The breeze passed through the courtyard, picking up a few fallen leaves, bringing with it a hint of coolness.
The landscape folding fan in Xiao Wuhen's hand closed gently and made a crisp sound, which was particularly clear in this dead night.
"What a big joke?" Ye Feng sneered, as if he had heard some big joke.
He kicked a handful of almost invisible fly ash beside his feet, which was the last trace of Shadow Guard left in this world.
He said cowardly words, but his eyes did not flinch at all. Instead, they were like two bottomless ancient wells, reflecting the starlight in the sky.
This Xiao Wuhen is mysterious and appears again and again, saying to help, but always appears at the most critical moment, as if he has everything under control.
This kind of person is more fearful to him than the obvious enemies in the Holy Land.
Xiao Wuhen was not annoyed. Instead, he walked leisurely to the stone table in the courtyard and sat down. He picked up the teapot on the table and poured himself a cup of cold tea.
"Brother Ye, people in the Ming Dynasty do not speak secretly. If you are really a bumpkin, these three shadow guards in the late stage of divine transformation should be admiring the furnishings in your cave now, instead of turning into dust in this courtyard."
He picked up the tea cup and took a sip, frowning slightly, as if he disliked the coldness of the tea.
"You repaired the "Xuanguang Mirror" using the method of "insert the weapon into the array, break it and then stand up"; what you left at the core of the formation was the signpost of the "Star Drawing Technique"; the one you just killed the three shadow guards was yourself. There are only a handful of people in the entire Zhongzhou who can master these methods, let alone the Eastern Region."
Every time Xiao Wuhen said something, Ye Feng's eyes became more solemn. These are his skills to keep the bottom of the box, and the other party actually knows all the treasures, one by one. This is no longer just a matter of eyesight, it shows that the forces behind Xiao Wuhen have an unimaginable understanding of him, or the "power of the stars" he uses.
"So?" Ye Feng simply stopped pretending, pulled out the stone stool, and sat down opposite Xiao Wuhen, "What exactly do you want to say? Let's draw a line. I don't like to beat around the bush."
"Refreshing." Xiao Wuhen put down the tea cup with a crisp sound. "My purpose does not conflict with yours. The Holy Land has set up the 'All Souls Refining Formation' to steal the origin of all living things in the world and feed that 'thing'. Once that thing is born, the entire Xuanyin Continent will be turned into a dead zone, and no one will be spared. You, me, the Tianji Sect, and the Xiao family are all the same."
"What is that thing?" This is the question that Ye Feng is most concerned about.
Xiao Wuhen shook his head, his eyes showing deep fear for the first time. "I don't know. I only know that the Xiao family's ancestral precepts say that when the stars dim and all souls wail, it will be the day when the 'Lord of the Returned Ruins' arrives. At that time, the world will return to chaos, and everything will cease to exist."
The Lord of the Returned Ruins?
Ye Feng chewed on this name in his heart, and an inexplicable chill rose from the bottom of his heart.
"So, you want to recruit me to join the team to fight against the Holy Land and prevent the arrival of the "Lord of the Returned Ruins"?" Ye Feng asked.
"It's not confrontation, it's destruction." Xiao Wuhen corrected, his tone was calm, but the madness in his words frightened Ye Feng, "The roots of this big tree in the Holy Land are rotten. Repairing it is meaningless. The only way is to uproot it and burn it clean."
Ye Feng was silent. He looked at Xiao Wuhen. This guy looked like a handsome and troubled young man, but at heart he was an out-and-out lunatic. However, he likes it.
"Sounds exciting." Ye Feng grinned, "But why should I believe you? Just based on this little information you gave me? What if you and the Holy Land are on the same side and stage a bitter plot and use me as a gunman, who should I cry to?"
"You don't have to believe me, but you have to believe it." Xiao Wuhen pointed to the sky.
Ye Feng looked up and saw that the sky was full of stars, still bright.
"Your skills and formations are all related to the stars. You should be able to feel that the laws of stars in this world are being slowly but surely distorted and polluted by a force. If this continues, your way will be cut off from the root." Xiao Wuhen's voice said.
Ye Feng was shocked. He did feel it! Since breaking through the divine transformation stage, his sense of the laws of heaven and earth has become even more acute.
He could detect that there was a "noise" in the void that he couldn't understand, like a discordant note mixed into a perfect piece of music. Before, he only thought it was because of his unstable cultivation, but now it seems that the root cause is actually here!
Now, he had to believe it. Because it touches on his fundamental interests.
"Okay, I'll cooperate with you." Ye Feng finally nodded, "But we have to agree on three chapters. First, cooperation is cooperation, we have equal status, you can't dictate to me. Second, intelligence sharing, you can no longer hide it. Tuck it in. Thirdly, and most importantly, I want 60% of the Holy Land’s treasure house after it’s done.”
“You…” Xiao Wuhen was choked by his last words and couldn’t speak for a long time, and his hand stopped shaking his fan. He had imagined that Ye Feng would put forward various conditions, but he never thought that at this critical moment of life and death, this guy's first reaction would be to share the spoils!
"What? Too much?" Ye Feng raised his eyebrows, "Then 50%. How risky is it to do something like this? You have to pay enough for mental loss, lost time, and overtime, right?"
"...Deal!" Xiao Wuhen almost squeezed out these two words through his teeth. He felt that he was not looking for an ally, but an ancestor who would take advantage of others. He took a deep breath, suppressed the urge to open Ye Feng's head with a fan, and said: "Since we are allies, I will give you a meeting gift first. You don't need to worry about the shadow guards. Tomorrow morning, the city lord's palace will get a report saying that three shadow guards were unfortunately ambushed while tracking the remnants of the demonic path outside the city, and the entire army was wiped out."
"So simple?"
"Sometimes, the simpler the reason, the less likely no one will suspect it." Xiao Wuhen stood up, "However, it is a fact that you are trying to scare the snake away. Although the Lord of Taixuan City is a dog from the Holy Land, he is also an old dog with a late stage of Mahayana cultivation. He will not give up, and there will be new temptations soon. You should take care of yourself."
After saying that, Xiao Wuhen's figure flashed and disappeared into the courtyard like a wisp of smoke, leaving only one sentence echoing in the air.
"By the way, the treasure house of the Holy Land, up to 40%. Do you want love?"
"Oh, stingy." Ye Feng curled his lips, but his mood improved inexplicably. Although the road ahead is still foggy, at least he is no longer alone. Moreover, Xiao Wuhen, an ally, seems to be quite reliable.
He looked down at the shadow guard's token, then pinched it and turned it into powder.
The next day, everything was exactly as Xiao Wuhen said. The main palace of Taixuan City announced to the public that three shadow guards died in the line of duty, and that the whole city was looking for a "bloody old devil" who had no identity, causing a storm in the city. But Ye Feng, the "victim", seems to have been forgotten and no one cares about him anymore.
But Ye Feng knew that this was just the calm before the storm. The old dog is grinding his teeth secretly.
Ye Feng did not choose to wait. He used his identity as Master Keqing of the City Lord's Mansion and began to frantically consult various classics on weapon refining and formations in Taixuan City. He is like a dry sponge, frantically absorbing the knowledge of the world. He discovered that the weapon refining and formation systems in Zhongzhou were completely different from those in the Eastern Region, more grand and sophisticated. Many theories could even be mutually confirmed with the "Dayan Star Formation" in his mind, which benefited him a lot.
Half a month later, just when Ye Feng thought that the city lord's mansion had given up on him as a "chess piece", trouble finally came.
The person who came was the chief manager of the City Lord’s Mansion, a fat man named Wei Jin who always looked like he was smiling. His cultivation is unfathomable, at least in the middle stage of becoming a god.
"Master Ye, I haven't seen you for half a month, but you still have the same style." As soon as Wei Jin entered the door, he enthusiastically handed over his hands, as cordial as an old friend he hadn't seen for many years.
"General Manager Wei is here, but we are far away to greet him." Ye Feng also greeted him with a smile, but secretly cursed "Smiling Tiger" in his heart. This guy's smile was uglier than crying, and the light coming out of his eyes was like a knife.
The two sat down at the stone table in the courtyard, and the maid served freshly brewed spiritual tea.
"I wonder if the manager is here today. What advice do you have?" Ye Feng got straight to the point.
"I don't take advice seriously." Wei Jin took a sip of tea and said slowly, "I am the Lord of the City. I have something to ask of you. A few days ago, Master Ye repaired the city defense array, and he worked hard. The Lord of the City was very grateful, and specially held a small banquet at his house tonight. Firstly, he wanted to celebrate the Master, and secondly, he also wanted to ask the Master for a small favor."