In the impression of Qian Chao's five people, Hou Bao, Fan Fu and Shen Qiubie are all working for Shangguan Hong.

This situation has always existed in the Five Spirits Sect, and it can be said to be commonplace.

But if there are some people in the sect who have some identity backgrounds, extraordinary backgrounds, or even some people who are from ordinary backgrounds but already have a teacher, they don't have to recruit them themselves, there will always be people who are willing to follow these people to help them.

Most of these people are in the sect, and a ready-made example, such as Bai Lin, who once troubled Qian Chao, the last time Qian Chao accepted a challenge outside the sect and won ten consecutive games, that scene was not small, and that big scene was only done by those who were willing to run for Bai Lin.

Further back there was Wen Zhang, who was driven out of the sect by Jiuxuan's Wen Mian senior, he was the cousin of Senior Sister Wen Yuan, and before he was driven away, there were people around him besides Han Jin, who had been circling around him, working for him to make a profit.

Another example is Shangguan Hong, since she returned to the sect, she has immediately gathered a lot of people around her for her use.

Even in the eyes of many people, the reason why Qian Chao and the five are always together is actually Qian Chao, Li Jian, Yan Xuan and Lu Pingchuan because of Tang Ping's extraordinary background and noble background, so they have been entangled by Tang Ping's side and are unwilling to leave.

But the current situation is that Hou Bao's three people are hiding under the big tree that glows white, but the three of them are not Shangguan Hong, but there are two more strangers.

Qian Chao and the others did not have the slightest suspicion of Li Jian's induction, since he said so, then the actual situation must be like this.

But...... Why two strangers?

Where did Shangguan Hong go?

If Shangguan Hong also heard rumors in the sect that someone had seen a suspected Qingluan near Shouwo Mountain, and then took Hou Bao and the three of them into this Shouwo Mountain to find out, this can also be reasonable, after all, since this Shangguan Hong returned to the sect, Hou Bao's three guys have been appearing by Shangguan Hong's side, so these three guys should be running for her.

The reason why Qian Chao and the five people thought that Hou Bao's three guys were working for Shangguan Hong was when Shangguan Hong dealt with Ma Hu, that was not long after she returned to the Five Spirits Sect, and chased and killed Ma Hu outside the sect, but she and Ma Hu also said that as long as Ma Hu could escape back to the sect in her hands, Ma Hu would win, and he would no longer trouble him, otherwise Ma Hu would only be the head of Shangguan Hong from now on, and obey her everywhere; Or ...... was interrupted by Shangguan Hong's hands and feet, which was an unbearable humiliation. And at that time, the people who were sent by Shangguan Hong to hunt down and kill Ma Hu were the three Hou Bao. began to see Ma Hu being chased and killed by the three guys, Qian Chao thought that Hou Bao and the three were working hard for Wen Liang, so he went to save Ma Hu, and later learned that these three guys were willing to be Shangguan Hong's dog legs, and then in order to save Ma Hu's hands and feet, Qian Chao proposed to fight with Hou Bao and these three guys with one enemy and three, as long as he wins, Shangguan Hong will not be allowed to trouble Ma Hu again.

Well, that competition was also very thrilling, Hou Bao and the three of them didn't put Qian Chao in their eyes from the beginning, and hated him for bad things, so they killed people everywhere, but not only were the three of them injured and defeated by Qian Chao, Hou Bao's spirit beast snake was collected by Qian Chao with his jar, and naturally died, Shen Qiu's other spirit beast ruler fang was burned to ashes by Qian Chao's many "wildfire charms" pasted on his body, and the spirit weapon "Boiling Bell" that Fan Fu regarded as a treasure was also taken away by Qian Chao, and these three guys also had a deep grudge against Qian Chao since that time.

(For those who are somewhat vague about the above plot, see Book V: First Songs, Chapters 9 to 11.) ）

The question now is: why did Hou Bao, the three people who had been serving Shangguan Hong, enter Shouwo Mountain but were not with Shangguan Hong.

Who are the two strange young men that Li Jian is talking about?

"Eh, could it be that those two boys are also the people of the Shangguan mother-in-law?" Lu Pingchuan said.

Tang Ping thought so too.

"Probably not," Qian Chao said with a deep groan, "Shangguan Hong is a lonely and suspicious person, if it is really Qingluan's egg, she can't let someone else take it for her." ”

After the tide of Cold Spring Valley, the five people of Qian Chao didn't pay much attention to this Shangguan Hong, of course, it was also because Lin Jian fled back to the Lin family after the tide of Cold Spring Valley, Shangguan Hong's purpose was also achieved, and the contradiction between her and Luo Ying and other high-level disciples of the Five Spirits was alleviated a lot with the revelation of the truth of the old incident back then, and Shangguan Hong's timely and low-key behavior was no longer so noticeable. Therefore, in the eyes of Qian Chao and others, the three guys of Hou Bao are still serving Shangguan Hong.

But now in Qian Chao's view, whether Hou Bao's three guys really serve Shangguan Hong has become a matter of debatable.

"We also know the grievances between Shangguan Hong and Lin Jian after the tide of Cold Spring Valley, let me ask, in this cultivation world, who hates Shangguan Hong the most? And who will Shangguan Hong be most careful about? It must still be them to each other. Well, we have always thought that Hou Bao, Fan Fu and Shen Qiubei were working hard for Shangguan Hong, but now it seems that there may be other hidden secrets in it. I don't remember that before the tide of Cold Spring Valley, Senior Sister Luo Ying led a lot of people to confront each other with those who were attached to Shangguan Hong's side, the scene was very large, there were many people, and the hostility between each other was also very heavy, and she almost made a move, the reason seems to be because there are two senior brothers, one surnamed Wang and the other surnamed Feng, these two were injured by the people around Shangguan Hong, and that almost caused a fight between high-level disciples in the sect......"

"Naturally remember," Lu Pingchuan said, "That time, a few of us beat up a few boys who came to stir up trouble, and then I went out to talk according to Tang Meizi's teaching, which helped Senior Brother Fan to calm the scene and let the two groups of people disperse, and then Senior Brother Fan thanked us a lot." ”

(For the above episodes, see Volume 5: First Song, XXII: Disorder.) ）

"Yes," Qian Chao has an excellent memory, and he continued, "I still remember that on that occasion, Shangguan Hong once said a sentence in a fight with Senior Sister Luo Ying, 'You open your eyes and see, I have only been back for a few days, and it is already like this, I have been in that situation for a long time', well, that's probably what I said, at that time, I only thought that Shangguan Hong was showing off her strength, but now that I think about it, she seems to mean something, it doesn't seem to be showing off, but...... was reminding Senior Sister Luo Ying and others that the people gathered around her were all for an ulterior purpose and uninvited, doing things everywhere under her banner, and then thinking about the development of things that day, although Shangguan Hong was fierce after arriving there, he had been dissociating from the relationship between Brother Wang and Senior Brother Feng who had injured him, but those who were obviously serving her seemed to be worried that things would not be able to make a big deal that day, so when the matter was over, they had to act indiscriminately, trying to mess up the situation, and finally make a mess there, And then the blood will be out of control, and I think that if I have such a subordinate, I will definitely be dragged down by it. ”

"What if you really fight that day?" Yan Xuan asked.

"It's really a fight, now think about it, under the manipulation of people with ulterior motives, there will definitely be people dead that day, and a lot of people will die, and it will be done near the sect just now, so many people will see it, the sect will definitely ask about such a thing, maybe Senior Sister Luo Ying and those people will all put the blame on Shangguan Hong's head, she has been expelled before, and she has just returned to the sect and made such a big incident, she will inevitably be punished again, maybe she will be expelled from the sect again, in this case, who is the most beneficial?"

"Lin Jian." Li Jian said.

"Yes, Lin Jian, from this we can know that Shangguan Hong has just returned to the sect and there are so many people who are willing to serve her, it is likely that they were instructed by others, and the purpose is also to harm her, and there should be few people in the sect who have the strength to command so many people, and it should not be difficult for Lin Jian to do this with his background."

唐萍 says:

"You mean, those three guys from Hou Bao are actually working for Lin Jian, and they are the fine works of the Lin Jian faction beside Shangguan Hong?"

"It's very likely." Qian Chao said.

"And how do you explain today's events?" Tang Ping asked again.

"Tang girl, with your understanding of Lin Jian, guess if Lin Jian was forced to flee back to the Lin family, do you think he will be convinced, and will he try his best to take revenge on Shangguan Hong?"

Seeing Tang Ping nodding, Qian Chao continued:

"You see, you attach great importance to the matter of the Qingluan egg, and judging from the fact that we met Shangguan Hong in Pinghaifeng earlier, she must also be bound to get the Qingluan egg, so there is a relationship between you and her that is competing with each other, well, I shouldn't think about people always going to this bad place, but if this matter is known to Hou Bao, who has been serving her, and then he passes this matter to Lin Jian through whom, what do you think Lin Jian will do?"

Tang Ping took a breath and said:

"Spread rumors, lead Shangguan Hong here, and then ...... Get rid of her! ”

"Not bad."

"But...... Qian boy, I do attach great importance to the matter of Qingluan's egg, but at the same time, this matter must be kept extremely secret by me, and this matter is only known to my master and a few of us, even my senior sister Ruoyu doesn't know about it, so how could Shangguan Hong be careful and cautious, how could he leak such an important matter? ”

This does make sense, but Qian Chao smiled lightly when he heard it:

"I just said that I shouldn't always think of people in the bad light, then think about it yourself, since this matter is extremely important to both of you, then why do you want Hou Bao to know?"

"She's trying to...... Tempt or get rid of Hou Bao's people? Yan Xuan said on the side.

Li Jian shook his head when he heard this.

Tang Ping's face became gloomy, and she said:

"No, Sister Yan, if that's the case, what that Senior Sister Shangguan really wants to get rid of is not Hou Bao, and it won't be just to let Lin Jian suffer a big loss, what she thinks...... It's me! ”

"Ah......h

"Humph! That mother-in-law is really not a good thing, and the next time she encounters it, she will simply kill her! ”

李简 says:

"In this way, that Shangguan Hong may also be in this Wok Mountain now, but unfortunately, if she hides far away, I won't be able to find her."

"There is this possibility," Qian Chao said, "Brother Li, you are also a famous figure in the sect, and you have not deliberately kept it secret before, so your methods will be known to some extent, if Shangguan Hong knows that you have the amazing power of sensing, she will definitely follow you far away because she is afraid of you, maybe she will be staring at us from afar outside, and after entering this Wok Mountain, she deliberately hides, you naturally can't find out." ”

Li Jian listened and nodded.

"Then ......" Tang Ping didn't say anything, looking at Qian Chao.

"What we said above is just a possibility, and it is also possible that Shangguan Hong inadvertently said that he had lost his mouth, or that Hou Bao did not know how to inquire about it, so Lin Jian arranged here to lure Shangguan Hong over and get rid of it, well, the rumors they spread were heard by Sister Yan again, so we were also lured to come here, which is also possible. But in any case, these are our speculations. What's more, Brother Li said that the closer you get to the glowing tree, the fewer demon beasts there will be, whether the reason is because there are fierce beasts below or the spiritual veins are entangled there and become the land of heavenly might, we still don't know, in case...... Well...... But if there is the slightest possibility of finding the eggs of Qingluan, we should not leave here now. ”

"Well, yes, by the way, I went over and beat that guy Hou Bao, alas, the last time Brother Qian fought with the three of them, although he won, he should have got rid of them at that time." Lu Pingchuan said.

"It's always right to go and take a look, but we still have to rely on Brother Li, if we rush over, we may suffer a loss, and maybe Shangguan Hong is really watching somewhere, I mean to go quietly and not be noticed by Hou Bao's people, and then make sure that there is no Qingluan egg that Tang Yatou is looking for, how about it?"

Just walked away, although it was the safest and safest way, but after all, he didn't go to the front to see and find it with his own eyes, even if there was a high probability that there was no Qingluan's egg, if he left like this, Tang Ping would definitely not feel at ease in his heart, this is also human nature, so what Qian Chao said is also a safer way.

Several people nodded.

唐萍 says:

"If all this is really arranged by Shangguan Hong, then now she will definitely be here to guard Wok Mountain, there are two ways to harm others here without staining blood, one is to find a way to wake up the screen and make it toss the world; Another more powerful method is to cast a spell to make Ping Peng give birth early, which will inevitably make Ping Peng and all the demon beasts in the entire Wok Mountain go crazy...... It's better not to be in this situation where the praying mantis catches the cicada and the yellow finch is behind. ”

……

In the next journey, although there was no more trouble with demon beasts, the five of them still walked cautiously, deliberately hiding their figures among the rocks and trees, and even Lu Pingchuan had been quiet.

The towering tree that glowed white in the center of Shouwu Mountain, where it was located was not flat, but in a mess of rocks, Qian Chao and the others did not dare to approach the big tree directly, but leaned closer and then carefully observed there.

"Right there, they're hiding among a few big rocks over there." Li Jian whispered, and then pointed with his hand, and the direction of his finger was where Hou Bao and the others were hiding.

Qian Chao and the others looked there carefully, and then Li Jian immediately said:

"Be careful!"

Then, the five of them quietly saw a figure flickering among the rocks, as if someone was peering out from the cracks in the stones.

"Well, it seems to be the kid surnamed Fan." Lu Pingchuan said.

Then Tang Ping pointed to one place and said:

"Look there."

Under the strong white light, a white vapor steamed up from the place Tang Ping pointed to, and the five of them squinted their eyes and looked up carefully, and found that the white vapor actually went straight into the dense black mist above.

In order to see more clearly, under the leadership of Li Jian, the five people quietly changed directions, at this time the terrain they were in was already very low, in this case, it was easy to find them in the nearby high places, so the five people walked very carefully.

The place where the white steam steamed up was a stone platform, facing the big tree, and it was also close to the place where Hou Bao and the others were hiding.

There was a suspended and beating flame on the empty brazier, and there was a suspended clay kettle above the flame, I don't know what was boiling inside, and the white vapor went straight up, merging with the black mist above, these should have been arranged by the ancestors of the five spirits at the beginning.

"What's boiling in there?" Lu Pingchuan asked in a low voice.

"I don't know, but it's probably because of that thing that the black fog on it." Tang Ping replied, her eyes fixed on the glowing tree, squinting for possible traces of Qingluan's eggs.

"Formation!" Qian Chao said suddenly, his voice trembling slightly.

"What?"

Only then did the four companions realize that Qian Chao had completely exerted his blue eye technique at this time, and the blue light in his eyes was burning straight towards the stone platform, and he couldn't see the whites of his original eyes and pupils at all, just like two beads with blue light shining all over his eyelids.

"It's here, no wonder I can't find it." Qian Chao muttered again.

There is a distance between the five people and the stone platform, but Qian Chao's blue eye technique does not know whether it is because of frequent use or with the improvement of his cultivation, in short, it is like a promotion, he can clearly see there, and after watching for a while, Qian Chao became more and more excited, and simply did not use the table, only took a pen and paper and drew the situation on the stone platform while looking at the stone platform.

"Here is the brazier and the pottery kettle, there are reliefs on it, ah, that's what it looks like, a tree, there are two sleeping piglets poking their heads out on the left and right, well, these two little pigs are blocked by this tree in the middle, and what they refer to should be the fierce beast Pingcang, and they probably explain the fact that the Pingpeng was blocked by the evil wood, and then there are layers of rune formations in the stone platform, ah...... It's really amazing, the original ancestors arranged the means of the formation is really wonderful, in such a vast Wok Mountain, the spiritual veins are very different from other places, but we can't find traces of the formation along the way, I can't imagine that such a small arrangement in the center can control such a vast area, it is really convincing! ”

Although Qian Chao's eyes were still shining with blue light, it could be seen from the expression on his face that he was extremely excited at this time, several companions rarely saw Qian Chao like this, presumably the formation there was extraordinary, and then listened to Qian Chao continue:

"That stone platform should be the safest position in this Wok Mountain, Tang Yatou said, this screen Peng will give birth in five hundred years, that is to say, there will be a big chaos here in five hundred years, and all the demon beasts here will be crazy to scramble and fight, but look at the stone platform, how many years have been fine, well, the flames and pottery kettles above should have a great relationship with the black fog above, and it must be very important to ban this Wok Mountain, they are safe and sound, and notice no, there are almost no stones near the stone platform, It must have been protected, and it will be chaotic once in five hundred years, and it must be that the ancestors of the five spirits at the beginning also expected this, so they made arrangements in the stone platform, under normal circumstances, as long as there is chaos here, it will inevitably activate a formation on the stone platform, even if it is chaotic here, the stone platform will be safe because of the barrier of the formation, otherwise if the stone platform is destroyed by the demon beasts here, regardless of the screen, at least the demon beasts here would have escaped a long time ago. ”

"Also, the relief pig is also weird, well, the fierce beast of Ping Peng should be two souls in one, and there is a formation in the relief of the piglet, which is a powerful formation for sealing the soul, and the two souls of the Ping Peng are each extracted from some of the reliefs of the little pig, and the soul is incomplete, probably because of this reason the Ping Peng will always be asleep. Well, Tang girl, I probably understand what you said about the method of waking up the Ping Peng, staining the pig relief with dirt, you can temporarily invalidate the formation, and the Ping Peng will inevitably wake up when the soul is complete, and then it will be an earth-shaking toss, in that case, it is estimated that no one near here can escape, but hiding on the stone platform can be safe and sound. ”

When Lu Pingchuan heard this, he immediately asked:

"Tang Meizi also said that there is a way to let that screen puff lay down in advance, and how did she get it."

"That's purely a means of controlling the spirit, and it has little to do with the formation." Tang Ping said, "Money boy, what ...... Is it the land of heavenly power you said, is it a place where Qingluan can lay eggs? ”

"Qingluan's eggs are the size of a small wine jar according to what you said, but in this big tree, something the size of a small wine jar is too inconspicuous, and it is difficult to judge whether this is the land of heavenly might, there is such a powerful beast as Pingpeng, even if it has been sleeping, the power it exudes is enough to frighten the demon beasts here, so ...... To determine if there is any Qingluan egg you are looking for, you can only go and look carefully. ”

"But...... Aren't we going there to be discovered by Hou Bao's people? Tang Ping asked again.

Hearing this, Qian Chao suddenly smiled and said:

"I didn't dare to boast about this Haikou before I saw this stone platform, but as long as I have some more time, not to mention that they wake up the Ping Peng, even if someone makes the Ping Peng give birth early, and the whole Wok Guarding Pheasant Flying Dog Jumps, we can be safe and sound!"