Chapter 157: Clashing Strategies, Thunder Across the Sky

The Formless Calamity Finger, its force surging in all directions, let out a whoosh that ripped through the gloom.

It caused everyone to shiver.

Arrogant!

That was Niu Ben's first impression.

Of course, it wasn't just him; even the other martial artists present couldn't help but show surprise.

The old monk had been silent upon arriving, yet now he said "act" and acted, striking so fiercely—could such a temperament still belong to an enlightened monk of the Shaolin Temple?

Although the Shaolin Temple was once a martial titan, its members are still outsiders, revering Buddha and seeking goodness; now they have sealed the mountain and closed the temple, which should not be so domineering.

"How dare you!"

In the next instant, Niu Ben roared, channeling the Nine Yang Divine Skill to power his Dragon Claw Hand, and lunged across toward Jue Xing's figure.

At the same time, he couldn't help but grumble in his heart about this iron blind man.

The signal has already been sent; you know they're not the opponent, so should you just wait for the sect leader to arrive before striking, damn it?

Regardless, at this moment Ke Zhen'e and he are on the same side; if this finger strikes him, it would be tantamount to slapping the Sun and Moon Divine Sect's face right in front of him.

Thus, even knowing he is outmatched, he must face Jue Xing head‑on.

"Bang~"

The result was unmistakable: although it was only a side strike of Jue Xing's Formless Calamity Finger, after the bang, a burst of force erupted; Niu Ben let out a muffled groan as the powerful finger force slammed him, then staggered and kept retreating.

"Deputy Village Chief!"

"Deputy Village Chief!"

Behind him, Zhu Quan and Liu Da steadied Niu Ben's body from the left and right.

Meanwhile, the main opponent Ke Zhen'e felt a sharp surge of force strike his side of the face; he instinctively turned his head to dodge, but where the gust passed, a burning pain hit his left cheek.

At this moment, Jue Xing had, over the past three years, firmly reached the consummate realm of a Grandmaster, and even a single outward finger force left Ke Zhen'e unable to parry.

This is the gap between a top‑tier expert and a Grandmaster at his peak.

Although Niu Ben, under Niu Dingtian's brief tutelage, cultivated the Nine Yang Divine Skill and used Nine Yang True Qi to activate a Shaolin supreme technique, he leapt into the top tier.

But the gap of a great realm is too vast to be bridged by internal cultivation alone.

One move fell,

To everyone's surprise, Jue Xing did not stop; his aura remained fierce, and as the phantom finger shadows on his right hand flickered and shifted, another Formless Calamity Finger coalesced.

The old monk is about to go all out!

Everyone present was startled, assuming that once Jue Xing blocked the attack it would end; no one expected a monk who had left the secular world to go so ruthless!

At that moment—

The others hadn't yet reacted.

No one noticed that behind Lu Youjiao, a grimy‑faced beggar furrowed his brow and had already taken a step, seemingly ready to strike.

Yet Jue Xing's expression suddenly flickered; his eyes glazed for a moment, and the technique in his hand halted outright.

"Amitabha." In Jue Xing's murky eyes a strange aura lingered, then quickly faded, returning to calm.

"Benefactors, it would be wise to heed this poor monk's counsel; please do not enter the bamboo forest before the divine artifact is forged," Jue Xing said calmly to Niu Ben and the others, his gaunt face as tranquil as water.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, his gaze suddenly hardened, and he looked up toward the distant black night.

The crowd, seeing this, instinctively followed his line of sight.

Where his eyes fell, a moment ago it was pitch black; the next moment three white silhouettes flashed into view, ethereal as deities, darting toward them.

"Old bald donkey, how daring! To hurt someone from my Sun and Moon Divine Sect!" one of the white figures shouted as it flashed.

As the words fell, three skirts fluttered, and the three women arrived in an instant, each brandishing a gleaming sword that hovered before the onlookers.

The newcomers were Chen Jin'er, Han Xiao Ying, and Miss Huang. The earlier taunt had come from Miss Huang.

Compared to a year ago when they returned to Xiangyang, now among the three the mature ones have become even more seasoned, and the once‑green have begun to mature as well.

Most importantly, in their every gesture, an otherworldly aura naturally radiated, enveloping them and causing everyone present to turn their heads in astonishment.

After landing firmly, without waiting for others to speak, Miss Huang proudly lifted her head, glared at Monk Jue Xing and snapped, "Where did that old monk who dares to hurt someone from my Sun and Moon Divine Sect come from! If you have the guts, spar with me!"

Speaking thus, she wore an arrogant expression, her sword glimmered faintly as she poised to draw it; a subtle, overwhelming aura caused her garments to billow slightly, and her long black hair rose as if caught by a wind that did not exist.

At this moment, Miss Huang fully embraced her self‑proclaimed title of Divine Sect matriarch—the Sect Leader's Wife—and her demeanor exuded a sense of pride.

Of course, calling him "old bald donkey" was too coarse; shouting that in front of everyone would be undignified, so after some deliberation she switched to "old monk".

But whether called old bald donkey or old monk, Jue Xing's eyes blazed with raging fury upon hearing it.

"Good! Good! Good!" Jue Xing exclaimed, rapidly twirling the prayer beads in his right hand, his chest heaving.

Gradually, illuminated by the surrounding torchlight, a faint glint of pain, struggle, and strangeness flickered in his eyes.

This made Han Xiao Ying, who was about to speak counsel, feel a sudden jolt; she exchanged a glance with Chen Jin'er, who had sensed the same, and both instinctively tightened their grip on their swords.

However, after a moment's consideration, Han Xiao Ying finally relaxed her hand, curled a fist, and softly asked, "Master Jue Xing, do you still remember me?"

"Three years ago, you saved me, Han Xiao Ying; I could never forget that. I never imagined I'd see Master Jue Xing again here today. I'm still young; please forgive any offense I may have caused earlier,"

She hadn't expected that coming to reinforce would pit her against an old acquaintance.

Although her principles wouldn't change, Jue Xing the monk had indeed saved her.

He felt some remorse for what he had done at the Shaolin Temple back then, and now, unless absolutely necessary, he truly hesitated to strike her.

Seeing this, Jue Xing's movement paused briefly; his eyes widened again, and when he looked at Han Xiao Ying opposite him, anger first flashed, then complexity, and finally calm.

"Sister Han knows this old… this monk?" Miss Huang, hearing this, suddenly lost her momentum and hurried to Han Xiao Ying's side.

Han Xiao Ying gave a slight nod, but with so many people present, she gave no further explanation.

"Little sister!"

"Seventh sister!"

"Seventh sister has arrived."

Han Baoju and Zhu Cong, seeing this, came to Han Xiao Ying's front; Ke Zhen'e followed, and the three of them all showed surprise and joy.

The several brothers and sisters hadn't seen each other in two years.

"Older brother, second older brother, eldest brother, are you alright?" Han Xiao Ying greeted each in turn, finally looking at the eldest brother, Ke Zhen'e.

At this moment, a red mark on Great Hero Ke's face was extremely obvious.

Ke Zhen'e heard this, and instantly felt a burning sensation on his face; he softly grunted, "The blind man is fine, but Jing'er is in trouble!"

"Madam."

At this moment, Niu Ben also hurried over to Chen Jin'er's side to pay his respects.

Chen Jin'er nodded slightly, looked toward the bamboo grove ahead, and solemnly ordered: "Pass the word down—no one is to approach the sword‑forging site in the bamboo grove at any time!"

At first she didn't know why there was movement here; after discovering the signal, she learned from Niu Kui that it was actually that person forging swords and knives here.

Thus the Deputy Sect Leader of Flaming Heaven stayed behind to guard the home, and she promptly led people rushing over to support without delay.

Niu Ben heard this, his face stiffened instantly, and he thought, "Was I just taking this hit for nothing?"

Meanwhile, the other jianghu wanderers opposite also looked over in surprise, having spent half a day shouting battle cries—are you putting on a show, or just looking for an excuse to back down?

Niu Ben said: "Madam, Yang Kang and Guo Jing went out tonight and have vanished! I've searched half a day and found nothing—only this bamboo grove remains unsearched!"

Hearing this, Chen Jin'er and Han Xiao Ying's faces both changed.

Han Xiao Ying glared at her three older brothers with anger, her questioning intent obvious without words.

Han Baoju forced a laugh and explained: "At dinner the two lads were still there; Yang Kang called Jing'er to go back to the room to discuss martial arts, and only when it got dark did we discover that both had disappeared."

"Discuss martial arts?"

Niu Ben heard this, his mouth twitched, and then he regretted not having noticed Yang Kang's oddness at dinner.

It seems that over the past three years, anyone he privately pulled aside to discuss martial arts had their internal energy completely drained by him.

Chen Jin'er frowned, pondered, and said: "They won't be hiding in the bamboo grove; order a search of every mountain cottage in the village, especially those belonging to outsiders—leave no corner unchecked."

Saying this, she then turned to the group of unfamiliar jianghu people opposite and declared firmly: "Remember, finding the person is urgent; don't fear conflict—reinforcements will arrive shortly!"

At this moment, Chen Jin'er's decisiveness was convincing; she was no longer the homemaker who only managed accounts and chores as before.

Just as her words fell,

Everyone then heard faint, urgent hoofbeats in the distance, gradually seeing a long fire‑dragon speeding rapidly toward this spot.

"They're here."

Not long after, Niu Kui and Hu Zaixing led over a thousand troops rushing over.

After they arrived, without a word they directly ordered the entire village encircled; row after row of crossbow carts with taut bowstrings made everyone present feel a chill.

Having received Chen Jin'er's order, Niu Kui and Niu Ben led the personnel, bringing Zhu Cong, Han Baoju, and Ke Zhen'e to search the village.

Hu Zaixing directed the eight‑ox crossbow carts to occupy the key points, aiming them at the people in the field.

Seeing this scene, Ma Yu opposite immediately became uneasy.

He restrained his junior brother Qiu Chuji who was about to erupt, then frowned and asked Chen Jin'er: "What do you mean, miss? Tonight is merely jianghu business—jianghu matters stay in jianghu—why are you misusing public assets and arbitrarily mobilizing border troops?"

Ma Yu did not know Chen Jin'er's identity, and dared not even imagine that the border stronghold of Xiangyang City could be seized by a jianghu person.

Just by looking at their attire, the crossbow carts, and the speed of their charge, he knew the troops were likely the Xiangyang garrison.

Moreover, for the border garrison to run out of the city in the middle of the night is already a grave crime, let alone taking all those military heavy weapons out with them.

"They're going to be beheaded!" Ma Yu hinted darkly.

The Sect Leader Ma's intervention naturally also stirred others' displeasure, and they all responded, shouting:

"Exactly, exactly!"

"What the Daoist Priest Ma said is correct!"

"What good is it to find some mud‑legs?"

"I'm going back to file a complaint with the officials!"

……

Ouyang Ke, seeing this from before the crowd, decisively retreated to the rear amidst the chaos.

From the moment he saw Miss Huang and Han Xiao Ying appear, he had been anxious, fearing that someone surnamed Niu might be hiding nearby.

Chen Jin'er said expressionlessly: "The Xiangyang garrison has the duty to defend the land and protect the people; when martial artists violate the law or evildoers commit crimes within its territory, it is only natural to lend aid—what basis does Daoist Priest Ma have for accusing us of misusing public funds?"

"Besides, I should remind you all that this area falls under Xiangyang's jurisdiction; outsiders crossing state lines need a travel permit—if you lack the documents and enter illegally, you might as well come with me to the Xiangyang County Office."

"Make a trip?"

Hearing this, Ma Yu's face stalled, and even the originally noisy, indignant people fell silent all at once.

"A travel permit? Which jianghu person ever uses that thing?"

But precisely because of this, if Chen Jin'er directly ordered arrows shot at them, they would lose their lives with nowhere to seek redress.

If ordinary soldiers and clerks were here, they would mostly scoff and curse the dog officials, paying no heed.

But faced with this situation, they could only keep their mouths shut honestly.

For a moment,

Apart from the crackling of the torches' flames, all was silent, and a hush fell.

…………

"Is it raining?"

"It's raining!"

Not long after, a low murmur spread through the crowd: "It's raining."

The next moment—

Drop by drop, raindrops fell sparsely from the dark heavens, kicking up little clouds of dust on the ground.

Immediately afterward, the wind picked up and grew stronger, blowing the bamboo grove into rolling green waves and making everyone's clothes flutter.

Boom—

The originally quiet night sky suddenly burst with a tremendous roar.

Crackle—

With rolling thunder, dragon-like lightning bolts suddenly flashed from the heavens, winding through the black night sky, tearing the void and wildly churning the clouds.

Soon, the rain intensified, and a jade nectar waterfall poured down from the nine heavens.

Thunder and lightning came one after another, growing ever larger, like furious fire dragons gathering above the bamboo grove.

This is… a phenomenon?

Such a grand and magnificent sight made everyone's hearts tremble; they disregarded the rain, looked up at the night sky, and stared speechlessly at the scene.

At this moment—

Juexing's calm eyes again flashed with madness and strangeness; a domineering aura erupted from the Beggar's Sect crowd; three figures darted swiftly from the village direction.

"Everyone, listen up!" Chen Jin'er's deep shout suddenly rang out clearly through the rain curtain:

"No one may approach the bamboo grove! Anyone who steps in will be shot by crossbow bolts!"

"Anyone who steps in,"

"They will be shot by crossbow bolts!"

This clear, cold shout caused everyone present to freeze instantly.

But the next moment, aside from a few sober individuals, everyone charged desperately toward the bamboo grove while shouting wildly:

"Divine weapons have appeared!"

"Haha, divine weapons have appeared!"

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!" (End of chapter)