Chapter 41: The Bustling World of Qiankun Diagram (Middle)

  "Jun Yan, this is not the time to be arrogant, General Gao. We know your character, and Master Li doesn't believe you swallowed the thing either. It's just a horse, let's not get angry. The important thing now is to find the horse, that's the priority." Yu Zhen observed from the side and found that Gao Xiong's tone and actions didn't seem like he was acting, so she overturned her previous speculation. On the way here, she had already made a plan with Jun Yan, which was for him to play the white face, and when things reached this point, she would come out and play the red face, pushing the situation in their favor.

  "Hmph!" When Junyan heard Yuanchen speak up, he knew that Gaoyong's suspicion had been cleared, but he still pretended to be angry and hummed a sentence, turning his head away and not looking at Gaoyong.

  "Still, Yuanzhen speaks after thinking it through, unlike some people, at this time, still thinking about arguing. The thing that Master Li wants has not been found yet, and going back will be difficult for everyone to explain. I don't know if I can help with anything?" As soon as Gao Xiong heard Yuanzhen's words, he knew an opportunity had come, and he could take advantage of the chance to help to figure out what they were trying to do these past few days, and what secrets were hidden inside.

  "It's nothing, just that the horse was a birthday gift from our Li family to an important person, and now it's lost, we can't explain ourselves. That's why Junyan was so flustered earlier. I hope General Gao will understand, as long as the horse is found, General Gao's suspicion will be cleared immediately. Also, please trouble General Gao to call over the grooms who take care of those horses and ask them thoroughly, if there are any suspicious points, please inform us brothers as soon as possible, we still have important things to attend to." Yuan Zhen said, after finishing speaking, he pulled Junyan away to bid farewell.

  Jun Yan and Yuan Zhenyi came straight to the city master's mansion after leaving Feima Pasture's inner stronghold, telling Yang Wanshuo Li Mi's orders. Yang Wanshuo also dared not to be careless, and hurriedly ordered the closure of the four city gates, only allowing entry but not exit, those who disobeyed would be beheaded.

  The attic of the backyard pavilion in the inner city of Flying Horse Ranch.

  "Kaohsiung, did those two errand boys really say that?" a disheveled man asked.

  The man's hair was all scattered, and he lazily tied it up with a strip of silk behind his back. He wore a white shirt all over his body and was writing with a brush at the moment, while Gao Xiong, who had just been in the stable, was helping him grind ink beside him.

  This man's age should be quite old, at least over fifty, but his body is very strong and robust, his voice is full of magnetism, his eyes are also very spirited, the words he writes give people a first impression of being sharp and powerful, completely unlike something written by a fifty-year-old.

  "Returning to the old master, no mistake, that's exactly what they said, without a single word difference." Gao Xiong replied with his head down, his hands still grinding away.

  It's not hard to guess that after hearing Gao Xiong's answer, the only person who can get Gao Xiong to personally help with grinding ink and writing at the Flying Horse Ranch of the Gao family is probably the current head of the Gao family, Gao Kai.

  "This thing is a bit strange, three months ago they got on this line and we've been observing for nearly three months, but didn't find anything strange. Those horses are indeed top-notch, and the cold iron knives under their bellies are very sharp. However, during this period, we also intentionally lost or replaced one or two horses, but they didn't investigate. Why is the reaction so big this time?" Gao Kaicheng said in puzzlement.

  "I thought so too, that thing under the belly of that Ilkhan blood horse must be unusual. But we checked them all last night after entering the city, didn't we? They were all just ordinary iron swords. This noon when they sent soldiers to collect our horses, I also felt something was off. Now that I think about it, when they came to take the horses, I realized that Ilkhan blood horse was gone too. It seems they weren't lying." Gao Feng replied.

  "Oh? You mean to say that this horse was hidden by our own people?" Gao Kai Tong finally looked up at Gao Xiong.

  "It's not ruled out that it might be some bold underlings who sold the horse as a regular horse and then ate up the difference in price, bringing back an ordinary horse to make up for it. I just checked this afternoon which underlings of the horse traders had handed over their sales money, and found that Zhang Dati, the big-bearded one, had handed over his sales money from the east wing of the courtyard. So I used his wife and children as leverage to get some information out of him," Gao Feng said.

  "Hmm, okay," Gao Kai Tong said. No praise, no blame, meaning you continue speaking.

  "He admitted that the Ili Khan blood horse was indeed sold by him to a young guest at the East Street Wang Lao's inn, and this young man would leave the city in the afternoon. What should we do now?" Gao Xiong asked.

  "No rush, didn't the person you sent to follow those two runners come back and report that they went to Yang Wanshuo's place? The information bought with silver said that they wanted Yang Wanshuo to seal off all four city gates, only allowing people in but not out. It seems that Li Mi has helped us a lot, that young man who bought the horse is definitely unable to leave. We just need to go to Old Man Wang's shop and look for him, right? Ah, Li Mi also lives there, doesn't he? This is really troublesome. Alright, you go out and spread the news later, say that someone outside the East City has found a sweat-blood horse, it will definitely lure them away. Once they leave, spread another rumor that the Qiankun diagram on the sweat-blood horse has fallen into Li Mi's hands, got it?" said Gao Kaitong.

  "Good, good, good move to borrow a knife to kill someone! The temptation of the Dry Heaven Chart is greater than anything else. Once this news comes out, it will definitely be able to stir up the four directions and make them move." Gao Xiong heard this and quickly patted his horse.

  "Hmm, thanks to this big sky, if it weren't for his words, how would Li Mi lose that precious thing? Something that Li Mi has been planning for over three months and is now personally coming to retrieve must be extraordinary. We'll pretend we don't know anything, but we must get our hands on it." Gao Kai said slowly, finishing a calligraphy piece with a flourish. As he glanced at the final line of characters, he felt an aura of sword energy emanating from them.

  Those words are "Yu Xiao blows through the Dragon's Cave", if Xiao Shouren were here now, he would definitely jump up, it seems that his reputation has really spread.

  "How dare you cheat me, you old scoundrel! How detestable! Extremely detestable!" Li Mi shouted loudly after returning to Wang Lao's inn, so angry that he almost smashed things.

  "Big brother, what's going on with this pass?" Junyan asked, while Yuanchen stood beside him without making a sound, just like a wooden puppet.

  "Hmph! That Gao Xiong must have already told that old scoundrel Gao Kai Tong about our business, no wonder I've been feeling like someone's been watching me all along." Li Mi said sternly.

  "Big brother, what are you talking about? Does Kaohsiung have that kind of guts?" Junyan continued to ask.

  "It's not like things in the world are that coincidental, just as we were looking for that horse, news suddenly spread in Yuyang City that a sweat-blooded horse had appeared outside East City. If it was said from the beginning that it was a hybrid of Ili and sweat-blooded horses, I wouldn't have believed it, because there aren't many people who can tell its origin, so this statement must be deceitful. However, the rumor only said it was a sweat-blooded horse, so I really thought that the person who saw the horse didn't know what they were talking about, and I actually believed it. I didn't expect that just as we had left the city for a short while, people from all sides came to East City one after another, and these people even said that I, Li Mi, got the Qiankun diagram from the horse! Bullshit! I haven't even seen a single hair of the horse! Luckily, we didn't reveal our identities, otherwise, we would have been surrounded by those madmen long ago."

  "I also find this strange, but how did big brother know that it was Gao Kai Tong's doing?"

  "He may have fooled others, but he can't fool me. In the entire Fishing City, apart from us three, Yang Wanshuo and Gao Xiong, who else knows that I, Li Mi, am in Fishing City? None of these people have any reason to spread rumors. Gao Xiong doesn't have the guts or brains for it. Only he, Gao Kai Tong, is capable of being so ruthless. For three months now, if he didn't make a move, that's fine, but once he does, he'll be out to get our lives!" Li Mi exclaimed.

  "Big brother, it's just a rumor, what's there to be afraid of?" Jun Yan was very puzzled.

  "The rest of the rumors I'm not afraid of, but this Gao Kaitong has made up his mind to turn against us. He's actually spreading rumors that the Qiankun diagram is in my hands, trying to put me to death! This time he must have climbed a big tree, when Yang Guang went on an expedition through Yuyang, he must have reached an agreement with someone, otherwise he wouldn't have had the guts. Since he's not benevolent, don't blame me for being ruthless either, let's see who kills whom." Li Mi said fiercely.

  "Big brother, does the Bagua diagram really have such a great temptation?"

  "Yuánzhēn, you should know more about this matter. Tell Junyan about the temptation of the Qiankun diagram. I'll go see if Xiao Shouren is ready next door. I'll leave with them tonight, and you stay here to continue searching for that horse." Li Mi sighed and instructed Yuánzhēn to tell Junyan about the Qiankun diagram, but he himself pushed open the door and went out to find Xiao Shouren.

  "Yuan Zhen, why don't you tell me what this Qian Kun diagram is all about? How can it attract so many people to fight for it? Just now, you were standing there without saying a word, I thought you didn't know either. It seems like you're pretending to be ignorant on purpose." Jun Yan suddenly became talkative again after Li Mi left.

  "I was just thinking about something, what exactly is under the horse's belly that even we two don't know, only saying it's two very important treasures, both of which were given by some important figure from the other side, but the Dry Sky Chart is definitely our Central Plains' treasure, so the thing under the horse's belly can't be the Dry Sky Chart. This means someone must be trying to frame us, but if that's really the case, what's their motive? Why would they want to frame us?"