Chapter 429: Reversal and Capture (6k)
The long-planned assassination finally happened suddenly when Lu Zhengchun's crying attracted everyone's attention.
Among the crowd near the execution ground, the feet of a group of people first created yellowish-brown ripples, and the soil rolled like a quagmire. Then, it was like a mud fountain arching out, and mud, earth, rocks, and sand gushed out.
An illusory and majestic ochre-colored "giant" emerged from the earth. He had thick arms, a waist that could be hugged by dozens of people, was wearing strange armor, and had a hollow face.
It is the image of the "earth god" worshipped by the people.
And inside the chest of the "Earth God", there were two human figures wrapped like silkworm cocoons.
One of them is the sorcerer Ren Kun, who is wearing a khaki Taoist robe, has a square face, a flat nose, yellow eyebrows, and is making hand gestures with his left hand while holding a four-sided bronze cone in his right hand.
The other one was Qi Yuchun, the former commander of the imperial guards, dressed as a warrior and carrying a long iron spear.
"Give me your life!"
The two men had been lurking nearby for a long time and had not appeared during the previous round of robbery. After they split up, they used the "earth escape" technique to approach quietly.
They appeared at this moment, without giving others time to react, and joined forces to kill Zhao Duan on the execution platform!
"There's an assassin—"
Magistrate Luan's mind buzzed, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he saw the short and fat sorcerer who had always been sitting next to Zhao Duan float out.
Gongshu Tianyuan's fat face was full of solemnity, as if he had expected it. As he flew into the air, his left hand grabbed a golden rattle from his wide robe.
“Dongdongdongdong——”
The golden drums shook wildly, and a familiar sense of sluggishness enveloped the front, trying to stop the assassin.
He did not grab the peach arrow with his right hand because the distance was too close and it was not suitable to use. Instead, he pulled out a bamboo sword from the storage bag inside his robe. The sword was made of six colors and was emerald green all over. It was more like a "whip" than a sword.
"Master Tianshi's disciple, Ren is eager to learn from him!"
Ren Kun raised the corners of his mouth, his eyes filled with excitement.
This talented sorcerer who was once famous in the martial arts world and refused to be recruited by the Tianshi Mansion was floating in the air, holding four copper cones in his hands, and stabbed Gongshu Tianyuan through the air!
"Certainly!"
Behind him, the huge and intimidating phantom of the god stepped on the ground, and circles of ochre ripples spread out. The god of earth raised his arms and made an embracing gesture.
“Squeak, squeak, squeak…”
Suddenly, gusts of yellow sand swept in, causing the entire execution ground to be filled with flying sand and rocks. The people screamed in fear and fell to the ground.
Magistrate Luan was blown to the ground, knocking over his chair. He was horrified to see streams of quicksand condensing into a huge "ball" in mid-air, imprisoning Gongshu Tianyuan inside.
The disciple of Tianshi Mansion was struck by lightning. He had just broken through the worldly realm, and even though he had a rich foundation, he was still not as good as a master like Ren Kun.
When the opponent exerted his full strength, Gongshu Tianyuan was like amber, imprisoned by the wind and sand controlled by the gods, unable to move.
As a price, Ren Kun also remained in a restrained position.
And this was the established plan: he was responsible for controlling the situation, while Qi Yuchun killed Zhao Duan alone.
"Zhao thief! Prepare to die!"
Qi Yuchun, with a face full of blue stubble and a deep blood feud, flashed across the execution ground like lightning, and the spear in his hand was like a snake and scorpion, stabbing at Zhao Duan without any hindrance.
Zhao Duan, who was sitting upright on the execution platform, seemed to be frightened silly. He did not react and continued to sit upright.
The spear pierced through his head with a "bang" without any hindrance, but there was no brain matter and blood splattering as imagined.
Qi Yuchun, who wanted to avenge his previous humiliation, froze his smile of success and his pupils suddenly narrowed.
I saw that half of Zhao Duan's body, which was shot in the head, slowly faded and turned into a clay figure, which was slowly falling down.
"Hahaha……"
In mid-air, Gongshu Tianyuan, who was trapped by the wind and sand, suddenly laughed triumphantly, his eyebrows dancing with joy, and glanced at the two people with a hint of ridicule:
"You've fallen into my trap. Brother Zhao's guess was correct. I knew you had bad intentions."
Magistrate Luan on the ground was stunned.
Ren Kun felt as if he was splashed with a basin of cold water. In an instant, a chill surged into his heart and his eyes showed disbelief.
Fake... Zhao Duan is fake... This fat priest has been controlling him all along... When did he leave? No, or is it that the Zhao Duan on the stage was fake from the beginning to the end?
Where have the real lackeys of the imperial court gone? A strong sense of unease surged in my heart.
"No! Let's go!"
Qi Yuchun's face changed drastically, and his body retreated quickly before his mind, appearing next to Ren Kun like lightning.
The latter also reacted extremely quickly, controlling the huge earth god to squat down suddenly, about to hug the two of them into his body, sinking into the ground with a bang, and quickly getting away by using earth escape!
They had no idea what was happening but instinctively followed their failed retreat plan.
"Lu Zhengchun!" Qi Yuchun reminded loudly.
Ren Kun suddenly woke up, glanced coldly at the execution ground, and made a hand gesture.
"puff!"
On the ground of the execution ground, a sharp spike suddenly rose from the soil, piercing into Lu Zhengchun's buttocks and exiting from his chest.
Blood gushed out like a fountain. Lu Zhengchun lowered his head slowly in a daze, looking at the sharp earth spikes piercing his chest. His throat made a hoarse sound. He tried to say something, but failed. The remaining light in his eyes dimmed little by little, and his life force was gone.
“Fuck—”
Gongshu Tianyuan had just broken free from the god's gaze and was stunned by this scene. When he came to his senses, the two assassins had already escaped.
"Master Zhao... what's going on?" Prefect Luan Cheng emerged from under the table, looking utterly embarrassed and shocked.
"Where is Lord Zhao?"
Gongshu Tianyuan smacked his lips: "He..."
…
…
Jinfu Inn.
The entire inn was closed, with only two people in the backyard patio.
Zhao Duan sat in a rattan chair with a chessboard in front of him. He held a chess piece in his hand and tapped the table lightly.
Opposite him, in another wicker chair, curled up like a kitten was Jin Jian.
The girl was curled up, sleeping soundly, snoring softly, her brows furrowed on her fair and delicate face, and she was using a corner of her robe to block the light.
"...So, Zhuang Xiaocheng definitely wouldn't do what I wish and wouldn't actually rescue Lu Zhengchun. Haha, I even suspect he used me to get rid of Lu Zhengchun... although I have no evidence."
"But if I were the leader of the Kuangfu Society, I would not waste this opportunity. I would create disturbances throughout the city and force the imperial court to divide its forces. Once they divide their forces, I would have the opportunity to assassinate me, Zhao."
"In this way, there is reality within the illusion, and illusion within the reality. Even if we fail, two worldly masters will join forces, and the Earth God is already good at escaping, so they can't be stopped... No matter how you look at it, it's not a loss... Hey, are you listening?"
Zhao Duan finished his analysis proudly, glanced at the soundly sleeping girl, and helplessly held his forehead:
“Talking to a deaf person is like playing the lute to a cow.”
After a pause, he said, "Five taels of silver."
"Ah?" Jin Jian was dazed, rubbing his eyes and staring at him:
"What silver? What five hundred taels? I heard a five."
Zhao Duan angrily threw the Fengyue Baojian to her, along with a small ingot of silver:
"The mirror is running out of mana. Fill it up."
"Oh." Jin Jian was not disappointed. He first put the silver carefully into his purse, then stretched out his slender fingers and touched the small bronze mirror.
Pure magic power flows endlessly into the mirror, sweeping away the dust on the mirror surface and making it look as clean as new.
"Five taels of silver for one charge, so expensive..." Zhao Duan complained, took the mirror, and imagined Yunxi's appearance countless times in the past few days.
The mirror surface rippled slowly, the clouds gathered and dispersed, and Yunxi's figure appeared in the mirror. She was walking along a mountain path with several companions.
Zhao Duan was startled and tried to adjust his "perspective". A villa built on the mountain appeared in the mirror.
In the distance, the mountains were covered with clouds and mist, and the rocks were rugged. With the help of Yunxi's perspective, they could see an archway appearing in front of them, with the words "Forbidden City Villa" written on it.
But when Yunxi walked past the archway, the image in the mirror shook and flickered with "snowflakes", as if it had encountered some kind of interference and lost the effect of insight and tracking.
“Found it!”
Zhao Duan stood up excitedly, scaring Jin Jian and saying, "What are you doing..."
"Quickly check how your senior brother is doing?" he urged.
Jin Jian said "Oh" and took out a magical conch from her bosom. Suddenly, the conch vibrated. She put it to her ear, listened, and said:
"Qi Yuchun and Ren Kun were trying to assassinate you at the execution ground. After they realized it wasn't you who was there, they ran away and killed Lu Zhengchun along the way."
"Such a quick reaction?"
Zhao Duan smacked his lips:
"Looks like we have to hurry up. Let's go. We have to hurry."
Jin Jian, who was sleep-deprived, looked reluctant and muttered, "I need to get extra pay for the day shift..."
"Okay, okay, if you catch Zhuang Xiaocheng, I'll give you all my reward. Hurry up."
Jin Jian's white and tender little hand grabbed a magic wand out of thin air, and pointed it at the air. Silently, an illusory moon as tall as a person appeared.
The girl grabbed Zhao Duan's hand and took him into the moon, and the two disappeared without a trace.
…
…
Fengcheng County Government Office.
Blue Bird followed the team woodenly and broke into the county government office. Looking at the "benevolent and ambitious people" around him, he decisively killed several minor officials who stayed in the government office.
Several bodies were left on the ground.
As a former maid of the Thousand-Faced God, and later a court spy in a daze, Qingniao was exchanged for prisoners with Yunxi.
However, she failed to gain Zhuang Xiaocheng's trust and was dispersed and thrown into a team, and temporarily received an order to burn down the county government office.
Everything happened so fast that she had no time to react or contact the court. She could only follow the second mission camera sent by Zhao Duan yesterday.
"Hurry! Fengcheng is not big, and the execution ground is not far from the county government office. The enemy cavalry will be here soon after they react."
"Put the firewood in the archives, unpack the gunpowder and pour it out, and give them a big one!"
"Qi Chi, why are you taking down the plaque in the lobby? You're wasting time!"
Lin Yuebai, a sorcerer who was a woman but dressed like a Confucian scholar, gave loud orders, and the team members were busy taking out firewood, straw and other flammable materials from the woodshed and piling them in an important room of the county government office.
Some people took rapeseed oil, sprinkled it on the ground, and threw strips of cloth on it to ensure that the fire would start and burn it into ruins.
The young Kou Qichi took down the plaque that read "A Clear Mirror Hangs High" in the county government hall, jumped down holding it, and said proudly:
"This thing is very flammable."
Lin Yuebai frowned slightly and said:
"We are here to fight against the false emperor, not bandits. Killing these officials is already inappropriate, so why damage this plaque?"
One member said nonchalantly, "They're all the pseudo-emperor's lackeys anyway, so what's the big deal?"
Another person said, "That's right, Miss Lin, you are clear-headed, but those henchmen of the imperial court, Zhao Duan, don't think so."
"To be soft on the enemy is to be cruel to one's own people. Those who achieve great things do not pay attention to trivial matters."
Lin Yuebai listened to the indifferent words of the people around her, her eyebrows raised, and she felt a little displeased.
Today's actions have exceeded her moral standards. In her opinion, every wrong has its perpetrator and every debt has its creditor. She doesn't need to be polite when dealing with the fake emperor and the corrupt officials, but she is inappropriate to act recklessly.
In particular, she heard that the Grand Tutor had arranged for people to burn down the granary and even open the county jail to release all the prisoners...in order to create chaos and tie down the imperial army.
Lin Yuebai felt something was amiss. Was it the false emperor who suffered the most from the burning of the granary, or the common people? It was hard to say.
But releasing prisoners is definitely not what a righteous person should do. Once those evil people in prison are released, won’t they cause trouble again?
But due to the reputation of the Grand Tutor, although Lin Yuebai had some opinions in his heart, he could only comfort himself by saying that "sacrifices are necessary to achieve great things."
"Alright, that's it. Light the fire quickly. Once it starts, we'll evacuate immediately. Don't make unnecessary sacrifices."
Lin Yuebai said.
Everyone lit torches quickly and prepared to set fire in different places.
But no one noticed that the blue bird came silently to the side of Kou Qichi who threw the plaque under the eaves. Her eyes turned cold and she suddenly jumped up and stabbed Kou Qichi's waist and ribs with the dagger, injuring him.
Then he blocked the boy in front of him, pressed the dagger against his neck, and said coldly:
"Stop immediately! Whoever dares to light a fire will be killed immediately!"
"Seven feet!"
"Bluebird?! What are you going to do?!"
Everyone was shocked, and Lin Yuebai's face changed suddenly. He subconsciously grabbed the magic weapon in the cloth bag around his waist.
"Miss Lin! I advise you not to move. You don't want your brother to die here, do you?" Qingniao warned coldly.
"Sister—" The young man grimaced in pain and tried to break free, but he was too injured to use any strength.
Lin Yuebai was anxious and shouted at the others to stop lighting the fire. She widened her eyes and said, "Bluebird... could you be..."
Bluebird looked around at everyone and sneered:
"That's right. I've already surrendered to Lord Zhao and received orders to stop you and your gang from causing trouble. Miss Lin, you're a good person. I advise you to keep an eye on the others. If anyone dares to set fire to the county government office, I don't mind dragging your brother along with him to be buried."
"Why..." Lin Yuebai was incredulous: "Did Zhao Duan threaten you? Did he get something on you?"
Bluebird's eyes narrowed, and he said calmly:
"I was indeed coerced by him at the beginning, but after I returned to the Kuangfu Society and saw the hypocritical face of Zhuang Xiaocheng, the old dog, and the faces of many ambitious people in the society who were disguised as Kuangfu Society but actually had evil intentions, I sincerely wanted to help Lord Zhao.
Haha, you keep saying that Lord Zhao is a villain, an evil man, and a treacherous minister, but I only believe my eyes.
At least from what I've seen, although Lord Zhao isn't a good person, he's much better than the bunch of hypocritical hypocrites in the Kuangfu Society."
Lin Yuebai was stunned, and the others were stunned and started cursing.
Some people even had fierce looks in their eyes and pretended to throw the torch away, as if they didn't care about Kou Qichi's safety. Fortunately, they were stopped by Lin Yuebai's magic.
"What are you doing? Qi Chi is still in her hands!" Lin Yuebai said angrily.
A member said indifferently:
"How can there be no sacrifice in doing great things? Miss Lin, don't you think you are too selfish?"
The others echoed.
Lin Yuebai was stunned. She looked at this group of companions who she had thought shared the same ideals with disbelief, as if she really knew them.
At this time, the sound of horse hooves was gradually approaching outside the county government office. Everyone's faces changed, and several of them became angry and threw torches out at the same time.
Lin Yuebai and another companion in the team who was close to the siblings tried to stop them, and the two sides started fighting.
"boom!"
The gate of the county government office was suddenly broken open, and Hou Ren, a master at breaking down gates, jumped in, followed by a group of elite soldiers from the Lihua Hall who were ordered to rush to the county government office for support.
After breaking in, he was stunned by this scene.
"No...why are the rebels fighting among themselves?" Hou Ren was stunned.
Bluebird shouted at them, "Quickly control them! I'm following Lord Zhao's orders to stop the rebels."
Chen Juan, Qian Kerou and others recognized the blue bird, and then they rushed forward, controlled the entire group of rebels, and extinguished the torches.
At this time, Jiyue, who was following behind the crowd, slowly floated in...
She glanced around to confirm that there were no rebel experts here. She was wondering whether she should go to other teams for support when suddenly a bright moon slowly appeared in front of her.
Jin Jian and Zhao Duan walked out of the "moon".
"Sir?! Are you here?"
Everyone in Lihua Hall hurriedly bowed and quickly explained the situation.
Zhao Duan nodded, glanced at the blue bird that was also temporarily controlled, and said:
"Let her go. She's doing well. Leave a few of you behind to guard the place, and the rest of you go help elsewhere in the city. Don't worry, Zhuang Xiaocheng's cleverness backfired. I calculated it correctly and arranged for Shusheng and Hongye to contact the other spies to stop them. This should delay the attack for a while."
He turned back and reached out his hand again, grabbing the bewildered Jiyue: "Come with me, we have to gather people quickly and take action immediately while the Kuangfu Society headquarters is empty."
"Ah?" Before Ji Yue could come to his senses, he was dragged into the shadow of the bright moon and disappeared.
at the same time.
Similar scenes were played out in various places in the city, and the spies arranged by Zhao Duan each used their own methods to buy time.
Without the participation of Qi Yuchun and Ren Kun, this group of rebels had no power to fight back against the fully armed Dayu government troops.
…
Outside the East City Gate.
The shadow of a huge bright moon slowly emerged with great effort, and then, a series of human figures holding each other's hands emerged like a string of candied haws.
"Huh, if Shui Zhong Yue teleports too far, Jin Jian's magic power won't be able to sustain it, especially with so many people. We have to hurry on our way."
Zhao Duan put his boots on the ground and turned to examine the members behind him:
Jin Jian's face was pale, he looked a little weak and listless.
Carrying a bamboo tube on his back and holding his chin high, Gongshu Tianyuan, the "genius inventor" who exudes the air of a disciple of the Heavenly Master, has the full demeanor of a master of invention.
Lang Shiba, with disheveled hair and a wine gourd and a scimitar hanging from his waist.
Ji Yue is still confused and has no idea what is going on.
As well as Zhang Han and Haitang, who are slightly weaker in strength but have outstanding comprehensive business capabilities, and the two of them can compete briefly with the world realm together.
"What the hell are you doing? Why are you taking us out of town? Where are you going?"
Haitang was not used to the teleportation. She felt dizzy when she landed. She covered her mouth and bent over to retch.
She straightened up and asked unhappily, her almond-shaped eyes, adorned with teardrop moles, staring at him angrily, "Can't you tell me what your plans are next time? What if you don't trust us?"
How could that be? I can’t trust anyone, and I won’t distrust Eunuch Hai’s great-granddaughter… Zhao Duan said apologetically:
"I couldn't be sure before, so..."
Zhang Han, the king of facial paralysis and curls, said:
"Zhao Shaobao, where are we going next? Can you tell me now?"
Zhao Duan nodded and said, "I found Zhuang Xiaocheng's lair."
During this period, he had looked at the map of Fengcheng countless times, so he was able to lock the location just by relying on the image in the mirror.
"Really?" Haitang couldn't hide her surprise.
Zhao Duan nodded and smiled:
"Now that Zhuang Xiaocheng has sent his men out, the headquarters must be empty. We must exploit the time difference and use elite troops and strategies to rush over and capture the leader. As long as we capture the bandit leader, the rest of the rabble will fall apart without a fight."
"Then what are we waiting for? Oh, we haven't ridden any horses yet." Haitang slapped her head.
"Hahaha……"
Suddenly, Gongshu Tianyuan laughed triumphantly. He put his hands behind his back, raised his head and chest, and smiled slightly with the air of a master:
"Do you think Brother Zhao wouldn't have thought of this? Today, I will teach you to see the methods of my Tianshi Mansion."
Gongshu Tianyuan lifted up his robe, grabbed a few talismans from the inside of the sorcerer's robe, and threw them forward with a whoosh.
The cinnabar on the surface of the talisman glowed, and huge parts appeared out of thin air on the ground.
It is mainly made of wood and metal, with strange shapes, and only a few huge wheels are eye-catching.
"This..." Everyone looked at each other.
"Wait a moment." Gongshu Tianyuan casually grabbed a hammer, and then started to assemble a pile of parts on the spot with "ding ding dang" sounds.
A moment later, a strange object that looked like a ship but had several wheels appeared in front of everyone.
"This thing is one of my Celestial Master's creations. It's called the 'Land Boat.' As the name suggests, it can carry us on our journeys, much faster than ordinary horses..."
Zhao Duan interrupted Gongshu Tianyuan's attempt to express himself and jumped on board first:
"Hurry up, we have to be faster than Ren Kun and Qi Yuchun before they can recover."
The rest of the people immediately jumped onto the boat. Gongshu Tianyuan looked unsatisfied, so he went to the "driving" seat and fiddled with it for a while.
The ship slowly floated about a foot above the ground, the wheels spun "clatteringly", and two flat "exhaust pipes" popped out from the tail, spewing out red flames.
"boom……"
The land boat suddenly accelerated, rushing towards the mountains in the southeast suburbs at a speed comparable to that of a galloping horse.
About half an hour later, a group of people, their faces stiff and expressions numb from the cold wind, got off the "boat" and looked up at the mountain road ahead.
At the end of the sight are the ancient buildings on the mountain.
"Forbidden City Villa, this is it." Zhao Duan compared the picture with the reflection in the mirror, his expression solemn:
"Walk."
"Hey, wait for me." Gongshu Tianyuan took off the key parts of the land boat, put them in his pocket, and followed the crowd.
The group walked very fast. When they reached halfway up the mountain, Jin Jian suddenly stopped, turned his head and looked down the mountain, and said:
"Someone's coming."
Zhao Duan stopped and turned to look back, only to see a cloud of dust rushing towards him from the ground at the foot of the mountain.
Then, the two figures came out of their earth escape state, looked up and stared at the people on the mountain from a distance.
"It's Qi Yuchun and Ren Kun! They're back!"
Haitang's eyes changed and she looked at Zhao Duan:
"what to do?"
(End of this chapter)
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