Knife splashing

Chapter 224: Green Forest Dragon Army

"Escape?"

Lei Zhen's expression changed slightly.

Martial arts originated from hunting and war, and techniques originated from the observation and practice of the unknown. The two seem to have nothing to do with each other, but they are always entangled.

Although Xuanmen has a higher status, warriors also have ways to deal with it. At least at his stage, as long as he wears good protective magic weapons, he can kill the sorcerer after getting close.

But warlocks also have ways to deal with it.

That is the method of escape.

There are many types of escape techniques, each with its own advantages. No matter which one a sorcerer masters, the chances of saving his life will be greatly increased.

This beggar was clearly using some escape technique to lure him away!

Lei Zhen reacted quickly and turned around and went towards Yan's mansion.

Sure enough, the old beggar appeared outside the Yan family’s gate.

The other party did not rush in, but drew out the sword from the erhu with a clang, and chopped at the plaque of the Yan family's house.

The house-guarding plaque was very troublesome to him, and it was difficult for him to perform some spells, so he had to destroy it first.

This is also the reason why the old beggar did not enter Changfeng Inn.

Many officials stayed there, so there was no shortage of talismans, and there was also a City God Temple nearby.

If something happens, the community commander's troops can arrive at any time.

So the old beggar came to Li Yan first.

What he wanted to take was the "Thunder and Fire Sutra".

As long as Li Yan is caught, even if the scriptures are not on him, he can threaten others to hand them over.

At the same time, dense swarms of poisonous snakes swarmed up the wall.

"Roar!"

Suddenly, a tiger roar was heard in the yard.

The surrounding poisonous snakes fell down and retreated one after another.

The old beggar felt dizzy when hearing the tiger's roar, and his eyes flashed red. He suddenly fell down.

laugh!
A long knife stabbed out through the crack in the door.

The old beggar narrowly escaped.

He did not fight back, but retreated quickly, with his feet exerting hidden strength. His body moved so fast that he jumped onto the opposite wall in just three or two steps.

But Lei Zhen had already turned back.

However, the old beggar had already controlled many poisonous snakes, which hissed in the street and separated the two sides.

No matter how high Lei Zhen's kung fu is, he can't jump onto the wall across the street.

At the back, the door creaked open.

Li Yan walked out slowly, made a knife flower with his hand, looked at the opposite wall, and said calmly: "Why did you come just now? I've been waiting for you for a long time."

He spoke lightly, but he was alert in his heart.

Just now, when he heard the old beggar's words across the courtyard wall, he knew why this person came, so he suppressed his murderous intent and waited for an opportunity.

Seeing that the other party had lured away Lei Zhen, the master of Baodan, and appeared outside the gate again, swinging his sword at the plaque of the talisman, he knew what his plan was.

Once the talisman is destroyed, all kinds of witchcraft and evil magic can enter the house.

Li Yan naturally would not let him succeed.

He first used the Beidi Mountaineering Technique to conceal his own breath, then jumped out and used the Guanzhong quick knife "waist strike" to assassinate him through the door.

I was very careful, but the other party still noticed me.

Looking at the faint red light in the old beggar's eyes, Li Yan had already guessed that this guy must have awakened some kind of eye power.

Facing Li Yan and Lei Zhen, the old beggar on the wall was not panicked at all. Instead, he sat cross-legged and played the erhu leisurely.

The sound of the erhu is sad and vicissitudes, echoing in the dark streets.

The group of snakes on the ground suddenly rioted and rushed over one after another.

Li Yan held the Divine Tiger Order in his hand, stepped on the cloth, pinched his fingers and chanted, "Nuo Gao, with three stars on the left and three prisons on the right, the world will turn upside down..."

"Roar!"

As the Northern Emperor's protective spell came out, the tiger's roar sounded again.

The snakes immediately became agitated.

However, what shocked Li Yan was that the Beidi protective spell was actually suppressed by the sound of the erhu, and the snakes became more and more agitated and rushed towards them.

This old beggar is more powerful than me!
"Humph! Why are you pretending!"

Lei Zhen beside him snorted and condensed his right hand into a claw.

Crack! He actually picked up a piece of broken brick from the wall beside him and threw it out with a wave of his hand.

The broken bricks thrown by the Baodan master are enough to be fatal.

The old beggar turned around and dodged, and the erhu sound stopped abruptly.

At the same time, the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coins jingled on the handle of Li Yan's Duanchen Sword, and the approaching poisonous snakes were dispersed again.

Seeing that he could not break through the two men's defense, the old beggar stopped attacking. He just looked at them coldly, and smoke rose around him, and he disappeared.

Li Yan could smell that the other party's so-called escape technique was just a combination of some kind of illusion. The aura on his body was still there, but it had quickly faded away.

But when he saw him leave, he did not chase after him.

Lei Zhen frowned, "Who is this guy? How dare he use evil magic to harm people in Yichang City? Why is there no movement in the City God Temple?"

"He set up a formation."

"Senior, please stay here. I will go and arrest a few people."

Before he finished speaking, Li Yan's feet had already exerted their hidden strength, and he leaped five or six meters, stepped on the wall for leverage, jumped over the group of snakes, and headed towards the dark alley at the corner of the street.

Sure enough, bamboo poles had been inserted at the street corners.

There were white talismans pasted on the bamboo poles, connected by red lines. There was a hidden evil energy wrapped around them, surrounding the entire Yan Mansion.

In the dark alley, several figures were leaving quickly.

Without saying a word, Li Yan picked up a stone on the ground, flipped his wrist, and threw it out with the Feihuangshi technique.

Bang!Bang!
"Ouch!"

Screams were heard and two figures rolled to the ground.

They were two beggars in ragged clothes, holding snake flutes in their hands, with blood all over the back of their heads. They were dizzy and couldn't get up for a long time.

Seeing Li Yan approaching with murderous intent on his face, the two beggars panicked and quickly knelt down and kowtowed, "Master, spare our lives! We were forced to do this!"

…………

"That man's nickname is 'Old Ghost'."

Inside Yan's mansion, two beggars were kneeling on the ground.

One of the old beggars burst into tears and said, "When he arrived in Yichang, the Snake Lord ordered us to obey his orders and was also poisoned to control us. Otherwise, how could we dare to harass the Yan Mansion?"

"Old ghost?"

Li Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, "Who is that person?"

Another beggar shook his head and said, "We have never heard of such a person in the world."

As he spoke, he seemed to remember something and quickly said, "By the way, when he first arrived at the poor family's nest, Snake Lord knelt on the ground and called him general, and then he changed his words."

"General?" Lei Zhen beside him seemed to be thinking about something.

Li Yan was completely confused.

He knew that "Snake Lord" was the leader of the beggars traveling west in Yichang City. He knew some tricks to charm snakes and bewitch souls, but neither his skills nor his kung fu were up to par.

If the beggars in the city did not need someone to manage them, and if someone did not have to do the dirty work of collecting dirt and road debris, the Beggars' Gang would have been wiped out long ago.

But calling him a general is problematic...

At this time, Yulingzi and several Taoist priests came hurriedly, but it turned out that the Yan family guards had already run to inform the City God Temple. The City God Temple was responsible for guarding the city, especially the power from the Xuanmen, and various evil spirits.

It is not even midnight yet, and someone has dared to use magic on a large scale to attack the big families in the city. Naturally, the City God Temple has to come and investigate.

"Young Master Li, why are you here too?"

When he saw Li Yan, Yulingzi was obviously surprised.

How come we just arrived at noon and already got into trouble in the evening?

After asking about the situation, the old Taoist was even more surprised. "I have also heard about Madam Yan's matter. It turned out that it was also caused by this group of chieftains..."

"Things are going to get more complicated."

When Li Yan met someone from Taixuan Orthodox Sect, there was no need to hide anything. He said, "The technique comes from the Immortal Library of Immortals of Longevity. There must be an evil cultivator who practices this technique and has surrendered to those chieftains."

“And this thing!”

Yu Lingzi was even more troubled when he heard this, and said helplessly: "Forget it, let's talk about this later. What happened tonight?"

Li Yan said in a deep voice: "The people from Zhujiabao Phosphate Mine have shown up."

Naturally, he would not talk about the Thunderbolt and Fire Sutra and the new gunpowder, so he played a trick and only mentioned part of the situation.

"Oh?"

Yu Lingzi's expression became serious. "The Duwei Division is also secretly investigating this group of people. They suspect that they are related to the Tiansheng Sect, but they have no clues."

"Has the leader of the beggars from the west been caught?"

A messenger from the government office came to assist and said, "Sir, when the people from the Duwei Division arrived, the man had already escaped. We are sending hawks and dogs to search for him. He must have left from the Xiaodong Gate and went up the mountain."

"We also found out that 'Snake Master' was once a member of the Longxiong Army..."

"what?!"

When Yu Lingzi and Lei Zhen beside him heard this, their faces changed drastically, and even Yan Boyan's eyes became solemn.

Li Yan frowned and asked, "What is the Longxiang Army?"

Yan Boyan said in a deep voice: "Remnants of the previous dynasty!"

"A hundred years ago, when the Great Xuan Dynasty was established, the remnants of the previous dynasty were still active everywhere, trying to restore the country. They hid in various states, sometimes went up the mountain to become bandits, and sometimes mixed into the underworld to raise funds."

"The Duwei Division was first established to deal with them."

"The Ezhou group calls themselves the Longxiang Army. They hide in the Yundu Green Forest and gather many mountain bandits. They are quite powerful. But they are very smart and never reveal their identities to the outside world."

"It was not until the rebellion in the northern border twenty years ago that the Longxiang Army officially raised its flag and destroyed everything. It was later dispersed by the Ezhou garrison."

"Now it seems that they just hid in the dark."

Li Yan was somewhat speechless. "It happened a hundred years ago. The old man died long ago. How could anyone still want to restore the country?"

"That's unknown."

Yu Lingzi sighed and said helplessly, "Young Master Li, this is about the Longxiang Army. The Duwei Division will definitely hold on to it. They probably won't bother you."

"Right now, all kinds of evil spirits are gathering in Yichang City. I am overwhelmed. If you pity me, please help me. Otherwise, the people will be in turmoil and the consequences will be disastrous..."

"Taoist priest, don't worry."

Li Yan cupped his hands and said, "We will go to the City God Temple tomorrow."

Since the matter concerned the remnants of the previous dynasty, it would naturally be handled by the Duwei Division. After Yulingzi said a few polite words of comfort, he left in a hurry.

There are too many troubles in Yichang City.

The City God Temple was short-staffed, and he couldn't help much on the Yan Mansion's side.

Li Yan had originally planned to stay at Yan's house for one night after the banquet, but since the enemy had already appeared, he naturally could not stay and so he bowed and said goodbye and left.

Looking at his departing figure, Lei Zhen suddenly smiled, "Brother Yan, this kid is not honest. I clearly heard the old beggar say that he took something from the Longxiang Army, but he just kept silent about it."

Yan Boyan sighed, "This young man Li is a man of integrity, he will definitely not do anything evil, but at such a young age, he has to face such a storm, it's really..."

"Brother Yan, don't worry."

Lei Zhen laughed and said, "I think this kid is also a ruthless person, cunning and bold, he will definitely be able to turn danger into safety."

"Besides, the road of Jianghu is full of blood and gore, and everyone has gone through it step by step."

"Go to bed early. Tomorrow morning I will call together the Divine Fist Society to clean up Yichang City..."

…………

Because of the formation, the chaos in Yan's mansion was not a big deal.

Li Yan returned to Changfeng Inn. Sha Lifei and others were still asleep, so he called them all into the room and told them what had happened.

"Remnants of the previous dynasty?"

Sharifei was surprised and shook his head, saying, "Well, when the world is in chaos, all kinds of monsters and demons emerge."

"Lulin Mountain is not very big. They probably fled to the Jingchu Mountain area and mixed in with the refugee villages to survive until now. Maybe they were also responsible for this rebellion."

"How should we respond?"

Some things are just like this, unknown enemies are scary. Once they know who their opponents are, they become much more relaxed.

Li Yan said in a deep voice: "They made firearms, most likely for the war in the southwest, and they can't hand them over."

"They are busy dealing with the court, and the Duwei Division is chasing them, so they can't send too many people."

"In that case, just go ahead and kill him!"

"It hurts them to kill them, so they don't dare to send anyone else."

Li Yan naturally had the confidence to say this.

The six powerful orders in the warrant and the three thousand underworld soldiers in six battalions could break up even an ordinary City God Temple.

Of course, necessary preparations still need to be made.

"Brother Lu, your eagle will have to work hard. Starting tomorrow, it will be on the lookout for enemies at all times to prevent any sneak attacks..."

"Uncle Sha, how's your thing going?"

"Don't worry, Brother Lu and I are working together. We are not afraid of anything. It's just that the powder that the fat guy sent is a little insufficient. Without it, it will be easy for the warlock to find out."

"I remember I want 'mandrill hair' and 'lichen'. I'm going to the City God Temple tomorrow to see if I can get them there..."

Everyone discussed how to deal with the enemy until the hour of Yin.

…………

The next morning, the sky was a little gloomy.

Before I even went out, a drizzle began to fall accompanied by a few muffled thunders, making the city of Yichang even more humid.

Seeing this, Li Yan was actually happy.

This kind of sunlightless weather means that even during the day, one can still summon ghost soldiers to fight, and there is nothing to fear.

The City God Temple was nearby, so the few of them came to the City God Temple without wearing hats or raincoats, holding umbrellas.

I saw that half of the collapsed temple wall had been repaired for the most part, but because of the rain, the workers were not working.

"But Young Master Li."

Under the eaves of the side door, a little Taoist boy was taking shelter from the rain. When he saw them, he hurriedly asked them. It was obvious that Yulingzi had already given instructions.

As the Taoist boy entered the City God Temple, Li Yan felt even more deeply.

The strength of Yichang City God Temple is far inferior to that of Chang'an. Not only have all the masters been transferred away, but even the scale of the community's troops is not large.

Yu Lingzi had already come out to greet him. When he saw Li Yan looking towards the main hall, he immediately knew what he was thinking and shook his head helplessly:
"You can't just recruit as many soldiers as you want. First, there must be a source, and second, you must be able to control them and afford them."

"The power of the Dharma lineage here is not bad. They have more soldiers and horses at their ancestral altar than we do. If the people are uneasy and the incense of the City God Temple is damaged, they may not even be able to support this small number of soldiers and horses."

Li Yan comforted him by saying, "When the imperial court puts down the rebellion and reforms the natives, the situation will surely improve."

Yu Lingzi was stunned for a moment, and said meaningfully: "Young Master Li knows a lot."

Some things don't need to be explained in detail.

Yu Lingzi immediately changed the subject, "Everyone, please follow me. The matter of that village is the most urgent right now."

"Young Master Li has great insight, maybe he can solve this problem..."

　There will be two updates today and three updates tomorrow.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)