Insufficient balance

  After finishing his meal, Muzhen tidied up his clothes, took the card and headed towards Fengyuelou. When he arrived at the foot of Fengyuelou, just as he was about to enter, a young waiter ran over and said: "Sorry sir, today Fengyuelou has been booked by someone else, hope you can come again next time."

  Mo Sheng didn't say a word, he just took out the invitation card and handed it to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper took a look at it and hurriedly said: "Please forgive my rudeness earlier, sir. Please come in, please come in."

  Mo Sheng walked in, went up the stairs to the second floor, and saw that there were already seven people seated at a large table. One seat was empty, apparently reserved for him. Among them, Mo Sheng recognized two people: Song Gongming and Wang Zichuan. The young man in luxurious attire sitting above Song Gongming, Mo Sheng guessed, should be the Young Master Wang. He looked quite good, and although he didn't know what Song Yu and Pan An were like, this Young Master Wang probably wasn't much inferior to them either.

  Musheng walked over and said with a humble tone: "I'm late, I hope the young master will forgive me." As he spoke, Musheng slowly bowed.

  "Marquis Wu doesn't have to be so formal, the king of Japan has invited you all as private friends, everyone can relax a bit and not be too restrained." The young prince smiled and said.

  "Thank you, Prince Wang," said Mu Sheng, and the others echoed in agreement. He walked to the empty seat and sat down with a straight posture.

  The attic was quiet, and since the young master didn't speak, no one else dared to open their mouths. At this time, the young master glanced around at everyone before saying to Mu Sheng: "Mu Gongzi, I heard that you have some small misunderstandings with Song Gongming. Would you be willing to give me face and resolve it here?"

  Hearing the words of Xiao Wang, Muo Sheng stood up and bowed to Song Gongming, saying: "Brother Song, I was wrong that day, I hope you will forgive me for my rudeness and not hold it against me."

  Although he hated Mu Sheng to death in his heart, with Young Master Wang present, Song Gongming had no choice but to put on a show and say: "Brother Mu, there's no need for this. I've long forgotten what happened that day."

  "Thank you, Brother Song, for forgiving me. I'd like to take a self-imposed penalty in front of the king," said Mu Sheng, raising his cup and downing it in one gulp.

  "Good, Marquis Mu is indeed a master of high stature. Let's all raise our cups to toast him." Little Prince Wang said with a smile.

  After a round of drinks, Young Master Wang asked: "I don't know if Mr. Mu has any plans to take office in the future, if so, please let me know. In Tiandu, I still know a few people and can say a few words."

  Mu Sheng heard the words of Young Master Wang and thought to himself, "It seems like he wants to recruit me!" Mu Sheng was not interested in associating with someone like him. Moreover, he had no intention of entering officialdom, so he said: "Thank you for your appreciation, Young Master Wang, but I'm just a rough person from the streets, not worthy of being on the same stage as you. You're mistaken about me. As for becoming an official, I've never thought about it. With my abilities, aside from some superficial martial arts skills, I'm useless, let alone becoming an official."

  Upon hearing Mu Sheng's tactful refusal, Young Master Wang felt somewhat displeased in his heart, but he didn't show it. Instead, he opened his mouth and said: "Mu Gongzi, you're being too modest! I've long heard about how you displayed your divine might at the City Lord's Manor that day!"

  "That was just luck, Your Highness, don't listen to his nonsense." Murong Sheng hastily said, while Song Gongming's face turned gloomy. The humiliation that day was the only time in Song Gongming's life since birth. If not for the young prince being present today, Song Gongming would have probably drawn his sword and killed Murong Sheng already.

  Xiao Wangye saw that Mu Sheng was like this, and didn't continue to entangle in this topic. So everyone was polite to each other again, and after they were full of wine and food, Mu Sheng got up and bid farewell. Except for Song Gongming who stayed behind, the others left one after another.

  Standing on the attic, looking at the back of Mu Sheng leaving, Xiao Wang Ye said: "Such a person cannot be used by me, what a pity."

  Song Gongming heard Little King's words and hastily said: "Your Highness, he is too ignorant of the situation, do you want to send someone..."

  "No, don't move him for now, but it's okay to move the people around him, just be careful." Young Master Wang said in a low voice.

  After hearing the consent of Little King Wang, Song Gongming sneered in his heart and said, "Miao Sheng, let you live for a while longer. Since you've moved people around you, hehe, Zhao Xinye, this time you can't escape. You were so nice to me before, but you didn't appreciate it, so next I'll use force, hoping you like it." Thinking of Zhao Xinye's icy face, her devilish figure, especially her slender waist and buttocks, Song Gongming couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

  Xiao Wangye didn't notice Song Gongming's flirtatious attitude, he just clenched his fist and thought to himself: If I can't have it, no one else will.

  As Mu Sheng walked on the road, he couldn't help but shiver with a chill. He thought to himself: Today, I refused Young Master Wang, and he probably won't let me off so easily. Moreover, that Song Gongming is adding fuel to the fire. Mu Sheng felt a wave of unease in his heart. He wasn't afraid for himself, but what about Ling'er and the others? It seems like tonight when he gets back, he needs to tell Ling'er not to casually leave the manor.

  Back in the mansion, Mu Sheng didn't rest much and started practicing his sword skills. For the next few days, Mu Sheng practiced his sword skills during the day and chatted with Xiang Ling at night, living a fulfilling life. However, something big happened in Hunyuan City over the past few days.

  First, the Zhao family's store launched a new style of clothing. This clothing caused quite a stir among the wealthy ladies' circle, and after successfully holding a fashion show, the Zhao family's underwear was sold out in no time. To ensure that it wouldn't be counterfeited by others, Duan Yulan even specially designed a brand logo.

  Next, the young prince with a reputation among the people arrived in Hunyuan City. It is said that the young prince's sedan chair was blocked by countless lovesick girls on the main street of Hunyuan City, and the scene was so shocking that it moved heaven and earth to tears. As a result, the city master's mansion had to send troops to maintain order, and the young prince was able to escape under the pretext.

  Finally, Wú Xiāng Zōng was recruiting disciples in Hún Yuán Fǔ. On this day, many people came to Hún Yuán City to respond to the recruitment, and the scene was very grand.

  This day, Mu Sheng was practicing his sword skills. Sima Chengfeng walked over and said: "Not bad, not bad! In the past few days, I've seen your sword skills improve a lot! At this point, even if we only consider sword skills, I'm not necessarily your opponent anymore."

  "Grandpa Sima smiled and said, how can I compare with you?" Mu Sheng said, walking over with a wooden branch in hand.

  "Mo Sheng, are you interested in exploring the ultimate truth of Wu Xiang Sect with me?" Sima Chengfeng said with a smile.

  "Since Master Sima has invited me, how dare I not follow? I don't know when Master Sima plans to go," asked Mu Sheng.

  "Tonight, let's follow the recruitment team and see if we can find anything," said Sima Chengfeng.

  "Then notify me at that time, Grandfather Sima"

  "Uh, okay." Sima Chengfeng responded with a voice and left. Musheng practiced sword for a while before returning to his room, took a bath, and changed into clean clothes. Then he instructed Xiangling, who was embroidering flowers: "Ling'er, tonight I'm going out with Grandfather Sima. For the next few days, try not to go out. Little Wangye was rejected by me, so he must be holding a grudge. You have to be careful."

  "Ah, dear husband, you have to be careful when you go out on business, remember to come back safely." As she spoke, Xiangling put down the work in her hands and leaned into Mosheng's arms. Stroking Xiangling's hair gently, Mosheng said softly: "Ling'er, I promise you, I will return safely." Then he kissed Xiangling's fragrant lips.

  At night, Sima Chengfeng finally arrived. The two of them jumped into the air and disappeared into the darkness. Looking at the disappearing figure of Musheng, as well as the lingering warmth on his lips that Musheng had left behind, Xiang Ling murmured to herself: "Husband, you must come back safely, I'll be waiting for you at home."

  Taking advantage of the night, Mu Sheng and Sima Chengfeng quickly caught up with the group of people recruited by Wuxiang Sect. This time, Wuxiang Sect had recruited about a hundred people in Hunyuan Prefecture, but they didn't leave during the day. Instead, they took advantage of the night to head quickly towards a distant place. Mu Sheng and Sima Chengfeng followed them at a steady pace, and as they trailed behind, they found it quite boring. So Mu Sheng asked: "Sima Grandfather, do you know where Wuxiang Sect is located?"

  "This isn't a blind question, is it? If I knew, why would I have come here? Shh, they seem to be making some noise." Sima Chengfeng said.

  When Mu Sheng and Sima Chengfeng followed them to a mountain cave, they suddenly found that everyone was gone. The two of them stopped at the entrance of the cave, thinking about whether or not to enter the cave. At this moment, there were no torches, and the cave was pitch black, if there was an ambush, it would be dangerous.

  Simachengfeng thought for a moment and said: "Since they have entered the cave, it's dangerous for us to go in now. Why don't we wait until dawn? What do you think?"

  "It's fine like this, we'll just keep watch from a distance outside the cave entrance," said Mu Sheng.

  The night passed like this, and when the sky brightened, Mu Sheng and Sima Chengfeng slowly walked to the entrance of the cave, both cautiously guarding against any potential dangers before proceeding inside. Upon entering the cave, Mu Sheng discovered that it was a karst landform with many stalactites, where the carbonate content was very high. The two gazed at the peculiar scenery while secretly being on guard, but contrary to their wishes, after exploring the entire cave, they found nothing except for a small pool of water and various stalactites.

  "It's strange, where did all those people who came in go?" Sima Chengfeng said with a frown.

  "Simayeye, won't there be some stone gate mechanism? We didn't find any." said Musheng.

  "Let's split up and take a closer look, we'll meet outside the cave later." With that, the two of them went their separate ways to search. Mu Sheng searched along the way, occasionally tapping on the stone wall, feeling that it didn't seem empty, and then tapped elsewhere. As a result, after searching for half a day and looking around for half a day, they still hadn't found any mechanism like a stone door.

  "Wuxia is going to kill people!" Mu Sheng couldn't help but sigh, when he returned to the outside of the cave, he found that Sima Chengfeng was already there, and asked: "Grandfather Sima, have you found anything?"

  "No, you?" Sima Chengfeng seemed to have held back a bellyful of anger and said.

  "Just like you, nothing was gained." Murong sighed and said.

  The two sat down, no one spoke, and each fell into their own thoughts. After a while, Muzi asked: "Master Sima, do you think the Wuxiang Sect will only have this passage leading to the outside exit?"

  "I think it shouldn't be just this one place. If it's only here, then if this place is destroyed, they won't be able to come out," Sima Chengfeng said slowly.

  "That's also possible," said Mu Sheng, "do you think people recruited from other places will enter through this?"

  "This I'm not sure about." Sima Chengfeng said: "However, we can guard the tree and wait for the rabbit to come to us in a few days, see if we can run into it."

  "That's good too," said Mu Sheng.

  For the next three days, Mu Sheng and Sima Chengfeng stood guard in a hidden place outside the cave. The two were bored, so they let one of them go hunting for some wild game, then lit a fire and roasted the wild game together.

  As he ate the roasted rabbit, Sima Chengfeng couldn't help but praise: "Mù Shēng! I didn't expect your culinary skills to be so good, how come I never discovered it before?"

  "Hehe, if Master Sima likes it, then have some more." Mu Sheng said with a smile.

  "Then I won't be polite!" Sima Chengfeng said, and then he lifted one leg and started taking big bites.

  "Simay grandpa, we've been waiting for three days and haven't even seen a ghostly shadow. Shouldn't we continue to wait?" Musen asked.

  "It's no use waiting like this, and besides, I'm still worried about the situation in Hunyuan City. Let's finish eating and set off!" Sima Chengfeng said while eating.

  "Alright, I'll listen to Grandfather Sima." Mu Sheng replied decisively, his voice filled with a hint of excitement.

  The two finished eating the roasted rabbit. Sima Chengfeng patted his belly and let out a belch, saying: "Musheng, let's go!"

  The two figures disappeared outside the cave and quickly moved towards Hunyuan City.