He choked on his breath. Although he quickly suppressed it with his inner force, his cough seemed to be getting worse, giving the impression that his lungs were about to be coughed out.
Niu Youdao coughed and pointed at himself. He waved his hand, indicating that he could not take it anymore and left the banquet, coughing as he left.
He left just like that? The few of them looked at each other speechlessly.
Shang Shuqing was silent. After hearing Yuan Gang's words, she wanted to invite Niu Youdao to sing the poem but he did not even give her a chance to speak.
As he watched Niu Youdao leave, the corner of Yuan Gang's mouth twitched. Others might not know, but how could he not know what kind of person Grandpa Dao was? He had used the excuse of coughing to escape. He had even wanted to trick Grandpa Dao back, but Grandpa Dao was Grandpa Dao. He did not even need an explanation. Just like that, he went along with the flow and scrammed!
Not being able to trick him, Yuan Gang was speechless. He did not say anything and did not bid farewell to the few of them. Like a stranger, he carried his sword and strode away.
Shang Chaozong and the rest realized that Niu Youdao was using this opportunity to escape!
Looking at the dishes on the table, which were spat out by Niu Youdao, Lan Ruoting could not eat anymore. He shook his head and said: "The poem is indeed a good one, but I do not know who is the real one!"
Shang Chaozong snorted coldly: "Do you still need to say whose words are more trustworthy?"
Shang Shuqing walked lightly to the railing and looked at the rolling river under the moonlight. Slowly, she recited: "The rolling Yangtze River flows east, the waves wash away all heroes. Success or failure is gone in a blink of an eye. The green hills are still there, the setting sun is red … What a good green hills are still there, the setting sun is red … When you are sober, you sit in front of the flowers; when you are drunk, you sleep under the flowers! One is heroic and vicissitudes of life, the other is poetic wine and idyllic. But both emit a faint sense of worldly fame and fortune. It is possible that they are from the same person! However, he still refuses to open his heart to us and intentionally keeps his distance from us. Brother, I'm afraid we won't be able to keep this person. I'm afraid we'll have to part ways with him sooner or later! "
Shang Chaozong's face was filled with displeasure. "It's dangerous to follow us, so it's reasonable for him to protect himself!"
Lan Ruoting sighed and said, "No matter what, at least the other party's intention to leave proves one thing. They are not sent by outsiders with ill intentions!"
Inside the tent, Niu Youdao sat cross-legged on a blanket, meditating.
The curtains were lifted, and Yuan Gang entered. He asked calmly, "Was the supper delicious?"
"What delicious food can there be? Other than steaming, boiling, and roasting, it's still steaming, boiling, and roasting. There are too few cooking methods here. When we settle down, we have to solve this problem!" At this point, Niu Youdao opened his eyes and glanced sideways. He said unhappily, "Monkey, you're really something. You're siding with an outsider!"
You still have the cheek to say that? Yuan Gang gave him a disdainful look. He couldn't be bothered to talk about such unreliable things anymore. He inserted his sword and scabbard in front of Niu Youdao, turned around and sat down on the blanket on the opposite side. "Daoye, we're not far from Nanshan Temple. Are you sure someone will make a move on you in Nanshan Temple?"
Niu Youdao immediately threw the previous incident to the back of his mind. Between the two of them, what happened just now was nothing. He pondered for a moment and said, "If Tuján didn't remind me, I'm afraid I wouldn't have thought of it. Since Tuján reminded me, with that fake letter, I'm afraid it's most likely the case. If they want to make a move on me in Nanshan Temple, there are only two possibilities. Either the Shangqing Sect is hiding in Nanshan Temple and making a move on me, or someone else wants to make a move on me in Nanshan Temple. "
Yuan Gang asked directly, "What do you want to do?"
Niu Youdao said, "First of all, I'm not tired of living yet. I don't want to die yet. The ideal solution is to let the Shanghai Sect mistakenly think that they have dealt with me. This will cut off the possibility of the Shanghai Sect keeping an eye on me. This will allow us to leave unhurriedly and buy time for us to improve our strength. In this way, even if the Shanghai Sect finds out that I'm still alive, we have our own strength and don't need to be afraid of them. This is the safest way. Otherwise, if we get entangled by the masters of the Shanghai Sect, I'm afraid it'll be very dangerous. We're not familiar with the people and the place, so we'll be at a disadvantage. This is also the reason why I don't dare to leave this team. No matter how bad Shang Chaozong is, he's still a Prince. Without a big shot's permission, the Shanghai Sect won't dare to openly attack Shang Chaozong's men! "
The two of them had a tacit understanding of each other after so many years of cooperation. Speaking of this, Yuan Gang roughly understood what Niu Youdao wanted to do. He asked, "Do you want to substitute him?"
Niu Youdao nodded and said, "In this way, the two possibilities in Nanshan Temple mean two results. If the people of the Shanghai Sect make a move on me, the other party most likely knows me. It's useless even if I substitute him, he'll still come after me. If it's not the people of the Shanghai Sect, we can smoothly deceive everyone! "
Yuan Gang asked, "What's the specific plan?"
Niu Youdao said, "The person must be found among these five hundred people. Find someone who has a general outline similar to mine. You find a way to disguise him and send him to Nanshan Temple. If it's not the people of the Shanghai Sect, they'll definitely kill the person who impersonates me. Once the person dies, the killer will think that they've succeeded. Shang Chaozong's men will also definitely go to find their own people. We can take the opportunity to escape quickly. If it's the people of the Shanghai Sect, they won't act rashly and alert the enemy. If you see the person coming out safely, immediately send out a distress signal to attract Shang Chaozong's men to help. First, you can try to let Shang Chaozong's men entangle the killer. Second, you can attract the killer's attention. At least, you can't let the killer know where we're going. We can take the opportunity to escape! In short, no matter what the result is, we don't have to accompany these two siblings to take risks. We'll leave immediately after lighting the fire! "
Yuan Gang nodded. "Understood. I'll handle this matter. You keep Shang Chaozong's men!"
Niu Youdao sighed and said, "Didn't I just want to keep them calm? Why are you making trouble?"
Yuan Gang turned his head away and lay on the blanket. He closed his eyes and slept, pretending that he didn't hear anything …
The next morning, Yuan Gang came back with water and helped Niu Youdao prepare the water he needed in the morning.
After washing up outside the tent, Niu Youdao, who was looking around, turned around and asked, "What's going on?"
Yuan Gang replied, "I heard a few words. Entering the mountain to cut wood and crossing the river with a raft."
"Oh!" Niu Youdao looked around.
After washing up, Niu Youdao strolled around. When he saw Shang Chaozong's men pointing at the river, Niu Youdao took the initiative to go over. "Prince, such a big commotion. Are we going to cross the river with a raft?"
The few of them looked back and greeted him. Lan Ruoting smiled and said, "That's right! If it's just people crossing the river, it'll be easy. But with so many horses, it'll be inconvenient if we don't make hundreds of rafts. "
Niu Youdao looked upstream and downstream and asked curiously, "Are there no bridges upstream and downstream?"
Lan Ruoting said, "Master, you may not know this. Governor Feng Lingbo of Guangyi Prefecture has his own army. To defend against the imperial army, he strictly controls the boats on the river. As for the bridges, they're either burnt or destroyed. It's too far to go around. We can only cross by raft."
"Own army?" Niu Youdao walked in between them and looked at the shadowy scenery on the opposite bank. "A mere governor dares to go against the imperial army. Is this Feng Lingbo very powerful?"
Shang Chaozong and his sister looked at each other. They didn't even know this. They didn't know if Niu Youdao was asking the obvious.
Lan Ruoting smiled and stroked his beard. "It's impossible for a prefecture to go against the entire imperial army. But now the imperial army is facing the pressure of the enemy's army. It's not good to cause internal strife. And Feng Lingbo indeed had some strength, not only did he have the support of a cultivation sect, he also had a hundred thousand elite troops under him. His eldest son Feng Ruoyi and second son Feng Ruojie were both great generals who were skilled in battle, even his daughter Feng Ruonan was a female general who did not lose to men. Feng Lingbo has two sons and one daughter as generals. They've defeated the imperial army several times, forcing the imperial army to appease them. They don't dare to completely rebel. In addition, Guangyi Prefecture is a land of fish and rice. The weather is warm and there's plenty of food. The population is naturally not small. It can be said that Feng Lingbo has enough conditions to be independent. That's why he dares to go against the imperial army while the imperial army is in trouble! "
A governor dares to raise his own army. It looks like this Yan country is in big trouble! Niu Youdao revealed a thoughtful expression. He muttered, "Feng Ruonan …"
He remembered something. When he first left Little Temple Village and drifted along the river, he met a female general. She asked him to come to Guangyi Prefecture to seek shelter. He remembered that the nameplate she gave him had a phoenix and the word "man" engraved on it.
Hearing Lan Ruoting's mumbling, he tried to ask. "Venerable One knows Feng Lingbo's daughter, Feng Ruonan?"
"Hehe!" Niu Youdao smiled and shook his head.
At this moment, there was a commotion at the temporary camp behind them. Shang Chaozong suddenly turned around and shouted. "What's going on?"
Niu Youdao turned around and saw that Yuan Gang was surrounded by a group of people. His eyebrows twitched.
The few of them quickly walked over. Centurion Guan Tie went forward to clear the way. The crowd made way. Seeing that Yuan Gang was obviously fighting with his personal guard, Shang Chaozong shouted again. "What's going on?"
Yuan Gang stood motionless, his face expressionless. The centurion opposite him, Chen Shulin, pointed at Yuan Gang and said angrily. "Prince, he said that our Heroic Yang and Fierce Martial Guards are trash!"
The few of them quickly stared at Yuan Gang. Shang Shuqing felt it was strange. Yuan Gang was definitely not a meddlesome person. Why would he say such a thing?
Shang Chaozong. "Brother Yuan, is that true?"
Yuan Gang was unmoved. "I said it."
His words incited the anger of the crowd. Everyone around them looked angry. Even Shang Chaozong's expression darkened. Lan Ruoting and Shang Shuqing looked at each other.
Niu Youdao, who used his sword as a walking stick wherever he went, held it with one hand. He shouted indifferently. "Monkey, what nonsense are you talking about?"
Yuan Gang said indifferently. "I'm not talking nonsense. I'm just speaking the truth. If anyone is not convinced, you can have a duel!"
The two personal guards immediately rubbed their palms together. It was obvious that they were ready to beat Yuan Gang up.
Shang Chaozong's spirit was lifted. He had taken a liking to Yuan Gang the first time he saw him. He believed that he was not wrong about Yuan Gang's temperament. He had long wanted to test Yuan Gang's capabilities. Now that the opportunity was right in front of him, he could not help but shout. "Good! Which brother will come out and play with Brother Yuan? "
"Me!"
"Me!"
"Prince, let me!"
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