Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 455 Plan
"Give away porridge for three months, and the chopsticks will float up, and the heads will fall to the ground."

"What is this? A ransom note?"

Everyone in the Zou family was a little confused when they looked at the crooked handwriting on the envelope.

No, giving away porridge is a signal to you, you want money, how much do you want? ?
So what does it mean to continue to let us give away porridge?

Everyone turned their eyes to Mr. Zou.

"This is the character of Jianghu people. They are a bunch of idle rogues who don't want to work, but they want to set an example of serving the country and the people."

Mr. Zou didn't find the contents of the letter strange at all.

On the contrary, I feel that this is in line with the morals of those people in the underworld. They write a letter to first gain some fame for themselves, and then get some benefits for themselves.

After the old man of the Zou family finished speaking, he nodded and said, "Do as you say. But since you are going to do it, do it well and give each of the people a set of cotton clothes."

Since Mr. Zou had spoken, no one said anything more. With the financial resources of the Zou family, this matter was really nothing.

"How did this letter come from?"

"I heard from my family that when they were sweeping the floor early this morning, a sparrow landed with an envelope in its beak."

said the steward.

"sparrow??"

Mr. Zou was startled, then he narrowed his eyes, called the butler and whispered a few words in the butler's ear.

The butler nodded and immediately went down to prepare...

……

"Sir, the Zou family is quite sensible. Not only will we have porridge today, but everyone can also receive a set of cotton clothes."

Inside the palace, the second in command came running back and said.

At the same time, he took out a set of cotton clothes and showed it to Xiao Ran.

Gao Yuting took the coat and looked at it: "Not bad, although the fabric is very poor, but it is indeed a coat. But where did the Zou family get so many coats in such a short time?"

"The Zou family is the emperor's running dog. The Ministry of Revenue has to order military supplies from them every year. There are six workshops behind them, so it is not difficult to make these cotton-padded clothes."

Xiao Ran had read through Zou Zicheng's memories and knew very well that the Zou family's wealth was by no means as simple as people said.

The reason why he could lie here eating melon seeds and basking in the sun was all because of the "kidnapping" of Zou Zicheng, and the Zou family had not yet found out about him.

Once it is confirmed that he did it, the Zou family's revenge will be more intense than one can imagine.

But this is exactly what Xiao Ran needs.

"Sir, what shall we do next?"

The second in command looked at Xiao Ran curiously.

"Wait!"

Xiao Ran was silent for a long time before he uttered a word.

The second in command scratched his head, not knowing what Xiao Ran was waiting for, but since he said he would wait, he might as well wait.

As time goes by, the sword review is getting closer and closer.

There are many new faces in Chang'an City these days.

Among them there are also some masters who have participated in sword reviews before. Now they come to Chang'an to participate in the sword review again. Most of them want to join in the fun, see the newcomers in the world, and also to verify their own progress in the past twelve years.

Gao Yuting and Xiao Ran acted as if nothing had happened. They went shopping during the day and studied calligraphy at night. They lived a very comfortable life.

Seeing that the distance to the sword review is getting closer and closer.

Li Jie also started to get busy.

Sword reviews have always been the largest gambling feast in Chang'an City.

Some people lose everything, while others become rich overnight.

All the information of all the people who participated in the sword review will be made into a book and provided to people for purchase, so that everyone can make bets based on the above information.

Based on this person's strength and reputation, the higher the ranking on the sword review list, the higher the bet will be.

Of course, there is a certain threshold here. For example, if the person you bet on fails to meet the ranking standards, then you naturally lose.

Many of them are popular candidates, including Huang Chao, who goes by the alias Zhang Wumeng.

After all, everyone witnessed how strong Huang Chao was at the last Menglan Festival.

There have even been rumors in private that Master Lingfa has already said that if nothing unexpected happens, Huang Chao is likely to be the champion of this sword competition.

“张雾朦的赔率现在夸张的离谱，赌他能评入剑评甲榜的比例是1比1000，探花20比500、榜眼30比300，剑魁80比200。”

Li Jie held up the latest odds list in his hand and said with a shocked look on his face.

In fact, this result is not surprising.

Xiao Ran and Gao Yuting were the calmest, as they both knew how exaggerated Huang Chao's strength was.

After this fellow changed his personality, he became more restrained in his sword intent and more proficient in swordsmanship. Unless he was a celestial being, no one could defeat him.

But it is not so easy for a celestial being to appear.

Even if there really are immortals in this world, I'm afraid they wouldn't dare to show up easily.

After all, once you achieve the status of a celestial being, your destiny actually has a great relationship with the world.

Concubine Shuang is a typical example. When the dynasty's fortune declines, even the gods and immortals will suffer backlash.

Otherwise, with Concubine Shuang's strength, how could she die so easily at such an early age?

It can be said that the only person who can truly compete with Huang Chao is his own brother Lu.

It’s not that Lu Cheng is so strong, but that this guy is just a mobile plug-in.

It is already a great achievement for others to gain the favor of a god.

But behind Lu Cheng, there is a group following him, and it is a top group, and their treatment is comparable to that of Tang Monk in Journey to the West.

You ask, what's the problem? ? Can't the gods help him fight?

Hey, ever since I entered Chang'an City, everything has gone smoothly and as I wished. Isn't it because of the help of the ghosts in the Qiqi Pavilion?

Only by having a God’s perspective can Xiao Ran have the confidence to be the best chess player in this game.

And Lu Cheng was even more exaggerated than himself. Those gods were helping him to make plans and coordinate the overall situation. Even his identity and development were planned for Lu Cheng.

If anyone dared to have any intentions towards Lu Cheng, the information from this guy would have reached Lu Cheng's ears as soon as he stood up from his chair.

As for not being able to fight...

That was because he didn't know how terrifying the aura of Guandi was when Lu Cheng took off his clothes.

How was the Iron Mountain Goddess destroyed? I forgot.

At the very least, it would be okay to just slap the locust god behind the yellow tide and kill him.

Without the support of the Locust God, Huang Chao would not have such extraordinary abilities.

It’s a pity that Lu Cheng is not in Chang’an and cannot come to Chang’an.

Once he arrives in Chang'an, his identity will be exposed immediately, and then he will be in trouble.

Therefore, this game of chess can only be played by Xiao Ran himself.

"Oh, how do you gamble?"

Xiao Ran looked at Li Jie and asked.

The gambling methods that Li Jie just mentioned are all ways of playing outside. A royal family like Li Jie would naturally not try these methods.

"Of course, we will each send our followers to participate in the sword competition. When the time comes, whoever's followers come on the field, we will each send our followers to fight and defeat him."

Sword review is not a competition.

It's not about fighting in a ring, but about showing one's own strength and accomplishments.

Although it is called a sword review, no matter you are a swordsman, a stick, or even a whip, which has nothing to do with swords, you can participate. It is called a sword review because the most important thing in kendo is the state of mind, and the kendo attainments displayed are also the clearest.

As the saying goes, a month's stick, a year's knife, and ten years' sword.

Swordsmanship is a mysterious thing.

But if one is proficient in the way of the sword, he will be the best among all weapons.

That’s why it is named Sword Review.

But if you show good sword skills, the judges can give you a preliminary evaluation.

If the others are not convinced, they can come on stage to fight with you. If they lose, they will be removed from the list and have to wait until the next day to compete again, but this time the judges will lower their original scores by several levels.

If you get beaten again this time, you will fall to the next group, from Group B to Group C.

And so on, until the sword review ends seven days later.

Therefore, if this person has a bad reputation, or is not powerful, he will be besieged by various forces and forced off the list.

That would be really embarrassing.

Although Li Jie and his men would not interfere in underworld affairs, they still played the same game. By beating up the other side's men, they could get a prize from the other side.

At the end, these retainers of the royal family and nobles will be divided up according to the ranking, with the top five families sharing the prizes offered by others. I will not go into details about the specific division method.

"I see. So what are you going to do this time?"

Xiao Ran suddenly realized, and it was also an early opportunity for him to get in touch with the rules of this sword review.

"Uh……"

Li Jie looked embarrassed when he heard this.

You say he has no money, but it would be easy for him to take out a few hundred taels of silver.

If you say he is rich, he may not be able to afford the jackpot.

Originally, Li Jie had no plan to participate in this kind of game. Even if he did, the only thing he could show off would be the famous sword [Picking Stars].

But this dagger is still in Xiao Ran's hand.

Seeing Li Jie's bitter face, Xiao Ran smiled and said, "As for the prize, I'll help you get it, but the final benefit must be split 50-50 between us."

"It's done!"

Li Jie's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly.

This deal is a win-win for him, so why wouldn't he do it?

Several people were talking.

Suddenly, Xiao Ran saw a little ghost appearing beside him and drawing strokes towards him.

Seeing the little ghost's moving lips, Xiao Ran's heart moved and he finally took action!

He immediately raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, his face became serious, and he waved to the second in command.

Then he took out the envelope that had been prepared long ago from the space.

"Remember the plan I told you about before?"

The second in command was startled when he heard this: "Is it going to start now? No more waiting?"

The second in command looked at the letter and finally couldn't help but ask Xiao Ran about his concern.

Gao Yuting, who was standing by, obviously knew Xiao Ran's plan and said, "I also think that this plan is too risky. With your current strength, if you are not careful, no one will be able to save you in time."

As she spoke, she grabbed Xiao Ran's arm and said, "At worst, we can just go and travel around the world. The things in this world have nothing to do with us anyway."

Xiao Ran patted Gao Yuting's hand and said, "It's easy to escape, but it's hard to settle down. This is not just to help Brother Lu, but also for ourselves."

Right now, he has three side quests: participating in a sword review, slaying a dragon, and rescuing the abducted children.

None of these things can be accomplished easily.

If we fail to muddy the waters, it will be difficult to complete any one of the three tasks.

And I don’t do this simply to complete the task.

The fall of the Lost City is a foregone conclusion, maybe today, or maybe tomorrow.

All they can do is to reserve a piece of pure land for their family and friends after falling into the maze city.

At the very least, he had to complete his original plan and support the Marvelous Pavilion to become the fourth largest force in the Lost City.

Otherwise, if you avoid it this time, what about next time, and the next time after that? You won’t have the chance to avoid it every time.

That's why Xiao Ran made up his mind that he must do it for himself, even if not for anyone else.

Seeing Xiao Ran's determined expression, Gao Yuting's eyes flashed, as if at this moment, Xiao Ran's resolute expression made Gao Yuting understand something.

"Okay, if we're going to do it, let's do it big. Let's go together!"

"Are you going too?"

Xiao Ran was shocked. He had no intention of bringing Gao Yuting along with him in this matter.

"Huang Chao knows our relationship. If I don't go, he will definitely be suspicious. Do you still think Huang Chao is the same guy as before? If you want to put on a show, you have to do it in full."

The two of them looked at each other and understood each other. Xiao Ran grinned for a while, then turned his eyes and looked at the second in command: "What are you standing there for? Go deliver the letter."

"Oh oh oh."

Upon hearing this, the second in command nodded repeatedly, walked quickly to a corner of the yard, found a place where no one was paying attention, and took out a sparrow from his arms.

This sparrow is obviously larger than the other sparrows, and has a tuft of red hair on its tail, which makes it look very conspicuous.

After the second in command looked the sparrow's eyes into his left eye, his consciousness immediately shifted to the sparrow. He raised his hand, and the sparrow flapped its wings, holding the letter, and flew into the sky, heading towards the Zou family.

The Zou family was actually not far from Li Jie's palace. The sparrow flapped its wings, circled around Chang'an City, and finally landed in the Zou family's yard.

He shook his neck and looked around, then put the envelope down and flapped his wings to fly away.

But at this moment, a big net fell from the sky and covered the sparrow.

After flapping its wings vigorously a few times, the sparrow simply stopped struggling.

"Caught!"

The Zou family's servant quickly pinned down the sparrow and shouted happily.

Old Master Zou came out of the house. It was obvious that he had been waiting for this sparrow for a while. He didn't expect that it would take the bait so soon.

"Was it this sparrow last time?"

Mr. Zou asked.

A servant stepped forward to identify it and nodded: "It must be this sparrow. There is a tuft of red hair on its tail. It must be correct."

Hearing this, Mr. Zou sneered, "This group of people are also a bunch of stupid thieves. They thought they did it perfectly and secretly, but they were exposed here."

"Master, this is the first time I have seen such an obedient sparrow. It is rare for them to think of a sparrow delivering a message."

The housekeeper was examining the sparrow from the side. He could not help but marvel at the sight of the sparrow being held in the hand and not showing any sign of fear.

"This gang of Jianghu people may not be good at other things, but they have a lot of these strange and tricky skills."

The old man of the Zou family teased the sparrow while having the envelope opened.

The contents of the envelope were just as simple as last time.

"Tonight, eighty thousand taels of gold will be delivered to the locust tree at the mass grave outside the city."

After the butler finished reading the letter, he looked up at the old man.

"Have someone prepare it, and also invite the three old masters of spiritual magic, Li, Zhao, and Wang. When the time comes, tie a red string to the sparrow's feet and watch where the sparrow flies to. Nine out of ten times, it will be the den of those thieves."

"If we find the place, no matter if it's a man or a woman, we will kill them all. We would rather kill ten thousand by mistake than let a thousand go."

(End of this chapter)