A Scroll of Infinite Glory

The Ming army couldn't easily obtain weapons like the Divine Fire Flying Crow, the Repeating Cannon, or the Tiger Crouching Cannon, let alone the prefect's in-laws. However, with the Liu family's connections, they could acquire quite a few fireworks and firecrackers after informing the county magistrate.

It's also because the Ghost Festival is approaching, and according to the customs of Southeast Asia, people go to the graves to burn paper money to worship their ancestors, and clans gather to set off firecrackers. Now is the time when they have plenty of stock, so they brought in more than a thousand catties at once.

Outside the old house, Qiu Di used his magic mirror to vaguely sense the locations of his three senior brothers, and was 90% certain that they were in the backyard.

Guan Luoyang chose to rush straight in through the main gate.

The crackling of firecrackers and the bursts of fireworks in the sky were deafening. Some of the fireworks fell into the water and didn't explode, but others that did fall into the water continued to explode, splashing water everywhere.

Everywhere there were flames, smoke, and the sound of water—it was quite a commotion.

But in reality, Guan Luoyang overturned and scattered all the fireworks and firecrackers on the cart, scattering them not only throughout the courtyard but also onto the roof of the main hall.

This density might seriously injure an ordinary person, but for someone with skill and magic, it would at most be a minor problem.

The people on the rooftop used various methods to dodge or block.

With a flick of his steel blade, Zhao Qianniu prevented any of the fireworks from getting close.

Boss Wen turned to the side and swept his sleeve twice, knocking down several firecrackers.

Even at this point, he maintained his feng shui illusion, so people outside couldn't see the person on the roof.

But just as he saw the firecrackers change their trajectory and fall to the side, a flash of inspiration seemed to appear in his mind.

"Um?"

Amidst the explosions of smoke and fire filling the courtyard, a massive burst of water suddenly erupted, roaring forward.

Guan Luoyang stomped his feet heavily, splitting the water on the ground before it could even recede. With a few powerful strides, he propelled himself from the middle of the courtyard onto the roof.

The sword is drawn.

At this moment, Qiu Di's Bagua bronze mirror was firmly bound to the inside of his left wrist. The mirror surface was cold and did not heat up. The unseen people in front of him were not his fellow disciples.

call out!

The ancient sword that warded off evil let out a sharp whistle before my eyes, as if it had slashed open a false curtain at an angle, and incidentally cut open the body of the old man hidden behind the curtain.

Guan Luoyang shifted to the side in a bow stance, and the blade of his ancient sword clashed with Zhao Qianniu's steel blade. The blades collided, creating a burst of sparks.

As Boss Wen watched the two blades clash, he felt the chill that swept past his body turn into heat.

Blood gushed out, and the body fell to the ground, splitting into two pieces.

As the crimson blood spread across the rooftop, the two swordsmen on the other side made a desperate attempt to block and slash in reverse, exchanging blows more than a dozen times in the blink of an eye.

This kind of knife-fighting is the most damaging to the blade. If a regular knife is fought like this a dozen times, it will be basically ruined.

Guan Luoyang and Zhao Qianniu were both experts with knives, and they would never have wasted their blades like this under normal circumstances.

But the two of them were too close at this moment, and they were both surprised by the speed at which the other swung his knife. Apart from the high-intensity continuous slashing and fighting, they had no chance to change their style.

Sparks flew everywhere, accompanied by a loud, clanging explosion.

Guan Luoyang felt a chill run down his spine, so he quickly straightened his chest and abdomen, exhaled, and turned his blade.

when!!!!

The two knives clashed together, and Zhao Qianniu's tiger's mouth gushed bright red blood. He watched as his own knife broke, and the other knife struck his neck.

His steel knife wasn't cut off, it was smashed.

Guan Luoyang used the back of the knife.

The sudden increase in force just now, if it were blade to blade, Guan Luoyang's sword might have broken as well, but using the back of the blade is a different story.

With the explosive power of his Qi Refining Mastery, he used the back of his blade to break the opponent's steel knife, then slashed down from the neck, smashing Zhao Qianniu's thick collarbone and getting it stuck between the broken bones.

Guan Luoyang didn't even have time to draw his sword before he dodged to the side.

Thud, puff, sizzle!

Three iron skewers grazed past him and embedded themselves in Zhao Qianniu's body; one pierced the bone in his face, one went through his lung, and one went through his intestines.

Guan Luoyang retreated to a corner of the roof and looked over from the side.

Only then did he have time to carefully observe how many people were on the roof.

Besides the two we just killed, there was an old man with a cane, a strange man in a straw hat with a small monkey squatting beside him, and a skinny young man with iron skewers between his fingers.

Master Luo's narrow old eyes widened suddenly, and even after he closed them again, they still appeared larger than before.

"Who are you?"

He was furious: Where did this murderous bastard come from?!

In an instant, he was certain that this was definitely not someone from the Zhenwu Temple who had been summoned by imperial decree.

Those Taoist priests fought monsters and ghosts; their battles throughout their lives were by no means few.

Exorcising evil spirits is exorcising evil spirits, and killing someone is killing someone; they should never be confused.

Even a Taoist like Jiuhe, who had participated in the suppression of water bandits and had seen many big scenes, could not possibly have such a murderous aura that kills anyone he sees.

With the situation unclear and the righteous path lost, even though Jiuhe could sense the approximate locations of those junior Taoists, he would still be constrained.

There's a saying that the older you get in the world of martial arts, the more timid you become. It's not that you've actually become timid, but rather that with more experience, your ability to make connections has increased, and you have too many concerns. You're afraid of accidentally hurting someone, making enemies, or getting too many entanglements and things that would be difficult to handle if you killed someone special.

Young upstarts are reckless and bold but lack the skills to seize real opportunities, while seasoned veterans rarely have the chance to act with impunity. There is only one exception...

The sound of firecrackers in the south has mostly subsided, but the noise from some large fireworks is still ongoing.

Fireworks flickered in the night sky, and Master Luo stared at Guan Luoyang, feeling increasingly uneasy.

Just from the few moves this guy exchanged with Zhao Qianniu, you could tell that in a real face-to-face fight, one Zhao Qianniu could hold him off, and if two or three of them attacked together, killing him wouldn't be difficult.

But the result was that in one encounter, two out of the five people died, and their deaths were too humiliating.

This vision of creating opportunities for oneself and the decisiveness to take action even reminded Master Luo of the person he followed.

That killer star who once unified the five prefectures of river pirates and secured her position as the chief leader while posing as a woman.

During the brief standoff on the rooftop, the sound of wood cracking and water splashing came from the backyard.

Qiu Di arrived by diving, broke down the dilapidated back door of the old house, and barged into the backyard.

"Senior brother!"

Qiu Shi, who had been watching the situation on the roof, turned around at the sound, his expression changed, and he shouted urgently, "Be careful!"

The backyard was exceptionally dark; apart from the area illuminated by the lantern in Qiushi's hand, everything else seemed dimly lit.

Just as Qiu Di stepped inside, strange chirping sounds came from all directions. From the darkness, one after another, swift and shrinking short figures leaped out and pounced on Qiu Di.

That strange animal looked like a monkey that had been shaved of all its fur and then coated with a layer of bluish-gray, but its black fingernails were sharp, long, and had a metallic sheen, which was definitely not something a monkey could grow.

The strange man in the straw hat on the roof—Monkey Official Tang Zhi—tapped the castanets in his hand.

Most of the strange monkeys in the backyard sprang up like balls and leaped towards Guan Luoyang.