Chapter Sixteen: Thick Fog

  Bihuan hadn't even spoken yet, but Su Feng jumped in and said: "Brother Liang, Bihuan isn't that kind of person."

  Bihuan gently pulled Su Feng's hand and said, "It doesn't matter, I know that Liang...Liang Ge is a special person, originally didn't want to trouble you all. But this time, on the way to Zhejiang, I...or else, let me make an oath."

  Liǎng Tuō ér burst out laughing, completely unlike his serious tone before. "Are you kidding me? What's there to reveal about my identity? If you go tell people in the Jianghu that Liǎng Tuō ér was able to sneak around and steal everything under the sun before he even came of age, how many people would believe it? You actually fell for it, haha."

  Su Feng and Bi Han exchanged a glance, and they couldn't help but burst out laughing with a "pfft" sound.

  Liang Ze's smile faded, and he said: "If I'm not mistaken, the Murong family is in Qiantang. It's already late tonight, let's rest well and set off together early tomorrow morning. We'll head to Jianye first, then take a boat from there to Qiantang. This way is the safest."

  Bi Han looked at him with some surprise, "How did you know where the Murong family is? They are famous in Jianghu but have always been low-key and few people know their exact location. How do you know?"

  Liang Ze's eyes sparkled with mystery as he smiled, "This is a secret I've never revealed. Alright, it's probably already past two watches now, and we still have to rush on the road tomorrow morning, so let's all get some rest."

  She turned around with the wind, looking towards the outside of the door, and the half-open red wooden door revealed a patch of black night in the mountains. With the gentle breeze, she walked slowly to the entrance, where the bluestone slab at the doorway was wet and gleaming with a silver light. It wasn't until she reached the entrance that she realized the rain in the mountains had stopped, and a thick earthy scent hit her face. Lifting her head, a bright moon was half-hidden behind the clouds, sometimes shining brightly and sometimes obscured by darkness. She didn't know whether the clouds were chasing after the moon or the moon was breaking through the clouds to move forward.

  The moon is hidden and the stars are visible, but perhaps it's just that the night sky isn't clear, and the starry sky isn't brilliant. The distant mountains are all hidden in the darkness, leaving only a few black shadows, like roaring beasts, wanting to break free from the earth's restraints. It seems desolate and devoid of any vitality, yet hidden beneath this darkness is the faint sound of insects chirping, telling you that life is so close to you.

  "Here, this is Musk Nourishing Qi Pill, your internal injury is not light, take it and do some exercises at night to regulate it." Liang Tou'er's gentle voice came over, and with the wind, he was stunned for a moment, and his wandering thoughts were withdrawn. Turning his head to look, Liang Tou'er was standing beside him, handing over a small medicine bottle.

  He didn't say much and took it over, took out a pill and swallowed it, then handed it back.

  Liang Ze's smile, "Are you really unaware or what?"

  "Huh?" This time it was Feng's turn to be puzzled, "What are you talking about?"

  "Hehe, actually she has martial arts skills and her internal strength is not shallow." Liang Stealer said in a low voice.

  Dazed by the wind, she stared at Liang Tou'er with incredulity in her eyes, then turned her head to look towards the temple. Bi Han had already cleared a space and laid out a quilt, lying down to sleep.

  "Is she really skilled in martial arts? Was everything before just an act? So she saw me take out the Analyzing Heaven's Secret from my parents' grave? So when I was on the brink of death, she didn't care at all? Everything she showed was fake?" Wind's mind was filled with unstoppable question marks, as if countless voices were saying, "Was everything before just a deception?"

  A hand landed on his shoulder, interrupting all his thoughts. "You don't have to think too much, she might not be intentionally hiding something, there must be some unspoken secret. And what I find most strange is that her skills are deep but scattered and unfocused, as if she doesn't know how to control them at all. So I'm thinking, maybe her internal strength didn't come from cultivation, but was given to her by someone else. This would easily explain why she was so flustered earlier."

  She nodded slightly, feeling a bit more at ease. But her mind couldn't stop thinking about whether she had fainted on Mount Pangu or not. On one hand, she didn't seem like the kind of person who would pretend, but on the other hand, with internal energy in her body, it shouldn't be that easy for her to faint.

  "What are you thinking about with that distracted look on your face?" Liang Tou'er asked, nudging him with her arm.

  "Huh?!" Xiang Feng finally reacted, "I wasn't thinking of anything."

  Liang Tou'er took another look at Bi Han and whispered, "If what she said is true and she's really Zhao Fengzhang's daughter, it's not hard to guess. Maybe you don't know, but two months ago, there was news from the Wind and Moon Building that someone had dug up a treasure in Xinning West Suburbs. But what this treasure actually is, there wasn't even a hint of information. Not even the Wind and Moon Building had any concrete news, so people on the rivers and lakes didn't believe it and just treated it as a topic for conversation, and the matter quickly passed. I originally thought so too. But in less than two days, Master suddenly sent me a message to go to Xinning to investigate whether this was true or not."

  The thief paused, collected his thoughts and said: "Master usually doesn't contact me easily, so this matter must be extraordinary. I followed Master's instructions and secretly went to Xinning. What happened next, can you guess?"

  It sounds very interesting when I heard it from the wind, but I don't know if he has found any news. Can only accompany a smile and say: "I really can't guess, you continue to talk."

  Liang Ze's son smiled softly and said, "I ran to all the inns and restaurants in Xinning, asking people if they knew anything about it. They all shook their heads and denied it. The inn is a mixed place, but no one mentioned the auspicious sign. This is really unusual. Later, I had no choice but to go to the western suburbs. I asked some farmers privately, but even when there was no one around, they still firmly denied it. Finally, it was a young cowherd boy who whispered to me that his mother told him to tell me not to ask anymore, or else everyone would be in danger."

  Suddenly startled, he said: "That represents this matter is probably true, they must have reached a tacit understanding not to mention it again for some special reason."

  Liang Ze nodded, "I think so too, what kind of reason do you think it is?"

  "It's clear that only the imperial court has the ability to make so many people, from commoners to farmers, all keep quiet about this matter."

  "Rightly said!" Liang Ze nodded in agreement, "Since we know that the auspicious sign indeed existed, there's no need to investigate further. I made a trip to the imperial palace and secretly flipped through the previous memorials, thinking that even if it was some time ago, it might still be mentioned. But there was no clue, and I also eavesdropped on several conversations between the emperor and his ministers, but they didn't mention the auspicious sign at all, not even mentioning Xian Ning. So what do you think? Whose hands will this thing fall into?"

  He stroked his head with the wind and sighed softly: "Does this still need to be guessed? It must be Li Linfu. He used the excuse of killing Zhao Fengzhang, I'm afraid it's not just because he was afraid that he would impeach him and the emperor would see it, but also to seal his mouth. After all, Zhao Fengzhang was the governor of Xianning, only by passing this level could he have the possibility of swallowing this so-called auspicious omen. But what is this auspicious omen after all? Could it be some kind of innate immortal object?"

  Liange shook his head, "I'm not quite clear about this, I think it's unlikely to be a natural phenomenon, it's very likely that some ancient mysterious objects really existed. Otherwise, Li Linfu didn't need to react so much, he could just tell the emperor that there was no such thing and it would be fine. However, this matter can still be investigated further, think about it, Li Linfu, a prime minister of his generation, with power dominating the court, what would be worth him taking such a great risk? If the emperor finds out that he privately stored auspicious objects and refused to report them, he will definitely be put to death."

  "Could it be...?" A sudden gust of wind shocked him, and he had a guess in his heart, but was severely shocked.

  Liange nodded slightly and said, "I had also suspected this before. Combining Li Linfu's actions over the past few years, it is highly likely that this is indeed the case. However, despite his great power at present, he still does not dare to openly reveal himself. Originally, I wanted to hurry to Shandong and then head to Chang'an to thoroughly investigate Li Linfu. But the appearance of Miss Zhao has changed my mind."

  Looking at the puzzled gaze, Liang Stealer smiled slightly and continued: "It's normal for you to feel strange, as you don't often walk in Jianghu. So you don't know that Xian Ning Taishou Zhao Fengzhang had some fame in Jianghu before he entered officialdom. His swordsmanship was extremely good, known as the 'Scholar Swordsman'. However, after he turned to imperial examinations, he became somewhat reclusive in Jianghu, so his reputation wasn't well-known. But he still has some connections in Jianghu, why would he willingly suffer under the persecution of the treacherous minister?" As he spoke, Liang Stealer glanced at Bi He inadvertently, as if hinting at something.

  With a slight thought, he understood the meaning, "Your meaning is that he has passed on all his skills to Bi He?"

  "More than that, Li Linfu's ambition is to ascend to the throne and take the place of the current emperor. As for the dragon energy and heavenly mandate mentioned in legends, they are nothing but a few mythical objects such as the Imperial Seal, the Xuan Yuan Sword, and the Nine Provinces Cauldron. The Imperial Seal is currently in the hands of the emperor, while the Nine Provinces Cauldron has been scattered into nine parts across the land, and it's said that only when all the parts are collected will it have any effect. But so far, no one has ever heard of anyone successfully collecting them all. As for the Xuan Yuan Sword, it's even more impossible to obtain, as legend has it that this sword was bestowed upon the Yellow Emperor by the heavenly gods and goddesses. It has been passed down through generations of Chinese emperors until it finally disappeared during the reign of Yu the Great after being lost in the wars between the Xia and Shang dynasties for over 500 years and thirteen generations. So, the so-called auspicious sign that has appeared is probably just some other obscure object related to dragon energy. But what's most interesting is Zhao Fengzhang's reaction. As someone who has also been on the Jianghu, how could he not know about the rule of killing people to silence them? He must have foreseen this and passed his powers onto Bi Huan. And as one of the few people in the know, he was already dissatisfied with Li Linfu's actions, so why would he easily hand over the auspicious sign?"

  "So you think the treasure was switched by him? Is the real treasure actually on Bi Huan's body?" Following the wind took over Liang Tou Er's words and continued to question: "But if that's the case, Li Lin Fu would have discovered something wrong quickly and sent more assassins to kill her. However, those so-called assassins I saw before were just ordinary martial artists, not like they had practiced advanced martial arts. If she really had such an important object on her body, how could Li Lin Fu, a cunning person, be at ease sending out such mediocre assassins?"

  Liange shook his head and said, "Judging from Li Linfu's reaction, he should have gotten what he wanted. But I always feel that if he really just wanted to save Bihe's life, he could have escaped from Xianning and taken his daughter into hiding himself. There's no reason why he would only pass on his internal energy to her and then calmly await death. So, he must have given something to Zhao Niangzi, and this thing is probably extremely crucial, without which Li Linfu wouldn't be able to get what he wants. Li Linfu probably doesn't know yet, or else he wouldn't be so calm. However, the time he can keep it hidden is probably limited, and this journey may not be peaceful."

  Suī fēng xiàn zài yǒu xī tiān jué zài shǒu, dào yě bù shì tè bié zháo jí qù xún huā jiǔ gōng xué huí tiān gōng le. Suǒ yǐ biàn xiǎng hé bì hán yī dào qián qù zhē jiāng dàng zuò yī zhǒng jiāng hú lì liàn.

  "Why did you agree to send Bi Huan to find the Murong family?" He had been wondering why Liang Ze would agree to send Bi Huan to find the Murong family, so he asked directly.