Starting with a blind date with a female constable, you acquire the Nine Swords of Dugu.

After leaving the room,

Gu Guanqi and Shen Qingqiu then went to the backyard to wait quietly.

There was a stone table in the courtyard, surrounded by several stone benches.

The two sat down facing each other. Gu Guanqi poured Shen Qingqiu a cup of tea and asked, "Qingqiu, when did you get back? Didn't you say you were going on a mission?"

Shen Qingqiu said, "We never left Qingyang City."

"Hmm?" Gu Guanqi asked, puzzled.

Shen Qingqiu said, "In the battle at Qingfeng Temple, you exposed the conspiracy of Wang Changfeng and others. Through Wang Changfeng's connection, our Six Doors quickly identified the boss as Mei Ruolian, an actress from the Eleventh Floor of Qingyang."

"The actress Mei Ruolian," Gu Guanqi said, "isn't it rumored that she's only obsessed with opera and disdains money?"

Shen Qingqiu said, "Mei Ruolian was indeed not interested in money before, but in recent years she has been practicing an evil art and needs to refine a kind of pill."

Those kinds of pills are extremely expensive, and Wang Changfeng has been secretly supplying him with money for the past few years. Throughout history, even many emperors have suffered the loss of their kingdoms and families because they couldn't afford the costs of alchemy, let alone Mei Ruolian.

Besides, his practice of evil arts required a large number of living people to test his medicines, which also necessitated a great deal of money. The Six Doors found many corpses in the underground palace of Mei Ruolian's manor, all of them dying tragically.

According to his subordinates, the requirements for the living people he needed for drug trials were becoming increasingly stringent. Previously, they were ordinary people; now, he needed individuals with internal energy. The reason he initially bribed Ma Meifeng was to help him become a deputy commander, because the Six Doors prison was mostly populated by martial arts practitioners, making it convenient and easy to conceal his activities.

Gu Guanqi nodded and said, "I see. No wonder he wanted to catch Poria cocos before; he must have encountered some difficulties in refining the medicine. However..."

Gu Guanqi frowned and said, "I heard from Zhou Mingyuan that the big boss is supposed to be a woman, and Wang Changfeng is in love with her. But I remember that the actress Mei Ruolian is a man, right?"

Shen Qingqiu nodded and said, "Yes, he is a man, but many men admire him."

Gu Guanqi: "Hmm?"

Shen Qingqiu chuckled, "You're making a fuss over nothing. Although Mei Ruolian is a man, he's very handsome and loves to sing opera. Most of his audience are men, and quite a few even openly pursue him. You'll see if you ever get the chance to meet him!"

Gu Guanqi gave a thumbs up and said, "Impressive. But I guess we won't have a chance to meet him, right? The Six Doors should have already taken him down, right?"

"No." Shen Qingqiu shook his head and said, "This matter caused a great stir. As soon as something happened at Qingfeng Temple, Mei Ruolian received the news and left without asking for anything."

Mei Ruolian had a trusted confidant named You Si, known in the martial arts world as Master Si. He was an extremely skilled master of disguise. With his help, unless Mei Ruolian was caught red-handed, it would be very difficult for her to catch him.

Gu Guanqi sighed and said, "That's a pity. Mei Ruolian is like a tiger entering the forest now; she'll be hard to catch again."

"Not necessarily," Shen Qingqiu said. "This matter has caused quite a stir, and Commander Yan, who hasn't made a move in many years, has personally gone to investigate."

Gu Guanqi said, "Is Commander Yan any good? You said it yourself, Mei Ruolian has practiced evil arts, and she might have already mastered them. Her martial arts skills are probably ridiculously high now!"

Shen Qingqiu shook his head and said, "No matter how high he gets, he can't possibly be higher than Commander Yan."

"Are you so sure?" Gu Guanqi asked in surprise.

Shen Qingqiu said, "In Qingyang County, Commander Yan is the Eleventh-Rank Official, seemingly on the same level as you and me. But outside of Qingyang County, looking at the entire Qingzhou, do you know what his true identity is in the martial arts world?"

Gu Guanqi shook his head and asked, "What is it?"

Shen Qingqiu said, "In the martial arts world of Qingzhou, there are three Venerable Ones, four Sects, and eight Heroes. These fifteen people are recognized as the fifteen people with the highest martial arts skills in the nine counties of Qingzhou, and Commander Yan is one of the eight heroes."

"Is it that amazing?" Gu Guanqi asked in surprise.

"That's not true," Shen Qingqiu said. "Commander Yan is just too old to manage things much anymore."

As he spoke, Shen Qingqiu looked up at Gu Guanqi and said, "However, you will definitely be able to reach the level of Commander Yan in the future, or even surpass him."

"So much confidence in me?" Gu Guanqi chuckled.

Shen Qingqiu said, "A few days ago, I heard about your battle at Qingfeng Temple. I simply couldn't believe it. You, with Fuling, were able to chase down and kill over a hundred people all by yourself. The key is that the battle lasted for so long, and in the end, you even managed to kill Wang Changfeng and that archer. Based on this achievement, I think you're not far from becoming Commander Yan!"

Gu Guanqi smiled slightly and asked, "Have you found out the archer's identity?"

Shen Qingqiu nodded and said, "A wanted criminal from Lishan County has been missing for several years. I never expected him to be hiding in our Qingyang County..."

As she spoke, Shen Qingqiu looked at Gu Guanqi and suddenly asked, "Gu Guanqi, um, what do you think about the Poria cocos matter?"

Gu Guanqi chuckled, "What else can we say? It's a case of being destined to meet but not to be together. Senior Su has already made it very clear. Given Fuling's situation, she has no other choice. Naturally, I wish her success in mastering the Heavenly Medical Scripture and a speedy return to her freedom!"

"Well..." Shen Qingqiu took a sip of tea and said casually, "Do you have any other plans?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's about marriage, isn't it?" Shen Qingqiu asked.

"Let's see how things unfold; everything is up to fate!"

……

Time passed quickly, and it was noon.

in the room,

Su Qingxing slowly finished his practice and then removed the silver needles from Xue Fuling's body one by one.

At this moment, Xue Fuling blinked slightly, slowly opened her eyes, and softly called out, "Master, thank you for your trouble."

Su Qingxing waved his hand and said, "Who told me to be your master? If I don't worry about you, who will?"

Xue Fuling slowly sat up, her face still deathly pale, and said, "Actually, over the past few years, I've vaguely sensed something was wrong with my body, but I didn't think about it much. I thought I was born with a divine body for detoxification, but I never expected I was born with a poisonous body..."

Xue Fuling gave a self-deprecating laugh and said, "Master, am I an unfortunate person? I was abandoned when I was a child, and now this..."

Su Qingxing pouted and said, "You're very lucky, okay? You've met such a good master like me. You're unlucky? Really, child, how can you talk like that? I'm getting angry!"

Xue Fuling covered her mouth and chuckled, then took Su Qingxing's hand and quickly said, "I know, I know, Master is the best! Although I don't have parents, I've had Master since I was little, and I'm very happy. Master is the best person in the world, so beautiful and gentle!"

"That's more like it!" Su Qingxing patted Xue Fuling's head with satisfaction, then sighed and said, "Go and say goodbye to that young man Gu Guanqi. Your poison attack is stronger than I expected. We can't delay any longer. The sooner we get to Medicine King Valley, the less risk we'll face."

Xue Fuling hesitated and asked, "Master, is there really no other way?"

"No." Su Qingxing touched Xue Fuling's forehead with a finger and said softly, "I know you're feeling romantic right now, but there really isn't any other way. If there were, I would have used it on you already. Oh!"

However, you are still young, and you have a long life ahead of you. Who can predict the future? Maybe when you've mastered the Heavenly Healing Divine Scripture, you'll come out and see, "Hey, this young man is middle-aged now, and he still hasn't found a wife. Couldn't you two rekindle your romance?"

Xue Fuling said helplessly, "Master, how can you be like this? Guan Qi is such a good person, how could he not find a wife!"

"Alright, alright," Su Qingxing reached out and hugged Xue Fuling, patting her gently. "Come here, let Master give you a hug. Go say goodbye properly, but don't cry, that'll look bad. Master only likes cute little disciples!"

"I understand, my most beautiful master!" Xue Fuling slowly got out of bed and asked, "Master, why didn't you tell me this sooner? Why did you have to tell me now!"

Su Qingxing rolled his eyes and said, "I'm afraid you'll get too emotionally involved, and if I try to take you away later, it will be torture for you."

"Alright," Xue Fuling paused for a moment, then said, "But Master, do we have to leave now? Is my poison very potent?"

Su Qingxing waved his hand and said, "Your poison isn't urgent. If it were, why would I be so focused on the timing? It wouldn't make a difference of ten or fifteen days. But I am in a hurry. Besides picking you up, I also need to make a detour to Cangzhou this time."

"What are you going to Cangzhou for?" Xue Fuling asked.

Su Qingxing said, "Qin Yizhi, the old man who is the leader of the Cangzhou martial arts alliance, is so old that he still went to fight and was seriously injured. He is now relying on the Creation Pill to prolong his life for half a month. If I delay for even a day or two, he may really die."

Xue Fuling nodded and said, "In that case, let's leave immediately!"

Afterwards, the two exchanged a few more words, and Xue Fuling went out. She asked around and learned that Gu Guanqi was in the backyard, so she went straight there.

Sunlight streamed in, making the courtyard feel warm.

Gu Guanqi was sitting alone on a stool. When he saw Xue Fuling come out, he quickly got up and went over to her, asking, "How is it?"

"There are no problems for now," Xue Fuling said.

"That's good."

After all,

Gu Guanqi stood there, feeling like he had something to say but didn't know what to say.

Xue Fuling stood quietly, looking up at Gu Guanqi.

After a while, Xue Fuling spoke up: "Guanqi, I'm going back to Medicine King Valley with my master."

"I know," Gu Guanqi nodded.

For a moment, the two of them were at a loss for words.

The two stared at each other for a long while.

Xue Fuling smiled faintly and said, "Medicine King Valley is in Yunzhou, about three thousand miles away from Qingyang County. If you have the chance to go to Yunzhou... alas, I have to stay in the forbidden area of ​​Medicine King Valley, so you won't be able to see me even if you go."

Gu Guanqi smiled slightly and said, "Life is long, there will always be a chance to meet again."

Xue Fuling opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. After a long silence, she finally spoke, "I don't know how to say it, or what to say. It's just that I'm leaving soon, and I feel so reluctant to part with you..."

As she spoke, she reached out and hugged Gu Guanqi, whispering, "I hope you are happy, joyful, and healthy, Guanqi. I have to say goodbye to you now!"

Gu Guanqi slowly reached out and gently patted Xue Fuling's back.

Both of them fell silent.

The courtyard was very quiet, so quiet that you could almost hear each other breathing.

at this time,

The backyard door creaked open.

Gu Guanqi and Xue Fuling both turned their heads to look over.

Shen Qingqiu stood at the doorway, looking at the two embracing. After a moment's pause, she said, "I'm sorry, perhaps I came at the wrong time."

Gu Guanqi turned his head and said, "No, you've come at just the right time."

"??"

Gu Guanqi said, "Fuling is leaving soon, so let's say goodbye!"

After all,

The two then parted ways.

Shen Qingqiu walked in, surprised, and asked, "So soon? Leaving today?"

"Yes," Xue Fuling said, "When Master came here, he had already submitted my resignation to the Six Doors Garrison Command in Qingzhou. The Garrison Commander knew my situation and approved it on the spot."

"Not staying a few more days?" Shen Qingqiu asked.

Xue Fuling shook her head and said, "My master has urgent business and must leave immediately!"

Shen Qingqiu nodded slightly and said, "Since that's the case, I won't try to stop you. I wish you a speedy resolution to your problem, and remember to come find me when the time comes!"

"good!"

Xue Fuling reached out and hugged Shen Qingqiu, whispering, "Thank you, Qingqiu, thank you for taking care of me all this time."

Shen Qingqiu hugged Xue Fuling tightly, his voice choked with emotion, "Fuling, I'll miss you..."

"I'll miss you too!"

Xue Fuling's voice was also choked with emotion.

The two embraced, their eyes gradually becoming moist and red.

In this era, carriages and horses travel slowly, and letters take a long time to arrive.

Many partings are final.