Demon, don't come any closer!

Chapter 27 Emperor Yan

This day.

That was really exciting!

After returning to his residence, Dou Changsheng casually waved his hand to dismiss his eldest nephew, and paid no attention to the gifts that had been sent.

The second time Jin Yuwei came, they inexplicably collapsed. Compared to such a major event, this small gift was nothing.

Dou Changsheng had just sat down when the door creaked open.

Round and chubby like a ball, Cui Shuyu toddled in, her short legs bouncing as she sat down in the chair, practically filling it up. She shifted closer to Dou Changsheng and lowered her voice, asking, "Brother Dou, what's your take on the current situation?"

Grandfather Cui Shuyu personally paid a visit, and did so secretly.

Dou Changsheng was not surprised at all. After all, what he said in the county government office was meant for County Lieutenant Lin and Constable Wang. Only the two of them knew the true nature of the Golden Jade Guard. Neither Dou Changsheng nor Cui Shuyu wanted a third party to know the truth.

If they were exposed, they might not be able to rely on Constable Wang and County Lieutenant Lin, who are now on the same side as them. They might even be betrayed.

Dou Changsheng didn't answer immediately, but instead asked in return, "How many more times can the Golden Jade Guards come at most?"

This is the most crucial point. If the Golden Jade Guards keep coming, they can withstand one, two, or three waves, but they definitely can't withstand eight or nine waves.

The Golden Guards can fail countless times, but they cannot.

Therefore, preparing to escape as soon as possible is the most correct approach.

Without hesitation, Cui Shuyu replied directly, "Things don't happen more than three times. Jin Yuwei can't keep bothering us indefinitely."

"Our Cui family of Qinghe ranks among the top ten families. Even among all the spirits, we are a top-tier clan with the reputation of being one of the seventy-two immortal clans."

"The family worships Emperor Yan, who holds a first-rank official position and is renowned throughout the world."

"Although I am useless, I am still the son of Emperor Yan, not from a collateral branch. Even if the head of the family doesn't care, the elders of the clan will not ignore me."

"This time, I was drawn into the conflict between Qin and Chu, and was framed for treason by the Black Ice Guard. They valued my identity and my considerable influence."

Cui Shuyu's proud tone changed instantly, and she gritted her teeth, clearly extremely dissatisfied with the Black Ice Platform. But that was all. The Qin Black Ice Platform was famous throughout the states, and it had helped Qin conquer five states and made great contributions.

Their methods—assassination, intelligence theft, sowing discord, and so on—are as dirty as they are.

The State of Chu was wary of Cui's status as the son of Emperor Yan, but the Black Ice Platform was not so wary. If they were truly restrained, the Black Ice Platform would not be able to instill fear and terror in the other states.

Like the Golden Jade Guard, the Black Ice Guard was a vital national instrument and a violent military institution, but it was not much stronger than the Golden Jade Guard. However, since Wei Renliao left Wei and entered Qin, he began to take over the Black Ice Guard.

A martial arts master of the first rank, a powerful figure who has condensed the divine realm, personally presided over the Black Ice Platform.

The Black Ice Guard is unrestrained and reckless, assassinating important officials of various countries and sowing discord between nations; there is nothing they wouldn't dare to do.

As long as it benefits the Qin state, the Black Ice Guard will dare to do it.

The name "Emperor Yan's Son" sounds impressive, but there are a total of thirty-six such sons in this generation. His father, Yan, steadily demonstrated the talents of all previous Emperor Yans. Whether he could fight or not is another matter, but he was certainly capable of fathering children.

If he were truly the only heir, the sole son of Emperor Yan, the Black Ice Platform would naturally not dare to plot against him.

Fortunately, the old father was alive. Otherwise, if the next Yan Emperor had ascended the throne, the identity of the Yan Emperor's son would have been lost, and he would have automatically become a collateral branch, no longer the main line. The Golden Jade Guards would not have had so many concerns and would have sent a mid-level third-grade expert to resolve everything long ago.

Dou Changsheng looked at Cui Shuyu in surprise. He never expected that the other party was actually the son of Emperor Yan. Dou Changsheng thought he was just an ordinary member of the Cui family.

For a son of the esteemed Emperor Yan to have fallen to such a state is truly a disgrace to the Emperor.

The Yan Emperor worshipped by the Cui family of Qinghe, in terms of origin and background, is no less impressive than that of the Black Emperor of Qin, possessing the foundation to establish a state and control a territory.

However, he is naturally not as powerful as the Black Emperor now, since the Black Emperor has already devoured most of the world's faith and is no longer what he used to be.

Even if one doesn't become a god, one cannot escape faith.

Having little faith does not necessarily mean being weak, but having a lot of faith certainly means being strong; quantitative change leads to qualitative change.

Offering sacrifices to a nation is a completely different concept from offering sacrifices to an entire family. However, while there have never been nations that lasted for ten thousand years, there have been families that lasted for ten thousand years.

Cui Shuyu is the son of Emperor Yan, so the Golden Jade Guards will have at most one more chance.

"Things shouldn't happen more than three times"—this is a wisdom passed down from our ancestors, and can be considered a kind of unspoken rule.

Don't think that just because there's only one chance left, you can easily pass the test. On the contrary, the Golden Jade Guards will definitely launch a fierce counterattack on this last time. The attackers will definitely be of the middle third rank. Two is too few; there will probably be three.

After a long silence, Dou Changsheng slowly spoke: "The Jin Yuwei died inexplicably this time, but it gave them an excuse to come openly."

"The idea of ​​uniting the entire county to fight against this is one approach."

Cui Shuyu frowned and looked at Dou Changsheng with dissatisfaction. What do you mean by "inexplicable"? Isn't this the result of your deliberate actions?

This time, Cui Shuyu came down to Dou Changsheng in private, intending to get him to speak the truth and not listen to his empty rhetoric. But Dou Changsheng was still trying to fool him with this nonsense, so Cui Shuyu said in a deep voice, "I have already been honest, Brother Dou, why are you still hiding things?"

"You deliberately killed Jin Yuwei's men to drag County Lieutenant Lin and Constable Wang into the mess, while also giving Jin Yuwei a legitimate opportunity to investigate, all to force me to stand with you."

"This is a clever scheme. What was originally just your problem has now become our shared problem."

"There are no outsiders here now, so you can talk about your plans without worry. If you encounter any difficulties, I can also lend a hand."

Dou Changsheng shook his head and said, "Your Excellency has truly misunderstood me; it's all just a coincidence."

"If it were possible, I would never lay a hand on Jin Yuwei. To be honest, I just want to be an honest and law-abiding ordinary citizen."

Cui Shuyu laughed. Anyone who believed Dou Changsheng's words was an idiot.

Dou Changsheng, a young and handsome woman, was always Cui Shuyu's top courtesan. Originally, she was just a gift for Xiong Hu, but Cui Shuyu misjudged her. This young woman was so cunning and had remained calm for so many years. In the end, she turned the tables in a desperate situation and hooked up with Xiong Hu.

From then on, things spiraled out of control. He mastered the ancient techniques that had long been impossible to cultivate, slayed demons in Chen Family Village, and later even rebelled against the Heavenly Gang, beginning to pressure him.

If it were a matter of luck, Cui Shuyu could have just slit her own throat and committed suicide.

Calculation, calculation, and more calculation.

This is also why Cui Shuyu took the initiative to humble herself and was willing to come and ask for advice.

Dou Changsheng is so capable, and it's great that he's on my side. I can definitely use him to resolve this crisis.

But Dou Changsheng pretended to be stupid, spreading his hands as if he didn't understand anything and knew nothing.

This made Cui Shuyu very unhappy. Then, Cui Shuyu slapped his forehead and realized that Dou Changsheng was asking for a gift. Cui Shuyu was even more dissatisfied. They were on the same side, and helping him was helping himself.

But Dou Changsheng insists on getting something in return, so who would be happy about that?

Despite her extreme displeasure, Cui Shuyu didn't show it. She was willing to accept gifts; the prestigious Cui family of Qinghe was certainly not short of money. As long as it could resolve the trouble and ensure her bright future, why let temporary grievances delay important matters?

Cui Shuyu comforted himself, calmed his anger, and slowly said, "When I returned to Qinghe last time, the elders of the clan gave me a gift. I don't need it, so I might as well give it to Brother Dou for protection."

Cui Shuyu reached into her waistband and began to rummage around. Finally, she lifted the hem of her clothes, revealing a row of jade pendants hanging there. The pendants were of different colors and sizes. Cui Shuyu casually pulled off one of the pendants.

This is a light red jade pendant shaped like a bird, resembling a phoenix spreading its wings and soaring high.

Cui Shuyu handed the jade pendant to Dou Changsheng and began to explain, "This is a phoenix jade pendant carved from a hundred-year-old jade heart. It is a ninth-grade defensive spiritual artifact."

"It contains twelve spiritual runes. As long as you start to nurture it with your own essence, energy and spirit, you can cultivate a thirteenth spiritual rune and advance from the ninth grade to the eighth grade. It is considered a minor top-grade item and a very good defensive treasure."

"The most valuable thing is that this is a spiritual artifact that can grow. If it is nurtured with true qi and qi, the spiritual patterns on it can be upgraded to thirty-six, making it a perfect seventh-grade spiritual artifact."

"If we find another master craftsman, we can further upgrade its grade, from a spiritual weapon to a magical weapon."

"This is where the real value lies. Everything produced by the Cui family of Qinghe is absolutely of high quality."

Spiritual artifacts, magical artifacts, divine artifacts.

It is divided into three grades: upper, middle, and lower. Each grade is further divided into twelve, twenty-four, and thirty-six.

Thirty-six spiritual runes represent the pinnacle of a spiritual artifact, also known as a top-grade spiritual artifact. The next step is a magic artifact, where the spiritual runes transform into magic runes.

This phoenix jade pendant isn't of very high grade, but it has growth potential and its value far exceeds that of treasures of the same grade. Cui Shuyu really showed his sincerity.

Dou Changsheng accepted the jade pendant without any hesitation. Why not take it? His immediate priority was to save his life, and he absolutely couldn't let go of anything that could increase his chances of survival.

Cui Shuyu took out his prized possessions and stared eagerly at Dou Changsheng, waiting for him to reveal his brilliant plan. However, Cui Shuyu was disappointed. Dou Changsheng simply kept fiddling with the phoenix jade pendant in his hand, remaining silent as if he didn't see him at all, as if he didn't exist.

This caused Cui Shuyu to cough, as a reminder to Dou Changsheng that they had already taken the items and it was time to get down to business.

Dou Changsheng gently kneaded the phoenix jade pendant with his fingers, sighed, and said, "It's useless to say anything now. Who are the Golden Jade Guards who came?"

"We need to know their personality, their strength, and their intelligence before we can deal with them."

grass.

"Say all this nonsense, you're just wasting money and not getting anything done. How rude!" Cui Shuyu suddenly stood up and reached out to grab the phoenix jade pendant.

Take it back.

Awkward! My arms are too short; I couldn't reach it.

I'm tired of sitting, so I'm stretching. Just pretend nothing happened.