Autumn

"Youdu?" Jinse frowned and said, "Are you sure it's Youdu?"

Youdu is the extreme northern land of the eight wildernesses. Even the barbarians cannot survive there. Who would risk death to settle there?It's no wonder that when Yin Danlu came to this conclusion, Jinse asked in surprise.

After Jinse and Lu Li left Penglai, they rushed to Bahuang non-stop, and joined the others at Zhang'e Yin's house.On the night they arrived, Bai Jinyan got the news and visited Yin's house the next day.The third wife of the Yin family, Yunyan, stood cautiously outside Yin Danlu's courtyard, looking in from time to time.Because since last night, people have been coming into the yard non-stop.She was somewhat curious about what her son was up to.

"Youdu?"

Yunyan's little maid pretended to be walking into the yard, saying that she was ordered by his wife to deliver desserts to the son.Taking advantage of the situation, he eavesdropped in the yard for a while, but was sent away by the vigilant Yin Danlu in the end.But she still heard some, such as Youdu.Yunyan knew a little about Youdu, but what she knew was only that it was an extremely cold place.

"Youdu... There is no grass growing in this place, except for snow and mountains, what is Danlu going to do?"

Yunyan whispered to herself.

"Ma'am, do you think the master will know something?"

"No." Yun Yan shook her head, "I know Danlu's temper best. He is too assertive and doesn't discuss everything with others. The master is also extremely tolerant to him. As long as he doesn't cause trouble, he will never interfere."

"Then you think about it yourself, but you can't think of a clue."

"Well... But, it's not a bad idea to ask the master."

A meaningful smile appeared on Yunyan's face, and the little maid frowned, followed behind in confusion, and walked all the way into Yin Mingqing's yard.

"I'm sure." Yin Danlu's tone was very firm, and there was a rare serious expression on his face. "This is the information obtained by Luo Honglian, so naturally there is nothing wrong with it."

Everyone focused their eyes on Luo Honglian who was standing at the door. He leaned against the door, folded his arms and raised his head to meet everyone's gaze.

"Going north along the Kunlun Ruins is Youdu, and a part of Kunlun Ruins is connected to Kunlun, so there are soldiers from the Luo family patrolling at the junction of the two places. It is not difficult to gather information there."

"But how can you be sure that the mysterious person is in Youdu?"

"The cause of the incident was that some soldiers found a suspicious person on the border, but they couldn't follow the trail to find him. So they sent someone to report to my home. Unfortunately, I was at my home that day. So I followed them to investigate .”

Luo Honglian went to the junction with the elders sent by the family, and under the guidance of the soldiers, they found the so-called suspicious person.Because of the perennial snow, and the occasional light snow in those few days, footprints such as footprints will soon be covered by new snow. The jade pendant found here.

"This jade pendant should not belong to the Eight Desolations."

The old Luo family looked at it for a while, then shook his head and said.Luo Honglian looked at the jade pendant, and found that the jade pendant was moist and flawless, and had been carved into the shape of a hydrangea.

"Hydrangea……"

"Young Master Honglian, what did you just say?"

Although the Luo family avoided Luo Honglian, he was the son of the Luo family after all, and he had military exploits. At a time like this, the elders had to be in awe of him.

"This jade pendant is indeed not a wild thing. The only places where hydrangeas can bloom are the four seas and nine states." Luo Honglian took the jade pendant with her hand, and looked at it carefully again, "and this jade pendant seems to be very spiritual, the jade pendant If this kind of thing is worn for a long time, it will be contaminated with the breath of the owner."

"What did the young man notice?"

"Hmph, it's nothing. People from Kyushu haven't set foot in the Eight Desolation for a long time. Even if they came, they wouldn't be able to go in this direction. Four Seas..." Luo Honglian continued, shaking her head with a smile. "I'm afraid people from all over the world would disdain to come to the wilderness, let alone such a desolate place."

"Who could it be? No matter how you look at it, this jade pendant cannot be owned by Ba Huang."

"Why don't you go to Bai's house and ask."

"Young master, you mean Xuandu Shangxian?"

Luo Honglian smiled and said nothing, but the elder believed that the jade pendant was related to Xuandu, so he took the jade pendant and rushed to Qingqiu.Looking at the elder's back, Luo Honglian's eyes flickered with some complicated expressions.

"My lord, further ahead is Youdu."

The guard's soldiers stopped Luo Honglian who was about to step out of the border.

"It's okay, I'm just going to have a look, and I won't go far. Besides, Youdu doesn't even have a ghost, so it can't be considered an invasion."

With such remarks, the soldiers had no words to refute.I had no choice but to bow my hand and give in.Luo Honglian stepped into the Kunlun Ruins, and stopped after walking a long distance. Turning around, she could no longer see the figures of those soldiers, but looking far away, she could see the ups and downs of the mountains of Youdu.Luo Honglian continued to walk forward, still thinking about the jade pendant in her mind, but in fact, he had already guessed the owner of the jade pendant.Although hydrangeas are only found in the four seas and Kyushu, the number of them is very rare no matter the four seas or the Kyushu.Among the four seas, the place where the hydrangea blooms the most is Guixu, and among the Guixu, only the hydrangeas in Ziyang Temple can be called unique.Luo Honglian would not have known about this matter before, but who made him have such a different group of friends now.Presumably, Xuandu Shangxian will also tell this anecdote to the Luo family elders.Thinking of this, Luo Honglian couldn't help laughing.But then he remembered the news that Xuandu Shangxian brought back from the four seas a few days ago, that is, Yunyang Shangxian was taken away by Ying Shaozhi.In this way, the appearance of this jade pendant here can be explained.Ying Shaozhi must have brought Yunyang across the border and entered the Kunlun Ruins, and the jade pendant must have been accidentally left behind when crossing the border.

But why go to Kunlun Ruins?Just thinking about it, Luo Honglian suddenly stopped in her tracks.Looking up, I realized that I had reached the junction of Kunlun Ruins and Youdu.I used spells before, so I traveled very fast, but as soon as I got here, it seemed that the spells I used just now were hindered.Enchantment.This was the first possibility Luo Honglian thought of, and it was also the only possibility.Youdu is a place where no grass grows and life is extinct. It is hard to imagine that there is an enchantment here.But now it really stands in front of Luo Honglian like this, Luo Honglian didn't reach out to test it, because he knows that every barrier is closely related to its owner, even if he just stands outside the barrier like this , Its owner must have noticed it, if there is any abnormality in him, the people inside will attack him directly.

Just now, along the way, there is no trace of anyone staying here, and the enchantment that appears in front of me seems to be able to connect the stories before and after.

"Hmph, Ying Shaozhi actually brought Yunyang into Youdu."

Luo Honglian said softly.But he knew that this enchantment had nothing to do with Ying Shaozhi or Yunyang, so it seemed that there were other people in Youdu.While thinking, he thought of Jin Yunhe.I have met Jin Yunhe on several occasions, but the conversation between the two is limited to the tasks assigned by the mysterious person.Although Jin Yunhe never told himself anything about the mysterious person, he did reveal the name Youdu.Luo Honglian didn't care at first, but now thinking about it, Jin Yunhe actually revealed some secrets unintentionally.

"So I'm pretty sure that the mysterious man is in Youdu. It's just that the barrier is an obstacle."

"So, to go to Youdu, you must pass through Kunlun."

"Yes, but this is not a problem. If you follow me, you should be able to pass through Kunlun easily."

Jinse's concerns seem to have been resolved.

"But after entering Youdu, what should we do? Find the mysterious person directly? If Ying Shaozhi brings Yunyang into Youdu, then Jinyunhe and Mingqin may also be in Youdu. In this way, if we want to meet the mysterious People, it seems that it is not that simple."

"I think it's not up to them to decide whether they can meet the mysterious person."

"What do you mean?"

Lu Li didn't understand Yin Danlu's words.

"Lu Li, in addition to Cangyu and Blood Jade, we also have the Black Wheel and Ice Wheel that exist on your body as three souls. The mysterious person has Topaz and White Jade, plus the unknown Ying Shaozhi's Mo Yu, it should be said that we have a better chance of winning. But the mysterious man and Ying Shaozhi should not have a cooperative relationship, otherwise Ying Shaozhi's Mo Yu should be handed over to the mysterious man, but he monopolizes Mo Yu. So it is actually a three-legged situation, although we have four Yu Linglongs, the chances of winning are not great."

Yin Danlu's rhetoric sounded a bit confusing to Meng Yue. Sometimes he said that they had a good chance of winning, and sometimes he said that their chances of winning were not. Meng Yue frowned and looked at Yin Danlu suspiciously.Yin Danlu looked back at Meng Yue with a smile, and continued.

"What I mean is, on the surface, we who have the largest number of Yu Linglongs have the best chance of winning, but facing Ying Shaozhi and the mysterious man, our chances of winning in terms of numbers are reduced."

"You mean, our strength is not as good as theirs?"

"Indeed, it's not as good. Last time we fought against Ying Shaozhi and Yanming, we were lucky enough to win. But this time we also have to count Mingqin, Jinyunhe, and that unknown mysterious person."

"Dan Lu is right, the odds of winning this time are indeed not great, at most it is only five or five points."

Lu Li's words dispelled Meng Yue's desire to refute.

"But we don't have to fight." Yin Danlu smiled, "Since we have the largest number of Yu Linglong, we can try to negotiate with them."

"They have their own goals, but our goals are unified. Such negotiations should not be successful, right?"

Moon Ying said worriedly.

"Although the chances of success are not high, it's better than hand-to-hand combat." Yin Danlu glanced at Yueying, "It doesn't matter what purpose each of them has, as long as they can accept our negotiation. gone."

"But you said before that whether you can meet the mysterious person is not up to them. What do you mean?"

"Since we discovered their purpose, they suddenly disappeared from Kyushu and gathered together. I think there is only one possibility, that is, the mysterious man himself is waiting for us to go to Youdu. And he has never initiated any Assault or provocation, from that I believe he also wants to negotiate."

"Well, this inference is somewhat interesting."

Bai Jinyan, who had been silent all this time, suddenly laughed.

"Then when shall we go to Youdu?"

"at any time."

Yin Danlu showed his usual evil smile on his face, as if victory was just around the corner.

"Youdu?"

Yin Mingqing put down the book in his hand and looked up at his third wife.

"Yes, my husband. I heard people say that there is no grass in Youdu, and it is covered with snow all the year round. I think it is very interesting. I remember that my husband has also traveled to the eight wastelands and Kyushu. I wonder if you have been there?"

Yunyan filled the teacup on Yin Mingqing's desk to the ground, and said with a smile on her face.

"I've heard of Youdu, but I haven't been there. After all, I have to travel through Kunlun. It's the territory of the Luo family, so it's not easy to come and go at will."

"But hasn't my husband been to Kunlun?"

"I have been there, but at that time I still had the permission of the former head of the Luo family to move around in Kunlun, but I didn't dare to go to their border. Madam, what happened today, kept asking Youdu."

"I'm just asking out of curiosity."

Seeing that she couldn't get a satisfactory answer, Yunyan felt a little resentful.

"I heard yesterday that someone entered the mansion at night and went directly to Danxia Garden. Early this morning, Jin Yan from Qingqiu Bai's family came to look for Danlu again. Madam came to ask Youdu again at this moment, I am afraid it is related to Danlu Related?"

"...There is indeed some connection." Yun Yan hesitated for a while, but still told the truth, "Dan Lu's study has been closed all day, and no one who went in at night has ever come out, plus Bai Jinyan who came today. I really don't know. They were discussing something locked in the study. I asked the servant girl to go in and take a look, but Danlu kicked her out after a short while. The little girl is also stupid, and only heard about Youdu. "

Yin Mingqing listened to Yunyan's complaints, and her thoughts had already flown to her son.Since Yin Danlu came back, no matter what she talked with him, she was absent-minded, except for her marriage with Yueying.And a long time ago, he had heard that You had abnormalities.Because Luo Yunshu had come to talk to him about this matter.Luo Yunshu is the youngest uncle of the current head of the Luo family, Luo Qingxuan. He is said to be an uncle, but he is actually the illegitimate son of Grandpa Luo Qingxuan, and his status in the Luo family has never been high.But because he has a good relationship with Luo Yuntian, and he is both civil and military, he has the power to command the Luo family's soldiers.Earlier, the soldiers guarding the border had reported that there was an abnormality on the border, but they found nothing after searching.Even so, Luo Yunshu was still a little worried, so he found Yin Mingqing.Speaking of which, he and Yin Mingqing were friends when they were teenagers.At that time, Luo Yunshu only said that if there was any big movement on the border, he hoped that the Yin family could help.

Thinking of this matter, Yin Mingqing's brows became more frowned.Could it be that something really happened to Youdu?But how could Yin Danlu get involved?These questions made Yin Mingqing break out in a cold sweat.

"Come on!"

"Master, what's the matter?"

Yin Mingqing looked up at the attendant, frowned, and waved him back.Yun Yan didn't know why, and was about to ask a question, but Yin Mingqing suddenly stood up and rushed out of the study.Yin Mingqing walked all the way to the gate of Danxia Garden without slowing down.The attendants in the garden watched him rushing into Yin Danlu's study in bewilderment, but at this time the study was empty.

"What about people?"

Yin Mingqing asked sharply, with anger in his tone.

"Your...Young master has gone out."

The servant replied cautiously.

"When did you leave? With whom? Where did you go?"

"I've been walking for a while... Miss Yueying, Mr. Jinyan of the Bai family, Miss Jinse, Mr. Honglian of the Luo family, and a blind son named Lu Li and his attendants. As for where to go... the master refuses. tell us."

The anger in the words just now has increased a lot, which made the attendant who answered the question even more tongue-tied, and finally answered completely, but he was already sweating profusely.Yin Mingqing didn't even look at the attendants kneeling on the ground, and hurried out of Danxia Garden with a flick of his sleeves.He rushed straight to the door and stopped suddenly.

"Forget it, forget it, I'm afraid this rebellious son has gone far away." Yin Mingqing stood at the door and thought for a while, then suddenly called someone over, and asked them to bring a pen, ink, paper and inkstone, "Send this letter to Kunlun Luo's house and hand it over to him personally." In Luo Yunshu's hands. Don't delay. Go!"

Seeing the attendant hurriedly carrying the letter and rushing out of the mansion, Yin Mingqing still walked to the door with some worry, and turned back to the mansion with a dazed expression until he could no longer see the attendant.

At this time, Yin Danlu and his party had already left Zhang'e Mountain. In order to avoid people's eyes and ears, Yin Danlu was not even willing to use spells, even though doing so would make them move faster.

"Stop." Yin Danlu frowned suddenly and blocked everyone's way, "It seems that someone is also taking this path."

Since they couldn't use spells, they naturally had to choose the fastest path. The source of this path was the halfway up the mountain of Zhang'e Mountain, and from there it went all the way to the northwest, and it only took five days to reach Kunlun.This small road is rarely used by people on weekdays, but it seems that other people besides them are also traveling here today.Everyone stayed in place for a while, only to feel something passing by, and then disappeared.

"It should be the Yin family."

Jinse glanced at Yin Danlu.

"Well, it's probably someone sent by my father. It doesn't look like they came out to look for me."

"Your father must know that even if he finds you, he won't be able to let you go back."

"Huh? Bai Jinyan, you know my father quite well." Yin Danlu smiled with the corners of her mouth curled up, and put her arm on Bai Jinyan's shoulder. "I see, someone must bring a letter to the Luo family."

"Is there any relationship between your father and the Luo family?"

Luo Honglian asked suspiciously.

"I heard that your little uncle Luo Yunshu and my father were friends when they were young, and they have a very good relationship."

Hearing Luo Yunshu's name, Luo Honglian frowned slightly. This little uncle himself hadn't met much, so he didn't understand.But according to Yin Danlu's intentions, Yin Mingqing sent someone to deliver a letter at this time, most likely to ask Luo Yunshu to prevent them from entering Youdu.

"I think it's a little difficult to enter the seclusion this time."

As soon as Luo Yunshu came back from the border, he received a letter from Yin Mingqing. Although he hadn't received a letter from his old friend for a long time, but from the look of the sender, he guessed that it would not be as simple as reminiscing about the past.The letter omitted even a word of greeting, and only said straight to the point, "Yin Danlu is going to Youdu".Luo Yunshu couldn't help frowning, Youdu has become more and more uneven recently, but why did Yin Danlu go to Youdu?

"Didn't your patriarch say anything else?"

"No, before the patriarch asked to deliver the letter, he hurried to the young master's study."

"So, your son Danlu has already left home?"

"Yes, and I still went with Mr. Honglian from your mansion."

The boy was honest, he said everything in one go.Luo Yunshu couldn't understand even more, Luo Honglian had always been alone in the Luo family, and he had never seen him visit any family, so why did she get involved with Yin Danlu.

"Okay, you go back and reply to your family head. Just say that I will do as he said."

As soon as the servant from the Yin family left, Luo Yunshu summoned his personal attendant and asked him to lead them to the border.

Five or six days later, Luo Yunshu's subordinates hurried into his study.

"Master Shu, Master Honglian has arrived in Kunlun."

"It seems that they didn't use spells along the way, probably because they were afraid of being discovered."

After Luo Yunshu said a few words to himself, he sent away his subordinates.After sitting in the study for a while, he got up and went to the entrance of Luo's house in Kunlun.

"Uncle?"

Although Luo Honglian had expected to be stopped, she did not expect to be stopped at her own door.Luo Yunshu was wearing a gray-white tunic and a silver-gray soft armor.

"Guren, are these your friends?"

Luo Yunshu scanned all the young people in front of him, except for two who were strangers, he knew a thing or two about the rest.

"Yes."

Even Luo Honglian didn't expect that he would one day lie in front of his elders.

"Oh? I wonder what everyone is doing in Kunlun?"

Luo Yunshu has almost made clear his doubts, but obviously he underestimated these young people.

"Luo Yunshu? The relationship between you and my father, I should call you Uncle Luo." Yin Danlu stopped Luo Honglian who wanted to talk in a timely manner, "Junior Yin Danlu, I met Uncle Luo."

"You are Yin Mingqing's young master? You are somewhat similar to your father."

"Why did Uncle Luo stop us?"

"Oh, I'm just curious. Guren has never brought friends home since she was a child."

Luo Yunshu considered that he had to find an excuse to stop them, not wanting to alarm the family.

"I know, my father must have written you a letter asking you to stop me."

"Your father did write a letter." Seeing that Yin Danlu already knew about it, Luo Yunshu no longer concealed it. "Now that you know, you should understand your father's intentions. Youdu is a dangerous place, and it's been a bit uneasy recently. Although you haven't found out why, you're rushing in like this. It's not safe."

"Danlu naturally understands the intentions of your father and you. Since my father wrote a letter, I will obey his old man's wishes."

Luo Yunshu froze for a moment, he didn't expect Yin Danlu to agree so readily.Although some don't understand, but in any case the goal is achieved, Luo Yunshu just wanted someone to take them to Luo's house, but Yin Danlu suddenly said again.

"It was Yin Danlu that my father wrote to ask you to stop. If that's the case, then I'll just stay, and they, please let them go."

It wasn't until this moment that Luo Yunshu understood why Yin Danlu agreed so readily.

"Your father did write to ask me to stop Yin Danlu, but as the leader of the Luo family's soldiers, I am also responsible for guarding the border. Therefore, you still cannot cross the border."

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, never expecting Luo Yunshu to stop them so stubbornly.Luo Honglian grabbed Meng Yue who wanted to rush out.

"Since the little uncle said so, then we won't cross the border. It's okay to go shopping in Kunlun."

"Yes, but it must be guarded by my personal soldiers. In order to prevent a few guests from being hurt."

"Luo Honglian, what shall we do next?"

Yin Danlu leaned leisurely against the outer wall of a certain building on the street, looking straight at Luo Honglian across the street.This narrow alley can only accommodate two people walking side by side, and now the two of them are standing face to face, just blocking the front and back paths.People who passed by seemed to be aware of the impenetrable barrier between them, and they all consciously took a detour.Opposite the alley is a rouge shop. In order to distract the soldiers and not disturb their conversation, Jinse took Yueying to pick and choose in the shop, while Meng Yue stood at the door of the shop with a look of disdain, guarding Lu Li's ground. around.The soldiers did not dare to get too close to them, so they could only sit down in a tea shop next door.Across the narrow street, watching the movements on both sides.

"Look for a chance to escape."

"How do you slip away? You should know better about these soldiers than I do. It's not easy to get rid of them."

"Well, they were all carefully cultivated by the Luo family, so they are naturally not easy to deal with. But I don't think my little uncle must have told them the truth."

"You mean, these soldiers always thought they were protecting us instead of monitoring?"

"That's right, you can tell by their appearance. If they were under surveillance, they would have stood close to their bodies. How can we stand and talk like this?"

Yin Danlu looked suspiciously at the soldiers sitting in the tea shop, and then at Luo Honglian.

"I think they probably don't want to get close to you."

"It's also possible." Luo Honglian hooked the corners of her lips, and said with a self-deprecating smile, "Who made me the murder weapon of the Luo family?"

"The murder weapon? Maybe your murder weapon can come in handy."

Seeing the corners of Yin Danlu's raised mouth, Luo Honglian felt fear for the first time.

"What? People are gone?"

Luo Yunshu stood up abruptly from the chair in astonishment, and the subordinate standing in front of him with his head bowed was terrified and at a loss.

"Didn't I let you watch it?"

"But, but, Young Master Honglian... rushed out suddenly, and the few of us didn't dare to approach them, so we could only watch them, and they mixed into the crowd participating in the ceremony."

Hearing this, Luo Yunshu understood.They knew that their soldiers would not dare to approach Luo Honglian, but because there were not many pedestrians on the street on weekdays, they deliberately picked the day for the ceremony.Speaking of Kunlun's festival, it is actually more like the New Year's Day for ordinary people in Kyushu, but because the ancestors of the Luo family are sacrificed at the same time, it is called a festival.Yin Danlu asked Luo Honglian to stop those soldiers, and the rest of them mixed into the crowd of the ceremony, so even if the soldiers got rid of Luo Honglian, they couldn't find them in the bustling crowd.On the way Luo Yunshu rushed to the border, Yin Danlu and his party had already arrived at the border.

"Sorry, Mr. Honglian. Master Shu has ordered that no one should cross the border."

"Oh? Really? If that's the case, then we can only force our way in."

As soon as the words fell, the soldiers were surrounded by a ball of flames, and they gathered together in panic, just when they didn't know what to do.Luo Honglian had already led Yin Danlu and others across the border and headed straight for Youdu.Luo Yunshu, who arrived later, only saw a group of soldiers who were exhausted by the fake samadhi and real fire.

Youdu's barriers are layered on top of each other, and even Yunyang, who is in the center of Youdu, doesn't know how many layers there are.Ying Shaozhi arranged himself in this seemingly ordinary cave. Although he didn't say it clearly, he knew very well that he was under house arrest. Although he could still walk out of the cave, he would have to go back home after ten meters.

The sun in Youdu is very dazzling, perhaps because it shines on the snow.Every time Yunyang walked out of the cave, he had to endure such torture first, because the cave was too dark, only a few candles provided tiny light.

Yunyang glanced at the snow under his feet. The footprints he stepped on when he came back yesterday were covered by new snow after one night. Yunyang has long been used to this cycle.But he still walked out the same way, ten meters, exactly ten meters.He knew that going forward was the barrier, which he could not break through.Looking out of the barrier, he saw a black crow perched on a nearby cedar tree, which was transformed by Ying Shaozhi's demon spirit.The black crow fluttered its wings a few times, and suddenly flew into the air. The blood-red tongue was exposed from the black beak that had never been opened before, and it let out a piercing cry with its mouth wide open.