Der Mond scheint hell über den leeren Bergen, und Blumen füllen den Himmel

Kapitel 41

"We respectfully obey the Lord's command." The four bowed and left.

This is the so-called strategy of attacking Wei to rescue Zhao, or cutting off the fuel supply from under the cauldron. Tang Tianshu's expression changed slightly again, but he said nothing.

Li Lingyan watched as the four men slipped into Fuzhen Temple. Just as they disappeared from sight, he whispered, "Release the arrows!" His voice wasn't loud, but it carried far, even reaching those trapped in the fire. In an instant, swords flew like locusts, carrying with them the black moths that had been circling the fire, tearing through the flames and plunging inside.

With a whoosh, a heavy object pierced the air, followed by two screams from within the arrow formation. Two men had already been wounded beneath the roof tiles thrown by Yu Xiu and Rong Yin! At this moment, some of the people who had intercepted the long arrows within the circle of fire hurled the ignited arrows back, instantly igniting the ground with countless sparks. Some experts, using their hearing to pinpoint the location, hurled the arrows back with tremendous force, causing screams and injuring many archers as well.

But at this moment, with a loud "boom", a layer of wood chips at the bottom of Fuzhen Temple exploded and flew everywhere, the main beam shook, and a layer of the entire temple was destroyed!

If the entire Fuzhen Temple were to collapse, it would surely crush the people in the ring of fire in front of it! Yu Xiu and Rong Yin on the top of the temple paled in horror. Yu Xiu shouted softly, "I'm going down!" He went straight down through the gap in the roof.

After Rong Yin steadied himself, he stared coldly at Li Lingyan's side and said coldly, "There are not many poisonous insects left outside the fire circle at this time. Are you all alright?"

Fu Guan's voice rang out from within the circle: "It's alright if you're lucky; it's all just superficial injuries."

"Li Lingyan is hiding under an apricot tree three zhang and six fen outside the Wudang Taoist temple. If you are confident you are not afraid of poisonous insects, you can use arrows to kill him!" Rong Yin's words always boosted the morale of the crowd. Immediately, their ambition surged, and many figures rushed out from the circle of fire, rushing towards the archers. In an instant, shouts of battle arose, screams and the sound of bowstrings mingled together. Some people grabbed bows and arrows and shot them at Li Lingyan. In a flash, arrows flew like locusts, filling the sky.

"Are there any seriously injured people in the circle?" Rong Yin asked again.

Wan Yuyuedan's voice replied, "There are five people in total. Four of them are seriously injured but not in mortal danger. However, Master Qinghe was injured by a poisonous insect while saving the injured and is unconscious."

"Can you expand the circle of fire to lure the wounded and weak into the main hall?" Rong Yin asked coldly.

Wan Yuyuedan was silent for a moment before answering, "Yes."

"The task of guarding the wounded is entrusted to you." Rong Yin's order was firm and decisive. He immediately ordered his men to fire from the rooftops to wound the archers around them, while he remained on the rooftop to observe.

Suddenly, a slender fire dragon extended from the circle of fire, whooshing as it coiled around the front pillar of the Wudang main hall. Then, another fire dragon followed, coiling around another front pillar before the gate, extinguishing one section of the fire circle. Some people, carrying the wounded, slowly made their way into the main hall through the passage created by the two fire dragons. The flames were fierce; moths that flew near were instantly burned. Suddenly, a hidden weapon was shot at, attempting to sever the fire-igniting ropes coiled around the pillars. But then, Wan Yuyuedan gave a soft shout, and with a "clang," the weapon was struck by something and fell. The fire-igniting ropes extended from Wan Yuyuedan's waist, likely one of his mechanisms. A pair of retractable straps wrapped around the pillars of the main hall, creating a fiery passage. However, Wan Yuyuedan had to walk behind the others; otherwise, the passage wouldn't be complete. This gave the archers ample opportunity to attack, but no matter how the arrows were fired, Wan Yuyuedan never looked back. The arrows fell around him as if they had encountered a ghost or a god, and not a single one could harm him.

Everyone quickly entered the main hall, closed the doors and windows to prevent poisonous insects, and the injured were safe for the time being.

Just then, two strange sounds, "Hmm—" and "Ah—", were heard beside Li Lingyan, causing Rong Yin to tremble slightly. The first sound was a muffled groan from someone who had circled around and approached Li Lingyan, only to be suddenly attacked and injured by something; the second sound was from that person enduring the pain as they struck Li Lingyan with a palm strike, to which Li Lingyan retaliated with his palms together, letting out an "Ah" and taking a step back.

Then the man closed in again, his hand flashing like the wind as he lunged at Li Lingyan's pulse point. Rong Yin's brow twitched; this was too risky! In that heart-stopping instant when Li Lingyan might be grabbed, Li Shiyu's sword flashed like snow, striking the attacker from behind. But before his sword reached the attacker's back, a spray of blood erupted from the man's body, and he collapsed motionless onto Li Lingyan.

That person was, of course, Nan Ge. Rong Yin frowned deeply. What had Li Lingyan used to injure Nan Ge? Nan Ge's martial arts skills should be considered top-tier in the martial arts world, yet she fell victim to his trap within three moves… Before he could even sort out his thoughts, he suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion, and alarm bells rang in his mind—he was anxious and tense tonight, Gu She wasn't by his side, and Sheng Xiang's shallow breathing alone couldn't sustain his current highly stressed state! What should he do now…?

Suddenly, the shaking at the bottom stopped, and Li Lingyan's white-robed "Four-Split Moon" figure, like a butterfly emerging from a flower, retreated through the four gates. Two of them staggered, clearly injured. Rong Yin felt a chill in his heart—where was Yu Xiu? A sudden clarity dawned on him: Yu Xiu must have been trapped at the bottom of the Fuzhen Temple, trying to prevent it from collapsing!

At this moment, Li Lingyan smiled, holding a thin object in his hand and waving it at Rong Yin, as if showing off something. Rong Yin's heart sank slightly; it was a zither string. Li Lingyan clasped his hands together and stepped back, luring Nan Ge to close in and capture him, while he secretly held the almost indistinguishable, thin zither string in front of him. Nan Ge lunged at Li Lingyan; no matter where she touched the string, she would be torn to pieces! If the string was coated with poison… then…

"Pour oil!" Li Lingyan laughed, then finally raised his voice.

In the darkness of the woods, buckets of lard and vegetable oil were suddenly poured onto the outer walls and roof of the Wudang Taoist temple. Li Lingyan held a small bow. The bow was not loaded with arrows but with a tinderbox. He muttered to himself, "Wudang Mountain actually dared to keep you here..." As he spoke, he slowly aimed at the Wudang main hall, whose outer walls were covered in oil, and said softly, "This is the death trap you yourselves painstakingly chose... so you should be very satisfied."

String open—

Full bow—

Li Lingyan's plan tonight is to burn Wudang Mountain to the ground! This is because Wudang Mountain is sheltering the people who escaped from Junshan.

Rong Yin's face was pale and cold. He had actually been forced step by step into such a desperate situation! His brows furrowed and then suddenly lifted! He gracefully landed on the top of the Fuzhen Temple, picked up a bow and arrow from the ground, and stood coldly in front of Li Lingyan's arrow path.

He also drew his bow.

The arrowheads, clustered together, gleamed coldly and aimed directly at Li Lingyan's eyebrows.

That murderous aura instantly stunned the entire audience.

Li Lingyan's bow froze—his murderous intent to draw the bow was overwhelmed by Rong Yin's aura—his sharpness vanished!

The light on the tip of Rong Yin's arrow shone brighter and brighter; he was aiming to shoot the spot between Li Lingyan's eyebrows!

He wanted to...escape.

When Li Lingyan was enveloped by Rong Yin's murderous aura, a desire to dodge his sharp edge arose in his heart, but he could not dodge.

Once he starts a fire, he can't start it again.

His biggest mistake was not lighting the tinder before Rong Yin drew his bow! He was too curious, which put him in a dilemma—if he showed the slightest weakness, Rong Yin would shoot an arrow, but he lacked the confidence to fire the tinder he held! The reason Rong Yin didn't shoot was because he was waiting for Sheng Xiang and Bi Qiuhan to return and counter-encircle them!

If Rong Yin's arrow misses, then Li Lingyan can reignite the fire once he gathers his killing intent again.

So he didn't shoot.

He used his murderous aura to force Li Lingyan to stop, remain in a stalemate, and dare not make any rash moves.

He endured the situation without showing any signs of fatigue; such a standoff was draining his energy. This was also why he tried to avoid physical altercations.

He didn't know how long he could keep up the act without Li Lingyan seeing through him.

Li Lingyan, however, was trying to figure out why Shengxiang and Bi Qiuhan were not in the formation.

"Light the fire!" The voice came from the bushes behind Li Lingyan.

Suddenly, a torch lit up.

The man was right next to Tang Tianshu. He tapped Tang Tianshu on the head, sighed, and said, "I heard you're the strategist? You're so stupid. Since Li Lingyan is in trouble, you should have run away quickly. Why are you yelling so loudly? Don't you want to die sooner?"

Rong Yin's imposing manner suddenly softened.

Li Lingyan sighed softly, "What a pity... it was just a little bit short."

Tang Tianshu, who was behind him, had been captured by someone, but Li Shiyu was nowhere to be seen.

The one who grabbed Tang Tianshu was Bi Qiuhan, and the one who held the torch was Sheng Xiang. Sheng Xiang was using his other hand to stop Nan Ge's bleeding—when he lunged at Li Lingyan, the blood vessel next to his neck was cut open. If it hadn't been discovered in time, he would definitely have been in grave danger.

Shengxiang waved to Rongyin with a smile, "Rongrong, we're back."