Slipping off the Bead Bracelet

"Slaughter across three thousand miles"

Zharmuha's expression remained blank, and he replied in a devoid of emotion, "What bloodshed across three thousand miles?"

"Was my question phrased incorrectly?" Xu Qi'an frowned and said in a deep voice, "Was the massacre that ravaged three thousand miles of the Great Feng border carried out by your barbarian tribes?"

Zhamuha stared blankly ahead, muttering, "I don't know."

Xu Qi'an's breathing became heavy. He took a deep breath and asked Tianlang the same question again, and received the same answer: the leader of the Jinmu tribe was unaware of this matter.

He didn't give up and continued to ask Tangshan Jun, "Was the massacre along the border of the Great Feng, spanning three thousand miles, carried out by your northern Demon Race?"

Tang Shanjun looked blank and replied, "I don't know."

have no idea?

Have no idea!

Xu Qi'an's breathing became heavy again, his pupils slightly dilated. He sat there for a few seconds, then said in a deep voice, "Chu Xianglong, do you know about the Bloodbath of Three Thousand Miles?"

Chu Xianglong, his expression blank, instinctively replied, "Wei Yuan attempted to frame the Prince of Huai, using a corpse and soul to frame him, and then dispatched Xu Qi'an, the Silver Gong, to the border to fabricate charges and falsely accuse the Prince of Huai."

"No, I didn't, don't talk nonsense." Xu Qi'an mentally denied it three times.

Is this Chu Xianglong's idea? He believes that the so-called massacre of three thousand miles was a scheme by Duke Wei and the officials of the court, aimed at the Prince of Zhenbei.

So they decided to use the mission to escort the princess.

So, Emperor Yuanjing was also thinking the same thing, going with the flow? It seems that Emperor Yuanjing and the Prince of Zhenbei were in cahoots.

After all, they are brothers born of the same mother.

The northern barbarians and Demon Race were unaware of the massacre that ravaged three thousand miles, but Chu Xianglong, the deputy general of the Prince of Zhenbei, believed that it was a frame-up by the Duke Wei and the officials of the court, meaning that he was also unaware of the massacre.

So, who exactly is the werewolf?

Hiss. The case suddenly became more complicated. For some reason, Xu Qi'an breathed a sigh of relief and then asked:

"You're planning to go back north, what will you do to me then?"

To this question, Chu Xianglong answered bluntly, "Monitor you, or place you under house arrest. After some time, we'll send you back to the capital."

That's certainly a simple and direct approach. Xu Qi'an then asked, "What kind of person do you think the Prince of Zhenbei is?"

Chu Xianglong did not hesitate, "He is domineering and powerful, but very good to the brothers. He is a lord worthy of loyalty."

After thinking for a moment, Xu Qi'an asked a rebellious question, "Do you think the Prince of Zhenbei will rebel?"

"No!" Chu Xianglong's answer was concise and to the point.

"Why?" Xu Qi'an wanted to hear the deputy general's opinion.

"Prince Huai is a born commander. He loves fighting on the battlefield and dislikes the court. Prince Huai is a martial arts fanatic. Apart from the battlefield, he only has cultivation in his heart," Chu Xianglong said.

Hmm, that's true. The throne may be tempting, but not everyone wants to sit in that position. If Prince Huai is truly a martial arts fanatic, then the throne would be a constraint for him.

Xu Qi'an reluctantly accepted this explanation, but he didn't believe it entirely. He still needed to make a conclusion after contacting the Prince of Zhenbei himself.

He didn't ask any further questions, but lowered his head slightly and began a new round of brainstorming:

"There are two things I still don't understand. First, if the princess smells so good, why did Emperor Yuanjing give her to the Prince of Zhenbei instead of keeping her for himself? Second, although Emperor Yuanjing and the Prince of Huai are brothers from the same mother, given the old emperor's suspicious nature, it's impossible for him to trust the Prince of Zhenbei completely."

"This concerns imperial power; not even brothers, let alone fathers and sons, can be trusted. But the old emperor seems to be giving his full support to the Prince of Zhenbei's promotion to the second rank? Perhaps, the very act of sending a princess to the Prince of Zhenbei was for this very reason."

Regarding the first question, Xu Qi'an guessed that the princess's spiritual essence was only effective against martial artists, while Emperor Yuanjing practiced the Daoist School system.

In this world with its distinct systems, the differences between them are vast. What is a boon to one system may be useless or even toxic to another.

Of course, this speculation still needs to be confirmed.

As for the second question, Xu Qi'an had no clue.

After finishing his question, Chu Xianglong turned his gaze to the remaining two souls: one was the fake princess who had died a violent death, and the other was the white-robed Warlock.

The white-robed Warlock looked more dull and wooden than the others, muttering something to himself.

"What's your name?" Xu Qi'an asked tentatively.

"Xu Shengzu," the white-robed Warlock muttered to himself as he took a moment to answer his question.

So you're Xu Shengzu? I thought it was the name of the mastermind. Disappointment welled up in Xu Qi'an's heart.

This guy used the Qi-Watching Technique to spy on Monk Shenshu, and his mind collapsed. This shows that his rank is not high, so it can be easily deduced that there is an organization or a powerful figure behind him.

What organization are you backing?

"."

Whom do you work for?

"."

"May I have your name."

Xu Shengzu

This is completely impossible to communicate with! Aside from saying his own name, he can't answer any other questions. Isn't he just a three-year-old? Xu Qi'an's lips twitched.

"I remember there was a sachet in the fragment of the Earth Book, it belonged to Li Miaozhen." Xu Qi'an took out the fragment of the Earth Book, tapped the back of the mirror, and sure enough, a sachet fell out.

This sachet houses the remnant soul that chanted "slaughter across three thousand miles of blood."

When Wei Yuan took the sachet, he reported the Prince of Zhenbei in court. Afterwards, the sachet was returned to Xu Qi'an, but Xu Qi'an kept it and forgot to return it to the Holy Maiden of Tianzong.

This sachet is a small Law Artifact that Li Miaozhen made herself. It has the effect of nourishing and trapping the soul. Unless it is an old ghost that has been refined by someone, a newly deceased ghost like this cannot break through the sachet's binding force.

"This Warlock will be of great use in the future, even though he has become mentally disabled. Hmm, let's keep him for now and hand him over to Li Miaozhen to raise later. As the Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Sect, she must have the means and methods to restore this ghost to his senses."

"Well, that's the benefit of having a wide network of connections, no, it's a perk only a successful playboy can enjoy. This sachet can hold ghosts, hmm, let's call it Yin Nang."

Xu Qi'an collected the Warlock's and the others' souls into a sachet, then put their corpses into a fragment of the Earth Book, and simply cleaned up the scene.

Fortunately, no fierce battle took place here. Monk Shenshu overwhelmed the enemy with overwhelming force and acted swiftly and decisively, so all that was needed was to dispose of the corpses.

Finally, Xu Qi'an was troubled because he didn't know what to do with these maids.

"Should we just kill them? Great men don't concern themselves with trifles. Although they don't know what happened next, they know that I intercepted the experts from the North."

"But they didn't do anything immoral, nor did they harm me; they were all innocent lives."

After much deliberation, Xu Qi'an finally chose to spare the maids. This was partly because he could not go against his conscience and commit the atrocity of killing innocent people.

On the other hand, the motive for killing to cover up the crime was insufficient.

Unless he intends to keep the princess hidden away forever, never letting her see the light of day, or he steals her essence from her.

Therefore, killing him to silence him is necessary; otherwise, it would be irresponsible to his own safety and that of his family. However, Xu Qi'an is not one to do such a thing.

Moreover, in his future plans, the princess has another, very important purpose. Therefore, he won't keep her hidden forever.

In this way, the motive for killing to cover it up disappears.

"Although I won't kill you to silence you, your premature escape will affect my subsequent plans. So, get some sleep here, and when you wake up, go your separate ways."

The night breeze was a little cool. The old lady slept soundly and woke up feeling refreshed and completely refreshed.

She hadn't slept well for several days, and her body was full of fatigue; she desperately needed a good night's sleep.

She slowly opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was a huge banyan tree, its leaves rustling in the night breeze.

She lay under a tree, on the meadow, covered with a robe, the crackling of the campfire in her ears, the flames providing a comfortable warmth.

Her gaze glazed over for a moment, then her pupils snapped back into focus, and with a swift, effortless movement, this pampered woman sprang to her feet.

Given her physique, this is considered a burst of potential.

The first thing she did was check her body. Seeing that her clothes were neat, she breathed a sigh of relief, and then looked around in horror.

Then, I saw a young man sitting by the campfire, his face illuminated by the firelight, his features as gentle and refined as jade.

"Woke up?"

Xu Qi'an, who was roasting a rabbit in his hand, didn't look up and said calmly, "The water pouch is right next to you. Drink it yourself if you're thirsty. In another fifteen minutes, you can eat rabbit meat."

Memories of what happened before she fell unconscious flashed through her mind. The old woman stared wide-eyed at Xu Qi'an in disbelief. "You saved me?"

"Yes!"

Just as Xu Qi'an was about to show off in front of everyone, he saw the old lady shake her head and stare at him warily.

"Impossible, Xu Qi'an doesn't have that kind of strength. Who are you? Why are you impersonating him? How is he now?"

She covered her heavy chest with one hand, while grabbing haphazardly with the other, trying to find something to protect herself. Finally, she grabbed a water pouch, ready for anything.

If Xu Qi'an dares to get close, she'll smash his head open.

Reasonable suspicion, not too stupid. Xu Qi'an rolled his eyes at her and said irritably:

"The first time we met was at a restaurant near the arena in the south of the city. I picked up your silver, and you aggressively demanded it back. Later, I even hit your foot with my money bag."

"The second time we met was by the arena in the south of the city. I risked my life to protect you, and you still hit me."

With a muffled thud, the water bag fell to the ground. The old woman stared at him blankly for a long while, then murmured softly, "It really is you."

Xu Qi'an nodded.

She stared intently at the boy by the campfire, a complex expression flashing across her otherwise ordinary face.

"I saved you with all my might, but as for the others, there's nothing I can do," Xu Qi'an explained casually.

"Yes, yes."

Her face showed grief, and she whispered, "Your Majesty, the Queen is dead."

Xu Qi'an glanced at her, gave a nonchalant "hmm," and said, "For a woman like this who brings ruin to the country, death is the end of everything. Good riddance, a death worthy of applause."

Her eyes widened suddenly as she glared at Xu Qi'an: "What nonsense are you spouting? The princess is not a scourge to the country; she is a pitiful woman."

"Where is it pitiful?" Xu Qi'an laughed.

"Hmph!" She raised her snow-white chin, turned her head away, and said angrily, "How could a crude and vulgar warrior like you know the princess's suffering? I won't tell you."

Once out of danger, that arrogant streak returned; he was both cowardly and timid, yet still incredibly proud. Xu Qi'an thought to himself, focusing intently on grilling the meat.

At first, the older woman sat quietly under the banyan tree, keeping her distance from Xu Qi'an.

As the rabbit roasted and smelled increasingly delicious, she swallowed hard and shuffled over to the campfire, hugging her knees and watching the roasting rabbit with great interest.

Like a cat waiting to be fed.

Once the rabbit was roasted to a golden brown, Xu Qi'an sprinkled it with chicken bouillon, tore off two hind legs, and handed them to her.

The older woman's eyes lit up slightly, and she eagerly took it and took a bite.

Ouch. She was burned by the scalding hot meat, her stomach growling, but she couldn't bear to spit it out. Her little mouth was slightly open, and she kept hissing.

The chicken bouillon masked the rabbit's gamey smell and enhanced its flavor, and Xu Qi'an roasted it until it was crispy and delicious. She, who usually disliked gamey smells, actually gnawed both rabbit legs clean.

Then he climbed up to the banyan tree, picked up the water bag, and gulped down a huge mouthful.

I feel incredibly fulfilled with my life.

After a hearty meal, she moved back to the campfire and said with a heavy sigh, "I never imagined I'd fallen so low that I feel happy just eating a few bites of rabbit meat."

Your attitude of crossing the river and then burning the bridge is just like me when I'm in a state of post-coital slumber. Xu Qi'an felt that she was full of flaws.

An interesting woman.

"Hey, your Bodhi seed bracelet is quite interesting." Xu Qi'an's gaze fell on her snow-white wrist, and he said casually.

Her face paled, and she quickly pulled her sleeves up to hide it, saying, "Worthless goods."

He probably didn't notice, he definitely didn't notice. Who would remember an ordinary string of beads that's been there for more than half a year?

"Let me see." Xu Qi'an reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"You, you, you're so insolent!"

The older woman was horrified; how could a man touch her hands so casually?

She hid her hands behind her back, then pushed herself backward, preventing Xu Qi'an from seeing the bracelet.

Xu Qi'an grabbed her ankle and dragged her back.

The elderly woman kicked her legs wildly and screamed.

This scene looks like a deranged young man attempting to assault an older woman.

"Show me the bracelet, and you won't snatch it away." Xu Qian asked doubtfully, "Why are you reacting so hard?"

"No, no, no!" she shouted.

"Ah!"

Amidst screams, the bracelet was still managed to be pulled off.

PS: Thanks to "Mr. H from Newcastle" for the generous donation. This is a first update, then revisions; please remember to check for bugs.

Moving on to the next chapter.