Who among the gangsters wants to fall in love?

Chapter 438 She might have the surname Ji

The evening breeze stirred the fine snow, and the eaves and corners of the houses along the South Street were covered in silver. Lanterns were placed at the gates of the courtyards, their lights casting a dim red glow.

A series of dark figures silently crept into the vicinity of Nanshi, setting up barricades at street corners and alleyways, and placing hundreds of archers outside the streets, ready for battle.

Everyone was dressed in black wolf guard uniforms, wrapped in cloaks, and hidden in the night.

The archers of the Mingdu Wolf Guard are all elites among elites, with a strength of 100 jin (approximately 50 kg), capable of drawing a seven-stone iron bow, and their arrows can pierce stone. Each of them is a master archer who can bend a bow and shoot an eagle in the blink of an eye, and hit a willow leaf from a hundred paces away.

The deputy commander of the Wolf Guard stood behind a rooftop outside South Market Street, his hand on his waist sword, surveying the long street. A lieutenant beside him asked softly:

"Are Zhao Wumian's family members really here?"

"So what if the commander's orders are wrong? Anyway, the people living in the South Market are all foreigners from the Central Plains and the Western Regions."

The deputy commander slightly raised his hand, and immediately, dark figures, like swimming fish, silently moved towards the inner perimeter from all directions of the alleyway.

As a secret service agency personally established by Uudam, the commander of the Canglang Khan, the Wolf Guard was clearly not like ordinary Rong people who only knew how to be reckless.

They are experts in battle formations, long-distance pursuits, assassinations, and spies. After rigorous special training, hundreds of them went out in full force. Even if Zhenwu Kui was entangled, it would take him a lot of effort to break free.

Seeing the snow falling heavily on the long street, yet remaining calm and undisturbed, the deputy commander knew that Zhao Wumian was indeed in the imperial city, just as the commander had predicted.

At this moment, his family members are caught off guard and will surely be captured, thus making Zhao Wumian a hindrance for life.

I wonder if Zhao Wumian has lost his mind or what, coming to Mingdu with his family. Isn't that just creating a burden for himself?
A top-tier figure in the martial arts world, yet he indulges in women, which inadvertently creates a weakness for him. Alas, beauty can ruin a hero.

Surely it couldn't be a martial arts champion, could it? Which of Zhao Wumian's wives is a martial arts champion? It seems there's only one, Lady Canghua…

As he pondered, a sense of unease settled in his heart. He slid down from the rooftop, his hand on the hilt of his sword, and landed in a narrow alley. He thought to himself that tonight would surely be a fierce battle, as Lady Canghua was not someone to be trifled with.

His boots stomped on the ground without making a sound. Just as he was about to lead the team himself, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a woman standing in the alley.

An extremely beautiful woman, she was from the Central Plains.

Wearing a warm white dress, with no snow on her shoulders or temples, she seemed to have just stepped out of the house, her every move exuding a touch of languor.

But in her hand, she held a scabbard-handled sword.

She flicked the hilt of the knife with her fingertips, and with a click, she drew her blade.

Such a fast knife! He didn't even see when she drew it.

He is dead.

How could a dead person see clearly?

As Xiao Yuanmu walked out of the alley with his knife, the wolf guards hiding nearby suddenly fell silent. Then, someone raised their hand without hesitation and pulled up the letter tube.

Whoosh—bang!

Crimson flames burst forth in the night sky.

Xiao Yuanmu watched quietly as they lit the letter tube.

The wolf guards, who had been lurking nearby, no longer hid. At the signal, they swarmed out from all directions like locusts. Their weapons gleamed with a faint glint of blood, and in the blink of an eye, the street was filled with the clash of swords, startling the few pedestrians nearby who scrambled into courtyards to hide.

Inside the courtyard, Guan Yunshu, with her hair in a bun and wearing a white dress, gently stroked the rough hilt of the sword with her palm before gripping the longsword tightly.

She no longer considers herself a woman of the martial world, but when it truly comes to the need for violence, she will not hesitate.

But Mu Li'er pressed down on the back of her hand, then quickly led her and Luo Xiangzhu by the hand and helped them onto the carriage. She then harnessed the several fine horses she had brought and said somewhat hastily:
"Let's break out of the city first. Otherwise, if the city is sealed off, we can run away, or at worst wander around the snowy plains for a few days to steal horses and enter the pass. But the horses we brought can't escape."

Guan Yunshu frowned, lifted the carriage curtain, and peeked out, asking, "What about Zhao Wumian?"

"With his martial arts skills, do we need to worry about him?" Mu Li'er rolled her eyes and said urgently, sword in hand.
"The Rong army near Mingdu numbers over 100,000. They can't stop Wumian, but they can stop our carriages. If we don't hurry up and get out of here, we'll have to call Wumian to come and rescue us once the Rong surround us."

Before the words were finished, a whooshing sound suddenly came from the air as countless arrows pierced through the snow and poured down into the courtyard.

Wrapped in a white cloak, Shen Xiangge strode out of the house, carrying the Birth Sword and the Sheath of Reclusion in her hands. Upon seeing this, she raised her eyebrows, raised her hand, and unleashed a palm strike. Her inner strength surged like a tide, shattering the snow curtain in the night sky and also blocking the arrows.

The "Tai Xu Xuan Yuan Jue" from Huan Zhen Ge.

The arrows, broken in the middle, fell like black rain.

But the wolf guards pressing in from outside the courtyard had almost covered every rooftop and alleyway, striding forward and shouting:
"Capture the thief Zhao Wumian!"

"Quickly surrender!"

"You're courting death." Shen Xiangge had a fiery temper. Upon seeing this, he raised his sleeve to cover himself with the pure white mask of the Azure Flower Goddess, and then flew out of the courtyard.

The tranquil street was instantly transformed into a chaotic scene, filled with the sounds of flesh and blood being pierced, the clanging of sword hilts, and the shouts of wolf guards.

Their neighbors... several Hu maids who understood Rong language, when they learned that the handsome young man next door was actually Zhao Wumian, they stood in the courtyard, their faces full of disbelief.

The Hu bodyguards in the front yard... who were actually followers of the Holy Church, were even more shocked upon hearing this. They rushed out of the yard with their Western Region scimitars in hand, raising their tokens high.

"We are members of the Holy Sect of the Western Regions. Why don't we join forces and capture the traitor Zhao Wumian..."

Before the words were finished, there was a soft "plop" sound, and their heads flew into the air. The last thing they saw was the Rong wolf guards being slaughtered like pigs, with limbs and broken bodies scattered all over the street.

Huh? This doesn't make sense, does it? Weren't the Rong people supposed to surround Zhao Wumian and his family? How come the casualties are so heavy...?

Xiao Lengyue held the scabbard in one hand, flicked the gleaming longsword in the snow to sweep away a string of blood droplets, sheathed the sword, then leaped up and went to the backyard, looking at the trembling Hu maids.

I did know that they had made a blunder and had become peaceful neighbors with the Western Regions Holy Church.

"Is your master Meng Po from the Western Regions?" Xiao Lengyue asked, tilting her head.

The Hu maids were so frightened that their faces turned pale and they could no longer speak.

Xiao Lengyue pondered for a few seconds, then casually raised her hand to sweep away the incoming arrows. Meng Po was currently in the imperial city. If she died there, these Hu women would lose their support and would obviously not be able to live a clean life in Mingdu.

After all, they had helped us once, and as the saying goes, one must repay kindness and avenge wrongs. Besides, they knew very little about the Western Regions Holy Religion, so it would be good to glean some information from these Hu women.

So she sheathed her sword and grabbed their wrists.

"Come on, I'll lead you out of here!"

The maids were stunned. They hadn't expected that Zhao Wumian's family would treat them so well, willing to help them despite their past grievances.

Su Qingqi leaped onto the wall, sword in hand, her clothes stained with blood, her breathing rapid. She urged, "There are too many people. We can't kill them all. Let's go!"

Hoofbeats, hoofbeats—

The sound of thunderous hooves echoed through the long street. Shen Xiangge rode alone at the forefront, clearing the way for the carriages.

She raised her hand and unleashed a burst of internal energy, shattering the barricades on the street.

With a thrust and a retraction of the sword, blood stained the throat of a Rong man, and his body went limp.

Su Qingqi and Xiao Lengyue intercepted the pursuers from behind, not far from each other.

"Stop them!"

Someone drew his bow and shot arrows, raining them down, but they were all stopped.

But as Su Qingqi said, being in the Ming capital, surrounded by Rong people on all sides, there was no way to kill them all.

There are also military camps outside the city. If tens of thousands of troops come to surround us, it will take a lot of effort to escape.

If there are other martial arts masters mixed in among them, ambushing the insidious ones, some of them might actually get into trouble.

It would be much better to escape the city first than to wreak havoc and act like a reckless brute in the Ming capital.

Mingdu immediately shouted "Kill!" and even frightened cattle and sheep rushed out of their sheds to block the carriage, panting in response. They were then slapped away by Shen Xiangge, who thought he had mistaken them for barricades.

The carriage swayed and rattled through the streets. Guan Yunshu sat in the carriage, holding Luo Xiangzhu in her arms and comforting her. Then she heard a soft click from above the carriage.

Xiao Yuanmu, carrying a horizontal sword, sat on the carriage, raised his hand to hold the window, and leaned out to look at Guan Yunshu upside down. His pretty face was calm, and he didn't even pant.

"You all go out of the city first. I'll go find Zhao Wumian. With Xue Xiao's help in making contact, there's no need to worry about losing touch..."

Before Xiao Lengyue could finish speaking, a sudden, earth-shattering sound rang out, and the entire Mingdu seemed to tremble. The carriage was suddenly lifted into the air for a few seconds before Xiao Yuanmu used brute force to press it down and stabilize its center of gravity, narrowly avoiding falling apart on the spot.

The girls looked on in astonishment, only to see the dark clouds in the night sky suddenly disperse, revealing a silvery crescent moon, bright and clear.

The towering Wangnan Tower suddenly collapsed from the middle. From a distance, the collapse did not seem to be fast, but in the blink of an eye, smoke and dust rose everywhere, covering the sky and the earth shook, as if a dragon had turned over.

Click, click—

At the foot of Wangnan Tower, apart from the soft thud of broken bricks and tiles falling to the ground, there was no other sound.

"Huh...huh..."

Zhao Wumian stood with his feet firmly on the ground, his chest heaving, his breathing slightly rapid. His blue robe, which had fallen from the rooftop to the ground, bore some scratches, revealing dark marks on his skin.

He wasn't injured, but as fellow martial arts champions, although Zhao Wumian's martial arts were far superior to Canglang Han's, killing him still required a lot of effort.

He looked down and saw Canglanghan lying on the ground with his hair disheveled. His waist and abdomen had been crushed by the broken stones, and blood was faintly seeping from the cracks in the ground. It was as if half of his body had been smashed.

No matter how high one's martial arts skills are, or how powerful one's external martial arts are, one is still just an ordinary person. If a heavy object weighs down on you, even if you are so powerful that you are not crushed to death on the spot, it will not be easy for you to get away.

But a martial arts master is still a martial arts master. Canglanghan's eyes were wide open in anger, bloodshot, staring intently at Zhao Wumian. Blood uncontrollably spilled from the corner of his mouth, but he seemed oblivious, staring at him with a murderous look.

Zhao Wumian was naturally not afraid of a defeated opponent. After regaining some strength and calming his rapid heartbeat, he wiped the fine sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and asked:

Where exactly is Uudam?

"I don't know, and I won't say... Even if I do know, I still won't say."

Hearing these words, which were somewhat similar to those of Shamantian, Zhao Wumian couldn't help but shake his head slightly. However, he knew that anyone who could become a martial arts champion must have a strong and resilient mind.

If someone truly refuses to talk, no amount of torture will yield any results.

The sonic attack had negligible effect on Wu Kui, so Zhao Wumian didn't insist and instead asked:

“My wife has a family heirloom sword called Qingming… Uudam has a habit of collecting rare treasures from all over the world, but I searched the national treasury and couldn’t find it… Do you know where he kept this sword?”

The Azure Sword was not an important item, and Canglang Khan simply snorted, "Go and find the Imperial Advisor, and you will know."

Clang, clang—

A few pebbles, along with dust, hit the ground, making a few crisp, echoing sounds.

Zhao Wumian turned his head to look around. It was dark and gloomy, and it seemed to be a stone chamber. The walls were made of good material, and there were load-bearing pillars around it, which made it sturdy and prevented it from collapsing. However, there was a large hole in the ceiling, and broken bricks and tiles were piling up from the hole.

Among the rubble, traces of severed limbs and pieces of flesh could be seen from time to time. Clearly, these unfortunate souls were the guards stationed at Wangnan Tower... After all, Wangnan Tower was built by the royal family and was a key location in the Ming Dynasty. It was not a place that ordinary people could set foot in.

Zhao Wumian and Canglang Han fell down from this cave entrance.

Zhao Wumian hadn't expected that such a stone chamber ruin would be hidden beneath the foundation of Wangnan Tower. He couldn't help but take a closer look, and then asked:

"What is this place?"

"Hmph..." Canglanghan refused to answer.

Click, click—

A few strange noises came from above, followed by Meng Po's ethereal voice.

"Zhao Wumian! Zhao Wumian! Are you still alive!?"

"I'm here!" Zhao Wumian shouted.

"How could he have been crushed by a few rocks? Dig quickly!"

"Okay, okay, don't rush me..."

"Dig carefully, don't let it collapse again, or we'll really bury him alive underneath..."

The conversation between Zi Yi and Meng Po could be faintly heard. As a martial arts champion, Meng Po may look delicate and fragile, but her five fingers have enough strength to easily crush a person's skull into bone powder. She can do such rough work with ease.

Not long after, a crack appeared in a corner of the roof with a loud 'bang,' and dust and gravel poured out like a funnel. A moment later, a ray of light shone through.

The stone chamber was spacious and long, about two or three zhang above the ground. Zhao Wumian stood at the opening. "Come down, I'll catch you..." Zi Yi peeked inside from the opening, and when she saw Zhao Wumian, she smiled and, carrying a large bundle on her back, raised her hand to hold down her skirt and easily jumped into Zhao Wumian's arms.

"Are you alright?"

“What kind of injury could I get from fighting a Canglang Khan? He’s not like Uudam… He couldn’t even scratch me.”

"Cough cough..." Canglang coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.

Zhao Wumian held Ziyi in his arms, put her down, raised his hand to tidy her slightly messy hair, and then pulled her to the side to prevent her from blocking Meng Po's path.

Meng Po also curiously glanced down a few times, then gracefully leaped away.

"I don't know where we are, but we'd better get out of here quickly, after all, this is the heart of Mingdu... Ouch..."

Meng Po leaped down, but before she could finish speaking, her body suddenly went limp for some reason, and she lost her balance, falling to the ground with a thud. Whether it was the pain or the embarrassment, tears were welling up in her eyes.

Zhao Wumian turned around and took a few steps forward. "Your leg is injured?"

"No, but for some reason, I feel so weak... Why didn't you catch me just now?"

Meng Po wiped her eyes with her sleeve and glared at Zhao Wumian.

The two spoke in hushed tones.

"Men and women are not allowed to be intimate..."

"Who would believe that? Haven't you touched me enough?"

"I thought you were playing a trick on me, you vixen."

"Am I that kind of person!?"

"Are you kidding me? Who's the one who disguises themselves all the time..."

"Fine, fine, I can't stand a petty man like you."

Meng Po felt a little guilty and got up on her own, rubbing her pert buttocks with her small hands. But as soon as she stood up, her legs went weak for some reason. This time, Zhao Wumian was quick to catch her and hugged her, feeling a soft and warm body.

Zhao Wumian had no intention of taking advantage of Meng Po, so he obediently put his arm around her waist and looked her up and down, "What is this...?"

Meng Po nestled in his arms and looked up at him.

The two looked at each other.

Due to their previous positions, the two had mostly harbored their own ulterior motives. Now that they were honestly embracing each other, Meng Po couldn't help but feel a little awkward and looked away.

"How should I know..."

Meng Po's averted gaze only made the atmosphere more awkward.

The woman in purple glanced at the two of them and said coldly, "Isn't it because you encountered me earlier and the poison entered your body? It's only because you are a martial arts champion and immune to all poisons that the effects are slower."

Upon hearing this, Meng Po looked at her in astonishment, "I am a Martial Champion... Besides the Cold Jade Nine Li, what other poison could possibly work on me!? And who are you, this powerful being?"

Meng Po asked Zhao Wumian what he had always wanted to ask. Not to mention Meng Po, even with Zhao Wumian's martial arts skills and half of his innate Ten Thousand Poisons Body, he could not completely ignore the deadly poison in Zi Yi's body.

Canglang had lost too much blood, and his eyes were slightly unfocused. Even though he was half-dead, he looked at the purple-clad man with a hint of doubt as a martial artist.

"What do you care who I am... but if I can poison you, I can also cure you." The woman in purple raised her hand and brushed the stray hairs from her shoulder.

"Then hurry up..."

"Let him go first."

Zhao Wumian felt that this was not the time to bicker or be jealous, but Ziyi was clearly still thinking about how Meng Po had used her face to seduce her man in the palace, so he obediently helped Meng Po sit down on a stone bench.

Only then, by the dim light, did he examine the layout of the stone chamber.

The stone chamber had no partitions, and all the furnishings could be seen at a glance: bookshelves displaying jade slips, weapon racks, wooden training figures, meditation cushions, and even an ancient and understated alchemy furnace in the distance.

This is a practice room, but judging from the dust and signs of age on the walls, it has probably been uninhabited for decades.

Could this be Uudam's training room from when he was young? That guy also knew alchemy.
Zhao Wumian examined the alchemy furnace, raising his hand to gently stroke the patterns on it. Although he didn't understand alchemy, he could tell that the furnace was made of a very valuable material.

Suddenly, they heard the voices of Zi Yi and Meng Po talking behind them.

"The Meng Po of the Western Regions, hmph, now you've truly fallen into our hands..."

"Hey! What do you mean? Who's the witch here, you or me? We were just working together..."

"He's bewitched by your beauty, but I won't easily trust a Western Region enchantress... Our alliance just now was merely a temporary measure, how could it be taken seriously?"

"What exactly do you want to do?"

"Hand over the Imperial Seal. I know you must have found something in the study. Besides, you'd better cooperate with us honestly and not have any wicked thoughts. I don't want to use a curse on you..."

Such a beautiful face, such a voluptuous figure, if a venomous insect were to crawl out of your body and leave scars, even I would feel heartbroken…

The woman in purple was very persuasive and her demeanor was far more like that of a demoness than Meng Po, but her approach was clearly more appropriate.

After all, although Zhao Wumian and Meng Po had made a verbal promise to cooperate in Jiannan, it was only to ensure that Meng Po would not have any ulterior motives.

It's always wise to be wary of people from the Western Regions Holy Sect.

Meng Po bit her lower lip, feeling somewhat aggrieved, but given her position, it was indeed only natural for Zi Yi to be wary of him.

Perhaps this is what Zhao Wumian meant.

She turned her pretty face away and began to shed tears. Her face was like a pear blossom in the rain, so pitiful and charming that anyone who saw her would surely beat their chest in regret, annoyed at how they had made such a beauty cry.

The woman in purple sneered at her, completely unmoved.

"Alright, alright, you two, stop making such a fuss. Hurry up and get rid of the poison so we can leave Mingdu and catch up with Yuanmu and the others."

Zhao Wumian looked back and said with a hint of helplessness.

Meng Po immediately stopped crying, then pouted and said, "Hmph, this is boring."

It was all an act, as expected.

How could a demoness shed tears so easily?

Zi Yi rolled her eyes with a charming expression, raised her hand and let the little white snake emerge from her sleeve and bite Meng Po's wrist. Then she came to Zhao Wumian's side and examined the alchemy furnace together. After a moment of doubt, she suddenly showed a slight emotion.

"This alchemy furnace... I would believe it if you said it could refine elixirs for the mortal world, let alone elixirs for the martial arts world."

"That's so good?" Zhao Wumian was slightly taken aback.

The two exchanged a glance, and then Zhao Wumian said, "Move back?"

"This... We've come all this way to Mingdu, plundered the national treasury, smashed up the study, demolished this building, and now we want to move their alchemy furnace? Isn't that going a bit too far?"

"Do you want to?"

"Think~"

The woman in purple drew out her voice in a coquettish tone, which was slightly naive and extremely cute.

"Then let's move it." Zhao Wumian held the furnace foot with one hand, lifting it with ease, weighing the two-person-high furnace a few times, creating a strong visual effect.

Canglanghan inexplicably spat out another mouthful of blood.

Meng Po rubbed her wrist, which had been bitten by the little white snake, and glanced at the two despicable people. She felt a sour smell in the air.

She got up, glanced around, went to the bookshelf, took out the jade slip, and examined it with her eyes down.

"The characters from the Central Plains..."

The woman in purple also leaned closer to look, "This is... a pill formula?"

She flipped through some jade slips, her eyes growing brighter with each reading. "These are all pill formulas I've never seen before... This is truly refining immortal pills!"

"Can one refine elixirs of immortality in the mortal world?" Zhao Wumian asked curiously.

"Whether it's an elixir or not, I don't know, but it's definitely a level above all elixirs in the mortal world... This, what kind of deity left this stone chamber?"

The three huddled together, examining the artifact. Meng Po frowned slightly. "This is the capital of the Rong people, yet the jade slips left behind are written in Central Plains script..."

Zi Yi guessed, "These traces of the immortals from the past may have existed for hundreds of years. It just so happened that they were discovered by the Rong people, who then used them as a foundation to build the Mingdu. It can be considered as inheriting the legacy of the immortals and adding a touch of immortal energy."

Zhao Wumian pondered for a moment, and then made some guesses.

During the conversation, Zi Yi caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye, and suddenly her delicate body trembled. She raised her hand and took out a gold hairpin from the bookshelf.

The gold hairpin was placed in the corner of the bookshelf, and it looked newer than the other furnishings.

"This, isn't this Mother's hairpin?" Ziyi rubbed her eyes, carefully examining the gold hairpin, wondering if her memory was playing tricks on her.

"Your mother's hairpin?" Meng Po looked at it curiously, examined it for a few moments, and then said, "You are from the Central Plains, and your mother is also from the Central Plains. How could a hairpin be here? You must be mistaken."

Purple Robe rubbed her eyes again, realizing she might have misremembered. "Strange..."

"There are countless hairpins of the same style in the world..." Meng Po looked up at the ceiling and faintly heard the sound of hurried footsteps above. She knew that the Rong people had gathered and were pressing in, so she urged them on:

"Let's pack up the good stuff in the stone chamber and get out of here quickly..."

Zi Yi realized what was happening, casually stuffed the gold hairpin into her sleeve, then put down her bundle and stuffed the jade slip inside.

Hoof thud —

Someone floated down lightly from the opening in the stone chamber's ceiling, their embroidered shoes touching the ground—it was Xiao Yuanmu.

She carried a blood-stained dagger, seemingly having killed many along the way; her breathing was slightly rapid. Seeing the three of them huddled together, she quickly said:

"Retreat immediately! The Rong army outside the city is about to besiege it..."

Without further delay, Zhao Wumian picked up the alchemy furnace, smashed it upwards to widen the opening, and let the girls retreat first.

He stayed in the stone chamber and ransacked it again, making sure he hadn't left behind any treasures before preparing to leave.

Canglanghan, who had been silent all along as if he were dead, suddenly spoke.

"This is... the former Imperial Preceptor's place of seclusion."

The former imperial advisor... Uudam's master, Ji Yingshi.

Zhao Wumian paused and turned around.

Canglang Khan met his gaze, and after a few seconds, he whispered:

"Your wife... she might have the surname Ji."

Zhao Wumian remained silent.

Click, click—

The influx of Rong people into this area has caused cracks to appear in the otherwise sturdy ceiling, indicating that it is on the verge of a second collapse.

Zhao Wumian withdrew his gaze. "Thank you for your explanation."

As soon as he finished speaking, he flew away.

Soon, the falling rocks pressed down, the stone chamber collapsed, and Canglanghan was completely buried.

In the first year of Guichan's reign, at the end of winter.

Zhao Wumian left the pass and headed north, entered the Ming capital, stormed the imperial city, and killed Canglang Khan and Ding Jingcheng, two martial arts champions.

The ruling and opposition parties were shocked.

  (End of this chapter)