"Hey, have you heard? That guy named Jiang Yao seems to have gone to Xudu. ”

In a certain bathroom in the "Penglai" headquarters of the "Lingyutai", two young men in dark blue uniforms, one tall and one short, were washing their hands and chatting.

"Ginger?oh...... It's the guy with a rare 'colorless physique', right......? Is it going to a 'ghost market'?"

"Eight or nine is not far from ten. The short young man blinked, looking mysterious. "And I guess the leader sent it on purpose. ”

"Hey, you can't talk nonsense. When the tall young man heard this, he hurriedly whispered. "What kind of place is our 'Lingyutai', how can we go to participate in that kind of illegal black market? If this spreads, it will be a big deal. ”

"I know, so, the leader can't send someone else, he can only send that kid surnamed Jiang, after all, that kid is not our 'Spirit Yutai' now, even if someone finds out, it won't involve us. The short young man shrugged and said.

"You mean...... The reason why Leader Lu didn't let that kid join the 'Spirit Imperial Terrace' was to deal with the current situation?"

"That's right. After all, our Spirit Imperial Divine Envoy has an official identity behind his back, and everything has to be approved layer by layer, and it will also involve the balance with the Demon God Mansion, which is more restrictive. And wouldn't it be much more convenient if there was a chess piece that didn't belong to the 'Spirit Imperial Table' on the surface and could obey our orders?"

"That's right...... It seems that this is also the purpose for which I received the gluttony in the first place......" The tall young man thought and then asked a question. "However, because gluttony is 'tamed', our ability is also limited, so it's easy to control...... But this Jiang Yao, what reason does he have to obey us?"

"Hehe, you don't know that, do you?" said the short young man with a meaningful smile and a low voice. "A while ago, the [Dazai Department] received a supernumerary named Zhou Wentao, but that guy didn't have any abilities, do you know why he was brought in?"

"Why?"

"Because that guy is Jiang Yao's close friend, and Jiang Yao attaches great importance to this person, as long as this person is in our hands, he won't dare to mess around!"

"This ...... Isn't that impossible? Isn't this the equivalent of taking hostages?" the tall young man hesitated. "I believe that Leader Lu would not do such a thing. ”

"Even if Chief Lu can't do it, how do you know that the rest of the council can't?" the short young man finished washing his hands, tore off a piece of tissue paper and tried to erase it. "Recently, the atmosphere at the top has been a little delicate, and there seem to be a lot of dissatisfied voices with the leader, especially Minister Mu, many things are not up to our leader alone......"

"Stop, stop, you can't talk nonsense about this kind of thing, let's go quickly......" Seeing that the topic of the short young man was becoming more and more sensitive, the tall young man was busy interrupting the other party's words, and the two of them immediately left the bathroom one after the other.

"Squeak ......"

Not long after the two left, the door of a single room on the innermost side of the bathroom was slowly opened, and Zhou Wentao walked out of the single room with a solemn face, looking up at the direction in which the two Spirit Imperial Divine Envoys had left.

"I turned out to be ...... 'hostage'......?"

Zhou Wentao muttered in a low voice, his body trembling slightly with indignation and guilt.

"It's all because of me, Xiaoyao will ...... Qing Yu, why are you lying to me?"

Zhou Wentao's fists gradually clenched, and a layer of haze was faintly shrouded in his originally clear eyes, and after a pause, Zhou Wentao gritted his teeth and rushed out of the bathroom door as if he had made up his mind......

……

In the empty "Penglai" hall, two spirit envoys, one tall and one short, were quietly hiding behind a pillar, looking at Zhou Wentao's figure rushing out of the bathroom from a distance.

"Look, he did hear it. The corners of the short young man's mouth hooked, as if he had expected what was happening in front of him. He turned and bowed slightly to the purple-haired man who looked weak in the shadows in the corner.

"Everything is going according to your plan, Minister Zimo. ”

"Hehe, very good, thank you for your cooperation. ”

Zimo seemed to smile slightly, his expression obscured under the shadows. "You should act as if you don't know anything about this. ”

“…… Minister Zimo, I really don't understand. As if deeply troubled by the matter, the tall young man hesitated. "You know he's going to be a source of instability when he learns about this, so why ......?"

"Shh......h

Zimo didn't speak, but gently stretched out his fingers and covered his lips, and the faces of the two Spirit Divine Envoys changed slightly when they saw this, and then they didn't say anything more, and then turned around and left the hall after saluting respectfully.

"Hehe, 'unstable factor'......"

Zimo raised her eyes with interest to look in the direction of Zhou Wentao's departure, and there seemed to be some kind of dangerous deep meaning in her inky pupils.

"The current 'Lingyutai' lacks this kind of 'unstable factor'. ”

The shadows vanished into the corners, and the remnants of the conspiracy vanished into the silent hall.

-------------------------------

"Dut...... Dudu ......

The sound of the ferry's whistle echoed at the Yangtze River port in Yudu County in the early morning, and a swarthy boat boss shouted loudly while pulling the whistle:

"The ship is about to leave, is there anyone who hasn't been on board?"

"Alas, here we are!

Lu Xingyue waved her hand at the boat boss from afar, pulling Jiang Yao all the way to run wildly, while the two "great gods" of Tao Tao and Three-legged Wu in the back did not look anxious at all, and still looked calm and relaxed.

"Tsk, hurry up, hurry up, the ship waits for no one!"

The boat boss looked at his watch and urged impatiently, just as Jiang Yao stepped on the ferry in front of the four people, and the boat boss pulled the rod and anchored, and the small cross-river ferry immediately left the port and slowly sailed towards the "ghost town" on the other side of the Yangtze River.

"Whew...... I finally caught up, and I had to wait an hour for the next shift. Lu Xingyue sat down in the cabin, gasping for breath, and glanced at the clock on the wall by the way. "Half past six...... Fortunately, it's estimated that it will be about seven o'clock on the side of the 'Ghost Gate'. Alas, have you had breakfast?"

Lu Xingyue said, turned her head to look at Jiang Yao on the side, but found that the other party was looking down at the text messages on her mobile phone, and the expression on her face seemed to be a little subtle.

"What's wrong?" Lu Xingyue blinked mischievously, moved her ass to Jiang Yao's side, and hooked Jiang Yao's neck. "Hehe~Shouldn't you be flirting with girls~"

"Hehe, where did I come from. Jiang Yao laughed dryly and casually pressed the phone screen. "It's me who sent him...... Ask me where I am. ”

"You're not trying to tell him the truth, are you?" Lu Xingyue straightened up and said in surprise. "It's best not to let ordinary people get involved in the affairs of our world, and it's also for their good. ”

"I know, so I don't know how to ......"

Jiang Yao sighed secretly, and whispered again:

“…… Though...... He's been caught up in the ......"

Jiang Yao had actually heard about Zhou Wentao's entry into the "Lingyutai", although he also knew that the "Lingyutai" might have the intention of restricting himself, but out of consideration for the safety of his friends, Jiang Yao could not raise any objections. And all he can do now is to try not to get Zhou Wentao involved in more trouble, than to let Zhou Wentao know more things that should not be known, Jiang Yao is willing to let him live peacefully under the care of the "Spirit Terrace" like this, which is the only thing he can do for his friends now.

It's just that...... Wen Tao: How did he know that I went to Xudu?

Jiang Yao clicked on the screen again, looking at Zhou Wentao's series of anxious inquiries above, judging from the tone of the other party, it seemed that he could no longer hide it. He hesitated to type a few words, but he felt that it was inappropriate, and after hesitating for a long time, Jiang Yao still cleared the text in the mail column.

Never mind...... I'll be back later.

Jiang Yao sighed, stuffed the phone back into his pocket, and suddenly felt a little empty again, only then did he remember that he was in a hurry to go out before, and he hadn't even had time to eat breakfast. He turned his head to look around and found that although the area of this ferry was not large, there was a commissary at the stern of the boat, and Lu Xingyue and Tao Tao had already left Jiang Yao, who was looking at their mobile phones, and gathered in front of the commissary to buy food.

"Boss, come to a bowl of cold skin, ah, bring me a copy of the corn and tea eggs over there!"

Facing a dazzling array of local snacks, the hungry Lu Xingyue had already moved his index fingers, but his appetite was obviously small compared to the gluttony next to him, only to see the gluttony lazily pointing to the shelf, and said:

"I want everything to eat here. ”

"Hey, aren't you, are you?...... you have to eat so much" Lu Xingyue was just about to complain, but suddenly remembered the identity and appetite of gluttony, and could only swallow the words raw.

"Ouch, this guest officer has such a big appetite, let's wrap it up for you!"

In the face of such a wealthy guest, the middle-aged proprietress in the commissary couldn't stop laughing, while Lu Xingyue was speechless, if he didn't know the true identity of the glutton, it is estimated that he would be directly dumbfounded like the other passengers on the ship at this time.

"Mom, sugar gourd...... There is no ......" A little girl on the side watched the "candy tree" full of sugar gourds on the counter of the commissary also be packed and taken away, and she was so sad that she was about to cry.

"It's okay, it's okay, my mother will buy you ...... when you get off the boat"

"Woooooooooo......oo But I'm going to ...... now."

"I said, you should leave something to eat for others......" Seeing that the atmosphere was so embarrassing, Lu Xingyue couldn't help but quietly approached the gluttony and whispered.

"......" gluttony looked at the teary-eyed little girl, and didn't say anything, just reached out and pulled a string of sugar gourds from the "candy tree", stuffed it into the little girl's hand, and then left the "candy tree", picked up the packaged other food, and swaggered away.

"Mom, my brother gave me a sugar gourd~" The little girl held the sugar gourd, and finally burst into tears and laughed, and the other onlookers saw that there was nothing lively and beautiful, so they also dispersed.

“…… What's wrong? What's going on with this shelf?"

Jiang Yao, who was late to the party, walked in from the crowd that was gradually dispersing, looked up at the store that had almost been emptied and only the candy tree was left, and was slightly surprised.

"Oh, don't worry, guest officer~ It's not enough that we still have goods in the warehouse, wait for me to get it." The proprietress counted the banknotes with joy, and turned around and went into the warehouse at the back, leaving only Jiang Yao and Lu Xingyue staring at the empty commissary.

"Jiang Yao, you said that he was gluttonous...... What kind of existence is it?" After a long silence, Lu Xingyue suddenly opened her mouth.

"Why do you suddenly ask that?" Jiang Yao was a little surprised.

"Originally, I thought he was cold and lacked emotion for people, but ......" Lu Xingyue looked at the candy tree that had been specially left behind on the counter, and there seemed to be a little confusion in her eyes. "But now...... I don't seem to understand him anymore. ”

"The world misunderstands him, but I don't think he's as ruthless as the legend says. Jiang Yao thought for a moment and replied seriously.

"Really...... But in the past thousands of years, his various rumors and criticisms have never been broken, I think you have heard of it too, right?" Lu Xingyue paused and looked at Jiang Yao.

"Especially...... The 'village massacre' he created more than a century ago. ”