Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 73: Remembrance of the Leader

When people are old and near the end of their lives, they tend to reminisce about the past.

Wang Xianzhi now meets both of these conditions.

Under the fierce siege, he had been scratched several times by Zhen Ranyu's Fiery Sky-Burning Blade. The scorching energy caused the wounds to carbonize quickly, and no blood would flow out.

The white bone Zen stick used by the Burial Governor also hit Wang Xianzhi on the back. Although it failed to break his bones, the evil spirit penetrated into his body, causing him to experience excruciating pain in his meridians.

However, Hou Qing, one of the four corpse kings, was also blown to pieces by Wang Xianzhi.

During his lifetime, Hou Qing was able to transform into a golden-haired elephant, which intimidated powerful enemies.

The same was true after he transformed into an "earth immortal", his whole body was shining with golden light and he was invulnerable to swords and spears.

However, after Wang Xianzhi exchanged a few moves with Hou Qing, his body was like an arrow. With the same spirit as Li Guang shooting a stone, he stabbed Hou Qing's lower abdomen with a finger at lightning speed.

Hou Qing's body, which was stronger than iron, exploded like a huge rock burned by fire, and blew into dozens of pieces, splattering all over the ground. Among them, one could see his inner elixir shattered into powder.

This god-like and devil-like killing scene once again made the government soldiers feel the shock that destroyed their cognition.

But Wang Xianzhi knew that his injuries were not light.

He did not intend to wait for the revolving door to appear before looking back on his life.

Memories don't stop him from killing.

So when the big sleeves whistled and cut a bloody incision in the enemy camp, the long river of memories also flowed through his mind without any contradiction.

Wang Xianzhi, this name really doesn't sound like the name of a brave warrior.

When Mr. Liu, the fortune teller, gave this name to his newborn son, Mr. Wang was overjoyed.

This name really satisfied Mr. Wang.

The word "Xianzhi" comes from the allusion of "Zhilan Yushu" about Xie Xuan, a great general of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, in "A New Account of Tales of the World", and it also carries the expectation of bringing glory to the family.

The Wang family of Langya and the Xie family of Chenjun were once closely related, collectively known as the "Wang and Xie descendants," sharing a common fate. However, after the Hou Jing Rebellion, the prominent families of Jiangzuo were slaughtered, leaving piles of bones. "The swallows that once graced the halls of the Wang and Xie families now flew into the homes of ordinary people." With the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the esteemed names of these two families were erased from the genealogies of the aristocratic families.

As a descendant of the calligrapher Wang Xizhi, although Mr. Wang knew some big characters, he had never even read "A New Account of Tales of the World". It was quite embarrassing that he needed the fortune teller Mr. Liu to explain the allusions.

Mr. Wang could not help but pin his dream of the Wang family of Langya returning to the genealogy of the aristocratic family on his eldest son.

But after a few years, the private school teacher told Mr. Wang tremblingly that the young man in his family was very timid and would hide under the desk when he heard the story of the Zhongshan wolf.

Timid, gentle, and yielding when faced with difficulties. This was everyone's evaluation of Wang Xianzhi before he was ten years old.

Wang Yuanwai didn't have high hopes for a child like this, and hoped that he would inherit the family business normally. After all, this kid seemed to have a good talent for martial arts.

When little Wang Xianzhi was over eight years old, the Huang family, as old friends, planned to hold a full-moon banquet for the newborn baby.

Within the Zhenyi League, the Wang family had long been responsible for the centralized purchase and distribution of salt. The Huang family, a salt trader for three generations, was the largest private salt-drying operator in Qingqi. They also paid a small amount of salt tax, but not to the imperial court, using it to bribe the military governors.

Wang Xianzhi originally disliked this kind of cumbersome social interaction.

But after the banquet, every guest would look at the baby and say a word or two of blessing.

The baby has a white and chubby body, pink hands, a well-proportioned face and clear eyes. You can tell at a glance that he will be a rare handsome man when he grows up.

The baby didn't appreciate the guests' blessings and kept crying.

Until Wang Xianzhi walked over and handed a rattle to the baby.

Then the child began to smile and rocked happily. Although he was only a month old, his laughter was quite loud.

As a result, Wang Xianzhi was ridiculed by his friends again.

He had no friends and could only play with a baby who was eight years younger than him.

The children soon discovered that they could no longer laugh.

Because since some time ago, Wang Xianzhi could make them fall more than ten feet with just a slight push.

At this time, Wang Xianzhi would blink his eyes and show an innocent expression, indicating that he really did not mean it.

So they no longer dared to discuss Wang Xianzhi's behavior, and their expressions changed from mockery to flattery. However, in terms of the lack of friends, Wang Xianzhi did not change much.

The baby with beautiful big eyes grew up quickly in Wang Xianzhi's sight, and the sword Wang Xianzhi used became heavier day by day. One day, he suddenly broke his heavy sword with a sudden force and threw it into the mountain stream.

After doing this, he suddenly felt very regretful and wanted to cry. So he went down to the valley to look for it, but found nothing.

Some people abandon their swords like lost items, while others cherish them for the rest of their lives. Wang Xianzhi wanted to be the latter, but subconsciously chose the former. But after that day, he no longer needed a sword. With just a pair of bare hands and a pair of large sleeves, he could defeat all masters within his sight.

Two years later, a demon king named Qiao Beiming entered the Central Plains and challenged the leaders of various factions.

The leaders of the five major sects that were feared by the world, namely Shaolin Temple, Tianshi Mansion, Cangjian Villa, Tang Sect, and Langya Pavilion, responded to the challenge one after another, but all were defeated and killed.

They were already quite outstanding figures in their respective sects.

The Demon Lord's request is that the imperial court and the various martial arts sects allow the Demon Sect to return to the Central Plains.

In the past, the Demon Sect was dependent on the Turks. After the Tang Dynasty conquered the Eastern and Western Turks in the early years, the Demon Sect was driven to the west.

But this time they requested to return, and enlisted the support of the Uighurs, who dominated the northern frontier. If the Central Plains martial artists disregarded martial ethics, relied on their numbers to defeat Qiao Beiming, and besieged and killed him, the 200,000 Uighur cavalry would immediately march south to invade the border.

At that time, the imperial court was very weak, and most of the military governors within it were unruly and certainly did not want to go to war with the Uighurs.

But the imperial court did not want to agree to the demands of the Demon Sect, so the blame was thrown back on the various factions in the martial arts world.

After receiving the declaration of war, the contemporary leader of the Zhenyi Alliance abdicated overnight and gave the position of leader to Wang Xianzhi, who was thirty years younger than him.

"I'm no match for you, young man. The position of leader belongs to the strongest." The elder patted Wang Xianzhi's shoulder kindly, revealing a look of great anticipation. After leaving his post, he seemed more relaxed than anyone else.

"Achao, do you know?" Wang Xianzhi supported himself with his hands, sat on the dew-covered grass, and looked up at the eternal stars in the night sky blinking at him.

"I'm still young, and I'm really afraid of death. Thinking about going to the Jade Emperor Peak of Mount Tai to fight the Demon King tomorrow, my calves are shaking with fear."

"I want to live a long life, longer than the stars in the sky. But the Demon Lord is a peerless giant that the Demon Sect spent two hundred years to cultivate in order to return to the Central Plains. So many predecessors with unparalleled skills have died at his hands. How can I defeat him?"

The handsome twelve-year-old boy next to him thought for a moment and gave this answer in a childish voice.

"It's not shameful to make friends with a kid who's eight years younger than you. Look at those adults, they often make friends with people who are thirty years older or younger than them."

"But it must be very uncomfortable to be looked down upon by friends who originally admired you. Brother Xianzhi, do you think Ah Chao is right?"

"Besides, how do you know you can't win when you haven't even started fighting yet?"

Wang Xianzhi remained silent for a long time and found that what Huang Chao said made a lot of sense.

He went to the Jade Emperor Peak of Mount Tai the next morning.

Upon discovering his opponent was a rather frail young man of only twenty, the Great Demon Lord couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Could it be that the illustrious Zhenyi Alliance is deserted?"

"Even Confucius could be intimidated by those who are younger than him; a true man should never look down on the young." Wang Xianzhi immediately recited a line from Li Bai's poem that Huang Chao had just taught him the night before. "I'm certainly not a very courageous person, but today, for the sake of peace in the martial arts world, I can only ask the Demon Lord to die."

Wang Xianzhi could no longer recall the specific details of those three days and three nights. He only remembered the bloody flash of the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow Sword filling his vision. His cloth sleeves were completely shredded, leaving him covered in wounds and blood. Finally, he transformed into a wolf, tearing the Demon Lord's head from his neck with his own two hands. The Great Xia Dragon Sparrow Sword, lost overseas for two hundred years, also became Wang Xianzhi's trophy.

After that, the Zhenyi League became recognized as the largest sect in the martial arts world, and he became the invincible "Land Immortal", suppressing the martial arts world for forty years until today.

In fact, even now, Wang Xianzhi doesn't think he is the kind of person who is as loyal as a beam.

He once wanted to accept the amnesty because of his obsession with reviving the Wang family of Langya, and another reason was that he was a little afraid of death after all.

But he is the invincible Wang Xianzhi, the righteous leader of the Zhenyi Alliance and the commander-in-chief of the Cao Army. How can he admit to anyone that he is afraid of death?

Fortunately, having come to this point today, he found that life is a journey and his life has been very fulfilling. In order to let young people survive, dying does not seem so scary.

It was just like the bloody battle with the Demon Lord at the Jade Emperor Peak. I didn’t know how those three days and three nights went by, but when I thought about it afterwards, it seemed like just a moment.

Sixty years of life, half of it has been away, but when I return I am still a young man.

When he completely overcame his fear of death, Wang Xianzhi felt that his understanding of martial arts had reached a wonderful state of resonance with the way of heaven.

The enemy is still surging like a tide.

No one can disobey the orders of Marshal Yan.

Moreover, they were also eager for the huge reward that could be obtained for capturing Wang Xianzhi's head.

Just like the Han soldiers who besieged Xiang Yu, were they not afraid of death? Of course not.

However, the huge benefits that could be obtained by killing Xiang Yu, such as promotion, nobility, and the protection of wives and children, made everyone willing to risk their lives for a desperate attempt.

After all, after Xiang Yu arrived at Gaixia, the only difference was at whose hands he would die. Since the outcome was already determined, everyone believed that they would be the one to enjoy high official positions and generous salaries, rather than being the corpses under the Overlord's spear.

The same is true of Wang Xianzhi’s current situation.

(End of this chapter)