Chapter 83: Mysterious Iron Buddha Skin Gang
From the day the Guo Family and Hua Family moved into Mingguang Courtyard, their actions had been closely watched by the large and small families in the city.
At this time, the various forces naturally also received the news that Hong Yuan charged into the formation alone on horseback, broke the city with one spear, and then defeated a thousand troops with the power of one man.
Those who heard it were all shocked.
East City District, within the Wei Family Mansion.
In the core of the mansion, in a secret council hall, the atmosphere was heavy. Several Wei Family elders gathered together again, each with unconcealed shock on their faces.
“The Guo Family and Hua Family actually fell to one person. This is truly unexpected,” an elder with a full head of silver hair and a ruddy complexion spoke up.
“The Guo Family is finished, but the Hua Family may not be. Don’t forget Hua Family Young Lady Hua Xiangrong; the Profound Ice Sect stands behind her, so they may still have a chance to rise again.”
“After all, she is just a woman… Don’t overestimate the Profound Ice Sect too much. That Hong Yuan killed a thousand troops single-handedly; the Profound Ice Sect may not be able to do anything to him.”
“It can’t be called a thousand troops. Outsiders don’t know the truth, but can we not know the quality of the Linjiang Three Guards?” A chubby white-faced Wei Family elder shook his head: “Although the Three Guards are not completely rotten, they are far inferior compared to those truly elite troops.”
“That’s true, but they were two thousand soldiers after all. Hong Yuan broke them single-handedly. This level of martial power is undoubtedly at the top-tier level in the world.” An elder sighed, his expression somewhat fearful: “It’s good that we didn’t act rashly. If we had been like the Guo, Hua, and Grain Transport Gang families, we would probably have suffered the same devastating disaster.”
“Can we recruit this person into our Wei Family? What does he like? Power, beauty, money—we’ll give him whatever he wants.” Someone had a whimsical idea.
The silver-haired elder glanced at him speechlessly and pondered: “After that kid killed Guo Wei and Hua Shouren, he began to gather the soldiers. From now on, there will be another fierce dragon in the prefecture city. How to deal with him in the future needs careful consideration.”
“This may not be a bad thing. With a foundation, he won’t be able to act so recklessly anymore.” An elder instead felt a bit relieved.
“Sigh! This matter is too big. Let the Old Master decide!” The silver-haired elder sighed.
As soon as the words fell, a light cough came from outside the door. Without any announcement, an ordinary-looking old man walked into the hall slowly with his hands behind his back.
“Old Master!” Including the silver-haired elder, the several Wei Family elders in the hall all stood up, their faces surprised. They didn’t expect Old Master Wei to come see them personally.
“Old Master, you’ve come at the right time. You should know the news about the Guo Family and Hua Family by now. Please give us guidance on how our Wei Family should get along with that person.”
The silver-haired elder said respectfully.
Old Master Wei’s eyes showed no ripples as he looked at the several people in the hall and shook his head: “If I have to make decisions on everything, what’s the use of you elders?”
“The Old Master is right to blame us. We are useless.” An elder’s face showed embarrassment.
“Since you know you’re useless trash, isn’t staying alive just wasting food…” Old Master Wei said slowly, then his eyelids flipped, and his voice suddenly changed as he chuckled lightly: “Then please, all you elders, go to your deaths!”
“What?”
The silver-haired elder and the others’ faces changed abruptly. The next moment, they suddenly felt a faint exotic fragrance assaulting their noses, followed by the world spinning, and they knew nothing more.
The next moment.
Accompanied by several faint wind sounds, several more people appeared in the room, all dressed in black cloaks. The leader was a woman with a graceful figure. Though veiled with a heavy veil, her eyes were extremely charming.
At this moment, her pair of expressive eyes glanced at the fallen Wei Family elders, then fell on that ‘Old Master Wei’, and she said faintly: “I’ve often heard that ‘Mr. Wuchen’ is one of the most mysterious and unfathomable figures in the jianghu. Your disguise and shapeshifting, as well as your illusionary poison techniques, are both the best in the world. Earlier, this little lady saw your ever-changing ‘human skin gu mask’. Today, I’ve also witnessed this divine illusionary poison. It really opened my eyes.”
“Lady Miaoyun overpraises me. This old man’s minor tricks can’t compare to the poisonous cultivation and illusionary techniques of your Red Lotus Sect,” ‘Mr. Wuchen’ wearing Old Master Wei’s face said indifferently.
“Why must Mr. Wuchen be so distant from Miaoyun? You know that your manor lord is also our sect’s Heavenly King. We are originally one family and should get closer.”
Lady Miaoyun’s voice was wistful, and with a soft sigh, it instantly made Mr. Wuchen’s gaze soften, as if he had done something terribly wrong to her and wanted to confess everything to her.
He was about to speak when suddenly the skin on his face writhed, and faint insect chirps emanated from it.
Mr. Wuchen immediately retreated several steps, staring intently at Lady Miaoyun, and said in a deep voice: “What powerful illusionary technique. Even this old man almost fell for it. Since we are family, Lady Miaoyun, don’t use your tricks on your own people.”
Seeing him instantly regain clarity, Lady Miaoyun became vigilant but smiled lightly: “What are you saying? This slave is just curious about Mr. Wuchen’s true appearance.”
Mr. Wuchen gave a dry laugh, steadied his mind, and asked the other black-clothed people: “How have you all handled your tasks?”
“Mr. rest assured, the White Scale Guard side is already settled. We’ve infiltrated for many years and have taken over most of it. We just await Mr., as this ‘Old Master Wei’, to show up, and then the major event can be accomplished.”
A black-clothed person smiled.
“Good!” Mr. Wuchen nodded, then waved his hand: “First imprison these Wei Family elders. Don’t kill them for now. The Wei Family’s hidden wealth and mastered secrets still need to be pried from their mouths.”
“Also, our people in the Iron Wall Guard should start acting. This old man will then lead the White Scale Guard in a surprise attack, and with inside and outside coordination, we can take down these two guards in one fell swoop.”
Mr. Wuchen spoke decisively, then smiled again: “Everything proceeding so smoothly is all thanks to that Soaring Swan Spear disrupting the situation. Haha! How did his battles with the Guo Family and Hua Family go?”
This Mr. Wuchen had been playing the role of ‘Old Master Wei’ in the Wei Family, arranging plans against the White Scale Guard and Iron Wall Guard, and temporarily hadn’t paid attention to other matters.
But by his estimation, the Guo Family and Hua Family should be able to repel that Hong Yuan, though leaving him behind would be difficult. Even if they repelled the enemy, the Guo Family and Hua Family would suffer heavy losses.
Once he took down the Iron Wall Guard and White Scale Guard, he could easily force the Golden Soup Camp to surrender. At that time, with the three guards in hand, Linjiang Prefecture would fall under their control.
Thinking of this, Mr. Wuchen’s laughter became lighter, but that black-clothed person had a grave tone and quickly recounted the events.
When Mr. Wuchen heard about Hong Yuan charging into the formation alone on horseback, he didn’t react much, but upon hearing ‘invulnerable to blades and spears’, he couldn’t help exclaiming in shock: “What? You didn’t see wrong?”
After repeated confirmation from the black-clothed person’s mouth, Mr. Wuchen looked at Lady Miaoyun again. She sighed regretfully: “This slave just learned the news and is also very shocked.”
Mr. Wuchen inhaled sharply. The ‘human skin gu mask’ on his face was extremely wondrous, able to show all his expressions. At this moment, it revealed shock: “Invulnerable to blades and spears—I’m afraid it can only be a gang body. This… how is this possible?”
“It’s truly unbelievable. If it’s a gang body, we have no means to deal with him. We can only beg the Heavenly King to act.” Lady Miaoyun said faintly.
“But I don’t know where the Heavenly King is in the city now?”
Suppressing the shock in his heart, Mr. Wuchen took a breath: “How could we subordinates presume to guess where the manor lord is? Let the manor lord deal with that Soaring Swan Spear. We’ll just do our own things.”
He instructed two black-clothed people to stay and detain the Wei Family elders, then strode out of the hall.
In Linjiang Prefecture City, the Iron Wall Guard Barracks was only about a li from the prefect yamen. Its main duties were to guard the yamen and the granaries, and it was also the main force for city security patrols.
The main controller of the Iron Wall Guard was the Xiang Family. As the only noble clan in Linjiang Prefecture City that could contend with the Wei Family, the Xiang Family held the position of Iron Wall Guard Commander, and the current Linjiang Prefect was also from the Xiang Family.
Boom!
A shocking bang came from the Iron Wall Guard Barracks, shaking the street district. The bustling crowd on the street instantly panicked and screamed. In no time, plumes of black smoke rose above the barracks.
“What’s going on?”
Inside the prefect yamen, in the rear hall, Prefect Xiang, who was being intimate with two beautiful women, twitched his ears and immediately pinpointed the direction of the boom.
His face suddenly darkened. He directly shoved the two beauties away and strode out of the rear hall, only to see his own staff officer hurrying over.
“My lord, the Iron Wall Guard side is on fire?”
“On fire?!” Prefect Xiang, named Marquis Xiang, was the current head of the Xiang Family. Even that Commander Xiang was subordinate to him.
Upon hearing the staff officer’s report, suspicion appeared in Marquis Xiang’s eyes.
“Prepare horses. Go take a look immediately!”
Marquis Xiang issued orders, but at that moment, screams came from within the yamen. After brief clashes of weapons, miserable cries rang out.
Immediately after, over a dozen men in tight clothes rushed in. This group carried sabers and swords, their bodies stained with blood. One even held a long iron hook in his hand, with a bailiff’s throat hooked on it, dragging him quickly along, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground.
That staff officer turned pale with fright and stumbled back, nearly bumping into Marquis Xiang.
Marquis Xiang frowned and reached out to push.
Just then, a short blade suddenly flew out from the staff officer’s sleeve robe, slashing back toward Marquis Xiang’s throat.
Seeing this, Marquis Xiang’s face darkened slightly but he didn’t panic. He reached out, striking first despite being later, grabbing the staff officer’s hand and wrapping around his neck. In an instant, flesh and blood tore open.
“This prefect lord is actually a master with decent kung fu…” The dozen or so men in tight clothes were startled, then charged forward together.
In an instant, saber lights and sword shadows whistled with chilling sharpness.
Clang clang clang!
Sounds of metal clashing rang out one after another. Clusters of sparks bloomed and scattered. Followed by several screams, a few tight-clothed men clutched their necks and retreated, blood seeping from their fingers, their eyes full of fear.
Marquis Xiang held the short blade in hand, his robe billowing in the wind, emanating a powerful aura. He sneered: “You dare to attack me? Such boldness! Do you know why the guards in this yamen are so lax? As the head of the Xiang Family and the top figure in this prefecture, could I not even recruit a few guards?”
“Because I, Xiang, am the strongest master in this prefecture city!”
Before Marquis Xiang finished speaking, a resounding voice like clanging metal rang out: “It’s indeed surprising. Even Song himself didn’t expect that the head of the Xiang Family would be a great master at the force microscopic level.”
“Who?!” Marquis Xiang was startled. He swung his saber, decapitating another martial artist, then suddenly looked up.
Boom!
The roof of the official residence trembled, roof tiles clattering loudly. Marquis Xiang suddenly saw a hole break open, followed by golden light entering his eyes. A burly figure, head down feet up, slammed a palm down fiercely.
Marquis Xiang swung his saber upward, fierce force rising like boiling tides.
With a ‘clang’ of explosive impact, the steel saber collided with that hand that seemed to glow reddish-gold. To Marquis Xiang’s wide-eyed shock, it didn’t injure the palm; instead, a huge impact force forced his body back repeatedly.
Then, the diving person landed, pressing a palm to the ground to steady himself. A pair of eyes sharp as brilliant gold slowly looked over.
Marquis Xiang looked at the shattered blade in his hand, then at the opponent, his expression changing drastically: “Song Yinglong?! No, this is… Mysterious Iron Buddha Skin Gang?! You’re actually a remnant of the Red Lotus Demon Sect?”
“I didn’t expect that Song, a mere grassroots person, would be known by name to a great figure like Brother Xiang. It truly honors me.” Song Yinglong spoke indifferently, revealing a sharp aura.
“However, Brother Xiang is wrong on one point. Song is not a member of the Red Lotus Sect; I merely cooperate with them.”
He slowly spread his palm. Under the sunlight falling through the hole in the roof, his palm faintly resembled metal, unscathed after taking Marquis Xiang’s saber strike.
“Song is a lover of talent. Someone at Brother Xiang’s force microscopic level is rare. Song earnestly requests: Brother Xiang, can you give me a reason not to kill you?”
