Chapter 58: The Green Lotus Cult
After Xu Zheng burst into the main tent, he saw Feng Juhua holding Feng Juheng. The blood on Feng Juheng had already stained Feng Juhua’s white robes red, and the bed had turned into a glaring sea of blood.
“Hua’er…”
The sword in Xu Zheng’s hand clattered to the ground. He went forward, pulled the two apart, and held Feng Juhua tightly in his arms.
“Hua’er! Hua’er!”
Feng Juhua’s eyes were vacant, and he let Xu Zheng hold him.
“I’m sorry, I’m late…”
Xu Zheng closed his eyes, his hand pressing tightly on Feng Juhua’s back.
His Hua’er…
However, Feng Juhua gave him no reaction. Xu Zheng’s heart jumped in fright. He slightly loosened his embrace and turned Feng Juhua’s face to look at him.
Feng Juhua stared blankly at Xu Zheng, then raised the bell in his hand and said with a smile of relief, “It’s all over.”
With that, Feng Juhua’s body stiffened, and he fainted.
“Hua’er!” Xu Zheng didn’t even have time to ask what that bell was.
Just then, the doctor arrived late.
The old doctor was so scared by the scene inside that he almost fainted. Seeing Xu Zheng, he thought that an enemy had broken in and was about to kill the king. He picked up his medicine box and was about to run.
“Get back here!”
With a clang, Xu Zheng threw a dagger. The dagger stuck in the doorframe, its hilt still trembling.
The doctor trembled all over.
“Sp-spare me…”
Xu Zheng said with a grim face, “If you can’t cure him, that dagger won’t be stuck in the doorframe, but in you.”
The doctor immediately dared not go and take Feng Juhua’s pulse.
Xu Zheng held the person and lowered his head, planting a kiss on Feng Juhua’s forehead.
“From now on, no one can bully you anymore…”
He would protect Feng Juhua well and make him happy again.
Outside, the sounds of killing shook the heavens, but the main tent was quiet, as if it were isolated from the outside world.
At this moment, the two armies were fighting outside the tent. Zhao Linxu was a force of one against a thousand, killing countless enemies.
Although there was no marriage alliance, Zhao Linxu had still persuaded E Zhu to take action, which was like adding wings to a tiger.
The enemy had the help of the Taotie and goblins, and the Great Xi’s soldiers were also particularly strong because they had taken the gu-poison. The three armies had been unable to completely suppress them before. But now, after many battles and practices day and night, the North-South army and the Ghost-Faced Army already knew how to restrain them, and with the help of the Hundred Flowers Sect and the Arrogant Dragon Gang to maintain the formation, they were gaining the upper hand.
Zhao Linxu was on horseback, his arm around Li Jianyu, and with his other hand, he sent the tip of his longsword into the abdomen of a Great Xi soldier in front of him.
“Ugh—!”
Blood and liquid brought out the intestines, which was extremely disgusting. Li Jianyu closed his eyes and turned his head away. Riding with Zhao Linxu, Li Jianyu was forced to witness half a day of flying flesh and blood. Seeing these tragic scenes for the first time, he felt like he was about to vomit.
“Kill… kill you…”
After being stabbed and falling to the ground, the man in front of him dazedly crawled up, as if he felt no pain. He stood up and let out a strange “hissing” sound, his eyes red as he pounced at Zhao Linxu again.
Li Jianyu frowned slightly.
This was clearly not right.
“It’s the gu-worms at work!” Chong Xi rode over from the side. “The North-South army sent me to pass on a message. These people are being controlled by the gu-worms! It seems Qing Luo has used some other means to make them lose their reason and senses, turning them into puppets that only know how to fight. If this continues, it will not only consume our combat strength, but isn’t this forcing us to cut the Great Xi’s soldiers to pieces before we stop?”
Zhao Linxu’s brows furrowed tightly.
Truly inhuman!
“To untie the bell, one needs the one who tied it. As long as we find Qing Luo, we can stop all this.” In any case, the commander-in-chief was Zhao Zhanqi. He believed that Zhao Zhanqi could handle the situation here, so Zhao Linxu simply spurred his horse and left the battlefield.
“Little Carp, can you find Qing Luo?”
Li Jianyu thought for a moment and nodded. “I’ll try.”
This entire Huanyue City was a Bagua formation, and Qing Luo, the manipulator who used the formation to transmit and flow secret arts, had to be in the center of the formation.
As long as they found the center of this formation, they would be able to find Qing Luo.
Zhao Linxu pinched Li Jianyu’s cheek and smiled. “Little Carp is so capable.”
Then, Zhao Linxu beckoned and called a team of men to follow them.
“Let’s go!”
XXXXXX
After Xu Zheng had carried Feng Juhua and left the tent on horseback, he had run into Rong Qing on the way.
Rong Qing looked at the unconscious person held in Xu Zheng’s arms and asked, “Is His Majesty alright?”
“He’s fine. The doctor has seen him,” Xu Zheng said. “I’m taking him back.”
“Alright.”
Xu Zheng rode past Rong Qing. As he passed him, he said, “Thank you for this.”
Just moments before the great battle, Xu Zheng had received Rong Qing’s secret report. Xu Zheng didn’t know why Rong Qing had suddenly turned against them, but he could more or less guess. Firstly, a general would always cherish his own soldiers. Secondly, it was because of Feng Juhua.
Rong Qing didn’t reply.
Xu Zheng’s lips curled slightly. He kicked his horse’s flank and left, leaving Rong Qing on the spot, his head lowered, looking at his hands, lost in thought.
He had betrayed his master twice.
The first time was to aid a tyrant, pledging allegiance to Feng Juheng and betraying the Great Xi. The second time was to turn to the Great Gong, betraying Feng Juheng. He had given Feng Juhua the dagger, and the reason the city gates were so easily broken was because he had had someone open them beforehand. The reason Xu Zheng could break into the main tent was also because he had deliberately cleared the defenses.
Rong Qing couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
“Hee… hee!”
Rong Qing was stunned. He turned his head and saw Zhao Linxu leading a team of men past him.
This was…?
Rong Qing frowned slightly and simply followed them.
“We’re almost at the center.”
On horseback, Li Jianyu said to Zhao Linxu behind him, “This is the last layer.”
Zhao Linxu nodded.
After walking for a while, through tents and a small patch of forest, they arrived at the outskirts of Huanyue City, and what came into view was a cave entrance.
The cave entrance was hidden in a pile of grass. If Li Jianyu hadn’t known the location, it would have been impossible to find it in a short time.
“Could it be that Qing Luo is in here?” Zhao Linxu raised an eyebrow. “Is there a basement?”
“Be careful!”
A shout came from a distance.
“General Rong?”
Li Jianyu turned his head and saw Rong Qing riding towards them, shouting, “Get down!”
Swoosh————
At the same time, the branches of the nearby trees suddenly flipped open, and sharp arrows shot out at them.
Zhao Linxu reacted extremely quickly, holding Li Jianyu and rolling off the horse to protect him.
Everyone also got down, holding their swords to swat away the arrows they couldn’t dodge.
After the shooting finally stopped, Rong Qing came forward. “Below is a sub-altar of the Green Lotus Cult. It’s full of traps. We need to be careful.”
Zhao Linxu pulled Li Jianyu up, looked around, and saw that everyone had at most suffered minor injuries and had not been thrown into disarray by the sudden trap.
Li Jianyu frowned and went forward to inspect the tree trunks.
“These hidden weapons are really exquisite.”
Rong Qing said, “You’ve triggered the traps. The Green Lotus Cult members below will know you’ve come. They will surely be on guard. A direct attack will be even more difficult.”
Zhao Linxu and Li Jianyu looked at each other. Should they trust what Rong Qing said?
Xu Zheng had sent someone to give them a message. They knew a little about Rong Qing, but naturally, they couldn’t completely trust him.
“Are you sure it’s down there?”
Zhao Linxu patted Li Jianyu’s shoulder.
“Yes.”
Zhao Linxu first had the vanguard go down to scout.
In any case, whether Rong Qing was here or not, they had to go down. Besides Feng Juheng, who was not yet finished, this Qing Luo was not only scheming but had also tried to harm Li Jianyu. Zhao Linxu could not let him go.
“Little Carp, why don’t you stay up here? There are too many unknowns below. We don’t know what’s inside. I’ll just take some men down,” Zhao Linxu said, holding Li Jianyu’s hand. “Wait for me to come up.”
Li Jianyu’s eyebrow twitched.
“No!”
Zhao Linxu was stunned by Li Jianyu’s shout.
Li Jianyu said with a stern look, “You’ll have to rely on me to break the formation below. If something unexpected happens, I can also protect you. I am a phoenix, the king of all beasts, and also the one who is best at fire secret arts.”
“Alright, alright,” Zhao Linxu said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
That was true. His Little Carp was not a helpless person who needed protection.
“We’ll go down together.”
