Chapter 542: Blocking the Long Street and Confronting Zhao Shixiong
Taking one step forward, Zhao Duan felt as if he was passing through an icy waterfall.
A light green light flashed on the shabby wooden door frame behind him, which was inlaid with rivets and animal-shaped copper rings.
The lilac flowers painted in gold on the door burned and slowly faded away.
A lilac pattern appeared on Zhao Duan's cheek, which gradually faded and disappeared into his skin.
The ceremony is complete.
"In the next two hours, as long as I am still in Yongjia City, you can use the special features of the Two Life Gate at any time to activate the magic circle and teleport me back here."
Zhao Duan stroked the door frame, and his confidence increased a bit.
He had promised the empress that he would not risk his life, so he would make adequate preparations to protect himself.
He is going to cause a big commotion in the city tonight. At the same time, in order to cover up the actions of the other shadow guards, he must use himself as bait and put himself on the table to attract Zhao Shixiong's attention.
He didn't know how powerful this border general, whose name he had known a long time ago, was, but he knew that he must not be underestimated.
What's more, this is the rebels' territory. Even if Tianrenjing is besieged by a large army, it will be exhausted to death.
"It's almost time." Zhao Duan jumped out of the room and appeared on a nearby street in a flash.
He did not take out the sword or the bow, but pulled out a dark and heavy long stick from the silver scroll, with bronze hoops at both ends.
【Fearless Stick】
This is the weapon captured from the monk Fanlong of Shenlong Temple in the previous battle.
As he picked up the long stick, a heroic spirit of fearlessness and fighting against heaven and earth rose up, as if even if the gods blocked his way, he would still dare to pierce the sky.
"It's rude not to reciprocate. Although it may not be of much use, it's good to cause some trouble for the Shenlong Temple and make some enemies."
Zhao Duan muttered as he walked, a phantom golden bell slowly condensing around him. This was the Buddhist Golden Bell Cover, a signature technique he had learned from Qinglian.
"Who?"
A group of rebels were escorting a "suspect" through the street ahead. They bumped into Zhao Duan, who was carrying a long stick and had a golden bell shield spinning around him. They shouted at him.
"Amitabha,"
Zhao Duan, with a compassionate attitude, picked up his long stick and swept across:
"A good dog stays out of the way."
Soon, the bodies of the rebels fell to the ground, and the captured civilians trembled with fear.
Watching the murderous Zhao Duan continue to head towards the city center, a commoner knelt on the ground with his hands clasped together, trembling:
"Buddhist Bodhisattva!"
In the distance, another rebel squad was selected by Zhao Duan, and screams and Buddhist chants were heard everywhere.
Tonight, in order to force the Shadow Guards to come out, tens of thousands of soldiers are conducting scattered searches in the city.
At this moment, Zhao Duan, who should have fled and hidden, turned into a "hunter" and attacked the rebel troops unscrupulously.
…
The government prison.
A group of officials and generals who refused to surrender to the rebels were imprisoned here.
However, many gang members involved in the assassination of the military supervisor were escorted here tonight.
Song Jinxi was among them and was pushed and scolded by the jailers as he was driven into the prison.
"It's almost time." In a cell, Song Jinxi looked at the moonlight coming in through the vent and said softly.
"What?" A gang member of Yexiangmen was stunned for a moment and looked at his companion who had had a few drinks with him.
Song Jinxi turned his head and smiled at him. Along with the smile, a human skin mask fell off his face, and he spat out a steel needle hidden in his body and clamped it between his fingers.
With a familiar "click", he used a steel needle to open the shackles on his body, regained his freedom, and opened the door of the cell in front of the shocked gazes of the people in the cell.
"You don't think you can survive after entering this place, do you? If you don't want to die and still want to fight, then find a way to escape."
Song Jinxi said to them, turned around and disappeared like a shadow.
Immediately afterwards, the cells on both sides of the corridor were opened one by one, and several prison guards who were patrolling the area fell down from the poison without even making a sound.
In the dead silence, finally some brave prisoners gritted their teeth, walked out of the cell, picked up the jailer's sword, and rushed out with fierce eyes. They no longer felt that there was any way to survive if they stayed, and since they would die anyway, they might as well give it a try.
With someone taking the lead, more and more prisoners rushed out with red eyes. Soon, roars and sounds of fighting were heard in front of the prison.
Song Jinxi did not leave, but walked like a ghost along the empty corridor and went into the deepest part.
He opened a few cell doors and smiled at a prisoner inside who looked listless and extremely alert:
"Are you the prefect of Yongjia? When the rebels attacked, you were supposed to defend the city, but the officials around you controlled you and forced you to open the city gates and welcome Zhao Shixiong into the city?"
The wounded Yongjia prefect was in shock and confusion: "You are..."
Song Jinxi smiled and said:
"I'm here in the name of Zhao Du'an, the Grand Commander-in-Chief of the Rebellion Suppression, to rescue you. The city is in chaos, and the five military camps outside are attacking. Now is the perfect time to flee. Whether you can escape successfully depends on tonight."
Zhao Duan?
Is that Mr. Zhao?!
A group of officials in the cell were astonished. They saw Song Jinxi spit out a talisman from his stomach and stick it on the wall of the cell. The wall began to soften and slowly tore a big hole, allowing the moonlight from outside to come in.
The prisoners who were released before were just deliberately released by Song Jinxi in order to create chaos and buy time.
With the strength of those prisoners, it is absolutely impossible for them to break out of the prison. They will only be dealt with by the rebels guarding outside.
…
A small, unimportant warehouse where supplies are stored in a military camp somewhere in the city.
A group of rebels were stationed here. In the darkness, the patrolling soldier was stunned for a moment and rubbed his eyes:
"Did you see a shadow flying towards us just now?"
The companion was startled, looked around with his long sword in hand, and then breathed a sigh of relief and cursed:
"You're dazzled, aren't you? This is just a small warehouse. Who could possibly come here? With tens of thousands of soldiers searching the city right now, even that King Zhao would have to flee in panic."
"Really?" A cold female voice sounded behind him.
"Of course..." the soldier said subconsciously, then suddenly froze, a chill ran down his back, and he subconsciously drew his sword, but a bloody sword had already pierced his chest.
"Enemy attack--" another person shouted, and before he could run a few steps, he fell in a pool of blood.
With an expressionless face, a copper-colored mask covering her face, and a long sword in her hand, Hongye, the shadow guard dressed as a female knight, calmly killed the entire team.
Then he poured tung oil on the warehouse, picked up a torch and threw it away.
“Huff!”
The flames suddenly shot up, like a bright lamp in the dark night, extremely eye-catching!
"Leave immediately and go to the next location. The master's orders are very clear. They are to create chaos to cover up the real purpose. Ahem... there is no need for us to fight the rebels head-on."
In the darkness, the gold medal shadow guard codenamed "Scholar" walked over with his mouth covered.
Hongye glanced at him and said coldly: "Take care of yourself first."
The scholar smiled:
"I'm not good at fighting, but I'm quite careful. I also need to keep an eye on the support team and make the evacuation as smooth as possible. I won't be traveling with you from now on."
The cold heroine Hongye took up her sword and left:
"You must also remember that our first mission is to protect the governor. Compared to the governor's safety, nothing else matters."
The scholar smiled, turned around and walked into the night, only to see lights lighting up in all directions of Yongjia City under the night sky.
He was responsible for the evacuation tonight and could not afford to make any mistakes, so he immediately disappeared into the darkness.
…
“Crash—”
North of Yongjia City, on the border between Linfeng and Huai River.
Under the cover of night, a large army from the Beijing camp arrived at the river quietly. The soldiers threw the prepared "floating bridge" into the river. The spearhead battalion risked crossing the water first to wipe out the secret sentries on the opposite side.
"With such a big commotion, the other side will react quickly. Although the river is not wide, Zhao Shixiong blew up the land connection on both sides, and the Yongjia River has become a natural barrier."
Yuan Feng, commander of the Fifth Army Battalion, stood on the north bank of the river and spoke in a deep voice, his square face full of solemnity.
Lang Shiba and Ji Yue stood near him without saying a word.
The prefect, Sun Xiaozhun, had also arrived. His crimson official robes were as dark as ink in the night. He said:
"The governor sent a message saying we should launch a feint attack tonight. The purpose is not to capture the city or cross the river, but to create enough momentum and prestige. Therefore, tonight's battle was not intended to succeed.
Of course, if Zhao Shixiong doesn't care, we can take this place and use it as a base for subsequent attacks."
Yuan Feng nodded in agreement, then suddenly grinned and patted a powerful cannon beside him:
"In that case, it's a good opportunity to test the movement of this thing."
The Shenjiying followed Xue Shence to the eastern front to fight against Prince Jing, but they also left behind a few firearms before leaving.
Yuan Feng had witnessed the power of this thing when Qingzhou was destroyed, and he was a little excited to be able to do it himself this time.
Without hesitation, the artilleryman immediately adjusted the muzzle and lit the fuse.
After a while, a deafening roar awakened the rebels on the south bank.
…
…
Zhao Duan was holding the fearless stick, and the golden bell on his body was slowly rotating as he walked in the darkness.
Drops of sticky blood dripped from the end of the long stick, forming a line of blood on the bluestone floor.
"It's getting chaotic." Zhao Duan raised his head and looked at the clusters of flames burning in the dark night in the city.
I knew in my heart that Song Jinxi and the others had already started to act.
As the shadow guards continued to hunt, the searching rebel teams seemed to slowly react and began to gather together.
The two squads gathered into one team.
The two teams gathered into one large team.
The two groups were combined into one battalion...
As the number of people increased, even Zhao Duan did not dare to fight them head-on.
To my ears, the night wind brought a chaotic mix of exclamations and roars.
Zhao Duan was getting closer and closer to the government office.
He stopped and walked to a relatively quiet street. He took out a porcelain bottle and swallowed a handful of qi-recovering pills.
Along the way, every time he killed a team of people, he would take a pill to keep his qi sea full at all times.
This time is no exception.
When he felt his Qi Sea gradually filling up, he threw the porcelain bottle away, picked up the Fearless Stick and was about to attack again, but the next moment, his footsteps suddenly stopped!
Zhao Duan looked up and stared at the end of the street in front of him. A figure appeared at some point.
He was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, not tall, even a little short, with a thick beard under his chin. He was unarmored, without armor, and only wearing loose martial arts clothes.
Wearing cloth boots.
It didn't look unusual, but Zhao Duan felt as if he was being stared at by a wild beast. His muscles tensed almost instinctively, his hairs stood on end, and he had a strong premonition:
The world was clearly vast, but he could no longer walk out of the long street.
"Zhao! Shi! Xiong!"
Zhao Du clenched the Fearless Stick tightly, relying on the blessing of this weapon to dispel the instinctive fear when facing the strong.
He stared at the other person's face, which gradually became clearer in the moonlight, and uttered the name word by word!
The commander of the Northwestern Frontier Army, a general of the State of Yu whose reputation is no less than Xue Shence!
Zhao Shixiong walked from the end of the street with his hands behind his back and cloth boots on, as if strolling in the garden. His figure and face gradually emerged from the shadow cast by the building.
He looked calm and composed, looking at Zhao Duan with interest, and stood a hundred steps away from him.
"Hua La..." The sound of fast footsteps was heard, and suddenly a large number of soldiers in armor and sharp weapons emerged from both ends of the long street. They were Zhao Shixiong's personal guard battalion, who were inseparable from him.
At this moment, the long street was blocked. Looking down from the sky, it looked like a cage.
"Zhao Duan." Zhao Shixiong glanced at him disdainfully and said:
"This general has heard your name many times over the past year or so, and I'm curious about when such a formidable young man from our family emerged in the capital."
You're not trying to trick me... His tone was very firm, and there was no need to cheat in this situation...
Was his identity exposed? Was it because he left some clues when he killed Wang Qi?
Zhao Duan simply removed his disguise, revealing his true appearance, and put away the fearless stick in his hand:
"If you're curious, you can see me when you return to Beijing to report on your work at the end of last year."
Zhao Shixiong didn't respond. His gaze paused on the golden bell on his body, and he said with a strange look:
"You actually disguised yourself as a monk from the Shenlong Temple and killed someone. You are indeed the cunning King Zhao. Your methods are indeed insidious, but unfortunately, they are not worthy of being shown in public."
Zhao Duan said calmly:
"Effective means are good means. How can there be a distinction between honest and insidious means in this world? When it comes to morality, you, a traitor who betrays your master for personal gain and plots rebellion, are not even worthy of the word 'honest'."
Zhao Shixiong was not angry, nor did he seem to bother to argue with him. He just said calmly:
"You, a treacherous young official, are here to teach this general a lesson. Well, today I will discipline you on behalf of our ancestors."
After saying that, he raised his right arm and grabbed in mid-air!
Ripples spread out in the air, and his calloused right hand slowly pulled out a large Guandao from the ripples.
The sword was extremely heavy. As soon as he picked it up, the blue bricks under his feet made cracking sounds as if they could not bear the weight!
Zhao Duan did not hesitate and grabbed with his right hand. The silver scroll hidden in his sleeve flashed with light, and the Taibu bow appeared in his hand.
He bent the bow and drew the arrow, and with a "crackling" sound, electric snakes condensed in the bowstring. Zhao Duan did it in one go, using his Qi as arrows, and had already shot three arrows!
Must win!
"Buzz—"
In the dark night, streaks of lightning reached Zhao Shixiong's face in the blink of an eye.
At this moment, he had just drawn the long sword in his hand.
However, the electric snake that was powerful enough to penetrate steel armor melted away when it struck Zhao Shixiong's forehead!
That’s right, melt!
The body of this border general had long been covered with a layer of invisible qi. The indestructible electric snake smashed into the qi, like a drop of water in the ocean, melting ice and snow.
Zhao Shixiong did not dodge or evade, but calmly took the three arrows and said with a smile:
"Lu Tong's Taibu bow has indeed fallen into your hands. That was the arrow that injured the military supervisor Wang Qi that day. Don't waste your energy. The Hundred Refinements Qi I've cultivated allows me to remain unmoved even in the midst of a huge army. This alone is not enough."
Zhao Duan said nothing and shot a few more arrows. After confirming that they had no effect, his heart sank.
He immediately put away the Taibu bow and replaced the weapon in his hand with the familiar Zhendao.
This weapon contributed by Li Yanfu is extremely sharp and powerful, and can deal with multiple enemies at the same time with one strike.
But it is not suitable here. Zhao Duan's martial arts instinct reminds him that if he gets close to Zhao Shixiong, he will surely die.
A general who emerged from a battle array was best at close combat, and this was also reflected in Xue Shence.
However, when Xue Shence faced Lu Tong's arrow that day, he had to block it with his Fang Tian Hua Ji, but Zhao Shixiong actually resisted it with his internal energy and remained motionless.
Zhao Duan's heart sank, realizing that Zhao Shixiong's martial arts skills were probably more profound than anyone had imagined.
But his face remained expressionless, and he even took a step forward and said:
"Horizontal training is powerful, so what about this?"
As he finished speaking, the surrounding streets began to twist, and a scroll under his feet quickly unfolded.
(End of this chapter)
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