Chapter 136: .Crossing the Dragon Pool (Part 1)

The last ray of afterglow of the sunset had just dissipated, and the bright moonlight instantly took over this mighty world. It was half a month past, the huge silver wheel hung high, thousands of miles of clear sky like a mirror, bright and bright reflected on the white snow inside and outside the Yuwang Mansion, shining like day.
Fuqian Avenue has always been quiet and quiet. Even if there are occasional people coming and going, they lightly walked past, as if they were afraid of disturbing the two hideous black jade dragon statues in front of the palace.
There is a small newsstand that sells newspapers and magazines at the alley of the hutong diagonally opposite the main entrance of the palace. The small pavilion is not big in size, but it has a lot of stuff. After deducting the space of a few bookcases and newsstands, it can stand two or three people.
There are no street lights in the hutongs, except for the star-point wind lanterns hanging in front of the houses, all of them are dead and dim. Newsstands are small and profitable, and they can't afford to spend on electric lights. The owner always closes the stall every sunset, but today it is very different. Seeing that it was almost seven o'clock, he still shrank behind the newsstand motionless, with no plan to go home.
Half a pane of glass is installed on the left and right walls of the newsstand, leaving only an opening in the front for people to deliver goods. The cold winter wind and ice drills squeezed into this hole like a drill, even though the shop owner was fully armed with cotton clothes and leather caps, he was shaking from time to time by the cold.
I don't know how long he waited, he suddenly trembled and froze his blue nose, smelling the unique smell of wine in the lingering moonlight, and he was shocked: Why today, the master came here in person! How dare he to neglect, he immediately bent over and bowed, then raised his sleeve to wipe the newsstand that hadn't sold a few copies, and sighed to himself: "This is the case today, business is not good... "
After speaking the secret words, the shop owner touched the dark walking stick along the bookcase, knocked on the side door and walked out of the kiosk, but it was unlocked, holding on to the wall with one hand and the wooden stick in the other, and slowly moved into the alley-it turns out The owner of the newsstand was actually a blind man.
The clear sound of wooden sticks hitting the stone bricks gradually faded away, and there was another series of footsteps that sounded like a breeze blowing leaves near the newsstand. No one could be seen under the pure moonlight, but the footsteps were real. It leaned a few steps forward along the alley, turned again, and settled outside the side door of the newsstand. Then, as if a pair of invisible hands opened and closed the door very quickly, only three figures appeared in the darkness of the newsstand.
The most advanced one was the spy leader Yun Buyi, whose face always smiled at this moment. As soon as he entered the door, he first touched his hand under the newsstand, found the button switch, closed the only air leak in front of him, and took a sip of the jasper-like wine gourd around his waist. , A long sigh of relief.
The aroma of wine instantly filled the narrow confined space. The maid stepped into the room for the second time, not caring about his small movements, she only turned her head and stared at the gate of the palace where the golden dragon lantern was hung, and her eyes were the same as usual, without any fluctuations.
The farthest is the last to enter. Leaning his ears, he was careful to watch out for movements outside, and then leaned the magic heavy gun in his hand that almost hit the baffle of his head against the bookcase, so as not to cut the fragile glass on the side of the door.
The surrounding area was still quiet. After listening for a while, he confirmed that there was no abnormality, and then looked back at the two companions. With the reflection of the bright moonlight, he caught a glance of the brother's reluctant appearance holding the hip flask, and he could not help but shook his head secretly with his mouth closed.
His brother is good at everything, but he is too casual in doing facts. Seeing that he was only a few steps away from the palace, this man was always thinking about drinking. I really don’t know how a spy like him could go smoothly without being noticed... He quietly sighed and turned his head again. , Seeing Le Liu's profile face that was still mostly under her bangs even in the dark, she suddenly remembered how busy she was today from morning to night.
After leaving the hotel, Yun Buyi took him directly to the East Palace. Sure enough, he didn't find Shun, so he asked the guard on duty last night. He thought that after his identity was leaked, it would be a bit awkward to meet with these former subordinates. He didn't want to show that no one was abnormal, so he still called the captain as if he didn't know it.
The guards confirmed that the prince went out late at night last night and has not returned. Even Miss Ling who is boarding here is missing. This made him suddenly raise his heart. He knew that the royal guard Mo had visited the East Palace at night. If the other party had other intentions, he was afraid that Shun would be deceived, if he really went to the Jade Palace...
He couldn't settle down in his heart. After listening to Yun, he was not in a hurry to make a judgment. Instead, he wanted to summon the subordinates of the Intelligence Bureau to ask for clues. He could only suppress his urgency and return to the Bingquan Hotel to wait for news. It was not until the afternoon that he saw the senior who shook his head and found nothing. The two carefully combined and decided to sneak into the palace tonight to investigate the situation first, and then make a decision.
As the chief of the royal spy, Yunbu also has a trick: As long as he is under the shining of the moon, his unique moon concealment can be used to hide his body in the visible but intangible moonlight-fortunately, it is snowing today. It has stopped, it is the warm sun hanging high, and there is no cloud in the sky. If you want to come to the evening, it will be a good weather with few stars.
He told everyone about the matter, the old housekeeper was naturally willing to help, but the maid made an objection: "Is it true or false? Don't discuss it. If the situation is so serious that the prince can't even send out the alarm, even add it. There is no chance of winning on you. Going rashly will only attract unnecessary risks."
What she said seemed to make sense, but that was Shun! Even if you take the risk alone, you must not sit back and watch your friends fall into any possible traps!
He didn't want to persuade this rigid girl, but insisted on going, but when he came to the deployment plan, a small problem appeared: Even with the current ability of the cloud, the Moon Hidden Art can only cover three people at most. One more, I am afraid there is a risk of exposure at any time.
Because Le Liu raised an objection just now, as far as possible, she naturally thought that she might not be willing to participate, so she decided to take the old housekeeper. However, after the old man frowned and meditated, he still recommended Le Liu to participate in this secret investigation. The reason is that she is most familiar with the secret information in the capital, and if there is an accident, she may be able to escape.
Yun Buyi always likes to make jokes. Compared with the old-fashioned old man, he naturally wanted to let the girl join the team. He even wanted to grab her hand with a smile in the name of teaching her the precautions of moon-concealment technique.
The maid lady didn't care at all about it, she kept her face cold and didn't say a word. On the contrary, as soon as the teaser took the opportunity to hold her hand, his face suddenly changed slightly, his eyes stared at her weirdly for a long time, and finally he let go in silence.
It was getting late, and after hurriedly determining the infiltration plan, the three of them put on the night cloak as far as possible, brought the equipment they needed, and quietly rushed to the destination: Fuqian Avenue.
As the longest-lived building complex in the capital apart from the holy tower and the imperial palace, the Jade Palace is by no means a place where anyone can come and go at will. The invisible barrier set up thousands of years ago enveloped the entire outer wall of the palace. As long as someone dared to break in, it would inevitably provoke a barrier attack and attract the attention of guards everywhere.
Although Yun is not in the body with secret techniques, he must pass through the heavily guarded gates of the palace to sneak into it. Because there was a newsstand stationed by a secret post outside the main entrance, they first came here to see today's intelligence, but unfortunately there was no result.
I remembered the old man who was suspected to be blind as far as he could. I don’t know why the brother had chosen such a person to be a secret whistle. As soon as he floated in his heart, he heard the sound of horseshoes from far away on the Tingwai Avenue and immediately turned his head vigilantly. . Through the half glass window beside him, he could clearly see a black carriage approaching slowly at the corner of the street.
Pulling the cart are four high-headed golden-mane horses. They are vigorous and vigorous, and even the steps are exactly the same. Obviously they have been trained for a long time. The coachman was a guard dressed in black and a big brimmed hat. After passing the black dragon statue in front of the palace, he immediately shook his whip. The four horses stood almost at the same time, except for the gold medal with the word "Mo" hanging in front of the handlebar. Shaking in the wind.
Mo...Looking at the golden nameplate as far away as possible, I instantly knew the identity of the other party: it must be the father-in-law of the Jade King, a member of the family of Lord Mo Xuan, the deputy pavilion of the Ministry of Rites, but I don't know who it is...
Although they were already in the dark, the three of them all leaned back together, for fear of being noticed by the people in the carriage. They watched the coachman strode forward and called the door with his whip. After a while, a guard protruded from the door on the right, looked in the direction of the carriage, and waved to his companion to open the door.
The rivet-bronze door thundered and opened slowly with a heavy creak. The coachman arched his hands towards the other side, and was about to go back, but everyone could not help but three big words popped up in their minds: good opportunity!
How could Yun not let go of this heaven-sent opportunity. Taking advantage of the sound of the moving door to cover up, he immediately tucked the hip flask around his waist, turned his feet and leaped up in the air, wrapped his hands like snakes around the left and right arms of the two of them, and whirled around to dissipate the momentum. Gently grab the door bolt on your toes. The small side door of the newsstand moved silently, and the three of them blinked across the arm-wide shadow in front of them. When they entered the moonlight range, they seemed to be melted by the light. From head to heel, the grid gradually disappeared into the air.
Everyone was covered by the divine power of the cloud, and floated toward the carriage as light as a catkin, no one could notice. When they got close to the car, the coachman returned to his seat and threw off his whip, directing the horses to drive into the house.
The gate of the palace was built to resemble a tower, and after a cursory glance, there was a dark archway about three to four meters long after entering the gate. The magical power of the clouds only works under the light. Once you enter the archway, you will be noticed if you don't have time to cover it. He watched the carriage turn slowly and slowly. With a clever idea, he pulled the two of them into the bottom of the carriage like a piece of paper. After showing their figure, they all held their breath in the gap above the bearing.
The wooden carriage is extremely well-made, with steel axles and soft tires that drive smoothly and almost no vibration. When passing through the gate, as far as possible, he secretly worried whether there are alien supernatural powers among the guards who would discover their existence. Fortunately, until passing through the gate and entering the bluestone avenue lined with giant trees on both sides, no one came forward to express doubt.
The carriage moved slowly on the leveled masonry. At this moment, the three of them finally sneaked into the palace. They were sitting under the car thinking about how to proceed with the investigation. They heard a lazy complaint from above: "Father, I will see my brother-in-law later, what can you say? Wan hastily finished talking, I still have some buddies waiting to have a drink at the Bailu Pavilion!"
This voice sounded very young, and with a soft and silly energy, as far as possible, the individual came out of his mind at once-Mo An, a major officer of the Imperial Guard. He is the youngest brother of Princess Nuohuai, he has been raised since he was little, and his temper is not bad, but he has a lot of common problems of dudes, lazy and playful. Although he was backed by the connections of Lord Jade and Mo Mansion, he still has only a spare job in the Imperial Guard, and he can be called a model without ambition.
Now that this person was present, the identity of the other person would be revealed... As expected, as soon as his voice fell, the old deputy Ge Qiang's angry reprimand sounded in the car: "Damn it! You treat it as a drop-in. No? I can tell you that when I meet your brother-in-law, if I dare to talk nonsense, I will stop your monthly salary from tomorrow!"
Mo An immediately didn't dare to say anything when he heard this, and after a long pause, he mumbled: "Isn't I in a hurry...I can't come here a few days ago? I have to pick this time..."
Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by the old man: "Stupid! This palace was surrounded by those people until yesterday. How do you get here? Do you want the Mo family to step into this muddy water too!?"
Mo An was scolded by him, but laughed: "What you said, blame me for talking... Hey, those guys are really troublesome, even I was asked by them! That's a book written by the prince himself. Ling, you said that it’s me, what do you rely on to pull them! Brother-in-law is still the easiest, just find an excuse for retreat and let it go..."
He was smiling, and suddenly there was another meal, and after a few sniffles, the fox questioned: "How come there is a smell of alcohol?"
Surprised as far as he could by these words, he was cautiously guarding, Ge Lao cut off the topic angrily: "The smell of alcohol? I think you are poisoned by drinking! If you dare to mention the word again, you won't want to go out of the house in the future!"
When Mo An heard that he was about to confine himself to confinement, how dare to talk nonsense, the car suddenly became quiet, only breathing slowly. The three people under the car were shocked because of him, so they didn't dare to stay too much. They searched for a space where the carriage turned and slowed down, and went out silently, and disappeared under the moonlight again.
The carriage of Mo Mansion drifted away, rushing to the home of the princess in the backyard. As far as they were left, the three of them relied on the cover of the Moon Hidden Technique, standing on the edge of the blue brick road, looking around this ancient giant forest.
None of them had been to the inner courtyard of the Jade King's Mansion, and it was difficult to tell the location. Fortunately, Yun had already prepared for it, and obtained the plan of the King's Mansion from the files of the Intelligence Bureau in advance. However, he was still casting the spell at the moment, holding his companion with both hands, he could only pull the arm of his junior brother, and motioned to him to take out the map from his waist.
Carefully opened the yellowed sheepskin map as far as possible and leaned in the middle again. The three of them looked at the square-circle line drawn with ink pens in the picture together, and based on the carriage movement path they just noted, they roughly judged that they are currently close to the left side of the central hall. If they go further, they will soon reach the white wood connecting the front and rear courtyards. The promenade.
The purpose of their trip was to find out the whereabouts of the prince, but they really entered this strange black forest, but they were not sure where to start first. The three of them didn't dare to speak out. They only used gesture strokes and clicked on the map, but they had two differences.
Yun Buyi thinks that he should first go to the nearest central hall, which is also the weakest guard, to check the situation, and then go around and check carefully according to the direction. Le Liu insisted that he should first go to the servants' residential area in the backyard, find someone to ask for some information, and then think of a solution if there is no gain.
As far as he could feel that their two plans were somewhat reasonable, he hesitated, and suddenly heard a few heavy steps in the distance. The three of them stopped their silent dispute and looked up. At the corner of Bluestone Avenue, a short and fat man in a gray cotton suit and a chef's apron came running. He also carried a huge food box in his hand, almost almost dragging his head. On the ground.
As soon as the maid saw the face of the person clearly, she immediately pointed and gestured as far as she could on her palm: Chef A Bing, the source of intelligence. As far as she touched at this moment, she felt that her fingertips were slippery and cold, like ice cubes, and she couldn't help but feel a little stunned.
Yun Bu also held relevant information about the staff of the Jade King's Mansion, and knew the identity of the visitor more clearly, and there was no need to remind him, but the girl completely ignored her attitude, which made him feel a little bit in his heart. He thought of Le Liu's suggestion, his heart moved slightly, and with a touch of his foot, he pulled the two of them to the side branch of the giant tree beside him that opened like an umbrella.
This leap was as light as a breeze and did not attract the fat chef's attention. He tried his best to use both hands, try not to let the food box touch the ground, and ran straight to the front hall crookedly. As far away as possible, the three of them also concealed into the moonlight and followed him through the branches, only planning to find him in a quiet place, and try to ask the news first.
A Bing couldn't run fast at all with such a huge food box. He only walked along the avenue, and met two guards who watched the night along the way, and stopped to chat for a few more words, so that the trailing behind never had a chance to start. After spending ten minutes in this way, just before reaching the central hall, a flower suddenly appeared in front of the three of them, and the chef's figure disappeared in a blink of an eye!
Could it be that this person is still a hidden master! ? Although this guess is a bit weird, but because of the danger, he didn't dare to care as far as he could, so he and his two companions were hidden by the roadside and listened first. Although the messy footsteps were lightened, they were still clearly audible, which showed that the other party hadn't gone far, but he didn't know what power he used to hide his body.
The three of them looked at each other. Under speculation, the figure of the fat chef suddenly appeared on the other side of the road. He was still struggling to walk, even unable to lift the food box, dragging on the ground to wipe out the intermittent noise, not at all like a power person.
Is there an illusion circle? But set up a magic circle in the middle of this avenue... is it really necessary? The sneakers stared at the weird area in front of the main hall and swept back and forth. After all, they couldn't see why, and they didn't dare to delay time, they could only speed up and chase the target.
The sound of the food box rubbing on the ground almost covered all the surrounding movement. With this help, the fat chef made his steps a little brisk, and then turned two corners along the main road, and a dark tall building appeared in front of him.
Comparing a pair of maps as far away as possible, they found that the building in front of them was the partial hall of the Royal Mansion, where the Jade King usually handled his private affairs. He immediately stopped his companions. The three of them took a rough look at the moonlight, and saw that there were guards in black cloaks standing around the Piandian, three steps, one post, four steps and one sentry, all standing still like stone statues, only the long swords flashing around their waists Silver light.
When Chef A Bing walked here, he finally slowed down, still dragging the food box, and slowly moved to the side hall gate amidst the intermittent stabs. He seemed to be a little nervous, he just bowed his head forward, and his footsteps were fast and slow. But when he walked to the steps of the main hall of the side hall, he seemed to be emboldened, and stepped up with his chest straight, letting the food box clank on the steps, regardless of whether the contents inside would be damaged.
Because there were so many guards around the side hall, the three of them did not dare to move too far, standing at the very edge of the giant forest, staring at the chef's every move.
The black guards were completely indifferent to Ah Bing's arrival, and perhaps they were used to it a long time ago, but no one came forward to inquire. He finally dragged the food container to the door, and after a few breaths, he knocked on the door three times impatiently.
After about ten seconds, the door of the Partial Hall creaked open. There was no light in the black hole, and it was hard to see who was coming.
The fat chef recognized each other, said hello and raised his hand to wipe off his sweat. He turned his head and dragged the big food box in front of him. He was about to hand it over. Suddenly he fell forward for some reason and fell into the door. . The food box was also thrown out by him, and it opened with a snap. The packaging was scattered all over the floor, and the aroma of the thick vegetable soup drifted far away to be heard.
Ah Bing fell for no reason, and was screaming in pain. Seeing this, he hurried to the ground to clean up. The fat body just blocked half of the door, making the opponent unable to close it for a while.
In this seemingly farce-like scene, as far as he could, he suddenly felt a faint trembling of the giant tree branch on the other side of the avenue, which made him extremely familiar with the divine power fluctuations, and suddenly his whole body was shocked. He turned his head like a spring, holding his breath, staring at the treetop that was undulating in the night breeze, but he couldn't see anything unusual.
That is Shun's power of fantasy! If it weren't for this occasional tremor, even if he was already familiar with his friend's divine power as breathing, he would not be able to tell. This is the unique power of the illusion, if not in it, it is almost like two sides of the world!
The slight fluctuation subsided in an instant. He stared at the empty branches in a daze, and his eyes were the same hollow moonlight, but he knew with great confidence: the purpose of his trip, the friend he had been waiting for so far, was quietly hiding under the invisible phantom.
Obviously it is only a gap between a bluestone road, so close that you can reach it with just one foot, but at this moment, within the range of the opponent's control, his existence is no longer acceptable...
He suddenly felt a chill in his heart and a bit of sourness, but he could only breathe in slowly, reluctantly suppressing this little thought. In any case, the whereabouts of the prince was finally found, and for him, being safe and sound is the best result.
This Jade Palace is not a place to stay for a long time. He was trying to prove his identity, and suddenly he smelled a large amount of water vapor in the air. As soon as his heart beat, he felt that familiar fluctuation reappeared again. After a few tremors, It was shot out like an arrow. He quickly turned his head and realized that the direction the other party was aiming at seemed to be the door of the Partial Palace that was still half open at the moment!
What does he want to do! At this moment, I couldn't even shout a word as far as I could. I could only stare wide-eyed and "look" at the invisible mass of water vapor that can only be slightly sensed by a keen sense of smell. It passed over countless guards like a cannonball and blinked. Got into the gate.
The next moment, the fat chef finally cleaned the mess, straightened up and exited the door. He lowered his head and waited for the other party to close the door, and then wiped his sweat as if he had passed a difficult time, and then took the remaining light to sweep around. Even though there is a strong smell of food around them, the black-clothed guards still stand still like stone statues, not even breathing or swallowing. Under this cold moonlight, people feel cold and goose bumps. Risk.
At this moment, he finally completed the task given by the prince, where he dare to wait any longer, trembling his hands wrapped the cotton-padded clothes, dragging the empty food box, without looking back, staggering and rushing in the direction when he came.