At sunset, the sky was dyed with the colors of the evening glow.
The library became the best place to enjoy the scenery. The recent ghost story still lingered in the ears of the students without being forgotten, so even though this place was the best spot to appreciate the evening glow, there were not many people around. Most of the students chose to gather by the lake to enjoy the scenery together.
The dean had originally planned not to show up during this time, but seeing such a beautiful sunset, he could not help himself and unconsciously came to the library to admire the view. He looked at the evening glow with joy in his eyes and couldn't help nodding.
"Old punk!"
A voice suddenly sounded behind him. An old man with white hair suddenly appeared not far away.
Actually, the dean had tensed up all over when he heard the voice. But in an instant, he returned to normal. He continued to walk forward naturally as if he had not heard the voice, rubbing his head and muttering in a loud voice, "Isn't it time for dinner?"
The old man who appeared behind him laughed coldly when he heard this. He was long already familiar with the dean's character. He did not waste any words and his daoist robe suddenly stirred without any wind, causing a powerful qi to gather in this place.
The dean who was originally far away from the old man suddenly appeared in front of him and grabbed his raised hand. With a warm smile on his face, he said, "Turns out it's Brother Daoist who came. I heard about Brother Daoist's visit and was going to welcome you outside the city. I didn't expect to miss your arrival and actually made Brother Daoist come to the academy to visit me in person. I'm really embarrassed, truly embarrassed."
The dean's expression was extremely sincere and genuine when he spoke, making others feel that they too, had to be moved by the dean's sincerity. However, the old man who knew the dean's character well did not believe him. He just sneered and said, "It's been so many years, how many books have you, old punk, read? How can you still be so shameless?"
The dean said seriously, "Brother Daoist, you have truly misunderstood me. I really mean it."
After saying this, the dean did not give the old man a chance to speak, and instead asked, "If I remember correctly, Brother Daoist should be entering the Divine Capital with that Saintess today, right? A few years ago, when I heard that Brother Daoist got a disciple at this age, I felt quite gratified. If it weren't for too many mundane affairs in the academy, I would have gone to Mount Xi to congratulate you in person. Now that Brother Daoist's disciple has become the Saintess of the Myriad Heaven Palace in this generation, it shows that Brother Daoist's vision is as good as ever."
The old man snorted coldly and said, "I got a disciple, but didn't you get your wish too, you old punk? Why did you show up here? If it weren't for me abandoning my disciple when I entered the city to come to the academy to look for you, I'm afraid I wouldn't have seen a single hair of yours on this trip to the Divine Capital."
The dean said with a bitter face, "We haven't seen each other in a long time, Brother Daoist, why are you so vulgar? It seems that you still need to study the words of our Confucian saints more, to cultivate yourself and nurture your character."
Even though he had already prepared himself when he entered the academy, when he really saw this old punk, the old man still lamented at the shamelessness of this person in front of him. The academy had been established for so many years, why would such a character emerge? And not only that, he actually earned the seat of the academy's dean.
"Don't talk nonsense! I came to the Divine Capital to ask you one thing only. If you keep evading the question, don't blame me for turning my back on you and demolishing your academy!"
The old man's expression became serious as he stared at the dean. It did not seem like he was joking.
The dean smiled and said, "Let's not talk about answering or not answering first. Even with Brother Daoist's abilities, wanting to demolish my academy is like a fool's talk."
The old man frowned slightly and endless killing intent suddenly filled his face which was full of wrinkles.
Feeling the murderous intent that was as chilly as an autumn day, the dean quickly opened his mouth and said, "Brother Daoist, you're muddleheaded. Since you've just accepted a disciple, why didn't you protect her as she enters the city? You should know that the Divine Capital isn't safe."
The old man replied indifferently, "Could it be that the Saintess of my Myriad Heaven Palace meet with an accident in the Divine Capital?"
The dean asked, "Brother Daoist, didn't you come here with the intention of fostering cordial relations with Great Liang?"
The old man suddenly looked at the dean.
The dean sighed and said, "Since the Myriad Heaven Palace wants to foster cordial relations with Great Liang, there are bound to be many people who aren't willing to see that. If they want to destroy this relationship, what could be more direct than killing the Saintess of the Myriad Heaven Palace?"
"However, they were actually able to predict Brother Daoist's impatience, that you'd abandon your disciple to find me as soon as you entered the city. They took advantage of this brief opportunity, it seems that those people in the dark are quite clever."
The dean was somewhat self-reproaching as he said, "After all that talk, I still should have gone out of the city to welcome Brother Daoist."
The old man became furious and said, "If anything happens to my disciple, don't blame me for turning hostile on the spot!"
This time, when the old man spoke, his anger was palpable in his eyes. He had been cultivating for many years and only had that one disciple. If something were to happen to that disciple, not only would the dream of fostering a good relationship between the Myriad Heaven Palace and Great Liang be crushed, it was likely that both parties would form a great enmity. He would even wreak havoc in the Divine Capital.
The old man turned around to leave.
The dean hurriedly stopped him. He understood that if this old fellow left the academy at this moment and something coincidentally happened to that Saintess, a storm would surely rage in the Divine Capital at this moment.
"Wei Xu!"
The dean also understood that this matter was not trivial and quickly opened his mouth to yell loudly.
A scholar soon appeared, looking at the dean with some bewilderment, and said with a salute: "What instructions does Teacher have?"
"Hurry up and find out where that Myriad Heaven Palace's Saintess is, and bring her directly to the academy. Don't let any harm befall her."
The dean waved his hand and looked at the old man and comforted him, "Brother Daoist, rest assured, if anything happens to that girl, I'll definitely accompany Brother Daoist in turning the Divine Capital upside down!"
……
……
Chen Chao seemed to be running around like a headless fly in the streets and alleys. But in reality, he was very clear that if he continued to run like this, he would get further away from that long street.
Furthermore, the final outcome of running around aimlessly would be that even the people in the dark who laid the trap would not know where they would end up.
Chen Chao never thought he could save this saintess on his own; he was just trying his best to buy time.
The Divine Capital was too big, with many high-rise and low-rise manors. Therefore, even the sunlight could not completely illuminate every corner of the Divine Capital. Although the Emperor's eyes were watching the Divine Capital, he was not all-seeing, and many places were very dark.
However, such places were few after all. So those people only had a very short time.
What Chen Chao had to do was wait until the Divine Capital reacted.
As long as the Divine Capital reacted, the Saintess would truly be safe.
Stopping in a small alley, Chen Chao looked around and conveniently disposed of an assassin who was chasing after them before catching his breath.
He glanced at the girl whose face was still hidden behind the curtain. He did not reach out to take it down for her and just whispered, "I'm Chen Chao, the Deputy Commander of the Left Guard. I'm not a bad guy. For now, it's better if Saintess doesn't remove the curtain for the time being. It will confuse the assassins."
Soon, a clear voice came from behind the curtain, "You're Chen Chao?"
The voice was filled with some surprise, and a lot of curiosity, and joy.
Chen Chao was taken aback that his reputation was so well-known that even the Saintess of the Myriad Heaven Palace knew who he was.
The qi within his body circulated and new qi was born.
Chen Chao felt much more at ease and was about to pick up the Saintess again when she complained, "Can you stop carrying me? You're too hard and it hurts."
The young girl sounded rather aggrieved.
Chen Chao remembered what happened earlier and his face turned slightly red. But just as he was feeling put on the spot, he heard the young girl say again, "Can you carry me on your back? It will be faster that way."
Chen Chao nodded. Just as he squatted down, he suddenly saw a thin middle-aged man appear in front of the alley.
The man looked over here and felt rather emotional, "There's always a flaw in every plan. Who would have thought that such a sophisticated plan would encounter a variable like you. But luckily, it's still within our control from start to end. Young man, you..."
The middle-aged man's words were abruptly cut off. It was because just as he was speaking, the young man in front of him had already picked up that girl whose face could not be seen, and smashed through the stone wall, sprinting wildly into the distance.
A cloud of dust rose.
He was a bit stunned. He had never seen such a situation before.
The young man in front of him seemed a bit too...decisive and timid.
Where was a young man's hot-bloodedness?
Where was a young man's impulsiveness?
