Chapter 374

Following Li Miao's words, the crowd exploded with him as the center.

The next instant, following the order of the Brave Cavalry Right Guard officer, the sound of hooves shook again, surrounding Li Miao, not getting close for a while, but patrolling and circling at a distance of about three zhang from him.

The armor, horseshoes, and blades emitting cold light surrounded Li Miao like a whirlpool.

Several black-clad eunuchs didn't speak, true energy surging around their bodies.

Broken sabers, hooks, and short swords slid from their sleeves into their hands.

The other two eunuchs were one gripping a fist and one lifting a palm.

Five gazes full of killing intent stared fixedly at Li Miao.

Li Miao, however, acted as if nothing had happened, lowering his head to brush off the blood ash on his sleeve: "I knew you would have this move; I've been waiting for you for a long time."

"How long have you been colluding with Zheng Anqi?"

He looked up toward one of the five black-clad eunuchs.

"Eunuch Cun Dong, Eunuch Cun, it's you, right?"

"Hmph."

That black-clad eunuch snorted coldly, took off his mask, and revealed an old face.

It was none other than Eunuch Cun Dong, one of the four Nanjing Garrison Commander Eunuchs, and the only one still alive so far. He said with a cold smile.

"The Commander has good eyesight. You said you knew we would come long ago; how did you deduce it?"

Li Miao smiled.

"What's hard to guess about that?"

"Nanjing isn't without peerless experts; could Gu Feixuan shoot a Garrison Commander Eunuch to death so simply?"

"Zheng Anqi didn't look like a magnanimous person; he was cursed twice and was about to die, so how could he be willing to hand over the cultivation method to me after his death? Perhaps he had half the sincerity, but if there were no cause, he couldn't have said such words."

"Nanjing Garrison Commander Eunuch, high-ranking and powerful, a luxurious figure who climbed out of the slaughter among countless eunuchs in the palace. Zheng Anqi could gain your trust as soon as he arrived; I imagine you put in quite a bit of effort in the middle, right?"

The corners of Eunuch Cun Dong's mouth hooked up.

"The Commander guessed right... So you knew long ago that today's Nanjing was a trap specifically set for you, right?"

Li Miao said with a smile.

"Of course."

"Penglai, Liu Jin, Zheng Anqi—the three groups of people I was investigating happened to gather in Nanjing, and happened to be connected at the point of 'Garrison Commander Eunuch.' Coincidence? Even ghosts wouldn't believe it."

"Leading me over, letting Zheng Anqi fight a round with me. I win, and you act as the oriole behind, right?"

Eunuch Cun Dong nodded frankly.

"That's right."

From the beginning, he was Liu Jin's man.

Ever since Liu Jin made the decision to contact Yingzhou while in Shuntian Prefecture, he had started looking for traces of Yingzhou people in the Jianghu; coincidentally, Zheng Anqi also arrived in Nanjing at this time, chasing Zheng Qi's trail.

The two hit it off immediately; Eunuch Cun Dong helped Zheng Anqi gain the trust of the other three Garrison Commander Eunuchs and prepare for the ritual, while Zheng Anqi would help him... kill Li Miao.

But the two had a difference in judgment regarding Li Miao.

Liu Jin and Eunuch Cun Dong never thought Zheng Anqi could kill Li Miao from the beginning, nor could they allow Zheng Anqi to cultivate the perfect Xuanlan and become another Li Miao. The death of Qiu and the early start of the ritual were all arrangements Eunuch Cun Dong made in advance.

Zheng Anqi led Li Miao to Huagai Hall; this great play set for Li Miao finally revealed its true colors.

Li Miao smiled: "So, you think you can kill me?"

Eunuch Cun Dong said in a deep voice.

"I don't dare to ask for perfection, but there is always a fifty percent chance, making the Commander laugh."

He suddenly opened his hands.

"Flag-Bearer Guard, Brave Cavalry Right Guard... plus five great eunuchs who cultivated Yingzhou's Xuanlan cultivation method, two paths of life cultivation, and half a path of Xuanlan—they are all here to send you to your grave!"

"To deal with you, a three-path perfection, should be enough!"

"Commander Li, both I and Great Eunuch Liu have to admit, you are perhaps the most difficult enemy to deal with in the entire world... Peerless martial arts, meticulous thinking, ruthless means; you can neither be bought nor easily shaken."

"But people all have weaknesses. Your weakness is that you are too arrogant!"

A triumphant smile appeared on Eunuch Cun Dong's face.

"Knowing it's a trap, yet daring to take the initiative to stay."

"I know you have the means to break through in the middle of a battle, so I only left half a cultivation method in Huagai Hall, and deliberately added quite a few errors in the middle, just to hold you back without letting you cultivate Xuanlan."

"Without a cultivation method, you cannot break through your realm, and your martial power is still within our grasp. Plus the heavy injuries left by Zheng Anqi... your arrogance is the reason for your defeat and death today!"

Li Miao nodded.

"Oh."

"Thank you for the explanation."

Eunuch Cun Dong's gaze was nailed to Li Miao's face, not finding half a trace of panic on it, and he frowned.

But by this time, there was nothing left to say.

He waved his hand: "Kill!"

Before the words had even fallen, hundreds of three-eyed guns exploded with a roar!

Rain of arrows, lassos, ropes, hooks, throwing spears!

Attacks that almost filled the entire sky shot toward Li Miao!

Ma Pi galloping like a tide compressed the space in an instant, squeezing toward Li Miao.

Black shadows moved, and the five black-clad eunuchs vanished from where they were, stepping on the galloping horses like wisps of blue smoke, suddenly leaping up, broken sabers, short swords, hooks, fists, and palms all falling toward Li Miao!

"Hmm, the scene is alright."

Li Miao smiled, lifted his hands above his head, extended two fingers, true energy surging, shaking up the dust on the ground around him, and then suddenly clenched his fists at his waist.

"Black Extreme, Floating Slaughter!"

Endless sword Qi, triggered again!

The five black-clad eunuchs saw this situation and were happy instead of angry: "He really used this move!"

Between their figures flashing, they actually leaped up a zhang simultaneously, and then the five of them slapped out palms at each other, borrowing strength to dodge—avoiding all the sword Qi!

The weapons flying toward Li Miao were shaken away; the five black-clad eunuchs used a thousand-jin drop, suddenly landing, ignoring the corpses shattered by the sword Qi, and rushed toward Li Miao.

"This move is the Emperor's martial art, it will exhaust the true energy in the body; he used it once before, and now it needs two breaths to recover, plus his heavy injuries, it will be even longer! This is the opportunity!"

"Use all your strength, be sure to kill this thief!"

The broken saber slashed toward his head, heavy and powerful, bringing with it a whistling wind; the short sword and hook were hidden in the shadows, stabbing toward Li Miao's ribs without a sound.

Eunuch Cun Dong and another person rushed to Li Miao's front, one fist and one palm, one yin and one yang, one hard and one soft, attacking Li Miao's arms!

Li Miao turned his hands to smash away the broken saber, gripped the short sword and smashed it toward the hook, and then both fists went out, clashing with the fists and palms!

Boom!

A loud sound exploded!

Eunuch Cun Dong's face turned pale, the taste of rust surged into his nasal cavity, but a triumphant smile appeared on his face.

"Good thief, truly ferocious, actually able to suppress us while heavily injured... but the foundation is empty, true energy is floating; his realm is still three-path perfection, and his injuries haven't healed!"

"Can win!"

He swung his palm, wanting to shake away Li Miao's arm, stepped forward, and flipped his palm to slap toward Li Miao's chest; the other four black-clad eunuchs also changed their moves together, killing toward Li Miao.

At this very moment, he heard Li Miao say calmly.

"Hmm, deduced it."

"First sentence, Xuanlan first opens, Qi enters the dantian..."

(End of chapter)