Chapter 254: Smooth, My Ass!

"Don't leave his side?" Linghu Qiu said irritably. "What, am I supposed to sleep in the same bed with him too?"

Hongxiu covered her mouth and laughed, knowing he was only speaking in anger.

Linghu Qiu thought it over for quite a while, then muttered, "That woman is based in Qi. Niu Youdao hasn't been out in the world for very long. What kind of grudge could she possibly have with him?"

Hongxiu said, "That isn't something we can conveniently ask the higher-ups about. You know the rules, Sir..."

In the blink of an eye, more than a month passed.

Provincial Inspector's Residence in Beizhou. Under the moonlight, Zhong Yangxu stood in the courtyard with his hands clasped behind his back, looking up at the moon.

Shao Pingbo, who had been notified of his arrival, hurried out of the study and quickly came over. He cupped his hands in greeting. "Senior Martial Uncle, what brings you here? Do you have instructions for me? Cough, cough..."

Before he had even finished speaking, he had already raised a fist to his lips and begun coughing repeatedly.

Zhong Yangxu turned his hand over and produced a wax-sealed pill. "I heard your cough has worsened again. Dachan Mountain specially had someone purchase a medicinal elixir for you."

Shao Pingbo quickly accepted it with both hands. "Senior Martial Uncle could simply have sent someone to deliver it. How could I trouble you to come personally?"

Zhong Yangxu said, "Take it. It's an excellent tonic for replenishing qi and invigorating the blood. It cost a thousand gold coins."

"Yes." Shao Pingbo cracked the wax shell. Inside was a pill white as jade, and a rich fragrance immediately filled the air.

He slowly placed it in his mouth and swallowed it with the saliva that gathered. Shao Sansheng promptly went inside, fetched him a cup of water, and handed it over. Shao Pingbo accepted it and drank. Zhong Yangxu watched from the side, sighing inwardly.

Whenever he saw Shao Pingbo, he could not help remembering the scene of Madam Ruan and her sons being poisoned to death.

Long ago, he had come to regard this young man as ruthless and vicious, a wolf or tiger in human form. The more respectfully Shao Pingbo treated him, the more uncomfortable Zhong Yangxu felt.

Truthfully, he did not particularly like people of this sort because he feared them. He worried that one day the beast might turn around and bite him. Reality, however, was reality.

The fellow's ability was genuinely extraordinary. No one in Dachan Mountain was blind. Beizhou's progress was there for everyone to see, and the entire sect was delighted.

Once Shao Pingbo finished his water and returned the cup, Zhong Yangxu motioned for him to turn around. "I'll use spiritual power to regulate your body."

He placed one palm against Shao Pingbo's back. A current of spiritual power circulated through the meridians inside Shao Pingbo's body. His eyes narrowed slightly in comfort. After the current completed one circuit, Zhong Yangxu withdrew his hand. Shao Pingbo immediately felt much lighter, the fatigue throughout his body swept away.

"Thank you, Senior Martial Uncle." He turned and cupped his hands.

Zhong Yangxu said, "With your condition, you mustn't overtax your mind. Rest quietly and recuperate more. Otherwise you're simply tearing your own wounds open again, and the root of the illness will never disappear. No matter how fine the medicine, it can't withstand you injuring yourself over and over."

Shao Pingbo gave a bitter smile. Zhong Yangxu fell silent. He realized he was talking nonsense. With Beizhou as it was now, there was no way this man could actually stop working. More importantly, Dachan Mountain itself probably did not want him to stop.

So Zhong Yangxu turned to Shao Sansheng instead. "I'll arrange for someone to come every day and use spiritual power to regulate the Eldest Young Master's body. Find a suitable opening in his schedule."

"Yes!" Shao Sansheng answered respectfully.

"Rest early." Zhong Yangxu glanced toward the still-lit study, left those words behind, and turned away.

Shao Pingbo personally escorted him out through the courtyard gate, then stood with hands respectfully folded before him and watched until Zhong Yangxu had disappeared.

Only then did Shao Sansheng quietly say, "Eldest Young Master."

Shao Pingbo turned and looked at him. Seeing there was something to report, he headed back inside with him.

Once they returned to the study, Shao Sansheng moved closer and said softly, "Miss Su sent a message. She still hasn't acted. She says that Linghu Qiu is extremely troublesome. He follows Niu Youdao without leaving him even half a step, so she hasn't been able to find an opening."

Shao Pingbo let out a slow breath, regret in the sound. "I knew that fellow would be prepared and difficult to deal with... 'Doesn't leave him even half a step'? Sister Zhao used those exact words in her message?"

Shao Sansheng nodded. "Yes."

Shao Pingbo looked puzzled. "I've never heard that Linghu Qiu had any friendship with him. Logically, the two of them shouldn't have had any dealings in the past at all. Yet now he won't leave Niu Youdao even half a step? Their relationship is actually that close? Doesn't that strike you as abrupt? Something feels wrong."

His brow furrowed. He began pacing back and forth through the room, thinking.

After quite a while, he stopped and slowly muttered, "If I remember correctly, Sister Zhao once said that when she made contact with Linghu Qiu, her organization discovered it. The organization warned her that Linghu Qiu's background was complicated and told her not to provoke him... There's something strange here."

Shao Sansheng said, "Linghu Qiu's background truly is complicated, and his connections are broad. Miss Su's organization is secretive and doesn't want to expose itself. Telling her not to provoke him seems perfectly reasonable. Is there really a problem?"

"That's precisely where the problem lies!" Shao Pingbo abruptly turned around.

Shao Sansheng stared blankly, then smiled bitterly. "This old servant is dull. I don't see it."

Shao Pingbo asked, "Back then, Sister Zhao merely made contact with Linghu Qiu and her organization warned her. Now Linghu Qiu and Niu Youdao have been traveling together all this way. For Sister Zhao to know that the two are practically inseparable, imagine how much surveillance manpower she must have mobilized. Do you think something like that could be hidden from the organization behind her?"

Shao Sansheng's expression turned thoughtful.

"This Linghu Qiu is interesting..." Shao Pingbo murmured with narrowed eyes.

He paced a few more steps, then stopped before Shao Sansheng again. "Send Sister Zhao a message. Ask whether, while monitoring Linghu Qiu's group, she received another warning from her organization. While you're at it, remind her that if there was no warning, she should be a little more careful around Linghu Qiu in the future."

Shao Sansheng asked, "Eldest Young Master means...?"

Shao Pingbo's eyes remained contemplative. "There's a good chance Linghu Qiu belongs to the same organization as Sister Zhao. The reason he refuses to leave Niu Youdao's side may be that he knows Sister Zhao intends to move against Niu Youdao and is deliberately denying her an opening... From another angle, that would explain why Linghu Qiu suddenly mixed himself up with Niu Youdao."

Shao Sansheng filled in another possibility. "Could it be that the organization knows Miss Su has enough discretion not to implicate Linghu Qiu? They already warned her once, so naturally there would be no need to warn her a second time."

Shao Pingbo gave a cold snort. "It's possible. Whether it's truly plausible, Sister Zhao should understand better than either of us. That's why I want you to send the message and remind her."

"Besides, if Linghu Qiu and Niu Youdao really are this close, then once someone attacks Niu Youdao, who can guarantee Linghu Qiu won't intervene to save him? So long as that organization hasn't warned Sister Zhao again, nine chances out of ten there's something hidden between Linghu Qiu and the organization. Even if he isn't one of their people, his relationship with them must run deep!"

Shao Sansheng asked, "If that's truly the case, should we tell Miss Su to abandon the attempt on Niu Youdao?"

"No." Shao Pingbo waved a hand. "If Linghu Qiu really belongs to that organization, then the fact they didn't warn Sister Zhao this time means they don't want to expose his identity. Their secrecy around him would have to be extremely strict. If Sister Zhao were to learn the truth, she might bring trouble upon herself."

"Tell Sister Zhao to do whatever she was going to do and act as though she knows nothing. It's enough that she keeps the possibility in mind."

"Understood. I'll send the message to Miss Su now." Shao Sansheng nodded and left.

Once Shao Pingbo was alone, he continued pacing through the room.

Eventually, he stopped beside the lamp on his desk. His fingertips tapped lightly against the tabletop as he stared into the flame and murmured to himself, "An independent cultivator who managed to reach where he is today... no wonder. Xiaoyue Pavilion... So you've had designs on this side all along. Let's see who ends up scheming against whom..."

A party of riders traveled onward, the land becoming more desolate the farther they went. At last, they reached a dusty little town and stopped outside to look it over.

The entire settlement seemed washed in a yellow-brown earthen hue. Beyond the rooftops, a long mountain range stretched across the distant horizon.

"The boundless sea of sand lies beyond that mountain range. If we want to cross it, we'll have to abandon the horses." Seated in the saddle, Linghu Qiu pointed toward the range, then swept his finger toward the road leading away from the town. "Little Brother, are you certain you don't want to go straight to Qi and instead want to detour through Boundless Pavilion?"

Boundless Pavilion was an existence similar to Star-Plucking City and Ice and Snow Pavilion. The difference was that it stood in the middle of a vast desert. Because the sea of sand surrounding it stretched boundlessly in every direction, it had been named Boundless Pavilion.

Niu Youdao said, "Crossing the sea of sand can still take us to Qi. The travel time should be about the same, shouldn't it?"

Hongxiu smiled. "The time itself is roughly the same, but one route lets us sit on horseback, while the other forces us to expend spiritual power racing across the desert. Master Dao, don't you have any pity for us women? Besides, once you reach Boundless Pavilion, you're certainly going to stay for a while. In that case, there'll definitely be a difference in time."

Niu Youdao said, "I've heard of Boundless Pavilion for a long time but never seen it. Since we've already come this way, of course I want to take the opportunity to have a look. Otherwise, wouldn't it be a pity to pass so close without seeing it? It's not as though coming here is easy."

Linghu Qiu chuckled. "Little Brother, you keep saying you urgently need warhorses, but all along this journey you travel when it's time to travel and rest when it's time to rest. You're completely unhurried. You don't look anxious in the slightest."

Niu Youdao swept his gaze around their surroundings. A meaningful smile touched the corner of his mouth. "Some things can't be rushed no matter how anxious you are. And I didn't want to keep pushing Elder Brother to hurry and wear you out."

"Fortunately, this entire journey has been peaceful. Truthfully, ever since I left Shangqing Sect, I don't think I've had a single trip outside that went smoothly. Some danger always appears. This is the first time things have been so smooth."

Hongfu gave him a cold sidelong glance. Hongxiu only smiled without saying anything. Linghu Qiu muttered inwardly, Smooth, my ass. If I weren't shielding you, let's see how smooth your journey would be!

Outwardly, however, he laughed. "Isn't smooth travel a good thing?"

Niu Youdao said, "Then again, even if trouble appeared, there'd be nothing to fear. All I'd have to do is announce Elder Brother's illustrious name, and it would surely ward off evil!"

"You make it sound sweeter than a song." Linghu Qiu shook his head and urged his horse slowly toward the town. "All right, enough nonsense. If we're going to Boundless Pavilion, stop dawdling here. We can rest properly after we arrive."

The group entered the little town and made some brief adjustments. They ate and drank first. When they emerged from the far side of town, they had abandoned their mounts and each carried an additional goatskin waterskin. Figures rose and fell as they raced across the barren Gobi.

They reached the foot of the mountain range, flew upward along its slopes, then continued speeding between the peaks after reaching the heights. When they finally stopped at the edge of the range, the scene before them had transformed completely. Below the mountains, yellow-brown dunes rolled all the way to the horizon—boundless, vast, magnificent. A sense of immense desolation swept over them.

On the mountaintop where they stood, there was no other vegetation to be seen. Strange cacti of every shape grew everywhere. They looked around in silence at a landscape entirely different from anything behind them.

[End of Chapter 254]