No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 567 Looking back suddenly, the embroiderer is really at the end of the street [asking for monthly tickets! ]

Bathroom, behind the screen.

The mist in the bathtub rises slowly, swirling like a veil, interweaving with the warm yellow candlelight, creating a hazy and dreamy atmosphere.

A hot towel was covered on Ouyang Rong's face.

He adjusted himself into a slightly more comfortable position, with his head resting on the edge of the tub, his wet black long hair casually spread out, soaking in a bathtub filled with warm water that was close to the outer wall of the tub.

"Whoo~"

Ouyang Rong breathed a sigh of relief under the warm towel.

Hearing the knock on the door, he said casually without taking off the towel on his face:
"It's unlocked. Please come in."

Ali pushed the door open, walked around the screen, came to the bathtub, and poured the large bucket of hot water in his hand into it.

"Sir, Yuan Changshi is drunk and is resting in the master bedroom. The abbot and the receptionist of Chengtian Temple would like to ask you if you need anything else besides hot water. Are you hungry..."

"I'm not hungry, so I don't need anything else."

Ouyang Rong's voice became a little hoarse as he had just caught a cold.

At this time, Ali said:
"The abbot and the monk in charge of reception are very worried about the health of the young master. They feel guilty for not taking good protective measures in the temple. They said that they will reinforce the railings of the pavilion in the middle of the lake tomorrow..."

"Okay, don't blame them. Go and thank them for me and send them away. Don't let them in."

"Yes, son."

Ali paused and gestured to the table next to the bathtub.

"Oh, sir. Do you want me to take this zither back to the carriage?"

"No need, I'll take it there later. You can go back to the carriage and have some rest. It's getting late. It's almost dawn. Ali, I really need you tonight."

"You are too polite, sir. It is what I should do..."

"Thank you for your hard work. The hairpins and clothes are on the table."

"Yes, sir, take your time to rest."

Frank Ali scratched his head and left the bathroom.

Ouyang Rong did not take off the towel from his face.

On the table not far away, there was a long musical instrument case.

Ouyang Rong couldn't see his expression clearly, and he raised his hand and touched his head leisurely.

Fortunately, he had prepared a backup plan in case of a drunken mistake.

Before going to the pavilion in the center of the lake to drink, I had already changed into an ordinary jade hairpin.

[Craftsman] sank to the center of the lake, beyond the range of his sword control, and could not rise to the surface of the lake.

Helpless, I could only "fall into the water" myself.

After falling into the water, the jade hairpin on her hair crown slipped off and sank into the lake.

Fortunately, [Craftsmanship] was finally salvaged without any unusual incidents.

At this moment, it is lying quietly in the long violin case on the table.

Ouyang Rong closed his eyes and sensed the Ding sword.

Just now, after he fell into the water, he took the opportunity to hide the "craftsmanship" that rose from the bottom of the lake on his body. After being carried back to Yuan Huaimin's temple by Ali, Cheng took the opportunity to lock the "craftsmanship" back into the Mohist sword box that shielded the qi and nurtured the sword energy.

Only at this point can we say that the mission is accomplished.

The whole process was peaceful and dark, and there was no alarm or capture of any ambushes.

It seems that Nanny Song and the female officials of the Imperial Observatory have really withdrawn.

Ouyang Rong nodded with satisfaction.

It’s not that he doesn’t trust Rong Zhen, but he doesn’t trust Nanny Song very much.

After all, he is Lin Cheng's teacher. The last time he bowed to him, it was only because of the situation. Bowing to a junior like him must be more of a humiliation.

Ouyang Rong reviewed the situation while taking a bath.

Well, the only thing I didn’t expect was that Yuan Huaimin’s alcohol tolerance was not very good and he passed out after just two glasses.

If I had known this, I should have brought the violin case with me. He was too drunk to see it anyway. In this way, after I fished out the [Craftsman's Work] at the Pavilion in the Center of the Lake, I could have put it directly in.

Therefore, this action can be further improved.

"You brag to me every day, right? You pat your chest and say you can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk. I'm a little scared now... This time is special. I won't let you next time."

Ouyang Rong was too lazy to complain.

Can you even deceive yourself about your drinking ability?
In the mist behind the screen, Ouyang Rong's mind was wandering, when he suddenly felt a cold wind approaching the back of his head.

"Ok?"

Ouyang Rong immediately pulled off the towel on his face and looked around vigilantly.

Behind the screen, there was no one except him and the bathtub.

What's with this cold wind?

Ouyang Rong frowned, stood up with a splash, quickly put on his clothes, and left the bathtub.

"Who?"

His voice was husky and his tone was serious.

The room was quiet.

Ouyang Rong glanced sideways, glanced at the Mohist sword box on the table next to him, and communicated with [Craftsmanship].

The little guy is here, and I feel at ease.

He walked forward barefoot.

He moved slowly and carefully around the screen. During this time, he suddenly raised his head and looked up...

It is also empty.

I looked around and there was no one in the bathroom.

At this moment, Ouyang Rong saw from the corner of his eye that the bathroom door was half-open, leaving a gap, and the early morning breeze outside kept sneaking into the room.

He immediately breathed a sigh of relief, his brows relaxed, he walked over, and with a "click", he closed the bathroom door.

"Ali, really, the door was not closed tightly."

Ouyang Rong shook his head and turned to continue bathing.

……

In a master bedroom in a certain temple.

In the darkness, a slender girl with her eyes blindfolded by a ribbon walked out silently.

She carried a long cloth bag like a stick in one hand.

He left the temple quietly.

The owner of the Yuan temple was still sleeping soundly on the bed in the master bedroom, unaware that his home had been visited by someone.

In the shadow of the courtyard gate, Zhao Qingxiu took out a cold, old seal from his sleeve.

The seal was colder than her hand.

The delicate brows beneath the sky-blue ribbon seemed to be slightly frowned.

Disappeared.

The aura of [craftsmanship] disappeared.

As if it was isolated from the world, the Red Lotus Sword Seal could no longer produce any response.

"Whoosh-!"

Not far away, a firework flew up into the sky and exploded in the air.
A flash of light illuminated the building complex behind Zhao Qingxiu, including Yuan Huaimin's residence.

Not long ago in the Beitian Nursing Home, she felt the heat of the Red Lotus Sword Seal in her sleeve.

Following the vague guidance of the sword seal, he arrived at the complex of buildings behind him.

But not long after she arrived, before she could lock onto a specific location, the heating phenomenon of the Red Lotus Sword Seal disappeared and cooled down. Until now, there has been no movement.

The girl with her eyes blindfolded by a ribbon did not give up. She used the advantage of being "transparent" to search the entire building again, door to door, hoping to get closer to sense it.

He "walked through" the main hall, the vegetarian courtyard, and the guest houses, and even the carriages parked on the roadside were not spared.

Of course, unless it is a house where no one is or someone is sleeping, you cannot search it so blatantly and in every detail.

It is true that no one can detect her breath... After taking half of a tortoise-shell longicorn and adding the tranquility of a virgin, even the old musician's piano music cannot make her visible. There are only a handful of people in the world who can detect her... But hiding the wind and gathering the breath is just hiding the wind and gathering the breath, not true invisibility.

It can be seen with the naked eye.

Therefore, Zhao Qingxiu still had to move silently, walk in the blind spot, and avoid some living people who had not yet fallen asleep.

For example, the young man bathing in the bathroom of the courtyard behind him, the poor scholar reading by lamplight in the study in the previous courtyard, and the middle-aged monks who just passed by with lanterns and followed a coachman carrying a few buckets of hot water.

These were all mortals without any spiritual energy, and Zhao Qingxiu easily bypassed them.

However, after a thorough search, nothing was found, and the Red Lotus Sword Seal no longer showed any temperature changes.

Like a cold, dead object.

If it weren't for the fact that Zhao Qingxiu's right index finger had been tightly grasped in her sleeve for a long time and was burned by the previous waves of heat, it would still be aching slightly.

The coldness at this moment also made her doubt and reflect whether the vision just now was really an illusion and had never happened...

Logically, the closer the distance, the more intense the reaction of the Red Lotus Sword Seal.

Unless the distance is too far, or the opponent has some special means to block all the energy of [Craftsmanship].

Now, the first thing that is certain is that the [craftsmanship] at the bottom of the lake must have been taken away by someone.

Because after getting close to Xingzi Lake, the Red Lotus Sword Seal no longer showed any reaction.

I just don’t know who the swordsman who hid the sword went back and took it away.

Or was it other Qigong practitioners? For example... those powerful women from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau who wanted to take possession of the Ding Sword?

No matter what, the Red Lotus Sword Seal has lost all its sensitivity at this moment.

If the sword-taker had not already slipped away, the distance would have been too far to be sensed.

Or the sword-taker used special methods to cut off all the energy of the Ding Sword.

Zhao Qingxiu, carrying a long cloth bag, walked silently in the shadow of the wall towards the next temple.

The cloth bag in her hand contained a sword.

The sword is called Zheyao.

The master left it to her.

Every time fireworks lit up in the sky, Zhao Qingxiu's thin body would tremble slightly.

The sound of fireworks is not scary.

But the instantaneous light of the fireworks can illuminate her.

Because the light of fireworks comes earlier than the sound of fireworks.

Although it was only less than a tenth of a breath early.

But it still made it impossible for her to avoid it in advance.

The girl with her eyes blindfolded by a ribbon knew that every time she heard the sound of fireworks, she had already been illuminated by them one step ahead of them.

There was no time to escape into a corner.

Zhao Qingxiu silently left the temple where the drunkard and the young man bathing were.

She walked in the silent shadows where no one noticed, and continued to search.

This is the closest that Yunmeng Jianze has been to [Craftsmanship] so far.

Zhao Qingxiu was unwilling to give up.

She tilted her slender neck slightly, and the sky-blue ribbon covering her eyes fluttered in the wind behind her head.

Her face looked surprisingly serious.
Listen all the way.

The sounds of wind, footsteps, dripping water, snoring, the creaking of wooden doors and windows, and the sound of the gaps between the red wall tiles catching the night breeze.

Some people say that everything has a sound!

Even likes have a voice.

The sound of a racing heart.

and many more.

No.

She has no voice.

I remember that day, the senior sister said angrily that it was actually good to be blind.

At least I won't look for him again.

It’s called…out of sight, out of mind.

When I thought of this, my heart became confused again.

Zhao Qingxiu felt lost for a while, and only came to her senses when she arrived at another yard.

Continue the search.

After an hour, nothing was found and the Red Lotus Sword Seal had no temperature.

At this time, the sound of roosters crowing was heard in the distance.

In the surrounding buildings, the sounds of people getting up and dressing could be heard one after another.

Zhao Qingxiu lowered his head slightly, put away his sword seal, turned around silently, and returned to the Beitian Nursing Home along the same route...

……

Ouyang Rong finished bathing and changing clothes.

Facing the bronze mirror, she replaced the ice-white jade hairpin.

"Hey, even the way he falls into the water is so handsome."

After tying his crown, he picked up the violin case with a look of emotion, turned around and walked out.

In the yard, someone's snoring could be heard coming from the master bedroom.

Ouyang Rong smiled.

Looking up, the sky was dark, but there was the sound of insects chirping one after another.

Approaching dawn.

It's almost dawn.

After setting off fireworks all night, we took a short break. It should be a halftime break. After all, today is the official beginning of the Lantern Festival.

Ouyang Rong yawned, picked up his zither, turned around and walked out of the courtyard.

On the bluestone road not far away, a carriage was waiting quietly.

The groom Ali sat in the driving seat, his hands in his sleeves, his head lowered, and his head nodding like a pecking rice.

Ouyang Rong laughed in silence, and got into the carriage without waking him up.

As soon as he sat down, Ouyang Rong casually stuffed the newly filled piano case into the special place for the little one under the seat.

Before he could hear the expected unyielding protest from [Craftsman], the smile on the face of the young man wearing the ice-white jade hairpin froze.

He ducked his head sharply and reached out to touch the space under the seat.

Something is wrong!
It wasn't that something was lost - today he only brought an empty sword case, and no bronze mask or other items - but that he always habitually closed the cover under the seat halfway, not completely.

At first, he did it out of caution and kept an eye out, but later it gradually became a precaution against the junior sister checking on him. As long as someone opened the space under his seat, he would be able to discover it afterwards.

But right now, the junior sister couldn't come, and Ali couldn't touch his things.

There is only one explanation.

Someone got into the car and checked while he and Ali were away!

A chill ran up from Ouyang Rong's cervical vertebrae to his coccyx as he sat upright, and he shivered!

Nanny Song’s face suddenly flashed through my mind.

Is this a trap?

Has he been targeted since he went out tonight?

Nanny Song and other female officials from the Imperial Observatory deliberately evacuated the Xingzi Lake construction site.

Let him relax his vigilance and lure the snake out of its hole?
Why didn't they arrest him right away? Did they wait until his carriage left? Did they have enough witnesses?
It was as if a firework exploded in Ouyang Rong's mind, with a myriad of thoughts running through his mind.

At the same time, cold sweat broke out.

He sat in the quiet carriage, but felt that there were dangers lurking outside.

Taking a deep breath, he asked calmly:
"Ali, come into the carriage."

"Ah, no, sir, why ..."

Without waiting for him to ask, Ouyang Rong picked up the violin case again and got out of the car.

"Don't go, wait here."

He left in a hurry.

At this time, the sound of roosters crowing was heard in the distance, and many people began to get up.

Ouyang Rong took advantage of the last darkness before dawn and quickly climbed over walls and passed through halls.

Race against the clock.

After quickly hiding the Ding sword in an inconspicuous corner.

He turned quickly, walked onto a small path, lowered his head and hurried forward, not knowing where he was going.

"Longling--Longling--"

The sound of the ice-white jade hairpin on her head was very clear in the quiet alley.

Ouyang Rong frowned and took it off quickly.

"boom--!"

Suddenly a firework exploded in the sky.

Ouyang Rong was so scared that he turned around suddenly. When he looked up and found that it was fireworks, he breathed a sigh of relief.

But at this moment, the sudden light from the fireworks above illuminated a slender figure in the shadow of the corner not far behind.

This shadow would have been difficult to notice, but at this moment it was lit up by the fireworks above.

Ouyang Rong was stunned.

He stared intently at the slender girl with her eyes blindfolded by a ribbon who suddenly appeared in front of him.

The blindfolded girl also faced him, seemed to tremble, and "looked" straight at the ice-white jade hairpin in his hand that made the sound.

The air fell into eternal silence at this moment.

"Longling--Longling--"

At this moment, the only sound in the whole world left was the special crisp sound of the morning breeze blowing against the ice-white jade pendant at the end of the hairpin.

No.

And... a heartbeat.

(End of this chapter)