Chapter 382 Reasoning with the Unreasonable
A refugee had the cultivation of the Celestial Being Realm?
An expert in the Celestial Being Realm had shamelessly launched a sneak attack?
That did sound ridiculous.
Li Mu and the others instantly realized that what they just saw was not as simple as it seemed on the surface. There must be a huge vortex beneath.
At the time, the refugees all let out a cry of shock and fled away.
It was evident that, except for that elderly refugee with scabies, the rest were real refugees who had never seen such violence before. They broke into a run, shrieking down the road. But when the remaining energy fluctuations of the Celestial Being Realm spread across the field, a mother holding a baby and several elderly people were directly blown into a mist of blood, while many others were killed and wounded.
A lot of the buildings nearby collapsed as well.
Obviously, the attacker was an a.s.sa.s.sin. And for fear of not being able to hit the target in one shot, he did not reserve any of his power at all, nor did he care to consider the lives of the civilians around the target.
The harmony and tranquility in Green Hornet Gorge were shattered at once.
Desperate screams were heard.
The customers in the Place for the Weary all leaped to their feet and ran for it.
The street vendors, taverns, and shoppers in the nearby stores all panicked.
“Mount Qingcheng is handling affairs here. People irrelevant to the affairs shall quickly make themselves scarce.” A voice rang.
The a.s.sa.s.sin, who had disguised as a refugee, jumped to his feet, his protective glow switched on. Those disgusting scabies on his skin began to recover at a speed that was visible to the naked eye. His bones were crackling, and the man began to change into a totally different person.
Meanwhile, he raised a hand and sent a signal to the sky.
In a distance, mysterious shadows flashed. Scores of experts cladding Taoist robes zoomed toward the inn from the outside of Green Hornet Gorge. Then, clatters of hoofbeats and footsteps were heard. An army armed to teeth besieged the entire Green Hornet Gorge in no time.
“Don’t let that traitor to Mount Qingcheng named Dao Zhen escape!”
“Hahaha, Dao Zhen, you have no way to escape even if you sprouted wings! Now, stop fighting and turn yourself in!”
At that, many shadows darted forward.
Out of the inn called the Place for the Weary, a group of experts in Taoist robes closed in on the young innkeeper.
The elderly Taoists in lead wearing black robes were issuing rather strong aura. All of them were powerful pract.i.tioners in the Celestial Being Realm. They were standing by the side of that middle-aged a.s.sa.s.sin who had disguised as a refugee.
“Senior Dao Chong!” A young Taoist called as he readily handed a set of black robes to that a.s.sa.s.sin whose appearance had changed magnificently. In fact, that a.s.sa.s.sin was a widely-known expert in the Celestial Being Realm from Mount Qingcheng.
The young innkeeper looked rather pale. He reached out and wiped the blood from the corners of his mouth. Then, he said dolefully, “I’ve already backed off from the compet.i.tion. Why did you still rush down here to take me out?”
“Humph! Backed off?” The a.s.sa.s.sin named Dao Chong sneered. “Head Dao Ling wants you beheaded, so you have to die. Whether you are going to vie for the top position in Mount Qingcheng or not, you shouldn’t live in this world since the day Dao Chongyang conferred that position on you.”
His voice sounded triumphant.
Having figured out Dao Zhen’s true character, he pretended to be a refugee who was seriously ill, and then made a surprise attack on Dao Zhen when the kind Taoist came to treat him. He had planned all that and launched the strike all by himself, so he believed he should take the full credit for such a successful a.s.sa.s.sination.
As Dao Zhen had been gravely injured, there was no doubt that he would not survive that day.
As long as the thorn in the Head’s side was taken out, when Dao Chong returned to Mount Xuankong, he would certainly take the greatest reward. Later on, he would hold to the top position in a hall of the faction and have a promising future.
“The reason why I concealed my ident.i.ty is not the fear of death but of the people from Mount Qingcheng fighting against one another. Now that Dao Ling wants to be Head, he can take the position. In the past year, too many disciples from Mount Qingcheng have been killed. For the sake of the reputation and strength of Mount Qingcheng, can you just put an end to the meaningless slaughter?”
Dao Zhen, the young innkeeper, confronted woefully.
Dao Chong, however, gave a cold laugh and remarked, “Right. For the sake of the reputation and strength of Mount Qingcheng, you’d better die. Otherwise, Head Dao Ling won’t have a sound sleep.”
“No need to argue with him. Just kill him!”
“Yeah! Take his skull to Head, then, we will be rewarded for making such a huge contribution!”
“He is badly injured. He won’t hang in there for long.”
The other elderly immortal-like Taoists all looked murderous at the moment. There was not a trace of benevolence that Taoists should have in them. Instead, they were like devils stepping out of h.e.l.l and each of their faces was distorted with ferocity.
From the hall of the inn, a dozen figures dashed out.
“Head Dao Zhen!”
“Let’s fight them to death!”
“You are the real traitors! Dao Ling has betrayed our deceased master and harmed the ones truly loyal to the master…”
From the clothing of the dozen people, Li Mu could tell that they were the head waiter, the waiters, and the chef of the inn. They were of different ages and their aura was quite powerful, indicating that they were all martial arts experts. At the moment, they looked furious. The group swiftly flanked Dao Zhen. It was obvious that those were the members of Mount Qingcheng who had supported the old head’s direct disciple, Dao Zhen, to be the top leader of the faction on account of their loyalty to their old head.
Li Mu had long heard the incident in Mount Qingcheng.
In his view, Li Poyue, the Guanshan Master, and Dao Chongyang, the Taoism Master, were quite losers despite their high status as two of the Nine Superbs. Although they seemed to be flouris.h.i.+ng, to be controlling the fate of two great empires as the legendary hero of the Western Qin and the master of worldwide Taoism, neither of them had trained a qualified successor or ran their faction well. Once they were dead, the two Holy Clans immediately sank into civil strife. With the prior head’s direct disciples being chased, the two Holy Clans that had existed for 1,000 years crumbled in a trice.
Further, Li Mu had not figured out until now why the two old monsters that had lived for more than 1,000 years had to duel each other out of the blue. As a result, they both suffered a lot in the duel and were killed in a surprise attack… What losers they were!
Zhao Ji thought that Li Mu did not know those things, so he came over, lowered his voice and said, “Mount Qingcheng is now mastered by the former deputy, Dao Ling. Dao Zhen is a direct disciple of their old head, who designated Dao Zhen to be the next head before he set off for the final battle in Chongyang. Sadly, Dao Zhen does not have enough prestige or strength to impressive the other disciples… So, since the last year, Dao Ling has been sending his men to hunt Dao Zhen down. It seems that the inn called Place for the Weary is the secret residence of the last force led by Dao Zhen, but Dao Ling already discovered it…”
In truth, Zhao Ji kind of sympathized with Dao Zhen. He was the orthodox successor after all.
People in the Northern Song certainly attached great importance to the word “orthodox”.
Unlike the Qin people who respect only the strong, the Song people, though admired the strong as well, paid more attention to law and tradition.
Moreover, since almost a year ago when Dao Ling usurped the top position of Mount Qingcheng, Mount Qingcheng gradually abandoned the former style of inaction and became restless. Not only had they stirred up b.l.o.o.d.y fights in the martial arts society of the Northern Song but also begun to strongly intervene in the internal affairs of the Northern Song Empire. The so-called Rebellion of Eight Lords was rumored to be started by those on Mount Qingcheng. So far, they had put the folks in misery and made the empire go downhill with internal strife.
As soon as Dao Zhen died, the Holy Clan of the Northern Song Dynasty that had lasted a millennium was completely caught in the hands of a tyrannical man craving success and fis.h.i.+ng for compliments.
Although Zhao Ji wanted to help, he knew he was powerless at it.
Li Mu also shook his head dismissively.
“That Dao Zhen is really naive. He should believe he can fix the problems in Jianghu through living a reclusive life. Given that kind of disposition, he might be able to tame those ambitious men in Mount Qingcheng if he had the cultivation of a Superb like Dao Chongyang, but he doesn’t… How naive!”
As Zhao Ji and Li Mu talked, a fight had started outside.
Dao Zhen and his men were tightly surrounded by the enemies. As he had been seriously wounded in the surprise attack, he had no chance to run but put up a desperate struggle.
The housed around the inn collapsed one by one. Many folks and travelers pa.s.sing the place shook in their boots and ran in the opposite direction.
However, since the entire Green Hornet Gorge had been blocked by Taoist magic deployments, ordinary people did not have a chance to escape.
In addition to the experts from Mount Qingcheng, an army had been dispatched there to surround the whole county. No one could get out for the time being.
“Master, shall I drive those disturbing human beings away and let you rest?” Yuan Hou asked Li Mu.
The ape had been practicing the Ultimate Yin and Yang Cultivation Method. With the help of the rich Spiritual Qi in the blessed Taibai County, it progressed rapidly and could already disguise itself in different forms. On their way there, the ape had turned into a fine-featured young footman in cyan robes. It had concealed its aura and looked quite gentle and quiet, so it was almost impossible to a.s.sociate the footman with that wild golden ape over three meters in height.
Li Mu shook his head and said, “No need. Let’s wait and see.”
The mess Dao Zhen was facing was quite similar to that his second brother, Qiu Yin, was in.
After the setback, Qiu Yin had rekindled his will in Taibai County and sworn to practice more diligently so as to gain the strength of seeking revenge by himself, for his pride prevented him from rejuvenating the Guanshan Pasture through others’ hands. But unlike him, Dao Zhen chose to hide, to step back, and to give up the whole faction. Although it was hard to say which of them did the right thing, as far as those living in Jianghu knew, Dao Zhen’s choice had absolutely dragged him and his supporters into dire danger.
Faintly, Li Mu heard s.n.a.t.c.hes of conversations from outside the county.
“General Chen, as what our pack says, in a while, when Senior Dao Chong and his men have killed Dao Zhen, you will lead the army into the county. Kill everyone in the town no matter who they are, let alone animals. Don’t let any living creature escape, not even a chicken… Of course, the treasures and properties in the town are all yours. As for the woman… You can do anything you want with them, only that you do not leave a living soul behind. Understand?”
“Hey, please rest a.s.sured. My men are very smart. As long as they can get a little fun, I a.s.sure you there will be no mistakes.”
Li Mu raised his brow.
“How come those Taoists are so heartless?”
“They are going to ma.s.sacre all the folks in the county.”
“Is that because they want to silence the witnesses?”
“As the whole world now knows they are hunting Dao Zhen, that seems rather unnecessary.”
Then, as Li Mu’s spiritual force noiselessly crawled across the field like a tide, he captured the conversation of two other experts from Mount Qingcheng—
“Senior fellow apprentice, in fact, we just need to get rid of the traitor Dao Zhen, but why are we killing so many people?”
“Well, what do you know? Haha, after killing Dao Zhen and the townspeople, we will blame Dao Zhen and his men for the ma.s.sacre. We will tell the public that they killed everyone in a frenzied manner in order to save their lives, so that those who have good feelings for Dao Zhen will abandon him. In the end, we can declare that before Dao Zhen died, he regained his conscience and repented by giving the Head Token to Senior Dao Chong. Then, when we go back to Qingcheng Mountain, Dao Ling can sit legitimately in his throne, haha…”
Hearing that, Li Mu once again shook his head.
“Those Taoists are truly wicked and callous to the extreme.”
Then, Li Mu rose to his feet, marched out of the inn, and clapped his hands to attract attention. “Hey, stop fighting, everyone… Let me reason this out for you.”