From the fusion of Tongbei Quan to the Longevity Martial Saint

Many of the things that Dongfang Qing is doing now are just speculations; he has not yet found any real evidence that Lu Jianfeng is colluding with the enemy.

However, Fang Qing knew that he would soon find out who the mole was.

Zeng Qian's biggest question at this moment was what Fang Qing meant by "luring the snake out of its hole."

Fang Qing seemed to sense Zeng Qian's question, and after chewing on another piece of jerky, he continued:

"Tiger Beach has a complex terrain, with high mountains and long waterways. With just our few people, it's practically impossible to find the account book that the naturally suspicious Jade-Faced Scholar had hidden."

"Why don't we try a different approach? Let the handsome scholar retrieve his account book himself, and then we can follow him, like the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind—wouldn't that work?"

Zeng Qian was stunned upon hearing this, and her face was blank for a moment.

She could understand every single word Fang Qing said, so why couldn't she understand them at all when they were put together?

What does it mean to make the handsome scholar take out his account book himself?

Could it be that the handsome scholar has gone mad? Why would he do something that pushes him into the abyss?

But looking at Fang Qing's expression, Zeng Qian was completely baffled and couldn't follow Fang Qing's train of thought at all.

……

At this moment, the handsome scholar Pan Song paced anxiously back and forth in the rocky cave where they were hiding, his arms crossed.

A short while later, one of his informants, a salt bandit, hurriedly walked in.

"Second Master, that guy from the Salt Patrol Guard Reserve Battalion is using those two small flags to pass messages to Gu Changyuan and the others again! Although I can't understand what they're sending, this time the guy from the Reserve Battalion is waving the flags very fast, and he looks very anxious."

"Second Master, do you think they've found our hidden ledger?"

Upon hearing this, the handsome scholar frowned.

"Impossible! Our ledger was hidden in such a secret place. Even if all of them racked their brains together, they couldn't possibly find where I hid it."

"How did these guys manage to do that? I suspect it's a smokescreen. Let's wait and see."

At the very beginning, the jade-faced scholar sat calmly in the cave. Later, he saw Fang Qing and Zhan Bo waving flags, which initially conveyed information normally.

However, in the last two instances, Fang Qing's flag signals became increasingly rapid, conveying more and more information, which made the jade-faced scholar gradually become restless.

Unfortunately, all of them were trapped here, and it was impossible for them to go out and inquire about information.

This situation actually put a lot of pressure on the Jade-Faced Scholar, since they were like frogs in a well, completely unaware of what was happening outside.

The fear brought about by the unknown can sometimes be the greatest source of stress for people, especially for someone like the Jade-Faced Scholar who prides himself on his intelligence, is cunning, and is inherently suspicious.

The pressure he felt from this unknown fear was probably ten times, or even dozens of times, greater than that of an average person.

So at this point, the handsome scholar gradually became restless.

After thinking for a moment, he rushed out of the cave where he was hiding.

Even though his subordinates would come to report every now and then, the naturally suspicious scholar still couldn't quite believe it.

He wanted to go outside himself and see for himself what Fang Qing was up to.

Just as the handsome scholar carefully climbed up a slope next to their cave to a nearby observation post, Fang Qing and Zhan Bo were using the fastest and most intense flag signals to transmit the tongue twister "The carrying pole is long and the bench is wide".

These kinds of tongue twisters become difficult to pronounce after being repeated too many times.

Moreover, it was signaled using flags.

At this moment, the handsome scholar Pan Song saw Fang Qing waving two flags, which were almost like wheels of fire, and Fang Qing's face also showed an extremely anxious expression.

The two small red and green flags sometimes pointed to the cave where they were hiding, and sometimes seemed to vaguely point to the place where they hid the ledger.

This finally made the naturally suspicious, handsome scholar unable to contain himself any longer.

"Damn it! These reserve camp lads actually found where we hid the account book! How did they manage that?"

But the jade-faced scholar had no time to think. He immediately stumbled back into his cave.

In reality, the Jade-Faced Scholar was overthinking things. Fang Qing's two flags used for signaling were actually being waved haphazardly.

Fang Qing deliberately waved the two flags in all directions, so that if the handsome scholar understood flag signals, he would still have a clue to follow.

Unfortunately, the scholar with the jade-faced face didn't understand flag signals at all; he only knew how to observe the speed and direction of Fang Qing's flag waving.

However, Fang Qing would point to almost every direction in 360 degrees. In the case of being completely in the dark, he would occasionally point to the location where the Jade-Faced Scholar and his companions hid the account book.

But Fang Qing's haphazard waving was interpreted completely differently by someone like the Jade-Faced Scholar who didn't understand flag signals.

This gave the scholar the impression that Fang Qing had found the hiding place of the account book and was contacting Gu Changyuan and the others to help him retrieve it as soon as possible.

Even the cunning and scheming scholar could no longer sit still.

"This account book is our lifeline. If those people manage to retrieve it first, none of us will escape! Those lords in the capital will secretly kill us all!"

Thinking of this, the jade-faced scholar clearly heard a voice in his mind telling him to stay hidden in this cave and remain still, while those stakeholders would find a way to transfer all the salt patrol guards away.

However, the self-proclaimed clever scholar knew that he could not sit idly by and wait for his doom. He had to retrieve the account book first and then hide it in another place.

"Everyone grab your tools and get the account books out right now! We absolutely cannot let those guys from the Salt Patrol Reserve Battalion get their hands on them first, or none of us will have a good time!"

Now that the account book is in the hands of the Jade-Faced Scholar and his ilk, the powerful officials in the court, for their own benefit, will try to save their lives and retrieve the account book.

If they lose their ledgers, they will be worthless. Without the Salt Patrol Reserve Battalion even lifting a finger, countless people will try to kill them.

The dozen or so men following the jade-faced scholar all took out their weapons and carefully slipped out of the side exit of their cave, heading stealthily toward a deep lake a few miles away.

……

Gu Changyuan, Ding Mingcheng, and Zhanbo were originally analyzing what Fang Qing meant by "a long carrying pole and a wide bench".

Several people racked their brains but still couldn't figure out what information was hidden inside.

Just then, a salt patrol officer who was monitoring the actions of the jade-faced scholar rushed over excitedly.

"Lord Gu, the Jade-Faced Scholar and his men have made their move!"

Gu Changyuan was stunned for a moment.

Even Gu Changyuan couldn't understand why the Jade-Faced Scholar and his companions had to risk coming out at this crucial moment when they could simply hide in that easily defensible rock cave and wait for the officials in the court to make their move.

Just as Gu Changyuan and Ding Mingcheng both looked puzzled, Zhanbo looked up and saw Fang Qing starting to give him flag signals again.

Zhanbo quickly jumped onto the rock, his eyes wide, and saw that Fang Qing's flag signaling this time was much more urgent than the previous two times.

When Zhanbo finally understood the message Fang Qing was trying to convey, his pupils constricted, and he quickly jumped back off the rock.

"Lord Gu, Fang Qing said to immediately pinpoint the Jade-Faced Scholar and his group and follow them! The Jade-Faced Scholar will lead us to the account book!"

With a bang, both Ding Mingcheng and Gu Changyuan showed a look of utter shock on their faces.

Although they didn't know why the Jade-Faced Scholar did this, it was clear that Fang Qing should have figured out where the Jade-Faced Scholar was headed next.

Now that he had the opportunity to find the account book, Gu Changyuan was no longer in the mood to think about why the Jade-Faced Scholar had done this.

At that moment, he waved his hand, leading everyone to relentlessly pursue the Jade-Faced Scholar and his group.

Meanwhile, Fang Qing quickly summoned everyone back, and together with Gu Changyuan and the others, they followed far behind the Jade-Faced Scholar and his group.

……