C20

"You …" The assassin, Huang Quan, smiled bitterly, "You are truly a crazy woman."

"I am a lunatic to begin with," she said, holding up an oil umbrella. Her flying skirt fluttered like a sea of flowers as she turned and disappeared from the sight of the Yellow Springs.

Huang Quan was sitting alone in the wine shop. As he listened to the wind blowing outside the restaurant, the sounds of waves crashing against the hazel forest in the distance were like surging waves.

However, all of this was not important to him, because from start to finish, he only cared about one thing.

Looking at the paper umbrella that was already out of sight, the corner of Huang Quan's mouth curled up into a smile and he drank all of the wine in his jade cup in one gulp.

Year 18 of Summer, Spring, January 13th.

The Southern Dynasty, Jiangnan. Yang Xia city.

A deep blue brocade carriage was surrounded by dozens of black-armored warriors and escorted north along the main road of the Ancient Forest.

In a flash, Yang Xia's half city alleyway issued an imperial edict, imposing a three hundred li forbidden zone.

This Yangxia City was an important city in Jiangnan. It was a place where the previous dynasty ruled. It had four seasons in a year like spring, and was known as Jinling.

At this time of day, it was noon. The sun would pierce through the clouds and shine down vertically. It was as if the road was covered with a layer of red light. Spring and summer were the most pleasing places to see in the four seasons of the year.

However, with the arrival of the horse carriage, the only merchants on the streets disappeared. The shops were quickly closed as banners were hung all over them. The flag was rather black, and as it swayed in the wind, one could faintly see the swallows engraved on it in the scrolls. However, that swallow was especially eye-catching. It was actually a blood-red swallow.

From ancient times, there has been a legend of the blood swallow:

Ma Te's flying sword, Bloody Swallow Shrivel.

Tie Muhuan Mountain had given the order to be king.

The Assassin's House had been passed down for thousands of years under the heavens, and the banner of the Iron Curtain Island had long since been carved into the deepest parts of people's souls. After disappearing for a hundred years in the martial arts world, just when everyone thought that this group of bandits had died, they never thought that they would appear openly in Yangxia City.

Those merchants along the street had also taken off their luxurious robes, replacing them with malevolent black armor. It was unknown how many merchants and commoners there were in the city, but it was certain that 30% of them were Iron Curtain's killers, and the rest were not assassins, but also their families and servants.

In the Yang Xia that enjoyed the Golden City in the east, it was hard for anyone to imagine. This was the holy land of the Iron Curtain cicadas — the location of the Ocean Palace of Mt. Zihuan.

On the main road in front of him, eight black-armored warriors walked out, their waists adorned with specially made short swords and sabers. The sturdy warriors around the horse carriage flashed their tokens, and the eight black robed warriors nodded and stepped aside. Behind them, an old man dressed in a brown robe filed out.

The old man's withered face looked towards the carriage, his hawk-like eyes were pitch black and deep, as he laughed dryly, "So, Pavilion Master Yan Zuo, Lord Mo, has personally come. This old man is still guessing which important person has returned.

"Stop the car." A warm voice came from within the carriage. It was clear and heavy as it said, "The restriction of three hundred li from the entire Yang Xia city is indeed a big deal. If Lord Su is disturbed, then I deserve to die."

While he was speaking, the warrior had already opened the carriage's door. A pair of long purple sleeves was the first to emerge from the carriage, followed by a slender man. As he landed on the ground, a long beard automatically drooped from his clothes all the way down to his waist. This full head of hair was extremely eye-catching under the sunlight. It was completely white.

The man looked at the elder with his sharp, angular face. Under his straight, sword-like eyebrows, his eyes were like cold stars, but the corners of his mouth had a smile that was like the spring wind, causing people to tremble.

At the same time, he was also the head of the Mo Clan, one of Tie Mu's four surnames. Although he was still young, his silver hair was as white as snow, and he was in charge of Iron Curtain Intelligence. Swallow Pavilion, Iron Curtain Information Processing Center. In the entire world, regardless of whether it was the north or south dynasties, nothing could be hidden from Yan Hou of Swallow Pavilion.

On the other hand, this man who was known as Yan Hou, was not only the heir to the title of heir to Grand Xia's Mo Clan, but was also one of the people who controlled the rise and fall of the martial arts world.

Yan Hou Mo Qiuyu, Zi Yi Hou Su Lie, Bai Wei Nan Li, Dong Ting Bai Li. In the imperial court, these four viscous viscount figures were the rulers of the martial arts world behind the scenes.

Mo Qiuyu's steps were slow, seeming to be light and unhurried, with a faint smile from the beginning to the end. His silver hair flew in the wind like willow catkins flying in the spring.

The skinny old man laughed dryly and personally led the way for Mo Qiuyu.

"Elder Su, I heard recently that the actions of your family's elders have failed?" When Mo Qiuyu said this, she was especially happy.

Hearing that, Elder Su's footsteps paused, and his face became bitter. The lord Mo Qiuyu spoke of was the Purple Robed Marquis, Su Lie. On the first day of the month, his family's marquis received an order from the main hall of the Mausoleum of Books to scout the capital of a person.

Unexpectedly, Master Hou had been gone for months without any news. There were hundreds of experts in the whole of the Rain Pavilion. After some investigation, he found out that the Marquis of Zi Yi was trapped in the right-facing Jun Wuyan's mansion.

"It is the matter of the military and the nation under the written order..." "Your house's marquis shouldn't be in danger. If Jun Wuyan knew that the Marquis of Ziyi was the mysterious Pavilion Master Tingyu of the Jiang Hu, then your house's marquis would have long been put in the 'Sky' cell."

"Lord Mo's words are reasonable," Elder Su replied half-heartedly.

Not long after, the two entered a purple bamboo forest along a straight ancient path.

The Purple Bamboo Forest was not messy at all. On the contrary, if one looked carefully, they would be able to see the rules within it.

The palace lamps on both sides of this ancient path were very bright. After walking for an hour, one could hear the sound of flowing water and the chirping of birds.

When the bird cries had completely dissipated, a twelve-story building at the end suddenly opened up and stood in the middle of the surrounding mountains.

The Palace of the Iron Curtain stood on the peak of these mountains.

The Dark Ocean Palace had always been a mysterious place. The legend of the Ocean Palace in the martial world was not wrong. It was said to be a divine palace.

This was because the Heaven's Ocean Palace was built from the ancient capital, but by the time it was built, the imperial capital had already been destroyed by Xia Zulong. Therefore, this palace, which overlapped each other, was not known to any of the emperors of the Xia Dynasty. Instead, it became the holy land of the Iron Curtain.

However, Tie Mu hadn't humiliated the reputation of the "Palace of Gods".

Ou Yezi once wrote in "The Summer Dynasty's New Deer Gate Song", "The Heaven's Firmament Great Wood Ring, the north pole, the phoenix perches 100,000 miles away."

The Heaven's Ocean Palace was constructed from water fir and its creator was the renowned craftsman of the world, Fan Palace. Xia Zulong's Imperial Jade Seal was created by him.

Although the Heaven's Ocean Palace had the reputation of being a twelve storey building, it was only three storeys high, and yet each storey was as big as a Yang Xia city! It occupied a circumference of ten li, overlapping and piercing the heavens, hiding all year round behind the clouds and mist.

Rumor has it that in the past when the Heavenly Seal was being struck from the north, the Divine Shooting Marquis Li Ling Ling Tian had entered Yangxia after being defeated and had unintentionally barged into the Twelve Great Floors. However, even though he was confident that he was the strongest archer in the world, he still wasn't able to penetrate through the things inside the palace. From this, it could be seen that the interior of the palace was much larger than what it actually looked like.

Elder Su respectfully stood outside the plaza of the Twelfth Floor. At his level, if he was not summoned, he would not be able to casually enter even half a step into the Twelve Floor, or else he would be easily killed by the guards hiding around the tower.

Mo Qiuyu straightened her clothes and stepped into the White Jade Square. As she bent her head to listen, she heard the sound of gold bells ringing in the Twelve Floor of the Flying Dragon Fault. The twelve floors had eight corners, and below each corner was a bell banner made from eight hundred gold bells. However, Mo Qiuyu was well aware that this Wind Bell was not hung up because it was nice to listen to, but a formless killing mechanism.

Each bell was a mechanism. Once the living broke in, these ten thousand bells would shoot out countless hidden needles. There were at least a hundred thousand bells, and no one could escape.