noffsinger Chapter 44 Farewell
Chapter 44 Farewell
The next day, at 9:00 AM.
Xiao Xuan was ready to leave at the side gate next to the Qian family's horse farm.
The steward led Lei Yun over and handed the rope to Xiao Xuan.
"Young Master Xiao, here are two sets of clothes, some dry rations, and a map for emergencies on the road."
Xiao Xuan glanced over and saw that Lei Yun had changed into a new saddle and was carrying a bundle, along with an umbrella and a mat.
"Thank you, Butler Lai, and please thank Uncle Qian on my behalf as well."
Xiao Xuan, having taken the rope, stood at the doorway, peering inside. He was waiting for someone.
Half an incense stick later, countless maids and guards passed by him, but he did not see the figure he wanted to see.
"Brother Xiao!"
Suddenly, a voice called out from behind Xiao Xuan. He turned around and saw Qian Xiaoyou.
Qian Xiaoyou was very different from before. His eyes were red and swollen, his hands were wrapped in bandages, and he was no longer wearing his gorgeous brocade clothes.
"Brother Qian, you..."
"I'm fine."
Qian Xiaoyou's voice was a little hoarse, but his attitude was still quite optimistic.
"My dad agreed to let me leave Fuzhou."
"Congratulations," Xiao Xuan said with a smile. "But it seems you don't plan to come with me."
Qian Xiaoyou shook his head self-deprecatingly: "I don't want you to have to take the blame every time we encounter danger."
Immediately afterwards, Qian Xiaoyou's tone also became serious.
"Uncle Han Chi agreed to teach me the martial arts of the Huangji Sect. Before long, I will be a master too."
"The martial arts of the Huangji Sect? Can they be passed on to outsiders?"
Xiao Xuan asked in confusion, "After all, Huangji Sect is like Ning Kingdom's special forces. Shouldn't their martial arts be kept secret?"
"Uncle Han's 'Transforming Cauldron Skill' is indeed a secret technique of the Huangji Sect, but he also knows other martial arts."
"Other martial arts?"
"For example, outstanding achievements!"
Legend has it that the "Standing Tall and Firm" martial art was created by Emperor Taizu himself, and he passed it down along with other martial arts when he established the Huangji Sect.
Strangely, despite its greater reputation, this skill is rarely practiced within the Huangji Sect.
As a result, over several generations, people gradually forgot about this skill, and it naturally fell out of the list of forbidden martial arts.
"Although I had heard of it, I thought it was some kind of ghost story."
"It's true!"
Qian Xiaoyou's eyes gleamed.
"I saw Uncle Han practicing it before, what was the mantra again..."
As he spoke, Qian Xiaoyou began to gesture. He made a sword-finger gesture with both hands, bent his forearms, palms facing inward, one hand pointing to the sky and the other to the ground.
"A thousand cups of wine have already been drunk..."
Seeing this incredibly familiar gesture, Xiao Xuan instantly understood. Just like McDonald's, Zhou Renjie had been haphazardly instilling his wicked sense of humor into the world.
Even Xiao Xuan began to doubt whether it was Zhou Renjie who had actually promulgated those groundbreaking benevolent policies.
"How is it?"
Seeing that Qian Xiaoyou's face was full of barely suppressed excitement, Xiao Xuan could only nod awkwardly.
"I felt a slight sense of weightlessness, and almost flew away."
"Brother Xiao is indeed a martial arts genius! When I saw Uncle Han use this technique, I knew I would lose my balance. Could it be that I have already mastered it?"
"Brother Qian, you don't need to worry about this skill. You can practice other things as well."
Xiao Xuan couldn't bear to see Qian Xiaoyou continue like this, so he took out the gift he had prepared for him from his pocket: a few sheets of paper with the ink still wet.
"This is a set of boxing techniques that I wrote down from memory last night. Although it's not some kind of divine skill, it's still quite useful."
As he spoke, Xiao Xuan handed the "Health Boxing" manual he had copied down the night before to Qian Xiaoyou.
Qian Xiaoyou asked with some surprise, "Brother Xiao, is this a martial art from the Tianshan Sect?"
"No, it's the boxing style taught by the old woman on Shiwa and Tian Si's island."
Hearing Xiao Xuan's explanation, Qian Xiaoyou accepted it without feeling any pressure.
"Three months from now, I will go to the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony to prove myself to my father. If Brother Xiao is free, we will meet at the Dao Xuan Sect."
"If I..."
Xiao Xuan was about to say that he would go if the detoxification was successful, but after thinking about it, he changed his mind and said:
It's a deal.
Goodbye, Jianghu.
The two clasped their hands in farewell, and Xiao Xuan leaped onto his horse. His dark gray steed let out a low neigh and galloped off.
...
Before long, Xiao Xuan left Fuzhou City and arrived at Wan Qian's manor.
As soon as he arrived at the main gate of the Wan Family Manor, he saw Qu Lingyan dressed in purple.
If Qu Lingyan in red is extremely alluring, then she in purple is less charming but more playful.
"Sigh."
Xiao Xuan slowly stopped his horse. Qu Lingyan was standing in front of a horse, holding a pigeon in her hand.
"You're right on time."
Qu Lingyan smiled and then crushed the paper in her hand into a small ball, and released the pigeon.
"After all, I need your help, young lady, so I can't keep you waiting."
"You blockhead aren't completely incapable of speaking, are you?"
As Qu Lingyan spoke, she gracefully flipped herself onto the horse.
Do you know how to get to Hangzhou?
"I don't know, but I have a map."
Xiao Xuan took out a map; the place names of Ningguo had been significantly changed by Emperor Taizu.
Zhou Renjie named these places based on their geographical locations, hence the distance between Fuzhou City and Hangzhou City in Ningguo is a thousand miles.
"If we take the official road, we can arrive in as little as one day and night."
"You finally got out, why are you in such a hurry?"
Qu Lingyan turned her horse around in the direction Xiao Xuan pointed, and with a gentle kick, the horse began to trot slowly.
Seeing this, Xiao Xuan followed, but instead of staying behind Qu Lingyan, he slightly accelerated to the front of her and gradually increased the speed of both horses.
"Miss Qu, when will we be able to see Granny Spirit Snake?"
"She probably won't show up until I've finished doing what my mother-in-law asked me to do."
"What is it?"
"Well..."
Qu Lingyan slightly raised the corners of her mouth. At this moment, she only had three impressions of Xiao Xuan.
He may seem slow-witted, but he is actually very shrewd.
Their strength is formidable, far surpassing that of their peers.
He possessed extremely poisonous substances and was also poisoned by the Five Poisons Sect's Gu poison.
These three points combined would only lead Qu Lingyan, who had been cultivating in the mountains, to believe that Xiao Xuan had stolen something from the Five Poisons Sect and escaped from the Southern Frontier.
Anyway, I can't beat him, and there's a risk that poisoning him will be discovered.
If Qu Lingyan wants the treasures on Xiao Xuan's body, she needs to use the poison in his body to keep him calm until her mother-in-law intervenes, then everything will be much easier.
"My mother-in-law first asked me to detoxify Wanqian, and just now she sent me a message by carrier pigeon to give me the second task."
"Does Granny Ling Snake recognize Wan Qian?"
"Of course not, I saw it in Rumor Monthly. It's because he paid so much."
Qu Lingyan continued, "My mother-in-law told me to take this money to Ghost Street in Hangzhou. I heard that there's a 'Gentian Grass' being auctioned there recently, and the second thing my mother-in-law asked me to do was to buy it."
"Ghost Street?"
Xiao Xuan had heard of the Ghost Street in Hangzhou, a place where thieves and bandits traded stolen goods, a place fraught with danger.
Gentian is also a valuable alchemical ingredient, but unfortunately it's not on the list of ingredients for his Heavenly Profound Pill.
I don't know where that old snake spirit got her confidence to let Qu Lingyan go into danger alone.
Or was she actually nearby?
"What are you thinking about?"
Qu Lingyan interrupted Xiao Xuan's train of thought, gave a soft shout, and her rouge horse galloped away.
"There's nothing interesting here, hurry up and follow me! I'm entrusting you with this opportunity to be my protector, not everyone gets this treatment."
Xiao Xuan shook his head as he watched Qu Lingyan's departing figure.
Having such a cunning and unpredictable woman by your side means you're bound to have plenty of trouble in the future.
If this had happened in the past, he might have sought other methods.
But now Xiao Xuan's choice has become simple: to accelerate and catch up.