A journey through the world of martial arts

Chapter 33 Suicide
That night, Sima Kong, the leader of the Five Blades Sect, was entertaining distinguished guests at a restaurant. "Thank you both for your help. Please tell the Seventh Prince that I will certainly live up to your expectations."

Sima Kong is currently riding high. He has not only brought the three surrounding towns under his control, but has also gotten close to the Seventh Prince of the Yuan Dynasty. In the future, he may be able to control Sichuan and trample Emei underfoot. As for Zou Qing, Sima Kong looks down on him. When he is no longer useful, he will take the opportunity to annex the Green Bamboo Gang.

The alluring woman smiled charmingly and said in a soft voice, "Sect Leader Sima is indeed a hero. As long as you can fulfill the Prince's request, I will definitely put in a good word for you."

Seeing the woman's alluring smile, Sima Kong's throat tightened. He suppressed his lustful thoughts, picked up his wine cup to cover his shameful state, and thought to himself, "This woman is truly a vixen. Just one sentence from her is enough to make me unable to resist."

The withered old woman beside her cursed under her breath, "Madam Feng, put away your charms, we still have a long way to go. As for Sect Master Sima, do your job well, the Prince will not treat you unfairly. If you dare to disobey, hmph, this old woman's poison doesn't discriminate."

Upon hearing this, Sima Kong immediately replied, "Don't worry, Granny Hua, I wouldn't dare."

When these two first arrived at the Five Blades Sect, they used extremely cruel methods to establish their authority. One used blatant poison, and the other used soul-devouring love, which was truly chilling.

"It's getting late, so I won't say any more. Now that you've secured your position in the three towns, we have other important matters to attend to. My apprentice will stay by your side. Qiao'er, come here."

A girl wearing a flower crown walked up next to Granny Hua. She was fairly good-looking, but her red eyes were unsettling.

"Sect Master Sima, my disciple has learned two or three levels of my skills. His martial arts may not be as good as yours, but he is a master at poisoning."

Sima Kong knew, of course, that this was a spy left by Granny Hua, but he couldn't refuse, so he pretended to be generous and said, "Granny, don't worry, I will take good care of your disciple and make sure he doesn't lose a single hair."

Feng Niangzi looked at Sima Kong's sycophantic manner with disdain, and then glanced warily at Granny Hua. This old hag's origins were very mysterious, and her poison skills were so powerful that they were impossible to guard against. With just one poison pill, she wiped out a gang of more than two hundred people.

Granny Hua nodded in satisfaction. "Qiao'er, you can stay here for a month. I'll come back to pick you up then. Madam Feng, let's go." With that, she picked up her cane and went downstairs.

"The three of you are probably not going anywhere now. Sima Kong, your time has come." As soon as he finished speaking, a cold light suddenly shot out. Before Granny Hua and Madam Feng's terrified eyes, Sima Kong's body was severed from his head, and blood flowed all over the ground.

"Who is this expert? Please show yourself!" Granny Hua was the first to calm down, her cloudy eyes scanning the surroundings, but she did not find anyone suspicious. Madam Feng secretly took out her weapon and was on guard.

The newcomers are enemies, not friends. Could they be from the Emei Sect? Granny Hua wondered to herself.

As the footsteps drew closer, a young man in a green robe appeared before the two, his eyes fixed on the front.

Granny Hua and her companion felt extremely uncomfortable under that gaze, as if they were being stared at by a ferocious beast.

"This young man is so handsome, I really feel sorry for him. Come here and let me take a look," Feng Niangzi said, her frivolous tone revealing her deep disgust for handsome men.

Gu Xu glanced at her and walked slowly. When he was only five steps away from the two of them, a snow-white silk ribbon was unfurled and rushed towards them. Although the ribbon was extremely soft, it concealed a deadly intent.

The silk ribbon lashed out, and several needles flashing with blue light flew out silently, their target Gu Xu's eyes. The latter waved his sleeve, and a gust of wind swept past, making it impossible for the silk ribbon to advance any further. The needles also returned to Feng Niangzi.

Madam Feng's expression changed. She quickly pulled back the silk ribbon with her delicate hand and dodged, but the needles struck the Five Blades Sect disciples behind her, killing them instantly.

The ribbon failed to achieve its purpose, and an ironwood cane struck towards Gu Xu's waist. Gu Xu used Tai Chi to neutralize the force and wrap it around the cane, then pushed it forward. Granny Hua's body involuntarily moved towards Gu Xu, and at this moment, Gu Xu's attack was ready to be launched.

Granny Hua, having failed in her first move and seeing Gu Xu's next move, was terrified and broke out in a cold sweat. Being quite experienced, she immediately exerted force with both hands, and a small golden snake suddenly emerged from her cane, quickly biting Gu Xu's right hand.

This creature was originally a golden snake gu carefully cultivated by Granny Hua for forty years. It was extremely vicious and was usually hidden in an ironwood cane. Some famous masters who fought against it often lost their lives due to this sudden attack.

Granny Hua thought Gu Xu would back down, but to her surprise, he neither dodged nor avoided the golden snake. A look of joy flashed across Granny Hua's face, as if she could already foresee Gu Xu's death from the poison.

When Feng Niangzi saw Granny Hua's golden snake appear, she was immediately excited. Her silk ribbons fluttered, sealing off the entire space around Gu Xu, determined to kill her with a single blow.

But what she saw before her eyes terrified Granny Hua. The golden snake was casually held in Gu Xu's hand, as if it were a harmless toy. Then, a force, both strong and gentle, came from the cane, severely injuring her internal organs. She vomited blood and collapsed on the spot.

Seeing this, Feng Niangzi roared angrily, and the layers of silk ribbons pressed down on Gu Xu. The latter reached out and picked up his cane, squeezed it hard, and it broke into several pieces. With the added force, the pieces scattered and rushed towards the silk ribbons.

The sound of tearing and ripping was incessant as the silk ribbon shattered into pieces and scattered across the sky. Feng Niangzi stood there dumbfounded. This was made of celestial silkworm silk, which even divine weapons could not easily cut, and now it was destroyed just like that.

"Madam Feng, be careful!" Granny Hua, who was lying on the ground, saw Gu Xu casually throw out the golden snake and hurriedly warned her. But by the time Madam Feng came to her senses, the golden snake had already landed on her body. The snake's fangs had pierced her skin, causing Madam Feng to roll on the ground and wail in pain.

However, the sound stopped shortly afterward. Feng Niangzi's once beautiful face became hideous, her skin turned black and rotten, making her unbearable to look at.

In fact, this is Feng Niangzi's original appearance. Feng Niangzi was favored by a handsome young man because of her beautiful voice, but after seeing Feng Niangzi's true face, he immediately abandoned her and mocked her with foul language.

Later, Lady Feng had another extraordinary encounter, changing her voice and appearance, and learning seductive arts. She bewitched that young master, and after she had used him to the fullest, she used every means to torture him, causing him to die in great pain. After that, her personality changed drastically.

Whenever a handsome young man falls in love with her, she will spend some time with him, and when she gets tired of him, she will tie him up with silk ribbons until he dies, and then leave his body in the wilderness for wild animals to devour.

Now that he has died at Gu Xu's hands, he has only himself to blame. A person with such a mentally unstable personality and the ability to charm others is extremely dangerous.

Granny Hua, who had been severely injured and fallen to the ground, looked at Gu Xu, who was slowly approaching, with a look of terror in her eyes. Just then, Qiao'er suddenly ran over and blocked Gu Xu's path with both hands, preventing him from taking another step.

"Big brother, please don't kill Grandma, she's a good person," Qiao'er said pitifully, her red eyes looking at Gu Xu.

With a "bang," Gu Xu swept his sleeve, and Qiao'er was slammed against the wall, bleeding from all seven orifices and dying, still holding a poisoned dagger in her hand.

"Qiao'er!" Granny Hua cried out in anguish, mustering her remaining strength to throw a cloud of multicolored smoke powder at Gu Xu. Gu Xu circulated his hands, performing a Tai Chi movement, condensing the smoke powder into a puff, which then flew towards Granny Hua like an arrow. Granny Hua was hit, screamed a few times, and then her body turned into a pool of blood.

Pulling the Longquan sword out of Sima Kong's body, shattering the Golden Snake Gu into dust, Gu Xu walked briskly out of the restaurant.

On the eve of the Three Rivers Valley attack, Zhao Min suddenly led her men to attack the Ming Cult, catching them completely off guard. Yang Xiao and the others were not present at the time, and the situation seemed to be spiraling out of control. However, Zhu Yuanzhang and Chang Yuchun stepped forward and gave orders, giving the Ming Cult members a leader. They were able to stabilize the situation and launch a counterattack.

Seeing this, Zhao Min fought and retreated, all the way to Sanchuan Valley.

The Three Rivers Valley is a steep and narrow valley with three rivers converging to form a "个" shape. Behind it is a high mountain peak, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. Zhao Min's plan is nothing more than to lure the enemy into a trap.

Zhu Chang and his men were both seasoned veterans of many battles, so they could easily see through Zhao Min's plan. Therefore, they ordered that no attack should be launched casually. Their trusted subordinates were fine with it, but the Five Elements Flag Envoys objected.

Zhuang Zheng, the flag bearer of the Ruijin Banner, said with dissatisfaction, "Commander Zhu, since the Tartars have been driven into a dead end, we should press our advantage and pursue them. Otherwise, what will you do if we let them go?"

Zhuang Zheng said this partly for public good and partly for private reasons. After learning that Zhao Min was the leader of the Tartar army, he was furious. His deputy and more than a hundred brothers were killed by her with poison. How could he not avenge this?

The other four flag bearers also strongly agreed, not only to defeat the Tartars, but more importantly to control the Ming Cult's army. Last night's battle made the four of them feel threatened by Zhu Yuanzhang's command. If this continued, wouldn't all the Ming Cult members be loyal to him? Then what would be left for them? Therefore, this pursuit battle had to be fought.

“Commander Zhuang, the Tartars are now cornered. If we simply wait for them to run out of supplies, we can win without a fight. Why take such a risk?” Chang Yuchun advised, arguing that their side clearly had the advantage and it was not worth doing so.

Unfortunately, Zhuang Zheng had already made up his mind. "Brother Chang, Zhao Min wouldn't retreat here for no reason. I suspect she has a backup plan. If we can't take it down with overwhelming force, things might change. I won't make things difficult for you. I'll just take the followers of the Ruijin Banner with me." After saying that, he glanced at the other four people and walked out.

Wen Cangsong, Tang Yang, Xin Ran, and Yan Yuan glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang and Chang Yuchun, clasped their hands in a salute, and then followed Zhuang Zheng out of the tent.

Chang Yuchun's face darkened. Looking at Zhu Yuanzhang, who was drinking tea, he said, "Brother Zhu, why don't you try to persuade them? This is clearly sending them to their deaths!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly, "Is it useful to persuade them? No, they are all righteous heroes. Moreover, Chief Yang told me before that these five flag bearers are always proud and arrogant. Last night, when they saw me arranging my troops, they must have had their own ideas. Forcibly stopping them will only backfire. It is better to go along with their wishes."

After taking a sip of tea, Zhu Yuanzhang continued, "There are quite a few of us under the Five Elements Banner, but we are probably not strong enough to deal with the Tartars. We should take precautions. Brother Chang, come closer to me."

Upon hearing this, Chang Yuchun walked to Zhu Yuanzhang's side and nodded repeatedly as he listened to Zhu Yuanzhang's instructions.

After Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, Chang Yuchun stared at him intently. "Brother Zhu, this is truly a brilliant plan. It seems that Master Yang really has high hopes for you." Chang Yuchun was certain that Yang Xiao must have given him the "Wumu Legacy," otherwise how could he have come up with such ingenious military strategies?

After Chang Yuchun left, Zhu Yuanzhang took out the "Wumu's Legacy" and examined it carefully.

Zhuang Zheng and his men quickly gathered their troops, and with the order given, 50,000 soldiers marched toward Sanchuan Valley. As soon as this movement was made, Zhao Min received the news.

"Zhuang Zheng is indeed at odds with Zhu Yuanzhang. It seems the first plan has succeeded. Now we just need to wait for them to slowly step into the dead end and give Yang Xiao and the others a big gift." Zhao Min deliberately used a plan to divert Yang Xiao and the others, all for this situation. After several encounters, Zhao Min felt that Zhu Yuanzhang was a very difficult person to deal with, while Zhuang Zheng was a weakness.

"Give the order: once most of the Ming Cult members have entered, immediately block the valley entrance. I will gradually devour them one by one," the five generals obeyed and left.

After several battles with the Ming Cult, the generals admired Zhao Min more and more, and her reputation grew higher and higher. With her leading the army, there might be a turning point.

Zhuang Zheng and his companions moved cautiously and stealthily. The mountain peaks on both sides blocked most of the sunlight, making the valley somewhat dark. Zhuang Zheng originally planned to light torches, but Wen Cangsong rejected the idea, saying that this environment was actually more advantageous for them. If they lit torches, they would become easy targets.

Wen Cangsong's words made sense, but Zhao Min was no nobody either, so how could she not have thought of this move? After most of the people entered the valley, they heard what sounded like a mountain collapsing behind them, with boulders rolling down and the earth shaking so badly that it was hard to stand.

Yan Yuan, the flag bearer of the Thick Earth Banner, was an expert in digging tunnels. Upon hearing this sound, he immediately shouted that something was wrong, and the other four turned around.

"Brother Yan, what's wrong? What happened?" Xin Ran asked hurriedly.

"The Tartars must have blown up the mountain section and blocked the valley entrance. There must be arrows coming from the front. Now we're in a dilemma." As soon as he finished speaking, countless arrows shot out from all around the valley. Some people couldn't dodge in time and died instantly. Zhuang Zheng hurriedly ordered his men to set up a shield wall, but what followed was a barrage of fire arrows.

The place was already small, and with so many people, it looked like they were about to be surrounded by a sea of ​​fire. Suddenly, streams of water gushed out, extinguishing all the flames. Just as the flames died down, huge boulders rolled down from the mountainside and headed towards the group.

The relentless attacks overwhelmed the Five Elements Flags, and just when they were about to collapse, a fire suddenly broke out behind the valley. The Yuan generals who were leading the attack on the Ming Cult paled in shock. That was the Yuan army's central command post; how could it have caught fire for no reason?

Before they could think it through, the generals hurriedly withdrew their troops to reinforce the area. The Five Elements Banner soldiers breathed a sigh of relief, looked at each other with bitter smiles, and wondered what kind of mess they had made of themselves.

Yan Yuan had no time to dwell on these matters. He said to Zhuang Zheng, "Zhuang Qishi, something must have happened on the Tartar side. It might be Brother Zhu and his men. You should quickly lead your men there and launch a pincer attack. I'll go open the valley entrance." With that, he led the Hou Tu Qi men to the rear to expedite the opening of the valley entrance.

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Zheng took a deep breath, called out to the three of them, and the Five Elements Banner members, who were seething with anger, showed no mercy to the Tartars they encountered along the way.

When they arrived at the most intense battleground, Zhuang Zheng and his companions discovered many figures hovering in the sky, occasionally descending to engage the Tartars in combat, while others fired rockets from the sky.

Zhao Min, now covered in dust and grime under the protection of several guards, was furious that her foolproof plan had been ruined.

Seeing that reinforcements had arrived, the head guard hurriedly said, "Marshal, you go first, we'll hold them off." If anything happened to Zhao Min, Zha Ya Du wouldn't spare him, so it was better to fight to the death.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Min angrily retorted, "I am the commander-in-chief of an army, how can I retreat? Give me the order: kill one enemy and be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver. If the leader is killed, he will be immediately ennobled." At this moment, Zhao Min only hoped to use fame and fortune to inspire the soldiers' fighting spirit, otherwise today's battle might be her last.

Holding a spiked club, Zhuang Zheng took several lives with each strike. He was like a ferocious beast, rampaging and quickly carving a bloody path. When he saw Zhao Min, the bloodthirsty Zhuang Zheng roared and swung his spiked club at her.

Although Zhao Min's bodyguards were skilled in martial arts, they couldn't withstand more than a few moves from a master like Zhuang Zheng before being knocked to the ground and hacked to death.

In no time, only the head guard remained by Zhao Min's side. The latter glanced at Zhao Min, gritted his teeth, and charged towards Zhuang Zheng with his weapon.

Zhao Min watched in horror as Zhuang Zheng smashed the head of the guard captain with a single blow. Looking around at the sounds of battle, she saw that the Yuan soldiers, caught in a pincer attack, were in complete disarray. This battle was a complete rout.

Zhao Min took out a curved knife, a bitter smile on her face, and then slashed her neck with the blade. Blood gushed out, and she fell to the ground. In this way, she preserved her last bit of dignity.

(End of this chapter)