Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 25 Buddha's Punishment
The thick smoke poured directly into the upper floors of the tower, and Xi Ping, who was blocking the stairs, had a runny nose from the smoke.

Xi Ping was shocked and horrified. He had only spilled oil on the ground and had not set it on fire. Why did it suddenly catch fire?
Could it be the lightning strike just now? Xi Ping really couldn't figure it out, but he couldn't care less at this moment. The Yongning Temple Pagoda was made entirely of wood, and he had spilled oil. If he didn't run away, the entire wooden pagoda would soon burn down, and he would be burned to charcoal inside the pagoda.

Xi Ping glanced at Lu Zhu and Princess Chenliu again, and evil thoughts arose in his mind again. If they escaped and recognized him, it would be a capital crime with the extermination of all nine generations of their clan.

It's a pity that he has no chance to enjoy such a beauty. Xi Ping drew out his knife, quickly climbed to the top of the tower, ready to kill Lu Zhu and Princess Chenliu first!
The wooden tower became narrower and narrower from the bottom to the top. The space on the last floor of the top of the tower was extremely small, and there was a golden bottle in the middle. Luzhu found that there was no room to hide at all.

The thick smoke was rushing towards the top of the tower, and red flames could be vaguely seen. Luzhu was even more desperate.

At this moment, there was another sound of footsteps, and two people were seen climbing to the top of the tower one after the other. The person in the front was agile, and his long sword pierced Xi Ping's vest steadily and accurately like a dragon.

"Captain Su is right!"

The flames had already burned to the next layer. In the firelight, Luzhu saw clearly the face of one of the men. It was Su Ze, who was ordered to guard Princess Chenliu.

"Follow me quickly!"

After Su Ze followed Princess Chenliu and the other three into the tower, he soon found Xi Ping.

When he saw Xi Ping spilling oil, he had already guessed Xi Ping's purpose. He didn't want to get involved in such trouble, but when he saw the golden question mark on the map, Su Ze couldn't help but decide to take the risk.

He first awakened Su Bai, who was hiding in the underground palace passage of the Yongning Temple Wooden Pagoda. After confirming the underground palace passage, he ordered Su Bai to follow Xi Ping to climb the tower.

Next, Xi Ping threatened Princess Chenliu and her servants, and a lightning strike ignited the oil in the tower. Seeing the situation was urgent, Su Ze immediately ordered Su Bai to kill Xi Ping.

"Su Bai, clear the way!"

Su Bai, holding a long sword, jumped from the stairs to the next floor and quickly cleared a passage.

As expected of the Egret Cao messenger, Su Bai's intelligence and physical fitness far surpass those of the purple riding slave Su Da.

Seeing the fire and smoke below, Luzhu was a little scared again, but Princess Chenliu walked to Su Ze and said, "Please ask Captain Su to lead us out of the tower!"

At this time, another burst of thick smoke rushed up from under the tower, choking Luzhu and Princess Chenliu and causing them to cough violently.

Su Ze frowned and tore off three strips of cloth from his clothes.

After Su Ze covered his mouth and nose with a piece of cloth, he handed two pieces of cloth to the two girls and said:
"Cover your mouth and nose with a piece of cloth and follow me down the tower!"

Looking at the dirty strip of cloth in Su Ze's hand, Luzhu was somewhat reluctant, but Princess Chenliu did not hesitate. She directly tore off the silk scarf on her face and covered her face with the cloth.

"Captain Su is doing this to protect us from being choked by the thick smoke. Luzhu, please do as he says!"

Princess Chenliu was very decisive. After she did as she was told, the smoke became less choking, and Luzhu also wrapped herself with cloth under her gaze.

She was indeed a beauty. Su Ze had no time to appreciate Princess Chenliu's appearance after a quick glance, but he was surprised by her decisiveness and obedience. Su Ze also drew his sword, cut off the wooden fence, pointed down and said:

"Jump!"

Lu Zhu hesitated again, so Su Ze simply put his sword back, hugged Princess Chenliu directly, and carried Lu Zhu on his back!

As Su Ze led the two women down, he caught a glimpse of the golden bottle placed in the center of the top floor of the tower. The flames surrounded the golden bottle, and Su Ze saw that the golden bottle began to slowly melt in the flames, and even rose up with mist, making the top floor of the tower look like a mist.

The fire spread, and Su Ze had no time to think. He jumped into the stairwell holding the two women.

Thanks to his strong body, Su Ze crossed the burning floor and grabbed the railing on the fourth floor.

Princess Chenliu was in his arms, hugging his body tightly, while Lu Zhu was on Su Ze's back, almost fainting from fear.

A hand stretched out from the railing, Su Bai grabbed Su Ze, and dragged the three of them up the stairs.

Su Ze breathed heavily, and Princess Chenliu in his arms gasped nervously. From childhood to adulthood, she had never been hugged like this before, and from the jump just now, she felt extremely excited.

Princess Chenliu trembled slightly in Su Ze's arms. The friction between her clothes soaked with cold sweat and her soft skin produced a sticky touch, which made Princess Chenliu feel an indescribable feeling.

This feeling is so comfortable!

Princess Chenliu's cheeks were flushed, luckily she was covered by the scarf that Su Ze had pulled off. If Lu Zhu hadn't pulled her out of Su Ze's arms, Princess Chenliu would still be clinging to Su Ze like an octopus.

The situation was urgent, but no one noticed Princess Chen Liu's abnormality. The fire upstairs had already begun to spread downstairs. Su Ze only took a short break and said to the two women, "Keep going downstairs!"

But before the four of them could get down to the first floor, Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang, who were rescued by Su Bai, did not leave the tower, but shouted in fear:
"The tower is surrounded! We were shot with arrows as soon as we opened the door!"

When Su Ze saw the arrows on the ground, Lu Zhu's face turned ugly. She looked at Su Ze and said, "How about I reveal my identity and ask the guards to clear the way?"

Su Ze shook his head and said, "The wooden tower was on fire, but the guards did not want to put out the fire. Instead, they carried bows and arrows and shot people out of the tower. I guess they had received orders to kill without mercy, and they wanted to silence the people in the tower."

This time Luzhu's face turned even paler. She was more aware of the cruelty in this kind of struggle, and she couldn't help but look at Su Ze with pleading eyes.

Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang also had fear on their faces. The fire had already reached the middle of the wooden tower and thick smoke began to appear at the bottom. If they continued to stay in the tower, they would surely be burned to death.

Luzhu fell into despair again. Su Ze and Su Bai groped to the bottom of the tower, lifted a floor tile, and revealed a secret passage underneath.

Su Ze shouted to the two girls and Yang Fan, "This way!"

Lu Zhu was extremely surprised to have found a way out of the desperate situation, and quickly pulled Princess Chenliu towards the secret passage.

When the group passed through the secret passage of the underground palace and walked out, Su Ze looked far away in the direction of the wooden pagoda of Yongning Temple and saw that half of the sky had been dyed red by flames, and there were lightning and thunder in the sky, forming a picture like hell.

Lu Zhu turned pale, clasped her hands together and said, "Buddha, please forgive me!"

Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang knelt down directly in front of the pagoda.

Su Ze looked at the flames all over the sky, but turned around and looked towards the direction of the palace.

Princess Chenliu quietly walked to Su Ze and whispered, "Captain Su, can you help me solve this puzzle?"

In Su Ze's system, the big golden question mark turned into an exclamation mark.

(End of this chapter)