Just when everyone was in a dilemma, they heard a series of dense and loud metal knocking sounds from behind. When the nobles heard it, they all turned around and looked back, only to see that the soldiers holding huge shields had advanced to a distance of only ten steps away from them, and were constantly knocking on the shields with their short knives.
The group of heroes were leaderless. Seeing that the opposing army was in good order, they could not think of any way to respond or restrain them. They could only stand where they were, quietly listening to the harsh sounds of the opposing army hitting their shields, which was almost the same as waiting to be killed.
Suddenly, the soldiers on the opposite side stopped banging their shields, and the deafening sound died down. Then, a man walked out from the crowd, stood behind two shields, and said to everyone, "Everyone, I am Qiu Yizi, the magistrate of Shanyin County, and the brother of Wulin Alliance Leader Yuchi Lianghong. I wonder if you can listen to what I have to say?"
When everyone heard Qiu Yizi carrying Yuchi Lianghong out, they couldn't help but listen attentively to what he had to say.
Qiu Yizhi smiled proudly and said, "Everyone, although I am a member of the imperial court, I also know a lot about martial artists. I know that martial artists love to be free and unfettered, and they have always kept to themselves. Occasionally, they assassinate imperial officials, but it is often because these officials are corrupt and abuse the people, and the righteous people in the martial arts world kill people out of anger. The emperor knows all this, but he just doesn't say it to protect the dignity of the imperial court."
Although what Qiu Yizi said were all true, it was unheard of to hear it coming from the mouth of an official appointed by the imperial court, and the heroes in front of him kept nodding in agreement.
Qiu Yizhi pointed at the black-sailed boat and said, "You all know who is on that boat. He is the leader of the Tianzun Sect, which has always been against the imperial court. I have met him a few times before and know that he is very wild. He wants to change the dynasty and face the south but not the north. You have listened to others' instigation and joined him, but you are just a stepping stone on his way to the throne."
As soon as the words fell, the heroes in the martial arts world began to whisper.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizhi said, "What can this leader give you? He can only give you a small official position after he accomplishes his imaginary great cause." He sneered, "What's so great about that? My brother Yuchi Lianghong is now the instructor of the imperial guards in the capital. If you are interested in serving the court, I will come forward to guarantee you and give you an explanation!"
Qiu Yizhi continued, "If you are discouraged and have no intention of fame, it doesn't matter. Just put down your weapons and you can leave. I promise that I will not harm you."
He suddenly changed the subject, pointed at the lifeless body of the dead "Bronze Eyed Arhat" lying like a hill on the street, and said, "If you still dare to resist, this 'Bronze Eyed Arhat' will be your fate!"
As soon as Qiu Yizhi finished speaking, a man flashed out from the crowd, holding two swords and saying, "Master Qiu's words are so convincing, I wonder if you can spare my life?"
Qiu Yizi looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the person who spoke was Miss Yinhua.
When he was in danger in the Garden Outer Building that day, it was this girl Yinhua who made things difficult for him and almost took his life. Therefore, when this girl Yinhua spoke, Qiu Yizi immediately became furious and really wanted to arrest her. Although he didn't want to kill her on the spot, he had to punish her thoroughly to vent his anger.
However, Qiu Yizi had already spoken, how could he go back on his word in public? He had to suppress his anger and said, "Of course. As long as you lay down your weapons and surrender, I will forgive you and write off all the previous grudges!"
"Hahahaha, hehehehe!" Miss Yinhua suddenly laughed wildly after hearing Qiu Yizi's words. There was a bit of misery and pain in her laughter, and a bit of hysteria, which made people shudder and their hair stand on end.
Miss Yinhua laughed for a while, then suddenly asked with wide eyes, "Did you know that my sister is dead?"
Qiu Yizhi was stunned when she heard this, and then she remembered that her sister, Miss Jinhua, failed to attack her and fell down and was seriously injured, but she died unexpectedly later. However, Miss Jinhua was the first to injure someone, and she was just raising her knife to block the attack, and it was the dead bronze-eyed arhat who attacked, so it was completely clear.
So Qiu Yizhi considered her words and said, "Please accept my condolences..."
The word "sorrow" was still in his throat when he heard Miss Yinhua shouting, "If you want to settle the grudge with me, give me my sister's life first!" As she said that, she suddenly took a step forward and threw the two daggers in her hands one after the other in the direction of Qiu Yizi.
This Miss Yinhua knew nothing about hidden weapons, and the short sword she used had a very large target. Seeing this, several soldiers from the "Dangshi Camp" in front of Qiu Yi immediately raised their shields to block the two swords.
Seeing that her sneak attack failed, Miss Yinhua became even more angry and humiliated. She pushed aside the two strong men in front of her and ran towards Qiu Yizi with her bare hands.
The powerful crossbowmen lying in ambush on the surrounding tall buildings would not allow this crazy woman to hurt Qiu Yizi's life, so they pulled the trigger without waiting for orders and shot dozens of crossbow arrows, turning Miss Yinhua into a pool of blood and flesh after she had only taken two or three steps.
At this moment, someone among the heroes of Jianghu suddenly shouted: "The court's words really don't count! Let's fight them!"
These Jianghu heroes had deep grievances with the imperial court and the government, and would not tolerate the slightest provocation. When they heard this, their anger was immediately rekindled, and they shouted and howled wildly, forgetting that the government troops were coming to kill them.
Qiu Yizi had not expected that the situation would suddenly take a turn for the worse, so she quickly stepped forward and shouted, "Everyone calm down, everyone calm down, don't do anything, listen to me first."
However, these heroes were too close to Qiu Yi's soldiers and were in their path in the blink of an eye, making it impossible to stop them.
However, most of these people were injured to varying degrees, and their fighting capacity was greatly reduced. Even with this angry and desperate charge, it was useless in front of the well-trained, calm and determined regular army. Instead, it left a lot of space in the formation for the opponent to take advantage of.
At this point, although Qiu Yizi wanted his men to appreciate the kindness, his soldiers had no reason to show mercy in the face of a life-and-death situation. They gathered their spirits and followed the previous method, with the "Dangshi Camp" holding shields in front to block and the strong soldiers raising spears in the back to stab fiercely. In a short while, all the heroes who were still fighting hard were killed.
Facing the dead bodies lying all over the place in front of him, Qiu Yizi was sad for only a few seconds, then focused all his attention on the black-sailed boat moored next to the Yanziji Wharf in front of him - Wen Lingjiao, Yuchi Jiming, Tianzun Sect Leader Wen Honghui and the mysterious old woman on the boat were all extremely important figures and could not afford to be neglected in the slightest.
Therefore, Qiu Yizhi ordered Zhao Chengxiao to send out 20 soldiers to clean up the battlefield. The rest of the people lined up along the shoreline of Yanziji Wharf. Qiu Yizhi hid behind a huge shield as usual and shouted loudly to the black-sailed boat: "Master Wen, I have killed all the heroes you recruited. These people sincerely came to join you. The rabbit died and the fox mourned. Don't you want to stand up and pay tribute to them?"
Qiu Yi had finished speaking, but after waiting for a long time, no one came out to speak from the other side.
Qiu Yizi felt it was strange and leaned his head to look at the black-sailed boat.
He couldn't help but feel strange. Even Li Laosi, who was standing on the boat holding a bamboo pole, felt uncomfortable with the silent and depressing atmosphere. Finally, he couldn't hold his temper anymore. He grasped the bamboo pole with both hands and pushed hard on the rocks on the shore.
It turned out that Li Laosi was not bragging. His boat rowing skills were indeed excellent. Under his control, the medium-sized sailed boat turned very easily and headed towards the center of the river.
Qiu Yizi was afraid that Wen Honghui would run away, so seeing Meng Hong right beside him, he quickly ordered, "Meng Hong, shoot that boatman to death!"
Meng Hong agreed, raised the crossbow that he had prepared long ago, took aim and shot it at Li Laosi.
The crossbow arrow was aimed very accurately, piercing Li Laosi's throat. Li Laosi shook from head to toe, blood spurted out of his throat, and he lost his balance and fell to the side of the boat, finally sinking into the water after stirring up a wave.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizhi hurriedly shouted, "Where are the 'Iron Head Dragon' and the 'Yangtze Alligator'?"
Before he finished speaking, two heads appeared on the river surface. They were the "Iron Head Dragon" and "Yangzi Crocodile" who had dragged the black-sailed boat back to the shore. After they rescued Qiu Yizhi and brought him to the shore, they were ordered to ambush in the water near the shore as usual and not to act rashly. They said, "What do you want, sir?"
Qiu Yi pointed to the black-sailed boat that was already thirty or forty steps away from the shore and said, "Hurry up and pull that boat back. The old woman on the boat is very powerful, be careful that she might hurt someone!"
The "Iron-Headed Dragon" and the "Yangtze Alligator" responded and swam down immediately. People on the shore saw two dark shadows under the water swimming towards the black-sailed boat, and their speed was not much slower than that of an ordinary person running on the ground.
Just as Qiu Yizi was eagerly waiting for the return of the black-sailed boat, she saw the boat shake noticeably and then slowly began to sink.
When Qiu Yizhi saw this, he remembered the unconscious Yuchi Jiming and the powerless Wen Lingjiao lying on the boat, so he hurriedly pushed aside the people in front of him and shouted to Jiang Xin, "Hey! 'Iron Head Dragon'! What are you doing! Why did you sink the boat!"
The bald head of the Iron-Headed Dragon floated up from the surface of the river with an innocent expression: "My Lord, I also find it strange. I dived down and saw a big hole in the boat, but it wasn't caused by me!"
Qiu Yizi didn't have time to think about it and immediately ordered: "Stop talking nonsense, and quickly go with 'Yangtze Alligator' to rescue Miss Wen and Miss Yuchi!"
The "Iron-headed Dragon" nodded, said "Oh" in response, rolled over in the water, and then sank to the bottom of the river to save people.
After a long while, the "Iron-Headed Dragon" and the "Yangtze Alligator" each carried a person back to the shore. Qiu Yizhi looked carefully and saw that they were indeed Wen Lingjiao and Yuchi Jiming. Seeing that the two swallowed a few sips of water and kept coughing, but still breathing, he felt relieved and hurriedly asked someone to carry them down for treatment.
Qiu Yizhi then said to the "Iron Head Dragon" who had just climbed ashore, "Can you please go down and check if there is another man and woman in the boat?"
The two of them worked in the water for a whole day and were exhausted. However, he could not refuse Qiu Yizhi's order, so he had to dive into the water again. After a long time, he returned to the shore and said with a heavy breath, "My lord, you are very smart. There is indeed a man and a woman in the boat. The water is too muddy to see their faces clearly. One is wearing white and the other is wearing black. I really don't have the strength now, I'm afraid I can't save them."
After hearing this, Qiu Yizhi sighed and said, "I didn't expect that Wen Honghui, the great leader of the Tianzun Sect, who had planned so many tricks, would die at the bottom of the Yangtze River..." (To be continued)