Chapter 96

The Shu Kingdom knights cleared the way for the Fire Crow Army, escorting the Marquis of Lieyang all the way from west to east, crossing through Tianmen Town.

The pedestrians on the road did not receive any special requirements from the "superiors," and still prostrated themselves in the direction of the Marquis of Lieyang, some shouting "May the Marquis of the Upper Nation have a safe journey," others crying and shouting "My Lord of the Upper Nation, do not leave us," and others shouting "May the Immortal General of the Upper Nation bless my son to cultivate internal qi and pass the martial examination" or "May the Immortal General bestow blessings and protect me to make a fortune this year and marry Miss Jin Lian from the Red Sleeve Pavilion as my wife," and young women shouting "General of the Upper Nation, look back at me, look back at me"...

No matter what they shouted, their tone and expression were eager and sincere.

"Aunt Liu, don't be in a hurry to leave, I haven't seen the speed-car yet, let's go over and take a look."

Xiao Yu finally understood how the "Great Qin Iron Cavalry" crossed the Liusha River.

It wasn't "immortal magic ships" but "immortal magic airplanes."

"I have already made an appointment with Lady Huo..."

Actually, Aunt Liu was also somewhat hesitant.

The Marquis of Lieyang leaving the West to return to Great Qin was a major event, and she was naturally very concerned.

"Sigh, if Lady Huo knows you encountered the Marquis of Lieyang on the way, she will definitely understand. Perhaps Lady Huo herself is also in the crowd watching the Marquis of Lieyang."

Xiao Yu really wasn't talking nonsense.

Because of the matter of the Thousand-Hand Qianshou Dao Sheng Zong Ergou, there were many patrolling soldiers on the street and few commoners.

But once the news of the Fire Crow Army's appearance spread, many people opened their doors and walked out of their homes or shops.

Those close to the Fire Crow Army knelt down to worship the Marquis of Lieyang; those too far away stood on tiptoe to watch.

"Actually, there's nothing much to see, the Kunlun Speed-Car is just a larger version of the Zhou Rao Kingdom's flying car."

Aunt Liu compromised, not allowing Xiao Yu to squeeze to the front alone, but followed the large crowd to watch from behind.

Leaving the Dongcheng Gate and continuing east along the main road for about four or five li, the area ahead suddenly opened up.

A hundred zhang in radius, without any buildings, only gray-black stone slabs neatly paved on the ground, forming a huge open-air platform.

The open-air platform connected to the East Gate of Tianmen Town to the west, with wide but winding roads to the north and south, while to the east was a stretch of rugged mountains. From far away, one could still hear the sound of water waves crashing against the rocks below the mountains.

The Great Qin's "Kunlun Speed-Car" had already landed on the platform.

Because the four windmill-like wheels were made of soft feathers and could not support the ground, slender support pillars extended downward from the front, back, left, and right of the speed-car.

The support pillars were only as thick as a little finger, but the base had a plate-sized pedestal, keeping the speed-car steady.

"Dock workers" took the initiative to push the six-wheeled inclined ladder toward the speed-car, and the Marquis of Lieyang stepped on the wooden ladder, being the first to board.

The number of Fire Crow Army soldiers had been streamlined to less than a hundred; apart from the "Great Qin Giants," there were only about a dozen Western generals.

Well, they were all great generals, because the armor on their bodies was luxurious and sturdy.

They were all taking off their armor beside the speed-car.

Not only were the Western generals taking it off, but the Great Qin soldiers were also trying to reduce their burden.

The outer armor was basically all taken off, and only about a dozen school officers kept their inner armor and chain mail.

Weapons were also only kept to blades and swords; the cup-thick, two-zhang-long steel spears used by the one-and-a-half-zhang giants were thrown to the side.

"Eh, what is the purpose of the talismans they are sticking on their bodies?"

Xiao Yu had sharp eyes; even from two or three hundred paces away, she could see that after taking off their armor, Cai Sima took out a stack of talisman papers from a yellow cloth bag and stuck them one by one on the soldiers' chests and backs; when encountering the one-and-a-half-zhang Great Qin giants, he even stuck one on each of their arms and thighs.

"It should be 'Divine Soldier Talisman Armor'; to reduce the burden on the speed-car, they took off their armor, but the Marquis of Lieyang definitely doesn't want the Fire Crow Army's combat power and defense to weaken," Aunt Liu whispered.

"What is Divine Soldier Talisman Armor?" Xiao Yu asked curiously.

Aunt Liu said, "Haven't you seen the Jade-Faced Wenqu Dou Yilin at the Flying Immortal Ferry?

Didn't he use the immortal magic of scattering beans to make soldiers and cutting paper to make gods?

Although the 'Heavenly Soldiers and Divine Generals' were made of beans, they were all tall and burly, in golden helmets and silver armor, looking majestic, and when fighting, they were immensely strong and invulnerable to blades and spears.

The golden helmets and silver armor worn by those bean soldiers are a type of Divine Soldier Talisman Armor.

The 'Divine Soldier Talisman Armor' prepared by the Marquis of Lieyang for the Fire Crow Army is likely drawn by Great Qin immortals and must be even more powerful."

"Immensely strong and invulnerable to blades and spears is just the foundation," a flash of brilliance crossed Aunt Liu's eyes, and she lowered her voice, "Sticking on talisman armor is to defend against enemies in the air, so the talisman armor must also allow the Fire Crow Army soldiers to briefly float and fly, and even have the miraculous effects of water-escape and earth-escape."

"So strong?"

Xiao Yu was somewhat shocked; if the Great Qin regular army had this configuration, how strong must the real Heavenly Soldiers and Divine Generals be?

And how strong must the Demon Kings who could swallow a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers be?

And Wukong...

The Fire Crow Army followed orders strictly and was highly efficient; after Xiao Yu and Aunt Liu whispered a few words, they had already stuck on the talisman armor and boarded the speed-car.

"Respectfully send off the Marquis of Lieyang, the Immortal General of the Upper Nation, and the divine generals of the Fire Crow Army."

In addition to the civil and military officials of Tianmen Town and Yingxiang Mansion, the Twin-Spear General Chen Taiping also personally came to see off the Fire Crow Army.

Following his loud shout, everyone, including the commoners kneeling and watching from behind, shouted in unison.

Amidst the blessings of the Shu Kingdom officials and people, the six speed-cars began to rise slowly into the air.

The windmill feathers turned slowly, carrying the speed-cars into the sky.

At this time, one could still see the individual feathers on the feather wheels.

But immediately after, the feather wheels began to accelerate, and the colorful feathers could no longer be seen, only a mass of cyan light, a mass of cyan light compressed and condensed by countless great winds.

There were four cyan light masses under one speed-car, the cyan light masses grew larger and larger, and finally, "Boom!"

Like a clap of thunder in a clear sky, the six speed-cars disappeared from everyone's field of vision simultaneously; the speed was too fast to track, leaving only wisps of cyan virtual lines in the sky.

The cyan virtual lines also dissipated quickly, turning into hurricanes that stirred the white clouds in the sky, blowing the eyes of the officials and people below until they were blurred, their sleeves fluttering.

Xiao Yu looked up at the direction the speed-cars had left, unable to recover for a long time.

"The people are gone, what are you still looking at?"

Aunt Liu pulled her back into the carriage and continued to drive toward Lady Huo's residence.

"Is that hundred-zhang-radius platform outside the Dongcheng Gate specifically prepared for the speed-cars? Are speed-cars very numerous and common?" Xiao Yu asked.

Aunt Liu shook her head and said, "I have only seen speed-cars twice in my life; once was when the Marquis of Lieyang came, and the second time was today.

However, one can often see the flying cars of the Zhou Rao Kingdom."

"What is the difference between the Zhou Rao Kingdom's flying cars and the speed-cars?" Xiao Yu asked again.

"Flying cars are smaller and slower..." Aunt Liu hesitated, "I don't understand speed-cars, I don't know if they have other functions.

Flying cars should be imitations of speed-cars.

According to ancient books, the Yellow Emperor of the ancient era liked to drive a speed-car to travel everywhere, and he also wrote a book called 'Records of Mountains and Seas of Ten Thousand Nations' and drew a 'Map of the World's Ten Thousand Nations.'

Both the Records of Mountains and Seas and the Map of the World's Ten Thousand Nations contain the 'Zhou Rao Kingdom.'

It must be that when the Zhou Rao Kingdom received the Yellow Emperor, they saw that the speed-car was fast and beautiful, so they secretly drew the structural diagram and, after the Yellow Emperor left, quietly imitated it to create the flying car.

You just saw it too, a speed-car can squeeze in dozens of people, while a flying car can often only carry two or three."

"Why didn't I see any flying cars today?" Xiao Yu said regretfully.

"Don't you know what happened the night before last? The Thousand-Hand Qianshou Dao Sheng fled to Tianmen Town, most likely wanting to take a flying car to escape the West, so how could General Chen let him have his way?" Aunt Liu said.

Xiao Yu said, puzzled, "Since flying cars can fly, why must they come to the Tianmen Town dock?"

"Just because they can fly? Demons can fly even better than flying cars."

Seeing that Xiao Yu wanted to continue asking, Aunt Liu waved her hand impatiently and said, "We'll be at Lady Huo's residence soon, don't ask blindly!

Perhaps you feel everything is very novel today.

But after you stay in Tianmen Town for a while, the questions you have now will all turn into common knowledge known to women and children."

"If you let me say my questions, won't the questions immediately become common knowledge?" Xiao Yu said.

Aunt Liu closed her eyes to nap, too lazy to pay attention to her.

Lady Huo's residence was very imposing, with a vermilion gate that was both high and wide, and white jade stone pixiu guarding both sides.

There was also a black-bottomed, gold-lettered plaque on the gate, inscribed with the large characters "Imperially Built General of Pacifying Difficulties Mansion."

However, Aunt Liu could not enter from the main gate; let alone opening the main gate, even the side gate was not opened.

The carriage passed by the main gate, circled into the small alley behind, and entered from the back gate.

Xiao Yu's heart was bubbling like boiling water, with a belly full of questions.

But Aunt Liu's expression was solemn, and there was a Huo family servant leading the way, so she couldn't speak.

In fact, before entering the Huo mansion, Aunt Liu had specifically instructed her not to speak, not to look around, to listen silently, and to look quietly from the corner of her eyes.

In short, at this moment, Xiao Yu was just a little maid by Aunt Liu's side.

Although they entered the mansion from the back gate, Lady Huo did not deliberately make things difficult for Aunt Liu.

When the servant led Xiao Yu and Aunt Liu to the martial arts arena in the backyard, Lady Huo was already in a tight outfit, holding the sword hilt in a reverse grip, waiting for them there.

Lady Huo and Aunt Liu were about the same age, in their early forties; Lady Huo's temperament and dress were dignified and noble, looking like she was in her early forties; Aunt Liu, however, wore powder and rouge, and her clothes were also pink and tender, intentionally dressing young, looking like she was in her thirties.

In terms of appearance alone, the two were evenly matched.

But comparing their overall bearing and temperament, Aunt Liu was truly a seductive, cheap woman from the pleasure quarters, while Lady Huo had a magnificent and noble air, a general's wife who was clearly born into a prominent family.

Apart from Lady Huo herself, there were four or five young ladies and seven or eight maids under the eaves.

They were even more well-behaved than Xiao Yu, standing quietly, neither moving around nor whispering.

"Jin Tong~~~" Aunt Liu still wanted to exchange pleasantries, but Lady Huo threw the precious sword in her hand over, saying indifferently, "Little Three, you really didn't lie; seeing you now is like seeing a cluster of azaleas.

This is a sign of the divine spirit manifesting externally, very good, I am looking forward to it, let's begin."

"Liu San" was also straightforward.

She had specifically changed into a short outfit with narrow sleeves and no hem today, which was very simple and capable.

She took the precious sword and danced a set of "Flowers Like Brocade" with a "swish, swish, swish," covering the martial arts arena with a layer of gorgeous red azaleas.

"Wow, it really is azaleas, it's sword intent!" This time, the maids and young ladies under the eaves could no longer remain calm.

Lady Huo's expression was also very complex, containing appreciation, admiration, and emotion, mixed with a little bit of jealousy, heartache, and bitterness.

"How is it?"

After finishing the set of "Flowers Like Brocade," Aunt Liu looked at Lady Huo with pride and anticipation.

At this moment, she was even more radiant, as if she had truly become a cluster of azaleas bathed in morning dew and the scorching sun.

"I didn't expect that you gained nothing in your youth, but instead achieved enlightenment in your old age; it is truly a miracle, it is the protection of gods and Buddhas," Lady Huo sighed.

Aunt Liu said, "If you had been willing to tell me the secret of cultivating the Nine Flower Sword earlier, I would have succeeded twenty years ago."

"The secret..." Lady Huo's eyes flashed, and she smiled, "Only what one realizes oneself is called a secret; it's useless for others to tell you.

Look at my five daughters, who have practiced martial arts since childhood; the eldest is already married, and which one of them has mastered the Nine Flower Sword?

If there really were a secret that everyone could use, would I still need to keep it from them?"

—You definitely didn't keep it from them, and the secret definitely works, but your daughters are stupid and have no talent.

Aunt Liu sneered in her heart but did not publicly embarrass Lady Huo.

She nodded and said, "I have already demonstrated 'Flowers Like Brocade,' now it is your turn, Jin Tong."

"Very well, we haven't sparred for a long time; today let me see what kind of miraculous effect the combination of 'Primordial Boundless' and 'Flowers Like Brocade' can produce."

Lady Huo went to the weapon rack again to choose a precious sword with a cold gleam, leaped, and arrived in front of Aunt Liu.