Madam, please listen to my explanation.

Chapter 145 I’m late
"Brother Jingyu, come and pursue me!"

"Okay, Congjia, slow down, don't fall."

In the midst of the snow and ice, a young couple is chasing each other.

The man had a thick black cloth covering his eyes, and his hands were outstretched in front of him, appearing slow and clumsy.

If someone dressed like that went out and shouted, "I am the 'Little Sword Immortal' of Yanjing," people would probably laugh their heads off!
The girl stuck her tongue out at the other person, turned around, and ran forward quickly.

I'm not going to fall for your tricks.
Slow down, or you'll get caught!

After running a few steps, Zhou Congjia slightly lifted the hem of her skirt with both hands to make herself run faster.

She even kicked off her cloud-patterned sandals in a few quick movements to minimize the sound of her footsteps on the snow.
She would glance back every now and then to make sure the other person wouldn't cheat, and secretly remove the black cloth from her face.

Fortunately, the man continued to walk with slightly clumsy steps, and the distance between the two was clearly growing further and further.

Go faster! If I can reach that pavilion up ahead, I'll win!

Zhou Congjia had just turned her head back when her foot suddenly slipped, and she instantly lost her balance.

'ah!'

Oh no, I can't shout! We'll be discovered!
Having never practiced martial arts before, she was completely unable to maintain her balance. Her first reaction was to cover her mouth with both hands.

The two of them had made a promise. If he couldn't catch her, he would have to grant her one request.
We absolutely must not be discovered!

Just as she was getting ready for a close encounter with the ground, a gentle breeze came from behind her.

Zhou Congjia blinked her bright eyes and realized that she was already being held in a pair of strong arms.

The other party kept their word and remained blindfolded.

But what can we do about it?

Zhou Congjia turned her head to look at the pavilion, which was only a few meters away, a hint of sadness flashing in her eyes.

I'm so stupid.
"Did you twist your ankle?"

The man spoke with concern.

Clearly, not only his location, but even his expression just now, had not escaped the other party's perception.
Yes, he's known as the Little Sword Immortal, the number one among the younger generation.

Even if your face is covered, so what?
Seeing that the person in his arms did not answer, Zhao Jingyu ripped off the black cloth covering his face, his brows furrowed.

Without saying a word, he reached out and touched the other person's smooth, fair ankle, sending out a wisp of his true energy to sense it.

After a moment, his furrowed brows finally relaxed slightly.

"It's good that you're not hurt. The road is so slippery, you mustn't be careless, Congjia."

Halfway through his reprimand, Zhao Jingyu saw that pitiful face and suddenly burst into laughter:

"Actually, I couldn't catch you if you hadn't fallen. So, you should be more careful next time."

He wasn't lying. He wasn't stupid. What did it matter if he lost a little playful game with his beloved?

If I wasn't worried about the other person getting hurt, why would I rush to save them in such a hurry?
"Oh, I see."

Seeing that the other party was still sullen, Zhao Jingyu's eyes darted around, and he smiled again:

"Actually, even if you lose, it doesn't matter. Let alone one request, as long as Congjia asks, I will grant you a hundred or a thousand requests."

"Really? Brother Jingyu wouldn't lie to me?"

Zhou Congjia's face lit up with joy.

"certainly!
"I am about to become the Crown Prince of Great Yan, how can I break my promise?"

Zhou Congjia smiled and put her arms around the other person's neck, whispering:
"What if what Congjia asks you to do is very, very difficult?"

"It's not difficult at all. Even if Congjia wants to go to the heavens and reach for the bright moon, Brother Jingyu will definitely help you achieve it."

What do you mean by depleted vitality? What do you mean by the barrier between heaven and man?

"Cut them all down with a single sword strike! To tell you the truth, I've already touched the edge of that barrier, and I'm just a hair's breadth away from breaking through."

Zhao Jingyu's expression was solemn.

He was always like this; once the topic of cultivation came up, he would start talking non-stop, completely forgetting that the girl beside him was someone who knew nothing about martial arts.

Fortunately, the other party always listened silently and never interrupted.

After a long while, he finally realized something was wrong, coughed lightly, and quickly steered the conversation back on track:

"Ahem. I've gone off-topic again. Anyway, if I can't do it, then let my meridians be severed, and I'll never be able to wield a sword again."

Now, the person in his arms couldn't sit still any longer.

Before she could finish speaking, her mouth was covered by a pair of small hands. "Don't say such unlucky things! Pui pui pui!"

If someone else had said such grandiose words, I would have scoffed at them.

But if it's him, I believe he can definitely do it.

She rested her head against the man's chest. "Actually, it's not that difficult. I just wanted to say, could you please not leave tonight?"

By the end, his voice had become barely audible.

"Pfft." Zhao Jingyu laughed loudly, "You, Zhou Congjia, you haven't even paid your respects to heaven and earth yet, and you actually dare to try to molest this prince!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Congjia was not amused; instead, she felt as if a piece of her heart was missing.

"elder brother."

"Alright, Congjia, our teacher is waiting for us at the restaurant. We went to great lengths to come all the way to Zhuozhou just to pay our respects, so how can we go back on our word?"
I promise I'll come back as soon as possible, okay?

Before he finished speaking, the person had already walked further and further away.

Until the heavy snow completely covered the figure, the scenery before them suddenly shattered into pieces.

Zhou Congjia propped herself up in the pavilion in the courtyard, only to find that her sleeves were already soaked with tears.

"It was a dream again."

Her left hand unconsciously reached for her right wrist, only to find it empty.

A look of horror appeared on his pale, bloodless face:

'The bracelet. The bracelet that Jingyu gave me'

'That's right, I buried the bracelet!'
Bury it. Why bury it? Search quickly!

The hurried footsteps sounded particularly abrupt in the quiet night air.

Zhou Congjia stumbled and ran quickly to an abandoned courtyard in the General's Mansion.

She lunged at a patch of mud, acting like a madwoman, her hands rummaging through it incessantly.

"No...don't go...to Brother Jingyu."

"It's very dangerous! They poisoned it! It's very dangerous!"

"Where's my jade bracelet?! My jade bracelet!!!"

She wailed and cried, her ten fingers bleeding, yet she continued to frantically dig in the mud.

Behind them, a stout figure was draping a long robe over his body and walking toward them with a gloomy face.

"You bastard, what are you doing in the middle of the night?"

Wow wow wow
Whether the woman intentionally ignored it or simply didn't hear it, she continued with what she was doing.

Zhou Lushan, enraged, rolled up his sleeves and quickened his pace:

"I'm talking to you, are you fucking deaf?! Ugh ugh ugh ugh—!"

He tried to speak again, but found that he could no longer utter a single complete syllable.

My mouth felt scalding hot, and something fell to the ground.

He stepped back in alarm and looked down, only to find it was a small piece of pink flesh.

That's my own tongue!!!
"The jade bracelet...the jade bracelet is gone. The jade..."

Zhou Congjia was completely unaware of what was happening behind her, and continued searching frantically. Suddenly, five slender, white fingers pressed down on her hand.

"Stop looking, Xiao Congjia."

"Isn't the jade bracelet on Junruo?"

The sound was like a thunderclap, exploding in Zhou Congjia's mind!
She once thought she would never hear that voice again in her life.
"what!"

She recoiled as if electrocuted, shaking her head frantically.

"No! Don't come!"

"You ugly monster!"

"Useless things!"

"If I marry someone else, he'll be better than you and won't abandon me to face danger alone!"

Hurry up, they're coming!

Tears streamed down her face as she blankly looked up and saw the owner of the hand, dressed in white with snow-white hair.

Her eyebrows were like sharp swords, and her eyes seemed to hold the stars.

Just like when we first met eighteen years ago on the border between Yan and Zhou, he was as handsome and dashing as ever.

Only in the corners of his eyes and brows did he show some signs of aging.

Zhou Congjia slumped to the ground with a thud, as if relieved of a great burden.

"That's great, that's great!"
It was just a dream again.
That's strange. Didn't I just wake up?

"Junruo. If only we could meet again as we did at first sight. What a beautiful name."

Behind him, the man who had just lost his tongue didn't dare to breathe, and turned around to run away as fast as he could!
Unexpectedly, just as he took a step, an unprecedented pain struck him, and he fell heavily to the ground, landing face-first in the dirt.

Blood was dripping from his calves down.

On the ground, there was still a pair of feet wearing hemp shoes.

Zhao Jingyu took a deep breath, knelt down, and gently brushed aside the messy strands of hair in front of the other person's face:
"I'm sorry I'm late."
-
Youzhou City, Hanxiang Tower.

In a secluded private room in the backyard of the restaurant, Xu Jinhuan stared at the bamboo slips in his hand, his brows furrowed tightly.

Zhou Jin.
The man the brother-in-law was meeting at night in Zhuozhou City turned out to be none of his friends at all.
Instead, it's the 'Crown Prince's Tutor,' Zhou Jin?!

What the hell is this bullshit script?!
In a fit of rage, the bamboo slips in his hand, along with the square table in front of him, instantly turned to ashes.

Beside him, the brothel steward sensed the chilling murderous aura and was too frightened to utter a sound.

The information that the young master accessed was all temporarily obtained from the Yuzhou headquarters with the highest authority.

He knew who those top-secret matters involved.
In short, I didn't dare to look at a single word.
After his impotent rage subsided, Xu Jinhuan began to think things through calmly.

周瑾
What exactly do you want to do?
He had suspected from the beginning that the friend Zhao Jingyu met that night was the one who poisoned him.

Otherwise, with his cultivation level that was almost unparalleled in the capital at the time, how could he have been poisoned so easily?

Now, through the secret records personally kept by Master Wu, we know that Zhao Jingyu and Zhou Congjia made a special detour to Zhuozhou just to meet Zhou Jin.
Therefore, there is no other possible candidate to have poisoned the person!
It wasn't that he doubted the old man's character.
Instead, since he was nearby, how could he allow his prized disciple, the dignified Crown Prince of Great Yan, to suffer such humiliation?
The only possibility is...
He himself poisoned it!

But why?
He didn't believe that the old man, who had long since lost all attachments, would let Zhao Wuji manipulate him.

He must have done it out of his own volition.
However, although my brother-in-law is now a bit casual and reckless, he is definitely not a fool.

There's no reason he wouldn't know who poisoned him.
Why didn't he kill the person who had harmed him to this extent with a single sword strike after mastering his divine skills?

Xu Jinhuan felt a sharp pain in his head and was completely unable to figure out the reason.

At this moment, he was incredibly grateful that he hadn't acted impulsively and ventured into the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

If I were to recklessly challenge the second and fifth ranked experts in the Southern Frontier, I might inadvertently fall into their trap.

No, as things stand now.

The reason the other party brought this up is probably to get me into southern Xinjiang!
If I hadn't overcome the second tribulation of inner demons, I wouldn't have already roughly known the answer I wanted.

They might actually be tempted by the bait offered to them.

"Xiaoqing, I'm so bored. Can you sing me a song?"

'Oh, okay. Since you've insisted, I'll accept.'

"Little Green, the crescent moon hangs high as she fishes for silver carp, the stars bounce and leap across the inkstone."

A white deer arrives carrying morning dew, and the stone bridge transforms into a dragon.
You're referring to a certain place, or a secret code to unlock a certain location, right?

'Xu'

'While you were asleep, I wasn't idle; I saw everything.'

I saw you standing in front of that ancient bronze tree.

Suddenly, the earth shook violently within his sea of ​​consciousness.

The giant, vibrant tree in the very center trembled violently, and countless green leaves fell with a crackling sound.

Xu Jinhuan empathized with the other person and deeply felt the tremor that came from the depths of their soul.

"No...don't say anymore, Xu Jinhuan. My head...my head hurts so much."

Xu Jinhuan reached out and wiped the blood from his mouth and nose, and said softly:

'Okay, I don't know exactly how much you remember, but if you want to know, you can ask me anytime.'

'Who am I?'

'Fool, of course you're Xiaoqing.'

Of course, if I'm not mistaken, I can also call you 'Si Meng'.

Boom——

Thunder roared through his mind in an instant.

The dragon lies dormant, and the sun is obscured by thunderclouds.

The azure phoenix suddenly flapped its wings, raised its head and let out a mournful cry.

After a long while, her gaze pierced through her mind and met Xu Jinhuan's eyes.

From the very beginning, gusts of wind swept through the entire room.

The furnishings inside were all askew, and even the roof was almost blown off by the strong wind.

Sweat beaded on the deacon's forehead, and he clung tightly to the beam with both hands, sweat pouring down his face.

Suddenly, the wind stopped and the rain ceased.

Suddenly, a raven tore through space and appeared in the center of the humble room.

Xu Jinhuan looked over suspiciously and stretched out his arm.

A raven landed on his arm and spat out a note.

Xu Jinhuan unfolded it with one hand and squinted at it.

The next moment, he burst into a tirade:
"Zhou Jin, you bastard!!!"

Zhuang Yuning has woken up, but she is somewhat disoriented.

After careful observation, I have discovered that something went wrong when absorbing Wu Yao's spiritual essence, and the two accidentally swapped souls. Please be aware of this.

(As clever as I am, I have naturally found a way to restore her. If you wish to return to your original form, bring her back to see me.)
—Zhou Jin.

"Let's go, Xu Jinhuan. Let's go to the southern border. There's another keyhole there."
If I destroy it all, I can regain all my memories.

You will also possess the power to confront Zhou Jin directly.

'Okay, I'll do as you say. We'll go to southern Xinjiang.'

(End of this chapter)