socalfunplaces Page 389
Page 389
Let's go down the mountain, let's go down the mountain...
The disheveled Hong Xixiang suddenly stood up and walked towards the cliff outside the main hall.
Wang Chonglou, Wang Xiaoping, and their fellow disciples followed closely behind him, looking terrified.
Hong Xixiang's expression was truly dazed; it was impossible to know what he was thinking.
His expression was so cold and stern that it didn't resemble Hong Xixiang at all; it was more like that of a great master who had looked down upon the world for many years.
At the edge of the cliff, Hong Xixiang stopped in his tracks; ahead lay a bottomless abyss.
"Junior brother, stop! You can't go any further!"
Wang Chonglou exclaimed in surprise and quickly stepped forward to pull Hong Xixiang back.
However, Hong Xixiang remained expressionless and walked towards the cliff on his own.
Something weird happened!
Hong Xixiang stepped off the cliff, his footsteps landing in the void!
However, he did not fall; instead, he walked slowly and gracefully through the air.
Dressed in flowing white robes, she appeared as if in a dream, like a celestial being!
With each step Hong Xixiang took, a flower would bloom beneath his feet, and then drift away with the wind!
Suddenly, a cry of a crane soared into the sky, and a snow-white crane flew out from below the cliff.
The crane seemed to understand human intentions and stopped not far in front of Hong Xixiang.
Hong Xixiang rode on a crane, muttering to himself.
"The time is not yet ripe; one can only achieve a great celestial phenomenon in one step, but cannot become a terrestrial immortal."
"However, the grand celestial phenomena of my Hong Xixiang are beyond the reach of others."
Then, he smiled with relief.
"Senior brothers, junior brothers, I'm going down the mountain."
Wang Chonglou said urgently, “Junior brother, you mustn’t! You haven’t reached the level of a terrestrial immortal yet; you’re probably still the number one in the world. Going down the mountain could be dangerous!”
Hong Xixiang stood up straight on the crane's back, gazing at the clouds and mist over Wudang Mountain.
At this moment, memories that had been dormant deep in my heart suddenly surged forth.
Suddenly, Hong Xixiang laughed loudly, his voice shaking the heavens!
"A crane and a sword, a lifelong companion; the best in the world for eight hundred years!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Lüzu Sword inside the Lüzu Hall flew out and returned to Hong Xixiang's hand.
"Senior brother, I believe I am the best in the world, therefore I am the best in the world!"
"I'm leaving!"
With a long cry, the crane carried Hong Xixiang and flew towards the direction of the Northern Liang King's Palace.
The Northern Liang Royal Palace.
Xu Zhihu, who is about to get married, is carefully dressing herself up.
In the eyes of everyone in the royal palace, her marriage to Li Chang'an was a disgrace to the Northern Liang royal family.
Xu Xiao had also told her that the Prince's Mansion would try to ambush and kill Li Chang'an, and after killing Li Chang'an, Xu Zhihu would be free.
But for some reason, Xu Zhihu secretly hoped that Li Chang'an could thwart Xu Xiao's plan and take her away.
She didn't know why she thought that way; after returning from Shazhou, she felt that something was wrong with her.
Shazhou, under the rule of Li Chang'an and Zhuge Liang, was significantly more prosperous and peaceful than Beiliang, under the rule of the Xu family.
Shazhou has no people like Xu Fengnian, Chu Lushan, or Li Hanlin, who are revered as the greatest villains of Beiliang, yet hold high positions and great power in Beiliang.
These people preyed on the common people, and Chu Lushan's army was even more undisciplined, causing harm to countless civilians.
However, with spies from the Fushui Bureau around, anyone who dared to voice even the slightest complaint about these matters would be severely punished.
When some people were drinking together, they said that Xu Fengnian, the heir of Beiliang, had it too easy and had never suffered in his life.
His Highness the Crown Prince lives a life of luxury, but instead of suffering, he commits all sorts of evil deeds and is the leader of the Four Evils of Northern Liang.
As a result, all these people were assigned by Chu Lushan to the Fushui Room, where they were stabbed every now and then.
Before ordering the Fushuifang to lay their knives, Chu Lushan told them that if they survived, they would be rewarded according to their social status, receiving 100,000 taels of silver, becoming a captain leading 1,600 troops, a seventh-rank official, and so on. If they did not survive, they would be allowed to leave.
Of the seven or eight people, the scholars and literati all cried out for their parents and left the scene after being stabbed once, but surprisingly, there was a villager who was the most determined to grit his teeth and persevere.
Unfortunately, he couldn't make it through in the end because Fushuifang didn't tell him how many cuts it would take to finish.
Indeed, none of these people died in Fushuifang. After returning home safely, those who had mothers lost their mothers, those who didn't have mothers lost their fathers, those who had sisters lost their sisters, and those who didn't have sisters lost their sisters.
Not only that, some of his close brothers lost arms and legs, and afterwards they were all said to have been implicated and harmed because of them. Some scholars who valued their reputation became infamous hypocrites despised by everyone.
Chapter 234 Frosty Lake! Abduction of Zhao Fengya!
Three days later.
The wedding procession from Shazhou entered Liangzhou City, a grand procession of hundreds of people.
Hundreds of Imperial Guards have already infiltrated Liangzhou City and are now silently advancing towards the Northern Liang Prince's Palace.
These Imperial Guards were headed to the Listening Tide Pavilion in the Northern Liang Prince's Palace, where Xu Xiao had collected martial arts techniques during his years of adventures across the land.
Li Chang'an wants to build the number one building in the world and recruit martial arts figures from all over the country, so he needs these martial arts manuals.
The grand wedding procession was for two reasons: firstly, to find an opportunity to kill Chen Zhibao, and secondly, to showcase the martial arts of Tingchao Pavilion.
The onlookers from Northern Liang couldn't help but feel curious, because the Tang King himself was not in the wedding procession.
The team was mostly composed of Imperial Guards and江湖人士 (jianghu figures), all of whom appeared to be formidable experts.
The group soon set foot on the Northern Liang Mountains, guided by servants from the Northern Liang Royal Palace along the way, and there were no unexpected incidents.
Wu Liuding, Gong Banque, and the others were all on high alert, prepared for a fierce battle since they had come all this way.
However, there was nothing unusual along the way; the calm was somewhat eerily quiet.
A few quarters of an hour later, the group was blocked by the wide lake in front of them; this was Qingliang Lake.
Qingliang Lake covers a vast area, and beyond Qingliang Lake lies Tingchao Pavilion, which is the Northern Liang King's Palace.
The servants of the Prince's mansion deliberately led the procession to this road to give them a taste of their power.
Cuihua pointed to the dense crowd across the lake and said, "Wu Liuding, look at the other side. So many people are waiting. They're clearly trying to intimidate us."
The fact that the Northern Liang Prince's Palace didn't send a boat to fetch them from such a vast lake clearly indicates their intention to embarrass the Tang Prince's Palace.
Gong Banque roared at the servants of the Northern Liang Prince's Mansion, "Where are your ships? Did you do this on purpose?!"
The servant said with difficulty, "The ships are not yet all gathered. They will be sent over together once they are all gathered. Please don't worry."
Across the lake, Xu Xiao sat leisurely in a grand chair, waiting.
Several important figures were also sitting with him by the lake.
The group included Prince Chen Zhibao, General Yuan Zuozong, Imperial Envoy Han Shengxuan, Celestial Masters Zhao Danxia and Zhao Danping of Longhu Mountain, Chai Qingshan, the head of Dongyue Sword Pool, and several other renowned martial arts masters.
Prince Chen Zhibao broke through to the realm of a terrestrial immortal and appeared quite pleased with himself.
"Father, why hasn't the patriarch of the Xuanyuan family come?"
Xu Xiao snorted coldly and said with considerable dissatisfaction, "The Xuanyuan family is in internal strife. Xuanyuan Jingcheng sided with Li Chang'an and caused the deaths of three Grandmasters of the first rank in the clan."
“Xuanyuan Dapan, who was in the Great Celestial Phenomenon Realm, was killed by Li Chang’an, so of course he can’t come.”
At this moment, the Dragon Tiger Celestial Master Zhao Danxia, who was standing nearby, said with a smile, "It's fine if the mere Xuanyuan Dapan dies."
"His Majesty has decreed that not only will he send my Longhu Mountain to assist us, but he has also sent Han Diao Temple from the palace."
"King of Northern Liang, between you and Li Chang'an, His Majesty supports you!"
Xu Xiao remained silent. The imperial court had not revealed to him why it was suddenly supporting him so vigorously.
Longhu Mountain was the state religion of the Liyang Dynasty. Many immortals who ascended to heaven from Longhu Mountain and the current Celestial Master are members of the Zhao royal family.
The fact that Masters Zhao Danxia and Zhao Danping came to support Beiliang was already a great honor.
As for the aloof Han Diaosi, he was a close advisor to Zhao Chun. The fact that he came to Beiliang shows that the emperor strongly supports Xu Xiao.
Xu Xiao couldn't help but think to himself that Li Chang'an's territory was now almost the same size as his own. Was it simply because he was young that the court was more wary of Li Chang'an than of Bei Liang?
In any case, making Li Chang'an suffer a loss is what Xu Xiao hopes to see.
Han Shengxuan said coldly, "King of Beiliang, with so many experts gathered here, killing Li Chang'an or keeping him here would be a great achievement."
Xu Xiao felt a chill run down his spine. Sure enough, the imperial court had already decided to kill Li Chang'an. Sending the Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain and Han Diao Temple here was most likely for this purpose.
Looking at the wedding procession opposite, Zhao Danxia suddenly chuckled, "This Li Chang'an is both bold and bored. He knows that the Northern Liang Prince's Mansion will not give him a good face, but he still comes to get married."
Han Diaosi sneered, "That's because he never expected that the imperial court would also send experts to assist him. He's determined to make sure that Diaosi never returns."
At this moment, Xu Fengnian stood silently behind Xu Xiao, looking cynical and dazed.
He glanced casually at the opposite bank of the river and saw two figures approaching the lake, discussing how to cross the river.