Chapter Twenty-Five: The Dark Tide Surges

The clouds of the river are rising and the sun is sinking, and the mountain rain is about to come, and the wind is full of buildings. --------Tang Dynasty. Xu Hun "Xianyang City East Building"

As the night deepened, the streets and alleys of Lingling City became quieter, and the bustling street market during the day was silent. As the hour approached, the Xuan Hall of Liu Yong's mansion was brightly lit, and Liu Yong and Zhou Budo sat around Chen Long, studying the location of the soldiers in ambush during the exchange of hostages. Liu Min also pretended to be a hostage and was tied to the carriage at the door with Yang Huai. Chen Long originally wanted to go to the exchange alone, but Liu Yong and Zhou Budo considered Chen Long's safety and insisted on arranging some troops on the periphery to receive them.

At this time, Liu Dong hurriedly came from Gongzi's mansion, saying that Liu Xian's side had already made preparations, and the five hundred Praetorian Guards of Gongzi's mansion were ready to go, and they would rush to Xing Daorong's mansion when the exchange was over. There was Liu Ba in charge of the Taishou Mansion, temporarily hiding from Liu Du and holding his troops still, while monitoring the movements of Xing Daorong's internal guards. Liu Xian, Liu Min and Liu Yong's troops were also ready, and if Xing Daorong's 5,000 inner guards made any changes, they would participate in the battle to protect the city in time.

Seeing that everything was ready, Chen Long disguised himself as a coachman and drove the hostage carriage slowly towards West Street. Behind the shops on West Street is a small street, which usually serves as a warehouse for the shops, but after the shops are closed at night, it is very quiet and inaccessible. As soon as the carriage turned the corner, Long Chen saw several carriages parked on the side of the small street, all with low curtains, and he couldn't see whether there was anyone inside, and he didn't know who it was, so he stopped here for the night at night.

Chen Long's carriage slowly approached these carriages and horses, and suddenly the feeling of danger that he had encountered when he encountered the assassination came back again, and Chen Long felt that there must be an assassin in one of the carriages, silently transporting Xuan Gong, and was fully guarded. There was silence in the carriage, Chen Long simply waved the horsewhip lightly, and the horsewhip made a soft crackling sound, if the people in the carriage were here to exchange hostages, it was time to show up at this time.

There was still silence in the carriage, Chen Long felt that something was wrong, he quickly jumped into the air, his body rotated three hundred and sixty degrees, and the moment he fell back into the carriage, he glanced at the surrounding shops, and actually caught a trace of the essence of his eyes, which flashed by. Chen Long was frightened into a cold sweat, it turned out that the enemy was hiding in the warehouse next to him to observe, the carriage was just placed*, he was so stupid that he had been focusing on the carriage, if the enemy used a poisonous needle to sneak attack at that time, he really didn't know if he could resist it. Chen Long struggled to remember where his eyes were shining, when suddenly the horsewhip flew away from his hand and slammed into the door of a warehouse on the left back, making a crisp sound. Sure enough, the warehouse door was pushed open with a creak, and a ghostly figure flashed out, and he smiled strangely: "Chen Gongzi is really a believer, and he came alone, which shows his sincerity." I have been waiting here for a long time under the order, and I can find the hiding place under it, and I admire it below. ”

When Long Chen saw him dressed in black and masked, he remembered the poisonous needle that day, and he was furious, this assassin who almost killed Peach Blossom actually appeared at this time, if he didn't teach him a lesson, he would definitely not take himself seriously. Gently stomped on the edge of the car, his body drew an afterimage in the air, and he flew a distance of more than twenty meters at the speed of his body's limit, and the green dragon dagger had already drawn a ripple-like phantom, and thunder shot towards the man in black. The man in black was obviously extremely conceited, and when the phantom of the dagger was about to draw in front of him, he shook his body lightly and retreated towards the warehouse. Chen Long followed up like a shadow, both of them were excellent in light work, and the sound of clothes breaking the wind was endless. The warehouse was pitch black, Chen Long's eyes had not yet adapted to the darkness, the black-clothed man's counterattack had come, only to hear a buzz, a jet-black sleeve arrow had arrived in front of Chen Long's eyes, Chen Long listened to the argument, the dagger drew a half-arc in front of the door, clanged sparks flew around, it was actually cut in the middle of the iron arrow, the arrow did not enter the frame, and the tail feather hummed and shook non-stop.

The moment he knocked off the sleeve arrow, Chen Long had already borrowed a roll, submerged into the dark warehouse, and quietly lay on a pile of sacks on the ground, stopped all movements, held his breath, and was ready to compete with the other party for patience, as long as the other party did not have night eyes, it must be difficult to find his precise location, once the other party moved, he would inevitably be hit by his own thunder. Just as he was proud, suddenly the horse outside the door neighed softly, and there was the sound of wheels rolling, Chen Long was shocked, this was the other party's plan to divert the tiger from the mountain. Don't care about revealing the hide, first grab a sack and throw it inside, the body has already swished out of the door, suddenly a black light flashed in front of the door, and the other sleeve arrow wiped his face, almost shaved off the nose, the handsome face blown by the strong wind hurt, Chen Long landed on one leg, stopped in place, and did not dare to move a little. Listening to the sound of the carriage gradually moving away, I thought that this exchange of hostages, I lost all my pants.

Suddenly, a woman's laughter came from the darkness, and with Long Chen's spiritual ears, he could tell that it was the voice of the charm girl. A light was faintly lit, and in the middle of the warehouse was a Taishi chair, and the saint with a heavy veil was sitting leisurely on the Taishi chair, as if sitting in a comfortable living room at home, and the tall man in black stood behind him. Zhang Ning's beautiful eyes were smiling, and he looked at Long Chen and said, "Brother Chen, still don't put down your left foot?" Only then did Chen Long remember that he was still in an independent posture of a golden rooster, and he was busy standing up straight in embarrassment. The saint couldn't help but bow her head and smile, and the big man behind her laughed even more presumptuously. Chen Long simply sat on the sack on the ground, squinting at the holy woman, and he was embarrassed enough anyway. and said unwillingly: "Playing conspiracy again, don't you say that you are not a yellow scarf?" ”

Zhang Ning held back a smile and said, "Brother Chen, don't you look down on our yellow scarves?" I just want you to know that without the discipline of martial arts, our yellow scarves are all capable people. Zhang Ning did not shy away from his appreciation and solicitation of Chen Long: "If Brother Chen is willing, I swear by heaven here, I will do everything I can, ask for money for money, food for food, and people for people, and help you realize your ideals." ”

Chen Long looked ignorant, but in fact, he was thrilled to hear it, but it would be too shameless to promise her like this. At the moment, he smiled and said: "You did succeed in your trick, but I have learned this kung fu that does not count." Even if you take my hostages, I tell you, a net has been laid in this city, Xing Daorong is finished, for the sake of you have always been polite to me, I advise you to hand over Huang Gai and Peach Blossom to me, and disappear quickly, maybe you can escape. ”

Zhang Ning laughed and said, "Who said that this hostage will not be exchanged?" You still don't believe in my sincerity, listen outside, your beloved peach blossom has come. Chen Long had also noticed the sound of a carriage coming from afar, slowly driving towards the warehouse, and couldn't help but be overjoyed, and hurriedly went out to greet him. I felt that I had to express my gratitude to Zhang Ning, and arched my hand and said: "Even if you have integrity, I will definitely return this love." Zhang Ning suddenly said faintly: "Do you think Xing Daorong will wait for death in the mansion?" ”

When Long Chen heard this, he stopped in surprise, and Zhang Ning said with a smile: "In the entire Lingling City, the only ones who can catch it are the two of us yellow scarves now." As long as Brother Chen doesn't report me, Liu Du's soldiers won't be able to catch a single yellow scarf. When General Xing arrived at Sun Xia's camp, he would use all his troops and horses to attack the city head-on. Liu Du didn't have a few good days. Brother Chen promised us to disappear immediately with our families, and we won't break our promise, right? I really don't want to see Brother Chen as cannon fodder for Liu Du, a corrupt official. Chen Long knew that the other party was a chess player, and he had no way to take her. At the moment, the only way to save Peach Blossom and Huang Gai is to go home, and then think about it in the long run. No longer hesitated, went out directly, lifted the curtain of the carriage and saw that Peach Blossom and Huang Gai were tied to the left and right of the carriage, both with their heads bowed and unconscious, obviously afraid of revealing the hidden treasures, and giving them some kind of drug. Chen Long checked it, both of them were intact, their breathing was still steady, and their hearts were relaxed.

Thinking of the drug, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't asked Zhang Ning for an antidote, and turned around and was about to enter the warehouse, when Zhang Ning had already walked out. Seeing that Zhang Ning shook three times and was not in a hurry at all, Chen Long frowned and said, "Hey, Mei Niang, you forgot the antidote, right?" Zhang Ning never announced his identity as a Yellow Turban Saintess in front of him, so Long Chen only called her Mei Niang.

When Zhang Ning heard this, he suddenly realized, knocked on his delicate head and said, "Oh, yes, I said that I seemed to have forgotten something, it turned out that I forgot the antidote?" Chen Long's seven orifices were smoking, and he was not angry and wanted to hurt Zhang Ning for a few words, when suddenly Zhang Ning got into the carriage with his feet, sat next to Chen Long, patted him on his broad shoulders and said, "Coachman, let's drive Miss Ben home." ”

Chen Long was confused by Zhang Ning, and asked stupidly, "Which house are you going back to?" Zhang Ning smiled: "Come back to Huangfu with you." Chen Long's jaw almost dropped, and said, "You... Come home with me? You don't want to die, do you? ”

Zhang Ning's beautiful eyes had already turned into a crooked crescent moon with a smile, and he said unrelentingly: "Brother Chen, you don't want your peach blossom life, do you?" Without an antidote, she will never get better. Chen Long replied: "Then you give me the antidote, I will give it to her, what are you going to do?" ”

Zhang Ning put on a rogue posture: "Didn't I tell you that I didn't bring the antidote, now Miss Ben is the antidote, you say you want it or not!" Chen Long was surprised: "How did you become an antidote?" Zhang Ning said: "That's right, now only I can follow Peach Blossom as a langzhong, can I configure the antidote according to her condition, so as not to leave sequelae." Do you think I'm the antidote? ”

Chen Long was so choked that he couldn't speak, and he couldn't find a reason to refute it for a while, so he said hatefully: "You want to supervise my disappearance from the city." Zhang Ning smiled and said, "Whatever you think." That's right, only you know the identity of my yellow scarf in the city, Huang Gai and Peach Blossom have never seen me, so I asked Brother Chen to say that I am one of the girls you invited, specifically treating Peach Blossom. Chen Long gritted his teeth and burst out: "You think really well." Zhang Ning took off the veil and stuck out his tongue at Chen Long, Chen Long couldn't help but be stunned, quickly cleaned up his mood, and drove towards Huangfu.

In the dark shadow of the warehouse door, the man in black slowly walked out, sighed and muttered to himself: "Miss is amorous, like a moth to the fire, what can I do." I can only protect it in secret, hoping that Chen Long will not be ruthless. With a sigh, the figure of the man in black disappeared into the dark shadows of the side street.