Chapter 174

Seeing that Li Miao's mind was made up, he stood up and was about to pursue that group of Ming Sect members.

Zhi Sheng couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Just now, seeing Li Miao casually demonstrate the "Taiyi Profound Gate Sword" with a tree branch, which was extremely exquisite, he knew that Li Miao's martial arts were excellent, at the very least not inferior to the sect leaders of ordinary major sects.

However, martial arts are not just about moves. No matter how good the aptitude is, internal energy cultivation is a slow grind. Zuo Lishan ascended to the Peak at thirty-eight, which is already a rare prodigy. Therefore, Li Miao looks to be in his early thirties, so even estimating at the best level, he is at the level of someone who has just reached the Peak.

Among his peers, it can be called shocking, but compared to Ji Tianrui, a demon who suppressed the Jianghu more than ten years ago, they are not in the same league.

However, at least Ji Tianrui was not in that group of Ming Sect members.

With him and Li Miao, it should be a sure thing.

Thinking of this, Zhi Sheng instructed Li Qing and Li Miao to wait here, and then pursued the Ming Sect group together with Li Miao.

It was already midnight, there were no pedestrians on the road, and there were no crossroads, so there was no need to worry about losing them.

The two used their light-body techniques and caught up by two miles in a short while.

They heard faint footsteps coming from ahead.

Zhi Sheng gripped his sword hilt, about to rush forward to take the lead.

Just as his feet moved, he heard Li Miao suddenly say in a loud voice.

"Daoist, stop."

Zhi Sheng stopped in his tracks, and without asking why, he raised his hand and drew his sword, his true energy already surging along with it. His eyes were shining with a sharp light as he cast his gaze toward the woods on both sides of the mountain path.

They were currently in pursuit, and Li Miao suddenly spoke to warn him to stop without lowering his voice to prevent the other party from hearing; the only explanation was that the Ming Sect had already discovered them and was lying in ambush.

It's just that he didn't know how Li Miao discovered it when even he hadn't noticed the slightest thing.

Perhaps it's because the Embroidered Uniform Guard is used to chasing and killing, and they have some unique secret methods.

Sure enough, Li Miao cast his gaze toward the dense forest on the left side of the mountain path and smiled.

"Are you tired of squatting? Get out here, will you?"

Silence.

Li Miao didn't speak either, just stood with his arms crossed, watching the woods.

After a long while, the branches and leaves shook, and several figures flashed out from within, all holding lassos, hooks, and hidden weapons in their hands. Judging by their movements, each one was an expert of the second-rate or higher.

Zhi Sheng couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Looking at the other party's stance, his and Li Qing's spying just now clearly did not escape these people's notice. They didn't make a move at the time, but had actually set up an ambush early on, just waiting for him to stumble in. With intent against the unsuspecting, he might have been injured the moment they met.

If there had been another Peak expert similar to him holding him back, and these experts were harassing and hindering him with lassos and hidden weapons on the side, he really couldn't say whether he could have escaped.

It was all thanks to Li Miao.

Just as Zhi Sheng was about to turn his head to say thank you to Li Miao, another person walked out of the woods.

With a broad and imposing stature, his hands hanging down to his knees, he was exactly that leader.

As soon as Zhi Sheng saw his appearance, he knew his guess was correct.

He saw that his face was gaunt, his cheekbones were prominent, and his cheeks were sunken. Beneath his ink-like thick eyebrows, a pair of tiger eyes were bright and piercing, bearing a sixty to seventy percent resemblance to Yang Lixuan from back then; he was definitely a member of the Yang family, and he might even be Yang Lixuan's son or nephew.

This person walked out of the woods, first looked at Zhi Sheng, and a sneer of disdain appeared on his face.

"Stinking Daoist priest of Wudang, hmph!"

Immediately, he looked at Li Miao, cupped his hands, and bowed slightly.

"Lord Li."

"You!?"

His way of treating people differently left Zhi Sheng speechless.

Yes, they came with ill intent, and it's understandable that this person wouldn't give a good look. But why is he a "stinking Daoist priest" and Li Miao "Lord Li"?

Not wanting to lose face, Zhi Sheng was about to retort, but Li Miao reached out and stopped him.

Li Miao looked at the man and smiled.

"What's your name?"

"Yang Tianyi."

"What relation are you to Yang Lixuan?"

"My father."

"Then, what about Yang Yueze?"

"He is my son."

"Oh?"

Li Miao looked at the man and raised an eyebrow.

"You know who your son died at the hands of, right?"

Yang Tianyi nodded.

"I know. After you left Shaolin, my lord, I used some methods to sneak into Shaolin and found my son's corpse. Judging by the injuries, it wasn't the work of Shaolin; it should have been at your hands, Lord Li."

"Oh?" Li Miao said in surprise.

"Since you know there is a feud over your son's death, why are you still so polite to me?"

Yang Tianyi shook his head.

"We of the Yang family value integrity over life and death."

"My son's spine was broken, and he probably died in his own filth, shaming the face of my Yang family. If you hadn't killed him, my lord, I would have killed him myself."

"Besides..."

Yang Tianyi looked at Li Miao, a ferocious smile appearing on his face.

"Lord Li, there is only one thing we of the Yang family care about."

"And that is—the Zhu family, the Great Ming!"

Yang Tianyi said coldly.

"For this, we of the Yang family can die, and we can also put aside our hatred to cooperate with that bastard Ji Tianrui."

"One day, Lord Li will also be our fellow traveler. And with your talent and martial arts, Lord Li, you may go even further than us in the future. Therefore, we of the Yang family have no malice toward you, Lord Li."

Speaking of this, Yang Tianyi turned his head and swept a cold glance at Zhi Sheng, snorting coldly.

"Wudang, Shaolin, all spineless cowards, two piles of dog shit."

"They occupy the great heritage of Patriarch Bodhidharma and Zhang Sanfeng in vain, yet they have no backbone at all! They bow and scrape to the Zhu family, terrified and with their tails between their legs, not even daring to cultivate into Heaven-Man, staining the reputation of the patriarchs in vain!"

"Pah!"

Speaking to the point of hatred, Yang Tianyi actually spat on the ground.

Yang Tianyi's words not only looked down on Zhi Sheng, but also cursed the entire Wudang sect. The language was intense, almost accusing the two giants of betraying their masters and ancestors, wasting their heritage in vain.

This made Zhi Sheng's face turn green with anger, and he almost couldn't help but stab him with his sword.

What is wrong with a major Jianghu sect's heritage being on good terms with the imperial court of the time? Does having a backbone only count if you are like a bunch of lunatics in the Ming Sect, thinking only of rebellion?

If your Ming Sect is so tough, why are you being chased by the imperial court, hiding here and there, dying in droves, and even the sect leader has to fake his death to escape?

If you are so arrogant, why haven't I seen you go to Shuntian Prefecture to assassinate the Empe... no!

Zhi Sheng was shocked!

It hasn't been long since the Ming Sect breached Shaolin. Counting the days, this group of Ming Sect members shouldn't have taken a detour, but rather headed straight for the road after leaving Shaolin to reach Xiang Yang Prefecture today.

Looking at the route, they are clearly heading north, straight for Shuntian Prefecture!

Li Miao mentioned it just now, and he didn't think much of it, but now that he heard Yang Tianyi say it, he immediately realized what was going on.

These people... they wouldn't really be going to the capital to assassinate the Emperor, would they!?

Zhi Sheng looked at Li Miao, then back at Yang Tianyi, his hand gripping the sword hilt tightly.

"Immeasurable Daoist... this is a huge matter..."

(End of chapter)