Chapter 24: The Xiang Fu Conspiracy

  "You all take a look at this eleventh chapter: Tang Wang Zhen's good deeds in his previous life led to his rebirth, and Xiao Yu Zheng's soul was freed from the empty gate. I've heard that the underworld's wheel of reincarnation is where the spirits of the dead reside, but what does it mean to borrow a corpse to revive one's soul? Is it saying that a person's spirit can be taken away by the underworld and then reborn into someone else's body?"

  Bo Ya stroked his white beard and looked at Li Xiao and Xue Ningfeng.

  Xue Ningfeng hesitated for a moment before saying:

  "Many documents are not true, if they were really collected by the underworld, the body should also be taken away, how can the soul leave the body and speak? The soul is the foundation of the body, the body is the root of the soul, the two complement each other, lacking one is impossible."

  This is a well-known principle, but Li Xiao had never heard of it before.

  Bo Ya frowned and looked at Li Xiao.

  "In fact, in my view, this should be another world."

  Li Xiao's words sparked Bo Ya Zi's interest, and he nodded for him to continue speaking.

  "The imperial court and fairy world in the text are different from most of them here, so we should regard it as another imaginary world constructed by the author."

  "Hmm, you little guy makes sense. The Tang Dynasty, on the great land of my divine state, has never appeared before, so it can be considered as the imaginative world of the literary master Er Gou."

  Bo Ya nodded, and even Xue Ningfeng was drawn in by Li Xiao's words.

  In the original work, the human body is a shell that carries the soul. The soul is the foundation of everything, with its own will and thoughts. When the body decays and can no longer carry the soul, the soul returns to the underworld, reincarnates, erases all memories, and possesses a new body, thus repeating the cycle.

  In the text, Yan Wang's duty is to hook people's souls, determine their life and death, and each person has a lifespan in Yan Wang's book of life and death. If one's lifespan is up, even if the body has not decayed, the soul will be hooked away, which is equivalent to death.

  This eleventh chapter tells the story of Emperor Taizong's younger sister's death, whose soul was hooked away while her body had not yet decayed. Liu Quan's wife also had an unfulfilled lifespan but died unexpectedly. Therefore, Yan Wang returned her soul and borrowed Emperor Taizong's younger sister's body to reincarnate, which is the story of "borrowing a corpse to return a soul".

  This is what Li Xiaoyue wrote before, if you don't understand it then that's fake.

  "So that's how it is, now that you've explained it, I feel enlightened. Actually, the world constructed by Er Lang is a perfect one, with a real underworld and reincarnation cycle, where all lives are reborn, this is the true way."

  Bo Ya seemed lost in thought. Xue Yingxue glanced at the time and realized it was getting late, but they still had to rush to the Left Prime Minister's mansion for his birthday celebration, yet she didn't want to interrupt Bo Ya's contemplation.

  Li Xiao also seemed to have noticed Xue Ningfeng's thoughts and suddenly spoke up:

  "Bo Ya Zi Da Shi, where is our Jade Green Dragon?"

  Xue Ningfeng felt somewhat unnatural about this, thinking to herself that Li Xiao's face was too thick-skinned. Bo Ya hadn't even said he would give them the Jade Dragon yet, and already he was saying it was his.

  Bo Ya, who was deep in thought, was startled and stared at Li Shuo with wide eyes.

  "You little scamp, you almost scared me to death. The Jade Green Dragon is placed in the cabinet below, go find it yourself, don't bother me again, I still need to think deeply about this, the meaning of the two great masters' writings is indeed worth deep contemplation."

  As he spoke, Bo Ya Zi closed his eyes and meditated deeply. Li Xiao and Xue Jingfeng bid farewell to the old man and walked down a level. In a front cabinet, there was a jade box. The two opened it and saw a majestic dragon with great momentum.

  A horse's face, a demon's eyes, deer horns, a snake's body, the entire dark dragon is vivid and lifelike, soaring through the clouds, gazing down at the rivers and mountains for thousands of miles!

  "No wonder Master Boya said this was his masterpiece, it's indeed a top-notch jade piece, even better than the Jade Qilin!"

  Xue Ningfeng's face lit up with joy, Li Xiao covered the jade box and took it away along with the box itself.

  This Jade Qinglong is slightly larger than the Jade Qilin, and the box that originally held the Jade Qilin naturally couldn't hold it. Xue Ningfeng hadn't expected Li Xiao to be so direct, not even saying a word to Bo Ya Zi, and just left with the Jade Qinglong and its box.

  Before leaving, the two of them still managed to hang up the wooden door that Li Xiao had kicked down, otherwise all the jade in the house would be stolen and it would be troublesome.

  "I didn't expect Brother Li to have such insight, even Master Bo Ya Zi praised your explanation with a smile, it seems that Brother is indeed hiding his true abilities."

  Xue Ningfeng was somewhat surprised at Li Xiao's performance, but Li Xiao just smiled lightly:

  "You actually believed what I said? Actually, I was just trying to deceive that old man with my words, and you thought I really had such eloquence?"

  Xue Ningfeng heard this and couldn't help but cover her mouth with a smile. This guy Li Xiao, she was getting more and more confused about him.

  The Xiangfu is located in the center of Donglan City, where there are heavy troops on hand, and with the Imperial Academy also situated in the city, it's naturally not dangerous.

  It's extremely difficult for ordinary people to enter the Left Prime Minister's mansion, but Li Xiao and Xue Yingxue were wearing the national academy uniform, and today happened to be the Left Prime Minister's birthday, so naturally no one dared to stop them.

  The Left Prime Minister's mansion is extremely spacious and compared to the elegant National Academy, it has an added touch of luxury and extravagance.

  Night pearls and precious agate decorations can be seen everywhere, and tiger skin ivory is collected in various large halls. The Left Prime Minister's mansion was filled with guests, and there were many from the Imperial Academy alone.

  Soon, Li Xiao and Xue Ningfeng's figures were received by a butler-like person, and the gifts also had special servants to collect them.

  "Please, the two of you are students of Guo Xueyuan, come this way. This side is all students of Guo Xueyuan. You can rest in your guest room for now, and after Zuo Xiang gets up, we will be able to entertain everyone."

  The housekeeper, who looked over forty years old, spoke very smoothly and led Li Xiao and Xue Ningfeng into a spacious guest room before excusing himself and leaving.

  Today, there were too many people at the Prime Minister's residence, and it was probably busy for everyone in the Prime Minister's residence. Thinking about this, Li Xiao felt relieved.

  Pushing open the door, many pairs of eyes suddenly turned to look this way. Li Xiao looked inside and unexpectedly caught sight of Wang Qi's figure. In his heart, he secretly sneered - it seemed that this trip to the Prime Minister's estate was going to be lively after all.

  "Please come in, fellow students of Guo Xue Yuan. Let's dispense with formalities and take a seat."

  There were about eighteen students in the room, plus Li Xiao and Xue Ningfeng, making a total of twenty.

  "Sister, why have you come so late?"

  A woman who looked a few years older than Xue Ningfeng, also veiled, with an unclear face, was pulled together with Xue Ningfeng.

  "Sorry, sister Jingzi, I was delayed by something on the way just now."

  Li Xiao looked at this woman and felt a sense of familiarity.

  However, she was Xue Ningfeng's sister, and he couldn't very well stare at her either.

  "So it was you, follow me, it's been a long time since we sisters met, I have some things to talk to you about."

  Xue Ningfeng's sister Yu Guang swept a glance at Li Xiao, then pulled Xue Ningfeng and left.

  Li Xiao walked into the crowd and sat down quietly, looking around, Li Xiao felt that the atmosphere was a bit off.

  "How dare you! Li Xiao, you good-for-nothing in the academy, sneaking into the Left Prime Minister's residence, what is your intention? Confess the truth!"

  Wang Qi let out a stern shout, and more than ten Guo Xueyuan disciples were staring coldly at Li Xiao.

  "I was clearly with Xue Ningfeng..."

  "Shut up! Is Xue Ningfeng also someone you can call? You said Xue Shimei brought you here, who saw it? We clearly saw you sneaking in, wanting to harm the Prime Minister's residence. Don't you dare to confess?"

  A man with a strong presence stood up, his eyes gleaming like electricity, coldly staring at Li Xiao.

  Li Xiao took a deep breath, and it seemed that everything was indeed a conspiracy against him, just as Chun Yu Xi had said!

  "I'm surprised, you've gone to so much trouble, just to deal with a useless person like me?"

  He really didn't think that in everyone's eyes he was just a useless person, why would it be worth using Xue Ningfeng to lure him out, completely unnecessary.

  "Hmph, since you asked, I'm not afraid to let you know. You've offended someone you shouldn't have, so you deserve to die!"

  Upon hearing this, Li Xiao thought for a moment. As Wang Qi's identity, it shouldn't be worth so many people lending a hand, and even Xuan Jing was secretly helping the other party.

  Suddenly, Li Xiao remembered Yang Wu Shi, who had gone blind before he entered the school. He said that a big shot wanted to sneak into the college, could it be this person?

  There was a faint sense of trust in her heart, but as she recalled the gaze of Xue Jingfeng's sister, a gleam of insight flashed through her mind.

  It's her!

  It was when I first entered school and saw women bathing in the girls' dormitory, thinking carefully, the fragrance on their bodies was all the same.

  Xue Ningfeng called her Sister Ningzi, so this woman should be called Xue Ningzi, also a student of the college. In that case, everything makes sense now.

  "Is it Shuai Ningzi?"

  As soon as Li Xiao spoke, all the students' faces changed color, apparently Li Xiao's guess was correct.

  "Hmph, since you already know, then you won't be leaving today! Entering the Marquis's residence without an invitation is a capital offense! You two, take him down!"

  Wang Qi spoke up, and the two martial artists behind him immediately responded. The two burly men with tiger-like backs and bear-like waists charged towards Li Xiao.

  "Hold on, today is the birthday of the Left Prime Minister, we don't want to start a killing spree. Li Xiao, if you immediately kneel down, cut off your own arms, and blind and deafen yourself, from now on, never acknowledge your identity as a student of Guo Xueyuan, we will spare your life."

  These words are truly cruel beyond measure. Not to mention asking Li Xiao to mutilate himself, just asking him to kneel down is absolutely impossible!

  "Oh? So you're saying I'm going to be eaten today?"

  Li Xiao coldly smiled. Since yesterday, after listening to Chun Yu Xi's analysis, Li Xiao had already been secretly on guard. If he hadn't truly opened up his meridians and directly advanced to the Tong Ling San Chong realm, he definitely wouldn't have come to the Left Prime Minister's estate to celebrate his birthday.

  "It's not that you're not worthy of being eaten, it's just that you don't even have the qualifications! Forget it, this guy is stubborn and ignorant. Zhang, Hou Wu Shi, take action! Break his legs and feet directly, then deal with him!"

  Wang Qi's eyes turned cold, and he had already formed a murderous intention towards Li Xiao.

  It can be said that Li Xiao and Wang Qi have reached a point of no return, only one of them will survive.

  The two martial artists' massive fists produced a series of cracking sounds, their mouths curled into cruel smiles as they reached out to grab Li Xiao's arms!

  "Recite——"

  At this moment, Li Xiao's entire Shaoyin Heart Meridian that had been opened up transformed into two mighty dragons roaring with anger in his arms, about to unleash an astonishing power!

  (Just about to explode, seeking recommendations, collections, and rewards support, anyone wants four more of 12,000?!?)