Chapter 64

"Why hasn't he woken up yet?"

"It should be any moment now."

In a quiet room, Zhou Yingxue and Deng Baixuan stood by, while Zhang Jingfeng held the pulse of a person on the bed, slowly channeling internal energy into him.

This person was the Mount Taishan Sect disciple whom Li Miao had grabbed at random that day to ask for Zuo Lishan’s location, and who had been shocked and terrified into a coma by the aftermath of the battle.

After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, he woke up slowly, but was momentarily disoriented; terrified, he shook off Zhang Jingfeng’s hand and curled into a ball on the bed.

Tomorrow was the day of the Five Mountains Alliance meeting, and the three leaders had been waiting anxiously these past few days, so they couldn't care about much else.

Zhou Yingxue went up and sealed the disciple’s acupoints, then interrogated him in detail.

The disciple answered the questions in a disjointed manner, and it took a full half-hour for the three leaders to finally understand the situation of that day.

Zhou Yingxue pointed again to knock the disciple unconscious and looked at the other two.

"Zuo Lishan... it seems it's not as simple as colluding with the Ming Cult. His appearance has already shown anomalies, and having cut himself off from the righteous path of the martial arts world and the Imperial Court, he has no way out except the Ming Cult."

"With no sign of him now, either he is already dead, or he has already fled and defected to the Ming Cult."

"The main person has run away, and tomorrow is the Five Mountains Alliance meeting. Whether it is the Imperial Court or the Ming Cult, the day they act should be tomorrow... How should our three sects conduct ourselves?"

After a long silence, Zhang Jingfeng said, "Leave! Regardless of what the two leaders choose, my Hengshan Sect is leaving now."

Deng Baixuan said, "But the letter Leader Liu left..."

Zhang Jingfeng raised his hand to stop Deng Baixuan. "Leader Deng, listen to me."

"Right now, whether it is the Huashan Sect, the Mount Taishan Sect, the Ming Cult, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, or even the Imperial Court, none of them are on our side. Only our three sects have consistent interests; at the very least, the more people who can survive, the greater the chance of carrying this disaster through. So I will make things clear to you two."

"Leader Liu is worth trusting. But no matter how trustworthy she is, she can only point us to a path she can see clearly. And right now, I don't think things are still under the control of Leader Liu, or even the Imperial Court."

"I’ve thought about it these past few days; the Imperial Court should have known that Zuo Lishan was colluding with the Ming Cult, took down the Huashan Sect in advance, and then planned to use the Mount Taishan Sect at the Five Mountains Alliance meeting to kill the chicken to warn the monkey, and round us all up."

"This should be the reason why Leader Liu would say, 'This matter is a foregone conclusion; stay here and there will be no threat to your lives.'"

"But we still have to leave."

"First, if staying really meant there would be no trouble, why did Leader Liu herself rush down the mountain and take all the Huashan disciples with her?"

"Second, the battle that day involved Battalion Commander Li, Zuo Lishan, and Lan Lechuan. This means that apart from Lan Lechuan, no one else from the Ming Cult was present. Excluding the Cult Leader, the Ming Cult respects the Envoys; who could make him act as a pawn and even lose his life?"

"Moreover, you have seen the traces left behind. If another such battle comes, the three of us will be caught in it and will surely die."

"Third, getting involved in the Mount Taishan Sect’s affairs, if the Imperial Court wants to take us, I accept it. As long as we can preserve the sect’s inheritance and the disciples' lives, that is fine. But not here."

"This mess of the Five Mountains Alliance meeting has already had a Ming Cult Left Envoy thrown into it, and there is no telling what kind of mess it will turn into later. If we are in the middle of it, we will be trampled to death if we are not careful."

"Return to the sect first; when the Imperial Court people arrive, we will just kneel and accept the decree."

"We have already delayed for many days; tomorrow is the Five Mountains Alliance meeting, and it is possible that the Ming Cult and Imperial Court people have already arrived at the foot of the mountain."

"If we can leave, we leave; if we can't... then we leave it to fate."

The three of them looked at each other, turned and walked out of the room together, each calling their disciples, not even bringing luggage or dry rations, and rushed to go down the mountain.

During this time, Mount Taishan Sect disciples came to block them, but the few of them pushed back with a mix of soft and hard words. In this situation, there was no need to save face for the Mount Taishan Sect anymore.

The Mount Taishan Sect had naturally been in a state of panic these past few days, and seeing the few of them leave in a hurry, the sect was in chaos. Those who were clever secretly took their money and followed behind the three sects, wanting to leave together.

The others saw this and followed suit, so the number of people in this group grew larger and larger.

And so, after a period of chaos, the group marched majestically down the mountain.

But they ran head-on into Cheng Yuanzhen, who was leading troops.

Cheng Yuanzhen hadn't paid much attention to a few martial artists, but seeing more and more people coming head-on, his expression grew uglier and uglier.

Finally, he shouted, "Surround that group in front for me!"

He had brought over two hundred people from Shuntian Prefecture, plus over two hundred Embroidered Uniform Guards and over a thousand soldiers from Taian City; surrounding this group of a hundred or so people, there was no need to worry about any mishaps.

The three sects' people had been a bit nervous, and they all put their hands on their sword hilts, ready to act.

But seeing the uniforms of the soldiers and Embroidered Uniform Guards on the opposite side, Deng Baixuan’s shoulders slumped first, and then he let out a long sigh that seemed like joy and sorrow.

"Two leaders... thank goodness..."

Although they hadn't managed to run away, at least they had run into the Imperial Court’s people. If it had been the Ming Cult’s people, they would have had to fight for their lives.

Defecting to the Imperial Court didn't sound good in the martial arts world, but at least it was a choice everyone could understand.

Defecting to the Ming Cult... back when Ji Tianrui dominated the martial arts world, some people would say, "The Imperial Court is the Imperial Court of the Great Shuo, and the martial arts world is the martial arts world of the Ming Cult."

And then Ji Tianrui died.

No matter how strong you are, no matter how high your martial arts reach, the one who sits in possession of the entire world is the Emperor of the Great Shuo.

Offend the Ming Cult, people die. Offend the Imperial Court, the sect is wiped out. It’s that simple.

Thus, the three of them went together, walked quickly to Cheng Yuanzhen, and bowed. "My lord."

"Zhou Yingxue, Deng Baixuan, Zhang Jingfeng," Cheng Yuanzhen named them one by one.

"Go back."

Zhang Jingfeng raised his head in astonishment. "My lord!"

"This one said, go back."

"This one is acting under Imperial orders to come here to execute the rebellious scoundrels."

"You commoners, are you trying to oppose the Imperial Envoy?"

Cheng Yuanzhen’s gaze swept over their faces.

Zhang Jingfeng suddenly realized a problem.

*This one?* This person... fair-faced, no beard, voice shrill; why does he sound like a eunuch? There are no eunuchs in the Embroidered Uniform Guard!

Eunuchs have always served the Emperor in the Imperial Palace and have never been involved in martial arts affairs.

Looking at the people around him, who seemed to be his confidants... they all seemed to be eunuchs.

And those two hundred-plus Embroidered Uniform Guards had kept their distance, clearly divided, and one could faintly see hostility on their faces.

Zhang Jingfeng made one last probe: "My lord, a few days ago, Lord Li Miao of the Embroidered Uniform Guard sent people to leave us a message, and we already know about the Mount Taishan Sect colluding with the Ming Cult."

"This trip is precisely to go down the mountain to report to the government and capture the rebels together."

Cheng Yuanzhen sneered, "Who cares about your Lord Zhang or Lord Li. I am the one in charge here. I said go back; do you not understand?"

Zhang Jingfeng understood.

He had previously counted the Imperial Court as one side, which was hasty.

Right now, another side within the Imperial Court had appeared. And it didn't look like the attitude of Li Miao from a few days ago, which was arrogant but carried a sense of warning.

Thus, the people of the Hengshan, Hengshan, and Songshan sects, plus the Mount Taishan Sect disciples who had fled down the mountain, were like fallen leaves swept up by a surging tide, and were washed back onto Mount Taishan.

It was already near sunset.

At the foot of Mount Taishan, Li Miao and Wang Hai rode their horses into Taian City.