C127

During these three days, Supreme Yuan and Daoyan were waiting at the entrance to the formation. The two of them thought that Daoyan should have already scouted the path for them, and if there were no mishaps, they could return within a day. It had already been three days since they last saw the two of them, but Supreme Yuan and Daoyan did not know that the two of them had already died in the bamboo forest.

Seeing that the two of them had not returned for a long time, the two of them discussed their plans and decided to look for the two of them in the secondary formation. This morning, the two of them packed the items properly, and Supreme Yuan ordered someone to make a stretcher to carry the monk.

As the two of them walked, they could smell a faint stench, and the deeper they went, the stronger the smell became. When Supreme Yuan smelled it carefully, he could tell that it was the smell of a rotting corpse, and at this moment, he had already guessed what had happened to the two of them since they had yet to return.

As everyone walked forward until noon, when they were almost at the place where the divine sword was hidden, Supreme Yuan's eyes were extremely sharp. He was already several dozen zhang away when he saw Gu Bo's dead body, which had been pierced by the arrow.

Everyone walked up to see that the corpses of Gu Bai and An Teng had started to rot and were constantly emitting a putrid smell. There was a deep pit beside An Teng, and the godly sword 'fist hair' that was supposed to be there had long disappeared as well. The monk glanced at his hands and said, "Amitabha, it seems like our mission has been targeted long ago."

Supreme Yuan looked at the corpses of the two and nodded, "I think this was probably done by Tu Xian and Xue Hongye. Other than them, the rest of the bandits would not be able to mobilize that many troops in the Shanxi Province."

Daoyan said, "The Yan Clan is on guard against us on this trip, and our movements are extremely covert. How did Tu Yidao and Xue Hongye discover our whereabouts?"

Supreme Yuan continued, "From what I see, most likely Taoist Priest had already been targeted by their men when he was last exploring the array."

After Daoyan heard this, he nodded his head and said, "Fourth Imperial Guard, this place is very dangerous. We are not sure if Tu Yidao and Xue Hongye have left yet, but I think we should leave first. If there's anything, we would like to invite the Fourth Villa Master to personally decide on our return."

After Senior Yuan heard the news, he ordered someone to carry the corpses of Gu Bai and An Teng back to the Residence of An, then immediately sent someone to deliver a letter to the An clan informing them of their deaths. He personally selected thirty of the strongest servants to escort Dao Yan back to Beiping.

As soon as he entered the manor, he saw that all the workers in the house were wearing mourning robes, presumably for the sake of Gu Bo and An Teng. As he walked all the way to the study room, he saw An Jiayi leaning on a chair, dozing off.

As soon as Supreme Yuan entered the room, the An clan member woke up. When he saw that it was Supreme Yuan, he said lightly, "You're back. Take a seat."

Seeing An Zun's haggard appearance, Master Yuan felt extremely guilty and quickly kneeled on one knee to apologize. "Master Yuan has been entrusted with the task by the Fourth Manor Lord. Please punish him."

An Jiayi waved his hand and said, "I don't blame you for this. You can get up."

Supreme Yuan said, "Thank you, Fourth Manor Lord!" With that, he stood up and sat down.

An Jiajia asked more and more. "Tell me what exactly happened that day in detail."

After Supreme Yuan finished listening, he recounted the events of the past few days in detail. After that, he continued, "I suspect that this was most likely caused by Tu Xian and Xue Hongye."

The An clan became more and more serious, "Mm, you're right. Yuan Chengzong did not expect that he would be able to kill two of my generals and even snatch away the 'fist hair' so far away."

After Supreme Yuan heard this, he nodded and said, "Fourth Manor Lord, we should go down to Shanxi Province first. This subordinate thinks that we should quickly select a capable general to guard Shanxi, lest Tu Xian and Xue Hongye take the opportunity to take Shanxi away."

The An clan asked, "Then, in your opinion, who should I send to take over Shanxi?"

Supreme Yuan said, "Fourth Manor Lord, right now, everyone in the Thousand Plum Garden has their own responsibilities. If we move them to other places, they might make a mistake, so we might as well send a subordinate to take over Shanxi. Supreme Yuan will not disappoint the Fourth Manor Lord."

A cold light flashed across the An family's eyes as they listened to him speak, "The fourth gatekeeper wishes to share my worries, but the Shanxi Province is extremely big. Plus, the fourth gatekeeper has just entered the Wanmei Manor. You will not be able to convince the masses if you go alone."

After Senior Yuan heard this, he smiled and said, "Fourth Manor Lord is still thoughtful. Let my niece Yuan Li Sha accompany me to the front."

The more An Jia replied, "What a coincidence. A few days ago, I ordered the Thirteenth Imperial Guard to meet up with Ya'er in Henan. The Thirteenth Imperial Guard researched the art of forging swords, and I assigned her to the Rat Camp."

After Senior Yuan heard this, he hesitated for a moment before saying, "If that's the case, then Senior Yuan is willing to listen to the orders of the Fourth Manor Lord."

"Don't worry, Fourth Imperial Guard. I've already ordered people to go to Red Plum Island in the East China Sea to invite the third master, An Luxiang. Soon, the fourth master and the third master will go together to Shanxi to take over Brother Teng's position."

Supreme Yuan nodded and said, "As you command."

The An family replied, "The Fourth Constable must be a bit tired from running all over the place these days. If there's nothing else, we can go back and rest."

Supreme Yuan replied, "Yes, your subordinate will take his leave." With that, Supreme Yuan withdrew from the room. After he left, An Luxiang came out from behind the screen. The An family asked, "How's the investigation coming along?"

An Luxiang said, "I've already gone to meet Grandmaster Daoyan. According to what Grandmaster Yuan said, Supreme Yuan didn't do anything unusual along the way. Furthermore, I've already gone to Shanxi to interrogate the people who accompanied An Teng to the array that day. He didn't notice anything strange about Supreme Yuan either. Is it that you're thinking too much?"

The An family grew more cautious, "Cooper had always been, even if the first time he entered the battle, Tu Shixiong's men were watching him, they would not be able to follow him all the way back to the Thousand Plum Garden. Besides, when An Teng entered the formation, he had already ordered people to surround the formation, unless Tu and Xue Hongye could calculate the time of their actions, otherwise, it would be impossible for them to kill him so accurately right after An Teng dug out the godly sword.