After a moment of stunned silence, Meng Qi spoke calmly: "We came from the north, but we passed through Liusha Village. Qu Jiu Niang is indeed beautiful and charming, with a fiery personality, and her eyes light up when she sees money."

  "Right, right, right! When Jiuniang saw the jewels and gold, she became so beautiful that it seemed like she would glow. Her eyes, her expression... wow, it's really intoxicating... " Xiejiu Ghost suddenly became excited and couldn't stop talking, "But I'm telling you, Jiuniang is most beautiful not at these times, but after drinking wine, at that time..."

  He let out a belch, suddenly stopped, and fell down drunk, soon snoring loudly, as if summoning Jiuniang, making him eager to enter his dreams and "meet" the beauty.

  Meng Qi couldn't hear any valuable clues, so he left Lao Cao Hotel with Gu Changqing.

  As they left, a white and slender hand suddenly appeared beside the drunkard's ear, pinching his earlobe with great force.

  "Ouch!" The Wine Ghost let out a pained cry.

  …………

  As soon as Meng Qi stepped into the courtyard, he saw Zhong Ya pacing back and forth with a mixture of excitement and fear, while Gong Sha Yue stood beside him, her expression equally anxious.

  "What's going on, Master?" Gu Changqing asked anxiously after catching Meng Qi's eye signal.

  Zhongya smiled and said, "Yuanmeng Zhi and the White City Master have jointly issued an invitation to all brothers to attend a banquet at the City Master's mansion to thank us for escorting them along the way."

  "'Escorting' all the way?" Meng Qi's expression was cold and questioning, but he was secretly laughing, thinking that Yuan Mengzhi was also talking nonsense with his eyes wide open.

  Zhong Ya sighed and said, "Yes, I think Yuan Mengzhi wants to lay his cards on the table with us. He wants us to finish this drink and then leave Yuhai. Sigh, you guys didn't spend all your treasure, did you?"

  "The escape route has been set, 5,000 silver coins will be given after the remaining matters are settled." Gu Changqing first gave Zhong Ya a heavy blow on the head before smiling and saying, "The eldest master, don't worry, since Yuan Mengzhi wants to force everyone, there must be someone who is dissatisfied. Tonight, something unexpected may happen, at that time, we can take advantage of the chaos."

  "It's also, with so many cavalry troops, big and small, there are probably around 70 to 80 skilled fighters. Each of the seven apertures has its own master, if Yuan Menger forces them out, will they obediently listen? Even if Bai Baozheng helps, we have more people and a stronger momentum, but it's not easy to deal with. Hmph, even if Yuan Menger is made of iron, how many nails can he hit?" Zhong Ya had thought of all this before, but needed someone else to say it out loud to comfort and encourage himself.

  He paused, looking at Meng Qi and Gu Zhangqing: "Young Brother Meng, you and Little Yu will follow me to the banquet tonight. Don't be rash when something happens. Young Brother Gu and Wu Brothers will stay here, let the brothers prepare well, once chaos erupts, take advantage of the fire to loot."

  Since the banquet is not a good one, it's natural to bring the strongest hand, so even if Meng Qi behaves rudely and disregards rules, Zhong Ya Xi has no choice but to bring him along. Meanwhile, Gong Sha Yue, although being the third master, has strength that surpasses Wu Yong, the second master, by a big margin.

  Some people went to the banquet, and some had to stay home to prepare for the robbery, so Zhong Ya let "Military Adviser" Gu Changqing stay behind, and arranged for Wu Yong to monitor and assist him.

  Hearing about such a banquet, Meng Qi roughly guessed Yuan Mengzhi's thoughts. Even if Zhong Ya didn't let him go himself, he had to find an excuse to attend, so he didn't decline and simply said: "I'll do as you say, Eldest Master."

  "Alright, everyone go back to your rooms and rest. We'll set off tonight. Little Gu, after we leave, please make another trip to Old Cao's hotel and tell Xiejiu to get ready." Zhong Ya Xi gave his final instructions with a very authoritative tone.

  Back in his room, Meng Qi paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, his mind racing with thoughts that refused to calm down.

  "In this situation, if there was a 'tragic clear wind', things would be much simpler." Meng Qi sighed, he had been waiting for the "opportunity", but that kind of "opportunity" was rarely seen in the desert, and even more so in the oasis, and he hadn't been able to encounter it yet. Without an "opportunity", whether it was a direct attack or a clever trick like "borrowing a tiger to scare away a monkey", success was unlikely, because Yuan Meng had been waiting for him to do exactly that, completely eliminating any element of surprise."

  If time permits, Meng Qi can think of a way to wait for a specific terrain and rescue people along the thinking mode of Yuan Meng Zhi, but time is not waiting for me!

  In this kind of banquet, there are many people and the smell is overwhelming, which severely affects the nasal cavity. The colorless and odorless "Bēi Suī Qīng Fēng" that targets internal skills has a very good effect, after all Yuán Mèng Zhī doesn't have the crazy sand divine skill to resist poison.

  The candle made of Seven Heart Sea Peach, although also colorless and odorless, is highly toxic and affects everyone. Ordinary people will react faster. In this kind of banquet setting, there must be maidservants present. Not to mention the issue of harming innocent people or violating one's own bottom line, just the fact that they would have been poisoned and reacted earlier could wake up Yuan Meng and others before the poison takes deep effect, leaving no opportunity for oneself, but instead being surrounded and killed by nearly a hundred bandits.

  Moreover, these means are all based on the fact that Yuan Menger and others were completely unaware of the poisoning, but this is almost impossible. He obviously wants to take advantage of this chaotic situation to rescue himself, and all aspects will definitely be considered carefully.

  "It can only be adapted randomly, and things will happen as they go." Meng Qi sighed again, perhaps the opportunity was in Zhong Ya's followers with Ma Fei and Yuan Meng Zhi's conflict, causing chaos on the surface, but it was unknown whether this opportunity was deliberately created by Yuan Meng Zhi.

  If there was no chance, Meng Qi asked himself that he would not have done something that would inevitably lead to death, and could only leave his useful body to avenge Xiao Shidi.

  Calming his mind, Meng Qi sat down quietly to regulate his breathing. At this moment, anxiety and impatience were useless and would only affect his judgment.

  Unconsciously, it was already dusk when Meng Qi was startled awake by Gu Changqing's knock on the door.

  "Zhong Ya, are you ready to set off?" Gu Changqing said with a serious expression, "Be careful yourself, don't force it if there's no opportunity."

  Meng Qipeng smiled and said: "I'm cautious, I don't do things that aren't a sure thing."

  As Meng Qi walked out of the house and into the courtyard, he suddenly felt a strong gust of wind blowing by, causing the branches to sway back and forth.

  He suddenly looked up and gazed at the sky, only to see that the dark red still shrouded by the sunset was gradually becoming gloomy.

  "It's windy......" Meng Qi's expression was very strange, seemingly surprised and delighted at the same time.

  There was only one idea in his mind, from a topic he had seen somewhere in some textbook or book before: "Research on strong convection weather over large oases"…

  The sea is vast and wide, with misty waves stretching far away, so this is a vast oasis.

  Gu Changqing followed suit and nodded in agreement, saying: "Yes, it's windy, it's going to rain heavily, but what are you sighing about?"

  Generally speaking, such conditions and sky color indicate a heavy rain shower.

  Meng Qi's expression became calm again, but he clearly showed a few points of relaxation: "Because the time has come..."

  "Is it time?" Gu Changqing looked at Meng Qi with surprise and delight.

  Meng Qi didn't respond, and with his hands behind his back, he walked towards Zhong Ya Shuo and the others, humming as he went: "It's raining, thundering, time to gather in the clothes."

  Again half-concealing and half-revealing! Gu Changqing's teeth itched as he watched Meng Qi's back, wishing he could give him a good scolding, but he quickly gathered his thoughts and headed out to Old Cao's hotel.

  …………

  The banquet was not a good one, the pressure of loyalty was quite great, and all the way they kept silent. Meng Qi pressed his sword with his left hand, and his face was cold and stern, also without speaking.

  Entered the city master's mansion, under the guidance of a maid, walked into a spacious hall, found his own seat, Zhong Ya Xuan looked around and found that each of the horse bandits seemed to have their own table - Bai Ba Zheng was nostalgic for the Central Plains characters, liked ancient etiquette, so it was not a square table, but one person per table. The heads of the horse bandits, including Zhong Ya Xuan, were located on both sides of the road, with Meng Qi and Gong Sha Yue behind him.

  Zhong Ya She watched as a familiar bandit leader walked in, being arranged by the maids in an orderly manner without any chaos. Suddenly, a sense of fear arose in his heart. This situation indicated that Yuan Meng Zhi or Bai Ba Zheng was very familiar with their situation, knowing which bandit leaders were present and how many brothers each had brought.

  "He mustn't clash with them." He cautioned himself.

  "Zhong Da is really our benefactor. We are truly fated." Wang Hong's voice suddenly sounded beside Zhong Ya's ear, and he was arranged to be seated nearby.

  Meng Qi's left hand pressed against his sword, with an air of readiness to strike at any moment. Wang Hong, that half-naked and hairy guy, looked at him with a mixture of hatred and unease.

  He glanced at the empty space in front of him, and a plan formed in his mind. He burst out laughing: "Young Meng brother, aren't you proud and ambitious, wanting to make a name for yourself? Now is your chance! If you can defeat any one of the horse team leaders here, you'll immediately become famous! And if you can beat Yuan Meng big brother, heh heh, it won't be long before your name spreads throughout Hanhai!"

  "Wang Hong, don't spout nonsense!" Zhong Ya jumped in fright, afraid that Meng Qi would jump out and challenge the leader of the horse thieves. This was completely unacceptable to Yuan Mengzhi! He used his eyes to signal to Meng Qi to calm down and not be impulsive, while scolding Wang Hong.

  Wang Hong sat down with his brothers and chuckled: "Young Meng, aren't you the one who doesn't like to talk about rules? Now is your chance, as long as you can overthrow Yuan Meng, we'll all listen to you! Are you a coward?"

  Meng Qi closed his eyes, concentrated his spirit and waited for an opportunity.

  Meng Qi's calm demeanor earned him even more praise from Zhong Ya, while Wang Hong curled his lip and continued to provoke and mock Meng Qi.

  After a moment, Yuan Mengzhi, with his emerald eyes and light yellow beard, led Du Mo, Zhen Hui, and others from the back hall into the room. Bai Baizheng, the master of Yuhai City, accompanied them as the host.

  Bai Baizhan has half Han ethnicity, with facial features as if carved from stone. He is over fifty years old, with hair as white as flowers, wearing a high crown, wide robe and large sleeves fluttering in the wind, having quite a bit of the air of a scholar-official.

  Meng Qi opened his eyes and looked at Zhen Hui, seeing that his face was as usual, but with a hint of sadness and longing, he slightly put down his guard.

  Bai Ba Zheng and Yuan Meng Zhi took their seats one after another, while Zhen Hui was held back by a horse bandit, staring at the delicious food on the table with wide eyes, licking his lips.

  This guy only knows how to eat! Meng Qi laughed and scolded, closing his eyes again, brewing up momentum.

  Yuán Mèng Zhī looked at the crowd of bandits below and cleared his throat, preparing to speak.

  Rumble!

  The sky suddenly thundered, interrupting Yuan Mengzhi's words.

  Dark clouds gather outside, and flashes of lightning dance wildly.

  Yuan Mengzhi coughed again, attracting everyone's attention. Just then, he saw a young man named Ma Fei walking out of the crowd with his sword drawn, standing in the middle of the passageway.

  In Zhong Ya's astonished and fearful expression, Meng Qi calmly and quietly drew out the Ice Coffin Sword, pointing at Yuan Meng Zhi:

  "I challenge you."

  Ah? Including Wang Hong, everyone's mouth was wide open.