Minglong

Chapter 254 Hit with a Blow?

After being taken to the Criminal Investigation Department around noon, Xie Jinhuan and the young girl Jiang Xian spent the whole day in the archives, flipping through hundreds of files. They discovered that the Red Witch Cult was even more mysterious than they had imagined.

The Red Witch Cult first emerged about two or three decades ago, around the time of the Northern Zhou witchcraft saga. At that time, the emperor and the crown prince who succeeded him were killed by witchcraft, and the witchcraft and ritual faction, which was the state religion, became the target of public criticism, and the court and the country were in chaos.

Then Empress Dowager Guo appeared, took control of the government, and purged both inside and outside the country. As a result, the saying "the country will perish because of the red demon and the demon will descend upon the Zhou land" appeared among the people. She made small moves everywhere among the people. After investigation, the evidence all pointed to Empress Dowager Guo and the Guo family, but the clues ended there. There was no progress for more than ten years.

Xie Jinhuan couldn't figure out where this group of people came from, but what he could be sure of was that they were targeting Empress Dowager Guo and the Guo family. They were definitely not just causing trouble for the evil sects, but more likely to be forces with conflicting interests, such as powerful families, princes, or even Daoist, martial, and Buddhist sects that had opinions about the Zhuji sect.

The scope of suspicion was too broad, and Xie Jinhuan still had no clue. Jiang Xian said she was going out to patrol the streets to look for clues and would notify him if she had any news. So he took his leave and returned to Duanli Street.

As evening fell, the city lights began to twinkle.

Xie Jinhuan walked to the vicinity of the Princess's residence, and after a moment's consideration, first went to Parrot Lane nearby to take a look.

Duanli Street is close to the imperial city and has an excellent location, but Parrot Lane is mostly inhabited by poor nobles. If you trace their ancestry back, most of their ancestors were kings, marquises and generals who followed Emperor Taizu of Zhou into the pass. However, after three hundred years, their family fortunes have long been squandered. Now they are so poor that all they have left is their status. At night, even lights are rarely seen.

Xie Jinhuan walked through the alley to the outside of the rented house. He could hear "coo coo chirp chirp" sounds coming from inside. He leaped over the courtyard wall to take a look and saw that there was a small table under the steps in the backyard, with various snacks on it.

Coal Ball squatted on the table, shaking his head and eating, looking so happy that he had forgotten his own name.

But Bu Yuehua was nowhere to be seen. There were no lights or fires in the courtyard, and no movement at all. Only when you get closer can you faintly hear some breathing sounds from the main house.

Xie Jinhuan walked down the steps and knocked lightly on the door:

"Senior Sister Hua?"

dong dong~
After a brief pause, an unexpected response came from the room:

"Xie Jinhuan? What brings you here?"

Xie Jinhuan didn't hear the sound of hurriedly dressing, so she slightly pushed open the door and glanced inside.

The room had just been rented and didn't have much furniture. A mahogany four-poster bed was placed near the back window. A woman in a dark blue dress was sleeping fully clothed on the bed. She had just sat up and was rubbing her temples, indicating that she had been dozing off.

"Why is Senior Sister Hua sleeping with her clothes on? Are you still feeling unwell?" Xie Jinhuan walked up to her, looked her over briefly, and asked with concern.

Although Bu Yuehua was struck by a sword in Lishan, it was only a superficial wound and nothing serious. However, the damage to her soul would take a month or two to heal. She was fine in the morning, but after her mentor came over, he brought up the matter of marriage.

Then, with nothing to do at home, she would just space out and daydream, and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep on the bed.

Seeing Xie Jinhuan suddenly run over, Bu Yuehua collected her thoughts for a moment before smiling and saying:
"I'm fine, I was just bored and accidentally fell asleep. How's the situation in Lishan?"

"It's all taken care of. Now all we have to do is find the culprit who set me up."

"Oh……"

Feeling slightly embarrassed for having been lost in thought in broad daylight, Bu Yuehua wanted to get up and offer her some food, but there wasn't much to offer, so she smiled and said:
"I don't know when Junior Sister Mu will arrive. Hmm... I'm fine on my own, so don't worry about me. Just go back and keep your confidante company."

Xie Jinhuan was indeed anxious to go back to his wife, but having brought Senior Bu all this way, it would be inappropriate to just leave him here unattended. After thinking for a moment, he said:
"I taught you the Martial Arts Divine Scripture a few days ago, and you probably haven't finished memorizing it yet. It's still early, so why don't I teach you first?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Bu Yuehua blinked, a hint of apprehension in her eyes.

After all, she's sitting here as the neatly dressed Senior Sister Hua, but entering a dream world is another story.

Last time it was a slut whose buttocks couldn't even be covered up, who knows what she'll look like this time...

"Hmm... are you sure your illusion technique can't control the illusion on its own?"

Xie Jinhuan sat down on the edge of the bed and said helplessly:
"I'm just a martial artist, and illusions are indeed uncontrollable. How about I close my eyes this time? You check to make sure there's no problem, and then I'll open my eyes."

As a master of illusion, Bu Yuehua didn't believe these words, but Xie Jinhuan had always acted uprightly and was teaching her martial arts. After thinking about it, she didn't say anything and sat cross-legged on the bed to wait.

Xie Jinhuan sat down to the side, pretending to raise his hands and make a hand seal, while secretly praying in his eyes, telling A Piao to be careful.

But Ye Hongshang was no submissive little wife. At this moment, she appeared from the side, observing the anxiously waiting Bu Yuehua with great interest:

"Are you sure you don't want your sister to mess with her?"

Xie Jinhuan didn't mean to tease Sister Bu, but from Bu Yuehua's perspective, the illusion was cast by him, and it was hard to explain his motives for messing around. So he quietly blinked.

Seeing this, Ye Hongshang nodded slightly and said nothing more, then began to act as the two-headed dragon connecting the two.

Bu Yuehua waited anxiously with her eyes closed. As the clear voice chanting the incantation rang in her ears, a feeling of dizziness came from her mind, and then her consciousness fell into darkness.

When she regained consciousness, she could smell a faint floral fragrance and hear birdsong in the distance.

"twitter……"

Having learned from her experience of being taken advantage of, Bu Yuehua's first reaction was to check her body. She was relieved to find that her chest and buttocks were covered by fabric. She opened her eyes and looked around, and found that although her clothes had been changed to a hemline skirt, revealing a glimpse of snow-white skin, she was still mostly dressed very conservatively.

She glanced around again and saw that she was still on an overseas beach, with towering cliffs at the horizon and stars and moon hanging in the sky. The scene was not much different from last time.

"It seems the illusion worked this time... Xie Jinhuan?" As Bu Yuehua spoke, she turned her head and looked around, only to find the beach empty, with no trace of Xie Jinhuan.

But Xie Jinhuan's voice came from beside my ear:

"Holy crap...!"

The sound was very soft, like that of a tiny person the size of a thumb.

? ?
Bu Yuehua was startled. Following the sound, she discovered that a white-clad young man, no more than two inches tall, was standing on her shoulder. He looked up at her face with an extremely shocked expression.

"Eh? Xie Jinhuan, you..."

Bu Yuehua was a seasoned veteran of the martial world, but she had never seen such a scene before. Glancing at the little figure on her shoulder, she dared not move.

Xie Jinhuan opened his eyes and found himself standing on a deep blue mountain ridge. He was stunned for a moment, but when he turned his head and saw the serene face that resembled a mountain, his eyes widened in shock:
"Senior Sister Hua, how did you get so big?"

Even Bu Yuehua was afraid that speaking too harshly would blow Xie Jinhuan away, so she shrugged slightly:
"This is an illusion you created, how would I know? And it's not me who got bigger, it's you who got smaller. Look at the rocky cliff."

Xie Jinhuan looked at the distant rocky cliff and realized that his proportions were off. However, although his situation was a bit strange, it wasn't awkward at all; on the contrary, it was quite novel. He then sat down on the shoulder.
"Illusions are just like that, they don't follow the rules. Don't worry about these details, the cultivation method is in the sky."

Bu Yuehua was also quite curious and wanted to reach out and touch Xiao Jinhuan, but she was afraid of offending him, so she just acted as usual, sat down on the beach, and looked up at the starry sky.

Xie Jinhuan sat on the giantess's shoulders, and, having never experienced such a change before, curiously looked around.

Halfway through, a sense of déjà vu arose in my mind, as if I had experienced this scene somewhere before, but just like before, I couldn't recall the source.

Xie Jinhuan racked his brains to no avail, so he could only put aside his distracting thoughts and seriously study the Martial Arts Divine Scripture.

Xie Jinhuan has grown rapidly. Since entering the first rank at Sanjiangkou, he has undergone blood and fire tempering in places like Fire Phoenix Valley and Lishan. His cultivation has now reached the mid-first rank, and the upper limit of his cultivation technique has begun to appear.

The Joyful Heart Sutra is a cultivation method he devised himself. He had only thought about the peak of the first grade before, and had not yet started to conceive of how to cultivate the super grade. Now he is almost at the end of the road. If he does not figure out a super grade cultivation method as soon as possible, he will have no cultivation method to support him in the future. He will only be able to stay in the same place or go down the wrong path and waste time.

Moreover, he possessed the Zheng Lun Sword and the Ling Guang Divine Gift, but these two treasures, which were not quite compatible with martial arts, had never been used.

Therefore, Xie Jinhuan's next task is definitely to continue refining the "alternating pouring of candles" technique and add lightning and fire magic, otherwise he will waste a lot of combat power out of thin air.

After pondering for a moment, Xie Jinhuan suddenly noticed something was amiss out of the corner of his eye. Turning his gaze, he discovered that the view below his shoulders was particularly spectacular.

Because he had shrunk so much, from above, below his neck were his fair, smooth, soft breasts, with a bottomless abyss between them, so large it was indescribable…

Xie Jinhuan had only glanced at it casually, but Apiao clearly doted on him, and a gust of evil wind suddenly blew from behind, knocking him off.

"Huh? Oh my god..."

Then, she bounced twice on her fair skin, falling into an endless abyss, enveloped by an alluring milky fragrance and softness...

? !
Bu Yuehua was also studying the martial arts technique when she saw this and was startled. She wanted to raise her hand to catch him, but she was afraid of killing Xie Jinhuan, so she could only puff out her chest and use her hand to block him in order to prevent Xie Jinhuan from falling to the ground.

After the little figure was supported by her chest, Bu Yuehua blushed and carefully pulled Xie Jinhuan out:
How did you fall?

"Uh... I slipped, sorry."

"is it?"

Bu Yuehua thought Xie Jinhuan's skating was quite accurate, her eyes showing a mixture of belief and doubt.

Xie Jinhuan himself couldn't explain how he ended up falling into the girl's arms. After a slightly embarrassed explanation, he returned to her shoulder and continued to study the star chart...
-
On the other side, the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

As night deepened, the staff in the government office gradually dispersed.

Lü Yan walked alone on the street, his feelings of frustration could only be described as stifling.

After all, the dispute that occurred at Fire Phoenix Valley could be interpreted as a gift from heaven being given to the capable, and he accepted his defeat.

But this time in Northern Zhou, Xie Jinhuan openly killed someone. When Xie Jinhuan went to arrest him according to the law, he was instead accused of "colluding with sorcerers." The most crucial thing was that Chen Chi and the people in the Censorate were still skeptical and asked Xie Jinhuan to investigate. The imperial edict was even confiscated.

Isn't that siding with outsiders?
Xie Jinhuan certainly has a great reputation in the righteous path, and he is indeed quite skilled at chasing demons, but Lu Yan's stance is not crooked either.

Lu Yan felt a chill in his heart, but the Zhuji Sect was in charge of cultivation in Northern Zhou, so he couldn't openly refute the imperial court's order. For the time being, he could only let Xie Jinhuan investigate. Anyway, he had nothing wrong with him, so no matter how Xie Jinhuan investigated, the result would be the same...

But what if this kid fabricates something out of nothing, and we frame him for some crime...?

While pondering this in secret, Lü Yan returned to his residence in the capital.

As the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and even the second-in-command of the Daoist sect in Northern Zhou, Lü Yan's residence was near the imperial city. His mansion was quite elegant, but regardless of the sect, they all emphasized purity of mind and few desires. Hiring a bunch of servants to serve him violated the teachings. Therefore, there were only a few disciples and grand-disciples learning the arts in the mansion.

Lu Yan had suffered repeated injuries and his wounds had not yet healed. He was originally on vacation at Wuling Mountain, but after the incident at Lishan, he rushed to the capital. At this time, he originally wanted to return to the main house to meditate and recuperate.

But whether it was a ghost or not, he didn't notice anything unusual in the room. However, when he opened the door, he suddenly realized something was wrong!

Call ~
Although his reaction was extremely swift, Lü Yan had only just raised his right hand and hadn't even cast the spell when he heard a muffled "thud," followed by a violent shock to his soul and a blackout. Before losing consciousness, he noticed a black cloth being pulled down over his head, obscuring all his vision...

(End of this chapter)