Many of the horses and vehicles in the team were damaged in the battle. When they returned, except for the seriously injured, the rest were on foot, even Zhao Ning.

Fortunately, the summer storm came and went quickly, and now there is no rain. The thick clouds have melted away, and the afternoon sun has shown its face again, overlooking the earth lazily.

Although it takes more than half a day to get to Daizhou City, the team is now moving at full speed, so the journey is naturally much faster.

Although the interception and killing they encountered today resulted in the loss of half of the team's manpower, the surviving cultivators were inevitably in a low mood. However, some of the strange things they saw today still made everyone unable to help themselves, and they started whispering to the people nearby on the way.

"Have you noticed that today's interception came quietly and was obviously deliberate, but the young master was able to detect the abnormality in time and let us form a formation first, thus avoiding being caught off guard. But the young master is just like us, it is clear that only

How did he discover the enemy in the body-forging realm? Even Uncle Ping, who is in the air-control realm, was not alert at all!"

"Not to mention, "Jingshui Step" and "Qianjun Jue" are extremely difficult to practice, but the young master seems to have been practicing for ten or twenty years and has mastered it very skillfully! If not, we are all doomed today.

!”

"Yes! I have known for a long time that the young master is extremely talented in cultivation, but I didn't expect him to be so good! The young master broke through the enemy group like lightning, ran up the hillside like an arrow from a string, and knocked down the enemy leader. He was really majestic!

"

"None of you have touched on the key point. Look, the young master has a horse but is not riding it, but he is walking like us. Although the person riding on his horse is injured, he is not unable to walk.

For more than ten years, the young master has always been defiant, arrogant and a playboy. How has he ever looked at us seriously?"

"You're right, I always feel that the young master today seems a little different..."

"Maybe this is what people often say, suddenly growing up and becoming mature overnight?"

The discussion in the team was very mixed. Zhao Ning heard some words clearly and some words he didn't. He didn't care. He just focused on thinking about how to find out the person behind the interception after returning to Daizhou City.

Going forward, what should I do to enable Zhao to avoid the fate of her family being destroyed when the catastrophe comes, to save her parents, relatives, and herself.

Zhao Zhongping, who was following Zhao Ning, listened to the discussion of the team without interrupting, as if he was thinking carefully about something. He raised his head from time to time and glanced at the back of the only heir to the Zhao family, his eyes filled with complex colors.

This kind of complexity becomes more and more complicated later on.

Seeing that he was about to return to Daizhou City, Zhao Zhongping glanced at the carriage. Although the attacker's leader was seriously injured, he was no longer in danger of dying. A sinister look flashed across his eyes.

When he heard the team begin to discuss together, who dared to attack Zhao's convoy? If they were to be found, they would be crushed to pieces and turned into ashes... The cruelty in his eyes was replaced by panic for a moment.

.

Because it was an important border town, Daizhou City was built tall and strong. The city wall was more than four feet high, the moat was nearly a hundred paces wide, there were many arrow towers, and the city defense was tight.

As the sun set, Zhao Ning led his team back to Daizhou City, and before the city gate closed, he entered the city gate corridor with the last group of people entering the city.

Although Daizhou City is located in the northern border, it is not short of bustling and lively. The fundamental reason is that there is a market opened by the imperial court specifically for doing business with the barbarians outside the Great Wall. This is part of the imperial court's national policy of stabilizing the northern part of the Great Wall and exchanging what is needed.

one.

Of course, in the words of those civil servants in Daqi who are accustomed to talking about lotus flowers, this is a gift from the heaven to the barbarians.

A group of Beihu businessmen who entered the city with Zhao Ning were strong, dark-skinned, with curly hair. The leading ones wore corrugated hats, and satin clothes with right lapel collars, wide and floor-length, with waistbands.

Gold and jade silk belt.

They had a lot of goods, loaded into seven or eight carriages, and the cover was not very tight. Some of the corners of the tiger and fox furs were exposed, and they seemed to be in pretty good condition.

Although Hu Shang was in front of Zhao's team when he entered the city, when he saw Zhao's big flag, he quickly stood on both sides and bowed to salute with an extremely respectful attitude.

When they entered the corridor and saw Zhao Ning looking back at them, the Hu merchants immediately showed flattering smiles on their faces, as if to say that they absolutely respected the Qi people and admired the Zhao family.

The city gate slowly closed, the last ray of orange sunlight that shone through the crack in the door disappeared, and the light in the corridor dimmed.

When the black tide surrounded him, he turned back to look at Zhao Ning in front of him. He caught a glimpse of a strange color from the corner of his eye, and the fingers holding the knife moved slightly.

At that moment, he was ready to draw his sword and kill!

As the team moved forward and walked out of the corridor onto the street, the darkness gradually receded among the team, and a little light from the street lights shone on Zhao Ning's face, making his face look half-dark and half-light.

Zhao Ning knew that the current Daizhou City was not an absolutely safe place in peace and calm.

At least, that's the case for him.

The curfew has not yet arrived, but the government officials patrolling the streets are already wandering around. Of course they will not approach Zhao Ning. Even at night, the team carrying the Zhao family's banner can move through Daizhou City unimpeded.

After a while, the team came to a large courtyard with red gates and high walls. On the plaque were two large characters "Zhao Mansion" with gold hooks, vigorous and simple. This is the Zhao family's house in Daizhou. The Zhao family members who guard Yanmen Pass are in Xiu.

Mu Shi will come back here to stay temporarily.

"Sir? Why are you back?"

The concierge came out when he heard the movement of carriages and horses. When he saw Zhao Ning and others, he was surprised, "Why are so many people injured?"

Zhao Ning waved his hand, not intending to explain too much, "Let the housekeeper take care of the injured."

Zhao Zhongping took two steps and said to Zhao Ning with a friendly smile: "Master, do you think it is necessary to see Miss Yujie? It is getting late, and today's battle was very laborious. The surviving attackers and their leaders

, how about letting your subordinates go there and interrogate?"

Miss Yujie.

When these four words hit his ears, Zhao Ning felt like a knife was cutting into his heart and lungs.

"She...has been feeling unwell for the past two days. I won't go there tonight. As for these attackers..."

Zhao Ning suppressed the strange feeling in his heart, paused for a moment after speaking, and raised the corners of his mouth slightly, like the trigger of a crossbow being pulled. His tone did not change at all, "Uncle Laoping is here to arrange it. Wait for me to rest for a while.

Go over and interrogate."

When Zhao Zhongping listened to Zhao Ning's words, the joy in his heart was replaced by worry before it could rise. In the blink of an eye, he seemed to have made some kind of determination, bowed his head and clasped his fists in agreement.

Although it was only used for the clan members to rest during their bathing time, the mansion was also very spacious, with five front and rear entrances, and many other courtyards, including rockeries, lakes, and garden fish ponds.

It's just that the decoration is simple, there are no luxurious furnishings, and there is a tough atmosphere everywhere.

All the way to the main courtyard, Zhao Ning ignored the servants and maids, went straight into the house, closed the door and started practicing.

The situation tonight was very special. Although his clothes were already soaked with rain and sweat and were very uncomfortable to wear, he had no intention of taking a shower or washing up at the moment.

There are many people in this compound, but not many practitioners. They are basically servants and maids. Zhao Ning's parents are guarding Yanmen Pass. It is not the day of rest, and no one from the Zhao family has returned.

Therefore, there are not many children of the Zhao family in the house, let alone serious masters.

Zhao Ning wanted to notify Yanmen Pass about the attack today. It was not enough to let the Zhao clan go there overnight. No one knew whether they would be intercepted and killed again on the road. They had to ask Daizhou Prefecture to send someone there.

Zhao Ning was not in a hurry about this matter.

The forces that intercepted Zhao's team today, and what they were planning, were far more complicated than others imagined.

In the previous life, the masters of the Zhao family at Yanmen Pass suffered heavy losses due to this incident. Even the general of Yanmen Pass, Zhao Ning's father, was seriously injured. Since then, his cultivation has never improved!

Zhao Ning knew very well that the crisis that was unfolding at the moment concerned Yanmen Pass, the Zhao family, and even the entire Daqi Dynasty. Only by peeling off the cocoons from the bottom, following the clues step by step, and bucking the trend upwards could we break the situation and win.

In addition, even if all Zhao's powerful people in the capital arrive, they can only help everyone survive the crisis on the surface. It is absolutely impossible to fundamentally solve the problem and change the future!

Several young and pretty maids in the courtyard couldn't help but look at each other in surprise when they saw that Zhao Ning had entered the door without intending to come out.

"Young Master is planning to take a rest? He doesn't want to go to Miss Yujie's place?"

"Even so, you won't have to take a shower and change clothes, right? Young Master loves to be clean the most."

"Wait a minute, the young master is not resting, he is practicing! The young master always prides himself on being a romantic poet and likes to talk to others, but he is not so diligent in practicing!"

"Okay, don't talk nonsense, everyone go inside and stay there. If the young master hears it, I'm afraid he will punish us!"

Zhao Zhongping placed the captured attackers in a secluded courtyard and told the guards to be careful. Then he walked non-stop to an elegant courtyard with banana plants and carefully trimmed flowers and plants.

"Uncle Ping?"

"Quickly report, I want to see Miss Yujie!"

The pavilion facing the lake was dimly lit, with half-rolled bamboo curtains, and the night breeze carrying the fragrance of lotus gently caressed it, swaying the candle shadows.

Behind the steam from the tea cauldron, a lady with exquisite make-up was sitting on her knees. She was wearing a thin blouse and a golden mud phoenix, and her slim waist was timid and the clothes were heavy. She was like a fairy walking out of a painting, beautiful and moving, yet still graceful and luxurious.

In the room, Zhao Zhongping stood respectfully with his head lowered and his hands tied, not daring to look directly at the lady who was opening the lid to add salt after the small case and minding her own study of the tea ceremony. It seemed like this woman who was only 28 years old and whose every move was as elegant as poetry,

He has the majesty of the head of the Zhao family.

After Yan Yan completed the process in hand, the lady turned around and sat down, then raised her head and glanced at Zhao Zhongping, "So, Brother Ning is fine?"

"Aside from running out of energy, nothing happened!" Zhao Zhongping replied quickly.

"Brother Ning was already aware of the attack before it started?"

"I'm still puzzled! However, the key is still a critical moment!"

"The long sword is a unique weapon of the Zhao family, so it is naturally extraordinary."

"Young Master's level is still low after all, and he could only manage to make one slash. If he had not taken advantage of the surprise and the other party did not dodge, he might not have been able to succeed."

"The two techniques of "Jingshui Step" and "Qianjun Jue"... I have never seen Brother Ning practice them."

"Given the relationship between the young lady and the young master, he didn't know anything about it beforehand?! This... Ever since the young lady entered the Zhao family, the young master has been obsessed with the young lady. Over the years, he has been obedient and obedient.

"He would even give the cultivation resources allocated to him by his family intact to the young lady. How could he practice secretly behind the young lady's back?"

Zhao Yujie did not answer these words.

The water in the tea cauldron was already boiling. Zhao Yujie stretched out her onion-like fingers and took out a ladle of tea soup. During the movement, her sleeves slipped by more than two inches, revealing her wrists, as white and tender as snow, which were alluring and translucent.

Zhao Zhongping quickly lowered his head.

——————

ps: New book issues are updated twice a day, from 9 to 5, with 3,000 words per chapter. If there are no updates, you can kill me!
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