Chapter 69 The confrontation is Lu Tingwan, she is really here

"I hope you can all get out alive!" Lu Tingwan looked directly at the white map, trying to bring a ray of light in the darkness.

Bai Tu turned his face to look sinister: "If that's the case, then don't leave."

Lu Tingwan felt his eyes being swallowed by darkness and he lost consciousness.

After the army was dispersed by the roadblock, many soldiers climbed up the mountain through the woods on both sides of the road. Xie Zhao stood on a boulder, overlooking the mountains, and even the moving figures in the firelight below were within his sight.

He pulled the longbow behind him to its full length and fired three arrows at once. The arrows hit the switches of different roadblocks, causing rocks to roll down again, disrupting the army's progress up the mountain.

"I'd like to see what other tricks Xie Zhao has up his sleeve." Han Zhou wiped the sweat from his forehead after dodging a wave of traps.

"I'm afraid that after a few more times, all these roadblocks will be triggered. Then everyone will evacuate the main road and advance along both sides of the mountain road to capture the bandits alive." Cheng Xianzhi said.

The wails of soldiers could be heard from halfway up the mountain. Firelight reflected in the forest and thick smoke continued to rise.

"Where is Bai Tu? Hasn't he arrived yet?" Xie Zhao asked.

"No one's there yet."

Seeing that there was not much time left, these troops would attack in less than an hour.

Just then, Bai Tu and his team arrived at the top of the mountain. Xie Zhao glanced at the crowd and saw Bai Tu and one other person clearly.

It’s Lu Tingwan!

Xie Zhao walked over quickly and saw that Lu Tingwan was unconscious. He went forward and helped him to lean against the rocks.

"Bai Tu, why did you bring her here?"

"A Zhao, I didn't bring her here, she came here on her own."

"You knocked her out?" Xie Zhao asked in a low voice. Lu Tingwan frowned slightly, as if he was coming to his senses.

"Didn't she say that she knew that dog official Cheng Xianzhi? Maybe they were old lovers. Cheng Xianzhi dared to take the lives of our brothers, so we used Jiang Yanli to threaten him. She is also a bargaining chip for us." Bai Tu's eyes were sharp and sinister.

"No." Xie Zhao refused without thinking.

Bai Tu knew clearly that Xie Zhao would not do such a thing. In addition, he had protected Lu Tingwan several times, so he knew that arguing at this time would not produce any results, so he stopped arguing with him.

"That person has been brought here. What should we do now?"

"Bai Tu, listen to me," Xie Zhao stood up and glanced at everyone, "Take the brothers and evacuate according to the original route, including her."

Lu Tingwan's appearance here at this time has already confirmed the fact that she is colluding with the bandits. Not to mention what her relationship with Cheng Xianzhi is, he is not at ease leaving her here alone.

Bai Tu agreed readily.

The army's armor brushed against the strong wind, and a dark mass of troops surged to the top of the mountain.

Here we come!

On the top of the cliff, the two sides faced off. When Xie Zhao turned sideways, he happened to meet Cheng Xianzhi's gaze.

The battles for several consecutive days were back and forth.

The man standing on one side, with a longbow on his shoulder and arrow feathers twirling at his fingertips, was like a ferocious beast ready to attack in the deep forest of Qingyao Mountain. If anyone dared to step forward, he would tear him to pieces at all costs.

Under the bright moon, the young general, with a bright and handsome face, looked cool and elegant, but he was different from what Xie Zhao had imagined.

"The leader of Baita Village, Xie Zhao." Cheng Xianzhi cast a look of admiration at him.

"Your Excellency must be the head of the six ministers in Kyoto, Cheng Xianzhi!" Xie Zhao had also heard of this person.

"Are you the one who set up the checkpoints along the way?" Cheng Xianzhi looked at him.

"So what? I just underestimated the intricate web at the foot of the mountain. Minister Cheng led his men through it in one go."

Xie Zhao was like a hunter, spying on him, and here, he always had doubts in his heart.

Lu Tingwan wouldn't reveal it, so how did he know it? Xie Zhao's question also raised Cheng Xianzhi's doubts. Lu Tingwan went up the mountain but didn't see him.

Xie Zhaoke didn't have the leisure to chat with him, he was just stalling for time.

Bai Tu was about to evacuate from the cliff at the back mountain when Lu Tingwan suddenly woke up.

Surrounded by a cliff, she pushed aside the others and struggled to ask, "What are you doing?"

Bai Tu tied the rope tightly and was annoyed by Lu Tingwan's noise: "Why did you wake up at this time?"

"Bai Tu, where is Xie Zhao?" Lu Tingwan grabbed his collar and asked.

"Thank you, Zhao, thank you, Zhao. Your old friend has already attacked the mountain. Ah Zhao is covering the brothers down the mountain. I am following his orders to escort you away. Don't cause trouble for me, or don't blame me for being merciless."

Lu Tingwan was stunned where she was. Bai Tu simply laid it out to her, "Don't worry about Ah Zhao. These corrupt officials of the imperial court will surely die here. We'll reunite with Ah Zhao after we get down the mountain."

"How will Xie Zhao escape?" Lu Tingwan was worried.

Bai Tu was tired of being asked, so he dropped the rope in his hand and spoke more fiercely: "Do you think Ah Zhao came down the mountain just to steal some property?"

Lu Tingwan glared at Bai Tu in the darkness with red eyes. His cloth clothes were torn and covered in ashes. He asked hoarsely, "What do you mean?"

Xie Zhao led his men into the city to rob houses in order to lure the tiger away from the mountain, and the gunpowder controlled in the backyard of the county government had long been looted by him.

Xie Zhao was certain that the county government had lost such an important item and did not dare to spread the news.

"Cheng Xianzhi and others must die here tonight. This batch of gunpowder is prepared for them." After saying this, Bai Tu was about to tie people up with a rope.

Lu Tingwan was stiff for a while, and her head was dizzy. Just when Bai Tu tied the rope in his hand, Lu Tingwan struggled violently.

Bai Tu was very annoyed and angry. He grabbed her by the back of the neck and pushed half of her body towards the cliff. "If you want to die, I will grant your wish."

"Bai Tu, let me go, I can save Xie Zhao." Lu Tingwan gradually suffocated, the cold wind from the cliff blew across her cheeks, she was extremely sober at this moment.

"If you hadn't come back and revealed the way up the mountain, we wouldn't be in such a mess tonight. If it weren't for Xie Zhao's instructions, I would have killed you right there."

"Do you want Xie Zhao to live?" Lu Tingwan watched the rubble fall into the bottomless cliff, as if he saw countless blood filling the abyss.

"Trade me!"

Bai Tu didn't understand what he meant, so he used his wrist to pull half of his body back. Lu Tingwan was still in shock, his legs went weak, and he quickly sorted out his thoughts.

"Don't play tricks on me."

Lu Tingwan was about to continue speaking seriously, but he caught the moment when Bai Tu was relaxed, and with quick eyes and hands, he pushed Bai Tu, who immediately broke free from his control, turned around and ran back desperately.

gunpowder!

Retreat!

If this is true, there is no turning back for Xie Zhao.

Bai Tu propped himself up, spat, and quickly shot a series of short arrows in the direction she was running. Lu Tingwan dodged the attacks, and her speed did not slow down but increased instead, like a deer running through the forest, her skirt blown by the strong wind as she chased after her.

Baitu's arrows kept blocking the way.

"Xie Zhao, you still have a choice, there must be one." She warned herself again and again in her heart.

"You can't save everyone." Xie Zhao once said to her when they were on the top of the mountain together overlooking the setting sun.

"But I think, as long as I try my best, at least I won't let myself down." This was the answer Lu Tingwan gave him at the time.

From beginning to end, she could not get over Zhou Hua's death. She thought she had let it go, so when she persuaded Xie Zhao, she acted as righteous as a bystander.

When she learned that Cheng Xian was the chief commander of the bandit suppression, her past flashed back to her mind, and she saw Cheng Xianzhi as an insurmountable wall. He was a product of power, and she wanted to fight him, but she had to rely on his power to achieve her goal.

The broken hair stuck to her cheeks, and it was hard to tell whether it was anxious tears or sweat.

"Xie Zhao!" A cold and powerful shout shook the mountains and fields, and the birds and beasts in the forest spread their wings and scattered.

In the distance, Cheng Xianzhi and Xie Zhao, who were in a stalemate, glanced sideways at the same time.

Right at this moment.

Both of them saw Lu Tingwan clearly.

Cheng Xianzhi's calm pupils suddenly dilated.

"Lu Tingwan?"

Han Zhou also said happily: "It's Lu Tingwan, she is here as expected."

"Don't come over!" Xie Zhao shouted.

Lu Tingwan paused in her tracks, finally mustering up the courage to move her gaze to the left. Cheng Xianzhi was holding a long sword, his armor was torn, and his hair was a little messy. He was nothing like she remembered him from the past. Every time she saw him, he was cold, reserved, and unattainable.

"Cheng Xianzhi, I know you are suppressing the bandits on the emperor's orders, but Xie Zhao and the others are not bad people!" Lu Tingwan ignored the past and went straight to the topic.

"Qing Yaoshan only robs the rich to help the poor, and has never done anything that harms the people or harms the world. They are just pitiful people who are forced by the world to live in the mountains. Can you, can you let them go, let them go..."

And he finally turned all those questions into one sentence: "The law is like this."

With those pleadings, they seemed to be back to the scene of their argument in the academy. She was in tears and didn't understand what he had done.

"Lu Tingwan!" Cheng Xianzhi froze in place, "Why did you get involved with the bandits?"

He still had an expression of condescending disdain, unaware that there was resentment behind her, resentment for why she left without saying goodbye and left so calmly.

"Leaving Kyoto just to become a bandit? Hiding your tracks, disappearing without a trace, is this why you went to so much trouble to leave?"

Lu Tingwan was in no mood to reminisce with him, as she was not sure how Xie Zhao would ignite the situation.

"If you don't believe me, you can visit the people of Fufeng Town. The ten-mile radius of Qingyao Mountain would have been plundered by other bandits long ago if it weren't for the protection of the people of Baita Village. They're not bad people; they're just using their own methods to make a living."

Lu Tingwan shouted at the top of his lungs, tears welling in his eyes. That was fear, the fear of an unpredictable outcome. "Also, and Xie Zhao understands mechanical devices, can draw weapon blueprints, and can even forge them himself. Aren't you the one who values ​​talent the most? You can recruit them and use them for your own purposes."

"If you want to fight against the Jiang family, you need a capable person. Xie Zhao, Xie Zhao can...can..."

Later, Lu Tingwan didn't know what she said. She could only talk about all the good things about Xie Zhao and Baita Village and try to persuade Cheng Xianzhi.

But the man looked down upon everything and remained motionless.

Xie Zhao listened to her words with mixed feelings.

"Jiang Yanli, you don't have to persuade me."

"Xie Zhao, will you let me talk to him?" Lu Tingwan pleaded, his voice already hoarse. "Even if you die protecting your brothers, how will they survive after they leave the mountain? Will they be wanted by the imperial court, living an anonymous life on the run, or will they rule the mountain again? Is this what you want to see?"

Xie Zhao was also in pain.

He is struggling.

Lower? No lower?

"You believe me!" Lu Tingwan looked sincere. She approached Xie Zhao while observing the movements around her.

She was only a few steps away from reaching the destination, when a force behind her pulled her back so fast that no one could react.

A crossbow locked at her throat.

Cheng Xianzhi and Xie Zhao shouted in unison.

"Lu Tingwan!"

"Jiang Yanli!"

The man holding the crossbow behind him revealed his true face, and a sinister laugh filled the night, so terrifying that Rang was unable to understand.

"Bai Tu?" Xie Zhao stepped forward to stop him. "What are you doing back?"

"Let her go."

"A Zhao, don't come over here either," Bai Tu restrained Lu Tingwan to prevent her from moving, "Give me the lighter."

"Blank plan!" The original plan was disrupted, and Xie Zhao gradually began to lose control.

"These two have different opinions," Han Zhou said, approaching. "Sir, it seems there's no need for us to take action. Baita Village is already in danger."

"But, will Lu Tingwan save him or not?"

Cheng Xianzhi gripped the hilt of his sword, trying to appease the bandit. "It's not that I can't agree to what she said just now. You are all rare talents. If you are willing to surrender, I promise you that I will not pursue your past mistakes. I swear on this sword."

The long sword cut through the air, a solemn wind surrounded the sword, a cold light shone, and a piece of armor was cut off.

"Bah!" Bai Tu spat fiercely. "The imperial officials' words are always high-sounding and eloquent. If empty words worked, how could we brothers have fallen to this point? Ah Zhao, don't you hate these corrupt officials the most? Why are you going to believe them today?"

"Bai Tu, don't be impulsive and let her go."

"Give me the fire starter, you take the brothers down the mountain, and I'll take care of this place." Bai Tu gave an order, not a negotiation.

Xie Zhao didn't want to give it, but the crossbow cut Lu Tingwan's neck and blood seeped into his collar.

Cheng Xianzhi remained extremely calm, "Han Zhou, you should act according to the situation."

Han Zhou's hidden weapon moved from his sleeve to his fingertips, and he held it tightly.

Xie Zhao was forced back step by step.

He was giving Lu Tingwan a look, and she seemed to understand.

The three of them formed a corner formation and the distance between them was widening.