The Bad Guys: Everyone, let’s revive the Tang Dynasty together!

Chapter 300 Closing the Net (I)

Taking off the black silk in front of him, Xiao Yanxu squinted his eyes. After adapting to the dazzling sunlight in the sky, he spread out his hands to block it, then opened his fingers, allowing grains of sand to fall through his fingers.

The scene in Huagu was the same as when we came here, with yellow sand flying all the time and the whistling sound of the wind.

Chi Meng clutched the black silk, looked back, and said in surprise: "Hey, Uncle Eleven is gone."

The people nearby used their hands to block the wind and sand and looked back. Sure enough, the Lord of the Eleventh Cave who had sent them out of the Twelve Caves had quietly disappeared at some point.

There was silence in the Painting Valley except for the sound of wind and sand. The footprints on the ground were blown away almost in an instant, leaving no trace of the way they came. As for the entrance to the Twelve Caves, not even a trace could be found.

This feeling was as if the experiences of the few days in the Twelve Caves were just a dream, as if they had never entered there.

If Chi Meng had not confirmed that the scarlet bamboo flute behind his waist was still there, he would probably have thought that all these experiences were fake.

The old man secretly gave her this vermilion bamboo flute after dinner last night. According to what the old man said at the beginning, Chi Meng had to practice the Central Plains tune that the old man taught her fluently before the old man gave her a gift.

However, the grandfather was eager to give the gift away, so he only told Chi Meng to practice the tune well after leaving the cave. This bamboo flute was to be regarded as an advance reward for his niece-in-law.

At that time, Chi Meng was so embarrassed that she didn't even ask the old man what the bamboo flute and the song were for. She only remembered that the old man told her that if she encountered a critical moment after leaving the cave, she could use this magical song to save her life.

But the old man did not explain clearly when the critical moment would be, so Chi Meng was extremely skeptical whether this mediocre song was really qualified to be rated as a divine song.

In addition to Chi Meng receiving this bamboo flute which was said to be made by an old man using ten-year-old red bamboo, Ji Ruxue also received a small gift.

Originally according to the old man's plan, he was going to teach Ji Ruxue a set of exercises that could cure diseases and strengthen the body, and were most suitable for people like Ji Ruxue who were born with a cold body.

But after watching Ji Ruxue perform a set of Tianshuang Fist, the old man changed his mind and took out a big snail instead. He said it was a spiritual insect that he had spent ten years to refine, and it was so powerful that it could fight against even the forbidden witchcraft and sorcery of the Twelve Caves.

Hearing that it was so valuable, Ji Ruxue was embarrassed to accept it, but the old man insisted on giving it to her, saying that it was a gift for the future and she could just consider it as a gift given to her a few years in advance.

Ji Ruxue was also embarrassed. Besides, the old man also wanted to give her a secret recipe, saying that it was too late for both of them to get married now. With this secret recipe, they would be guaranteed to have twins, a boy and a girl, soon. It was a must-have medicine for newlyweds.

But Ji Ruxue was too shy to accept the big snail. She was too embarrassed to take the secret recipe.

The old man felt particularly sorry, and turned around and stuffed the secret recipe into Xiao Yan's hands. When Xiao Yan asked about it, he just said it was a tonic recipe. If he met a close female confidante, he could give her a bowl of it every now and then, and it would definitely have miraculous effects.

Xiao Yan was more or less familiar with the old man's routine, so he naturally didn't believe that this thing was a tonic prescription, but he didn't refuse it. The old man was very capable in medical skills. If Jiang Chen was a surgeon, then the old man was an internal medicine doctor. This could be seen from the pool of spring water used to treat Xiao Yan's injuries.

Except for Hou Qing who stayed in Shiyidong and did not follow everyone, several people seemed to have things given by the master. No matter whether the ten-year-old bamboo flute or the big snail was real or fake, it was at least a token of thought and attitude.

Only You Chuan was walking at the back, frowning and looking a little confused.

"Hey, You Chuan, you haven't told me why that old man asked you to cut so many bamboos." Chi Meng took the bamboo flute, which was half a foot longer than the wooden flute, and spun it in his hand. He knocked on Hou Qing, who was playing the bone flute but the music was unpleasant, corrected him for a few mistakes, and turned to You Chuan to ask questions.

As she spoke, she did not forget to blame Hou Qing: "And you, you clearly agreed to help me teach Uncle Eleven a lesson, but why did you never come back? You actually disappeared for three days and three nights! Tell me, are you and Uncle Eleven planning something bad?"

Hou Qing held the flute in his hand and bowed respectfully: "Master, I have already dealt with the eleven cave masters for you."

"Collect, you're going to clean it up..." Chi Meng was shocked. She didn't expect that she was just joking. She just wanted to vent her anger for the Eleventh Cave Lord's sudden move to kill Xiao Yan that day. She didn't expect Hou Qing to be so obedient?
No, this guy always speaks whatever he thinks, and it is absolutely impossible to believe him.

Hou Qing saw Chi Meng's suspicion, so he clasped his fists and explained, "The 11th Cave Lord knows the master's reputation. This time, the second cave master has made further progress in his cultivation, and he is already afraid. This time, when the disciple climbed the mountain to question him, the 11th Cave Lord promised in person that he would personally come out of the cave to apologize to the master in the future. Therefore, the disciple dealt with him 'for' you. If it weren't for the master, the disciple would naturally not be so successful."

Ji Ruxuchu was listening attentively, and after hearing the latter part, she couldn't help but smile.

Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow and looked Hou Qing up and down.

After not seeing you for three days, you should look at me with new eyes.

Chi Meng was a little dumbfounded, and then he scratched his cheek a little embarrassedly: "Wow, wow... is it that powerful?"

"That's right." Hou Qing said respectfully with a serious face, "The reason why Master didn't see his disciple for the past three days is because the Eleventh Cave Lord pestered his disciple to listen to Master's glorious deeds. However, since his understanding of Master is still shallow, he only told him about the Saint Girl's thousands of miles of subduing corpse monsters and her prestige over the Nine Li. That's it. He talked to him for three days and three nights."

I think the Eleventh Cave Master is also an extraordinary person like his disciple. But he is so impressed with his master that he even calls him better than his master. It can be said that..."

Chi Meng was a little shy and stopped talking quickly: "It's not that great, it's all thanks to Xiao Guoguo and the little sister. Jiuli Village is all thanks to Xiao Guoguo and the others..."

Hou Qing cleared his throat and saluted towards Xiao Yan: "Master Xiao Yan is also..."

"Don't bullshit."

Xiao Yan waved his hands, indicating that he would not fall for it. Chi Meng was not stupid, but his reaction time was too long and he was too careless. Hou Qing's words were too low-level. Maybe Chi Meng would come to his senses after two hours, and Hou Qing would have to find a way to make up for it by then.

When he thought of this, Xiao Yan couldn't help but feel relieved.

This time when I went to Raojiang, I had achieved my goal by solving the puzzles in Li Chunfeng's mechanical tomb. It was also somewhat expected that I would get some guidance from the old man. It was a real pleasant surprise to get to know Chi Meng, You Chuan and Hou Qing.

Chi Meng is a person of simple temperament. Although he is willful and capricious, which can be seen in his treatment of Hou Qing, he still has the greatest kindness towards the world and still believes that most people in this world are good people except for people like Du Gong.

Hou Qingze seems to be out of touch, but in fact he is a person who strives to consider everything carefully. If he encounters an enemy along the way, he always seems unwilling to take action. But in fact, Chi Meng can handle the situation without taking action, but he is inevitably a little flustered.

When facing a truly powerful enemy, Hou Qing would never hesitate to use his full strength.

Just like these words to deceive Chi Meng, the fact that they could come out of his mouth was both surprising and reasonable, as if Hou Qing could have said such words.

As for You Chuan, Xiao Yan did take advantage of him, but it is undeniable that You Chuan is a person who can take it or leave it. He has been working hard along the way, like a silent spring, running tirelessly behind everyone, able to deal with any situation, and never holding back when he can take action. Like Chi Meng, they are both simple-minded people, but You Chuan's simplicity is reflected in his blind loyalty, being easily taken advantage of, and so on.

You Chuan is a good person, so the saying "A gentleman can be deceived by tricks" is very suitable for him.

Sure enough, after Hou Qing finished speaking, You Chuan slowly said, "The Second Cave Lord asked me to cut bamboo, but he didn't explain why."

"Ah?" Chi Meng turned around and threw Hou Qing's flattering words behind his head, thinking hard: "What's the logic of grandpa? I didn't do anything, but he gave me something. You worked hard for two days, why didn't he even tell you the reason?"

At this time, everyone had already walked out of the Painting Valley. Ji Ruxue had been silent all the way, but when she heard this, she suddenly thought of the day when You Chuan inexplicably disappeared for a while, so she couldn't help but frowned.

"Perhaps." Hou Qing carefully wiped the dust off the bone flute, fiddling with it, and said nonchalantly, "It may be related to the fact that he and I were both missing in Twelve Caves for a period of time."

You Chuan paused, as if he had figured something out in an instant. When he looked up, his pupils suddenly dilated.

Xiao Yan also stopped, but just looked at him without saying a word.

Ji Ruxue was inexplicably startled, looked at Xiao Yan, and then looked at You Chuan who was suddenly covered in cold sweat.

Only Chi Meng was a little confused. She was fascinated by the old man's story at that time, but when she saw You Chuan's appearance, she immediately became alert, took a step back, and stared at You Chuan: "What did you do without telling us?"

You Chuan did not answer. He felt a chill down his spine, with all kinds of thoughts mixed in his head. In just a moment, he pressed several acupoints on his body, then drew his sword without hesitation, wiped it hard with his fingertips, tapped his forehead, then pinched several hand seals and began to chant something.

The old man's voice suddenly rang in his ears like a memory.

"You are actually a good candidate to enter the Twelve Caves, but you still have unfinished business. If you can gain some enlightenment after chopping these five hundred bamboos with peace of mind, I don't mind helping you solve this problem. If you don't gain enlightenment, you can find it yourself after you leave the cave in the future. If you are willing, you can come to the Twelve Caves to find me."

But although You Chuan had been thinking about it in the past two days, he didn't understand anything, so the old man didn't talk to him again before leaving the cave.

It was not until this moment that You Chuan finally seemed to have thought of something.

"What happened..."

You Chuan suddenly opened his eyes, and without bothering to explain to the others, he tiptoed and rushed to the north, and in the blink of an eye he had covered more than ten feet.

"Hey!" Chi Meng was shocked. Just as he was about to shout, he heard Xiao Yan beside him suddenly say, "What can you do if you go back now?"

The sound was neither loud nor soft, but it just happened to fall into You Chuan's ears. He suddenly stopped, his body stiffened, and turned to look at Xiao Yan in surprise.

Ji Ruxue and Chi Meng also looked at Xiao Yan at the same time, as if they wanted to hear what he said.

However, Hou Qing, the initiator of this topic, was just fiddling with the precious bone flute nearby, looking as if it had nothing to do with him.

Xiao Yan remained calm as he walked forward and said to You Chuan, "Your appearance was caused by too many coincidences. All the seemingly insignificant things caused you to bump into us, but it is these unrelated things that, if taken seriously, can be connected into a line."

You Chuan was a little distraught. He had already thought of the most impossible thing, and his fingers were already shaking.

Xiao Yan suddenly looked at Chi Meng: "Chi Meng, why did you leave the Ten Thousand Poison Cave at that time?"

Chi Meng was somewhat flustered and said hurriedly, "To go to the Central Plains to find the Bad Leader to save my father."

"How did you know about the Bad Leader?" "My grandma told me. She is my dad's elder and has been a witch doctor in Raojiang for decades. She said my dad didn't want me to go to the Central Plains and that if I knew, I would go there secretly. That's why he didn't tell me and only told her."

"Then, since the Gu King was reluctant to let you travel thousands of miles to the Central Plains, and he knew that you would definitely go after you knew about it, then based on the Gu King's understanding of that grandma and you, why did he go to the trouble of telling the grandma?"

Hearing this, Chi Meng suddenly began to stutter: "Yes, yes..."

"It was the Poison Lord." Ji Ruxue said calmly, "He took advantage of this and tricked you into leaving the Ten Thousand Poison Cave. That grandma may have betrayed the Gu King."

Chi Meng was suddenly startled.

Xiao Yan looked at You Chuan: "You left the Ten Thousand Poison Cave just before Chi Meng, and you were sent out by the Poison Lord right after. He said that you were secretly protecting Chi Meng, but in fact, he framed you for betraying the Ten Thousand Poison Cave together with Chi Meng..."

“Yes…” You Chuan was distraught and took the initiative to take over the conversation: “He even issued a wanted order and asked the entire Raojiang to hunt down the Saint and me. I was hunted all the way to Nanping Country and never had the chance to return to the Ten Thousand Poison Cave…”

Xiao Yan continued, "So, in this situation, just before we left Northern Frontier, a village chief who was fighting on the front line was willing to believe that you were innocent and secretly released you back to Rao Frontier, giving you the opportunity to find us."

"This is..." You Chuan said with difficulty: "In order to make you trust me, so that I can follow you into the Twelve Caves..."

"After you followed us into the Twelve Caves, you took what Chi Li wanted for him. You were under Chi Li's spell and didn't know it. You did this during the time you were missing."

Hou Qing suddenly spoke up and clapped his bone flute: "It's done, everything is connected as expected."

Chi Meng's whole body was trembling. She was also a part of this plan, an indispensable part. She was the culprit that caused all this.

Her mind was a mess, she blamed herself and regretted, but she asked You Chuan in disbelief: "You have been with us all the time, when did you get poisoned by the witch..."

You Chuan shook his head and sat at the root of the tree, at a loss: "On the night you left the Ten Thousand Poison Cave, he waited for me in my yard. We talked for about an incense stick of time. At that time, maybe..."

Ji Ruxue looked at the two people reviewing the game and sighed.

From the moment he entered Raojiang, whether it was the corpse monster or the series of hunts that followed, the Poison Lord's methods seemed to be nothing special and could be easily cracked.

When you think about it this way, it really is like a hidden clue that can lead to a long journey.

"Don't think about it."

At this time, Xiao Yan, who had been standing under the tree with his hands behind his back, gazing at the maple forest in Luohua Cave in the distance, suddenly spoke.

"The whole story happened to me."

"!!"

Several people turned around at the same time, and even Hou Qing raised his eyebrows.

"Xue'er, do you remember when we arrived in Raojiang?" Xiao Yan asked.

Ji Ruxue said without hesitation: "Late winter month."

"We met Chi Meng on the day we arrived in Raojiang." Xiao Yan pondered, "The timing seems to be just right. The time from when we left Changsha to arrive in Raojiang, and the time from when Chi Meng left the Ten Thousand Poison Cave to when he arrived at Huailiu Village, were all calculated accurately. If it was only half a day off, we wouldn't have run into Chi Meng."

When Chi Meng heard this, he suddenly bit his nails.

"Yes, after I came out of the Ten Thousand Poison Cave, I don't know how so many people recognized me. At the beginning, I would be invited by the village chief to spend two days in the village after passing two villages, and I couldn't refuse. Later, almost no one paid attention to me, so I hurried on my way. When I arrived at Huailiu Village in the morning, I heard that there were corpse monsters there, and I met you at night."

Ji Ruxue frowned and looked at Xiao Yanl: "You mean, someone is leaking your whereabouts..."

Xiao Yan nodded: "When we left Changsha, I sent a letter to You Yi and explained the route and time to him."

Chi Meng and the others didn't know who You Yi was, so they were all a little confused, but Ji Ruxue was surprised.

When You Yi was in Hebei, he had already begun to follow Xiao Yan, and together with Gong Yang Zuo, he helped Xiao Yan control the Yingzhou branch of the Bad Guys. However, Gong Yang Zuo was in charge of external matters, such as fighting, and Xiao Yan always appointed him.

And You Yi...

Xiao Yan didn't seem to be too surprised, and just said, "This kind of thing is not surprising. Their belief in the Bad Commander is not something I can easily shake. Gong Yangzuo is different. He has a wild temper and has already owed his life to me. He has already passed some of my tests. He told me about You Yi in Bian Jing. I kept it from you because I was afraid that you would be suspicious."

Ji Ruxue nodded, not minding it, and just asked: "So, you deliberately revealed our whereabouts to make us fall into their trap..."

"It's not just us." Xiao Yan smiled and said, "They also fell into our big net."

"Wait wait wait..." Although Chi Meng didn't understand why Xiao Guoguo did all this, after waiting for a long time, he finally couldn't help but interrupt and asked, "What exactly does this big net mean? Can you tell me first?"

Ji Ruxue was about to explain, but was suddenly stunned. She understood the meaning, but she really didn't know what specific thing Du Gong had stolen.

"The strange altar of the god of war."

On that day, You Chuan listened to some old men telling stories about fresh ginseng in Shiyidong. By comparing the stories before and after, he naturally figured out what the Poison Master was eyeing.

Apart from the Bingshen Strange Altar, which is regarded as a taboo by the Twelve Caves, what else could make the Poison Lord go to such great lengths?
Chi Meng obviously had not forgotten the so-called God of War described by the old man, and was stunned.

At that time, the old man said that the method of refining Bingshenguaitan required the two arts of witchcraft and Gu, and the Gu King Chi Li and the Witch King Chi Li only practiced Gu and witchcraft respectively, so even if one of them wanted to refine this evil thing, it would never be possible as long as the other disagreed.

So, the reason why the Poison Lord persecuted her father was because of this thing...

Xiao Yan said, "My master told me that even if all the witchcraft techniques are complete, it will take 25 days to prepare a poison control field. Even if the Poison Lord has prepared for many years, it is impossible to shorten the process. He cannot complete it in more than ten days."

And the most crucial point is that during the refining process, neither the person who casts the poison nor the person who assists cannot be interfered with by external objects, so during this process, the Poison Master will obviously not step out of the Ten Thousand Poison Cave. "

You Chuan immediately took over the conversation, "In our Ten Thousand Poison Cave, there is a witchcraft formation. Once released, it can cover the entire Ten Thousand Poison Cave, making it impossible for outsiders to enter, but the people inside cannot get out either."

"At this time, he can no longer take care of things outside the Ten Thousand Poison Cave." Xiao Yan said calmly, looking at Hou Qing: "Hou Qing Corpse Ancestor, what did you ask me to do at that time?"

Hou Qing smiled inexplicably and clasped his fists in a salute: "Don't worry, the thirty-two villages in the northern border can all be used by the Saint Lady."

"The Ten Thousand Poison Cave is short of troops, and the main forces are all in Nanping Country."

Xiao Yan pinched a leaf between his fingers and pressed it forward.

"General, pull out the car——"

Let’s close the net.”

------

The den of all poisons, Dazhai.

The lights were dim, and a man walked in quickly and bowed to the person above him.

"Report to the Witch King, those people have come out of the Painting Valley..."

Du Gong was meditating with his eyes closed. He opened his eyes upon hearing this and laughed, "Where is my son You Chuan?"

"This... the young priest has not returned to the village..."

Du Gong frowned, but just nodded calmly.

"Hmm... got it."

But after thinking it over, he stood up from the meditation mat, asked the servant to wait there, and walked to the back room, bowing with his hands crossed in front of a curtain.

"Marshal, your game with that person can end now."

That person, it seems that he can't break your plan."

There was no response from behind the curtain, and one couldn't even tell if there was a human figure behind it. There was only the sound of pages turning.

The Poisonous Lord then chuckled and quietly retreated.

"Please send out the Gu King and close the net."

"As ordered!"

(End of this chapter)