Ever since the battle of the Academy, Ning Que and Prince Long Qing had often been mentioned in the same breath by people in the cultivation world. Although most people thought that Ning Que was not qualified enough, in fact, many people had already regarded the two as legendary lifelong enemies.
In Ning Que's view, lifelong enemies was a hot-blooded and even a little melodramatic. For example, Master Lotus and Youngest Uncle were lifelong enemies in many people's eyes. Master Lotus probably had the same thought deep down, which was why he was so envious and jealous. However, Youngest Uncle probably had no such interest. After all, it was just a matter of strength and state. As long as one was strong enough, he was qualified to ignore the other's suffering and struggle.
Standing under the pine tree on the highest peak, why look back at the scenery of the long road of cultivation where his former companions and enemies had spent countless times more effort to reach the mountainside?
Ning Que, who was in the carriage, did not know what had happened to Prince Long Qing. After shooting the Primordial Thirteen Arrow, he knew that Prince Long Qing was crippled. Even if he was not dead, he was bound to be crippled. This was because a beautiful son of West-Hill who had grown up in the palace and under the protection of Haotian Taoism could not be like him, who could ignore all hardships and face all obstacles with a smile and coldness, and then overcome them.
It was precisely because of this that he no longer regarded Prince Long Qing as his life goal or imaginary enemy after he ascended to the peak of the Back Mountain of the Academy. No matter what adventures Prince Long Qing would have in the future, he firmly believed that as long as he defeated Prince Long Qing once, he could defeat Prince Long Qing countless times.
Ning Que lifted the curtains again and looked at the unfamiliar Tuyang City. In autumn, when he brought the students of the Academy to the frontline for practice, they had passed by Tuyang City. However, at that time, Xiahou did not receive the students of the Academy. The team passed by in a hurry, and he did not take a good look at the scenery of Tuyang City. One should know that the scenery here had a special meaning to him.
The significance was that Tuyang City was the place where Blackie had lived and fought, and Blackie was the first friend he truly trusted in the first half of his miserable and unspeakable life. He looked at the half-closed door of the grain store by the roadside, looked at the strange-looking watchtower on the city wall, and remembered the letters he received from afar when he was in the City of Wei. He remembered that Blackie had mentioned these places and what he had done in these places.
Darkie was already dead. He died in the cool spring rain, under the gray wall opposite the Old Brush Pen Shop. Ning Que looked at the scenery outside the window and missed the person he would never see again. He felt a little strange.
In the carriage, Eldest Brother and Mo Shanshan looked at him quietly. They could tell that he was in a strange mood at this time, but they did not know the real reason for it. They thought it was because they were about to enter the General's Mansion to meet Xia Hou. Ning Que was a little nervous thinking about the Horse Gang on the grassland and the Tomes of Arcane.
"The military can confirm Lin Ling's identity." Eldest Brother patted him on the shoulder and said gently, "Whether Xia Hou admits to it or not, the crime of his subordinate organizing the Horse Gang on the grassland to rob the army's grain is enough." Ning Que smiled.
Ning Que smiled. In fact, he did not quite understand why Eldest Brother had brought him to Tuyang City. He also did not know how to interpret what Eldest Brother had said about the confession that day. He had already obtained enough evidence about the Horse Gang in the grassland, but this alone was not enough to hurt Xia Hou. As for the punch that Xia Hou had used to snatch the Tomes of Arcane at the Hulan Sea and the Tang Empire's cavalry that had arrived later, it was not enough to knock Xia Hou to the ground.
The main gate of the General's Mansion was thick and wide, and the long street was swept clean. All the subordinates of deputy generals and captains respectfully accompanied at the side. Compared to the environment, the horse carriage looked even more simple and crude.
The horse carriage did not stop at the gate of the Mansion, but directly drove into the General's Mansion. The generals of the border army who were ordered to accompany outside the Mansion were even more shocked. They wondered who was in the horse carriage and how could he have such a big influence? It should be known that General Xia Hou was one of the most important figures in the Empire's military. Even people from the palace were not qualified to enter.
They did not alight in front of the General's Mansion because the identity of the person in the horse carriage was different. People like Eldest Brother rarely appeared in the secular world. His occasional appearance was just a glimpse. If people knew that he had come to Tuyang City, it would not be good for the imperial court or Xia Hou.
The horse carriage drove into the depths of the General's Mansion and stopped by a Winter Garden. A scholar named Gu Xi respectfully welcomed the three into the garden. Ning Que looked at the man's back and suddenly shook his head.
General Xia Hou welcomed them at the stone gate at the entrance of the garden. His expression was calm, but one could not tell what his state of mind was.
It had been some time since the incident at the Hulan Sea. When they met again, both sides had a tacit understanding not to mention the fight for the Tomes of Arcane that day. They just greeted each other as if it was their first meeting.
There was a homely banquet in the Winter Garden. There were no cruel and extravagant dishes like the rumored monkey's head, and there were no rumors of General Xia Hou killing a cook to test the guts of his guests. There were only simple dishes and three-colored rice porridge on the black wooden table. Everyone at the table ate in silence and no one spoke.
Ning Que drank a bowl of rice porridge and picked up the exquisite pickled vegetables with his chopsticks. He drank another bowl of rice porridge and picked up the vegetables with his chopsticks. He picked up the vegetables with his chopsticks for a while and suddenly raised his head to look at Xia Hou at the head of the table.
When there was silence, one sentence was like thunder.
When there was silence, one look was like lightning.
As a guest, it was very rude to look directly at the host. As the Youngest Brother of the Academy, it was a little unreasonable for him to do this when his Senior Brother was present. So Ning Que did it because he really wanted to see this person for himself.
Eldest Brother looked at him strangely, then smiled and lowered his head to eat the porridge. He seemed to think that the porridge was much more interesting than Xia Hou, Youngest Brother, and the faintly fluctuating aura during the banquet.
Mo Shanshan looked up at him, puzzled and worried. Seeing that Ning Que's expression was normal, she ignored him and looked somewhere else. It was always the ice pond and frost trees in the Winter Garden.
Xia Hou still lowered his head and ate slowly and seriously, as if he could not feel Ning Que's gaze deeply cutting into his face like two knives. He looked calm and composed.
Ning Que looked at Xia Hou quietly.
At this moment, Xia Hou was a completely different person from the middle-aged man at the Hulan Sea. His face was still as cold as cold iron, his eyebrows were still as thick as black silkworms, and his lips were still as red as thick blood. However, his extremely domineering power was all locked in the ordinary clothes on his body, and not a single bit leaked to the world.
The seemingly ordinary plain clothes were neither armor nor military uniform, but the imperial clothes that the Tang Emperor had personally draped on him when they discussed military merits. Xia Hou, who wore the imperial clothes, was not only a powerhouse at the Peak state of Martial Arts, but also a bigwig in the secular world, the person with the most power in the imperial military.
Ning Que silently thought that it would be difficult even for the Academy to explain to such a bigwig.
Xia Hou slowly and seriously ate the porridge in his bowl, even more leisurely than Eldest Brother. After a long time, he finally finished eating and slowly raised his head. He looked back at Ning Que's gaze and asked, "Why do you keep looking at me?"
Ning Que smiled and said, "Because the Great General is mighty."
Of course, no one believed this, but no one was bored enough to expose this excuse, unless Second Brother suddenly came to Tuyang City. Perhaps only then would he be interested in criticizing the hypocrisy and rudeness of both sides.
After removing the food and drinks, Xia Hou served the expensive Yanxi black tea. He looked at Eldest Brother and said, "My sons are all useless trash, so I won't call them out for Mr. First to see."
Eldest Brother smiled slightly and slowly sipped his tea. When he did not need to speak, he was always unwilling to speak, because he knew that others would not like to hear him speak slowly.
Xia Hou held the teacup and looked at Mo Shanshan. He said, "Are you the Calligraphy Addict?"
Eldest Brother put down the teacup and said with a smile, "Shanshan is now my sister."
Xia Hou slightly squinted and seemed a little surprised. He did not understand how this female Talisman Master from the Great River Kingdom had such a big Lucky Chance. After a moment of silence, he said, "Congratulations."
Mo Shanshan knew that the following conversation in the Winter Courtyard was related to the internal affairs of the Tang Empire. She stood up and bowed slightly, glanced at Ning Que again, and then left to feed the Big Black Horse.
It was quiet in the Winter Courtyard. Only the cold wind blew the frost on the branches, making a rustling sound, like arrows brushing past bowstrings, like the mud on the battlefield splashing on hard armor.
Xia Hou looked at the tea in the teacup that was as thick as blood and was silent for a long time. He shook his wrist and sent the tea to his lips, drinking it in one gulp. His long robe moved with the wind, looking indescribably heroic and casual, as if he had drunk a cup of double distilled liquor.
The tea went down his throat like blood, and the general's voice became colder and more solemn, like metal and stone.
"Back then, Mr. Ke killed his way into the Front Gate with a single sword. The disciples of the Enlightenment Doctrine were either dead or escaped. They were all homeless and miserable. However, the Enlightenment Doctrine set the rules by force, so the people of the Enlightenment Doctrine feared Mr. Ke like a tiger, but never hated him. At that time, I was still young and had just left my teacher's control. Instead, I felt like a fish leaping into the sea and flowers blooming on the other side of the shore. I was so happy, especially when my sister and I went south to the Central Plains. I joined the army in the Tang Empire and met many good friends. "
Ning Que did not look at him at this moment, only at the teacup in front of him. The black tea in the teacup reminded him of many old things, the stone lion, and the blood. He was thinking about the General's Mansion in the General's Mansion, and then he was awakened by the sound of metal and stone. He frowned slightly. He did not expect Xia Hou to admit that he was from the Devil's Doctrine right from the start.
"The world calls the Enlightenment Doctrine the Devil's Doctrine, and I am the so-called remnant of the Devil's Doctrine. Mr. First is the core disciple of the Headmaster of the Academy, so he does not care. However, the world does not think so. After my sister entered Chang 'an, I guarded the borders for the empire and accumulated merits to become a general. Unexpectedly, one day, Murong shocked the world with a dance. Her identity as the Saintess was exposed, and the West-Hill Divine Palace took this opportunity to make a big fuss. On one hand, the Hierarch Lord sent a letter to the imperial court, and on the other hand, the three Great Divine Priests went to Min Mountain to pressure me. "
Xia Hou looked indifferently at the black tea in the teacup. After a moment of silence, he said, "At that time, I always hoped that the imperial court would protect me, or that the Headmaster of the Academy would say something. However, the imperial court did not respond, and the Headmaster of the Academy did not say anything. In order not to let the West-Hill Divine Palace implicate the woman in Chang 'an because of my identity as the Devil's Doctrine, I had to kill Murong, betray the Enlightenment Doctrine, become a visiting professor of the Divine Hall, and become a dog of Haotian."
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(Thank you for your support. There is nothing else to say. I will work hard to write, and there will be another chapter tonight. I will finish my private affairs tomorrow. At the end of the month, the 26th is a Saturday. In the other six days, I will work hard to write and update. I will make everyone feel that it is a sci-fi drama, and all of you who voted for the General Night this month will feel that it was worth it. Thank you, everyone. Please continue to support me. I will go and run some affairs first. See you tonight.) (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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