The two of them tried their best to persuade Li Yijie to keep the secret manual, but they had different objectives. Nangong Xue was hoping that Li Yijie's martial art would advance greatly, and that he would become a young hero praised by everyone. Lu Qian, on the other hand, was dreaming that he would obtain the secret manual, practice hard according to the rules, and become the 'Meng Zhu' of the Heroes Assembly. Then he would be able to control the Kunlun Gate, unite all the major sects and sects to defeat the Devil Cult, and then make the heroes surrender one by one. Then he would suppress the rebel armies everywhere, defeat the Chuang army, ambush the Qing army, and finally unify the world. He would be able to ascend the throne, sit on the Emperor's throne, and establish his country as' Qian '.
Nangong Xue knew that he was wavering, so she continued, "At that time you will kill An Yesun, destroy the Cult of Sacrifice, and avenge Yuner; it will be as easy as turning your hand. She will definitely like it, and will say, 'Li Dage, thank you very much', and will … will marry you. " Lu Qian knew that Li Yijie valued friendship and righteousness. Since Nangong Xue had started with 'friendship', he decided to attack 'righteousness' instead. "Brother Li," he said, "You and Nangong Shimei can change into these two clothes. Zaixia can disguise himself as one of your captured generals. When the time comes, the three of us will still be together, so that we can look after each other."
Li Yijie was startled, "Lu Xiong, you …" Lu Qian said, "Since I have already surrendered, I will try my best to flatter him. An Yesun won't kill me. You said that I am greedy for life and afraid of death, but you are wrong. "
Li Yijie was startled for half a day, and then he heavily patted his shoulder twice, saying, "Lu Xiong, I was too narrow-minded. Xiongdi is really … too ashamed to show my face."
Lu Qian said, "Since we are brothers, why are you treating me as an outsider? Let's not be strangers. " As he spoke, he began to remove the two disciples' clothes and boots. Li Yijie and Nangong Xue went behind a tree to change. Li Yijie thought that henceforth she would no longer be able to wear silk and satin; she was a bit reluctant to part with them, but she also felt that she was extremely vulgar. Without further thought, she and Lu Qian buried the two bodies on the spot. Once outside, she put on a black cloth mask to cover her original face. However, Nangong Xue's skin was fair, and her exposed forehead was smooth and tender. Lu Qian grabbed some mud and smeared it on her face. Li Yijie had already carefully put away the book. The three of them returned to the tea stall with their equipment.
One of the Sacrificial Shadow Disciples greeted him with a smile: "What took you so long? Did you fall into a latrine? " Li Yijie recalled the old man's deep voice just now, so he also lowered his voice and muttered, "Nonsense!" Nangong Xue blushed. Fortunately, she was wearing a mask, so no one could see anything unusual. She gently pushed Lu Qian, stepped forward and bowed: "Reporting to Fallen Hall Leader, the two of us were patrolling nearby when we saw this person. He was a junior disciple of the Kunlun Sect. We captured him and were delayed for a few hours. Please forgive us, Fallen Hall Leader."
Lu Qian saw the opportunity and immediately knelt down on both knees and loudly said, "Xiao Ren greets Fallen Hall Leader. From now on, Xiao Ren is willing to pledge allegiance to the Sacrificial Shadow Sect. I will follow Fallen Hall Leader's lead without any disloyalty. I will be loyal to the Guangxing Holy Sect until my death. Fallen Hall Leader, you … "He wanted to say something like 'handsome tree facing the wind' or 'distinguished and elegant' or something like that, but he didn't want to do that right now. So he changed his words and said," You, Senior, are both wise and brave, unrivalled in the world. You have divine foresight, you have blessed the common people … "He racked his brains and came up with some clichés to flatter him.
Li Yijie and Nangong Xue frowned inwardly as they listened. Although they knew he was forced by the situation, martial artists had always valued face above all else. Many of them would rather die than be humiliated by the enemy. At this moment, Lu Qian's servile appearance was extremely annoying. An Yesun quietly drank his tea without looking at him. Xue Xiangzhu saw Lu Qian and Tan Lin were martial brothers of the same school, yet these two people's temperaments were very different. He smiled and said, "Young man, the righteous and the wicked cannot coexist. Our Cult is the leader of the wicked sects. You are willing to be a traitor to the righteous path.
Why? "Lu Qian respectfully said," A wise man submits to circumstances. Fallen Hall Leader's martial art skill is more than a hundred times higher than my Shifu's. Sacrificing Shadow Sect has such prestige, Xiao Ren naturally chose a good tree to perch on. It just so happens that Xiao Ren's Shifu's corpse is here, so I asked him to be my witness. That is enough to show Xiao Ren's sincerity. " An Yesun laughed coldly and said, "What a fence-sitter! Today you betray Kunlun, but in the future you might betray the Cult!" Li Yijie saw Xue Xiangzhu suddenly turned hostile without any warning. Hastily he stepped in front of Xue Xiangzhu and said, "Fallen Hall Leader, please give him a way out. This man has already surrendered. Heaven has …"
Nangong Xue heard him say 'Heaven has the virtue of cherishing life', which was very different from the Sacrificing Shadow Sect's usual style of conduct. It would certainly raise suspicions. He blurted out, "Subordinate has an idea. This man is indeed a good-for-nothing. We can't let him join the Cult, but we don't have to kill him either. The Dog Beating Stick that Fallen Hall Leader seized is the Beggar Clan's most precious treasure. If we give this treasure to this good-for-nothing as a personal weapon, it will tarnish the Beggar Clan's reputation. This man has been following us … on a mission. If he is killed, others will think that Kunlun's martial art is not good enough. But it will greatly increase our Cult's prestige. "
An Yesun snorted and said, "Of all things, there are so many strange things." In a flash he threw the Dog Beating Stick toward Lu Qian. Lu Qian caught it with both hands. Because the force of the Dog Beating Stick was too strong, Lu Qian fell face up and sat down. Amidst everybody's laughter, An Yesun asked, "Xue Xiangzhu, are you the last group?" "Reporting to Fallen Hall Leader," Xue Xiangzhu replied, "Indeed."
An Yesun stood up and said, "In that case, I will personally lead the group. We will set off immediately, there must be no delay." Finished speaking, he walked away. "Yes … yes …" Xue Xiangzhu said. "What else do you want?" An Yesun impatiently asked. Xue Xiangzhu said, "Subordinate would like to ask Fallen Hall Leader, should the bodies of our Cult brothers be buried on the spot, or cremated?"
In this ambush, because An Yesun personally intervened, the righteous faction's troops were completely annihilated. But in the chaotic battle, quite a number of Sacrificing Shadow Sect disciples were also killed. An Yesun coldly said, "Those whose martial art skill is meager ought to die, what's the point of burying them?" Without even stopping, he walked out of the tea stall.
Xue Xiangzhu heaved a deep sigh. Together with the rest of the people, he bowed several times in front of his chest, while mumbling something under his breath. It was the Cult's way of praying for the deceased, wishing that they would be reincarnated and receive good fortune. Seeing An Yesun was this heartless, the Cult people did not curse him in their hearts. Lu Qian's palms were already sweating. It could be said that his life was saved by Nangong Xue. He cast a glance toward her, his impression of her increased.
For the rest of the journey, because An Yesun was on their side, the Cult people changed their previous lazy attitude; they did not even dare to talk or laugh in low voices. An Yesun's order was very strict; they traveled swiftly during the day, they did not even rest at night. After traveling like this for several days, they finally entered Tongguan territory. By this time the Manchurian Qing army had been besieging the city for more than a month. The Chuang army was holding fast, the battle was in a stalemate. Recently the Qing army was retreating in defeat step by step, and they had already set up camp about five li outside the city.
An Yesun did not like to have burdens by his side, so he ordered Xue Xiangzhu to help the Cult people settle down, while he went around alone to scout for information. At first the common people saw his luxurious attire, his handsome appearance, but as soon as they heard him asking about the Qing army, their faces turned sullen. After investigating for several days, a woodcutter showed him the direction, but when he answered, his eyebrows were tightly knitted.
An Yesun did not think much of it; he took several warhorses from the local government office and led them along the direction the woodcutter pointed. They arrived at an open area, where they saw Imperial Bodyguards were standing around, the place was heavily guarded. There were many tents set up everywhere, but one of them was obviously bigger than the others; presumably it was the commander-in-chief's tent. As they approached, several Imperial Bodyguards, each with a long spear in his hand, shouted, "Who's there?"
An Yesun coldly said, "I want to see your commander-in-chief, get out of my way." The Imperial Bodyguards saw his imposing manner, perhaps he was someone with high status in the army, so they did not dare to be negligent. One of them put away his spear and cupped his fist, saying, "The Commander-In-Chief is in the tent discussing military situation with several generals. I wonder what honorable sir's honorable surname and great given name is? Please wait on the side for a moment, so that Xiaoren can inform him in advance. " An Yesun did not want to talk too much, the folding fan in his hand suddenly knocked down everybody, and then he lifted the curtain and entered the tent.
The inside of the tent was spacious, the light was bright, but it was a scene of mutual hostility. There was a man sitting at the head of the table, wearing a helmet on his head, on top of the helmet was a dancing pole, on top of the helmet was a bowl, and in the middle of the helmet was a vertical copper pipe. Behind him hung a silk collar, embroidered with patterns, decorated with copper nails. He was wearing armor, with a breastplate protecting his heart, and below the breastplate was a trapezoid protecting his abdomen; his appearance was formidable. There was a long table on his left and right, on his left sat an old man, dressed as a general, with a long beard, his face was gloomy. On his right was a young girl, bright and beautiful, her armor was adorned with shiny pearls, her face was smiling. Next to her sat a young man with his arms crossed, his expression leisurely. These two were none other than Chu Menglin and Jiang Liechen.
The commander-in-chief let out a dry cough and said, "Our army has suffered several defeats in succession, greatly dampening the officers and soldiers' spirit. How can we improve this situation? Do the generals have any brilliant ideas?" The old general stared intently at Jiang Liechen, with a gloomy voice he said, "Deputy Hierarch Jiang, Laofu has long heard of your Sacrifice Shadow Cult's great name, it reverberates like thunder in my ears. It's just that right now, regardless of how good your martial art is, it seems like you don't know anything about marching and fighting an army. "
Jiang Liechen coldly opened his mouth and said, "No need to provoke me with these meaningless words, General Tong, you don't have anybody in your army, what can other people do?" "That's right," Chu Menglin said, "This is called 'a clever housewife cannot cook without rice'." General Tong angrily said, "Stinky girl, shut your mouth! Do you really think you are on equal footing with this general? Years ago when this general was fighting on the battlefield, you, this girl, were not even born yet, what right do you have to speak here? "
An Yesun saw the general was making things difficult for Chu Menglin, he angrily said, "You shut your mouth for me!" Immediately he turned around and saluted, "Greetings Young Master, Young Miss. Subordinate has already led the Cult's various banners not too far away, awaiting your orders. " Jiang Liechen cast a glance toward An Yesun, then turned to the commander-in-chief and said with a laugh, "Grand Marshal, this is my subordinate, what do you think of him?"
General Tong coldly humphed and said, "He's not bad, he's really as arrogant as Vice Hierarch Jiang." Chu Menglin laughed and said, "General Tong, when did you become a commander-in-chief? Little Sister congratulates you. "General Tong was so angry that his face alternated between green and white, but he had nothing to say. The commander-in-chief said, "Would Vice Hierarch Jiang please introduce us."
Jiang Liechen laughed and said, "This is the leader of our Cult's banners, the Hall Leader of the Fallen Sky Hall, An Yesun. The people of Jianghu call him the 'Broken Fiend Star'." The commander-in-chief slightly cupped his hands and said indifferently, "I've long heard of you." Jiang Liechen continued, "Fallen Hall Leader, don't let an incompetent person blame you for your lack of etiquette. As for this General Tong, he's strong on the outside but weak on the inside, there's no need to pay attention to him. This Duoluoyu Junwang is our commander-in-chief, Lin Mei has a very high opinion of him. Why don't you come and pay your respects? " An Yesun heard Jiang Liechen call Chu Menglin 'Lin Mei', and also said that he 'has a very high opinion of him'. Inwardly he was displeased, but proudly he said, "I'm not going to pay my respects."
With a cold laugh General Tong said, "Vice Hierarch Jiang, I'll have to trouble you to restrain your subordinates. Don't let this become 'if the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked'." Jiang Liechen said, "You don't have anybody in your army, so the lower beam will be crooked very badly." General Tong slapped the table and stood up. "What did you say?" He roared, "If you have the ability, break this formation for me to see. Laofu will admire you!" Chu Menglin smiled and said, "You've already admired me. What kind of Vice Hierarch is this Jiang Liechen? You say it so nicely, but you're not afraid of being ugly. You keep calling him 'Vice Hierarch', it's really pleasant to hear. "
Jiang Liechen laughed and said, "What's so difficult about breaking the formation? It's just that you don't have anybody you can use in your army. Perished Hall Leader, let's break it tomorrow and show him. Don't let the Grand Marshal look down on our Sacrificing Shadow Cult. "Dodo was delighted." Quickly bring some wine, "he said," Ben Wang toasts Jiang … General Tong and Perished Hall Leader a cup. "An Yesun coldly said," No need. I don't want to help you, it's all Miss' order. "
Jiang Liechen laughed and said, "The Grand Marshal may not know this, but Perished Hall Leader is proud and arrogant. He only admires people whose martial art is stronger than his. Why don't you two come and spar?" Chu Menglin saw General Tong's expression as if he was watching a good show. "Don't go too far!" He said, "How can he fight Perished Hall Leader? His body is still injured … "
"What did you say?" General Tong asked. Chu Menglin's eyes reddened. "It's my fault," he said in a low voice. "That's my fault," she said, "I don't think a formation is that big of a deal, so I wanted to break it by myself. But I was trapped in a tight encirclement and couldn't escape … he … he did it to save me …" General Tong seized the opportunity and aggressively said, "You're just a girl, yet you don't know how to control yourself. Is the battlefield a place for you to play? Go back, you can't help me, but you don't have to cause trouble here! "
Chu Menglin called out, "Are you trying to drive me away? I don't want to. Worse comes to worst … worse comes to worst I'll perform some meritorious service to atone for my crime. That's all. "She signaled An Yesun with her eyes and secretly made a hand gesture. When they were young, Chu Menglin did not have the patience to train her martial art, so she wanted An Yesun to play with her. She set the time to sneak out at night. An Yesun immediately understood. He thought that no matter how much Jiang Liechen enjoyed fame inside and outside the Cult, Chu Menglin still relied on him the most. He was slightly pleased.
Xue Xiangzhu had received the order to lead a group of disciples to pay their respects. Jiang Liechen planned to break the formation the next day, therefore, everybody went to bed early that night to preserve their strength. Xue Xiangzhu and the others rested on the left side of the camp.
Seeing this situation, Li Yijie knew that he had no choice but to go to the battlefield. Luckily his identity was only a Devil Cult disciple, so nobody in the Decent Faction knew about it. Therefore, he did not want to damage Mount Hua's reputation. He had not slept for the past few days, so he slept very soundly. In the middle of the night, he suddenly felt someone gently pushing his shoulder. He thought it was a sudden mishap. He was about to draw his sword when he heard a woman's voice saying, "Shixiong, it's me and Lu Dage."
Li Yijie opened his sleepy eyes. "Is something wrong?" he asked. "Shixiong," Nangong Xue said, "You must hurry up and read that secret manual. Why don't you practice a few stances tonight? Tomorrow on the battlefield, you can let the enemy soldiers practice your stances. "
Li Yijie remembered the sword stances and could not help feeling excited. He turned around and sat up. "Is everybody else asleep?" he asked. "Mmm," Nangong Xue replied, "They are very tired." Li Yijie nodded. The three of them went behind a tree. Li Yijie took out a book from his bosom and read a few lines of the incantation. During the day he was anxious, but now he was calm and composed, so the situation was very different. At the same time, the three of them combined their intelligence and studied the incantation one by one. Not too long later they had grasped some basic techniques. Li Yijie then began to practice. Practicing internal energy requires one to be fully concentrated, so that one cannot hear anything else.
Nangong Xue and Lu Qian flipped through the pages of the secret manual, secretly pondering the sword stances. Suddenly they heard some noise nearby; someone was talking in a low voice, followed by a flurry of footsteps. It sounded like there were a lot of people. The two of them were startled, but they did not want to disturb Li Yijie. "I'll go with you to take a look," Lu Qian said. He took her hand and quietly crept closer.
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