Chapter 253 - 253: Having Fun (2)
On the east side of White Millet Town, there was an old alley. The alley was less than five feet wide and was extremely deep. On both sides were high walls made of blue bricks, forming the scenery of ‘a line to heaven’. Occasionally, the moon would rise and fill the line to heaven at the end of the alley, so it was called the ‘Grasping Moon’.
Grasping Moon Alley was 250 meters long from beginning to end. On the left and right were the courtyards of various residences. The three major families of White Millet Town were all among them, and they were also the three main halls of the Grasping Moon Tower. The Huang residence at the end of the alley was the headquarters of the Grasping Moon Tower. Huang Yulong was both the head of the family and the sect master.
Grasping Moon Alley was equivalent to the back mountain of the sect. It was difficult for outsiders to step into it. Usually, there were very few people. But in the past two days, the Prince of Wu had encountered trouble, and the situation in Wu Province was unclear. From time to time, disciples would run in from the alley to report the situation of the various places in Wu Province.
In the incense hall deep in the Huang family’s mansion, there was a portrait of the Grasping Moon Tower’s founder and several chairs.
Huang Yulong, who was over 50 years old, was dressed like an ordinary merchant. He was sitting in the main seat with a teacup in his hand and gently stirring the tea leaves floating on the tea with the lid.
Sitting on the right side of the hall was the second-in-command of the Grasping Moon Tower, Xiao Shichen. He frowned and said, “The people from the Imperial Court have been arriving one after another. From time to time, official ships will enter Wuxi Pier. The main routes have been blocked by officers and soldiers. This morning, my third brother-in-law was arrested in Baywater Town, and he’s under investigation. It’s not just the Six Gates. There are also people from the Black Office…”
Huang Yulong stopped his hands and frowned. “At such a critical moment, if we’re targeted by the capital, the slightest carelessness will lead to disaster… Why is he being investigated?”
Xiao Shichen naturally knew the seriousness of the matter and said calmly, “The Prince of Wu Estate needed martial artists with solid martial arts foundations. I got my subordinates to recruit foreign martial artists on my behalf, but when I left, my family came looking for me, causing the trouble… My subordinates don’t know the details, and they have cut ties with the Grasping Moon Tower. The case has already been closed, so it won’t affect the Grasping Moon Tower…”
Huang Yulong put down his teacup and said angrily, “If they can’t even do such a small thing, what’s their use?”
Xiao Shichen sighed. “It’s meaningless to say this now. The Prince of Wu has already fallen. Our Grasping Moon Tower has done a lot for the Prince of Wu. If the Imperial Court really wants to investigate, I’m afraid half of the hundreds of disciples in the tower, including you and me, will be killed. What should we do now?”
“The Prince of Wu’s foundation isn’t weak. There’s no hope of him rebelling and becoming the emperor, but it’s not difficult for him to escape from Wu Province and take root elsewhere. Sir Bai is planning. He should find a way to break out in the next few days. When the time comes, we can leave with them…”
Xiao Shichen looked at the town outside and sighed. “Such a big family business is lost just like that. Sigh…”
“As long as there’s life, there’s hope. The secret medicine that the Prince of Wu is researching is making rapid progress. If the two of us can become Martial Chiefs, what is a lousy town? We will be just like Feng Guancheng. Reaching the summit of martial arts and attaining the admiration of millions of martial artists is true elegance…”
Xiao Shichen sighed inwardly. Just as they were discussing countermeasures, they suddenly heard a voice coming from outside.
“Who is it?!”
When the two of them heard the voice appearing outside the main hall of the residence, their eyelids twitched. To be able to pass through countless disciples without a sound and reach the center of the residence, they were definitely top experts!
Huang Yulong didn’t dare to be careless. He put down his teacup, took a saber from the table, quickly walked to the back of the main hall, and looked out through the door.
Outside the main hall was a large courtyard. At this moment, the surrounding corridors were full of Grasping Moon Tower disciples who had rushed over.
The sun had already set, and the light in the courtyard was relatively dim. Two figures suddenly appeared and stood on the crosswalk in the center of the courtyard.
The person in the lead was a woman in blue clothes. She was tall and had a gauze veil covering her face. Only a pair of beautiful peach blossom eyes could be seen. Her temperament was otherworldly, like a jade maiden from the Moon Palace who had descended from the Nine Heavens.
Behind her was a man in a loose blue robe. He was tall and had a well-proportioned figure. He looked like an immortal. He was wearing a bamboo hat on his head and a mask on his face, and he was holding a short weapon wrapped in black cloth in his hand.
The two of them stood in the encirclement of dozens of disciples. They didn’t move at all and calmly looked at the door of the main hall without saying anything.
Xiao Shichen felt that the people who came had extraordinary auras and were definitely not to be trifled with. He said, “Who are you?!”
Huang Yulong took a closer look and felt that the figure and temperament of the woman in the lead seemed a little familiar. But he couldn’t see her appearance after all. For a moment, he couldn’t remember who she was. He walked into the main hall and cupped his hands. “I am Huang Yulong. May I ask who you are?”
The blue-clothed woman in the lead flipped her wrist and took out a black iron token. There were ten small words engraved on it.
When Huang Yulong saw the words on the iron token, his pupils constricted. He hurriedly walked out of the door and waved his hand. “Everyone, stand down.”
The surrounding disciples of the Grasping Moon Tower hurriedly left the courtyard.
Huang Yulong quickly walked down the steps and cupped his hands. “So, it’s Madam Xue. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I have seen you in the Heavenly South before. I was blind just now and didn’t recognize you. I hope you can forgive me… This is?”
Luo Ning appeared as the cult mistress. With the support of the Pacifying Heaven Cult, her aura was very strong, and she directly entered the main hall. “A protector of the Pacifying Heaven Cult.”
Luo Ning walked straight to the main seat and sat down. Ye Jingtang stood beside her as a bodyguard with his hands behind his back.
Facing the wife of the cult master of the Pacifying Heaven Cult, Huang Yulong really couldn’t put on the attitude of a sect master. He sat down on a chair under the main seat and asked Xiao Shichen to serve tea. “Wu Province hasn’t been peaceful recently. Madam Xue, why are you visiting at this time?”
Luo Ning went straight to the point. “The Pacifying Heaven Cult is an old minister of the previous dynasty. The Prince of Wu secretly plotted to overthrow Great Wei. He’s on the same path as the Pacifying Heaven Cult. Recently, the cult master heard that the Prince of Wu was defeated and would be wiped out by the Imperial Court, so he specially sent me over to see if we could help the Prince of Wu.”
Hearing this, Huang Yulong was surprised, but it made sense after he thought about it.
The Pacifying Heaven Cult were remnants of the previous dynasty. The Imperial Court had been suppressing the South Firmament Mountains for many years and couldn’t break through them, so they offered amnesty and wanted to recruit them, but the Pacifying Heaven Cult didn’t agree. It could be said that they were absolute rebels and standing opposite the Imperial Court.
Now that the Prince of Wu’s rebellion had failed and he had no way to escape, it made sense that the Pacifying Heaven Cult wanted to take the opportunity to subdue the Prince of Wu and obtain his assets and connections in Wu Province.
And the Moon Goddess was the cult mistress of the Pacifying Heaven Cult. In a situation where the Pacifying Heaven Cult Master rarely appeared, she could be said to be the person in charge of the Pacifying Heaven Cult. He had seen her before.
There was nothing wrong with her stance, motive, or identity. Even if Huang Yulong wanted to be wary, he didn’t know where to start.
He couldn’t possibly suspect that the Pacifying Heaven Cult had been secretly recruited. The Pacifying Heaven Cult Master was about to become the emperor of Jianghu, so why should he accept amnesty and recruitment for a meaningless title of marquis despite the infamy of going against his ancestors and being disloyal and unrighteous?
Huang Yulong hesitated for a moment. To be safe, he asked, “Your cult wants to help the Prince of Wu. You should have gone to look for him. Why did you come to me to find him?”
“My Pacifying Heaven Cult has eyes and ears all over the world. We don’t lack believers in Wu Province. It’s not easy to track down the Prince of Wu. After asking around, 1 heard that Sect Master Huang seemed to be buying medicinal herbs for the Prince of Wu in recent years, so I came to ask. Sect Master Huang, if you know where the Prince of Wu is, please help me inform him. If you don’t know, pretend that the Pacifying Heaven Cult has never been here.”
Huang Yulong tapped the table lightly with his fingers. Because the Moon Goddess’s identity and standpoint were unquestionable, and the Prince of Wu was indeed in an urgent situation, he hesitated for a moment before nodding. He turned to look at Xiao Shichen. “Second Brother, please deliver a letter.”
Standing behind Luo Ning, Ye Jingtang secretly heaved a sigh of relief.. He knew that the fish had taken the bait…