In the main hall, people were coming and going, but Lu Jingyao didn’t notice anyone who could be her “old acquaintance”.
“Qi Yun, where’s that gentleman?”
She turned to ask Qi Yun, who was equally perplexed.
“Huh? He was just here a moment ago.”
“Madam, Qi Yun is telling the truth. There really was a gentleman looking for you just now.”
A nearby servant testified: “But I just turned around, and he was gone.”
“Gone…”
Lu Jingyao furrowed her brow and asked: “What did that man look like?”
“Um… he wasn’t very tall, but quite sturdy, wearing a linen robe, with small eyes and thin lips…”
The servant tried to recall, but Lu Jingyao listened for a long time without remembering anyone who fit that description.
Before marrying into the Wei family, she had basically been confined to the inner quarters and didn’t know many young men, let alone old acquaintances.
Could it be a case of mistaken identity?
But the other party had specifically asked to see her by name…
“What did that man say?”
After thinking for a while, Lu Jingyao asked again.
“Nothing.”
Qi Yun replied honestly: “He just asked me… is Lu Jingyao here?”
“He called me ‘young lady’?” Lu Jingyao was taken aback.
Qi Yun nodded: “I was also a bit surprised, wondering how he could be your friend without knowing you’re already married.”
“…”
Listening to Qi Yun’s words, Lu Jingyao’s mouth slightly opened, and a sudden thought occurred to her.
Could it be Xiao Feng?
Although Wei Changtian never mentioned this man again, Xiao Feng hadn’t died that night…
The more Lu Jingyao thought about it, the more likely it seemed. She hurriedly asked the servant again: “Can you describe that man’s appearance in more detail?”
The guy saw Lu Jingyao suddenly become so tense, so he hurriedly repeated: “Not tall, not big eyes, thin lips…”
“…”
Lu Jingyao listened while trying to compare him to Xiao Feng.
But it wasn’t until then that she realized something – she had already forgotten what Xiao Feng looked like.
“Qiu Yun.”
After a moment of contemplation, Lu Jingyao suddenly looked at Qiu Yun, her expression somewhat serious: “Prepare paper and pen, I want to write a letter to my lord!”
“Ah?”
Qiu Yun was taken aback: “Madam, the young master is probably not in Shu State yet.”
Lu Jingyao shook her head: “It doesn’t matter, my lord said before he left that if there’s an urgent matter, I can send a letter to the Liang Mansion in Shu State first.”
“Urgent matter…”
Qiu Yun seemed to understand why Lu Jingyao wanted to write a letter to Wei Changtian, so she didn’t ask anymore and quickly went to prepare the paper and pen.
Meanwhile, Lu Jingyao looked around the room, even running outside to take a look around.
The pedestrians on the street were bustling about, without anything unusual.
…
Lu Jingyao, of course, couldn’t find Xiao Feng, because he had left after hearing her say “I want to write a letter to my lord”.
Xiao Feng had come today to take a look at Lu Jingyao and leave, but in the end, he couldn’t resist listening to a few more sentences.
If only he had known, he wouldn’t have listened at all…
Relying on his superb disguise skills, he blended into the crowd and left the city gate, finding a man waiting for him at a tea stall.
“Master.”
The man led two horses to greet him: “You’re here.”
“Yes.”
“Did you see the person you wanted to see?”
“No.”
Xiao Feng took the reins, coldly spitting out three words.
“She’s dead.”
“…”
The man’s mouth hung open, unsure of what to say, and after a long pause, he tentatively asked: “Master, you…”
“I’m fine.”
Xiao Feng shook his head, mounting his horse: “Let’s go, Ren Da-ge.”
“…”
From noble mtl dot come
“Clip-clop, clip-clop…”
The sound of horse hooves faded away, blowing up a gust of autumn leaves.
The two of them quickly disappeared from sight.
…
…
Five days later.
Just as Xiao Feng and Lu Jingyao’s letters were sent one after the other to Shu State, Wei Changtian was already standing in front of the stone gate with the inscription “Shu State”, shaking his head.
Finally arrived!
Since causing such a big commotion in An Yi County, their journey had been much smoother, with no more “accidents”.
Under such circumstances, their travel speed naturally increased greatly, and they finally entered Shu State territory half a month after leaving the capital.
“Brother Changtian, this stone is at least three meters tall.”
Li Jing saw that Wei Changtian seemed interested in the stone, so she smiled and introduced it: “It’s said that the two characters ‘Shu State’ on it were carved by the previous emperor with a sword.”
“Carved with a sword?”
Wei Changtian curiously reached out to touch the concave area on the stone, marveling: “These two characters look like they were done in one stroke. I didn’t expect anyone to have such precise control over their inner power.”
“Brother Changtian, you’re wrong.”
Li Jing smiled: “The previous emperor didn’t use inner power to carve these two characters.”
“No inner power?”
Wei Changtian was stunned: “How is that possible? Without inner power, how could it be carved so deeply?”
“That’s the amazing part about this stone.”
Li Jing pulled out a dagger she was carrying, infused it with inner power, and then slashed it against the stone surface.
“Clang!”
After a crisp sound, there was no trace left on the stone surface.
Seeing Wei Changtian’s shocked gaze, she smiled smugly: “This stone is called the Locking Deity Stone, which can block the true energy of heaven and earth. If you want to leave a mark on it, you must use pure power.”
After saying that, Li Jing swung her dagger again, but this time without using inner power.
“Whoosh!”
The dagger flashed, leaving a faint white mark.
“Wow, it’s that amazing?”
Wei Changtian looked like he had just entered a grand garden, his eyes wide with wonder: “There’s actually such a stone……”
“Do you want to try, Brother Changtian?”
Li Jing handed him the dagger, smiling: “See how deep of a mark you can leave.”
“What’s the point of this?” Wei Changtian was puzzled.
Li Jing explained: “Since inner power doesn’t work on this stone, we can only rely on technique.”
“Generally speaking, the deeper the mark left, the deeper the person’s understanding of their martial arts.”
“Many people who pass by here will try it, but no one has ever surpassed the previous emperor’s three-inch depth.”
“Three inches……”
Wei Changtian touched the white mark Li Jing left, his eyes somewhat strange: “Then yours……”
“Don’t laugh at me, Brother Changtian!”
Li Jing’s face turned red as she argued: “This… this is already not bad.”
Is that so? Not bad?
Wei Changtian thought to himself, but didn’t dare say it out loud.
Maybe he should leave some room for himself, just in case he couldn’t even leave a white mark later……
Although he had concerns, Wei Changtian still felt that he shouldn’t be that bad.
After all, the “Dream Path” he practiced was all about real combat and technique!
Plus, he had the top-tier swordsmanship “Returning to Dust Sword” – he didn’t believe he could be outdone by Li Jing.
“I’ll try too.”
He flipped the dagger, taking a small step back.
Wei Changtian didn’t hesitate, taking a deep breath before slashing the dagger against the stone surface with all his might.
“Crack!”
“……”
After a dull thud, Li Jing was like she had been struck by a paralyzing curse, her eyes wide open in shock, frozen in place.
“This…”
Wei Changtian was slightly better, at least he could still speak.
He pointed to his masterpiece, swallowed his saliva, and asked, “You didn’t say that no one could carve three inches deep, so what’s going on…”
Li Qian completely ignored him, his eyes fixed on the stone surface.
The dagger’s blade had already sunk more than half into the stone, leaving only a small portion of the hilt trembling slightly.