Martial Arts World Assassin

Chapter 172 Reunion after a long absence

Zheng Keshuang harbored selfish motives and only cared about the interests of his own family. He was afraid that the Jianglong Society would steal the limelight.

However, Chen Jinnan had a long-term vision. He felt that Huang Sixi's return would strengthen the anti-Qing forces throughout the world and would increase the hope of overthrowing the Qing Dynasty in the future. This was a great event worth celebrating.

He stepped forward, pushed through the crowd, and went to Luo Liru, asking Luo Liru to introduce him.

After he greeted Huang Sixi, he smiled and suggested: "This time the heroes gathered to hold a turtle-killing convention. The person we want to kill is Wu Sangui, the world's number one traitor. But since Mr. Huang has returned to the arena, should the turtle-killing convention be changed?"

The heroes of the Dragon Subduing Society all asked: "How should we change it?"

Chen Jinnan said: "Of course, we should change it to the Dragon Conquering Conference, and ask Mr. Huang to lead the martial arts heroes and call on all the heroes in the world to gather together. Then, we will not only kill Wu Sangui, but also settle accounts with all the traitors and lackeys who surrendered to the Tartars, and vent our anger on behalf of the people of the world!"

The heroes cheered: "After entering the Pass, the Tartars appointed three traitorous princes. In addition to Wu Sangui, there are Shang Kexi and Geng Jingzhong. Their fiefs are all in Tiannan. It's a good opportunity to kill them all at once!"

Seeing the group of heroes talking and arguing, Luo Liru immediately stopped them and said, "The master has returned. From now on, who should be killed and how to kill them will all be determined by the master. We just need to follow his orders."

The heroes immediately looked at Huang Sixi, raised their fists, and said in unison: "Please show us, Prime Minister!"

They are all the trusted disciples of Luo Liru, Meng Bofei, Zheng Qiyun, Liang Yinlong and other founding fathers of the Dragon Subduing Society. They joined the gang because of the hero, the Dragon Subduing Hero. Even if Huang Sixi gave the order now, asking them to go to the capital to assassinate the Tartar emperor, they would obey his orders without hesitation.

However, Huang Sixi had already made a plan on how to deal with the Tartars. He signaled to the heroes: "Let's go to Huaishuping first to meet the heroes..."

Before he finished speaking, an old male voice came from outside the crowd: "Master Jianglong, there is no need to rush back and forth. I have already sent people to Huaishuping to ask all the heroes to come here to pay homage to Master Jianglong!"

The group of heroes looked in the direction of the voice and saw a scholar in a Confucian robe. They spontaneously made way for the scholar to pass: "Mr. Tinglin is coming, please make way, Mr. Tinglin, please meet your husband!"

Mr. Tinglin's real name was Gu Yanwu. He was a great scholar of the time. After the fall of the country in Jiashen, Gu Yanwu traveled around, contacted wise men and planned to restore the country. Even the martial artists in the martial arts world were well-known for him and respected and admired him very much.

This time, the Central Plains martial arts world held a turtle-killing conference. All the participants were rough warriors. They were good at fighting on the battlefield with swords and guns, but had little knowledge of world affairs. So they invited Gu Yanwu to the venue and entrusted him with the important task of military advisor, asking him to give them advice and plan the specific action to assassinate Wu Sangui.

Gu Yanwu was nearly sixty years old. He had personally witnessed the heroic feat of the Dragon Subduing Hero who assassinated the Tartar emperor in Liaodong. He knew that the Dragon Subduing Hero had a very high prestige among the people and no one could compare to him, so he lowered his posture and invited the heroes of Huaishuping to come here for a gathering.

He walked up to Huang Sixi with a smile, looked at Huang Sixi, and said in surprise: "How come you don't look old at all, Dragon Subduing Hero? If I remember correctly, you were already famous during the Chongzhen period, so you should be at least 40 or 50 years old now!"

Huang Sixi explained: "Back then, when I was trying to assassinate the Tartars in Liaodong, I was seriously injured by the gunpowder ignited by the Tartars. I lived in seclusion in Tianshan to recover from my injuries. During that time, I found a Udumbara flower. After taking it, my appearance remained unchanged."

Hearing the words 'Udumbara', Yang Yuncong said hurriedly: "It is said that the Udumbara flower blooms only once every sixty years, and can turn a person's white hair black and turn them back to youth. The Dragon-Subduing Hero is lucky enough to have picked this fairy flower!"

Ever since Yang Yuncong joined the Tianshan Sect, he has been constantly hearing about the name of the 'Udumbara Flower'.

The reason why the famous Wudang master Zhuo Yihang lived in seclusion in Tianshan was to pick Udumbara flowers and give them to his sweetheart, the White-haired Witch, to help her regain her youth.

The heroes present were all warriors who had been wandering in the martial arts world for many years and had all heard of the Udumbara Flower. Now they knew why Huang Sixi had a young face and couldn't help laughing: "Only a master like you who is comparable to a banished immortal can pick the Udumbara Flower!"

The heroes did not think that Huang Sixi was lucky. Instead, they believed that it was natural for Huang Sixi to pick the fairy flower. Apart from Huang Sixi, no one else in the world was lucky enough to enjoy it.

After listening to the discussion of the heroes, Gu Yanwu stroked his beard and laughed: "If Mr. Huang is said to be a banished immortal master, then he deserves the title!"

He made an inviting gesture again: "I passed by Mr. Huang's Temple when I came here, which is not far from here. I would like to invite Mr. Huang and the other commanders to come into the temple and have a chat."

"Mr. Tinglin, please!"

More than ten leaders including Huang Sixi, Chen Jinnan, Yuan Chengzhi, Yang Yuncong and Luo Liru went to Huang Gong Temple together.

When they arrived at the ancestral hall, the heroes sat on the ground.

Gu Yanwu began to ask Huang Sixi: "This time, Mr. Huang returned to the Central Plains, probably to overthrow the Qing Dynasty?"

Huang Sixi shook his head: "In my opinion, the Qing Dynasty is just a minor issue, not worth worrying about. It is not difficult to overthrow them! The current threat to the Central Plains is not from within but from without!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the heroes all looked at them sideways. They had been fighting against the Tartars for thirty years and had no way to deal with them. They could only watch the Tartars occupy the Central Plains. However, Huang Sixi looked down on the Tartars. They couldn't help but wonder, did Huang Sixi really have a way to destroy the Tartars, or was he just pretending to be confident?
With Gu Yanwu's knowledge and vision, he couldn't figure out Huang Sixi's thoughts, so he asked humbly, "What do you mean by not inside but outside?"

Huang Sixi said: "The overseas situation is changing dramatically now. The red-haired barbarians are sailing around the world with firearms and heavy artillery, looting and invading everywhere! To the west of our Central Plains, the red-haired barbarians have occupied India. To the north of the Central Plains, the red-haired barbarians have stationed troops on the Liaodong border. To the south of the Central Plains, the red-haired barbarians have successively occupied Java, Luzon, and Siam. Even though the east of our Central Plains is all sea, there are red-haired barbarians' warships galloping. Sooner or later, they will get involved in the Central Plains!"

The heroes were all familiar with the red-haired barbarians. In the past, all the red-haired cannons of the Ming court were imported from the red-haired barbarians.

However, the Red-haired Barbarians are a foreign race from the Western Regions. Their lair is 18,000 miles away from the Central Plains, so they are far less dangerous than the Tartars.

Gu Yanwu said, "To resist foreign aggression, we must first stabilize the internal affairs. No matter how great the threat of the red-haired barbarians is, they are far away from the Central Plains. The Tartars are our most pressing threat! Mr. Huang, how do you think we should wipe out the Tartars and overthrow the Qing Dynasty?"

Huang Sixi would not reveal all his plans.

He looked around at the faces of the heroes in the ancestral hall and said, "I would like to invite Mr. Tinglin, Chief Leader Chen, Hero Yuan, and Hero Yang to go to Yunnan together to assassinate the traitor Wu Sangui, and then use Yunnan as a base to recruit soldiers. I wonder if you are willing to go?"

The heroes all clasped their fists and said, "Mr. Huang has personally invited us, so we will not refuse. We promise to take over Yunnan for Mr. Huang!"

But the heroes also had doubts and asked Huang Sixi: "Just occupying Yunnan and Yunnan, the number of troops we can muster is limited! The Qing court occupies the 18 provinces of the Central Plains. If the Qing court gathers troops from the 18 provinces to encircle Yunnan and Yunnan, how should Mr. Huang respond?"

Huang Sixi smiled and said: "The Qing government will not gather the troops of the 18 provinces, let alone encircle Yunnan. You just need to go south to Yunnan and Yunnan with peace of mind, and you will see the outcome when the time comes!"

Huang Sixi has already controlled the palace and holds the highest power in the Qing court. As long as the palace does not issue an imperial decree to mobilize troops, the eighteen provinces in the Central Plains will not send troops to Yunnan and Yunnan.

In Huang Sixi's overall plan, he would use Yunnan and Yunnan as a base for his army.

After he kills Wu Sangui and controls the entire Yunnan and Yunnan regions, he will then make preparations for both scenarios.

One is to gather troops in Yunnan and Yunnan to form a dragon-subduing army that can sweep across the Central Plains.

The second is to select trusted candidates, go to the 18 provinces in the Central Plains, impersonate the governors of the provinces, and take over the power of the provinces.

By then, the palace will be full of his own people, and the provincial governments will also be full of his own people. If Huang Sixi announces his uprising again, who will oppose him?

When Huang Sixi led the army to the north, every city and province he passed through would surrender. Even when his troops approached the capital, he could still take it without bloodshed!
All his plans were based on the premise of restoring the Central Plains at the lowest cost.

However, he could not tell anyone about it for the time being. Fortunately, the heroes did not ask any more questions.

Gu Yanwu said, "Since Mr. Huang has made up his mind, I suggest that we go south immediately to assassinate Wu Sangui. Yunnan and Guizhou provinces are all Wu Sangui's fiefdoms. We should first recover Yunnan and Guizhou, and then slowly plan to attack the Central Plains!"

The heroes said in unison: "Okay!"

Chen Jinnan of the Tiandihui, Yuan Chengzhi of the Huashan School, and Yang Yuncong of the Tianshan School all wanted to know why the Qing government would not send troops to besiege Yunnan after occupying Yunnan. They gladly accepted Huang Sixi's invitation and went to assassinate Wu Sangui first.

That night, the heroes split up and headed south, agreeing to meet again outside Kunming.

Huang Sixi also rushed to Yundian accompanied by the leaders of the Dragon Subduing Society.

However, Huang Sixi's travel speed was not very fast.

First start from northern Zhili, pass through Shanxi Province, Henan Province, Hubei Province, Hunan Province, Sichuan and Yunnan and Guizhou.

Wherever Huang Sixi went, several leaders of the Jianglong Society who followed him would disappear. Without exception, these leaders changed their appearances and lurked in the government offices of various provinces.

When Huang Sixi finally arrived in Yunnan and Dian, only Xiaozhuang, Fei Hongjin, Luo Liru and Jiao Wan'er were left by his side.

Huang Sixi entered Yunnan from Sichuan and Shu, and he first went to Lingshe Mountain in Dali.

Xiaozhuang, Luo Liru and Jiao Wan'er knew everything about Lingshe Mountain. The towering mountains here were the headquarters of the Five Poison Sect.

Huang Sixi must have come here to meet the leader of the Five Poisons Sect, He Tieshou.

Only Fei Hongjin knew nothing.

When they arrived at the gate of a Yi tribe village outside Lingshe Mountain, Fei Hongjin asked Xiaozhuang: "The terrain here is complicated, it's all barren mountains and wilderness, what are you doing here, Brother Huang?"

Xiao Zhuang smiled and said, "My husband is here to see an old friend. This old friend has a very high prestige in Yunnan and Dian. As long as we can persuade her to follow my husband, the entire Yunnan and Dian region can be easily recovered."

Fei Hongjin was curious, who was this old friend?
After a while, an old woman with white hair walked out of the village gate.

The old woman had a cold look in her eyes, which made her look aggressive and intimidating.

However, after she met Huang Sixi, her face immediately changed and she screamed, "You...you are still alive?"

Huang Sixi also found it strange that this old woman turned out to be He Hongyao, the elder of the Five Poisons Sect.

That year on the bank of the Yangtze River, Huang Sixi presented He Hongyao with a map, which marked the burial place of Xia Xueyi, the Golden Snake Prince.

Xia Xueyi was a gloomy person. Before he died, he took a highly poisonous substance specifically to plot against He Hongyao.

Huang Sixi thought that He Hongyao would be poisoned to death after finding Xia Xueyi's bones, but unexpectedly, He Hongyao avoided Xia Xueyi's calculations and lived for another twenty or thirty years.

In fact, this matter is still related to Huang Sixi. After He Hongyao got Huang Sixi's map, she did go to Huashan to look for Xia Xueyi's body.

As a result, halfway through the journey, the news that Huang Sixi was killed by gunpowder while assassinating the Tartars reached the Central Plains. He Hongyao was very happy to hear that Huang Sixi was dead, because He Tieshou was in love with Huang Sixi. Once Huang Sixi died, He Tieshou would be in great pain.

He Hongyao herself had met the wrong person and suffered all her life, so she hoped that He Tieshou would suffer the same fate.

So He Hongyao turned back halfway and returned to the Five Poisons Sect, wanting to see He Tieshou make a fool of himself.

He Tieshou did not disappoint He Hongyao. He was so heartbroken that he even cried his eyes blind.

When He Hongyao saw He Tieshou's miserable appearance, she realized that he was even more miserable than herself. She suddenly felt mentally balanced and did not take the opportunity to make things difficult for He Tieshou.

He Tieshou had eyesight problems and could no longer serve as the leader of the Five Poisons Sect. However, He Hongyao, as an elder, helped her to secure her position as the leader.

After Jiashen, the Jianglong Society sent people to meet He Tieshou many times and asked her to send troops to fight against the Qing Dynasty, but was stopped by He Hongyao.

Over the past twenty or thirty years, the Five Poisons Sect has stayed away from the disputes in the Central Plains, and its strength has not diminished, but has grown stronger.

He Hongyao is now in her twilight years and has let go of the grudges of the past.

Seeing Huang Sixi coming back, she sighed slightly: "Since you are not dead, why didn't you come back earlier? You must have come here to see Tie Shou, but it's a pity that she is already terminally ill and doesn't have much time left to live!"

Huang Sixi immediately said: "Where is she? Take me to see her!"

He Hongyao turned around and pointed: "Then come with me. She is lying in that attic."

Huang Sixi followed He Hongyao into the village gate, passed through layers of buildings, and finally came to a two-story attic.

When He Hongyao saw Huang Sixi being followed by Xiaozhuang, Fei Hongjin, Jiao Waner and other women, she became impatient and scolded, "It's enough to let the man named Huang go in. You don't have to join in the fun. All of you should wait outside the building!"

Xiaozhuang and others couldn't help but smile bitterly and immediately stopped in front of the building.

Huang Sixi went up to the attic alone and entered He Tieshou's boudoir accompanied by He Hongyao. A strong smell of medicine hit him in the face.

Huang Sixi looked into the room and saw He Tieshou lying on the bed with her eyes closed, unconscious. Her condition was indeed very serious, so much so that she was unconscious during the day, and no matter how loud the noise outside the building was, she could not be woken up.

"What's wrong with her?"

Huang Sixi walked to the couch and asked.

"What else could it be? I just miss you too much!"

He Hongyao snorted in annoyance.

Huang Sixi sat down beside the bed, grabbed He Tieshou's wrist and began to take his pulse.

(End of this chapter)