Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 266 Return to Leigushan

When Jiang Mingzhe shared his thoughts, Azi was greatly surprised: "Huh? That's not right. Although the villain's martial arts are stronger than Father's, he was crippled by Zhong Ling's father, making him even more disabled. My father and the four guards should have been more than capable of dealing with him!"

Wang Yuyan frowned and said, "Although Grandpa is powerful, Grandma and the Eight Friends of Hangu Pass are in no way inferior to him. Does Grandpa have other powerful allies?"

Regardless of Duan Zhengchun's character or the friendship among the Eight Friends of Hangu Pass, if their side were to win, they would naturally not allow the three dead to lie dead outside. Therefore, everyone guessed that Duan Zhengchun and Li Qiushui's side would probably suffer a rather humiliating defeat.

"Other powerful allies?" Jiang Mingzhe frowned, thinking that it couldn't be that Murong Fu had gotten together with him, could it?

Thinking about it this way, he shook his head. Murong Fu already knew his background, so would he cooperate with Ding Chunqiu to fight Wuyazi?

But besides Murong Fu, how many people in the world are worthy of being Ding Chunqiu's strong ally?
Jiang Mingzhe was puzzled for a moment, then slowly said, "Regardless of whether there are other strong reinforcements, Uncle Duan and the others are in a critical situation right now, and we should try to help them."

Duan Yu's eyes reddened with anxiety: "Second Brother, but there are no other clues here. The world is so vast, how can we find my father?"

Jiang Mingzhe lowered his head and pondered for a long time before saying, "Logically speaking, Uncle Duan should flee south, but the journey to Dali is long and fraught with danger. If I were him, I would go to Bianliang, the capital of Tokyo."

Duan Yu asked in astonishment, "You mean, my father will seek protection from the Song court?"

Jiang Mingzhe nodded: "I know that the Duan family has never forgotten its roots and has always dealt with matters of the martial arts world according to the rules of the martial arts world. However, firstly, Uncle Duan still has a beloved woman by his side. Given his nature, he will definitely try to protect her. Secondly, Duan Yanqing's revenge is not an ordinary hatred, but rather a desire to change the dynasty. This is not just a matter of the martial arts world, but also a matter of the state! The Dali Kingdom and the Song Kingdom have been on good terms for many years. They probably do not want to see Dali in turmoil. Therefore, fleeing to Bianliang is a wise move."

He paused and then said, "Even if Uncle Duan couldn't have thought of this, Grandma Yuyan probably could. Using the power of the country for his own purposes is one of his specialties."

Duan Yu thought about the reasoning and agreed: "Second brother is right. My father is not a stubborn or rigid person. He might really have gone to Bianliang."

At this point, he perked up: "In that case, Second Brother, let's hurry to Bianliang!"

The two agreed, and the women had no objections. They mounted their horses, left the bamboo forest, and headed straight north.

From there to Bianliang, a journey of six or seven hundred li, the group hurried along the way. Several days later, they arrived in Xuchang. They had no intention of stopping, but suddenly they heard someone by the roadside shout, "Is that Young Master Jiang Mingzhe on horseback?"

Jiang Mingzhe hurriedly reined in his horse and turned to look. He saw a middle-aged man with a weathered face and a sword strapped to his back. The man looked vaguely familiar.

He then asked him, "I am Jiang Mingzhe. Who are you and why are you stopping me?"

As they were talking, the others also stopped one after another.

The swordsman quickly clasped his hands in greeting: "My name is Zhou Feng. I saw Young Master Jiang in Xingzilin before. At that time, I used a move called 'Unexpected Trouble,' and Young Master Jiang dodged it and kicked me unconscious."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mingzhe immediately understood: "So you're from Yipintang? Heh, I rarely kick people in my life, you're lucky! You're blocking my way here on the orders of your Empress Dowager?"

Zhou Feng showed admiration and said repeatedly, "Yes, yes, Young Master Jiang is indeed a man of great wisdom. The Empress Dowager ordered us to be stationed along the major official roads of Zhongzhou, guarding day and night. As soon as you appear, we will stop you and tell you something." Jiang Mingzhe nodded and said, "Go ahead."

Zhou Feng coughed and said in a low voice, "The Empress Dowager said that the plans you made for the Murong family have now become someone else's scheme. Hmm, the Ding family wants to become immortals, Kumārajīva wants to strengthen Tibet, and Duan Yanqing wants to reclaim the throne. If you want your father-in-law and grandmother to live, hurry back to Leigu Mountain to rescue them!"

Jiang Mingzhe was taken aback, thinking that Li Qiushui and the others had run back to Leigu Mountain again.
Azi exclaimed in surprise, "So that Tibetan monk and Master were accomplices! No wonder even my chubby grandma couldn't beat him."

Wang Yuyan had already heard the other girls talk about the Murong family's plight. She sighed and said, "My uncle and cousin lived their whole lives for the sake of restoring their kingdom. Suddenly, they discovered that they were not of the Murong family bloodline. I'm afraid they were utterly devastated. Kumozhi originally wanted to use my cousin's restoration of the kingdom to strengthen Tibet. Seeing that his plan had failed, he probably decided to go it alone."

Abi whispered, "Young Master Jiang, it must be because Ding Chunqiu and the others were chasing us too closely. My master and the others didn't have time to go to Bianliang, so they went to Leigu Mountain instead. I think since my grandmaster has lived there for many years, he must have built a lot of powerful traps. My master and the others probably wanted to use these traps to defend themselves."

Jiang Mingzhe wanted to say, if there were powerful mechanisms, how could Ding Chunqiu have massacred the mountain?

On second thought, given Ding Chunqiu's martial arts skills, if he intended to launch a surprise attack, it would be quite normal for him not to have time to activate the mechanism.

He then said, "Leigu Mountain is not far from here. No matter what, we'll know its quality once we take a trip there."

After saying this, he spurred his horse and changed course, galloping westward for sixty or seventy li in one breath, returning to Leigu Mountain. He went straight to the mountainside, the place where he had dismounted and walked up the mountain last time. There he saw two corpses lying on the ground, their blood still wet.

Duan Yu's expression changed, he jumped off his horse, rushed over, turned the two corpses over, and immediately burst into tears, saying, "It's Uncle Gu! Uncle Gu is dead too!"

Abi's face was also extremely pale, and she cried out, "Uncle Li is dead too."

Looking over, Jiang Mingzhe and the others saw that the two dead men were Gu Ducheng, one of the four attendants of the Prince's Palace, who was skilled with double axes, and Li Kuilei, whose face was covered with colorful paint, the eighth of the Eight Friends of Hangu Pass, who loved to sing opera.

Duan Yu stood up, his face covered in tears. He used his Lingbo Weibu (a martial arts technique) and ran wildly up the mountain path. Jiang Mingzhe, fearing for his safety, shouted, "Senior Sister, make sure everyone is safe!" and hurried after him.

The two of them, one after the other, quickly darted up the mountain path and arrived at the valley filled with pine trees, only to find that the scene before them was completely different—

The pine trees that were fine before are now lying all over the ground. These pine trees have been growing for who knows how long. They are lying on the ground, some about two meters high, lying haphazardly. Some are connected end to end, while others are separated from each other, vaguely forming a maze-like shape. There are as many as three entrances.

Jiang Mingzhe asked in confusion, "Is this the mechanism of Leigu Mountain? What use is it? Just use your lightness skill to jump over it!"

After saying that, he leaped onto a tree trunk and then jumped to the next one. He did this more than ten times in a row. Suddenly, he saw Duan Yu standing blankly in front of him and asked in surprise, "Third brother, when did you get in front of me?"

Duan Yu looked puzzled and asked, "Second Brother, I haven't moved an inch since I jumped up, but you didn't move forward. Why did you go around in circles and come back?"

(End of this chapter)