Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo' Chapter 1271 605: Flowers God (Part 4)

What was stolen was not just sand, He Jiaqing continued to rub his finger, and drop by drop, ink appeared at his fingertips.

This was the reason Fu Lianhong's brush couldn't seem to produce ink.

Next were blood beads, Xiuling's blood.

Every drop of blood that came out between her was stolen by He Jiaqing, hence Zhang Xiuling couldn't write words on the wall.

Xiuling was the head of the Hundred Flowers Gate. She had experienced many battles, but at this moment she was very scared. The overwhelming strength disparity was suffocating her.

"Sister Xiu Ling, come with me to the salon, I'm sincerely inviting..." He Jiaqing couldn't help but yawn; to him, perhaps the current battle was too uninteresting.

Xiuling pulled Fu Lianhong, turned around, and ran. She knew she couldn't escape, but at this moment, her actions were completely instinctive.

He Jiaqing slowly pursued from behind, his steps extremely slow.

Xiuling didn't know what He Jiaqing's purpose was; in her extreme fear, all she knew was to take Fu Lianhong and run madly.

Hoo!

The cold wind suddenly came, and it started to snow.

As the snowflakes fell, He Jiaqing watched the two women slowly disappear from view.

It's snowing now, should I still pursue?

Some snow fell; it doesn't seem to be a big deal, why did I suddenly lose the desire to pursue?

Is it because I touched Zhang Xiuling's blood...

He Jiaqing stopped his steps, looked at the bloodstains on his fingertips, and then looked at the snowflakes swirling in the wind.

In this kind of weather, one should wrap themselves in a blanket, curl up in bed, have a bowl of hot soup, and then sleep soundly.

Thinking of this, He Jiaqing yawned again.

...

Xiuling wanted to go to the train station; along the way, He Jiaqing's men were everywhere.

She took Fu Lianhong and wanted to return to the outer residence; the outer residence had already been burned.

They wanted to go to the Red Flower Hall; the entrance hall had already been occupied by He Jiaqing's people.

They found an inn, wishing to sleep for a night; Big Head soon found the inn and invited Xiuling to attend the salon.

Xiuling had a lot of energy stolen by He Jiaqing and was very weak; Fu Lianhong was injured by He Jiaqing's men and was in a critical condition.

There was nowhere for the two to go; they finally fled to the vicinity of Xiaoyao Lodge.

Xiuling hesitated about whether to enter; in her current condition, if she entered Xiaoyao Lodge, it would be tantamount to bringing calamity to Li Qi and Ma Wu.

But if they didn't enter Xiaoyao Lodge, they wouldn't survive this night.

After much thought, Xiuling still walked in.

She and Li Qi were friends, very good friends.

Even if death was certain tonight, she didn't want to drag her friends into it.

"Lianhong, I'll send you to the station later; when you meet He Jiaqing's people, I'll hold them off. You don't need to fight, just run."

"Sis, what are you talking about? I've been with you for half my life; if we're leaving, we'll leave together!"

"I can't leave; they are coming for me!"

"Then I'll die with you."

This was true sisterhood!

With the snow flying, Xiuling hugged Fu Lianhong: "Listen to your sister, you have to live, you absolutely must live..."

Ma Wu held up an umbrella, shielding the two from the snowflakes: "Ladies, if you want to live well, come with me to Xiaoyao Lodge."

Xiuling looked up at Ma Wu.

Ma Wu smiled, "I'm not inviting you, Old Qi is inviting you, wait until he arrives and you can talk slowly."

Xiuling was unwilling to go, Ma Wu frowned: "Xiaoyao Lodge is the territory of me and Old Qi. There I can still hold off He Jiaqing. If you just keep hanging around on the street, you really will drag me down."

These words were sensible; Ma Wu persuaded a few more times, Xiuling finally agreed and took Fu Lianhong into Xiaoyao Lodge.

Ma Wu first arranged accommodation for the two, then called a medical cultivator to treat their injuries. With some detailed matters, Ma Wu wanted to ask Xiuling. Suddenly, the manager Zhang Shuning reported: "Master Wu, Young Master He wants to see you."

"You came so quickly!" Ma Wu tidied up his clothes and followed the manager to the small round hall.

He Jiaqing held a wine glass and greeted Ma Wu: "Junyang, I haven't come to Xiaoyao Lodge to drink for a long time."

Ma Wu smiled: "You didn't come much before either. I remember you came once when we first opened, and another time before you went to study in the Outside Provinces, just those two times."

"Only twice? Can't be, right? Among our peers, we are the closest, so I must come to support your business."

"Are we the closest? What about Lu Xiaolan?" Ma Wu pondered for a moment.

He Jiaqing frowned. Judging by his expression, he seemed to care a lot about Ma Wu's joke, but in reality, he was concerned about the button on his chest.

This button had been ringing, but he couldn't conveniently listen to it.

The two chatted and laughed for a while, during which He Jiaqing offered Ma Wu a cigarette: "Is Zhang Xiuling with you?"

"She is." Ma Wu accepted the cigarette and lit it.

"I'd like to invite her to my place. I'm hosting a literary salon, and Shen Rongqing has already arrived. If I call her over, the two great talents of Puluo State will be together."

Ma Wu poured He Jiaqing a glass of wine: "Two great talents together, such an opportunity is rare!"

He Jiaqing took the glass: "That's right, Shen Rongqing has been waiting for half a day. Why don't you bring Zhang Xiuling over to my place too?"

"It just so happens that I'm about to host a singing party. Jiang Mengting is ready, and Zhang Xiuling is ready too. If you bring Shen Rongqing over as well, the Singing Empress and talented ladies will all be there."

He Jiaqing held the wine glass and took a big gulp, his tone less casual: "Junyang, you should know about my issues with the Hundred Flowers Gate, right?"

Ma Wu shook his head: "I've been in New Land recently, haven't really paid attention to other things."

"If you say you don't know, I'll tell you now, I'm going to take Zhang Xiuling away today, and no one can stop me."

"That depends on whether she wants to go. We're all civilized people; if she doesn't want to go, you can't kidnap her, right?"

"Civilized people?" He Jiaqing downed another glass of wine, "Since entering this door, I've always been civilized, gave you enough face. Now, with sincerity, I'm saying something a bit uncivilized, can you not be so shameless?"

Ma Wu also finished his glass of wine: "Since you're so sincere, I'll be straightforward too. This is Xiaoyao Lodge; who do you think you are to come here and cause trouble?"

The two sat face to face, smiles on their faces but a cold glint in their eyes.

Feng Daiku stood guard at the door, ready to take action at any moment.

He Jiaqing put down the wine glass, casually touched the button on his chest, wanting to find out who was so eager to contact him before taking action.

"Jia Qing, the batch of goods we sent to the Outside Provinces was intercepted at the Three-Head Fork by the Defense Agency just now. They said our goods were incorrect and want to seal our place."

He Jiaqing raised a hand, cutting off the communication.

He picked up the wine bottle and poured Ma Wu another glass: "Drunk too much, spoke too quickly, don't take it to heart."

Ma Wu smiled: "With so many years of friendship, who cares about that."

After finishing the glass of wine, He Jiaqing left Xiaoyao Lodge.

Big Head waited outside, whispering: "What about Zhang Xiuling?"

"Can't take her, we're at someone's mercy," He Jiaqing sighed.

In the circular ballroom, Ma Wu drank a glass of ice water, calming his nerves for a long time.

Feng Daiku wiped his sweat: "Feeling scared?"

Ma Wu shook his head: "You're just outside, what do I have to fear."

"I'm the one who's scared," Feng Daiku drew a thread of love silk from the air, "Half of the love silk I placed in the room was stolen by He Jiaqing. His cultivation level might be above mine; if we really fought, I'm not sure I'd win."

"There won't be a fight. Old Qi said he has arrangements in place. I don't know what the arrangements are either." Ma Wu poured another glass of ice water and drank it down in one gulp.

...

Li Banfeng was on his way to Greenwater City, chatting with the Judge's Pen as they walked: "You're saying you lent part of your power to Zhang Xiuling, and this part isn't with you?"

"Yes!"

Li Banfeng fell into thought, twirling the Judge's Pen in circles until it protested: "Stop spinning, it's dizzying!"

"But I just can't figure out, if your power isn't with you, where else could it be?"

"In the heavens." After saying these two words, the Judge's Pen didn't want to answer Li Banfeng's questions anymore, and slipped into his sleeve to sleep.

PS: To be honest, the appearance of our Ah Bi is pretty enchanting!