"Sister-in-law, you..."

This small intention was apparent even to Xu An. He worried that sister-in-law's scheming might anger Xia Chuan, and immediately wanted to reprimand her. But before he could speak, Xia Chuan reached out to stop him.

Xia Chuan walked up to Hong Qiaoru, his demeanor serious as he said, "Sister-in-law Xu..."

"Don't worry, I will definitely heal him."

It was clear that Xia Chuan also intended to promise something, but just as he started to speak, a familiar voice came from outside the door.

The three adults inside the hall visibly perked up, and Hong Qiaoru quickly stood up from her chair, turned toward the direction of the hall entrance, and bowed deeply.

"Greetings, Lord!"

The newcomer was naturally Xia Hong, whose breathing was still slightly hurried, clearly having rushed back all the way from Long Mountain.

"No need for formalities!"

Xia Hong gestured for the three to stand up, saying nothing as he slowly walked up to Xu Ning, looking at his scattered pupils, and the completely unfamiliar gaze directed at himself, his expression subtly shifted, then he placed his hand on Xu Ning's shoulder.

After closing his eyes to sense for a moment, his expression immediately turned even more grave.

Just as Qiu Peng had mentioned earlier, not only externally but internally as well, there were no injuries at all. His skin membrane, flesh and blood, and cultivation were all intact. Yet his pupils were scattered, his consciousness muddled, unable to speak, and seemingly unable to recognize anyone.

"Lord, this is the intelligence Xu Ning brought back from Qinghe Village!"

At this moment, Xia Chuan handed over a piece of blood-stained fabric.

Xia Hong took the blood fabric, and upon seeing the words of the five lines on it, his expression subtly shifted.

[Dajue Temple, Five Great Masters]

[Zen Temple with over five thousand Grey-clothed Bhikkhus with Hair, Three-maned strength]

[Eight hundred White-robed Formal Bhikkhus, above Twenty-maned strength]

[Nine Towns have already made a move in Qinghe Village, Jiangxia Town Army Chief, Xiahou Zhang was defeated by the Vajra Master]

[Chilong Lake Great Awakening Hall, emerald green pupils, instant death upon eye contact]

"The handwriting roughly suggests that Xu Ning should have hastily written these down before his consciousness was completely muddled. Because of limited time, he could only use this brief format, yet even so, these five pieces of information reveal a lot, Lord..."

"I can tell, wait!"

Xia Hong waved to interrupt Xia Chuan's words, lowering his gaze to the blood-drenched words on the torn fabric, fixating his eyes solemnly on the fifth line.

[Chilong Lake Great Awakening Hall, emerald green pupils, instant death upon eye contact]

The first four pieces of information are essentially evidential, requiring observation to be known, yet this last piece of information, if one merely sees someone die, could hardly lead to such a conclusion. The only possibility is that Xu Ning had face-to-face contact with the source as he mentioned about the emerald green pupils.

"The crux of the matter is most likely related to the emerald green pupils that Xu Ning described. I need to go to Qinghe Village and find out exactly what's going on."

"Lord, absolutely not!"

"Lord, you must not."

Upon hearing Xia Hong's words, Xia Chuan and Xu An nearly simultaneously stood up to dissuade him.

Xia Chuan continued in a deep voice: "More than five thousand Three-maned Cold Resistance Level, over eight hundred with strength above Twenty-maned Cold Resistance Level, merely this level of strength is considerable;

Xu Ning singled out Jiangxia Town Army Chief Xiahou Zhang as a separate piece of information, which can basically confirm he has attained the Xianyang Level cultivation. Even he was defeated by that Vajra Master, and Dajue Temple has five such masters.

Why did only one Xianyang Level strongman, Jiangxia Town Army Chief Xiahou Zhang, appear while the Nine Towns were already taking action in Qinghe Village?

I estimate, the remaining Eight Towns' Xianyang Level strongmen are likely reluctant to risk themselves, Jiangxia Town being closest to Dajue Temple, naturally, they are most eager to probe the strength of Dajue Temple, forced to send one Xianyang Level, moreover, it appears a significant loss was suffered.

Merely from the intelligence Xu Ning brought back, it's enough to conclude that Dajue Temple's strength is unfathomably deep, along with a connection with Deceitful Monster, with the enemy situation unclear, the Lord must not put himself in danger."

Xu An firmly nodded, glanced at his brother Xu Ning, and continued speaking:

"Brother risked his life to gather this intelligence, in hopes that when Great Xia faces Dajue Temple later, it would suffer less. If the Lord ventured to risk himself, wouldn't all the intelligence he gathered be rendered meaningless? Were brother conscious now, he would certainly not agree to the Lord personally risking himself."

Hearing their words, Xia Hong's face subtly tensed.

These five pieces of intelligence were clearly already analyzed one by one by Xia Chuan.

He likely deduced no less than himself.

It's indeed not wise to proceed rashly!

Especially the fourth piece of information, Nine Towns have already made their move in Qinghe Village, this sentence contains so much, until thoroughly clarified, if he ventured to Dajue Temple, exposing himself would be nothing, but allowing Great Xia to be fully exposed to the Nine Towns, then these past four or five years' arrangements would be utterly in vain.

"Qiu Peng mentioned to me that Xu Ning left two scouts in Lower River Village, shouldn't they be able to obtain some information on Qinghe Village? Have they reported anything recently?"

Xu An knew this matter well, immediately nodding, "There are indeed two scouts, named Bai Shanqiu and Xiang Liang, one Cold Resistance Level with Two-maned strength, and one Earth-digging Realm Limit cultivation, both voluntarily requested to remain in Lower River Village.

According to brother's earlier six-month practice of lurking in Lower River Village, unless under special circumstances, typically a report is sent back at the end of each month, today is only the twenty-fifth, so it will be five days before they communicate back."

Xia Hong's brows slightly furrowed, a Cold Resistance Level Two-maned, and an Earth-digging Realm Limit cultivation, what useful information could they possibly gather?

"Brother, Xu Ning's five pieces of intelligence are all highly valuable, now all that's required is confirmation and validation from those two scouts. If indeed, as we hope, then Dajue Temple would very likely clash with the Nine Towns, at this juncture, for any reason, we can't come forward in their territory!"

Xia Chuan was evidently still somewhat worried about Xia Hong going to Dajue Temple personally for Xu Ning, therefore he expressed his deterrence between the words.

Xia Hong's brows slightly tightened, his gaze lingering on the fourth line of the blood-stained cyan letters, more precisely on the phrase "Nine Towns have already made a move in Qinghe Village" these ten words.

Surely, he understood Xia Chuan's concern.

But Xu Ning!

Xia Hong turned his head to gaze at Xu Ning in the chair, his expression subtly stern, contemplating for a long time before finally sighing, and solemnly telling Xia Chuan: "Register 1000 military merits for Xu Ning! Henceforth, their family's clothing, food, and living arrangements, including cultivation resources, will be supplied by the camp until he is cured!"

Hearing this, Xia Chuan's face subtly tensed, then immediately nodded.

Xu An and Hong Qiaoru's expressions visibly jolted upon hearing this, soon echoed by bowing deeply to Xia Hong, full of emotion on their faces.

"Xu An thanking the Lord on behalf of brother!"

"The wife thanking the Lord on behalf of husband!"

Xu Ning had already attained the Eighth-Grade Red Cloud Marquis; his accumulated military merits already exceeded 1000, and granting 1000 more would promote him directly to Seventh-Grade Qingming Marquis. Mind you, currently within the whole Great Xia, only Xia Chuan and Yuwen Dao held the rank of Seventh-Grade Marquis.

Suddenly, Xu Ning elevated to this status.

Key was Xia Hong's following words; henceforth their family's clothing and living arrangements, including cultivation resources, would be ensured by the camp, until Xu Ning was cured!

This was nearly a verbal assurance, personally promising to find a remedy for Xu Ning, thereby instantly giving Hong Qiaoru and Xu An immeasurable relief.

"In the future, take care of Xu Ning at home, I will surely save him, rest assured! Xia Chuan, Xu An, come with me to the Political Hall."

After speaking to Hong Qiaoru, Xia Hong called Xia Chuan and Xu An to follow him outside the hall.

The two, hearing the sound, immediately followed.

Leaving Hong Qiaoru alone at home, looking at her mentally absent husband, she still felt somewhat distressed, but compared to just now, things were far better.

"Darling, the Lord will certainly heal you, he sure will!"

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