Once the Winds and Clouds Meet, One Transforms into a Dragon (Seeking Follow-ups)

"What?"

"Arrest Zhao Yunniang?"

Han Sui frowned slightly.

Arrest Zhao Yunniang? Did he still care about his reputation or not?

"Tell Commander Liu."

"I, Han Sui, am no faithless traitor."

He set down the thousand-gold glass, flicked his sleeve, and barked the words.

If Commander Liu had been standing before him, he would never have dared speak so. But the man before him was merely a Night Patrol Directorate Hundred-Household Officer, hardly worth his notice.

"Lord Han..."

"Xu Xing has escaped..."

The Night Patrol Directorate Hundred-Household Officer sighed helplessly and quietly disclosed the news to Han Sui.

"He escaped?"

"He is from the Western Pass Circuit. In the Divine Capital, his rank is low, he has no allies, and no one to rely on. Where could he have found the means to escape the Heavenly Prison? Besides, the Heavenly Prison is guarded with ironclad security..."

Han Sui's first reaction upon hearing this was disbelief.

Yet he also knew that a Night Patrol Directorate Hundred-Household Officer would not make groundless claims.

Thus, although he spoke as if he did not believe it, deep down, he had already fully accepted the fact that Xu Xing had escaped the Heavenly Prison.

"No wonder Zhao Yunniang was so anxious to leave after receiving the money."

"Oh no!"

"By now, Zhao Yunniang has likely fled to River-Crossing Post Station. Before long, she'll be heading for the northern frontier."

"Steward Sun, quickly send a message by carrier pigeon. Dispatch our retainers to stop Zhao Yunniang."

Han Sui instantly turned "pale with shock," repeatedly signaling Steward Sun with his eyes.

"This old servant obeys."

"I'll go make the arrangements at once."

Steward Sun accepted the order and left the Glassworks.

"The northern frontier?"

Hearing this, the Night Patrol Directorate Hundred-Household Officer nodded heavily as well. "Lord Han, this humble one will return and report to the Commander. I hope Lord Han can stop Zhao Yunniang as soon as possible..."

He clasped his fists to Han Sui in salute, squeezed his horse's belly, and galloped away.

After some time had passed.

Steward Sun appeared before Han Sui again. "Master, about Zhao Yunniang..."

His face was filled with confusion.

He remembered saying earlier that Zhao Yunniang was most likely at Horse-Illuminating Post Station, south of the Divine Capital. Yet Han Sui had deliberately claimed that Zhao Yunniang was at River-Crossing Post Station, north of the Divine Capital.

One lay to the south, the other to the north—the difference was anything but slight.

"Steward Sun..."

"Have you not understood?"

Han Sui smiled. "Why did the Commander order me to swiftly arrest Zhao Yunniang? Zhao Yunniang's only value is that she can be used to threaten Xu Xing. Other than that, there is nothing remarkable about her."

"Commander Liu told me to intercept Zhao Yunniang. What he truly meant was that they failed to capture Xu Xing."

"Xu Xing..."

At this point, Han Sui paused. "When trapped in the shallows, you and I can knead him however we please—nothing to it. But once he escapes the Heavenly Prison, and borrows the strength of other forces, forces beyond anything you and I imagined... when wind and clouds gather, he will transform into a dragon."

"That boy's talent is anything but ordinary. As his superior, I know it more clearly than anyone."

"Moreover, he had Zhao Yunniang leave ahead of him. This scheme is truly venomous."

"Do not lightly offend a poisonous strategist you cannot keep under your thumb."

"Besides, the secret glass formula he gave me is genuine. Since it is genuine, then he has not broken his word. Why should I intercept him? Why should I offend him?"

"As for Xu Xing escaping prison, what does that have to do with this official?"

"His flight out of fear of punishment proves precisely that his conscience is guilty, that the embezzlement case is true! What benefit would there be for me in capturing Xu Xing?"

"Better to spare Zhao Yunniang. In the future, it may still forge a good connection."

A glint of shrewd light flashed through his eyes as he spoke slowly.

"A convicted official..."

"How could he possibly be of any great help to Master?"

Steward Sun asked again.

He was a servant born into the Han household; his family had served the Han household loyally for generations.

Thus, no one could match his loyalty to the Han household.

That was why he could ask the family head about certain matters without being overly circumspect.

Moreover, some secret affairs had to pass through his hands to be handled. Therefore, if he did not clarify the family head's intentions, he would inevitably be constrained in his work...

"He is a criminal official now, but that may not necessarily be the case in the future!"

"If you wait until the last minute to burn incense, it'll be too late..."

Han Sui smiled.

Though the realm had not yet descended into utter chaos, it was already showing signs of a dynasty in its twilight. How long the court could hold on remained unknown. Perhaps it could endure another century or even longer; perhaps in only a few years, it would fall apart and crumble. No one could say for certain.

During the era of the Founding Ancestor, there had been no shortage of rebellions either—more than a hundred in all.

Yet were they not all suppressed one by one?

But as the saying went, a cunning rabbit had three burrows!

Xu Xing was one of the burrows he was digging now!

"Xu Xing... that boy may bear a grudge against you, Master."

Steward Sun reminded him at the appropriate moment.

"What would he bear a grudge against me for?"

"For making him take the blame?"

Han Sui waved a hand. "He is a clever man. He can see the greater tide. Though I was the one who decided to make him take the blame, anyone in my position would have done the same."

"Besides, after he was thrown into prison, I treated him rather well. We have not formed an irreconcilable enmity..."

"You still haven't seen the heart of the matter. It isn't a question of whether I let Xu Xing go. It's that the Night Patrol Directorate never found any trace of Xu Xing! The one I released was Zhao Yunniang!"

His voice turned somewhat cold.

Seeing the Master like this, Steward Sun did not dare ask any further questions.

"What exactly is the Master's vicious scheme?"

He muttered inwardly, unable to make heads or tails of it.

Divine Capital, eastern district.

Xuanyang Ward.

A single-story house.

Xu Xing lay on a sickbed, his complexion pale, coughing from time to time.

He was pretending to be a patient—a patient suffering from consumption.

"Mr. Xu..."

"Are we not taking too great a risk by hiding next door to these soldiers?"

Earth King was disguised as a firewood-carrying man. He looked worriedly at Xu Xing.

According to Xu Xing's plan, after succeeding, they would not flee the Heavenly Prison at once. Instead, they would use a scheme of substituting one thing for another, disguise themselves as patients, and hide near the family quarters of the Night Patrol Directorate's mounted officers.

As for the patient, while Xu Xing was still in the Heavenly Prison, he had already had Earth King send men to secretly impersonate one.

They had been at it for quite some time.

Once he was released from prison, he would secretly take that person's place.

"Earth King, you think too highly of General Chang and me."

"We are merely minor officials, not worth mentioning."

"The Night Patrol Directorate would not go to great lengths to hunt us down..."

Xu Xing shook his head. "As for our appearances, General Chang and I are both in the Reality-Preserving Realm. We can alter our faces with the Face-Changing Technique, then pair it with Ghost Hand's disguise work... With the eyesight of ordinary mounted officers, it would not be easy for them to recognize us as the two criminal officials from the Heavenly Prison..."

"The reason we are staying here is because the darkest place is beneath the lamp."

"They see us every day. Would these mounted officers suspect that we are the two criminal officials who escaped?"

He gave a derisive laugh, his words brimming with confidence.

Ghost Hand was a wandering martial world sorcerer with a knack for disguise.

Strictly speaking, this disguise technique was merely the art of makeup. Yet when paired with the Face-Changing Technique used by Chang Ji and himself, it was more than enough to alter their appearances completely.

"Then when are we leaving Divine Capital?"

After hearing Xu Xing's explanation, Earth King was wholeheartedly convinced by his plan. He changed the subject and asked about the matter the brothers cared about most.

"After the Heavenly Prison settles down..."

"Two criminal officials have gone missing. Let's see how the Heavenly Prison deals with that."

"This disturbance won't grow too large..."

Xu Xing put on the air of a man holding wisdom in his grasp, speaking with absolute certainty.

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