Who among the gangsters wants to fall in love?

Chapter 13: Ruin the Temple and Murder

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. The three of them had already arrived at Linshui from Xiurong, but they were still in Jin. With Bai Niangzi's speed, they should have reached Qin in three days.

Unfortunately, there was only one thousand-mile horse, and the three of them did not dare to take the official road, but only the mountain paths. Therefore, even if they rode six horses back and forth, they could only walk and rest, hiding from others all the way, and they were safe and sound. However, the pace was indeed too slow.

Zhao Wumian learned a lot in three days. He already knew most of the professional terms in the "Five Qi Classic". He also learned the Yuehua Sword and Yunta Han Spear almost perfectly, but he had not yet figured out the spear technique he had mastered before.

After all, they had been traveling most of the past three days, and could only practice martial arts during their rest time. This had been hard on Su Qingqi, who now had dark circles under her eyes, and looked like she was about to fall asleep as she sat on White Snake.

Zhao Wumian torments Miss Su every night... He is full of energy and only sleeps for a few hours a day before waking Su Qingqi up to practice martial arts. No matter how tired she is, she has to get up and accompany him... After all, the stronger Zhao Wumian is, the safer they will be.

Zhao Wumian also felt sorry for Su Qingqi, but since it was related to his own martial arts, he could only make Miss Su suffer a little more, just as... a small punishment for Su Qingqi's previous deception of him.

That night, there was heavy snow and the moonlight was clear. The three of them temporarily stayed in a dilapidated temple to avoid the snow.

The fire was crackling with sparks, and Luo Chaoyan set up a stove to boil medicine for Zhao Wumian.

Zhao Wumian had severe internal injuries when he first woke up, and vomited blood after fighting with Wu Ming for two moves. Now, under Luo Chaoyan's care, his body is basically fine, but Luo Chaoyan still boils nourishing medicine for him every day.

Su Qingqi held the map and huddled together with Zhao Wumian.

"We are currently near Linshui County, with Luliang Mountain to the west and Taihang Mountain to the east. Wu Ming's group of grassland barbarians have a harder time traveling in Jin than we do." Su Qingqi pointed at Linshui and the northern border of Jin on the map with her white jade finger, and then used her thumb and index finger to indicate a very long distance. "So we don't have to worry about the Rong tribe for now. Instead, we can go straight east to the capital."

Hearing this, Luo Chaoyan also came over and nodded slightly, "Three days have passed, and our news is estimated to have spread throughout the Central Plains. If we delay for one more day, there will be more people chasing us... If we delay any further, we will be surrounded sooner or later."

Zhao Wumian did not reply, but just looked at Bai Niangzi who was eating grass, pondered for a while, and then said: "Crossing Jin, there are many mountains along the way, and it is not easy for horses to move forward. It is obviously not as fast as riding on the official road... But we only have one thousand-mile horse, Bai Niangzi, it would be great if we had two more."

Hearing this, the two women fell silent. When traveling in the martial arts world, martial arts and a good horse are indispensable. They did not realize this before, but now, on the way out, they wished that their horses could run back to the capital from Jin in one day.

If all three of them had a thousand-mile horse, they could rush straight along the official road and return to the capital in three or four days... But this is obviously impossible. Who knows who might be blocking the way on the official road?
Su Qingqi recalled for a moment before suggesting:

"There are less than 20 horses like White Snake in the Dali Dynasty, five in the capital, three in Jiangnan, and the rest are scattered all over the country... If I go to the Detective Department in Linshui and ask someone to pass a message to my brother, asking him to find someone from the capital to send two horses, the time it takes to go back and forth is actually faster than us continuing to ride these two black horses. I can also ask my brother to send a few more trusted masters to escort us... How about I go to Linshui?"

"No! Your identity is known to everyone. Detective departments in various places must be secretly monitoring you, just waiting for you to fall into the trap." Luo Chaoyan objected immediately, "We haven't been recognized yet, right? Continue to cover your face and keep a low profile, and you may be able to reach the capital safely."

"You can let Mr. Zhao take my token to the Detective Department. No one knows his identity at the moment." Since it was a matter of safety, Su Qingqi rarely refuted Luo Chaoyan.

"Let's not talk about the top brass of the Detective Department, but the ones in Linshui County are all grassroots. No one can tell who will bribe them. What if another Wang Changzhi appears? If so, even if he has your token, he will still be betrayed by those who are secretly in collusion with him." Luo Chaoyan was very cautious, and what he said made sense.

Zhao Wumian looked at the crackling fire and weighed the pros and cons of the two methods.

At this moment, Su Qingqi suddenly stopped talking and looked at Zhao Wumian... It was not that she wanted Zhao Wumian to speak for her, but that she discovered that someone was approaching the ruined temple.

Zhao Wumian lacked experience in the martial arts world, and his perception was not as sharp as Su Qingqi's, but he knew what Su Qingqi meant... He immediately shouted, "Stop making so much noise! ​​If you want to rest, then take a good rest and go to sleep!"

Luo Chaoyan was so frightened that her body trembled, and she felt a little aggrieved in her heart. The scolding was groundless. After all, Luo Chaoyan and Su Qingqi were seriously discussing the course of action... Even the people outside the house shook their heads secretly when they heard it, thinking that Zhao Wumian must be as hard as a rock. He even scolded such a beautiful woman. It was a pity that he didn't know the word "Sigma man", otherwise he would have sighed.

Luo Chaoyan looked at Zhao Wumian with a bit of grievance in her almond-shaped eyes. Just when she wanted to seek justice for herself, she saw Zhao Wumian's eyes signaling. She immediately understood and followed the trend, pretending to be angry, "Why are you so fierce? Can't you speak properly!?"

After saying that, she immediately lay down with her back to Zhao Wumian, looking like a couple having a quarrel and needing her husband to comfort her.

Zhao Wumian snorted coldly, turned over and lay down, with his back to Luo Chaoyan, actually using his body to block the view of people outside the temple, secretly holding the hilt of the knife.

Su Qingqi was left alone, hesitating as to whether to coax this or that.

Just when the three of them seemed to be a little emotional, distracted, and their minds were exposed, the tightly closed door shattered with a bang, heavy snow was accompanied by cold murderous intent, the fire was immediately blown out by the wind and snow, and the ruined temple became dark in an instant. A black-clothed assassin appeared like a ghost, holding a long sword, and stabbed directly at Zhao Wumian who was lying on the ground with his back to the outside of the temple!

The three of them just acted out of caution, but unexpectedly, the people outside the temple really came for them.

Su Qingqi was well prepared. She grabbed the ordinary iron sword that Zhao Wumian bought for her in Hequ and drew the sword from its sheath immediately. It was like a silver moon suddenly appearing in the dark ruined temple. The ordinary iron sword in her hand could still cut through iron like mud. Immediately, a broken arm flew into the sky, spraying blood.

The black-clad assassin's pupils shrank, and before he felt the pain of his broken arm, he heard a crisp "clang" sound, and the knife light instantly spread in the temple, like a heavy crossbow piercing into his lower abdomen, instantly nailing the black-clad assassin to the supporting pillar of the ruined temple.

Blood was gushing out from under the black-clad assassin's veil, and his eyes were filled with shock. Zhao Wumian tightly grasped the long sword with one hand, and with his other hand, he pressed the end of the hilt, keeping the black-clad assassin pinned down. He twisted the long sword, and the black-clad assassin screamed in pain.

"How did you find us? Honestly, I can give you a quick death."

The black-clad assassin remained silent, his collar already soaked with sweat, but he still seemed to have some nerve.

Su Qingqi sheathed her sword neatly, took out a small porcelain bottle from her bosom, and said coldly: "I work in the Detective Department, I have plenty of methods and means..."

Being righteous and chivalrous does not mean being soft-hearted. No one who can make a name for himself in the martial arts world should be underestimated.

If not for this, Su Qingqi would not have hesitated a few days ago. He wanted to save the villagers of Jiangpan Village, but felt that he should not go to save them. He was torn between his conscience and his desires... But Zhao Wumian saved them for him.

Su Qingqi glanced at Zhao Wumian.

Zhao Wumian stepped aside, not knowing what Su Qingqi was thinking, "Professional matters should be handled by professionals."

After a moment, Zhao Wumian beheaded the assassin with a clean and sharp sword. Compared to before, he has become much more accustomed to it.

But the three men looked unhappy as they glanced at the six horses tied together and eating grass obediently.

Stables, tea stalls, taverns, brothels, pawnshops... almost every place where there are people has an intelligence network that covers the entire world.

Although this intelligence network does not belong to a single force, it is clear that there is more than one force that has ideas about Princess Dali. Intelligence agencies can cooperate with each other and share their information, so there is actually no difference.

The assassin recognized the three men from the features of their horses... Traveling around the martial arts world with so many horses, it was obvious that they were running for their lives. Who else would I suspect? The situation in Jin was sensitive right now. If there was even the slightest thing wrong, it would be exposed to the whole martial arts world.

Do you really think that all the people in the underworld are fools?

It is estimated that many other innocent wanderers who changed horses were also implicated.

Luo Chaoyan also straightened up, frowning, "You really can't underestimate the martial arts world. They can find me so soon..."

Su Qingqi frowned and said nothing, also looking a little distressed.

Carry so many horses with you, just in case others don’t know that you have a problem.

But if we don't take it, relying only on Bai Suzhen's horse, it will probably take months to get to the capital.

If he really had to flee in the underworld for a few months, Luo Chaoyan might just have been caught, but the bodies of Zhao Wumian and Su Qingqi would have stank.

After all, Su Qingqi is considered a top-notch expert in the martial arts world, and can be considered a master-level figure.

What about Zhao Wumian? Before he was injured, he was at least a top-level master, but now... he is still in the recovery period, and it is difficult to say his specific combat power.

A Grandmaster is someone who is capable of founding a sect. Although there aren't many such people, there are definitely quite a few. Basically, all the well-known sects in the martial arts world have one or two Grandmasters. The number of Grandmasters in the three or six sects is more, with each sect having about a dozen Grandmasters.

Above the Grandmaster, there are the ten martial arts champions officially canonized by the imperial court… These ten martial arts champions were specially canonized by Emperor Jingzheng in order to ease the conflict between the imperial court and the martial arts world.

In other words, only if the imperial court says you are the best martial artist, then you are the best martial artist. Otherwise, no matter how powerful you are, you are just an ordinary martial artist.

The headquarter of the martial arts school where the martial arts champion is located can be exempted from one-fifth of the taxes... This is money, it is profit, it is what 99% of the people in the martial arts world fight for. For example, the abbot of Xiaoxitian in Jin is one of the ten martial arts champions, and the headquarter of Xiaoxitian is located in Pingyang, which is also the only big city in Jin that can be compared with Taiyuan.

With such benefits, Xiao Xitian was equivalent to being carried away by the people of Pingyang and the people of the martial arts world.

You'd better be good and don't do anything to disobey the court. Otherwise, once the plaque of the martial arts champion is taken down, the policy of exempting one-fifth of taxes will be gone. You will see whether the underworld forces in Pingyang and hundreds of thousands of people will make trouble in Xiao Xitian. It's considered polite of the underworld people in Pingyang not to use those bald donkeys' heads to plant grass.

The brilliance of the Ten Martial Arts Leaders' policy lies in their successful transformation of the conflict between the imperial court and the underworld into a conflict between the underworld and the underworld.

Therefore, these ten martial arts champions can be considered half members of the imperial court. Normally, when the imperial court assigns them tasks, they will not disobey orders. But now it is not that simple... This is a political struggle among various parties in the imperial court.

Who will the ten martial arts champions support... Will any martial arts champion come to Jindi to capture Luo Chaoyan? Who the hell knows.

It's only been three days since someone came to their door. Both women were inevitably in a low mood and the situation was really not good.

Zhao Wumian pondered for a moment before saying, "We should prepare for the worst. If we want to go to the capital, the safest way is probably to fight our way out. Otherwise, if we think we are hiding our whereabouts, we will actually be exposed to others and end up falling into a trap and being killed."

Hearing this, Su Qingqi looked at Zhao Wumian, "What do you mean, sir?"

Zhao Wumian did not answer, but took out the map again and looked at the 'Taiyuan' marked in red by Su Qingqi... That was the territory of the King of Jin and also the largest city in Jin.

"Prince Jin has been guarding the border for many years. It is impossible that he does not have horses captured from the grassland in his mansion?" Zhao Wumian suddenly asked.

Su Qingqi and Luo Chaoyan were both stunned.

"In Dali, the Prince Jin's Mansion alone has three thousand-mile horses, and the rest were given by the Prince Jin as rewards to soldiers at the border." Luo Chaoyan recalled a little before looking at Zhao Wumian. Her peach blossom eyes, which seemed to be half drunk, were filled with disbelief and amazement. "What do you mean, sir?"

"Your Majesty's method won't work, and neither will Miss Su's method. Even if the news can reach the capital, by the time the Thousand-Li Horse and the experts arrive, the three of us will probably have been strung together for people to see." Zhao Wumian pondered for a moment, looked at the two women, smiled and said:

"Use mine."

Jin is thousands of miles away from the capital, and now only three days have passed and an assassin has come to the door. If you really think you can conceal your identity and sneak to the capital quietly, you are an idiot and you simply don't regard the people of the martial arts world as human beings.

Just as Zhao Wumian said just now, if they think they are hiding well, but have actually been exposed to the enemy's sight, then what is waiting for them is not a trap carefully set by the "Young Emperor Faction" or the "Vagrant King Faction"?

By then, there would be no chance of survival.

In this case, it would be better to go to Taiyuan to steal or rob two thousand-mile horses and rush all the way to the capital... Instead of guarding against assassins who are hiding somewhere unknown, it is better to be open and ride the thousand-mile horses directly to the capital.

Zhao Wumian was more inclined to rob, so he made a big noise and announced to the world that they were in Taiyuan.

Because news has a lag, even if the information is delivered to the outside world by carrier pigeons, by the time the people from the underworld arrive in Taiyuan, they have already ridden their horses for hundreds of miles. What can they use to assassinate?

Zhao Wumian and others can't fly or teleport, but can those people in the martial arts world do it? This is all relative.

The most important thing about intelligence is its timeliness and accuracy. If Zhao Wumian was caught and tortured, he actually didn't need to grit his teeth and hold on. He just needed to hold on for a few hours, because after a few hours, Luo Chaoyan and Su Qingqi would have noticed something was wrong and would have run away, and the intelligence would have become useless garbage.

There are only twenty thousand-mile horses in the entire Dali Dynasty. They are extremely precious. It is a bit exaggerated to say that they can travel a thousand miles a day, but traveling five hundred miles a day is still easy. If not, how could people in the martial arts world be so obsessed with horses?
This is a thing for escaping.

Therefore, if they managed to seize the steed, the only things they needed to guard against were the blockers on the official road... The rest of the assassins would not be able to catch up at all, unless they sent a martial arts master of the highest level.

This isn't really a solution, it's an unconventional approach... After all, if this method succeeds, then we'll only have to deal with those who block the road.

This is less risky than sneaking around, concealing your identity, and running all the way to the capital for several months... After all, it's only been three days since someone came to your door. This time it was an assassin in black, but next time, who knows, it might be several masters or even the top martial artist.

The two women were smart and quickly understood Zhao Wumian's intention.

This method is obviously extremely risky, but the situation is already fraught with danger and we are in a desperate situation. Everything we do is risky, but if we take an unconventional approach, there is still a glimmer of hope.

If there were no swift horses, the time it would take for them to sneak back to the capital would have to be calculated in months, not to mention the risks involved.

If the throne had been vacant for a few months... the court would have let the emperor's eldest grandson take the throne long ago, so what would Luo Chaoyan have to do with it?

As for riding these six horses to rush to the capital... Su Qingqi looked back at the horses a few times, and the scene that they were still running on the official road appeared in her mind, and then countless cold arrows were shot from the darkness. The people might not be killed, but the horses would be killed on the spot.

If you are on the official road but don't have a horse, then just wait for death.

Six horses... are indeed too conspicuous, and you might as well be afraid that others don’t know that you have a problem.

If there were only three horses, dressed as ordinary people in the martial arts world and in disguise, the suspicion would not be so great... At least there would not be a situation like the assassin in black, who would attack directly without even confirming his identity.

Su Qingqi thought of this and nodded slightly, "It can only be done this way... As the saying goes, the darkest place is under the lamp. They certainly can't imagine that we are actually in Taiyuan. Why not rob the horses and rush into the capital in one go..."

"Wait a minute." Luo Chaoyan raised her hand slightly, approached the map, and pointed her finger from Linshui to Taiyuan. "Taiyuan is not far from us. It will take at least two days to get there. After robbing the thousand-mile horse, it would be best for us to go to Pingyang."

Zhao Wumian frowned slightly, "Why?"

"The biggest reason why I am qualified to ascend the throne is because of my uncle, Xu Ran, the head of the Xu family in Chu. He is not only the best in martial arts, but also in charge of 100,000 Chu navy... My father passed away and my brother was in a coma. In order to conceal the news and protect my safety, the court only allowed the Tie Luosha couple and Qingqi to secretly pick me up. Now that it has been exposed, the news has naturally reached my uncle."

Su Qingqi blinked her eyes. "In order to protect His Majesty, the Xu family will definitely send experts to Jin to provide support... Is there anyone from the Xu family in Pingyang?"

"The Xu family has four branches in Jin, and the one closest to us is in Pingyang." Luo Chaoyan drew a big circle with Taiyuan as the center and headed towards northern Jin.
"The area north of Taiyuan is under the full control of the King of Jin. My uncle is the admiral of the navy, so it is not appropriate to openly place forces in northern Jin. However, 500 miles south of Taiyuan, in Pingyang, is the territory of Xiao Xitian. There are many forces in the martial arts world, so there is an opportunity for various forces to secretly plant branches."

Xiao Xitian? Zhao Wumian thought of the nun in front of Hequ Gate who was used by him to suppress bandits... That nun had long hair, and it was unknown what kind of status she had in Xiao Xitian.

"The distance from Linshui to Pingyang is a full six hundred miles..." Zhao Wumian put away his distracting thoughts, looked at the map, and estimated the distance and time. "We have to run for ten days to get to Pingyang..."

In Jin, because of the mountainous terrain and difficult roads, horses can only run 60 miles a day. Walking on mountain roads is tiring for both people and horses. In the past, the roads in Jin were relatively poorly built because of the steep mountains, let alone now?

Therefore, whether you go to the capital or to Pingyang, it is necessary to have a good horse.

Luo Chaoyan nodded slightly, "We can't afford to waste ten days. If we go to Taiyuan and steal the thousand-mile horse, our identities will definitely be exposed to the King of Jin. Most people will think that we stole the horse and ran to the capital. Who would have thought that we went to Pingyang to look for our uncle?"

"The head of the Xu family is a martial arts master, and the Xu family also has many masters. If he escorts the emperor, there will be no worries." Su Qingqi thought about it and realized that the reinforcements closest to the three of them and easiest to find are indeed the Xu family in Pingyang.

The other three reinforcements could not be found, and they could not find the three either.

"Masters at the Wu Kui level are secondary. The root of the problem lies in the army." Zhao Wumian pondered for a while before analyzing: "With just one's status, one cannot sit on the throne securely. The root of the imperial power lies not in bloodline but in military strength. If we go to Pingyang to contact the head of the Xu family, we should let him lead his troops to station near the capital..."

After all, the emperor's eldest grandson is still in the court. In fact, even if Luo Chaoyan entered the capital, he would probably have to engage in a political struggle with the "young emperor faction"... Only by leading the troops into the capital can he be sure of success.

The foundation of imperial power does not lie in bloodline but in military strength.

The two women nodded. They were not ignorant people, so they naturally understood the reason.

Stealing horses in Taiyuan, secretly crossing to Pingyang, and leading troops into Beijing... This is the three-step strategy to ascend the throne.

Having made a decision, the three began to discuss the details.

(End of this chapter)