Chapter 160: Blocking the Road

"Murong Feng, you have privately mobilized the Shengzhou garrison and abandoned your post to travel to Linzhou; according to the Great Li military code, you should be dismissed from office and imprisoned for investigation."

"As for the rest, if you do not wish to be executed on the spot, quickly lay down your weapons and surrender to admit your guilt!"

The young general clad in battle armor spoke in a deep, stern voice; his words rang clearly from the city tower to all points below, making the surrounding commoners' ears ring and their hearts tremble.

At this moment, Murong Feng lifted the carriage curtain with one hand, his phoenix eyes gazing up at the city tower; his expression remained unchanged as he said:

"Bai Li Wei, today is the day to welcome my younger sister back to the city; this Young Master does not wish to have any dispute with you. Order your men to withdraw immediately, and I can pretend nothing happened."

Murong Feng's voice was neither loud nor soft, but propelled outward by true qi, spreading clearly from near to far in all directions.

Hearing this, the young general on the city tower narrowed his eyes slightly and exchanged a glance with the person beside him.

The three men standing beside him were all clad in red-scale armor tanned from shark skin, their ages likely between forty and fifty.

Black tattoos, their full patterns indistinguishable, adorned their necks; they carried no swords at their waists or in their hands, but instead bore a handleless curved blade like a crescent moon on their backs, each radiating a terrifying, life-repelling sharpness.

Seeing the three men nod lightly to him, Bai Li Wei turned his gaze to Murong Feng on the carriage below and suddenly sneered:

"I am acting according to the Great Li military code; Murong Feng, since you serve as a military advisor in Shengzhou, you must obey military orders!"

Having spoken, he waved his hand, showing no intention of further words with Murong Feng, and directly ordered the armored soldiers:

"Capture everyone; those who dare resist shall be killed without mercy!"

Seeing this, a flash of fierce light passed through Murong Feng's eyes; in the next instant, he suddenly leaped from the carriage, his figure landing and hovering in midair above it.

At the same time, he flicked his hand, and a cold gleam appeared before him; the gleam emitted a brilliant radiance, then split into two, two into four...

In the blink of an eye, hundreds and thousands of needle-point cold gleams had appeared around Murong Feng, then shot outward like a rainstorm.

Bai Li Wei snorted coldly and gave an order:

"Remember to take them alive; his life is still useful."

At the same time, the three men beside him had already launched a thunderous attack.

The three crescent blades from their backs flew out in an instant, swift as the wind, turning into three blurred afterimages that reached above Murong Feng's head almost in the blink of an eye.

The curved blades spat out silver blade-light several feet long, connecting head to tail to form a huge circular blade disk that covered the sky above Murong Feng and the armored soldiers.

Driven by thick martial true qi, the blade disk spun at extreme speed, whipping up a whirlwind that shot toward the sky; at the same time, streams of blade-light flew out, cutting down all the dense needle-gleams Murong Feng had unleashed.

Then, the whirlwind spun by the rotating blade disk grew faster and faster; its powerful suction force nearly lifted the ornate carriage below into the air.

The surrounding armored soldiers could not withstand this suction force; even as they resisted with all their might, their bodies could not help but rise from the ground, swept upward into the half-air.

True qi churned around Murong Feng; he glanced at the spinning blade disk above his head, then turned his gaze to the three men beside Bai Li Wei on the city tower, his expression cold as he said:

"'Crescent Moon Three Treasures Blade Masters,' do you also wish to oppose my Murong family?"

Hearing this, the three men on the city tower did not speak; instead, their figures moved, leaping from the tower and darting down directly toward Murong Feng, clearly intending to capture him alive.

Murong Feng's gaze darkened, yet there was no fear on his face.

By the time the three men reached near the carriage, his figure descended from midair, standing atop the carriage roof, his ice-silk brocade robe rustling loudly in the gale.

The three clad in red-scale armor had fierce eyes; their hands showed no hesitation whatsoever as they all reached out to grab Murong Feng.

Just then, from inside the carriage below, a golden palm imprint suddenly surged out; in an instant, it struck toward the three men, who were less than a few inches from Murong Feng.

Seeing this, the three men's expressions changed drastically; they could only temporarily abandon Murong Feng before them and hastily respond to the attack from below.

The three silver curved blades above instantly reversed their blades, striking down together three distorted-space blade-gleams several feet long; at the same time, the three men exerted all their strength to mobilize martial true qi to guard all around their bodies, using it to resist the palm imprint from below...

At the same time, Bai Li Wei on the city tower saw this scene, frowned slightly, and murmured to himself:

"Indeed, there is a hidden expert beside them."

Just then, his gaze suddenly shifted, looking toward the direction of the city gate.

In the next instant, Bai Li Wei's expression changed at once.

He saw only Hu Rui'an and the others traveling with Murong Feng, who had somehow continued forward.

Breaking through the siege of over a hundred armored soldiers ahead, amidst soldiers constantly flying out, the carriage wheels rolled on, entering the provincial city on their own.

They cared neither for the obstruction by the Great Li army of Shengzhou nor for the battle in which Murong Feng behind them was being attacked, as if they had no connection to the other party whatsoever.

Bai Li Wei's heart stirred; he was about to move to block them, but just then, a faint wind suddenly blew from behind him; an old woman with white hair appeared beside him and slowly spoke:

"Young Master, the Master has sent a message: if the situation cannot be managed, do not force it; let our people withdraw temporarily."

Hearing this, Bai Li Wei glanced once at Li Musheng and the others who had departed, frowned tightly, then turned his gaze toward where Murong Feng was.

At this moment, under the sudden bombardment of the golden palm imprint, the three blade masters, though barely resisting without suffering serious injury, could only retreat; the expert inside the carriage had not revealed his figure from beginning to end.

Murong Feng stood atop the carriage, momentarily in a standoff with the three blade masters.

Seeing this, Bai Li Wei pondered for a moment, but finally waved his hand downward.

Seeing the order, the many armored soldiers below began to retreat slowly, then withdrew in an orderly fashion like a tide toward the city gate of the provincial city.

Murong Feng watched all this silently, making no move to stop them; he only raised his head, his expression icy, gazing at Bai Li Wei above the city tower, and said:

"Since your Bai Li family is willing to be the first to provoke, I hope you can endure the retaliation from the Murong family that follows."

Hearing this, Bai Li Wei merely sneered, said nothing more, and departed from the city tower under the old woman's protection, vanishing from sight.

At the same time, the three blade masters recalled their curved blades; while vigilantly watching Murong Feng and the carriage beneath his feet, they carefully retreated into the city gate.

Only after Bai Li Wei and his group had completely vanished did Murong Feng lightly leap down from the carriage; he glanced at the carriage before him, then turned his gaze toward the city gate, frowning for a moment.

"That official Hu from the Tianjin Guard indeed possesses not weak martial cultivation, but his conduct is ruthless; he cared only for entering the city himself, showing no intention whatsoever to assist us."

Murong Feng spoke in a low voice, but a voice of an old man sounded from inside the carriage:

"Do not worry about them; return to the mansion first and speak later. Today's matter is the Bai Li family making their position clear, intending to sever ties with the Murong family; it seems that within a few days, the situation in Shengzhou will undergo drastic change."

Hearing this, Murong Feng's face was expressionless; his voice was calm as he said:

"The Bai Li family is presenting a pledge of loyalty to that General; the world all thinks my Murong family is declining like the setting sun, and everyone wants to share a piece of the pie, but the final result will likely leave them greatly disappointed."

Having spoken, he waved his hand, signaling the remaining armored soldiers to continue forward, while he himself lifted the carriage curtain and entered the carriage.

Soon, the armored soldiers escorted the ornate carriage into the city, as if nothing had happened just now.

At the same time, Hu Rui'an and his group traveled along the main road within the prefectural city, following the direction pointed out by Murong Xiaoya, heading toward the location of the Murong family residence.

Since being surrounded by those suddenly appearing armored soldiers, Hu Rui'an and the others naturally understood they had suffered by association.

And Li Musheng had no intention of taking the blame for Murong Feng, so he simply told Hu Rui'an to clear the way and leave immediately to avoid wasting time, utterly too lazy to bother with Murong Feng and the others behind them.

Regarding this, Murong Xiaoya raised no objections whatsoever, seeming not at all worried about the safety of her elder brother.

Hu Rui'an, ever since meeting Murong Feng, had sensed that a master was hidden within the other's carriage, thus understanding that the other party could not possibly come to harm.

Shen Anran had been riding a white horse following the carriage where Li Musheng sat; all along the journey, her relationship with Hu Rui'an had grown quite good.

After all, the other party was her maternal uncle, so there was a layer of kinship involved.

Although initially somewhat distant, as Shen Anran intentionally sought to draw closer to everyone, combined with Hu Rui'an's care, Shen Anran had become quite familiar with everyone except Li Musheng.

Even the socially anxious Murong Xiaoya, who often dared not converse with Li Musheng and the others, was occasionally willing to share intimate words with Shen Anran.

Li Musheng observed all of this; Shen Anran, who in his eyes had already been labeled as love-struck, thus acquired an additional tag of "scheming girl."

Of course, this "scheming" held no derogatory meaning in Li Musheng's view.

After all, this was clearly merely the other party's method of "proceeding slowly" in order to obtain him.

"Your Highness, it seems we are being followed?"

Just as the carriage was en route to the Murong Fu, Hu Rui'an suddenly shifted his expression, looking at Li Musheng sitting opposite him in the carriage.

Upon hearing this, Li Musheng merely waved his hand and said:

"Let them follow if they wish; if my lord Hu wishes to handle it, he can act himself; I have no idle time to meddle in others' affairs."

Hu Rui'an showed a look of contemplation, but ultimately said nothing more, simply instructing the carriage to continue forward.

However, when the group passed through a main road and were just turning into another street.

They suddenly discovered the surroundings had rapidly quieted; merchants and passersby on the road were all rushing away in haste, fleeing the street before them in panic.

Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong's expressions changed; they immediately gently pulled the reins, causing the horses beneath them to slow their pace, while simultaneously scanning the surroundings alertly.

Cao Gaoshan sat in the front position of the carriage; his gaze swept the surroundings once, he slightly narrowed his eyes, then turned to speak to Shen Anran following behind:

"Danger is likely ahead; Miss Shen, try to stay in the middle."

All along this journey, Shen Anran's feelings for Li Musheng had been obvious beyond doubt, and Li Musheng had not made any clear rejection toward her.

Therefore, in the eyes of Cao Gaoshan, this rough old man, a lack of clear rejection surely implied a tacit acceptance.

Moreover, Shen Anran had a good personality, and he held quite a favorable impression of this young lady.

Just then, Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong, walking ahead, suddenly pulled their horses tight and stopped.

At some unknown time, a man dressed in gray robes had appeared on the street ahead.

The right half of his face was covered by a bronze mask; the left eyebrow had grown an iron-gray flesh scar; his beard was knotted and tangled, while his temples were frosted white.

In his hand, he held an iron flute horizontally, blocking directly across the path where Wu Shang and the others were advancing.

At the same time, behind the carriage where Hu Rui'an sat, another man appeared; this person wore bronze armor and a bronze helmet, holding a purple bronze war axe in his hand.

He slammed the war axe heavily against the ground, causing cracks to spread in all directions across the brick pavement; the crackling sound of splitting was extremely grating throughout the empty street.

The two men blocked the path ahead and behind Hu Rui'an's group, and judging by the martial arts aura emanating from them, both were extremely formidable.

"As long as you hand over the Young Lady of the Murong family, you may depart freely."

Just then, a voice came from a nearby rooftop; only then did Wu Shang and the others suddenly realize, quickly looking up.

They saw an ancient white-haired old woman and the youth who had previously appeared on the city tower standing atop the tiled eaves, looking down upon their group.

Seeing this, Wu Shang and the others all changed color; clearly, they had not expected that after fighting with Murong Feng and the others, the opponents had no intention of stopping, but instead had set their sights on Murong Xiaoya.

In an instant, all of them wore solemn expressions, turning to look toward the carriage behind them.

After all, whether it was the men holding the iron flute and war axe, or the old woman and Bai Li Wei on the rooftop, none were opponents Wu Shang, Cao Gaoshan, and the third could handle; thus, they could only seek help from Hu Rui'an and Li Musheng inside the carriage.

After the incident at Zhanlu Shanzhuang, Wu Shang and the others had actually realized that Li Musheng must be concealing his martial arts cultivation, and furthermore, his strength should be extremely unfathomable.

Indeed, previously from Shen Liancheng's mouth, they had vaguely heard that the old Villa Master of Zhanlu Shanzhuang also seemed to have been defeated at Li Musheng's hands.

Although they found this somewhat hard to believe, Hu Rui'an's attitude toward Li Musheng forced them to believe it nonetheless.

It was just a pity that, from beginning to end, they had never personally witnessed Li Musheng making a move.

Unlike Wu Shang and the others, Shen Anran at this moment appeared extremely calm and composed; her gaze even leisurely inspected the old woman and the others.

After all, she had personally witnessed Li Musheng making a move, punching her grandfather out of Zhanlu Shanzhuang, and even smashing a hole through the Dahe River beside the villa.

These people before her naturally could not compare to her grandfather; in front of Li Musheng, they were even less worth looking at, and the other party's so-called act of blocking the road was truly ignorant and fearless.

At this moment, the old woman's gaze swept over the carriage once; seeing no one respond, she slightly narrowed her eyes and said:

"This old one knows there is a master among you, but this matter involves the grievances between the Murong family and the various powers of the prefectural city; it is not something Your Excellency can interfere with. Please do not bring harm upon yourself."

(End of this chapter)