The Legend of the Condor Heroes: Starting from the Bodyguard

Chapter 245 Fallen Leaves Return to Their Roots, Drawing the Bow to Shoot the Eagle

The night was bathed in a leaden light, the stars were dim, and a tattered, bright yellow robe fluttered.

The flames and the carnage were left behind, leaving only exhaustion, excruciating pain, and a body on the verge of falling apart. Ku Hui's hands, arms, and shoulders had been broken in several places during his fight with the Fire-Worker Monk, and he had also suffered knife wounds during his breakout. Blood was still flowing, draining his strength and obscuring his vision.

The pain, to some extent, focused his consciousness, preventing him from becoming mentally scattered due to physical exhaustion during his long journey.

Looking back on what happened that night, the vegetarian meal was poisoned, most of the monks lost their ability to move, and he himself was also affected by a poison that could make people faint. He had to suppress his breathing while fighting with the Fire-Worker Monk. Otherwise, it would not have been easy for the Fire-Worker Monk to defeat him.

There is a traitor in the temple.

"puff"

Ku Hui felt a sharp pain in his chest and coughed up blood. He ran through a forest, around a clear lake, and towards a hillside. In the distance, he could vaguely see figures moving.

A voice came from the darkness: "Abbot? It's the abbot."

The last bit of true energy that Ku Hui had managed to muster suddenly dissipated.

The moon was like an eyebrow, and the person was like a silhouette. Ku Hui fell down and rolled down. Tianlong, the Zen Master Tianxiang, and more than ten martial monks, covered in blood, leaped over like rabbits and falcons.

Zen Master Tianlong embraced Ku Hui and took a "Minor Rejuvenation Pill" from his bosom, putting it into his mouth.

The "Minor Rejuvenation Pill" is not as potent as the "Major Rejuvenation Pill" that Ku Cheng once gave to Zhou Yan, but compared to ordinary pills, it has excellent effects in detoxifying, relieving pain, and nourishing the spirit and strengthening the body.

Ku Hui took the elixir, circulated his energy for a moment, and his spirits recovered slightly. He asked, "How many people were evacuated? How many scrolls of scriptures were taken with them?"

"Reporting to the abbot, there are seventy-six fellow disciples, but most of them only know some basic martial arts for strengthening the body. They brought most of the scriptures with them. Junior Brother Baoxiang was also poisoned, but only slightly, and is not seriously injured." Zen Master Tianlong's voice suddenly became low as he spoke. "Several of our senior uncles were also poisoned, but they risked their own power to cover our retreat and stayed in the temple."

"Amitabha."

“Abbot, there is a traitor in the temple,” said Zen Master Tianlong.

“Indeed! If it weren’t for the poisoning and collusion from within, how could the Vajra Sect have dared to offend us?” Ku Hui said with a bitter expression.

"We will take the abbot to find a place to stay, and once he recovers, we will seek revenge against the Vajra Sect."

“Yes.” The head monk of the Luohan Hall, Zen Master Tianxiang, looked like an angry Vajra.

"I am now like a useless person."

"Abbot!" the monks cried out in grief.

“Life is like a sea of ​​suffering, and the flesh is just a raft; there is no need for sorrow.” After saying this, Ku Hui continued, “Tianlong and Tianxiang, take the disciples south to Mount Song.”

The two were stunned for a moment, then respectfully said, "We obey the abbot's decree."

Zen Master Tianlong got up and instructed several disciples to cut down trees in the nearby mountains to make a simple stretcher. Two warrior monks then carried Zen Master Kuhui onto the stretcher.

After the darkest moment passed, the sky darkened, and a faint, pale light appeared on the eastern horizon. Dozens of monks, carrying their books, trudged forward in the rising morning light.

……

About a hundred miles northwest of Ganzhou city, spring mist floats on the river, and the new buds of the weeping willows on the banks are like curtains, their tender yellow color resembling sparrow tongues in the mist.

Zhou Yan exhaled sharply, his expression shifting dramatically, and his "Night-Shining Jade Lion" neighed excitedly.

Huang Rong cheered and ran towards the stream.

"Captain, we've made it out of the desert!" Liang Xiaowu exclaimed excitedly.

"Yes, we've come out of it."

Over the course of seven days, the caravan traveled day and night under the guidance of their guide, only resting for a few hours when the sun was high in the sky.

The extreme weather, with its veil of clouds in the sun and the warmth of the hearth at night, dryness, sandstorms, and monotonous colors, tested everyone's will. Fortunately, they did not encounter sandstorms or bandits, and with favorable winds, they successfully made their way out of the desert. The caravan appeared in the northwest of Ganzhou. Traveling west for another seven or eight days, they would reach Yumen Pass and complete their mission.

Zhang Wangyue also breathed a sigh of relief and said to Zhou Yan, "Let's set up camp and rest for half a day."

"okay."

Zhou Yan instructed Liang Xiaowu to relay the instructions and gave the guide a silver ingot. The thin Uyghur man beamed with joy, thanked him repeatedly, and then rode away on his camel.

Zhou Yan, Zhang Wangyue, and Huyan Lei went to the river to wash up. Zhou Yan called out and, holding a giant bow made of ox horn, disappeared into the mountains.

The caravan was located at the foot of the Qilian Mountains, where the water and grass were lush. In such a place, it wouldn't be difficult to find a few large prey.

……

As the morning sunlight fell from the horizon, a gray figure slowly rose from the brown rocks. Zhou Yan could see more than a dozen gazelles foraging for food.

He held his breath, the giant bow with its horns drew back in a breathtaking arc, and the moment he aimed, he released his grip slightly.

"Oh!"

The bowstring emitted a dull yet powerful thud, and the long arrow, carrying a chilling killing intent, flew like a black lightning bolt, precisely towards its target more than sixty paces away.

The moment the arrow left the bowstring, the yellow sheep unleashed astonishing intuition and athleticism, leaping up and darting forward several feet. At the same time, a clear, muffled thud of the arrowhead piercing flesh rang out.

The muscular yellow sheep fell from the sky and crashed to the ground with a thud.

As Zhou Yan moved rapidly alongside the startled herd of gazelles, the bowstrings vibrated with a series of "thump, thump, thump," and the arrow shot like a meteor. Three plump gazelles plunged headfirst into the grass, rolled several times, and then lay still.

Zhou Yan stopped hunting; four gazelles were enough for the caravan. As he approached the gazelles, he suddenly halted, squinting at the low sky where a gyrfalcon was circling beneath the azure sky.

"Does this hairy beast want to compete with me for food?" He smiled, withdrew his gaze, gathered his inner strength, and spoke. Dozens of breaths later, the sound of hooves thundered, and Liang Xiaowu rode over.

The two men took the gazelles and headed straight for the camp.

……

The camp was filled with the aroma of mutton soup. Zhou Yan glanced once more at the gyrfalcon circling low overhead.

Zhang Wangyue also looked up and glanced at it.

"Chief镖头, I feel there's something wrong with this beast."

"What do you mean?" The chief镖头 of Fu'an asked Zhou Yan, his gaze still fixed on the air.

“We saw it during the hunt, and it’s still there now. It’s not like we’re hunting with a pack of wolves, so why are they circling around for so long?”

Zhang Wangyue seemed to be deep in thought, and suddenly said, "The Jurchens are good at hunting eagles. I once heard my father say that when General Yue was fighting against the Jin Kingdom, the enemy often used birds of prey like the gyrfalcon for reconnaissance."

Hu Yanlei's expression hardened. "Could it be that we've been targeted by that brat Yang Kang?"

“It may not be Yang Kang, but from what Brother Zhou said, this matter is indeed strange,” Zhang Wangyue said.

"I'll go for a walk around," Zhou Yan said.

"Bring a few more people."

“I’m with Brother Zhou.” Hu Yanlei also stood up.

"it is good."

Unexpectedly, the message did not spread. Zhou Yan, Hu Yanlei, Mu Nianci, and Huang Rong took advantage of the time while searching for firewood to disappear from the camp. After traveling several miles, they spread out in a fan shape and pushed towards the forests below where the gyrfalcons were circling at low altitudes.

……

On a ridge covered with sparse poplar trees, several scouts known as "Iron Falcons" kept watch over the镖队 (bodyguards) from Fu'an.

"Wow!"

Suddenly, the cry of a gyrfalcon came from low in the sky, and the raptor swooped down into the forest.

"Something's wrong." A scout's expression changed drastically. He reached behind his back, grabbed a horn bow, drew an arrow with his left hand, and looked towards where the gyrfalcon had landed.

The four scouts sprang to their feet, drawing their long swords.

……

"You beast, there really is something wrong with you."

Zhou Yan sneered from the forest, bent his arm, drew his bow, and aimed. His movements were fluid and unhurried, like flowing water. In the dim light of the forest, the bow was drawn as full as a moon.

"bang"

The first arrow left the bowstring, and the second, unusually thick and long arrow was already held between two fingers. Zhou Yan drew his bow, nocked the arrow, and waited to release it.

The long arrow, pushing through the air, emitted a sharp hiss as it attacked the raptor. The gyrfalcon let out a cry and its body shot up in a flash, the arrow passing by, its gray-white feathers fluttering and tumbling.

"Bang, bang"

Zhou Yan unleashed the last two of the three arrows in quick succession.

The greyish-white figure swiftly dodged an arrow as if hunting in mid-air. The sharp, penetrating force of the third arrow tore open the gyrfalcon's abdomen, and in Zhou Yan's vision, a burst of blood exploded in the void like fireworks.

Huang Rong, whose lightness skill was second only to him and Zhang Wangyue, had already discovered the "Iron Hawk" scout.

Huang Rong flew away like a fluttering butterfly.

"Bang!" The bowstring snapped, and the scout, strong as a leopard, fired an arrow, followed by two more at a speed not much slower than Zhou Yan's.

Huang Rong leaped up to dodge the first arrow, and as she landed, she kicked away the second one with her right foot. The moment her feet touched the ground, her supple waist suddenly leaned back, performing the "Iron Bridge" move. Her body was parallel to the ground, her spine untouched by dust. As the third arrow grazed her cheek, Huang Rong reached out and grabbed it, using the momentum to leap up again.

The scout who had fired three arrows changed his expression again, turned around and ran wildly. A few steps later, a long arrow came whistling through the air and "thud" into his back. The scout was carried away by the arrow for a few big steps before collapsing forward to the ground with a thud.

"I was going to kill him." Huang Rong smiled at Zhou Yan in the distance, then turned and chased after another scout.

At that moment, Hu Yanlei's burly figure burst out of the forest on the flank. As the distance closed, the fleeing "Iron Falcon" scout let out a "whoosh" and unleashed a thunderous slash. However, in the blink of an eye, the opponent was enveloped by the arc of the tiger-head gold-inlaid spear.

Several rapid clangs of metal clashing rang out, and suddenly the gleaming spearhead pierced the scout's chest. Huyan Lei pushed the scout forward, pinning him to a poplar tree.

In the woods on the hillside, Mu Nianci suddenly thrust out his spear, stopping a scout.

As Huang Rong continued to close the distance, she caught up with the last scout who had already crossed the ridge. She used both "Orchid Finger Flicking Hand" and "Falling Flower Divine Sword Palm" at the same time. Her palm strikes were like falling petals, and her finger flicks were like lush spring orchids. Every move was fierce and beautiful. After more than ten moves, Huang Rong struck the scout's acupoint with one finger and captured him alive.

When Zhou Yan arrived at the scene of the battle, Mu Nianci had already assassinated the scout. Hu Yanlei searched the body and said, "There is no identification."

He was about to speak when Huang Rong appeared on the hillside.
"Chief Escort Zhou, I've used acupressure on someone here."

(End of this chapter)