Chapter 60 "Dayu Mo"
At three quarters past the hour of Mao, the morning mist had not yet cleared.
A large group of people were walking at the foot of a low hill northeast of Cixijian.
All I saw was armor covered in dew and a broken flag picked up by a spear.
Most of the soldiers were covered in mud and looked exhausted.
You Hongda was worried that Li Mi had arranged an ambush, so he only issued an order to retreat. In addition, with the help of the prefect Zhao, the soldiers fled to one place and did not get separated, thus saving most of them.
In front of the army, You Hongda held a whip in one hand and Zhao Tuo's head in the other.
Even at this moment
Zhao Tuo still had his eyes wide open with anger.
"Zhao Taishou, you refuse to believe what I say and insist on seeing it with your own eyes. Look at what has happened now."
You Hongda looked at Zhao Tuo and complained:
"I told you that guy is a disaster. I was afraid that I couldn't avoid him, but you insisted on risking your life to get him."
"Last time there was a fire, now there's a flood. What damn bad luck!"
“Gee, gee.”
At this moment, two sounds of horses were heard beside me.
The cavalry was approaching You Hongda, sweeping back the remnants of the defeated army with a worried look on their faces.
"Captain, how do we explain this to General Zhang?"
The team said: "If we fall into this trap, won't General Zhang lose face as well?"
You Hongda, who was originally complaining, suddenly became angry when he heard this.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
He shouted angrily.
The captain looked away, not knowing where he had said it wrong. "The captain thought..."
You Hongda raised Zhao Tuo's dead head in his hand:
"Zhao Taishou colluded with Li Mi and wanted to offer an entire county to him. His rebellious intentions were obvious to all."
"Huaiyang County was nearly captured by Li Mi, but now I have recovered it."
"I also took the head of the traitor Zhao Taishou and coerced the many retainers and soldiers of the Huaiyang Taishou Mansion into surrendering. Wouldn't that have thwarted Li Mi's conspiracy?"
"How could I ever embarrass General Zhang?"
After hearing this, the team became more energized.
It feels like nonsense, but every word is true!
Zhao Tuo did intend to rebel!
He said excitedly: "Captain, this is a great achievement!"
"It's a great achievement, naturally."
You Hongda calmly warned:
"Zhao Tuo has long dominated Huaiyang, bullying men and women and doing whatever he wants. The people have suffered from his brutality. Now we will destroy him at Cixi Creek and confiscate his property to appease the people. We will then hang his head at the east gate of the county city to deter the bandits in the Central Plains and bolster our military might."
"yes!"
The captain responded happily and asked, "What about Li Mi?"
You Hongda thought for a moment and said, "Spread the news quickly. Say that Li Mi was seriously injured by our troops and his whereabouts are unknown."
"We will return to Shangcai temporarily to regroup our troops and send a message to General Zhang to mobilize the experts from the Golden and Purple Camps to assist us. This time, we must hunt Li Mi down and not give him a chance to breathe."
The captain asked, "A major Taiping Dao rebel has also appeared. Should we mobilize troops from Xihua and Nandun to send an additional force?"
You Hongda shook his head: "The troops cannot be dispersed. We must first destroy Li Mi."
The team leader agreed and made arrangements.
Immediately, a team of light cavalry sped up and headed straight for Shangcai.
You Hongda looked back towards the direction of Cixi Stream.
He thought again of the fire.
Last night, after the disaster star said a word to Zhao Tuo, a mountain torrent immediately surged and rushed down the ravine.
When I thought of this, I felt a chill in my heart.
He whipped his horses and shouted at the army to speed up.
…
From Cixijian towards Runan, there is a dilapidated wild inn.
"Secret Gong——!"
The haze that had shrouded Pushan Public Camp all night finally dissipated, and Li Mi, who had fainted, opened his eyes.
Chen Luoyan, Wang Bodang, and many other masters all came over.
Li Mi stretched out his hand to block Wang Bodang who wanted to support him, and leaned on a tattered wooden bed with his hands.
"Where is Master Zhou?"
"He escaped."
"What a pity," Li Mi coughed several times while speaking. He was seriously injured. His cough was fake before, but now it was real.
"This is a rare talent. If we can't recruit him, it would be like letting a tiger go back to the mountain."
Having said that, I felt a chill in my heart and couldn't help but sigh.
Chen Luoyan advised: "For now, the most important thing is Mr. Mi's health."
"That's fine. Where's the headmaster Ma?"
"He's hiding deep enough, colluding with Master Zhou. That palm strike was particularly strong. If I hadn't dodged the vital points, I might have been killed by that one blow."
Perhaps because he was injured and weak, Li Mi did not show any anger, but only looked confused.
Wang Bodang said, "That bastard took advantage of the chaos and ran away, but I shot him with an arrow. I don't think he will survive."
Li Mi frowned:
"I hope he can survive. I really want to hear him explain in person the reason for this palm strike."
Shen Luoyan confirmed that Li Mi was fine and regained her composure. She first asked a group of experts to stand guard outside the door, leaving only a few people behind:
"Secret Master, news has arrived from the north. Hao Xiaode is indeed in contact with Zhai Rang."
"Well, it's only a matter of time."
Li Mi's eyes were deep:
"Hao Xiaode and Zhi Shilang's allied forces were dispersed by Zhang Xutuo. He lost his base in Pingyuan County and can only rely on Zhai Rang for support."
"I can only blame him for not listening to me earlier. He only wanted to know Shilang's power and ignored the fact that he was being targeted by the Sui army. After giving me some good advice, he mistakenly thought I had evil intentions."
He shook his head: "How can such a person achieve great things?"
Chen Luoyan asked, "Should we contact Zhai Rang now?"
"It's not the right time yet," Li Mi said. "Hao Xiaode has lost Zhao Tuo, a great hidden helper. He is no longer important."
Several people understood what Li Mi meant.
If they want to accomplish their goal, they need the help of Zhai Rang.
Because although Pushan Gongying's forces were numerous, they were relatively scattered, while Zhai Rang was well-known in Xingyang and Liangjun areas, and had many martial arts heroes relying on him.
What Li Mi had his eyes on was Xingyang.
Xingyang is a strategic location in the Central Plains. To the east is a plain, and to the west is Hulao Pass.
In Gong County, west of Hulao Pass, there is the Luokou Granary, a large granary of the Sui Dynasty. Taking the Luokou Granary will not only obtain a large amount of grain, but also bring you closer to the Eastern Capital.
Although they had some reputation, it was difficult for them to fight against Zhai Rang, the leader, because they suddenly broke into his territory.
In addition, he was singled out by Yang Guang for pursuit and suppression, and his situation was extremely embarrassing.
Hao Xiaode might get closer to Zhai Rang, so he is taking advantage of the conflict between the two to cripple one of his important figures.
In the future, it will not have much impact on their plans.
This plan is both long-term and vicious.
Shen Luoyan said on the side: "Secretary An can focus on healing his wounds, let's avoid Zhang Xutuo first."
"Yang Guang's heart is still with the Liao. He just needs to wait for the incident to happen. Once the whole country is in an uproar, the Sui army will no longer pay attention to a dead Yang Xuangan. At that time, Lord Mi will be able to handle his affairs with ease."
Li Mi did not show any joy when he heard this. Instead, he touched his wound with a serious look in his eyes:
"I was teaching in Huaiyang, and I thought I was very calculating, but Zhou and Ma taught me a lesson. I will never forget this lesson."
…
Zhou Yi only rested for two hours that night and arrived at the border of Huai'an County the next day.
In order to avoid possible spies along the way, he did not take the official road, but followed a small path around the mountain.
Go deep into Ciqiu and get close to the source of the Ru River.
Zhou Yiben wanted to fetch water from the stream on the mountainside, but suddenly he smelled a bloody smell coming from the stream.
He frowned and walked dozens of steps towards the source of the stream.
At this time, a man was seen sitting on a rock beside a stream, with his back against a magnolia tree. There was an arrow beside him, which had obviously been pulled out not long ago.
When he took a closer look, Zhou Yi was shocked.
“Old Ma?!”
At this time, his breath was intermittent.
Seeing Zhou Yi coming, Ma Shouyi opened his cloudy old eyes.
He said in a weak and old voice:
"Before I die, I can actually meet my old friend from Yongqiu. I am not lonely at all."
Zhou Yi looked at the arrow, then at his chest which he was covering.
Judging from Ma Shouyi's injuries, what he said did not seem false.
"Master Ma, aren't you Li Mi's man?"
"hehe."
Ma Shouyi said: "If you say I am Li Mi's man, then I can only be his enemy."
Zhou Yi frowned: "Then why did you help the people from Pushan Public Camp in Yongqiu?"
"Li Mi's martial arts skills are far superior to mine. How can I kill him without gaining his trust?" Ma Shouyi leaned against the tree behind him and sighed. "Unfortunately, I'm still a little short. I can only blame myself for not learning the skills well enough."
"What's your grudge?"
Ma Shouyi said, "An old friend of mine died on the way to conquer Goguryeo. He died because of Yang Xuangan, and Li Mi was Yang Xuangan's advisor."
"He died because of Li Mi's scheme. I'm looking for Li Mi to avenge him. I guess I'm not looking for the wrong person."
After hearing this, Zhou Yi suddenly remembered something.
Taoist Mu once explained why he accepted Ma Shouyi's invitation to join the Hunyuan Sect.
A senior who was indebted to Mu Dao Ren had a disciple who returned to secular life. This person was good friends with Ma Shouyi and later died on the way to conquer Liao.
It’s this person!
Zhou Yi asked tentatively, "Is your old friend related to Mu Dao Ren?"
"It's really impressive that Taoist Mu even told you this." Ma Shouyi's body trembled and his breath became weaker.
Zhou Yi was still puzzled: "Then why did you chase me after the fire at Fuzi Mountain?"
Ma Shouyi said bluntly:
"If the old Taoist priest has the ability to kill you, he will kill me. I will say that I was ordered by Li Mi, and then he will kill Li Mi."
"My old friend died because of Li Mi. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Li Mi died because of me?"
"Beauty as hell! Am I not innocent?" Zhou Yi glared at him.
Ma Shouyi said calmly:
"It's my fault that I'm powerless and have to rely on others. This is very cruel to you, but I'm getting old and can't care less."
Zhou Yi is still to be discussed.
Ma Shouyi's face suddenly flushed, and he shook his head at Zhou Yi: "Don't ask anymore, I'm going to die soon."
"I am a man of loyalty and I will always be worthy of my friends. You contributed to Li Mi's serious injury, so I owe you a favor."
"Now, I will return this favor to you."
"Huh?" Zhou Yi was slightly stunned.
Ma Shouyi quickly said, "My old friend followed his master to cultivate the Great Yu Mo, and even my Flowing Water Rock Breaking Power was inspired by him."
"Let's not talk nonsense anymore. I'll teach you a technique from the 'Instructions of Yu the Great', 'Only the Precision and Only the One'."
Zhou Yi didn't have a chance to interrupt, and heard him say:
"There is an ordinary acupoint on the hand Taiyin Lung Meridian called Yunmen. Cloud represents the state of Qi about to turn into rain."
"There is another ordinary acupoint called Lieque. Lieque is the name of the Thunder God, so it means swift thunder."
"The combination of Yunmen and Lieque is like the thunder before the rain, which is the most magnificent."
"Practice these two acupoints to develop Qi points, and practice them in a cycle of ninety-nine cycles. Then, from Yunmen to Lieque, once the Qi is released, it will have the force of water striking through stone, capable of breaking through many protective Qi and Gang Qi."
"Li Mi's power is far superior to mine. This is how I broke his Earthly Evil Qi."
"When practicing this method, thunder and lightning will sound in your mind due to inner demons, making it very easy to be distracted. It must be combined with the "Great Yu Mo" to practice the method of focusing on one thing and maintaining the undivided mind."
"Ahem, ahem, it's been a long time since I've spoken to anyone like this."
"Your martial arts skills have improved beyond belief. I am no match for you."
"But there's no need to fight anymore."
Ma Shouyi didn't know what he was thinking about, but a smile suddenly appeared on his old face. He said leisurely: "Master Zhou... we will never meet again..."
After saying this, he closed his eyes and stopped breathing.
Zhou Yi sighed slightly, took a step forward, and slapped the magnolia tree behind Ma Shouyi with one palm.
The dying magnolia flowers curled up on the branches.
As the blossoms swayed, they fluttered down, scattering to the ground. This was the natural fate of evening blossoms. The falling petals were now a dazzling display, giving Old Ma a final rain shower.
"See you later, Lao Ma..."
…
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ps: more than 6,000 words, awesome! Please give me a monthly ticket ('-'*ゞ
(End of this chapter)
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