In the dark low clouds, lightning illuminated the gap between heaven and earth, and another "lotus" exploded from the clouds.
Scattered around Pingye, blocking every Daokoujin ferry, the large number of White Lotus cultists, like hyenas smelling the smell of blood, swarmed in the direction of the "Lotus" rising.
……………………
The rain became more intense, the thunder and fireworks were swallowed up by the rain in the blink of an eye, and the world returned to darkness.
Suddenly.
"call out."
Amidst the sound of breaking through the sky, a stream of light penetrated the rain curtain and stopped in a depression filled with mud and water. The light spread out a hundred steps, illuminating the streaks of rain in the air.
If you look closely, you will see that the body of the streamer is actually a hand-sized, mechanical kingfisher made of fine iron parts. On the hollow breast of the bird, a fluorite shines with dazzling light.
The name of this trap bird is "Night Bird", which comes from the prison of the imperial court and is specially used by Zhenfu Si to pursue people at night. In the past, I don't know how many green forest heroes have been chased to the sky and have no way to go to the earth. But things have changed.
, now it’s the turn of the Zhenfusi people to taste its power.
As soon as the bird hovered, a series of intensive sounds of horse hooves followed it.
"Hush!"
With a few whistles, a dozen knights broke into this small depression, and dozens of horse hooves made the water even more turbid. The leader was none other than Cheng Liang, who was seeking glory by betraying his friends. He drove his horse to observe the surroundings.
After a while, his face became more gloomy. He whistled again, called the bird to him, turned over and dismounted in the light, groped in the muddy water a few times, and then lifted a body from the water.
"Another step too slow!"
As early as the first White Lotus fireworks rose into the sky, Pingye's White Lotus Zuo Envoy and the old man realized that although they failed in Pingye City, the idle chess they laid out had a miraculous effect.
When they entered the city this time, they only bothered with the famous masters, and left the vast majority of the congregants who had been summoned. They only asked them to divide into small groups and disperse, either squatting or wandering around Pingye, and gave strict orders.
As soon as they encounter Yan Xinglie, a firework warning will be issued, and as soon as the fireworks are lit up, everyone must rush to the place where the fireworks are raised.
Due to the disorganized organization, even the senior officials of the White Lotus Sect in Pingye City did not know how many members there were who had been summoned from various places. But what was clear was that the members outside the city were just a loose mass, even if there were some mixed ones.
There are several masters, but they are absolutely no match for Yan Xinglie and the Taoist priests. They can only hope to expose Yan Xinglie's traces and slightly hinder their footsteps, so that the masters of the White Lotus Sect can catch up in time.
However, galloping on a rainy night is both difficult and dangerous.
Eager to make up for his past mistakes, Cheng Liang took the initiative to ask for orders and led his close men and a dozen White Lotus Sect masters who were good at equestrianism as a vanguard to pursue Yan Xinglie.
Unexpectedly, just after leaving Pingye, the lotus flowers in the sky exploded incessantly. He and his men and horses also went through many twists and turns, but they still failed every time. What was waiting for him was always a mess of corpses. This result made him
Increasingly angry and anxious.
If Yan Xinglie is gone, no matter it is the White Lotus Sect or the Zhenfu Division, there will be no place for him to establish himself.
"Hey, this person..."
The person who spoke was a general under Cheng Liang. Since he was a local who was familiar with the route, he was taken with him. This time, he imitated Cheng Liang and fished out a corpse from the muddy water. After looking at it for a while, he said in surprise.
The sound comes.
"Isn't this Xiang Sheng, the second in charge of Black Wind Village, the 'Hundred-Armed Sword'?"
This Black Wind Village is a group of bandits near Pingye. The twelve leaders in the village are tyrannical figures. They rely on their superb martial arts skills and dare to fight and charge. They have repelled the government troops several times. Such a person can be
He was considered a powerful person in the area, but he unexpectedly turned out to be a secret agent of the White Lotus Sect.
"Hiss..." The commander-in-chief took a breath, "This is really awesome!"
At this time, his men worked diligently and fished out ten more corpses from the muddy water. Xiao Zongqi identified them one by one and found that all of the twelve leaders in Heifeng Village were lying here.
The notorious Black Wind Village in Pingye became a thing of the past overnight.
More than just...
Cheng Liang frowned and looked at the dead state of the corpse in his hands.
Unlike Zong Qi, he has seen more. He knows that what is powerful is not how many people are killed, but the way of killing. The twelve corpses in front of him are not the same as those found several times before. There are no other unnecessary wounds on the body.
There was only one fatal wound, and he was killed with one clean blow.
For example, the dead man in front of him only had his throat pierced by the tip of the sword, neither deep nor shallow, leaving only a small wound when he was about to die. Cheng Liang thought to himself that he had tied the person to death and wanted to stab him out.
Such a result is extremely difficult, let alone a brawl in the rainy night.
He looked at the remains of the corpse's expression before death, confused and frightened, and his heart sank.
Can those White Lotus cultists really hinder the opponent's progress? Can I really catch up? Even if I catch up, can I be their opponent?
Just at this moment, another firework rose in the night sky not far away.
Cheng Liang got excited, wiped the rain off his face, and got on his horse.
"Chase!"
……………………
About half an hour.
Cheng Liang and his gang braved the wind and rain to reach their destination, which was located on a gentle slope in a forest of trees. Unfortunately, just like the previous times, the bearded man and the Taoist priest had already escaped, leaving only a pile of corpses on the ground.
But this time, when everyone looked at the scene, their expressions were a little unnatural.
Looking around, one can see the upper body that had been chopped off and hanging in a tree; the headless corpse with its head smashed lying on the roadside; the belly that had been cut open and swollen by the rain; the body and head that had been separated were mixed together and could not be distinguished from each other...
If it was an art exhibition of killing before, this place is a living slaughterhouse.
The red rainwater covered the horse's hooves, and after a brief silence.
Cheng Liang drove his horse into the field and approached the only "living person" in the field, a man who had been pierced through the chest by a broken spear shaft and was nailed to a tree trunk to survive.
Cheng Liang came closer and his expression moved slightly.
Fortunately, he also knew this person. He was the manager of a powerful family in Pingye. This powerful family merged the land and formed a stronghold to protect themselves. They also organized a group of regiments, which were led by this person. Previously, the government launched a crusade against Black Wind.
In the stronghold, local brave men were recruited from various major clans, and they led their subordinates in group training and also joined the army.
Oh, no wonder the officers and soldiers were defeated.
He drove his horse closer, grabbed the man's hair, and shouted:
"Where is Yan Xinglie?"
The man's eyelids moved, he opened his mouth and spat out some inaudible words. Cheng Liang frowned and leaned forward to listen. Unexpectedly, the man coughed up blood, which poured into Cheng Liang's ears.
No more sound.
"waste."
Cheng Liang was so angry that he tore it off the tree, plunged it into the muddy water, and trampled it many times with his horse before calming down the unknown fire raging in his heart. He looked at the bodies in the field with a gloomy face.
The broken corpse... Slowly, the expression on his face changed from anger to confusion, then from confusion to thinking, and finally to ecstasy.
How is death in the field? Brutal? Yes, a wounded beast is always more dangerous.
However, this means that when he is tired and his hands are weak, the knife will be biased and he will not be able to maintain the precise and efficient killing!
The prey finally showed its flaws.
"boom."
Another lotus bloomed in the sky.
This time, it's very close!
………………
Yan Xinglie swept the heavy sword in his hand and cut a fanatical White Lotus cultist into two pieces. Then he heard the messy sound of strings, and several archers suddenly appeared in the grass more than ten steps away, shooting at him with a burst of arrows.
"The wind is coming."
Li Changan made his decision simultaneously, and the strong wind swept back the chaotic rain, sweeping away all the arrows. Yan Xinglie took the opportunity to break into the crowd, and the heavy sword in his hand was spinning, and his limbs were flying with flesh and blood.
Then another fight came to an end.
The Taoist priest stood leaning on his sword, letting the rain wash away the blood on the sword while he took the opportunity to breathe in embarrassment.
Since the encounter with the seven White Lotus swordsmen, they failed to stop the lotus-shaped fireworks, which seemed to have stirred up a hornet's nest. In this dark rainy night, small groups of White Lotus swordsmen always appeared suddenly, ranging from a few to many.
Then there are dozens of them, just like mosquitoes, they are endlessly killing and beheading them.
The two fought and retreated all the way. They couldn't tell their direction in the darkness, so they could estimate the direction roughly to the east. When they encountered the White Lotus Sect men and horses, they were sometimes able to avoid them, sometimes they were out of reach and prevented from hitting them head-on, and sometimes they were able to stop them from firing.
Fireworks, sometimes they can't be stopped and they have to fight hard.
Along the way, Yan Xinglie threw away the cloak that represented the identity of the Zhenfu Secretary. Because the cloak had been soaked by the rain and was as heavy as a piece of lead iron, he could no longer bear it. When Li Changan took the head, his hands became more and more sluggish.
Astringent, I don’t know if it’s because my hands are soft or my sword is blunt.
The Taoist priest regained some strength, then turned around and pulled out a sheep from the bush cage on the side. The sheep was stupid, standing there neither barking nor moving. The Taoist priest held the rope and followed it obediently.
This sheep is naturally the saint that the White Lotus Sect is looking for. Thanks to the sheepskin cover, the White Lotus cultists who bumped into it along the way did not know where it was, otherwise they would have been snatched away in the chaos.
The two men repaired briefly and set off as soon as possible.
Suddenly.
A bolt of lightning exploded, outlining a figure wearing a bamboo hat about two hundred steps away.
Yan Xinglie picked up a short bow on the spot, and Li Changan held on to the hilt of the sword.
"You two, wait a moment, I don't mean you any harm."
The man raised his hands to indicate that he had no weapons in his hands. He slowly approached and then raised his bamboo hat. God rewarded him with a thunderbolt, which illuminated his face clearly.
"It's you……"
Yan Xinglie frowned and moved to stand in front of the sheep... This person was the scholar he met in the Monster Manor with the intention of assassinating the White Lotus Saint.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came here specifically to help you two. But now it seems that I am in trouble. With your abilities, these rabble can't stop you two..."
"That's not right. Pindao's arms are very sore right now."
On this rainy night, there were still many White Lotus believers lurking, so they had no time to talk to him in such polite words. The Taoist priest interrupted him unceremoniously.
"If a scholar has something to say, he might as well say it clearly."
"The Taoist priest speaks quickly."
The scholar was not upset and just bowed his hand.
"In this case, I can tolerate my rudeness. You two must also know that although the journey was smooth and unstoppable, what you encountered..." The scholar pointed at the corpse of the White Lotus cultist with a look of disdain. "...It's just a mob."
"Although the masters of the White Lotus Sect were transferred to Pingye City by the two of them, the two people's plan was exposed when the fireworks started. The masters of the White Lotus Sect may catch up at any time. At this time, the two of them may not be able to fight with both fists.
Four enemies..."
The Taoist priest and the bearded man were silent. Although they didn't know where the scholar got the information, what he said was true.
Seeing that the two people did not refute, the scholar said solemnly:
"I have a plan that will not only get you two out of trouble, but also catch all the White Lotus elites who are chasing after you. In this way, there will be no more obstacles on the eastward journey... Now, it depends on whether you two can trust me?
"
Yan Xinglie remained speechless, and the scholar turned his attention to Li Changan.
"Do not believe."
The Taoist priest responded calmly.
"However, there is no other way to deal with this situation. You might as well talk about it and listen to it."