"I'd better go take a look." With that, he rushed out. A bolt of lightning struck the roof of the City God Temple, and a smaller bolt struck a tree near the spy with pinpoint accuracy. The tree snapped in half with a crack, its tall branches obscuring the spy.
Before the spy could even react, he was frantically rescued by Xie's soldiers. They then moved away from the City God Temple.
At this point, the secret agents dared not go in any further.
Inside the City God Temple, Xie Lanzhi continued to fight back against An Shan. An Shan's skills weren't particularly agile, but her superhuman strength was enough to deliver a fatal blow.
She managed to dodge several times, trying to take as few punches as possible.
An Shan punched her three times, each punch delivered with great force, causing Xie Lanzhi to vomit blood. Yet she was still able to get up. This shocked and enraged An Shan; an ordinary person would have been unable to get up after just one blow.
The intelligence report said that Xie Lanzhi had lost her luck and had become an ordinary person.
How come she can not only fight back but also withstand such a fight?
Xie Lanzhi was like an unkillable cockroach. She dodged and fought back, managing to inflict a wound on An Shan each time.
She's barely hanging on; if it weren't for the steel armor absorbing the force, she probably wouldn't have lasted that long.
"It seems you've reached your limit." An Shan was somewhat annoyed, thinking that Xie Lanzhi, despite losing her luck, still had the ability to resist. After all, she was just an ordinary person; she could withstand it three times, but not five.
An Shan concentrated all her inner strength into her right fist. Combined with her extraordinary strength, she swiftly appeared behind Xie Lanzhi. Xie Lanzhi crouched down and rolled on the ground, dodging around a pillar. An Shan's fist struck the main beam, sending splinters of wood flying.
Xie Lanzhi watched as she slammed a fist into the main beam. She immediately got up and continued circling around An Shan.
Anshan punched the main beam three times, causing the roof of the City God Temple to shake. Xie Lanzhi immediately fell over and kicked with her back leg. Anshan grabbed her leg and threw her away violently.
Xie Lanzhi adjusted her posture in mid-air and landed safely. An Shan rushed out again, punching her in the head.
Xie Lanzhi subconsciously took a step back, when suddenly with a bang, a scorching light source appeared between the two of them, hitting them just two meters away.
Anshan was immediately shocked and staggered backward.
She looked up at the sky and saw that dark clouds were gathering above the City God Temple, with thunder rumbling overhead. The bolt of lightning had almost struck her.
Xie Lanzhi retreated further and further until her back was pressed against the door panel, on which the tip of her halberd was embedded. She reached out her left hand to pull it out, but she couldn't. The halberd was driven too deep.
Her right arm was hanging down by her leg, and she looked quite disheveled.
"It seems I'm in grave danger this time." Xie Lanzhi's bitter smile wasn't because of An Shan, but because of the lightning bolt that had struck her head.
It's here again.
Looking at Anshan's bewildered expression, she seemed unaware of the Heavenly Lightning. It appeared that Aqina had concealed from her the fact that the Heavenly Lightning could strike a substitute.
"You're scared." Xie Lanzhi had experienced the heavenly lightning; she was no longer afraid, since she was going to be struck dead anyway. It would all happen in an instant.
“When Artur encountered Lei, he wasn’t flustered at all.”
Anshan was immediately puzzled and asked, "Lightning? You mean lightning will strike you?"
Seeing that she still seemed incredulous, Xie Lanzhi decided to test it herself. She slightly raised her foot towards the dark clouds above her head and then pulled it back.
Sure enough, a bolt of lightning struck nearby.
"Look, look." Xie Lanzhi still had an expression that said, "I've already proven it to you."
Anshan looked as if she'd seen a ghost. It was hard to believe someone would challenge lightning.
Anshan still didn't believe it, because Wang had said that if she killed Xie Ying, she would gain half of her freedom, and the other half would be up to her.
She hadn't lived for herself in a long time. If killing Xie Ying could grant her even a little freedom, she would do anything to achieve it. After all, she had countless lives on her hands; one more wouldn't make a difference.
"If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do." This time, Xie Lanzhi gave up pulling out the long halberd. She let go of it, took two steps forward, and stood where the lightning had struck.
Anshan tentatively took a step forward towards her, and then—BOOM! A bolt of lightning struck down instantly, hitting the spot where she was about to land.
Anshan's expression immediately became extremely serious.
It's true!
In an instant, her storm of attacks ceased. Xie Lanzhi stood motionless outside the eaves.
The two were locked in a stalemate. Xie Lanzhi had no intention of going in. An Shan, fearing the heavenly lightning, dared not come out.
If we can stall until dawn, Anshan won't be able to escape.
In the back hall of the City God Temple, Xie Lanzhi finally woke up and found that her head was covered in blood, which had almost dried.
The other two were still unconscious. Only Manager Lin was barely holding on, lying on the ground unable to get up. Despite his exhaustion, he still tried to remind Xie Ying, "You, you crawl under the altar and find, find the silver." After saying that, he finally passed out.
Xie Ying quickly took out a tinderbox and, using the dim moonlight, searched for the silver inside the house. She crawled under the offering table and tapped the stone slab, finding it hollow. She tried to pry at the stone with her fingers, until her nails bled. Outside, the sounds of fighting could be heard intermittently.
Xie Ying became even more anxious. Finally, with the strength that seemed to break her ten fingers, she lifted a stone slab weighing a hundred pounds. Inside was a spacious cave. Xie Ying excitedly blew on her tinderbox, and a faint flame lit up the entrance. Below were about fifty mahogany boxes with copper rims.
She opened one of the chests and found it filled with gleaming silver. Then she heard the fighting stop, but it sounded like it was about to rain and thunder started to rumble outside.
Xie Ying didn't have a suitable weapon. She picked up the silver and stuffed it into her pockets, not knowing how much she had.
When she rushed out again, she saw someone with their back to her; opposite them was the marshal, whose mouth was covered in blood.
Without thinking, Xie Ying rammed into her, knocking her off the roof. Her silver coins scattered all over the ground. An Shan was only focused on Xie Lanzhi and the commotion above her; she hadn't been paying attention to what was behind her.
By the time Xie Ying rushed up, it was too late for her to react.
Xie Lanzhi took the opportunity to start a fight with An Shan.
Xie Ying took the silver and was about to smash it over An Shan's head. But An Shan flipped Xie Lanzhi over, and the silver almost hit Xie Lanzhi on the back.
Xie Lanzhi wrapped herself around An Shan from behind and said to Xie Ying, "Go inside quickly and don't come out."
"What?" Xie Ying hadn't reacted yet.
A bolt of lightning struck from above, and Xie Lanzhi released An Shan, hurriedly pushing Xie Ying away. Silver from Xie Ying's pocket spilled onto the ground. An Shan seized the opportunity to scramble to her feet, intending to hide inside, but suddenly stepped on a large silver ingot and fell to the ground.
A bolt of lightning struck the roof tripod immediately, and Anshan breathed a sigh of relief.
The roof's supporting beam was split and collapsed instantly. Anshan instinctively put her arms over her head to protect herself, but the collapsing roof instantly buried her.
Taking advantage of the moment, Xie Lanzhi rushed to the door and desperately pulled the long halberd down. Just then, An Shan crawled out of the rubble behind her. Xie Lanzhi shouted at Xie Ying, "Catch her off her back!!"
Although Xie Ying didn't know what was going on, she noticed that An Shan seemed very afraid of thunder.
Xie Ying rushed forward instantly, headbutting An Shan in the waist. Xie Lanzhi, just then, grabbed the halberd and thrust it at An Shan. An Shan's hands gripped the blade, bleeding profusely. The blade instead cut her hands first, the flesh of her palms wedging the blade into her grasp.
She lunged forward, but An Shan kicked her to the ground. Then, she casually punched Xie Ying in the side, luckily Xie Ying had a bag of silver tied to her waist, which saved her from the blow.
Xie Lanzhi, in pain, shook the halberd to the ground. She grabbed the halberd with her left hand and threw it at An Shan. An Shan did not hesitate to use both palms to press down the 30-centimeter-long blade.
Xie Ying then threw the bag full of silver at her. As the silver fell from the bag, she saw with her own eyes that one of the silver coins was flattened in half.
Xie Ying's pupils contracted. Terrifying, monstrous strength!
The silver pouch hit An Shan directly on the shoulder, causing her to twist in pain. Xie Lanzhi seized the opportunity to grab her leg and trip her. At the same time, thunder roared and poured down again.
Xie Lanzhi immediately let go, gritting her teeth, she used her head as a hammer, and rolled twice. She was only five steps away from An Shan. (Liu Dan)
Anshan suddenly felt a bolt of lightning strike from above, and her head tingled. She realized that the lightning was coming for her this time: "Wait, something's not right, this shouldn't be happening!"
"I shouldn't have ended up like this!!"
Boom! A bolt of lightning struck An Shan on the head. An Shan instantly collapsed to the ground, her body billowing smoke, her clothes catching fire and engulfing her in flames.
Just five steps away, Xie Lanzhi could feel herself brushing past the heavenly lightning again.
Anshan, lying on the ground, had already lost consciousness.
The lightning in the sky seemed to haven't finished flashing. Xie Lanzhi looked up, a bad feeling creeping over her. Could it be her turn this time?
She twisted her waist during the backflip and injured her hands, unable to exert any force. Now she lies sprawled on the ground like a stagnant pool.
Just then, a thunderclap boomed, signaling them to press their advantage and pursue.
Suddenly, Xie Lanzhi was dragged by her feet and pulled into the offering table.
Xie Ying was unaware of the situation. She dragged Xie Lanzhi's legs as she ran inside, saying, "I'm sorry, Marshal, please bear with me for now."
"Hmm..." Xie Lanzhi was a little confused: "I'm not wronged."
As Xie Ying hastily dragged Xie Lanzhi into the back hall, the front building of the City God Temple collapsed, leaving only the statue of the City God intact in a hole in the wall. Thunderbolts continued to strike, and the flashes of lightning on the City God's smiling face appeared somewhat sinister.
The City God Temple suddenly collapsed. The secret agent was both shocked and frightened, wondering if the marshal was alright.
Xie Bing and his men dared not approach, for who knew if lightning might suddenly strike. Meanwhile, a dark cloud overhead gradually dispersed towards the two corners.
The moonlight shone through the clouds and began to illuminate the earth again.
Everything returned to normal, as if the Thunderous Fury had never existed.
Xie Lanzhi felt a burning pain all over her body, and when she coughed, there were streaks of blood in her cough. This terrified Xie Ying.
"Marshal, you are seriously injured."
Xie Lanzhi managed to move her left hand, but it hurt a lot. When she tried to move her right hand, it felt completely numb.
My right hand is in trouble.
"Check if there are still dark clouds in the sky?" Xie Lanzhi instructed Xie Ying.
Fortunately, the City God Temple was quite large, with a rear hall. Xie Ying peeked outside and saw a bright moon and sparse stars, as if the thunderclouds that had just struck were an illusion. If it weren't for the throbbing pain in her back, reminding her that this was reality, she might have thought it was a dream.
When Xie Ying returned, she told Xie Lanzhi, "Marshal, there are no more dark clouds in the sky."
She paused, seemingly wanting to ask more, but then hesitated. She clearly wanted to know what had happened with those lightning bolts from the marshal, and why they had struck people.
Xie Lanzhi breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this. At least Tian Lei had taken care of the substitute.
Instead of offering an explanation, she ordered Xie Ying to carry her out.
Xie Ying spoke first: "Marshal, there is a lot of silver under the offering table. I think it must be the silver stolen from Weidu."
This time, it was Xie Lanzhi's turn to be surprised: "How did you find out?"
Afterwards, Xie Ying, with mixed feelings, told Xie Lanzhi about the old man, including the forty million taels of silver. Xie Lanzhi guessed that the old man was actually unwilling to obey An Shan and act as her double to draw attention to her. Therefore, An Shan's inability to transport the silver out of Weidu was clearly due to the old man's actions.
Perhaps the Huns hiding in Weidu weren't just captured for those few days, but also included a group of well-trained Huns. So why didn't these people eventually show up?
They couldn't have escaped, nor could they have remained indifferent to the treasury. Xie Lanzhi felt there was only one possibility: the old man had preemptively killed An Shan's henchmen.
As for where those people are, I believe we'll know in a few days. After all, the smell of corpses will soon be emanating from somewhere.
Xie Lanzhi said, "That Manager Qian seems to value you highly?"
Xie Ying said in a complicated tone, "I don't know. He said I look a lot like him. Maybe that's why he took pity on me and let me go."
If the old man hadn't let her jump into the sea, she probably would have died on Monkey Island just like him.
Xie Lanzhi felt that he was a hateful and tragic person.