No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 783 Anyone, cat or dog, can come and take my sword?

Zhang Shixiu was not used to the landscape of Xunyang.

The surrounding environment is low in humidity.

No wonder the food in Xunyang is spicy.

This is the experience Zhang Shixiu summarized after staying in this villa for a few days.

As a direct descendant Taoist priest of Mount Longhu, known as the Noble Huang Zi, he has lived in the mountains for a long time. Even when he is walking outside on weekdays, he tries to build a hut on the mountain to spend the night.

But this time is different.

Zhang Shixiu only remembered that it was late in the night three days ago when the boat docked at a wild ferry. It seemed that someone was there to pick him up. He was then taken to this villa by the eldest lady and settled down there.

It is called a villa, but it is actually located inside a mountain. The terrain is not high and the humidity is quite high.

The villa covers a large area, but it is located in the wilderness, so it should be quite far away from the city. However, the owner should be considered a local tycoon to be able to occupy such a large house in such a place.

In addition, everyone in the villa spoke with a Xunyang accent, which is why Zhang Shixiu realized that he had followed the eldest princess to Jiangzhou Xunyang.

As for why he was familiar with the Xunyang accent... who made it possible for a certain Junior Brother Lu from Shangqing to recruit a young girl from Xunyang as a disciple and bring her up the mountain?

Moreover, this little junior sister's personality is also loved by all the senior uncles, and senior brothers and sisters including Zhang Shixiu...

Zhang Shixiu learned from fragmentary words from servants that the owner of this villa seemed to be surnamed Fang.

The male owner of the villa seemed to be a middle-aged man with a square and resolute face. Zhang Shixiu met him next to the eldest lady, but after meeting him several times, he could see a melancholy and sorrow between the brows of this middle-aged man.

This is somewhat different from the previous times when we stayed, when the hosts lined the streets to welcome us and treated us with great respect.

However, Zhang Shixiu could understand it.

With the imperial court's order to limit the number of Yue women, harboring the rebels in the Tiannan Jianghu, led by Yue women, is a capital crime punishable by death. What's more, the place is near Xunyang City, under the noses of the Imperial Observatory and the Xunyang Palace.

Zhang Shixiu was already somewhat impressed that Yunmeng Jianze could find a place to hide so close to Xunyang City.

It seems that the head of the Fang family is also a little helpless, but Zhang Shixiu doesn't care about that.

He only cared about two things:
When will the eldest princess take action, and...the situation at Xunyang Palace.

Zhang Shixiu accepted the Yunmeng Order in a private capacity. According to the rules of the Tiannan Jianghu, he had to follow Jianze.

But for some reason, there were not many people accompanying the Queen this time. None of Yunmeng Jianze's Yue women were accompanying him. Apart from him, there was only Mr. Wei and an ordinary-looking young man named Du.

Only three people.

Zhang Shixiu was a little confused.

He remembered that dozens of Yunmeng Orders were issued at various levels, so why did only so few people come?

Because of the surveillance of the eldest lady, Zhang Shixiu could not leave the Fang family villa. However, the taciturn and boring eldest lady did not restrict his movements within the villa.

Therefore, Zhang Shixiu could only find out some news from the outside world through some newcomers to the village.

Especially today, since morning, new people have been coming to Fangjia Villa.

There were monks, merchants, and servants in prison uniforms.

Among them, a taciturn middle-aged Zen master attracted some of Zhang Shixiu's attention. It seemed that this monk was practicing the Zen Buddhism's silent meditation, and he raised one finger to deal with everything.

Zhang Shixiu did not dare to underestimate him because he saw that the monk seemed to be holding a Yunmeng Order and was of the same rank as him.

These people seemed to have been brought back from outside by the second lady.

From some of their fragmentary words, we can know that Xunyang City should be nearby, and Xunyang Grottoes and Donglin Giant Buddha are not far away.

Zhang Shixiu became a little serious.

But there are still some confusions lingering in my heart.

Even with the addition of the second daughter, Yu Nianyuan, and the newcomer, including the Zen monk, they still had too few people to "destroy the Donglin Buddha".

Are the others afraid to come because they are afraid of the imperial court's ban?

Then how could this trip achieve the domineering words that the eldest lady said in front of him last time, "crushing the withered and rotten and regaining face"?

You can't be slapping yourself in the face.

No matter which possibility it was, Zhang Shixiu was worried.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Zhang Shixiu, who was sitting restlessly in his secluded room, received a message from the eldest princess brought by the servants of the Fang residence.

Gather at the library.

Zhang Shixiu immediately stood up and went out with his sword on his back.

The library is located at the innermost part of Fangjia Villa. It is in a secluded location and has become an absolute forbidden area in the villa these days.

Zhang Shixiu rushed to the library and went upstairs under the watchful eyes of the head of the Fang family.

He looked back and saw that the head of the Fang family looked a little melancholy.

Yesterday, Zhang Shixiu saw that the head of the Fang family seemed to be arguing with Mrs. Fang, and the topic seemed to be about their two daughters.

Zhang Shixiu guessed that it might be related to his two daughters entering Jianze to become Yue girls... Every family has its own problems.

Zhang Shixiu withdrew his gaze and came to a warm room on the top floor of the library.

The warm room should be used for reading in winter. It has been emptied and the rows of bookshelves have been removed. Now there is only a huge sand table in the center of the warm room.

In addition to the sand table, two people have already arrived in the warm room.

Mr. Wei and the young man named Du.

Zhang Shixiu looked around but did not see Xue Zhongzhu and Yu Nianyuan.

I didn't see the middle-aged Zen master either.

The long scroll that the young man surnamed Du often kept with him also disappeared.

"Where's the eldest lady?"

Zhang Shixiu asked Wei Shaoqi.

The latter smiled, shook his head, and closed his eyes to rest.

Du Shuqing stared at the sand table in the middle and ignored him.

Zhang Shixiu's eyes fell on the sand table.

The sand table was very detailed. It should be the topography of Xunyang City. Even he, a layman in the military, could understand it at a glance, which showed the skill of the painter.

Zhang Shixiu looked at it for a while and found some special places. On the sand table, three places were marked.

One is Shuangfengjian, where the Xunyang Grottoes are located.

One is Xunyang City.

There is also a place marked with the words "Fang Family on the Side of the City". If I'm not mistaken, it is the Fang Family Villa where they are staying now.

Taking advantage of the clear view of the sand table, Zhang Shixiu roughly estimated the distance.

The straight-line distance from the Fang Family Villa where they were staying to Xunyang City was about 60 miles, and about... 100 miles from Shuangfeng Peak.

Just as the three of them were waiting with different thoughts in their minds.

Wei Shaoqi suddenly stood up, walked to the window and pushed open it.

This window faces northwest, which seems to be the general direction of Xunyang City and Xunyang Grottoes.

Zhang Shixiu was surprised to find that beams of light were appearing in the sky over there, and he didn't know what was happening.

Next to the sand table, Du Shuqing tilted his head to see the scene outside the window, then raised his head to see nothing unusual.

Du Shuqing and Wei Shaoqi looked at each other and nodded.

The former looked at the latter with some admiration. Wei Shaoqi smiled calmly.

Zhang Shixiu was a little confused. After a while, he looked at the time, then looked at the stairway where no one was coming, and asked in confusion:

"Just us?"

Before Wei and Du could answer, a low-key and tightly closed small door on the east side of the warm room suddenly opened.

A tall Hu Ji with waist-length blonde hair walked out from it.

She walked out, clutching the snow-white sword tightly, her face changing from gloomy to bright.

Before this low-key and tightly closed door was opened, Zhang Shixiu had no idea that there was someone inside. It was not until Xue Zhongzhu slammed the door open with heavy hands and feet that he suddenly realized what was going on.

At this moment, the aftermath of the snow-white sword energy continued to overflow from the door.

Zhang Shixiu couldn't help but glance at the small room. He didn't know what the eldest lady was doing in the room just now. There was such a big commotion, but not a single trace of it was revealed. It was obviously some kind of confidential matter.

Wei Shaoqi was the first to ask in a gentle voice:

"Your Excellency, how is the matter going?"

Xue Zhongzhu ignored him and didn't even look at the figure of Zhang Shixiu who appeared in the warm room.

Her face was tense, as if she had encountered something serious. After she went out, she walked around the desk in the warm room several times, and no one knew what she was thinking about.

However, judging from the hurried footsteps of this lady, she must be in a very bad mood, and her mind is even a little... panicked.

I don’t know what happened to make this lady so upset.

Wei Shaoqi and Du Shuqing looked at each other and their faces suddenly became serious.

Perhaps realizing that Wei and Du had misunderstood, Xue Zhongzhu suddenly turned around and waved his hand at them unhappily:
"It has nothing to do with the main business, but it's barely going well. The bug lady has passed and will be back soon. The plan can proceed as usual."

Du Shuqing breathed a sigh of relief.

Wei Shaoqi looked relieved, thinking it was none of his business, so he didn't ask any more questions.

Zhang Shixiu took the initiative to ask: "What difficulties did the eldest lady encounter? Can you tell us about it?"

I thought that according to Xue Zhongzhu's personality, he would still ignore her, but who would have thought that this blonde lady would suddenly turn around and ask:

"Among the Three Pure Ones, the Jade Pure Pavilion Zaoshan is the best doctor in the world?"

Zhang Shixiu pondered for a moment and said modestly: "I don't deserve it, but I am considered one of the best in the world..."

Xue Zhongzhu interrupted impatiently and asked, "There is a Taoist priest named Sun in Zhongnan Mountain who says every day that he is good at medicine and that you Sanqing Pavilion Zaoshan are not even worthy of carrying his shoes. Is this true or false?"

Zhang Shixiu was stunned for a moment: "Surname Sun? A Taoist priest of the Northern School from Mount Zhongnan? Who is this person?"

Seeing his confused tone, Xue Zhongzhu stopped asking.

"Wait for me for a moment."

Xue Zhongzhu strode out and went downstairs.

Zhang Shixiu waited patiently for two incense sticks, and heard some faint noises coming from downstairs.

He had good ears and heard what seemed to be a group of unfamiliar footsteps approaching the library in a hurry, but he didn't know what they were in a hurry for. However, most of these footsteps stopped when they reached the downstairs, leaving only two footsteps going upstairs alone.

Zhang Shixiu was familiar with both footsteps. One was from Xue Zhongzhu, and the other one belonged to the second female leader Yu Nianyuan.

They were going up the stairs, talking as they went.

When Zhang Shixiu found out that it was Yu Nianyuan who returned, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Compared to the fierce and aggressive eldest lady, the silent, gentle and knowledgeable second lady is easier to talk to.

Zhang Shizheng sat upright, ready to wait for them to enter the house.

However, he found that the footsteps of the two women stopped on the stairs. They did not go up to the warm room on the top floor, but stopped at a certain floor halfway and then entered the room on that floor.

On the way, some conversations were heard intermittently.

"Big sister, as you ordered, I have brought the little sister back. She is still in a coma... I have given her the Soul Calming Pill... But she still has to be handed over to Taoist Sun. We have to go back immediately... Big sister, this situation is unheard of before... The sword has not moved for many years..."

It was Yu Nianyuan's voice, with a serious tone.

"Oh, Senior Sister, there is one more thing. It is very strange and bizarre."

"explain."

Yu Nianyuan's voice seemed to hesitate.

"It's about Junior Sister's child servant... Senior Sister might not expect it if I tell you... That child servant asked Junior Sister to pass on a message to us..."

"Him? Bring us a message?"

"Well, I didn't expect it, and I didn't expect him to admit an identity..."

Yu Nianyuan's voice was intermittent. When he said this, the two girls seemed to have entered a room downstairs and the sound was blocked out.

Zhang Shixiu regained his composure, picked up the teacup and took a sip. In fact, he didn't understand what the two girls were talking about.

I thought there would be no more sound coming out from below, but who would have thought that the next moment, a woman's high-pitched cold laugh suddenly rang out from downstairs as she slammed the door, spreading throughout the entire building:

"What a joke! He is the owner of Butterfly Love Flower? That means any street cat or dog can take my sword. They are using the same tricks that these dog officials use to scare the common people to scare us? If you have the guts, let him come here in person. Why are you running away with the palace? Scare us first, then trick Xiao Qi into going with them, far away to Luoyang, so there is no need for verification?"

It was Xue Zhongzhu's voice. Her elegant language was a little stiff and unfamiliar, and she sneered at the end:
"Oh, it doesn't matter if he has no guts. He has guts to make a statement but no guts to admit it, right? Well, when the big Buddha collapses, I will personally chase him and catch him. Let him surrender my sword and see."

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Shixiu heard the footsteps of Xue Zhongzhu coming up the stairs from below. As for the second female Jun Yu Nianyuan, it seemed that she only stood there for a moment before going downstairs and leaving. She must have something urgent, so she walked in a hurry and did not even come upstairs to see them.

The commotion downstairs caused the three people in the warm room to exchange glances. They were all a little curious about the thing that had just made the eldest lady laugh.

When Xue Zhongzhu walked in, everyone looked at her and saw that she had regained her calm expression, as if nothing had happened.

"Zhang Shixiu, follow me."

Zhang Shixiu stood up in surprise, and followed Xue Zhongzhu who went out again without saying a word and walked downstairs.

On the stairs, Zhang Shixiu heard her words:
"It's up to you whether to go or stay."

Zhang Shixiu frowned: "Don't you believe me, Lady? Are you afraid that I will trip you up today?"

The tall blond Hu Ji walking in front said coldly and stiffly:

"You have been very honest these days. I have seen it all. So I will be more honest. You can decide whether to stay or go."

Without waiting for Zhang Shixiu to speak, Xue Zhongzhu continued:

"Also, there is one thing. Second Junior Sister went into the city and brought back a message that a group of fake pirates attacked the Xunyang Palace. The Xunyang family has now fled and has clearly not participated in the matter of the Xunyang Grottoes. In this case, I will fulfill my promise and will not hurt them in the slightest. Then there is no need for you Three Purities to plead for mercy. Zhang Shixiu, you can leave now and give an explanation to Taiqing Longhu Mountain."

Zhang Shixiu asked worriedly, "Fake pirates? What does that mean?"

Xue Zhongzhu sneered:
"Second Junior Sister has confirmed that someone impersonated us, pretending to be a pirate, and went to Tu Xunyang Palace."

Zhang Shixiu suddenly became nervous: "Is anyone in Xunyang Palace injured? Where is the little princess in the palace..."

The candle in the snow stopped and frowned impatiently:
"We don't know the casualties... Stop talking so much, are you going to leave or not?"

Zhang Shixiu hesitated for only three breaths before clasping his fists tightly:
"Thank you, Lady Lord. I will remember your kindness."

After a pause, he couldn't help but ask one more question: "But, Lady Lord, aren't you afraid that the news will leak out if I go out?"

Xue Zhongzhu curled his lips.

Zhang Shixiu looked at her back deeply, stopped being pretentious, took out a Yunmeng Token, put it on the table beside him, and then quickly went out.
Fang Yiwu, who was waiting not far outside the building, stepped forward to meet them and took Zhang Shixiu away from the villa.

After walking a little further with Fang Yiwu, Zhang Shixiu, who was full of worries, suddenly remembered something. He turned back and glanced in the direction of the library from afar.

The eldest lady seemed to have returned to the warm room upstairs, and the door was tightly closed, refusing any outsiders to approach.

It's already noon, I wonder how those three people in the warm room are going to destroy the Buddha today...

(End of this chapter)