World of Chessboard

"Shadow, how is it?" Gongzi appeared without a sound, standing in the darkness, his body slightly tilted, his weight on his left leg.

Shadow tilted his head as he stuck his bag into the wound on his shoulder. After a while, he answered, "It's not a big problem, and there's not much of a gap left."

Gongzi asked: "Really? I saw Xia Fan entering Prince Qi's mansion, was he chasing after you? "

The silhouette paused before continuing to wipe the blood off its arm. "That's not important."

Gong Tianxiong shrugged, then looked at his wound and casually asked: "Who hurt you? There are still people who can hurt you under Xia Fan's command? "

The silhouette stood up and washed the blood off his hands. With an indifferent expression, he said, "I was careless. I let Xia Fan shoot an arrow." He picked up the black robe and put it on.

Gong Tianxiong seemed to be holding back his laughter, "Xia Fan's martial arts are not just a little bit inferior to yours, could you be injured by him just because you neglected him? Are you sure you're not joking? "

Shadow glanced at him with his eyes. "Of course not. Before I went to Hua Shan, I didn't see the person who called Mo Zhike. Before I came here, I specifically made a trip to Hua Mountain and 'sparred' with him on the way. "

Gong Jue asked curiously, "And then?"

The silhouette looked at him for a while, and then said slowly, "I want to test his Qi. Just the feeling of the weapons colliding with each other is too weak, so I used all my power on him and took his palm. I underestimated his inner force, and the hidden injuries from that palm strike were more severe than I had expected. "

"Does Young Master know about this?" Asked Gongzi.

The silhouette said, "I haven't told Master that I'll go and beg for forgiveness in a few days."

Gong Tianxiong was used to his tough temper, so he did not delay on this issue. He then asked, "Do you feel what kind of inner strength it is? Otherwise, it's not worth it. "

The silhouette said, "Puppet Fiend."

"What?" Gongzi was confused.

"Puppet Fiend." "Even though his palm wasn't mixed in much, I am sure that it was condensed from the internal energy of the Puppet Enmity."

Gong Ni's face changed slightly, "But Puppet Enmity is trained with corpse Qi, he is the eldest disciple of Hua Shan, this..."

The shadow said, "Puppet Fiend is extremely harsh on cultivators. If I didn't get hit by Puppet Sha's inner force attack, it would be impossible to differentiate between them. Not to mention, the puppet baleful yin was yin, but it could be refined using the inner strength of the Supreme Yang. Mo Zhike cultivated like this to treat illnesses, not to gain strength. I think the East-rising Purple Qi can refine the Yin Qi inside. Dissolving the Yin Qi, that puppet devil puppet does match the feeling of nurturing the meridians. "

Gongzi asked, "Feel?"

The shadow nodded his head, "I am not sure what kind of inner strength it is after refining Yin Qi, but that kind of inner strength that relies on absorbing Corpse Qi and will erode the meridians, it probably won't have the function of nourishing the meridians. However, facing him on the palm, the inner strength that we feel is indeed gentle and soothing. "

Gong Ni rubbed his chin, deep in thought, "Looks like my plan to change Puppet Fiend still succeeded."

The silhouette murmured, "Hopefully." He looked straight at Gong Jue, "Is internal energy like Puppet Fiend really as powerful as the rumors say?"

Gongzi thought for a bit, "That may not be so. The power of Puppet Enmity lies in its many branches and the fact that it can develop many cultivation paths. "One or two of them are not very strong, but the late stage Puppet Enmity is indeed abnormally strong. It's a pity that the number of people who can cultivate to such a level are truly too few."

The silhouette mused, "It's really not that many."

"It's said that the Puppet Enmity Realm has a total of nine levels, but as far as I know, once the previous Palace Master Ming Yin has reached the sixth level of internal force, his might is already terrifying to a certain extent. Actually... At the end of the day, puppet devils are the internal energy of yin and evil. Those who pursue higher realms are almost always exchanged for it with their body and life. "

His eyes revealed traces of pain, as if he remembered something bad.

Hearing this, the silhouette's gaze shifted to the shadow at the corner of the wall. After a moment of silence, he said, "Alright, tell me about your situation."

Gongzi's emotions were quickly concealed. "Which one do you want to hear first of the surprises and normal reports that I've unexpectedly discovered?"

Shadow replied: "If it's too long or you have prepared the report of the letter, let's talk about your surprise." On the other hand, let's talk about the specifics first. "

Gongzi curled his lips in a dull and uninteresting manner: "So old-fashioned." He took out a large package from his pocket and threw it to him. "This is the report they wrote. Everything is there. I'm too lazy to organize it. If there's no problem, you can go ahead and take care of it.

"It's quite troublesome, you don't have to be so fast." Gong Du mumbled to himself, and then straightened his face before the silhouette looked at him again, "Alright, I said something important. "According to my investigation — The empress and Zhao Shu may have been involved in Bao Zheng's case, and neither of them knew what the other had done."

The shadow was stunned. He looked down at the letter in his hand.

"Take your time and read it later. I'll give you a rough idea first. There are a lot of things you can't write about, and the things you have in your hand are a mess. You look easier, too, I conclude. Well, let's put it this way. In my opinion, the matter of Ouyang Xiu leaving the Privy Council was Zhao Shu's doing, and the conspiracy in the Puppet Palace was the empress's doing. These two things were unknown to each other. And the matter of killing Bao Zheng should be a joint operation of the two of them. "

The shadow seemed to frown. "It's too messy."

Gongzi walked over, reached out his hand and rummaged through the envelopes, grabbing a few and passing them to him: "This was given to me by Gongzi the last time I went to see Gongzi, he said that little prince found some things in the hospital. The main reason was that he found out that Zhao Shu's maid had had private contact with the young imperial physician who had secretly checked the records of the medicinal ingredients used in the Imperial Physician Guild. And the medicine Bao Zheng consumed was provided by that young imperial physician. "

Shadow nodded. "I know. Let's get straight to the point."

Gong Du continued on while flipping through the envelope, "According to our investigation, the people who came into contact with those people in Bao Zheng's residence before and after the incident were all members of the General's Estate — the Queen's mother's family. It was Zhao Shu who contacted the young imperial physician, but it was the empress who did the deed. So maybe the two of them did it together. But we have two other things. First, on the day that the young prince and Ouyang Xiu visited Bao Zheng, Ouyang Xiu's eldest son happened to be at Zhao Shu's mansion. Second, the empress had plans to seduce Ouyang Xiu, hinting at him to keep the young prince in check, but before it began, Ouyang Xiu had already applied to move out of the palace. "

Gong Tiexi pondered for a moment: "It's hard to say. After all, we didn't find out if Ouyang Fa had passed anything on for Zhao Shu. In other words, we have no way of knowing if Ouyang Xiu's departure was due to Zhao Shu's intentions. "If that's not the case, then it's highly likely that he knows the Empress's thoughts. It would make sense to put himself out of the way and avoid any unexpected calamities."

The silhouette replied, "The latter sounds more plausible."

"Not necessarily." Gongzi gave a mysterious smile, "Maybe both of them are at the same time?"

The silhouette gave him a look, neither admitting nor denying. "It looks like the Empress's intentions are very clear. On the contrary, Zhao Shu's actions seem rather ambiguous."

Gongzi threw up his hands. "Is this something I can guess?"

Shadow lowered his eyes. "There's no need to guess, they will definitely be found out." I'm more concerned about the conspiracy between the Empress and the Puppet Palace than that. Why would she do that? "

Gongzi shook his head, "I was only guessing that it was the empress who did it, and did not say that I am sure. Because right now, they could only confirm that Bao Zheng was killed by the Puppet Palace, and those who were close to the Bao Residence could only find out a little about their relationship with the General's Residence. To put it bluntly, even the general's estate would be forced to make a move, much less prove that the empress had acted against them. As long as we have money, what's the point of buying the lives of a few people? "

The shadow could hear the hidden meaning behind his words, and his expression changed slightly. "They're all dead?"

Gongtian shrugged. "Not just dead, there's almost not much left. The few old fellows from the Devil's Note Hall stayed in the general's manor for nearly ten days before they heard the news.

Shadow slowly put the letter back on the table and said word by word, "Be confident."

Gong Du tilted his head: "Probably? Sometimes, you don't really need many reasons to do something, as long as you are confident that you won't be discovered, that's enough. "

Shadow raised his hand and folded his fingers, resting his chin on them. He looked down at the shadows cast by the candles on the table and didn't say a word.

After waiting for a while and seeing that he didn't say anything, Gongzi raised his head and looked at the ceiling. He looked at the black bug in the darkness crawling to a place he couldn't see. "Do you want to continue the investigation?"

The silhouette seemed to have heard it, but at the same time, it seemed not to have heard it clearly. After a while, it replied in a low voice, "Let's continue."

"Right?" Gong Qing's head returned to its normal angle as he looked at the letters on the table. A mocking smile appeared in the depths of his eyes. "Three of them are already dead."

The shadow did not move, his expression was still as calm as before. It could be described as indifferent as indifference: "Retreat and live another life, and then die." But what if young master insists on going forward? "

"However, it is not that Young Master must go forward now, it is he who wants us to go on a path of death."

The silhouette coldly glanced at him, his words clear and concise: "You're not willing?"

Gongxu was stunned, then shook his head: "No, I'm just a bit scared all of a sudden."

"Afraid? Afraid of death? Or are you afraid of being abandoned? "

Gongzi raised his head in surprise, only to see a pair of eyes still devoid of sadness and joy. His fingertip circled the long whip on his waist for a few times before finally giving him a suitable answer. "I fear that I will become an abandoned child who will never be able to obtain a sigh even at death's door."

The silver mask on Shadow's face lit up under the illumination of the fire, and then it dimmed. "At least, you and I will be the last ones to be abandoned."

Gong Du thought back and suddenly smiled, "It's still better than being an abandoned son from the beginning. It doesn't matter what happens in the future. The current Young Master is unable to ask for anything from him. "

The silhouette did not reply. After a long while, it whispered, "Why?" It was a question that no one could answer for no reason at all.

Gong Tianni, on the other hand, understood what he meant. He gave a casual smile. "I don't think there's any reason why."

The shadow's voice was slightly bitter, "Even I am a bit afraid now and then. It wasn't his heart... "What would that feel like?"

Gong Tianliang replied in a relaxed manner, "Of course it is not because of the cold heart, nor is it because of the qualifications to do so. No matter if it is to us or to ourselves, we have always had a precise location from the beginning. Your heart is dead as ashes. It was young master who gave you my new heart. It will never be cold. "

Shadow looked directly at him. "What do you mean?"

"It's not heartbreak." Gongzi repeated it to himself again. His gaze was distant, his lips were still smiling, but there was a hint of regret in his voice. "Yes, it hurts."

Shadow did not speak. Or rather, his attitude was more of a tacit agreement.

Gongzi shifted the weight of his body to his other leg and teased, "I thought you'd never speak ill of me."

The silhouette asked, "Did I speak ill of Master?"

Gongzi said, "Well, you didn't say anything."

Shadow seemed to be a little tired, he supported his forehead, and forced himself to stay alert: "You should go back first, it's getting late. Regarding the investigation of the information later on, I will consider it and give you new instructions later. "

"Alright, I'll be leaving then. See you tomorrow." He did not make any move either, and his figure was nowhere to be seen.

The silhouette sighed, raising the cup to its side. It drank the cold water in one gulp, pinched the center of its brows, then opened the letter and began to read it carefully.