Southwest of Yanzhou, above the rolling snow-capped mountains.
Ling Xuadu and Shi Xin stood in the air, their divine senses constantly sweeping all directions, searching the heavens and the earth to find the whereabouts of Zhuge Longxu.
That day, in that small town, Shi Xin had found an opportunity to attack and hit Zhuge Longxu hard. However, as Zhuge Longjue had summoned the Long River of Qi in time, the two of them missed and allowed Zhuge Longjue to escape.
After that, they chased after him and forced him into the snowy mountains.
The snowy mountain stretched for miles and covered a vast area, so without destructive measures, it would have been difficult for Ling and Shi to find Zhuge Longxu.
And once the search was forced by destroying the mountain, the noise would definitely attract the strongest men from Northern Zhou within half an hour. By then, the two of them would either flee in despair or die at the hands of the arriving Northern Zhou powerhouses.
After all, this was the territory of the Northern Zhou, and it was not the turn of outsiders to do whatever they wanted here.
So, the duo would have to search repeatedly in the dumbest way possible.
As for Zhuge Longsu, he was equally afraid to act rashly. His injuries were extremely serious, so serious that if he was discovered, he would end up in a quick death.
So his intention to create a big commotion to attract reinforcements could only be left vacant. If he were to reveal his tracks, he would be waiting for death before he could wait for reinforcements.
So the two parties played hide-and-seek here, one hiding, the other searching.
After searching for a day, Shi Xin finally said, “Confucianism has always claimed to be open and honest, but this Zhuge Longxu is so good at hiding his traces that no one can search for his aura.”
Even if the snowy mountain stretched for miles, it could have been carefully searched several times in a day, given the strength of the divine sense of the Tong Shen realm.
However, in these few rounds, the two of them had not gained anything at all, not catching a single trace of the enemy.
In this regard, the two of them could only cursed Zhuge Long Su, the dean of the Mountain River Academy and the number two figure of the Confucian Sect of Northern Zhou, for being too unprofessional and bringing shame to the Confucian Sect.
Of course, it could also be said that the two of them were bringing shame to the Devil’s Dao. This was because these two devil dao powers of the Tong Shen realm had lost out to the Confucian Sect in this kind of astringent technique, which was really a shame for their years of hiding their heads.
“It’s quite good to dryly consume like this.”
Ling Blood Du’s face, however, was not the slightest bit anxious, but on the contrary, revealed a light smile, “Zhuge Long Su’s disappearance is a perfect opportunity to intensify the conflict between the Confucian Sect and the imperial court, and with those Daoist insiders around, it’s not that difficult.
We’ll just keep searching here, and sooner or later, Zhuge Long Su will show up.”
The voice echoed through the snowy mountains and reached the ears of a certain person in hiding.
Half a mile away from Ling Blood Ferry, under a snowy field, a body was buried like a dead man, two feet underground.
It was motionless, breathless, not even breathing, and its body temperature was completely cold; it looked like a frozen corpse.
But the eyes, which turned occasionally, were proof that he was still alive.
That’s right, the unlucky man who had been badly injured, Zhuge Longsu, the Imperial Master of Northern Zhou, who had nearly died shortly after taking office.
At this moment, he was playing the role of a dead corpse, a dead thing that didn’t even dare to have breath. He had even pressed his qi to the limit, not even daring to heal his injuries, because once his qi and blood moved, it was highly likely that Ling Blooddust, the Blood Daoist God, would detect it.
”The only way out now is to hope that Your Majesty will notice the strange situation here.”
Zhuge Longjue’s body did not move, but his mind kept thinking.
He knew that it would be a fool’s errand to try to escape on his own, and that it would be difficult to send a signal to the imperial court.
Zhuge Longjue does not even dare to send out a hint of his divine sense, let alone send a signal.
However, there was no way to let the imperial court know where he was.
Zhuge Longxu, who had once read the martial arts of the Son of Heaven, knew the magic of this martial art, and that the veins of the Northern Zhou could actually become the Zhou Emperor’s sensing point, provided that the Zhou Emperor could withstand all the noisy information in the veins.
And although this realm is remote, it is also one of the nodes of the Northern Zhou Earth Veins, with a deep connection to the Dragon Veins.
This is also the reason why Zhuge Longjue chose this place to hide on his way to escape.
With the willpower of this Zhou Emperor who was able to hold on for several years, Zhuge Longjue believed that it was possible for the Zhou Emperor to do this.
”Please, Your Majesty.”
With this thought, Zhuge Longjue’s vitality was further depressed and his breath was even emptier.
————————
“Hmm?”
In the Hall of Nourishing Hearts, Emperor Zhou’s heart felt something, as if he sensed a strange movement.
“The Dragon Vein seems to have sensed some kind of aura, a strange movement at a certain Earth Vein node?” Emperor Zhou frowned slightly.
He sat in the Nine Dragons Ding Heaven Grand Formation, using it to further deepen his connection with the dragon veins, and had a vague sense of the various earth veins.
To put it simply, Emperor Zhou was like a geomancer, with an extremely keen sense of the earth’s movements.
And just now, Emperor Zhou sensed a fluctuation, as if there was a difference in a certain node of the earth veins.
“Eunuch Leng, you say that Zhuge Long Su has escaped from Ling Blood Du and Shi Xin?” Emperor Zhou confirmed to Eunuch Leng beside him.
“In reply, Your Majesty, the Tai Shi is within the territory of this dynasty and can forcefully invoke the power of the Long River of Hao Qi to descend. According to the estimation of the old slave and the two Tong Shen of the Devil Dao, it is highly likely that the Tai Shi has escaped with his life.” Eunuch Leng returned.
The reason why he said it was highly likely was because Zhuge Long Su had not even shown up after being missing for a day. In theory, even if he had invoked the Long River of Hao Qi, Zhuge Long Su’s injuries should have been quite superficial.
If he has been missing for a day and has not been found, it is perhaps possible that he is unconscious due to his injuries, or —— he has been captured.
“Southwest.” Emperor Zhou suddenly said.
“Hm?” Eunuch Leng looked at Emperor Zhou with a puzzled look.
“Eunuch Leng, you, Mo Qunming and the Seven Absolute Elders will go straight to the southwest, there is no need to collect your Qi. If what I expect is correct, the Tai Shi should be in the southwest.” Emperor Zhou added.
This was not only a sense of the earth chakra, but also inspiration from being a master of celestial mysteries. Although nowadays the celestial planes were so confused that even Qingyu could not see them, Qingyu’s inspiration was still somewhat useful.
“Wait,” Emperor Zhou added, “go to the Destiny Altar and bring Baili Shenxian with you, have him search along the earth’s veins, paying particular attention to the nodes of the earth’s veins.”
Now that the Altar of Destiny was part of the Northern Zhou, it was a good idea to let Baili Divine Calculus go out and do his job.
Moreover, he is also very knowledgeable about the terrain, so he can be of great use.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Although Eunuch Leng did not know what he meant, he did not say much and went straight to follow the order and went down to contact the three people who were accompanying him.
It was also shortly after Eunuch Leng left that a small eunuch hurriedly marched into the Hall of Nurtured Heart and knelt down, “Your Majesty, the Eight Eighth —— Prince has an urgent request to see Your Majesty.”
The Eighth Prince?
Emperor Zhou thought for a moment, “It’s the Eighth Imperial Brother, right, why don’t you quickly invite him in.”
The eighth prince, Feng Qiwu, Feng Jiu’s elder brother, had not been crowned king, and he himself had always avoided the Shanhe Academy, so this little eunuch did not know how to address him for a while.
After all, all the thirteen princes of the Northern Zhou had basically become dead bones in the grave, leaving Feng Jiu and Feng Qiwu as the only two left.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Not long after, the young eunuch hurried in with an anxious-looking Feng Qiwu.
“I, Feng Qiwu ——”
“There is no need for the eighth imperial brother to be polite, someone, give a seat.” Emperor Zhou raised his hand, and an invisible force held Feng Qiwu’s body that wanted to bow.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Feng Qiwu did not wait for the eunuch to bring the seat, then he hurriedly said, “Your Majesty, rumours have suddenly spread among the academy, saying that Your Majesty wants to get rid of the Master and has now done so, please order a strict investigation so that the academy students will not be used by the traitors.”
“Rumours in the academy?” Emperor Zhou muttered to himself, “How quick to strike.”
There was no need to say more, this so-called rumour was a trick used by those rats in the shadows. For Emperor Zhou asked himself that if he were in a different place, he would also seize this opportunity to create rumours to stir up the situation.
If the enemy failed to seize this opportunity, Emperor Zhou would instead think that these people were too stupid and not enough to worry about.
“There is no need for ——”
Emperor Zhou was about to speak when another eunuch reported, “Your Majesty, Lord Lin Zixiao of the Divine Sky Dao has sent someone to send a message that there is chaos among the Daoist clan, with the Cloud Brightness View, Chao Qing View and Xiang Daoist Family rebelling and creating a rebellion, with the slogan of killing the demon dao and righting the Daoist clan, and asking Your Majesty to send someone to help.”
“Your Majesty ——”
Mo Guming, the head of the Devil’s Sword Dao, came in a hurry, “The Blood Demon Cult has appeared in Mengzhou, and Mo may not be able to go to support Zhuge Taiji.”
At the same time, Qing Yu in the True Martial Sect had also received a message from Lan Cang.
“The Demonfather has left the palace, his movements are unknown, and he is suspected to be heading to Northern Zhou, we can take this opportunity to secretly ambush the Demonfather.”
The whole body is moved by one hair, with the disappearance of Zhuge Long Su, all parties against Qing Yu move.
“It seems they think the time has come.” A cold smile pulled out from the corner of Emperor Zhou’s mouth.
The snowstorm that lasted for nearly ten days gave the best time for all sorts of plots to ferment in unison during those ten days. Now, due to the snowstorm, the Northern Zhou experts were scattered all over the place, there was also the sudden rise of civil unrest, the Confucian Sect’s resentment at being suppressed by the imperial court for several years in a row, and the dissatisfaction within the Daoist Sect towards Qing Yu, all of which suddenly exploded at this excellent time.
”Now, it should be just a matter of waiting for my own entrance.”
The traitors of the Dao Sect, as well as the Demon Dweller, their targets were all Qing Yu, and if Qing Yu did not come out, they would not put out their full strength, they would only press their bottom cards, thinking of dealing a fatal blow to Qing Yu.
But Qing Yu can’t keep hiding, once Northern Zhou can’t hold up to these external and internal troubles, Qing Yu must strike. If not, all his efforts over the years will be lost in one go.
This is a game between the man behind the curtain and Qing Yu, using Northern Zhou as the stage to see which protagonist can’t resist striking first.
”When I have crushed all of these pawns of yours, let’s see if you can still hold back from appearing.” The Zhou Emperor’s gaze was eerie, as if an invisible stern aura flashed by.
Northern Zhou was not necessarily the one who could not hold back first, more likely, the enemy would be crushed by Northern Zhou first.
Let’s see if the man behind the curtain will remain cowering or take a shot.
