Flower Stealing Master

Chapter 283: Before the storm

”The second way?” Song Qingshu paused, then turned his gaze to the joint between the stone gate and the wall, ”The person who conspired against us this time is most likely not a member of the Mystic Dragon Cult.”

”Why?” Su Quan had subconsciously thought that it was Hong Antong who had conspired against Song Qingshu and Ouyang Feng this time. After all, both the Spirit Serpent Cave and the Five Colored Dragon belonged to the Mystic Dragon Cult.

‘But I clearly hinted to him that Song Qingshu was under my control. Could it be that he saw through my act and decided to retaliate?’ Su Quan had been feeling quite conflicted about this matter, but when she heard Song Qingshuʼs words, she quickly raised her head and asked.

”If it was the people from the Mystic Dragon Cult, they would definitely not spend so much effort trying to trap us with this stone gate, because this stone gate has a fatal weakness.”

Ouyang Feng was originally a person with a sharp mind. After he followed Song Qingshuʼs gaze, he quickly understood his intention, ”You mean the door hinge?”

Looking at the joint between the stone gate and the wall, Ouyang Feng finally noticed the fundamental difference between this stone gate and the stone gate of the Tomb of the Living Dead.

For the Tomb of the Living Dead, once the stone door was put down on the entrance, it would be impossible to open again from the inside, as the ‘door’ was simply a huge slab of stone weighing more than ten thousand catties blocking the entrance of the cave. Although the stone door in front of them also weighed more than ten thousand catties, it had an extra mechanism for the convenience of opening and closing. So it was actually something that could be opened and closed freely like an ordinary door.

Ordinary doors needed hinges, and this stone door was no exception. Its door hinges were inlaid on the side wall, and this wall was not a solid rock. When the stone gate was locked from the outside, and these hinges became its weak point.

”Master Ouyang, if you and I cooperate to hit this stone gate with enough force at the same time. Although the stone gate will remain unscathed, the hinges would not be able to withstand repeated damage.” Song Qingshu then suddenly thought to himself, ‘Sh*t! I could’ve done it myself on my own!’

”So thatʼs why you came back to save me?” Ouyang Fengʼs expression suddenly became very strange.

”Master Ouyang wonʼt dislike my impure motive for saving you, right?” Song Qingshu gave an awkward laugh.

”Iʼm just laughing at your stupidity, so why bother?” Ouyang Feng sneered and went straight to the corner of the wall without even waiting for Song Qingshuʼs help. Then he pressed his palm on the door near the door hinges without even looking at the huge door hinges on the wall, ”Now, strike it again.”

Song Qingshu suspiciously slapped the stone gate, then heard a crackling sound, and felt the whole stone gate begin to loosen!

Song Qingshu became overjoyed, and used the three-fold wave of the Subduing Dragon Palms again, while combining the three palm strikes of Proud Dragon Repents into one palm strike. And then, with a bang, the huge stone door slowly fell outwards.

Su Quan, who survived the catastrophe, felt extremely lucky when she saw the sunshine that she had taken for granted in the past. Soon, Ouyang Fengʼs voice was heard again, ”It would’ve been enough if you had used your internal energy to smash the place near the hinge, so why were you making things so complex?”

Song Qingshu couldnʼt help but feel a little embarrassed. When he had failed to open the stone gate before, his first reaction was to go rescue Ouyang Feng. Afterwards, the only things he considered were either how to save Ouyang Feng, or how to persuade him to cooperate. He had truly acted quite carelessly on this occasion, which resulted in his IQ being despised by a former insane person.

*****

”The Cult Master will enjoy eternal blessings forever, and may he live as long as the heavens! I report to the Cult Master that the people you had sent out have returned, and there is no trace of Madame and Song Qingshu anywhere.” A member of Mystic Dragon Cult knelt in front of Hong Antong and said.

”Whereʼs the Western Poison Ouyang Feng?” Hearing that the two were missing, Hong Antong snorted coldly, and a trace of green flashed across his originally ruddy face.

”No news.” Feeling that Hong Antongʼs tone was far from being friendly, the member of the Mystic Dragon Cult hastily replied, ”The people sent by the Cult Master to serve Ouyang Feng were all killed last night. It is said that some disciples saw Ouyang Feng and Song Qingshu fighting fiercely in the woods. The disciples did not dare to approach them, and then the two of them disappeared somewhere unknown.”

‘Could it be that both sides were fatally injured and fell into the sea then drowned?’ Hong Antong felt doubtful, which was quickly replaced by restlessness, and he waved his hands to signal the man to leave.

There was a reason why Hong Antong was feeling so restless. He had prepared Ouyang Feng as a trump card, which had given him the confidence to control the overall situation. Later, Su Quan brought along Song Qingshu, a master who was comparable to the Western Poison in strength. According to her hint, Song Qingshu was being controlled by her Bewitchment Art. Hong Antong had thought that with these two masters on his side, it would not be difficult for him to survive this catastrophe.

Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, Hong Antong was now on his own. Thinking of the envoys sent by various forces, each with their own ulterior motives, Hong Antong had a deep sense of foreboding.

”Cult Master, the guests are already waiting in the hall.”

Hearing the voice of the disciples outside the room, Hong Antong woke up with a start, his eyes regained their former sternness, and he calmly walked towards the hall.

*****

”Lord Hong, before I came here, Prince Bao had specially stated that as long as you had over Su Quan, the culprit, we will immediately withdraw our troops from attacking the Mystic Dragon Cult. Today is the deadline. The Cult Master should decide whether you will hand her over or not”

In the conference hall, Yu Zhenzi, who had already fixed his embarrassed appearance from when he was hunted down by Ouyang Feng last night, looked at Hong Antong with aggressive gaze.

”What if I donʼt hand her over to you?” Hong Antong said suspiciously. Itʼs not that he hadnʼt thought of sacrificing Su Quan before, but he has been doting on this beautiful lady for many years, and he was finding it quite hard to come to a decision. Whatʼs more, Su Quan had also brought back a powerful master.

”Then we will have no choice but to destroy the Mystic Dragon Cult!” Yu Zhenzi smiled, and the threat was obvious, ”Sacrificing one person can save the whole cult. As the Cult Master, you canʼt even tell which one is more important! Or, are you reluctant to part with your wife and let the cult be destroyed for your own selfishness?”

Hong Antong was the master of the Mystic Dragon Cult, and no one had ever dared to speak to him in such an arrogant tone inside the cult. So, he immediately became furious and was about to explode when Sangjie spoke up to calm things down, ”Master Hong, facing the forces of Shengjing is about the survival of the Mystic Dragon Cult. Whether it’s war or peace, it is for the Mystic Dragon Cult to decide. On behalf of my lord Alibuge, I will always support your decision.” After he was done speaking, he calmly looked at Xu Xueting and winked.

Hong Antongʼs heart warmed up. Although Sangjie and the others were acting suspicious recently, they were allies in the same side in the end. With Alibuge’s support, Shengjing would have to think twice about attacking him.

Yelu Nanxian, who had been silent all this time, sneered in her heart. She had found out about Sangjieʼs plot last night, and was sure that Hong Antong might be doomed this time.

”Both the Emperor of our country and the Great King of Nanyuan (Xiao Feng) admire Cult Master Hong very much. King Xiao is now fighting against Wu Sangui of the Qing Dynasty outside Shanhai Pass. If the Cult Master starts a war with Shengjing, our country hopes to form an alliance with your cult to fight against the Qing Empire.”

Considering the hostile relationship between the two empires, Yelu Nanxian naturally did not want the Mystic Dragon Cult to be so easily wiped out. That would allow Hongli and Kangxi to start an all-out war, leaving Mongolia with one less enemy to keep them in check and break the balance of the situation. Whatʼs more, she had received a secret order from Master Su, the head of the Hidden Secret Service, to protect Su Quan.

If Hong Antong decided to hand over Su Quan, she might not be able to protect her anymore. At that time, her only option would be to take a risk and see if they could save Su Quan and escape. Fortunately, it would be much easier to protect Su Quan with the help of Song Qingshu.

Thinking of that, Yelu Nanxian couldnʼt help searching for Song Qingshuʼs figure in the hall again, but after finding nothing, a trace of worry flashed across her beautiful brows.

On the other side, the Blood Saber Elder and Sangjie looked at each other, feeling quite annoyed but unable to speak out. After all, the Liao Empire was an ally of Mongolia, and the Mongolia they represented supported Hong Antong on the surface. Hearing what Yelu Nanxian said, they couldn’t help but regret not communicating with the people of Liao Empire beforehand.

Xu Xueting got a hint from Sangjie, hesitated for a moment, but stood up and said, ”Cult Master, I have something to say, I wonder if I should say it or not.”

”Say it.” Hong Antong snorted with a gloomy face.

”In the past, the Cult Master founded the Mystic Dragon Cult by himself. There were a thousand and twenty-three old brothers who had joined the Cult Master in the founding of the cult. We had gone through fire and water for many years. Today, some of us were killed by our opponents, and some were punished by the Cult Master because they had made some small mistakes.”

“If I had to count, there are only less than a hundred of us left. Although the Cult Master and his wife have recruited a large number of young members, it is a pity that the Mystic Dragon Cult is no longer as grand as it used to be…” Xu Xueting spoke very slowly, word by word, in a deep tone, sometimes he even made a few choked sounds. When some old people in the hall heard it, and recalled the past years, they all sighed.

Hong Antongʼs expression was starting to become more and more dark, seeing Xu Xueting talking more and more vigorously, he couldnʼt help snorting heavily, ”Green Dragon Envoy, we are currently discussing the issue of the invasion of foreign enemies, why are you talking about such nonsense?”

”I am also talking about the invasion of foreign enemies.” Xu Xuetingʼs expression suddenly became a little agitated. ”Does the Cult Master know since when the killings of our old brothers began?”

Seeing that Hong Antong remained silent, Xu Xueting said bitterly, ”Itʼs since the Cult Master married that woman…”

”Shut up!” Hong Antongʼs beard and hair stood up and Xu Xueting couldnʼt help feeling a little terrified when the guy glared at him. He couldnʼt dare to say what he had thought up at all.

”Brother Xu is right!” Taoist Wugen at the side hurriedly said, ”Since that woman came to the cult, you, the Cult Master, have changed, and you donʼt consider us old brothers anymore. The Madame, she…she likes to use young people. She considers us old people an eyesore, so she formulated various strict rules. If we violated them even slightly, she took the opportunity to kill us. You have just been watching silently, as our old brothers died. Itʼs heartbreaking!”

”This cult has always valued merit. Regardless of age, as long as you are capable and loyal to the Cult Master, I will never treat you badly. If the old members are loyal to the Cult Master, I will naturally still treat them as a good brothers and will never discriminate. You think too much.”

If it wasnʼt for the presence of the foreign enemies, with Hong Antongʼs temperament, as soon as these two dared to contradict him, he would have killed them long ago.

”Oh, then so many of our brothers who were killed before were not loyal to the Cult Master?” Zhang Danyue, the Black Dragon Envoy, smiled sadly. As soon as this remark came out, many old people in the hall showed indignation, and all the young disciples looked at each other, while nervously holding the handle of their swords.

”I didnʼt say that.” Hong Antong remained expressionless.

”Well, the dead are gone, but now there are thousands of members on the island, they canʼt continue to die just because of the Cult Masterʼs words.” Xu Xueting had already recovered, and continued to speak.

”What do suggest we do?” Hong Antong calmly said.

*****

When Song Qingshu and the others left the Spirit Serpent Cave and arrived near the meeting hall, the forces of all parties had already begun to show their intensions. The three of them had no intention of showing their faces, and chose to lurk outside the hall, while silently observing the situation inside.

”It seems that your husband still loves you very much.” Song Qingshu turned his head to look at the delicate and beautiful Cult Masterʼs wife beside him, and spoke in a low voice.

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