Chapter Twelve: The Death of Huo Tianqing

  Dusk. Qingfeng Pavilion. The Qingfeng Pavilion is on the green mountain, and the green mountain is already outside the slanting sun.

  No fog, a faint white cloud drifts away, looking like fog. A gust of wind blows by, and the crows in the ancient pines take flight, the western sky's slanting sun grows even more dim. Then dusk has already enveloped the earth.

  Lu Xiaofeng stood facing the vast and desolate twilight, his mood even heavier than the twilight itself.

  The flowers in the building are full of interest, and it's also very desolate. Sighing, he said: "Huo Tianqing has not arrived yet."

  "He will come."

  Li Yunfei said: "I couldn't have imagined that he would be such a person, he shouldn't have done something like this."

  Lu Xiaofeng sighed and said, "But he did it anyway."

  "This may be just because he is too proud, and not only wants to surpass everyone else, but also wants to surpass his own father."

  Li Yunfeng thought of Ye Gucheng, the character he liked the most, who was a swordsman from the west, a celestial being from outside the world. That proud and aloof figure. He was also too proud, he was already the strongest in Jianghu, why did he still want to become the most powerful person under heaven?

  Li Yunfei sighed and said: "Pride is a foolish thing. If one is too proud, they will do foolish things."

  Lu Xiaofeng thought for a moment and asked Hua Manlou: "If you were me, would you let him off?"

  Hua Man Lou said: "I am not you, how would I know what you are thinking?"

  Li Yunfei looked at Lu Xiaofeng and said, "You're also a proud person, you should know that if he loses, even if you let him go, he won't survive, he'll take his own life. People like them who are proud will only make others admire them, how can they let their enemies let them off, and you may not necessarily win either."

  Li Yunfei didn't continue speaking. Because at this time he had already heard the sound of the factory gate opening.

  The famous and heavy gate of Qingfeng Pavilion was just opened a crack. A yellow-clad Taoist boy came out with a lantern in his hand, followed by another person behind him, who was not Huo Tianqing but a yellow-robed Taoist.

  This man wore a loose robe with large sleeves, his temples already streaked with white. His thin and gaunt face had a very serious expression, and although his footsteps were light and agile, he didn't look like someone who practiced martial arts.

  He looked around and walked straight to Lu Xiaofeng, asking with a single palm: "Is the master Lu Xiaofeng? I am Qingfeng, the host of this small Taoist temple. Master Huo is my chess friend, and he comes here every month to stay for a few days."

  "What about his people now?"

  The Qing Feng's face suddenly revealed a very strange expression and said: "I came here, just to take the master to see him."

  Three people followed Qing Feng to the Taoist temple and stopped outside a bedroom.

  Lu Xiaofeng pushed open the door and entered, Li Yunfei followed behind him and also went in. He saw Huo Tianqing, but Huo Tianqing could no longer see them.

  Huo Tianqing had actually died on the cloud bed in Qing Feng Daoren's room. On the low table beside the cloud bed, there was a cup carved from green jade in the shape of a coiled dragon, and there were still some remnants of wine left in it. Poisonous wine.

  Qing Feng sighed and said, "When he came, I thought he was here to finish the game of chess that we didn't finish yesterday. I was waiting to see what new moves he had to escape his predicament. But who knew he would say that today he wasn't in the mood for chess, all he wanted to do was drink wine. It was then that I noticed his expression was unusual, as if he had a heavy heart and kept sighing and muttering to himself."

  Li Yunfei said, "This is impossible. Huo Tianqing is a proud person, he won't commit suicide. How could someone like him possibly kill himself? Besides, he had an appointment with Lu Xiaofeng today, and he's definitely not the kind of person who would go back on his word."

  Qing Feng said: "I don't know either, but at that time he seemed to be saying: A hundred years of life pass in the blink of an eye. And since there is already a He Tianqing in this world, why must there also be a Lu Xiaofeng?"

  Lu Xiaofeng smiled wryly and couldn't help but ask: "Is this wine prepared by you for him?"

  Qing Feng said: "Although there is enough wine in this place, the wine cup was brought by him himself. He has always been a clean freak and never uses things used by others."

  Lu Xiaofeng picked up the wine cup and sniffed it, frowning: "The poison is indeed on the wine cup."

  Qing Feng said: "He picked up his wine cup several times, then put it down again, as if he had encountered a difficult chess move. He raised the cup but hesitated, and I was just wondering what was wrong when he suddenly laughed loudly three times and drank the wine in the cup."

  Li Yunfei actually knew that the Taoist priest was actually bribed by Huo Xiu. However, he had no way to prove what he knew. He could only follow the plot as it went along.

  This Taoist, full of worry, clasped his hands together and said in a low tone: "I really didn't expect that he would see through the worldly affairs at such a young age. I hope he returns to the mountain soon." His voice grew lower as he spoke, and it seemed as if there were tears about to fall from his eyes.

  Li Yunfei suddenly thought of something and said, "You just said you played chess with Huo Tianqing yesterday?"

  Qing Feng said: "Yes, I played a game of chess with Huo Tianqing yesterday, and the remaining board is still outside!"

  Li Yunfei grabbed Qing Feng and said: "Tell me, who made you poison Ho Tianqing to death. Tell me."

  Qing Feng swept his sleeve and said: "What kind of joke is the donor playing, I am a good friend with Huo Tianqing. How could I poison him?"

  Lu Xiaofeng also followed up and said: "Yun Fei, you say he poisoned Huo Tianqing, what evidence do you have?"

  Li Yunfei sneered and said, "Lu Xiaofeng, didn't you hear my question just now? What did the old Taoist just say? Yesterday, he was playing chess with Huo Tianqing. Since he was playing chess with Huo Tianqing, it means that Shangguan Danfeng wasn't killed by Huo Tianqing yesterday. Don't you understand yet?"

  Lu Xiaofeng said: "Yesterday was still playing chess under Qingfeng Temple."

  Hua Manlou's face also changed color.

  Lu Xiaofeng said: "If Shangguan Feiyan had died at his hands, how could she have been here playing chess yesterday?"

  Shangguan Feiyan was hundreds of miles away, and even if Huo Tianqing had wings, he wouldn't have been able to rush back in just one day. Shangguan Feiyan died yesterday.

  Huamanlou only felt that her hands and feet were already cold, and sighed: "Did we wrongly accuse him? But why didn't he defend himself at the time?"

  Li Yunfei said, "He asked us to meet him here, perhaps to find a witness. To prove that he was still playing chess at Qingfeng Pavilion yesterday. Because he knew that if he just denied it verbally, we would definitely not believe him. Who would have thought that he would end up dead here?"

  Li Yunfei paused for a moment and then said: "He Tianqing must have never thought that this old Taoist priest would actually be bribed by someone else, poisoning himself to death."

  Lu Xiaofeng pulled the old Taoist and said: "Tell me, who exactly made you kill Huo Tianqing."

  Qing Feng stood there silently, seemingly unwilling to reveal the mastermind behind the scenes.

  Li Yunfei knew what he was thinking. He thought that a chivalrous person like them would never force him to reveal the truth.

  Li Yunfei sneered and said, "Old Taoist priest, don't you know how many people have been killed by the mastermind behind the scenes? Aren't you afraid of being silenced?"

  Qing Feng thought for a moment and said: "It was Huo Xiu who bought me to help him kill people."

  Lu Xiaofeng paused for a moment, as if he didn't dare believe this thing, as if he didn't believe that Huo Xiuyuan was the root of all evil.

  Soon Lu Xiaofeng understood, Lu Xiaofeng was a clever person, an extremely clever person. This kind of person is the legendary genius. How could he not think of the secret of this matter!

  Lu Xiaofeng lowered his head and said, "I understand now. This Huo Xiuzhen has been deceiving us all along. He actually wants to kill Yan Tieshan and Dugu Yijue, shift the blame onto Huo Tianqing's body, let us turn against each other, and reap the benefits for himself. Let's go find him."

  Qingfeng Pavilion is in front of the mountain, and Huo Xiu's small building is at the back of the mountain. The three people walked to the back of the mountain.

  The vermilion door was closed, but on it there was a big character "push". Lu Xiaofeng pushed the door and it opened.

  No matter what kind of door it is, it can be pushed open as long as you are willing to push it and dare to push it.

  Inside the gate is a wide and winding path: "Walking through the S-shaped turn".

  Lu Xiaofeng turned around and walked up a stone platform after making several turns. In front of him, there was another big character "Stop".

  Lu Xiaofeng stopped suddenly, and Hua Manlou also stopped following him, but couldn't help asking: "Why did you stop suddenly?"

  Lu Xiaofeng said: "Because there is a word 'stop' here."

  "Are you telling me to stop just because someone told you to?"

  Lu Xiaofeng said: "What if I don't stop? There are 108 hidden mechanisms and ambushes here, do you know where they are?"

  "I don't know, I really have no idea at all."

  Lu Xiaofeng smiled and said: "Since you don't know, why not be more open-minded."

  Hua Man Lou said: "Since going forward may also lead to an ambush, why not just stop here."

  Lu Xiaofeng said: "Not a single bit is borrowed, so if they want me to stop, I'll stop; if they want me to leave, I'll leave."

  Li Yunfei and his companions didn't move, but suddenly found that the stone platform they were standing on was slowly sinking down.

  Then he found that they had arrived at a six-sided stone house. On the stone table, there were three bowls of wine and a big character "drink".

  Li Yunfei picked up a bowl of wine and drank it down. Hua Manlou stretched out his hand, blocking Li Yunfei's wine, saying: "You don't know anything now, you don't even know if there is poison in the wine, do you want to die?"

  At this moment, Huamanlou's face changed and turned pale. He asked: "Do you smell a floral scent?"

  Li Yunfei drank the wine and said: "Drink quickly, this place is full of toxic gas, this wine is the antidote."

  Lu Xiaofeng and Hua Manlou raised their wine cups, drank them down, and then the two people's faces returned to normal.

  Li Yunfei looked at the bottom of the wine bowl and saw the word "fall". He picked up the wine bowl and threw it down. The door opened.

  Huo Xia sat on a stone pedestal, warming his wine. He looked at Lu Xiao Feng and said: "Old friend, come have a drink."

  Lu Xiaofeng sneered, "I'm afraid I'll end up like Huo Tianqing, sleeping and never waking up. You're really too ruthless and poisonous. How many people have you harmed? Don't you fear retribution?"

  Huo Xiu seemed to be numb and allowed Lu Xiaofeng's insults to humiliate him.

  Li Yunfei realized he actually wanted to kill them all.