Peaceful Jianghu - Chapter 56
As Xue Beifan helped her up, he effortlessly caught a sword thrust from a nun.
Xiao Dao didn't even see what happened. The sword shattered with a "crack," and the nun who had attacked him was sent flying sideways, crashing heavily into the stone wall. She fell to the ground as if she had been broken apart.
The old nun frowned, also surprised by Xue Beifan's high level of martial arts.
Xue Beifan smiled faintly, "Since you're a man, that makes things easier. You said men are only fit to use pipes, right?"
Standing behind him, Xiao Dao felt that Xue Er was, in a very small way, just a tiny bit, handsome.
36
[Bad people, good people]
Xue Beifan kicked one of the nuns away and started fighting with the other two.
Xiao Dao stood at the front of the steps observing the situation. After a few moves, he realized that the old nun was no match for Xue Beifan. He couldn't help but secretly admire Xue Er's skills! Was his older brother really better than him? Such martial arts skills, if not unparalleled, could definitely make him famous in the martial arts world. How come he has no reputation and is only known for his bad reputation?
Judging from the battle situation, Xiao Dao felt that Lao Ni seemed to be about to give up, but she was still deliberately blocking the door of the stone chamber, as if she didn't want Xue Beifan to go in, as if she was hiding something.
Looking into the stone chamber behind the old nun, one could vaguely see a wooden door and shelves... Gold, silver and jade artifacts from the other shore were faintly visible on the shelves. It was indeed a treasure cave, and who knows how many treasures it contained!
Suddenly, Xiao Dao noticed a lotus pedestal beneath the strange Arhat in the shrine. The pedestal was oddly shaped, and the wood was unusual. Xiao Dao, with his sharp eyes, recognized it immediately. After a moment's thought, he suddenly remembered. When he found the Dragon Bone Five Diagrams at Bibo Manor, the bones were also stored in a similar wooden box. Looking closer at the Arhat, Xiao Dao was stunned—it was the Treasure-Gathering Arhat! Arhats in treasure-hunting sites are usually fierce-looking, used to scare away thieves.
Xiao Dao examined the statue from top to bottom. The Arhat, along with its base, was part of a complete mechanism. Placing it in such a conspicuous position was a common military tactic—a feint—to make people overlook it. Xiao Dao thought to himself, even though the old nun had been worshipping that statue for so long, she probably didn't know there was a mechanism inside the lotus platform.
Xue Beifan dodged the hidden weapon the old nun shot, and saw the silver dart bounce twice in the stone chamber before landing on the ground, right at Xiao Dao's feet. Xiao Dao was still in a daze. He couldn't help but frown. This girl was usually so clever, why was she spacing out now?!
Just then, Xiaoyue, who was supposed to be keeping watch outside, suddenly ran downstairs and pulled Xiaodao along, shouting, "Someone's coming!"
"Who?" Xiao Dao snapped back to reality.
"Wei Xinjie is leading a group of men up the mountain." Xiaoyue pointed upwards, indicating that they would be there soon.
Xue Beifan frowned slightly. This old nun was really troublesome, seemingly deliberately delaying them to prevent them from entering the stone chamber. But if they didn't go in now, being blocked inside by Wei Xinjie would not only leave them stranded, but they would also likely lose the Dragon Bone Five Diagrams.
Thinking of this, Xue Beifan had murderous intent towards the nun, but before he could make a move, a small knife slipped into the stone chamber behind him with a "whoosh".
Old Ni hadn't been watching closely enough and gritted his teeth inwardly. This girl's lightness skill was too good; she could practically squeeze through any gap! Just as he was about to break free to give chase, Xue Beifan wasn't about to let him go. He stepped forward to block him, watching Xiao Dao's movements.
Xiao Dao appeared to be untying Liao Xiaoqing and the Seventh Aunt, and no one noticed that she lightly touched and pressed the eyeballs of the Arhat. Sure enough... one of the lotus pedestals on the base opened, revealing a wooden box. Xiao Dao reached out and pulled the box out.
She hid the wooden box, went around to the back of the wooden stake, used a dagger in one hand to pry open the ropes binding the seventh concubine, and quickly opened the box with the other hand... Sure enough, a familiar dragon bone was lying inside.
Xiao Dao was overjoyed. He quickly hid the dragon bone in his bosom and stuffed the box back into its original place. At this moment, the ropes were also untied, and the Seventh Concubine, freed from her predicament, began to shout for help.
Xiaoyue frowned upstairs. If this woman called out, Wei Xinjie would probably arrive even faster, so she urged Xiaodao and Xue Beifan, "Hurry up!"
Xiao Dao wanted to go inside and take another look, making sure he was truly amazed by the gold and silver treasures in the stone chamber, but Xue Beifan grabbed him and led him out of the stone chamber.
The seventh concubine hurriedly followed behind, calling out, "Wait for me!"
The three nuns wanted to give chase, but Xue Beifan swept his hand back as he passed by the wall, sending several darts that the old nun had just thrown flying back. The three nuns couldn't dodge in time and were hit by the darts and fell to the ground.
The group quickly reached the ground. Xiao Dao turned around and saw that Seventh Aunt had also followed. He snorted, "You were involved in the killing and eating too! You can't run away now."
The seventh concubine was startled, and Xiao Dao kicked her mercilessly. "A life for a life. Go down and wait for your trial with Liao Xiaoqing. It won't be so easy for you to get away with this!" After saying that, she was pulled away by Xue Beifan.
Xue Beifan had just entered the woods with Xiao Dao when Wei Xinjie arrived. He discovered that the cave was open and there were cries for help coming from below. He quickly sent people down and found the three seriously injured old nuns, the seventh concubine, and Liao Xiaoqing.
There were many human bones in the cave, and even a half-cooked human head in the kitchen, causing many soldiers to vomit. Wei Xinjie sensed something was amiss and ordered his men to detain the old nun and the other girls in the wooden figures, taking them back for rigorous interrogation.
Someone recognized that the Seventh Concubine was Cai Bian's concubine. Wei Xinjie was looking for faults in Cai Bian's case and felt that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so he ordered his men to question her carefully.
Clearly, capturing the person wasn't Wei Xinjie's only objective. He also sent men to search the cave, where they discovered a considerable amount of gold and silver treasure hidden in the stone chamber—all amassed by Cai Lian years ago. However, after searching thoroughly, they found nothing he was looking for. Wei Xinjie frowned—could it not be here? He also noticed the nun's injuries—had someone else gotten there first?
Leaving aside Wei Xinjie, let's talk about Xiao Dao, who was being dragged down the mountain by the wrist by Xue Beifan.
They ran all the way down the mountain and onto the main road. Xiao Dao, panting, shook off his hand and said, "That was close!"
"That Wei Xinjie arrived really quickly," Xiaoyue said worriedly. "Is he also looking for the Dragon Bone Five Diagrams?"
"Sigh..." Xiao Dao also sighed softly, "Yeah, maybe he'll get there first and steal the dragon bone, then we'll be one short. Xue Er, you too, you should have let me search a little longer earlier."
"You still dare to talk back!" Xue Beifan glared at her, his expression somewhat fierce.
Xiao Dao pouted, thinking to herself—"Just as I expected, he was just looking for pictures, you jerk."
"Do you think Wei Xinjie is as stupid as Hao Jinfeng?" Xue Beifan scolded Xiaodao. "He had already noticed you before. If he had seen you just now, do you think you could have gotten away so easily like last time? You were allowed to leave, but you were still dawdling."
Xiao Dao stared at him with wide eyes, wondering to herself—so he wasn't angry that she had gone to the trouble of saving Seventh Aunt and Liao Xiaoqing without having time to find the dragon bone.
"We'll find the five dragon bone diagrams sooner or later. If we lose this one, we still have four more. Besides, we already have one." Seeing Xiaodao looking listless, Xue Beifan realized he had been a bit harsh. He gently lifted a strand of hair from her temple near her ear. "Even if Wei Xinjie gets the dragon bone first, he can get it back later. Don't look so gloomy. Are you hungry? Let's go get something to eat."
Xiao Dao stared at Xue Beifan, trying to determine whether the man was sincere or not... It seemed unnecessary to pretend, since he hadn't seen Xiao Dao take the dragon bone.
Xiaoyue had already prepared herself to take Xiaodao away and refuse to help him again if Xue Beifan blamed Xiaodao for what happened. However, she hadn't expected Xue Beifan's outburst to be entirely for Xiaodao's safety, and Xiaoyue was starting to look at him with new respect. She had never seen Xue Beifan care about anyone before; was he really being special to Xiaodao?
Xue Beifan walked down the mountain with his hands behind his back, the faint wrinkles between his brows still visible. Once the dragon bone was lost, how easy would it be to find it again... What should he do?
Just as he was worrying, someone nudged him from behind.
Xue Beifan turned around and saw Xiao Dao curling up the corner of his mouth, waving his hand in front of his eyes, and saying, "You do have some conscience. Here, this is a reward for you."
As he spoke, a dragon bone with a map engraved on it appeared before him, and it looked so familiar.
Xue Beifan's mouth dropped open instantly, "This..."
Xiao Dao smugly shoved the dragon bone into his hand, "With this young lady taking action, who can rival me..."