Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 643 Surrender
“Okay.” Feng Qingping nodded, understanding the clan leader’s intention to consider all aspects.

She had just agreed when she took out a mother-child talisman. After examining it, she handed it to the clan leader with a wry smile. "Clan leader, we've found the whereabouts of the Golden-haired Rat clan. They went to Qingqiu and should be there now."

After reading it, Feng Xi's face darkened again, and he cursed, "Damn it, what exactly does the Qingqiu Fox Clan want?"

Feng Qingping tentatively asked, "What should we do?"

The question is basically whether or not they will bring the suspect back.
Feng Xi glared at her fiercely. "You've already made Yin Ning so pliable here, and you're even going to Qingqiu to capture people. What are you thinking?"

Feng Qingping instantly realized what was happening, and even the dignified goddess showed an embarrassed expression.

Feng Xi changed the subject, "Since everyone who should be on the sacred mountain is here, that means the person who broke into the temple to break the formation should still be on the mountain..."

Outside the city, in a forest of heart-wrapping grass under the rising sun, Dong Liangze closed his eyes and let his hands hang down. Sword Saint Fuque circled around him, occasionally casting spells to strike his pressure points.

The bookstore in the city had just opened, and the woman in red was behind the counter, looking slightly tipsy.

The city is bustling, but the comings and goings of people don't affect the sunrise and sunset.

After dark, when the bookstore closed, the owner, Dong Wenshu, sent his daughter away from the front hall. Then, when only the woman in red was in the front hall, he pretended to pass by and said, "Ruojun, I heard that a nice restaurant has opened in the city. The dishes are excellent with wine. Would you like to go and try it together?" He gestured with his chin towards the wine jar she was carrying.

The woman in red smiled and shook her head. "Not interested."

"Oh, okay." Dong Wenshu nodded nonchalantly, without saying another word.

After leaving the library, he walked into an alley, sighed, pinched his forehead, slapped himself in the face, and muttered to himself, "Useless."

After dark, the woman in red returned to her room to rest. As soon as she closed the door, she vanished through the void and reappeared in the old attic.

Alan, who had been waiting, bowed and reported: "Your Majesty, there is now definite news about the anomaly of the protective array of the sacred mountain. The 'Big Dipper Spirit Repelling Array' has been closed. I sent people to sneak in and out to test it. Without the protection, it can be confirmed that it has been closed. Judging from the situation inside, it may have been forced to close."

The woman in red paced back and forth, deep in thought. "Just after the Phoenix Clan released the Golden-haired Rat Clan, the 'Big Dipper Spirit-Repelling Array,' which had existed for countless years, suddenly shut down. The Golden-haired Rat Clan went to Qingqiu, and then Yin Ning came to Yaoshan City to cause trouble. What exactly is going on here?"

Alan reminded him, "That Shi Chun can enter and exit the great formation. These things seem to be related to Shi Chun. If we find Shi Chun, we might be able to find out what's going on. However, that guy is hiding like a coward. Dong Sheng has tried everything but couldn't find him. If we really want to find him, we'll probably have to set up a large-scale search."

As soon as she finished speaking, the woman in red couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Behind Alan's back, she took out a mother-child talisman to examine it. After looking at it, she smiled and thought, "It really is true that when you talk about someone, that person appears. They really can't stand being nagged."

She then replied to a message, accepted the mother-child talisman, gave a few casual instructions, and left.

After watching her go downstairs, Alan went to the window and watched the woman in red walk out the door and into the depths of the alley. She frowned slightly, because she rarely saw the woman in red walking around, and she didn't want to follow her, nor did she dare to...

It was the same old place, the same courtyard from that stormy night. Shi Chun was pacing around inside the courtyard gate, waiting. As soon as there was a knock, he opened the door and let the woman in red in, saying, "It's me."

Because he disguised himself.

The woman in red smiled without saying a word and went straight to the hall, with Shi Chun following her.

The two entered the hall, and the woman in red looked around and asked, "What is it?"

Shi Chun leaned closer and said without ceremony, "Ruojun, I've gotten into some trouble again, and I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to help me out again."

He was blunt, but the woman in red glanced at his behavior and found that he was much more polite than before they had been frank with each other. Before, he would always get close and try to take advantage of her, but now he was acting like a virtuous gentleman with no desires. She snorted and said, "Don't beat around the bush. Whether I can help or not depends on what it is."

Shi Chun smiled wryly, "It's like this, I may have offended the Qingqiu Fox Clan, and they may be looking for me. Does your cousin have any influence with the Qingqiu Fox Clan?"

Speaking of this, the woman in red, curious about the commotion caused by the Qingqiu Fox Clan, asked, "You're perfectly fine, you have no connection whatsoever, what right do you have to provoke them?"

Shi Chun immediately sighed, "I didn't want to provoke them at all, but it just so happened. Back then, Bai Qiru entrusted me with a task to help her get her husband out of trouble. I went to Yaoshan City and checked into Zhu Lang Pavilion, where I was recognized by the people from the Extreme Fire Sect. At the time, in order to get away, I spoke without thinking and told some lies to Yin Xu, the proprietress of Zhu Lang Pavilion, that I was a close friend of the Qingqiu Ancestor..."

Upon hearing this, the woman in red couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and look him up and down, as if to say, "You really have a lot of nerve, daring to say anything!"
"Well, Yin Xu actually believed it and helped a lot. The problem was that she believed it. After the Golden-haired Rat Clan escaped from the Divine Mountain, the Extreme Fire Sect immediately went looking for them, and their target was me. Yin Xu got this information and mistakenly thought that I had a good relationship with the Golden-haired Rat Clan, so she intervened and pointed out a place for the Golden-haired Rat Clan to seek protection from the Qingqiu Fox Clan. Look at the mess this has made."

At this point, Shi Chun could only manage a wry smile.

Needless to say, the woman in red understood what happened next: her impersonation of the Qingqiu Ancestor had been exposed.

She knew it! She was completely confused by all that mess before and couldn't figure out what was going on. Now she finally understood what was going on and some things finally made sense. No wonder Yin Ning had to personally come out of seclusion; it turned out he had gotten himself into trouble with the old monster of Qingqiu.

It was kind of funny; a hint of amusement crept onto her lips.

"It's like this, I originally wanted to turn myself in at the Dongsheng Royal Court, but now that this has happened, I'm very worried. Even if Dongsheng investigates and lets me go, I'm afraid the Qingqiu Fox Clan won't let me go. Ruojun, do you think it's convenient for your cousin to come over?" The woman in red smiled sweetly, "You haven't done anything detrimental to Qingqiu, so you're not worth Qingqiu going to great lengths for."

Shi Chun shushed, "You can't say that. I heard that because of this, the Qingqiu Fox Clan even arrested the elders of the Extreme Fire Sect and the Lord of the Hanzhou Domain."

The woman in red glanced at him. "You're overthinking it. Doesn't that old monster know whether you're a friend of the Qingqiu Ancestor or not? No matter how big the commotion is, it has little to do with you. It's just that the Qingqiu fox clan is restless and looking for an excuse to cause trouble. It shouldn't be a big problem. My cousin has a good relationship with the Qingqiu Ancestor. It's just a matter of putting in a good word. As for turning yourself in at Dongsheng, you can go ahead without worry."

Shi Chun's eyes lit up. "Really?"

The woman in red patted his chest. "Given our relationship, would I ever harm you?"

Shi Chun was overjoyed, a huge weight lifted from his heart. He was also glad that he had built a good relationship with this woman, feeling it was a wise choice.

After another round of flattery, he was about to take his leave, saying he was going to contact the authorities in Dongsheng to turn himself in.

The woman in red then said calmly to his departing figure, "Just like that, you leave?"

Shi Chun paused and turned around.

Woman in red: "Turning yourself in won't make a difference if you turn yourself in one more night."

One night? Shi Chun carefully considered the weight of this word and pondered, "You're a woman. If the library finds you're missing late at night, won't they be worried?"

The woman in red ignored him, walked to the short couch next to her, lay down on her side, propped her head up with one arm, and said, "I've been busy at the library all day, and my back is a little sore. Come and give me a massage."

Shi Chun was speechless, but finally forced a smile and walked over...

The next day, the man and woman went out separately and went their separate ways.

After leaving Dazhi City, Shi Chun flew swiftly to the Zhelanpo Mountain Range. Upon landing at the meeting point, he was immediately met with Wu Jinliang's unexpectedly scrutinizing gaze.

Seeing his obvious exhaustion, Wu Jinliang immediately asked, "Have you run into trouble?"

Shi Chun remained silent and sat down to rest for a while.

Wu Jinliang immediately turned to Yu Xuanbing and said, "Senior, we agreed on ten days, and you're unwilling to accompany me to Dazhi City tonight. You're not keeping your word."

Yu Xuanbing, hidden in his cloak, glanced at Shi Chun's gaunt and ghostly face, crossed his arms, turned his head to look at the sky, and did not respond.

"It's nothing, it's all in the past." Shi Chun waved his hand to stop, then rubbed his thigh and said, "Jinliang, the trouble with the Qingqiu Fox Clan should be over. The rest will proceed according to plan. I'll go and turn myself in to Wei Mo later."

"You're really alone..." Wu Jinliang squatted down in front of him and hesitated, "Why don't we go together?"

Shi Chun: "Do we have to turn ourselves in as a pair? They want to arrest me, so I'll just go and confess. It doesn't matter whether you go or not. If things change, there's no need to drag both of us down with you."

Wu Jinliang was just saying it to express his opinion; he didn't want to take the risk. He immediately nodded repeatedly and said, "The chief is wise. Okay, I'll listen to you."

Shi Chun glanced at Yu Xuanbing, who was ignoring him and only seemed to be defying fate, then took off the bracelet from his wrist and handed it to Wu Jinliang when Yu Xuanbing wasn't looking.

Wu Jinliang naturally understood what he meant. He had turned himself in, so there was no need for his valuables to fall into someone else's hands. If the other party didn't want to return them, it could easily lead to his death. He quickly put them away.

After Shi Chun stood up, he began to take off his clothes and shoes, and he had to change out of his precious clothes and boots.

After changing his clothes, he only kept a Qiankun bag hanging on his waist, filled with some simple necessities, and then he and Wu Jinliang disappeared underground.

Wu Jinliang was sent to the outside world through the underworld.

When they returned to Jukuzhou, the journey was indeed a bit inconvenient without Wu Jinliang's fire-based martial arts.

The place they returned to was not the same as before, and Yu Xuanbing was nowhere to be seen.

Left all alone, Shi Chun took out the mother-child talisman that he used to contact Young Master Nan. Before he could examine it closely, another message arrived—it was from the old man of Dongjiuyuan again. He was already used to this.

He replied directly, saying: Brother Nan, stop making trouble. I promise you, I'll turn myself in. I'll bet my life that you won't go back on your word!

(End of this chapter)