Star Trace Gate

Crouching Tiger Temple, inner courtyard.

After someone shouted "Fire", many soldiers rushed out from the dining room and the guard room, including the captain of the guards in charge of the inner courtyard.

He was having dinner, but when he heard the shouting, he rushed out immediately.

Many soldiers on duty around them, not knowing how big the fire was, rushed to the backyard to help put out the fire.

At this time, Ren was also standing in the dry toilet. Seeing the backyard was all red, he knew that the fat dragon had succeeded.

The two had already agreed in the afternoon that as soon as dinner started in the evening, Fatty Long would find a chance to set fire to the backyard to lure the guards over, while Ren would take the opportunity to sneak into Niu Xi's bedroom and do something.

Now that the fire has started, it's time to carry out a thrilling and exciting theft operation.

Ren Ye immediately called out a set of night clothes from his consciousness space, put them on instantly, and then covered his face with a black cloth.

The purpose of dressing like this is to avoid any accidents during the theft so as not to expose Big Fat Dragon. After all, the two of them came back at the same time today.

After everything was ready, Ren took two steps forward, followed the shadows of the high walls and trees, hid his body, and quickly rushed to the main room in the inner courtyard.

……

The backyard of the main house.

As soon as the captain of the guards arrived, he saw a utility room on fire. The fire was very big and was getting worse.

All around, the group of soldiers who had come to help had already started fetching buckets of water and had put down their weapons that were in the way.

Not far away, a servant who ran out from the main house to help was also shouting, "Go to the well in the front yard and fetch water from the dining room, hurry up!"

When the chief guard saw this, he immediately started to curse, "Damn it, who told you to run away?"

"Reporting to the captain of the guards, there is a fire in the backyard, I..." The servant was startled and wanted to explain.

The chief guard glared at him with a fierce look: "Even if the backyard is burned down, what does it have to do with you? Your duty is to follow orders in the commander's room. There are guards and servants in the outer courtyard to put out the fire. How can you come out casually? Go back!"

"Yes, yes, as you command!" The servant turned pale after being scolded, and immediately returned to the main room in dejection.

The captain of the guards looked up at the crowd and called out six more soldiers. "There's only one fire, why do we need so many people? As guards, how can you be so panicked when faced with something like that? Go and patrol the area around the main house."

At his words, another six soldiers left the fire scene and quickly divided into groups of two, standing guard in front of the main door, back door, and side door of the main house.

……

Not far away, beside a high wall, Ren Ye had just sneaked over and saw the six soldiers guarding the entrances of the three gates.

Damn it, when the fire broke out, not only did the number of people in the main room remain the same, but there were six more gatekeepers.

It seems that none of the loyal lackeys around this big shot are given for nothing. When dealing with emergencies, they not only react quickly, but also do not make mistakes.

Before the operation began, Ren Ye thought very rigorously and asked the fat dragon to "recall" the past, and after confirming that there was no one among the inner courtyard guards who could cast water spells, he decided to use arson to cause chaos.

After all, this is a third-level secret realm - Bulao Mountain. Once you encounter a master who can control water, it will only take a moment to put out the fire. In this case, this strategy will seem very stupid.

However, even though there are few people in southern Xinjiang who know Taoism and can control water, a fire of this scale can be put out in half a quarter of an hour at most.

Therefore, for Ren Ye now, every minute and every second is precious.

Seeing that the three gates were guarded by guards, he immediately used an invisibility talisman and quickly restrained his breath.

"brush!"

Ren Ye jumped lightly from the high wall and jumped onto the second floor of the main house in the dark, and sneaked into Niu Xi's main room through an open window.

……

In the main room.

Although it was Ren Ye's first time here, he found the stairs easily and quickly reached the first floor.

Before the operation, Fat Dragon said that Wang Liang and Li Ping would often go in and out of the main house because they had to do errands from time to time, and they were very familiar with the environment here.

As a result, Ren Ye even secretly drew the structural diagram of the main room three times on paper in advance, so that he could immediately familiarize himself with the environment as soon as he came in.

When he arrived at the first floor, Ren Ye discovered that the three servants who were looking after the house were standing at the window in the back hall, looking out at the "lively" fire scene and talking about it.

There's nothing we can do about it. That's human nature. No matter if it's a good thing or a bad thing, as long as it happens, everyone wants to be a part of it.

Ren Ye tiptoed through a long corridor and came to the door of Niu Xi's study, then pushed the wooden door open with a creak.

After entering, he pushed the door shut but did not bolt it. The reason was simple. Even if there was no fire or excitement, the servant would not enter the commander-in-chief's study. There were many important military and government documents here, so once discovered, the consequences would be very serious.

Although this study is used by the commander, its decoration and furnishings are very simple. There is no sense of luxury at all. It even looks a bit too ordinary and poor.

After Ren Ye glanced around, he immediately came to the desk and started searching from every corner.

However, what he didn't expect was that this step was surprisingly smooth.

Niu Xi's military secrets, government affairs documents, etc. were all arranged in a very orderly manner, so he only needed to pee to find a wooden box containing a top-secret letter.

After opening the wooden box, Ren Ye first roughly searched through it, and finally selected two secret letters that had been opened.

The first letter: "Brother Niu Xi: I am writing to you as if I were seeing you.

Our Tianlong army will arrive at the area around Mount Bulao on the fifth day of next month and station troops outside the mountain, awaiting the emperor's orders.

A few days ago, His Majesty sent me a secret decree and explained in detail my brother's choice.

Brother, I am very happy to learn that you have turned from evil to good and are loyal to the court and the emperor.

I have already received the secret letter you sent me earlier; and my daughter Qingping was also very happy with the gift you gave her.

My dear brother, our southern border has been in war for many years, with countless casualties and nine out of ten houses empty.

Now that the country has been stabilized, for the people of the world and for the loyalty of the ministers, personal brotherhood, although precious, is not as important as the overall situation.

When my army arrives, the autumn wind will sweep away the fallen leaves.

Now that the matter is settled, you and I will bring ten jars of fine wine, and the three of us will drink together in front of Dilong's tomb, and we won't go home until we are drunk.

The witch master of the Tianlong tribe——Ao Yin."

After Ren Ye read the letter carefully, he had a lot of thoughts in his mind.

First of all, judging from the content of this letter, Niu Xi first sent a letter to the witch leader of the Tianlong tribe, and it is very likely that he mentioned that he had decided to stab Wu Yuanjun in the back and be in cahoots with the emperor and the court.

He even gave gifts to Ao Yin's daughter to show his closeness.

Therefore, Ao Yin, the witch leader of the Tianlong tribe, mentioned in his reply that he was happy about Niu Xi's decision to betray him.

However, the words Ao Yin used in his reply revealed a bit of helplessness and sympathy.

"It's over. You and I will bring ten jars of fine wine, and we will drink together in front of the Earth Dragon's tomb. We won't leave until we are drunk."

The "earth dragon's grave" in this sentence must refer to Wu Yuanjun. It means that after we kill him, we will bring ten jars of good wine to worship him, and both humans and ghosts can drink together.

To be honest, for a "minister of the state" who holds military power and can be called the witch master of the Tianlong tribe, it is somewhat inappropriate to use such words in the letter. After all, Wu Yuanjun is an enemy who "intends to rebel".

You can just kill him, but you still want to offer sacrifices to him. Isn't this just trying to please the emperor? It's like implying that the emperor is unkind.

Therefore, Ren Ye's first impression of this Aoyin Witch Lord was that this person had a rather upright character. To put it bluntly, he was a bit stubborn and didn't seem to care much about the power of the court and the emperor.

Also, the surname of the Dragon Chief is Ao, which has a certain mythological and historical color. I don't know if his ancestors named themselves Ao after they became rich, specifically to take advantage of the traffic and fame of the Four Seas Dragon Kings to add some mystery to themselves.

After thinking for a moment, Ren Ye opened the second letter.

This one is short.

"The cow loves the general,

Out of consideration for the relationship between brothers and between a ruler and his subjects, I issued three imperial edicts ordering Wu Yuanjun to return to the court to discuss matters, but he turned a deaf ear to them and repeatedly made excuses on the grounds of illness.

Things have come to this, and I have done all I can.

I have decided that if Wu Yuanjun still does not return to the court before the fifteenth of next month, the three armies will gather together and hunt at Mount Bulao."

"Ah."

Ren Ye looked at the letter and commented with a sneer, "You have already sharpened the knife at home, so can you blame Wu Yuanjun for not going back? Shabi knows that you will be stabbed as soon as you enter the door, so what's the point of going back? Will your whole family become headless sashimi...?!"

There is nothing much to analyze in this letter. It simply means that the emperor is angry and has decided to unify the country by force, while Niu Xi's troops are lurking in secret, preparing to turn against Wu Yuanjun at the critical moment.

Although these two letters were not written by Niu Xi himself, the contents revealed in the letters can fully prove that Niu Xi has turned against the emperor and are enough to report to Wu Yuanjun.

Alas, no matter what time it is, being a civil servant is a high-risk job. Although they hold the power of life and death over others, they themselves are also helpless.

After Ren carefully put away the two letters, he immediately stood up and continued to search the house.

This time, what he was looking for was the book “Thousand Poisons”.

This thing is very important to Qingliang Mansion. Because Ren also thinks that the antidote to the plague may be in this book.

After quickly looking through the study, Ren Ye found that there were no martial arts books here. Then, he was unwilling to give up and went to the bedroom inside.

This room is about 20 square meters and is connected to the study with only a door in between.

After Ren Ye sneaked in, he searched the bookshelves, desks, and corners, but found nothing.

Standing in the room, he frowned and thought: "How could it be gone? Isn't it here?"

"Tap tap...!"

Just then, a very light sound of footsteps was heard outside the study.

Ren also practiced martial arts and had extremely sharp senses. Even though the footsteps were light, he still heard them immediately.

There was a slight sound of footsteps, and it moved towards the study at an extremely fast speed. In the blink of an eye, it had reached the door.

Ren was stunned for a moment, turned his head and looked around, and found that there were very few places to hide.

In a hurry, he bent down and crawled under Niu Xi's bed, and gently pulled the bedside to cover himself.

"Squeak!"

As soon as he finished this action, he heard the sound of the door opening.

Hiding under the bed, Ren Ye saw through the gap in the bed guard that the study door was pushed open, and a figure dressed in black tights, leggings, and a black cloth covering his face, rushed in.

This scene is so familiar!

When he went to Wang Shoucai's study to steal something, he was halfway through when a man suddenly came in. Then he was forced to kill the Zhou family's strongest agent.

This is happening again?!

Am I really cursed? Those guys in Qingliang Mansion joke with him about curses every day.

When you get on the bus, you will encounter a crackdown on pornography.

Does stealing necessarily involve meeting people in the same profession?

I'm so fucked up!

Damn it, let’s make a rule when we get back. Anyone who keeps talking nonsense will be fined 100,000 Star Sources.

Ren Ye hid under the bed, sweat instantly oozing out of his forehead, and he kept praying in his heart: "This room is the only one that is empty here. Outside are all guards and servants. Big brother, big brother, please don't come over... If we make any noise, we will be caught by Niu Xi and have our balls rubbed by the sniffer dog."

Pray like crazy,

It finally worked.

The "thief" who sneaked in didn't go anywhere after entering the room, but rushed straight under the bed where Ren Ye was hiding.

Did you install a GPS for me?

Ren Ye was a little upset when he saw this scene. He immediately called out the Human Emperor Sword, hid the glow, and stared at the ground outside the bed with his whole body tense.

The man was getting closer and closer, and his upper body could no longer be seen. There were only two feet on the ground moving forward frantically.

three!

two!

One!

"brush!"

The man in black bent down and pulled open the bed curtain, but what was waiting for him was not gold, silver or treasures, but an extremely sharp and fast sword.

"I'm sorry, brother, I'm a professional killer of my peers."

Ren Ye drew his sword, and the sword shadow almost completely covered the outside of the bed.

Unexpectedly, the man in black disappeared from the spot the moment he saw the sword light.

"Ong!"

The sword, which was extremely fast, missed the target in a sneak attack.

The black-clad man's reaction was incredibly fast.

Ren was also stunned, but he heard the black-clothed man outside the bed say faintly: "...Heh, little thief, you hid very cleverly?! Whose people are you? Wu Yuanjun's, Daqian's, or those witch masters who are watching the show in secret?"