This stone palace built amidst the wind and sand was filled with tranquility.
There was only the whistling sound brought by the wind passing through the hall.
The graceful black-haired woman looked up in disbelief: "Senior Brother is dead?"
"How could he possibly die? Isn't it often said that the wicked live for a thousand years?"
As she looked up, one could see that this woman had a high nose and deep-set eyes, with a profound and exquisite face, looking exactly like a woman from the Western Regions. Her figure was graceful, and she appeared to be no more than twenty-one or twenty-two years old.
"Sometimes, the wicked do not live for a thousand years," Old Man Bei Ku said with a hissing laugh.
"Although that rebellious disciple was not much of a threat, I cannot swallow this insult of him dying so inexplicably in the Central Plains."
"I intend to make a trip to the Central Plains."
"You stay here and guard the house, Ning Xia."
As soon as these words were spoken, Ning Xia stepped forward and knelt on the ground with a thud: "That must not happen. Master, you still have old injuries, and those Han people in the Central Plains are treacherous and cunning by nature. If something goes wrong, this disciple would not be able to atone for it even with ten thousand deaths."
Old Man Bei Ku looked down at the kneeling Ning Xia with amusement. The woman's body, draped in supple gauze clothing, formed a graceful arc on the sandy floor of the palace: "Could it be that you, Ning Xia, wish to go in my stead?"
Ning Xia lowered her head and knelt on the ground: "If Master permits it."
Old Man Bei Ku laughed heartily, causing the sand and dust of the palace to fall incessantly.
"Then let me pass on one more cultivation method to you."
Ning Xia looked up in pleasant surprise and called out, "Master."
……
……
Meanwhile, in the Central Plains, spring was in full bloom in Luocheng.
After the Qingming Festival, the atmosphere of late spring gradually grew stronger. However, Xiao Hun Inn continued to open for business as usual every day, opening at dawn and closing at night, with everything following the natural order.
The people of Luocheng also gradually became familiar with this oddly named inn. They knew that the inn had a bright and stunning innkeeper who almost never showed her face, a cook who was as tender as if she could drip water, and a waiter who was quick and nimble, capable of managing the entire inn all by himself. Although the meals were simple, they were not unpalatable.
Although the rooms were simple, they were truly clean.
As a result, business at Xiao Hun Inn gradually improved.
As for the previous mission to assassinate Ning Huaiyuan, it was a thing of the past. The secret manual left behind by Ning Huaiyuan was not the legendary Purple Cloud Divine Skill; after all, the news released by the Mount Hua Sect in the end was only a suspicion, intended to increase the intensity of the hunt for Ning Huaiyuan.
That secret manual was actually just a Mount Hua sword manual. It was of a fairly high rank, a manual for the Gale Swift Sword. Its power was quite great, but it was rather cumbersome to practice. Although it did not require profound Internal Energy, it required a very solid foundation in sword techniques to be able to study it.
Xue Ling took a look and lost interest, but Fang Bie took it and read it for a few days before throwing it back.
However, up until now, the training Xue Ling had seen Fang Bie perform was still the same dull and tedious act of swinging his sword every night; she had never seen any superfluous movements.
But at the same time, after the battle with Ning Huaiyuan, Xue Ling dared not underestimate Fang Bie in any way.
After all, he had truly used the strength equivalent to a Ninth-Rank martial artist to play the powerful Third-Rank Master Ning Huaiyuan in the palm of his hand, and in the end, he even killed him without a trace.
In addition, Xue Ling had been wearing the soft sword called Rolex that Fang Bie gave her, but practicing with it was truly a very difficult task. This was because when using a soft sword, one relied entirely on the flick of the wrist, and even if one could infuse Internal Energy into the soft sword, it was very difficult to execute smooth sword moves.
For this reason, when Xue Ling complained to Fang Bie, Fang Bie told her—the most important thing when practicing such exotic weapons is the willingness to put in the effort and the hard work.
"For example, when I still had my fingers, I was very fond of this kind of soft sword."
As soon as these words were spoken, Xue Ling was so angry she almost turned and left.
But she couldn't leave. Xue Ling had already become somewhat accustomed to this life as a cook. In fact, Jianghu was even more realistic than Xue Ling had imagined.
She was now an Assassin of the Beehive, and she had just participated in killing Ning Huaiyuan, a master whose strength far exceeded expectations. It could be said to be as Jianghu as it gets.
Yet every day, there wasn't that much killing or clashing of blades. Every day, Xue Ling had to deal with firewood and rice, and she even used her Emei sword techniques to peel radishes.
But it had to be said, when a diner praised Xue Ling for peeling the radish skin so thin and white, Xue Ling was actually a little happy?
In the blink of an eye, several months passed. Xue Ling would sometimes think—if she could always be an assassin like this, wouldn't it be quite good?
Of course, only sometimes.
……
……
Changqing Bathhouse was the largest bathhouse in Luocheng.
Because it was not convenient to take a hot bath at Xiao Hun Inn—after all, as a little cook, Lin Xue couldn't possibly use that agarwood wooden bucket to bathe, and even if she could, her side room wouldn't fit that bathtub.
So, could she only bathe in the courtyard of Xiao Hun Inn?
If that were the case, Fang Bie would be practicing his sword on one side, and Xue Ling would be soaking in a bath on the other.
That could only be described as a scene too beautiful for me to dare look at.
Therefore, every half month, Xue Ling would unfailingly come to Changqing Bathhouse to take a bath.
Using her monthly allowance of four qian of silver.
Changqing Bathhouse could be considered a hot spring bathhouse, with separate bath water for men and women, as well as private bathrooms.
Relatively speaking, a private room was definitely more expensive than the main hall.
Xue Ling wanted a private room.
Putting her clothes into the wooden bucket and immersing her body into the warm spring water, Xue Ling looked up at the ceiling painted with colorful murals, feeling the comfort and ease spreading through her limbs and bones.
In that instant, Xue Ling felt as if she had regained the feeling of being that noble daughter and Imperial Guard Commander named Xue Ling.
However—she might never be able to go back.
Girls always need a very, very long time to soak in a bath.
But Xue Ling did not need that long.
She only soaked in the hot spring for half a shichen, then got up, put on a loose white linen bathrobe, and barefoot, pushed gently against the wall of the bathroom, where a pitch-black secret passage appeared.
The young girl had already locked the door of the bathroom compartment. Usually, no matter how bold someone was, they wouldn't break into a bathroom currently being used by a female guest.
This secret passage was dark and long.
However, Xue Ling's footsteps were silent, just like the calmest and most agile cat.
At the end of the secret passage, there was another door.
Xue Ling stood before the door, her hair wet, wearing only a loose white linen bathrobe. She pressed her index and middle fingers together and knocked on the door.
Three long and three short.
Three short and three long.
The door creaked open, and inside, only a dim candle was lit.
This was thirty zhang underground, the so-called "reaching the heavens above and the Yellow Springs below."
This was the Yellow Springs.
Xue Ling walked into the room and bowed to the thin, elderly man who had his back to her.
"Imperial Guard Commander Xue Ling, pays respects to Old Mr. Zou."
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