Tumor Sword Immortal

Chapter 50 Leaving the City
The Pegasus galloped into the alley, and amidst the chaos, Pei Xia successfully jumped off the horse, grabbed Xu Shangxin, and disappeared into the shadows behind the crowd.

Hiding is not a long-term solution. Although the outer city is large, once the Feathered Army reacts, the county government, the prefectural government, and the Insect and Bird Bureau work together, especially after high-level cultivators enter, it will be difficult to hide.

We still need to find a way to leave as soon as possible.

Xu Shangxin was being dragged along by Pei Xia as they walked through the streets and alleys of the outer city. As Pei Xia slowly headed towards the academy, she couldn't help but ask, "Will the academy help us get out of the city?"

"No, it can't either."

"Then what are we going to the academy for?"

“Someone can do it, and they happen to be at the academy.”

Jiangchao Academy is not comparable to the Imperial Academy or the Inner City's Honghu Academy. Although the teachers and students are quite capable, Xu Shangxin still felt it was a bit of a pipe dream to send someone out when Luoxian was under lockdown.

She lifted the hem of her skirt and hurried a few steps: "You've only been at the academy for a short time, and you've already met such an impressive person?"

Pei Xia held the beast tooth in his hand and laughed, "It has to be Old Pei, he's got all the magic."

When they arrived at the academy, Pei Xia led Xu Shangxin over the wall and headed towards the school buildings.

Today was a day off, and the academy was almost deserted. They only encountered a few teachers staying there along the way, and Pei Xia, along with Xu Shangxin and Lu Li, carefully avoided them.

It wasn't until they saw a short, stout man standing under a tree outside the schoolhouse, looking around, that Pei Xia felt reassured and led Xu Shangxin out.

The man's expression darkened when he saw Pei Xia and Xu Shangxin: "Mr. Pei, Ms. Xu."

Xu Shangxin looked at him in astonishment: "Liu San."

Pei Xia took out the animal tooth that Ye Lu had given her and handed it to him.

Liu San glanced at it but didn't take it. He nodded to the two of them and said, "This isn't the place to talk. Let's go inside first."

Liu San's younger sister, Liu Si, was in poor health and rented a room at the academy to reduce her commute.

After leading Pei Xia and Xu Shangxin into the room of the so-called younger sister, Liu Sancai breathed a sigh of relief and made a strange hand gesture with his hands together: "I am aware of the situation, and I understand Banba's intentions. I will arrange for you to leave the city as soon as possible."

Xu Shangxin glanced at Liu San, then at Pei Xia, and suddenly covered her mouth, her eyes widening in surprise: "There really are spies from the Northern Barbarians?!"

Liu San smiled wryly: "Sister Xu, please don't misunderstand. Although my brother and I came from the north, we were only following orders. We approached you to facilitate the transmission of messages to Banba Ling, but the so-called poisoning of Prime Minister Pei by the court was really not done by us."

Pei Xia tightened her grip on her hand and nodded, saying, "Pei Xi should know about this as well."

Xu Shangxin was even more shocked: "Your father knew about this too?"

Pei Xike is the prime minister of the Great Ling Kingdom. He knew that there were spies from the Northern Barbarians in the academy, and that they were right next to Xu Shangxin. Yet he tacitly approved of it.
Pei Xia scratched his head: "The Banba leader that Liu San mentioned is Ye Lu."

Xu Shangxin remembered.

Ye Lu came to the Prime Minister's residence, which originally belonged to Pei Xiyun. After he came to the residence, Pei Xiyun personally assigned him the job of guarding the gate and the courtyard, so much so that Yang Xu could not touch him after the old prime minister died.

From this perspective, Pei Xi's actions weren't just "knowing," but rather a deliberate arrangement!

What does this mean? The prime minister betrayed the country?

Pei Xia shook his head. Before the change, he really didn't understand Pei Xi's intentions, but now, he was slowly starting to understand.

Pei Xi is probably loyal to the Ling Kingdom, but he clearly distinguishes between loyalty to the Ling Kingdom and loyalty to Luo Xian.

Therefore, during the era when the eldest princess was in power, his stance sometimes seemed less secure, and even tended to be neutral.

Just like the three choices he gave Pei Xia, Pei Xia initially thought that Yang Xu represented the court, Xu Shangxin represented retirement, but he never understood what Ye Lu meant.

But when he understood Pei Xi's position and how things had developed to this point, he realized that Yang Xu could not represent the Da Ling court; he only represented Princess Luo Xian, while Ye Lu was of far greater importance.

The old man even left him a contact in the Northern Barbarians!
Liu San didn't offer any further explanation. He was just a small part of the Northern Barbarians' spy network in Beishi City. At his level, all he needed to do was carry out his missions.

He patted Pei Xia's hand holding the beast tooth: "Young Master Pei, please keep this tooth. If you go to Youzhou or further north in the future, it will still be useful."

After saying that, he called out towards the inner room, "Xiao Si."

Liu Si, who was physically weak, walked out while supporting herself on the door frame—it was clear that she was not faking illness to conceal her presence, but was genuinely weak—she was carrying two simple long gowns in her hands: “The clothes are here, change quickly, it will be difficult to make arrangements if it gets dark.”

Time was of the essence, and without much thought, Xu Shangxin went into the inner room. The two changed their clothes, and Pei Xia carried the exhausted Lu Li on her back, then called for the girl to follow. There was a secret passage inside the room, but it was short, only enough to leave the academy.

Liu San led the way, with the two adults and one child following behind. They meandered along the intricate paths in the southwest of the outer city, slowly approaching the Luo River.

The Luo River is the largest river in Beishi City. It flows down from Luoshen Peak. There is a huge waterfall hanging on the north side of the inner city. After that, the river splits and flows out of Beishi City in three directions, forming a moat around the city, and then flowing south to Shuzhou.

"The river sluice gate is also heavily guarded," Pei Xia reminded Liu San.

Liu San nodded: "We won't go through the sluice gate."

Bypassing the Luo River, and then passing through the low-rise houses to the west, a narrow stream is slowly carved out.

Pei Xia walked along for a while, but couldn't figure out what the narrow river, only three or four meters wide, was for: "What is this?"

This time, before Liu San could speak, Xu Shangxin answered him first: "This is for flood discharge."

The city of Beishi is high in the center and low in the surrounding area. There are springs on Luoshen Peak. When there is a torrential downpour, the floodwater will accumulate under the four walls of the outer city if the drainage is not smooth. Therefore, many narrow channels were built to facilitate drainage.

Pei Xia followed Liu San to the end, and sure enough, she saw an exit.

But this exit is not a door, but a grid made of dozens of intersecting steel bars.

Under the low dome of the waterway, only a disheveled old soldier with gray hair and beard sat by the grille, holding a long bamboo stick with a hook in his hand, nodding his head as if he were dozing off.

Pei Xia lowered her voice and asked, "You're not going to make me split this thing in half, are you?"

It is not impossible.

But Liu San shook his head, walked straight to the old man, woke him up, and said a few words.

The old man in military uniform glanced at Pei Xia, then stretched out his long stick, which he probably used to scrape the trash, and hooked it onto the iron grille.

With a flick of his wrist, the old man lifted the grille up.

Pei Xia was shocked. He looked at Liu San and asked, "You've already infiltrated to this extent?"

Such a vulnerability would be a fatal flaw if the Northern Barbarians were to besiege the city one day.

A wry smile appeared on Liu Sanpang's face: "Young Master Pei, what are you saying?"

He looked at the old man and said, "This man is one of Prime Minister Pei's men. We can only use this road if Prime Minister Pei allows it."

The old man nodded slightly to Pei Xia, then gestured towards the waterway with his lip.

Without further ado, Pei Xia called Xu Shangxin to go into the water.

The eldest brother wasn't a good swimmer and needed Pei Xia's help to swim out little by little.

Liu San didn't come along, and the old man had no intention of giving them any more. Seeing the two adults and one child leave the grating, the old man picked up his long stick and immediately blocked the waterway again.

The location was quite remote, far from the southwest city gate. Since the mission was to capture criminals rather than defend against enemies, there was little guard on the city wall. After feeding Xu Shangxin a large amount of water, they finally climbed ashore.

They were soaked to the bone, but they couldn't stay there any longer. Pei Xia and Xu Shangxin bypassed the official road and walked west for almost five miles before they finally felt relieved.

Xu Shangxin was almost at her limit. After all, she was a woman, and having just caught a whiff of the wind, her physical strength was only slightly stronger than that of an ordinary person.

Since the incident at our residence, we have gone through many twists and turns, and now we are completely exhausted.

Fortunately, there was a teahouse not far away, in a secluded location with few people.

Pei Xia pondered that since she was only going to rest for a short while, it didn't matter if her clothes were soaked, even though it was suspicious. She could go and rest for a bit.

As a result, Pei Xia stopped fifty paces away from the teahouse.

He stared intently at the person sitting on the bench drinking tea under the swaying teahouse banner.

He was a lean, middle-aged man. He picked up the teapot and poured out the last cup of water, as if he had been waiting for Pei Xia for a long time.

(End of this chapter)