Chapter 407

The final party in this grand drama of the Shuntian Prefecture—the Ordinary Jianghu—has finally appeared on stage.

It is just that it is in a manner bordering on farce.

To put it plainly, in this grand drama, whether it be the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Eastern Depot, the civil officials, or Yingzhou, all are chess players; only the Ordinary Jianghu are the chess pieces, blind to everything, who can only be led around by the nose.

As for how Yingzhou spread the news throughout the world and lured these Ordinary Jianghu people to Shuntian Prefecture?

A face identical to Li Miao's, Wu Gong that also exceeds the understanding of ordinary Ordinary Jianghu people, and the Xuanlan cultivation method—by simply appearing, playing god, and acting like a ghost, they could easily incite these Ordinary Jianghu people whom Li Miao had forcibly suppressed with his fists.

An Ziyang couldn't be bothered to look into the details.

But for now, the trouble does not lie with these Ordinary Jianghu people.

An Ziyang's gaze swept over the dozen or so masked men, attempting to discern clues from their eyes.

At the same time, he suddenly spoke.

"Eunuch Liu, you are here, aren't you?"

The masked man leading the opposite side frowned.

"What does Battalion Commander An mean?"

An Ziyang identified carefully, but still discovered nothing suspicious.

But he also understood that since Liu Jinyi had hidden under his nose for so long without revealing his flaws, it was basically impossible for him to be exposed unless he revealed himself voluntarily.

He spread his hands and smiled.

"Very well. Since Eunuch Liu is unwilling to show himself, I will just finish everyone off. If my methods are a bit crude, I hope Eunuch Liu will bear with me."

The masked man was almost angered into laughter.

Up to now, everything An Ziyang said was either an insult or a riddle, showing them no regard at all. Being able to endure until now without making a move could already be considered having self-restraint among Ordinary Jianghu people.

But since An Ziyang had shouted the word "kill," they naturally understood that a peaceful resolution today was impossible.

Drawing swords, pulling sabers.

Fists held at the waist, claws raised to the chest.

"Since Battalion Commander An says so, then let us—"

Boom!

The dozen or so people attacked in unison.

"—see the real truth!"

Even with the concealment, one could see that these were all high-level techniques from famous sects, pouring toward An Ziyang like raindrops.

An Ziyang let out a cold laugh.

"I call you fools, and you still refuse to admit it."

"Knowing who I am, you still dare to come to my territory to seek death!"

Before his voice had faded, he suddenly flicked his hand.

The transparent silk threads tied everywhere in the courtyard, pulled taut, instantly released their knots, rolling toward the dozen or so people like a giant net.

At the same time, poison needles shot out from under the eaves, Gu insects pounced down from the branches, and animal traps rolled up from the ground with a boom.

From the gaps in the boxes An Ziyang was leaning on, purple-blue thick smoke suddenly sprayed out, shrouding the entire courtyard.

————————

Mei Qinghe opened her eyes, turned her head to look in the direction of An Ziyang, and then stood up, lifting the long sword resting on her knees before her eyes.

"Come out."

As the words fell, there was no response at all.

Mei Qinghe, however, did not waver in the slightest, just staring fixedly at a patch of darkness in the distance with her sword raised.

After a long while, a sneer came from the darkness.

"Worthy of being the fiercest sword under Li Miao."

"Among those under his command, the most poisonous is Li Xiaosi, the most ruthless is Wang Hai, and the most insidious is An Ziyang. But in terms of talent and attainment in Wu Gong, the highest is you—Mei Qinghe."

"No wonder he was reluctant to let you leave the capital, only letting you practice Wu Gong in the capital every day, occasionally doing some killing errands to sharpen your sword's edge."

"Having just reached the Peak Realm, you were able to detect my arrival. If you were given more time, with the inheritance of the Three Paths of Life and Xuanlan, you might one day be another Heaven-Man with the three paths unified."

The sound of speaking moved from far to near.

A tall figure stepped on the shadows, walking from the darkness.

No fire could be seen in the Wang Gongchang, so no lamps were lit. At this moment, a cloud blocked the moonlight, and only a blurred shadow could be seen.

Not until this person walked to within ten zhang of Mei Qinghe did a ray of moonlight illuminate half of his face.

Mei Qinghe's pupils contracted violently! "Pacification Envoy—"

The person walking over wore a black bear-skin cloak, hands covered in gold-rolled profound black gloves, with ape-like arms and a wasp-like waist, his face heroic. His gait was like a dragon and a tiger, and even the patterns on his gloves were stained with blood. From top to bottom, from left to right, there was not a single place that was not identical to Li Miao!

But Mei Qinghe immediately gritted her teeth.

"Yingzhou..."

"Oh?"

The man raised an eyebrow, his expression identical to Li Miao's when surprised.

"It is said that among Li Miao's subordinates, your brain is the least useful. I thought you would be surprised for a while; how did you react so quickly?"

Mei Qinghe gripped the sword hilt tightly.

"You are disguised as the Pacification Envoy; what do you want to do?"

The man smiled.

"What do I want to do?"

"Many things. Let me think."

"Kill the Xiaoling Guard, kill the Embroidered Uniform Guard, assassinate the Emperor... or, how about directly slaughtering some commoners?"

"Few people in this world know of Yingzhou, and on the surface, only Li Miao is a Heaven-Man who has cultivated more than two paths. How many people do you guess will settle the account on Li Miao's head?"

Mei Qinghe's hand gripping the sword hilt had already turned somewhat white.

Listening to this person's shameless words, her sword Qi was already on the verge of being unable to be contained.

Seeing Mei Qinghe's anger, the man revealed an identical, mischievous smile to Li Miao's on his face, and he spread his hands.

"It has been a long time since a Heaven-Man appeared in this world. Many people have forgotten how many people an unrestricted Heaven-Man can kill in a quarter of an hour."

"Ordinary Jianghu, Ordinary Jianghu."

"The chivalrous use Wu Gong to violate prohibitions. The Ordinary Jianghu of the Central Plains has been bound for too long; we find it somewhat laughable... Do you know what status a Heaven-Man had a thousand years ago?"

He spread his arms.

"Dare not speak in a loud voice, for fear of startling the people in heaven."

"In front of a Heaven-Man, ordinary people actually dared to make a sound. Do you know how ridiculous that is? Today, during the day, outside the Fengtian Hall, when Li Miao killed those dog officials, he actually had to find some excuses!"

"It doesn't matter. The might he dares not display, I will display it for him... Anyway, he will have to bear the consequences."

The smile appeared and vanished instantly.

On that person's face, it was no longer Li Miao's expression.

Replacing it was a gloomy, sinister smile.

"Come, come and behead me."

He crooked his finger.

"After killing you, I will see what Li Miao has arranged here, and then I will go and kill some other people at random... If I am late, the Island Master will punish me."

He had already prepared to toy with Mei Qinghe.

The next moment, Mei Qinghe put down her sword.

Not only did she put down her sword, but even the angry look on her face disappeared.

He frowned, about to ask a question.

But he heard an old voice coming from behind him.

"Immeasurable Daoist, the benefactor speaks of a thousand years ago; this poor Daoist finds it somewhat laughable... If Yingzhou is so powerful, why didn't you jump out when Grandmaster Zhang Zhang Sanfeng was alive?"

"It seems Grandmaster Zhang Zhang Sanfeng's 'Sixty-Year Demon-Sweeping' failed to sweep to the sea. You noble Heaven-Men are also afraid of Grandmaster Zhang Zhang Sanfeng's Taiji Sword."

His pupils contracted sharply, and his body turned, about to return a palm strike!

The single palm was swung out, but it was led and guided by an old, withered palm, which dissipated the force.

And then—an incomparably fierce fist smashed into his heart with a boom!

Step forward, Parry and Punch!

In the blink of an eye, he and the old Daoist locked eyes.

The old Daoist spat out a sentence with a solemn face.

"Since Grandmaster Zhang Zhang Sanfeng failed to sweep you demons clean, let me, this unworthy descendant, tidy up the loose ends for him!"

"Battalion Commander Mei, please sit tight; this evil thief is left to this poor Daoist to handle!"

Boom!!!

A wave of sound exploded!

(End of chapter)