Everyone from Wudang Mountain rushed back, but only Zhang Wuxin, An Qingyue and Zhan Yu brought a carriage to Xiao Mansion. The other Taoist priests drove the remaining carriage directly to Baiyun Temple.
Because there were many wounded among those people, and there were three corpses on the carriage, it would have been difficult to enter the city for investigation.
Baiyun Temple and Wudang Mountain are both famous Taoist sects, and they have always watched and helped each other. Therefore, it is most convenient for those who have become immortals to go to the temple to perform rituals, and for the injured to cultivate in the temple.
Ma Yunteng has gone into seclusion, and Ma Hualong has fully taken over the daily management of Baiyuntuan. He is a person who is good at getting things done. Hearing that Wudang Taoist disciples were escorting auspiciousness for Long Live, and encountered bloody battles with thieves on the way, he was immediately in awe.
After making arrangements for the best guest rooms and meals, and preparing a ritual dojo for fellow Taoist disciples to become immortals, they calmed down, wrote a letter with all their heart, and sent someone to deliver it to Xiao Feng.
The general meaning is: Mr. Xiao, Wudang Mountain is very good to you, and Baiyun Temple is also very good to you. They were injured in fighting for you, and I will take care of them for you. Don’t say that I am not mean enough. Bring auspiciousness to the emperor, brother
You have also contributed a lot, can you also mention it when the time comes?
When Xiao Feng saw the three of them, he knew that something had happened on the road. Zhang Wuxin and Zhan Yu were fine. An Qingyue's eyes were red. Apparently she had cried again when they broke up at the city gate.
"How are the casualties?"
"Three dead and five injured, they all went to Baiyun Temple."
Xiao Feng was silent. He knew that there would be casualties in this trip, but he could not predict the casualties. To be honest, Wudang Mountain sent so many masters this time, which exceeded his expectations.
Xiao Feng's original intention was to use the people from Wudang Mountain as bait. If they encountered an enemy, they would fight if they could, and if they couldn't fight, they would run away to avoid death or injury.
But Gu Xuzi was cunning and cunning. He knew that Xiao Feng's main intention was to solve the case and he didn't care about Xiang Rui. However, if Wudang Mountain sent out once, it would be worthless if he couldn't get the full result.
So he told Zhang Wuxin to bring more people, even auspiciousness can't be lost!
Although this was not Xiao Feng's original intention, after all, these people died because of him, and he still felt guilty in his heart.
In order to make An Qingyue happy, Xiao Feng told her good news.
"Zhao Er's hiding place has been found."
An Qingyue raised her apple face and stared at Xiao Feng with her big eyes red from crying: "Why don't you catch me?"
Xiao Feng shook his head: "After discovering the hiding place, I asked Tanaka Minoru and the others to slow down and pretend that they didn't have a clue yet, waiting for you."
Zhang Wuxin raised his hand and said: "What are the instructions from Master Xiao? My master has given orders. Wudang Mountain will do its best to assist Master Xiao this time."
"When Zhan Yu helped me fight in the Zhang Mansion, do you still remember the skills of those assassins?"
Zhan Yu nodded. Those assassins had weird kung fu and he almost got killed. It was impossible to forget them.
"If you were asked to imitate that kind of Kung Fu, would you be able to imitate it well?"
Zhan Yu frowned and thought again: "If you are not an expert, you should be able to fool them. A real fight will definitely not work. There is no problem with gestures. It's just that they use long knives, but I don't have one."
"That's a Japanese sword. I've asked Yu Dayou to get one. He has fought several battles with Japanese pirates and captured several of them.
Yu Dayou said that in Japanese Kung Fu, long swords are the first priority, but there is also a short sword. The real master wears two swords at the same time.
The long sword can be used for long-distance combat, while the short sword can be used for close combat. He has a unique sword-drawing technique, which is as fast as lightning and cannot be defended."
Zhang Wuxin pulled out a short knife from his waist and handed it to Xiao Feng. Xiao Feng looked at him in surprise.
"On our way back, the enemies we met used this kind of short sword. Their martial arts should be similar to those of the Japanese, but they are different from those of the Japanese pirates."
Xiao Feng raised his face, as if thinking about something, and then smiled slightly.
"That's right. The assassins that night were Japanese, and the ones blocking the road now are also Japanese. Yan Shifan had contacts with Japanese. I was just guessing at first, but now I can basically confirm it."
An Qingyue was shocked. This was an extremely serious crime that could lead to the confiscation of the entire family.
"No way, Yan Shifan, the dignified son of the prime minister and the young minister of Taichang Temple, why does he need to communicate with the Japanese?"
"It cannot be said that he is a Japanese pirate. He may not have contact with Japanese pirates. However, the activities of Japanese pirates in the Ming Dynasty are very complicated, and not all Japanese pirates will become Japanese pirates.
Those Japanese masters who lived in the Ming Dynasty were raised as dead soldiers by Yan Shifan, which was a mutually beneficial thing. For the Japanese, long-term meal tickets were better than being a Japanese pirate.
For Yan Shifan, the Japanese have no foundation and are difficult to trace. Once the trouble is cleared up, Yan Shifan can remove them completely."
Xiao Feng shook his head. With his poor historical knowledge, it was difficult for him to judge whether Yan Shifan really had access to the Japanese.
Although Yan Shifan died on this crime in the end, it was probably Xu Jie's method. As An Qingyue said, Yan Shifan had great power and made a lot of money, so why did he need to collude with Japanese pirates?
So he didn't think about such far-off things and decided to solve the immediate problem first.
"It's better this way. Zhang Wuxin is a martial arts prodigy. Since he has fought against the opponent before, you can naturally imitate the use of this dagger."
Zhang Wuxin nodded, saying it was nothing to worry about.
"I have asked Qiao Niang and Wang Niang to sew two sets of black clothes. I don't care whether they fit or not. Tonight, Zhang Wuxin and Zhan Yu will each wear one, one with a long knife and the other with a short knife, and we will go to assassinate Zhao Er together.
!”
The three of them were stunned for a moment, thinking that they heard wrongly. Zhang Wuxin was the first to express confusion.
"Assassinate Zhao Er? Is Zhao Er a top master? Why do we need to assassinate him together? Can't we have a fair duel?"
An Qingyue also felt that making a fuss out of a molehill was a big deal. Not only herself, but Minoru Tanaka could definitely win against Zhao Er. But she was more thoughtful.
"Could it be that Zhao Er is protected by a master? Even if that is the case, if we rush in and fight openly, I don't believe that the three of us are not enough!"
Xiao Feng shook his head: "You didn't go to kill Zhao Er, you went to be a hero to save the beauty, eh, no, beauty to save the hero? Zhao Er is not a hero either.
In short, they are there to kill, and you are there to save. There should be a few people around Zhao Er, and they are responsible for killing them all, but don't really kill Zhao Er.
You must arrive in time with Tanaka Minoru and others to save Zhao Er."
Zhao Er's hiding place was a farm under Zhao Wenhua's name. He lived in a guest house that was usually empty and prepared for rent collectors. Because it was winter and all the farmers were in winter, it seemed very deserted and safe.
Ever since a few days ago, a confidant came to him with a bruised nose and face and said that he was beaten by Tanaka Minoru, a debt collector, Zhao Er felt uneasy.
He felt that although Tanaka Minoru was usually rough and arrogant, he rarely confronted him directly because the governor would restrain his subordinates for the sake of Zhao Wenhua.
Now that the pressure is suddenly so tight, could it be that Zhao Wenhua has given up on himself?
He sent someone to ask Zhao Wenhua, and the answer he got was that they can make trouble as long as you don't show up during this period.
What do you call this? Doesn’t it mean that your back hurts when you stand and talk?
He relied on Zhao Wenhua's power, but his interests on the street were also achieved by himself and his brothers with his punches and kicks.
Now his little brother is being beaten all over the place, he is hiding his face, and Zhao Wenhua is not willing to help... This is not a good sign.
By the time he goes out, his reputation has long been gone. Who can still think highly of him? Does it mean that Zhao Wenhua does not need to do things by himself in the future?
Zhao Er felt unhappy and wanted to drink some wine, so he asked someone to arrange food and drinks.
But this time he was hiding. Zhao Wenhua said that the fewer people knew about it, the better, and even his own confidants were not allowed to follow him. There were only two short guys, who were said to be sent by Yan Shifan to protect him, and they slept in the same room with him every day.
inside.
The two short men usually didn't talk to each other, and looked like they were desperate. They also refused to listen to his orders, so when arranging food and drinks, Zhao Er could only ask the farmer who looked after the guest house to buy them.
Because he did not dare to reveal his identity, Zhao Er did not dare to sign up for a number, let alone use force. He had to pay the money to the banker himself, which made him very sad.
Thinking about me, Zhao Er, I have never spent money on restaurants in the city. If I want to eat chicken here, I have to pay for it...
Those two short men, although they didn't talk much, were unambiguous in grabbing the food. Apart from not drinking, they snatched up Zhao Er's snacks.
Zhao Er was even more sad. He didn't dare to offend Yan Shifan's people, not to mention that these two people looked a bit abnormal. Although they were short, the knife was not short. A man was about the same length as a knife, which was scary.
Zhao Er drank to drown his sorrows and fell into a deep sleep in the middle of the night. When he heard the sound of fighting, he suddenly opened his eyes and saw that the four people in the room were already fighting with sparks flying!
Zhao Er was so frightened that he ducked under the table, holding a self-defense waist knife in his hand and trembling all over.
He can be regarded as a person who has fought countless times, but a gangster fight is completely incomparable to a master fight like this!
The two opponents are relatively tall, a head taller than the two short men. One of them holds a long knife and the other holds a short knife. Their kung fu seems to be the same as that of the two short men!
The two short men seemed confused, shouting loudly while fighting each other, as if they were questioning each other.
One of the taller ones spoke: "Master has given an order to cancel the protection mission and kill Zhao Er. Are you two still looking for death?"
Zhao Er couldn't hear clearly what the two short men were shouting. His hand softened, and with a clang, the sword fell to the ground.