This sentence is not the style of the martial arts world.
As a minor official, Jiao Qingfeng knew nothing about the martial arts world, so he could only roughly improvise this sentence based on the style he usually heard from storytellers in tea houses.
As a result, he learned it wrong. This was clearly adapted from “Who comes, state your name?” which is the opening line for a challenge when two armies face each other.
The Hongshui Flag Master listened and also felt that something was amiss. Besides the strange way the person opposite spoke, why did he also have a local Tai'an accent?
Was that Li Miao not always staying in Shuntian Prefecture, never having left the capital?
Was his hometown here in Tai'an?
Lan Left Envoy, did he encounter him returning home to visit relatives and suffer a tragic end?
His heart stirred, and the look in his eyes towards Jiao Qingfeng became even more peculiar.
After Jiao Qingfeng finished speaking, he felt that the little bit of courage he had managed to gather was completely exhausted.
He could only force himself to adopt a disdainful attitude, squinting at the Hongshui Flag Master, remaining silent.
“Your Excellency, are you Lord Li Miao?”
After a long while, the Hongshui Flag Master spoke.
“Precisely.”
“Oh... Lan Left Envoy, was he killed by Your Excellency?”
“Precisely.”
“Master Zuo, was he also killed by Your Excellency?”
“...”
This sentence is a trap.
Zuo Lishan died at Yun Zelin’s hands, not Li Miao’s.
If Jiao Qingfeng had followed the previous questions and said “Precisely,” the Hongshui Flag Master would immediately step forward and kill him.
However, the only thing Jiao Qingfeng was good at was “reading expressions.”
For a minor official like him, the first thing to learn was to act according to the chief official's expression. After years of mingling in the yamen, this skill had reached a “peak” level.
Jiao Qingfeng was already wary of this series of questions. Upon noticing a hint of killing intent from the Hongshui Flag Master, he immediately stopped speaking.
After pondering for a moment, he finally spoke, saying, “Who killed Master Zuo... don’t you know?”
This sentence is ambiguous. If Li Miao killed him, it means “Don’t you know who all I’ve killed?”
If Li Miao didn't kill him, it means “You killed him, and you still come to ask me?”
When it came to being vague, evasive, and shifty, the Hongshui Flag Master, a rough fellow from the martial arts world, was truly no match for Jiao Qingfeng.
Normally, Jiao Qingfeng might have genuinely been able to use Li Miao's prestige to bluff the Hongshui Flag Master into retreating.
But now, it was unfeasible.
The Ming Cult was determined to achieve this matter. They had already sacrificed the life of a Left Envoy, and the plans on Mount Tai Sect had also been disrupted by Yun Zelin.
Having paid such a heavy price, they had to achieve something. The Ming Cult was determined to succeed in the matters here in Tai'an City.
The Hongshui Flag Master hesitated for a moment, then finally made up his mind, a ruthless expression creeping onto his face.
“I don’t care if your surname is Li or whatever, since you stand in my way here, you are an enemy of my Sacred Cult!”
“Even if I can’t defeat you, dragging you here will remove an obstacle for Protector Mao!”
Once the decision was made, there was no more hesitation.
In an instant, the Hongshui Flag Master flashed forward, striking a palm towards Jiao Qingfeng's face!
“Whether you die or I perish, let’s see the truth in our hands!”
“It’s over... I can’t hold them off anymore...”
In despair, Jiao Qingfeng forced himself not to lose composure, watching as that palm steadily grew larger in his vision.
“I guess this counts as, to some extent, shouldering the burden of the character ‘official’...”
——————
Let’s turn back time for a moment.
On Li Miao's side.
Five hundred Gu Soldiers.
Wang Hai was already struggling to cope with one or two Gu Soldiers. When two came at once, it forced Mei Qinghe to fight for her life.
Although there were also reasons like his True Qi running low, being unable to retreat, and having to fight head-on, it still showed how troublesome these Ming Cult Gu Soldiers were.
And the Gu Soldiers on Mao Yingxia's side were even more difficult to deal with than those previously put into the city.
The Gu Soldiers scattered into Tai'an City beforehand were, to some extent, “sacrificed pawns.” However, the Gu Soldiers on Mao Yingxia's side were capital accumulated by the Ming Cult over more than ten years, refined from “materials” with good bone structures, truly used for conquering cities and territories.
The consensus in the martial arts world is: no matter how high one's martial arts, if surrounded by heavy troops and unable to escape, one will die on the spot with regret.
Firstly, even a “"Jiezi"” does not have infinite True Qi; there will always be a moment when it runs out.
Secondly, no matter how high one's martial arts, one is still human and needs to breathe.
Being heavily surrounded is not like the movies Li Miao saw in his previous life, where the protagonist only fights the people in front of him, and the enemies behind him are only responsible for yelling, posing, and waiting for the protagonist to turn around.
Truly being trapped means facing attacks like raindrops simultaneously. At the same moment, your face, groin, waist, back, arms, and legs are all being attacked.
Facing such an onslaught, even a master of external martial arts who can withstand hard blows needs to breathe. Once they breathe, their strength loosens, and in that brief moment of relaxation in their external martial arts, they will be injured.
As injuries accumulate, their movements become increasingly sluggish, their True Qi becomes weaker, and they will die.
And Li Miao was facing a siege of five hundred Gu Soldiers who were fearless of death and difficult to injure with swords and blades.
Now, there were a hundred left.
Li Miao's forehead was slightly sweating. He joined his fingers to form a palm and drew it to his waist.
Diagonal Cut!
“One Slash” from “Iron Shackles War Summons”!
Sharp True Qi left his body, severing the three human figures in front of him into two halves. After their upper bodies fell to the ground, they continued to crawl and roar towards Li Miao.
Li Miao's initial plan was to kill Mao Yingxia and quickly return to Tai'an City to support Little Four.
But after seeing these five hundred Gu Soldiers, he changed his mind.
Only by stopping and killing these Gu Soldiers here could Tai'an City be safe.
Now, it was almost done.
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Li Miao flashed forward, extending his hand into a claw, using “Leaf Removal” to scrape down a Gu Soldier's face from top to bottom.
Half a piece of red and white skull remained in his hand.
The Gu Soldier collapsed to the ground without a sound.
Li Miao leaped high, dodging the pounces of several Gu Soldiers.
Then, “Thousand Jin Drop,” “Great Strength Vajra Leg”!
His body suddenly descended, smashing several Gu Soldiers into the ground. Li Miao's fists slammed heavily into the back of these Gu Soldiers' heads.
When he lifted his fists, his dark black gloves were already covered in red and white brain matter.
And beside him, lying on the ground, Mao Yingxia had fallen into despair.
No matter how much she couldn't believe it, she had to admit the truth: Li Miao was truly slaughtering the Ming Cult's Gu Soldiers, accumulated over more than ten years.
“How could this be... how could this be...”
“How is your True Qi not exhausted yet... You are not a ‘"Jiezi",’ how can you have such profound True Qi...”
“How can you be both ‘Vajra’ and ‘"Jiezi"’? How are you not dead yet!?”
“Who exactly are you! Who exactly are you!”
Mao Yingxia was a direct disciple of Ji Tianrui and utterly loyal to the Ming Cult. Now, witnessing the Ming Cult's grand plan for revival being shattered by an inexplicable anomaly that appeared out of nowhere, in an incomprehensible way, she was powerless.
Coupled with severe injuries and excessive blood loss, she was already delirious, screaming frantically at Li Miao.
Li Miao ignored her, only continuing his massacre.
A short while later, the last Gu Soldier was grabbed by Li Miao by both arms and torn in half. After falling to the ground, it crawled for a bit before losing all signs of life.
Li Miao turned and walked towards Mao Yingxia.
“Who are you! You are—”
Xuantian Finger.
Sharp True Qi pierced through her forehead. Mao Yingxia's words were unfinished as she softly fell down.
“Talking to a beast like you who would slaughter a city is a waste of time.”
Li Miao stepped forward and pulled out a blurry mass of flesh and blood from Mao Yingxia's corpse.
Leaving behind the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, Li Miao did not stop. He used his lightness skill at full power, rushing towards Tai'an City.
——————
Just as Jiao Qingfeng was staring wide-eyed, waiting for death.
Suddenly, warm liquid splattered on his face.
Then, the hand that had already reached his face fell to the ground.
Jiao Qingfeng turned his head blankly and saw a severed hand on the ground.
And Li Miao, holding the head of the one-armed Hongshui Flag Master, crashed into the crowd of Ming Cult members.
Flesh and blood splattered.
A moment later, Li Miao walked to Jiao Qingfeng's side and patted his shoulder: “You held up well.”
With that, Li Miao ascended the wall as if walking on flat ground, flying into Tai'an City.
After another long while, Jiao Qingfeng suddenly slumped softly onto his horse's back, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.
“Heh... hehe...”
He couldn't help but let out a laugh of relief.
