Chapter 118: Schemes Exhausted, Captured in Return
“This old man has received definite information that within half a year, Jin soldiers will launch a large-scale offensive against the Righteous Army and mountain stronghold heroes of Hebei Road and Jingdong Road.”
Yang Miaozhen said indignantly, “I was besieged by the Jin soldiers and was forced to settle in Caizhou.”
“Leader Yang, do you know why you failed?”
“Please enlighten me, Elder.”
“Each fought alone and was defeated one by one by the Jin soldiers.”
“I also realized this point.”
“Leader Yang is intelligent.” Qiu Qianzhang praised, and continued, “Leader Yang, do you know why the Jin people said back then, ‘It is easy to shake mountains, but difficult to shake the Yue Family Army’?”
Zhou Yan and Lu Beihe, disguised as underlings, stood in the martial field outside the meeting hall.
The two possessed profound internal force and excellent hearing. As Qiu Qianzhang spoke, Zhou Yan felt the demeanor of the Young Master of Zhenwei Escort Agency suddenly become sharp and imposing.
Inside the hall, Qiu Qianzhang’s voice rang out again, “Because of strict discipline and unity, as the saying goes, ‘When people are united, they can move mountains,’ which is the principle.”
Yang Miaozhen was moved, “You speak the truth, Elder.”
Qiu Qianzhang pointed his palm-leaf fan through the air, exuding an imposing aura, “Leader Yang, have you ever wondered why there is only one ‘Yue Family Army’ in this world, and no ‘Zong Family Army,’ ‘General Han’s Army,’ or ‘Zhang Family Army’ that made the Jin people tremble with fear?”
“This?” Yang Miaozhen was stumped.
“It’s simple, because there is only one General Yue in this world, and his stance against the Jin people is the stance of the Yue Family Army.”
This old man can certainly talk, Zhou Yan thought to himself.
“For the Righteous Army, mountain strongholds, and heroes of the water villages on Jingdong Road and Hebei Road to resist this Jin offensive, they must first unite and stand as one, and secondly, they must have a leader who can rally and command tens of thousands of people.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yan suddenly understood.
Sun Buer encountered Qiu Qianzhang, and after the old man attempted to persuade the heroes of the Xiang and Jing regions to support the Jin’s southward advance, nearly becoming a victim of Qingjing Sanren’s sword, he had now changed his tactics.
This old man intended to become the leader of the Righteous Army, mountain strongholds, and water villages on Hebei Road and Jingdong Road.
He truly admired Qiu Qianzhang; to reach such a level of deception and trickery was indeed that of a master in this profession.
“What do you mean, Elder?”
The Hall Master of the Jiangxi bandits chuckled, “In terms of reputation, who else in this world can compare to Elder Qiu?”
Yang Miaozhen had an epiphany, but she hesitated.
If a person of high moral standing were to lead the two armies and heroes to resist the Jin, she would naturally be willing to obey. However, she did not know the Gang Leader of the Iron Palm Sect well, and the matter was of great importance. Without someone to discuss it with, what should she do?
Qiu Qianzhang, with his deep cunning and keen observation of people’s expressions and hearts, saw Yang Miaozhen’s hesitation and said, “Leader Yang, let’s take a walk, and I will explain slowly.”
“Alright.”
The two left the meeting hall, followed by seven or eight people. As they walked, Qiu Qianzhang said, “I studied under Shangguan Jiannan. My master was a subordinate of General Han, who nearly captured Wanyan Zongbi at the Battle of Huangtiandang. My master taught me to serve the country loyally until death. I have painstakingly managed the Iron Palm Sect, intending to serve the country with utmost loyalty when the court counterattacks. However, the officials in Lin’an Prefecture are so corrupt that I could only worry about the world and remain in seclusion. But now that I have learned of the Jin’s schemes, how can I bear to see the heroes of the two armies be harmed by the Jin?”
Spitting golden lotuses, Zhou Yan sighed.
Suddenly, he felt the Young Master of Zhenwei Escort Agency’s breathing become heavy. He glanced over and saw the other person’s expression filled with excitement.
“What’s wrong?” Zhou Yan asked in a low voice.
“My adoptive father is from General Han’s lineage.”
Zhou Yan was stunned and felt a surge of respect.
Yang Miaozhen also felt admiration.
After Qiu Qianzhang spoke like this, how could she still hesitate? She was about to bow to him as her master when she suddenly heard a voice say, “But it still has to be decided by a martial arts competition.”
Everyone was stunned. Yang Miaozhen turned around and saw a soldier not far away. She thought with amused annoyance, Which leader’s subordinate is this, so ignorant of propriety and talking nonsense?
Many of Yang Miaozhen’s subordinates had never heard of Qiu Qianren, the Water Floating Iron Palm of the Iron Palm Sect.
Zhou Yan remained silent. Seeing their leader respectfully addressing the other person, the other leaders also did not speak. After his words, the expressions of these leaders, unwilling to be led by an outsider, became apparent.
Qiu Qianzhang looked around, discerning the thoughts of the leaders.
Yang Miaozhen explained, “Elder, this brat has no experience. I will reprimand him.”
“It’s alright. Let him come over.”
A leader shouted, “Hey kid, come here.”
Zhou Yan strode forward two steps and stood before Qiu Qianzhang.
“You say how it should be decided by martial arts.”
“Whoever has more strength, whoever has a harder fist.”
Qiu Qianzhang chuckled, “Let you kid broaden your horizons.”
As he spoke, he turned and walked around. When he returned to Zhou Yan, he held half a brick in his hand. He didn’t seem to use much force with his hands, but the sound of cracking was continuous. The two bricks were already broken into small pieces. After squeezing them for a while, the pieces turned into powder and fell to the ground with a rustling sound.
Yang Miaozhen was astonished. This palm and finger technique had indeed reached the pinnacle of mastery. She could also tell that this move was actually performed for her and her subordinates to see.
“Kid, did you see clearly?” Qiu Qianzhang said, standing before Zhou Yan.
Zhou Yan suddenly smiled, “You saw clearly too.”
Suddenly, Zhou Yan’s arm sank, his hands circling up and hooking down, twisting left and right. The “Crushing Hardness Divine Claw” was unleashed. With a series of “chichichi” sounds, Qiu Qianren’s sleeves burst into thousands of fragments, which were then swept away by the turbulent air, swirling and flying.
Qiu Qianren’s sleeves were torn, and two bricks hidden inside, a tightly bound bundle of dry straw, a piece of tinder, a fire knife, and a piece of flint all fell to the ground.
Although Qiu Qianzhang was a trickster, his martial arts techniques were actually quite formidable. However, he encountered Zhou Yan, who knew him inside and out, and who was using the Nine Yin Manual cultivation technique. He was suddenly subdued and lost the opportunity to retaliate.
Everything happened in a flash. Yang Miaozhen and the Jiangxi bandit Hall Master did not have time to react. Qiu Qianzhang was suddenly lifted by him and thrown towards Lu Beihe.
With a “bang,” ripples appeared in the dust and smoke.
Qiu Qianzhang was thrown onto his back. Before he could move again, Lu Beihe’s twin spears were pressed against his throat.
Iron Palm Water Floating, the Gang Leader of the Iron Palm Sect, was actually subdued by an underling. This thought stunned Yang Miaozhen for quite some time. Zhou Yan bent down and picked up the bricks from the ground, squeezing them with his fingers.
The powder fell like snow.
He smiled, “A trick of a charlatan.”
Yang Miaozhen finally reacted, “Who are you?”
“I will explain later. This old man is not the Gang Leader of the Iron Palm Sect. He has not only deceived Leader Yang, but these people have also been deceived and are blindly obedient. However, they are not good people either; they are not heroes or righteous individuals, but notorious bandits with malicious intentions, aiming to occupy the mountain stronghold and establish a foothold before controlling Leader Yang.”
Based on Qiu Qianzhang’s deception alone, Yang Miaozhen believed Zhou Yan’s words.
The bandit Hall Master on the other side changed his expression and roared, lunging at Yang Miaozhen.
Zhou Yan took a step forward, his left leg slightly bent, his right arm curved inward, and his right palm drew a circle. With a whoosh, he pushed outward. The bandit Hall Master saw the palm momentum was fierce and difficult to resist, so he rolled on the ground to evade.
Yang Miaozhen had already taken the long spear handed to her by her subordinate. Her body shot forward like an arrow, and in an instant, she closed the distance with the bandit Hall Master and thrust her spear.
This thrust was like a silver bottle bursting, and iron cavalry charging out. When the spearhead was still several feet away from the opponent, the spear hummed and vibrated, producing a huge arc, like a pear blossom tree in bloom.
Yang Miaozhen’s peerless skill, the Storm of Pear Blossoms Spear.
The bandit Hall Master had just rolled over, but he saw the spearhead flickering and changing unpredictably within his sight. How could he resist? In the blink of an eye, he was stabbed several times, and a shocking rain of blood sprayed into the air.
The bandit Hall Master, along with over twenty scum from the Ming Cult, were almost dismembered by Yang Miaozhen’s subordinates.
Yang Miaozhen stepped forward with her spear and said to Zhou Yan, “Now tell me who you are and what your intentions are for infiltrating the mountain stronghold?”
Zhou Yan replied, “I am the Head Escort of the Fu’an Escort Agency in Zhongdu. I entered the stronghold the night before last to investigate and happened to overhear these people conspiring.”
“How did you know that old man was not the Gang Leader of the Iron Palm Sect?”
“Last year, I escorted a shipment through Jingzhou and encountered Qingjing Sanren of the Quanzhen Sect outside Xiangyang. The Daoist priest had exposed this old man’s trickery, so I knew.”
“And why did you help me?”
“I wanted to get the escort.”
One asked urgently, the other replied quickly. The air seemed to freeze for a moment, then was suddenly broken by Yang Miaozhen’s laughter, “I believe you. Kill this old man, and then we can talk about the escort.”
Yang Miaozhen, filled with murderous intent, walked towards Qiu Qianzhang with her spear.
