Just then, footsteps sounded outside.
"The masters are back!" Su Peisheng exclaimed upon hearing the footsteps. The others had almost finished eating, and upon hearing this, they all stopped eating and rose to greet the Taoist priest and Fourth Master.
Because Lanqin was worried about Fourth Master, she put down her chopsticks and got up to walk towards the door as soon as she heard footsteps. Su Peisheng and the others followed her out to greet him.
But before they could even reach the door, the person who made the footsteps outside had already entered.
"Third Uncle, Fourth Uncle!" Xiuzhu called out in surprise, following at the back with a chicken leg in his hand.
Her understanding of Taoist priests was still based on the white robes she had seen in TV dramas in later generations. But the two Taoist priests in front of her were not wearing flowing white robes or headbands with two long ribbons. Instead, they were wearing uniform blue-brown cotton robes. Their heads were not shaved; their hair was all tied up in a bun in the middle, with a wooden hairpin in the center.
The two Taoist priests glanced at the people in the room, their eyes immediately locking onto Lanqin.
"Take them away!" one of the Taoist priests suddenly said. Then four or five Taoist priests rushed in from outside the house. They were dressed similarly to the two of them, but were clearly of a lower rank and were directly under their command.
"Let's see who dares to mess around!" Gesang Hutu suddenly ran in front of Lanqin. He was tall and big, and when he stood in front of Lanqin, he completely blocked her view.
Lanqin knew that Gesang was protecting her, but at this moment she really wanted to see these Taoist priests, so she walked over to Gesang's side and looked at them.
The two Taoist priests immediately assumed a fighting stance, creating a standoff with Gesang. The other Taoist priests surrounded Lanqin and the others, and for a moment, neither side made a move.
"How dare you! What do you Taoists want to do?" Su Peisheng said.
"Our sect leader would like to invite this lady to the mountain. Everyone, please don't be nervous. We simply want her to visit our sect," said the Third Uncle.
"Your sect leader is really something. You invited our lady, but you sent people like you who even wanted to attack. Is this an invitation?" Shui Ling mocked.
"Stop wasting your breath on them, senior brother, just grab her and bring her up the mountain," said the fourth senior uncle who had been silent until now.
"Anyone who dares to come near me, watch out for this knife in my hand!" Gesang said immediately. He pulled out a knife from somewhere and held it in front of him.
"Third Uncle, Fourth Uncle, if you want to invite this lady to see the Sect Leader, why don't you wait until my master returns?" Xiu Zhu immediately ran between them, trying to stop them.
"Where is your master?" Third Uncle asked, stroking bamboo.
“My master has gone up the mountain to gather herbs. He’ll be back soon. Third Uncle, Fourth Uncle, and so many other senior brothers, why don’t we sit down and talk things over?” Xiu Zhu said.
"You're lying! Your master didn't go to gather herbs at all. He even took some people to Dumenpo, didn't he!" Third Uncle said angrily.
Lanqin's heart skipped a beat. She thought to herself: How do these Taoists know so much? And why are they suddenly barging in to take me up the mountain? What are they trying to do?
Seeing that his lie had been exposed immediately, Xiuzhu had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "No, that place is haunted by vengeful spirits. My master would never dare to go there. How could he possibly go to such a place!"
"Xiuzhu, get out of the way. Today we're here to invite this lady up the mountain." Third Uncle's eyes flashed with a fierce light.
Seeing their imposing manner and lack of any semblance of Taoist or Buddhist monks, Lanqin couldn't help but ask suspiciously, "Are you really from the Wudang Quanzhen Sect?"
Xiuzhu said to Lanqin, "They are my master's junior brothers."
"Stop wasting time talking to them. The two of us will deal with this big guy. The rest of you, grab this lady. If anyone else dares to touch her, don't blame us for being impolite." Fourth Uncle was clearly not as patient as Third Uncle, and was already showing signs of impatience.
Immediately, the atmosphere in the room became tense. Gesang raised the knife in his hand and said to Su Peisheng, "Protect the lady! I'll deal with these people!"
Before he could finish speaking, the two Taoist priests had already drawn their longswords and begun fighting Gesang. The room was quite small, and everyone else quickly retreated to avoid their weapons, otherwise they might have been hit.
The other Taoist priests began to move towards Lanqin, intending to capture her. However, Su Peisheng and Xiuzhu clearly would not agree, protecting Lanqin and the other women behind them to prevent them from getting close.
Gesang fought fiercely with the two Taoist priests, and soon the three of them were thrown out. Now, the Taoist priests had room to capture them. They were all skilled in martial arts, and Su Peisheng and Xiuzhu were no match for the four of them. In just a few moves, they were knocked to the ground.
"Master, hide behind me, I'll protect you!" Si Hua said. She and Shui Ling stood in front of Lan Qin, preventing them from getting close. The old woman was already terrified and cowered in a corner, not daring to move. Seeing the men about to grab her, she said, "You Taoist priests, are you going to grab medicine test subjects again? Why are you grabbing them all here at Master Zhou's place?"
The Taoist priests completely ignored her words and went straight to grab Si Hua and Shui Ling. Xiu Zhu and Su Peisheng were not about to let them grab Lan Qin, so they got up from the ground and pounced on them, each grabbing a Taoist priest around the waist.
"Shui Ling, Si Hua, quickly protect the lady and leave!" Su Peisheng shouted, ignoring the Taoist priest's elbow slapping his waist.
Shui Ling and Si Hua exchanged a glance, then each lunged at the other two Taoist priests, saying, "Master, you should leave through the back door quickly, we'll hold them off!"
Seeing that they were each clinging to one of them, Lanqin didn't know what to do. At this moment, the aunt quickly got up, ran over, grabbed Lanqin, and ran out of the back door of the house.
They ran out of the house, and Lanqin said, "Aren't you going to take care of your dog?"
"They're here to arrest you, but Gouwa is fine. He'll be saved when Master Zhou returns," the woman said. "Come with me quickly!"
Lanqin then ran out with the older woman. A moment later, footsteps approached from the back door, indicating that Shuiling and the others couldn't hold them off for long.
Lanqin followed the aunt and ran quickly up the mountain. She didn't know where they were going; she just knew she was running with her.
"Hide here!" The woman pushed Lanqin into a clump of grass and then ran ahead.
“Auntie!” Lanqin said, squatting in the grass.
"I'll lead them away!" the woman said, and ran off in that direction.
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