Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 342 A seasoned veteran, a thief-king and a beauty
When they could no longer see any greenery under their feet, Lu Xiaofeng and his companions realized that they had left the territory ruled by the Star Luo Sect and officially entered the Western Desert.

This relieved everyone.

Especially Lu Xiaofeng.

Back in Star Luo Holy City, he was genuinely worried that his identity being exposed would bring unpredictable consequences.

"A lone plume of smoke rises straight from the desert, the setting sun hangs round over the long river... The desert scenery is indeed quite different from that of the Central Plains."

Looking at the desolate Western Regions, Afei sighed.

"Stop reminiscing, where exactly is this place?"

Lu Xiaofeng looked around and said helplessly.

The surrounding area was desolate, and in the distance, a strong wind whipped up sand and dust.

There was no one in front of us, and no one behind us.

Li Xunhuan said, "Brother Lu, what you are encountering now is the real Western Regions. Apart from the oasis settlements, there are few people in other places. In such places, you can use the sun, a few plants, or distant mountains to determine your location."

Actually, it's alright here. If you were in a vast desert where you couldn't even see mountains, just endless yellow sand, it would be easy to lose your way.

As he spoke, he looked around and made a rough calculation, saying, "In another three days, we should be near the Kingdom of Tianxiang. We'll pass through several other countries along the way, but we won't get lost."

"Fine……"

Having always lived in the Central Plains, it is indeed quite difficult to get used to the climate of the Western Regions, which is so different from that of the Central Plains.

This is because Lu Xiaofeng possesses the cultivation of a grandmaster, with abundant true energy that makes him impervious to heat and cold.

Otherwise, the extreme heat of the Western Regions would teach him a great lesson.

That being said, Afei and Tie Chuanjia could not use their true qi to resist the high temperature at all times.

To accommodate the two, the group changed their travel schedule immediately after entering the Western Regions.

They would find a place to rest during the day and then embark on a long journey at night.

On this day, according to Li Xunhuan's estimate, when the group was about a day's journey from Tianxiang Kingdom, the sound of galloping horses suddenly came from afar.

Lu Xiaofeng immediately sat up and asked, "What's going on? Are there bandits?"

The so-called "bandits" were actually horse bandits.

In places like the Western Regions, horses are an important means of transportation; even bandits who commit robbery usually do so on horseback.

Because horses typically wear bells, and bandits usually fire whistling arrows before raiding, these roaming bandits were called "bandits."

There is another type of bandit called Pandao.

This refers to robbery committed at key transportation points.

The four of them had only encountered roadblocks on their journey, but had not encountered any bandits.

After all, even bandits have eyes. There were only four of them, and they didn't seem to be carrying much. Even if they did rob them, what could they possibly get?
Lu Xiaofeng believed it would be bandits because in the vast Western Regions, the issue of horsepower had to be considered.

Letting the horse move forward slowly is the best way to sustain it in the long run.

If the horse were to gallop at full speed, it would probably collapse from exhaustion in just a few minutes.

Especially since it's still daytime.

The others were also startled by the sound of hooves and got up.

Li Xunhuan looked into the distance and said, "It seems that someone is being chased."

Lu Xiaofeng saw it too.

The sound of hooves came from two groups, one with four people and four horses, and the other with thirty or forty people.

It was obvious that the group behind was chasing the four people in front.

The saying "to draw one's sword to help those in need" is often associated with young chivalrous heroes.

Those true veterans, when faced with this situation, mostly ignore it.

It's not that they lack ability or kindness, but rather that in the world of martial arts, without understanding the circumstances, one cannot judge good and evil.

What is injustice?

The four people were being chased by more than thirty people; they were clearly the pitiful and weaker party.

But who knows if those four people are not powerful and wicked people who are now being retaliated against?
Even worse, it's possible that this is a trap set for them, waiting for them to enter so that they will be ambushed and killed by both sides.

Lu Xiaofeng and the others were all seasoned veterans, and at first glance, they couldn't distinguish between good and evil, so they didn't immediately take action.

The four men being chased also saw Lu Xiaofeng and the others, and suddenly pulled on the reins, turning their horses away.

Upon seeing this, Lu Xiaofeng's eyes lit up, and he immediately took to the air, appearing in front of the group of more than thirty people in no time: "Gentlemen, in such hot weather, aren't you afraid of getting heatstroke from fighting?"

The crowd's eyes were fierce, and without saying a word, they drew their knives and slashed at him.

Lu Xiaofeng's gaze turned cold, and his figure flashed like a ghost, moving back and forth among the crowd in the blink of an eye.

The next moment, everyone fell off their horses, and a few unlucky ones were even trampled by the horses, causing cries of pain to fill the air.

The leader, who possessed acquired cultivation, forced himself to stand up, bowed, and said in broken Chinese, "Respected strongman, please forgive our intrusion. We will leave now and hope to obtain your permission."

Before Lu Xiaofeng could speak, a voice rang out: "We can't let them leave! They're Black Lamas. If we let them go, they'll definitely send a large force to hunt them down!"

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the four people from before had turned back upon seeing this, and one of them, a man dressed in black, shouted anxiously.

"Revered One, we Black Lamas hold all the strong in the utmost respect. Please trust us, we will never offend your dignity."

"Okay, you can go now."

Lu Xiaofeng waved his hand.

"Thank you, esteemed expert!"

Overjoyed, everyone grabbed their companions, mounted their horses, and quickly departed.

"Oh dear, how could you..."

The man in black was somewhat angry, but before he could finish speaking, someone next to him tugged at him and then said to Lu Xiaofeng, "Thank you for your help. We were chased all the way here, and we lost our temper when we saw that our pursuers were let go. Please forgive us."

Lu Xiaofeng then noticed that the four people were actually one man and three women.

All three women covered their faces with veils, but their eyes, which were visible, clearly showed that they were exceptionally beautiful.

The only man in black, however, also had delicate skin...

Despite this, Lu Xiaofeng said nonchalantly, "No need to thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank them for your kindness before."

If the four hadn't suddenly changed direction after seeing Lu Xiaofeng and his group, instead of leading the thirty-odd people chasing them towards them, thus showing their kindness, Lu Xiaofeng wouldn't have acted so easily.

The woman nodded and said, "We have come here at great speed, and our horses are tired. I wonder if we can rest in that shady spot?"

“That shady spot is a natural place, not ours to claim. Please make yourselves at home.”

So everyone went to the only shady spot nearby, which was where Lu Xiaofeng and the others had just rested.

Upon seeing Li Xunhuan and his two companions, a thoughtful look appeared in the woman's eyes. She then tentatively asked, "The three of you... could you be Li Xunhuan, A Fei, and Tie Chuanjia?"

"Huh?" Afei was taken aback: "How did you know?"

The woman smiled and said, "The trio of you is quite famous in the Ming Kingdom." Ever since Li Xunhuan returned to the Ming Kingdom, Tie Chuanjia and A Fei had always been by his side.

One was a master of hard skills, a burly man as strong as an iron tower.

One was a master swordsman, a very young boy.

Add to that the extremely famous Little Li Flying Dagger, Li Xunhuan.

The trio's characteristics had already spread throughout the Ming Dynasty.

Although the three of them had put on some disguises, they were not Lu Xiaofeng after all, so their disguises were not very thorough. After leaving the territory ruled by the Star Luo Sect, they almost completely removed their disguises.

Only Lu Xiaofeng was still being carefully disguised with his complete disguise.

Therefore, he was not recognized at all.

Li Xunhuan and his two companions were recognized.

Li Xunhuan said, "Since you recognize us, are you perhaps also a person from the Ming Dynasty?"

The woman smiled and said, "My name is Su Rongrong, this is Li Hongxiu, and this is Song Tian'er."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiaofeng exclaimed with delight, "So these are Chu Liuxiang's three beauties! It's a pity we've never met them before, otherwise we would have recognized them earlier. And this one... could she be Chu Liuxiang in disguise?"

The man said, "I am not Chu Liuxiang. My name is Black Pearl, and I am the son of Jamukha, the King of the Desert!"

"Son? It should be a daughter, right?" Lu Xiaofeng said with a smile.

Black Pearl's eyes were jet black, reflecting the sunlight, just like black pearls: "How did you figure it out? Even Chu Liuxiang couldn't tell from my disguise!"

Lu Xiaofeng said, "There's nothing wrong with your attire, but if you weren't a woman, why would Miss Su be so close to you?"

Su Rongrong asked curiously, "You're traveling with Li Xunhuan, so you must be no ordinary person. You're wearing a disguise?"

"Huh? How did you know I was wearing a disguise?" Lu Xiaofeng asked, but before he could answer, he slapped his forehead and said, "I remember now, Chu Liuxiang said that you are best at making disguise masks. It seems that my disguise can't hide from you, the master of disguise!"

"So, who exactly are you?"

Li Xunhuan said, "He is Lu Xiaofeng."

“Lu Xiaofeng? Why are you disguised for no reason?” Li Hongxiu asked.

Su Rongrong's eyes darted around, and she said, "I've heard that the current leader of the Star Luo Sect, who rules the Western Regions, has a grudge against Lu Xiaofeng. Could it be that you're worried about him?"

Lu Xiaofeng clasped his hands in a fist and said, “Miss Su is indeed intelligent. However, this matter must not be spread, otherwise, I will be in big trouble.”

Although the two sides had never met, they were acquainted through Chu Liuxiang, who was not present at the scene.

Su Rongrong and the other two women are already living together with Chu Liuxiang.

Chu Liuxiang's residence was not in any fixed location, but on a ship.

All three women lived with him.

Even so, Chu Liuxiang currently does not regard the three women as women, but only as younger sisters.

The three men had ulterior motives, but because of the young woman's shyness, they dared not speak first.

The relationship is quite complex.

"How did you all come to the Western Regions?" Su Rongrong asked.

“This…” Lu Xiaofeng glanced at Black Pearl and said, “We are currently investigating a rather secret matter, and I’m afraid it’s inconvenient to tell you.”

Black Pearl noticed this and said unhappily, "Fine, don't tell me then, why are you looking at me?"

Lu Xiaofeng felt a little awkward and quickly changed the subject: "So how did the three young ladies come to the Western Regions? And when you arrived, didn't Chu Liuxiang come with you?"

Su Rongrong, however, said frankly: "Brother Chu was very busy some time ago. Black Pearl invited us to the Western Regions, so we didn't tell him and came directly."

"Some time ago? It was about the Beggars' Sect leader. I've heard about that too." Lu Xiaofeng nodded.

Previously, the new leader of the Beggars' Sect, Nangong Ling, was discovered by Chu Liuxiang to have murdered the former leader and imprisoned the leader's wife before becoming the new leader.

After the matter was discovered, Nangong Ling committed suicide.

However, there was another mastermind behind this matter, namely Wu Hua, one of the Seven Wonders Monks of Shaolin Temple.

Although this person was well hidden, he was still discovered by Chu Liuxiang and committed suicide as well.

Speaking of which, Chu Liuxiang and Wuhua were also good friends, but this friend became the mastermind behind the manipulation of the martial arts world, and his true colors were exposed by his good friend Chu Liuxiang.

In this respect, Chu Liuxiang and Lu Xiaofeng are indeed very similar.

Even more similarly, the reason Chu Liuxiang intervened in this case and uncovered the truth was entirely because Wuhua deliberately framed him.

The former wife of the Beggar Clan leader, who was imprisoned by Nangong Ling, was a rare beauty in her youth, with many admirers.

In an attempt to escape her predicament, she sent SOS messages to her four most devoted admirers, but when they arrived, they were all poisoned to death by Wuhua.

The body fell into the river and flowed directly to Chu Liuxiang.

One of these four sycophants is Jamukha, the King of the Desert.

Black Pearl traveled from the Western Regions to the Central Plains in order to investigate her father's death, where she met Chu Liuxiang and then Su Rongrong and the other two women.

Su Rongrong and the other two girls were very unhappy with Chu Liuxiang's attitude of always treating them like younger sisters, but they couldn't say it outright, so they wanted to provoke Chu Liuxiang.

Black Pearl had some unpleasant experiences with Chu Liuxiang and was looking for revenge.

The two sides hit it off.

The three women then followed Black Pearl to the Western Regions.

Before leaving, Black Pearl made a point of leaving her horse behind.

An old horse knows the way; as long as Chu Liuxiang rides her horse, they will soon be able to find them in the Western Regions.

But for some reason, Chu Liuxiang never appeared.

What's even more embarrassing is that within just a few short months, the situation in the Western Regions has changed dramatically.

Jamukha was known as the King of the Desert, and his forces were naturally powerful.

Even though he is currently missing, he can still be considered a powerful figure in the Western Regions.

However, this also attracted the attention of a powerful bandit group called "Grey Wind" that suddenly appeared in the desert.

Black Pearl originally invited the three women to have fun, but after arriving in the Western Regions, they not only couldn't have fun, but were also constantly living in fear.

Furthermore, since Chu Liuxiang had not appeared, the three women worried that something had happened, so they decided to return to the Central Plains.

Black Pearl felt extremely guilty, so she gathered her men and decided to send them back to the Central Plains.

Who knew that not long after they separated from the main force, they were discovered by Gray God Wind.

Having finally escaped, they fled in a panic and ended up in the Black Lama's territory.

It's unclear whether the Black Lama recognized Black Pearl's identity or was simply lusting after the three women's beauty, but he sent over a hundred bandits to capture the four.

The four fought and fled, killing seventy or eighty of the more than one hundred bandits. Finally, their true energy was exhausted, and they could only rely on their horsepower to escape.

Until he was rescued by Lu Xiaofeng.

(End of this chapter)