Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 142 Battle: Matchmaker and Cult Leader
After the icy aura emanating from Li Linghuan gradually subsided, Hongniang spoke up, "You should be able to guess who in the Great Zhou court least wants the Prince of Luling to return to Luoyang?"

“King Wu Chengsi of Wei has always been determined to seize the position of Crown Prince. However, since he was dismissed from his post as prime minister, he has not dared to make any rash moves. Are you perhaps referring to King Wu Sansi of Liang?”

"Wu Sansi is indeed cunning and deeply favored by the Empress. However, it is not Wu Sansi who wants the life of the Prince of Luling!"

As the matchmaker spoke, she looked at Li Linghuan with an extremely alluring smile and said in a hoarse voice, "Sometimes the person you least expect is most likely to be your enemy. Your closest friend, family member, or even the person you love could be your enemy!"

Li Linghuan seemed to hear echoes in her ears. In Hongniang's eyes, she saw her past life again. In her past life, she regarded her brothers Li Hong, Li Xian, and Li Xian as her closest people. For them, she was willing to go through fire and water, and she trained herself into an indestructible pawn or even a death warrior.

After Li Hong and Li Xian were killed by their mother, she poured all her affection and hope into Li Xian. She planned for him, protected him, won over the five ministers, and actively plotted to force him to abdicate. All Li Xian needed to do was be a good-natured man or an obedient son. He not only swore an oath in front of the Mingtang Hall at the Empress's request to help the Wu family and live in peace from then on, but also proved his determination by marrying his two daughters to the sons of Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi respectively.

But what did he do later? He cowardly hid in the Eastern Palace, letting her lead the charge. After the mission was accomplished, he discarded her like a used millstone, showing no affection whatsoever.

Just as Li Linghuan's consciousness was still in the dream of his past life, a loud shout suddenly rang in his ears:
"Oh no, Ah Huan, get out of the way! The matchmaker can use mind control!"

That's Murong Xian'er's voice.

Immediately afterwards, Xiao Muchen rushed towards her anxiously.

Li Linghuan then realized that this woman could also use her voice to hypnotize people, a more powerful form of hypnosis than the red string's bell.

No, that's not right! This woman seems to have a special fragrance about her.

Could it be that this fragrance has the effect of making people dizzy and confused?
In just a moment of hesitation, Hongniang's pupils contracted sharply, and the silver needle in her hand struck her abdomen once more.

In that split second, a powerful force pushed her away. When she turned around, she saw that Xiao Muchen had rushed to her original spot. Although he had blocked it with his sleeve, a silver needle had still pierced his abdomen.

The matchmaker was shocked. Seeing cold sweat beading on Xiao Muchen's forehead, who was already struck by her embroidered needle, she smiled with surprise and said, "Minister Xiao, you truly impress me. I, the matchmaker, have seen countless unfaithful men in this world. No matter how devoted they appear to their loved ones, when I place the choice between life and death before them, without exception, they will choose to kill their wives and live on. But you..."

"Cut the nonsense!"

Before she could finish speaking, Li Linghuan had already leaped in front of her again. Hongniang barely had time to dodge before she suddenly took several steps back. At that moment, Wang Xianke and the young master of Xingyang came to meet her.

Li Linghuan helped Xiao Muchen up and asked, "Are you alright?"

"nothing."

Xiao Muchen had barely uttered a word when Hongniang laughed and said, "It's impossible for him to be unharmed. My embroidery needles are covered in deadly poison. He can't move anymore. If he takes another step, he might die."

“My beauty, why don’t you just surrender obediently and I will give him the antidote and take you to see our leader. After all, our leader is very fond of talent. He knows that your hypnosis skills are probably unmatched in the world, and that Xiao Zhongcheng is also a rare genius. He wants you to become a member of our legend.”

Li Linghuan's heart stirred slightly. If he could really take this opportunity to meet this legendary leader and the mastermind behind the scenes, it would not be a bad idea.

However, the matter of sending Li Xian and the others back to Luoyang would be abandoned. If Li Xian died here, it would be considered that she had avenged her past life's grudge, but the doubts that had been accumulating in her heart for a long time would never be answered again.

Moreover, Li Xian absolutely cannot die here, otherwise it will bring Xiao Muchen and Murong Huan another devastating disaster. Perhaps killing Li Xian and shifting the blame onto Xiao Muchen and Murong Huan is the real purpose of the person behind the scenes.

“Alright! Then give me the antidote now, and I’ll go with you to see your leader,” Li Linghuan said.

As soon as she finished speaking, Madam Wei and Li Guo'er, who were hiding behind them, became anxious.

"You can't leave? We haven't even returned to Luoyang yet, how can you abandon us?"

“But Xiao Muchen is poisoned now. He is the envoy who came to welcome you. If he dies, you will not be able to return to Luoyang!” Li Linghuan said unhappily.

Li Guo'er's gaze fell on Xiao Muchen, her lips moved, seemingly heartbroken and struggling to make a decision. But after only a moment, she seemed to understand and retorted, "Even if he dies, you can't abandon us. Otherwise, these people will definitely kill us. They're here to stop us from going back, to stop my father from going back to inherit the throne..."

"Guo'er, shut up! Stop talking!" Madam Wei said sternly, quickly covering Li Guo'er's mouth.

The matchmaker laughed again: "Yes, actually our purpose in coming here is to get rid of Prince Li Xian of Luling, so that our employer will have one less formidable rival vying for the throne."

"Murong Huan, what do their deaths have to do with you? Are their lives more important than your husband's?"

"Of course it can't compare!"

Li Linghuan answered decisively, "However, if you continue to talk nonsense, I will kill you first."

As soon as she finished speaking, she reached out again with lightning speed, striking towards Hong Niang's face. At the same time, the young master of Xingyang and Wang Xianke each drew their swords and thrust them towards Li Linghuan.

"Ah Huan, watch out!"

Ah Shu couldn't help but shout.

At this moment, Murong Xian'er also drew her sword from her waist, strode over to Li Linghuan's side, stood back to back with him, and pointed her sword at the enemy who was attacking them.

"Among these legendary masters, Hongniang is skilled in hidden weapons and poisons, while Wang Xianke is adept at swordsmanship. His swordsmanship is extremely fast. The swordsmanship of the young master of Xingyang is not very good, but he is extremely cooperative with his companions. He also has a skill, which is singing."

What will his singing be like?

"Extremely pessimistic, disturbing one's mind."

As Murong Xian'er recounted her story, the assassins' expressions changed drastically. Hongniang, incredulous, gritted her teeth and said, "Murong Xian'er, how do you know so much about us? As far as I know, everyone in the Legendary guild is a individually trained expert with their own hidden skills, which they don't easily reveal to their opponents. Even other assassins in the Legendary guild wouldn't know how strong their companions are. Furthermore, the guild leader wouldn't send out multiple Legendary experts at once, unless it was like fifteen years ago, or like today."

Murong Xian'er then said, "Because I have seen the sect leader's study, where all of your names are displayed. My memory is not bad, and I only looked at it for a moment before memorizing them all."

Including your background!

The sword of the young master of Xingyang attacked like a serpent, only to be deflected by Li Linghuan's short sword.

At that moment, all four assassins froze!

"The cult leader's study? You actually got into the cult leader's study?"

The matchmaker shrieked, her tone seemingly tinged with jealousy and resentment. She had been with the cult leader for so long and was utterly loyal to him, yet he never allowed her into his study, his private space.

Murong Xian'er continued, "Matchmaker, you have tied the knot for many couples. Among them, some are grateful to you, while others hate you. If they find a good match, you are a benefactor; if they find a bad match, you are an enemy. You were betrayed by your best friend, who stole your fiancé and caused the extermination of your entire Yang family. When you were desperate, you met the legendary cult leader, who taught you how to kill and helped you avenge your blood feud. From then on, you fell in love with him, didn't you?"

"Shut up! Who would dare to blaspheme someone as sacred and noble as the leader?"

Hongniang suddenly raised her eyebrows and shouted.

Murong Xian'er gave a cold, sarcastic smile: "Hong Niang, have you been in the Legend for too long and forgotten your real name? Your surname is Yang, and you are a descendant of the Yang family of the previous dynasty. If the previous dynasty had not fallen, you would also be of noble birth."

"How can a murderer be considered noble and sacred? How could you be so humble in front of him?"

Hongniang seemed to be touched, and suddenly felt an overwhelming bitterness in her heart: Yes! She had forgotten her own background. Her Yang family had produced emperors in the previous dynasty, but it was precisely because of this that after the change of dynasties, they, the descendants of the Yang family's imperial clan, lived as if walking on thin ice.

That's what gave that woman and her former fiancé the opportunity to take advantage of the situation, ultimately ruining the entire Yang family.

Thinking of this, Hongniang suddenly shrieked, "That's because you don't understand everything the leader has done. You don't understand him, so naturally you don't know how good he is!" After saying that, Hongniang pointed to Li Xian, who was cowering behind someone, "Putting aside everything else, look at the person you took back to succeed Wu Zhou. You risked your lives to protect him, but what about him? He doesn't care about your lives at all just to save his own."

And this so-called princess, just a moment ago she was secretly in love with Minister Xiao, but the next moment, upon learning that he was poisoned and about to die, her first thought was whether she could survive and whether her father could inherit the position of crown prince, rather than seeking an antidote for the man who had tried so hard to protect them.

Don't you find it ironic?

"There are too many heartless and corrupt people in this world. The leader's actions are to sweep away this filth and restore peace to the world!"

At this point in the matchmaking, Wang Xianke seemed to be getting impatient and urged, "Why waste so much time talking to them? If we don't complete the mission, we'll all die!"

The matchmaker's face paled slightly. She shouted and, clutching the embroidery needle in her sleeve, attacked Li Linghuan and Murong Xian'er.

A-Shu rushed over to support Xiao Muchen, and when she saw that his originally fair and flawless face seemed to be spreading with dark energy, she was so frightened that she almost cried out.

"Master Xiao, how are you? How can I help you? You absolutely cannot be hurt, otherwise what will happen to A-Huan?"

Xiao Muchen then pointed to a brocade pouch at his waist and said, "Help me take this off. There's a pill inside that A-Huan taught me to make. It can temporarily suppress the spread of the poison."

"Alright!" As she spoke, A-Shu took out the brocade pouch, poured out the pills inside, and was about to feed them to Xiao Muchen when a sword aura struck, startling A-Shu so much that her hand trembled and the pills fell to the ground.

Ah Shu hurriedly began searching around on the ground.

At this moment, Liu Sheng also ran over to help. He reassembled the mechanical dragon that he had put away and controlled it to rush towards the four people, finally giving Li Linghuan and Murong Xian'er a chance to catch their breath.

The enormous mechanical dragon roamed around the not-so-large post station, frightening the travelers who had come to stay there into screaming and fleeing in all directions.

Just then, the sound of horses' hooves came again from outside the post station.

It seemed that nearly a hundred fine horses were galloping towards them. Upon hearing the sound of hooves, Liu Sheng immediately retracted the mechanical dragon and went outside the post station. Sure enough, a group of soldiers were rushing towards them. On the leading horses sat a man in red, a woman in purple, and a man in white.

The sound of horses' hooves pounding on the quiet mountain road was deafening, and they arrived at an incredible speed.

The man in red at the front immediately jumped off his horse and demanded, "Has something happened at this post station? Is Minister Xiao inside?"

Before Liu Sheng could answer, the woman in purple and the man in white strode over. The group rushed into the inn and found that the people inside were already locked in a fierce battle, with tables and chairs destroyed by sword energy all around.

Upon seeing Li Linghuan and Murong Xian'er fighting against Hongniang, Xingyang Gongzi, Kunlun Nu, and Wang Xianke, the man in red immediately joined the battle, and soon the woman in purple also brought a group of martial arts practitioners to help.

Seeing that more and more people were arriving, and that she hadn't gained much advantage in her battle with Li Linghuan and Murong Xian'er, Hongniang simply gave up and signaled the other three to leave quickly so they could think of another way!
The four of them were also extremely fast at escaping. First, Wang Xianke's sword energy lifted the roof tiles, and then the group broke through the roof and flew out.

Li Linghuan wanted to chase after him, but remembering that the poison from the silver needles in Xiao Muchen's body had not yet been cured, he stopped and quickly helped Xiao Muchen up.

"What happened? What's wrong with Xiao Muchen?"

When A-Shu saw that the three people who came to her aid were Lu Shiyilang, Xie Zi'e, and Li Yi, she immediately burst into tears.

"Ah Huan, I'm sorry. I meant to give Master Xiao a pill to suppress the poison, but I didn't expect that as soon as I took it out..."

Without saying a word, Li Linghuan carried Xiao Muchen on his back to a room in the backyard of the post station. He then undressed Xiao Muchen, removed the poisoned needle, and sucked out a mouthful of poisoned blood.

"Murong Huan, we're counting on you to cure this poison!"