Madam, please listen to my explanation.

Chapter 140 Meow meow meow?
Kyoto, Xie Fang Yuan.

Xu Xinnian and Zhao Ruoxi sat facing each other, with a stone chessboard between them.

"General."

The chess piece falls, heralding victory.

Xu Xinnian, however, showed no joy whatsoever.

He stroked his beard with one hand and shook his head.

"Your Majesty, stop now. You cannot defeat this old minister."

What a terrible chess player!

Playing against a player like you is the greatest insult to me!

Zhao Ruoxi looked embarrassed and started tidying up the chess pieces on her own.

"Prime Minister Xu truly deserves to be called a master of chess; I admire him."

It is good to know.

"Everyone has their own expertise, and Your Majesty is too busy with countless affairs of state to focus on this."

Not far from the two, a boy with a youthful face sat under a tree, silently looking at the book in his hands.

He appeared focused, but in reality, he didn't absorb a single word; his lively eyes kept glancing at the chessboard.

Little did she know that her appearance had not escaped the discerning eye of her excessively beautiful 'cousin'.

Pshaw, pshaw, pshaw, now we should address you as Your Majesty.

Xu Xinnian looked at the handsome young man and sighed inwardly.

The Prince of Ning, who is stationed in the East Sea, is not yet of legal age, but he is not only well-read but has also opened up the Qi Pass at a young age. He is a genuine third-grade expert and is indeed a promising talent.

But right now, the Great Zhou is eyeing us covetously, and the demon race is eager to fight; it's clear that chaos is on the horizon.

His Majesty has barely warmed the dragon throne, and he's already starting to prepare for his successor?
Being love-struck is a bad thing!
Well, Xu Xinnian has been an official all his life, and the reason he has been able to live to this day is largely because he has almost never interfered in the internal struggles of the Yan-Zhao royal family.

The upheaval at Qiyun Altar is something you only need to experience once!

Seeing that the opponent was about to finish gathering the pieces, the wrinkled old face of the Prime Minister Xu finally relaxed a little.

"Lord Xu, where is the 'dowry' from the Zhou Kingdom now?"

Zhao Ruoxi suddenly asked.

"Judging by the time, they should be approaching the vicinity of Yuzhou soon." The old man's heart skipped a beat for no reason.

"Where is that little bitch?"

Xu Xinnian's eye twitched.

How can the ruler of a nation speak so recklessly!

Can't you see that your cousin's hand, which was just turning the page, is frozen in mid-air?
"Ahem. According to a secret report from the brothel, she and Xiao Han, leading a hundred Black Hawks who had gathered from all over Yan, have already entered Nanliang City. By the way..."

Brothel Secret Report
Zhao Ruoxi's movements visibly faltered.

As a newly emerging and mysterious force in the Yan Kingdom, the 'brothel' is so well-known that, apart from its internal workings, there are only a handful of people who truly know its background and origins.

Coincidentally, there are two of them in this courtyard now.

In other words, without the backing of the royal family, it would have been nothing short of a pipe dream for a brothel to expand its intelligence network so rapidly under the watchful eyes of various powerful and diverse forces.

Therefore, for the two of them, the accuracy of the information was beyond any doubt.

Xu Xinnian paused, hesitated for a long time, and then continued:
"That Xu kid, outside Nanliang City, pretended to be unconscious and infiltrated their team."

boom!
A chess piece in Zhao Ruoxi's hand shattered with a crash.

OK OK.

Pretending to be unconscious, huh?
It's unclear whether the goal was to infiltrate the group or to infiltrate someone's body.
That lecherous scoundrel.
With his extraordinary abilities, did he already know that the little bitch surnamed Li was going to the Southern Frontier, and that's why he volunteered to personally go and collect the bile of the 'Eight-Headed Serpent'?
What exactly is he trying to do?

The more they thought about it, the angrier they became. Before they knew it, a murderous aura had filled the entire courtyard, causing the surface of the hot spring water beside them to ripple even without wind.

"Xuan'er!"

"Your Majesty!"

The boy under the shade of the tree was terrified, and sweat was already beading on his forehead.

He asked himself, even though his father, the king, was in charge of a region and always instilled fear in everyone in the household.

Every time my father gets angry, it's terrifying, but compared to this one, it's simply incomparable!

Serving a king is like serving a tiger. My father was right!

Besides
He was intelligent from a young age and knew that if he succeeded in this trip to the capital, he would rise to prominence, but if he failed, how could he face his elders in Donghai?
Zhao Ruoxi said coldly:

"Study hard, because later, Lord Xu will personally test your studies."

"Yes, Your Majesty, Xuan'er understands!"

Zhao Ruoxi suppressed her anger, and the tense garden instantly returned to calm.

“Your Excellency, since that wretched woman insisted on going to such a dangerous place as the Southern Frontier, even if she dies, Zhou State can’t say anything about it, can it?”

"That's how it should be."

Xu Xinnian nodded.

However, he did not express his thoughts aloud.

Things in this world can never go as planned.

Your Majesty seems to have forgotten that the wretched woman you speak of bears a striking resemblance to your betrothed sister-in-law.
With that person present, would they really just stand by and watch her die in Youzhou?
For some reason, he always felt that there was some kind of conspiracy involved in the other party's line of work.

But he was too far away, and it was like looking at flowers through a fog; even he couldn't fathom its deeper meaning.

Just as he was lost in thought, a maid brought over new chess pieces.

Xu Xinnian's heart skipped a beat, and then he heard the emperor say in a deep voice:

"It's still early, let's have another plate."

"."
-
'Xiaoqing, how much demonic power do these snake demons possess?'

It's as bland as water, with almost no taste. But it's better than nothing, right?
Hey, why were you just standing there like an idiot letting them grab you? It's embarrassing.

'What do you know? There are countless dangers ahead. Having them scout ahead is far better than me going alone. Otherwise, why would I have infiltrated this area?'

Surprisingly, the cat simply hid quietly in his arms and didn't take advantage of his misfortune, which was quite unexpected.

He couldn't explain why, but he just felt that something was wrong.

The group slowly moved forward along the furrows carved out by the sword energy.

Although the surrounding area is still filled with sharp and chaotic sword energy, as long as you are careful to keep a safe distance, there is no danger to your life.

Xiao Han unusually analyzed the situation in a very logical and reasonable way.

By following this ravine, they not only avoided the wind and snow, but also kept the not-so-intelligent snake demons at bay, greatly reducing the difficulty of their journey.

The only regrettable thing is that the sword energy surrounding the sword mark is dissipating at a visible rate every moment.

"Ah!"

Li Junru sneezed for no apparent reason.

Her eyes stared blankly ahead.

For some reason, the closer she got, the more she could sense an indescribable meaning from the wisp of sword energy beside her.

It was just like what I felt from my mother on countless nights when she occasionally regained her senses.
Sadness, regret.

"Fool, do you think this sword energy must have been unleashed by that sword immortal?"

Xiao Han was the one among them who was always closest to the sword energy.

From the very beginning, he remained silent, observing and sensing intently.

Upon hearing this, he seemed to awaken from a dream, reluctantly pulling himself out of a certain state, and pondered:
"It shouldn't be wrong. Although I have never faced the demon race directly, my master told me that most demons prefer to rely on their physical strength, which is like a divine weapon, and I have almost never seen them use weapons."

He supported Chen Xinghe on his back with one hand, and pointed to his side with the other:
"And this is genuine sword energy, there's no mistake."

Li Junruo nodded.

"Shen Ye."

Who exactly is this peerless sword immortal who appeared out of nowhere?
Could someone as brilliant as him also have a hidden, heartbreaking past?

The entire journey was speechless.

The small area around them could be considered a pristine place, but all around them, there was still an endless expanse of white snow.

With nothing around them to use as a reference, they had long since lost their sense of direction and distance, and had no idea how long they had been walking.

At this moment, how far away is it from Youzhou City, where a battle is currently taking place?

Occasionally, there were loud explosions, accompanied by strong hurricanes and air waves. Fortunately, just as Chen Xinghe had said, the deadly sword energy that was so fast that it was impossible to dodge appeared again.

Silence, stillness, like an invisible mountain, weighed heavily on everyone's hearts.

Many people even began to doubt whether they had already died under that soaring sword energy, and whether everything in front of them was just an illusion.

Only Li Junruo was absolutely certain.

He was getting closer and closer to Youzhou City.

She gently rotated the jade bracelet on her right wrist to avoid being burned by its increasingly high temperature.

That was a precious item that my mother carefully dug out of the soil before her departure, and personally wore on her hand, praying for a safe journey.
She knew that the bracelet, which was emerald green with a hint of blood, had the character 'Yu' engraved on its inside.

"Young Master Fan, Young Master Xiao, the situation may be somewhat dire."

Along the way, Heguta, who would occasionally leave the group to scout the environment, suddenly came to their side.

Li Junruo looked bewildered until a snowflake landed on her face.

She then realized that, without her noticing, the sword marks in front of her had gradually been buried by the snow.

This long-awaited heavy snow has finally begun to unleash its long-hidden claws upon everyone.

"Something's wrong with this snow."

Heguta's expression was extremely solemn.

“I took a stroll around the area and my perception is clearer than that of the two young masters.”

Seemingly feeling that words were not enough, he suddenly took the longbow off his back and casually shot an arrow forward!
The two squinted and saw that the arrow had clearly produced a sonic boom when it left the bowstring.

But before it had traveled very far, its speed visibly decreased.

The arrows were quickly covered by white mist and snow, and could no longer be seen.

But that fleeting glimpse was enough to illustrate the point.

Xiao Han reached out and caught a snowflake, closed his eyes to feel it for a moment, and then said:

"So that's how it is. No wonder the Sword Immortal made such a big fuss."

Li Junru followed suit and caught the snowflakes to observe them as well.

But after a long while, he still couldn't understand what the two were talking about.

"Ayu, what's wrong? Someone as intelligent as you shouldn't be oblivious to the fact that this snow is consuming our strength!"

Xiao Han's expression was somewhat solemn, but the light in his eyes burned even brighter. "Although it's very weak, what if we're exposed to this kind of wind and snow for a long time?"

If I'm not mistaken, the power swallowed up by the wind and snow will likely feed back into the sword immortal himself. With this ebb and flow, he will only grow stronger in battle. No wonder he was able to single-handedly fight against three great demons.
The methods of a supreme being truly far beyond our imagination!

He still had something on his mind that he hadn't said.

Although my master is strong, he definitely doesn't have such unheard-of methods!
Hegu Tower nodded. "Young Master Xiao is right. I also observed this in Nanliang City before, and there was absolutely no such supernatural ability among the snowflakes at that time."

It seems we are indeed getting closer and closer to Youzhou.

"So that's how it is! I didn't even notice, hehe."

Li Junruo pretended to suddenly realize something and cooperated with the two in their performance, but in reality, her heart was once again filled with turmoil.

Something's wrong. Something's really wrong!
Why is it that I can't feel any of the feelings they're talking about at all?!

"Ah Yu, you look terrible. Could it be that you've caught a chill?!"

Xiao Han tensed up instantly.

Damn it!
Along the way, he was so focused on observing the sword energy that he completely neglected the situation of his beloved.
"Huh? Ah Yu, this bracelet of yours..."

He quickly approached, intending to use his inner energy to dispel the cold from the other person.

But then she suddenly realized that, in her memory, the bracelet on Junruo's wrist was emerald green, but now it had turned a vibrant red.
"It's nothing. Look, there seems to be a small hill over there."
Chu Nan, you must be tired after carrying me for so long.

"Master Gu, should we put Brother Chen down?"

Noticing the other person's gaze, Li Junruo subtly hid her right arm behind her back.

She gestured with her chin toward Chen Xinghe, trying to distract the silly boy.

The two instantly understood each other.

Since the sword scars were about to be buried by the heavy snow, it goes without saying that they would have to rely on others for help to figure out how to proceed.
Xiao Han immediately looked troubled.

When they need someone, they call them brother; but once they're no longer of use, they immediately tie them up.
Now, he's about to have to ask someone for a favor again, and the thought of it makes him so embarrassed he wants to dig his toes into the ground.

Li Junruo, however, did not have so many concerns.

Now, although we haven't completely broken ties with this stranger, we're not far off.

However, our side still has an absolute numerical advantage, so there is no need to worry about the other side not cooperating.

Just as she was about to step forward and tear off the gag from Chen Xinghe's face, Heguta was already a step ahead of her, blocking the two of them.

He ignored Chen Xinghe and instead pulled out a small dried fish from somewhere, waving it near the other man's collar.

A furry paw suddenly emerged from it and swung it sharply.

Unfortunately, they came up empty-handed.

Heguta withdrew his hand, waving the dried fish in it, and said with a smile:

"Good cat, tell us what to do next. And that's not all, I have lots of dried fish here, they're all yours!"

A forced smile appeared on that weathered face.

Clearly, he preferred to make a deal with this seemingly harmless cat rather than a person.

"Meow meow meow?"

Unexpectedly, Sang Biao tilted his head, looking completely innocent, as if he couldn't understand what he was saying at all.

Hegu Tower: "."

As the cat pretended to be stupid again, the group got closer and closer to the hill, and the sword marks beside them had completely disappeared.

"Alright, Young Master Xiao, put Brother Chen down."

Xiao Han did as instructed.

The three men surrounded him and finally tore off the gag from his mouth, but they did not untie him.

Even the sword that could cut a hair in two had long been confiscated by Heguta and was now hanging at his waist.

"Brother Chen, I have offended you greatly before."

"Why do you say that, my benefactor? I am not worthy of being called brother."

Xu Jinhuan was completely unmoved by Xiao Han's apology.

Now that things have come to this, all the previous pretense and evasion can be skipped.

"Calling you brother is already giving you a lot of face. I advise you to understand your situation and not to refuse a toast only to suffer the consequences."

"Hegu Tower said coldly."

"Master Gu, please don't be so rude."

Li Junruo stepped in at the right moment to smooth things over: "Brother Chen, as the leader of the escort team, Master Gu has an obligation to ensure the safety of the brothers. It was a last resort, so please don't take offense."

Ultimately, it was you who concealed the abnormality of your spirit cat first, which led to the misunderstanding later. Now that everyone's ultimate goal is to go to Youzhou, why not cooperate first?

"If there's anything unpleasant, the three of us will come back to apologize to you once we've arrived safely."

"Oh, Young Master Fan really knows how to talk. What a clever combination of kindness and threats. I almost believed him." Xu Jinhuan laughed heartily, seemingly oblivious to his status as a prisoner.

“You’re right. Although I also want to go to Youzhou, I’m a coward. I’m afraid that once I get outside the city of Youzhou, the truth will be revealed.”

Having his thoughts exposed, a hint of impatience appeared on Heguta's face.

Unfortunately, having already arrived here, the path we came from was already covered by heavy snow, leaving only this one road to follow.

He didn't care what happened to him, but he couldn't ignore the lives of his brothers.

Thinking of this, Heguta bowed to Chen Xinghe:
"I apologize for my rudeness earlier, Young Master Chen. The snow is getting heavier and heavier, so please lead the way as soon as possible."

"No problem, no problem." Xu Jinhuan's expression softened slightly: "But instead of leading the way, you should first think about how to save your lives."

He lay on the snow, bound hand and foot, his body covered in iron chains.

What he said left the others completely bewildered.

Even so, it didn't stop everyone from instantly becoming alert!
"What small hill you were talking about? I didn't see it. Could you be referring to that?"
"Do scales grow on the mountains where you live?"

what? !

Upon hearing this, Heguta instantly got goosebumps all over his body!

He turned his head sharply and saw that two cracks had suddenly appeared on the 'small hill' in front of him.

A pair of eerie vertical pupils, gleaming with a ghostly light, were revealed!
"Young Master, be careful!!!"

An unprecedented sense of crisis surged into their hearts. Just as He Guta cried out in alarm, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble violently.

Suddenly, the small mountain opened its blood-red maw, and from beneath its sharp, gleaming fangs, countless silver-white snakes swarmed out!

The man fell on his back and his horse fell over.

Stumbling and staggering, struggling to maintain their balance, the dense swarm of snakes had already arrived before them!

Li Junruo suddenly realized.
That's not a small hill ahead.
It is clearly the snake head that was supposedly severed by the sword immortal in a single sword strike!

What's even more terrifying is that although the snake's head has detached from its body, it is clearly still alive!

The ground beneath our feet stopped trembling.

Revealing what was previously buried under heavy snow was half of a snake's body, as thick as dozens of people could hug.

With a sudden flick of its body, the snake lifted more than a dozen people nearby into the air.

They coughed up blood one by one, and in just one glance, they were completely lifeless.

The snakes flicked their tongues and surrounded the group.

In the distance, the head of 'Yamata' was slowly twisting its body in the snow, turning towards the group.

Li Junruo drew two short swords from behind his back and was already engaged in battle with the swarm of snakes that had come to him.

Xiao Han unleashed his full power, slicing large swathes of silver snakes in two with each stroke of his blade.

However, most of the others in the group did not have such methods, and soon, large-scale casualties occurred.

Only a handful of people, including Heguta, still managed to put up a fight.

In an instant, the ground beneath everyone's feet was covered in blood.

"They've really stopped acting altogether."

Now that things have come to this, everyone has no time to hide their identities and is going all out.

Xu Jinhuan could see clearly that the two Wolong and Fengchu were using the same "Asking the Heavens Eight Blades" technique as Song Yu.

Just as Heguta had unleashed a barrage of arrows, he suddenly felt a cool breeze at his waist. Looking down, he was astonished to see that the sword he had taken from Chen Xinghe had been drawn from its sheath on its own!
The longsword flew straight to where the other person was lying, circling around him several times.

After a series of clanging sounds, the iron chains binding him were completely shattered!
Xu Jinhuan jumped up, twisted his wrist, and snatched the longsword.

He gracefully twirled his sword, instantly slicing several silver snakes near the throwing knives into countless pieces.

"You were indeed hiding your true strength!"

Sword control!

This guy is definitely not some lowly fourth-rank cultivator.
Such precision and power in sword control is probably beyond the reach of even many sixth-rank experts!

This is enough to reveal the power of his divine sense!

Xu Jinhuan didn't answer, and suddenly thrust his long sword towards the spot where Hegu Tower was standing!
A wisp of fire shot out along the blade and, in the blink of an eye, had already reached the opponent's neck!

laugh--

Heguta had no time to dodge. The instant he saw the flames, a burning sensation spread across his neck.

He stumbled back two steps, leaving a trail of blood.

Only then did he see a charred snake carcass fall to the ground from his shoulder.

He was utterly horrified.
If he hadn't slain the snake with that sword strike, he would already be decapitated!

"If you can't handle close combat, then you should just stay in the back and shoot from the shadows, uncle."

He grinned: "At this moment, you should be glad that I only had the strength I showed earlier. We would all be dead here today!"

Heguta gritted his teeth and ran away without looking back.

The other party is right. Being surrounded by a swarm of snakes, the strength one can exert is limited.

With a formidable enemy at our doorstep, the only way to survive is to work together to get through this crisis first!
Li Junruo and Xiao Han once again overturned the nearby horde of snakes, and leaped backward together.

Looking around, at this moment, only the four of them were still standing on the field!

They stared at 'Chen Xinghe' in disbelief.

The other person was breathing deeply and with a strong voice, showing no signs of exhaustion whatsoever.

"Brother Chen"

"Forget it, stop trying to disgust me."

As soon as Li Junruo opened her mouth, she was coldly interrupted by the other party.

With Youzhou City within reach, Xu Jinhuan was too lazy to continue the charade.

"Repaying evil with good has never been my life motto."
"If you want to get close to me, take off that clumsy fake beard and your disguise first!"

(End of this chapter)