The deepest affection in Gu Long's world

Chapter 103 The Illness
Along the way, Ji Bingyan had already noticed that Chu Liuxiang had developed a strange illness—a condition where he saw everyone as Fang Yunhua.

He had tried to persuade the other party not to think of Fang Yunhua as too powerful, but as a puppet in the previous storyline, the feeling that everything he did was arranged by Fang Yunhua made Chu Liuxiang feel more and more annoyed the more he thought about it afterward.

He wouldn't have initially associated it with Fang Yunhua.

But after Shi Guanyin threatened and toyed with him using a stone statue of Guanyin, he had a vague feeling that Fang Yunhua would definitely appear.

After all, the other party's revenge is not over yet, and the root cause still lies in killing Shi Guanyin.

"Do you know how strong Shi Guanyin is?" Ji Bingyan, who had made a fortune in this desert, was quite qualified to speak on this matter. "Although, as you said, that young sect leader Fang's strength is improving very quickly, it will still take him at least three to five years before he is qualified to challenge Shi Guanyin."

This is still my highest estimate based on the intelligence information you provided.

After all, he was only approaching thirty years old at that time. It was already quite remarkable that he had the strength to challenge Shi Guanyin at such an age.

So don't overthink it. It's impossible for him to jump out and die prematurely when he knows that time is on his side, especially on the other side's turf. That would obviously be a very unwise decision!

So, do you think that young sect leader Fang is an idiot?

Chu Liuxiang subconsciously shook his head.

"That's settled then. So why do you think he'll appear in this oasis? Your logic doesn't make sense."

Ji Bingyan's analysis finally stopped Chu Liuxiang from being paranoid and feeling that Fang Yunhua was everywhere, but he still whispered something.

“When we parted ways in Putian, he said we would meet again soon.”

"How fast is 'soon'? A month? Three months? Half a year? Or a year? The world is both vast and small. If we are destined to meet, we will meet again. Just like the three of us, maybe the other person just casually said auspicious words of farewell."

Ji Bingyan also felt that this was enough. He was originally a man of few words, but Chu Liuxiang's strange illness had turned him into a chatterbox.

"Let's put this topic aside for now. For the next ten days, no, let's just say three days. I don't want to hear Fang Yunhua's name again."

Knowing he was in the wrong, Chu Liuxiang nodded obediently.

Hu Tiehua, who was also quite drunk, was laughing heartily while holding his wine glass.

Chu Liuxiang was also speechless at this drunkard, so he directly steered the conversation toward the King of Kucha.

"When I overheard Lu Xiaofeng and Princess Pipa talking before, they mentioned that the King of Kucha issued a recruitment order to the martial arts world of the Central Plains. As the ruler of a country, he is now hiding in this oasis, and his situation does not seem to be very good."

“I think I understand why they were so enthusiastic towards us. But that’s not the point for now. Given our situation, we have no intention of getting involved in the matter of why the ruler of this country has fallen into such a sorry state.”

Ji Bingyan's answer was both indifferent and rational.

Hu Tiehua, having drunk the King of Kucha's wine, was about to say something when Chu Liuxiang interrupted him.

"We need to stay here."

"Stay here to help him? We're already overwhelmed with our own problems! We need to find out where Black Pearl has taken Su Rongrong and the others, and we also need to be careful of Shi Guanyin's schemes. We can't even make a move if we find out where they are without getting rid of Shi Guanyin first."

“I know that’s why we need to stay here.”

Because of the time difference, they did not encounter the Peng family's five tigers escorting the Star of Bliss on their way here, and therefore did not know that this gem was closely related to the King of Kucha. However, when the golden-armored warrior rushed into the tent to report, although his voice was very soft, Chu Liuxiang heard a few words he said.

Although the other party spoke in Kucha script, they used Chinese characters when mentioning names, which led Chu Liuxiang to identify Peng Yihu... Shi Guanyin... the Star of Bliss.

"Is Shi Guanyin related to the King of Kucha?" Hu Tiehua seemed to sober up instantly. The poisoned meat soup that Shi Guanyin had given him earlier had left him with considerable psychological trauma.

"There is a connection, but judging from the King of Kucha's expression, the other party is likely his enemy. We have completely lost our advantage in this desert. Even if we leave this place, we will be toyed with and manipulated by Shi Guanyin until we are killed one by one."

In that case, we might as well stay here for a while; after all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

After finalizing their initial plan to stay here, Chu Liuxiang and his two companions discussed the matter with the others inside the tent.

The most eye-catching one is naturally Wang Chong (Liu Yanfei), who saw through Hu Tiehua's martial arts style and then recognized Chu Liuxiang.

The three agreed that the other party was probably using a fake name and was quite skilled, but they disagreed on the question of who was the most skilled in martial arts in the tent.

"During our earlier drinking session, I intentionally chatted with the Wu brothers, and they expressed great admiration for that young master named Hua Manlou." This was Hu Tiehua's opinion.

"The strongest should be Lu Xiaofeng. Even though I made some mistakes due to my own reasons, he was still able to detect my presence immediately. His eyesight is extraordinary. Moreover, I always feel that his back view looks a bit like Fang's."

Looking at Ji Bingyan's expressionless face, Chu Liuxiang could only retract the last two words, after all, he had just promised not to mention that person's name, well, within three days!
Ji Bingyan's answer was Chu Liuxiang.

This left the two speechless for a moment.

"No, this is very important. Sufficient military strength is a layer of protection. Next, we need to distinguish between friend and foe, and military strength is a key asset to ensure our safety."

Just then, a dry cough came from outside the tent. It was Wu Qingtian, the "Qingtian Swordsman," one of the Wu Brothers, who was famous in the martial arts world for his "Eighty-Eight Sixty-Four Hands Dragon Swimming Sword."

He stated his purpose directly: to propose a marriage alliance on behalf of the King of Kucha.

This caused Chu Liuxiang and the other two to frown simultaneously. After all, they could all see the close relationship between the Pipa Princess and Lu Xiaofeng. Now, with this latest incident, wasn't it a deliberate attempt to sow discord among them?

Given the current unclear situation regarding friend and foe, and the threat posed by Shi Guanyin, it would be an incredibly foolish thing to create a rift over a woman for no reason.

"Your Excellency should be able to see that the relationship between that Pipa Princess and Brother Lu is extraordinary. I wonder what the King of Kucha's purpose is in doing this?" Ji Bingyan looked at Wu Qingtian with scrutiny.

Wu Qingtian was taken aback for a moment, then laughed.

"The three of you have misunderstood. This marriage proposal was not the prince's idea at first, but the eldest princess herself fell in love with him at first sight."

He then added a sentence.

"The prince has more than one daughter."

This relieved the three people present. If the King of Kucha really wanted to resort to such underhanded tactics, even if the other party and Shi Guanyin were enemies, they would have to carefully consider whether they should stay.

After learning that the King of Kucha had more than one daughter, Ji Bingyan sat down to the side again, knowing that the eldest princess would never be interested in him.

Hu Tiehua seemed a little nervous for some reason. After all, after seeing the appearance of the Pipa Princess, he could deduce that her sister was not much different. At least, with his simple-minded logic, this was a very straightforward conclusion.

Chu Liuxiang frowned slightly, his sharp mind instinctively sensing that there was a trap involved.

Finally, Hu Tiehua couldn't help but ask first:
"But who exactly... cough cough... has this eldest princess taken a fancy to?"

His throat was actually a little dry when he spoke. This was not because he was eager to become the princess's husband, but because he felt it would be quite shameful if the princess did not choose him.

Wu Qingtian looked at him with a smile: "The one whom the eldest princess has personally chosen is none other than you."

(End of this chapter)