Chapter Sixteen: The True Face of Lushan

  As soon as Zhou Ke and Ren Moji rushed back to the Qin Feng Road camp, Zhou Ke received a visiting card with only a few words written on it: "At midnight, West City Temple!" Zhou Ke hastily asked his subordinates who had delivered the card, and the soldier replied that it was a small child. When Zhou Ke ordered the soldier to bring the child back for questioning, the soldier answered, "The child said he would hand over the card to Vice-General Zhou and then ran away without a trace."

  Ren Mojie, who was by his side, saw the letter of surrender and advised Zhou Ke: "Deputy General, this is clearly a trap. You absolutely cannot go! We are in the light, the enemy is in the dark, going like this isn't sending yourself to death?"

  "Mo Ci, don't spread the word about this matter, I have my own way of handling it! Don't you think our hard work over the past few days has been in vain? Not only did we find out the purpose of Hong Yi's trip to Shaanxi military camp, which was to get the map of the army's distribution, but now even the person behind him can't sit still and will finally reveal their true intentions! As the saying goes, 'How can you catch a tiger without entering its lair?' Today, even if it's a dragon's den or a tiger's lair, I must go and take a chance. And what's more, it's just a small City God Temple!"

  "Deputy general, even if Hong Yi went to the Anfu province as a vanguard, he was indeed following the troop deployment map. But later on, he went to the capital again. How come eight years later when he came back, he got killed? What does this have to do with the person who summoned you today?"

  "Good question! This is exactly what I wanted to ask too! And the person who can give me an answer will meet tonight!"

  "Deputy General, I'll go with you!"

  "No, I'll go myself!"

  "I'll get some people to ambush around, once things go wrong, we can also rescue you!"

  "No need! I believe the other party wants to meet me alone! As you said, we are in the light, he is in the dark, and there are many opportunities to kill us. I estimate that he has known all our recent actions, otherwise why did I receive a visiting card as soon as I returned to the camp? And obviously, he doesn't want to kill us, but wants to talk, it can be seen that we don't pose a threat to him, and may even have some help! Arranging a child to send a visiting card, hum, not wanting to reveal the mystery too early, otherwise I would also lose interest! Don't say, this move of his is quite to my liking, now I'm looking forward to tonight's appointment, let's see what the true face of Lushan is like! Before figuring out what's going on, we can't alarm the snake, maybe the one we saw today isn't the big snake we ultimately want!"

  "Yes!" Ren Mo Ci replied, but he was extremely worried about Zhou Ke's safety. He feared that if he disobeyed his orders, all their previous efforts would be in vain, so he reluctantly agreed for the time being.

  Zhou Ke went to report the situation he had investigated for several days to Qin Wei, but did not mention receiving an invitation card tonight. Zhou Ke was a very steady person and belonged to the kind of person who would never make noise before confirming what he had gained. It was also because of his steady and meticulous character that Qin Wei valued him highly.

  Qin Wei was shocked and lost his color when he heard that the deceased Hong Yi had entered the Jinglue Anfu Si to steal the Shaanxi army distribution map. He hastily asked if Hong Yi had succeeded, and Zhou Ke replied, "The army distribution map is still in the Anfu Si, but as for whether Hong Yi copied it and brought it out, I dare not say for sure. However, judging from the recent battles between our court and Western Xia, it seems that Western Xia has not gained much advantage either. Even if the map was copied, it should not have fallen into the hands of the people of Western Xia."

  Qin Wei ordered Zhou Ke to intensify the investigation. Although it only involved the distribution map of troops in Shaanxi Province, Shaanxi was a crucial place for fighting against Western Xia. If it fell, the consequences would be unimaginable. If Hong Yi had copied the map and sent it out, they must find out where the copy went and who was behind it to ensure the safety of the Song Dynasty!

  After receiving the order, Zhou left. He waited until midnight and went to the Chenghuang Temple in the west of the city alone. At this time, the city of Shaanxi was already shrouded in darkness, and the surrounding area was quiet, but Zhou was highly alert, because he knew that the person he was going to meet tonight was absolutely not an ordinary person, and if things went wrong, he might lose his life.

  As Zhou Ke approached the City God Temple, he suddenly saw a figure flash by. The figure's movements were so swift that if Zhou Ke hadn't been braver, he would have thought it was a ghost and been scared out of his wits. Zhou Ke steeled himself and continued walking forward, and just as he stepped into the temple, the figure flashed by again. Zhou Ke gripped his sword tightly, looking around cautiously. The dark and eerie night, the cold wind, made him feel a chill run down his spine. Zhou Ke coughed and said, "I thought you were a man of great courage, coming alone to our appointment. But it seems I was wrong, you're just a coward trying to scare people by pretending to be a ghost! In that case, I won't bother seeing you!" With that, Zhou Ke withdrew his foot which was about to enter the temple and turned to leave.

  At this time, the black shadow reappeared, but this time it didn't flash by, instead appearing right in front of Zhou Ke. Zhou Ke sized up the person, who was tall and wore a long black robe, with a mask on his face and a black conical hat on his head, wrapped so tightly that Zhou Ke couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.

  "What are you laughing at?"

  "Are you inviting me?"

  "What if it is? What if it isn't?"

  "If so, then you are not sincere enough. If not, then there is no need to continue talking."

  "Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"

  "Just now I saw your lightness skill, and I knew that your martial arts are not ordinary. But after all, I am not Hong Yi or Xiao Mozi, and I will not be killed by you at will!"

  "Governor Zhou is indeed cleverer than ordinary people, and he even knows this!"

  "This isn't investigation, it's guessing! I just inquired about Hong Yi and you immediately asked me to come here for a meeting, which must be related to the case of Hong Yi. And before his death, Hong Yi had seen Little Mozi, who also died afterwards. Both were killed by the same person with exceptional martial arts skills. Now seeing you like this, it should be you who is the murderer!"

  "Well said! Unfortunately, after so many years in the imperial court, you still don't know that the more you know, the faster you die?"

  "You're not going to kill me tonight! Just like I'm not planning on killing you either!"

  "Haha! Interesting! I like having conversations with people like you!"

  "Alright, let's get down to business! What did you call me here for?"

  "Since Deputy General Zhou is a straightforward person, I won't beat around the bush either. The reason I invited you tonight is...". Before he could finish his sentence, the man in black suddenly drew his sword and attacked Zhou Ke. Zhou Ke was caught off guard by this unexpected turn of events and had no choice but to use his unsheathed sword to defend himself. They exchanged blows for over a dozen rounds, and just as Zhou Ke was about to be defeated, he quickly grabbed a stone from the ground and threw it at his opponent. As the opponent used his sword to deflect the stone, Zhou Ke took advantage of the opportunity to strike the opponent's waist with his sword. At that moment, a burst of applause came from inside the City God Temple, and suddenly the temple was filled with light. A voice from inside said, "I indeed did not misjudge you, General Zhou is truly a hero!"

  The person who originally wanted to meet him had been in the city temple all along, and this black-clothed man was just his helper! Zhou Ke listened to the familiar voice coming from inside the temple, and when he looked again, he saw a very elegant-looking person standing at the temple gate. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Ma Haiqing, the richest man in the city! The suspicions Zhou Ke had about Ma Haiqing before flashed through his mind again. It turned out that his guess was correct - it was indeed Ma Haiqing who ordered this man to kill Hong Yi and Xiao Mozi. What did he want with the Shaanxi military map? Ah, Western Xia!

  Taking advantage of Zhou's momentary distraction, the man in black immediately flashed to one side and went to apologize to Ma Haiqing. Ma Haiqing waved his hand and said: "General Zhou, since you've come, let's chat before leaving!" Zhou followed him into the City Guardian Temple.

  "General Zhou must still have many questions, right? Why did I appear here? And why did I order Hong Yi to copy the military deployment map? Why did I send someone to kill Hong Yi and Xiao Mozi? What is the purpose of inviting you today? Who am I, after all? What is the ultimate goal?"