Embers of Sword

Chapter 351 Nalan Qiutong
"It does not matter."

Xie Xuanyi narrowed his eyes and got straight to the point: "What have you been through?"

During this time, he had already examined the broken Ruyi Order held in the woman's hand.

Every Ruyi Order given by the library has a unique mark... This Ruyi Order is the personal property of "Pelican".

but.

In front of Junshan, he did not directly reveal the other party's identity.

"A few days ago, Lord Fire Lord had me stationed in 'Pingzhi City', a very small city."

Pelican hesitated for a moment, then slowly said, "Originally, everything was peaceful, but the cavalry under Chen Chong suddenly arrived and launched a bandit suppression campaign without warning. The bandits in the mountains near Pingzhi City fled, burning, killing, looting, and breaking through the city gates..."

Xie Xuanyi asked: "Then?"

Pelican's expression was gloomy. "Lord Fire Lord asked me to defend Pingzhi City, so I naturally stepped forward to resist. Unfortunately, among these bandits, there was a formation master and several masters of high realms. Although I fought hard, I was unable to protect the city gate."

She slowly recounted what happened that day.

"You mean... the gate of Pingzhi City was breached?"

Xie Xuanyi listened silently and asked.

"...Yes, but the people of Heizhi Castle weren't completely massacred. When I went to resist, I opened the back gate of the small town, and many people escaped."

The Pelican said in a hoarse voice: "This battle was extremely brutal. I managed to fight my way out by chance, but the Ruyi Order was shattered, so I couldn't contact Lord Fire. I happened to hear the news that the delegation had arrived in Linyuan Prefecture, so I set out in a hurry to see if I could try my luck on the official road."

She spread her palms.

The broken Ruyi Order was glowing in the dim light of the talisman and was stained with blood.

"You are lucky to have met the delegation."

Xie Xuanyi said calmly: "Let's meet later...this injury doesn't need treatment."

"yes……"

The pelican was about to cry, and murmured, "I feel so ashamed of Lord Fire."

"There's no need to be so sad."

Xie Xuanyi smiled and said, "Anyway, you don't care about the life and death of those people in Pingzhi City."

This statement came out.

The carriage suddenly fell silent.

"..."

Pelican's expression also became strange. She raised her head and said in a confused voice, "Little Master Xie, what are you talking about?"

"It doesn't matter if those people from Pingzhi City are dead or not. I just need to act sad enough to fool Xie Zhen."

Xie Xuanyi said sarcastically, "Is this what you really think right now... Miss Nalan?"

The word "Nalan" fell.

The temperature in the carriage dropped rapidly, and the tearful Pelican sat up again. She put away her sad and gloomy look, and her eyes gradually became cold and ruthless. A dark Taoist thought was emanating from her, but she controlled it within a very small range.

Xie Xuanyi looked down at his hair, sleeves, and shoulders.

The other party's Tao seems to be related to "ice and snow".

These places were covered with a thin layer of frost and snow crystals.

"clatter."

"clatter."

"clatter."

The carriage was still shaking, and the atmosphere in the small area covered by the Purity Talisman changed again and again in just a few dozen breaths.

After a moment's silence.

The familiar words sounded again.

"As expected of you, Little Master Xie."

Pelican looked directly into Xie Zhen's eyes again. This time, she changed her tone, with three parts of surprise, three parts of appreciation, and three parts of teasing: "...How did you recognize me?"

This response was equivalent to confirming Xie Xuanyi's guess.

She is not a pelican.

Nalan Qiutong stretched out a hand and gently wiped his cheek. The skin that was almost rooted to the skin changed slightly. The originally soft facial features became cold and inhuman. It was a lonely and cold face with a red mole between the eyebrows, which made him look a little coquettish.

"It's not difficult to recognize you."

Xie Xuanyi picked up a fragment of the Ruyi Order with two fingers and said calmly, "A true secret agent of the library wouldn't care about his own life or death. If the Fire Lord had given him the mission of defending Pingzhi City, then before Pingzhi City was breached, this secret agent would either fight to the death or die in battle... After the city was breached, he wouldn't linger on to the envoys and cry out in despair."

"Oh?"

Nalan Qiutong smoothed his hair and said with a smile, "The Chu people really don't care about their lives... How did the library train such a good person to become like this?"

"As long as there is a breath in your heart, you don't care about life or death."

Xie Xuanyi sneered: "You are overacting, or you are too young."

His mind was hovering over the other person's head from beginning to end.

Every emotion of this "Pelican" after waking up was within Xie Xuanyi's perception range.

obviously.

This descendant of Xuanwei Island had not been in Li Country for long.

Nalan Qiutong's condition is very similar to Duan Zhao's.

His realm is good and his talent is acceptable, but it’s a pity... his way of dealing with people is too immature, and his joys, sorrows, anger and happiness are clearly visible.

"Ha ha……"

After hearing this comment, Nalan Qiutong was not angry.

She smiled and said, "Xie Zhen, Xie Zhen, you are more interesting than I thought. Since you guessed that I was Nalan Qiutong, why did you send away Junshan Zhenren and that female array master?"

"You don't have murderous intent in you."

Xie Xuanyi said this woodenly.

This is certainly not the main reason...

If the person disguised as the pelican at this moment is not Nalan Qiutong, but a being in the Yin God realm, then the scene at this moment is that three top reincarnations gather in a carriage, pretending to have a conversation while secretly discussing how to work together to kill the Yin God in the carriage.

The main reason is that Nalan Qiutong is too weak.

Just a perfect cave.

Is Xie Xuanyi still afraid that the other party will suddenly attack and kill him?
"Master is right, you are an extremely conceited guy..."

Nalan Qiutong couldn't help but sigh, "You knew I was Nalan Xuance's disciple, yet you still dared to meet me? Is it because of my ranking on the Tianjiao Ranking? Do you look down on those ranked below you so much?"

The words fell.

She attacked suddenly without warning.

With a flash of cold light, the dagger that Junshan Zhenren had put into his storage bag was thrown out by Nalan Qiutong.

"Shh!"

The cabin space is extremely narrow.

Xie Xuanyi's expression remained unchanged. He moved his head slightly. The dagger brushed against his cheek, narrowly passed by, and directly nailed into the car, making a heavy dull sound. The car was made of solid materials, and the dagger inserted into it made a low vibration. Because it was covered by the talisman, the sound did not spread outside.

Then, Nalan Qiutong held the short knife in reverse and rushed over.

The intelligence in the library mentioned that the descendants of Xuanwei Island mainly practiced mechanical engineering and usually did not pay attention to physical fitness. However, the woman in front of him was clearly the opposite. Nalan Qiutong's fighting skills were quite fierce. She could throw a dagger and draw a sword in just a moment. This was clearly beyond the scope of the library's intelligence.

"Boom!"

Xie Xuanyi reacted extremely quickly, his body's primordial fire igniting, and his great orifices resonating with the sound of wind and thunder. Nalan Qiutong's sudden attack was already fast, but his counterattack was even faster.

Boom!
The dagger was deflected by the wrong hand before it pierced his cheek.

Xie Xuanyi snatched the knife in an instant, and mercilessly hit the woman's cheek with an elbow.

Nalan Qiutong's pupils contracted.

There were also errors in the intelligence on Xuanwei Island.

A sword cultivator can kill people from a distance of thousands of miles, but Xie Zhen's physical fighting skills are even stronger than his own? !

The dagger was taken away from her, and she subconsciously stepped back, but the carriage was too narrow and she had nowhere to retreat. Fortunately, she made room at the moment of retreating. Nalan Qiutong raised her hands and folded them in front of her, and caught Xie Xuanyi's powerful elbow. She then tilted her head to release the force, but was greeted by a knee strike.

"Crack!"

Nalan Qiutong could only lift his knee to forcefully collide!

There was a bone-piercing crash in the carriage!

The sound was extremely crisp, and it was obvious... someone had a broken bone.

The Yuan Fire in Xie Xuanyi's body subsided, and he sat back down, playing with the dagger he had snatched from Nalan Qiutong with one hand. The dagger inserted next to his cheek was still shaking slightly.

On the other side, it is much more bleak.

Nalan Qiutong's face was pale. One of his legs fell down limply, his knee almost shattered. He could only barely maintain a sitting posture. As for his folded palms, they were numb and sore.

hard to imagine.

The seemingly thin young man in black sitting in front of him could actually burst out with such terrifying power.

He was injured after just one encounter!

She knew that this was the case when Xie Zhen was holding back... If the opponent was serious, then after the knee strike, there would be a torrential attack!

"Now you know why I dare to meet you alone?"

Xie Xuanyi lowered his brows and said, "You're not a threat to me... I don't have the time to waste words with you. What do you want to talk about?"

"..."

Nalan Qiutong gritted his teeth.

When the list of geniuses was announced, she thought she would be the clear winner.

The result was that I ranked second!
Her master told her not to get angry and not to be impetuous, but she didn't believe it... This Xie guy was better than her, and seeing him today really made her Taoist heart collapse.

She lost, and lost miserably!
A hint of unwillingness flashed across Nalan Qiutong's eyes, but after calming down, she recognized the current situation.

"trade."

She took a deep breath and spoke slowly: "You were right before. I have been practicing hard on Xuanwei Island for many years and only recently came to the Dali Dynasty... I came to see you today on the order of my master. I want to discuss a deal with you."

Xie Xuanyi raised his head.

He didn't expect that Nalan Xuance would want to negotiate a deal with him.

but.

The other party's intentions are not difficult to guess.

"...About Buddhism?" Xie Xuanyi asked with some tentativeness.

"good."

Nalan Qiutong nodded: "You are a smart person, you should know the current situation of the Dali Dynasty. My master and the Fanyin Temple are on opposite sides. Now Yuanzhou, Wuzhou, and Yuzhou have all been owned by Chen Chong. With the blessing of the general trend, it is only a matter of time before Buddhism falls into decline."

"Ho..."

Xie Xuanyi couldn't help laughing out loud.

It was as expected.

Nalan Qiutong came here to persuade himself to give up traveling with the delegation.

Nalan Xuance wants to destroy Buddhism!
"why are you laughing?"

Nalan Qiutong said coldly: "Buddhism, Dasui Sword Palace, and Taoism are known as the three major religions in the world. Now that the Fanyin Temple is in decline, isn't this a good thing for Dasui Sword Palace?"

This thousand years.

The three religions rose and fell, and fought against each other for more than ten generations.

Even if the world is at peace, the world will not be at peace.

The Dashui Sword Palace was once considered the weakest among the three religions. There was even a time when some people proposed to kick the Dashui Sword Palace out of the ranks of the three religions.

"My master does not want to be an enemy of the Dasui Sword Palace. If you lead your people to leave the delegation now, my master can let you go and not pursue the matter."

Nalan Qiutong said, "From now on, all the disputes and disturbances will have nothing to do with you."

"..."

Xie Xuanyi seemed to be thinking about something and did not respond.

This silence only lasted for a few breaths.

Nalan Qiutong warned him solemnly: "Xie Zhen, since you have arrived in Li Country, you should behave yourself. This place is different from Chu Country..."

"What's the difference?"

Xie Xuanyi laughed to himself: "Miss Nalan, do you think that everyone in Chu Country is my friend?"

"???"

These words made Nalan Qiutong choke.

Even though she had been practicing in seclusion on Xuanwei Island for a long time, she knew that Xie Zhen's master was the famous Xuanyi Sword Immortal!

The entire Da Chu is chasing Xie Xuanyi!
As the saying goes, a son follows in his father's footsteps... The disciple inherited his master's karma of killing. After entering the world, the troubles Xie Zhen encountered were no less than those of Xie Xuanyi.

"you……"

Nalan Qiutong was silent for a moment, then said, "Do you mean to refuse? Do you want to be Master's enemy?"

"interesting."

Xie Xuanyi's voice also turned cold, and he said, "I, Xie, am here on a diplomatic mission in compliance with the imperial edict of the Chu State. Nalan Xuance didn't even show his face, and only asked his disciples to tell me to get out of the country... Is this the way of hospitality in Xuanwei Island? Think about it carefully, Xie has not yet settled the grudge with you for the ambush and murder of the bookstore's hidden man!"

Now he can be sure that the accident in Pingzhi City was not an accident at all.

The reason why the library couldn't contact "Pelican" was because his Ruyi Order was taken away.

The fact that Nalan Qiutong was able to meet him with this Ruyi Order showed that the Pelican had most likely met with an accident. However, there was another very important piece of information that could be inferred, which was that Nalan Xuance was still unclear about the real plan of the "Book Building".

The Pelican’s real mission is not to protect Pingzhi City, but to protect Chu Guo.

The tasks assigned by the library are encrypted layer by layer.

Pelican may not know Chu Guo’s true identity, but he must know that he is the most important “protected person”.

Nalan Qiutong would not have lied about the news that "Pingzhi City encountered banditry". It must have been that Chen Chong's cavalry captured this secret agent from the library during the banditry... As for what happened later, it is not difficult to guess. Da Chu has a shady organization called the Imperial City Si Tan Yiwei, and the "Hook and Pliers Master" under Nalan Xuance's command are equally vicious.

"It's just a hidden pawn... Just kill it, what's there to be sad about?"

Nalan Qiutong brushed away the fragments of Ruyi Ling with disgust. She looked at Xie Zhen coldly and said with interest, "It seems that this spy named Pelican is hiding a big secret. At that time, the hook and clamp master interrogated her all night and even used the soul secret technique, but failed to break through her sea of consciousness. What mission did this guy receive?"

(End of this chapter)