Hidden Shadow – CH 127

Chapter One-Hundred-Twenty-Seven: The Operation Begins

After a night’s rest, the thirteen set off into the forest at the crack of dawn.

Gu Jinghong and Chu Dingjiang stood atop a hill, overlooking the area.

“Do you think Xuan Ren will survive?” Gu Jinghong asked with a smile, staring at the figure that appeared and disappeared in the dense forest.

Xuan Ren was An Jiu’s code name in the Konghe Academy.

“Whatever the outcome, I will not be surprised.” Chu Dingjiang pondered for a moment before adding, “Am I qualified to take a spot in the Dragon Martial Guards?”

Gu Jinghong turned to look at him, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. “You understand the duties of the Dragon Martial Guards. Why make such a sacrifice?”

The Emperor, seeking immortality, often practiced dual cultivation with women, using the man’s powerful inner energy to refine elixirs as an aid.

Like the Imperial Guard, the Dragon Martial Guards required women to serve the Emperor in bed, while the men expended their inner energy to supply the Taoist priests in their alchemy. Normally, expending true qi was nothing; as long as the dantian and internal energy remained, it could be replenished quickly. However, alchemy required an enormous amount of true qi; each time, all true qi must be consumed to refine a single pill. Too many instances of depleting true qi would cause irreversible damage to the dantian. At this rate, within five years, he would be practically a cripple.

Chu Dingjiang knew all this, but the thought of his body being used by others sent an uncontrollable surge of rage through his dantian. If this continued, he would suffer a qi deviation before even depleting his internal energy.

“If His Majesty knew that a master of the Transcendent Realm had voluntarily joined the Dragon Martial Guards, he would be overjoyed!” Gu Jinghong’s tone was full of sarcasm, showing no respect whatsoever for the Emperor. “I respect you as a hero; I will pretend I did not hear what you just said.”

“Fourteenth Young Lady lacks internal energy and cannot be used as a furnace.” Chu Dingjiang ignored his words.

“Dual cultivation?” Gu Jinghong said. “He seeks immortality but cannot relinquish the pleasures of love, so he resorts to this method. None of the women in the harem possesses internal energy, yet he still sleeps with them.”

“My meridians belong to fire,” Chu Dingjiang suddenly said, seemingly out of the blue.

Gu Jinghong’s eyes widened slightly. He turned and stared at him for a while, then placed two fingers on Chu Dingjiang’s neck to check his pulse.

Chu Dingjiang knew what he wanted to do and withdrew his protective aura.

Martial artists whose true qi belonged to fire had a higher body temperature than ordinary people. As Gu Jinghong’s fingers approached, even through a layer of cloth, he felt a warm current seep into his skin from his fingertips. At first, it was gentle like the warm spring sun, but then it grew increasingly intense. Gu Jinghong immediately withdrew his hand. It felt as if his fingers had been engulfed by a tongue of fire.

Martial arts paths of extreme strength or extreme softness were easier to advance with a virgin body. Chu Dingjiang’s internal energy was fierce and pure, clearly indicating he had never been with a woman. Furthermore, his meridians were of pure yang fire nature. Even more remarkable was that he was a master of the Transcendent Realm! Such a person was a master alchemist.

If Gu Jinghong could get Chu Dingjiang into the Dragon Martial Guards, promotion and titles would be a piece of cake.

Facing the mountain wind, Gu Jinghong slowly calmed himself. “A true man stands tall and upright; if he dies, he should die protecting his country. There’s no need to ruin his martial arts to play with a tyrant.”

“Hahaha!” Chu Dingjiang suddenly laughed. His wild, deep laughter echoed through the mountains, as if the heavens and earth trembled. “As a subject, few dare to say their ruler is incompetent. I thought that with your devoted service to the Emperor, I would never hear those two words from your lips. Who would have thought you could say them so easily? How delightful!”

Gu Jinghong laughed calmly.

The Song Dynasty had long since begun to suppress martial arts and promote literature. Men often strived for officialdom through examinations, thus becoming mostly refined and cultured. A man like Chu Dingjiang, bold and unconventional yet not reckless, was extremely rare, and Gu Jinghong did not want to tarnish his spirit.

Chu Dingjiang could guess Gu Jinghong’s thoughts. He wanted to join the Dragon Martial Guards for many reasons, not just for An Jiu. However, he could achieve those things through other means; he did not necessarily have to risk joining the Dragon Martial Guards. Ultimately, he could not let An Jiu do such a thing.

Firstly, he had seen An Jiu’s body. Even though An Jiu said she did not need to take responsibility and he had not agonized over it, psychologically, he still acted as if nothing had happened. Secondly, he could tell An Jiu was a woman of pride, who would rather die than serve the Emperor against her will.

“Since you put it that way, I will not insist any further.” Chu Dingjiang abandoned his idea of ​​joining the Dragon Martial Guards, but An Jiu’s intentions remained unchanged. “However, regardless of the outcome of this trial, I will absolutely not stand by and watch you get her into the Dragon Martial Guards.”

Was this an intention to make an enemy of him?

But was not Chu Dingjiang afraid he would complain to the Emperor? Was it just boldness, or did he understand his character?

Gu Jinghong’s eyes darkened, and he re-examined Chu Dingjiang in his mind. This man seemed bold and carefree, but in reality, he was quite shrewd. He had not been able to see how much of Chu Dingjiang’s desire to join the Dragon Martial Guards was genuine.

This matter was becoming somewhat troublesome! Gu Jinghong had thoroughly investigated An Jiu before taking action, but unexpectedly, Chu Dingjiang appeared out of nowhere. Clearly, there was no deep affection between them, yet he was willing to make an enemy of him and the current Emperor.

What was he after? It turned out that even with his unparalleled mastery of mind-reading, there were still people whose hearts he could not fathom…

A mountain breeze rustled through the leaves, creating waves that appeared from the mountainside.

Yet, the dense forest offered almost no wind.

An Jiu and her group split into two teams the moment they entered the forest.

The hidden location of Piaomiao Mountain mansion was in a valley west of Baiyun Mountain, seemingly very close on the map. Initially, the group was full of confidence, but their spirits dampened upon entering the forest. The trees were dense, the light dim, and the undergrowth thick with thorns, making it difficult to find a path.

Due to the dense trees, they could not use their light-footed skills, as their mental abilities were not yet at that level of sensitivity; a single misstep could lead to a collision.

“Do you think this is really Piaomiao Mountain mansion?” the speaker, Li Qingzhi, twenty-five years old and a sixth-level martial artist, asked. He had practiced swordsmanship since childhood, possessing above-average talent but naturally possessing immense strength, wielding a sword with such power that it seemed capable of splitting mountains and cleaving seas.

“It’s hard to say,” someone replied.

In each trial, the Konghe Academy would set up a hypothetical enemy, so it was difficult to say whether this one was real.

Another young man named Tao Zhu said, “I do not think it is fake, but it is strange. The Piaomiao Mountain mansion is in the martial arts world, and the other belongs to the imperial court. They’ve always kept to themselves. Why would the imperial court suddenly target them?”

After a pause, Sui Yuntong said, “I guess it is related to the incident involving the Konghe Family recently.”

Sui Yuntong’s name sounded like a woman’s, but he was actually a man, a handsome man.

“How so?” Lou Mingyue was quite concerned about this.

Before the incident involving the Lou and Mei families, these outsiders did not know they were part of the Konghe family. But the two horrific massacres of their entire families recently had led to some speculation, and Lou Mingyue and An Jiu’s appearance at the Konghe Academy basically confirmed their suspicions.