Tang Dynasty Puppet Doctor

Chapter 167 The Cult Leader's Identity
As the person in front of him disappeared, Xiao Muchen suddenly felt an emptiness in his heart, as if he had lost something, and his memory seemed to pause for a moment.

Not only him, but Xie Zi'e, Huo Xiaolian, Li Yi, Liu Sheng, Murong Xian'er and others also seemed to feel something rapidly dissipating from their minds.

“Master…” Li Yi murmured, but he didn’t know why he exclaimed in surprise.

Li Linghuan's eyes were already brimming with tears. She looked at everyone present, and each person's expression showed a moment of surprise before slowly returning to normal.

Li Linghuan knew that this was because all traces of his existence had disappeared from these people's memories, and that no one would remember him except her.

So she turned her gaze to Xiao Muchen, a hint of pity in her eyes, and thought to herself: If I can change his fate in this life, then will he not die in the future, and will the forty thousand soldiers not die either!
Will he be able to come back?
Thinking it over, she shook her head and gave a bitter smile: No, he is no longer him...

Thinking this, she looked again at the Kunlun snow mountain, and the camp with its bright fires and tens of thousands of soldiers not far away, and murmured, "I will take you home!"

"I will definitely bring you home safely!"

"Back to Luoyang!"

"Back to Chang'an!"

Having said that, she raised her sword and slashed fiercely at the starry sky that seemed so close. This sword strike caused snowflakes to flutter and dust and sand to rise like waves. Taking advantage of the moment when the dust obscured her vision, Li Linghuan's sword stabbed towards the purple-robed man like lightning. Caught off guard, the purple-robed man was pierced in the chest by the sword and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

At the same time, his mask suddenly fell off.

"Master—"

Several legendary assassins shouted in unison, pointing their weapons at Li Linghuan. But at that moment, the man in purple robes raised his head and gestured for them to step back.

Li Yi stared in horror at the face of the man in purple robes and shouted angrily, "It's you! Ming Chongyan, you're still alive!"

It was because of Ming Chongyan's death that his father's position as crown prince was abolished, and this stinky Taoist priest who was fond of gods and ghosts spread rumors that his father wanted to rebel.

"You actually hid in the Kunlun Mountains on the border of Anxi?"

"That's right. It's all because my reputation was too great back then, which inevitably attracted some dangers. So I had to fake my death to escape and come here to cultivate the true path."

"What is the true Great Way?" Li Yi asked with disdain and contempt. "You faked your death to frame my father. Is this the Great Way you walk?"

"That's not right. Have you ever heard Lao Tzu's saying, 'Abandon sagacity and discard wisdom, and the people will benefit a hundredfold. Abandon benevolence and discard righteousness, and the people will return to filial piety and kindness. Abandon skill and discard profit, and there will be no thieves or robbers?' Only by abandoning the teachings of sagacity, wisdom, benevolence, righteousness, skill, and profit can one truly reach a state of selfless and desireless freedom. This is the true path!"

Not your hypocritical Confucian ideals!

All I did back then was follow the will of Heaven and desire peace throughout the world.

"You're talking nonsense! The words of sages and words of benevolence may be hypocritical, but they are not as shameless as yours, who brazenly claims that the evil deeds he has committed are for the sake of peace in the world?"

"Today, I will eradicate you cult members!"

After Li Yi finished speaking, he was about to draw his sword and slash at the purple-robed man again, but Li Linghuan stopped him by raising his hand and said, "Wait, since you are the Grand Counselor Ming Chongyan, I think you deliberately led us here for some other purpose, right?"

“That’s right. Although I am now the leader of a legendary sect, leading a group of legendary assassins, I am also a citizen of the Tang Dynasty. My assassins are always doing things for money, but there are exceptions.” “What exceptions?”

"For example, if we join forces with you to drive these traitors from Tibet and the Turks out of the Tang Dynasty, Princess, you will once again become famous for your unparalleled military achievements and be able to accomplish what you want to do."

"You know me?" Li Linghuan asked, slightly surprised.

"Of course, I am someone who can communicate with gods and ghosts, so naturally I know your origins!"

"So what are your conditions? The legend has evolved to the point where it has lost its original form. What do you want now?"

"No matter how the legend changes, the leader of the legend has always inherited Li Chunfeng's divination skills and ability to foresee the future!"
What people fear most is living a mediocre life, never to be remembered by the world, and being buried and abandoned by history in obscurity.

As the saying goes, if you don't take what Heaven gives you, you will suffer the consequences. The true path is not to remain hidden, but to emerge with earth-shattering force. What I want... is fame and fortune!
Fame is the fame that will be etched in history; fortune is the fortune of a founding hero!

"Princess, is our deal likely to go through?"

What do you mean by "accomplish"? Isn't the implication of these words to incite "Murong Huan" to rebel?
Lu Shiyilang cursed inwardly, and was about to say something when he heard "Murong Huan" reply: "Fine, since the leader wants to form an alliance with me, then I'll ask you a question. Can you answer me truthfully?"

"To show our sincerity, of course!"

"Whose jobs have your legendary assassins been taking lately? Who wants you to assassinate me?"

Ming Chongyan smiled and replied, "According to the rules of the underworld, we are supposed to keep this a secret from all our employers. However, I can still tell you that the person who wants to kill you is Princess Anle!"

The person who wanted to kill Xiao Muchen was none other than the newly appointed young prime minister—Cui Shi!

In other words, the people who bribed the legendary assassin were two employers!

This answer is not surprising. Princess Anle goes without saying. In her previous life, she was determined to become the Crown Princess. She was arrogant and domineering, and she was hostile to her aunt.

As for Cui Shi, Li Linghuan's lips curled into a cold sneer: she had seen him in the Fountain of Reincarnation before. In her previous life, after Li Xian ascended the throne, Cui Shi became a double agent between the Five Ministers and Wu Sansi. Originally, he was just a spy sent by Huan Yanfan to spy on Wu Sansi, but when he saw that Li Xian was wary of his meritorious officials, he secretly revealed all the private information he had obtained from the Five Ministers to Wu Sansi, which led to the Five Ministers ultimately suffering the fate of being discarded like a dog after the rabbit is killed.

Although he comes from a prestigious family, his broken morals are comparable to those of Lai Junchen.

After Cui Shi became prime minister, he sold official positions and accepted bribes, committing almost every imaginable evil. She couldn't help but wonder if the fact that the court cut off the rear supply of 40,000 soldiers in Xiao Lingchen's future memories was related to this man.
Thinking of this, Li Linghuan's expression became even more solemn. She thanked Ming Chongyan, indicating that the alliance was complete, and then led everyone back to their camp.

"Junior Sister... no, Governor, why did you ally with those legendary assassins? They're the kind of people who will kill you anytime you want, as long as you pay them! And my father..."

Li Yi asked, seemingly somewhat disappointed.

Li Linghuan decisively interrupted, "Now is not the time to discuss these things. This is a frozen wasteland. If we continue to fight against a legendary figure, we will inevitably suffer heavy losses."

Our most important task now is to defeat Lun Qinling, recapture the Four Garrisons of Anxi, and bring our soldiers back alive to Luoyang or Chang'an!

Li Yi had no rebuttal and left the tent. At this moment, Xiao Muchen looked at Li Linghuan, who was sitting on the couch with his eyes closed in thought, and asked, "I will not object to any decision you make, and I will support you. I just want to ask you one question now."

Will Ah Huan ever come back? Could you please let her come out and talk to me?