423: Chapter 423 Three Eyes

Yong Province, Yuntian Dojo.

Under the cover of night, Lin Xiao's figure descended from the sky.

After parting ways with the women, he traveled alone at full speed. In a single day, he had crossed half of the Northern Territory and reached the heart of Yong Province.

After sensing his surroundings for a moment, Lin Xiao headed straight for the alchemy room.

Firelight was flickering inside the room. Lin Xiao pushed the door open and saw an old Taoist with mixed black and white hair and a long, horse-like face, who was currently preparing alchemy ingredients.

"A late-night visitor? You clearly come with ill intent," the old Taoist said, his eyes filled with vigilance.

[Taoist Yunhuo, 57 years old, Deacon of the Moon Worship Cult, Jianghu Charlatan, Aptitude: mystic grade]

When Lin Xiao saw this man's information, he felt a slight sense of unease.

"I'm looking for Venerable Fire. Where is he?" Lin Xiao asked bluntly.

Taoist Yunhuo looked surprised. "You... are looking for me?"

"You are Venerable Fire?"

Lin Xiao frowned. This guy was indeed a body double, and he even intended to deceive him on purpose.

"Correct. Why have you sought me out?" Taoist Yunhuo asked with an arrogant expression.

Lin Xiao simply flicked his finger, and a bolt of True Qi pierced through Taoist Yunhuo's knee.

Taoist Yunhuo let out a miserable scream, falling to his knees in pain as tears welled up in his eyes.

"I'll give you one last chance. Tell the truth. Where are Venerable Fire and the Left Protector?" Lin Xiao's eyes were cold.

"I do not know where the Left Protector is, but I am indeed Venerable Fire!"

As Taoist Yunhuo spoke, he suddenly flicked his sleeve and threw out several black orbs.

With his other hand, he swung his horsetail whisk, drawing a flame from the alchemy furnace to ignite the black spheres.

Once ignited, the black spheres exploded in mid-air, producing several weak bursts of fire, though they released quite a lot of toxic gas.

Seeing that he stubbornly refused to speak, Lin Xiao lost the patience to continue questioning him.

With a burst of True Qi, he killed Taoist Yunhuo instantly. Lin Xiao then searched the Taoist temple, but found it incredibly impoverished, so he headed straight for Sha Prefecture.

Since Taoist Yunhuo wasn't Venerable Fire, only Jinguangzi was left.

However, Lin Xiao had a faint feeling that he might have fallen into some kind of trap. These two might both be decoys.

But even if the hope was slim, Lin Xiao still had to investigate.

As dawn broke, Lin Xiao arrived at the Jinguang Temple.

But after a search, aside from some residual alchemy materials in the alchemy room, there wasn't a single soul left in the entire Jinguang Temple.

Lin Xiao sighed. "Well played, First Prince Li Chengqi. You're quite the sly one..."

Taoist Yunhuo, with 'Fire' specifically in his name, was meant to make people mistakenly believe he was Venerable Fire.

In all likelihood, the moment something happened to Taoist Yunhuo, the real Venerable Fire would be able to escape calmly.

Of course, this didn't mean Jinguangzi was definitely Venerable Fire; Jinguangzi might have just been another smokescreen.

A wily rabbit has three burrows. Such an enemy was truly difficult to deal with.

Lin Xiao felt a bit frustrated. Even with his Earth Immortal cultivation, he couldn't search for people across the entire Northern Territory.

He could only wait for a future opportunity to catch these two fish that had slipped through the net.

As long as First Prince Li Chengqi still wanted the throne, it was impossible for him to stay hidden forever.

Setting aside his mood, Lin Xiao headed straight for Xinghua Village in Lincang.

The wine festival was about to begin, and he needed to do a final check to see if all the details were in place.

As the host, he also had to prepare to receive guests from all sides...

Two days later.

A carriage emerged from Wushan Commandery and headed toward Western Qiang.

Upon reaching a road administration service area on the official highway, the driver got down to get some hot water, buy some dry rations, and purchase a copy of yesterday's Northern Daily.

After boarding the carriage, the driver handed the newspaper to a young nobleman inside while he began eating a steaming hot bun.

"It's been two days and we still haven't received a message. Yunhuo has likely been exposed," the driver said.

The young nobleman opened the newspaper and asked, "What about Jinguang Temple?"

"That man has been there. The door to the alchemy room was pushed open."

The young nobleman grinned. "As expected. Even though Taoist Yunhuo claimed to be you, he still didn't believe it and went to Jinguang Temple anyway. He really can see through the identities of others."

"Yunhuo didn't have the strength of a Grandmaster at all. Of course he wouldn't believe it!"

These two were none other than First Prince Li Chengqi and Venerable Fire.

"Perhaps. But once or twice is one thing; he has seen through our people far too many times."

First Prince Li Chengqi said with a face full of regret, "I really want to meet him face-to-face and test his abilities. Is there really someone in this world who can open a third eye?"

"Don't. This man named Lin could kill Ji Wuming with a single palm strike; he's likely in the Earth Immortal Realm. Although I don't know how he achieved it at such a young age, anyone who faces him will meet with disaster!"

"Right now, perhaps only the old monsters hiding in the Imperial Tombs have a chance to fight him. Let's wait until they have a result before saying more."

Venerable Fire sighed. "We should head from Western Qiang to the Northern Barbarians first to find a place to lay low, lest disaster falls from the sky."

First Prince Li Chengqi smiled. "Don't be in such a hurry. I value my life too. We're definitely leaving, it's just a pity... I really wanted to see this Worlds Number One Wine Festival."

"I don't know how this Lin Xiao's brain is wired; he always manages to come up with such interesting things."

Venerable Fire deeply agreed. "Thanks to his Northern Road Administration, this highway makes it quite convenient to hide and move around. By the way... any interesting news in the paper?"

"Princess Xinglan was assassinated, and the assassin claimed to be hired by the Eastern Palace. Does that count as interesting?" First Prince Li Chengqi pointed to the headline.

*Cough cough*... "How is that possible?"

Venerable Fire choked. "Even if your idiot younger brother the Crown Prince is stupid, the people around him aren't fools. How could they send an assassin at a time like this? If they were going to send one, it would be a death soldier. Why would they speak?"

"Heh, that's what you and I would think, but the common people won't."

"It doesn't matter if it's true or false. As long as it's half-true, it's real to the commoners!"

"Moreover, no matter how you look at it, Crown Prince Li Chenghao wanting to kill Princess Li Xinglan is an absolute certainty!"

First Prince Li Chengqi said playfully, "The Northern Daily specifically placed this news in the most prominent position just to make that kid Li Chenghao look bad and embarrass the Imperial Family."

*Hiss*... "Could this be Lin Xiao's true intention for creating the Northern Daily? To use the newspaper's influence to incite the common people?"

Venerable Fire felt it was too wicked. "Then what should Li Chenghao do? Last time he was called 'impotent,' and this time he's hiring assassins. No one could stand that."

"Even if he can't stand it, he has to endure it."

First Prince Li Chengqi sighed. "This is an open scheme; there is no solution."

Venerable Fire couldn't help but remark, "The Prince of Zhenbei has such deep scheming. He looks like a brave martial general, but when he plays politics, he's more ruthless than anyone!"

"Conquering Mobei, he's the first in the history of the Central Plains. How could that be achieved by brute force alone?"

First Prince Li Chengqi said with a face of regret, "It's just a shame we're destined to be enemies. It's annoying..."

Venerable Fire also felt dejected. He finished the last bite of his bun and drove the horse forward. "Let's go! Escaping with our lives is what matters!"

"Hey! Old Huo, why did you eat all the buns?! Where's mine?!"

"You didn't say you were hungry. Gnaw on the dry rations yourself..."

"You're mistreating me! I'm going to tell my father!"

"Your father is dead!"

...

"Achoo!"

Emperor Hong had just stepped down from his carriage and was about to enter a Northern Road Administration relay station when he sneezed.

"Oh, Master Hong, we haven't been out for long. It won't do if you've caught a cold!" Zheng Yangwei was startled and hurriedly turned back to get a cloak.

Emperor Hong waved his hand. "It's fine, just an itchy nose. I'm not that fragile."

Emperor Hong was in high spirits as he pointed at the words on the relay station ahead:

"Yong Province South Service Area? What does this mean?"