you clearly intended to be friends, so why did you end it so abruptly?"

Shen Tang burst out laughing: "The Imperial Master asked you to come out of seclusion, is it because he wants you to learn more about the ways of the world?"

Dugu Qingli shook his head: "I don't know what Master thinks, and I think it's meaningless for me to read these."

"If it's meaningless, why are you asking questions like a curious baby?"

"Since I want to protect your safety, I must be aware of everything around you. This person is the most unsolved variable around you, and you should be aware of this."

Shen Tang looked up at the gentle moonlight, and after a long pause, he said, "I am a dangerous wall, and so is he. Now he doesn't want to implicate you and me. We have offended the city lord, and the external enemies are still there. We are in trouble, so why should we implicate him?"

Dugu Qingli frowned slightly, feeling puzzled, but ultimately did not ask any more questions.

So as not to be mistaken for a curious baby.

Although she felt that this couple was not normal, how could they have such tacit understanding with each other?

Anuo is more normal and powerful... If the person to be protected was Anuo, it wouldn't be so troublesome.

But Shen Tang smiled and said, "Even if it's just to complete the mission better, since you're willing to talk to me so much, it means you're not completely cold. Then you can just ask him directly. I think he'd like it very much... After all, he looked at you eight times in just a few words."

Dugu Qingli finally showed some of the annoyance of a young girl: "I'm not a curious baby, and there's no need for him to see it."

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PS: Today is the last day of the new book event. Everyone remember to go to the event page to collect badges and participate in the lottery.

(End of this chapter)