144: Chapter 24 Night Visit to the Prince Zhao's Mansion

Night, the moon is bright and the stars are sparse.

Meng Li, Mu Nianci, Guo Jing, and Yang Tiexin, dressed in night-traveling clothes and masked, arrived under the courtyard wall on one side of Zhao Kings Manor.

Meng Li listened carefully to the movement, and after confirming no one was inside, whispered, "No one is nearby, we can go in."

Having said that, he reached out to hold Mu Nianci's waist. With a tap of his toes on the ground, his body soared into the air. With another breath of Qi, he cleared the high wall, entered the interior, and landed gracefully.

Mu Nianci had just reacted to the intimate contact of her waist being held and was about to feel shy when she found herself already inside the Prince's manor.

Meng Li's hand on her waist released at the appropriate time.

Immediately after, Guo Jing landed beside them with the sound of rushing wind.

Following him was Yang Tiexin.

Once everyone had arrived, they looked around and found that this Prince's manor was much larger than imagined.

Guo Jing couldn't help but say, "Elder Brother Meng, this manor is too big. How are we going to search?"

Meng Li thought for a moment and said, "We'll split up and search in two directions. Nianci and I will go left, and you go right with Uncle Yang. We'll meet back here in an hour. If there's an accident midway, fire a signal flare."

"Alright," Guo Jing readily agreed.

Yang Tiexin cautioned, "You two be extra careful."

With that, the two of them left together.

Meng Li led Mu Nianci in the other direction.

Following the general direction they had set, the two of them twisted and turned for a long time. They encountered several waves of patrolling guards, but Meng Li heard them coming in advance and avoided them with ease, which secretly amazed Mu Nianci.

"How do you do it?"

After avoiding the patrolling guards once again, Mu Nianci couldn't help her curiosity and asked.

Meng Li replied, "When Martial Arts reach a certain level, especially after having Internal Energy, a person's five senses will be enhanced and become sharp. Hearing is one of them. Before encountering the patrolling guards, I heard them first; I can even judge their numbers and direction of travel, so naturally, I can avoid them."

Mu Nianci finally understood.

Although she had practiced Martial Arts and even received guidance from Northern Beggar Hong Qi through a lucky Opportunity, she had never learned Internal Skill and naturally hadn't developed Internal Energy.

Meng Li thought of this and promised with a smile, "I'll teach you Internal Skill when I have time later."

Mu Nianci was stunned, then instead of answering, she asked, "Will it bring you trouble? I've heard that Internal Skills are closely guarded secrets."

Meng Li replied, "No, my Martial Arts were obtained through a fortuitous encounter. I can decide for myself who I want to pass them on to."

Hearing this, Mu Nianci felt relieved, but then another thought occurred to her, and a blush rose to her cheeks under the black mask: "If you teach me Martial Arts, wouldn't you become my Master?"

Meng Li was stunned for a moment, then laughed, "When a husband teaches his wife, there aren't so many rules. However..."

The corners of his mouth curled slightly, his tone carrying a hint of playfulness: "If you want to call me Master, I'll accept that too."

Mu Nianci was taken aback, then said in bashful annoyance, "This... how can it be like this? If you talk nonsense again, I'll ignore you!"

By the end of it, she couldn't help but stomp her foot.

Meng Li gave a silent laugh and soothed her, "Alright, alright, it was my nonsense, I won't say it again. Let's focus on finding the medicine."

As he spoke, he scanned the surroundings, guessing from the layout and furnishings, "This should be the living quarters. I just don't know if that Master Lingzhi lives nearby or somewhere else."

Seeing him return to the main topic, Mu Nianci suppressed her girlish emotions and looked around, but she couldn't make a judgment either.

At that moment, a cool night breeze blew by.

Meng Li keenly sniffed a medicinal scent and couldn't help but let out a soft sound of surprise. "There's a medicinal smell; someone is brewing medicine. It's very likely that Master Lingzhi."

Mu Nianci sniffed carefully but didn't smell anything. She was about to be puzzled when she remembered that Meng Li's five senses were sharper than hers, so she changed her words: "Can you find the location?"

Meng Li sniffed seriously and nodded, "I can."

After saying that, he walked in the direction the medicinal scent was coming from.

Mu Nianci followed him.

As the distance closed, she soon smelled a medicinal scent as well.

After turning two corners, Meng Li stopped at a corner. Pointing to the brightly lit room opposite, he turned his head and whispered to Mu Nianci, "The person brewing medicine is in that room. Keep your steps light; let's sneak over and take a look."

Mu Nianci nodded, her toes slightly tiptoeing.

Soon, the two reached the window. Using a finger moistened with saliva, they poked a hole in the paper screen to look inside.

Inside, they saw an old man whose head was completely bald, but whose surrounding hair and facial beard were all white.

He carried a bowl to a large box, opened the top grate, and whistled.

Then, a large, multicolored python poked its head out.

Seeing this, Mu Nianci was instantly startled but made no sound.

Next, they saw the old man stroking the python, which was flicking its tongue, and talking to himself: "Precious snake, oh precious snake, I've raised you for nearly twenty years. Thinking that I'll be drinking your blood in a few days, I'm actually a bit reluctant to let go."

"Come, drink this bowl of tonic obediently."

"So that I can drink your blood in a few days, and from then on, my cultivation will increase a hundredfold."

After speaking, he pointed to the porcelain bowl containing the tonic next to him.

The large python—no, more accurately, it should be a Medicinal Snake—obeyed and turned its head to drink the tonic in the bowl.

After it finished the medicine, the old man comforted it slightly, let it retreat back into the box, and then closed the top grate.

At this moment, Meng Li heard someone approaching and hurriedly took Mu Nianci to hide in a secluded corner.

In just a moment, a short and stout man wearing a blue shirt ran over and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" the old man in the room asked loudly.

The short, stout man replied, "It's me, Peng Lianhu."

With a creak, the door was opened.

The white-haired old man asked, "It's so late, what do you want with me?"

Peng Lianhu said, "Old Freak Liang, you know about the Young Prince suffering a loss on the street not long ago, right?"

The white-haired old man called "Old Freak Liang" was named Old Man Liang, nicknamed the "Ginseng Immortal Old Freak."

Like Peng Lianhu before him and Master Lingzhi who injured Iron Foot Master, he was a Jianghu expert recruited by Wanyan Honglie using money and power. Currently, he was a Guest Elder in this Zhao Kings Manor, but in reality, he was an Advanced thug.

In addition, there were the senior and junior brothers Sha Tongtian and Hou Tonghai, as well as the Young Lord of White Camel Mountain in the Western Regions, Ouyang Ke.

Hearing Peng Lianhu's words, Old Man Liang said, "Of course I know."

"It's said he encountered a Quanzhen Sect priest. To save him, Master Lingzhi not only revealed his strength but also got injured."

"That priest was also hit by a poisonous palm strike."

"To ensure his death, Master Lingzhi specifically sent people to collect all the medicinal materials needed for detoxification in the city."

"It's estimated that in less than two days, that priest will die from the poison."

"After this incident, the Young Prince completely believed Ouyang Ke's words and realized we were intentionally letting him win in our previous sparring matches. Because of this, he threw a tantrum and then demanded we teach him powerful Martial Arts. He said that after he finishes learning, he will surely surpass his teachers and win against us fair and square."

"Later, the Prince dissuaded him, and the matter was dropped."

After finishing the story, Old Man Liang paused and said wonderingly, "You were there at the time, you should know. Why run here in the middle of the night to bring this up again?"

Peng Lianhu laughed, "You only know one part of this matter, not the whole story."

...