HPDBC #185 - Shocking the audience
#185 - Shocking the audience
In the distance.
On the rooftop, the Six Doors Captain, Lu Yao, was originally locked in a fierce battle with Jiang Lengxue.
Their martial skills were evenly matched, resulting in a protracted and intense fight.
However, both were anxious.
Captain Lu Yao, seeing that Commander Qi had personally intervened, couldn't resist the urge to assist.
Jiang Lengxue, seeing Qi Xianghong rushing towards the Taiping Dao, was equally anxious to stop him.
But both were entangled with each other, trapped in place, continuing their fight.
Just as they were both burning with anxiety.
“Rumble rumble rumble!!!!!”
A deafening thunderclap seemed to explode right beside their ears.
The intense electrical light illuminated the night sky.
Such terrifying power naturally forced both Lu Yao and Jiang Lengxue to cease fighting.
They quickly retreated to seek cover.
Although they didn't know what had happened, they instinctively sought shelter to protect themselves.
A moment later.
The crisscrossing electrical light in the vicinity finally dissipated.
Day returned to night.
Lu Yao and Jiang Lengxue jumped back onto the rooftop, looking in shock at the center of the electrical strike in the distance.
The next moment.
They saw a charred corpse emitting wisps of smoke.
Initially, Lu Yao found it hard to associate this charred corpse with Qi Xianghong.
After all, in his mind, Commander Qi was the number one expert in Qingzhou City, and no one could pose a threat to him.
However, the location of the charred corpse was exactly where Qi Xianghong had been standing.
The surrounding area was a vacant lot, and no one dared to approach.
Besides Qi Xianghong, there was no one else.
The Taiping Dao and the disaster victims cheered.
The yellow-robed Taoist priest inside the altar's gauze tent became even more mysterious and unpredictable.
Only now did Lu Yao dare to believe that their Commander had been struck by lightning and turned into a charred corpse!
“Commander!”
Lu Yao roared in grief and anger, moving to rush towards Qi Xianghong's corpse.
But he had only taken two steps before he abruptly stopped and quickly retreated.
He returned to the rooftop, ran to the group of Six Doors members who hadn't yet recovered, and anxiously said:
“Commander is dead! We must immediately return to Six Doors, close the doors, and defend!”
He knew very well that even a fourth-rank peak expert like Qi Commander had died so easily, so insignificantly.
A fifth-rank martial artist like himself would only be courting death by rashly running over there.
That was why he turned back halfway.
What he should do now was to preserve Six Doors!
“Understood!”
The Six Doors members responded after regaining their senses.
Under Lu Yao's leadership, they took one last fearful look back at the battlefield.
That charred corpse would become a lingering nightmare for them.
Commander Qi was usually like a god in their hearts.
But such an expert had turned into a charred corpse in the blink of an eye.
Even...without any power to resist!
They didn't know how Commander Qi had died.
But at that moment, they no longer looked down on the Great Virtuous Teacher inside the altar's gauze tent, but instead, they were filled with deep reverence for him.
Even...fear!
To be able to instantly kill a fourth-rank peak expert.
Such a person was naturally as terrifying as a demon god!
Lu Yao steadied himself and shouted:
“Let's go!”
Subsequently.
He led all the Six Doors members away quickly, stepping on the rooftops, their figures disappearing into the vast night.
In the same place.
Jiang Lengxue was still somewhat lost in thought.
“Just now...did the Great Virtuous Teacher really make a move?”
She wasn't sure.
The Great Virtuous Teacher was only a fifth-rank expert, and she had personally witnessed the battle between the Great Virtuous Teacher and the Elder of the Senluo Sect.
She admitted that the Great Virtuous Teacher was very strong.
Even stronger than her.
But...the limit of the fifth rank could never achieve instantly killing a fourth-rank peak expert!
Especially since this expert was the Commander of Six Doors, who had a thorough understanding of the martial arts of various schools, and his experience in the martial world was extremely rich.
Such an expert had turned into charcoal without even having the power to resist?
Jiang Lengxue couldn't imagine it.
But she could only be sure that all of this must be related to the Great Virtuous Teacher.
Otherwise, why was it Qi Xianghong who died, and the Great Virtuous Teacher who survived?
“What other abilities does he...have?”
Jiang Lengxue had thought that she saw Liang Jin very clearly.
But until this moment, she realized that she still lacked understanding of this man.
This wasn't the first time.
Whenever Jiang Lengxue thought she had seen through Liang Jin, Liang Jin could always surprise her.
When they first met, Liang Jin resolutely confronted the Senluo Sect. Jiang Lengxue thought that Liang Jin was just young, reckless, and ignorant.
But who knew that Liang Jin would actually kill two Elders of the Senluo Sect.
After that, Jiang Lengxue thought that Liang Jin did have some abilities, but after all, he had only entered the martial world for a short time, making it difficult for him to gain the trust of others.
But who would have thought that her husband would take a fancy to Liang Jin at a glance, and even trust Liang Jin very much, not only wanting to marry her to Liang Jin, but even wanting to give the entire sect to Liang Jin, as if he was afraid that Liang Jin would be unwilling.
After that, Liang Jin led the Taiping Dao into Qingzhou City to fight a decisive battle with the Yang family.
Jiang Lengxue believed that Liang Jin's rashly starting a war would not only destroy the Taiping Dao, but would also easily bring the Scarlet Fire Sword Sect into a place of eternal doom.
But who knew that Liang Jin wouldn't even show his face once, the Prefecture Office didn't even have the power to resist, and even the garrison army collapsed without being attacked due to infighting.
Then, there was the present.
Jiang Lengxue thought that once Qi Xianghong made a move, Liang Jin would probably be in mortal danger.
But who would have thought that it would be Qi Xianghong who died in the end.
Jiang Lengxue looked at the man in the altar's gauze tent from afar, only feeling that this man was becoming more and more mysterious and unpredictable, making it completely impossible for her to figure him out.
Her beautiful eyes wandered, looking around.
Now, the army had returned to camp, the Six Doors had fled, and the Yamen had shrunk back.
The overall situation was settled.
“It seems that I am not needed here.”
Jiang Lengxue sighed slightly.
She thought that everyone needed her.
The Scarlet Fire Sword Sect needed her, and Liang Jin also needed her.
She had finally made up her mind to come, and she would definitely be able to play an important role.
But as a result.
She came, but it was as if she hadn't come at all.
To Liang Jin, she might not be that important after all.
Jiang Lengxue didn't go to see Liang Jin.
With a shift of her figure, she also disappeared into the night.
Now, she should return to continue guarding the spirit of her deceased husband.
… … … … … …
The Prefectural Office.
A group of officials were still busy.
Gao Yuan, as the Prefect, didn't dare to slack off. He read the evidence compiled by the officials over and over again, revising the memorial repeatedly.
In particular, he also sent people to climb onto the roof, constantly watching for any movements outside.
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The disaster victims had obviously stopped charging the Prefectural Office.
But they ran off to burn the Yang family!
When they first heard this news, everyone in the Prefectural Office was shocked.
Subsequently, they began to quickly sort out the evidence of the Yang family's crimes.
But then, they heard the bugle call and drumbeats of the army mobilizing, and they also heard the shouts of the army.
After hearing that awe-inspiring military might, the officials then quickly sorted out the evidence of the Taiping Dao's crimes.
But suddenly.
“Rumble rumble rumble rumble!!!!!”
A sudden clap of thunder exploded.
The tiles of the entire Prefectural Office were shaken, constantly jumping, and dust fell rustling down.
Everyone's eardrums were also buzzing.
Most horrifyingly, they discovered that the view outside the window was a vast expanse of white.
“Is it… dawn?”
The officials in the room looked at each other in dismay.
For a moment, they had the illusion that they had been so busy with work that they had lost their sense of time, unknowingly working until dawn.
But the next moment.
The sky darkened again, and darkness once again enveloped the earth.
At this moment, no one knew what had happened.
They ran out of the rooms one after another, wanting to figure out what the thunder and lightning just now were all about.
But they were too far from where the lightning struck, and even climbing onto the roof made it difficult to see.
“What exactly is going on? What exactly happened just now?”
“It doesn't seem like thunder, this night sky is clear with a bright moon and sparse stars, it's impossible for there to be thunder!”
“Such a big commotion, it's as if the thunderclap rang out in the city!”
… …
The crowd couldn't see and were anxious.
But coincidentally, there were disaster victims causing trouble everywhere outside, and they didn't dare to send anyone out to investigate.
This made everyone even more restless and anxious.
Gao Yuan spoke at this time:
“Everyone, be quiet for me!”
“If you want to know what happened, listen to what the people outside are saying and you'll know.”
Having said that, Gao Yuan came to the gate of the Prefectural Office.
He stuck to the crack in the door, listening to what was happening outside.
In fact, there was no need to do this, the sounds from outside quickly entered the Prefectural Office.
They only heard the disaster victims cheering, as if they had won some major victory.
They were excitedly spreading this message.
Gao Yuan and the group of officials listened for a while, and roughly heard some of the content.
Something about the Great Virtuous Teacher summoning heavenly thunder to exterminate evil demons and monsters.
Something about the Heavenly Thunder Righteous Law scaring back the army, and so on.
Although Gao Yuan and the others were still confused, they basically already knew—the Taiping Dao had won!
If even the army couldn't stop the Taiping Dao, then who else could?
The Six Doors?
The Six Doors had many experts, perhaps they could assassinate the higher-ups of the Taiping Dao.
But the Six Doors didn't have enough grassroots manpower to control the tens of thousands of disaster victims causing trouble.
Especially since the Six Doors' attitude had always been ambiguous, no one could be sure whether they would take action.
This Qingzhou City was probably already the world of the Taiping Dao!
Immediately, Gao Yuan also made a choice:
“Everyone, go back immediately and destroy the evidence of the Taiping Dao's crimes.”
“At the same time, prepare proclamations, the more the better, preferably enough to be posted all over the city!”
“On the proclamation, reveal all the crimes of the Yang family!”
When the officials saw Gao Yuan making such a decision, they were somewhat uneasy.
An official suggested:
“Prefect, should we wait for the situation to become clearer?”
“Doing this now… isn't it a little… too fast?”
The officials nodded in agreement, they also felt that they hadn't received clear news of victory or defeat, and shouldn't act rashly.
Gao Yuan heard this and looked at the crowd:
“You people, you still see things too narrowly.”
“I ask you, after the Taiping Dao wins, how will you deal with the situation that follows?”
“Do you want to completely force the Taiping Dao to rebel?”
The crowd shook their heads in unison.
Of course, they didn't want to.
If the Taiping Dao really won, and they still defined the Taiping Dao as a rebellion, then that would really be forcing the Taiping Dao onto the road of rebellion.
Then they, these officials, would probably be slaughtered.
Gao Yuan said in a deep voice:
“You don't want to, but there are too many people in this city who do.”
“They don't care about our life or death. They only listen to the words of those above, they only want the Taiping Dao to be completely destroyed.”
“It's not just the Yang family, there are many people who will be so crazy.”
“If we act too slowly, then everything will be too late.”
“Only by seizing the initiative, whitewashing what the Taiping Dao did tonight, and presenting it to the imperial court, can we survive.”
The officials were awakened upon hearing this.
At least, the Taiping Dao hadn't blatantly rebelled yet, and hadn't even raised the banner of rebellion.
But if other people's memorials and evidence arrived at the imperial court first, causing the imperial court to mobilize a large army to suppress the rebellion, pushing the Taiping Dao to a dead end.
Then all the officials and their families in this Qingzhou City would probably have a hard time surviving.
The word 'official' has two mouths, who is a traitor and who is not in the locality is determined by the official.
But these two mouths are not only possessed by the people present, but also by others.
Especially behind the Yang family, there is still Han Guozhang, who can often enter and leave the palace.
Immediately, the officials expressed their opinions:
“Prefect, we understand!”
“We will act immediately, and will definitely not let the Prefect down!”