Chapter 51 I am the Great Xuan King, here to take your head!
"Report! President, something has happened!"
A barbarian soldier rushed into the tent and shouted.
Ba Meng's knife stopped abruptly on Lian Qingbai's shoulder, and he roared, "Shutting your head off! Are you looking for death?"
"The situation is extremely urgent! Commander, spare my life!" The barbarian soldier knelt down and gave a brief account of what had just happened.
He also said that the dozen or so cavalrymen who appeared out of nowhere were extremely skilled in battle, and that their armor and weapons were both strange and formidable.
Moreover, the generals at the front speculated that there were probably quite a few more operating in secret.
Because the enemy was able to cause mountains to collapse and the earth to split, killing countless barbarian soldiers of the Sha Yue tribe.
All of this was beyond the comprehension of the barbarian soldiers.
After hearing this, Lian Qingbai laughed loudly, "Hahaha! It seems that this must be Heaven punishing you! It has sent out heavenly soldiers and generals to bring down divine punishment and take your dog lives!"
Ba Meng was furious.
For some unknown reason, there had been strange tremors earlier that night, which alarmed him and prompted him to order the entire army to be on high alert.
Not long after, unidentified cavalry attacked Medicine King Valley again, causing his troops to suffer such heavy losses.
Heavenly soldiers and generals? Heavenly punishment?
He doesn't believe it!
If that were the case, why would a dozen or so cavalrymen need to flee?
This must be a trap to lure the enemy, setting up some unknown ambush that could cause a landslide and earthquake.
Ba Meng immediately concluded that although these cavalrymen of unknown origin possessed some unusual abilities, their numbers were definitely not large.
He was already angry, and the series of incidents only made him angrier.
This area is actually under the control of the Shayue Kingdom; it's his territory!
Now someone has actually barged in and provoked us?
After killing so many of his soldiers, he still thinks he can escape unscathed?
"Move the entire army out!" Ba Meng roared, growing angrier with each thought. "No matter how powerful they are, can they outnumber my troops? Crush them to death!"
He pointed to one of his three deputy commanders and said, "You will lead the troops to wipe them out. If you fail to tear those people to pieces, you will bring your head to me!"
"Yes, Commander!" The deputy commander received the order and hurriedly left.
Above the command tent, a drone hovered and landed in the shadows nearby, where it was caught steadily by a large hand.
"Finally found you, Commander-in-Chief of the Barbarian Army." Xiao Qidi's thin lips moved slightly, his eyes flashing coldly as he stared at the tent in front of him.
His initial idea was to capture the leader first.
The problem is that Medicine King Valley is quite large, about the same size as Linxian Village.
Moreover, all the barbarian camps were identical.
If they were to find their commander-in-chief using conventional methods, it would take an unknown amount of time.
So he devised a plan.
He ordered the Xuanjia Army to launch a frontal attack to harass the enemy and draw their attention, while he and two members of the Lian clan sneaked into Medicine King Valley to rescue the imprisoned people.
Next, the Xuanjia Army lured and killed the enemy as much as possible, trying to inflict heavy casualties on the barbarian soldiers.
The barbarian soldiers were beyond the capabilities of ordinary generals, and they would surely report the situation to the Grand Commander.
Sure enough, everything went exactly as he had predicted.
He observed the battle between the Xuanjia Army and the barbarian soldiers through the drone, and soon discovered that the barbarian general had sent men to a camping area.
He continued to monitor the area from the air with his drone, while secretly following closely behind.
Once the people who came out of the tent had gone far away, he took advantage of the darkness to avoid the patrolling soldiers and quietly slipped away.
Inside the Grand Commander's tent, Ba Meng prepared to continue torturing Lian Qingbai.
The other two deputy commanders stood at the entrance of the camp, waiting to see what would happen.
"Hahahaha!" Lian Qingbai suddenly threw his head back and burst into laughter.
Ba Meng's eyes flashed with a fierce light. "Old man, what are you laughing at?"
Lian Qingbai said, "I'm laughing at how you little brat Sha Yue have finally been punished by heaven! Even if you torture me to death, I'll feel great!"
Enraged, Ba Meng lost all patience for torturing the old man and simply lifted him up with one hand, intending to throw him entirely into the enormous bronze cauldron.
Suddenly, the tent curtain twitched slightly.
A pair of long, strong arms reached in and simultaneously grabbed the necks of the two deputy commanders at the door.
The two were dragged away before they could make a sound.
"Who?" Ba Meng sensed something and stared intently at the swaying curtain and the drag marks on the ground.
The campfire outside the tent flickered dimly.
A very tall figure was projected onto the tent, slightly thin but as imposing as a mountain.
"Who's playing tricks there!" Ba Meng casually threw Lian Qingbai to the ground and hurled his sword at the figure.
Swish—
His sword pierced through the tent.
A sultry night wind swept in, extinguishing the rows of candles inside the tent.
Only the firewood beneath the large bronze cauldron, which is about half a person's height, is still burning fiercely.
Xiao Qidi slowly appeared before Ba Meng.
He wore a dark camouflage tactical uniform, with a black bulletproof vest over it, a tactical bulletproof helmet on his head, and a pair of tactical boots on his feet.
This outfit made him appear even more aloof and imposing.
Ba Meng had never seen such attire before, and his face showed surprise. "Who are you! What do you want by barging into my tent!"
Xiao Qidi's thin lips moved slightly, "I am the Great Xuan King, here to take your head!"
"Your Majesty? You are the ruler of my Great Xuan?" Lian Qingbai was shocked, then tears streamed down his face. He struggled to his feet and solemnly kowtowed, "Lian Qingbai, the patriarch of the Lian Clan of Medicine King Valley, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"
He had never seen the Great Xuan King.
But the moment I saw him, I felt his innate kingly aura.
Ba Meng's beard trembled instantly, his eyes wide with fury. "Xiao Qidi?! Well! I haven't even offered your head as a sacrifice to my brother yet, and you've delivered yourself right to my doorstep!"
He grabbed two axes from the weapon rack next to him and charged at Xiao Qidi with a roar.
Ba Meng was a head shorter than Xiao Qidi, but his body was as strong as a tiger or bear.
The two axes swung wildly, a completely reckless chopping style.
Xiao Qidi raised his sword to parry, and with a loud bang, he was knocked back several steps by the enormous force.
"Your knife is so good?" Ba Meng stared in astonishment at the chipped axe blade in his hand.
Xiao Qidi sneered, and without saying a word, charged forward with his sword!
Bang!
With this single strike, the iron handles of Ba Meng's double axes were cleanly severed.
Without a suitable weapon, Ba Meng had nowhere to use his brute strength, and he dared not get too close to Xiao Qidi.
After all, Xiao Qidi's peculiar longsword had even severed his axe handle, so his iron armor wouldn't offer much protection.
Although Xiao Qidi was thin, his strength was not much less than his.
Ba Meng realized that he didn't have much of an advantage anymore.
He immediately hurled the two broken handles from his hands at Lian Qingbai, who was hiding in the corner.
Whoosh!
The broken iron handle cleaved through the air with tremendous force.
Lian Qingbai was old and had no martial arts skills, so he had no time to dodge.
If hit, death is certain!
In a flash, Xiao Qidi did not hesitate and rushed forward to shield Lian Qingbai with his own body.
Bang!
Two muffled thuds in quick succession!
Xiao Qidi's tall body trembled from the impact.
Although the broken axe handle did not penetrate the bulletproof vest, it shattered the inner plate of the vest. The enormous force pierced through the chest, causing the internal organs to churn.
"Your Majesty!" Lian Qingbai exclaimed.
Xiao Qidi gritted his teeth, "I'm fine!"
"You think you can stop this? Then try and see if you can stop it!" Bayon roared.
He didn't give Xiao Qidi a chance to react at all, and grabbed the huge bronze cauldron and threw it over!
The bronze tripod weighs several hundred kilograms.
It was filled with piping hot meat broth.
The combined weight was nearly a thousand pounds, and it crashed down on Xiao Qidi, who had nowhere to hide!
boom!
"Xiao Qidi!" Ning Jinli shouted, waking up from her sleep.
The wind from the fan next to her made her shiver, even though she was covered in cold sweat.
The small warehouse was a bit stuffy on a summer night, but now she felt a chill emanating from her head to her toes.
Feeling uneasy that the time-space portal hadn't opened, she slept on the floor in the small warehouse again.
I had a nightmare after falling asleep.
She dreamt that Xiao Qidi was in danger.
It seemed he was fighting a very powerful person, and then... Xiao Qidi was smashed into a pile of mangled flesh by a large bronze cauldron thrown by the opponent...
This dream felt so real.
Even after she woke up, her mind was still filled with the horrific image of Xiao Qidi's disfigured and bloodied body.
"Xiao Qidi...you...where have you been?"
"Are you really in danger?"
Ning Jinli became increasingly panicked the more she thought about it.
Whether she was captured and tortured into a human stick as recorded in the secret history, or died a miserable death like in her dream, neither was the outcome she wanted.
Xiao Qidi must not be allowed to get into trouble!
But now, Ning Jinli has no idea where he went or what he's doing.
Even if I'm worried, there's nothing I can do to help.
She was wide awake. She washed her face with tap water, trying to calm herself down, but her heart was beating faster and faster, and the feeling of panic was getting stronger and stronger!
"What should I do, what should I do..."
She was so anxious that she paced back and forth, then gritted her teeth, picked up her phone, and dialed Professor Zheng's secretary's number.
There's no other way, there's really no other way.
The only possible way to determine whether Xiao Qidi has encountered any other mishap right now is to ask Mr. Zheng again, just like last time.
It's already past midnight.
Ning Jinli felt bad about disturbing the old professor's rest, but that was all she could do.
After waiting a while, the other end answered.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" Ning Jinli quickly said, "I'm really sorry to call you so late, I—"
Before she could finish speaking, the secretary's heavy voice rang out, "Ms. Ning, Professor Zheng... he just went into the operating room."
Ning Jinli was shocked. "What happened to him?"
The secretary said, "Last time, he was exhausted from rushing over to appraise the Canglan Jade, and he was too excited after the appraisal, which caused his old heart condition to flare up. He is still receiving treatment at Xinghan Central Hospital."
"We planned to arrange a special plane to send him back to the capital once his condition stabilized, but his condition suddenly worsened just now, so we had to perform emergency surgery."
Upon hearing this, Ning Jinli's already uneasy heart became even more tense and worried.
Such a good old professor, we mustn't let anything happen to him.
"Grandpa Zheng will definitely get better," Ning Jinli whispered.
It was both a way of comforting the secretary and a way of comforting himself.
The secretary-general sighed, his voice tinged with obvious sorrow, "Miss Ning, we all know what's wrong with Mr. Zheng... He's too old, he's worked hard his whole life, and I'm afraid this time he really won't be able to come back from the brink of death..."
Ning Jinli gripped her phone tightly and said hurriedly, "Grandpa Zheng is a national treasure-level expert in our cultural relics field. The country can definitely use all its best resources to save him, right? Could it be... that even this can't save him...?"
The secretary said helplessly, "Although modern medicine is very advanced, it is still powerless to cure many diseases. Otherwise, wouldn't the richest and most powerful people in the world be able to live forever?"
A strong sense of powerlessness seemed to come from the phone's receiver.
Ning Jinli's lips trembled; she wanted to say something more, but everything she said seemed too pale and inadequate.
After a moment of silence, the secretary sighed, "Many years ago, Old Zheng participated in an archaeological excavation of the Shennong site and discovered ancient medical manuals. It is said that among the medical manuals left by Shennong, there were ways to cure him, but unfortunately... only a few fragments of the Shennong medical manuals remain."
"Shennong's Medical Manual? What's it called?" Ning Jinli asked curiously.
The secretary told her that the thing was called Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica.
It records all of Shennong's medical secrets, which can cure countless rare and difficult diseases, and even bring the dead back to life.
"Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica?" Ning Jinli blurted out, "Hasn't this medical text been passed down? You can find it online."
The secretary sighed, "The so-called Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica that has been passed down to this day is no longer the original version."
"Then...when was the original version lost?"
"Well... I'm not sure either. Anyway, it's said that the version that has been passed down to later generations was probably written one or two thousand years ago, and only less than one percent of the original content is preserved in it, so the original version must have been lost even earlier."
"One or two thousand years ago... or even earlier? That's a huge time span."
"Yes, our country has a long history, otherwise there wouldn't be so many cultural relics and historical workers like Mr. Zheng who have dedicated themselves to this cause."
After chatting casually with Ning Jinli for a few minutes, the secretary said she had time to make arrangements and then ended the call.
Ning Jinli stood blankly in the small warehouse, in a daze.
Xiao Qidi has disappeared without a trace, and Old Zheng's condition has suddenly deteriorated.
All of this made her uneasy.
She stared blankly for a long time before looking at the roller shutter door at the back.
She couldn't help but recall that night when Xiao Qidi banged on the door, waking her up, and she almost got slashed by him when she went to open it.
besides……
And then there was the way she frantically clung to him, using both hands and feet to escape her panic...
She wished the roller shutter would suddenly rattle again, so she wouldn't be so frightened and helpless as she had been last time.
She turned off the warehouse lights and then opened the roller shutter door.
At the moment when dawn is about to break, the night is at its darkest.
Everything was silent; even the wind had stopped, and the chirping of insects and croaking of frogs had ceased in the grass.
Ning Jinli leaned against the door frame, gazing at the boundless night sky, and softly prayed, "God... please bless Xiao Qidi and Professor Zheng, please bless them both to be safe and sound..."
In the years following her parents' death and being kicked out of the Ning family, she prayed to heaven countless times.
She prayed that God would return her parents to her.
I pray that God will not make Aunt Su, who took her in, suffer so much anymore.
But no matter how much she prayed, it was no use.
Even after her parents passed away, Aunt Su still lived a life of hardship.
She stopped praying to heaven, feeling that it was all futile and pointless...
But this time, she began to pray again, as devoutly as before, even shedding tears as she said to the heavens, "If there is a price to pay for your protection of them, God, you can take away twenty years of my life, or thirty years if that's not enough... Please, God!"
...
At this very moment, outside Medicine King Valley, three thousand Xuanjia soldiers were also praying silently.
They were surrounded by the swarming barbarian army, and unless a miracle occurred, there was no chance of survival.
Now, they are trapped in a small valley, exhausted, and even walking is difficult.
The warhorse collapsed from exhaustion.
The dozen or so gas cylinder bombs they brought have all been used up.
The divine weapons bestowed upon them by Fairy Jinli were stained with the blood of their enemies, and their blades were dulled; their armor was also tattered and broken.
There are far too many enemies.
They couldn't kill them all.
The Xuanjia soldiers knelt on the ground with difficulty, looking up at the night sky, each of them pleading.
"Fairy Jinli... I beg you to bless His Majesty so that he can successfully rescue those people and escape from this place safely."
"Fairy, we are ashamed of the divine weapons you bestowed upon us. We are unable to annihilate the enemy this time. We beg you to protect us one more time, so that... before we die in battle, we may kill as many enemies as possible!"
Amidst the prayers, the shouts and cries of barbarian soldiers charging from all directions grew ever closer.
The three thousand Xuanjia soldiers gritted their teeth, used their swords to support themselves on the ground, and stood up unsteadily, straightening their spines.
No one gave the order, but they all tacitly chose to fight the barbarian soldiers to the last drop of blood!
"The Great Xuan warriors are here! You beasts of Sha Yue! Come and die!" The Xuanjia soldiers climbed out of the mountain pass, stood on the high ground, and shouted loudly.
Whoosh! The surrounding barbarian army, wielding sharp swords, surged towards them like a tidal wave!
Just when things were at their most critical moment.
Suddenly, a deep, domineering voice rang out from the sky above everyone's heads, "Barbarian soldiers of Shayue! Take a good look, what is this?!"
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