A Difficult Journey

Seeing that the lady was in dire straits, Bai Shandian, hidden among the Eight Banners soldiers, quietly picked up two pebbles from the ground, flicked them with two fingers, and threw them one after the other at Huo Xia, who was in the midst of a fierce battle. At this moment, Hong Yueliang was already at his last gasp, so Huo Xia simply took off the blood-dripping dart from his back, activated the switch, and threw it out. In an instant, he used both hands to control the two monsters with their gaping maws, which were baring their fangs and claws as they pounced on Hong Yueliang!

Just as the two blood-dripping guillotines on the left and right had locked onto their prey and were about to succeed, two sharp cracking sounds rang out. Huo Xia suddenly felt a sharp pain in both wrists, and his Shenmen acupoint went numb. His wrists drooped down as if his tendons and bones had snapped. How could he hold onto the iron chains of the two blood-dripping guillotines? They slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground! The whistling sound in mid-air abruptly stopped, and the two blood-dripping guillotines, like two airplanes with broken wings, instantly lost control, swooped down, and crashed to the ground, smashing to pieces!

Although the officers and soldiers outnumbered them, they were hesitant to act rashly, exchanging bewildered glances. Jin Qiu stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and said, "Sect Leader Hong is, after all, from an official family. Her parents and husband are pillars of our court. How could she possibly hold a high-ranking official hostage for a moment's pleasure? May I ask what Sect Leader Hong needs our service for? Please give your orders, and we will do our utmost to serve you!"

Red Moon's intentions were clear: "Your Sticky Pole Bureau committed a bloody massacre at the Qiongshan official residence, a heinous crime that has long been an outrage against both gods and men, and is intolerable to Heaven! In order to punish evil and promote good, and to uphold justice, I, the sect leader, disdain to turn against the imperial court and have decided to reclaim the Qiongshan official residence! You shall temporarily withdraw from Qiongshan territory, and this matter shall be put to rest for now. You are not to mention it again! And you are absolutely forbidden to let the current emperor know about this!"

Aside from Heshen, Jinqiu held the highest rank in the Sticky Rod Office and wielded considerable prestige. After pondering for a while and weighing the pros and cons repeatedly, he finally bowed his head and said obsequiously, "On behalf of the Sticky Rod Office, I will temporarily agree to Master Hong's request, but I have one more request!" Hong Yueliang was quite pleased that he had agreed and readily asked, "Whatever your request, please make it! The condition is that I must be able to fulfill it!"

"You absolutely can do it."

"explain!"

"Once all our troops have withdrawn from Qiongshan, please allow us to pass, Lord Jiang!"

"You don't need to worry about that. I don't intend to keep him at the Qiongshan official residence for nothing! As long as you withdraw from Qiongshan territory, Lord He will have someone specially escort him to your army!"

"Since Lord Hong is so agreeable, I will immediately order the entire army to retreat!"

Just as Jinqiu was about to turn around and lead his troops back to the camp, he suddenly saw Hongyue stagger and fall to the ground, unable to get up! Her cherry-like mouth was slightly open, and she was foaming at the mouth, clearly a sign of poisoning! The change happened in an instant, truly unexpected! Jinqiu, being quick-witted, quickly helped Heshen up from the ground, handed him over to a general in light blue armor to protect, and swiftly led his men to escort him back to the official camp!

Bai Shandian was shocked to see this and tried to rush up to intercept him, but he suddenly felt dizzy and couldn't muster any true energy. He fell to the ground and fainted, foaming at the mouth as well!

Seeing this, Jin Qiu was overjoyed and immediately ordered his soldiers to capture Bai Shandian and his wife, tie them up with ropes, and take them up the mountain! Bai Shandian roared and tried to intercept them, but Jin Qiu threw his blood-dripping weapon and trapped him! He swung his axe wildly, but he couldn't get close. Several times he was almost bitten by the blood-dripping weapon's gaping maw, making him flustered. When he saw the soldiers shouting and attacking, he quickly ran away.

Seeing the situation was dire, the leader of the opposing force, known as "Stinky Feet," hurriedly dispatched Thousand-Hand Guanyin to the rescue. Yu Ruyi and Bai Jin, unable to contain themselves, also led their respective squads to flank from both sides. Thousand-Hand Guanyin galloped forward, casually unleashing thousands of golden rays, instantly killing dozens of Eight Banner soldiers struck by the hidden weapons. Seeing him launch so many hidden weapons in succession, the government troops were stunned and unconsciously slowed their pursuit.

Pi Liangban broke free of the encirclement, only to see his second brother and Yu Ruyi, siblings, leading troops to rescue him. He roared excitedly, turned around, and charged back! Thousand-Hand Guanyin scolded, "Hurry back to camp! Have you gone mad? Can't you see we're here to rescue you?!" Pi Liangban grinned, "I know, my second brother loves me the most! But look at the situation today, the government troops are strong, but if we join forces, we might not lose! We should take this opportunity to rush in and rescue Bai Shandian and his wife!"

"Nonsense! Do you think the people from the Sticky Pole Bureau are pushovers?" Sure enough, as soon as the Thousand-Hand Guanyin finished speaking, a great whooshing sound arose in the air, as if the sky was filled with large birds, and dark clouds covered the sun, plunging the earth into darkness! Immediately, screams rang out as the eighteen chieftain alliance troops that had been flanking from both sides suffered one after another, being strangled on the spot by the Blood Droplets!

Seeing that there were too many flying darts in the air, Yu Ru knew that the casualties would be even heavier if the battle continued. She shouted, "Rescuing Split in Two will complete our mission. Let's return to camp for now and discuss a better strategy before fighting again!" She turned her horse around and retreated while fighting. Seeing that all the soldiers obeyed the order, Split in Two reluctantly smashed one of the flying darts, picked up Tornado's corpse, and ran after them.

Back at the main camp, the soldiers found a secluded, barren hill, dug a pit, and temporarily buried the fierce general, Long Juanfeng. After leading the entire army in a memorial service, Choujiao said with deep sorrow, "Sixth Brother, we haven't been able to give you a proper send-off according to your Tibetan customs. We've wronged you! But rest assured, once our army has recovered the lost territory and grown strong, I will return your coffin to your homeland for a grand funeral! That will not disgrace your lifelong reputation!" Before he finished speaking, all the soldiers wept with grief. Split in two jumped up, gritting his teeth and shouting, "Sixth Brother, don't worry! Tonight I'll storm Qiongshan, find that pretty boy, and chop him in half with an axe to avenge you!"

Back at their tent, with the White Lightning couple captured, Stinky Foot temporarily took command and sat at the head of the table. Jade Ruyi and her brother, along with Zen Master Qinxin, sat beside them, while the remaining soldiers awaited orders. Stinky Foot explained in detail the events surrounding the capture of White Lightning and Red Moon. After analysis, everyone agreed that the couple had undoubtedly been poisoned by someone from the Sticky Pole Bureau, causing Red Moon's attempt to succeed to fail at the last moment! Truly, the victor is king, the loser is a bandit; heaven and hell are but a step apart!

Just then, a sentry reported that a communications soldier from Dajinchuan requested an audience. The sullen-footed man let him in, and the soldier strode into the tent, kneeling on one knee to report: "Last night, the Niangan tribe launched a surprise attack on the Qiongshan official residence. Because the mountain gate at the foot of the mountain was unguarded, the enemy quickly seized territory and advanced rapidly, conquering Qiongshan in one fell swoop! Overwhelmed by the fierce firepower of countless Blood Droplets, the Grand Alliance Leader had no choice but to lead his remaining troops to fight their way out and temporarily flee to Lewuwei within Dajinchuan territory for refuge. Unexpectedly, today..." Just as dawn was breaking, a massive army of about 200,000 soldiers suddenly surrounded Lewuwei! Their leader was none other than Fucha Fuheng, the Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi and the current emperor's brother-in-law! They had a large and well-trained force, and the soldiers were fighting with ferocious intensity, attacking the mountain with reckless abandon! Lewuwei was now in imminent danger, its fate hanging by a thread! Now, I, under orders from the Grand Alliance Leader, have come to Qiongshan to request General Stinky Feet to lead the main army back to Lewuwei to relieve the siege. Qiongshan will be put on hold for now!

"The Grand Alliance Leader is still alive?! Heaven has eyes! Our Eighteen Chieftains Alliance Army is saved! We can rise again! We still have hope!" The generals buzzed with excitement, whispering among themselves.

Stinky Feet scanned the entire tent and shouted, "Quiet down!" The buzzing in the tent immediately ceased, the atmosphere tense, and a pin drop was audible. Stinky Feet pondered for a moment, then suddenly posed a sharp question: "I never expected such a formidable opponent to finally arrive, and so suddenly! According to our scouts, Fu Heng wouldn't arrive on the battlefield for another three days. But he appeared and disappeared like a ghost, launching a surprise attack, and immediately suppressed our stronghold—Lewu Cliff! He's cut our army in half, preventing them from coordinating! Brilliant, brilliant, that's truly a brilliant move! This Fu Heng is not only a master of military strategy but also has extensive combat experience; he's a formidable foe! The situation is dire, and things are changing rapidly. If we retreat now, my brother-in-law, White Lightning, and the others will be in grave danger, with no hope of rescue! But Lewu Cliff is in imminent danger, and an emergency rescue is urgently needed! What to do? It all hinges on a single decision! Does anyone have anything to say?"

Yu Ruyi jumped to her feet, anxiously saying, "Uncle, my mother is in trouble, of course we must save her first!" Bai Jin objected, also jumping to his feet and yelling at her, "Father and Second Mother are imprisoned, their fates unknown, can you really bear to abandon them and leave?" Yu Ruyi frowned slightly, explaining, "It's not that you're heartless, sister, but the problem is that the Blood Droplets from the Sticky Rod Office are so difficult to deal with right now, our army will have a hard time advancing into Qiongshan in a short time! If we go to save Le Wuya first, things might take a turn for the better!"

Bai Jin coldly asked, "What turning point?" This question caused a great stir, and all the soldiers turned their attention to Yu Ruyi's beautiful face, listening to her continue with suspicion.

Yu Ruyi smiled and said, "Think about it, Fu Heng's army is in the middle, while our army will cut off his rear and attack him from both sides with the Le Wu Cliff garrison, catching him like dumplings! No matter how powerful Fu Heng is, no matter how brilliant his strategies are, he will never expect us to use this move! This move is called 'closing the door to beat the dog,' and it has always worked perfectly on the battlefield throughout history!" As soon as she said this, all the soldiers gave her a thumbs up and praised her for her skill.

(End of this chapter)