Blood sedge

Chapter 1185 Mistaking a Bow for a Snake
"Second Master Xie, have you found out the details?"

"The news is true, absolutely true. The person who died last night was indeed General Guo Xian of Luoyang. Zhang Xiong is currently in charge of the general's mansion. Just now, in his capacity as acting general, he ordered that obituaries be posted throughout the city and sent funeral invitations to prominent families in the Luoyang area. We even received one."

Inside the council hall of Danfeng Garden, upon hearing Xie Xuan's admission and seeing the death notice handed over by Xu Heng, Liu Xunyi suddenly felt a headache coming on and his mind in turmoil. He staggered and slumped into a chair, muttering to himself in bewilderment, "How could this be... how could this be..."

"Xunyi, what exactly happened yesterday?" Xiao Zhirou asked with concern in her eyes. "Is Guo Xian's death related to you?"

"I...I don't know," Liu Xunyi murmured absentmindedly, "He shouldn't be the one who died..."

"This……"

Liu Xunyi's ambiguous answer caused a stir among the crowd.

Just now, apart from Xunzhen who knew the inside story, almost everyone else present believed that Guo Xian's death was Liu Xunyi's doing.

After all, he went to the general's mansion alone yesterday without hiding anything.

However, Liu Xunyi looked completely bewildered at this moment, seemingly unaware of the cause of Guo Xian's death, which naturally puzzled everyone.
Inside the council hall, representatives from the Wise Prince's Mansion, the Valley of Heartbreak, Dragon Elephant Mountain, and the Western Martial Sect, ranging from their leaders and chief secretaries to their trusted disciples, numbered a total of eighty or ninety. They stared at each other, wide-eyed, unable to find a clear answer.

The reason so many people were gathered for today's meeting is that the news of Guo Xian's death has put everyone in Danfeng Garden on edge, as if facing a formidable enemy. Xie Xuan has even prepared for the worst-case scenario of a complete break with the Mongol court and a fight to the death with the General's Mansion.

Ultimately, they were cleaning up the mess left by Liu Xunyi's willful actions, even at the cost of sacrificing everything to salvage the situation.

No one blamed him for not consulting with everyone beforehand, nor did they shift the blame for the potential consequences. Not a single person complained about the impending disaster. Whether their intentions were genuine or not, everyone present at least showed a resolute attitude of unwavering loyalty and a determination to follow him to the death. Even if Guo Xian's death had nothing to do with Liu Xunyi, even if it was just a misunderstanding, it was enough to deeply move Liu Xunyi.

An eerie silence lingered for a long time before Ling Qing's hesitant voice finally broke through: "Young Master, right now, not only do we believe you killed Guo Xian, but rumors are also rampant outside, saying that Guo Xian's death was... was..."

"What is it?"

"It was the young master who taught the Mongols a lesson."

"Nonsense," Tang Afu said coldly. "Liu Xunyi hasn't left Danfeng Garden since returning yesterday afternoon. How could she possibly have taken Guo Xian's head overnight?"

"Everyone knows that Xunyi has many top-notch experts around him, so he doesn't need to take Guo Xian's life himself," Xie Xuan said. "No one will believe this reason, and it won't make the Mongols give up."

"What is this?" Xiao Zhirou said angrily. "We just saw off Sui Zuo yesterday, and now Guo Xian has appeared. Do they really want to drag Xun Yi into this mess?"

“No!” Xie Xuan, deep in thought, slowly shook his head. “Guo Xian’s death is different from Sui Zuo’s death. At least… Zhang Xiong didn’t come to interrogate him like he did yesterday.”

"Leaving aside the Mongols, at least Liu Xunyi has preserved his reputation in the Central Plains martial arts world." Xunzhen, who had been observing from the sidelines, finally broke the silence and smiled mysteriously, "We didn't kill Guo Xian, nor did we spread the rumors, but the reputation of Liu Xunyi in the martial arts world has been spreading in our favor. I don't believe that this is all arranged by fate."

“That’s right!” Ling Qing echoed. “Now it’s all over the place that the young master is vengeful and decisive against the Mongols. People are praising him for not being afraid of barbarian tribes and for daring to set an example for all Han Chinese.”

"Liu Xunyi becoming a role model for all Han people? Tsk tsk tsk! This is definitely not the result Jin Fuyu wanted to see." Xunzhen curled his lip. "He used a scheme to calculate that Liu Xunyi would not willingly suffer an injustice, nor would he break ties with the Mongol court because of his framing. In this way, it would inevitably damage Liu Xunyi and the Xianwang Mansion's reputation in the Central Plains martial arts world. With this shift, Jinjianwu would become a highly sought-after prize in the Central Plains martial arts world. His intention was to suppress Liu Xunyi's arrogance, but unexpectedly, someone interfered and added fuel to the fire for us."

"This clearly shows that Sui Zuo's death and Guo Xian's death were not committed by the same group of people, and the results are not comparable." Yun Zhuiyue cast a meaningful glance at the pensive Liu Xunyi and said with a half-smile, "It seems that someone did what you wanted to do but dared not do... or what you wanted to do but did not do. That's good, at least we can turn the passive into the active, and the defense into the offense. Next, we just need to focus on dealing with the Mongols."

Yuan Ting said excitedly, "The Vice Sect Master is a lucky man, and he will surely have benefactors to help him when he encounters difficulties."

"It's too early to judge whether he's a benefactor or an enemy," Yan Shun said sinisterly. "Don't forget the threat Zhang Xiong made to us yesterday. Killing even a mere adjutant like him could have led to a massacre by the Mongol army. Now, it's Guo Xian, who is of a higher rank, who is dying, and at this sensitive time when the turmoil surrounding Sui Zuo has not yet subsided. The consequences... are even more unpredictable."

A frustrated Lei Zhen shouted impatiently, "In the end, we still have to fight! We're in a bind, even if we're not in the mud, we're still in the mud! I was wondering why that bastard Zhang Xiong was so patient; it was a delaying tactic, planning to wipe us out once the Mongol reinforcements arrived. Since that's the case, we can't just sit here and wait to die. We might as well strike first, take advantage of the General's Mansion's weakness, and wipe them all out in one fell swoop. Then we'll leave Luoyang City as fast as we can, find another place to make a comeback, and I refuse to believe that the Mongols can control everything!"

"No!" Pan Yuyin's eyes changed, and she mustered her courage to object urgently. "If that's the case, the people of Luoyang will surely suffer. If the Mongols can't find us, they will definitely take their anger out on innocent civilians."

"As the saying goes, 'When disaster strikes, everyone flies away.' But when it comes to everyone's life and death, we can't afford to worry about anything else!"

"This……"

"You can't take care of them, but I will!"

Liu Xunyi interrupted Lei Zhen's impassioned argument with an unquestionable tone, dispelling everyone's thoughts of retreating hastily. "Miss Pan is right. If I leave, the people of the city will surely suffer." Liu Xunyi said firmly, her words resolute. "Although I am not a hero or a knight-errant, I will not be so selfish as to cause hundreds of thousands of people in Luoyang to suffer for me."

When Liu Xunyi said those words, her gaze unconsciously swept over Xunzhen, who seemed to understand something, the deeper meaning of which was self-evident.

If this is Wu Shuang's "solution" to help him solve his troubles, then Liu Xunyi would rather die than compromise.

Firstly, he couldn't bear to implicate innocent civilians. Secondly, he didn't want to be led by the nose by the young Prince of Qin's people.

Liu Xunyi's suspicion of Wu Shuang wasn't due to petty suspicion, but rather because he knew the Young King of Qin was ambitious and wouldn't allow Liu Xunyi, the vice sect leader of the Western Martial Sect, to fall in Luoyang. Wu Shuang was the Young King of Qin's man, and naturally prioritized the Young King's interests. At present, only by preserving Liu Xunyi's reputation and status in the Central Plains martial arts world could the Western Martial Sect maintain its foothold and flourish in the Central Plains. The lives of the people of Luoyang were never their concern.

Therefore, Liu Xunyi's suspicion that Wu Shuang killed Guo Xian in order to completely cut off his own escape route was not entirely unfounded speculation.

Liu Xunyi understood this point clearly, and Xunzhen naturally saw it clearly as well.

With this thought in mind, Xunzhen's expression was no longer as calm as before, but was shrouded in a light gloom.

Just one glance from Liu Xunyi was enough to add two knots to Xunzhen's heart.

Firstly, he genuinely didn't know what Wu Shuang's intentions were.
Secondly, would Liu Xunyi believe that she was truly uninvolved?
In the past, Xunzhen would never have cared whether Liu Xunyi misunderstood her. But today, she felt inexplicably uneasy.

"This……"

Everyone present knew that Liu Xunyi was stubborn, so seeing his unwavering determination made them all feel a chill in their hearts.

"Looking for clothes!"

Amidst the whispers, a slightly hesitant voice quietly rang out, immediately drawing everyone's attention. Su He, leaning against a pillar, slowly raised her head, her gaze fixed on the preoccupied Liu Xunyi.

"Brother, you..."

"Xunyi, Guo Xian's death...is it really unrelated to you?"

Heaven knows what complicated feelings Su He had when, in this tense situation of being overly suspicious, she uttered such a highly controversial question.

As expected, Su He's words immediately drew dissatisfaction and even condemnation from some people.

"Master Su, we respect you as our young master's friend and have always treated you with sincerity. Yet now you dare to speak ill of our young master because of Guo Xian's death. Do you perhaps wish to avenge him?"

"The General's Mansion provoked first, Guo Xian deserves to die!"

“Suhe is a Mongol, after all. How could he possibly be truly of one mind with us?”

"Even if Guo Xian wasn't killed by the Vice Sect Master, so what? Using Guo Xian's dog head to clear the Vice Sect Master's name is a sure-fire way to make money."

"That's right! Whoever killed Guo Xian is a great benefactor of our Prince Xian's Mansion."

……

"Shut up, everyone!"

Watching Su He suffer criticism, he clenched his fists repeatedly, then silently relaxed them, filled with grief and indignation. Meanwhile, the council hall was in an uproar, with the attacks on Su He intensifying. Frustrated and distraught, Liu Xunyi finally lost his temper and shouted angrily, instantly silencing the noisy scene.

"boom!"

"Su He is my sworn brother, with whom I share life and death. If you doubt him, you are doubting me!" Enraged, Liu Xunyi slammed his fist on the table and stood up, his cold eyes sweeping around, his gaze sharp as swords, his words like knives. "If anyone lets me hear any more baseless accusations against Brother Su, they will be my mortal enemies, and I will not hesitate to turn against them without mercy!"

……