Chapter 55

As an inn that welcomed and sent off guests, the Yunlai Inn was located in an excellent position.

It occupied a small valley; turning a corner to the southwest, less than two hundred paces away, one could bypass a towering cliff and enter Feixian Ferry.

If one turned the corner to reach the Feixian Ferry pier but didn't go south, instead following the riverbank to the northeast, it was a straight road leading directly to Hengsha Pass in the north.

The inn's front door faced west, with a large, flat grain-drying ground in front, which had now become the Marquis of Lieyang's camp; continuing forward, one entered the straight road, and on both sides of the straight road were villages and fields, which could lead all the way to the western border of the Shu Kingdom—Xishui Pass, and continuing on would lead into the Western nations.

At this very moment, when "immortals" attacked the Marquis of Lieyang's camp, there weren't many places for those staying in the inn to escape.

Whether it was the northeastern straight road or crossing Feixian Ferry, one had to first leave the inn, walk two hundred paces, and turn the corner to bypass the towering cliff.

The front courtyard was on the edge of the battlefield; Xiao Yu, Guan Zhong, and the others were blocked at the valley entrance and didn't dare to go out at all, so they could only run desperately toward the back; although the back was also blocked by circular hills and the slopes were very steep, at least they could climb up.

"It's just climbing a slope; are you all unable to move?" Xiao Yu asked in surprise.

"Miss, they are now part of the Three Thousand Fire Crow Formation!"

Seeing the Miss's confused expression, Guan Zhong quickly explained, "In the Central Plains, the Hundred Schools of Thought contend, and among them, the Military School created the Way of Army Formations.

By gathering the power of all soldiers and generals through the army formation, one can easily crush those Immortal Martial artists who can fight one against a hundred or a thousand.

If the commander's military path realm is high enough, their own strength strong enough, and their troops numerous enough, they can even contend against immortals.

The Marquis of Lieyang is a master of the military path who can condense the power of the entire army to form an army formation."

He pointed to the ancient giant shield condensed from flames in mid-air, "As the Miss can see, that is the 'Army Formation Combat Technique' formed by the fusion of the True Qi and military evil energy of all the soldiers and generals in the camp.

Within the army formation, all soldiers and generals who truly believe in the commander will, after the army formation is activated, integrate their own True Qi and evil energy into it.

Accumulating sand into a tower, gathering fur into a coat, and uniting as one, the military momentum is immeasurable.

The more popular the commander is with the army, the stronger the army formation combat technique they can display.

Now, although Song Changqing and the others were pulled to the inn by us, they were incorporated into the 'Fire Crow Army' by the master when they welcomed the Marquis of Lieyang.

The key is that they cannot resist the Marquis of Lieyang's military orders in their hearts."

"What kind of immortal method is this? My foster father never told me about the Way of Army Formations before," Xiao Yu muttered.

"The art of the military path doesn't seem to count as an immortal method, and I don't understand it very well either... Hey hey hey, you bastards, don't run; damn it, Innkeeper Yun, you are just a commoner, how dare you defy military orders?

You must know that you can run now, but your inn and family business can't run away!"

Xu Huier Guan Zhong was talking to Xiao Yu, the waiters and innkeeper of Yunlai Inn didn't stay to listen; their legs didn't stop, and they continued to climb the hillside.

After all, the thunderstorm outside hadn't stopped yet!

"Old Master Guan, I am just an innkeeper, not the owner! This little one has an eighty-year-old mother above and a three-year-old child below; please let me go and find other able-bodied waiters... Damn it, Li Er, Zhang San, you actually dare to run faster than this innkeeper.

Listen up, Old Master Guan has ordered that all able-bodied waiters hurry down and listen to the orders of Old Master Guan and Miss Guan.

If anyone dares to defy the order, they will be punished by military law, and I guarantee your butts will bloom!"

The waiters didn't pay any attention to the innkeeper's shouting at all.

Could military law be more terrifying, and could Old Master Guan be more majestic, than the thunderstorm that covered the sky and sun?

Besides, it wasn't their first time encountering the ravages of war. Last year, the bandits from the Thirty-Six Nations had already cleared out those who were honest, obedient, and slow to run; those who lived to today were all little clever ghosts.

"Ah—"

A shrill scream came from above the hillside.

"There is someone above, no, don't kill me, ah—"

Another short scream, and both those on the hillside and those below were stunned in horror.

"Damn it, this assassination is a long-planned conspiracy, and all exits have been blocked in advance."

Xiao Yu's expression was ugly, but her eyes were sharper, looking left and right, searching for a glimmer of survival.

"What place is that?"

She grabbed the innkeeper Yun, who was scrambling down the hillside, and pointed to a wooden house at the foot of the mountain to ask.

"It's the wine cellar, a tunnel chiseled out of the mountain wall, storing a lot of wine and vinegar, and some cured goods placed in the very back.

Miss Yu, we... what should we do? Woo woo, the old man has finally survived the last military disaster, I don't want to die!" The old innkeeper's face was smeared with tears and dust.

"Stop wailing!" Xiao Yu whipped him with the sword scabbard, leaving a red mark on his fat, white-bun-like face.

"Is the wine cellar deep?"

"It doesn't matter how deep it is; there is only one entrance and exit, and if it's blocked, it's a dead end," the old innkeeper said.

"Li Zhongshu, let's go to the wine cellar. Deputy General Song, and everyone, you are just slow in action, not unable to move. You can't climb the steep slope, but at least you can enter the mountain cave."

The assassins' goal must be the Marquis of Lieyang.

The assassins' strength must also be unimaginably powerful; they are likely the "remnant human immortal seeds" loyal to the Thirty-Six Nations.

The human immortal assassins probably wouldn't specifically hunt down these small fries.

Otherwise, the innkeeper Yun and the others who climbed the hillside earlier wouldn't have had the chance to roll back down.

There are people blocking the road at the top of the mountain; as long as they don't force their way through, they won't pay attention to these ordinary people.

"Miss Yu, hiding in a mountain cave with no retreat and leaving it to fate is not as good as returning to the camp."

Song Changqing didn't move, and the other iron-clad knights hesitated.

They had calmed down now; although the thunderstorm in the sky was one after another, as if endless, almost drowning the entire camp, the Three Thousand Fire Crow Army Formation was very stable, and the Marquis of Lieyang hadn't even shown his face yet.

Huchen had followed the Marquis of Lieyang for several months.

Song Changqing, as a deputy general, was of course also in the Fire Crow Army, and he knew very well that the Marquis of Lieyang had far more than just these means.

In fact, they had followed the Marquis of Lieyang to victory after victory, having long since developed one hundred percent trust in him.

Trust the mountain cave to try their luck, or trust the Marquis of Lieyang?

This wasn't a multiple-choice question at all; there was no need to choose.

"Carry my foster father to the wine cellar entrance; you all do as you please," Xiao Yu said.

"Send General Guan to the wine cellar," Song Changqing said in a low voice.

Both sides reached a compromise, their movements were very fast, and the wine cellar wasn't far.

Before long, they had pushed open the thick peach-wood door and placed Guan Huchen on the wooden boards on the wooden rack.

"Miss Yu, take care!" After putting him down, Song Changqing immediately cupped his hands to say goodbye.

Xiao Yu hesitated for a moment, but still advised, "Deputy General Song, if I were you, I would absolutely not go back.

A long-planned conspiracy, even if it cannot achieve its wish to kill the commander, the Marquis of Lieyang, will inevitably clear out the small fries."

"Miss Yu, you are going too far; we are the Xuan-armored knights of the Luye Guard, the elite of the elite of the Great Shu, not small fries," the small fry Li Shangshan said with dissatisfaction.

The other small fries also had ugly expressions.

Xiao Yu just waved her hand, signaling for these small fries to hurry up and get lost.

She was willing to advise Song Changqing because his character was not bad, and he had earnestly taught her the *Great Expansion Sword Art*.

Now that she had said what she needed to say, she had done her duty.

"In the army formation, soldiers and generals are one, sharing life and death... Regardless, thank you for your kindness, Miss Yu!"

Song Changqing cupped his hands again and finally led the Xuan-armored knights away from the wine cellar.

"Sigh, at least leave Wei Wu behind to take care of the master," Guan Zhong sighed.

"Leave him behind for what? Besides complaining and saying depressing things, he can't do anything.

The only physician of the Luye Guard Iron Cavalry Battalion is actually at this level." Xiao Yu looked at him with disdain and disgust.

Then she looked back at Huchen and said in a low voice, "Li Zhongshu, I don't want to say this, but we must prepare ourselves for the worst-case scenario."

Hearing the sorrow she was suppressing and seeing the misery and hesitation on her face, Guan Zhong shed a few more tears.

How could he not understand what she was saying?

The master's injuries were so severe that there was no hope of survival.

And now they had the bad luck to encounter an assassination plot to surround and kill the Marquis of Lieyang, so even the fantasy of going out to find a divine physician was shattered.

Not only was the master beyond saving, but they themselves were also unable to protect themselves.

"Eh, the thunderstorm has stopped." Xiao Yu walked to the door, poked her little head out, and looked toward the west.

The sky still had purple-red thunder wandering and flashing, but it no longer "nuclear exploded" one after another like aerospace bombs.

Xiao Yu even kept a record of the number of thunderstorms: eighty-one times.

Just as she thought this, a hearty laugh came from above the mountain cave, "Hahaha, how is it, Lei Yuanzi? Have you seen the Marquis of Lieyang's power today?

In the past, you were arrogant and unruly, repeatedly mocking us for dragging down the reputation of the 'Western Human Immortals,' unable to even take down a small military commander.

Now your 'Ninety-Nine Fire Wheel Thunder' has finished.

The momentum was indeed strong, and the celestial phenomena within a hundred li have changed.

But the Three Thousand Fire Crow Formation is as stable as Mount Tai, and it didn't even blast a single small fry to death."

"Ah, it's actually Lei Yuanzi, no wonder..." Guan Zhong exclaimed first, then a look of realization and despair appeared on his face, "Lei Yuanzi is a famous human immortal in the West!"

"Miao Monk, stop talking nonsense and hurry up and act."

Lei Yuanzi's voice was old but powerful.

And the voice came from the sky in all directions, impossible to identify the source as easily as with Miao Monk.

"It's over, even the Bottle Immortal Miao Monk has come."

Guan Zhong's face was as pale as paper, and only despair remained in the depths of his eyes.

"The monk is not as arrogant and conceited as you, thinking that just by relying on one's own strength, one could destroy the Marquis of Lieyang and two or three thousand Western elite soldiers."

"Giggle giggle, with a great enemy before us, the two of you can joke around, but don't get angry. Regardless of our past relationship, at least today, we put aside our grudges and swear an alliance.

At this very moment, the Eight Immortals of the West, united as one, each showing their magical powers, will surely be able to complete the great cause of assassinating the Marquis of Lieyang."

"The Eight Immortals of the West, the eight top human immortals?"

Guan Zhong almost fainted, "We are finished, completely finished; even the Marquis of Lieyang will have to be buried with the master!"

"Lady Feng is right; to take down the dog thief Yu Yu, we must cooperate sincerely."

A voice full of killing intent appeared beside Miao Monk, and also above Xiao Yu.

"Yu Yu, didn't you use the Jin Yang City God position to offer a reward for my head? Now 'Blood Hand Arhat' Song Zhong has come; I've come to send you to your end."

"Yu Yu, today Dou will avenge everyone who died in the Jin Yang massacre; come out and die!"

"Yu Yu dog thief, come out and die!"

Eight hateful voices connected into one, like eight claps of thunder, making the world tremble slightly.

Xiao Yu pulled her head back, returned to the wine cellar, and said quickly, "Li Zhongshu, eight human immortals; how many do you recognize, and what representative great magical powers do they have?"

Guan Zhong collapsed on the ground with a pale face, like a corpse that had been dead for a long time, and only muttered, "Miss Yu, we are finished; this wine cellar is the burial place for all of us."

"Why say such things? What's wrong with the wine cellar?"

"The Bottle Immortal Miao Monk has come, and he's right above our heads; no need to think, we are about to be flooded."

Just as Guan Zhong finished speaking, bean-sized raindrops fell outside the door.

"Flag-Hunting Immortal, what are you waiting for? Half a month ago, you came to survey the terrain; the Flag Gate Formation should have been prepared long ago, right?" It was Miao Monk's voice.

"Monk, how much water did you prepare today?" It was a rough, middle-aged male voice.

Xiao Yu's heart skipped a beat; the Flag-Hunting Immortal was actually on the mountaintop above them.

"Since the formation of the Eight Immortals Blood Alliance, the monk has spent every day wandering the Thirty-Six Nations, specifically choosing wild places with few people, and basically all the heavy rain encountered has been loaded into the treasure bottle!

Especially that spring rain on Wanzishan Mountain, which fell a full five inches deep; it would have been enough to flood Luodu, let alone this little Feixian Ferry."

Flooding Luodu, flooding Feixian Ferry...

Xiao Yu suddenly realized.

No wonder Guan Zhong showed such a desperate expression, as if his parents had died, just hearing the name of Miao Monk.