Shaoyu's first reaction was that the visitor was evil, and he immediately put on a defensive posture, trying to pull Tianming away from the street.
Tianming was not a fool. He was startled when he suddenly saw the black shadow, and subconsciously wanted to stay away.
At this time, a familiar and gentle voice sounded in their ears:
"Long time no see, Tianming, and Shaoyu."
Along with the sound of voices, the figure in the corner slowly walked toward the two of them, and their figures gradually became clearer.
Wearing a unique aqua-blue Taoist robe and aqua-blue shoulder-length hair, the person is clearly Xiao Ling, a Taoist Tianzong disciple who has been separated from Tianming Shaoyu for many days.
After seeing clearly who the visitor was, the fright and defensiveness on the faces of Tianming and Shaoyu immediately disappeared, replaced by carefree smiles, and they moved towards Xiaoling.
The three of them came together, and Tianming, who was the most out-of-the-box, was the first to speak:
"Brother Xiaoling, you are finally back!"
As the three of them became more familiar with each other, Tianming and Shaoyu no longer called him Taoist priest.
Shaoyu also said hello, "Brother Ling, long time no see!"
Xiaoling smiled gently and nodded towards the two of them:
"Were you scared just now?"
Shao Yu scratched his head and said nothing. Tian Ming nodded directly, "Yes, Leng Buding must be scared when he sees a black shadow!"
Xiao Ling smiled and said, "Haha, time is urgent, I didn't pay much attention."
Shaoyu was stunned, "Time is tight? What's the matter?"
"Talking as we walk." Xiao Ling took a step forward and motioned for the two of them to follow.
Tianming and Shaoyu looked at each other. Neither of them knew what was going on, but because of their trust in Xiaoling, they followed him first.
The direction they were going at this time was completely opposite to the location of the mountain gate of Little Sage Villa, heading towards the entrance and exit of the city.
On the way, Tianming asked, "What happened, Brother Xiaoling?"
Xiaoling explained as he walked:
"I'm going to take you to the Mo family's stronghold outside the city. Everyone will meet there tonight. The Mo family seems to be making some moves."
"Oh..." Tian Ming first called out in a long voice that seemed to understand, and then asked, "Then... why are you looking for me and Shao Yu?"
Xiao Ling shook her head, "I don't know either. This is a job assigned to me by the head of Renzong Xiaoyaozi."
"But it's probably because I'm more suitable for this - I'm familiar with you two and can protect your safety, and my absence won't affect their actions."
Shao Yu changed the topic at this time and asked, "Brother Ling, what have you been doing during this time? The shopkeeper Ding of an inn told us that your master had something to do and called you away."
Xiao Ling nodded, "Yes, there is indeed something wrong with the teacher's sect."
Then he explained in detail, "Previously, an elder of the Renzong rebelled, stole a valuable treasure of the Renzong, betrayed the sect, and planned to take the treasure with him to join the empire."
"The treasure he stole seemed to be of great importance. Not only did the Renzong pursue him with all their strength, but our Tianzong was also alerted. Elder Xuyanzi personally gave me urgent instructions, asking me to hunt down the rebellious Renzong elders and recapture them.
treasure."
When Tianming heard about the treasure, he became excited. He rubbed his hands and asked with a smile, "Brother Xiaoling, what is the stolen treasure? Is it a magic weapon or a panacea?"
Xiao Ling shook her head, "I don't know about this either."
"The only thing I can be sure of is that this thing is absolutely important. As for what it is... I guess only the thief and the elders in the door know it."
"Tsk..." Tian Ming smacked his lips and felt very regretful, "Don't you know... so many people want it, it must be very valuable!"
Shaoyu asked eagerly at this time, "Has that thing been recovered?"
He was also curious about treasures and other things, but he was more concerned about whether this traitor from the Human Sect succeeded.
Shao Yu doesn't want the empire to get any valuable treasures.
Hearing this question, Xiao Ling smiled bitterly and replied with a strange expression, "So... we have recovered him, and the traitor is also dead."
"It'll be good if we catch him back." Shao Yu smiled and shook his head when he heard this.
For Shaoyu, seeing the empire lose money is more comfortable than making money himself.
But he also glanced at Xiao Ling with curious eyes.
The treasure was recovered and the traitor was killed. In his opinion, this matter was solved perfectly, but he felt that Xiao Ling seemed to be... a little embarrassed about it.
Tianming asked at this time, "Brother Xiaoling, was it you who recovered the thing?"
Xiao Ling still had that strange expression on her face, and she seemed a bit confused:
"This...is not me."
"Who is that? Someone from the Renzong?" Tianming asked subconsciously.
Xiao Ling did not answer, but shook his head.
In fact, he knew the answer to the question very well, but it was not convenient for him to answer it.
At that time, it was the four disciples of Xiaoyaozi, the head of the Human Sect, who caught up with the rebellious elder Mu Xuzi first.
Among the many elders of the Renzong, Mu Xuzi can barely be ranked among the middle-class, and his strength is only about that.
And those four disciples of the Human Sect are not only the best among the younger generation, they are also proficient in combined attacks and are good at using the Tiangang Sword Formation.
Mu Xuzi faced the four of them and was directly suppressed. It was only a matter of time before he was completely defeated.
At that time, Xiao Ling also rushed to the scene.
Coupled with his words, Mu Xuzi would basically rush to the street on the spot.
But at the same time another person also arrived.
After ten years of seclusion, the new head of Tianzong, Xiao Meng, finally emerged from seclusion.
After that... there's nothing left to say.
Except for Xiao Ling, everyone else died under Xiaomeng's eclipse.
Xiao Ling was determined to save the four disciples of the Human Sect, but... under the shadow of Xiaomeng's world, he also had no ability to move. At most, he was not listed as an attack target.
Let alone saving people, this was the last time he caught a glimpse of his head's back from the beginning to the end, and he couldn't even say a word - to be honest, the fact that that figure was Xiaomeng, the head of their Tianzong, was all trivial.
Ling guessed it himself.
The only person who can master the eclipse of heaven and earth to such an extent is Xiao Meng, the genius leader who has been in seclusion for ten years. Anyway, Xiao Ling felt that the elders in their sect would definitely not be able to reach this level.
Therefore, he worked hard for hundreds of miles to chase Mu Xuzi, and the final result was...he went over and took a look at the target.
After watching Mu Xuzi, he died suddenly on the spot, and everything was over.
The stolen secret treasure was taken away by the leader Xiaomeng. As for whether it will be returned to the Renzong... Haha, the corpses of the four Renzong disciples lying on the ground with Mu Xuzi are enough to explain everything.
This kind of thing must not be told to the outside world. He could only pretend that he didn't know anything and kept silent about the outcome of the matter.
However, Xiao Ling also had some doubts about this matter. He always felt that Mu Xuzi's reaction was a bit strange when his leader appeared.
Hmm... It's hard to say. They couldn't even blink as the sky and the earth turned pale. The strange look on Mu Xuzi's face at that time might just be a reaction caused by a subconscious struggle.
All in all, regardless of whether there is something fishy or not, it has little to do with Xiao Ling - he is a disciple of Tianzong, how can he dare to interfere with the affairs of his own family leader.
Seeing that Xiaoling didn't want to talk more, Shaoyu and Tianming didn't ask any more questions, and they turned to chat with him about some trivial matters during this period.
The three of them just chatted and headed out of the city.
………………
On the outskirts of Songhai City, the Mohist stronghold.
On weekdays there would always be some lights in the small village, but tonight it was dark and silent.
The group of people walked along the dirt road to the center of the village under the darkness of night, which is the small courtyard where the top leaders of the Mohist family usually hold meetings.
At the same time, that was also the small courtyard that Meng Tian personally visited not long ago when he led his team to attack the stronghold.
Xiaoyaozi, Gai Nie, and Master Ban all entered the courtyard.
They did not rush into the house, but took advantage of the last few stars that fell from the sky to take a brief look at the situation in the courtyard.
Everything looked the same as when I left, and it didn't look like it had been raided by the Imperial Army.
Master Ben stroked his beard and said:
"It seems that when Meng Tian arrived and found no one, he immediately withdrew his troops without even searching carefully."
As a stronghold, even if all the people were evacuated, there was no telling whether there would be any clues or intelligence information that could point to their whereabouts.
Theoretically, it's not an exaggeration for Meng Tian to turn this place upside down. If he hasn't been caught, he has to do something else to make up for it.
Gao Jianli looked around and said, "Perhaps... Meng Tian and the others don't care about the failure of the raid on the stronghold."
Upon hearing this, Master Ban secretly looked at each other and Gao Jianli, and the two of them seemed to understand each other tacitly.
After the fall of the government city, the two of them had always suspected that there was an imperial spy within the Mo family, but let alone determining who the undercover was, they were not even sure whether there really was an undercover.
Today's secret meeting in the city was deliberately arranged by them to test.
Most of the senior officials entered the city to meet Xiaoyaozi, leaving one or two important figures to lead ordinary disciples to stay at the stronghold. This was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity for the empire.
If there is an undercover agent, that person will definitely not miss this opportunity.
As they expected, the stronghold outside the city was raided by Meng Tian's army, and an inn at the planned meeting place in the city was also targeted.
Fortunately, they made arrangements in advance, and all the disciples who were staying at the stronghold outside the city were evacuated first, and the city also dealt with it with Zhang Liang's cooperation.
The only pity is that Master Ban and Gao Jianli failed to figure out who was the undercover agent.
There was nothing they could do about it. In their haste, it was impossible for the two of them to pass different false news to various senior Mohist officials for specific testing.
The matter of digging undercover can only be planned later.
As for why they returned to the stronghold tonight...there are two reasons.
One is to come back and see the situation in the stronghold, so as to gain more understanding of the empire's actions.
The second thing is to tidy up some beginnings and ends.
Although they have made up their minds to abandon this stronghold, this is the most important stronghold of the Mohists in the Songhai area, and there are still many secrets.
Apart from anything else, there is more than one tunnel under this stronghold.
Some can be left alone, while others must be sealed completely.
Therefore, they must go back and deal with everything.
After briefly observing the situation outside, the group entered the main house in the courtyard.
With the quickest hands, he lit all the candles immediately. The warm firelight illuminated the house, and the situation inside the house immediately came into view.
It was the same as outside, basically the same as when they left, but the additional footprints on the ground also confirmed that someone had come in after them.
"It seems that Meng Tian and the others have come in before." Daozhi crossed his arms and said with a smile while looking at the footprints on the ground.
Sledgehammer scratched his head, "So... they came here, didn't do anything, and just left?"
"It doesn't make sense!"
You can't catch anyone and you're too lazy to search carefully, that's fine, but you should at least leave some manpower to seal this place off, right?
If that doesn't help, leave a few hidden sentries!
When even a sledgehammer can tell something is not right, something is really wrong.
Xiaoyaozi glanced around and said in a deep voice, "There must be a fraud behind it!"
Gao Jianli also said at this time, "I have an unknown premonition."
Snapped!
Robber Zhi suddenly slapped himself on the face and exclaimed:
"What's this!?"
It turned out that he suddenly felt a stinging sensation on his face just now, as if he had been bitten by a mosquito.
Thief Zhi took his hands off his face and spread them in front of his eyes, muttering in confusion, "Could it be a mosquito?"
They have herbal incense mixed with Duanmu Rong in their houses, so mosquitoes never come close.
Upon hearing what Thieves Zhi said, Xiaoyaozi's eyes narrowed, as if he had thought of something.
At this time, the thick-skinned Sledgehammer also felt a little itching, and while patting the back of his neck, he echoed, "It seems like there are mosquitoes!"
At the same time, Thief Zhi finally saw clearly what stung him, and his eyes widened slightly.
He saw a golden bug lying in his hand. After struggling for a few times, it flapped its wings and flew up again.
I didn’t kill it with that one shot just now!
Gai Nie seemed to have realized what was going on at this time, and immediately shouted concisely, "Get out!"
Xiaoyaozi sighed softly and slowly closed his eyes, "It's too late."
At the same time, Xiaoyaozi waved his sleeves and extinguished all the candles in the room.
Darkness once again occupied most of the space in the house, leaving only a little light from the stars and the moon cast by the window.
In the darkness, the golden bug just emitted a faint light like a firefly.
When Thief Zhi saw this light spot, he immediately pointed and shouted, "That's the little thing that bit me just now... Oh, that's not right! Why... why is my arm so weak!"
Before Robber Zhi could finish his sentence, his arm drooped as if it had been dislocated, unable to lift it up.
Sledgehammer also shouted at this time, "Oh! I also feel numb all over, and I feel a little tired!"
Xiaoyaozi didn't say anything. He raised his right hand slightly and made a handprint on his chest. The golden energy flowed and turned into a strip of light, heading towards the roof.
Following Xiaoyaozi's movements, everyone's eyes subconsciously looked upward.
I saw that the originally dark roof space suddenly lit up one after another, densely packed with light spots.
Every spot of light is like the little insect that bit the thief planter just now, and now... there are at least thousands of them!