Bai San Niang sneered, shook her head slightly, and said, "Not necessarily."
Li Yao was surprised for a moment and said, "Oh, the Iron-Blooded Marquis is a man of great talent and ambition, with the world in his heart, and he is extremely loyal to the court. How can that be not necessarily true?"
Bai Sanniang said:
"On the surface, the Iron-Blooded Marquis is indeed loyal to the court and the emperor."
"However, this person is extremely cunning and unfathomable."
"Moreover, he was secretly winning over court officials, something a loyal minister would never do."
Li Yao secretly gave a thumbs up.
This Bai San Niang was indeed sharp-eyed; she had already seen through the ambition of the Iron-Blooded Marquis Zhu Wushi.
In fact, the Six Doors usually only handles cases involving gang warfare and wanted criminals who have been wanted by the government for a long time.
Therefore, the Six Doors (a secret police organization) interacts more with people in the martial arts world and less with people in officialdom.
Therefore, the people from the Six Doors were able to see the true colors of those in officialdom from an outsider's perspective.
The two chatted for a while longer and found they got along quite well.
Just then, a clear voice came from upstairs.
"Brother Li, you're amazing! I knew it. With Brother Li around, we don't have to be afraid of those bad guys."
Yang Yuying ran downstairs first and rushed towards Li Yao.
Following behind were Zhou Huai'an, Qiu Moyan, Tie Zhu, and others.
Tie Zhu gave Li Yao a thumbs up and said, "Brother Li, your skill of using wine to kill the enemy just now is truly amazing."
He Hu said in a muffled voice, "I just saw Brother Li kill the eunuch, it was so damn satisfying. I really wanted to come out and have some fun too, but they just won't let me."
Li Yao smiled but remained silent.
"Brother Li, I'm going upstairs now."
Seeing that Zhou Huai'an and the others had arrived, Bai San Niang didn't want to get involved, so she greeted Li Yao and went upstairs.
Zhou Huai'an watched Bai San Niang go upstairs, his gaze filled with complex emotions.
Because he had already learned from Qiu Moyan that Bai Sanniang was a secret envoy of the Six Doors.
He was worried that Bai San Niang was after him.
Qiu Moyan gently nudged him and asked, "What's wrong?"
Zhou Huai'an snapped out of his daze and calmly said, "It's nothing."
Then, he turned his gaze to Li Yao, his expression even more complicated.
After a moment, he asked, "Brother Li, why don't you kill Lu Xiaochuan?"
Li Yao smiled and said, "Lu Xiaochuan was captured by me. Whether I kill him or not seems to be none of your business."
Zhou Huai'an said righteously and sternly, "He is a member of the Eastern Depot. If we leave him alive, he may reveal our whereabouts at any time. This traitor must die."
Upstairs just now, he had already planned to kill Lu Xiaochuan while Li Yao wasn't paying attention.
However, Qiu Moyan stopped him.
Although Qiu Moyan didn't understand why Li Yao didn't kill Lu Xiaochuan.
However, Li Yao helped them eliminate their enemies on several occasions, directly or indirectly.
Therefore, she did not want to have a conflict with Li Yao.
In fact, even if Qiu Moyan hadn't stopped Zhou Huai'an, Zhou Huai'an still wouldn't have been able to kill Lu Xiaochuan.
Although, Li Yao was drinking and chatting in the lobby downstairs.
However, he was fully aware of what was happening upstairs.
Therefore, Li Yao said to Zhou Huai'an, "Lu Xiaochuan has already submitted to me. I am a very protective person, so don't try to take advantage of Lu Xiaochuan anymore, otherwise it will not look good for anyone."
Zhou Huai'an felt a chill run down his spine. Although Li Yao's expression was calm, the aura emanating from him made Zhou Huai'an feel suffocated.
Li Yao greeted Yang Yuying, Qiu Moyan, Tiezhu and others, and then went upstairs.
Outside the inn, lightning flashed and thunder roared, accompanied by a violent storm.
The entire inn seemed to be on the verge of collapse.
Zhou Huai'an was stunned for a long time before saying in a deep voice, "Let's go back to our rooms and rest!"
This night was destined to be an eventful one.
Chapter 130 The Sky-Locking Arrow Formation: Returning Your Arrows
It was early morning, before dawn.
The wind and rain outside have stopped.
Suddenly, Li Yao sat up on the jade bed and muttered to himself, "It's finally here!"
He put away the jade bed, then pointed a finger at the ground, and Lu Yichuan, who was lying on the floor, opened his eyes groggily.
Lu Yichuan was completely bewildered, unable to understand how he ended up lying on the floor.
When he saw Li Yao's figure, he was suddenly jolted awake and remembered the thrilling scene that had happened the night before.
He immediately sprang to his feet, knelt down in front of Li Yao with a thud, and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Thank you for sparing my life, Master. I will obey your every command and be loyal to you from now on."
Li Yao nodded in satisfaction and said, "Very good. I hope you will keep your word, otherwise, your fate will not be as simple as death."
Lu Xiaochuan trembled. Although Li Yao's tone was calm, there was a chilling murderous aura in it, which sent a shiver down his spine.
Just then, a barely perceptible sound of footsteps came from the corridor outside.
Li Yao immediately opened the door.
Zhou Huai'an and the others had already carried their bundles and were quietly going downstairs.
Tie Zhu's two brothers each carried a basket on their backs.
Li Yao smiled slightly, having already guessed Zhou Huai'an's plan.
Zhou Huai'an must be planning to take advantage of his inattention to secretly lead Yang Yuying and Yang Yubao away from the inn and escape to the border region.
Last night, Zhou Huai'an and Qiu Moyan were still searching for a secret passage in the inn, trying to leave through it.
However, Li Yao had instructed the shopkeeper and waiter beforehand not to reveal the secret passage's mechanism.
So Zhou Huai'an's efforts all night were in vain.
In short, Zhou Huai'an had no intention of letting Li Yao bring Yang Yuying to the capital.
At this moment, although Zhou Huai'an had heard Li Yao open the door, he pretended not to hear it and kept walking, wanting to leave the inn as soon as possible and get away from Li Yao.
Li Yao leaped into the air and landed directly in the lobby. He turned to look at Zhou Huai'an and the others who were still on the stairs and said, "It's not even dawn yet. Where are you all planning to go?"
When Tie Zhu and the others saw Li Yao, they couldn't help but show embarrassed expressions.
Yesterday, Li Yao helped them kill Jia Ting and his gang, but now they've left without saying goodbye. Of course, they feel bad.
Zhou Huai'an glanced at Lu Xiaochuan with a smile, cupped his hands and said to Li Yao, "Thank you very much for your help yesterday, Brother Li, in getting rid of Jia Ting and his gang of eunuchs. We have other important matters to attend to, so we'll be leaving now."
Li Yao shook his head slightly and said, "Leave? Where do you want to go?"
Zhou Huai'an knew that Li Yao was highly skilled in martial arts, and that even if all of them were together, they would not be a match for him.
Therefore, he dared not offend Li Yao easily, and still smiled as he said, "Brother Li, we are all in the same boat, please do me a favor."
Li Yao didn't reply, but pointed outside and said, "Listen, there seems to be some noise outside."
Zhou Huai'an and the others were all puzzled. They listened carefully, but could not hear anything unusual.
Tie Zhu asked in confusion, "Brother Li, there's no sound outside except for the wind. What do you want us to listen for?"
Li Yao shook his head and said, "There are a large number of troops on their way. I think it should be the Eastern Depot's army. If you go out now, you might get caught red-handed."
Tie Zhu hurriedly asked, "Then what should we do? Am I just supposed to stay here and wait to die?"
Zhou Huai'an said, "Everyone, don't worry. I think Brother Li might have misheard. The Eastern Depot's army couldn't have arrived so quickly..."
Before he could finish speaking, Qiu Moyan's expression changed, and he said with a solemn look, "He didn't mishear; a large number of people are indeed on their way."
Zhou Huai'an immediately listened carefully and faintly heard the rumbling of horses' hooves approaching.
Soon, the sound grew closer and louder, and the entire inn seemed to shake.
"The Eastern Depot's army has really caught up with us. What should we do?"
"We need to think of a way to escape!"
"There's the sound of horses' hooves all around us, where can we escape to?"
"Secret passage! Take the secret passage!"
Tie Zhu and the others were shocked and immediately panicked.
He Hu drew his long sword and rushed towards the shopkeeper, who was dozing off at the counter. He held the sword to the shopkeeper's neck and threatened, "Damn it, tell me now, where is the secret passage?"
The shopkeeper trembled as he said, "I really didn't know. Only the proprietress knew about the secret passage."
He Hu roared, "If you keep being stubborn, believe me, I'll kill you!"
The shopkeeper had received instructions from Li Yao beforehand, so he dared not reveal the secret of the secret passage.
Just then, a series of piercing shrieks came from the air.
"Oh no! It's the Sky-Locking Arrow Formation! Everyone, take cover!"
Zhou Huai'an was extremely familiar with the methods of the Eastern Depot and immediately shouted a reminder.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a series of whooshing sounds rang out as countless sharp arrows tore through the void and hurtled towards him.
The wooden door panel was as fragile as window paper and was shot through directly.
Ta-da!
Zhou Huai'an, Qiu Moyan, and the others crouched down, using their swords and knives to deflect the incoming arrows while searching for places to hide.