The deepest affection in Gu Long's world

Chapter 106: Detective Protagonist (24 words per day)

That's how detective protagonists are; they don't point out flaws until the truth comes out later.

Of course, with the information Chu Liuxiang currently possesses, he probably wouldn't suspect that the Queen of Kucha is actually Shi Guanyin in disguise.

It's even better to suspect that she is.
"Old Ji, do you think it's possible that Fang Yunhua might disguise herself as a woman and infiltrate this tent?"

These words made Ji Bingyan's eyes widen in shock. He stared at Chu Liuxiang in disbelief for a long time, no longer mentioning the three-day agreement. He felt that once he returned to the Central Plains, he must find the best physician to examine Chu Liuxiang's brain.

This is such an outrageous assumption, and it's practically a possibility that the human brain could even conjure up.

After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a few words.

"You can continue watching the princess."

Chu Liuxiang helplessly rubbed his nose. He had only subconsciously voiced a hypothesis earlier. Now he wanted to observe the princess's condition further, but unfortunately she had already left.

At this moment, Wu Qingtian also stepped forward and spoke.

"Where is that Master Du?"

With the King of Kucha's explanation, everyone learned that Du Huan had left, and Wang Chong had also left, taking Shi Tuo and several camels with him. This made Chu Liuxiang and Hu Tiehua restless.

The composed Ji Bingyan told them to sit down first.

Then, through his explanation, Chu Liuxiang and Hu Tiehua learned that the other party had long ago reached an agreement with Shi Tuo that if Shi Tuo ever wanted to leave, he would never stop him.

But why Wang Chong?

What is the relationship between Wang Chong and Shi Tuo?
Based on what the King of Kucha just said, Wang Chong had volunteered himself, but he had been acting somewhat suspiciously, which made the King agree with Wang Chong's decision to leave.

Chu Liuxiang's mind is now filled with a bunch of questions that he can't answer for the time being.

Then the King of Kucha presented him with another challenge.

He recounted the truth of how he was driven out of the capital by the traitors, and also described the numerous assassination attempts he had been subjected to during this period.

According to information he recently received, the traitors spent a lot of money to hire a group of experts, one of whom was so skilled in swordsmanship that he was practically invincible.

"Fang Yunhua!"

Xiao Fang, who had been frowning the whole time, looked at Chu Liuxiang, who had suddenly started yelling, and felt a headache coming on. He really didn't expect to have unintentionally made the other party look like this.

Ji Bingyan and Hu Tiehua quickly calmed Old Chu down as his thoughts drifted off again.

"Do you think the young master of the Huashan Sect would travel thousands of miles to assassinate the King of Kucha for a little money?"

"That's right, you old bug. According to the information you gave us before, the other party is about to establish a dominant position in Shaanxi, Henan, and Shanxi, and even the Northern Shaolin Temple's momentum has been severely suppressed by them."

Now is the time for their sect to grow stronger, so naturally they wouldn't run to this godforsaken place for some gold and silver without a reason.

Chu Liuxiang realized he had overreacted. After all, he had been thinking about whether Fang Yunhua might disguise herself as a woman, and now that he heard the King of Kucha mention that the traitor had hired a swordsman, it was easy for him to associate it with Fang Yunhua.

Chu Liuxiang's startling reactions didn't seem to affect Fang Yunhua's thinking.

In the original storyline, because Wu Hua knew about the relationship between Zhongyuan Yidianhong and Chu Liuxiang, he lied and tricked Chu Liuxiang into going to the Western Regions under Chu Liuxiang's name, and then used Chu Liuxiang's power to carry out his own plan.

The swordsmanship expert that the King of Kucha mentioned earlier was originally Yidianhong.

But that's the original storyline!
Wu Hua was already dead, and he couldn't possibly be so idle as to inform Shi Guanyin, who was thousands of miles away, of his plan to use Zhongyuan Yidianhong before his death. At that time, he was already racking his brains just to break out of his current predicament.

So how come another master swordsman has appeared now?

Who could this master be? As for the invincible evaluation in the mouth of the King of Kucha, just take it with a grain of salt. This blind man couldn't even understand Hu Tiehua's two moves, let alone know how weighty the words "invincible under heaven" are.

The King of Kucha explained this matter to instruct everyone to strengthen their protection of him.

He then truthfully recounted how he had entrusted the Peng Family Escort Agency to transport the Star of Bliss, during which time it was robbed.

The raider also sent him a letter.

After everyone stepped forward and read the contents of the letter, Chu Liuxiang and the other two's expressions changed drastically.

The letter itself contained nothing special.

It simply had a few lines of text written on it:
The Star of Bliss is now in my possession. If you wish to regain it, three days from now at noon, send me five thousand taels of gold, five hundred pearls, and fifty jade discs. Travel fifty li west, and someone will come to exchange the Star of Bliss for it. If the pearls are not bright, the jade discs are flawed, or your intentions are not sincere, then the Star of Bliss will be gone forever.

The key point is on the back, where there is no name, but a picture of a thousand-armed and thousand-eyed Guanyin Buddha is drawn.

This clearly indicates that it was Shi Guanyin who abducted the Star of Bliss, which also confirms Chu Liuxiang's antagonistic relationship with the King of Kucha.

Meanwhile, after the King of Kucha repeatedly expressed his desire to exchange the Star of Bliss for the Star of Bliss, Chu Liuxiang understood why the other party had brought this up to everyone.

"Does Your Highness mean that we should deliver the pearl and jade to her at noon three days from now in exchange?"

“Indeed, although I am determined to keep my promise, I am afraid that they might break their word after receiving this wealth. If you are willing to go on this trip for me, I will be at ease.”

Upon hearing what the King of Kucha said, Chu Liuxiang and Ji Bingyan exchanged a glance and then nodded in agreement.

And so he began to try to get information out of the King of Kucha. After all, the fact that so much money was being spent on a single gem, and that the other party seemed determined to get it, clearly indicated that there was something fishy going on.

No matter how they questioned him, the King of Kucha only gave one response in the end.

"This is naturally a secret, a secret known only to me in the whole world."

The tent suddenly fell silent.

Fang Yunhua and Yuan Suiyun, who watched the whole thing from the sidelines, did not get involved. Although they were also hired guards, they had already indicated that they could leave at any time.

The King of Kucha didn't seem to care about letting them know so much.

Or rather, his current display of determination to obtain the Star of Elysium is a deliberate attempt to send this signal to the outside world.

Only in this way can he draw all attention to the gem, allowing him to secretly use the former king's treasure to hire soldiers from other countries to complete the restoration of his kingdom.

After a period of silence, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the tent.

Fang Yunhua picked up her wine glass to cover her lips and whispered to Yuan Suiyun beside her.

"here we go."

Yuan Suiyun nodded slightly.

As chaos grew outside, the sounds of horses neighing, people shouting, and footsteps thundering filled the air.

Some even exclaimed:
"Fire! Fire! Someone's setting this on fire!"

"Let's go out and take a look."

After saying this, Fang Yunhua and Yuan Suiyun walked out of the tent. Princess Pipa, who wanted to follow, decided to stay behind after seeing the King of Kucha's drastically changed expression.

(End of this chapter)