Chapter 104: Flower Sword and Moon Sword
Chapter 104: Flower Sword and Moon Sword (Sorry, I'm on a business trip, so this week is a bit over)
"You...you are the thief's spy?"
Tang Cao'er saw this originally despicable and wretched man smashing the heads of two guards with a whistle stick, and the look he gave her was no longer respectful, but full of cruelty and viciousness.
"Eunuch Tang, right? You want to be my adoptive father, right? Let me introduce myself to you again. I am Liu Yong, the ninth in Crouching Tiger Villa, and I am known as the Smiling Tiger in the martial arts world."
Liu Yong rode his horse around the carriage like a cat playing with a mouse.
The half-worn whistle stick in his hand revealed its original dark metallic luster only after being stained with blood. It was actually made of pure steel. Before, when I saw him carrying the bag on his way easily, I thought it was a wooden stick.
Liu Yong looked at the white-faced man and said with a smile, "As the saying goes, even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. You rotten crotch man, call me daddy and I'll spare your life, how about that?"
Tang Cao'er stood on the shaft of the cart and sneered at the man, "Damn it, are you planning a rebellion at Crouching Tiger Villa? Do you really dare to ambush the Prince of Qin's mansion?"
Liu Yong chuckled, "You think too much. The manor owner's target is Wang Dechang's cavalry servants. The Qin Palace? We just happened to run into them. But without you, Wang Dechang wouldn't have separated these servants, giving us the opportunity to encircle and annihilate them. Now, in order to prevent the news from leaking out, we can only... ask Eunuch Tang to die with us!"
Liu Yong raised the iron rod with a smile and was about to hit Tang Cao'er on the head. Suddenly, he smelled a strange odor and looked at Tang Cao'er's crotch, but it was not wet.
Before he could think about it, the car curtain shook, and with a loud bang, a burst of fireworks burst out rapidly.
The air was filled with the smell of gunpowder smoke.
"Fire...firearms? Damn it...this is not a code of conduct..."
The smile on Liu Yong's face had not yet faded as he looked at the bloody hole on his chest that was still emitting white smoke. The surrounding skin and flesh were burnt black, with fine iron sand embedded in the flesh. Blood continued to flow out. The iron rod in his hand fell down and hit the shaft of the cart weakly.
"You bastard, we are from the imperial court, who would tell you about the code of conduct?"
Liu Yong fell to the ground, his eyes were dazed, and he soon died.
Tang Cao'er sneered and spat, then kicked the iron rod stained with brain matter off the carriage in disgust. He then looked at the skinny man who came out of the carriage and a smile appeared on his face.
"Luckily we have Mr. Ling, otherwise our lives would have been lost to this bastard."
"Protecting Eunuch Tang is my duty."
The man was thin and wore a loose robe. He held a three-barreled musket in his hand with smoke coming out of the muzzle. He stepped down from the carriage, took out another three-barreled musket hanging under his robe, and loaded it with bullets skillfully.
"The Divine Fire Hand is indeed worthy of its reputation. I have heard of Mr. Ling's fame for a long time, but today is the first time I have seen it with my own eyes."
There was a hint of compliment in Tang Cao'er's tone.
According to regulations, the Qin Palace had eighty-eight guards, who could barely be considered palace officials and received official salaries.
But there were only eight first-class guards among them, each of whom possessed unique skills and was highly valued by the King of Qin. Although they were called guards, they were actually treated as guests.
Tang Cao'er brought tens of thousands of taels of silver notes with her on this trip to Yangzhou. She was worried that she might be spied on by bandits, so the King of Qin asked the 'Fire Master' Ling Xiao to accompany her and ride in the same carriage with Tang Cao'er as a backup.
"Mr. Ling, Crouching Tiger Villa is ambushing in the mountains ahead. Do you have a plan to defeat the enemy?"
Bandits were rampant in Guanzhong, especially on the Tongguan Road.
They found hiding places among the mountains and ridges. Some of them even colluded with the mountain people. When the government troops came to hang them, they fled to the deep mountains and ravines. When the government troops retreated, they became active again on the Tongguan Road.
Ling Xiao shook his head and said, "For now, I can only escort Eunuch Tang back to Tongguanwei, ask for reinforcements, and then make plans."
"That's the only way. The four Yangzhou women are fine, but we have to take the twins away. Otherwise, I won't be able to explain to His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin when I return."
Tang Cao'er looked back at the iron cage carriage covered with a tarpaulin, her eyes slightly fixed. There seemed to be smoke and dust rising from the hills behind.
He wiped his eyes and looked again, and saw a horseman rushing towards him from the mountain.
Tang Cao'er screamed in fear: "Mr. Ling, there is an ambush behind us!"
Ling Xiao's expression also changed drastically. He stepped on the shaft of the cart and looked back. He saw the man wearing a white robe and a bamboo hat. He looked indescribably handsome.
"Don't be alarmed, Eunuch Tang. There is only one person."
He calculated the moment, lit the fuse of the three-barreled musket, and aimed at the figure that was getting closer and closer.
The knight in white robe came straight towards Tang Cao'er's carriage. He stared at the three black holes on the top of the carriage, as if he didn't care at all, and still rushed forward.
"When death comes, there is no regret."
Ling Xiao showed a sneer on his face. This was another person who didn't know how to live or die. The reckless men in the martial arts world only knew how to wield swords and had never seen the power of firearms. Most people thought it was just a large firecracker.
"three two!"
"Ok?"
When they were about six or seven feet away, the white-robed knight jumped off his horse and threw out a golden needle.
"Flying Bird Style!"
The golden light came in an instant and pierced into the palm of the hand holding the musket. Ling Xiao screamed and loosened his hand. The three-barreled musket fell down and was fired in the air. As luck would have it, the firework went towards Tang Cao'er's butt.
"Ah, our butt..."
The white-faced eunuch howled like a pig being slaughtered and fell off the shaft of the cart, his hindquarters covered in blood.
"Playing with firearms? That's rare."
The man in the white robe and the bamboo hat sneered. When he saw Ling Xiao take out the three-barreled musket from under his robe, he swung it towards him like an iron weapon.
"You coward, prepare to die!"
The man in the white robe and the bamboo hat jumped high from the roof of the carriage with graceful movements, and the iron-boned man only smashed the roof of the carriage to pieces.
The man in the white robe and bamboo hat appeared behind Ling Xiao like a ghost, stretched out his five fingers, and pinched several major acupoints on Ling Xiao's neck.
"Catch the dragon and break its spine!"
The fingers moved in the wrong direction, and instantly there was a crisp sound of broken bones.
The martial arts moves in "Catch the Dragon and Press the Acupoints" have two sides, one is the benevolent heart of a doctor, the other is the heart of a killer. Life and death are often just a matter of thought. The same acupoints, with different techniques, often have very different consequences. Even the person who practices this kung fu has no chance to regret.
"Ok!"
Ling Xiao closed his eyes and snorted through his nostrils. All the energy and blood in his body rushed to his head. His hair stood up like steel needles. Seven streaks of blood flowed from his nostrils, eyes, ears, and corners of his mouth. His head drooped.
"Catching dragons and pressing acupuncture points is quite powerful."
That day, he obtained two martial arts secret books from the Dragon Scale Society's library.
"Scorpion Tail Golden Needle" is relatively simple, but the acupuncture technique requires thousands of times of practice. With the help of the green jade ring, he can have a very precise grasp of the tiny forces, which can save a lot of effort and improve rapidly.
However, he had studied this book "The Hand That Catches Dragons and Presses Acupoints" and the little brass man for two months, but he could only say that he had learned the basics. The more he studied, the more he felt that the book was mysterious and profound.
Like Lin Kun, simplifying this skill completely into a means of killing, without comprehending the subtleties and exquisiteness thereof, is like picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons.
"What a pity. I wanted to save your life."
Talented people with firearms skills are rare, and if this person is willing to surrender, he really wants to spare his life.
He threw the limp corpse in his hand down and saw the white-faced eunuch crawling forward more than ten steps.
"It takes a lot of effort."
He picked up the three-barreled musket on the shaft of the cart and threw it out. Tang Cao'er only had time to let out a muffled groan before his head became a mess.
Zhang Yu jumped back on his horse, turned the horse's head, and rode to the center of the team where the iron cage was.
He swung the Hanyuan dagger, and the red silk cloth instantly broke into pieces. Two sisters who looked very similar were locked in a corner of an iron cage, looking at the white-robed man wearing a gauze hat with some horror.
"Who are you?"
The man in a white robe and a bamboo hat rode on his horse and took out a copper token: "Under the Wind and Thunder Hall of the Sun and Moon Divine Sect, the new... Guanzhong branch altar incense master is ordered to lead the Guanzhong religious affairs."
Upon hearing this, the sisters immediately showed joy on their faces.
"Your subordinate is Huajian."
"Your subordinate is Yue Jian."
"Greetings, Master Xiangzhu!"
(End of this chapter)