Chapter 34 Wilderness

  Rumble

  A loud clap of thunder, and the rain started pouring down on the official road in a patter, and before long, it was coming down in thick, heavy sheets like a curtain.

  Tang An and his group had already entered the territory of Yangzhou. On this official road, there were not a few people coming and going, Yangzhou was prosperous, and since ancient times it has been a place where merchants gather. With more travelers coming and going, there must be inns along this official road for resting and lodging.

  As expected, less than half a time, Tang An saw a bright light in front of him through the rain curtain. At this moment, it was already dark, and with the heavy rain, the Tiger and Leopard Army, although they were all elite, had no reason to waste time on the road for nothing. Besides, this trip to Yangzhou might still have some trouble, and physical strength should not be wasted here either.

  Tang An rode his horse a few more steps, and then he could see the appearance of that inn clearly. This inn actually had a row of houses, just like a small manor, very large, at least it can accommodate thousands of people. Although there are inns on the official road, such a large-scale inn is absolutely rare. Such a large inn is not located in the city, but opened outside the city, isolated and easily robbed by bandits. This inn dared to open in such a place, and it was so large, the boss behind this inn must be a big shot.

  Tang An continued to move forward, and through the rain curtain, he had already clearly seen the signboard of the inn. It was written in bold letters "Jun Tian". This inn turned out to be a property of the Jun Tian Sect. No wonder they were so arrogant. Yangzhou was indeed the place where the Jun Tian Sect's power was the greatest. In this land of Yangzhou, the two words "Jun Tian" were like heaven itself, and the Jun Tian Sect was far more powerful than any official institution.

  Muhong Yu and Xiao Xie's bodies emitted a faint glow, blocking all the raindrops outside their bodies, completely unaffected by the rain. At this moment, they also saw the two characters "Jun Tian", and their faces suddenly showed a thoughtful expression.

  Tang An stopped his horse, waved his hand, and instantly a knight rode out from behind. Then he casually threw someone off the horse.

  "Boom"

  That person fell to the ground, clothes tattered and disheveled, but in good spirits. Only upon closer inspection did it become apparent that her wretched appearance was all an act; she hadn't actually suffered any mistreatment at all. All of this was just for show, to make people understand that she had been through a terrible ordeal before being released. Although this was somewhat deceitful, it was enough to silence the gossipmongers. That was better than returning completely unscathed.

  Tang An cracked his whip loudly and struck the man's body, pretending to ask sternly: "Xuan Mu Hua, do you recognize this inn?"

  Xuanmu Hua pretended to shrink back, turned his head to look at the inn, and nodded: "I know. This inn is opened by Yu Shi Lan Rui En. He is one of the four kings of our Juntian Sect, with profound martial arts skills that are immeasurable. Except for the left and right messengers, no one in the sect dares to lightly say they can defeat him."

  Tang An glanced at the inn, and the spies in the secret observation room felt that they were exposed under his gaze. They all felt a chill in their hearts, knowing they had been discovered. When the gazes observing him disappeared, Tang An sneered and curled up the corner of his mouth. He then waved his hand at Xuan Mu Hua and said, "We've arrived in Yangzhou. I promised to let you go back, so now you can leave. However, remember to tell Le Yi that I'm waiting for him in Lin'an County, waiting for him to come and give me an explanation."

  Xuanmu Hua's face changed, but in the end he didn't say anything. He cupped his hands and bowed, then stood up and disappeared into the rain.

  Xuanmu Hua left, but Tang An waved his hand at the tiger and leopard army behind him, saying: "Continue on the road." In the heavy rain, the 800-strong Tiger and Leopard Army continued on their way without a word, not even looking back at the inn.

  …………

  Inside the inn

  "A woman wearing a blue shirt, called 'Shifu', walked into the house and said repeatedly, 'Tang An's men have just passed by here. Should we inform Master Ma and his men in front to intercept them? Now that it's dark, they don't know how many of us there are either. We can pretend to be more powerful than we actually are, and in the chaos, maybe we can even kill Tang An directly."

  In the room, there was a woman wearing a veil, who was Li Wuhuan. At this moment, she was wiping a crystal blue long sword with a cold aura emanating from it. The entire body of the sword was made of a mysterious crystal stone, and no one knew what material it was made of.

  "Don't be too smart for your own good."

  Li said in a cold and detached tone, his hand movements wiping the sword did not stop.

  "I, Li Wuhuan, want to kill someone. I've never needed to sneak up on them here. Who would know it was me who killed him? I want to let him enter Yangzhou, arrive at Lin'an County, and in front of all the people under heaven, in front of the Quan Tian Jiao, and in front of his parents, kill him again like this, only then will I have avenged myself. Sneaking around isn't my habit."

  The woman in blue listened and immediately flattered with a smile: "It's the disciple's fault, Master. You don't need to sneak up on him, do you? Even if that Tang An had three heads and six arms, he would never be a match for Master. Master will definitely succeed easily. However, Master, this Yangzhou is after all the territory of the Quan Tian Sect, I'm afraid..."

  "What are you afraid of?"

  Li Wuhua let out a cold hum. From head to toe, Li Wuhua only stared at her own long sword, not even glancing at the disciple once. This long sword was given to her by her master before she left all those years ago. Unfortunately, back then, she was too proud and said that she would never enter the heavenly realm and therefore never use this sword again. Now that she has returned, unfortunately, her master had already disappeared, and her fellow disciple had also died. This Mount Shu is vast, with many disciples, but there isn't a single thing worth her nostalgia.

  "What is this Tian Jiao teaching? It's just a toy created by the Ming brothers when they were bored. In this world, who among us at this level would take it seriously?"

  The woman in blue heard this and hastily knocked her head, saying: "Disciple knows wrong. With Master around, disciple is not afraid of anything." She said, and hastily retreated.

  …………

  In another room, the person in charge of the inn, Rain Master Blue's younger brother, Water Linglong was frowning as he listened to his subordinate's report.

  "You said that Tang An released another person, was that person Xuanmu Hua, the deputy envoy of Tiejing Hall who went missing a few days ago? Are you sure you didn't see it wrong?"

  Shui Linglong is the great disciple of Yu Shi Lan Ruien. In the Jun Tian Sect, although she doesn't have a specific position, even ordinary hall masters speak to her with respect. This is because not only does she possess exceptional martial arts talent, but also outstanding business acumen. The majority of the Jun Tian Sect's assets are controlled by this master-disciple duo, making them the true wealthy elite within the sect.

  "Yes, sir. I didn't missee it, that person is indeed Xuanmu Hua. She seemed to have said something to Tang An, and then he let her go. I was afraid of being discovered, so I didn't dare get close, and couldn't hear what they were saying. However, I have a special ability that allows me to tell what people are saying by reading their lips. If I'm not mistaken, the last thing Tang An said to Xuanmu Hua was to have her deliver a message to Le Yi, the master of Le Hall, telling him to go to Lin'an and wait for him, saying he had something to settle with him." That person didn't look impressive, with short limbs, like a mole, but he has a special ability, specializing in gathering information.

  Shui Linglong understood the general situation upon hearing this, and a hint of comprehension appeared on her face. She nodded at the person and said: "You've done well, go receive your reward."

  That person, seeing Water Linglong's praise, was instantly delighted, and upon hearing the reward, he repeatedly waved his hand, saying: "Being able to serve the master is a small person's honor, but I dare not accept the reward. As long as the master is happy, that's all that matters. If the master can remember my name because of this, that would be even better..." He said, with a hint of shyness on his face, and a thread of admiration almost written across his face.

  Upon seeing this, her pretty face turned frosty, and with a swift kick, she sent the man flying out of the window, exclaiming: "Ugh, how annoying! You've ruined my good mood!"

  That man ate a mouthful of dog feces, stood up and silently looked at the beautiful figure by the window, then left dejectedly, his figure in the rain looking melancholy beyond compare.

  The water was crystal clear and suddenly someone came in from outside, bowing their head to listen for orders.

  Shui Linglong had already written a letter and handed it over to the person, instructing him: "Go to Lin'an and give it to my master."

  He bowed his head and accepted the order, saying "Yes" before hastily leaving.

  After finishing all this, looking at her own peerless beauty in the mirror, she suddenly felt a wave of fatigue.

  But she only had time to sigh and then hurried downstairs to attend to other matters.

  …………

  "Xiao Mu, look, so many mosquitoes..."

  The rainstorm came quickly and left quickly, in less than half an hour, the rain stopped. As soon as the rain stopped, mosquitoes came out from who-knows-where again.

  Xiao Xie wasn't afraid of mosquitoes, and at this moment, she didn't know what method she used, but she attracted all the mosquitoes into a small light ball. This light ball was condensed by her using the power of water spirit. The power of water spirit was full of vitality, and the mosquitoes that entered inside did not drown strangely, but instead flew freely. However, although their future was bright, they couldn't find an exit and could only crash around randomly inside.

  Xiao Ye looked at the mosquitoes getting more and more, but was happily hehe laughing. But after a while, Xiao Ye suddenly furrowed his brow, exclaiming in surprise: "Huh? These mosquitoes are so strange, why are they spitting out black air? Ah...... these mosquitoes are poisonous"

  Tang An and Mu Hongyu were not afraid of poison, but the tiger and leopard soldiers below had not yet entered the heavenly realm. In the midst of intense marching, under the circulation of qi and blood, it was possible that in just a moment, the toxin would take effect. At that time, these eight hundred people would become eight hundred straw men, to be slaughtered at will.

  Tang An had once been poisoned by Wang Feng's Bi Lin snake venom and almost became a useless person, so he was especially repelled by poisonous substances. In order to prevent being poisoned again, he had studied all the poisons in the world. As soon as he saw the strange mosquito spoken of by Xiao Xie, his expression changed.

  "This is a poisonous mosquito that only exists in the south, how can it be here too? This poisonous mosquito doesn't have much killing power, it just makes the bitten area swell and numb, but this mosquito has obviously been cultivated by someone else, its toxin level must have increased several times"

  Having thought of this, Tang An stopped his horse and ordered the Tiger Leopard Army soldiers behind him: "It's an emergency, notify everyone to be careful, there are poisonous mosquitoes nearby, let's speed up our time and leave here quickly."

  Fortunately, Tang An discovered it early, and the Tiger Leopard soldiers were on guard. They applied insect repellent and killed any mosquitoes that approached immediately, not allowing themselves to be bitten. Additionally, with Ma Cheng's swift horseback riding, the mosquitoes found it hard to land, so the poisonous mosquitoes did not take effect.

  However, Tang An had already realized that this poisonous insect was definitely someone's evil deed. But looking at the method, it wasn't the style of the Quan Tian Sect. As for who exactly, he hadn't thought of it yet.