Chapter 675
As soon as the door was closed, Liu Qingshuang could no longer hold on and fell to the ground. Nangong Wan quickly took out the medicine box and treated her wounds skillfully.
"Fortunately, there were no injuries to the vital parts, but a lot of blood was lost." Nangong Wan said as he bandaged the wound, "You took too much risk. If Fu Shaoping hadn't led away some of the guards..."
Liu Qingshuang smiled weakly: "I know he has been helping me secretly, although I don't understand why."
Nangong Wan's hands kept moving, but a trace of doubt rose in his heart. Why would Fu Shaoping take the risk to help a potential enemy of the Chamber of Commerce? What was his relationship with the Mohist School?
After the bandage was completed, Liu Qingshuang struggled to sit up, took out all the fragments of the Token from her arms, and carefully pieced them together on the workbench. With the last fragment in place, the token finally revealed its complete outline - an ancient "ink" character surrounded by complex mechanical patterns, glowing mysteriously under the candlelight.
"It's done." Liu Qingshuang let out a long sigh, tears glistening in her eyes, "It's been fifteen years, father, I finally..."
Nangong Wan stared at the intact token, and was deeply shocked. As a mechanical engineer, she knew the meaning behind this token - the crystallization of Mohist wisdom over hundreds of years, the sacred object that countless mechanical engineers dreamed of.
"Now all we need is the Tiangong Box." Liu Qingshuang put away the token and turned to Nangong Wan, "Miss Nangong, I know I am not qualified to ask for more, but..."
"You need me to help you get the Tiangong Box." Nangong Wan said calmly.
Liu Qingshuang nodded, her eyes firm and earnest: "Only a complete Juzi Order can open it safely. If my father's research is correct, the Tiangong Box can not only create any mechanism, but also hide the greatest secret of the Mohist school - the eternal power source."
Nangong Wan's pupils shrank slightly. The "Eternal Power Source" is the holy grail of mechanical engineering legends. It can provide unlimited energy and completely change the entire field of mechanical engineering. If such a thing really exists,
"I need time to think about it." Nangong Wan finally said, "I will give you an answer before the president comes back. Now you need to rest, I will let my trusted maid guard the door."
Liu Qingshuang knew she couldn't force it, so she could only nod in agreement. Nangong Wan left the inner room and came to the outer room, where she found Fu Shaoping had been waiting outside the door for some time.
"How is she?" Fu Shaoping asked in a low voice.
"There's no danger to her life." Nangong Wan examined Fu Shaoping's expression, "You seem to care about her?"
Fu Shaoping was silent for a moment, and suddenly took out a token fragment from his arms that was similar to the Juzi token but much smaller: "Because my father was also a disciple of the Mohist school."
Nangong Wan looked at the small token in shock, on which half of the word "Mo" could be vaguely seen. Everything suddenly became clear - Fu Shaoping secretly helped Liu Qingshuang because of his connection with the Mohist school.
"In the incident fifteen years ago, Liu Yuanzong saved my father's life." Fu Shaoping's voice was low and firm, "Our Fu family owes the Mo family a life. I have been lurking in the Chamber of Commerce for many years just to find out the truth and seek justice for Senior Liu."
Nangong Wan feels that he is being drawn into a vortex that is larger and more complicated than he imagined. The Chamber of Commerce, Mohist School, revenge, treasure... Various clues are intertwined, and the imminent return of the president and the inspector makes the situation even worse.
"The president is back early!" A maid ran over to report in a panic, "He just arrived at the dock, bringing the Eastern Inspector with him!"
Nangong Wan and Fu Shaoping looked at each other and saw the solemnity in each other's eyes. The storm came faster than expected.
In the autumn, the maple leaves on the hill behind Qixia Academy are as red as fire, and the forest is dyed with colors. This should be a perfect time for students to practice meditation, but a series of disappearances of spirit beasts cast a shadow on the academy.
Fu Shaoping squatted in front of a bush, his fingertips lightly touching the golden powder left on the ground. The powder flashed a strange light in the sun, as if it was deliberately arranged into strange patterns by some force. He frowned, took out a plain white handkerchief from his bosom, and carefully collected the gold powder.
"The third one has started." He whispered to himself, the jade hairpin in his hair swaying slightly in the wind, reflecting his handsome face.
As a leader among the inner disciples of Qixia Academy, Fu Shaoping not only has reached the late stage of foundation building, but also has been entrusted by the dean to investigate the matter because of his meticulous thinking. He stood up and looked around. The protective formation outside the Spirit Beast Garden was intact, without any signs of damage, but the three precious Moon Shadow Foxes disappeared out of thin air.
"Brother Fu!" A voice called from afar. A young man in green clothes came running over breathlessly. "We found those claw marks again! In the old pine forest in the southwest!"
Fu Shaoping's eyes fixed, and he immediately rushed in the direction the young man pointed. His figure shuttled through the trees like the wind, and the sword "Frost" on his waist trembled slightly in its sheath, as if he had sensed something.
Deep in the pine forest, three claw marks were clearly imprinted on the soil. Each one was the size of a baby's palm and penetrated an inch into the ground, showing amazing strength. The same gold powder was scattered around the claw marks, forming a faint track that extended deeper into the forest.
"This is definitely not something an ordinary spirit beast can do." Fu Shaoping half-knelt down and traced the edge of the claw marks with his fingers. "Looking at the angle and depth, it looks like some kind of mechanical beast."
He suddenly stopped and took out the gold powder he had collected the previous two times from his arms. The gold powder from the three scenes showed the same glimmering pattern under the sunlight - an almost imperceptible outline of a toad.
"Golden Toad." Fu Shaoping's pupils shrank slightly, and the old events of twenty years ago flashed through his mind like lightning. He was still a child at that time, but he remembered that his father had mentioned an evil cultivator who was good at refining puppets. He was called "Golden Toad Old Man" because of his iconic golden toad puppet. This person had caused bloodshed in the northern border, and was later wiped out by the major families.
Are the remnants still not cleared?
Fu Shaoping followed the golden powder trail deep into the forest, going further and further away. The mountain became steeper and steeper, and the ancient trees were so tall that even the sun could hardly penetrate. Suddenly, a faint whimpering sound came into his ears, like the dying cry of some small animal.
He held his breath and followed the sound, finally stopping in front of a hidden mountain wall. Under the vines, there was a cave entrance that was only wide enough for one person to pass through. The whimpering sound came from the cave, mixed with the "click" sound of some mechanical operation.
Fu Shaoping slowly drew out the Frost Sword, and the sword came out of the sheath silently, leaving only a trace of frost in the air. He pinched his left hand, and a spell to hide his body was applied to himself, and then he easily entered the cave.
The cave was unexpectedly spacious, with a naturally formed hole on the top. Several beams of light shone down diagonally, illuminating a strange scene in the center: three black mechanical toads were surrounding a dying Moon Shadow Fox. The puppets were about the size of a washbasin, with complex gold lines inlaid on their backs. Under the transparent shell of their abdomens, a walnut-sized spirit stone core could be seen emitting a dark red light.
The most horrifying thing was that hair-thin metal tentacles extended from the mouths of those puppets and pierced into the bodies of the Moon Shadow Foxes. The blood essence visible to the naked eye flowed along the tentacles into the spirit stone core in the puppet's abdomen, making the red light even more enchanting.
"Blood-sucking puppet." Fu Shaoping was shocked. This was definitely not an ordinary mechanical technique, but an evil method!
Just as he was shocked, one of the puppets suddenly turned towards the cave entrance, and a strange purple light flashed from the core of the spirit stone. Fu Shaoping thought to himself that it was not good, and as he retreated violently, the three puppets rushed over like black lightning! "Zheng——"
The Frost Sword drew a perfect arc, and the frost on the sword blade left a clear track in the air. The puppet in the front was split in half by the sword, and the parts flew everywhere. But to Fu Shaoping's surprise, the severed puppet limbs actually deformed in mid-air and turned into dozens of fine needles that shot towards him!
"Ice Wall Technique!"
Fu Shaoping quickly formed a seal with his left hand, and a crystal ice wall appeared out of thin air. The fine needles hit the ice surface and made a dense "ding ding" sound. He did not dare to neglect it. He turned his sword, and the runes on the Frost Sword lit up one after another, and a little cold light gathered on the tip of the sword.
"Frost and Snow Dance!"
In an instant, the temperature in the cave dropped sharply, and countless ice crystals appeared out of thin air, sweeping over the remaining two puppets like a blizzard. The delicate mechanism quickly froze and became brittle in the extreme cold, and finally turned into powder in the sword wind.
The battle ended unexpectedly quickly, but Fu Shaoping did not dare to relax. He walked towards the pile of puppet wreckage and carefully poked it with the tip of his sword. When he turned to the core component of the second puppet, his movements suddenly froze -
On the broken spiritual stone base, there was an exquisite family emblem engraved: a blooming golden lotus holding up the Big Dipper. This was the symbol of the Nangong family! More specifically, it was the emblem unique to the Nangong family's collateral branch. The main family's golden lotus had seven petals, while this one had five petals.
"Impossible," Fu Shaoping's voice was almost squeezed out from between his teeth. The Nangong family and the Fu family have been friends for generations. The elders of the two families even arranged a marriage for him and the eldest daughter of the Nangong family, Nangong Yue, when he was young. The Nangong family is famous in the cultivation world for refining weapons, so how could they be related to such evil magic?
He squatted down and carefully examined the other wreckage. In the internal structure of the third puppet, he found a jade piece the size of a fingernail, on which was micro-carved a more detailed pattern - there was an additional crescent moon below the golden lotus.
Fu Shaoping's hands trembled slightly. He was too familiar with this mark. Every time he saw Nangong Yue, she would wear a jade pendant with this pattern around her waist. This was the unique mark of the "Yuehua" branch of the Nangong family, and Nangong Yue's mother was from this branch.
"I must find Yue'er and ask her clearly." He carefully put away the jade piece and the remains with the family emblem, took one last look at the dead Moon Shadow Fox, sighed softly, and turned to leave the cave.
After returning to the academy, Fu Shaoping went straight to the top floor of the library. There were a large number of secret books about various sects in the world of cultivation, and few disciples usually set foot in it. He stopped in front of the "mechanical puppet" category for a long time, and finally took down a long-forgotten "Strange Stories".
Turning over the yellowed pages, there are only a few words about the old man Jinchan: "He is good at making live puppets and feeding them with blood. He had an old grudge with the Nangong family. In the seventh year of Chongning, he was killed by the Fu and Nangong families in the Broken Soul Valley."
Closing the book, Fu Shaoping frowned. Twenty years ago, the old man Jinchan was indeed wiped out by the Fu family and the Nangong family. If there are still remnants, it makes sense to seek revenge. But why use a puppet with the Nangong family mark? Is it to frame someone, or...
As the night deepened, Fu Shaoping stood on the highest observatory in the academy and took out a jade talisman. This was a token of love given to him by Nangong Yue, which could be used to communicate with each other within a hundred miles. He injected spiritual power into it, and the jade talisman emitted a soft green light.
"Yuer, see you at the usual place tomorrow at noon. This is a matter of great importance."
The jade talisman flashed a few times, and Nangong Yue replied: "I know. Be careful."
These six short words made Fu Shaoping feel relieved. He and Nangong Yue were childhood sweethearts and knew each other's character well. If someone in the Nangong family was really involved in evil magic, Yue'er would never sit idly by.
At dawn the next day, Fu Shaoping left the academy early. He changed out of his conspicuous disciple uniform and put on an ordinary green shirt. He wore an inconspicuous iron sword on his waist and hid the Frost Sword in his storage bag. To prevent being followed, he circled the city several times and made sure that no one was following him before heading to the Qingxi Valley outside the city.
Qingxi Valley was a place they often visited when they were children. It was a secluded valley with clear water and an ancient albizzia tree growing on the bank. When Fu Shaoping arrived, Nangong Yue was already waiting under the tree.
She was dressed in a white dress that was whiter than snow, and the jade pendant on her waist shone with a warm luster in the morning light. Seeing Fu Shaoping coming, Nangong Yue turned around, with a trace of worry on her beautiful face.
"Shaoping, what happened? You rarely use emergency messages."
Fu Shaoping did not answer immediately, but looked around vigilantly. After confirming that it was safe, he took out the debris and jade piece engraved with the five-petal golden lotus from his arms.
“Do you recognize this?”
Nangong Yue took the remains and looked puzzled at first, but when her eyes fell on the family emblem, her face suddenly changed: "Is this the mark of the Yuehua lineage? How could it be..."
"It was found in the back mountain yesterday." Fu Shaoping lowered his voice and briefly explained the disappearance of the spirit beast and the puppet beast. "Yuer, I don't believe that anyone in the Nangong family would be involved in this kind of evil magic, but this mark..."
Nangong Yue's fingers tightly grasped the jade piece, and her knuckles turned white. "The Yuehua lineage has already declined three years ago. Since my grandfather went astray, the weapon refining technique of this lineage has been cut off. Now, except for my mother, there is only..."
She suddenly stopped, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes.
"Only who?" Fu Shaoping asked.
"My uncle is Nangong Yao." Nangong Yue's voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible, "But he was expelled from the family twenty years ago. It is said that he later died in the Northern Wasteland."
Fu Shaoping was shocked: "Twenty years ago? That was exactly the time when Old Man Jinchan was executed?"
The two looked at each other, and saw shock and uneasiness in each other's eyes. At this moment, Fu Shaoping suddenly felt a piercing chill, and the Frost Sword vibrated violently in the storage bag!
"careful!"
He suddenly pushed Nangong Yue away, and a black light almost brushed past her sleeve, and with a "snap" it was nailed into the trunk of the tree - it was a three-edged bone-piercing nail, black all over, with a strange blue light at the tip.
"Who?" Fu Shaoping instantly drew out the Frost Sword, with the tip of the sword pointing directly in the direction where the hidden weapon came from.
A hoarse laugh came from the bushes: "It's really touching. The kid from the Fu family is still so protective of the girl from the Nangong family." (End of this chapter)