Little did they know that while Shi Haoxian aroused public anger with his excessive words, he also attracted everyone's attention.
The might of Yue Jiao's sword further helped him build momentum. After his momentum reached its peak, he in turn recognized them and eased their hostility.
In this short period of time, he went from an unknown stranger to the leader of the entire situation. This is exactly the method of "flying pliers" in Guiguzi's technique.
Through this method, he became the "superior" in the field, flying over and clamping it, controlling the direction of the entire situation.
Under everyone's gaze, Shi Hao shouted, "If you want revenge, you must not die for no reason. We are all heroes, why should we be afraid of death? What we should be afraid of is that we will die without being able to avenge ourselves, and we will be ashamed to see these brothers who were killed."
"Do you think your clan leader doesn't want to avenge this? Those who died were his relatives and his clan members. He hates it as much as you do. Revenge must be taken, but with the Gong family alone, facing the Hanyang Gang at this moment, this revenge cannot be taken even if we want to."
"To be honest, we are from Wudang Temple. After the incident, Clan Leader Gong knew that revenge must be taken, but a strategy was needed. Now that the Hanyang Gang is powerful, all the villages in Bashan are threatened. While you were making a fuss here, your clan leader had already sent people everywhere to contact the villages."
"We came here first because we are closer to here. We are on our way to contact the people from Shennong Village, Qinglong City, Wu Village and other villages. We came here at the request of your clan leader to fight against the Hanyang Gang with the Gong family and avenge this deep hatred. When we got here, we saw you guys making a fuss. You knew that Changyan City was a trap, but you still went there to die regardless of everything."
"Everyone... you are really disappointing!"
He shook his head and sighed.
Everyone looked at each other, all ashamed.
It turns out that while they were quarreling here, the clan leader had already begun to secretly contact heroes from all directions, preparing to fight against the powerful enemy together
This is also Shi Hao's cleverness. To the Gong family, they are outsiders. If these people knew that they, outsiders, took the initiative to find them and wanted to join forces, they would inevitably have doubts and suspicions.
Now let them know that this alliance was initiated by their clan leader, and Wudang Temple and others came to help. Others are not afraid of strong enemies, and for the sake of loyalty, they will do their best to help, so how can they retreat
—"Those who move with Yang, will be blessed with virtue!"
For masculine and positive people, we need to use reason and morality to restrain and guide them, but we must allow them to maintain this momentum and not suppress it easily.
Most of the people present are young people who are full of vigor and vitality. If they are not restrained and guided, they are likely to fail to accomplish anything and instead cause trouble.
However, it would be even more troublesome and regrettable if we forcibly suppress their momentum and turn them into a loose group.
Shi Hao said loudly under everyone's gaze: "The scene in Changyan City tonight was clearly a trap. The three villains of Hannan killed a few people first to anger you and force the Gong family to fight the majority with the minority and the strong with the weak in their territory. If you go there, you will fulfill the wishes of those traitors."
"What we need to do now is to do as your clan leader said, first defend the city, strengthen the defense, and contact the heroes of Bashan. As you said, the Gong family must avenge this hatred, and it must be avenged. If we don't, we, the Nine Villages of Bashan, will only be ridiculed by the world.
"But please understand your chief's good intentions. You are heartbroken, and your chief is more heartbroken than you are. But we don't want you to die, but to make the murderer pay with blood. Jiuzhai will unite and avenge this hatred. Don't you agree?"
Everyone responded with a roar, and the momentum was overwhelming—
Chapter 146: Wuzhai Business
After calming everyone down, Gong Muhong hurriedly invited this "Master Chongyun" in.
Gong Muhong and the elders in the clan were originally very troubled. They knew that they must not let the young people in the clan go to Changyan City.
But they couldn't control the situation and didn't know how to deal with it.
Inviting them inside, Gong Muhong sighed, "If it weren't for my little brother, today's incident would probably not have ended well."
Shi Hao said: "Although the people outside are impulsive, their common hatred of the enemy cannot be ignored. As long as this spirit is there and guided, Nangong Mountain will not be humiliated by the foreign enemies."
Gong Muhong said, "Thank you!" He added, "To counter the Hanyang Gang, it is not enough to rely on Nangong Mountain and Wudang Temple alone. As for Qinglong City, I have always had close contacts with them, and we are even related by marriage. I can go and discuss with Qinglong City to let Qinglong City join the alliance."
"But Qinglong City is just an ordinary mountain city. Although there are many people practicing martial arts, most of them are not good enough. Goupan Village, Heshou Village, Yinping Village, and Jiming Village all have some good fighters, but their number is not too large. Whether the nine villages in Bashan can form a front against the Hanyang Gang depends on Shennong Village."
"Should we go to Shennong Village first to see what Old Manor Master Jing thinks?"
Shi Hao said, "No! I heard that among the nine villages in Bashan, only two people have truly entered the middle level. One is the old village chief Jing Fude of Shennong Village, and the other is the village chief of Wu Village. The old village chief Jing is old and has not fought with anyone for a long time. He may not have the courage of his youth. If we talk to him now, we may fall into endless suspicion and evasion. It is better to wait until the trend of the alliance of the villages is determined before we talk to him."
"What's important now is the opinion of the Wuzhai leader. Wuzhai is located behind the other villages and is quite mysterious. The leader is a sixth-rank official and has many good fighters. If Wuzhai is wavering or even colludes with the Hanyang Gang, the rear of the other villages will be unstable and accidents will easily happen."
"So I thought, let's go to Wuzhai first. Judging from the geographical location of the nine villages in Bashan, if we can't convince Wuzhai to join, Shennongzhai will be hesitant, and it will be difficult for the villages to unite. If they don't unite, they will inevitably be defeated one by one by the Hanyang Gang."
Gong Muhong pondered for a while and nodded, "Little brother, what you said is very true! Speaking of Wuzhai, Gong knows a little bit about it. Everyone knows that Wuzhai is isolated from the world and has no contact with the outside world. In fact, this is not true. Wuzhai also has their own private business."
The Taoist priest next to him said in surprise: "Business in Wu Village? If there is business, there must be a trade route, but there is almost no communication between Wu Village and other villages. Those who go out are pharmacists and farmers who collect herbs. Most of the crops grown around are mulberry leaves, and there are few wheat fields..."
Shi Hao suddenly said, "Mulberry leaves? Since they grow mulberry leaves, they must be raising silkworms. Since they raise silkworms, they must be producing silk. For a village like this, the silk produced cannot be worn by themselves, so they must be sold. Where do they sell it to?"
Daoist Chuan said: "This..."
Gong Muhong whispered: "Actually, this is the business of Wuzhai, except that they sell silkworms instead of silk!"
Shi Hao was surprised: "Silkworm?"
Gong Muhong said, "Poisonous silkworms! In fact, the men in the witch village are just doing some menial business, and the ones who really make money are the women who raise silkworms. Outsiders generally don't have many opportunities to enter the witch village, and even if they enter, it is difficult to see the real situation inside."
"Those women hide in the village, raise poisonous insects, and then sell them to southern Hunan through the Xiang River. Southern Hunan is located in the Wuling Mountains, and there is miasma everywhere. It is inhabited by the Miao people and they rarely communicate with the outside world. The Wu Village does the business of those Miao women, so naturally it is not well known to the outside world."
"Wu Village itself is also extremely closed. After all, this kind of business is quite strange in the eyes of outsiders. If it gets out, it will have a bad impact. I only learned about this business of Wu Village by chance through a knight who came back from Xiangnan."
"Miao women have the habit of raising Gu. In some strange places, even everyone raises Gu. However, Gu insects also need to go through various breeding and tempering processes. Due to the climate, some special poisonous insects are not suitable for growing in the humid places like southern Hunan. The Wu Village raises these special poisonous insects."
Shi Hao frowned slightly and said, "In this case, I need to go and take a look."
Du Yuejiao said at the side: "Master Brother..."
Shi Hao shook his head. "I heard that the leader of the Hanyang Clan, Huang Facai, has a strange origin and his energy is poisonous. His poison can even spread after the victim dies. I suspect Huang Facai is related to the Demon Sect, but it could also be a kind of witchcraft."
"If this hidden danger cannot be eliminated, we will not be able to calm down and fight against the Hanyang Gang with all our strength."
After hearing what he said, Gong Muhong and Chuan Dao Ren couldn't help but nod their heads.
Indeed, if they were not sure of the Wuzhai’s attitude, they would be on guard in the upcoming fierce battle and would not be able to give their all.
The Hanyang Gang is strong and they are weak. If Wuzhai really colludes with the Hanyang Gang, their situation will become even more dangerous.
—
Shi Hao, Du Yuejiao, Chuan Daoren, Hou Bomin and He Guangtao returned to Wudang Temple temporarily.
When we returned to Wudang Temple, it was already evening, so it was not a good idea to go directly to Wuzhai.
Going to a place like the Witch Village at night is not a good thing.
They stayed in the Wudang Temple.
After dinner and a shower, Shi Hao wandered around Xie Luo Mountain for a while.
The nights in the mountains are getting colder, and here, one can feel the arrival of autumn more deeply.
After walking around for a long time, I arrived at the back of the Taoist temple and saw Xu Xiaoyan staring into the distance.
Shi Hao came to her side and followed her line of sight, only to see Xianggu fiddling with her bottles and jars again.
Shi Hao asked, "Have you been watching here all this time?"
Xu Xiaoyan said quietly, "I really shouldn't be watching here." Her tone was full of regret.
Then why did you watch it for so long
Shi Hao thought for a moment and said, "Oh, I didn't see Shiitake Mushroom when we were eating just now. Did she forget to eat? I'd better go call her."
Xu Xiaoyan grabbed him and said, "I think she has already eaten!"
"Master Brother!" Du Yuejiao's voice sounded behind them.
Shi Hao turned around and saw Yue Jiao staring at Xu Xiaoyan pulling his hand.
She held the sword in her hand, as if she was ready to pull it out and strike down at any time.
Xu Xiaoyan let go of her hand and said with a grin, "Don't be nervous, don't be nervous. I don't want to snatch it from you." She skipped and went into the Taoist temple.
Du Yuejiao came over and said unhappily, "Brother Shi, what are you doing here with her?"
Shi Hao said: "I didn't do anything. I just happened to take a walk and saw her here."
Du Yuejiao muttered, "Who knows if it's true or not?"
Shi Hao asked, "What do you think I am doing here with her?"
Du Yuejiao came to his side, looked at the mushrooms in the distance, and couldn't help asking, "What is she doing there?"
How would I know? Shi Hao looked over and saw Xianggu always fiddling with her bottles and jars.
I walked around with Du Yuejiao for a while and chatted with him.
Back in the Taoist temple, Du Yuejiao went to her own guest room, and Shi Hao also returned to his room.
He picked up the wooden basin, went to the well outside, fetched some cold water, and washed himself.
Back in the room, Shi Hao sat cross-legged on the cushion beside the wooden couch.
Shi Hao felt that the power of the Three Yuan Flowing Pearl Technique and the internal strength of the Nine Yin Demon Yuan in his body had made considerable progress.
The Sanyuan Liuzhu Jue itself is quite mysterious, and can be combined with the Xianbing Jue, Zhenshui Jue, and Xuanfeng Jue and used together.
The internal force cultivated by the Nine Yin Demon Yuan Jue is in a turbid state. After it is cultivated, it diffuses among his meridians and is difficult to control.
He could neither control this turbid internal force nor do anything with it.
In fact, it is hard to call it "internal force". It is more like a kind of demonic energy that permeates the body. Although one can feel its presence, it is as elusive as mist.
So, he began to practice Yin Mei Jiubian... Strange things happened at this time.
When he tried to use the Nine Changes of Yin Mei, this turbid demonic energy was actually mobilized.
More importantly, this demonic energy, under the mobilization of Yin Mei Jiubian, actually spread out from his meridians and diffused throughout his body.
He stretched out his right hand, raised his index finger, and activated the Nine Changes of Yin Mei, shaking his index finger back and forth.
Under the control of this strange martial art, his finger bones seemed soft, and his index finger was like a soft, boneless little snake, sometimes swinging forward to the palm of his hand, and sometimes swinging backward to the back of his hand.
No wonder the Fire Charm Girl told him that the Nine Transformations of Yin Charm was just a “magic trick”.
Generally speaking, "internal force" itself is also a kind of force that can break through the power limitations brought by ordinary people's physical body and thus hurt the enemy.
The demonic energy cultivated by the Nine Yin Demon Yuan is not "force" at all and cannot be used to hurt people.
However, with the help of Yin Mei Jiubian, it can control its own body in various strange ways.
Moreover, the Nine Transformations of Yin Mei does not require much practice. The more demonic energy you generate from practicing the Nine Yin Demon Elements, the more “magics” you can perform.
Shi Hao jumped up and began to try out some small tricks recorded in Yin Mei Jiu Bian. At the moment, he was unable to perform more complicated tricks like "bone shrinking" and "body illusion".
But he was able to use his hands, which he could control at will, and the many sleight of hand tricks recorded in Yin Mei Jiu Bian to do things that seemed incredible to ordinary people.
He enjoyed it so much that he studied here for most of the night before falling asleep.
On the next morning, he gathered everyone together and began to discuss who would follow him to the witch village.
Xu Xiaoyan said with a grin: "I want to go check it out too, that kind of place seems quite interesting."
Du Yuejiao said, "Then I'll go too!" But she didn't want her senior brother and Xu Xiaoyan to be together.
Hou Bomin came over with his hands behind his back and said, "I, an old man, also have some interests."
As they were talking, they saw Xiangu coming over with sleepy eyes. Shi Hao asked her, "Do you want to go with us?"
Xianggu nodded dazedly with his messy hair. Shi Hao said, "Then let's go!"
They walked out of the Taoist temple together. After a while, Xianggu tilted his head, looking confused: "Where are we going?"
[Some people say that Taoism does not mention secular names, and should only report the Dharma name like monks. But in fact, before the Yuan Dynasty, Taoists reported their surnames and Taoist names. In history, almost all famous Taoists, everyone knows their surnames, such as Lu Chunyang, Huang Lingwei, Zhang Sanfeng, etc. And many monks only know their Dharma names, not their surnames, which is the reason.]
[Monks must renounce worldly affairs and give up their secular names. However, Taoism is different. Since the rise of the Lingbao School in the late Han Dynasty, it has strongly advocated filial piety, which is an important part of Taoism. Xu Xun even directly proposed the saying "If you are not filial to your parents, it is useless to worship gods." "Those who study Taoism should first be filial to their parents." Those who are unfilial are not worthy of practicing Taoism, and giving up their surnames is also an act of unfilial piety. It is for this reason that famous Taoists in history all left their surnames. Monks are pure in their six senses and give up family affection.]
[Until the Song and Jin Dynasties, Quanzhen Sect began to rise, and everything was similar to Buddhism. Taoism became more and more like Buddhism. Especially in the Yuan Dynasty, after the debate between Buddhism and Taoism, Quanzhen Sect "representing Taoism" suffered a great loss, and Taoists began to completely copy monks. Not marrying, not drinking, not eating meat... The "Quanzhen" of Quanzhen Sect is basically a complete copy of the "renunciation" of Buddhism.]
[The Chongxian Sect in this book is almost based on the Quanzhen Sect! ]
Chapter 147: Fighting in the Witch Village
Shi Hao and his group arrived at the Wu Village.
The surrounding area is surrounded by towering mountains. In July, when the weather is starting to get cooler, the mountains are filled with fog and clouds.
In the distance, a waterfall hangs down from the cliff, and a rumbling sound can be heard.
They walked on the road, with many mulberry trees beside them and the sound of woodcutters chopping wood in the distance. The whole place was peaceful, so peaceful that even the sound of chopping wood kept echoing among the mountains, circling around and lingering.
Generally speaking, a village like this always has an external mountain road for transportation using ox carts and other tools.
But there were none here, so they just walked through the mountains and forests, zigzagging their way through.
Shi Hao was wearing a blue Taoist robe and carrying a sword on his back. Behind him were Du Yuejiao with a sword on his waist and Xu Xiaoyan with a plain sword slanted on his waist.
Hou Bomin took out a thin, curved stone object, stuffed some herbs into the front end of it, lit it, took a puff, and exhaled a puff of smoke feeling comfortable.
Xu Xiaoyan took two steps back: "Old monkey, what is this?"