Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 678 Obey
Xu Shu looked at Elder Zhou, her eyes blazing with fury.

Xie Yuyan made a casual remark, and some people actually believed it.

Xu Shu stared at Elder Zhou: "You conspired with her to harm me." She suddenly realized why only Elder Zhou had escaped; Elder Zhou was clearly one of Xu Lai's men.

Elder Zhou stayed by her side, waiting for this day.

Elder Zhou stood there, stunned: "What is the Venerable One saying? I risked my life to protect the Venerable One and help him escape, how could I harm the Venerable One?"

"Your Excellency, honest advice is hard to swallow!"

Elder Zhou's seemingly loyal demeanor now only disgusted Xu Shu, making her wish she could kill him with a single blow.

"We cannot make the same mistake again."

"Otherwise, we would be letting down those who died as believers, and even more so, the disciples who risked their lives to protect our leader as he fled."

"Shut up!" Xu Shu shouted, propping herself up and actually kicking Elder Zhou.

Elder Zhou did not dodge, but took the blow squarely and fell to the side.

The sudden change was not surprising; instead, an eerie silence descended upon the surroundings.

Xu Shu came to her senses and looked at Xue Er and the others, only to find that Xue Er avoided her gaze, as did all the other believers.

She felt as if she had been doused with a bucket of ice water and couldn't help but shiver.

She was indeed injured, but half of her weakness was feigned. Now, after being provoked by Elder Zhou, she has given herself away.

Some things are unreasonable.

No one would carefully consider whether Xie Yuyan's words were true or false. As soon as they discovered that she was still lying, they would assume that she had other plans and thus believe Xie Yuyan's story.

She simply couldn't refute it.

At this moment, all her prestige within the Holy Church vanished.

Xue Er hadn't expected things to escalate to this point. When he encountered Xie Yuyan on the road, he heard that Xie Yuyan wanted to see the Supreme Leader. He subconsciously assumed that Xie Yuyan wanted to join forces with the Supreme Leader, hoping to gain some benefits as long as the Holy Sect was still useful.

This was undoubtedly an opportunity, so Xue Er did not hesitate to bring Xie Yuyan here, but on the condition that Xie Yuyan could only bring three people with him.

Xie Yuyan readily agreed. At the time, Xue Er thought it was Xie Yuyan showing their sincerity, but now he felt that Xie Yuyan agreed because he was certain that the trip would be safe and sound.

Xue Er's mind was in turmoil. He didn't believe Xie Yuyan's words, yet he subconsciously felt disappointed in the leader.

Regardless of whether Xie Yizhi could deceive the court, the Emperor would certainly do as Xie Yizhi instructed. After thinking haphazardly for a while, Xue Er looked at Xu Shu again and met her sorrowful gaze. He immediately clenched his hands.

“Take Xie and Elder Zhou out,” Xu Shu said. “I don’t want to hear them talk anymore.”

As soon as Xu Shu finished speaking, Xue Er stepped forward. At that moment, he noticed that the rest of the Holy Cult members were standing motionless in place.

Xue Er frowned and said, "Didn't you hear the leader's instructions?"

Still no one moved.

Elder Zhou stopped talking and got up from the ground, standing to one side.

Xu Shu looked at everyone, her body went limp, and she leaned against the tree trunk again. Seeing this, Xue Er gripped the long sword at his waist. Before the blade was even drawn, he could feel the killing intent directed at him.

It originated from people around Xie Yuyan... and the surrounding Christian believers.

With just a few words from Xie Yuyan, the Holy Sect completely disintegrated, and Xu Shu lost her last support.

Xu Shu took a deep breath and looked at Xie Yuyan: "What do you want me to do?"

Xie Yuyan didn't say anything, but stood up and walked outside.

Xu Shu looked at Xie Yuyan's back and struggled to say something, but found that she had no strength at all. This time she was not pretending... but was really defeated.

If Xie Yuyan had come, she could have made demands; now that she wanted to catch up, she could only beg Xie Yuyan to show them a way to survive. The important thing was that Xu Shu knew Xie Yuyan wouldn't agree to anything, but even so, they still had to follow his arrangements.

Xu Shu gritted her teeth. She didn't want to be manipulated by Xie Yuyan. Even if it meant death, she couldn't...

Just as she thought of this, Xu Shu suddenly shivered. The chill came from the gazes directed at her from all around, filled with anger and murderous intent. Those faces that should have been familiar suddenly seemed strange.

Xu Shu suddenly felt fear. She struggled to sit up again and said in a trembling voice, "Help me to see Xie Yuyan."

……

Yang Jun received news that Xie Yuyan and his men had not gone to Bianjing, but instead headed east.

Xie Yuyan's actions were clearly an attempt to track down his whereabouts.

This is not right.

If Xie Yuyan was bluffing, he should have taken advantage of the defeat to head to the nearest government office, where he could at least get protection from the authorities.

She didn't do that; instead, she chased after him all the way.

I wouldn't make such a decision unless I was extremely confident.

There is only one explanation: the imperial court is indeed trying to capture him, and it's not just these troops they've sent; there must be a large number of reinforcements behind him.

Yang Jun asked, "There's still no news from home?"

The general beside him shook his head: "The journey is long, so it's normal that the secret letter didn't arrive in time."

Yang Jun's face, however, became even more somber.

The general whispered, "Could it be that the Commander-in-Chief thinks something has happened in Fujian?"

“After we came out, they just happened to make their move on Fujian,” Yang Jun said. “This was a classic case of luring the tiger away from the mountain.”

They used Xie Yuyan as bait to lure him out.

The troops in Fujian are all under his control. Anyone who tries to attack him will surely cause a mutiny. Now that he is not in Fujian, everything is much easier.

Once the imperial court captures a few key military generals, the rest will have no choice but to surrender.

"Then what should we do?" the general asked. "Should we rush back immediately?"

Yang Jun frowned: "I'm afraid it's too late. No wonder Xie suddenly left Bianjing. I thought she had lost her mind, but it turns out it was a trap from the beginning."

Xie Yizhi first fell into the trap and sent Xu Shu out. After Xu Shu got into trouble, he came to clean up the mess.

They all voluntarily offered themselves to Xie Yuyan.

No, there's also the Wang family.

Xie Yuyan could not have planned such a comprehensive scheme on his own; Wang Yan must have been involved.

"Then... what should we do?" the general asked, his voice trembling slightly. He also had parents, a wife, and children. If something happened in Fujian, it would mean that he would not be able to rescue his family.

“The troops in Fujian can’t be moved,” Yang Jun said. “We can only mobilize the troops at sea and send a message to the merchants in Srivijaya to ask them to send troops to support us. After the matter is settled, I will give them a sum of money as a reward.”

By mobilizing all the private soldiers at sea, we can fight even if we encounter the imperial army.

The general said, "There's no time to lose; we must set off now."

Yang Jun nodded and immediately ordered his men to prepare. They were to travel southeast and board a ship in Dengzhou.

The group rode their horses at full gallop, and after only half an hour, the riders leading the way suddenly let out a scream. The two horses at the front had fallen off, and the riders on them had also fallen to the ground.

"A tripwire, an ambush."

(End of this chapter)