Embers of Sword

Chapter 767 Undercurrent
The next day.

Everything at Xuanbei Pass was as usual; the sun rose as usual, and the city gates were open as usual.

The handover of the south entrance/exit has been completed and is now being taken over by the hook-and-pincher.

only……

Nalan Qiutong waited all night for news of "leaving the city," but none came.

Chen Chong stayed in the inner city all day, refusing all requests to see him under the pretext of handling military affairs.

Last night, Yun Ruohai had an accident. Han Li received a message from Nalan Qiutong and chose to swallow his anger and keep quiet, so he personally went to her door.

As a result, even he was turned away by Chen Chong.

In just one night.

Despite the seemingly peaceful Xuanbei Pass, undercurrents were already surging and difficult to contain. Nalan Qiutong sent a message to Qianzhou, but received only four words in reply.

Wait and see.

In fact, the reason for this answer was that no one in Dali could force Chen Chong to do things.

Even if Nalan Xuance were to come in person, what difference would it make? After Chen Chong ascended to the Yang God realm, he was both one of the "Ten Heroes" and the ruler of three prefectures, a position of unprecedented stature. This imperial edict was a test from the Qianzhou camp. If Chen Chong obeyed the edict and headed south to Wuzhou that day, everyone would be happy... but if Chen Chong ignored it...

So Qianzhou could only "wait".

……

……

On the other hand, the situation in Buddhism is also not good.

Miyun, with her long eyebrows, moved to a new courtyard. Now that her identity had been exposed, there was no need to deliberately hide anything.

This massive city of Suspended North Gate is home to hundreds of thousands of people.

Living alone can always prevent "implicating innocent people".

"Han Li personally visited Chen Chong, but was turned away at the door."

"Yun Ruohai is being held in the tiny dungeon on Xiyuan Street. I heard that Du Yunzhong tortured him..."

The Buddhist community had been operating in Xuanbeiguan for a long time.

The streets and alleys, the inner and outer city, and all directions were already filled with informants.

The golden statue in the arms of the long-browed Arhat trembled continuously. It was a message from a Buddhist spy that the undercurrent hidden on the surface of Xuanbei Pass had begun to surge.

"..."

Miyun sat in the courtyard, under the banyan tree.

There was a cup of hot tea in front of him, but he didn't drink it. He just sat quietly, cross-legged in meditation.

The news that the Buddhist spies were sending was no longer within the "Dao Realm of Cause and Effect"'s expectations.

His meeting with Chen Chong was to change the current situation.

Now let’s see.

Last night's risky entry into the city seems to have yielded results.

A minor conflict has been magnified many times over, and it shows signs of continuing to escalate.

"News has come from the City Lord's Mansion that Jian Qingqiu is reportedly gathering the 'Black Armor Heavy Cavalry Battalion'..."

The long-browed Arhat said in a deep voice, "Once Han Li gives the order, these heavily armored cavalry will charge into Xiyuan Street."

Yun Ruohai is the Right Envoy of Xuanbeiguan Town.

The Right Envoy, a man of great stature, was arrested and tortured... How could Han Li tolerate such treatment?

If we endure it.

How will they be able to convince the public in the future?

The courtyard fell into a brief silence.

The long-browed Arhat sighed and asked sincerely, "Buddha's disciple, I cannot see the current situation clearly."

Miyun smiled and gestured for Changmei to ask her questions.

"Your entry into the pass this time is to warn Chen Chong of the impending demonic tide at the northern pass..."

The man with long eyebrows said in a hoarse voice, "Is it really a good thing that the conflicts within Xuanbei Pass have become so intense? If Yun Ruohai, Jian Qingqiu, and Han Li 'break ties' with Chen Chong, the pass will be in chaos. Wouldn't it be even more difficult to resist the demon tide moving south?"

"Although Chen Chong and Han Li are fighting amongst themselves, they are still sensible when it comes to resisting foreign enemies."

For some reason, Miyun is very confident about this.

He shook his head and said gently, "Don't worry, if the demon tide comes, these two will join forces to fight the enemy, even if they have a rift with each other."

Long-browed man pondered for a moment, then nodded.

He still agrees with the idea of ​​a Buddhist disciple.

The Northern Pass has been facing the onslaught of the demonic tide for half a year. Half a year ago, when Chen Chong entered the pass, the two sides had already had a very unpleasant falling out, but they had managed to fight together several times without any mishaps.

"You said last night that the Crown Prince had sent an imperial edict to march south..."

Long-browed Man hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "If Chen Chong takes the order, the loss of Yang Shen at Xuanbei Pass will surely lead to its fall."

It was precisely because they wanted to protect Xuanbei Pass.

That led to this trip into the city to offer advice.

In retrospect, the outcome of the remonstrance was positive... Chen Chong's order for Du Yunzhong to detain Yun Ruohai indicated his intention to refuse the imperial edict.

But this way.

How should the Buddha leave?

"Wait."

Miyun smiled, and said the same word again: "Long-browed... All we can do now is wait."

"Wait until the great calamity at the Northern Pass is over?"

Long-browed said with distress, "I'm afraid that by then, Chen Chong will hand us over to Nalan Qiutong in order to ease relations with Qianzhou."

Refusing an imperial edict is a crime.

But if Chen Chong successfully defends Xuanbei Pass, he can then send out the Buddhist disciple.

This sin will actually become a great merit!

"It won't take that long."

Miyun shook her head again: "Although we are waiting, there are others waiting too... How is Fude doing?"

He suffered some minor injuries and found an inn to recuperate.

Long-browed man sighed softly: "The battle in Qingping Lane last night was too noisy. He was afraid of implicating us, so he refused to meet us."

Miyun said with a smile, "Tell him to hide well and not show his face."

Fu De was overthinking it.

Last night, he fought with Yun Ruohai and escaped unharmed.

The Northern Pass is so vast that as long as one hides well, it will be difficult to be discovered... But once someone comes to meet him, his presence will be exposed in an instant. Chen Chong's "divine sense" is always locked on him. Although this small courtyard is remote, it is no longer a particularly secluded place. If Chen Chong wants to, he can take him down at any time.

Buzz!
At that moment, the signal trembled again, and the tremor frequency was quite rapid.

The long-browed Arhat's expression changed as his divine sense swept over the area.

"My Lord Buddha, the Xuanjia Heavy Cavalry Battalion has indeed assembled."

He looked towards Miyun, his voice grave: "Jian Qingqiu has said he'll only give Du Yunzhong one hour. If he doesn't release the people within one hour, he'll personally lead them out."

"It's become a big deal."

Mi Yun asked, "What about Nalan Qiutong?"

"There's no news yet... There are no Buddhist spies among the Hook Pliers Masters, and Nalan Qiutong is quite unpredictable and eccentric. Nobody knows what she'll do next."

The long-browed Arhat took a deep breath and said, "My lord, I'm afraid Du Yunzhong won't release you. In an hour, Xuanbei Pass will be in chaos... Perhaps I should take advantage of the chaos to send you away?"

In his opinion.

Now is the best time to leave.

Once Jian Qingqiu leads his heavily armored cavalry to storm Xiyuan Street, Chen Chong will definitely appear.

Miyun asked, "Is that what you're thinking?"

There was no need for the Long-Eyebrowed Arhat to respond.

Miyun added, "Nalan Qiutong must think the same way."

“If I’m not mistaken, the gates of Xuanbei Pass are now swarming with grappling hooks. A net of heaven and earth is set up, just waiting for someone to enter. Nalan Qiutong already knew about the Buddhist cultivators’ entry into seclusion… Last night’s battle with Venerable Fude further confirmed this suspicion. If they were to leave now, not only would they not achieve their goal, but they would also pay an extremely heavy price.”

Miyun looked at Changmei and said seriously, "We can't leave the pass. We need to make all the spies who have infiltrated Xuanbei Pass restrain their impulses. This conflict... is not a good thing for us."

"grown ups……"

The long-browed Arhat looked helpless.

He knew the Buddha was right. However...

He simply couldn't understand what opportunity he would have if he didn't leave the pass now.
……

……

"Jian Qingqiu has already assembled the 'Black Armor Heavy Cavalry Battalion'?"

At the north gate of the city.

Nalan Qiutong stood with his hands behind his back at the railing, gazing at the gradually darkening sky.

She waited all day for nothing.

Just as he had predicted, Chen Chong not only did not leave the city, but the farce at Xuanbei Pass only escalated.

At this moment, she turned her head, narrowed her phoenix eyes, and looked at the hook-and-pincher who was delivering the message.

"Yes, my lord."

The hook-and-pincher lowered his voice, "They've already started setting up array patterns on West Garden Street. A fierce battle is likely in about an hour. Should we intervene?"

The news has now spread.

The gathering of the Xuanjia heavy cavalry caused quite a stir. Even the residents of the outer city were alerted, and many people had already been evacuated from Xiyuan Street.

If this fight breaks out, the consequences will be extremely negative.

"No need."

Nalan Qiutong waved his sleeves and said calmly, "If they want to fight, let them fight. The hook-and-pinchers are only responsible for investigating cases; we only need to investigate our own. Transfer all our personnel out of the inner city, leave two scouts to observe 'West Garden Street,' and the rest... all transfer them outside the city."

"Transferred outside the city?"

The pliers technician paused for a moment.

"Um……"

While pondering, Nalan Qiutong slowly said, "Geng Ba, go and inform Geng Shi to resume the handover of work. Hook Pliers Master no longer needs to be in charge of the entry and exit inspection. Before leaving, remember to take off that 'Buddha Mirror'."

"grown ups?"

Geng Ba looked completely bewildered.

What is this all about? The hook-and-pincher had only been in charge of the town for one night, and so far, it had only been ten hours at most.

Almost nothing was gained.

Does this mean we're going to abandon the review process?

"Have the interrogations of the three people arrested last night yielded any results?"

Nalan Qiutong suddenly asked, "How many of them are traitors to Buddhism?"

"No one confessed... One was killed, and two others are still alive."

His voice sounded nervous.

The interrogation lasted all night without a result, and in principle, he should be punished.

but……

He was truly helpless; he had used every means at his disposal. Apart from the divine soul technique, he would never resort to this move unless absolutely necessary, because it would inevitably destroy his divine sea and might not even yield any useful information.

In fact, everyone knew what was going on at this stage of the interrogation.

These three guys must be related to Buddhism.

Anyone who is an ordinary person.

How could they withstand such a long time? After two or three lashes, they were forced to admit what they should and shouldn't have admitted.

"Such hard bones..."

Nalan Qiutong chuckled softly, "Take me to see it."

……

……

It was in a dark alley less than a hundred feet long inside the city of Xuanbei Pass.

The pliers master has a secret dungeon.

The prison was quite rudimentary.

Hook Pliers Master rarely carried out missions within Xuanbei Pass. After all, once the anti-Buddhist campaign began, a large number of Buddhist cultivators began to flee south to Wuzhou, and very few would choose to hide in Xuanbei Pass.

The flickering light illuminated two withered, pale faces, one large and one small.

This is a father and daughter.

At this moment, the two of them were already tortured and covered in wounds and blood.

Not far from them lay a corpse, mangled and crawling with flies...

It is worth mentioning that the girl was quite young, only fifteen or sixteen years old. Although she was barely breathing, her eyes were quite determined.

In the eyes of the hook-and-pincher, there is no distinction between young and old; once someone is imprisoned in the dungeon, they have only one identity.

sinner.

"My lord, these two men separated and fled last night. They were taken back to the dungeon, but they refuse to acknowledge each other."

Geng Ba slowly said, "Later, I took their blood and used a secret technique to examine them... They are actually a father and daughter. Just now, the case files of these two people had been investigated by the Iron Curtain. Both father and daughter are from Wuzhou."

What kind of place is Wuzhou?
The place where Buddhist incense burns most brightly.

Those who come from Wuzhou are almost certainly connected to Buddhism.

"You came from Wuzhou, and then what?"

Nalan Qiutong stretched out his palm, lifted the girl's chin, and looked at her intently.

If the bloodstains were wiped away, the girl's features were actually quite beautiful and refined, with a touch of baby fat on her cheeks. It's just a pity that she had been tortured by the hook-wielder for a whole night and was now on the verge of death.

"They said they came here to sell tea."

Geng Ba scoffed, "Xuanbei Pass is full of roughnecks; how many of them enjoy drinking tea?"

"I really like it."

Nalan Qiutong's words made Geng Ba's expression turn strange.

He stared blankly at the woman before him, unsure of what to say.

"Identity, documents, case files... have they all been verified?"

"...Yes, sir."

Is there anything unusual?

"...No."

"So, after a night of interrogation, have you gotten any results? Did they confess anything?"

"...None."

This conversation was completely unexpected for Geng Ba.

This also surprised the two people in the dungeon.

The girl, whose chin was being held by Nalan Qiutong, looked at the scene before her with a blank and confused expression.

Snap!
The firelight flickered, and a sharp gust of wind suddenly arose.

Nalan Qiutong suddenly raised his hand and slapped someone across the face!

Geng Ba was slapped away, the slap was extremely powerful, and he flew through the air and crashed heavily into the wall. The mud and stone walls of the simple dungeon were almost shaken down.

"You... have disappointed me greatly."

Nalan Qiutong spoke softly.

These words were spoken to Geng Ba.

But she didn't even glance at them.

Nalan Qiutong simply pinched the girl's cheek, scrutinizing her closely, and said softly, "Since their identities, documents, and case files are all normal, it means they entered the pass legally, are citizens of Dali, and are subjects protected by the Crown Prince. How can you inflict such cruel torture?"

"..."

Geng Ba was stunned.

"I'm so sorry, last night... was a misunderstanding."

Nalan Qiutong spoke gently, took a few steps back, and waved her sleeve.

The iron chains binding the two broke with a snap.

Having endured a night of torture and resigned themselves to certain death, the father and daughter looked at each other blankly, completely unprepared for the scene that would unfold after meeting Nalan Qiutong.

"Both of you."

Nalan Qiutong bowed slightly, and said with a smile, "You are free now."

(End of this chapter)