The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 474 The Stinky Ghost General

Phoenix Mountain is a good place. In ancient times, it was the northern gateway outside Wuchang City and had a very important strategic position. If you wanted to attack Wuchang City, you had to occupy Phoenix Mountain first.

In modern times, Phoenix Mountain has been incorporated into the urban area of ​​Wuchang. After all, although it is called a mountain, it only covers an area of ​​20,000 square meters and has an altitude of only 44.9 meters. Even in the modern urban area, it does not stand out and is more like an urban garden.

Three days later, those who pay attention will notice that early in the morning, many beggars emerge from different nooks and crannies of Wuchang City and slowly head out of the city toward Phoenix Mountain. What's different is that these people do not forget to beg along the way.

Around 9:00 AM, the beggar leaders at the Hankou Wharf warehouse also set off. The agreed time was noon. Putting aside the time spent on the road, it would be foolish for the people who had arranged the fight not to arrive in advance.

Wu Chengyu once remembered reading a martial arts novel where two masters would arrive at the duel location in advance to check every blade of grass and tree, even figuring out where there were stones, tree roots, and where the soil was softer.

In case of a major battle, just as you are about to launch a surprise attack using your lightness skill, the ground beneath your feet is too soft, making it impossible to exert force and causing you to lose the initiative.

Of course, this is a bit too serious. With Wu Chengyu's current experience in the martial arts world, it is useful to know the terrain in advance, but there is no need to be so careful and meticulous.

For true masters, especially those at the level of microscopic perception, they can tell the situation around them at a glance, and the general idea is quite accurate.

Moreover, today is not only a battle between masters, but also a brawl among a bunch of people, one side of whom is a beggar. These people swarm in, not caring whether the ground is muddy or not.

But since it's a decisive battle, arriving early is always the right thing to do. This is also to prevent the enemy from setting up any ambush. Although the Beggars' Sect members are lazy, they are all very knowledgeable about the Jianghu and the methods of the Lower Nine Sects, so Wu Chengyu doesn't need to worry about them.

Wu Chengyu was also among the beggars. As the saying goes, everything is better when it is contrasted. Compared to the group of disheveled and tattered beggars, Wu Chengyu appeared even more handsome and dashing. He unconsciously walked with his hands behind his back, exuding the demeanor of a master.

Ah Ku was also highlighted by his height; both of them were tall and very eye-catching. Whenever Ah Ku was by his brother's side, he would always be smiling and attracting the attention of those around him.

"Brother, if we lose, will you really hand over the Lesser Formless Skill and the Six Yang Palms of Tianshan to them?"

"They're dreaming. The Ming Cult doesn't follow the rules of the martial arts world. If I were to compete with them on character, I'd be a fool."

Do you really think they'll give me the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth just because they won? Most members of the Ming Cult are cunning and ruthless, and they never keep their word.

If your Beggars' Sect is useless and loses, I will modify the Lesser Formless Skill and the Six Yang Palms to make sure they can't see the flaws. Then I will encourage them to practice hard. If the men don't become eunuchs and the women don't grow beards, then I, Wu Chengyu, am incompetent.

"Leaving aside the Six Yang Palm, this Lesser Formless Skill, which can preserve youth, was originally prepared for you. I'm not giving it to anyone else."

From now on, all of Wu Chengyu's women, regardless of whether they are skilled in palm techniques or weapons, will inevitably have a set of love tokens: Xiao Wuxiang Gong, Xuan Nu Da Fa, and Lingbo Weibu.

The Lesser Formless Skill is not only a top-tier divine skill, but it also allows one to maintain youth. Li Qiushui is ninety years old, yet she still looks like a young woman. No wonder many readers fantasize that Li Qiushui, Li Qingluo, and Wang Yuyan, three generations of the same family, could all share the same face.

Wu Chengyu certainly didn't have such a heavy taste; no matter how young a ninety-year-old woman looked, he couldn't bring himself to do it. But this also illustrates the uniqueness of the Lesser Formless Skill.

The Mysterious Maiden's Great Technique was obtained from Ah Ku. Its power is average, but its pure Yin attribute is very beneficial to women's bodies. Most importantly, it can shape and whiten the skin, making it an absolute holy grail for all women.

As for the Lingbo Weibu (a martial arts technique), its primary purpose is to enhance the self-defense capabilities of the women. Secondly, this set of light-footwork is graceful and elegant, which is also very beneficial to the women's figures.

In short, this has become an essential martial art for women of the Wu family to use in the martial arts world. It is good for his women and has many benefits for Wu Chengyu.

"Brother, what if the secret manual they gave you is also problematic?"

"If there are any modifications, they will only be made to a few key places. Too many changes would be impossible to hide from me, and I also have ways to correct them."

Besides, I don't know how to cultivate it; I'm just using its essence to improve myself. I'm not afraid of them modifying it; I'm afraid they won't give it to me.

The two siblings chatted for a while and soon walked out of the north gate of Wuchang City, not far from Phoenix Mountain.

After walking a few steps, Wu Chengyu saw an old acquaintance, Lu Youjiao, walking towards him, his clothes still wet with dew.

"Reporting to the leader, last night at the second watch, I brought some brothers to Phoenix Mountain and stayed there overnight. We searched Phoenix Mountain carefully but found no ambush by the Ming Cult."

When we came to report the news, we saw the Ming Cult members gathered in the woods halfway up Phoenix Mountain; there were no more than fifty of them in total.

Wu Chengyu and Hong Qigong exchanged a glance, both sensing that something was amiss.

The Ming Cult had infiltrated the Beggars' Sect for many years, instigating the Clean Clothes Sect to rebel. Later, the Clean Clothes Sect, along with Jin Dynasty spies, hunted down Ah Ku and ambushed Hong Qigong, all thanks to the efforts of these Ming Cult spies.

After that, taking advantage of Hong Qigong's purge of the Clean Clothes Faction, the Beggars' Clan suffered a great loss of strength, and the Ming Cult gathered its experts to attack several of the Beggars' Clan's branches in succession.

This time, when they sent the letter of invitation, they were saying that they wanted to make peace and cooperate with the Beggars' Sect. In reality, things had developed to this point, and there was no possibility of peace between the two sides. The Beggars' Sect was bound to take revenge for their previous grievances and drive the Ming Cult back to the Western Regions.

But now, the challenge was initiated by the Ming Cult, yet only a few people have come. You must know that the Beggars' Sect has gathered hundreds of beggars, all of whom are elite members of the Beggars' Sect.

In the Beggars' Sect's territory, unless these fifty-odd people were all top-tier masters, they would be no match for the Beggars' Sect members. But no other sect in the Legend of the Condor Heroes world has so many top-tier masters. Unless they have a considerable number of people lying in ambush in the shadows, ready to pounce at the crucial moment, what would the Ming Cult do today? They would be taught a lesson by the Beggars' Sect in no time.

However, the Ming Cult members are notorious for their lack of discipline. They have a history of scheming and ambushes, so they are definitely not stupid. Therefore, their current number of members is definitely not normal and there must be something fishy going on, but it is still puzzling.

"In that case, if too many of our Beggars' Sect members go, it will only make us look cowardly."

"Lu Youjiao, you and your disciples wait at the foot of the mountain. I'll go with a few elders and the eight-bag disciples to meet them."

Hong Qigong, Wu Chengyu, and Aku, along with seven or eight elders and over twenty eight-bag disciples, were fewer than the Ming Cult, but their overall strength was definitely not weak. In Hong Qigong's view, they were enough to handle most situations.

If anything unexpected happens, the hundreds of beggars at the foot of the mountain can definitely come up at any time. At this altitude, it is really too short for people with martial arts skills.

Wu Chengyu was indifferent, but he would never underestimate the Ming Cult. These people were capable of anything. He went up the mountain with Hong Qigong and the others, and at the same time unfolded the three-dimensional map to observe all the surrounding conditions.

Although they were going up a mountain, the mountain was less than fifty meters high. The mountain path was a bit winding and there were no stone steps. In the short time it takes to drink a cup of tea, they came face to face with the Ming Cult members.

However, Wu Chengyu noticed it again at the foot of the mountain. It was that inexplicable scent of perfume powder. It was only faint at the foot of the mountain, but the higher he went, the stronger the fragrance became. Moreover, the perfume powder also had some special flavors.

Wu Chengyu recalled the tropes in martial arts novels and immediately thought that the Ming Cult might have buried gunpowder here. After all, gunpowder was already quite advanced in the Song Dynasty. It was impossible to use it to make guns and cannons, but if they buried several thousand kilograms of gunpowder, they could blast Phoenix Mountain down by ten meters in altitude.

Didn't the Jin people use the same trick at the Great Ci'en Temple in Chang'an?

The Ming Cult also had the conditions and technology; the Fiery Banner of the Five Elements Flags would naturally be able to use gunpowder.

Unfortunately, the more carefully Wu Chengyu tried to distinguish it with his sense of smell, the more his brows furrowed. He didn't understand gunpowder, but he could smell it. In this world and this era, there was no such thing as gunpowder without an odor.

But the strange smell mixed in with these perfumes is clearly not gunpowder; it's more like the smell of sweaty feet that have been wearing leather boots for over ten days in winter without taking them off, and this smell also has a fishy and muttony odor.

This strange smell is mixed with the scent of face powder, and is mostly masked by the face powder. To the average person, the face powder smell is just cheap and a bit pungent.

But Wu Chengyu's sense of smell was too sensitive; the smell went straight into his nostrils, leaving him no way to avoid it, and made him feel nauseous.

Wu Chengyu felt a sense of unease and began to curse.

This shows that the Church is unruly and uses any means necessary, but I've never heard of using foul smells to overwhelm people and undermine the enemy's will.

Or perhaps, even though you're mingling with beggars, you suddenly find these beggars, who haven't bathed in days, quite endearing; they're a little smelly, but not this smelly.

This is bizarre! The Ming Cult is even more despicable than the Beggars' Sect. What kind of logic is this? Doesn't this count as rebelling against the Heavenly Gang?

It wasn't until they arrived in front of the Ming Cult members that Wu Chengyu finally discovered the source of the fragrance, or perhaps the source of the foul odor.

Three burly men, averaging at least 1.9 meters tall, wore straw hats with veils that completely obscured their faces.

But these three men were all broad-shouldered and muscular, with long arms and legs, looking like unstoppable warriors on the battlefield.

However, there were many suspicious points about the three people. First of all, there was their position. Although they came with the Ming Cult, they stood in a clear separation, with a distance of two or three zhang between them. They looked very distant and did not seem like a group of people.

Moreover, the Ming Cult members next to them seemed to be avoiding them, and several of them looked at them with obvious disdain.

Although both of them concealed their faces, two of them showed their arms, which were a ghastly white, almost frighteningly so, and covered in thick, long, and dense hair, vaguely resembling golden hair, making them look somewhat like atavistic apes.

Wu Chengyu recalled the three ghost generals Fang Yaning had mentioned earlier, and it was obvious that these were the three of them, but these three were really too strange.

My breathing is normal, slightly heavier than normal, and my heartbeat is normal, but what is this foul smell?

Wu Chengyu suddenly remembered the living dead he had encountered in Xixia, Xu Zhu's son, a puppet controlled by voice.

He instinctively thought that these three ghost generals were the same as the living dead, and that it was normal for the Ming Cult to have such methods.

But what exactly is this stench? The stench of a corpse? The living dead are still living people, and living people can't have the stench of a corpse. These three people have heartbeats and are breathing, so they are at least not dead. The key point is that this is not the stench of a corpse.

Wu Chengyu was used to seeing dead people, and the stench of corpses was different from the smell he was experiencing now.

The term "ghost general" implies that they are not human. They have a strange odor that needs to be covered with a lot of perfume powder. The perfume powder that Fang Yaning used to joke about eating for a month was probably all sprinkled on them.

Soon, Wu Chengyu discovered something else: Fang Yaning was nowhere to be found.

(End of this chapter)