A life of two souls traveling through time

Chapter 260 Shadow Gate

In Yuzhou, the eastern border of Xiyue Country, the headquarters of Yingmen is hidden in a medicine store. On the surface, it is engaged in the business of medicinal materials, but in fact it has become the hands and eyes behind the current emperor Yan Qiao of Xiyue Country. Even though Hong Ah secretly took power and was trying to get Yingmen out of Yan Qiao's control and become the assassination organization that was free and unrestrained before, he didn't know that he had already been the prey in the net, the mantis in the eyes of the oriole.

The huge medicine store is narrow in the middle and spacious at both ends. The front and back courtyards are separated by only a long hall, but this hall is naturally not used to entertain guests, but to hide from the public.

The front yard of the medicine shop is surrounded by mountains and water, and is elegant and pleasant. The shop assistants are usually busy sorting and transporting medicinal materials in the front yard. There is only a locked door through the long hall. The shadow door will not enter the backyard from here, but there are still black-clothed shadow soldiers secretly guarding here, just to prevent people from the front yard from entering this place.

On this day, a new employee of the medicine store was holding his stomach and forgot where the toilet was. When he was about to enter the hall, he was stopped by an old employee who suddenly appeared and said, "You kid, are you going to die? How dare you come in here?"

"Old Wang, I just want to find the toilet." The new guy was suddenly pulled by someone. Seeing the other person's frightened face, he stood up nervously and explained. At this time, he had forgotten that he needed to defecate.

"Didn't I tell you? The toilet is over there!" The old man pointed in the opposite direction, then immediately glared at the boy and warned him: "If you are so impetuous and don't learn your lesson, you may die someday!"

"Old Wang, what is that backyard? Why are you so nervous? Our pharmacy..." The new guy suddenly stopped having stomachache and asked the old guy curiously.

"Hush!" The old man hurriedly interrupted the other party's questioning, looked around, and then quickly pulled him to a secluded corner, whispering: "I don't know what that thing is, but if you want to live, don't ask around. We are the employees of the medicine store, so we should stay in the front yard and work honestly. Don't meddle in other people's business. Be careful that curiosity kills the cat!"

"Is this medicine shop so scary? Or..." Before the new guy could finish his words, he was hit on the head by the old guy. The pain made him almost scream, but the old guy covered his mouth for him:

"Last year, a newcomer also walked through that hall out of curiosity. Guess what happened?"

"What's wrong?"

"He's dead. His throat was cut by a sword, and his body was buried in this garden as fertilizer." The old friend said, pointing to the cluster of flowers in front of them and sighing softly.

After hearing this, the new guy took a deep breath, looked at the blooming peony flowers in front of him with fright and turned pale. He then hurried to the toilet, holding his stomach.

The back door of the medicine shop is located deep in a dense forest. It is only open to people from the Shadow Gate, and one must hold a token to be let in by the Shadow Gate guarding the gate.

As the evening glow faded and night fell, Hong Ah, wearing a black and white mask, entered the backyard of the medicine store under the escort of several black-clad shadow warriors. The shadow warriors guarding the door saw the black and white mask and knelt down hurriedly, saying respectfully, "Greetings, Master Xin."

"Get up."

Hong'a waved her hand in a feminine voice and continued to move forward. She walked through several intricate rockery paths before arriving deep in the backyard. The hall with red walls and green tiles appeared before her.

The hall was as dark as a ghost. Sitting on the high steps was the leader of the Shadow Sect, who was still dressed in black and whose face could not be seen clearly. On both sides of the steps were the four elders from the headquarters, who were wearing black, red, green and yellow masks respectively. Now, these four elders were all Hong'a's spies in the headquarters.

Standing below the four elders were the other two sect leaders, also wearing red and white and red and black face masks respectively.

The Shadow Sect has three branches: Xin, Sha, and Jian, which are intelligence, assassination, and spies. The Shadowmen in various places are responsible for collecting intelligence and assassination missions, and some are capable and strong enough to do both. The spy mission is of great importance. Although there is a sect leader, it is just a sinecure with an empty title, and is only responsible for transmitting information. The one who issues the mission is the Shadow Sect Leader, and behind the Shadow Sect Leader is naturally Yan Qiao.

"I pay my respects to the Lord in Charge."

Hong A Chong knelt respectfully in front of the black shadow sitting high up. Although almost all the people in the headquarters were his now, after all, he had not taken power openly. He had to prevent the other two sect leaders from rebelling, and also worry about the blame from Yan Qiao, the emperor of Xiyue country who was above the Shadow Sect. Therefore, the time was not right, so he had to do what he had to do.

"Get up." The master sitting high nodded and said lazily.

"Master Xin, it's rare that you're so late." When Hong'a stood up, the master of the Sha Sect, who was wearing a red and white mask, smiled in a weird way. Relying on the favor of the Lord, Hong'a became more and more arrogant. How could he not be jealous?

"I have summoned the three sect masters today to ask if the division of the north and south directions is not clear enough? Why are there so many incidents of shadow warriors from different places fighting over missions?" Seeing that Hong A ignored the killer sect master and looked at him instead, the head of the Shadow Sect hurriedly spoke again. Although his voice was not as deep as before, his every move and tone did not arouse any suspicion from the other two sect masters.

"Reporting to the Lord Chief, the Northern Film has always had heavy tasks, but there are many geniuses and special abilities in the Northern Film, and sometimes the tasks are inevitably linked together. In order to avoid accidents, they occasionally solve the tasks of the Southern Film as well. But this will naturally cause misunderstandings on the part of the Southern Film." The leader of the Killing Gate stepped forward and respectfully saluted the Chief in a high position. The pair of eyes under the red and white mask glanced at Hong Ah with a provocation.

Although Hong Ah is the leader of Xinmen and is responsible for intelligence, he has always been on good terms with Zuo Hu in private. After all, the Southeastern Shadow has more intelligence, and he often goes south. The leader of Shamen also has You Hu to curry favor with, so at this time he has to speak for the Northern Shadow, which is under the jurisdiction of You Hu.

"Yes, it's all caused by misunderstanding. It would be better to let the left protector and the right protector sit together and talk it out. If something like this happens again in the future, they will naturally understand each other." The leader of the Jianmen has always been a peacemaker. When he heard the leader of the Shamen say this, he smiled and walked forward to smooth things over.

"Would you please share your thoughts, elders?" Seeing that Hong'a said nothing, the Shadow Clan leader did not dare to make a decision easily, so he passed the ball to the four elders below.

These four elders were also Hong'a's men. How could they dare to speak without being told by their superiors? They all secretly glanced at the silent Hong'a, and then looked at each other, at a loss as to what to do.

"If the task needs to be solved together, why not inform Southern Film in advance? Is this to facilitate the smooth completion of the task or are some Northern Film soldiers too bold and reckless to take the rules of the Film Sect seriously?" At this time, Hong Ah snorted coldly and smiled femininely.

"Have you believed what the Sect Leader said?" Upon hearing this, the Sect Leader of the Sha Sect's eyes became slightly angry, and he spoke in a cold voice with his eyes half-closed.

Seeing this, the leader of the Jian Sect, who wanted to smooth things over, did not dare to say anything anymore. Instead, he turned his gaze to the Lord in Charge who was sitting high up.

"Yes, the division is clear, but such misunderstandings can still arise. Beijing Film Academy should reflect on this." The head of the Film Gate also echoed Hong'a's words and became serious.

Seeing that the Lord in Charge also said so, the leader of the Sha Sect did not dare to speak for Beiying anymore and lowered his head respectfully.

"Elder Xuan, you should go to Beiying and investigate this matter. Are these Beiying warriors eager to make achievements or are they really so bold and reckless that they don't take the rules of Yingmen seriously?" After a long silence, the head of the high seat saw Hong A Chong nodded to himself, then looked at the elder wearing a black mask and gave instructions.

"Yes, sir." Elder Xuan bowed and responded.

Afterwards, after the three sect leaders finished reporting on the recent missions in various places, it was already midnight. The Shadow Sect leader hurriedly gave a few instructions and let everyone go, leaving only Hong Ah.

The other two sect leaders couldn't help feeling uncomfortable when they saw that the Lord Chief had left Sect Leader Xin alone. The Lord Chief had always been partial to Sect Leader Xin, and although they were used to it, they were still unwilling to accept it.

"Master of the Gate."

After everyone had left and there were only two people left in the dim hall, the Shadow Gate leader walked down from the platform and knelt at Hong'a's feet.

"Your performance tonight has improved a lot. It seems that you won't need Youmei anymore before long." Hong'a also raised his head and straightened his back instantly, opened the red fan in his hand and waved it gently.

"Thank you for your praise, Master. I will continue to work hard."

Hong Awei did not speak again, but walked past the black shadow under his feet and went straight to the back hall.

A faint fragrance wafted through the dark red greenhouse. A middle-aged man in servant's clothes was kneeling motionless beside the bed. Although he looked demented, his face, which had been weathered by the years, was still handsome.

Hong Ah walked into the greenhouse. He had taken off his mask. His handsome face with a plum blossom on his forehead looked even more charming under his half-loose hair. He slowly sat on the bed, fanning himself with a red fan. He lowered his eyes and looked at You Mei who was kneeling at his feet. He smiled smugly, "You never thought that the dignified Lord Chief would become a lowly servant under my feet."

The other party was still as dazed as a piece of wood. Hong Ah leaned down and moved the red fan in her hand across his face. Suddenly, she made a heavy stroke. A blood mark instantly appeared on that mature and handsome face. Bright red blood slowly seeped out. Looking closely, one could find that there were quite a few such blood marks left on that face, but they gradually faded with time.

"Hehe." Hong Ah laughed twice, then raised her hand to pinch his chin and continued in a cold voice: "It won't be long before your usefulness ends. I will give you a quick death for the few months you have served me as a slave."