"Zhang Luyao, why are you still standing there? If you enter the valley a moment late, we will have to wait a moment longer!" Li Jichen shouted to Zhang Luyao who was standing on the boulder with his knife drawn. If Zhang Luyao doesn't leave, his men will
The group of comrades also stayed where they were.
"Let's go quickly. It will be safe once we enter the cave." Zheng Yuan advised.
"Okay, let's leave quickly!" Zhang Luyao knew that Li Jichen was right. He and his brothers had been fighting for three days and three nights, and they really couldn't muster much energy to fight. If they didn't leave at this time, it would be more likely.
He became a burden to the Jinling Sect. So he immediately took the more than fifty comrades who wanted to continue fighting and followed the old, weak, women and children towards the cave on the back of the big rock.
The officers and soldiers who climbed over from Beishan quickly launched a charge. Hundreds of people shouted loudly and rushed towards the flat rock from the north slope. The stone platform 40 to 50 feet square was splashed with blood for a while. Those from neighboring provinces
Under the attack of many masters of the Jinling Sect, the arrogant soldiers abandoned their armor and were defeated. The originally high-pitched slogans of killing thieves turned into pitiful screams of crying for fathers and mothers.
Li Jichen was in the center of the boulder and didn't take much action. The ones who really caused huge damage to the officers and soldiers were Lu Hongwen, Lu Zhenyao and Liao Ying, as well as He Qizhou, who saw blood with his sword.
He Qizhou did not expect that Liao Ying, who had a dull expression, petite body and was dressed in Kun Dao attire, was so powerful in combat, killing more enemy soldiers than Lu Hongwen.
The military commander directing the charge on the hillside saw that the situation was not good and hurriedly ordered his troops to retreat. The army coming from the south valley was approaching, and hundreds of crossbowmen and archers began to climb up the steep northern slope.
"Shoot an arrow!" A deputy commander of the Royal Forest Army did not wait for all the friendly troops on the stone platform to retreat, and immediately ordered his men to fire. Dozens of feathered arrows were directed downwards towards the stone platform about forty or fifty feet away.
"Hurry and follow me back to the cave. We will build a defensive stone wall!" Zheng Yuan, who was staying on the stone platform together, shouted.
"Retreat!" Although Li Jichen was not afraid of the arrows shot from such a distance, most of his disciples could not stop the volley of random arrows.
"We have been guarding that stone wall for more than half a year!" Zheng Yuan said proudly as he retreated.
The people from the Jinling faction followed Zheng Yuan down the east slope of the boulder. After running a few hundred steps, a majestic cave about five feet wide and thirty to forty feet high appeared in front of them. The cave was about ten feet long, and the exit was narrower and wider.
It was only four feet long. A stone wall about six or seven feet high was built at the entrance of the cave, leaving only an arched hole more than two feet wide and five feet high on one side of the cave wall.
After everyone passed through the arch, an iron door was immediately closed. The heavy iron door was equipped with rollers. It was pushed hard by two big men before it was closed. A special iron frame was then placed behind the iron door to support it.
He Qizhou took a look and saw that even if the entire stone wall was knocked down, no one could shake this small door from the outside.
The stone wall is about one foot thick, with arrow stacks densely covered above it. On the outside side of the stone wall, the wall more than four feet tall is covered with spiked iron caltrops. Behind the arrow stack, there are two people standing on the one foot wide wall.
There are more than ten Migu soldiers, and there are twenty or thirty people waiting under the wall. These people are all wearing iron armor. On the ramp leading to the height of the stone wall, there are maces, hammers, spears, machetes, and crossbows everywhere.
Bows and arrows... and other weapons are mostly neatly stacked stones, each weighing dozens of kilograms!
Zheng Yuan said confidently but slightly sadly: "Relying on this wall and better iron tools, we have repelled dozens of attacks by the government troops. They even sent out Chengzong masters, but we still blocked it!"
He Qizhou said: "You must have killed a lot of people, right? Let's stop this time!" There were old and young people on the stone wall, ranging from fifteen or sixteen years old to more than fifty years old.
"No, you go into Migu quickly. There is neither food nor place to sleep here," Zheng Yuan said.
"Why haven't you seen brother Zheng Zheng?" He Qizhou has met many young people from Migu who came out to help, but he has not seen the young man who once patrolled the valley.
"He died in battle last month." Zheng Yuan's expression became even more sad.
"Let our Jinling faction support you for a while. As long as we are here, relying on this strong wall, even if five Chengzong attacks at the same time, they can't even think of attacking." Lu Hongwen, the head of Jinling, said.
"Yes, Hongwen, please send some people to replace these brothers." Li Jichen also saw that the people in Migu suffered heavy losses.
"Yes!" Lu Hongwen responded, quickly nodded his twenty disciples, and walked up the slope.
"Thank you. With the Jinling Sect here, we are not afraid of the enemies no matter how many masters they come! Everyone, come down and hand over your armor to these heroes of the Jinling Sect." Zheng Yuan said with emotion, the martial arts of the people in the Hidden Valley are not the same.
It's not that high. In order to stop the experts sent by the imperial court, it really took the lives of hundreds of young men in exchange for the safety of the valley.
Behind the wall, the Jinling sect disciples quickly put on their armor, and outside the cave, the footsteps of countless officers and soldiers came one after another...
There were still six soldiers from Migu left on top of the stone wall. They were already very familiar with the offensive routine of the official army. First, the shield soldiers cleared the way, and then the crossbow soldiers hidden behind the shield soldiers fired a volley. At this time, they only needed to hide behind the arrow stacks.
That's all, when the opponent gets close to the bottom of the stone wall, you can use stones, bows and arrows to fight back. Except for a few masters, few people can get close to the top of the stone wall.
Because the cave is too high, the officers and soldiers have tried several fire attacks and smoke attacks before, but most of them returned without any attack. Sure enough, this attack was as usual, except that the enemy's crossbows were stronger. In the secret,
Under the guidance of Soldier Gu, the twenty Jinling sect disciples on the wall quickly repelled the first wave of attacks from the officers and soldiers. Under the rubble, the officers and soldiers did not even set up a ladder.
Seeing that the defense was safe for the moment, everyone came to the stone platform outside the cave. A pool of deep blue lake water reflected the surrounding mountains. A shallow layer of snow could be seen on the tops of the east and south peaks.
As there were more and more wounded people, running around day and night made some people's injuries worse and they were in urgent need of treatment. At Lao Huangquan's suggestion, many Migu soldiers carried the wounded on their backs and took the people who had escaped from Jiangjun Village to the mountains immediately.
After leaving, only the Jinling Sect members, a few Migu warriors, He Qizhou and other capable people were left outside the cave.
He Lian had not slept for several days and was in a state of exhaustion. She insisted on waiting until everyone else went up the mountain before agreeing to follow her up the mountain. She just left the stone platform and climbed the not-so-steep slope below, taking three steps at a time.
Suddenly, it was obvious that I was a little unable to do what I wanted.
"He Qizhou, you can carry your mother up the mountain first. We are here, so there is no need to worry." Li Jichen advised.
"Okay, I'll come down later." He Qizhou nodded in agreement.
"Uncle, it's enough as long as I'm here. You, Senior Brother Lu, and Junior Sister Liao should also go up the mountain. I'll send someone to replace me tomorrow!" Lu Hongwen approached Li Jichen and advised.
"Master, I will stay here with the head brother, you can go and rest for a while." Liao Ying could see that Li Jichen also looked tired, so he advised him.
"Junior sister, I'll stay, you can come and replace us tomorrow morning." Lu Zhenyao couldn't help but push Liao Ying towards Li Jichen.
"Mr. Li, let's go together." He Qizhou couldn't help but carry He Lian on his back and stood at the foot of the hillside, waiting for Li Jichen who was still a little uneasy.
"Okay then, Hongwen, Zhenyao, be careful yourselves." Li Jichen nodded and agreed, walking slowly towards He Qizhou accompanied by Liao Ying.
"Uncle, let me see you off." Lu Hongwen floated behind Li Jichen. He Qizhou, who was two feet away, was turning around to wait for Li Jichen. Suddenly, he felt that the figure looked familiar because he was so close. When he saw Lu Hongwen
The right hand was retracted into the sleeve, and when it was stretched out again, there seemed to be a hint of metallic luster, and the extended right hand looked like it was trying to support Li Jichen's back.
"Be careful!" He Qizhou yelled at Li Jichen for no reason, because he remembered where he had seen that figure. It was the way the wind-controlling assassin moved on the Yalong River in western Shu!
After He Qizhou shouted loudly, Li Jichen felt the energy behind him surge, and his only reaction was to move half an inch.
"The Point Guard Is Here"
Lu Hongwen's attack was too fast and too harsh. When Li Jichen had just reacted, a dagger had been completely inserted into Li Jichen's back, and the half-inch-long blade tip dripped blood from his chest. If it hadn't been for He Qizhou's cry,
This knife will completely pierce Li Jichen's heart.
Lu Hongwen's sneak attack did not end there. While stabbing Li Jichen, he hit the unsuspecting Liao Ying hard on the lower back with his left hand. A crisp "click" sound was heard on the spot.
With a heart-stopping sound of broken vertebrae, Liao Ying was knocked to the ground heavily and slid several feet to the ground, unable to get up.
Li Jichen never expected that his nephew, whom he had always trusted, would sneak up on him. The knife pierced his chest right next to his heart, as if every heartbeat would rub against the blade. In desperation, he had no choice but to take a step forward, turn around and punch.
He tried his best to counter Lu Hongwen's killer move behind him.
Of course Lu Hongwen would not give up if Li Jichen was not dead. At this time, he had already taken a step forward and punched Li Jichen! The other punch was aimed at He Qizhou who hurriedly punched to help.
The accident happened too suddenly. He Qizhou, who was carrying He Lian, had no time to put down his mother on his back. He punched not only to protect himself, but also to save Li Jichen in front of him. Four punches intersected. Li Jichen fell to the ground with a muffled groan.
He Qizhou took several steps back towards the hillside, trying to neutralize Lu Hongwen's inner strength in the Wind Control Realm. However, both of them made desperate moves. He Lian, who had no inner strength behind He Qizhou, was immediately thrown away and hit hard on the person behind him.
on the hill.
Just before Lu Hongwen took action, Lu Zhenyao was watching the Jinling disciples at the entrance of the cave repelling the attack of the government troops on the stone platform six or seven feet away. An unexpected assassination happened behind him. Seeing his master and junior sister fall to the ground, he turned red.
The blinded Lu Zhenyao drew his sword and charged straight at Lu Hongwen.
Most of the Jinling Sect disciples who remained on the stone platform by the lake did not expect that the leader would plot against the Patriarch. Some of the disciples who reacted followed Lu Zhenyao and came towards Lu Hongwen. But beside them, there were some
Most of them were Lu Hongwen's cronies, and several others plotted against his fellow disciples. For a moment, the stone platform beside the small lake was massacred and chaos arose. Fortunately, most of the people were facing Li Jichen and Lu Zhenyao, and a few of Lu Hongwen's
The cronies were wiped out in the blink of an eye.