The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 333 The Thousand-Year-Old Man

Gao Anyu was not the only one astonished by the bizarre situation on Cao Hanyan's side.

He thought his glance back was discreet, but to seasoned veterans like Hua Zhi Qiu and the elders of the Kongming Sect, his thoughts were practically written all over their faces.

When he turned around, Hua Zhi Qiu secretly found it amusing.

"You only have two options: either fight your way out or take hostages. Do you think I won't find out?"

He had clearly seen through Cao Hanyan's martial arts skills and felt that Cao Hanyan had no chance of succeeding no matter what. Luo Mincheng had left most of his guards around him precisely to guard against this move.

When Gao Anyu's face showed shock and astonishment, Hua Zhi Qiu realized something was wrong and immediately turned to look, his mouth agape.

"What... what kind of evil technique is this!?"

How could he not see that Cao Hanyan was acting?

Rather than saying that Cao Hanyan's acting skills were just too bad! Her face was red, and her movements were not as smooth and graceful as before. Her hands and feet were stiff, and she looked like a child who had been forced onto the stage by her master to perform.

But it was precisely this forcedly funny action that brought an indescribable chill to Hua Zhi Qiu's heart.

Human lives are disappearing in a way he cannot understand.

There was no struggle, no wailing, no screaming, no blood, no wounds. Every time Cao Hanyan slashed, the person in front of her would suddenly stop, their eyes would suddenly lose their light, and then they would be cut down to the ground.

It was as if those people had simply died on their own when they saw who Cao Hanyan was about to kill.

It's like something out of a folk tale! Hua Zhi Qiu has been in the martial arts world for so long, and even considering his advanced Celestial Realm, there is absolutely no martial art that can do something like this!

"It's him!"

Hua Zhi Qiu turned her gaze to Li Miao.

From the very beginning, he knew something was off about Li Miao. Gao and Cao were both rare talents in the martial arts world, yet they clearly regarded this man as their leader, so he must be no ordinary person.

Ultimately, a person who doesn't know martial arts standing in this setting would appear out of place from beginning to end. However, with the Heavenly Human inheritance at hand, Hua Zhi Qiu couldn't give up for some uncertain factor.

Li Miao seemed to sense his gaze and suddenly turned to smile at him.

Hua Zhi Qiu gritted her teeth: "No way!"

"When life and death are at stake, there is no time to hesitate!"

"This person's methods are unpredictable. Even if I go there, it might not be enough to save him. I might even end up getting myself killed. The only way now is to capture this kid and seize the Celestial Inheritance!"

"Even if this bird official dies, he'll die in public at the hands of these people. As long as we find a chance to escape Da Shuo before the Embroidered Uniform Guard uncovers the truth, everything we've done today will have been worthwhile!"

In a flash, Hua Zhi Qiu had already made up her mind, and she drew her sword and charged at Gao An Yu once again.

"brute!"

Lord Luo, seeing that he had only glanced at him once and then ignored him, cursed inwardly.

He didn't understand martial arts and couldn't see the trickery involved. But the fact remained that Cao Hanyan was getting closer and closer to him.

At this rate, Cao Hanyan will be right in front of him in another twenty or thirty breaths!

Faced with life and death, Lord Luo first waved to the guards around him to step forward and block Cao Hanyan, and then took a few steps back while speaking loudly.

“Young hero, I just took a look and found that the Jinyiwei Commander Xue died outside the main hall of the Kongming Sect, which is quite far from you. This matter seems a bit strange.”

"Why don't you stop here for now and let me investigate? If you have any grievances, I will certainly uphold justice for you. What do you say?"

As expected of someone from a Beijing official background, a seasoned veteran of the Ministry of Personnel, his waist was as supple as a noodle. A kind smile appeared on his face, a stark contrast to the coldness he had displayed just moments before.

But Cao Hanyan ignored him and kept rushing towards him.

Lord Luo took another step back, swallowed hard, and his expression changed once more.

"You madman! Do you know who I am? I am the Prefect of Guangxin Prefecture, and have served as the Assistant Director of the Personnel Selection Department of the Ministry of Personnel!"

"If anything happens to me, it will surely be reported to the Emperor! You acted so readily today, aren't you afraid that the Embroidered Uniform Guard will come knocking on your door in the future and implicate your relatives, friends, wife, and children as well!"

"Why not leave now and avoid making a further mistake? If you are tired from your journey and need some money or valuables, I can arrange to raise some for you from the wealthy families in the area!"

Cao Hanyan was only five zhang away from him.

Lord Luo clenched his fist inside his robe sleeve.

Running will only hasten your death.

The Kongming Sect's true intentions were unclear, but they clearly disregarded his life and wouldn't come to his aid. Military formations couldn't be carried with him; fleeing outside their lines would mean surrendering his life to the enemy, a foolish choice he wouldn't make.

There's no time to regret getting involved with the Kongming Sect now; Lord Luo must find a way out for himself.

"What to do, what to do..."

His mind raced, and Lord Luo suddenly remembered something.

He was unfamiliar with the martial arts world, its affairs, and what these people were fighting over. But there was one thing he had handled that would definitely interest anyone in the martial arts world!
"Young hero, are you familiar with the Ming Cult?"

Cao Hanyan paused, her eyes widening.

"There are still masters!?"

"Stop talking, stop courting death!"

"Enough people have died today! Do you have to go through the whole ordeal of your family to feel better?!"

He paused, about to rush forward to stop Lord Luo. But his figure suddenly stopped.

An invisible surge of true energy came from behind him, stopping his movements. When Lord Luo saw him stop, he felt that the other party was moved by his words, and a smile appeared on his face. He spread his hands and began to speak eloquently.

"Do you know about the destruction of the Ming Cult? This happened in Shuntian Prefecture!"

"After the Ming Cult bandits were all wiped out, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, together with local garrisons, searched and confiscated all the Ming Cult's remaining strongholds, assets, and personnel. Nearly a hundred such strongholds were found throughout the country."

“A few months ago, I was still an assistant minister in the Ministry of Personnel. Coincidentally, there was a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He had a relative who wanted to be promoted and wanted to use my connections, but he was short of valuables. So he secretly took over one of the strongholds and gave it to me.”

As Lord Luo spoke, he noticed that Cao Hanyan's expression was becoming increasingly strange. Instead of hostility, her eyes were filled with pity.

It's like watching a pig overeat and desperately gain weight during the holidays.

Lord Luo was puzzled, but seeing that Cao Hanyan was indeed no longer rushing towards him, he continued speaking.

"I know that you people of the martial arts world may not value money much, but you are obsessed with martial arts."

"That commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard thought there was only some money in this stronghold, so he dared to entrust it to me. But when I went to retrieve the items later, I accidentally discovered a secret room in this stronghold."

"Inside the secret room was a woman's boudoir."

"On the desk in this boudoir, there are several martial arts manuals, and a book that contains some secrets of the martial arts world."

"If I don't know these things, is it possible to impress you, young hero?"

He had barely finished speaking when a voice came from behind Cao Hanyan. Li Miao, who had been watching the show since entering, spoke for the first time.

"Is that boudoir a mess, like a pigsty?"

Lord Luo's eyes lit up. "This guy knows the inside story!" he thought with a smile.

"Exactly."

"Is the handwriting in the manual so messy it looks like a dog's scribbles?"

"Exactly."

"Is the manual just a collection of disjointed words, like some kind of cryptic script, as if it's deliberately designed to be incomprehensible?"

"Exactly!"

Li Miao nodded.

He knew who the owner of this boudoir was.

His brief rebellion was orchestrated by his comrades, and then by the cunning and ruthless enchantress who had schemed against him. She was a Miao medicine practitioner, devoid of family and parents, and the only woman in the world younger than him yet of higher cultivation. She was also the only opponent he could fight with a pain in his teeth.

Ji Tianrui, the leader of the Ming Cult who went missing at sea.

"You've read that manual, haven't you? Do you remember any of the words? Say a few, and we'll confirm its authenticity, how about that, sir?"

Li Miao said.

Lord Luo quickly tried to recall. He was a first-class Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), and his memory was probably among the best in the entire Da Shuo. He tried his best to recall and immediately remembered a lot of information.

He considered it for a moment, then picked out three words from the disjointed phrases, categorizing them into three groups: location, people, and incomprehensible nouns, and said them aloud.

"I only glanced at it, and I don't remember much right now. Please listen."

"On the river."

“Xuanlan”.

"An Qisheng".

He didn't know what the three words meant, but they were relatively large and located at the top of those pages, so he picked them out.

After speaking, he carefully observed Li Miao's reaction. If Li Miao also didn't understand, he would continue to look for other content in the manual and try to persuade him.

Unexpectedly, after hearing these three words, Li Miao frowned, crossed his arms, and unconsciously twirled his fingers, as if he had fallen into deep thought.

Only after a cup of tea had been brewed did he slowly lower his hand, a playful smile on his face, and shake his head with a laugh.

"Master Ji, I really don't know how your brain works. How come you're always one step ahead of me... How much have you investigated in these past fifteen years?"

"Next time we meet, I'll have to capture you alive and interrogate you thoroughly."

Of the three words Lord Luo mentioned, there are currently no clues to support the guess about "on the river," so we can put it aside for now.

The key is the remaining two words.

“Xuanlan”.

From the manual left by Xue Bangzhu, Li Miao learned that the foundation of Yingzhou's heritage was the "artistic conception"—the profound contemplation—among the three realms of "mind, spirit, and intention" in the cultivation of sexual energy.

There are also hundreds of other historical figures with the surname Zheng from a thousand years ago to the present, from whom Li Miao was unable to draw any conclusions at the time.

If Lord Luo had only mentioned "Xuanlan," Li Miao wouldn't be certain that the information left by Ji Tianrui was related to Yingzhou. But adding the name afterwards changes everything.

An Qisheng.

The "Biographies of Eminent Men" records: "An Qisheng was a man from Langya. He studied under the old man by the river and sold medicine by the sea. He did not serve in office in his old age and was called the Thousand-Year-Old Man by his contemporaries. When the First Emperor traveled east, he asked to talk with him for three days and three nights and bestowed upon him gold and jade worth tens of millions."

The character "生" in "安期生" is like the character "子" in "孔子"—it's just a respectful title and not part of the name itself.

Among the other names for An Qisheng, one is "Zheng Xian," which is based on his original surname and is respectfully addressed as "Xian." This means that the legendary figure's original surname was Zheng.

Zheng and Anqi.

(End of this chapter)