The Empress's First Running Dog

Chapter 542: Blocking the Long Street and Confronting Zhao Shixiong
With one step forward, Zhao Duan felt as if he was passing through an icy waterfall.

However, on the shabby wooden door frame behind him, which was inlaid with rivets and animal-shaped copper rings, a light green light flashed by.

The lilac flowers painted in gold on the door burned and slowly disappeared.

A lilac flower pattern appeared on Zhao Duan's cheek, which gradually faded and disappeared into the skin.

The ceremony is completed.

"In the next two hours, as long as I am still in Yongjia City, you can use the special features of the Two Life Gate at any time to open the magic circle and teleport me back here."

Zhao Duan stroked the door frame, and his confidence grew a little.

He had promised the empress that he would not risk his life, so he would be well prepared to protect himself.

He is going to cause a big commotion in the city tonight. At the same time, in order to cover the actions of the other shadow guards, he must use himself as bait and put himself on the table to attract Zhao Shixiong's attention.

He didn't know how powerful this border general was, whose name he had known for a long time, but he knew that he must not be underestimated.

What's more, this is the rebels' territory. Even if Tianrenjing is besieged by a large army, it will be exhausted to death.

"It's almost time." Zhao Duan jumped out of the room and appeared on a nearby street in a flash.

He did not take out the Zhendao or Taibu bow, but pulled out a dark and heavy long stick from the silver scroll, which was bounded by bronze hoops at both ends.

【Fearless Stick】

This is the weapon captured from the monk Fanlong of Shenlong Temple in the previous battle.

With the long stick in hand, a heroic spirit of fearlessness and fighting against heaven and earth arises, as if even if the gods stand in the way, he dares to pierce the sky.

"It's rude not to reciprocate. Although it may not be of much use, it's good to cause some trouble to the Shenlong Temple and make some enemies."

Zhao Duan muttered, and as he walked, an illusory golden bell slowly condensed around him. This was the Buddhist Golden Bell Cover, a signature technique he learned from Qinglian.

"who?"

A group of rebels were escorting the "suspect" across the street ahead, and they bumped into Zhao Duan, who was carrying a long stick and had a golden bell shield spinning around him, and they shouted at him loudly.

"Amitabha,"

Zhao Duan showed compassion and swept across with his long stick:

“A good dog stays out of the way.”

Soon, the bodies of the rebels fell to the ground, and the captured civilians trembled with fear.

Watching Zhao Duan, who was like a killing god, continue to head towards the city center, a citizen knelt on the ground with his hands clasped together, trembling:

"Buddhist Bodhisattva!"

In the distance, another rebel group was selected by Zhao Duan, and screams and Buddhist chants were heard everywhere.

Tonight, in order to force the Shadow Guards to come out, tens of thousands of soldiers are searching the city.

At this moment, Zhao Duan, who should have fled and hidden, turned into a "hunter" and attacked the rebel troops unscrupulously.

……

The government prison.

A group of officials and generals who refused to surrender to the rebels were imprisoned here.

However, a number of gang members involved in the assassination of the military supervisor were escorted here tonight.

Song Jinxi was among them and was pushed and scolded by the jailers as he was driven into the prison.

"It's almost time." In a cell, Song Jinxi said softly, looking at the moonlight coming in through the vent.

"What?" A gang member of Yexiangmen nearby was stunned and looked at his companion who had drunk a few times.

Song Jinxi turned his head and smiled at him. Along with the smile, a human skin mask fell off his face, and a steel needle hidden in his body came out of his mouth and was clamped between his fingers.

With a familiar "click", he used a steel needle to open the shackles on his body, regained his freedom, and opened the door of the cell under the shocked gazes of the people in the cell.

"You don't think you can survive after entering this place, do you? If you don't want to die and still want to fight, then find a way to escape."

Song Jinxi said to them, then turned around and disappeared like a shadow.

Soon after, the prison cells on both sides of the corridor were opened one by one, and several prison guards who were patrolling the area fell down from the poison without making a sound.

In the dead silence, finally some brave prisoners gritted their teeth, walked out of the cell, picked up the jailer's sword, and rushed out with fierce eyes. They no longer felt that there was any way to survive if they stayed, so they might as well give it a try since they would die anyway.

With someone taking the lead, more and more prisoners rushed out with red eyes. Soon, roars and sounds of fighting were heard in front of the prison.

Song Jinxi did not leave, but walked like a ghost along the empty corridor and went into the deepest part.

He opened a few cell doors and smiled at a prisoner who looked depressed and very alert:
"You are the prefect of Yongjia? When the rebels attacked, you were supposed to defend the city, but you were controlled by the officials around you and opened the city gates to welcome Zhao Shixiong into the city?"

The wounded Yongjia prefect was in doubt: "You are..."

Song Jinxi smiled and said:

"I am here in the name of Zhao Du'an, the Grand Commander in Charge of Suppressing Rebellions, to rescue you. There is chaos in the city right now, and the five military camps outside the city are attacking. It is now the right time to flee. Whether you can escape successfully depends on tonight."

Zhao Duan?
Is it that Mr. Zhao? !
A group of officials in the cell were astonished, and saw Song Jinxi spit out a talisman from his stomach and stick it on the wall of the cell. The wall began to soften and slowly tore a big hole, allowing the moonlight outside to come in.

The prisoners who were released before were just deliberately released by Song Jinxi in order to create chaos and buy time.

With the strength of those prisoners, it is absolutely impossible for them to break out of the prison, and they will only be dealt with by the rebels guarding outside.

……

A small, unimportant warehouse for storing supplies in a military camp somewhere in the city.

A group of rebels were stationed here. In the darkness, the patrolling soldier was stunned and rubbed his eyes:
"Did you see a shadow flying over here just now?"

The companion was startled, and he looked around with his long sword in hand, then heaved a sigh of relief and cursed:
"You are dazzled, this is just a small warehouse, who can come here? There are tens of thousands of soldiers searching the city now, even if that King Zhao comes, he will have to flee in panic."

"Really?" A cold female voice sounded behind him.

"Of course..." the soldier said subconsciously, then suddenly froze, a chill ran down his back, and he subconsciously drew his sword, but a bloody sword had already pierced his chest.

"Enemy attack--" another person shouted, and after running a few steps, he fell in a pool of blood.

With an expressionless face, a bronze mask covering her face, and a sword in hand, Hongye, a shadow guard dressed as a female knight, calmly killed the entire team.

Then he poured tung oil on the warehouse, picked up a torch and threw it away.

"Whoosh!"

The flame suddenly shot up, like a bright lamp in the dark, extremely eye-catching!

"Leave immediately and go to the next place. The master's order is very clear, which is to create chaos to cover up the real purpose. Ahem... there is no need for us to fight the rebels head-on."

In the darkness, the gold medal shadow guard codenamed "Scholar" walked over with his mouth covered.

Hongye glanced at him and said coldly: "Take care of yourself first."

The scholar smiled:
"I'm not good at fighting, but I'm pretty careful. I also have to keep an eye on the support team and try to evacuate as smoothly as possible. I won't be traveling with you from now on."

The cold heroine Hongye took up her sword and left:

"You must also remember that our first mission is to protect the governor. Compared to the governor's safety, nothing else is important."

The scholar smiled, turned and walked into the night, only to see fires lighting up in all directions of Yongjia City under the night sky.

He was responsible for the evacuation work tonight and could not afford to make any mistakes, so he immediately hid in the darkness and disappeared.

……

"Wow--"

In the north of Yongjia City, at the border between Linfeng and Huaishui, under the cover of night, a large army of the Beijing Camp had quietly arrived at the riverside. The soldiers threw the prepared "floating bridge" into the river, and the Sharp Knife Camp risked crossing the river first to wipe out the secret sentries on the opposite side.

"With such a big commotion, the other side will react quickly. Although the river is not wide, Zhao Shixiong blew up the land connection on both sides, so the Yongjia River has become a natural barrier."

Yuan Feng, commander of the Fifth Army Battalion, stood on the north bank of the river and spoke in a deep voice, his square face full of solemnity.

Lang Shiba and Ji Yue stood near him without saying a word.

The prefect Sun Xiaozhun was also here. His crimson official robe was as dark as ink in the night. He said:

“The governor sent a message saying that we should conduct a feint attack tonight. The purpose is not to attack the city or cross the river, but to create enough momentum and posture. Therefore, the battle tonight was not intended to succeed.

Of course, if Zhao Shixiong doesn't care, we can take this place and use it as a foothold for subsequent attacks."

Yuan Feng nodded in agreement, then suddenly grinned and patted a cannon beside him:
"In that case, let's try this thing out."

The Shenji Camp followed Xue Shence to the eastern front to fight against Prince Jing, but they also left behind a few firearms before leaving.

Yuan Feng had witnessed the power of this thing when Qingzhou was destroyed, and he was a little excited to be able to do it himself this time.

Without hesitation, the artilleryman immediately adjusted the muzzle and lit the fuse.

After a while, a deafening roar awakened the rebels on the south bank.

……

……

Zhao Duan was holding the fearless stick, with the golden bell on his body slowly rotating, walking in the darkness.

Drops of sticky blood dripped from the end of the long stick, forming a line of blood on the bluestone floor.

"It's getting chaotic." Zhao Duan raised his head and looked at the clusters of flames burning in the dark night in the city.

I knew in my heart that Song Jinxi and his men had already started to act.

As the shadow guards continued to hunt, the searching rebel teams seemed to slowly react and began to gather around each other.

The two squads gathered into one team.

The two teams gathered into one large team.

The two teams gathered into one battalion...

As the number of people increased, even Zhao Duan did not dare to fight them head-on.

To my ears, the night wind brought a chaotic mix of exclamations and roars.

Zhao Duan was getting closer and closer to the government office.

He stopped, walked to a relatively quiet street, took out a porcelain bottle and swallowed a handful of qi-replenishing pills.

Along the way, every time he killed a team of people, he would take a pill to keep his qi sea full at all times.

This time is no exception.

When he felt his Qi Sea gradually filling up, he threw the porcelain bottle away, picked up the Fearless Stick and was about to attack again, but the next moment, his footsteps suddenly stopped!

Zhao Duan raised his head and stared at the end of the street ahead. A figure appeared at some point.

He was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, not tall, even a little short, with a thick beard under his chin. He was unarmored, without armor, and only wearing loose warrior clothes.

Wearing cloth boots.

It didn't look unusual, but Zhao Duan felt as if he was being stared at by a ferocious beast. His muscles tensed almost instinctively, his hair stood on end, and he had a strong premonition:

The world was clearly vast, but he could no longer walk out of the long street.

"Zhao! Shi! Xiong!"

Zhao Du clenched the Fearless Stick tightly, relying on the blessing of this weapon to dispel the instinctive fear when facing a strong man.

He stared at the other person's face, which was gradually becoming clearer in the moonlight, and uttered the name word by word!
The commander of the Northwestern Frontier Army, a general of the State of Yu whose reputation is no less than that of Xue Shence!

Zhao Shixiong walked from the end of the street with his hands behind his back and cloth boots leisurely. His figure and face gradually emerged from the shadow cast by the building.

He looked calm and indifferent, looking at Zhao Duan with interest, and stood a hundred steps away from him.

"Hua La..." The sound of dense footsteps was heard, and suddenly a large number of soldiers in armor and sharp weapons emerged from both ends of the long street. They were Zhao Shixiong's personal guard battalion, who were inseparable from him.

At this moment, the long street was blocked. If you look down from the sky, it looks like a cage.

"Zhao Duan." Zhao Shixiong glanced at him disdainfully and said:

"I have heard your name too many times in the past year or so, and I am very curious about when such a powerful young man from our family appeared in the capital."

You are not trying to trick me... His tone was very firm, and there was no need to trick me in this situation...

Was his identity exposed? Was it because he left some clues when he killed Wang Qi?
Zhao Duan simply removed his disguise, revealing his true appearance, and put away the fearless stick in his hand:
"If you're curious, you can see me when you return to Beijing to report on your work at the end of last year."

Zhao Shixiong didn't respond. His gaze paused on the golden bell on his body, and he said with a strange look:

"You actually disguised yourself as a monk from the Shenlong Temple to kill people. You are indeed the cunning King Zhao. Your methods are indeed insidious, but unfortunately, they are not worthy of being shown in public."

Zhao Duan said calmly:

"An effective method is a good method. Is there any distinction between honest and dishonest methods in the world? If we talk about morality, you, a traitor who betrays his master for glory and plots rebellion, are not worthy of the word 'honest'."

Zhao Shixiong was not angry, and seemed too lazy to argue with him. He just said calmly:
"You, a treacherous young official, are here to teach this general a lesson. Well, today I will discipline you on behalf of our ancestors."

After saying that, he raised his right arm and grabbed in mid-air!
Ripples appeared in the air, and his calloused right hand slowly pulled out a large Guandao from the ripples.

The sword was extremely heavy, and as soon as he picked it up, the blue bricks under his feet made crackling sounds as if they could not bear the weight!

Zhao Duan did not hesitate. He also reached out with his right hand. The silver scroll hidden in his sleeve shone with a hint of light, and the Taibu bow appeared in his hand.

He bent the bow and drew the arrow. "Crackling", electric snakes condensed in the bowstring. Zhao Duan did it in one breath, using his Qi as arrows, and shot three arrows!
Will be in!

"Om-"

In the dark night, streaks of lightning reached Zhao Shixiong's face in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, the long sword in his hand had just been drawn out.

However, the electric snake that was powerful enough to pierce through steel armor melted when it stabbed Zhao Shixiong's forehead!

That’s right, melt away!
The body of this border general had long been covered with a layer of invisible qi. The indestructible electric snake smashed into the qi, like a drop of clay entering the sea or ice and snow melting away.

Zhao Shixiong did not dodge or evade, but calmly took the three arrows and said with a smile:

"Lu Tong's Taibu bow has indeed fallen into your hands. The military supervisor Wang Qi was injured by this arrow that day. Don't waste your energy. The Hundred Refinements Qi that this general has cultivated can keep him unmoved even in the midst of thousands of troops. This alone is not enough."

Zhao Duan shot a few more arrows without saying a word. After confirming that they had no effect, his heart sank.

He immediately put away the Taibu bow and changed the weapon in his hand to the familiar Zhendao.

This weapon contributed by Li Yanfu is extremely sharp and powerful, and can deal with multiple enemies at the same time with one strike.

But it is not appropriate here. Zhao Duan's warrior instinct reminds him that if he gets close to Zhao Shixiong, he will surely die.

The general who walked out of the battle array was best at close combat. This was also reflected in Xue Shence.

However, when Xue Shence faced Lu Tong's arrow that day, he had to block it with his Fang Tian Hua Ji, but Zhao Shixiong actually resisted it with his internal energy and remained motionless.

Zhao Duan's heart sank, realizing that Zhao Shixiong's martial arts might be more profound than anyone imagined.

But his face remained expressionless, and he even took a step forward and said:
"Horizontal training is great, what about this?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding streets began to twist and a scroll of painting quickly unfolded under his feet.

(End of this chapter)