The imperial court's anti-bandit team traveled lightly, and Qu Duanyun quickly arrived in Qizhou.
The weather was fine, and Qizhou should have been full of spring flowers and willows. But the flowers were crushed into mud, and the bark of the willows was unattended and eaten clean by passing livestock. The stone slabs were covered with dirt, and most of the small shops for people to visit were closed, with only a few brave ones still trying to stay open for business.
In the past, tourists have left and scattered, and every house has closed its doors, leaving the whole city desolate and lonely.
The shrine in Qizhou City did not escape the clutches of the Chigou Cult. I don't know what brutal methods those people used, but half of the wall of the shrine collapsed. Fortunately, the statue of the emperor's palace was not seriously damaged, and was covered with a cloth by the people of the Yinxian Society. The valuable gold and cash boxes were robbed clean, and the courtyard that used to be bustling was no longer in sight.
The shrines of the emperors have stood for hundreds of years in various places. Even if one does not believe in it seriously, one will develop a favorable impression of it through what one sees and hears. The tragic scene of the majestic shrine was everywhere. Qu Duanyun mixed in the bandit suppression team and only heard a series of sighs.
"These are troubled times, these are troubled times." The soldiers around him sighed, "If all the able-bodied men hadn't gone to fight, how could they be so arrogant? At this moment, instead of defending their country, they are just taking advantage of the situation to rob and fight among themselves. Bandits are just bandits!"
"That's right. They said everyone went out and knelt to stop them. The new leader of the Chih-Hou sect refused to budge, and they wanted to push him out... They said Chih-Hou was very careful in dealing with the imperial court, but I don't know what's wrong with him this time."
"The dog must have jumped over the wall when it was desperate." Another person said in a mysterious voice, "The new leader has a good relationship with the rebel Shi Jingzhi, and all the gold was robbed to support him... Even with the gold, there is nothing he can do. The people are used to a comfortable life, and now they don't even have time to escape, so who would still want to join him in a rebellion?"
Qu Duanyun couldn't help but smile.
After all, when it comes to governing the country, the emperor was diligent and had never made any major mistakes, let alone caused public outrage. This time, facing the foreign invaders, the court's reaction was slow, but the people were even slower to react. Everyone either ran or hid, and the knife had not yet cut their flesh, so they did not suffer the pain of rising up.
Rebelling among the people in Dayunla is as difficult as growing crops in the cracks of rocks.
Jiang Youyue was accused of "treason", leaving Shi Jingzhi no room to climb up the pole - surrounded by the outside world, Shi Jingzhi was completely trapped near Kushan Mountain. Even if he wanted to find another way, he had no time and energy.
Of course, the leader of the Chi Gou Cult attacked the temple because he knew the reason why the son of desire appeared. Perhaps they had other intentions. The robbery of the gold was fake, and the real intention was to drive people away and destroy the statue. From a theoretical point of view, the flesh statue cannot absorb the essence, but the respect for the time can indeed prolong the life span.
Unfortunately, I chose the wrong road again.
The shrine was only built in the most prosperous place, but the flesh statue had a wide range of absorption. The hanging wood could absorb essence by itself, not to mention the flesh statue made by imitating the hanging wood - whether people believed in the emperor or not, they would still absorb essence. People have desires when they are alive, so even if people no longer go to the shrine, the flesh statue will absorb more slowly.
But the flesh is like a hanging tree, how can it be destroyed so easily
In this way, they cut off every escape route for Shi Jingzhi.
Only by eating meat can that person escape from this chaos. Qu Duanyun was very curious, what kind of counterattack could Jingzhi come up with when he was in such a desperate situation
Apart from anything else, the move made by Yueshui Pavilion was a bad one.
The roots of the hanging tree are invisible and intangible, so only those who understand it will believe it, and the common people will not buy it at all. When Jingzhi ascends to the throne, they will have time to deal with those leading insiders.
The martial arts competition is a one-on-one event, so accidents can happen. Now that they have the right time and place, there will be no more mistakes.
The Narajiu people were unstoppable, and their troops were stretched to the limit. The Yinxian Society "thoughtfully" organized a lot of its own people, and recruited some from Qizhou, so there was no problem with an army of a thousand people.
On the other hand, the "rebels" gathered a lot of vagrants and evil bandits in Kushan. The surroundings were extremely dirty and messy, and the air was full of the stench of rotting meat and feces. Not to mention a complete rebel army, there was not even a decent team. Everyone who came and went had a bitter look on their faces, and they didn't know where the gold that Chi Gou had taught them had gone.
Outside the abandoned town there was a large wilderness, scorching hot during the day and drafty at night, with stray dogs wandering around from time to time, and stray dogs were unwilling to live there. The soldiers were not so picky, and could just camp there.
When the hand failed, there was no trace of the shadow. The soldiers were not very nervous, and the air became lighter.
However, just when everyone was relaxed, a lone dark figure appeared in the wilderness. When the army saw the man's appearance clearly, there was a small commotion in the army for a moment.
The man had picturesque features, and was dressed in a neat black suit. His long hair was three points darker than the crow's feathers. He walked alone among the weeds, his black hair swaying in the wind, like an evil creature falling from the sky, or a fierce ghost that bound this place.
There was only one person behind him, but his presence was like a strong wind destroying a forest and huge waves crashing against the shore. There was no expression on his face, but even the youngest soldier could sense the hostility and hatred in him.
It’s Yin Ci.
He came alone, and there was no trace of Shi Jingzhi around him. The leader glanced at Qu Duanyun, and when he saw the latter shook his head, he immediately prepared his troops and did not move.
Qu Duanyun rode a white horse, went out alone, and headed straight for Yin Ci.
Knowing Yin Ci's background, he had no fear in his heart - as the saying goes, one skill can defeat ten skills. Although this person is highly skilled in martial arts, he has no inner strength. If Jing Zhi was around sometimes, the two of them could still learn from each other's strengths and make up for each other's weaknesses. Now that this person came alone, even if the soldiers behind him pressed forward, they could still suppress this person alive.
He has more important things to do.
Qu Duanyun pointed his toes and jumped off the horse. Several very fine rays of light shot out. There were very light explosions in all directions, and he turned around neatly and returned to the horse's back.
"The devil's eyes are full of soft fish." He drew out the Guanwu sword and pointed the tip of the sword directly at Yin Ci. "It's just a trivial trick, do you want to try it a second time?"
Yin Ci also stopped.
He looked up at Qu Duanyun, with a smile that made people's whole body cold. He did not answer, but just glanced at the army behind Qu Duanyun.
"Three thousand five hundred people." Yin Ci murmured silently. The soft fish monster worth a thousand taels had several eyes broken, but he didn't seem to feel sorry at all, and didn't even look at it for a moment.
Qu Duanyun frowned and said, "Yin Zizhu, the founding emperor, can only do some small tricks like scattered sand in the end. It's really ugly."
It was just an old trick, trying to use images to provoke the world. The Yinxian Society suffered a loss once in the martial arts conference, and it would never suffer a second time.
"Isn't it embarrassing for the head of Tai Heng to be in league with the Yinxian Society?"
"This response to the rebels is the righteous cause of the country. Not to mention Tai Heng, didn't your leader not intervene?"
Qu Duanyun is full of confidence.
He was just maintaining the overall situation in his capacity as the head of Taiheng. The army was still nominally under the imperial court, and no one could find fault with it. However, when Shi Jingzhi got the meat, it would be hard to say who this "watered-down" army would support as its leader.
Yin Ci chuckled, neither agreeing nor denying, with only the expression "as expected" on his face.
He looked at Qu Duanyun quietly for a while, then moved his left hand, causing the grass behind him to tremble. Qu Duanyun grasped the reins with his mind, and a bloodstained cloth bag rolled out as the rope was pulled. The bag was loosened by Yin Ci, revealing the limbs of a human body that had been chopped into several pieces.
Although covered in blood, one could still see that the limbs were slender and beautiful, not like those of a mortal. The wounds were all ordinary flesh and blood, obviously not Yin Ci's. There was no trace of Shi Jingzhi anywhere, could it be...
Qu Duanyun's eyes gradually turned cold.
Yin Ci smiled and said, "If I let him near death, it would definitely attract the 'immortal'. I won't be stupid enough to kill him... Thanks to all of you, I have been unable to die for many years, and I am very skilled in dismantling living people."
Those blood-covered hands and feet rolled all over the ground, and Yin Ci's eyes became more and more crazy.
"For three hundred years, the Xu family is still the Xu family, and the traitor is still the traitor. I thought Shi Jingzhi was very smart, but he turned out to be a greedy, cowardly fool. Even if the meat was placed in front of Shi Jingzhi, he would not be able to eat it."
"Don't worry, even if he is injured to the point where only half of his body is left, the True Immortal can heal him. Even if you kill him, we can still raise a son."
Qu Duanyun responded coldly.
"Before that, we will definitely seal you back to the Northwest Forbidden Zone. This time, no one will steal the mercury to save you... Yin Zizhu, when you come back to the surface, my Great Yun will have already unified the world for thousands of generations."
Yin Ci drew his Diaoying Sword and said, "Instead of boasting, why not save Yuzi first? Now that his limbs are broken, how long do you think he has left to live? The stage is so exaggerated, it would be a big disappointment if the leading actor died."
After saying that, he drew his sword and struck at Qu Duanyun's throat with a killing move. The sword's wind was as terrifying as the breath of a poisonous snake, and was much more sinister than the Bone Sweeping Sword Technique.
Qu Duanyun's scalp exploded, and he pulled his horse to the side. The Shadow Sword changed its attack and cut the horse's neck straight. The white horse neighed and struggled like crazy, raising a pool of hot blood. Qu Duanyun immediately turned over and got off the horse, and his chest was almost hit by the sword.
There was only one enemy, and the soldiers behind looked at each other, not knowing whether to move or not. Qu Duanyun tried his best to respond to Yin Ci's sword moves, his mind racing—
Internal strife
Shi Jingzhi cherished his life very much, and perhaps he could not bear the strong sexual desire, so he prepared to eat the flesh secretly, but was unfortunately discovered by Yin Ci. The man was very strong inside, but now he was weak and frail, so it was possible that he was controlled by Yin Ci.
If we understand it this way, both the chaos and the minor resistance will be easier to understand.
Yin Ci was no match for the True Immortal, and didn't dare to kill Shi Jingzhi directly. He had taken the man's kinetic energy, so Shi Jingzhi hid in a corner, waiting to slowly consume him to death, and even the True Immortal couldn't save him. The master and apprentice of Kushan Sect turned against each other, and the people outside were in panic, so the arrangement naturally couldn't hold up.
…Shi Jingzhi cannot die yet.
It would take at least ten or twenty years to wait for the child to grow up. Although the True Immortal could help to quell the turmoil and support the lineage of the Imperial Master, this war would eventually hurt the Great Yun Kingdom. If Shi Jingzhi died at this moment, it would not be a good deal.
"This man is also a traitor!" Qu Duanyun shouted while dodging the sword's moves. "Shi Jingzhi is hidden nearby by him, go find him quickly!"
After saying that, he pulled out Tai Heng's communication fireworks from his sleeve and released them in the air. The fireworks bloomed bright red in the blue sky, which was very conspicuous.
This time he wants to save people, Taiheng has no reason to just stand by and watch.
Who would have thought that a good anti-bandit team would have to search for people in the countryside? The soldiers were confused, but they could only follow orders and disperse into several teams. More than 3,000 people were reduced to more than a hundred in an instant, and they looked even sparser than the bushes in the wilderness.
Leaving more than a hundred people behind and entrusting Yin Ci with the task would be enough. He only needed to delay time until Tai Heng arrived, and then he could find a way to subdue this person.
"If I were you, I would have taken that man and hidden away long ago. You came out specially to fight, are you afraid that you won't lose fast enough?" Qu Duanyun defended cautiously and retreated to where there were many people.
"I don't want to run away like a drowned dog. That's so boring. It's a pity that you broke the soft fish monster's eyes. I wanted to send the image out from here... How does it feel to fail at the last minute? Isn't it a pity to miss it?"
Yin Ci's sword was like a torrential rain, and his breath was not disordered at all. The evil spirits around him were getting stronger and stronger, just like the evil ghosts crawling out of the eighteen levels of hell. Qu Duanyun made full preparations to deal with the master and disciple. However, even with the magic weapon, he still couldn't withstand the violent attack.
Since he is immortal, he has to delay as much time as possible...
"Even if you kill me, there will be successors. We want Dayun to prosper, but you want to destroy this prosperity with your own hands." Qu Duanyun deliberately started the conversation.
"Prosperity?" Yin Ci laughed. "The poor people don't live past sixty, and the young and strong will die if they are seriously injured or sick. In the end, your Yinxian Society is feeding people's lives to the hanging tree, how can it be prosperous? It's the same, the same!"
Although it was Qu Duanyun who started the conversation, he suddenly felt bitter when talking about this matter. Faces flashed through his mind, and the long-lost feeling of nausea came back.
It turns out that this person has lived for hundreds of years, but still cannot see the world clearly.
"Why do we need to support and pamper those stupid and lazy people? Xuanmu and I are just taking what we need!"
The energy on the Guanwu Sword was floating, and the surrounding space was slightly distorted. Qu Duanyun finally lost his calm and steady appearance and shouted loudly.
"My father once asked me to farm and do business myself. I experienced all kinds of things in the world and met all kinds of people. If those people had worked harder and thought more, they wouldn't have lived such a hard life. Even if you are humble, God will still hate you. What's wrong with getting rid of the inferior and keeping the superior?"
Qu Duanyun's outburst came so suddenly that Yin Ci had no time to withdraw, leaving a deep cut on his left shoulder, and his left arm was nearly severed. With one mistake, he lost the initiative, and the suddenly-moving Qu Duanyun took advantage.
"To pity the cunning and waste national resources will only lead to being dragged down by them and wandering around in vain!"
"It sounds good to talk about great principles, but didn't you wipe out such a respected and virtuous person like Sect Leader Qi? You let Luojiu kill the people. Are there no virtuous people among the dead? In my opinion, it's just a selfish desire to leave a name in history."
Yin Ci licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, and the smile in his voice became more intense.
"We all have our own selfish desires and grudges, why bother talking like that—"
Countless roots sprouted from the wound on Yin Ci's left arm, and the wound quickly healed. He was like a black wind, attacking at the most cunning point. However, his sword was crazy, but he didn't take Qu Duanyun's life, as if he was enjoying the process of playing with this person.
"—So high-sounding?" The sword and the words fell together, making Qu Duanyun's palm numb.
"Selfish desire?" Qu Duanyun's forehead was bulging with veins, and he raised his hand to strike with his sword again. "If it was for selfish desire, how could I have killed my master! It's just that the master is too indecisive and doesn't have the heart to kill. The great cause of the ages is here, even if I have to die, I am willing to do it..."
Before he could finish his words, the madness on Yin Ci's face disappeared in an instant.
"Yeah, quite tragic." He jumped back several feet and kicked away the broken limbs at his feet. "Everyone, did you hear it? This person admitted to the matter of the demon tree himself."
Qu Duanyun's mind went blank for a moment.
Who is this person talking to
There was clearly no news around, so he went to look around. Yin Ci's madness just now didn't seem fake, what on earth were these people...
"Well done, Zizhu."
A figure rushed out and headed straight for Yin Ci. The man had long arms and legs, walked like the wind, and had a bright smile on his face. When he arrived in front of Yin Ci, he even leaned over and kissed Yin Ci on the cheek in public.
That was clearly Shi Jingzhi himself who should have had his hands and feet cut off!
What's even more outrageous is that there are several familiar people following behind him -
The monk Juehui put his hands together, his face even more bitter than before. Shi Zhongyu didn't know if he was too angry or too surprised, his face was pale and expressionless. Hua Jingchun was still hissing and sniffing, and the remaining person looked like a member of the Yueshui Pavilion, his eyes were bulging.
These people were all experts in concealing their breath. Even so, they wore expensive magical instruments on their wrists to conceal their breath.
It's a trap.
… The more bizarre the news about the hanging wood, the easier it is to cover up. But at this critical moment, the crime of disrupting the martial arts world must not be exposed.
This is troublesome. We have to kill all the eloquent people.