Chapter 429: Reversal and Capture the King (6k)
The long-planned assassination finally came suddenly when Lu Zhengchun's cry attracted everyone's attention.
Among the crowd near the execution ground, a group of common people first saw ripples of earthy color beneath their feet. The soil rolled like a swamp, and then it arched out like a mud fountain, with mud, earth, rocks, and dust spewing out.
An earth-yellow, illusory and majestic "giant" emerged from the earth. He had thick arms, a waist hugged by dozens of people, wore strange armor, and had a hollow face.
It is the image of the "earth god" in folk sacrifices.
And in the chest of the "Earth God", two figures were wrapped like silkworm chrysalis.
One is Ren Kun, a warlock who wears khaki Taoist robes, has a square face, a flat nose, and yellow eyebrows. He performs hand kneading with his left hand and grasps a four-sided bronze awl with his right hand.
The other one was Qi Yuchun, the former commander of the imperial army who was dressed as a warrior and carried an iron spear on his back.
"Take your life!"
The two men had been lurking nearby for a long time. They had not appeared during the previous round of calamity. After dividing their forces, they quietly approached with the help of "Earth Escape".
Appearing at this moment, without giving others any time to react, they joined forces to kill Zhao Duan on the execution platform!
"There is an assassin——"
Magistrate Luan's head was buzzing, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he saw the short, fat warlock who had been sitting next to Zhao Duan floating out.
Gongshu Tianyuan's fat face was full of solemnity, as if he had expected it. As he flew into the air, he grabbed a golden rattle from his large robe with his left hand.
"Dong dong dong dong——"
The golden drum shook wildly, and a familiar sense of sluggishness enveloped the front, trying to stop the assassin.
His right hand did not grab the peach arrow, because it was too close to be used. Instead, he pulled out a bamboo sword from the storage bag inside the robe. It was made of six colors and was completely green. It was not so much a sword. , closer to "whip".
"Heavenly Master's Disciple, Ren wants to learn from you!"
Ren Kun raised the corners of his mouth and his eyes were filled with excitement.
This talented warlock, who was once famous in the world and had refused to be recruited by the Tianshi Mansion, floated in the air, holding four copper awls in his hands, and stabbed Gongshu Tianyuan from a distance!
"Definitely!"
Behind him, the huge and intimidating phantom of the god stepped on the ground, and circles of earth-yellow ripples spread. The god of earth raised his arms in a hugging posture.
"Chi chi chi..."
Waves of yellow sand suddenly swept across, causing sand and rocks to fly throughout the execution ground. The people screamed in fear and fell to the ground.
Magistrate Luan was blown to the ground and knocked over his chair. He was horrified to see streams of quicksand condensing into a huge "ball" in mid-air, imprisoning Gongshu Tianyuan in it.
A high-ranking disciple of the Tianshi Mansion is like being struck by lightning. He has just broken through the worldly realm. Even if he has a rich background, he is still not as good as a master like Ren Kun.
With the opponent's full strength, Gongshu Tianyuan was like amber, imprisoned by the wind and sand controlled by the gods, unable to move.
As a price, Ren Kun also maintained a posture of imprisonment.
And this was the established plan: he would be responsible for controlling the field, and Qi Yuchun would kill Zhao Duan alone.
"Zhao Thief! Lead to death!"
Qi Yuchun, with a green stubble on his face and a blood feud on his back, passed over the execution ground like lightning. The spear in his hand was like a snake and scorpion, stabbing Zhao Duan without any hindrance.
Zhao Duan, who was sitting on the execution platform, seemed to be frightened. He didn't react and was still sitting upright.
The spear penetrated his head with an unimpeded "bang", but there was no brain or blood splattering as expected.
Qi Yuchun, who wanted to avenge his shame, froze in triumph and his pupils suddenly narrowed.
Half of Zhao Duan's body, whose head was shot, slowly faded away and turned into a clay figure, slowly falling limply.
"Hahaha..."
In mid-air, Gongshu Tianyuan, who was imprisoned by the wind and sand, suddenly laughed proudly, his eyebrows were dancing, and he glanced at the two people with a hint of teasing:
"You have fallen into a trap. Brother Zhao's guess is indeed correct. I know you have no good intentions."
Magistrate Luan on the ground was stunned.
Ren Kun also felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured on him. Suddenly, a chill surged into his heart, and there was disbelief in his eyes.
Fake... Zhao Duan is fake... This fat priest has always been controlling... When did he leave? No, or is Zhao Duan on stage fake from beginning to end?
Where did the real lackey of the imperial court go? A strong sense of uneasiness came over me.
"No! Let's go!"
Qi Yuchun's expression changed drastically, his body preceded his mind, he quickly retreated, and appeared next to Ren Kun like lightning.
The latter also reacted very quickly. The huge Earth God squatted down suddenly and was about to hug the two of them into his body. He suddenly sank into the ground and used the earth to escape quickly!
They had no idea what was happening but instinctively carried out their failed retreat plan.
"Lu Zhengchun!" Qi Yuchun reminded loudly.
Ren Kun suddenly woke up, glanced at the execution ground coldly, and made a hand seal.
"Poof!"
On the ground of the execution ground, a sharp thorn suddenly rose from the soil, piercing Lu Zhengchun's buttocks and piercing out from his chest.
Blood gushed out like a spring. Lu Zhengchun slowly lowered his head in daze, looking at the sharp earth thorns piercing out of his chest, his throat roared, and he tried to say something, but failed. There was a little bit of light in his eyes. Gloomy, lifeless.
"Fuck——"
Gongshu Tianyuan had just broken away from the gaze of the god and was stunned when he saw this scene. When he came to his senses, the two assassins had already escaped.
"Master Zhao... what is going on?" Luan Cheng, the prefect, got out from under the table, shocked in his embarrassment:
"Where is Mr. Zhao?"
Gongshu Tianyuan smacked his lips: "He..."
……
……
Jinfu Inn.
The entire inn was closed except for the two people in the backyard patio.
Zhao Duan was sitting in a wicker chair with a chessboard in front of him. He held a chess piece in his hand and tapped the table gently.
Opposite him, in another wicker chair, was a kitten-like Jin Jian curled up.
The girl was curled up, sleeping soundly, snoring softly, with a frown on her fair and delicate face, using a corner of her robe to block the light.
"...So, Zhuang Xiaocheng will definitely not do what I want and will not really rescue Lu Zhengchun. Hehe, I even suspect that he got rid of Lu Zhengchun with my help... although there is no evidence."
"But if I were the leader of Kuangfu Society, I would not waste this good opportunity. I would choose to create noise everywhere in the city and force the court to divide its troops. And as long as the troops are divided, there will be an opportunity to assassinate me, Zhao."
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"In this way, there is reality within the imaginary, and there is emptiness within the reality. Even if it fails, two worldly masters join forces, and the Earth God is good at escaping, and he can't keep them... No matter how you calculate, it's not a loss... Hey, listen here No?”
Zhao Duan finished his analysis proudly, looked at the girl who was sleeping soundly, and helplessly raised his forehead:
"The chicken talks to the duck and plays the piano to the cow."
After a pause, he said: "Five taels of silver."
"Ah?" Jin Jian became drowsy, rubbing her eyes and staring at him:
"What silver? What five hundred taels? I heard there was five."
Zhao Duan threw the Fengyue Treasure Mirror to her angrily, along with a small ingot of silver:
"The mirror is drained of mana, fill it up."
"Oh." Jin Jian was not disappointed either. He carefully put the silver into his purse, then stretched out his green fingers and touched the small bronze mirror.
The pure mana flows endlessly into the mirror, and the mirror surface sweeps away the dust and becomes as clean as new.
"Fifty taels of silver per charge, so expensive..." Zhao Duan complained, took the mirror, and imagined Yun Xi's appearance countless times in the past few days.
The mirror rippled slowly, the clouds gathered and dispersed, and Yun Xi's figure appeared in the mirror. She and several companions were walking along a mountain road.
Zhao Duan was shocked and quickly tried to adjust his "perspective". A villa built on a mountain appeared in the mirror.
In the distance, the mountains were covered with mist and the rocks were rugged. With Yun Xi's perspective, she could see an archway appearing in front of everyone, with the words "Forbidden Villa" written on it.
And when Yun Xi walked through the archway, the picture in the mirror shook and flashed with "snowflakes", as if she had encountered some kind of interference and lost the effect of insight and tracking.
"Found it!"
Zhao Duan stood up excitedly, frightening Jin Jian and trembled: "What are you doing..."
"How about checking with your senior brother quickly?" he urged.
Jin Jian said "Oh" and took out a mana conch from her arms. Suddenly the conch vibrated. She put it to her ear, listened and said:
"Qi Yuchun and Ren Kun assassinated you at the execution ground. After discovering that it was not you who went to the execution ground, they ran away and killed Lu Zhengchun."
"Response so quickly?"
Zhao Duan smacked his lips:
"It seems we have to hurry up. Let's go, we have to hurry up."
Jin Jian, who was sleep deprived, looked reluctant and muttered: "You have to pay extra for the day shift..."
"Okay, okay, if you catch Zhuang Xiaocheng, I will give you all the reward. Hurry up."
Jin Jian's white and tender hands grabbed the staff out of thin air, and lifted it into the air. Silently, an illusory moon as high as a person appeared.
The girl grabbed Zhao Duan's hand and led him into the moon, and the two disappeared without a trace.
……
……
Fengcheng County Government.
Qingniao followed the team numbly and broke into the county government office. Looking at the "people with lofty ideals" around him, he decisively killed the few petty officials who were left behind in the government office.
Several bodies were left on the ground.
As the former maid of the Thousand-Faced God, who later became a court spy in a daze, Qingniao was exchanged for prisoners together with Yun Xi.
It's just that she failed to gain Zhuang Xiaocheng's trust, so she was broken up and thrown into a team, and was temporarily ordered to burn down the county government office.
Everything happened so fast that she had no time to react and contact the court. She could only act according to the second mission camera sent by Zhao Duan yesterday.
"Quick! Fengcheng is not big, and the execution ground is not far from the county government office. The other party's cavalry will be able to come over soon after they react."
"Put the firewood in the archives, unpack the gunpowder and pour it out. Give them a big one!"
"Qi Chi, what are you doing picking up the plaque in the lobby? It's a waste of time!"
The warlock Lin Yuebai, who is a woman but dressed as a Confucian scholar, gave loud instructions. The members of the team were busy taking out firewood, straw and other flammable materials from the firewood shed and piling them in important rooms of the county government office.
Others held rapeseed oil, sprinkled it on the ground, and threw strips of cloth on top to ensure that the fire would burn into ruins.
The young Kou Qi Chi took off the plaque of "The Mirror Hangs High" in the lobby of the county government office, jumped down with it in his arms, and said proudly:
"This thing is easy to catch fire."
Lin Yuebai frowned slightly and said:
"We are here to fight against the false emperor, and we are not bandits. It is not appropriate to kill these officials on this trip. Why should we damage this plaque?" A member said nonchalantly: "They are all the lackeys of the false emperor anyway. What does it matter?”
Another person said: "That's right, Miss Lin, you can carry it clearly, but those hawks and dogs of the imperial court, that Zhao Duan, don't think so."
"To be soft to the enemy is to be cruel to your own people. Those who achieve great things do not stick to trivial matters."
Lin Yuebai raised his eyebrows and felt a little displeased as he listened to the indifferent words of the people around him.
Today's actions have gone beyond her moral code. According to her opinion, every wrong has its owner and its debtor has its owner. There is no need to be polite when dealing with false emperors and dog officials, but it is inappropriate to act recklessly.
Especially when she heard that the Grand Tutor had arranged for people to burn down the granary today, and even opened the county prison cells and released all the prisoners... in order to create chaos and contain the court's troops.
Lin Yuebai felt something was wrong. Is it the false emperor who burned the granary and harmed it, or the common people? It’s hard to say.
But releasing prisoners is definitely not what a righteous person should do. Once those evil people in prison are released, won't they be in trouble again?
However, due to the reputation of Taifu, although Lin Yuebai had some opinions in his heart, he could only comfort himself with the "sacrifice necessary to achieve great things".
"Okay, that's it. Light the fire quickly. When the fire starts, we will evacuate immediately. Don't make unnecessary sacrifices."
Lin Yuebai said.
Everyone quickly lit torches and prepared to light fires in different places.
But no one noticed that the blue bird came to Kou Qi Chi who had thrown the plaque under the eaves without making a sound. Her eyes turned cold and suddenly violent, and the dagger instantly penetrated Kou Qi Chi's waist and ribs, injuring him.
Then he blocked the young man in front of him, put the dagger firmly against his neck, and said coldly:
"Stop immediately! Who dares to light a fire, I will kill him immediately!"
"Seven feet!"
"Blue Bird?! What are you going to do?!"
Everyone was shocked, and Lin Yuebai's expression changed even more, and he subconsciously grabbed the magic weapon in the bag at his waist.
"Miss Lin! I advise you not to move. You don't want your brother to die here, right?" Qingniao warned coldly.
"Sister--" The young man grinned in pain and tried to break free, but was unable to use the strength due to his injuries.
Lin Yuebai became anxious and yelled at the others to stop lighting the ignition. Her eyes widened: "Qingniao... are you..."
Blue Bird looked around at everyone and sneered:
"That's right, I have already taken refuge with Mr. Zhao and was ordered to stop you from causing trouble. Miss Lin, you are a nice person. I advise you to keep an eye on the others. If anyone dares to light a fire and burn down the county government office, I don't mind holding your brother's hand. Burial."
"Why..." Lin Yuebai couldn't believe it: "Is that Zhao Duan threatening you? Has he caught you?"
Bluebird's eyes narrowed and he said calmly:
"I was indeed coerced by him at first, but after I returned to Kuangfu Society, I saw the face of Zhuang Xiaocheng, a hypocritical old dog, and the faces of many careerists in the society who wore the guise of Kuangfu Society, but actually harbored evil intentions. After that, I sincerely wanted to help Mr. Zhao
Haha, you keep saying that Mr. Zhao is a villain, a villain, and a traitor, but I only believe my eyes.
At least from what I saw, although Mr. Zhao is not a good person, he is much better than a group of sanctimonious hypocrites in Kuangfu Society. ”
Lin Yuebai was stunned, while the others lag behind and cursed angrily.
Some people even looked hard and immediately threw the torch out, as if they didn't care about Kou Qichi's safety. Fortunately, Lin Yuebai used magic to stop him.
"What are you doing? She still has Qi Chi in her hands!" Lin Yuebai said angrily.
A member said indifferently:
"How come no one sacrifices when doing great things? Miss Lin, don't you think you are too selfish?"
The others echoed.
Lin Yuebai was stunned. She looked in disbelief at this group of companions who she thought were like-minded in the past, as if she really knew them.
At this time, the sound of horse hooves gradually approached outside the county government office. Everyone's expressions changed. Several of them became violent and threw torches at the same time.
Lin Yuebai and another companion in the team who was close to the two siblings tried to stop them, but the two sides actually fought together.
"Boom!"
The door of the county government office was suddenly opened, and Hou Ren, a little expert in breaking the door, jumped in, followed by a group of elites from Lihuatang, who were ordered to rush to the aid of the county government office.
After breaking in, I was stunned when I saw this scene.
"No...why did the rebel party start fighting among themselves?" Hou Renmeng was stunned.
Qingniao shouted at them: "Control them quickly! I am ordered by Mr. Zhao to stop the rebels."
Shen Juan, Qian Kerou and others recognized the blue bird, and then they swarmed up, controlled all the rebels, and put out the torches.
At this time, Ji Yue, who was following the crowd, floated in slowly...
She looked around to make sure there were no rebel masters here. She was thinking about whether she should go to other teams to rush for reinforcements, when suddenly a bright moon slowly appeared in front of her.
Jin Jian and Zhao Duan walked out of the "moon".
"Sir?! Are you here?"
Everyone in Lihuatang hurriedly saluted and quickly explained the situation.
Zhao Duan nodded, glanced at the blue bird who was also temporarily controlled, and said:
"Let her go. You did a good job. You leave a few to guard her while the rest go to other places in the city to help. Don't worry, Zhuang Xiaocheng is too clever to be clever. I have calculated it correctly and arranged for the scholar and Hongye to contact the rest." If the spies try to stop it, it should be delayed for a while.”
He turned back, stretched out his hand again, and grabbed the dazed Jiyue: "Follow me, we have to gather people together quickly, and take action immediately while the Kuangfu Society headquarters is empty."
"Ah?" Before Ji Yue could recover, she was dragged into the shadow of the bright moon and disappeared.
at the same time.
Similar scenes were staged in various places in the city. The spies arranged by Zhao Duan used their own methods to buy time.
In the absence of Qi Yuchun and Ren Kun's participation, this group of rebels had no power to fight back against the heavily armed Yu army.
……
Outside the East City Gate.
A huge phantom of the bright moon emerged slowly and laboriously, and then, figures holding hands with each other emerged like a bunch of candied haws.
"Huh, if the moon in the water teleports too far, Jin Jian's magic power won't be able to hold on, especially with so many people, we have to rush on."
Zhao Duan's boots landed and he turned to look at the members behind him:
Jin Jian's face turned pale, he was obviously a little exhausted, and he looked depressed.
Carrying a bamboo tube on his back and raising his chin, the "invention genius" who is full of style as a disciple of Tianshi lost Tianyuan.
Lang Shiba, with disheveled hair and a wine gourd and scimitar hanging from his waist.
Jiyue is still confused and confused, and she doesn't know the situation.
And Zhang Han and Haitang, who are slightly inferior in strength, but have outstanding comprehensive business capabilities, can even compete with Shijianjing for a short period of time if they work together.
"What the hell are you doing? Why are you taking us out of the city? Where are you going?"
Haitang was not used to the teleportation. When she landed, she felt dizzy. She covered her mouth, bent over and retched.
He straightened up and asked angrily, staring at him angrily with his almond-shaped eyes dotted with tear marks: "Can't you tell us in advance what your plans are for next time? Why don't you trust us?"
How could it be? I can’t trust anyone, not even Eunuch Hai’s great-great-granddaughter... Zhao Duan said apologetically:
"I couldn't be sure before, so..."
Zhang Han, the king of facial paralysis and facial curls, said:
"Zhao Shaobao, can we tell you where we are going next?"
Zhao Duan nodded and said: "I found Zhuang Xiaocheng's lair."
During these days, he had looked at the map of Fengcheng countless times, so he locked the location just by relying on the picture in the mirror.
"Really?" Haitang couldn't hide her surprise.
Zhao Duan nodded and said with a smile:
"Now that Zhuang Xiaocheng has sent out his men, the headquarters will inevitably be empty. We must seize the time difference and use elite troop strategies to rush over and capture the king. As long as we take down the bandit leader, the rest of the gang will be destroyed without attack."
"Then what are you waiting for? Oh, we don't even have horses." Haitang slapped her head.
"Hahaha..."
Suddenly, Gongshu Tianyuan's proud laughter rang out. He put his hands behind his back, raised his chest and raised his head, looking like a master, and smiled slightly:
"Do you think that Brother Zhao would not have thought of this? Today, I will teach you the methods of my Tianshi Mansion."
Gongshu Tianyuan opened his robe, grabbed a few talismans from the inside of the sorcerer's robe, swished, and threw them forward.
The cinnabar on the surface of the talisman shone brightly, and pieces of... huge parts appeared out of thin air on the ground.
It is generally made of wood and metal and has a strange shape, with only a few huge wheels standing out.
"This..." Everyone looked at each other.
"Wait a moment." Gongshu Tianyuan calmly grabbed a hammer, and then began to assemble a bunch of parts on the spot.
After a while, a nondescript thing that looked like a ship but had several wheels appeared in front of everyone.
"This thing is one of the creations of this Heavenly Master. It is called 'Land Boat'. As the name suggests, it can carry us on the road, much faster than ordinary horses..."
Zhao Duan interrupted Gongshu Tianyuan's desire to express himself and jumped on board first:
"Hurry up, we must be faster than Ren Kun and Qi Yuchun, before they may have recovered."
The rest of the people immediately jumped on board. Gongshu Tianyuan looked unfinished, so he had to go to the "driving" position and fiddle with it for a while.
The ship floated slowly, a few feet above the ground, its wheels spun, and two flat "exhaust pipes" popping out of its tail spit out red flames.
"Boom..."
The land boat suddenly accelerated, speeding towards the mountains in the southeast suburbs at a speed comparable to that of a galloping horse.
About half an hour later, a group of people with faces stiffened by the cold wind and expressions numb stepped off the "boat" and looked up at the mountain road ahead.
At the end of the line of sight, there are a series of ancient buildings on the mountain.
"The Forbidden Mountain Villa is right here." Zhao Duan compared the picture with the reflection in the mirror, his expression solemn:
"Let's go."
"Hey, wait for me." Gongshu Tianyuan took off the key parts of the land boat, put it in his pocket, and followed the others.
The group of people walked very fast. When they reached the middle of the mountain, Jin Jian suddenly stopped, turned his head and looked down the mountain, and said:
"Someone is coming."
Zhao Duan stopped, turned around and looked back, only to see a puff of smoke and dust rushing towards the ground at the foot of the mountain.
Then, the two figures were released from the Earth Escape state, raised their heads and looked at the people on the mountain through the air.
"It's Qi Yuchun and Ren Kun! They're back!"
Haitang's eyes changed and she looked at Zhao Duan:
"What to do?"
(End of chapter)