Chapter 344: Battle of Mantou Temple

Chapter 344: Battle of Mantou Temple

Chapter 344: Battle of Mantou Temple

In the first dog days of summer, the grass and trees are dry.

The fire started in the west courtyard and soon engulfed the entire Mantou Temple. Thick smoke slipped into the backyard from the archway like a giant python. Two wild wolves covered their mouths and noses with their robes, but they heard the shouting and killing sounds from the front yard gradually approaching.

"Brother Zheng Tong, I'm going to find Miss Du."

"Go quickly and come back soon! The fire is coming, ahem... whether to go or stay, please ask her to take notice quickly, there is no time to delay."

"Okay, you stay here and don't let them get away."

The wild wolf rushed into the courtyard and quickly disappeared in the thick smoke, leaving Zheng Tong alone guarding the door.

He drew out his long knife and looked around vigilantly, becoming alert.

"To set fire during chaos is to commit robbery."

Using two baits, he led the Qingcheng Sect around Nanshan for more than ten days. The mission has been completed. Zhao Xia is clear about rewards and punishments. After returning to Pingyang, he can at least be sent out to be a manager based on his merits, and he doesn't have to continue living on the edge of a knife.

Zheng Tong hoped that nothing would happen. Seeing the smoke approaching, he thought to himself, "Two days ago, Miss Du sent someone to contact Village Chief Zhao. There should be a response soon..."

Inside the room, thin smoke seeped in through the window and door gaps.

Lin Zhennan and his wife were sitting on the edge of the bed, their hands and feet tied tightly. When they heard the noise outside, they looked at each other and smiled bitterly. Although there was some panic in their eyes, they did not struggle, as if they had accepted the arrangement of fate.

Jianghu?

It’s not the Minjiang River, nor is it the Yuhu Lake.

Instead, you will be drowned in a pool of blood, and you are not even allowed to cry out for injustice!

In just a short period of time, Mrs. Wang, who was originally less than 40 years old and still had charm, now had disheveled hair and a haggard face. She looked more than five or six years older, and her plump figure had become much thinner. However, there was still some tenacity in her brows that was typical of a child from a martial arts family.

Lin Zhennan sighed and whispered, "Madam, it should be the Qingcheng Sect that is here."

Since being abducted by these men in black, they escaped from Yu Canghai's clutches, but they were still prisoners and were forced to flee in Nanshan until last night, when they settled down in Mantou Temple.

Madam Wang said in hatred, "It is better to die headfirst than to fall into the hands of the evil ghosts of Qingcheng!"

"It's easy for us to die, but it's a pity that we can't see Ping'er again."

"Alas, Ping'er is kind-hearted by nature. The world is treacherous and it is hard to distinguish between good and evil. Even if he didn't fall into the hands of the Qingcheng Sect, he would be in great danger. Master, I'm afraid that our family will have to reunite in the underworld."

Lin Zhennan shook his head helplessly. He still held on to a glimmer of hope. If Ping'er survived the disaster, the Lin family would continue to prosper. However, no one knows a son better than his parents. Lin Pingzhi was upright and chivalrous by nature, and he could clearly distinguish right from wrong. With such a pure and good character, how could he survive in this world?

"I hate it!"

"master?"

As the smoke continued to come in, the room was gradually covered with a veil. Through the window, the flames outside were flickering. In a moment, even if the person was not burned to death, he would be choked to death by the thick smoke.

"Perhaps it is true as my wife said, our family of three will soon be reunited in the underworld."

Lin Zhennan closed his eyes, clenched his fists until they bled, and his heart was filled with overwhelming hatred.

"I hate myself for teaching Ping'er to help when she sees injustice, but not teaching others to be as vicious as ghosts and to hide when possible."

"I hate myself for teaching Ping Er to be considerate, loyal, forgiving and modest, but not for teaching others to be selfless and to be punished by heaven and earth."

"I hate myself for teaching Ping'er that good and evil will be rewarded and justice will prevail, but I didn't teach him that God is blind and the strong will be king."

Mrs. Wang sighed. The master ran the Fuwei Escort Agency, so he was half a businessman and half a gangster. However, he yearned for the gangster life more, where he enjoyed taking revenge and repaying kindness. He liked people to call him Chief Escort Lin, a title that carried a gangster flavor.

However, he had spent the first half of his life, fifty years, just wandering around the shores of the world. It was not until this month that he saw the true face of the world.

"Oh!"

With the noise, the door panel was knocked open from the outside.

Lin Zhennan responded and looked over.

The man in black robe fell on the threshold, with two short arrows in his face shot from a crossbow. The blood was black and the arrowheads were poisonous.

Zheng Tong took a last look at the figure walking out of the smoke. His hands and feet twitched a few times, and then he became motionless.

This is the world of martial arts, accidents always come faster than plans.

Lin Zhennan looked at the door, intending to take one last look at his enemy, but he saw a young beggar holding a crossbow and a sword. He stepped over Zheng Tong's body, walked into the room, and looked around vigilantly. Seeing no one else, he felt relieved.

"Ping'er!"

Mrs. Wang couldn't believe it. She looked at the beggar with ragged clothes and disheveled hair, and recognized him at a glance. It was her son Lin Pingzhi, whom she missed day and night. He was so thin that he was almost unrecognizable, but he exuded a strong and vigorous aura.

"It's Ping'er!"

Lin Zhennan was stunned at first, then he was surprised and delighted.

"father!"

"mother!"

"Pingzhi finally sees you guys!"

Lin Pingzhi knelt on the ground crying, kowtowed, and then swung his sword to cut the ropes.

After escaping death several times, the three finally met each other. However, they had no time to express their joy as the sound of killing outside was getting closer.

“It’s not a good time to stay here, let’s leave quickly!”

Under the cover of thick smoke, the three of them climbed over the courtyard wall and fled into the forest, running all the way...

The Mantou Temple was completely engulfed in flames. The Qingcheng Sect disciples did not find Lin Zhennan and his wife, and guessed that the other party had moved their people away in advance, so they kept holding on to the three or four wild wolves who had escaped.

Among the bamboo forest.

"Heart-stimulating Palm!"

Yu Canghai leaped up and ran four or five feet away, and landed his palms on the backs of two wild wolves. In just an instant, two "puff" sounds were heard, and the muffled sounds were accompanied by crisp sounds, just like a ripe watermelon in the field, which was split into eight pieces when pierced by a spike.

"what!"

After being hit by the palm, the two men leaned forward, their eyeballs turned red, blood spurted out of their mouths, and they fell to the ground one after another as if they were asleep. At this point, all the ten wild wolves that Zhao Xia had loaned to Du Xiaochai were killed in the battle.

"Damn it, you still want to escape!"

Du Xiaochai looked back and saw that Yu the Dwarf was getting closer and closer. Hou Renying and Hong Renxiong were also leading the Qingcheng Sect members to surround them from the left and right sides. He realized that he could not escape from the bamboo forest.

She turned the green gun in her hand, glanced behind her, and secretly slowed down her pace.

"Where to go!"

Yu Canghai walked very quickly through the forest, rolling up the dead leaves on the ground and rushing forward like a dry tornado.

When the two were two meters apart.

Du Xiaochai suddenly stopped, bent down, stretched out his spear backwards, and stabbed diagonally upwards.

"The cold dragon looks back!"

Yu Canghai saw the bright silver light coming instantly and passing before his eyes, so he quickly stepped back and dodged. The green spear poked a hole in his Taoist robe. He was filled with shock and anger. He drew his sword, leaped two or three feet high, stepped on the spear, and swung out a ray of Qingcheng sword energy.

"Pine wind curls leaves!"

The wind and dust were raging, bamboo leaves were flying everywhere, Du Xiaochai flew backwards and fell heavily to the ground.

"A worm shakes a tree, and you don't overestimate your own capabilities!"

Yu Canghai fell to the ground and saw his disciples rushing up to him. He calmly clamped the hole under his armpit.

Hou Renying reported, "Master, I have searched everywhere, but I can't find Lin Zhennan and his wife."

Yu Canghai looked at the woman and asked in a cold voice, "I am a man of integrity. How about handing over Lin Zhennan in exchange for my life?"

Du Xiaochai supported himself with the green spear and slowly stood up from the ground.

"Yu Canghai! You are not worthy of mentioning the word trust and loyalty." Yu Canghai saw the hatred in Du Xiaochai's eyes and asked, "Do you know Yu?"

Du Xiaochai wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stared at him intently: "Have the souls of the women and children in Qianzhang Valley ever come to you to claim your life every night?"

At that time, Yu Canghai led the orthodox forces and besieged the disciples of the Bashu Divine Sect and their families in Qianchi Valley. Eventually, they ran out of food and water. He lured the masters of the Divine Sect to surrender by promising not to implicate their families, but he set fire to the Qianchi Valley in front of them, and hundreds of women and children turned into charcoal in the sea of ​​fire.

"So you are the remnant of the Demon Cult. The fire that year didn't burn you to death. What a pity! Since you are still alive, you should find a place to linger. You dare to tease the tiger's whiskers. You really don't know how to write the word death!"

Yu Canghai approached step by step with a long sword in hand.

"You were instructed by Zhang Yu, right? Tell me the whereabouts of Lin Zhennan and his wife, and I may spare your life!"

Du Xiaochai held the spear, wishing she could poke dozens or even hundreds of holes in Yu Canghai's body, but there was a huge gap in strength between the two. In anger and embarrassment, Yu the Dwarf used the Songfeng sword technique, using 100% of her strength, which already seriously injured her.

"If not, I will kill you first and then go find them."

Yu Canghai was only five steps away from Du Xiaochai. Looking up, he saw that this woman had a slim figure, good looks, and was an expert in using a spear. She exuded a kind of spirit and energy, which was quite interesting. However, compared with the temptation of the Exorcism Sword Technique, this woman was not worth mentioning at all.

Du Xiaochai sneered, "You want me to believe your lies? Dream on!"

Yu Canghai raised the three-foot-long sword and slashed at the woman's fair neck.

"Then you go..."

Du Xiaochai no longer had the strength to resist, but she still raised her spear and stabbed forward. The spear's force was weak and powerless and could not hurt Yu Canghai at all. Of course she knew it, but she just didn't want to repeat the mistakes of those Divine Sect masters in Qianchi Valley, so she put down her sword and waited for the death.

"die!"

When the sword tip was still half a foot away from his neck, several golden lights flew from the bamboo forest and headed towards Yu Canghai's brow, wrist, and sword body.

'Whoosh whoosh~'

Yu Canghai quickly retracted the sword, turned sideways, and held the sword horizontally in front of him to block the scorpion-tail golden needle that was heading towards his vitals.

“Ding-ding~”

The sound of horse hooves could be heard in the woods.

Yu Canghai looked up and saw a man in a black robe riding a horse. In a few blinks of an eye, he rushed towards him.

"Xu~"

Zhang Yu pulled the reins, jumped off the horse, and looked at Du Xiaochai. Seeing that her breathing was disordered, he knew that she had internal injuries. He raised his hand and pressed it on her shoulder, injecting a stream of Beiming true Qi to temporarily suppress the chaotic energy in her body from causing greater damage to her meridians.

"grown ups…"

"Don't talk yet!"

Du Xiaochai was unsteady and staggered a few steps.

After Zhang Yu finished transferring his true energy, he supported her and asked, "Do you feel better?"

Du Xiaochai leaned on Zhang Yu's shoulder and whispered, "Lin Zhennan and his wife escaped."

"It doesn't matter!"

Zhang Yu chuckled and helped her sit down.

Yu Canghai suffered a loss, so he used his inner strength to force out the golden needle from his wrist, and asked in a stern voice: "Who is coming?"

Zhang Yu took off his hat, hung it on the saddle, and looked at the dozens of Qingcheng Sect masters.

"Master Yu, you don't know me, but your good disciples should have seen me!"

"Zhang Liyu? Now you should call me Zhang Yu!"

Hou Renying recognized the man who beat him up in public at Qun Yulou.

"How did he become the Purple Star Sword Immortal? He first captured the two guardians and defeated Huashan with one sword. How is that possible?"

Hong Renxiong is particularly narrow-minded. What he cannot accept the most is that someone younger than him has better martial arts than him and has achieved great fame in the martial arts world. Subconsciously, he is unwilling to believe it. Even though Zhang Yucai used three scorpion tail golden needles to force back the fatal sword and injured Yu Canghai, he still attributed it to - good luck.

Yu Canghai turned his sword over and looked at Zhang Yu: "You must be the Ziwei Sword Immortal who has become famous in the martial arts world recently. You are quite skilled in shooting arrows and making sneak attacks. Could this be the method of a sword immortal?"

Zhang Yu chuckled and said, "Master Yu, are you going to teach me something?"

Yu Canghai sneered and said, "I just want to squeeze out some water to let the younger generation understand that the martial arts world is huge, there are many masters, there are mountains beyond mountains, there are heavens beyond heavens, not everyone can call himself a sword immortal!"

"It's useless to talk, let's do it!"

Yu Canghai rushed over with a sword in hand, and when he was seven steps away from Zhang Yu, he touched the ground with his legs and jumped three feet high. His arms spread out like wings, and his long sword swayed like a bird's beak in the middle, swinging continuously, as if he was finding the opponent's weaknesses and adjusting the landing point of attack at any time.

"Pingsha Luoyan!"

This is the most essential move in Songfeng swordsmanship, the real usage.

Just one sword contains nine changes and eighteen variations, making it impossible to defend against.

Ordinary Qingcheng disciples have little attainment in swordsmanship. When they learn the 'Pingsha Luoyan' sword technique, they only learn one form and cannot change it as they wish, which makes them look very rigid and ridiculous.

It's fine to scare ordinary people with the reputation of Qingcheng's unique skills, but when meeting a famous swordsman, it's easy for him to find out his flaws and beat him to a pulp.

When Hou Renying saw this move, he felt a dull pain in his buttocks and whispered, "Master may say he is disdainful, but in his heart he really respects Ziwei Sword Immortal. The first move he made was his best move."

Hong Renxiong sneered, "You bullshit Ziwei Sword Immortal! You only know how to use hidden weapons to attack. If we really compare swordsmanship, you may not be better than us. You still want to fight with Master. You are just showing off your sword in front of Guan Gong and courting death!"

Zhang Yu stood there, not moving a step, as if he was frightened.

"The wild geese falling from the flat sand are indeed full of changes!"

He watched quietly as Yu Canghai fell from the sky, and the sword was getting closer and closer to him.

Eight feet.

Five feet.

Three feet.

A flash of purple light passed by, reflecting the sunlight.

Yu Canghai narrowed his eyes slightly, and saw that the purple sword drew two circles from bottom to top, breaking all the changes of Pingsha Luoyan sword style.

"How come he knows Songshan swordsmanship?"

Although Songfeng swordsmanship was superb, the founder Chang Qingzi was defeated by the Exorcism Swordsmanship and died in depression. After that, the Qingcheng Sect had the habit of carefully collecting swordsmanship from other sects, so Yu Canghai recognized the move of "Jade Entering Tianchi".

The move that Zhang Yu used at random was just enough to break Pingsha Luoyan's move.

Before Yu Canghai had time to think, he was already in danger.

"not good!"

The third circle, surrounded by purple light, wrapped Yu Canghai's legs in it.

"what!"

With a scream, blood rained down.

"Lost?"

"Master lost to Ziwei Sword Immortal?"

The disciples of Qingcheng Sect watched helplessly as their leader's two feet were cut off at the wrists. It was really unbelievable. The smart ones reacted and began to retreat, ready to escape at any time.

"Devil cult, go to hell!"

Yu Canghai was indeed as strong as iron. Even after suffering such a serious injury, before he landed on the ground, he took out a round pill from his sleeve, crushed it, and threw it out. Colorful smoke was emitted in the air and enveloped Du Xiaochai who was sitting on the ground.

"It's poisonous smoke!"

Zhang Yu had no choice but to abandon Yu Canghai and pick up Du Xiaochai to hide before the poisonous smoke arrived.

(End of this chapter)