The True Lord has arrived

Chapter 297 Slay this scoundrel!

Thousands of arrows spun and pierced, and Zhu Qiaoqiao's face turned deathly pale.

She felt pain in her stomach. Seeing the cold glint of the arrow, the woman wanted to flee, but the child in her womb was nearing delivery. At this moment, she was startled and began to have abdominal pain. Even though Pei Xuan Niao protected her, she was in so much pain that she could not stand up.

Despite the danger, she still chose to hold her child in her arms and shield her with her back from the arrows. Facing the barrage of powerful crossbow bolts, her actions were almost pathetic and laughable.

Zhu Qiaoqiao, tears streaming down her face, murmured, "Feipeng, my child and I."

"We've come to find you."

She and Lu Feipeng, the boy next door, were childhood sweethearts. When the world collapsed and chaos ensued, the land of Shu (Sichuan) was originally free from war. During the Tang Dynasty, there was a saying that "Yangzhou is the best and Yizhou is the second best," meaning that Shu, or Yizhou, was the richest place in the world.

However, the once all-powerful Sanlang Saint escaped to Shu via Sanguan Pass and Jinniu Road, and settled in Chengdu.

He brought a storm.

This has brought about the struggles of the past few years, as well as the intense, bloody atmosphere of military conflict.

After the rebels occupied Chang'an, the transportation routes connecting Guanzhong and the Jianghuai region were cut off. At this time, supplies from other places had to be gathered in Xiangyang first, then transported along the Han River to Hanzhong, and finally transported north to Fufeng via the Shu Road, such as the Baoxie Road.

The battle for the battlefield was also a battle for supplies and transportation. In order to transport these supplies to the front lines, Lu Feipeng was conscripted. He could only occasionally return home for a few days after completing his military orders before having to go back to continue fulfilling his duties.

The laws and regulations of the Tang Dynasty army were clear, and the soldiers of the garrison or the soldiers of the outpost had a clear system of rotation.

But with the nation in peril, where else could such an opportunity be found?
Lu Feipeng had no choice but to rush to the battlefield. He told Zhu Qiaoqiao that the decisive battle was about to begin in Chang'an. Marshal Guangping and Guo Ziyi would capture Chang'an. Since transportation was tight, he said that there would be a break when the country was at peace.

After saying those words last year, Lu Feipeng embarked on his journey to the battlefield.

Transportation and supplies are like the blood vessels of a person's body, extremely crucial, and inevitably subject to various obstacles. Zhu Qiaoqiao prayed for her husband every day. One day, while praying, the Buddhist prayer beads in her hand broke and scattered all over the ground. She was stunned and lost in thought for a long time.

Then came the news that Chang'an City had been conquered.

She was so happy that she kept thanking them.

I felt that the sky was clear and bright every day.

But what followed was a letter of condolence, saying that her husband, such a vibrant, living person, had been killed while protecting the supplies being transported, when he was attacked by bandits and fleeing soldiers. He roared that this was for the peace of the country and that they could not steal from him.

Zhu Qiaoqiao felt dizzy and disoriented, and she thought about dying.

I'd rather die.

But then she learned that she was already pregnant when they met before she left. She couldn't just die with her child, so she threw away the food that had been poisoned with rat poison.

Her parents-in-law and she embraced and wept bitterly.

She was determined to survive so she could tell the child that his father was a good man who sacrificed himself for his country, a hero whose name is not recorded in history books.

But things always seem to get worse.

For some reason, my in-laws and parents all started to fall ill and never woke up. First, my mother-in-law, who had a sharp tongue but a kind heart, died, then my father, then my father-in-law, and finally my mother fell asleep in her sleep, becoming weaker and weaker.

She struggled to stay alive, but was still pulled out.

First she was scolded, then she was used as a human shield, then her husband's child was called a bastard, and now the arrows are coming too. Zhu Qiaoqiao is tired. She doesn't understand why things have turned out this way.

Is this how the world is?
Li Zhenyue rushed forward, while Pei Xuanniao cursed Ling Kong. Their martial arts skills were enough to protect themselves, but they were not enough to protect these people. The sound of arrows piercing the air was sharp and piercing, like the sound of the dream of the Tang Dynasty shattering.

The calm voice faded away.

And just like that, the dense swarm of arrows suddenly came to a stop!
The tail feathers were still trembling as the arrow shot out, but the arrowhead remained firmly fixed in the air, unable to advance even an inch. It was densely packed and stuck in the void until the calm and clear voice finally reached Zhu Qiaoqiao's ears.

"Certainly."

It was as if this one sentence was a decree.

The scene of arrows suddenly stopping was like a downpour that had just landed and then abruptly ceased, or thunder that had just struck and then suddenly halted. Li Zhenyue breathed a sigh of relief, and a slight smile appeared on Pei Xuanniao's face. There was a soft sound of a door opening.

With his sleeves rolled up, the young Taoist priest with graying temples slowly walked out.

It moves forward calmly, yet seems to possess an overwhelming momentum.

Faced with this scene, the soldiers seemed to be in a nightmare, only knowing to keep drawing back their arrows and firing them, the arrows densely packed and stopping in front of Zhou Yan.

The young Taoist priest walked up to Zhu Qiaoqiao, a ripple flashing in his eyes.

With his keen eyesight, supernatural powers, and the subtle understanding of life and death held by the Lord of Mount Tai, he vaguely discerned that Zhu Qiaoqiao was closely related to Lu Feipeng, the Sichuanese soldier who had wandered the roads and lost his way home when he transformed into his avatar and arrived in Langzhong.

Zhou Yan bent down and helped her up, using his magic to soothe her mind.

"Xuanzhuzi".

"Could you treat this woman's injuries?"

Xuan Zhuzi popped out: "Okay."

Zhu Qiaoqiao was already in a daze from the shock, and whispered, "I...I want to go back. Please take me back. I'm just an ordinary woman."

"I... I still have three incense sticks at home. My husband isn't out. If I don't light the incense, I'm afraid he won't be able to find his way home..."

Zhou Yan paused for a moment, thinking of the hearty and bold man in the mist, and said softly, "He has already returned home, and I even offered him three sticks of incense..." These words seemed to carry a certain power to awaken people.

Zhu Qiaoqiao suddenly came to her senses and then burst into tears.

Xuan Zhuzi and Xu Zhilan helped Zhu Qiaoqiao up.

Zhou Yan said softly, "This is the wife of an old friend of mine. Thank you both for your help."

Xuan Zhuzi nodded and looked behind him. Even now, the enemy was still shooting arrows and crossbow bolts. The gentle atmosphere here and the fierce killing intent on the other side created an extremely strong clash, making people uneasy and fearful.

Although Xuan Zhuzi possessed considerable skill, he was not adept at combat, saying:
"It's up to you now, Xiao Zhou..."

He instinctively reached for the name he had heard in his dream, but then paused.

Zhou Yan clenched his fist and gave Xuan Zhuzi a light tap on the head:
"Let's go back."

"Alright, now it's time to talk about what's going on here."

The smile on Zhou Yan's face faded. He slowly stood up and turned around. Arrows rained down like water. He raised his fingers and casually flicked the arrows with two fingers. Thus, under the gaze of hundreds of people, the arrows in the sky seemed to come alive, changing as Zhou Yan turned around.

All the arrows obediently changed direction, as if manipulated by an invisible hand, their sharp edges radiating a chilling aura, pointing directly at everyone ahead.

Zhou Yan swept his sleeves and calmly placed the whisk on his arm.

His gaze swept calmly over the entire enemy force for the first time.

"What do you want?"

Lu Yishan had already been subdued and taken back by Shen Cangming; but other voices shouted, "Kill him! This kind of evil Taoist, wearing armor and rebelling, and having a past relationship with Shen Cangming, must be a rebel!"

The soldiers seemed to be under some kind of invisible and intangible manipulation.

They all instinctively gripped their weapons, their eyes vacant and unfocused. Zhou Yan swept his whisk, and the arrows that had been slowly swirling behind him trembled, emitting a series of low, chilling whistles. Then, it was as if ten thousand swords were unleashed simultaneously.

It pierced right through these people in an instant!

Yuan Yufeng and Old Liu were just ordinary people who had never seen such a scene before. They instinctively screamed and thought that all these people had been killed. Even Lu Yishan, who was being restrained, thought the same thing. His eyes first showed fear, and then he was overjoyed.

Knowing that no matter who these people were, having slaughtered so many local good people, whatever they did, whatever plans or schemes they had, would completely fail, and any orders they gave would encounter great obstacles.

But the next moment, his expression froze.

The arrows fell in unison.

However, no bloody smell was detected.

Swords and crossbows fell to the ground one by one. The arrows shattered all their weapons and eliminated their resistance. This scene was magnificent and mysterious. It was not a brutal killing, but an indescribable divine charm.

Old Liu muttered, "I've really run into him. This time, it's for real."

When Yuan Yufeng saw Zhou Yan's back again, she felt a sense of disorientation. Everything around her seemed to be stripped away, and pure [location] began to appear, returning her to the normal view once again.

Lu Yishan finally lost control of the fear he felt upon witnessing such incredible power, and the extremely petty anger that followed that fear. He cried out in a shrill voice, "Who...who are you?!"

"How could there be such a person in Langzhong?!"

"How can it be!"

With a sweep of the duster.

Zhou Yan spoke calmly and indifferently:

"Auspicious purple clouds rise from the east for thirty thousand miles, and five thousand words are spoken upon first crossing the Hangu Pass."

"The green ox travels west through countless eons, while Louguan forever hangs as a grotto heaven."

"This humble Taoist priest—"

As Zhou Yan took a half-step forward, all the arrows changed direction, mixed with fragments of various weapons, and fell together, striking the ground and transforming into a huge Tai Chi diagram. A whisk swept across, and a long wind blew, stirring up the mist.

"The Supreme Pavilion".

...........................

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Yishan's pupils contracted sharply, and he immediately shouted:
"Taishang Louguan is the state religion of our Great Tang Dynasty. Who are you people, daring to impersonate someone here? Kill him, kill them all!"

Are you planning a rebellion?

"I am here on the orders of the prefect. If you resist, you will all die when the army arrives!"

Lu Yishan had gone mad; he was like a lunatic, yet he clung to the last straw, his calm voice fading as he said, "Oh, Prefect..."

Li Zhiwei walked out of the antique shop holding a lamp.

The petite but bold Miss Li lowered her phoenix eyes and held up a seal in her left palm. On that seal, there was the power of human destiny belonging to the Tang Dynasty that Xuan Guan could sense.

Lu Yishan's eyes widened, and he murmured, "This, this is..."

Li Zhiwei could only recall that when she went out, Consort Cui had told her to take her small seal with her. Now, this seal, imbued with a wisp of human fortune, had become a crucial piece of the puzzle. The girl calmly said:
"I am the descendant of Emperor Taiwu, the great-great-grandfather, Emperor Wenwu, the descendant of Emperor Tianhuang, the direct descendant of Emperor Kaiyuan, the sage Emperor Shengwen Shenwu, and the daughter of the Li family of the Great Tang Dynasty. I have come to Langzhong by order of my ancestor, the sage, and my father, the Crown Prince and Marshal of Guangping, to thoroughly investigate you all!"

In dreams, the force that Li Zhiwei most wants to escape is...

But at this moment, it is also the most powerful choice in the face of the current situation.

Killing her here is not a good choice. Li Zhiwei slightly raised her eyes, and her phoenix eyes shone brightly at this moment. Zhou Yan couldn't help but sigh in his heart, "She really is that Miss Li."

She ran away from her wedding in her dream.

In reality, this involves directly forging imperial edicts.

As expected of you!

Lu Yishan's face turned ashen, and he murmured, "No, impossible, impossible... The prefect said this is absolutely impossible." He raised his head and looked at the people in front of him. In terms of strength, reason, and reputation, it was a situation where defeat was inevitable.

He suddenly ran forward a few steps, then knelt down abruptly, his head hitting the ground heavily: "Your Highness, this humble general pays his respects to Your Highness!"

"This humble general was merely following the orders of that damned prefect!"

"This humble general, this humble general confesses his crime!"

"Your Highness, please, according to the laws of our Great Tang Dynasty, bind me and imprison me. Once everything is settled, you may then punish me according to my crimes!"

Pei Xuan Niao clicked his tongue.

This bastard is actually well-versed in the laws of the Tang Dynasty.

Now it seems that the kidnapping of innocent civilians as human shields was just a pretext to claim collusion with them and thus amplify their achievements. This is already considered killing innocent people to claim credit, which is punishable by death in ordinary times. However, the situation in Langzhong is probably not that simple.

Li Zhiwei knew that his title was fake. Looking at Lu Yishan kneeling and kowtowing, Li Zhiwei exhaled, glanced at the thousand people, and seemed to have made a decision, saying:

"Father, give me the right to act first and report later."

Lu Yishan paused, then suddenly looked up.

impossible!
After the incident involving Wu Zetian, the Tang Dynasty imperial family could not possibly allow it; she was forging an imperial edict!

He was about to shout when Li Zhiwei gave Shen Cangming a slight bow and said:
"General Shen, please execute this scoundrel."

Lu Yishan was about to shout again when Shen Cangming made his move. If he hadn't been worried that his outburst would ruin Zhou Yan's plans, Shen Cangming would have already attacked. At this moment, his blade flashed out like a thunderbolt filled with rage.

He stabbed Lu Yishan in the mouth with a knife.

Cut off Lu Yishan's tongue.

Then he swung his sword and cleaved Lu Yishan's chest into a bloody mess, causing him immense pain before finally killing him with a single blow.

He was always ruthless in killing, and the fact that he deliberately made Lu Yishan suffer such torture showed that he was furious to the extreme. His superiors had ordered that ordinary soldiers be taken hostage and that the butcher's knife be turned against the people of the Tang Dynasty, which completely provoked Shen Cangming.

When Shen Cangming was killing with extreme ruthlessness, one person among the crowd felt a chill run down his spine.

...The unexpected factors that the prince mentioned were actually so terrifying?
A fierce general, a Taoist priest from the Supreme Pavilion, and a princess.

No, I have to go back and report.

He took a step back, but a hand was already on his shoulder.

The young Taoist's voice was calm and rang in his ears:

"Friend, where are you headed?"

(End of this chapter)