The family banquet was held in Yaoguang Court, the private residence, which is also the villa of Saint Aunt Zhang Yulan.
This was Lu Jing's first time here. He looked around and nodded secretly. His aunt's taste was worthy of recognition. Not only was the courtyard beautiful, it also contained a mysterious formation. Outsiders who didn't know the route would definitely be trapped by the formation. , but looking at Fan Xuan's familiar look, it's obvious that he has come for a long time.
The kitchen is open-air, located in the northwest corner of the courtyard, next to the main hall.
When Lu Jing and Zhang Qiying followed Fan Xuan in, Zhang Yulan was cooking with her maid, and the aroma of rice could be smelled from a distance.
Lu Jing is today's hero. If he hadn't discovered the clues early and nipped the disaster in the bud, it would have been delayed until Christmas Day. The five devils were all there. Du Gan and his puppets cooperated with the stubborn stone to besiege Zhang Lu. The situation would have been very bad. Therefore, , Zhang Yulan, and Zhang Lu were both very kind to him. From this moment on, Lu Jing was no longer just Fan Xuan's direct descendant, but also a highly trusted figure in Tianshi Dao.
It was a great meal for both guest and host.
After eating, Zhang Yulan took out all the treasures he had collected and let Lu Jing take his pick.
Du Gan is the captain of Ying Yang of the school affairs office, and the Five Demons are also a well-known assassin group that has been famous for many years. They still have a lot of treasures on their bodies.
However, Lu Jing has already taken the big deal - Ma Dai's [Xuanshuang] sword is now in his hand. This is the weapon of the former Fubo General Ma Yuan. It is ranked in the upper level of the fifth rank. He has no interest in other things. After many refusals, Zhang Yulan finally helped him pick a lot.
"This medicinal refining method is derived from Taiping Tao's "Elephant Armor Gong". Taking a medicinal bath according to the prescription can increase muscles and build bones. It will be of great use to you. Take it."
"There is also this "Wind and Thunder Curse". You know "Drum Rhythm" and are quite accomplished in sound waves. This set of exercises can use your ten fingers to emit sound waves. It may have miraculous effects when combined with the Qi of the "Great No-Phase Skill". Take it too. ."
"In addition, there are [Puppet Silk] and Du Gan's five mechanism puppets. During the battle, this thing blocked many killing moves. Unfortunately, there is no secret book of "Thread Puppet Technique"... This skill should also be a secret skill from outside the world. You practice Qigong quickly and have a smart mind, you can try it."
…
Of all these, Zhang Yulan picked a lot, some for him to hold as rewards, and some for him to keep for later use.
It was hard to refuse such kindness. Seeing that Zhang Yulan was sincere, Lu Jing did not refuse.
In the next few days, until Daozu's Christmas, there was no more trouble in Nanzheng.
Zhang Qiying and Wang Shuang retreated one after another, trying to break through the refining of gods.
Yan Ling secretly practiced "The Soul-Eliminating Bone-Eroding Hand" in Jiangxuelou.
Lu Jing's internal strength is running around the clock, and his internal strength continues to increase. From time to time, he learns talismans and talisman formations from Fan Xuan, or refines [divine fire beads], and he is also not idle.
As for Ma Dai, Gong Shuyu and Du Gan who were in the cold prison, none of them lasted five days.
Hu Cong's methods are getting better and better.
Gongshu Yu was the quickest to surrender. In order to survive, he not only handed over the design drawings of the catapult, but also compiled a book of his unique skills in mechanics and presented it to Lu Jing... Seeing that he was so knowledgeable, Lu Jing did not say anything to him again. He took action, served delicious food and drinks, handed the drawings to Zhang Lu, and ordered the book to be sent to Lao Ganshan Mingyi, so that he could study it carefully based on the foundation of Mohist organ skills.
The second person to succumb was Du Gan. The water torture was really brutal. Du Gan lasted four days, during which he suffered numerous life and death situations. He couldn't stand it anymore, so he honestly wrote "The Art of Puppetry with Threads" silently.
The key to this set of secret techniques lies in the fifth-grade rare treasure [Puppet Silk]. When the two work together, you can not only control dead objects, but also living objects. You can even plant silk threads into the human body to forcefully distort the will of others and make them act according to their own wishes. , extremely weird!
If the incident hadn't happened suddenly and Du Gan was really prepared, he wouldn't have been able to catch it so easily.
Ma Dai held on the longest. Five days passed, no matter how much torture Hu Cong had, he just refused to say anything.
Hu Cong is also a ruthless person. In his heart, he only has Lu Jing's orders. He doesn't care who is who. If water torture doesn't work, then use bamboo torture. What about Ma Chao's younger brother? Even if Ma Chao comes in person, as long as Lu Jing speaks, then He still dares to be punished!
In order to make Ma Dai feel the pain "as soon as possible", he chose not the newly sprouted bamboo shoots, but the bamboos that had grown half a foot above the soil. He forced Ma Dai to lie flat and "embedded" on the bamboo shoots, which would inevitably pierce the skin and flesh. , every time the bamboo shoots grow, Ma Dai will have to endure more pain.
What's even more terrifying is that he can feel the bamboo growing in his body. The more blood flows, the faster the bamboo grows!
One day later, Ma Dai couldn't hold it any longer.
He swore in his heart that as long as he didn't die this time, he would chop Hu Cong and Lu Jing into pieces and feed them to the dogs!
He endured the humiliation and wrote the "Xuanshuang Sword Technique" silently. Lu Jing got the secret book and kept what he said. He got what he wanted, so naturally he would not torture him anymore. Good wine, good food and good medicine for injuries. It didn't pass. For a few days, Ma Dai was jumping around as if everything he had experienced before was an illusion...
On February 15th, Taozu’s Christmas day, it was very lively.
Lu Jing, as the Superintendent of Bingya Dao, watched the entire ceremony, which was indeed grand and grand.
Believers throughout Nanzheng followed Zhang Lu and Zhang Yulan to burn incense, pray, chant sutras, and receive Buddhist scriptures...
The steps of Motianling were filled with registered disciples, and thousands of ordinary believers gathered at the foot of the mountain. They all looked pious, held up incense, and saluted respectfully towards the statue of Taoist ancestors in the Zhengyixuantan Hall.
Zhang Lu took the lead in reciting the sacrificial inscriptions, asking for the blessing of the Supreme Being, and praying for blessings for the believers. The Tao Te Ching was recited from the mountain to the people, and the scene was very shocking.
Daozu’s Christmas has come to a successful conclusion.
Just as everyone was immersed in the joy of the festival, the army suddenly returned after only half a month. Xia Houyuan took advantage of this civil strife to alienate Ma Chao from the senior officials of Tianshi Dao who accompanied the army. Although Zhang Wei, Yan Pu and others obeyed Zhang Lu's order, , expressed his belief that he was not involved in this plan, but the entire army had heard about Ma Dai, that Gongshu Yu had liaised with foreign enemies to plot against the governor, and failed to report the knowledge, etc. The crowd was furious and the people were filled with resentment!
In order to kill Lu Jing, Ma Dai not only revealed Lu Jing's abilities, but also brokered a secret alliance between the two opposing forces.
If Lu Jing hadn't noticed in advance, not only would he have died, but this group of people would have also stabbed a sharp knife into Tianshi Dao!
Master Shijun took Ma Chao in when he was desperate, and also promised to lend troops and food to help him counterattack Liangzhou and make a comeback. It can be said that Ma Chao was benevolent and righteous. However, Ma Dai turned against him because of a personal grudge. He was obviously a hostage, but he actually colluded with foreign enemies because of this. , plotting something evil, the disciples of Tianshi Dao were all filled with righteous indignation. If the four generals had not been there to control him, they would have mutinied!
Seeing this situation, Ma Chao also knew that the army could not be commanded, but it was not Zhang Lu's fault. He felt aggrieved and had nothing to do, so he ordered his fourth general to camp outside Yangping Pass to set up a posture. With this military force, he took control of the Longxi and Guanzhong areas. The remnants of the Qiang and Di led their troops to attack Qishan Fort!
The title of "General Shenwei Tian" is still easy to use, and the Qiang and Di tribes still accept this trick.
But before that, they were brutally massacred by Boss Cao in the Wei River, and then Xia Houyuan broke into the city and chased them in Jicheng. The confidence of the ministries in Ma Chao was greatly reduced.
They are similar to mercenaries. They can't even win a battle and get no benefits. No matter how loud their sign is, they can't gather military morale.
So, on the fifth day of February, Xiahou Yuan ordered Zhang He and Xu Huang to lead 5,000 cavalrymen along the Chencang Trail to attack Qishan. Within three days, they arrived at Qishan Fort. After a short rest, they each led their elite troops to surround and kill Ma Chao. At this time, Ma Chao
The serious injuries had not healed, and the Qiang and Di mercenaries lacked confidence. With the combined efforts of Zhang He and Xu Huang, and the Qishan Fort defenders attacking, Ma Chao was defeated again, and thousands of Qiang and Di tribesmen were slaughtered!
Ma Chao had no choice but to retreat to Yangping Pass.
Zhang He and Xu Huang pursued them to the outside of the pass. They saw that the Tianshi Dao army was in good order. Zhang Wei, Yang Ren, Chang Xi, and Yan Pu were waiting seriously. They did not attack again and allowed the army to retreat. The war ended.
This time, Ma Chao's reputation plummeted!
His reputation was already bad. After the Ma Dai incident, the disciples of Tianshi Dao looked down upon him even more. He also lost battles in succession. The Qiang and Di tribes were massacred twice by Xiahou Yuan because of him. He was simply giving away all the credit.
Likewise, I stopped following him, and secretly began to spread all kinds of ridicule.
If they weren't concerned about his bravery, the thirty thousand disciples would have spread their gossip to the public. Zhang Wei and Yan Pu symbolically punished the two people who made a fuss, which was regarded as a step down for Ma Chao, but everyone knew that
Ma Chao has already betrayed all his relatives, and it will never happen again.
There was no way to fight, and just setting up camp would cost a lot of money, so we had to retreat.
After Zhang Wei asked Zhang Lu for instructions, the army returned to the army. This trip was in vain.
"Ha ha……"
In Jiang Xue Tower, Lu Jing laughed while holding the letter, not hiding his schadenfreude at all: "It is not easy for a generation of unparalleled generals to be able to play such a bad hand at a good card..."
Yan Ling came over to read the words above, and was a little confused: "What did he do?"
"You are stubborn and capricious, and it is normal to end up like this."
Lu Jing shook his head and threw the letter aside: "If it weren't for his courage, he would have died long ago!"
"Then he's back, you..."
Yan Ling was a little worried and said: "It was you who planned to arrest Ma Dai and let him be detained. Will he take revenge?"
"fine."
Lu Jing waved his hand and said: "No matter what, Ma Dai is a collaborator with the enemy. Now he is alone and has a seriously injured body. What can he do to me? In such a situation, if he attacks me again, the prisoner of the Army and Crow Road,
Even the master of that day cannot tolerate him, and from now on he can only..."
Suddenly, Lu Jing thought of something and his face changed slightly.
Yan Ling looked at his expression, thought about it, and understood: "If Tianshi Dao can't tolerate him, then only one person can accept him. His situation is not good now. He is fighting alone. Anyone who joins him will get preferential treatment, and even more
Not to mention a strong general like Ma Chao..."
Yi Guanqi on the side said: "Miss, you mean...Liu Bei?"
Yan Ling nodded.
Lu Jingdao: "How is the situation in the south? Mingyi wrote five days ago that Fucheng has been destroyed. There has been no new news since then."
Yan Ling took out a flying letter from her sleeve, handed it to Lu Jing, and said: "Fengyin Pavilion came to report this morning. After Liu Bei captured Fucheng, General Liu Quan was killed, Lingbao retreated to Mianzhu, and Liu Bei's army went south all the way to Mianzhu.
He ordered Fei Shi and Li Yan to take advantage of Zhang Ren's departure from the city to meet Lingbao, seal the city gates, and surrender the city to Liu Bei. Zhang Ren and Lingbao had no choice but to retreat south to Luocheng, and the two armies were once again in a stalemate..."
"..."
Lu Jing looked at the letter in his hand and frowned: "What's going on with Liu Zhang? Why are there so many young men under his command?!"
Yan Ling said helplessly: "Too much kindness can lead to lack of dignity. My grandfather has long advised me, but he... Alas, Fei Shi is just the magistrate of Mianzhu County, and he probably doesn't appreciate his talent, just like Fazheng. Li Yan is from Nanyang, Jingzhou,
so……"
"I see."
Lu Jing suddenly said: "No wonder Liu Bei couldn't help it. Liu Zhang's Yizhou is so riddled with holes! Maybe Li Yan has colluded with him for a long time, and he is just waiting to present the city today to stab Liu Zhang in the back and give Liu Zhang a severe blow!"
Yan Ling nodded: "Luocheng is already the last barrier in Chengdu, and Zhou Mu may have asked for help. Grandpa cannot leave Bajun, and is worried that Jingzhou soldiers will take advantage of it, so he has been worrying about this..."
Hearing this, Yi Guanqi rolled his eyes and said, "Sir, if Lord Zhou Mu asks Master for help, will you intercede for him?"
"meeting."
Lu Jing said without hesitation: "Pang Tong, Wei Yan is not dead yet, I will help anyone who goes against them!"
Yi Guanqi said: "But, he and Master have a grudge against each other..."
Lu Jingdao: "At this moment, if Liu Bei gets Yizhou, he will definitely take action against Hanzhong! Master can deal with Liu Zhang, but it is difficult to deal with Liu Bei. Even if it is just for himself, Liu Zhang cannot fail... Of course, these are all false.
, even if Master doesn’t take action, I will help..."
Lu Jing clenched the letter in his hand tightly, his murderous intention surged, and he murmured: "It's time for Wei Yan and Pang Tong to die..."