The First Lackey Under The Empress

Zhao Douan was unusually calm: "We need to leave a few people behind to hold them back."

Gongshu Tianyuan said proudly: "I was caught off guard by Ren Kun just now; this time, watch me deal with him."

Jin Jian looked at the unreliable Fifth Senior Brother, who was indulging in pleasure and neglecting his duties. The young woman sighed softly, "I'll stay behind too."

Although the young female cleric was a bit naive, she felt that she was mature in her heart. Well, at least more reliable than Fifth Senior Brother.

Although the two of them had deep foundations, they had only recently advanced… I'm afraid they can't stand up to the Kuangfu Society experts who have gone bloodshot… Zhao Douan's mind raced, and he said:

"Lang Shishi, you stay behind too."

The two below the mountain belonged to the martial artist type. If only two clerics were sent from their side, it would be inappropriate.

The "Drunkard" Lang Shishi grunted in agreement, took down the wine gourd behind him, and threw it to Ji Yue, determined to go all out.

"Let's go." Zhao Douan didn't waste any words and immediately led Ji Yue, Haitang, and Zhang Han to continue climbing the mountain.

After they left.

Only three "worldly" first-rank experts remained on the mountainside, resisting the Kuangfu Society duo who were rapidly catching up with cultivation bases far stronger than theirs.

"Hoo hoo — —"

The winter mountain wind swept through the withered yellow trees and mountain forests, hanging on the faces of the three.

"The opponent is very strong, but fortunately, we have the advantage of the terrain. Later, I will try my best to block them in the front, and you two will cast spells from the rear." Lang Shishi said calmly. This former military advisor undoubtedly had rich fighting experience.

Sweat oozed from his palm holding the curved saber, and his weathered face was full of solemnity.

In the battle of Huting, he had personally experienced Qi Yuchun's spearmanship and knew that he could hardly resist it, but if he allowed him to break through the blockade and close the distance with the two "clerics," they would be very passive.

"Heh! With this cleric here, why would I need you to risk your life as a human shield?"

Gongshu Tianyuan raised his chin, sneered, and put on an expert demeanor.

Then, he pursed his lips in the surprised gazes of the two, revealing a sinister smile:

"You two, don't you really think that Craftsman God Artificers are not good at fighting? Back then, during the Buddhist and Taoist duels, the reason Master wanted you, Junior Sister, to go was not because I, Senior Brother, couldn't beat you, but because outsiders simply don't know how much of a bug a well-prepared Craftsman God is. Hmm, Zhao Brother taught me this word."

"You two, just protect me!"

After speaking, Gongshu Tianyuan tore open his robe and grabbed another handful of disposable storage talismans, scattering them on the mountain road.

Bang bang bang…

One by one, dark, large mechanical parts made of wrought iron and fine steel fell to the ground, the most eye-catching of which was a thick brass cannon barrel as thick as an adult's waist.

Back then, Zhao Douan hand-drew the blueprints, and he and the Divine Machine Camp's "Chen Fire God" researched new firearms, and also created a magical weapon that only an artificer could drive.

At this time, Gongshu Tianyuan picked up the "Craftsman God Hammer" and quickly assembled a "Divine Might Cannon" full of pressure on the mountain road.

It has a seven-foot long and wide, three-foot high wrought iron base, supporting a dark, thick cannon barrel with amazing thickness and drawn with array runes.

Gongshu Tianyuan rotated the muzzle to aim downward, at Qi Yuchun and Ren Kun, who were being carried by the illusory "Earth God" and were about to approach the three.

The little fatty laughed wildly, his eyes flashing with crazy ferocity, and he slammed down on the trigger.

"Your Craftsman God Grandpa is here!!"

"Buzz — —"

The muzzle of the 【Divine Might Cannon Xuanhuan Version】 rapidly charged, the patterns lit up in order, and spherical electric light crazily collapsed within the dark cannon chamber.

Then, a spherical ball of light like a small sun roared out, rapidly enlarging in the suddenly narrowed pupils of the Earth God.

"Boom — — — —"

… …

… …

Hearing the sudden roar coming from the foot of the mountain, Zhao Douan didn't turn his head: "Hurry!"

The group of four had already crossed the "Forbidden Purple Mountain Villa" archway and rushed into this ancient building complex built on the mountain.

"Who is it?"

Two Kuangfu Society members guarding the gate rushed out, holding knives in their hands, with horrified expressions.

Haitang flicked her wrist, and the flying knife spun out, piercing the throats of the two, who fell down softly.

At this time, the rest of the people remaining in the mountain villa were also attracted by the sound of the cannon and ran over, but how could the already empty mountain villa resist the four fiends?

Zhao Douan hardly even moved, and the other three felled a ground of corpses as if chopping melons and vegetables.

"Speak, where is Zhuang Xiaocheng?" Zhao Douan asked, stepping on a guy on the ground who was begging for mercy loudly.

This person was obviously not a steadfast member of the society, but should be a servant in the mountain villa, and immediately pointed to the pavilion in the distance:

"Over there…"

Zhao Douan raised his head and looked at the pavilion at the highest point next to the cliff.

… …

… …

"Sixteen, Eighteen."

Yun Xi picked up a chess piece and placed it in the corresponding position.

Zhuang Xiaocheng admired this game of chess and said:

"According to the time, there should be a result in the city by now."

As soon as he finished speaking, the roar of the cannon startled the birds in the mountain villa.

Everyone in the pavilion was stunned, and Yun Xi twisted her body violently, looking towards the direction of the bottom of the mountain, with a bright light flashing in her eyes.

"What's going on? Fifth, go and take a look." Zhuang Xiaocheng stood up in astonishment and ordered.

The society member who was respectfully called "Fifth Uncle" ran wildly towards the outside, but not long after turning the corner of the building, he let out a scream.

In Zhuang Xiaocheng's field of vision, four figures came from a distance.

A red-clothed, white-eyed woman floating in the air like a ghost was the most eye-catching, and wisps of fine streams gushed out from the wine gourd behind her, condensing into two long "water whips" under the control of the woman's slender fingers.

Zhang Han and Haitang were on the left and right, and the swords in their hands were stained red, dripping with viscous blood.

The one leading the two was a youth in brocade clothes, with a long sword hanging from his waist, but he didn't draw it. He walked forward, and their eyes met.

"Zhao Douan!" Zhuang Xiaocheng's eyelids twitched wildly, and he uttered this name that had haunted him for the past half year.

"Zhuang Xiaocheng!" Zhao Douan also saw this former tutor, the teacher of the Second Prince Jian Wen, and the leader of the Kuangfu Society again after nearly a year.

Also, the real murderer who killed the original owner.

"Zhao Douan? He is Zhao Douan! ?"

"How could he appear here? Shouldn't he be at the Fengcheng execution ground? Did the assassination fail?" The young men and women in the pavilion were shocked, and then reacted: "Protect the Tutor!"

However, Ji Yue in the air had already manipulated the long whip and lashed it out fiercely, intending to wrap Zhuang Xiaocheng over.

"Bang!"

The whip lashed into the air at the edge of the pavilion, making a sound of metal clashing.

Everyone was stunned, only to realize that a faint array barrier had appeared around the pavilion at some point.

"No need to panic." Zhuang Xiaocheng raised his right hand, and in his palm was a piece of green jade fish talisman that he had smashed:

"Although I am a mortal, I also have some life-saving methods. As long as you don't step out of this pavilion, it's not a problem to support it for a while."

Zhao Douan had already arrived outside the pavilion at this time, stopped, and frowned, looking at Ji Yue, who was manipulating the whip and bombarding the barrier again and again:

"What's going on?"

The socially awkward artificer said blankly: "A kind of array that can block my power."

Zhang Han's eyes narrowed, and the seven-foot sword in his hand was filled with energy, and he slashed fiercely on the translucent barrier, but was softly bounced away.

"This thing is hard to hurt with knives and swords, but in theory, spells can always break through it," Haitang said in a deep voice.

Ji Yue said softly: "I can break it, but it takes a little time."

While speaking, she went all out, and two dragon-like whips madly lashed at the barrier, consuming the power of the array.

Zhao Douan narrowed his eyes, pondered slightly, and smiled:

"Then we might as well wait a while, what this official doesn't lack is time."

In the pavilion, Zhuang Xiaocheng walked out, met his eyes, and said:

"The sound of cannons roared at the mountain road. If I'm not mistaken, Qi Yuchun and Ren Kun should have returned as well. Did you send someone to stop them? That Northern Blood Saber beside you, and the two high disciples of the Tianshi Mansion?"

Zhao Douan said: "You know me very well."

Zhuang Xiaocheng, after the initial shock, restored the demeanor of a calm and collected scholar, and said lightly:

"Although the high disciples of the Tianshi Mansion have outstanding potential, they have only recently entered the world, and can only block them for a while, but they can't stand up to the joint efforts of Qi and Ren. As long as I hold on until they arrive, the dangerous situation can be easily solved."

These words were said to Yun Xi and others to stabilize the morale of the army.

Zhao Douan smiled.

He smiled very sincerely, and even crow's feet appeared at the corners of his eyes:

"Tutor has a good demeanor, worthy of being the leader of the Kuangfu Society, then we might as well bet, whether Qi and Ren will arrive first, or we will break your array first."

Zhuang Xiaocheng stared at him: "Do you think you can win?"

Zhao Douan sighed:

"My luck has always been good, just like back then, in the bamboo forest in the southern suburbs of Beijing."

After a pause, he suddenly looked around, at the desolate mountains, pavilions, and pavilions in winter, and smiled:

"Tutor Zhuang, don't you think the scene in front of you is familiar? I remember, back then in the bamboo forest, it was like this.

You were blocked in the Earth God Temple by this official, but unfortunately, it is not summer now, and there is no scenery of the bamboo forest in the barren mountains.

Oh, your female disciple is also here, haha, it's even more coincidental, it seems that God is helping me, and wants me to avenge myself personally."

Yun Xi's face showed anger, and she stared at him without saying a word.

Zhuang Xiaocheng was silent for a while. This old man with frosty white hair, wearing a Confucian robe, who had the demeanor of a scholar just by standing, seemed to be touched, and stared deeply at the young man outside the pavilion:

"I'm very surprised."

He said seriously:

"Since the day we parted in the Earth God Temple, you have really given me too many surprises. The things you have done in Beijing, one by one, have surprised me extremely, and are completely different from your arrogance in front of me at that time.

As a result, I often think, was it really a coincidence that you robbed Ma Yan of his credit and arrested me in advance?"

No, you think too much, this is really just the original owner being stupid… Zhao Douan smiled.

Zhuang Xiaocheng stood with his hands behind his back, seemingly sighing:

"But it doesn't matter. Whether you conspired with the false emperor, deliberately played dumb, or whatever else, it's all irrelevant. What matters is that after you inflicted cruel slaughter upon the righteous people of my Kuangfu Society in the capital, this old man knew that no matter the cost, you must be killed."

Still pretending at this point? So righteously indignant, you've even fooled yourself, haven't you…" Zhao Du'an clapped lightly:

“Clap, clap, clap…”

Amidst the crisp applause, he smiled and praised:

"As expected of the Grand Tutor, never forgetting to win over hearts. If the Yu Kingdom doesn't give you an Oscar, I'll feel injustice on your behalf."

Oscar? Golden statuette?

Zhuang Xiaocheng frowned, unfamiliar with these unheard-of terms.

"Forget it, if you want to create a persona, I won't stop you."

Zhao Du'an stopped applauding and said calmly:

"I am very curious, when you are captured back to the capital and face a public trial before the whole world, will you still be able to confidently slander His Majesty and distort history?"

Zhuang Xiaocheng's eyes were deep and profound: "You being able to find this place is indeed very surprising to me. Did Lu Zhengchun tell you?"

The most likely possibility he could think of was that the assassination failed, and Lu Zhengchun, in order to save his life, revealed the location of the Forbidden Mountain Villa… This was the most logical deduction.

Zhao Du'an did not deny it, smiling:

"I must admit, your arrangement today is very clever. A mix of truth and falsehood, in order to make me divide my forces, you didn't hesitate to throw so many members out as bait, even stuffing those prisoners I exchanged back into the mix…"

"Let me think, you did this to solve the problem of these prisoners once and for all, right?"

"You were worried that I had arranged spies among these prisoners, but in order to gather support, you couldn't refuse them, caught in a dilemma. So, you simply dispersed them and threw them back into the city, returning them to the imperial court. It is indeed a crude method."

"But do you really think I couldn't guess that you wanted to kill me? That I never thought of saving Lu Zhengchun?"

Zhuang Xiaocheng suddenly realized:

"So that's it. It's because Lu Zhengchun was captured too quickly, exposed too easily, so you believe that I abandoned him? Therefore, you didn't believe that I would try my best to save him, suspecting that I would take the opportunity to kill you…"

"Well, although you maliciously speculated too much about this old man, by chance, it helped you bypass the fog… On the contrary, it was this old man who planned too complicatedly and thought too much."

Still pretending! This old man is still pretending!

Zhao Du'an was too lazy to argue with him, smiling:

"Think what you want. In short, in this game, it seems that I have won. And you… and you…"

He pointed to Yun Xi and the other young people, smiling:

"Grand Tutor Zhuang, even if you don't think for yourself, you should think for them. Surrender. I, in my capacity as 'Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince,' promise that as long as you surrender, I will absolutely not make things difficult for them. I can even petition His Majesty to pardon their crimes. What do you think?"

"You dog thief!"

A young man cursed loudly:

"We would rather die than submit to you! I wish I could devour your flesh raw and crush your bones…"

"Yes! Grand Tutor, don't listen to his lies. We would rather die than surrender!"

One by one, the steadfast young men spoke up.

"Oh? Is that so? It seems you won't shed tears until you see the coffin."

The smile on Zhao Du'an's face slowly disappeared. He looked down at the other party with icy coldness, a mocking expression on his lips:

"Then I will grant your wish. Heh, Old Dog Zhuang, it looks like I won the bet."

At this moment, accompanied by Ji Yue's frantic bombardment, the barrier outside the pavilion was already on the verge of collapse, flashing wildly, about to break down.

And on the mountain road outside the villa, the sounds of battle had not yet ceased.

A group of young people's faces were pale, but no one retreated, ready to die bravely. Some picked up chessboards, some picked up benches, ready to fight to the death.

Zhuang Xiaocheng, however, was not afraid, saying calmly:

"Do you really think you've won?"

He slowly opened his left hand, and in his palm was another piece of jade talisman.

Zhao Du'an was stunned for a moment, and the young men who were ready to die were also taken aback:

"Grand Tutor, you have another one?"

Zhuang Xiaocheng slowly walked to a pillar in the pavilion, pretending to smash the fish talisman against the pillar to buy more time, a smile on his face.

The sound of battle on the mountain road was gradually approaching, indicating that Qi Yuchun and the other two were getting closer and closer to the villa.

As long as they held on for a while longer, they could reverse the situation.

However, Zhao Du'an's face was equally calm. He suddenly repeated the other party's words:

"Do you really think you've won?"

Zhuang Xiaocheng was stunned, a look of doubt in his eyes. Then, he suddenly felt a piercing pain!

Pain!

Pain that came from behind!

"Ah!" The young man holding the chessboard suddenly exclaimed, his eyes wide open:

"Yun Xi… you…"

Before everyone's eyes, Yun Xi stood behind Zhuang Xiaocheng at some point.

Her hair was disheveled, and the hairpin that held her long hair was in her hand. The end of the hairpin, which had been sharpened to a sharp point, easily pierced into Zhuang Xiaocheng's back, and blood suddenly gushed out, staining his Confucian robe red.

It also stained her fair little hand red.

Yun Xi's pretty face was indifferent, and her beautiful eyes revealed a sense of satisfaction and the joy of avenging her hatred.

"It's you…"

Zhuang Xiaocheng slowly turned his head and saw the girl who suddenly pulled out the hairpin, came to his side, held the hairpin against his throat with her right hand, and snatched the jade talisman with her left hand.

He seemed to understand something: "You betrayed…"

"No," Yun Xi stared at him mockingly, "It is you who betrayed us, betrayed the ideal."

"Yun Xi! Let go of the Grand Tutor!"

The young men and women belatedly shouted loudly, wanting to pounce on her, but they were afraid that she would kill the Grand Tutor.

"Yun Xi, well done."

Zhao Du'an praised with a smile. At the same time, Ji Yue in the air made a final effort and slammed the whip on the barrier.

The barrier, which had exhausted its mana, shattered with a bang, and cold wind poured into the pavilion.

Zhang Han and Haitang instantly pounced in and knocked down a group of young men and women.

The situation reversed in an instant.

However, Zhao Du'an still did not relax his vigilance. He still remembered how cunning this old dog was in the Earth God Temple.

Sure enough, facing such a desperate situation, a trace of loss appeared in Zhuang Xiaocheng's eyes. He said calmly:

"Do you know why I was willing to let you capture Lu Zhengchun?"

"Because I wasn't worried that he would reveal the location of the Forbidden Mountain Villa."

"Because I never thought that I could kill you so easily."

"Because the real killing game has never been on the execution ground, but here. The real assassin is not them, but me."

On Zhuang Xiaocheng's old and weathered face, there was a look of determination and a sacrificial solemnity:

"Zhao Du'an, it's not a loss to trade your life for this old man's!"

Ji Yue's expression in the air suddenly changed drastically, and she shouted loudly: "Be careful!"

The earth suddenly shook, and the entire villa shook violently.

No, not the villa, but the entire mountain.

Houses began to collapse, and the earth cracked. Zhao Du'an's pupils suddenly narrowed, and following the sound of cracking, he turned his head and saw a thick crack splitting open in the distance, rapidly expanding.

…

On the mountain road.

The five people in the fierce battle were still fighting. The Divine Might Cannon was discarded after firing all the shells. The trio was retreating steadily, forced back to the top of the mountain by the nearly insane Qi Yuchun and Ren Kun.

However, at this moment, the five people in the battle stopped at the same time, staring in astonishment at the Forbidden Mountain Villa in the distance.

To be precise, they were looking at the protruding cliff.

At this moment, the cliff carrying the pavilion, the entire huge mountain, from top to bottom, seemed to have been split open by a giant axe, with cracks opening, about to break away from the main body of the mountain and fall towards the ten-thousand-foot canyon below!

"Formation… the earth vein formation of the villa has been detonated…"

Ren Kun murmured, his face pale.

Qi Yuchun held a spear, turned his head and stared at his companion who had set up the entire earth vein of the villa:

"What did you say?!"

Ren Kun said in disbelief:

"The Grand Tutor took the initiative to blow up half of the mountain. He wants to take Zhao Du'an down with him. Such a high valley, with the collapse of the mountain, apart from a geomancer like me, even you will have no chance of survival."

To perish together!

So, the real assassination plan was to perish together!

"Brother Zhao! It's bad!" Gongshu Tianyuan was dumbfounded and shouted:

"Junior Sister! Water Moon!"

Jin Jian was stunned for a moment, then suddenly came back to her senses, waving her staff, trying to activate the teleportation spell to save people.

But after continuous teleportation in the city and experiencing a hard battle just now, the mana in her body was almost exhausted, and the spell failed.

The girl was anxious for a moment, but although the senior brothers and sisters still had some life-saving cards, they could not be used to save people.

…

On the cliff.

The earth shook and the mountains swayed, and rocks collapsed.

Zhuang Xiaocheng laughed loudly. He coughed up blood while laughing:

"Zhao Du'an, this time, can you still survive?"

Haitang and Zhang Han tried hard to stand firm, while Yun Xi simply fell to the ground, unable to maintain her balance.

Ji Yue also panicked and took two steps forward, but was suddenly hit by a collapsing pillar and fell to the ground with a scream.

Zhao Du'an supported himself with his sword, embedding the Frost Sword into the stone under his feet to maintain his posture. He stared at the laughing Grand Confucian in front of him, closed his eyes, and said calmly:

"Respectfully request the senior to take action!"

His brow suddenly lit up, and then, the aura of his whole body was frantically drawn away, and wisps of golden light gushed out from his pores, slowly pulling out thin lines behind him.

And at the end of the thin lines.

A figure slowly condensed in the air.

She was wearing a big red wedding dress, barefooted and as white as snow, her face covered with a dark golden mysterious mask, possessing a dress that did not belong to this era, with a scale pole suspended in her hand.

Pei Niannu coldly looked down at everyone, her eyes shifted to Zhao Du'an, who raised his face and squeezed out a licking dog smile at her:

"Senior…"

Pei Niannu sighed softly with cold eyes: "Reward, ten chapters."

…

Typesetting first, update later.