I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 71 Murderous Intent

The gurgling stream flows from the river ditch into the bamboo trough, and after three or five miles of twists and turns, it comes to the magnificent palace, becoming the most beautiful scenery at the Qushui Liushang banquet.

There are scholars with rouge and powder on their faces, their sleeves fluttering as they walk, showing great grace. There are also talented women holding a silk fan to half cover their faces, smiling sweetly.

When the banquet began, scholars and writers sat by the stream, and trays filled with wine cups floated on the water, drifting along the way.

When the wine cup stops flowing, the person closest to it needs to compose a poem or play a piece of music. If they can compose a poem and show their talent, they can push the tray to let the wine cup continue to float. If they can't, they have to drink the wine in the cup.

This is the Liushang Banquet.

Xu Qing strolled along the pavilions, corridors and waterside terraces. It took him half a cup of tea just to walk around the periphery of the banquet hall.

He had thought that Prince Zhu's family was wealthy, but he had never expected them to be so extravagant.

You must know that his golden house, that pocket-sized garden, only has four entrances and exits.

It can only be said that poverty limited his imagination.

In addition to the dazzling array of courtyard scenes, Xu Qing's favorite thing was to watch the maids in the palace, who were wearing skirts and pink jackets and busying around in small steps.

I have to say that the quality of the maids in Changting Palace is very high. Not only do they have fair skin and slim waists, they also have pretty faces and look neat and straight. In addition, the palace has very strict discipline, so even in terms of talent and learning, they are no worse than the top courtesans in Changdeng Street.

Xu Qing was puzzled. The fat boy had so many beautiful girls at home, so why did he go to a brothel to have fun?

Is it that rabbits don't eat grass near their burrows, or is this the mentality of rich and powerful children? Doesn't he understand this poor guy?

Xu Qing looked around hastily, finding this one interesting and then that one interesting.

On the way, he also met a pretty maid with a stern face, a cold expression, and a rustling gait, who looked like a strict female teacher.

He didn't know if it was an illusion, but Xu Qing always felt that this maid was more mature than the ones he had met before. He estimated that she was at least twenty-five or twenty-six years old.

The woman dressed as a maid glanced at the inexperienced Xu Qing, snorted coldly, and left quickly with the tray.

There was only a gust of fragrant wind swirling in the original place.

The woman had not walked far when a scholar passed by her. After passing behind her, the scholar could not help but pause and turned around to look at the woman's back.

Wait! This scholar?

Xu Qing felt that he looked familiar at first glance, and then he looked again. Isn’t this grandson Bai Luo, the guardian of Tianxin Sect?

Don’t think that he won’t be able to recognize you just because you put on a thick layer of powder!

After watching Bai Luo leave, Xu Qing turned around and made a just report without saying a word.

Outside the Liushang Banquet, a guard on duty was patrolling when he was suddenly hit on the head by a hard object. The guard covered his head and screamed, which immediately attracted the attention of other colleagues nearby.

The guard with a small bump on his head picked up the murder weapon and cursed, "I don't know who is so wicked as to throw a piece of paper wrapped with rocks at my head."

The guard leader frowned upon hearing this, took the 'murder weapon', and unfolded the wrinkled white paper that wrapped the stone. After seeing the contents clearly, his face instantly turned cold and hard.

"A Tianxin Cult rebel has infiltrated the venue. Please quickly pass this map around and make sure to notify everyone to apprehend the thief!"

The content on the white paper was none other than the portrait of Bai Luo sketched by Xu Qing using his painting skills. Below it were a few simple numbers, clearly indicating that the other party was coming to attend the meeting.

Undercurrents were surging in the palace, and the hidden master guards were all as sharp as hawks, checking for suspicious people in the place.

Xu Qing, who had nothing to do with the matter, reunited with the Wu brothers. At this time, the two were sitting at the Liushang banquet and chatting happily.

"Brother Xu, you've arrived at the right time. The next round of wine drinking is about to begin. This time, the prince will personally throw the cup. Let's see who is lucky enough to get the first one."

Xu Qing agreed casually, and then he saw a tall and handsome middle-aged man in a pavilion in the distance. He smiled and filled the wine cup in his hand, put it on a wooden tray, and threw it into the stream, letting it float down with the waves.

Beside Prince Changting, Crown Prince Zhao You looked at the wine cup drifting with the current and said meaningfully, "Speaking of which, my nephew and uncle are no different from this wine cup. Once thrown into the turbulent world, there is no turning back."

Zhu Cheng smiled faintly and didn't respond directly. Instead, he looked at the delicious fruits and delicacies on the table and said, "I remember that Your Highness used to like candied fruits the most, but perhaps he doesn't like them anymore."

The prince was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and laughed, "I am old, and my teeth are not as good as they used to be. Even if the food is delicious, I can't enjoy it."

Zhu Huaian, who was forced to open his shop and serve the guests, scratched his head in confusion. He didn't understand what the two were talking about.

Just now he saw the prince eating nuts on the table, but now he said that his teeth were not good and he could not chew the soft dried fruits.

He's just lying with his eyes open!
Zhu Huaian felt more and more bored the longer he stayed. He might as well go and play with the Wu brothers. Those two were much more interesting than the prince.

While they were talking, a guard came to report from outside the pavilion.

It is said that Miss Han Meng from Shuhuang Pavilion found a famous craftsman to repair the Mingci Qin, and she came here today specifically to play a song for the prince.

Outside the pavilion, the wine cup that King Changting had thrown into the stream himself was drifting with the current, and soon it came close to Xu Qing and the other two.

Wu Zhiyuan has always regarded Prince Changting as his role model. Now, seeing the wine cup filled by the prince himself approaching, he became tense.

"Stop, stop, stop!"

"Oh, what a pity."

Some guests who had the same purpose could not help but shout out loud, and some of them were even fanning themselves with their sleeves in an attempt to keep the wine cups in front of them.

Xu Qing laughed secretly when he saw Wu Zhiyuan's expectant and nervous look.

When the tray with the wine cups came closer, he moved his hand hidden in his sleeve slightly, and an imperceptible wave, like a breeze, stopped the floating wine cups in front of the Wu brothers.

Wu Zhiyuan's handsome face turned red instantly, and he felt his blood boiling.

“Ha, I got it!”

He stood up suddenly, then bent down impatiently and carefully held the wine cup with both hands. The joy in his heart was even stronger than when he won the first place in the provincial examination.

The jealous scholars and intellectuals around him scoffed and scolded, "We've always heard that Wu Anshou's poetry is exceptional. If that's the case, why doesn't the great scholar Wu improvise a poem instead of picking up his wine cup and doing something only an uneducated person would do?"

Wu Zhiyuan ignored him and said cheerfully, "I see you hate those who have and laugh at those who don't. Today I'm going to do the foolish thing and drink this cup to the full!"

After saying this, he drank the wine in the cup in front of everyone.

This move immediately attracted a wave of criticism.

When the drinking is at its peak, the banquet is half over.

Thick smoke suddenly rose from the depths of Prince Changting's palace, causing the guests at the banquet to become agitated. Prince Changting immediately calmed everyone down and sent someone to investigate the situation and put out the fire.

At the same time, Miss Han Meng came to the pavilion with a personal maid.

The maid was tall and held a newly repaired Mingciqin in her arms.

At this time, Xu Qing was chatting with Zhu Huaian, who had found an excuse to sneak out, but he did not see the group of people outside the pavilion.

Otherwise, he would have recognized that the tall maid was the cold beauty he had seen before he met Bai Luo. Meanwhile, at the site of the fire in the palace, dozens of battle-hardened masters were surrounding and suppressing the three arsonists.

Bai Luo, the guardian of Tianxin Sect, had a cold expression on his face. Before he came here, he had anticipated that the palace would be heavily guarded, but he still underestimated the strength of the guards here.

These masters in front of him are the foundation accumulated by the king of a different surname through years of fighting.

It seems that only his death today can move the Maitreya God, so that he can bestow his great magical power and grant him the immortality of his body!
"We are the reincarnation of Maitreya, sent by the gods. How can you, the lackeys of Dayong, kill me!" A fellow believer roared, and was then shot into a hedgehog by a sharpshooter in the distance.

Bai Luo made a sword gesture with his hand and stepped on the Mingwang Seal. Facing the siege of dozens of Tongmai Realm soldiers, he grinned and decided to "sacrifice himself for justice" the next moment.

At this moment, the doors and windows of the houses in the distance suddenly broke, and a master in a black robe took action and eliminated all the sharpshooters hiding in the dark.

The leader of the palace's personal guards realized something was wrong. When he turned around, half of the guards beside him had been killed by the ghostly man in black robes.

He stared intently at the unidentified assassin in front of him and said in a hoarse voice, "You are releasing your inner energy. Are you a Condensed Energy Master?"

The man in black robe said nothing, but moved his hand slightly, and the standard long sword on the ground not far away flew into his hand involuntarily.

"You are not a Condensed Gang Martial Master, you are a Martial Arts Grandmaster!"

The leader of the personal guards' pupils dilated. He reached out to touch the flying whistle in his arms that was used for early warning, but he was still a step too late.

The black-robed assassin flipped his wrist, and the next moment the leader of the personal guards was beheaded.

The cicada-shaped flying whistle, which had already been tied with a rope and was about to fly into the night sky, was also caught by the black-robed man's fingers. Then he twisted it slightly, and the iron cicada in his hand turned into fine iron chips, making it useless.

Bai Luo looked at the mysterious man in front of him. Although he felt happy about surviving the disaster, he was more afraid.

Looking at the entire martial arts world, how many martial arts masters are there?

For a person like this, perhaps only their leader is qualified to be compared with him.

"Junior Bai Luo, thank you for saving me."

At this moment, Bai Luo did not dare to speak carelessly, let alone say more, and could only bow and express his gratitude.

"You do have a bit of a rough and tumble spirit. It would be fine if you assassinated the Crown Prince elsewhere, but you actually dared to do it in the Changting Prince's residence."

The man in black robe deliberately lowered his voice and said, "Luckily I passed by, otherwise you would never have succeeded!"

Poirot understood the hidden meaning in the other person's words and could not help but show joy on his face. He humbly asked, "Please give me some advice, Senior."

"The Crown Prince is guarded by Ning Gang martial artists, and Prince Changting himself is also a martial arts master. If you want to assassinate the Crown Prince, you must lure the tiger away from the mountain."

Bai Luo frowned. "How do we lure the tiger away from the mountain?"

"Prince Changting has only one son. If Tiger is harmed, are you still afraid that he will not leave the Crown Prince?"

After saying this, the black-robed assassin, who was at a high level of martial arts, disappeared into the night.

Outside the banquet hall, Zhu Huaian, drunkenly, took Wu Wencai's hand and said, "It's getting late. You two can rest at my house today. I'll take you for a walk tomorrow when the house is quiet."

Behind the two of them, Xu Qing had a dark face and was holding the unconscious Wu Zhiyuan in a princess hug.

As for why you don't carry it on your back, it's because most drunk people are unreasonable. If you don't put them where you can see them, they might vomit on you at any time.

When Xu Qing finally settled Wu Zhiyuan in the corridor for guests to rest, he heard the sounds of fighting and loud shouting coming from outside the house.

He frowned and walked out of the room quickly, only to see a grown-up skull rolling in front of his feet.

He recognized this man. Two days ago, when Zhu Huaian forcibly occupied a seat in the teahouse, causing dissatisfaction among the tea drinkers, it was this big man over nine feet tall who came forward to protect his master.

Xu Qing's eyes twitched and he looked in the direction of the sound.

At this time, the drunk Zhu Huaian was still standing there in a daze. When he came to his senses, only one of the three guards around him was left.

Looking at the middle of the yard, Bai Luo, dressed as a scholar, had already raised his sword and pierced the chest of the last guard.

He shook the sword lightly, and the blood on the sword groove dripped onto the ground. The corridors and courtyards were filled with a strong smell of blood.

Xu Qing stood at the door. In the yard was a demon from the Tianxin Sect who was holding a sword and ready to kill people. At the door of the next room was Master Zhu who had just sent Wu Wencai into his room to rest.

Without thinking too much, Xu Qing took out three powerful pills and swallowed them whole. He shook his hands and the Vajra Knuckle in his sleeve fell into his palms.

Bai Luo looked at the pale-faced young man who was standing in front of the prince with his sleeves lowered and grinned.

A weak scholar wants to block his way?

His figure flashed, and the next moment he appeared in front of Xu Qing.

Like a ghost.

The opponent's speed was astonishingly fast. Xu Qing was unable to see Bai Luo's sword moves clearly, and a numb and cold feeling came from his heart.

"Hmm?" Bai Luo showed surprise as the tip of the sword pierced the scholar's chest. At that moment, he felt as if he was stabbing iron or stone. Even at the moment of penetration, a burst of bright sparks burst out.

During this moment of distraction, Xu Qing suddenly raised his sleeves and stretched out a pair of hands with brass knuckles that were like steel pliers.

He stretched out his hand and tightly grasped the long sword that was three-quarters of the way into his flesh, bared his teeth at Bai Luo, and showed a sinister smile.

"It's my turn!"

Xu Qing held the long sword with one hand and grabbed the other's sword-holding arm with the other.

Bai Luo's hair stood on end. He quickly raised his right hand, gathered a stream of green energy, and slammed it on Xu Qing's forehead.

At the same time, in a house near the Linhe Shuimen Bridge.

The Yinhuai tree, which had just sprouted and was trying hard to absorb the moonlight's Yin energy, suddenly had its crown exploded, and countless bark and wood chips mixed with green sprouts flew everywhere.

In Changting Palace, Xu Qing's head was corroded by the罡气, but he seemed fine. On the contrary, Bai Luo was blinded in one eye by the偃偶 that suddenly appeared behind Xu Qing.

Bai Luo groaned, and before he could react, he saw the young man in front of him turn sideways, revealing a strange face with long hair on the back of his head.

At this time, Xu Qing controlled Bai Luo with both hands. Apart from Yanou, the only killer move he had left was the double-dealing technique.

In the courtyard filled with the smell of blood, a cold light suddenly appeared.

The art of double-dealing includes the method of hiding a knife, which can kill people without them being seen.

Xu Qing always has a knife hidden behind him.

And today, this knife was stained with blood for the second time.

(End of this chapter)