Starting with the divine power of the Great Vajra, he traversed the heavens.

Chapter 206 Guzheng Project
As the sun set, a gust of wind blew by, and the reeds along the riverbank swayed in the breeze.

A light drizzle began to fall from the clear sky. It was dusk, before the night mist had risen, and the countless raindrops glistened under the glow of the sunset.

It was as if a dazzling light was shining upon the world.

Rain fell and smoke rose, their clothes slightly damp. Ren Shaoyang and the other two stood facing each other, breathing heavily.

At that moment, not a single person spoke.

Suddenly, Ren Shaoyang burst into laughter, followed by Ding An and the little beggar.

The laughter was rough, clear, and mixed with a touch of coquettishness, conveying a strong sense of relief after surviving a catastrophe.

The laughter stopped abruptly.

Ren Shaoyang clutched his chest and walked onto the donkey cart.

puff!
His body crashed heavily inside, his head spinning, and blood gushed uncontrollably from his mouth.

Since escaping from Pang Ban, he had been struggling to suppress his internal injuries. During this time, the people from the Demon Master's Palace were in relentless pursuit, leaving him no time to recover.

So he, along with the little beggar and Ding An, devised a plan to have them do their best to heal their wounds.

Ding'an, on the other hand, feigned that his injuries were too severe to heal and that he was unable to move.

In the end, they achieved their goal in one fell swoop, ruthlessly outmaneuvering the experts of the Demon Master's Palace.

If Ren Shaoyang hadn't been completely unable to hold on, and had he had followed up with a sword strike, Chi Mei would have been dead without a doubt.

But he had no choice. Despite his injuries, he fought fiercely against the Black and White Servants, the Meng Clan's Twin Demons, the sixteen elite cavalry under the Five Fiends, and Li Chimei.

None of these people are easy to deal with, especially Li Chimei and the two servants, who are both masters among masters.

Ren Shaoyang pushed his limited internal energy and unparalleled swordsmanship to their limits, but he could only manage to injure someone but not kill them.

He himself suffered terribly during this process, with each attack causing his meridians to feel like they were being cut by knives, damaged by the demonic energy remaining in Pang Ban's body.

At that moment, after spitting out a mouthful of blood, he actually felt much lighter.

When the little beggar saw that Ren Shaoyang's face was ashen, he burst into tears and cried out, "Crippled man!" and threw himself down beside him.

Ren Shaoyang coughed and said with difficulty, "Let's go, let's go quickly!"

Tears streamed down Hongxiu's face like broken beads as she nodded repeatedly, saying, "Okay, I'll take you to a doctor."

Ren Shaoyang took a few breaths and shook his head, saying, "No, this place is not safe. Let's go to Huangzhou Prefecture first."

Ding An walked up, grabbed his hand and channeled "Wedding Dress True Qi" into him, then shouted into his ear, "Crippled man, don't fall asleep, do you hear me!"

Ren Shaoyang cried out in pain, struggling desperately, and shouted, "It's burning me! And my ears are going to burst!"

"what?"

Ding An stared blankly as Ren Shaoyang was helped up by the little beggar who was trying hard to suppress his laughter.

Ren Shaoyang shook his head, picking at his ears as he exhaled a puff of white breath, his face flushed red.

"Severed hand?! You almost made me deaf!"

The little beggar said, "Alright, let's run quickly and find a place to heal our wounds!"

"Whoa, that's right!" Ding An realized what was happening, immediately jumped up, pushed Ren Shaoyang into the carriage, shook the reins, and shouted, "Run!"

The donkey cart roared away.

The little beggar stood there, stunned: "I... I haven't gotten on the bus yet!"

As dusk settled, the crescent moon rose.

A dozen miles away, by the quietly flowing riverbank, at a bend in a secluded stream.

Puff puff puff!
Three figures, a donkey, and a fat tiger peeked furtively out of the reeds, squinting at the faint lights on both sides of the river.

"Crippled man, you were right!" Ding'an exclaimed excitedly, "They really did have a lot of people lying in ambush at the dock and in the town ahead!"

Ren Shaoyang was still uneasy and looked around: "Hmph, the Eastern Depot was much more ruthless than them when they arrested us! I can tell what kind of shit Fang Yeyu is going to take just by looking at him!"

Hongxiu chuckled, and her younger sister chimed in: "It's dog shit!"

"Eh~!"

Ren Shaoyang and Ding An gave each other a thumbs up: "Well said, little sister!"

The younger sister giggled and switched back to her little beggar's voice: "Crippled man, since the planned route isn't working, what should we do next?"

Ren Shaoyang pinched his chin and said in a deep voice, "This is the largest wharf on the upper reaches of the Ba River. If you go forward, you will reach Bahe Town, and if you go straight across the river, you will reach Huangzhou Prefecture."

"But the area ahead is full of demon bastards. In that case, how about we head south to the desolate Wuli, then take a boat across the Yangtze River directly to Wuchang Prefecture?"

Hongxiu murmured, "Wuchang." Suddenly her eyes lit up, "Wuchang fish, right?" Ren Shaoyang knew this girl's mind was full of food, and smiled helplessly, "Yes! And now is the time when it's at its fattest."

Hongxiu took his hand and said with a smile, "Let's go then! Let's take the boat there as soon as possible."

Ren Shaoyang felt the hand holding his was cold, nodded silently, and was about to speak.

Suddenly, Ding'an shook his head repeatedly: "I don't think it's good!"

"Ok?"

Ren Shaoyang was taken aback and asked, "A severed hand? What are your thoughts on that?"

Ding'an blushed, looking at the distant firelight with worry, and said sullenly, "I don't know, I just feel uneasy!"

Ren Shaoyang's expression turned cold, and he exchanged a glance with Hongxiu.

After a moment of silence, Ren Shaoyang pondered and said, "Our most important task now is to gain time to recuperate."

Hongxiu shook her head: "But they won't give us time!"

Ren Shaoyang narrowed his eyes, already sensing something was wrong: "Fang Yeyu has probably already infiltrated Wuchang Prefecture, a place that is a crossroads of nine provinces!"

“That’s right!” Hongxiu clapped her hands. “Since we can predict their predictions, they can naturally predict ours as well.”

"But we still need to recover from our injuries."

“Yes,” Ren Shaoyang sighed. “If we take the waterway and blindly rush into their encirclement, and then there are people like Nian Liandan, the Red Sun Dharma King, the Four Secret Masters of Qinghai-Tibet, and ‘Vulture’ You Chidi, we might really end up crashing and burning while dealing with these scum all the way!”

Hongxiu stroked Da Miao's head, while Ding'an tugged at the white donkey's ear, each lost in thought.

Of course, Hongxiu was truly deep in thought.

Ding'an was like a slacker in math class. When the teacher asked a question, he pretended to think very seriously, but in reality, his thoughts had already wandered off to who-knows-where.

Hongxiu narrowed her big eyes and snorted coldly, "Since that's the case, then we won't run away!" She clenched her small fist and said hatefully, "Let's give them a good thrashing!"

Ren Shaoyang nodded repeatedly and said, "Of all the places within dozens of miles, Bahe Town is the most suitable for resting. We'll ambush them where they're bound to pass, fire a shot, and run!"

“That’s right!” Hongxiu said fiercely, “They think we’ll run away in a sorry state? Bah! We’ll catch them completely off guard!”

Ren Shaoyang nodded and said, "You have throwing knives, Ding'an has fire energy, and I have the Divine Spider Sword."

Having made up his mind, Old Devil Ren naturally became ferocious: "Damn it, we ran away before when our kung fu was bad, and now that our kung fu is good, we still run away. Didn't we learn this divine skill for nothing?"

Ding'an also whispered, "That's right, that's right! In the heart of our Ming Dynasty's Jiangnan region, these Tartars still dare to be so arrogant! Kill them! Kill them mercilessly! They're the ones who should be fleeing!"

As he spoke, he handed Ren Shaoyang several quivers of arrows and a bow with an iron core.

"Huh? When did you take this?"

Ren Shaoyang took the bow and arrow, his eyes widening as he asked.

"I saw nobody wanted it, so I picked it up!"

Ding An chuckled and said, "Before we left, I tripped over this bow, and then I remembered that you, Cripple, are a great archer! So I gave it to you!"

"Hehe~!" Ren Shaoyang stroked the iron-rimmed bow and sneered, "Alright, everything is ready except for the final touch. We can start preparing the plan now!"

Hongxiu and Ding'an asked together, "What plan?"

Ren Shaoyang looked at the bright moon in the sky, which was unusually cold and clear. He stroked the ring on his left hand and smiled confidently: "Let's call it Project Guzheng!"

After he finished speaking, he instructed the two men, "You two stay where you are and don't move. I'll go get a small boat."

The two, a donkey and a tiger, nodded repeatedly, watching the white-robed figure disappear, and then obediently waited in place.

After a short while, a small, black-awning boat silently glided by.

Ren Shaoyang used a pole to hold the small boat steady and called out to them, "Come on, get on the boat!"

Hongxiu and Ding'an boarded the boat, then waved to Donkey and Big Meow: "You two hide first, wait for our summons!"

The donkey and the big cat brayed softly, nuzzled against the three of them, and then trotted away.

"All right!"

A night breeze swept by, and the reeds along the river rustled softly.

Ren Shaoyang used a bamboo pole to paddle into the Bahe River. Before he knew it, mist was rising from the river.

The small boat drifted quietly on the river.

Ren Shaoyang stared intently at the dock, his eyes gleaming in the darkness. He stroked the ring on his left hand and let out a sinister grin.

"Let's spend the night on the boat and start the hunt once everyone has arrived!"

(End of this chapter)