All sects work

Chapter 205 Recognizing the Lord
"I know you're here."

Master Xuanying's spiritual sense covered the entire Pingzhou, and she caught Xiao Hongfan's voice among the myriad noisy voices.

She used her spiritual sense to "look" and saw Xiao Hongfan sitting alone in a pavilion on the top of the mountain. Tea was boiling on the stove in front of him, and a futon was placed opposite the tea table. His deep gaze seemed to be able to look at her through the void.

Obviously he had a strong desire to find her.

Shi Xuanying disappeared from the top of the city wall and reappeared on the futon: "General Xiao is so leisurely and elegant."

Xiao Hongfan saw her and picked up the kettle to pour tea into the empty cup: "Since Lord Shao is with you, General Shao and the Xiao family army should also be with you, right?"

"Yes." Shi Xuanying did not deny it.

"When you persuaded the Northwest Army to escort us along the way under the pretext of saving the people of Pingchengguan, you should have expected that Emperor Qu would want to kill me," said Xiao Hongfan.

The spies did not provide any information in this regard, but the process is not difficult to guess.

Shi Xuanying smiled and shook her head. She picked up the scalding hot teacup and used her spiritual energy to cool it down to a suitable temperature: "You made a mistake."

Xiao Hongfan looked doubtful.

"Emperor Qu has already developed a demon in his heart. I knew this in advance, so I went to rescue the Xiao family army." Shi Xuanying did not hide her calculations at all, "It only takes a little bit of stimulation, and he will lose control of himself."

So, she deliberately provoked Qu Di to kill Xiao Hongfan.

Shi Xuanying took a sip of tea and said confidently, "Don't you also want General Shao to lead the Northwest Army? My going there to rescue them is in line with your wishes, and it can also ensure their survival as much as possible, which is the best of both worlds! The Emperor of Qu State can't stand the stimulation, so it's not my fault."

This was the first time Xiao Hongfan had heard of this, and he couldn't help but sneer: "He actually had a demon in his heart. What kind of demon could he have?"

Emperor Qu always acted in an extreme way. It was because of this extremeness that he was so aggressive and reckless in expanding his territory, which led to Xiao Mengyu's unprecedented achievement.

"Everyone thinks that Emperor Qu is afraid of Xiao's army, but that's not the case. If he was really afraid, he wouldn't suppress them in such a casual way. He's clearly venting some emotion by doing that." Shi Xuanying took out a seal from her sleeve and placed it on the table.

The golden red sunset fell on the table, outlining the two words "Meng Yu" on the seal.

“This is his inner demon.”

An extreme person will also have extreme emotions. Qu Di admires and likes Xiao Mengyu, but he is also jealous and fearful of her. Under the extreme emotional pull, the latter gains the upper hand, so he kills her.

However, when he realized that he had done a stupid thing that led to his own arm being cut off due to negative emotions, another emotion would sweep him back, and under the pressure of the deteriorating situation of the Qu State, he would live in torment and regret forever.

Master Xuanying had seen this kind of thing too many times! Sword cultivators had passionate emotions, and it was not uncommon for sword cultivators who had not yet cultivated their state of mind to go astray under the pull of several emotions.

Since you have already developed a demon in your heart, it is not surprising that you do anything.

The two of them didn't speak for a long time. The only sounds in the pavilion were the boiling tea and the chirping of birds in the woods.

The red sunset falls behind the western mountain, leaving only a roll of red clouds on the horizon.

Shi Xuanying suddenly said, "Look at that cloud, does it look like a red blood flag?" This sentence brought back Xiao Hongfan's nightmare. She turned her head to look at the sky and saw that the red cloud was blown to pieces by the wind. As the sunlight disappeared, only a little afterimage remained. It really looked like the general's flag that was soaked in blood and fell among the corpses on the ground on that rainy night.

Xiao Hongfan said coldly: "You are plotting against me like this, aren't you afraid that I will rebel and go against you?"

The undisguised calculation and the cold-hearted stabbing at her soft spot did not seem like recruiting, but rather like forcing and taming her.

Shi Xuanying said innocently: "It's the general trend. I just took advantage of the situation to rescue some people from the turbulent torrent. How can General Xiao bite back? It's too hurtful."

Xiao Hongfan felt shortness of breath after hearing this. Why didn't he think about whether it would hurt someone's feelings when he stabbed them in the heart just now?

However, she was right in saying one thing. In the whole incident, she just saved some people and did good things. A gentleman judges deeds rather than intentions. Even if she had ulterior motives, it is not a crime.

"All living things in this world follow the great way, and Emperor Qu is just a grain of sand in the eternal river. As a general, you have your own mission, and your eyes should not remain on the sand that is destined to be washed away by the water." Shi Xuanying's voice seemed to come from the distant sky.

Xiao Hongfan's uncles, aunts and brothers all died fighting for the State of Qu, but she and the Xiao family army had to survive under the pressure of imperial power. She couldn't help but feel hatred in her heart. She had no loyalty to Emperor Qu, so after learning about the situation in the northwest, she persuaded the Xiao family army to abandon Pingcheng Pass.

However, many times, hatred is more paranoid and intense than any other emotion, and it is easy for people to get stuck in a rut.

Xiao Hongfan suddenly realized that he was also dominated by hatred and had unknowingly placed too much obsession on Qu Di.

Shifting stars.

In the vast sky, a star suddenly burst into unprecedented brightness, almost competing with the bright moon.

"Why does a general suddenly burst out with such strong luck?!"

Qu Shan stood on the observatory, taking out his divination tools with trembling hands, and did not notice that there was suddenly a person in front of him.

Liu Shuji stood by and watched him tell fortunes quietly. Seeing his expression change from surprise to pale, he couldn't help but frown.

When Qu Shan put down his pen and stared blankly at a piece of paper, he asked, "What happened?"

“Ahhh!” Qu Shan took a few steps back in shock. After seeing who was coming, he stroked his chest and said with lingering fear, “Are you trying to scare me to death?!”

"What happened?" Liu Shuji ignored his reaction. Qu Shan's reaction at the court meeting had been strange since the beginning. When he saw the observatory today, he realized something was wrong. He walked to the table and picked up the cinnabar pen on the table, and asked with a smile, "What kind of pen is it? Is it worthy for Lord Xuanshou to take it personally?"

Liu Shuji knew what kind of person Qu Shan was. He loved money, enjoyed life, and was very particular. In the past, no matter how big or small the ritual was, it was necessary to make a grand ceremony. Not to mention the 49 virgin beauties and the 81 boys and girls, the retainers had to be pulled out to stand around. How could it be like this, where a person was sneaking around the observatory without even a beautiful woman to write for him?
"Where are your retainers?" he asked again.

"It's a serious matter, and it's inconvenient for others to know." Qu Shan had to deal with too many emergencies in recent days, and he was more skilled at making up lies than before. "The general star has undergone unpredictable changes, and I have to find out whether it's good or bad."

In fact, when he climbed up the observatory today, the star of general was still motionless. He originally wanted to leave Qudu first to avoid the limelight, so he wanted to calculate the fortune of Xuanwei Star and Caixing. What if something happened to these two people if they stayed here?
Liu Shuji was also very concerned about the changes in the General Star. Although he was not proficient in astrology, he had been able to distinguish the positions of the General Star and the Seven Stars over the years. Moreover, the General Star suddenly shone brightly, so it was hard not to notice it. "What's the result?"

Qu Shan said: "The star of the general's light was previously chaotic, because he did not discern his own heart."

"So, why did General Xing suddenly understand his true feelings?" Liu Shuji pondered, "The emperor issued a secret order to capture Xiao Hongfan tonight, but she is far away in the southwest, so she shouldn't know the news so quickly."

Qu Shan nodded, then shook his head: "More than that, she may have recognized her master."