Chapter 42

Amidst the clear mountains and pleasant scenery, a faintly salty sea breeze blew gently. At the peak of the mountains stood a magnificent palace, its entire structure primarily in gold. Those who did not know better might have thought they had entered an imperial palace. However, this gold lacked the grandeur and majesty of a royal palace, instead exuding a cold and fierce aura that instilled fear in the hearts of people.

Inside the palace, a wide dragon throne was set up, and a middle-aged man sat upon it with his arms crossed. His imposing figure, clad in a gold armor intricately engraved with dragon patterns, made him look even more divine. The rays of the rising sun at dawn shone through the palace gate facing east, directly illuminating him, making him appear like a celestial being descending to the world!

The middle-aged man's eyes were slightly closed, enjoying the most pleasant moment of the day. One day, he would become the sun, making the world understand that those who followed him would be blessed with the light of life, while those who defied him would be consumed by the fire of destruction!

He placed his hands on the table in front of him and tapped it lightly, his furrowed brows and slightly angry expression causing the surrounding air to seem to stagnate. On the table lay a letter, the bold and forceful strokes indicating that the writer was a warrior. However, the strange symbols mixed with a few Chinese characters made it look more like a coded message, causing discomfort at first glance.

"Someone, come here." His voice was calm but carried a natural air of authority, making it impossible for anyone to disobey.

As his voice faded, a woman dressed in black, with a black head covering, appeared. Her face was veiled, but her graceful figure suggested she was a beauty. She knelt down, burying her head between her knees, waiting for the middle-aged man's orders.

"Go to the capital and tell him! I am very angry about the Jin Kingdom's matter. Opportunities come but once, so if you act, do it thoroughly! I don't want to hear any talk of long-term plans." As he spoke, he waved his hand, and the woman left the hall without even raising her head.

The middle-aged man slowly walked out of the hall, gazing at the rising sun over the sea, and sneered, "Hmph! The Emperor of Wu Xiang? Ridiculous!"

...

"What are you doing in the capital this time? To watch the duel?"

"No, just to relax."

This was the last conversation between Ling Xiao and Xiao Ming. People change, and it had been so many years. Xiao Ming showed no emotion at all about the identity of the Dragon Protectors, which only piqued Ling Xiao's curiosity even more. However, he saw a hint of melancholy in Xiao Ming's smiling eyes, and his mind naturally conjured up various family dramas and melodramatic love stories.

Ling Xiao patted Xiao Ming's shoulder in sympathy and walked away, leaving Xiao Ming with a puzzled look.

The bustling streets, which had always been noisy and lively, now appeared different to Ling Xiao. For example, two Japanese ronin with swords on their waists swaggered across the street, and a Mongolian man in a fur coat, holding a curved saber, was delighted by his first taste of famous wine.

This was the world of martial arts, where the duels between supreme experts were far more attractive and meaningful than the pursuit of wealth and power. However, most martial artists still acted out of passion, regardless of whether their innate martial arts skills could get them into the imperial palace.

Look at this! Ling Xiao's perspective had risen to such a level that innate martial arts skills were as common as cabbage in this once-in-a-century martial arts golden age. Just now, two such "cabbages" had passed by him, and they were even imported cabbages from foreign lands.

"Unbelievable! I've been playing with women for so many years, and I've never been so humiliated! Should we bring some people to smash the place?" Far away, a shiny bald head was ranting and raving in front of Ling Lingfa.

Ling Lingfa closed his eyes and nodded, smiling, "Shut up!"

Foyin's expression instantly fell, "Unbelievable! A mere Huixian Yaxu, even if it's high-end, is just a brothel! They actually have a membership system! What a ridiculous joke!"

Ling Lingfa rolled his eyes and took a few steps back, telling the passersby, "I don't know this bald monk!"

"What are you doing? Why are you not going in?" Ling Xiao asked curiously as he approached the clinic.

Ling Lingfa's eyes lit up, and he said happily, "I'm covered in perfume, so I'm waiting for it to dissipate before going in, or your master will notice. But you're finally back! Quick, think of a way. The emperor is in dire straits, and we can't even get into Huixian Yaxu!"

"Is it that hard to get in? Don't you have a pass?"

"This is the emperor's secret order! What pass? Do you want the whole capital to know that the Dragon Protectors are on a mission to seduce women? Use your brain, which is smarter than a pig's, and give me some ideas." Ling Lingfa shouted angrily.

Ling Xiao raised an eyebrow and stroked his chin, "There are only three types of people who can walk into a brothel freely."

"Which three?" Foyin asked curiously.

"The brothel owner, the girls, and the girls themselves! Which one do you want to be?"

"Pfft, completely unreliable!" Foyin sneered, but Ling Lingfa seemed to be deep in thought.

Ling Xiao looked Foyin up and down, "You can't get in no matter what! If you don't believe me, find a pig to take you in! Hmph!" He then strutted into the clinic like a proud rooster.

"Is he angry?" Foyin asked Ling Lingfa, looking at Ling Xiao's back.

"No, he's just waiting to see our embarrassment!"

"What embarrassment?"

"Go find a wig first!"

"..."

Ling Lingfa's next attempt would be fraught with difficulties. In fact, Ling Xiao had always been very curious. He really wanted to know what kind of appearance the old ghost of Wu Xiang would have. His original plan was to follow Ling Lingfa to gain some insight, but the sudden burst of energy in the clinic made Ling Xiao feel uncomfortable.

"Are you free? We just parted ways. Also, don't fart randomly, it's really smelly!" Ling Xiao asked Lu Xiaofeng, who was leisurely drinking tea in the hall.

Lu Xiaofeng gently put down his teacup, the tea leaves swirling slowly in the water. Ling Xiao looked at the green leaves and asked, "My master's tea? Sparrow's Tongue!"

"Right, so what?" Lu Xiaofeng looked at the teacup and asked.

"Imperial supply? The emperor's gift!"

Lu Xiaofeng sighed, "I never realized you were so stingy! Don't always be like your master, learn to be better!"

"Martial artists shouldn't always crave these external pleasures; they can be harmful to the body!"

"You're the least qualified to talk about this. Your martial arts talent is so poor that it's embarrassing, even in the Jin Kingdom." Lu Xiaofeng drank the tea in one gulp, as if to provoke him.

Ling Xiao's lips curled into a meaningful smile, "I hope you don't regret it later!"

Lu Xiaofeng snorted, "I won't regret it!"

"Then why are you here? You're a troublemaker, and I really don't want to get involved with you unless necessary." Ling Xiao shook his head and sighed.

Lu Xiaofeng didn't mind and said leisurely, "It seems you know me well. Do you remember the old man at Chunhua Tower?"

"Whoa! Could it be Wu Xiang?"

"Who is Wu Xiang?"

"A cross-dressing old pervert, don't mind him. Who is the old man?" Ling Xiao said casually.

Lu Xiaofeng continued, "That's Sikong Zhaixing, another cross-dressing guy. But that's not important. What's important is that he felt something was wrong."

"Wrong where?"

Lu Xiaofeng said seriously, "It's really wrong because we don't know what's wrong."

"Damn, you should have said that earlier! Are you here to ask me to tell your fortune? I'm busy! Why don't we meet in our dreams?"

Lu Xiaofeng chuckled, "Don't mind it! I also felt something was wrong, but I didn't know what. I thought it was just an illusion. But when the old monkey also said it was wrong, it really is wrong."

"Right, it is wrong."

"You also feel it's wrong?" Lu Xiaofeng became interested.

"Right, your riddles are very wrong, and they don't even rhyme. Also, if it's wrong, then investigate! Ye Gucheng! The Four Heroes of the Tang Family! These are big clues. Why are you here? Honestly, if it weren't for Ye Gucheng's good looks, which would make thousands of girls in the capital cry, I would have taken him to the Six-Fan Gate for tea just for his random street violence!" Ling Xiao coldly snorted, his expression arrogant as if Ye Gucheng were a lollipop in a child's hand, ready for him to take.

"Reasonable, but the Four Heroes of the Tang Family are just minor characters. I don't believe a major conspiracy would be entrusted to them. Also, Ye Gucheng is handsome and strong, and although he's not as good as me, he's not easy to investigate." Lu Xiaofeng twirled the teacup in his hand, as if there were profound truths in the tea.

Ling Xiao looked at Lu Xiaofeng's calm face and said helplessly, "It seems I have to give you something sweet to make you leave today!"

Lu Xiaofeng slapped the table, "You should have said that earlier! Pretending to be deep is exhausting!" His smug expression made Ling Xiao grit his teeth.

"Remember, a teacher once taught me to write narrative essays, and the six elements are time, place, characters, cause, process, and result. We are investigating the event itself, so we won't talk about that. You have nothing to investigate about the characters, so we can only start with time and place." As he spoke, Ling Xiao's mind flashed back to his kind Chinese teacher from elementary school, though his relationship with books was always tense, and he slept more than he read.

Lu Xiaofeng listened and lowered his head in thought. Suddenly, he seemed to remember something and stood up abruptly, "I knew you had many tricks up your sleeve. I'll go first! We'll talk later!" He then floated out of the clinic like a feather.

"Don't come back unless it's important!" Ling Xiao waved his hand and shouted, finally sending away this troublemaker, feeling particularly relieved. Just as he was about to wash up and go to bed, he heard the familiar sound.

Flap, flap, flap!

Ling Xiao reached out and caught the pigeon, "The drum beats cease, and the road is empty; the autumn border echoes with a lone goose. The dew turns white from tonight, and the moon is brightest in my hometown. My brothers are scattered, and there is no home to ask about life and death. Letters are often undelivered, and the war has not yet ended. There are too many family separations in this world. Why do some people not cherish family ties?"

His brows furrowed, wondering what trouble this guy had encountered again. If he didn't have me to comfort him, he would probably be long dead!

He wrote, "There is no relationship in this world that is not full of scars, whether it's family, friendship, or love! Every relationship has its reason for beginning and its inevitable end! Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself. You have not experienced others' lives, so you have no right to judge their feelings. Of course, if you just want to gossip and watch the drama, it's harmless. But if the person is important to you, investigate first!"

He put down the pen and released the pigeon.