Jianghu Qimen Lu

Chapter 73 A Mixed Bag

Iron Abacus inwardly groaned, thinking, "I knew White Lightning was lurking nearby, yet I let my guard down and allowed him to sneak in during the chaos. That was truly wrong of me! That kid is quick on his feet! And decisive in his actions; he's already figured out the Red Flower Society's secrets, knowing that Third Brother is highly skilled in martial arts and has great prestige among the members, which is why he used her as a hostage! Alas, I have the empty title of Second Leader, but I don't have the popularity of Third Brother, a mere woman! This is fate! I can't defy it; accepting it means I can live, defying it means I'll die! Oh well! It seems today is Qianlong's turn to be saved. As the Son of Heaven, his fate is not..." "It should be killed by us commoners!" He was immediately disheartened and exhausted. He stood up and walked to the brightest light, about to touch the switch, when Thousand-Hand Guanyin called out to him, "Second Brother! You mustn't do anything wrong! Think of how our leader has been imprisoned in the General's Mansion's water dungeon for days. How can I linger here and submit? Tell me, Second Brother, is our leader more important, or this humble nun? For the sake of our Red Flower Society's future plans, you mustn't let a small matter ruin everything and take this wrong step!" These words were a wake-up call. Iron Calculator was suddenly caught in a dilemma, unsure what to do! Today, Qianlong was on the verge of capture, but a Cheng Yaojin had appeared out of nowhere. If they disregarded Thousand-Hand Guanyin's life, victory would be assured. With the strength of our Moqing Society's twelve hall masters and one incense master, how could we not capture White Lightning? By then, there will be hope of saving the Grand Master, some confidence in killing the corrupt Emperor Qianlong, and even the grand plan of overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming, which all the brothers have pursued throughout their lives, may be realized! The future is infinitely bright, how can we lose sight of the bigger picture for the sake of small gains!?

Bai Shandian tightened his grip, the force penetrating her wrist, causing Thousand-Hand Guanyin to break out in a fine sweat. She gritted her teeth and endured the pain, remaining silent. Suddenly, Bai Shandian pressed three fingers below her navel, and Thousand-Hand Guanyin burst into laughter, laughing incessantly! Long Juanfeng and Pi Liangban jumped to their feet, flanking Bai Shandian. Long Juanfeng roared, "You government lackey, why did you strike my third brother's 'Laughing Tiger's Den'? You're supposed to be the Grand Master's brother-in-law, yet you're so insidious and vicious! How despicable!" Bai Shandian ignored him, staring intently at Tie Suanpan and saying menacingly, "Hurry up and turn on the switch! Otherwise, your third brother will really laugh himself to death! Hmph, it's said that people who laugh themselves to death have half their face twitching and contorting, how terrifying!"

Unable to restrain himself any longer, Bai Shandian suddenly drew his massive axe from behind and brought it down with the force of a mountain-splitting blow. A chilling wind arose, sending shivers down one's spine! Bai Shandian shifted his body to the side and delivered a powerful whip kick! A miracle occurred that even he couldn't have imagined: the leg was incredibly fast and powerful, actually overtaking the lightning-fast axe and sending the two halves flying, flying more than ten feet away! He even dropped the axe in his hand. Long Juanfeng was shocked, not expecting Bai's martial arts to be so amazing. He roared and swung his bronze mace, which whistled and swept across Bai Shandian's waist with a gust of wind! Bai Shandian hurriedly grabbed the huge body of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin and rammed it into the mace! As the saying goes, "A spear pierces a line, a mace sweeps a large area," and Long Juanfeng hurriedly pulled back, barely managing to avoid hitting his third brother with the mace's aura! Just as he caught his breath, White Lightning's flying kick swept over. With a loud thud, Tornado suddenly felt a powerful force strike his waist, and he was thrown more than two zhang away!

In the blink of an eye, two of the most renowned and skilled fighters in the Mo Qing Society were defeated in succession, causing everyone present to take Bai Shandian's skill a whole new level! Tie Suanpan was greatly surprised: "This Bai is really strange! As far as I know, his martial arts used to be only second-rate. How come he has suddenly improved so much today? Judging from his stances, his moves are unremarkable, but his internal energy is incredibly profound! It's as if he has infinite energy within him, inexhaustible and unstoppable. It's truly bizarre!" He immediately ordered the heroes not to act rashly and to follow orders to avoid causing unnecessary casualties!

White Lightning, escorting Thousand-Hand Guanyin, strode straight to Iron Abacus, staring coldly at him, his voice like ice: "Please get out of the way!" Under that chilling gaze, even the mighty Iron Abacus hurriedly moved aside. White Lightning reached for the lamp holder of the "Extinguishing Lamp," but accidentally triggered the wrong switch! A rumbling sound filled the air, and several large, dark pits suddenly appeared in the ground, the bronze figures disappearing into them! Qianlong and his four warriors darted and leaped, searching for footholds along the edges between the pits, busy as bees! Just then, with a deafening roar, several large cracks suddenly appeared in the ceiling! Sand and stones rained down, pelting them down! Screams filled the air; none of the five, including Qianlong, escaped unscathed, struck by the hail of sand and stones, falling one after another into the dark pits!

Bai Shandian was terrified and quickly struck the Thousand-Hand Guanyin's vital points with his halberd fingers, knocking her unconscious. He pounced on Tie Suanpan like a hungry tiger, grabbing his arm with lightning speed and twisting it behind his back, intending to subdue him in one move! However, Tie Suanpan, having held the second-in-command position in the Red Flower Society for many years, was no ordinary man. With a swift movement, he slipped his robe away, his right arm sliding out like an eel. He casually retrieved the abacus from his waist, and with a back-looking-at-the-moon pose, a string of abacus beads shot out, aiming straight for Bai Shandian's eyes, throat, chest, waist, and groin! Bai Shandian was astonished that he could launch five iron beads in the blink of an eye at such close range!

Since being infused with internal energy by Red Moon, Bai Shandian's power had increased dramatically, and his movements had become exceptionally agile. With a light twist, he leaped behind Tie Suanpan, gently pressing his finger on Tie Suanpan's acupoint. Tie Suanpan instantly felt his entire body go limp, his arms hanging limply at his sides. With a snap, Tie Suanpan fell to the ground. Bai Shandian then grabbed Tie Suanpan's pulse point and shouted sternly, "Open the mechanism! Otherwise, if this continues, and the Emperor suffers any mishap, the court will investigate, and none of us here will escape the crime of having our entire families exterminated!" This was no exaggeration; every word was true! If the current Emperor were to perish here, even Yue Fei Temple would likely be razed to the ground, becoming a forbidden area for all time, forbidden to be set foot in by the world!

Iron Abacus, a seasoned veteran with rich social experience, could easily distinguish between what was important and what was not. He hurried to the brightest, most shrewd lamp, pulled the base to the left, and then pushed it upwards. A series of creaking sounds filled the air as the large holes in the ground disappeared one by one. Emperor Qianlong and the other four warriors were lifted onto the ground by stone slabs that perfectly filled the holes, creating a seamless surface, as if it were newly laid bluestone! White Lightning glanced around and saw that the large crack in the ceiling had also disappeared; everything had returned to normal. However, Emperor Qianlong and the four warriors remained unconscious, their bodies still covered in sand and stones.

"Quickly send a few men over to clean the Emperor and the others up, and then wake them up one by one!" Bai Shandian ordered. Tie Suanpan hurriedly carried out the order. Long Juanfeng and Pi Liangban were unwilling, but they could only watch helplessly as their brothers carried the dog emperor and his gang over and used philtrum and bloodletting techniques to save them!

Emperor Qianlong cried out and slowly opened his eyes. Seeing Bai Shandian right beside him, he felt much relieved. Upon seeing his loved ones, his eyes welled up with tears. He stood up and grasped Bai Shandian's hands, his voice trembling and choked with emotion, "Shandian, thank goodness you came! Otherwise, I would have lost my life here!" Bai Shandian hurriedly asked, "How did Your Majesty end up here?" Qianlong sighed and said, "It's all my fault for being too arrogant, thinking that the whole world belonged to the emperor. I heard that Yue Fei, the Prince of E in the Southern Song Dynasty, was a national hero, so I wanted to come and pay my respects. However, the Manchu and Han customs are different, and the monks in the Yue Fei Temple discovered our secrets and tricked us into a maze of secret caves. We've been trapped for over a day and a night, and despite our best efforts, we still can't get out. I'm exhausted! Now I'm starving and thirsty, and completely drained. Shandian, quickly arrange for me to return to the palace to rest!" Bai Shandian hurriedly agreed and immediately ordered Tie Suanpan to have the monks in the temple arrange a sedan chair to carry the emperor back to the Gushan Palace.