Martial Arts World Assassin

Chapter 194 Rescue and Yinggu

Originally, Huang Sixi planned to ride on the Divine Condor and fly directly to Shaolin Temple.

However, he accepted Huang Yaoshi's commission and on his way north, no matter how big or small the town he passed through, he would stop temporarily and go into the city to inquire about Huang Rong's whereabouts.

As a result, his travel speed naturally slowed down a lot.

If he hadn't looked for anyone along the way, he would have been expected to arrive at Shaolin Temple the next afternoon.

As a result, by the next morning, he had only flown across the entire territory of Hubei and barely arrived over the Huai River at the border between Hubei and Zhongzhou.

At this time, half of China's territory had been occupied by the Jin Kingdom, with the Huai River as the boundary in the east and Dasan Pass in Shaanxi as the boundary in the west.

At the time of the Southern Song Dynasty, only fifteen routes were left, including Liangzhe, Lianghuai, Jiangnan East and West, Jinghu North and South, four routes of Western Shu, Southern Fujian, and Guangdong and Guangxi. The national power was declining and the territory was shrinking day by day.

After Huang Sixi flew across the Huai River and continued heading north, he was no longer in the territory of the Southern Song Dynasty.

At present, the most fertile territories in the Central Plains, such as northern Henan, northern Huaibei, and northern Jiangsu, have all fallen into the hands of the Jin Tartars.

However, the Jin Tartars are not having a good time now.

Twenty years ago, Temujin, chieftain of the Qiyan tribe on the grassland, rose to power, conquered various tribes on the grassland, gradually became a new overlord, and was revered as Genghis Khan by the nobles of various tribes. He led his troops south year after year, attacking and annexing the territory of the Jin Dynasty.

In May of this year, after repeated tugs of war, Temujin's army finally crossed the Great Wall and captured the Jin Dynasty's capital, Yanjing.

The Jin nobles were forced to flee south and moved their capital to Bianliang, the old capital of the Northern Song Dynasty in Zhongzhou.

Temujin refused to give in and continued to send troops to attack the south, as if he would not stop until the entire Jin Empire was uprooted.

In order to completely destroy the Jin Dynasty, Temujin even secretly sent his fourth son Tolui to Lin'an to form an alliance with the Southern Song Dynasty to attack the Jin Dynasty together.

By now, the Jin nobles had realized that the troops led by Temujin were a group of Tartars who were more ferocious than their ancestors and were simply invincible.

So the Jin nobles turned their attention to the Southern Song Dynasty and took the initiative to provoke a war against it, attempting to compensate the losses caused by Temujin's army from the Southern Song Dynasty.

The Huai River served as the boundary between the Jin Kingdom and the eastern part of the Southern Song Dynasty. Once the war broke out, it was conceivable that the people along the Huai River would be affected.

During the two days of traveling, most of Hubei was under the rule of the Southern Song Dynasty. What Huang Sixi saw along the way was that the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, the people in various places were stable, and the business was prosperous. Huang Sixi never saw any signs of war.

But when Huang Sixi flew to both sides of the Huai River, he could see smoke rising everywhere.

The Jin Kingdom and the Southern Song Dynasty were each mobilizing troops and engaging in a tug-of-war over the Huaihe River defense line. Huang Sixi knew very well that this would be a protracted battle and the two sides would have to confront each other for at least ten years before the outcome would be decided.

The final loser would be the destruction of the Jin Dynasty, and the winner would be the Southern Song Dynasty. Huang Sixi did not participate in it. He flew directly over the Huaihe River battlefield and into the Zhongzhou territory under the jurisdiction of the Jin Dynasty.

Since ancient times, Zhongzhou has been a land of great wealth and prosperity. However, after the invasion of the Jin Dynasty, the Tartars have long exploited the people's wealth and not thought about recuperating, and have launched wars year after year. The once prosperous and fertile land has become a mess due to the rampant Tartars, and there is widespread suffering.

Huang Sixi flew north from the Huai River for one or two hundred miles. The road along the way was desolate, with abandoned farmlands and collapsed houses. It could be said that nine out of ten houses were empty.

There are more traces of wild animals than of humans.

Even if Huang Sixi happened to see a group of pedestrians, they were Jin soldiers riding war horses and holding weapons.

The Jin Kingdom was launching a war against the Southern Song Dynasty. Areas close to the battlefield had to provide money and food to the Jin soldiers. The local people were so severely harmed by the Jin soldiers that they abandoned their homes and fled.

After flying for a while, Huang Sixi passed by a mountain range and saw thick smoke rising from the mountains.

He was about to go into the mountain to find out what was going on when he suddenly saw a group of cavalry coming out of the mountain pass.

There were dozens of cavalrymen in this group, wearing the same armor and uniforms. They were obviously regular officers and soldiers of the Jin Dynasty.

Among these officers and soldiers were a dozen young women who were tied together with hemp ropes and were forced to march crying.

Huang Sixi did not land first, but flew over the cavalry, crossed the mountain pass and entered the smoke-filled area.

I saw a destroyed village in the valley. There were corpses everywhere in the village and no one was alive.

This place was under the rule of the Jin Kingdom, but the Jin soldiers showed no mercy when killing civilians.

They were already used to robbing and looting. They first forced all the villagers out of their houses, picked out the young women, and then killed the rest, regardless of age.

Then they returned to their camp with the women and treasures in a swagger. They did not commit these atrocities secretly, but had the permission of the Jin nobles.

"Go back! Find them!"

Huang Sixi shouted angrily at the Divine Eagle.

The Divine Eagle let out a roar, and made a sharp turn in the air, flapping its wings rapidly.

In the blink of an eye, the Divine Eagle had caught up with the cavalry.

When the divine eagle flew over the heads of the cavalry, they looked back, not realizing the danger was approaching. Instead, they laughed and said, "What a magnificent eagle! Shoot it down and return to present it to the lord!"

Most of them carried bows and arrows, and there were some sharpshooters who could shoot accurately from a hundred paces away. After hearing the shouts, they all drew their bows and arrows, aiming at the Divine Eagle.

Who would have thought that when the feather arrows were shot out and reached about ten feet away from the divine eagle, they were disturbed by the wind from its wings and were instantly shot down into the air. Even though a few feather arrows occasionally penetrated the wing wind and hit the eagle's feathers, they were unable to cause any damage to the eagle's body.

They saw it clearly: the feather arrow hit the Divine Eagle and bounced back immediately.

At this time they finally realized that something was wrong and began to panic.

As the Divine Eagle suddenly swooped down, they saw Huang Sixi on the eagle's back and couldn't help shouting, "There's someone on the eagle! Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

They were originally gathered together, and the Divine Eagle swooped down, and its wings were like two huge sickles, cutting across them.

Wherever the eagle wings passed, people and horses were thrown to the ground.

The Divine Eagle attacked from the rear of the cavalry team. It glided along, creating a whistling wind, and swept to the front of the team in one breath.

After this round of attack, half of the cavalry present fell to the ground and could not get up again.

Another half of the cavalry was in chaos. Frightened by the ferocity of the Divine Eagle, they began to whip their horses and flee in all directions.

But before their horses could start galloping at full speed, Huang Sixi had already soared into the air, his hands filled with jade bee needles, and fired them out like scattered flowers.

By the time he had distributed all the packets of Jade Bee Needles, there were only five fast horses on the scene that managed to escape the attack circle. Two of the horses had no riders on them because the cavalry had already died from the Jade Bee Needles.

Huang Sixi did not return to the eagle's back, but landed directly on the ground, motioning to the Divine Eagle: "Go after them!"

Huang Sixi emphasized: "Don't let anyone go, no matter if they are people or horses!"

Although the empty horses could not speak, they could send messages to the Jin army camp, so they had to be killed and not a single one could be left alive.

The Divine Eagle quacked and nodded towards Huang Sixi to show that it understood. It first identified the nearest cavalryman, gliding in the air to chase him from behind. It stretched out its claws, one to grab the man and the other to grab the horse, and then it accumulated internal strength and dragged both the man and the horse into the air.

At this time, it was still flying at high speed. When it was above the second rider, it suddenly loosened its claws and let the rider and horse fall to the ground, hitting the second rider.

Then he dived down and landed on top of the third rider.

At this time, Huang Sixi also withdrew his gaze and drew out the Dragon Sword with a "swish".

Most of the cavalrymen who were knocked off their horses by the Divine Eagle just now were not dead. Huang Sixi wanted to deal with them personally, so he naturally could not let them escape.

Wait for everything to settle.

Huang Sixi then looked at the group of women being escorted.

When the war broke out earlier, they were so scared that they collapsed to the ground and dared not make any rash moves. But even if they didn't move at all and pretended to be dead, they still couldn't avoid being affected by the melee. Two women were stabbed by the cavalry in the chaos, and they bled profusely.

Huang Sixi treated the two women's injuries first, then signaled to the other women: "This place is not safe, we must leave immediately. Do you have any relatives to seek refuge with?"

They just cried and dared not make a sound.

Only a woman with her hair tied up was brave enough to say to Huang Sixi, "We have relatives, but there are soldiers everywhere outside the mountain. Even if we go to our relatives, we will be harmed!"

She spoke first, and the other women gradually stopped crying, one after another, and answered Huang Sixi: "Our village was burned down by the soldiers, and we dare not go back to live there!"

"Sir, please be kind and show us a way forward!"

They were all at a loss and didn't know where to go.

Huang Sixi calculated the distance secretly and pointed to the Southern Song Dynasty. He said, "I can take you across the Huai River and settle you in the Song Dynasty. There is a government office there to help the disaster victims. Are you willing to go?"

They thought about it and shook their heads.

After a pause, he dared to tell Huang Sixi his true feelings: "There are no good people in the government. Whether it is the Song government or the Jin government, they are all bullying the people. We will not have a good life in Song territory. It is better to go to the barren mountains and fend for ourselves!"

The Southern Song Dynasty was relatively nice to its own people, but it was a different story when it came to refugees from abroad. After all, the Southern Song Dynasty was now in a hostile relationship with the Jin Dynasty.

When the barren mountain was mentioned, the woman who had spoken first suddenly said, "Sir, I know a Taoist temple. There lives a Taoist nun in the temple. She looks kind and friendly, and she should take us in!"

Huang Sixi asked hurriedly: "Is the Taoist temple far away?"

The woman pointed to the mountains behind the village and said, "It's not far, but the terrain is too remote. The Taoist temple is built on the mountain, and the mountain road is steep, so it's not easy to climb!"

"It doesn't matter. I'll let the eagle carry you up!"

It’s actually better to be a little steeper, as it suits their secluded life.

When Huang Sixi said this, the cry of the Divine Eagle had already been heard nearby. This time it did not encounter any accidents, and the five escaped foals had all been dealt with by it.

Huang Sixi signaled the Divine Eagle to land nearby, then helped the woman up and said, "Sit on its back and show the way to the Eagle. It can understand human language. When you get to the Taoist temple, just let the Eagle come back on its own. It will be able to find me!"

"what!"

Although the woman was dressed like a married woman, she was actually not very old. She looked to be only about seventeen or eighteen years old. It was her first time to ride on the Divine Condor, and she seemed very nervous: "Master...Master, aren't you going with us?"

"I will protect you, my fellow countryman! Don't worry, the eagle is big and can fly very steadily. You will definitely not fall!"

Huang Sixi patted the carving's neck after he finished speaking.

The Divine Eagle took off immediately.

The woman probably remembered that the village was destroyed and the surviving villagers were homeless. She wanted to take responsibility, so she mustered up her courage, pointed to the mountains ahead, and showed the way to the Divine Eagle: "Master Eagle, fly to the left, the Taoist temple is on our left!"

Upon hearing this, the Divine Eagle immediately turned left.

Huang Sixi saw the Divine Eagle and the woman walking away, so he waved his hand to the women present and said, "Search these bandits and take away all the valuables."

When the village was looted earlier, the cavalry took out all the gold and silver from the villagers' homes and put them in a package. The women only took back the package and did not touch the rest.

By the time Huang Sixi led them back to the burned village, the Divine Eagle had already returned.

Huang Sixi saw that the woman was still sitting on the eagle's back and asked, "Didn't I tell you to stay at the Taoist temple and let the eagle come back on its own? Why doesn't the Taoist nun want to take you in?"

The woman's face showed pain. "The Taoist nun is willing to take us in, but she has put forward a condition. She hopes to borrow your fairy sculpture to help her on her journey. She also said that as long as you agree to her request, she will immediately give us the Taoist temple. There is a lot of food stored in the temple, enough for us to live for half a year!"

Huang Sixi said without hesitation: "Go back and tell her that I can lend her the sculpture and let her open the gate first!"

The woman originally wanted to jump off the eagle's back, but after hearing what Huang Sixi said, she sat back down obediently.

Huang Sixi put another person on the eagle's back, considering that women were lighter.

Let the two women ride on the back of the eagle.

After less than ten trips back and forth, all the surviving women had been sent to the Taoist temple.

When the Divine Condor finally returned, a middle-aged woman with white hair was sitting on its back.

The woman looked to be over thirty years old. She was wearing an elegant palace dress and looked like a noble lady from a respectable family. However, her hair looked a little strange. It was not known whether it was naturally gray or for some other reason.

She has a rather cold temperament, which easily reminds Huang Sixi of the White-haired Witch of Tianshan.

However, she still smiled faintly at Huang Sixi: "It is rare that there are still men in this world who are willing to risk their lives to rescue orphans. Just based on your righteous deeds, you are worthy of my trust. So if you tell me that you are willing to lend this black eagle, I will give up the Taoist temple immediately!"

She looked directly at Huang Sixi and said, "I kept my promise and left all the money and food in the Taoist temple to those girls. I hope you won't go back on your word!"

Huang Sixi did not respond at first, but asked with a smile: "What is your name, Madam?"

She had a good impression of Huang Sixi, so she introduced herself: "My last name is Liu, you can call me Yinggu! You are a chivalrous man, I will not hide anything from you. I was originally planning to go to Shanxi, and I happened to meet you when I was about to leave, so I simply gave up the Taoist temple. I proposed to borrow your black eagle, just to speed up my journey!"

Huang Sixi was quite surprised when he heard the name Yinggu. He thought, wasn't this imperial concubine living in seclusion in Hei Ze in Xiangjing? Why did she come to Zhongzhou?

This Lady Yinggu was originally the imperial concubine of Master Yideng when he was emperor.

Later, Yinggu had an affair with the naughty old boy Zhou Botong and gave birth to a son, but unfortunately he was injured by Qiu Qianren's iron palm skill.

Master Yideng was angry about Yinggu's infidelity, so he left Yinggu's child to die without rescuing him, which indirectly led to the child's death. Afterwards, Master Yideng regretted his decision and became a monk.

In order to avenge her child, Yinggu vowed to assassinate Master Yideng. She finally took action a few months ago, but the plan was resolved by Guo Jing and Huang Rong. After that, she left Hei Ze and began to wander around the world.

(End of this chapter)