Chapter 153 A Sudden Turn of Events

Cao Pojun and Gu Xicai were shocked. On one hand, they were surprised by Zhou Rui's appearance, and on the other hand, they were surprised that their disguise was so easily seen through.

"Why are you here? Haven't heard from you in a while," Cao Pojun asked, lowering his voice.

"I tracked Sun Xiaofan all the way here. Anyway, I'm planning to work solo, so there's no point in contacting you guys too much," Zhou Rui chuckled. "You're not here for sightseeing, are you? What activities have you arranged?"

Cao Pojun looked around and whispered, "Nanshan Operation."

Zhou Rui immediately understood. He considered it carefully and asked, "Do you need my help?"

Gu Xicai remained silent, but Cao Pojun asked, "Do you have a more valuable target? We're well prepared here, so we don't need someone as powerful as you."

"Mo Leng and an old man are over there. That old man should be someone important, but I don't recognize him at all." As Zhou Rui described the old man's appearance to them, the two were surprised to find they had no impression of him. However, Mo Leng aroused some of Gu Xi's hatred.

After weighing the situation, Zhou Rui said, "I'll act on my own. If Mo Leng and that old man aren't together, and there aren't any powerful figures around, I'll look for an opportunity to strike. In a moment, whether you succeed or not, there will definitely be some chaos here, and I'll wait for that moment. You also need to be careful. There are quite a few experts in the Dao Ming Sect, the Eagle Hall, and the Snake Eyes. I don't know which Yushi (Taoist priest) or higher-ranking figure from the Dao Ming Sect will ascend the altar at today's Dharma assembly. The security around such people is very strong."

Zhou Rui's words were definitely based on experience. He had been entangled in battles with various forces of the Dao Ming Sect recently. Although this solo revenge mission was indeed reckless, it had also given him countless opportunities to confront the Dao Ming Sect's overt and covert forces head-on. He had also learned many details from these battles that could not be presented through sideways descriptions or lists provided by internal spies.

Cao Pojun nodded and patted Zhou Rui's shoulder. He had always been optimistic about this young, sharp guy who could always hide in the shadows without being discovered. Although Ye Tao's guards were not as powerful as Liu Yong, Liu Meng, or even Jin Ze in terms of absolute combat strength, each of them had their own unique skills. Cao Pojun said softly, "Be careful. The lord is waiting for you to come back and work."

Zhou Rui smiled faintly and disappeared into the crowd again. He naturally knew that Ye Tao trusted and valued him very much, otherwise he would not have made him the camp commander of the Special Operations Camp. However, compared to training those subordinates there, the feeling of experiencing and fighting in the flames of the martial world seemed to attract him more, and was closer to his natural nature.

Zhou Rui quickly hid near a wonton stall against the outer wall of the Land God Temple. While eating to replenish his strength, he paid attention to the surrounding situation. This place was now the most crowded area, with most people only staying for a short time, and few seemed willing to stay longer. But soon, Zhou Rui discovered that two members of the Zong Mo Troupe had deliberately clashed with people from the Dao Ming Sect. Others might not recognize the Zong Mo Troupe, but Zhou Rui could. The members of the Zong Mo Troupe had identification marks embroidered on the hems of their clothes. They needed to identify each other.

One of the Zong Mo Troupe members even disguised himself as a ragged beggar and took food several times from the Dao Ming Sect's food distribution point, but still seemed unsatisfied. The Dao Ming Sect member in charge of distributing food, who was not even a novice, was completely enraged and pushed the beggar. Unexpectedly, this was the moment the Zong Mo Troupe member had been waiting for. He pretended to try to maintain his balance and casually grabbed the person next to him. One thing led to another, and a large group of people were pulled down. The food distribution point was immediately in a mess, with piles of steamed buns scattered on the ground and two vats of white porridge soaking the ground. The Zong Mo Troupe warrior pretended to be extremely nervous and frightened, hugged the person distributing food, and wailed in terror. Some people snatched food, some cursed loudly, some tried to persuade the clergy to let the disguised beggar go, and some simply joined in the commotion. For a moment, it was a chaotic scene. This location also attracted the attention of the high-ranking clergy near the high platform not far away.

"The Dao Ming Sect clergy are hitting people!" A sharp scream came from the center of the swirling crowd, instantly causing the entire square to boil. Everyone crowded towards this place, and the senior clergy near the high platform quickly pulled a few strong Eagle Hall members, wanting to squeeze into the crowd to resolve the dispute. Other rumors also continued to emerge. The increasingly chaotic scene quickly became out of control.

At this time, other Zong Mo Troupe soldiers also entered the crowd. These professionally trained assassins held extremely thin Damascus short blades in their hands. They squeezed into the crowd and attacked the Dao Ming Sect clergy, stabbing them in the back, between the ribs, and then withdrawing. The thin blade would not even leave a large wound, but it would directly pierce the lungs or even sever the heart. At first, the clergy didn't feel anything, only a chill in their hearts. Some of them could even walk a few steps before suddenly collapsing. Thick blood gurgled from their mouths.

"Someone is dead!" No one noticed who shouted this sentence. The people squeezed inside wanted to scatter in all directions, but were blocked by the people outside. The people outside wanted to run further away, but were blocked by the people on the outer circle... Strong guys immediately began to push through the crowd, charging and bumping. The entire square became even more chaotic.

"Officer Xu, what do you think..." A Yushi (Taoist priest) hurriedly ran to a military officer who was anxiously trying to evacuate the crowd. The events in the square were making the soldiers outside the square extremely anxious. The Dao Ming Sect also felt that they did not have the strength to control the situation all at once. After all, the Dao Ming Sect was a religious organization, and although they could use the Eagle Hall, if they attacked the parishioners, the meaning of today's Dharma assembly would be completely lost. They would rather let the soldiers take the blame. "If this goes on, what will happen?"

The military officer Xu didn't pay much attention to the Yushi (Taoist priest). He said unhappily, "It's just a few worthless steamed buns, you guys are rich and powerful, is it necessary..." But he didn't dare to be too negligent. He sighed and said, "Great Master, we can't act rashly. Shout to the middle from all directions and pull the people outside away. Then, you send people to circle up the corpses and people inside and control them, okay?"

The Yushi (Taoist priest) nodded repeatedly and ran back to contact others. But just as he ran halfway, an arrow pierced his heart from behind...

"Someone is causing trouble! All alert!" Several officers immediately drew their sabers and looked around. The soldiers spread out their weapons, paying attention to the surrounding roofs and those guys in the crowd.

Suddenly, a man covered in blood was thrown out of the crowd and stumbled towards several soldiers. Out of nervousness, the two soldiers unhesitatingly thrust their spears forward.

"The soldiers are killing people!" Another shout erupted. Now, whether it was the soldiers or the people from the Dao Ming Sect, they all understood that today's riot must have been planned by someone. But now the crowd was squeezed together, and the soldiers were armed, but they couldn't massacre them indiscriminately. And the people from the Eagle Hall and Snake Eyes were even more inconvenient to act. Those Dao Ming Sect people who were preparing didn't know whether they should stop or continue to prepare. The entire square was in chaos.

For those Zong Mo Troupe members lurking in the crowd, their goal in coming here had now been achieved. The Dao Ming Sect's Dharma assembly would definitely not be held on time. Even if the situation stabilized and it was held under the heavy guard of the soldiers, the effect would definitely be greatly reduced.

"What's going on?" An old, furious voice rang out, and the old man appeared. This time, Mo Leng was not accompanying the old man, and even the Eagle Hall guards were gone. Instead, there were several strong men wearing gray coarse cloth outfits.

Zhou Rui's heart tightened. This old man's identity must be important, but he might not be a member of the Dao Ming Sect. Otherwise, the guards he brought, who were wearing clothes that had nothing to do with the Dao Ming Sect, couldn't be explained. Zhou Rui didn't give up the idea of assassinating this old man. He also pretended to be someone who was randomly squeezed around in the chaos, and was pushed by the crowd to the defense line guarded by the Eagle Hall near the high platform.

"Let the soldiers suppress it for me. Today's Dharma assembly must not be delayed. Xiao Qu, go and let the soldiers take action. I'll take responsibility if something happens," the old man ordered with great authority. The guard next to him nodded and ran away immediately.

The old man stood under the high platform, looking at the chaotic situation, and was very worried. After a while, several Yushi (Taoist priests) came out from the Land God Temple and surrounded the old man, as if trying to persuade him to return to the Land God Temple to take refuge. But the old man firmly shook his head and refused.

"Caught a troublemaker!" Not far away, a wretched middle-aged man was kicked to the ground by two soldiers. A soldier picked up a crude steel knife from beside him.

They started framing people... This shows that the Zong Mo Troupe is starting to retreat efficiently. Zhou Rui nodded to himself, it seems that the Zong Mo Troupe's training, which is the same as the Special Operations Camp but with different tendencies, is really something. The Zong Mo Troupe is obviously quite satisfied with the results, and didn't even launch an attack on the Land God Temple to kill that guy from the Nanshan Operation?

Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, he heard a sharp whistling sound, which was a sign of launching things like kerosene bombs with simple launching devices. Since Anqing doesn't care about anything, the Zong Mo Troupe doesn't have kerosene bombs, so they just mixed some tallow and simply distilled strong wine to make some incendiary bombs. But Zhou Rui was a little embarrassed, and he cursed inwardly: I'm still in the middle...

But his body had already automatically captured the opportunity at the moment the not-so-powerful incendiary bomb landed, and pounced out...