Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1319 Hidden worries

After Lu Ning walked out of the inn in the city, he still looked around with some caution.

The blind girl was obviously someone with some mental problems, and Lu Ning... unfortunately had some knowledge about mental illness.

But this time she was worrying too much. No madman suddenly appeared out of nowhere to attack her.

She was not planning to rely on the Demon Suppression Officer - Ning Ke and Lin Xiyin already held high positions within the Demon Suppression Officer's rank. If they couldn't solve the problem, it would be pointless for her to become the Demon Suppression Officer.

At this moment, Lu Ning suddenly heard a slight call.

She looked around and found someone standing at the door of a closed shop in the distance, greeting her with lip movements and inconspicuous gestures.

This person... She seemed to have an impression of him, but not that deep. However, Lu Ning still walked over, and she was already on high alert.

"Lady, here, here."

When the man saw Lu Ning coming, he waved quickly. Lu Ning looked at the man's face carefully and thought hard, then he remembered that he seemed to have seen this man's face in the mountains of southern Xinjiang.

"I remember you seemed to be... an archer under Yuchi Long?"

"Lady, you have a good memory. I was afraid you would forget who I am." The man said happily, "Luckily I met you, otherwise I don't know what to do."

"You guys are back from Southern Xinjiang? Didn't Yuchi Long recruit you guys from the local area?"

"The boss always wanted to join the army. Although there is what you said in southern Xinjiang, when we came out of the mountain, a fire burned the mountain. Who knows how the fire was started? The fire burned for three days and three nights without stopping. It was as bright as day in the middle of the night, which was scary. The boss said that General Teng's behavior was a loss of virtue, so there was no way to join the army. He was going to take us north to find an opportunity."

"If that's the case, why did you come to Xingyin?"

"Didn't we hear that the emperor was coming? The prefecture government posted notices. The boss said it was easier to get things done around the emperor, and maybe we could get a better official position, so he brought us here. Of course, if that doesn't work, going to the northern frontier to join General Qin's army is the last resort, after all, that's where the boss comes from."

"Then why are you here alone again? Where is Yuchi Long?"

The archer smiled and scratched his head. "The boss said he found something and wrote me a tip sheet, asking me to go into the city and find a way to submit to an official. But when I came in, I realized that I don't know any official. There are many high-ranking officials in Xingyin City, but I don't know any of them. It's a good opportunity to see you, lady, do you have any connections?"

"Let me see the secret bag." Lu Ning said.

The archer immediately took out a sachet from his bosom and handed it to her.

"Yuchi Long didn't come in person, which means I have to keep an eye on it myself. I don't know what it is..." Lu Ning opened the brocade bag, took out the letter and took a look at it.

This was a humbly worded letter, and the content was that the platforms of four demons were discovered outside the city.

The altars in this world can be built into high platforms several feet high for praying for wind and rain, or they can be piled up in four directions with stones as the edges to form a small platform that is almost inconspicuous. However, the altars are used for various rituals and sacrifices, and are divided into four categories: small rituals, large rituals, minor sacrifices, and animal sacrifices. Each has a different purpose. If there is only an altar without the instruments and sacrificial utensils on it, it is basically impossible to judge its purpose.

This is where the seriousness lies. The four altars discovered by Yuchi Long seemed to have been used, with traces of fire remaining on them - the standard altar cleaning process would cut off subsequent tracking and use.

Even a natural disaster like the one that happened at Zhenjian Villa was only caused by the demon's own innate abilities, such as earthquakes and rainstorms. But now it has to rely on the magic platform, so there may be even greater disasters.

  "This is a big problem." Lu Ning could see that Yuchi Long didn't know much about these mysterious techniques. He just relied on his excellent observation skills to write down his findings in great detail. But even if these things were handed over to some high-ranking officials, would they be able to realize the dangers involved?

"It's useless even if you give this thing to the official you mentioned." Lu Ning shook her head, "It must be given to the right person - the Demon Suppression Department, the Imperial Observatory or Xuanji Tower, or something like that, the orthodox place in the Wei Dynasty that studies these things."

"Ah? But these..."

"follow me."

The first thing Lu Ning thought of was naturally the Demon Suppression Division. She walked quickly to the gate of the Demon Suppression Division with her archer. When she asked at the door, she found out that Lin Xiyin and Ning Ke had both gone out. They must have important matters to attend to.

Apart from these two people, Lu Ning could not trust any other demon-suppressing officer. She shook her head slightly and took out another letter from her pocket.

Before coming to Xingyin, she also saw the emperor's notice posted to the world. Since there was such a thing, she might as well use her father's official information. Lu Qingxu didn't have much power, but he had been an official in Beijing for several years, had a few good friends, and knew some general information about the factions in Beijing. Lu Ning wrote a letter on the way to Xingyin to ask for advice. And today, she also received Lu Qingxu's reply from the post station.

The emperor's trip was a big event, so Huai Ling Lu would naturally pay attention to it. Although Lu Qingxu was far away in the south, he still analyzed some trends in Xingyin City to Lu Ning based on what he knew.

First, according to Wei law, when the emperor goes on tour, the crown prince is the regent, and at least one prime minister must stay in the capital. Of the three prime ministers in the current Wei government, it is likely that Yuan Weinong, the oldest and unable to withstand the fatigue of the journey, will stay in the capital, but this is not good news.

Lu Qingxu was dismissed from office before, but thanks to Yuan Weinong's help, he was not imprisoned. But Yuan Weinong is old after all. If it weren't for the disasters and wars in the Wei Dynasty, he would have retired and returned home long ago.

The other two are closely related to the current factional disputes in the court.

Of course, for any official in the court, forming a clique for personal gain is almost inevitable. In fact, Lu Qingxu himself is no exception, but he just doesn't have a stronghold. The problem is that Pei Yingfu and Li Zhuoyu are both powerful people. Once they form their own aristocratic power, they are destined to be not to be underestimated.

This is only the power within the imperial court. When the emperor travels, the eunuchs and the imperial guards will certainly follow him. The chief eunuch of the inner court Cao Yuanen, the commander-in-chief of the imperial guards Jiao Shuyang, and the governor of the inner court guards and supervisor of the secret case bureau Tian Lubai, these three will definitely follow the emperor, and each of them represents a force within the palace that cannot be underestimated.

If they were in the capital, these people would probably only compete secretly, but when the emperor is on tour, they have much more room to maneuver.

According to Lu Qingxu, Lu Ning needs to decide who to join based on her own needs - although Lu Qingxu did not join any faction, he also kept some tricks.

"Surrender" - often it is a helpless choice. Lu Qingxu cannot give better suggestions in this regard. After all, everything depends on Lu Ning's actual actions.

If he needed support from the officialdom and wanted to meet more senior officials or even the emperor, he would need to meet Pei Yingfu. He had been in the court for a long time and in the absence of Yuan Weinong, he had the highest prestige among the officials.

But if you want to deal with some urgent matters in a swift and decisive manner, you have to find Li Zhuoyu. At the age of fifty, he is in the prime of his life, and his ability to act and judge is much stronger.

Lu Qingxu said that there was no need to worry about the selfishness of the two ministers. Although it might be difficult to judge their personal ethics, they must have the ability to be in the government hall.

But if Lu Ning is not going to solve the problem through fair and square means, then he has to consider the three people in the palace. Cao Yuanen is greedy for money, Jiao Shuyang is lustful, these two people are basically notorious, even if they have some ability, Lu Qingxu does not recommend Lu Ning to find them. Only Tian Lubai is a sinister and cunning person, but he is just cruel and ruthless, otherwise he would not be able to sit in that position. Finding Tian Lubai is the best of the worst options. In addition, he also wrote down his speculation about some of the officials who might come with the emperor, and finally told Lu Ning that if there is really something he can't deal with, just run away, anyway, he has lost his official position, and his loyalty to the emperor and the country is not to the point of sacrificing his daughter's life.

After reading the letter, Lu Ning also smiled.

It’s a pity that Lu Qingxu didn’t know the people in Xingyin City now, and he was not very familiar with the Xingyin prefect. However, Lu Ning remembered the names of the people in the letter in his mind, so he could find out if there were any high-ranking officials who had come to Xingyin City in advance.

"Are you the only one under Yuchi Long who has entered the city?" she asked the archer.

"Yes, we don't have many people to begin with, and we have to keep an eye on those places, so... I'm the most agile, so the boss let me do it!"

"Okay, go to the Xingyin prefectural government now. Today, the Xingyin prefect is hosting a banquet for the high-ranking officials who came here in advance. You need to find out who are attending the banquet today."

"Inquire? Leave it to me!" The archer patted his chest. Lu Ning smiled and took out a few pieces of silver and gave them to him, "You will need money, so you can act accordingly."

"Don't worry!" The archer took the silver.

Lu Ning was not worried that he would embezzle the money, so she told him the name of her inn and asked him to find out and then go to the inn to find her. Afterwards, the archer went to the governor's mansion, and Lu Ning returned to the inn.

Room No. 3, she raised her hand and knocked on the door.

After a slightly longer period of time, Han Younian cautiously opened the door.

"Brother Han, you didn't go out during the day?" Lu Ning asked.

"...Miss Lu, have you gotten any clues about my father?"

"The demon-suppressing officials I know were unable to give an answer. Even if your father really took on some affairs of the Wei royal family, I'm afraid it's not something they can know."

"I think so." Han Younian smiled bitterly, "Miss Lu, I'm very grateful for your help."

"But I need your help now." Lu Ning said, "Tell me first, it's daytime, why are you still in the room and not going out?"

After thinking for a moment, Han Younian quietly waved his hands twice, asking Lu Ning to follow him into the room.

Lu Ning saw that he had closed the door and the windows, and there were even paper talismans pasted on the inside of the doors and windows to prevent sound.

"You may think I'm a little too nervous." Han Younian looked around, "But after the incident at Zhenjian Villa, I've also paid more attention to some of these strange situations... I've talked to people from all the major sects in the martial arts world, and they all have some information, but no one knows which one is true. As for the monsters, everyone actually knows it tacitly. There are some ways to prevent them, but they can't fight against them."

"There are no organizations among the people to fight against demons?"

"There are at most some people in the folks who have inherited some secret techniques from their families, but most of them are called evil heretics. After all, those so-called secret techniques used to deal with demons are either not very useful, or useful but very costly."

Those who are really capable have basically been recruited by the Demon Suppression Bureau.

"These talisman papers are the harvest?"

"It's useless against demons." Han Younian shook his head. "Let's get back to the point. Since you are also a man of the underworld, you naturally know that people like us don't follow... the rules that well."

"I knew you would run out in the middle of the night." Lu Ning said, "Then, what did you find?"

"The stars... that's not right."

This sentence was somewhat beyond Lu Ning's expectations. She originally thought that Han Younian was attacked by people similar to her, but she didn't expect it to be Xingxing.

"What happened to the stars?"

"Location. I've studied astrology. Although I'm not proficient in it, I have looked at the star map several times. Last night, after I went out, I happened to look up and found a few familiar constellations, but the positions were not quite right."

"The constellations are not in the right position...what could be the reason?"

"It's probably some kind of trick, but the cause of this trick is unknown." Han Younian said, "I only learned the art of stargazing, but not the ability to change the stars. The changes in the stars are always signs, even if it's a trick, it's the same."

"Signs...why?"

"White Tiger hides evil spirits, the dark star hides beside Kuilou; Ziwei rushes to the palace, and the slanting moon faces the gate of the celestial pole."

Han Younian pinched his fingers, feeling quite uneasy.

——The family training in stargazing was just an excuse. This was the ability given to him by the distribution center.

Also because of the imperfect completion of the mission at Zhenjian Villa, this ability only gave him the ability to observe the stars and predict fortunes, but did not give him the knowledge to interpret them. When he went out last night, he saw the stars and vaguely felt an ominous sign, so he began to think about what to do.

As a tourist, ominous signs wouldn't really scare him, but the scene this time was indeed very complicated. Han Younian was not a fifth-level experienced tourist, and he didn't have much experience in dealing with accidents that might occur in such scenes. At this moment, he even regretted going straight into Xingyin City. Should he have walked around outside the city before coming in?

Then, when Lu Ning told him that he had found traces of demons setting up a magic platform outside the city, Han Younian was glad that he didn't really go around outside the city. According to this time point, if he went outside to investigate when he arrived in Xingyin, he would most likely encounter a demon performing a magic. With his current strength, he would be completely finished if he encountered a demon general.

However, does being told by others count as “discovering the traces of demons”?

Han Younian didn't believe that he could complete the task of the distribution center so easily. Besides, it was impossible for him to really run out of the city to take a look. The problems in the city had not been solved yet.

"I'll take you to the Demon Suppression Bureau. It's up to you whether you can find out information about your father there. But you also have to do me a favor. Wait there for a demon-suppression officer named Lin Xiyin, whose position is Si Yi, and give her a letter from me," said Lu Ning.