489 Untitled
The State Preceptor Hall was located in the east of the Imperial Capital, in a completely different direction from the Gu Hall. The Gu Hall had a dangerous natural barrier like the Gu Mountain, but the State Preceptor Hall was located on an empty flatland.
However, don’t think that it was easy to barge into the State Preceptor Hall.
Compared to a well-arranged courtyard, the State Preceptor Hall was more like a cold and strict ancient castle. The wall of the ancient castle was a hundred feet tall and rose into the clouds. This was definitely not something that could be reached with qinggong. They had to use tools to climb up bit by bit. This was also why Grandma must have made them make ample preparations.
They were all prepared, but unfortunately, they lacked the opportunity. There were guards constantly patrolling above the ancient castle. They waited for three days and three nights, but there was no chance to avoid the guards’ eyes and ears.
On a big tree outside the ancient castle, Yue Gou retracted his gaze from monitoring the ancient castle’s movements and asked Qing Yan, “Do we still wait? Or should we go somewhere else?” It was unknown how many monitoring points they had changed in the past few days.
Qing Yan frowned. “No, just wait patiently. I don’t believe we can’t wait for an opportunity.”
Another day passed. On the fourth night, Ah Wei woke Qing Yan up. “Wake up. Someone upstairs is drunk.”
Qing Yan quickly opened his eyes. “How do you know?”
Ah Wei said, “I heard him vomit.”
Qing Yan said thoughtfully, “He vomited. In that case, someone needs to take his place?”
They rushed up before the guards who were on duty came. Perhaps it was a good time. Qing Yan was in high spirits. He woke up Yue Gou and Jiang Hai and covered themselves with a black cloth before walking towards the ancient castle. When they arrived at the corner, they realized that the ancient castle was higher than when they looked from afar.
According to their original plan, they would chisel the wall and go up. However, at this height, before they could chisel it, the person on duty would come. At this moment, Jiang Hai took out a box that was slightly bigger than his fist.
“What is this?” Qing Yan asked.
Jiang Hai said, “The Qianji Box. The Princely Heir asked me to bring it.” Before leaving, Yan Jiuchao gave him the Qianji Box.
Qing Yan sneered. “Aren’t the Princely Heir afraid that you’ll escape with such a treasure?”
Jiang Hai glanced at him. “If you’re jealous, just say it.”
Oh, he was so jealous! He doted on Little Jiu so much, but Little Jiu refused to give it to him.
Jiang Hai felt comfortable when he saw that he was jealous. Jiang Hai would never tell Qing Yan that Yan Jiuchao originally wanted to give it to Qing Yan. However, he happened to bump into him. Yan Jiuchao thought that it would be fine to give it to him, so he let him take it.
“Are you still going up?” The great villain Ah Wei said expressionlessly. “If not, stay where you are!”
Qing Yan slapped the back of his head. “Brat, when is it your turn to lecture!”
Jiang Hai opened the Qianji Box and shot out an eagle claw hook. It hung on the top of the wall. The four of them put on silver gloves and grabbed the thin rope hooked by the eagle claw to climb up the ancient castle.
During the climb, Qing Yan accidentally stepped on something. He probed Ah Wei, “Don’t tell me that person vomited outside.”
Ah Wei said, “That’s right. How else could I have heard it?”
Qing Yan felt terrible! When they went up to the ancient castle, the guard was already drunk. They hid outside the passageway. After a while, the two guards who were on duty left the passageway. One of them said in disdain, “How useless. He’s so drunk from a bowl of wine! Alright, alright, take him away. I’ll take his place tonight. When someone asks later, just say that he’s not feeling well, not to mention that he’s drunk.”
“Got it.” His companion walked over.
The guard on duty helped to help the drunk man on the ground onto his back. Jiang Hai and the other three took advantage of the time when the two of them were distracted to quickly enter the passageway and follow the spiral stairs to the bottom of the fort.
Qing Yan looked around and said, “The State Preceptor Hall is so big. Where exactly is the Myriad Book Pavilion?”
“Follow me,” Jiang Hai said.
Qing Yan was stunned. Who was this guy? Not only was he familiar with the mechanisms of the Queen Manor, but he was also familiar with the terrain of the State Preceptor Hall.
“What are you in a daze for?” Jiang Hai asked.
“Nothing,” Qing Yan said without batting an eyelid. As soon as he finished speaking, his ears twitched. “There’s someone!”
They quickly hid behind a huge pillar and held their breaths to prevent their aura from leaking. When that person got closer, they could see his appearance clearly. It was actually the State Preceptor whom they had met once in Nanzhao.
“It’s the State Preceptor,” Qing Yan said silently, indicating for them to carefully suppress their auras. They understood and even grabbed their pulse.
The State Preceptor looked anxious, as if something had happened, so he did not notice that there was someone behind the pillar. Qing Yan and the others only heaved a sigh of relief after the State Preceptor left.
But soon, Jiang Hai realized that something was wrong. “I know the State Preceptor because Madam saved the State Preceptor’s disciple. The State Preceptor once personally came to visit. How do you know the State Preceptor? Who are you?”
“The State Preceptor has also been to Lotus Flower Village,” Qing Yan said.
“When he went, he said he was the State Preceptor of Nanzhao?” Jiang Hai asked suspiciously.
Of course not. It was Grandma who recognized him, but Qing Yan naturally wouldn’t say this. Otherwise, their Ghost Clan’s identity would probably be out.
Qing Yan was stunned by Jiang Hai’s question for a full two seconds before he raised his chin and said, “Didn’t we say that we won’t interfere with each other? We didn’t even ask why you’re so familiar with the State Preceptor Hall, but you’ve already asked us everything about recognizing the State Preceptor.”
Jiang Hai shut up. But he continued, “You guys are very suspicious!”
Qing Yan glared at him. “Not as suspicious as you!”
Ah Wei: “You guys are so noisy.”
Qing Yan and Jiang Hai said in unison, “Children shouldn’t interrupt when adults are talking!”
Ah Wei: “…”
Jiang Hai was not as familiar with the State Preceptor Hall as Qing Yan had imagined. Jiang Hai only knew the general direction of the Myriad Book Pavilion, but he was not sure where it was. They wandered around the State Preceptor Hall for more than two hours before they finally found a pavilion that did not look very eye-catching. There was no plaque on the pavilion.
Qing Yan frowned. “Are you sure this is the Myriad Book Pavilion?”
“Yes,” Jiang Hai said as he stared at the pavilion in the dark.
“It’s so easy to find. I don’t think there are any mechanisms or dangers. It’s not as heavily guarded as the Queen Manor,” Qing Yan said indifferently. He reached out and pushed open the door of the attic. At this moment, something unexpected happened. A row of sharp arrows shot over without warning. Qing Yan’s eyebrows twitched and he hurriedly drew his sword to block, but it was too late.
At the critical moment, fine silver needles shot towards the arrows like a large net. The arrows were minced into pieces, and Qing Yan survived.
Qing Yan’s back was drenched. He looked at Jiang Hai behind him in shock. Jiang Hai waved the Qianji Box in his hand. “Don’t thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank the Princely Heir.”
After this incident, Qing Yan did not dare to be careless anymore.
“Let’s go in,” Jiang Hai said.
They entered the pavilion.
On the other hand, Gu Elder Meng, who had been unconscious for a few days, finally woke up. When he woke up, he found himself lying in the residence assigned to him by the Queen Manor. He was dizzy for a while before he gradually remembered that he had fainted in the carriage back to the manor.
The coachman must have sent him back. He wondered how long he had been unconscious. Did Her Highness know about the snow toad? A maidservant walked in and saw Gu Elder Meng, whose eyes were wide open. She said in surprise, “Lord Meng is awake? I’ll inform Her Highness!”
Gu Elder Meng wanted to stop her, but she had already turned around. The Queen came quickly.
“Your Highness.” Gu Elder Meng lifted the blanket and was about to bow to her.
The Queen held out her hand. “Lord Meng, there’s no need to be so polite. Lord Meng has been unconscious for a few days and I was worried sick. Don’t move first. I’ll get the imperial doctor to take your pulse.”
Gu Elder Meng bowed. “Thank you, Your Highness.”
The Queen gestured to the maidservant in the room, and the maidservant led the imperial doctor in. The imperial doctor took Gu Elder Meng’s pulse and said to the Queen, “Your Highness, Lord Meng was too frightened, and his pulse is unstable. I will prescribe a prescription for Lord Meng to calm down. He will be cured in three to five days.”
“Thank you, Imperial Physician Wang.” The Queen nodded slightly.
“It’s my duty.” Imperial Physician Wang bowed and left with the first aid kit.
The Queen glanced at the servants in the room and said, “All of you can leave.”
“Yes.” The servants filed out.
Only the two of them were left in the room. The Queen looked at Gu Elder Meng solemnly. “What exactly happened in Gu Mountain? What happened to the others?”
Gu Elder Meng lowered his head in shame. “I’ve let Your Highness down. The mission has failed. Your Highness, please punish me.”
The Queen said, “Now is not the time to talk about this. Tell me about what happened in Gu Mountain.”
Gu Elder Meng said, “We’ve already obtained the snow toad, but an expert suddenly came from nowhere and killed the expert Your Highness gave me with a flick of his finger. He also snatched the snow toad away.”
When she heard this, the Queen gasped fiercely. From the moment Gu Elder Meng was carried back, she had guessed that the mission had failed. She just thought that the mission failed because they couldn’t obtain the snow toad. The snow toad was still in the Gu Mountain. She never expected that the snow toad had been snatched away.
The Queen’s eyes were cold as she said, “What’s the background of that person? He actually killed so many experts at once?”
Gu Elder Meng shook his head. “I’m not sure either. His methods are cruel. Not only did he kill our people, but he also killed a few other Gu Masters who entered the mountains to look for poisonous insects. I was useless and lost such an important thing.”
“It’s not your fault. Your mission was to find the snow toad. You did it. The mission to bring the snow toad back safely was theirs. I was careless.” The Queen said it casually, but her fingers were clenched tightly, and even her nails were digging into her flesh.
Visit freewe𝑏nov(e)l.𝗰𝐨𝐦 for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience