Unable to Escape

Inside the city, the Military Advisor's Residence.

In the spacious living room of the Marshal's Residence, Marshal Hong sat on a large wooden chair at the head of the room, a look of joy on his face, holding a piece of paper. "Junior Brother, there's news! That Li Yan finally left the Military Advisor's Residence and entered the city today. I wonder what he's here for?"

In the shadow of one of the four thick pillars in the hall, the vague figure of a sturdy man in a black robe flickered slightly. The pillar he was hiding behind was not the same one as last time; it seemed he randomly chose a pillar to conceal himself behind each time. His deep, muffled voice echoed through the hall.

"Senior Brother, judging by the time, this person has stayed in the valley much longer than the previous disciple. According to our previous calculations, the last disciple had problems after forty-nine days, which aligns with the Buddhist and Taoist theories of thirty-six, forty-nine, and eighty-one Small Heavenly Cycles for foundation building."

"Yes, that's what I thought as well. If that's the case, then we can confirm two things: first, Ji Wenhe's cultivation method must be a Small Heavenly Cycle technique that allows one to enter the Tao after forty-nine days, making it undoubtedly a Taoist practice; second, Li Yan must have already completed the Small Heavenly Cycle."

"Senior Brother, these two points should be confirmed, but there are still two uncertainties. The first is whether Ji Wenhe truly intends to use Li Yan as a successor, or if Li Yan is not yet suitable to be used as a vessel for extracting poison. The second is whether Li Yan's success in cultivation means that their internal energy cultivation method is truly profound, making it difficult for ordinary people to comprehend?"

"Junior Brother is right. These two points will greatly influence our next course of action. If Li Yan is still intended to be used as a vessel for extracting poison, then we will have an opportunity to exploit. However, if his cultivation method is unique, then we must make good use of Li Yan and proceed cautiously, lest we obtain the technique from him but not understand its intricacies."

"Then, what does Senior Brother suggest we do now?"

"Well, since he was able to enter the city today, there will be a next time, and a time after that. We cannot contact him immediately, lest we be too rash and arouse his suspicion, which would also alert Ji Wenhe. Have our men keep a close watch on him to see what he's here for this time, and then we'll make our next plan."

"Yes, Senior Brother."

The hall fell silent. A moment later, Hong Linying's figure also vanished without a trace.

"Captain Liu, you don't need to be so polite. I was fortunate to have your guidance when I entered the city last time. I haven't had the chance to thank you yet."

Li Yan quickly took a few steps forward and held Liu Chengyong's arm.

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. This subordinate offered no guidance, just a few casual words." Seeing Li Yan's sincere expression, Liu Chengyong was overjoyed. He had heard some time ago that Military Advisor Ji had taken another disciple, said to be from the Great Green Mountains. At the time, the road permit that Li Guoxin had shown him flashed through his mind, but he wasn't sure. Seeing Li Yan's arrival today, accompanied by Chen An and the others from the Military Advisor's Residence, he immediately understood that his guess was correct.

Although he belonged to Marshal Hong's faction, everyone in the army knew the power of Military Advisor Ji. To be able to befriend his disciple at the same time was a great advantage.

Chen An and Li Yin couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. They exchanged glances, feeling resentful. They hadn't had many opportunities to see this Young Master in a good mood recently. Today, the Young Master's mind was back on track, so why were they so unlucky?

Liu Chengyong withdrew his cupped fist salute and secretly looked up at Li Yan again, unable to help but sigh. The mountain village boy he had met back then was now an official of the ninth rank, which could be said to be a meteoric rise. This was what it meant to have someone in the imperial court who could help one advance.

Li Yan was preoccupied with his affairs and wanted to see Li Shan and Li Yu as soon as possible.

He didn't know what etiquette to observe at this time, so he could only clasp his fist and say, "Captain Liu, I have some matters to attend to in the city. How about we catch up next time?"

"Oh, yes, yes, yes, of course, of course. Then this subordinate will respectfully see Lord Li off." Liu Chengyong stepped aside, and the soldiers behind him also withdrew their spears and retreated.

Li Yin stepped forward and handed the reins to Li Yan. "Young Master, please mount your horse."

Li Yan smiled awkwardly and said, "Let's tie the horses here for now. Let's walk into the city."

Li Yin was stunned for a moment, then understood. Li Yan was afraid that his riding skills were too poor and that he would cause trouble on the city streets if he lost control.

Seeing this, Chen An laughed and said, "Old Liu, we'll leave these horses here. Please arrange for them to be taken care of. If we haven't appeared when your shift ends, please let the brothers on the next shift know."

Liu Chengyong was a worldly man and readily agreed with a smile.

After they left, except for a few soldiers who were still checking people entering and leaving the city, the rest of the soldiers approached Liu Chengyong. "Captain Liu, is that really the person we met some time ago? It hasn't even been two months, and he's changed a lot."

Liu Chengyong also sighed. "It really is him. It feels like just yesterday."

"Captain Liu, you were quite fond of him back then, so there's still some familiarity. Maybe he can take care of you in the future," one soldier said, also one of those on duty that day.

"Captain Liu, the brothers didn't get to work with you that day. Did you really meet this Lord Li?" another person said.

"Captain Liu, is this Lord Li the disciple of Lord Ji that everyone's been talking about recently?" several other soldiers asked.

After finishing his sigh, Liu Chengyong immediately felt a headache from the questions of his subordinates. His brothers were good in every way. When war came, they followed orders without fail and fought to the death against the enemy. It was just that they were too lax in peacetime and even lacked a sense of hierarchy. He waved his hand and said, "I really did have a brief encounter with this Lord Li. He is undoubtedly Military Advisor Ji's disciple. Alright, alright, you don't need to ask so many questions. We're on duty. You, you, and you, take these horses to the gate and take good care of them."

Li Yan and the others walked quickly on the street. Li Yan was anxious and asked Chen An and Li Yin to lead the way to the Natural Wine House. Half a cup of tea later, they arrived in front of the tavern. Li Yan identified the storefront he had visited last time and walked in, with Chen An and Li Yin following closely behind.

As soon as they entered the door, the sharp-eyed waiter greeted them. "Yo, three officials, are you here to drink or eat?"

These waiters were all discerning people who had seen people from all over the country. They were extremely clever and insightful. Seeing that Li Yan and the others were not carrying any luggage, and that the first one was wearing a black robe with two military officials following closely behind, they naturally knew that they were not travelers looking for a quick bite but were here to drink or eat.

Li Yan stopped and looked around. Wow, he had only seen it from afar last time. Today, when he came in, he realized that they had only entered one of the storefronts of the tavern. Inside, there were seven or eight storefronts lined up horizontally, all connected. It was already past noon, and many diners had almost finished eating, but the sounds of guessing games, shouting orders, talking, and laughing were still everywhere, making it lively and unusual.

"Oh, I'm here to find Li Yu, who is an apprentice here. Please help me find him," Li Yan said politely.

The waiter was stunned and carefully looked at the three people in front of him, thinking, "Could it be that Xiao Yu has caused trouble outside? That's not right. Xiao Yu rarely goes out."

Seeing the waiter in a daze, Li Yin stepped forward and slapped him on the shoulder. "Our Young Master is talking to you. Are you deaf or mute?"

The waiter was startled and immediately recovered from his daze. Seeing Li Yin's unfriendly expression, he apologized repeatedly. "Please calm down, sir, please calm down. I'll go get him right away." He didn't see Li Yan looking at him apologetically and turned to walk towards the back hall.

Li Yan had never acted unreasonably like this before. He had only been forced to act arrogantly towards Chen An, Li Yin, and a few women in the valley because he was familiar with their personalities. Chen An and Li Yin, who were used to fighting and killing all day long, didn't have such good tempers towards these common people. Their words usually carried a sense of killing intent.

Chen An saw Li Yan's apologetic expression and, thinking about his attitude towards Liu Chengyong at the city gate just now, thought that this Young Master's mind was back on the normal track. He smiled and said, "Young Master, these thieves are dawdling on their own, but don't let them delay your business."

Li Yan looked at Chen An, looking at himself with some doubt, and his heart shuddered. He also understood that his performance today was a bit inappropriate. Now he was supposed to be a person with a somewhat tyrannical temperament, so he squinted at the two of them.

"My affairs don't need you to teach me. Alright, you two stay away from me. I want to talk to my brother for a while. Don't disturb my peace."

Chen An and Li Yin immediately had bitter expressions on their faces, thinking, "Okay, this Young Master's illness has relapsed. Why can't he understand good words?" ????

After a while, the waiter brought Li Yu over. After he went to the back hall to find Li Yu, because Li Yu was a nephew of Manager Li here, and because Li Yu was usually very diligent and conscientious in his apprenticeship, he had a good reputation.

After finding Li Yu, the waiter asked Li Yu if he had gone out recently and if he had caused any trouble, telling him that there was a noble young man who had brought two military officials to look for him outside.

This immediately scared the timid Li Yu, and his face turned white. He swore that he had not been out recently and had been in the back hall, not even having time to help serve tea in the front hall. This finally reassured the waiter.

At first, Li Yu didn't understand what it meant to be like a noble young man. Either he was or he wasn't, but after he came to his senses, he thought of one person and immediately became happy. In the past few months, many people in the village had mentioned Li Yan, who had joined the army and become a disciple of the famous Military Advisor Ji. With the temperament of Li Yan, himself, and Li Shan, who came from the countryside, let alone these two months, even if another year passed, would they become noble young men just by wearing luxurious clothes?

When Li Yan saw Li Yu's figure, his heart was filled with excitement. He hadn't left the valley for several months, and now he saw his childhood playmate again. A feeling of homesickness immediately rose in his chest, making him miss the Great Green Mountains, the small mountain village, his parents, and the people, plants, and objects in the village. He quickly walked a few steps to meet him.

Li Yu came to the front hall and saw a person standing at the counter from afar. He was dressed in a black robe and had ordinary features, but he was so familiar. Although the aura emanating from him had changed somewhat, Li Yu recognized him at a glance. Tears immediately streamed down his face, and he ran over with whimpering sounds. The waiter beside him sighed. This child was good in every way, but he just loved to cry. Every time someone from his hometown came to see him, he would always be teary-eyed, as if he had suffered some great grievance in the shop.

"Brother Yan, Brother Yan, waah..." Li Yu ran while wiping away his tears, immediately causing the surrounding diners to stop what they were doing and start watching.

Li Yan was also excited, his eyes were a little red, and he hugged Li Yu who rushed over.

Chen An and Li Yin exchanged a glance. Chen An then quickly walked to the waiter.

"Waiter, do you have a private room available? I'd like my young master to catch up with an old friend!" The two of them could tell that there were too many people here, and it wasn't a place to talk, especially with a half-grown child crying here. People wouldn't know what to think.

The waiter quickly replied, "Yes, yes, yes, we have them on the first floor and the second floor."

Chen An looked at the noisy diners on the first floor. "Then let's go to the second floor!"

He walked a few steps to Li Yan, who was comforting Li Yu. "Young Master, it's too noisy here. Let's go to a private room upstairs to talk."

Li Yan also felt that it was too noisy here, and he couldn't talk to Li Yu properly. Hearing Chen An say this, he was naturally happy, and thought to himself, "This Chen An is truly a capable person, so perceptive."

They followed the waiter to a private room on the second floor. After the waiter brought a pot of tea, Li Yan asked him to leave. Then, Li Yan asked Chen An and Li Yin to wait for him outside the hotel, but he didn't expect to be flatly refused by Chen An and Li Yin. They said that they couldn't leave Li Yan's side for a moment, citing the need to protect Li Yan's safety. In the end, they had to be locked outside the door, and Li Yan left only Li Yu in the room to talk.

After two cups of tea, Li Yan, under Li Yu's reluctant gaze, then went with Chen An and Li Yin to the Ironware Pavilion. Similarly, after a joyful reunion with Li Shan, Li Yu left several dozen taels of silver to be taken back to the village by the next group of people from the village to be given to his parents. Then, after wandering around the city, Li Yan bought a set of clothes and left the city with Chen An and Li Yin, retrieved their horses, and returned to the Military Advisor's Residence.

As soon as he entered the valley, Li Yan felt a Divine Sense emanating from Military Advisor Ji's room, quickly scanning him. Then, it carefully circled the newly bought clothes in his hand before disappearing without a trace.

Li Yan pretended not to notice and deliberately glanced at the first stone room. Seeing that the stone room door was tightly closed, he muttered a few words and walked towards his own stone room.

After entering the room, Li Yan relaxed and poured himself a glass of water, drank it, and sat on the chair to rest for a while before getting up to close the door.

After closing the door, Li Yan felt again and found that there was no Divine Sense appearing, and his face darkened.

Today's trip to the city confirmed the following points:

First, Chen An and Li Yin were indeed people planted by Military Advisor Ji to monitor him. Despite their respectful and somewhat fearful appearance on the surface, these two would not allow him to escape their control outside. On the road, they almost sandwiched him in the middle to "protect" him, in order to avoid Meng Kingdom "spies assassinating" him.

Even when meeting with Li Yu, their furthest distance was outside the door of the tavern's private room. Moreover, through the crack in the door and the window, Li Yan discovered that one was outside the door and the other was at the place corresponding to the private room downstairs in the tavern. Even if he secretly jumped out of the window, it would be discovered immediately. The same was true at Li Shan's Ironware Pavilion. They stood dozens of steps away from him and Li Shan as they talked, and his every move was within their sight.

Second, Military Advisor Ji was already wary of him. Today, he deliberately bought a set of clothes, and after returning, he found that Military Advisor Ji's Divine Sense would probe any newly appeared items more thoroughly, so that everything was under his control.

Thinking of these things, Li Yan couldn't help but frown. He was being held under house arrest. How could he escape this deadly valley?