After Strategist Ji returned from the Marshal's Residence, he had been sitting quietly in his room. It was just that today, he always felt a little restless, as if something was about to happen.
Cultivators often have some strange feelings happen to them. If it were a profound cultivator, they could even sense some things about the future.
But he didn't know what would happen. Li Yan and Chen An and the others had gone to the city. This was also a common occurrence recently, so he didn't consider it. He just felt his mood fluctuate. Just as he was feeling restless, he suddenly had a feeling. His divine sense probed outside and found that it was Chen An and Li Yin rushing in. He just swept a glance at them and didn't pay it much mind.
Although this had never happened before, Li Yan would often order Chen An and Li Yin to carry things into the valley when he returned from outside recently. He thought that Chen An and Li Yin were being rushed by Li Yan to do something in the valley. But a moment later, he stood up. The two of them had gone into the room for a while and then came out again, without a word, their expressions extremely anxious. And until now, he had not seen Li Yan follow them in. This had never happened before.
Strategist Ji's heart sank. After he stood up, he flickered and came to the mouth of the valley. He looked around but did not see Li Yan's figure. He scanned the area again with his divine sense uncertainly but still did not see him. The feeling of unease became even stronger. His figure flickered and silently came to the front of Li Yan's room.
When Chen An and Li Yin suddenly heard someone ask a question, and the voice was extremely familiar, their bodies trembled, and they turned around with ugly expressions on their faces. They saw Strategist Ji looking at the two of them with a gloomy face. The two of them quickly knelt and kowtowed.
"I'm asking you a question. Where's Li Yan?" Strategist Ji's voice came, icy and without a trace of emotion. In this early summer evening, it made people feel cold all over.
"My... my... Lord, the Young Master... he... he's lost," Li Yin just lay on the ground, biting his lip tightly. Chen An had no choice but to stammer.
"Lost?" Strategist Ji said, pausing on each word.
"Yes... yes... that's right. He came out when we were in the military camp," Chen An said, lying on the ground, not even daring to lift his head.
"Oh, in the military camp? What were you doing there? Drinking with Liu Chengyong? Tell me in detail what happened today," Strategist Ji's voice became even colder. Chen An and Li Yin felt as if they were in the extreme cold.
After a long while, Strategist Ji, in his black robe, stood outside the stone house, which was about to be enveloped by the night. Chen An had already explained everything in detail. The two of them were still lying on the ground, not daring to say another word.
After standing for a little while longer, the two of them suddenly felt the pressure lessen. When they looked up again, Strategist Ji's figure was already gone.
Strategist Ji was speeding through the forest, his mind racing. He didn't know what clue Li Yan had discovered that had made him finally decide to escape from here. He went through everything that had happened since Li Yan had entered the valley, but he did not find any omissions on his part. After thinking for a while, he still had no clue. But one thing was certain: today's matter was definitely related to Hong Linying. Otherwise, Li Yan would not have so coincidentally chosen the military camp to shake off Chen and Li. And today, he had also happened to be summoned by Hong Linying on some business. All these things were definitely not a coincidence but were a premeditated act.
And these all indicated that Li Yan had discovered that something was wrong for some time. Otherwise, how could he have come up with these plans in such a hurry? What a good calculation. He had not even noticed anything.
As for why Hong Linying was willing to help Li Yan, he didn't even have to think about it. That martial arts fanatic must have wanted to get the so-called "martial arts manual" from Li Yan. He thought as he ran at high speed. In a short while, he had already figured out the general origin of the matter.
In a short while, he saw the north city gate in the distance. He did not choose to enter through the city gate. Instead, when he was about to approach the north city gate, he disappeared into the forest on the west side. After entering the forest, he flexibly leaped onto the mountain ridge connected to the west side of the city wall. He was planning to cross the city wall from the mountain ridge. This was impossible in the current secular martial world. It was not that one could not go up this mountain, but in the process of going down the mountain, how could one not make a single sound on such a steep mountain wall? At that time, rows of powerful crossbows would come at you.
But Strategist Ji's figure was like a ghost, flickering in the mountains. In just a dozen breaths, he had already reached the top of the mountain ridge. Without pausing, he instantly went down the other side of the mountain ridge lightly. He was like a black pellet that was almost invisible, bouncing between the treetops and the rock wall, without causing a single stone or piece of soil to roll down. He seemed to have no weight at all.
After a few breaths, he had already reached the top of the city wall, which was dozens of zhang high. He disappeared from the top of the city wall in a flash, and the patrol soldiers on the city wall were completely unaware.
Strategist Ji was speeding between the houses in the city. His target was the Marshal's Residence. He believed that since Hong Linying had done this, then Li Yan must be in his grasp. So, what Chen An had heard at the north city gate about Li Yan leaving the city might not be credible. With Hong Linying's methods and power, what was it to make the guards at the gate tell a lie? Thus, Hong Linying must have hidden Li Yan in a safe place. And there should only be two safe places: one was the Marshal's Residence in Green Mountain Pass, and the other was the garrison camp dozens of li away.
Hong Linying would still want to have Li Yan in his grasp, under his nose. So, the probability of him being hidden in the Marshal's Residence in the city was greater than that of the garrison camp. Therefore, his primary target was the Marshal's Residence.
He had already considered these thoughts after hearing Chen An's words, by the time he left the valley. It could be said that this Strategist Ji was extremely meticulous and terrifying. He had basically considered the cause and effect of the matter in this short period of time, and it was not far from the truth. It was just that his focus was still on the wrong object. He had overlooked Li Yan's dominant role in this. In his mind, Li Yan must have discovered something was wrong, but with his ability, it was impossible for him to escape. However, Hong Linying had been looking for an opportunity to get the "martial arts manual." For some reason, the two had agreed on some plan, and Hong Linying had taken the opportunity to control Li Yan.
It couldn't be said that his thinking was wrong. For a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, with no power, no influence, and no strength, anyone would overlook the possibility of him taking the initiative.
Soon, Strategist Ji arrived at the back door of the Marshal's Residence. It was already dark. He did not stop, just flickered and disappeared into it, as if he were returning to his own home.
Soon, he had silently roamed around the Marshal's Residence for a round. He had probed all the houses but had not found anything unusual. This was also within his expectations. If he could find the person so easily, then Hong Linying would be too stupid.
It was just that he didn't want to make a mistake that he shouldn't have made because of his own carelessness. And after this round, he had also identified a few suspicious places. The rest was to carefully investigate these few places. After all, he was only at the third layer of the Qi Condensation stage, and his divine sense could not detect more than ten zhang. He could not scan a large area.
There were three suspicious places: one was a secret room behind the main hall; the second was a secret passage in the back garden that led to the back door; and the third was a secret room under the east wing of the backyard. With a confirmed range, he went to look for them one by one.
Soon, he flashed out from the main hall. There was no one in the secret room behind the main hall. After his divine sense detected no one, he even went in to look for a round but found no clues.
A few breaths later, he had already come to the outside of the east wing of the backyard. He hid in the shadow of the corridor. After focusing his mind and holding his breath, he released his divine sense and swept it into the room. In this Green Mountain Pass, he had nothing to fear. For so many years, he had never found a single cultivator, so no one could recognize his divine sense. After probing for a round, there was no one in the room either. He walked out from the shadow and slowly pushed the door open.
After entering the room, he quickly found the entrance to the secret room. He sat down cross-legged on the spot and released his divine sense again to probe the entrance.
His divine sense range was too small. When he was outside the room, he could only detect that there was a secret room under this room, but he could not get a full view. So, he had to make sure that there was no one in the room before approaching and probing again.
Soon, his face changed, and his eyebrows jumped. A hint of a smile appeared. The secret room was not big. He had detected that there were indeed two people in the secret room. But soon, his face turned gloomy. Li Yan was not there. It was Hong Linying and another person. But he knew that person. He often mysteriously hid in the secret room in the back hall of the residence. His aura was not weaker than Hong Linying's, and he was also a top master of the martial world. He just pretended not to know. He didn't care if there were a few more people like that.
But at this time, the two people in this secret room were just sitting on a meditation cushion each, as if they were cultivating.
This way, he couldn't help but feel a little confused. Hong Linying actually didn't have Li Yan with him. Or did he put Li Yan somewhere else with someone to guard him? He didn't delay and retracted his divine sense. He stood up and went towards the back garden.
After he left, after a long while, Hong Linying on the meditation cushion in the secret room suddenly opened his eyes. The hand that was placed on his knee, half-clenched into a fist, slowly loosened. It was actually that small porcelain bottle. At this time, a faint sound of impact came from the bottle. He glanced at the small bottle and said, "He's gone far."
The large man also opened his eyes at this time and also glanced at the porcelain bottle. "Senior Brother, did Ji Wenhe come at this time for that boy?"
Hong Linying thought for a moment and said, "At this time, it should be."
The large man then said, "Fortunately, we have this thing. Otherwise, Ji Wenhe's lightness skill is too formidable. Neither of us would have noticed anything. I really don't know how that boy put this thing on Ji Wenhe without him noticing."
Hong Linying's expression was also grave. He did not answer this question. After a long while, he said, "Ji Wenhe's martial arts have reached the Transformation Realm. He was actually able to find this place in the vast Marshal's Residence. He is truly remarkable. We can only judge his arrival and proximity from the intensity of this thing's reaction. The fluctuation was very small at first, and then it became larger and larger in the end. This means that Ji Wenhe was using his internal energy to probe, advancing bit by bit, and finally probing to this place. This skill is truly admirable. And the reason he didn't come down later was probably because he didn't detect Li Yan here. At the same time, he thought we still didn't know, so he could just do things quietly."
The large man heard this and was a little half-convinced and half-skeptical. "Senior Brother, if you say that his internal energy can probe a general situation through objects, it is still possible. But to say that he can even probe who is in this secret room is impossible."
Hong Linying had a thoughtful look on his face. After a while, he said again, "It is still possible. When internal energy reaches a certain level, although one cannot probe who the other party is through objects, one can still infer the other party's situation by probing their breathing, aura, and so on."
The large man also nodded silently after hearing this. "In that case, it is fortunate that Senior Brother was quick-witted and held this bottle in your hand, circulating your energy to block the sound. Otherwise, he would have also heard the sound of this thing impacting, and then it is very likely that he would have discovered that something was wrong with himself. But for today's matter, just this tracking ability of his, the use of this cultivation technique is truly wonderful."
Hong Linying also nodded after hearing this. "We also tried to circulate this cultivation technique just now. Although there was no reaction, we can already confirm that it is a technique for sensing the primordial qi of heaven and earth. The methods here are extremely clever, not comparable to any technique I have ever seen. I think it should be a real technique. But it would be best to get the full version, so that we can truly make a comparison."
"Since that's the case, should we go there at the agreed time?" the large man also said with an expectant look on his face. He had seen the wonder of Strategist Ji's cultivation technique again tonight and was already unable to hold back his eagerness.
Hong Linying was still a little hesitant. He took out a piece of paper from his robes. It was one of the letters Li Yan had given him. He looked at it again and again for a while, and finally slowly folded it up, put it in his robes with great care, looked up at the large man, and slowly said, "Then let's go as agreed. This is a good opportunity, after all. As for that boy, after this matter, I will slowly deal with him."
After the large man heard this, he said with a solemn expression, "Senior Brother, with our current martial arts, our chances of dealing with Ji Wenhe are still not great."
He swept away his previous view of Ji Wenhe. He had only come here a few years ago, so he had not seen Ji Wenhe display his martial arts. He had only heard about it. Before, he had still felt that Senior Brother and the many men in the army had exaggerated Ji Wenhe's martial arts, and he was still not convinced in his heart. But today, he had let someone get close to him without even knowing. If it weren't for the fact that he had happened to do something to the other party, he wouldn't have even known how he died.
After hearing this, Hong Linying chuckled. He only saw his lips move slightly, but no sound came out. He said a few words to him using the "Secret Voice Transmission" method.
After a few dozen breaths, the large man also had a joyful look on his face. "Senior Brother, this method of yours is really feasible."