Daqin arrests alchemists, what does it matter to me as a qi refiner?

Duanmu Yu stopped trying to persuade him, but looked up at Yang Ling and said respectfully, "Master, I have arranged a place for you to rest for the next few days. Please go over and check if you are satisfied."

Yang Ling nodded slightly, and left with Duanmu Yu. Since they wanted to enter the main city of Southern Xinjiang, they had to wait here for three days.

They naturally couldn't just wander around outside for such a long time. Going to the resting place arranged by Duanmu Yu to practice was their main task now and in the next few days.

Ziying looked at the backs of the three people and felt that two of them looked more and more familiar.

As the three people walked further and further away, their figures became increasingly blurred. Ziying stood up and followed them involuntarily.

Yang Ling naturally noticed Ziying's silent following, but he did not point it out, just as he did not expose Ziying's identity when they first met.

In fact, Yang Ling had guessed almost exactly why Ziying came to Southern Xinjiang.

With them in Southern Xinjiang, Ziying's mission was doomed to be difficult to accomplish. Therefore, no matter what Ziying planned, Yang Ling had no intention of obstructing him.

The accommodation that Duanmu Yu arranged for Yang Ling and others was the best place to stay in this small town.

Yang Ling was never picky about this, but Duanmu Yu didn't know. Even if he knew, he would choose the best one, because this represented the first time he arranged accommodation for Yang Ling, and it also symbolized the Duanmu family's attitude towards Yang Ling.

Duanmu Yu grew up in an environment of intrigue and deception, and has long been familiar with this. Whether it is the rules of getting along with others or the ways and methods of dealing with people, he may be more proficient than the head of the Duanmu family.

Duanmu Yu went to Xianyang City alone to meet Yang Ling, but when he returned, he selected a number of capable assistants from the southern border forces of Xianyang City and took good care of them along the way.

They were also afraid that Yang Ling would be dissatisfied with their hospitality, so bringing more people would make things more convenient.

The outer city is generally small, and even the best accommodation there is very limited and cannot be compared with the main city of Southern Xinjiang. When they arrived, the hotel was already occupied by many people.

Duanmu Yu relied on his status as the young master of the Duanmu family and several times more silver to get the store owner to drive away the people who had moved in earlier and settle Yang Ling and Xu Fu in.

It was not easy to achieve this step. If the store owner were to drive away other residents and accommodate the people that Duanmu Yu brought back from Xianyang City, it would seem like bullying.

In the area of ​​southern Xinjiang, everyone knows that the Duanmu family of southern Xinjiang has always put kindness first and never bullies others by taking advantage of their power.

It is because of this that they have been able to win the trust of the entire southern Xinjiang and remain trustworthy over the years.

It was naturally impossible for Duanmu Yu to destroy the good reputation that the Duanmu family had established over a long period of time just to settle those servants.

Therefore, Duanmu Yu and the people he brought back from Xianyang City stayed in a small restaurant with relatively worse environment.

Ziying was unable to get close to the restaurant with a superior environment, so he rented a room in a small restaurant not far away.

The room he rented happened to be next to Duanmu Yu. When they went back to rest at night, they bumped into each other. Duanmu Yu smiled and nodded as a greeting. Ziying was introverted and not good at socializing, so he did not respond.

Duanmu Yu saw it, but didn't say much. He just smiled and pushed the door open. The next morning, the two of them went out at the same time. Duanmu Yu was surprised and took the initiative to greet them again: "You got up so early, are you in a hurry to go to the city?"

Duanmu Yu looked up at Ziying and asked with a smile. He didn't respond to the greeting last night, and today he took the initiative to speak. If he didn't say anything again, it would be impolite.

Ziying thought so, and nodded slightly to Duanmu Yu, and responded: "I have been here for a few days, and I want to ask if there are other ways to enter the city early."

In fact, Ziying did not lie. He really wanted to find a way to enter the city early, but he had been here for quite some time and knew there was no other way. If there was, so many people would not have gathered here.

The real reason why Ziying got up early today was to see what was going on with Yang Ling. He always felt that Yang Ling was not a simple person. However, no matter how simple Ziying was, he would never tell Duanmu Yu about this. In his eyes, Duanmu Yu was no simpler than Yang Ling.

"My friend, you have already waited for three to five days. The last two days won't hurt. Why don't you be more patient and wait!" Duanmu Yu responded with a smile, "The reason why the main city of Southern Xinjiang is blocked is no secret. Since it is to prevent outsiders, even if there are other entrances, they must be blocked and cannot be entered."

Hearing Duanmu Yu's words, Ziying frowned slightly. He didn't want to waste time listening to Duanmu Yu's words, but as the saying goes, "Don't hit a smiling person", Duanmu Yu's words were also well-intentioned, and Ziying was naturally embarrassed to show his displeasure.

"Your Excellency knows so much about the affairs of the main city of Southern Xinjiang. Are you a native of the main city?" Ziying looked up at Duanmu Yu with curiosity on his face, and asked tentatively.

"My friend, you guessed it right. I am a native of southern Xinjiang!" Duanmu Yu smiled even more and responded without any concealment.

Ziying showed an expression of sudden enlightenment, and then he also laughed and thanked: "Thank you for the reminder, brother. It saved me a lot of energy today. I will go for a casual walk!"

Ziying could feel that Duanmu Yu was not as kind and amiable as he seemed, and might even be a venomous snake lurking in the dark, playing tricks on people. He knew that he was inexperienced and did not have the means and ability to deal with such a person, so he naturally wanted to stay away from him.

"Please do as you please, my dear brother!" Upon hearing Ziying's words, Duanmu Yu immediately made way and said with a smile.

Ziying had no intention of continuing the conversation with him, for fear that he would be restrained by Duanmu Yu's few words before he could leave.

Duanmu Yu didn't think too much about him, but he was still very cautious. As soon as Ziying left the restaurant, Duanmu Yu ordered the people around him to follow him secretly.

Ziying came with them. Yang Ling had indeed never mentioned this to anyone, but that didn't mean Duanmu Yu didn't know about it.

Ziying didn't follow closely at first, and indeed no one except Yang Ling noticed. However, as time went on, he followed closer and closer, and it was hard for Duanmu Yu not to notice.

It was because he discovered Ziying at the back of the team that Duanmu Yu went out of his way to find the restaurant where he was staying and bought the room next to his to move in.

Duanmu Yu had guessed what Ziying was planning today. But like Yang Ling, he did not expose him, but secretly sent people to monitor Ziying. Ziying was unaware of this. After leaving the restaurant, he rushed to the good restaurant where Yang Ling and others were staying as quickly as possible.

Yang Ling did not show up, only Xu Fu stood downstairs chatting with a few local people from southern Xinjiang. From what they talked about, it seemed that they were talking about the local customs and folkways of southern Xinjiang.

Ziying listened for a while, and when he was sure that Yang Ling would not show up, he left the restaurant and headed towards a more remote place.

Although Ziying had a good aptitude for cultivation, he had never started the path of cultivation, nor had he begun to practice. Therefore, he was completely unaware of the person following him.

The road became more and more remote, and the followers behind did not dare to get too close and gradually fell behind. But Ziying walked hurriedly and did not stop until he reached the thatched cottage beside the city wall.

"Old man, please open the door. I am Chu Ying, and I visited you yesterday." Ziying raised his hand and knocked lightly on the windproof wooden door of the thatched hut, hoping to call out the old man in the house and open the shaky door for him.

However, there was no response from inside the house. He waited at the door for a while and called again, but still no one answered. Ziying was full of doubts and couldn't help but peek inside through the crack in the door.

When he left yesterday, the old man who lived here had agreed with him that he would tell him all the details of the woman in the portrait this afternoon. Ziying had been looking for Rong'er for a long time without success, and the main city of Southern Xinjiang was closed. It was rare to meet such an informed old man, so he naturally didn't want to miss the opportunity.

Today, before it was even afternoon, Ziying arrived early and waited until sunset. He was afraid that the old man would leave early due to some urgent matter, so he waited in advance. If he hadn't been thinking about this matter all the time, he should have spent this afternoon with Yang Ling.

The weather was gloomy and the light was dim. In addition, the old man's thatched hut had no windows, so it was impossible to see what was going on inside the house through the crack in the door.

Ziying was unwilling to give up easily, so he gently removed the door panel. The wooden door of this thatched house was very simple to build, and it was effortless to remove it. However, it was rude to remove other people's door panels at will. If it weren't for Rong'er's news, Ziying would never do so.

But then again, if Ziying really had not removed the door panel and just stood there stupidly waiting at the door, that would have made him truly regret it.

After removing the door panel, it was completely dark, and the thatched house was even darker. Ziying walked in by feeling his way along the wall in the faint moonlight, and finally found the candle in the old man's house in the darkness.

When the light illuminated the small thatched house, Ziying was so frightened by the scene that he almost threw away the candle. The old man who was still energetic yesterday was now lying on the ground, his eyes wide open and his face pale, as if he had seen something horrible.

Ziying slowly approached the old man with a candle in his hand. In the light, he could clearly see that there was a hemp rope around the old man's neck.

"Old man, please wake up..." Ziying was frightened, but still tried to wake up the old man who had passed away long ago.

However, the dead naturally cannot respond. When Ziying was grieving for the sudden loss of life, a group of armored soldiers suddenly rushed in.

"The murderer hasn't escaped yet, catch him quickly!" When the leading soldier saw Ziying, he felt like he had found a treasure and immediately gave the order.

Ziying was captured by soldiers from southern Xinjiang while he was at a loss. Before he could open his mouth, a hard rag was stuffed into his mouth, and then his hands and feet were shackled.

He struggled hard and tried to explain himself, but because of the foreign object in his mouth, he could only make unclear sounds. The officers and soldiers from southern Xinjiang who came to arrest him had no intention of investigating, and did not even examine the body of the deceased, let alone listen to Ziying's explanation.

These people smelled heavily of alcohol, and were obviously not regular soldiers. They were lazy and had never done anything serious. Since the main city was closed, they could not enter, so they took Ziying to a small restaurant and threw him aside casually. Soon, the sound of gambling cards was heard in the front hall, which showed that these people were so lazy on weekdays.

They got the news from somewhere, but in between drinking and gambling, they ran to the city gate and captured a "murderer", preparing to take him back to claim the credit.

The people sent by Duanmu Yu to follow saw all of this, and only went back to report the situation after confirming that these people would not leave for the time being and would not harm Ziying.

At this time, Duanmu Yu was busy serving Yang Ling. Although Yang Ling did not even step out of the door, Duanmu Yu was busy running around without stopping for a moment. Sometimes he sent people to find rare specialties from southern Xinjiang and sent them in, and sometimes he arranged for many beauties from outside the city to present to Yang Ling. However, Yang Ling refused all of them and asked Xu Fu to return all those people and things.

Duanmu Yu was not discouraged by this. Even though he didn't deliver anything and didn't even say a word, he still didn't want to leave.

"Master Duanmu, let me remind you..." Xu Fu crossed his arms, leaned against the door frame, and said calmly, "Master is an extraordinary person and has never been interested in these mundane things."

"Master Xu Fu, how could I not know what you said? It's just..." Duanmu Yu paused, a helpless look on his face, "We are now outside the main city of Southern Xinjiang, and these are all we can find."

Although Duanmu Yu was very clever, it was difficult for him to find something that would please Yang Ling in such a desolate place. This was like a skilled cook having no rice to cook.

"If I can't find you, then don't look for it!" Xu Fu put down his hand and looked up at Duanmu Yu. "Put yourself in my master's shoes. If someone is as attentive as you are and sends useless things to bother him, would you feel uncomfortable?"

Xu Fu had made his words very clear, and Duanmu Yu was not a dull person, so he could naturally hear that they did not want him to disturb them any further.

However, Duanmu Yu needed Yang Ling to take charge, and the entire Southern Xinjiang needed Yang Ling to join. He had been in Xianyang City for a long time, but he didn't even have the chance to say a few words to Yang Ling, let alone understand Yang Ling's attitude towards Southern Xinjiang.

If anyone were in Duanmu Yu's situation, they might not be able to do better.

"I understand what Lord Xufu means. Please express my apologies to the master on my behalf. I will not disturb you again today and tomorrow. If the master is angry, I am willing to pay the price." Duanmu Yu smiled and his eyes showed sincerity.

In fact, Duanmu Yu's words at this moment were indeed sincere. He knew very well that he dared not offend Yang Ling. The overall situation of Southern Xinjiang and the Duanmu family was far more important than his personal grievances. This was the truth that he, as the young master of Southern Xinjiang, had understood since he was a child.

"What I said to you today are all my own opinions. Master is very generous and will not hold it against you, let alone do anything to you." Xu Fu heard that Duanmu Yu had misunderstood his meaning, and quickly waved his hands to explain.

He was afraid that if he said more, it would only deepen the misunderstanding, and if Yang Ling knew about it, he would have to worry about it. After saying this, he turned and left.

Duanmu Yu understood Xu Fu's words, and also realized that one cannot use vulgar things to please a master like Yang Ling, and it is useless to pursue him relentlessly. (End of this chapter)