Boom! Boom!
The sound of drums spread throughout the city. In the deserted inner city, Zuo Zhengyang looked back and faintly heard the sound of hurried horse hooves.
… If we let them go, they will surely die in vain.
He pulled the reins and headed for the crowded streets of the outer city. Taking advantage of the large crowds, he put some distance between himself and the imperial guards who were chasing him. Then he turned and rushed towards the east gate.
At this time, the heavy city gate was slowly closed by the soldiers guarding the city. After a moment, someone on the city wall shouted:
"Close the city gate quickly!"
In the distance, a rider suddenly rushed over, waving a long whip wrapped around the side of the horse, and the sound was like thunder.
"Don't close the door!"
Crackling—
The moment the long whip cracked, it wrapped around the arms of the two soldiers. Zuo Zhengyang exerted force with his arm to the outside, and the two soldiers collided with each other and flew onto the wall of the passage.
The closing city gate stopped, the charging knight put down his whip and clamped his horse's belly, and several long spears on both sides stabbed at him.
Hiss!
The horses neighed loudly and leaped up as if possessed by spirits, passing over the long spears. The moment their hooves touched the ground, they squeezed out of the door and came out of the city.
"drive!"
Zuo Zhengyang whipped his horse to speed up and rushed out of the city gate. The soldiers on the city wall wanted to shoot arrows, but in a blink of an eye, he had ridden out of the range of the arrows and could only watch the enemy ride away.
…
The light in the sky rose to the sun, then slightly slanted down to the west.
Ta-da-da…
The horse galloped along the official road and soon turned into a path in the woods. The sound of cicadas could be heard from the swaying treetops. As Zuo Zhengyang went further and further, it was almost impossible to hear any sound at all.
The galloping horse slowed down, and with a "whoosh!", Zuo Zhengyang stopped the horse and turned over. He looked at the circular building in front of him, especially the four big characters "Pu Du Ci Hang" in the middle of the white rock steps, with a solemn and dignified look on his face.
With his teeth clenched tightly and his cheeks slightly swollen, there was an indescribable complexity. He had seen the abbot from afar. He had a peaceful aura and should be a man of great talent. But now he was so vicious.
"Go and find a good family."
Zuo Zhengyang withdrew his gaze and looked at the mount that had followed him from Fushui County to the capital. After more than four years, the horse had almost become an old one.
He stroked its mane and watched the horse look back reluctantly as it walked away. Zuo Zhengyang took a deep breath, gripped the hilt of his knife tightly, dragged his tattered cloak, and strode towards the altar.
"Imperial City Arrest Division Zuo Zhengyang, please meet with the Protector of the Nation Law Master!"
The voice was full of majesty, but there was no response from the tightly closed altar door. He then strode up the stone steps and shouted again.
A gentle breeze blew, fluttering the tattered cloak, and the red painted door in front suddenly cracked with a bang.
Outside the door, Zuo Zhengyang narrowed his eyes, slowly raised his left hand and pressed it on the hilt of the knife at his waist, and with his other hand gently pushed open the door and cautiously stepped through it.
After walking through the not-so-long corridor, the circular viewing platform in front of him unfolded in his sight. Then, behind the densely packed eternally burning lanterns on the rings of viewing platforms, there was a scene that made his scalp tingle.
At this moment, a chill ran up his spine.
…
The afterglow of the setting sun shines on the distant hills and woods, dyeing them a crimson color.
On the official road of the capital running from south to north, a horse team of about twenty people came galloping, raising a long smoke. They were Sun Yingxian, who came from Hegu County, as well as Min Changwen and his daughter, as well as guards and cavalry soldiers from the arrest department.
In order to avoid being ambushed by the monsters under Fa Zhang's command halfway, he had to go around to the east and then enter the capital.
"From here, it's not far from the altar of the Dharma Master. I went there once last time."
As they approached the capital, the Taoist began to conserve his magical powers, and rode on the same horse with a guard, who didn't know how to ride anyway, so it was just right for him to sit at the back and talk whenever he had time.
"I don't know if our Mr. Lu has arrived, otherwise I won't be able to handle it alone."
"Then why don't you come along!"
Min Changwen tilted his head while riding his horse and glared at his daughter who was speaking, "Yuerou!" Just as he was about to speak, the guard from the mansion in front of him suddenly spoke.
"Sir Shangshu, there is an ownerless horse ahead."
The road was not an official road and was not wide. If a group of people rushed over on horseback, they would inevitably collide with the horse. They slowly slowed down and approached, and the old man's eyes suddenly opened.
"This is Zuo Qianwei's horse. It has been following him since we were in Fushui County."
At this point, his voice suddenly rose.
"Not good! Zuo Zhengyang must be in danger! He must have gone to look for the Dharma Master. Little Taoist Priest, please take us there."
The cavalrymen from the Arresting Division, who were originally under Zuo Zhengyang's command, also echoed the Taoist's request and asked him to help lead the way and save people.
"Hey, I haven't rested yet..."
Seeing that everyone was very emotional, the Taoist priest had to change what he wanted to say, "Okay, but Old Man Min should not go. You are weak and I am afraid I can't take care of you!"
"Okay, I will return to the capital right now, first apologize to His Majesty, and then ask for the army..."
Min Changwen naturally understood what was advantageous and disadvantageous. On horseback, he raised his upper hand and let it hang under his gray beard, sweeping around.
"—Let's fight the evil together!"
After saying this, he took two guards and ran towards the outline of the city. The eighteen people here also turned their horses and followed the Taoist into the woods.
…
On the circular viewing platform of the altar, long-burning lamps swayed in the wind, illuminating the densely packed figures sitting cross-legged in official robes and hats. They were none other than the civil and military officials who had escaped from the main hall.
"So you're all here."
Zuo Zhengyang was very good at martial arts, so he could easily sense the Qi, not to mention there were so many people sitting cross-legged in front of him. But at the moment, no Qi from either humans or monsters could be sensed.
He jumped directly onto the viewing platform, grabbed a sitting figure in the middle, pulled open the back of the official robe, and the flesh was torn open and turned inside out. There was nothing inside.
“Pudu Cihang!!!”
Letting go of the body in his hand, Zuo Zhengyang's eyes were bloodshot. He rushed down the viewing platform, stood in the middle and looked around.
Holding a knife, he screamed:
"Where did you come from, you monsters? You've disrupted the government and misled His Majesty. Where did you put the internal organs of these civil and military officials?—"
The sound echoed, and there was no sound around except for the corpses sitting cross-legged with their eyes closed.
"Come out! You monsters!!"
He roared again, and the next moment, the slightly swaying eternal lamp suddenly fell down violently. The muddy and sandy ground under Zuo Zhengyang's feet exploded with several bangs, and more than ten demonic auras visible to the naked eye gushed out like springs from the ground.
Bang!
Metal clashed, sparks bounced, and Zuo Zhengyang, as a warrior, reacted extremely quickly. He swung the blade in his hand to meet the hard blow, and with his other hand he pulled out a long sword from his back, and in an instant he wielded both swords. Amidst the countless eternal lights, the flash of swords, the glow of blood, the sound of gold, and the sound of flesh tearing continued on the invisible thing.
Ding ding ding~~~
Puff puff puff…
"Hahaha-"
The invisible figure was split into two halves by the broken long sword and flew to both sides, and the centipede inside also revealed its two halves. The thin sword blocked it, and Zuo Zhengyang followed up with the long sword, swinging it horizontally and slashing angrily. The transparent air was heard with a "puff" sound of cutting, and dark red dirty blood spilled all over the ground.
Kicking away half of the corpse's skin, Zuo Zhengyang laughed, his hair flying in disarray, and shouted in a high-pitched voice: "You monsters, come together!"
In less than a short moment, there were as many as seven or eight corpses in purple and black robes chopped into two pieces on the ground, filling up the mud in the middle of the altar.
The blood beads slowly slid down the two blades in his hands, and soaked into the soil.
"Good, good."
Suddenly, a cold female voice sounded behind him. Zuo Zhengyang turned his head slightly and saw a thin old monk standing in the shadow of the altar, looking at him expressionlessly with his seal raised.
"... As a member of the imperial city, Qianwei is here to protect His Majesty. How can you be so violent? Let me, the Dharma Master, save you."
"Full of auspicious light, but dirty and ugly!"
A roar exploded, Zuo Zhengyang twisted his feet, and his figure turned into a shadow and instantly approached the skinny old monk in front of him. The light of the sword reflected the light of the eternal lamps, and he swung it to cut it open.
"People in this world take pleasure in sinking in the sea of suffering. When will they know how to transcend suffering and reach the other side, which is the Pure Land?"
Pu Du Ci Hang had no intention of dodging. As soon as he finished speaking, he swung his sword and the figure who was coming towards him stopped abruptly as if struck by lightning. He stumbled back several steps. Zuo Zhengyang reached out to wipe the corner of his mouth, and blood was flowing out without him noticing.
"Zuo Qianwei, put down your butcher knife."
With a light wave of his fingertips, it seemed as if something invisible was flowing through the air in an instant. Zuo Zheng couldn't react at all, and his tightly clenched lips and teeth suddenly opened, letting out a scream of "Ah--".
An arm holding a thin knife rose into the sky.
In his other hand, the long sword was swaying with his body and was stuck into the ground with a bang. Zuo Zhengyang looked at the empty left shoulder and the blood stained his clothes.
"Evildoer..."
His bloodstained teeth opened and closed, he took a difficult step, and looked at the old monk opposite him who was walking very slowly step by step.
"My sword will only kill you evil demons."
Pudu Cihang glanced at him and gently pushed out his palm—
…
"arrive!"
"The altar is in front!"
"Look, the door is open!"
A cavalry team of more than ten people had reached the stone steps outside the altar. The Taoist took out the demon-hunting bronze mirror, looked around, and his nostrils bulged and contracted.
"Such a strong evil spirit..."
Seeing Min Yuerou rushing forward with her guards and the cavalrymen from the arrest department, he hurriedly shouted, "Don't go up!"
boom-
A loud bang suddenly drowned out the Taoist's words. Everyone looked up and saw the wall above the altar suddenly burst open. Broken bricks flew towards this side, and among them was a figure carrying three long swords.
"Zuo Qianwei!"
As Min Yuerou screamed, the Taoist rode his horse up into the sky and caught the flying figure in his arms. Then they collided with each other, and both of them fell to the ground, rolling several times.
"Imperial decree! Wind, fire, thunder and lightning, the law!"
Two talismans rose into the sky. In the crimson glow, bluish-white lightning flashed. Two electric snakes came down with thunder.
Bricks and stones were flying everywhere, and smoke and dust were everywhere.
The thin old monk walked out slowly with his hand in hand, and was not affected by the lightning spell at all.
"Damn it... do you have to be so powerful?"
The Taoist held the unconscious Zuo Zhengyang in his arms and looked at Pu Du Ci Hang on the stone steps, his eyelids twitching wildly.
"We're done for now, Old Lu, come quickly... Or you'll just have to collect our bodies."
…
The glow of the sunset gradually faded. On the field, a scholar in white and green robe seemed to sense something and raised his head to look in a certain direction.
Then he lowered his head, and in his wide sleeves, more than ten copper coins were lined up, and as he waved his sleeves, they flew out with a clatter.
"You go first!"
The old donkey beside him followed the copper coin that streaked across the sunset glow, and ran wildly with its tongue wagging excitedly, lightning splashing under its hooves.
"Then."
Lu Liangsheng took off the magic weapon and Yuelong Sword from his waist, "It's our turn now."