The secret room in the back mountain.
The surroundings are quiet and eerie.
Lin Jiangnian and Lin Qingqing shuttled back and forth in the quiet chamber, one in front and one behind. Lin Qingqing followed closely behind Lin Jiangnian, one hand on the hilt of her sword, her face solemn and vigilant as she scanned the surroundings.
This place was strange and she had to be vigilant and careful to avoid sudden danger.
As the two continued to walk inside, the chamber grew increasingly dim, leaving only a faint light. Lin Jiangnian soon discovered that the passages within the chamber were complex and interconnected, like a maze.
At first, the two followed the traces left in front of them, but as they went deeper, the traces gradually disappeared and the two soon got lost.
Lost?
Lin Jiangnian looked around and realized where he was.
"Why is there such a secret room?"
Lin Jiangnian frowned even deeper.
What on earth is this place?
"Your Highness, what should we do now?"
Lin Qingqing spoke, and as the two of them went deeper, the road behind them became more and more unfamiliar.
"Now that we're here, let's continue and take a look."
Lin Jiangnian didn't stop and continued to walk deeper into the secret room. Fortunately, although the front of the secret room was becoming increasingly depressing, there was still a faint light on, proving that the road ahead was not a dead end.
The two groped their way through the almost pitch-black passage for a long time, and finally the light ahead became brighter and brighter. When they turned a corner, an exit appeared in front of them, with lights on.
The light was extremely bright.
But at the same time, there was a noisy conversation.
"Someone broke in?"
"I heard a woman broke in?"
"A woman? Alone?!"
"Yes, it is said that the person who came here has bad intentions and is very skilled in martial arts. We must be careful!"
"What are you afraid of? Our secret room is well connected and full of traps. Whoever comes here will be kept here!"
“…”
The conversation was very clear and noisy. Lin Jiangnian saw several figures not far from the entrance through the light.
He turned around and gave Lin Qingqing behind him a look, and Lin Qingqing immediately understood.
The early bird catches the worm!
She nodded slightly, and as Lin Jiangnian's eyes swept across, the two of them attacked at the same time.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew up in the secret room.
"Where does the wind come from?"
A guard in the secret room turned around subconsciously and suddenly felt a dark shadow flash behind him. Before he could come to his senses, he fell limply.
At the same time, the other guards in the secret room reacted instantly, but just as they were about to react, another figure appeared behind them and attacked with lightning speed. These soldiers didn't even have time to resist before they were easily defeated.
After quietly dealing with the last guard, Lin Jiangnian clapped his hands, feeling quick and decisive.
"Congratulations, Your Highness. Your martial arts skills have improved a lot."
Lin Qingqing was slightly amazed. The extent of His Highness's martial arts improvement was beyond her expectations. She still remembered that a few months ago, His Highness was still powerless, but now His Highness had already acquired some of the style of the prince in his youth.
Although His Highness is only at the entry level in martial arts now, the results achieved in just a few months are already incredible.
Lin Qingqing naturally saw the reason for all this.
Your Highness has put in so much hard work over the past few months, whether in the Lin Palace or on this journey north, Your Highness has never neglected his martial arts. If this continues, in time...
Lin Qingqing felt a little bit of anticipation.
Your Highness, maybe one day you will truly reach the pinnacle of martial arts?!
“It’s just so-so.”
Lin Jiangnian curled his lips, not feeling much sense of accomplishment.
Although the guards guarding here are quite skilled, their martial arts skills are not top-notch after all. Lin Jiangnian does not feel any sense of accomplishment in achieving such results in the sneak attack.
After clapping his hands, Lin Jiangnian began to look around.
"Since there are people guarding this place, there should be some clues."
His gaze fell upon a dimly lit small secret room with several rooms inside. Lin Jiangnian scanned the area and came to a secret room. Just as he was about to push it open, Lin Qingqing behind him spoke up to stop him.
"Your Highness, wait a moment."
Lin Jiangnian paused, and Lin Qingqing stepped forward cautiously: "Your Highness, be careful of traps."
Lin Jiangnian then realized something and immediately became careful, almost overlooking the mechanism in the secret room.
Lin Qingqing approached the door of the secret room carefully, looked around, and tried to push the door open.
No result!
Can't push it open?
"There should be a mechanism or a key."
Lin Jiangnian spoke and searched the unconscious guard nearby. He quickly took out a bunch of keys, came to the door of the secret room, found the switch on the wall, and inserted the key into the secret room.
“Boom!”
With a shrill sound, the door of the secret room slowly opened.
Next second.
"careful!"
Lin Qingqing's pupils suddenly shrank.
"call out!"
Inside the secret room, a cold crossbow arrow suddenly shot out.
Straight to Lin Jiangnian’s forehead!
Fortunately, Lin Jiangnian was well prepared. The moment he sensed the murderous intent, he tensed up and dodged to the side.
"bite!"
Two crossbow arrows pierced the stone pillar behind him and almost went through it.
Seeing this scene, Lin Jiangnian felt a sense of fear.
If I hadn't been prepared, I would have been shot in the head by the crossbow arrow.
There are indeed many dangers in this secret room.
But the more this happened, the more Lin Jiangnian believed that there was an unspeakable secret in this secret room.
Just as he was about to speak, he saw the murderous aura from the secret room attacking him again. A long spear came out of the secret room and pointed directly at Lin Jiangnian's throat.
"Your Highness, be careful!"
Lin Qingqing's anxious voice came, accompanied by a crisp collision sound.
"bite!"
Lin Qingqing drew her sword and stood in front of Lin Jiangnian, blocking the spear in the secret room.
In the secret room, a man in a gray robe appeared, running towards them with a spear in his hand.
The attack missed, and the spear stabbed again.
Fierce momentum!
Lin Qingqing did not dare to be careless and immediately drew her sword to fight with the gray-robed man.
The two figures quickly intertwined, and the secret room was filled with the flashing of swords and the shadows of sabers, with an aura of momentum. As the two figures entangled and collided, dense marks were left on the surrounding walls.
Lin Jiangnian stepped aside and stared at the two men fighting without blinking.
Lin Jiangnian had been practicing martial arts for several months, and while he had made considerable progress, he still had very little actual combat experience. Although Lin Qingqing and other experts from the Crown Prince's personal army had exchanged moves with Lin Jiangnian, it still lacked authenticity.
Lin Jiangnian had originally intended to venture north, gaining experience along the way. However, the journey had been somewhat too easy. The enemies he encountered were either too weak or simply worthless, offering no learning or experience whatsoever to Lin Jiangnian.
Now seeing Lin Qingqing fighting with this person, it is a very good opportunity for Lin Jiangnian.
Lin Qingqing's martial arts skills were not weak, reaching the fifth level of the Wuxiang realm, making her one of the most skilled martial artists in the martial arts world. This level of strength was considered rare in the martial arts world.
And the person who is currently fighting with Lin Qingqing...
Lin Jiangnian stared at this man intently. This man attacked extremely ruthlessly, pressing forward step by step with a spear in his hand, using deadly moves frequently, and waving the spear in his hand like flowers. Relying on the advantage of the spear, he forced Lin Qingqing to retreat in a short time.
This person's martial arts skills are not weak either.
Anyone who can stay here is definitely not a weakling.
However, Lin Qingqing was no pushover either. Although the opponent's relentless offensive was extremely powerful, the initial violent storm-like attack caught her off guard and left her feeling somewhat overwhelmed.
But soon, after withstanding a round of fierce attacks from the opponent, Lin Qingqing gradually adjusted herself, and after becoming familiar with the opponent's martial arts routines, she seized the opponent's flaws when attacking and began to counterattack.
Holding a long sword, he approached quickly with light steps.
The advantage of a spear lies in its length. Once the opponent closes in, the spear becomes a burden. Especially in this secret room, it is difficult to use. When Lin Qingqing approaches, the opponent panics instantly, and his moves are full of flaws.
Lin Qingqing seized the opportunity and pursued the enemy with the long sword in her hand, stabbing it fiercely at the heart of the gray-robed man. The gray-robed man's pupils shrank, and he immediately blocked it with his spear.
However, Lin Qingqing feinted a move, and when the long sword thrust in, she suddenly changed her move by slashing horizontally. At such a close distance, it was too late for the gray-robed man to react, and he had no time to block.
He almost subconsciously reached out to block his neck.
"ah!"
A sharp scream was heard, and the gray-robed man's fingers were chopped off.
The sharp sword came along and cut the opponent's throat!
Clean and neat!
The outcome of a duel between masters is often decided in just a moment.
It also determines life and death!
The gray-robed man froze in place. After a while, he fell down with an unwilling look in his eyes!
Dead!
Silence returned all around.
Lin Qingqing stood there, breathing a little rapidly. After taking a few deep breaths, she slowly sheathed her sword and turned around. Her face had returned to normal.
"Your Highness, he's dead!"
His tone was calm, as if he was talking about something insignificant.
Lin Jiangnian watched the scene calmly, looking at the gray-robed man on the ground with a look of unwillingness and shock on his face, who had already stopped breathing, and then looked at Lin Qingqing who looked as usual.
Everything seems so easy and simple?
In a trance, Lin Jiangnian saw some of Zhiyuan's decisive shadow in Lin Qingqing.
She seems to have always been so cold and indifferent?
Lin Qingqing also seems to have been consciously learning to fly a kite?
"Well done."
Lin Jiangnian came back to his senses, recalling the scene of the fight between the two men just now.
Indeed, from the very beginning, Lin Qingqing's martial arts skills were superior. Although the gray-robed man's offensive was powerful, he also exposed many flaws in his eagerness to attack.
Lin Qingqing took the opportunity to seize the opponent's weakness and delivered a fatal blow!
Lin Jiangnian pondered and gained some understanding.
As expected, fighting with one's own people is completely different from fighting against the enemy. When facing life and death, it is often only a matter of a split second.
This duel was quite rewarding for Lin Jiangnian.
After thinking for a moment, Lin Jiangnian withdrew his gaze and looked around: "There should be no one here, right?"
Lin Qingqing glanced around and lowered her eyes: "It should be gone!"
Lin Jiangnian nodded slightly, then shook his head and looked towards the secret room not far away.
The secret room door opened!
This secret room is so heavily guarded, and is guarded by such a master, it must be no ordinary person.
"Go in and take a look!"
Just as Lin Jiangnian was about to take a step forward, he was stopped by Lin Qingqing.
"Your Highness, let me go first."
Lin Qingqing stood in front of Lin Jiangnian and walked into the secret room first. After carefully scanning the secret room to make sure there was no danger,
"No danger!"
After hearing this, Lin Jiangnian stepped into the secret room.
As soon as I walked into the secret room, in the dim environment, I saw that the small secret room was filled with items, covered with cloth.
The entire secret room was filled with a faint scent of rust and tung oil.
"What's this?"
Lin Jiangnian frowned slightly, reached out and pulled off the cloth next to him, and rows of wooden boxes appeared in his sight.
"This is……"
Through the gap in the wooden box, Lin Jiangnian saw something familiar.
Lin Qingqing walked forward and saw what was inside the wooden box. Her pupils suddenly shrank: "This is..."
The wooden box in the sight of the two people was filled with helmets, armor, and various weapons.
Seeing what was in the wooden box, both of them were stunned.
As if thinking of something, Lin Jiangnian quickly opened the other pieces of cloth beside him. Without exception, they were all wooden boxes. And inside the wooden boxes were weapons and armor worn by the soldiers.
"this……"
Lin Jiangnian's expression froze. Why were there so many military supplies placed here?
What is the Wang family trying to do by hoarding these things?!
"These are..."
Lin Qingqing was also stunned, and her expression immediately became extremely solemn.
She was naturally well aware of the significance of the presence of so many armors and weapons. Within the imperial realm, ordinary people were not allowed to privately store armors. How could the Wang family dare to do such things in secret?
What do they want to do?
Also, where did these armors come from?
Lin Qingqing suddenly frowned and stared at the armor in the wooden box. Then, as if realizing something, her expression changed: "Your Highness, this is not right!"
"how?"
"Not all of these armors are from Yanzhou."
"What do you mean?"
Lin Qingqing pointed to one of the boxes of armor and said, "The styles and colors of armor worn by soldiers in different states of the dynasty are different. Yanzhou's armor is mainly blue, but you see, this box of armor is not blue, and even the style is different from the others."
After being reminded by Lin Qingqing, Lin Jiangnian also realized something was wrong: "Indeed, where did these come from?"
Lin Qingqing stared at it for a moment, frowned slightly, and said, "I don't know either."
Lin Jiangnian looked around, his face solemn. "What are the Wang family trying to do by secretly hoarding all this? Could it be that they're planning a rebellion?"
This was the only purpose he could think of.
Otherwise, why would the Wang family dare to do such a beheading thing?
"That's indeed possible..."
Lin Qingqing nodded slightly, but then frowned: "But it's not right!"
"What do you mean?"
"The Wang family doesn't have this ability!"
Lin Qingqing shook her head slightly and said in a deep voice: "Although the Wang family is powerful in Xunyang County, it can't be said to be truly all-powerful. Although Wang Shiquan is the governor of Xunyang and controls the troops of Xunyang County, this alone is far from enough!"
"He has the Yanzhou Governor behind him, and Yanzhou's geographical location borders Zhongzhou's capital to the north and Linzhou to the south. If the Wang family wants to rebel, it would be tantamount to seeking death!"
"More importantly, the dynasty is now stable. The Wang family has no reason to rebel, let alone the qualifications to do so."
"unless……"
“…”