Simultaneous travel: I am rampant in the domestic area

Chapter 241 I have a plan

The days that followed were much simpler.

Eat, sleep, wait for Gangzi.

As a senior member of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals of the Bad Guys, Shen Lang neither obeyed the imperial edict nor recognized the token, and only obeyed Yuan Tiangang's orders.

This is why Russell and Fan Ling'er were able to settle in this courtyard without worrying about being searched by the Bad People and Zhang Wulang.

However, nothing stays secret forever. One day, more than half a month later, Yi Shu and Wu Sansi finally arrived outside the courtyard together.

"Young Master Luo, His Majesty invites you to the palace for a chat." Wu Sansi said respectfully, leading a guard of nearly three hundred men, blocking the entrance to the courtyard.

Russell's gaze swept across the scene before him: "Is it the Martial Emperor, or Zhang Wulang?"

Wu Sansi remained expressionless: "Naturally, it is His Majesty. Of course, Vice Minister Zhang also misses Lord Luo very much."

"It's truly admirable that Commander Wu is willing to be someone else's lackey." Russell smiled faintly. "Let's set off."

"Please invite Lord Luo to the palace!" Wu Sansi shouted, and then, amidst the clash of metal, countless cavalrymen mounted their horses.

On the way to Ziwei City on horseback, Russell said calmly, "I guess Zhang Wulang is after the elixir of immortality. He got the prescription but no medicinal ingredients. It's been almost two months, and I don't know how many herbs he has wasted. What a waste."

"How could I possibly know about the Vice Minister's affairs?" Wu Sansi simply smiled apologetically. "Young Master Luo is in Chang'an and has no idea where the Commander-in-Chief is."

"How would I know where the commander is?" Russell glanced at Wu Sansi with a half-smile. Indeed, this guy should be worried now.

Wu Zetian was secretly imprisoned, and the one currently in power was merely a substitute who had been installed. Wu Sansi was naturally aware of this, but now almost everyone inside and outside the palace was Zhang Wulang's man. If he wanted to live, he could only pray that Yuan Tiangang would return to the court. Otherwise, once Zhang Wulang actually sat on the throne, the entire Wu family would surely be purged.

At Xuanwu Gate, Wu Sansi reined in his horse and took his leave: "This is where I will take you. Please let Consort Shangguan lead Lord Luo on the rest of the way."

Shangguan Zhaorong?

The heavy sound of the palace gates opening rang out, and a plump woman stepped out, bowing gracefully.

It's well-maintained.

Russell nodded to himself. At this point in time, Shangguan Wan'er was almost forty years old.

However, judging from her appearance, she does not show any signs of aging. She is like an autumn chrysanthemum that has been soaked in frost and snow, retaining the beauty of her prime and the sedimentation of time.

"Young Master Luo." Shangguan Wan'er stepped forward and curtsied again. Luo Su dismounted and straightened his clothes: "Doesn't Fifth Master Zhang care about you?"

"The elixir of immortality is of utmost importance, and the Vice Minister should personally oversee its preparation. However, the Vice Minister has been missing since returning from Chang'an," Shangguan Wan'er said softly.

"Heh." Russell chuckled softly. As Russell slowly walked into the palace gate, the gate behind him closed slowly. In the center of the crowd, a tall, armored, strange man carrying a long axe strode over and stared coldly at Russell.

Zhangrokuro.

A monster spawned by drugs, its right side of body is mutated, its body is full of explosive power, and its right eyeball is covered with white ash, making it completely blind.

"Minister Zhang," Shangguan Wan'er bowed again and said, "I have already brought Lord Luo here. I wonder where Minister Zhang is?"

"Follow me." Zhang Liulang's voice was hoarse and inscrutable. He turned around and led Luo Su and Shangguan Wan'er into the Jixian Palace. As the secret door was opened, a deep and long tunnel appeared in front of the two of them.

Shangguan Wan'er was not surprised. Judging from her expression, she seemed to know this road very well, as if she had walked it countless times.

"Luo Langjun, this way." Shangguan Wan'er pressed the hinge on the wall, and the candlelight flickered on the wick on the wall. She led the way, and Zhang Liulang brought up the rear, blocking Luo Su in the middle.

Before long, light appeared at the end of the tunnel.

The three entered one after the other.

This underground space is very large. Directly opposite are nearly twenty alchemy furnaces, and next to the alchemy furnaces is a dragon throne.

Zhang Wulang sat diagonally on the dragon throne, with an old woman to his right who was silent with her eyes closed and turning Buddhist prayer beads in her hand. As soon as Shangguan Wan'er entered, she went to stand behind the old woman.

"Young Master Luo has arrived. I have been waiting for you for quite some time." Zhang Wulang tilted his head, completely lacking the humility and respect he had shown in Chang'an.

“Minister Zhang is going to such lengths to lure the Commander-in-Chief here.” Russell said casually as he sat down in the chair to Zhang Wulang’s left and picked up his tea to drink.

"Does Lord Luo know where the General is now?" Zhang Wulang asked.

“Wu Sikong has already asked.” Russell ignored Zhang Wulang’s feigned concern and sat much more presumptuously than Zhang Wulang: “Do you think I will tell him or you?”

"Then I'll have to ask Young Master Luo to stay here for a few days. When the Commander returns, Young Master Luo will return. I've heard that the elder sister of the Anle Pavilion sisters is also in Luoyang. Should I send someone to invite her as well?" Zhang Wulang held a round fan in his hand, fanning himself continuously, and continued to maintain his hypocritical smile.

“You…” Russell sighed, turned his head to look at Zhang Wulang, and said seriously, “Originally I was not going to meddle in your business, but I don’t like your attitude. Why don’t you kneel down, change your tone, reorganize your words, and say it again?”

"If I don't do it, what else can I do?" Zhang Wulang said confidently. "Since you can be on brotherly terms with the commander-in-chief, you are certainly not an ordinary person. How could I not be prepared? There are heavy guards inside and outside the Jixian Palace. If a fight breaks out, do you really think you can walk out of these palace walls?"

With a wave of his fan, a series of footsteps mingled with the clanging of armor, and Imperial Guard soldiers surged in like a tide, surrounding Russell. Dozens of black iron crossbow bolts aimed at Russell from the shadows.

“Consort Shangguan,” Luo Su looked at Shangguan Wan’er and asked, “How many people inside and outside the capital are currently in Zhang Wulang’s hands?”

"This..." Shangguan Wan'er hesitated for a moment, but Wu Zetian opened her eyes at this moment and said in a calm voice: "The Left and Right Imperial Guards and the Left and Right Dragon Martial Guards are all in his hands, and nearly half of the Southern Guards have also lost contact."

That means there are less than 30,000 men. Russell did the math in his mind, shook his head, and realized that the troop deployment was far from sufficient.

“If you don’t believe me, my lord, you can try it and see if you can escape unscathed from this army of ten thousand men…” Before Zhang Wulang could finish speaking, his pupils suddenly contracted, and Russell was already in front of him in an instant. Even Zhang Liulang didn’t have time to react. Russell patted Zhang Wulang’s face and whispered in his ear, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back to chop off your head.”

"You!" In an instant, Zhang Wulang felt as if his heart had almost shattered, and his mind was buzzing.

"Humph!"

A soft hum rang out from Russell's chest and abdomen, and an invisible rhythmic wave reverberated throughout the underground palace in an instant. Everyone except Wu Zetian, Shangguan Wan'er, Zhang Wulang, and Zhang Liulang was shattered into dust by this soft hum.

Russell's boots clattered on the stone slabs, the crisp echo reverberating throughout the underground palace. His figure then flickered and disappeared into the palace.

"Brother." Zhang Liulang hurriedly went to Zhang Wulang's side. Just a moment ago, even his heart stopped uncontrollably, and the hairs on his body stood on end. He pressed Zhang Wulang's hand to his head and whispered, "Go quickly!"

Zhang Wulang gritted his teeth, but now that things had come to this, he had no choice but to accept that Russell's strength had exceeded his expectations. If he hesitated, he would not be able to leave today.

He began to chant in an ancient and unfamiliar language: "Ninefold sorrow connects to the mysterious heaven, Bodhidharma without form gathers the souls of the dead. Their qi fills the sky, they depart from their forms and bodies, black and white do not change, humans and ghosts unite, on the verge of extinction without end."

The next moment, purplish-black internal energy spread from Zhang Wulang's hands. Every meridian in his body seemed to be scorched by flames, shining with a dazzling red light. The pain spread mercilessly to his cheeks like a wildfire, distorting his face and making him unbearable to look at.

Before long, Zhang Liulang's body withered away, and Zhang Wulang's entire body was covered with cracks that burned like flames, making him look particularly gruesome.

In just a few breaths, his inner strength suddenly expanded, and his aura leaped from the Lesser Heavenly Realm to the Greater Heavenly Realm. Ignoring Wu Zetian and Shangguan Wan'er, he suddenly accelerated and rushed out of the underground palace. What he saw after rushing out of the Jixian Hall was a scene that shocked him.

Limbs and severed bodies flew off alongside human heads!
Countless streams of blood, entrails, and severed limbs flowed down from the sky like rivers, covering an area of ​​hundreds of feet in radius, staining the devastated ground a crimson red, a gruesome and terrifying sight.

The person who started all of this was walking leisurely along the palace road.

He was like a ghost, each step covering dozens of feet, and everyone who stood in his way was instantly thrown into the air by an invisible force, and then exploded with a bang.

Naturally, many soldiers who reacted roared and drew their bows and arrows. Countless arrows whistled and swept in, but were blown away by a tangible gale ten feet away from Russell.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!"

The slaughter continued, the mournful neighing of men and horses echoed through the sky, and the sounds of countless bones bursting were like a barrage of cannon fire!
This is not a human being, but a devil!

"Minister Zhang, why are you out here? We agreed that I would come to find you after I had dealt with them."

Just as Zhang Wulang was still in shock at Russell's godlike and demonic appearance, he saw Russell, who was heading straight ahead, suddenly stop and turn around to look at him.

In that instant, he was terrified. At the same time, Russell's voice rang in his ears. He suddenly exerted force with his feet and rushed away into the distance with a whoosh.

But the next moment, he found himself unable to move, because Russell had grabbed his head and was holding it in his hand.

An unimaginably terrifying force erupted from his head, his entire spine cracked, and his head was slammed hard onto the ground!

Under this unreasonable force, the fine stone slabs paved with the palace, several feet thick, spread out in a dense pattern, like a spider web, for more than ten feet!
Amidst billowing smoke and dust, Zhang Wulang didn't even have time to scream before his head exploded, blood and brain matter gushing out.

The remaining soldiers lost all fighting spirit, dropped their weapons, and lay prostrate on the ground, trembling.

"Wu Sansi, come over here and clean the floor."

……

Three days later.

Upon receiving news that Russell had been taken away by Zhang Wulang, Yuan Tiangang rushed back to Luoyang. There, he saw Russell surrounded by a group of palace maids, listening to songs and watching dances in the Jixian Hall, and his eyes twitched involuntarily.

"Where is Zhang Wulang?" Yuan Tiangang asked.

“Dead, completely dead.” Russell yawned, waved his hand to disperse the musicians and performers present, and complained, “You’re way too slow to get back this time.”

"Heh." Yuan Tiangang chuckled.

He was worried that Russell would complicate a simple matter, which is why he rushed back from Longxiang County without sleep.

"Where is the Martial Emperor?" Yuan Tiangang continued to ask. He was genuinely worried that Russell might say the Martial Emperor had also been killed and that the transfer of power was not yet complete. As things stand, the reigning Martial Emperor is far more important than the deceased one.

“It’s locked up downstairs.” Russell stomped his foot on the ground.

He neither looked down on nor discriminated against this first and only female emperor in history, who succeeded Zhenguan and ushered in Kaiyuan. There was no need for him to take action against her.

"Phew..." Yuan Tiangang breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Russell say that.

"What are you planning to do next?" Russell stepped down from the dragon throne and approached Yuan Tiangang. "Have you thought it all through?"

"I've thought it through." Yuan Tiangang nodded. "Once I leave the court, I will no longer be myself."

“That’s more like it! If I may ask, where did you put Old Li’s last urn of ashes?” Russell asked curiously.

"secret."

"Fine, don't tell me then, I'm leaving."

He stayed at the Ziwei Palace for three days and three nights because he was afraid that if Zhang Wulang died, the old lady below would cause trouble with Wu Sansi again. Now that Yuan Tiangang has returned, there is no need for him to stay any longer.

After informing Tong Gangzi, he set off back to the courtyard where Shen Lang was.

"Master!"

"Lang Jun."

Fan Ling'er and Fan Qiao'er are both here. The little girl accompanied Yuan Tiangang on his two-month trip, and she has visibly grown a lot.

“It’s all resolved.” Russell said softly, “What are your plans for the future, you two sisters? Will you settle down in Luoyang, or return to your hometown in Longxiang County?”

"Wherever you are, I will be there," Fan Ling'er answered first.

Russell shook his head: "I will be leaving the Tang Dynasty soon, and we may never see each other again in this lifetime."

"This……"

"What are your thoughts, Qiao'er?" Seeing Fan Ling'er hesitate, Luo Su turned his gaze to Fan Qiao'er, but the little girl lowered her head listlessly: "You decide."

"What's wrong?" Russell wondered. It was fine just a moment ago, so why did it suddenly wilt?

"Not yet the Grand Marshal." Fan Ling'er sighed and explained that, just like in the original story, Fan Qiao'er had developed girlish feelings for that mysterious yet all-powerful old man during their two months of getting to know each other.

Now that Russell says everything is settled and they've parted ways, it's no wonder he can't be happy.

"That's easy." Russell rubbed his chin, his eyes darting around, an idea forming in his mind. He was about to roll back three hundred years, so why not do something big before he left?

Well, he now understood why Yuan Tiangang was hunting him down all over the world.

"Master, what are you thinking about? Your smile is so wicked." Fan Ling'er reached out and rubbed Russell's lips.

"I've thought of something funny." Russell's smile faded, and he said seriously, "Qiao'er has come of age, hasn't she?"

“Yes, I celebrated my fifteenth birthday with the Marshal last month.” Fan Ling’er nodded.

"Alright." Russell chuckled and happily disappeared into the courtyard.

"Qiao'er, I have a plan that can make the Commander reveal his true feelings to you." Outside, Russell held Fan Qiao'er's shoulder, looking excited and sincere.

Fan Qiao'er: "?"

(End of this chapter)