Chapter 167 Deathtrap (2)
The thunderstorm continued after nightfall.
The gate of the county had long been closed, but at this time, it was slowly opened when two people called at the gate.
The street was unpaved and muddy. The two people wearing coir raincoats and bamboo hats rushed into the long street on horseback, the mud splashing under the horses’ hooves. Fortunately, the street was empty, so there was no need to worry about bumping into people.
In such heavy rain, even if they wore coir raincoats and bamboo hats, their clothes were getting wet when they were rushing forward.
But now, Wei Nianci obviously didn’t care about it. The heavy rain was nothing compared with the trauma and anger in her heart.
At first, Lyuluo who was at behind asked Wei Nianci to ride a little bit slowly, but then she gradually stopped yelling. She tried to follow Wei Nianci closely on horseback, meanwhile, she needed to consume Spiritual Qi to keep herself steady.
Although the Wei family was only a small gentry’s family and couldn’t compare with the great Jianghu forces in Lai Prefecture, it occupied a pivotal position in the county. The Wei family was very rich and the county magistrate used to be the student of its home lord.
After separating from Xu Xianjian and Sun Shangjian from the Wukong Sword Sect, Wei Nianci had no desire to go east to join in the fun of the Convention of Penglai Immortals and Taoism. Having shut herself up in the inn all day in that small town, she resolved to return.
Back to the door of her own house, Wei Nianci trembled as soon as she reined in the horse.
There were several guards with knives standing erect in front of her house.
With only one glance, Wei Nianci knew that they were not the guards of the Wei family.
They weren’t her family’s guards, and moreover, they had strong fluctuation of Spiritual Qi.
They turned out to be practitioners of Qi techniques!
In the whole Wei family, there were very few practitioners of Qi techniques, including Wei Nianci. There were no people in middle-level Qi-refining not only in the Wei family but also in the whole county!
But now, the guards with knives guarding the gate were all practitioners of Qi techniques!
Wei Nianci was stopped in front of her house. She saw clearly that they all wore cyan robes trimmed with golden lines.
Fortunately, the doorman of the Wei family came forward in time so that Wei Nianci and Lyuluo could enter the house.
“Who are they?” Turning across the screen wall, Wei Nianci asked the doorman in a low voice.
“I don’t know. I vaguely heard two words, but I don’t understand what it means.”
“Which two words?”
“Black Office.”
Wei Nianci’s heart suddenly thumped.
On the way back, Wei Nianci heard many rumors about the Black Office. Along with it, there was the invitation that made people frightened. At present, in Pinglu Jianghu, a lot of people knew that the Black Office would hold a Kung Fu Championship in Qing Prefecture to rival the Penglai Immortal sect.
If someone dared to rival the Penglai Immortal sect in the past, he would be ridiculed by everyone and called a madman.
But the Black Office was different.
It was said that they were very powerful and their cultivators had very high cultivation. Many people, who were unwilling to accept the invitations, had to listen to them obediently after being taught by them. They came and went without a trace, but they were everywhere. There were all their men in the entire Pinglu Jianghu!
They appeared too quickly, too abruptly, leaving no trace.
They surged into Penglai in one night like evil spirits!
Until now, no one knew how many cultivators they had, how they slipped into Pinglu silently, or how they were organized. But almost everyone had heard about the incident in Qi Prefecture and knew that the Wu family of Qi Prefecture and the Huafuzhu Mountain were suppressed in one day. After the event, the Black Office showed up abruptly and suppressed the Qi Prefecture Jianghu with great forces!
“But what does it have to do with the Wei family? The Wei family is just a county force.”
Wei Nianci felt uneasy.
Once she arrived at the main courtyard, several people were coming towards her. All of them were dressed in cyan robes and walking fast with faint breaths. Their momentum was as deep as mountains.
Wei Nianci couldn’t help but stop. She saw her father, Wei Shinan, keep smiling beside them.
“Mr. Wei, you don’t have to see us off anymore.”
The cultivators in cyan robes went out of the Floral-pendant Gate and disappeared in the vision of Wei Nianci.
They asked Wei Shinan not to see them off anymore, so Wei Shinan listened to them obediently.
Wei Nianci saw that his expression was gloomy.
“Father...”
“You’re back? Oh, and Lyuluo. Come in with me.”
The three people entered the main room. At first glance, Wei Nianci saw a golden invitation on the main table.
Wei Nianci’s pupils shrank sharply.
“Why this invitation is so similar to the invitation that the hateful childe in black threw to Xu Xianjian in the small town restaurant that day?”
Wei Nianci didn’t read the invitation that day, but at least she remembered its cover. As a cultivator, she had good eyesight and a very good memory. She recalled in her heart and she was sure that this invitation was exactly the same as the invitation that Xu Xianjian had received!
Wei Nianci couldn’t forget the humiliation of that day which she had never suffered in her life. But she also understood how much pressure that invitation had brought to Xu Xianjian and the Wukong Sword Sect. If not so, why would Xu Xianjian suddenly turn hostile and humiliate her?
Wei Nianci stared at the invitation and couldn’t look away, her hands trembling slightly.
Wei Shinan moved slowly. Picking up the invitation, he handed it to Wei Nianci and sighed. “Have a look.”
Wei Nianci took the invitation, shivering. She opened it and had a look at it. She saw a word written with firm strokes, like the Sword Qi approaching the face!
Invitation!
“This is the invitation?”
“This is the invitation that makes Pinglu Jianghu frightened?!”
Wei Shinan sat down on the wooden chair. His voice was low and slow as if someone were holding him by the throat, making his words difficult. “I think you have heard about the invitation from the Black Office, so I needn’t explain it to you. The people who have received the invitations have to set off for Qing Prefecture within three days, otherwise, they will be severely punished! You should know what it means to accept the invitation.”
Wei Nianci was speechless and now her mind was in a mess.
“What Xu Xianjian received that day was the invitation?”
“So the black-robed childe, who gave him the invitation, is from the Black Office?”
“What does it mean to accept the invitation? It means that we will become the enemies of the Penglai Immortal sect and that we have to obey the Black Office’s orders!”
Wei Nianci could hardly stand. Now, she finally knew what danger she had been in that day!
“If such a person is unhappy, he will kill her. What can she do if he kills her? He is from the Black Office that dares to fight against the Penglai Immortal sect and that is the important power of the commissioner of Pinglu! For a county force, the commissioner of Pinglu is as powerful as Mount Tai!”
When Wei Shinan saw Wei Nianci was absent-minded, he thought that she was shocked by the reason why the Wei family could receive the invitation. He said in a low voice, “The Wei family doesn’t even have the qualification of being invited to the Convention of Immortals and Taoism that will be held by the Penglai Immortal sect. But now, the Black Office has sent us an invitation, so the Wei family, like many other forces, is in the teeth of the storm. Whether we take part in the Kung Fu Championship or not, we will get into trouble!”
“Why is that? In my opinion, the Wei family has only one choice!”
Suddenly, a voice of discontent and majesty sounded outside the house.
Wei Shinan, Wei Nianci and Lyuluo turned around and saw a gray-robed Taoist with a sword on his back stepping up the stone steps and striding towards the house.
The gray-robed Taoist looked at Wei Shinan, his gaze as sharp as lightning. “Now, give the invitation to me and I will deal with it. And for the Wei family, you just pretend that you haven’t received it.”
Wei Shinan stood up in shock. “But, but if the Black Office comes afterward, what should the Wei family do?”
“The Wei family dares not to disobey the Black Office, so it dares to offend the Penglai Immortal sect?!” The gray-robed Taoist became fierce both in look and voice. “If so, I don’t mind to let the Wei family know the end of not respecting the Immortal sect!”
As soon as he waved his hand, several Taoists jumped over the wall into the house immediately. Holding the long sword, they stared at Wei Shinan fiercely.
Wei Shinan was frightened and hurriedly handed the invitation to him. “The invitation is here...”
...
Qingshui Villa.
Raindrops drummed rhythmically against the banana leaves.
The room was ablaze with light.
Wang Hanshan stood in front of the window with his hands clasped behind his back, silent.
Today, it was the third night after he received the invitation.
According to the previous plan, he had to leave early tomorrow morning and returned to Qing Prefecture.
But Wang Hanshan didn’t order the servants to pack up and arrange the carriages.
He was waiting.
Someone knocked on the door and said outside, “General, Taoist Mu and General Chen have arrived.”
Now, the people whom he was waiting for arrived.
Wang Hanshan smiled and came to the door to meet them. Apart from Mu Qingliu, the Taoist on that day, there was a white-haired old man who was energetic and looked solemn walking towards him.
This old man was Chen Beiwang, the other commander of the Pinglu Army and the home lord of the Chen family, one of the four major families in Qing Prefecture.
The three people greeted each other and took a seat in the house. The maidservants served tea.
After drinking tea, Mu Qingliu said first, “There are four major families in Qing Prefecture, but in my Penglai’s eyes, only the Wang family and the Chen family are worthy of the name. But for the Cui family and the Zhou family, they are conservative, as a group of old moths.”
The Cui family had accepted the invitation and made it clear that they stood by the side of the Black Office. And the Zhou family as the noble family had also accepted the invitation, but they weren’t keen on the Convention of Penglai Immortals and Taoism, so they were ready to return when they received the invitation from the Black Office.
Chen Beiwang snorted. “What is the Black Office? I’ve never heard of it. They want to learn from the Penglai Immortal sect to call on heroes to hold the Kung Fu Championship? How ridiculous! This is a blind imitation. Do they really think that they can make changes because they are the men of the new commissioner and have the help of a group of old guys of the Cui family? They bite off more than they can chew!”
Wang Hanshan smiled and said, “The Black Office comes aggressively, so the new commissioner has great ambition. Of course, he is the Grand Prince of the empire, so he will have a strong desire.”
Chen Beiwang said disdainfully, “So what? He is unable to subdue Pinglu! If he wants to do whatever he wants in Pinglu, has he ever asked General Wang and me; has he ever asked the tens of thousands of soldiers in Pinglu? He doesn’t even know who has power, so how can he stir up trouble? When he arrived at Pinglu, he didn’t come to visit the Chen family and the Wang family first and dared to act with great bravado. How much weight of us is in his mind?”
Wang Hanshan’s smile became larger. “If I really obey the Black Office’s order, does it mean that the new commissioner can make decisions as he pleases in the future? Do I, the commander, also have to hand over my military power?”
During these three days, Wang Hanshan had thought a lot and now he had made up his mind. Although the Penglai Taoist sect knew that he had accepted the invitation, they didn’t make trouble for him but let Mu Qingliu persuade him patiently.
Therefore, with the “courtesy” of the Penglai Taoist sect and the support of Chen Beiwang, Wang Hanshan finally decided to stand by the Penglai Taoist sect because he thought that the Black Office and the new commissioner wouldn’t have a chance to win!
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