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9-0! Weâre three-fourths of the way through! Only a quarter left!
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The road to Wanping Weir was something that Ye You had planned in advance.
Previously, Wenren Heng had also made sure of their current position before he went to stop the procession of carriages, and so when the elders passed over the hill and then looked at the map, they discovered that Beiyan Village was actually nearby.
Those sect leaders were still more concerned about Elder Meiâs departure.
The reason being that they had, more or less, all suffered under those two rascals before, so much so that when Xie Junming first started participating in this matter, they even originally suspected that Xie Junming was partners with the white piece. Although they were later able to see that these two parties were most likely in opposition, this still didnât change their impression of how terrible these two rascals were.
As such, at this time, their entire minds were filled with, âcould these two scoundrels have been too bored on the road so decided to concoct something,â âcould these two be resenting them for moving too slowly so had Elder Mei secretly set up a trap to capture them all at once and then interrogate them one by one to see who was the white piece,â âcould they have suddenly decided that they didnât like the demonic factionâs current status and so wanted to wait for them and the drugged men to destroy each another, like the oriole stalking its prey[1],â and so on and so forth.
However, before they were able to straighten out their thoughts or try and get some more answers out of Elder Baiâs mouth, the group at the very front of the party had already begun rushing into Beiyan Village.
Beiyan Villageâs houses were built close to each other, and the layout was also very carefully chosen.
If one looked from the sky above, one would discover that this entire village was one enormous fortification.
Most likely because they had heard the noise, when the party of righteous faction members arrived, looking ferociously murderous, there were already many villagers gathered in the empty space in front of the village. The person at the head was comparatively old, wearing a shabby gown, with a cane in hand.
âIâm the village chiefâŠâ The elderly man looked at them in fear and trepidation. Gaze turning to Abbot Ciyuan, he asked, swaying and shaking, âMaster, what business do all of you have here?â
How do any of them look like the white pieceâs people.
Everyone looked at these guileless villagers, the same doubt flashing through all their minds.
Abbot Ciyuan said his customary, âAmitabha,â before then realizing that he didnât know what he should say.
Ask if there were any drugged men here?
If there were, the villagers definitely wouldnât admit to it. If there werenât, then even more so, theyâd have come to the wrong place.
Could it be that theyâd just have to break through?
This thought had just flashed through Abbot Ciyuanâs mind when, before he could even start hesitating, he saw some shadows quickly flashing out from behind him, jumping past these villagers to make straight for the houses in front.
Everyone was startled, and when they looked, they discovered that it was the people of Shuangji Sect, Wuwang Temple, and the Demonic Sect.
The village chief was also startled and hastily said, âWhat do all of you want to do?â
The villagers were even more determined to stop them, their hands even holding shovels, harpoons, clubs, and other similar tools.
The three sects had the scarred man, the left protector, and Elder Bai leading the charge and, from the beginning, had not paid the least attention to the movements behind them. They gave a cursory glance at the completely empty houses before then rushing towards the back of the village.
Everyone in the righteous faction was staring fixedly at this scene and, very quickly, heard a shout, âTheyâre going to run!â
The moment this was spoken, sounds of fighting followed in quick succession, with even the indistinct sounds of a flute faintly mixed in.
At the same moment, the village chief and the villagers also tore off their disguises. A few quickly leapt up to pull a distance away from the Abbot and the others before then turning around to rush towards the people from those three sects. It appeared that every one of them knew martial arts, and these skills didnât appear to be weak at all.
Since things had developed to this degree, there was nothing else left to say, especially for those adventurers of the righteous faction, who definitely didnât want to hear Xie Junming say, after everything was over, that they had no guts. They thereupon unsheathed their swords and rushed forward.
The village roads were very narrow.
The white pieceâs people hadnât received any news from their master, and it wasnât until the Abbot and them had gotten close that they had perceived that something wasnât right. As such, it was evident that they hadnât had the time to evacuate the drugged men, as at this time, the drugged men were all crammed into the roads. Although the flute was playing, in this short period of time, it was difficult for these men to do anything.
In this period of time, the adventurers had gotten close.
The two parties immediately began exchanging blows.
The flute changed melodies, beginning to turn urgent and harsh. The drugged men suddenly let out an earth-shaking howl, their internal energy increasing sharply, and with irrepressible force, they began ramming outwards.
Bam bam.
Those adventurers closest to the drugged men were caught off guard and sent flying by this ramming, with blood streaming down their noses and mouths, ferociously slamming back into the crowd. At this time, they saw a flash of white clothing and the shadow of a familiar person jumping onto the roof. With a stroke of the qin, a chilly sound immediately spilled outwards, beginning to fight with the sound of the flute.
With the pressure lessened, those adventurers knew that these drugged men were innocent and so began specifically looking for those with unclouded minds to beat up.
With narrowed eyes, the village chief looked at the Lady Tao on high and was just about to think up a plan to kill that person when he saw a few people jump up. It was precisely Wenren Heng, Sir Xiao, Qin Yuemian, Sect Master Ye, and Xie Junming, clearly looking as if they were prepared to act as protection.
Ding Xilai looked at this scene and, after a brief period of struggle, also followed them up. Although his martial arts were weak, he was at least still able to get up onto a roof. He then stood next to Sir Xiao, with Ren Shaotian and Wei Jin following closely behind, guarding him on the left and the right.
Ye You asked, âNot afraid?â
Ding Xilai was currently somewhat speechless as he watched the drugged men going crazy down below. Upon hearing that, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said, âNot⊠not afraid.â
Ye You smiled and said, âYou should go to Pavilion Master Dingâs side.â
Ding Xilai said, âI wonât go. He definitely doesnât have the time to pay me any mind.â
Ye You declined to comment, lifting his head to look at the battle.
Ding Xilai also looked over once again.
While the matter with the Lantern-Extinguishing Poison had been brewing all the way until now, this was still the first time that the righteous faction was actually directly crossing swords with the white pieceâs people. Although last time Ghost Gentleman had brought people to surround Shaolin, everything was successfully resolved by Sir Xiao, and there were no casualties. Today was going to be very different.
Ding Xilai looked fearfully at the two groups of people fighting in close quarters. Seeing that the person next to him was standing still, unmoving, he couldnât help but look over. Subconsciously, he thought that Sir Xiao was the type of person who wouldnât need to expend much troops in order to get rid of the other party. He didnât know if this time Sir Xiao also had another trick up his sleeve.
Ye You perceived his gaze and asked, âWhat?â
Ding Xilai was about to speak when he suddenly heard the echoes of another flute, and he hastily looked downwards, beginning to look haphazardly every which way.
Ye You pointed in one direction. âThere.â
Ding Xilai looked over and, sure enough, saw an unremarkable person standing in a corner; this person was actually that village chief from before. The flute in this personâs hand seemed somewhat strange, and it took Ding Xilai many looks before he realized that it had probably been pulled out from that cane.
The village chiefâs first task was to oppose Lady Tao.
His internal energy was high, so he didnât suffer much of the effects and could concentrate on exchanging blows with Lady Tao.
The earlier flute player received some room to breathe and so continued to direct the drugged men to attack. After a moment, there was yet another flute player who found an empty space within the righteous factionâs siege in order to add himself to the fray, attacking Lady Tao together with the village chief.
This place was the drugged menâs headquarters, and they had many flute players, but Lady Tao was only one person.
There were many in the righteous faction who realized this fact, and their hearts couldnât help but sink. Following that, they collectively headed to attack those flute players, but between them were layers upon layers of drugged men, so getting there was easier said than done.
Lady Taoâs expression didnât change, but sweat gradually seeped out of her forehead and her face also began turning pale. She furrowed her brows and was just about to add more strength when the person next to her grabbed her hand.
She sucked in a deep breath. âWhat?â
Ye You let her go. âStop trying to act brave.â
Lady Tao said, âBut down thereâŠâ
Ye You said, âItâs all right.â
Lady Tao was used to trusting him and so let go of her qin strings, dropping down to sit cross-legged on the roof in order to adjust her internal energy. Qin Yuemian hurriedly pulled out some healing medicine to hand to her. Lady Tao said a word of thanks and, after eating it, closed her eyes, truly no longer paying attention to what was happening down below.
The moment the qinâs sounds stopped, the flute players were essentially back in their element.
The drugged men once again collectively roared and madly attacked the people of the righteous faction. Some of them were adventurers that had disappeared long ago, while others were disciples of famous sects. The righteous faction members knew that they werenât in control of themselves and so couldnât really murder these people. Thus, the righteous faction was full of hesitation every time a move was made and so quickly fell into a disadvantage.
The village chiefâs gaze turned, and he changed to another melody.
At once, with reddened eyes, the drugged men holding swords in front of him changed directions, pulling out their swords and leaping upwards, rushing towards the people up on the rooftop.
The chilly sword energy mixed with a killing intent that made straight for the face, along with the drugged menâs crazed eyes, frightened people to no end. Ding Xilai had never encountered such a thing happening in his entire life, and whether he had been scared silly or simply wasnât able to react in time, he just stood there, motionless and straight-backed, staring blankly.
Ye You naturally also wouldnât move and watched all this calmly.
Wenren Heng shifted forward a step to protect him and, when a drugged man almost reached the roof, threw out a palm to strike the person away. At the same time, Xie Junming, Elder Baili, Ren Shaotian, and them had also simultaneously moved, meeting those drugged men head on.
Abbot Ciyuan and Sect Leader Xuanyang and those elders had long already arrived, and with only a quick look, they could tell that suppressing those flute players was pivotal. Pavilion Master Dingâs sword rang out with a clang, and without a word, he led the people of âMoonâs Shadowâ over. Manor Lord Wei didnât fall behind and moved at practically the same moment.
The two of them were the most outstanding personages in the righteous faction, while âMoonâs Shadowâ and âHeavenâs Firmamentâ were even more famous to the outside and were the elites of elites. Their strength was no small matter, and in the blink of an eye, they had torn open a path through the chaos.
At once, the righteous factionâs morale greatly rose, and immediately after, the people behind them rushed forward into the fray.
The village chief had never thought to fight to the death, and when he had previously gained the upper hand, he had already begun carefully retreating as he fought. Now, he was even less keen on remaining and, at once, began retreating even more zealously. But just as he had turned around, he saw that a few people were coming around from behind the houses. These people were headed by a youth in white clothes, bearing no facial expression but absolutely filled with killing intent. This person was precisely the Demonic Factionâs Elder Bai, the Elder who was the strongest within the Demonic Sect.
In a short-lived moment, the village chief realized that, in the interval when the adventurers were exchanging blows with the drugged men, these people had noiselessly detoured around them to come up from behind, and his expression changed. âAll of youâŠâ
From the beginning, Elder Bai wasnât interested in speaking, reaching out a hand and striking.
The village chief urgently sidestepped.
Although he had stayed in this fishing village all these years, he was still very familiar with the characters outside, and within the demonic faction, Xie Junming and Ye You along with their subordinates were important to keep track of. So he knew that while this Demonic Sect Elder always wore an expression as if not quite awake, this person would become extremely savage upon making a move, completely not retaining that usual slow reaction speed.
Seeing him sidestep, Elder Bai didnât bother being picky and simply followed up with making straight for the person behind him. The latter didnât have time to dodge and was immediately hit hard enough to spit blood, falling instantly unconscious.
The scarred man and the people of Wuwang Temple had also detoured around via separate places, and they split up to take care of the remaining flute players. The village chief hurriedly took all this in at a glance and shouted, âRetreat! Retreat!â
When he finished speaking, he dodged Elder Baiâs murderous chase while also playing the flute to order the drugged men to act as a blockade, taking the lead to retreat with people through the back of the village. The righteous faction naturally didnât want to let these people run away so easily and so continued to give chase, but having received the orders, the drugged men still gave their all to attack, and the people of the righteous faction had to expend quite a bit of effort to stop them.
Ye You looked at this scene of battle and, without moving his gaze, glanced at the two people directly below them who were currently being protected by the people of âHeavenâs Firmamentâ. The corners of his mouth lifted, and he amiably said, âLady Xiao-Rou, Sir Yang, the sword-fighting down there is truly too dangerous. Why not come up?â
Wei Jiangrou and Sir Yang simultaneously looked at him.
Ye You said, âAnd everything also looks much clearer up here.â
Wei Jiangrou gave him a look and, after a moment of hesitation, nodded her head.