The Fifth Young Master supervised the disposal of all the Yingng in the valley and led his n to Huacao Hall to arrest the entire Hua family.
They focused their search on Hua Ling's room.
They found a weapon: one end had a quiver containing hundreds of arrows, and the other end was a chanical trigger.
Upon pressing it, hundreds of arrows would shoot out from the barrel.
"If used on the battlefield, this would absolutely be a weapon of mass destruction," the Fifth Young Master said, his tone full of admiration for the hidden weapon.
He had already ordered soone to take the weapon back for further study.
Li An looked at the Fifth Young Master. "Does the valley have any other exits?"
"There is only one path." If they hadn't followed Hua Ling, their people wouldn't have been able to enter the valley at all.
"The valley still holds secrets."
Li An couldn't exactly pinpoint what the secret was, but he felt sothing was wrong.
He decided to visit the valley one more ti.
"Let's go tomorrow. It's already late at night," the Fifth Young Master said, his heart aching for Li An's exhaustion.
"No." Li An had a gut feeling that he had to go tonight.
Since Li An insisted, the Fifth Young Master naturally risked his life to accompany his beloved.
The two of them took their n and rode off toward the valley.
Upon arriving at the valley, Li An slled blood.
"Isn't that normal?" People had been killed there just during the day.
"It's not blood from the day; it's the hot blood of a fresh kill." Li An had undergone special training under Gu Cundong.
Hearing this, the Fifth Young Master's expression changed. He led his n inside and quickly returned.
"The n I left behind have been killed." The Fifth Young Master's face was grim.
"Who did it?"
"Zhu Fuying is leading a team searching inside." The Fifth Young Master clenched his fists; this was his mistake.
"How many n do they have?"
"A thousand."
They only had six people. They couldn't attack head-on; they had to outsmart them.
Li An took out a bottle and handed it to the Fifth Young Master.
"Scatter this upwind." He then took out another bottle. "The antidote."
"An'an is amazing as always." The Fifth Young Master took the two bottles and led his n to set the trap. He also dispatched one person to notify the army.
This ti, he was determined to turn the valley upside down and not let a single criminal escape.
Li An did not follow the Fifth Young Master. Instead, he investigated outside the valley, trying to find the source of his uneasy feeling.
As he walked, he ca across a stream.
A familiar scent of Youning incense hung in the air.
Following the stream upward, Li An arrived at a cliff face. Looking around, he discovered a hidden cave.
Pushing aside the branches and weeds obscuring the entrance, he went inside.
He walked down the steps step by step for about the ti it takes to drink two cups of tea.
Li An arrived at a stone door.
After searching for a while, he found the chanism.
The stone door opened to reveal another passageway.
He walked a few dozen paces and turned upward. Pushing a door open, he erged into a cave room.
The cave contained a bed, a bookcase, and other items.
It bore signs of human habitation.
"I didn't expect Doctor Li to be the first one to find this place." Hua Ling stood at the doorway, smiling at Li An.
"The Hua family never lost control of the valley. Did you intentionally lure the army here as well?"
"What I told Doctor Li was true; I didn't lie to you. I just omitted a few details. Zhao Hong was too impatient. As soon as she heard about one passage, she couldn't wait to leave." When Hua Ling ntioned her biological mother, her words were filled with disdain.
Hua Ling's father, Hua Shu, blad himself heavily for Zhao Hong snatching the valley away, rendering him sowhat neurotic.
When he was in a good mood, he was a loving father to his daughter, buying Hua Ling all sorts of food and drinks.
When he was in a bad mood, he was a tornting devil. Little Hua Ling suffered unspeakably under his abuse.
The rest of the Hua family resented Zhao Hong and simply watched Hua Ling's suffering with cold indifference.
Hua Ling didn't understand why her family treated her this way. She understood even less why others had mothers while she did not.
Seeing others being doted on by their mothers made her incredibly envious.
Once, taking advantage of Hua Shu's good mood, Hua Ling asked about it.
Hua Ling still rembered how Hua Shu's smile instantly vanished, his face turning dark. Then, his large, fan-like hands slapped her viciously across the face and head.
After that, it took Hua Ling half a year to recover from her injuries.
It couldn't even be called a full recovery; ever since then, her legs ached terribly on rainy days.
As she grew older, she learned to be obedient. She stopped asking about her mother and diligently studied the cultivation of flowers.
Hua Ling was very talented, and the flowers she cultivated earned her grandfather's high regard.
As her family's attitude toward her changed, she also found out why they had treated her so poorly in the past.
It was all the fault of her biological mother, Zhao Hong. Zhao Hong had stolen the valley, causing Huacao Hall to decline from its peak.
Hua Ling blad all the suffering she had endured since childhood on Zhao Hong.
She wanted Zhao Hong to pay the price. However, as the town madam, Zhao Hong was constantly surrounded by guards, making her impossible to deal with alone.
Hua Ling sought out a master to learn the art of hidden weapons, hoping to kill her without anyone noticing.
Hua Ling researched the sleeve arrow, which didn't require the imnse arm strength and precise eyesight needed for a traditional bow and arrow.
Aiming in one direction, it could continuously fire ten arrows.
While testing it, Hua Ling was accidentally discovered by Zhu Fuying.
Zhu Fuying took a liking to Hua Ling's craftsmanship and recruited her, turning her into a weapons developer.
Hua Ling developed a new arrow weapon that was far deadlier than the sleeve arrow; a single press would unleash a rain of arrows.
Because she had developed such a highly lethal weapon, Hua Ling gained even more of Zhu Fuying's trust.
She knew that although the Zhu family appeared to be a wealthy and philanthropic household on the surface, they were actually spies planted in the Qing Dynasty by the Yan State. The Zhu family's mission was to gather intelligence on the Qing Dynasty and recruit more people to serve the Yan State.
From the gathered intelligence, Zhu Fuzheng located Zhao Hong, the human trafficker ringleader who was being hunted by the imperial court.
He used romance as a net to ensnare Zhao Hong, first manipulating her to seize the Hua family's valley for his use, and then extracting the Yingng formula she held.
Zhu Fuzheng used Yingng to control court officials, bending them to his will.
Additionally, he secretly recruited talents to research weapons, preparing for the Yan State's invasion of the Qing Dynasty.
Zhu Fuzheng's plans were excellent, but unfortunately, his life was short, and he died early.
The assets Zhu Fuzheng controlled were inherited by Zhao Hong and Zhu Fuying, respectively.
Once Hua Ling found out everything, she plotted how to finish these people off. She seduced Dongzhi, making him help her.
Dongzhi's softheartedness for his sister almost ruined her brilliant plans.
"You were the one who killed Xiaoman."
"If she didn't die, how could I have lured you here, Doctor Li, along with the people behind you?" Hua Ling's disregard for life disgusted Li An.
"I said I would avenge Xiaoman."
"Li An, you have a very beautiful skin. I really like it. It's a pity you can't be of use to ." Hua Ling sighed, raising the sleeve arrow in her hand, aiming it at Li An, and pressing the trigger.
Swish—
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