Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 552 The Scholar in Blue Robes
The appearance of these blood-red eyes is exactly the same as the demonic eyes used by Wu Shanshan from the Valley of Heartbreak in the Divine Fire Domain.

Upon seeing the bloodshot in his eyes, the people around him all tensed up.

Jiang You'er knew that the other party must have cultivated some kind of demonic art. However, since the other party was a human cultivator, the demonic art he cultivated was different from the demonic art cultivated by the demon cultivators. Although they came from the same lineage, they were two different things, each with its own story.

Since the other party did not shirk responsibility and expressed their willingness to take charge, Jiang You'er was naturally more than happy to accept it. She immediately shouted to the people around her, "Quickly, take us to the last place the target escaped from."

"Yes." Immediately, someone took the order and led the way.

The group immediately rushed towards the final siege point.

Upon arriving at the scene, Jiang You'er casually inquired about the detailed battle with Shi Chun. In fact, he already knew what had happened, but he brought it up now intentionally so that the mysterious expert standing nearby could hear it.

To everyone's surprise, the plain-looking man in gray had absolutely no interest in this, nor did he express any regret for the so-called deaths and injuries. His floating blood-red eyes swept across the crowd, constantly comparing them to each other, before finally flashing off in one direction.

Jiang You'er and the others exchanged glances and then flew after them with all their might.

Before long, they saw the mysterious master who had been suspended in mid-air.

Once they arrived, the man in gray asked, "Did you come to this location during our previous encounter?"

After exchanging glances, everyone shook their heads. One person answered on behalf of the group, "We've never run this far before."

The man in gray asked again, "Is there only one target?"

The person who answered replied, "From the time we discovered it until the end of the fight, there was only one person."

The gray-robed man's blood-red eyes swept coldly over them. "Even if he has a few fifth-grade magic treasures, with so many of you attacking him, including so many Earth Immortals, you still managed to let him escape. A bunch of trash!"

Everyone hesitated to speak, and someone, feeling wronged, explained, "The higher-ups want to capture them alive, so we can't bring ourselves to kill them."

The man in gray immediately glared at him coldly, a murderous intent flashing in his blood-red eyes.

Jiang You'er quickly pretended to scold, "Shut up! If you're useless, don't make excuses. Get out of here!"

The man realized something was wrong and quickly shrank behind Jiang You'er.

Jiang You'er then hurriedly bowed to the expert and said, "There is no time to lose, please do your utmost to turn the tide!"

The man in gray glanced at the group. "The commotion was too loud; I heard it from a distance. It might attract attention. We shouldn't stay here any longer. You should leave now. The target can't escape; I'll handle him myself!"

After saying that, he vanished in a flash, disappearing as soon as he finished speaking, becoming a black dot in an instant.

Although Jiang You'er was also dissatisfied with the loss caused by the other party's arrogance, what they said made sense. This place was indeed not suitable for lingering. He waved his hand and called out, "Retreat quickly!"

Led by him, the group quickly disappeared, leaving the vast land in ruins, with the gray dust still lingering...

On the streets of Dazhicheng, a middle-aged man with a basket slung over one shoulder stood out. He was handsome and energetic, dressed in a blue scholar's robe, clearly a scholar, yet he did not appear reserved. He rolled up his sleeves to expose his arms, and his collar was half-open to let his chest cool down. He looked travel-worn, and he was clearly a bright and straightforward person.

After looking around the streets for a while, he stood in front of a stall, cupped his hands to the man sitting at the stall, and said, "Boss, may I ask how to get to Chaoyue Pavilion?"

"Chaoyue Pavilion?" The man at the stall looked him over, noticed the books in his basket, and seemed to understand something. He smiled knowingly and pointed in the direction, saying, "See that mountain? That's the center of the city. Go that way, and when you get to the center, ask around on the main street to the east. You'll find out soon enough."

"Okay, okay, thank you for your trouble." The man bowed repeatedly in thanks and took his leave, walking briskly and taking in the street scenery along the way.

They strolled around, asking for directions along the way, and finally stopped at the entrance of Chaoyue Pavilion. After staring at the characters on the signboard and nodding slightly, they climbed the steps and entered the library.

Seeing the fragrance of books and ink in the shop, and the scholars chatting, he smiled and finally looked at the counter. He leaned over to look at the notice, wanting to see what the rules were for reading in this bookstore.

It would have been better if we hadn't gotten close. Once we got closer, we discovered a beautiful woman in red reclining behind the counter, half-asleep, propping her head up with one arm, her fingers holding the spout of a wine pot, her thumb rubbing the spout in circles, the aroma of wine wafting through the air.

Upon seeing this woman, the scholar in the blue robe paused for a moment, then looked around the library and shushed the woman in red behind the counter.

The woman in red opened her eyes, saw him, and couldn't help but smile, "You've arrived."

The scholar in the blue robe looked like he had a toothache and asked, "What are you doing here?"

The woman in red sat up lazily, propping one leg up, hugging her knee with one arm, and swirling her wine jug as she said, "You're allowed to come, but I'm not? If I hadn't told you it was a good place, would you have known about it? The fact that I'm here proves I wasn't lying to you, and that it must be a good place, don't you think?"

The scholar in the blue robe thought about it and agreed. He snorted and, after his gaze fell on the wine pot she was holding, he couldn't help but grin. "You've gone a bit too far. Drinking so freely in this place is simply an insult to civility."

The woman in red smiled and gestured towards the backyard, "The master is inside. I'm too lazy to move. You can go in and pay your respects yourself."

Having said that, he slowly lay down again, looking relaxed. Comparing the environment here with the woman's character, the scholar in the blue robe shook his head, too lazy to care anymore. He pulled on his shoulder basket and headed straight for the back courtyard.

As soon as he left, Dong Liangze, the young man who was now working odd jobs there, quickly came over, leaned on the counter, and whispered, "Sister Jun, who is this person? He seems to know you."

The reclining woman in red slowly uttered, "Sword Saint Fuque."

Dong Liangze, his face instantly filled with shock, thought he had misheard and asked in a low voice, "That Sword Saint Fu Que, who is known as the number one swordsman in the cultivation world?"

The woman in red blinked but remained silent; she wasn't interested in repeating herself to just anyone.

Dong Liangze seemed used to it and asked again, "Sister Jun, why is he here?"

They looked surprised, as if they thought, "How could we possibly be worthy of such a personal visit?"

The woman in red said, "I just happened to be passing by this area. My cousin introduced me to this place after he found out. I guess I'll be staying here for a while. Now that I'm here, it's an opportunity. You and your brother, let's see who is destined to become his disciple."

Dong Liangze's eyes lit up, and he ignored the affairs in the front hall for the time being, running happily to the backyard.

As a result, they didn't even get to greet the scholar in the blue robe. They just nodded to each other as they passed by. The scholar greeted his father and then headed straight for the library on the second floor of the octagonal building.

As Dong Liangze walked up to his father, he continued to watch him go, and finally said with emotion, "This is the Sword Saint Fuque. Today I have finally met him in person."

Dong Wenshu was about to question him about why he was loitering around here instead of working properly in the front hall when he suddenly heard his son's words and instinctively asked, "Who?"

Dong Liangze was taken aback. "He didn't tell you who he was?"

Dong Wenshu shook his head, only knowing that the visitor claimed to be surnamed Fu, and said that he had long admired the books in this place and had come to pay a visit.

Dong Wenshu simply offered a polite remark, saying that anyone could freely browse the books in the collection, as long as they paid according to the rules.

Upon hearing this, the scholar in the blue robe immediately stopped bothering with any formalities, thanked him, and went to look through his book.

After the father and son communicated, Dong Wenshu finally realized who the visitor was. He was naturally quite surprised and immediately reflected on whether he had been negligent. Even if it weren't for the fact that the other confidants of the Demon Queen had saved their family's life, he couldn't neglect their friend out of both sentiment and reason.

Dong Wenshu wanted to go to the library to apologize for not knowing earlier, but remembering what his son had said about the woman in red staying there for a while, he decided not to disturb her for the time being. He asked Dong Liangze to prepare good wine and food for the next meal, since they had money now. He also asked his youngest daughter, Dong Liangying, to go back to the front hall to help out, since the woman in red really didn't know how to treat guests...

Shi Chun hid in a pit outside the city gate, carefully changing his appearance and growing three long wisps of beard before jumping out. He hopped all the way to the city gate and, under the scrutinizing gaze of the city guards, swaggered in.

He was naturally familiar with Dazhi City, so he went straight to Bai's Rice Shop. When he passed by the rice shop, he found that the door was closed and the shop was shut down.

In broad daylight, and unsure if there were any eyes and ears around, he didn't dare to knock on the door. Anyway, there was no rush, and he planned to think things through further, so he left directly.

After circling half of the city, he arrived at the Chaoyue Pavilion. Since he was already there, he figured he might as well visit the library and take a look at the situation in the underworld.

The most convenient way would actually be to contact Young Master Nan and ask him to help collect and organize information about the underworld and send it over. However, he no longer dares to let the people of Mingshan Sect enter and leave Xunmen to send messages, for fear of being discovered.

Furthermore, of all things to investigate, they've stumbled upon the underworld. He's also hesitant about whether it's appropriate to let Young Master Nan know.

Therefore, after much thought, I found that searching through the rich collection of books at Chaoyue Pavilion was the safest and most effective way.

As soon as I arrived at the door, I heard the familiar noise. The literati started arguing again, their genuine emotions flowing freely during the debate. They seemed a bit carried away, and some were even banging on the table.

The noisy scene, however, was reassuring to him; he could detect even the slightest hint of falsehood.

Why does it smell like wine? Shi Chun's nostrils twitched. Yes, it was definitely coming from the library.

He immediately went inside to confirm.

The scene of arguing inside the hall continued, hmm? The Third Miss Dong Liangying was actually pouring tea and water.

He glanced at the counter and saw no one there. He figured he understood what was going on. He probably wouldn't find another handyman as cheap as himself, so Dong Liangying had to take care of things himself.

Thinking of this, he still shook his head at Dong Wenshu and his son.

However, the aroma of wine from the counter still lured him over. When he got closer to the counter, he found a pretty woman in red lying on her side behind it, holding a wine bottle. What the heck?

Seemingly sensing that someone was staring at her, the woman in red opened her half-closed eyes, glanced at Shi Chun, flicked her hand holding the wine bottle, pointed to the notice, and said, "If you have any questions, look for them yourself. Don't ask me." Her meaning was quite clear.

(End of this chapter)