Niao Ni
Chapter 756: Who Bows Before the Palace?
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"Release the arrows!" Rainwater dripped from Gong Dian's matted beard. The pale-faced commander of the Imperial Guards issued the order with a trembling voice.
Countless arrows detached from the taut bowstrings at that moment, their speed instantly reaching its peak, tearing through the rain in the air, and shooting towards Wu Zhu, who stood alone in the center of the square.
The dense arrow feathers seemed to blot out the sky and cover the earth, but the torrential rain today preempted this effect. So countless rapidly fired arrows shredded all the raindrops in the air between heaven and earth as if venting their dissatisfaction, turning the sky above the entire square into a water curtain as magnificent as a divine realm!
Complementing this terrifying momentum was the eerie whistling sound of these arrows piercing the air. These sounds represented the powerful military strength of Qing Kingdom, and also represented an irresistible killing intent.
No one could survive such a dense barrage of arrows. Fan Xian could not, and even Ye Liuyun, at Great Dong Mountain back then, only faced hundreds of crossbow bolts. Moreover, in that kind of terrain, the Great Grandmaster's elusive movements were their greatest guarantee.
How to kill a Great Grandmaster? Fan Xian had pondered this question deeply back then. It had to be done on a plain, with volleys of arrows, followed by repeated charges of heavy armored cavalry, so as not to give the Great Grandmaster a chance to escape.
Wu Zhu, standing alone in the rain, was very powerful. At least those who knew his name never considered him weaker than a Great Grandmaster. Clearly, the Imperial Guards ceasing fire and releasing arrows was perfectly suited to Fan Xian's plan back then—the square was wide open at this time, and although it was raining, there was nothing to obstruct the view. How could Wu Zhu avoid it? Human strength was ultimately limited. There were people who could fight against ten thousand, but a volley of arrows was equivalent to combining the power of ten thousand people into one. How could one resist?
Faced with arrow feathers more dense than the rain, could Wu Zhu still stand powerfully in the center of the square?
Wu Zhu's movements were not as fast as Ye Liuyun's, Wu Zhu's attacks were not as savage as Si Gu Jian's, Wu Zhu could not escape with the help of the rain like Ku He. He simply raised his head indifferently, looking through the layer of damp black cloth at the oncoming, wind-buffeted, dark arrow rain that enveloped the area dozens of feet around him.
The tips of the arrows pierced through the raindrops and arrived before him.
In today's world, the most skilled in lightness kung fu should be Fan Xian. With the help of the manual left by Ku He, he could glide more than ten feet on the snow. But even he, facing this torrential rain of arrows at this moment, had no way to suddenly flash like lightning and escape beyond the range covered by the arrow rain.
So Wu Zhu's body did not move, did not try to avoid this clearly long-prepared, extremely dense arrow rain, because no one could avoid it—he simply pulled back the iron rod in the rain beside him and held it horizontally in front of his chest, like a door suddenly closing, locking his figure behind the rain and mist.
Duo duo duo duo! Countless terrifying sounds of arrowheads striking their targets seemed to ring out simultaneously at this moment. Some of the powerful arrows struck the bluestone slabs under Wu Zhu's feet, bounced up violently, and snapped crisply in the air, unable to withstand the massive force exerted on the arrow shaft. Some arrows even shot directly into the narrow gaps between the bluestone slabs, the arrow feathers humming.
In just an instant, countless arrows enveloped Wu Zhu's slightly thin body. After countless heart-palpitating sounds, the entire imperial city fell silent. Everyone's pupils gradually shrank, shrinking in horror, looking at the scene before them in disbelief.
The arrows were like weeds sprouting after spring rain, densely planted on the ground and in the air within a radius of dozens of feet in the center of the square in front of the imperial palace!
And in the very center of the densest arrow rain, Wu Zhu still stood silently. He didn't know when, but the bamboo hat he had always worn was now in his hand, pierced by countless arrows, looking like a black fur ball, exuding a chilling light.
And his right hand still steadily held the iron rod, beneath his right hand were countless arrow feathers he had chopped off.
The square, wet with rain, was full of arrows. Wu Zhu stood amidst the broken arrows. Apart from the ground where his feet stood, there was only the killing intent after the destruction. It seemed that only he remained in this world, standing on the clean ground.
The rain suddenly lessened at this moment, as if God was also beginning to faintly fear this blind man who still stood stubbornly under ten thousand arrows, wanting to see this scene more clearly. So the thick rain clouds above the imperial palace were suddenly torn open with a gap, and sunlight shone down from that gap, illuminating Wu Zhu, faintly casting a clear light on this cloth-clad blind man.
In the light drizzle, the autumn wind blew, and Wu Zhu's soaked clothes fluttered gently. With a rustling sound, the bamboo hat in his left hand, which had endured countless arrows, finally reached the end of its life, scattering and breaking apart in his hand like a fragile lantern.
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No one knew what had happened. The Imperial Guards simply did not understand how this miraculous scene could appear in the human world. At the moment when ten thousand arrows approached, Wu Zhu had actually moved, but he moved so fast that the traces of the iron rod in his hand and the rapidly rotating bamboo hat both turned into wisps of afterimages in the rain, and no one could see them at all.
Wu Zhu's feet were like two stakes, deeply planted in the earth. The iron rod in his right hand seemed to have a life of its own, perfectly calculating the trajectory of each arrow, and with the cooperation of Wu Zhu's powerful physical execution ability, incredibly chopping down every arrow that truly aimed at his body.
At that moment earlier, every thrust, chop, and block of the iron rod was powerfully confined by Wu Zhu within the range of his own body, without exceeding it by even an inch. He allowed the whistling arrows to graze his clothes, graze his earlobes, graze his thighs, flying past, but he didn't even look at these arrows.
The area in front of his wet cloth shoes was filled with arrows. Wu Zhu didn't perform a single block. This absolute calculation ability, the confidence that came with it, and the powerful willpower it revealed, were truly beyond human capabilities.
Any Great Grandmaster, I'm afraid, would not have been able to remain as calm as Wu Zhu had been, because apart from Wu Zhu, no one in this world could have calculated so many things in such a short period of time, and could have made the most appropriate response in the blink of an eye.
Ten thousand arrows fired simultaneously, but it was a single volley, aiming to cover all the areas Wu Zhu might possibly evade. So the number of arrows truly shooting towards Wu Zhu's body was not that many, but... who in this world, apart from Wu Zhu, could still make such a calm judgment at such a critical moment?
"Not many" was only in Wu Zhu's view. Even so, the iron rod in his hand could not have chopped down all the dense arrows coming towards him in an instant. So his left hand also moved, directly removing the bamboo hat from his head, and starting to rotate rapidly in the rain, stirring up countless arcs of water and shaking off countless arrows...
The bamboo hat shattered, shattering like a lantern, scattering with a whoosh onto the wet ground, shaking up countless broken arrows.
Wu Zhu stretched out the five fingers of his left hand with some difficulty, looking at the few arrows that had pierced through his arm. A very real emotion suddenly appeared on his face, which had been devoid of any expression.
It was a little painful, Wu Zhu thought in his heart, then pulled out the arrows that had deeply penetrated his bone and even pierced through from his left forearm. The sound of the arrows rubbing against the bones and flesh of his forearm at this moment seemed to obscure the diminishing sound of the rain.
The entire imperial city was silent. Clear light shone down from the crack in the Kyoto sky, illuminating Wu Zhu's thin body. He slowly and seemingly unconsciously pulled out the arrows stuck in his body, then wiped the liquid flowing from the wound, and stepped forward again.
When this step landed, there was a sound of arrows breaking everywhere, because Wu Zhu was walking on the pile of arrows in front of him, walking towards the imperial palace.
The morale of the Imperial Guards dropped to its lowest point at this moment, even lower than it had been during that earth-shattering bang a year ago. Because the fear of the unknown, although terrifying, was definitely not as terrifying as watching a monster with one's own eyes. They didn't know who that strong man standing in the rain of arrows below the imperial palace was, but they subconsciously thought that the other party was definitely not a human, but probably some kind of demon!
Or... a god?
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With the strict discipline of the Qing army, even if they were facing a Great Grandmaster praised by the people, perhaps they would not hesitate at all, but would use continuous, torrential arrow attacks to kill the enemy of Qing Kingdom. But today they truly felt fear, because that strong man not only revealed an incredibly powerful force, but more importantly, they were shocked by the indifference displayed by that strong man.
So when Wu Zhu stepped on the dense, broken arrow pile, which looked like long grass in spring, and was about to reach the palace gate, the second wave of arrow rain still did not fall.
Gong Dian, with a pale face, stared blankly at the blind man who was getting closer and closer. He suddenly felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Fifth Master was too close to the imperial city. Even if they used arrows to attack again, the effect would probably not be as good as before. Could it be that the mission given to him by His Majesty would really never be completed?
In Qing Emperor's life, he feared only two things: the black box, and Old Fifth, who was walking steadily today. In the twenty years after the Taiping Courtyard massacre, the emperor had wanted to eliminate Wu Zhu from this world more than once, but... in the end, he still failed. However, in order to deal with Wu Zhu's revenge, the emperor naturally had his own set of plans.
Fan Xian had returned from the Temple, so Wu Zhu had naturally returned with him. Qing Emperor had never hoped that God would give him a surprise. The preparations he had made for Wu Zhu were actually not many, because there were not many ways in the human world to restrain Wu Zhu in the first place, let alone that the current Qing Kingdom only had an aging, tired, and wounded Emperor. That Great Master Ye Liuyun had long since drifted away...
In Qing Emperor's view, the only possible way to eliminate Wu Zhu was this wall of the imperial palace, the obstruction of countless Imperial Guards, and the all-encompassing fire.
Because a few years ago, in the wasteland behind the Qing Temple, Qing Emperor had personally seen the messenger from the Temple gradually melt into strange objects in the fire, and had also personally heard the crackling sounds—Gong Dian was the executor of Qing Emperor's plan to eliminate Wu Zhu. For this reason, the Imperial Guards had prepared rockets and corresponding facilities in these days.
However, heaven seemed to have truly abandoned its chosen son in the human world in the autumn of Qingli twelve years. When Wu Zhu came to the outside of the imperial palace because of inexplicable and deep emotions, the sky suddenly poured down a torrential rain that was rare in Kyoto's late autumn for a hundred years.
The torrential rain heavily impacted Gong Dian's preparations, as if it also wanted to use this to cleanse the past of the Southern Qing court, and to hold a funeral for a powerful king.
Gong Dian took a deep breath, looked at Wu Zhu, who was getting closer and closer, stopped giving the order to release arrows, and shouted coldly in a hoarse voice: "Prepare the fire oil!"
If one wanted to engulf Wu Zhu below the imperial city in a sea of fire, the gunpowder airburst poison plan set up by Fan Xian through the Supervisory Council during the Kyoto rebellion four years ago was undoubtedly the most powerful. However, as early as four years ago, Fan Xian had already hidden a large batch of gunpowder from the Supervisory Council's inventory under the Small Building. The most crucial thing was... this sky full of rain, this damned rain, so Gong Dian could only hope that the fire oil could kill Fifth Master under the imperial city.
The fire oil was poured down, but it was simply impossible to pour it on Wu Zhu's body. Wu Zhu walked seemingly slowly and steadily, but he was like an antelope soaring on a cliff, walking in front of the palace gate.
The rain gradually lessened, and the Imperial Guards on the imperial city finally lit more than a dozen rockets and shot them all down. The flames touched the fire oil mixed with water under the imperial city, and immediately burned fiercely. The flames were like a rainstorm rising from the ground, a rain of fire, suddenly probing out huge flames, wanting to engulf Wu Zhu's lonely figure!
At this moment, Wu Zhu flew up. More precisely, he walked up, completely beyond the imagination of all human beings. The iron rod in his hand accurately struck a gap about two zhang high on the imperial palace, and his body accelerated rapidly like an arrow fired from a bowstring, turning into an indifferent shadow. On the smooth and steep wall of the imperial city, his feet kept crisscrossing, running towards the city wall like this!
No one could describe this scene. Wu Zhu was running on the road, on the wall of the imperial city, facing the rainy sky!
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When Wu Zhu's cloth-shoe-clad feet landed firmly on the head of the imperial city, Gong Dian knew that the situation was over. In this world, apart from the Emperor, no one could stop Wu Zhu from entering the palace.
From a corner of the square under the autumn rain, there was a sudden sound of thunderous hooves. The number of cavalry was not large, but they were exceptionally murderous. Ye Zhong, the Privy Council Envoy and now the number one figure in the Qing Kingdom military, had finally rushed over from the Privy Council.
Ye Zhong's face was full of shock and lividness. The rain made his gray hair stick to his dark face, looking extremely disheveled. He looked from afar at the lonely figure of the blind man on the city head, jumped off his horse, and ran wildly towards the imperial city in the rain, but almost staggered. He shouted shrilly: "Fifth Master, don't mess around!"
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"I knew the Temple was desolate... but I thought since Old Fifth was from the Temple, the Temple would always have a way to keep him there. Who knew he could really return to the human world. Why is this?"
"Why did this damn heaven have to rain so much today? Why is this?"
"I have the world in my heart and control thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, but unexpectedly, today I am forced to stand before my throne by a commoner. Who can tell me, why is this?"
"How unfair is heaven! If I had been given a little more time, no, if I hadn't been injured by that box back then, why would I fear Old Fifth coming here?"
"But even if Old Fifth comes? So what?"
Although he kept hearing urgent reports from outside the palace, the Emperor remained calm. A cold smile suddenly appeared on the corner of his lips. He slowly stood up from the dragon throne and calmly raised his hands, allowing Eunuch Yao beside him to carefully check for any wrinkles on his dragon robe.
There were many types of dragon robes. Today, the dragon robe worn by Qing Emperor was extremely close-fitting, so it would not cause any hindrance to his later actions. Only, only... why did the wrinkles at the corners of the Emperor's eyes look so tired? So faintly sorrowful?
Standing in the quiet and empty Taiji Hall, Qing Emperor stood with his hands behind his back, silent for a long time. His hair was combed extremely neatly, tied casually behind his head with a light yellow ribbon, making him look particularly unrestrained.
After a long time, he slowly opened his eyes. There was no longer the faint self-deprecating look he had had when he had been questioning himself. There was only a peace and a powerful confidence.
The Emperor's calm and indifferent gaze, followed the open door of the Taiji Hall, crossed the square in front of the hall, and looked straight at the main gate of the imperial city, where the sound of fighting was gradually rising. He knew that Old Fifth would come from there in a while, because he knew Old Fifth's character. That fellow, in his life, would only take this most direct path.
"Have you found Fan Xian?" He lowered his eyelids slightly, gently turning a jade thumb ring on his finger, and asked casually.
"Not yet." Eunuch Yao replied respectfully from the side: "Miss Fan's family disappeared last night."
The Emperor closed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and said: "It seems I still underestimated many people, like Ruo Ruo, this little girl."
Eunuch Yao did not dare to reply at this time, but he also felt extremely strange in his heart. When the palace learned the exact news of Fan Xian's arrival in Kyoto, His Majesty had invited Miss Fan's family into the palace last night at the first opportunity. It was obvious that His Majesty had pinpointed Fan Xian's lifeline, but who knew... Miss Fan's family suddenly disappeared in the palace last night.
If Miss Fan's family was a hidden expert, then why would she be invited into the palace by the Inner Court, instead of escaping outside the palace?
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The tens of thousands of Imperial Guards at the imperial city were still stubbornly blocking Wu Zhu's entry with their flesh and blood and lives. There was blood everywhere, but not a single Imperial Guard retreated a step! Even Si Gu Jian needed time to kill ants with wooden sticks under the Big Green Tree back then, let alone killing people now. Wu Zhu was still killing calmly, but the number of people in front of him had never decreased. He didn't know how long he would have to kill.
"There's still half an hour." The Emperor seemed to always be able to accurately grasp the development of everything in the world. He slowly walked out of the Taiji Hall, stood under the corridor, and looked at the increasingly sparse rain outside the corridor, lost in thought.
The eunuchs and palace maids in the imperial palace retreated far away with tense faces. Only Eunuch Yao was by the Emperor's side, making him look so lonely.
The Emperor suddenly frowned and coughed a few times. He took a clean silk handkerchief from Eunuch Yao's hand and wiped the corner of his lips, and said indifferently: "If An Zhi doesn't make a move again, this matter will be interesting."
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The atmosphere in the imperial palace was abnormally tense and serious, without a trace of liveliness, so it was naturally quite boring. At this time, Fan Xian, who was among the few eunuchs at the end of the Taiji Hall corridor, was watching the middle-aged man in the distance with an abnormally heavy and complex mood, or rather... the old man.
Just after midnight yesterday, under the cover of the dark night, Fan Xian came to the imperial palace alone. This time, he did not try to climb into the palace like a gecko, as he had done after the palace poetry competition that year. Because the defense force of Kyoto today, because of the raging war in the north, and even more because of his return, had been raised to an extremely terrifying level. Trying to climb over the wall again had become an impossible task.
So Fan Xian used the deepest chess piece he had buried in this world. This chess piece was known only by him and Wang Qinian. Deng Ziyue only vaguely understood some of it. That was Hong Zhu.
Today, Hong Zhu had returned to the Imperial Study and regained favor. Under the secret guidance and help of this popular figure in the palace, Fan Xian had sneaked into the imperial palace from the direction of the Laundry Bureau, seemingly easily, but in reality, extremely dangerously.
Fan Xian had not thought about what the consequences would be if Hong Zhu sold him out. His second life had reached this point. What else was there that he dared not lose?
After sneaking into the imperial palace, Fan Xian learned that his younger sister had once again been brought into the palace. He immediately understood His Majesty's thoughts. It seemed that at this moment of life and death, the man sitting on the dragon throne had finally torn off all the false masks and was prepared to directly use Ruo Ruo's life to threaten him.
This was different from Ruo Ruo being used as a hostage in the past, because the Emperor back then had enough confidence in himself, so he could still maintain the appearance of a wise ruler, and Fan Xian was not worried that he would really use his sister's life and death to threaten him.
But now the Emperor was old, and his lingering injuries had not healed at all. Perhaps he had also smelled the scent of death.
Fan Xian squinted his eyes, carefully lowered his head, and behind those few palace maids, through the gaps in their clothes, watched the Emperor Laozi at the main entrance of the Taiji Hall. For a moment, his mood was somewhat complicated.
He also knew about the disturbance at the imperial city and guessed that Uncle Wu Zhu had arrived. However, he could not understand how Uncle Wu Zhu had really woken up. But in any case, Fan Xian was very clear about the strength of these peerless powerhouses and the powerful combat power of the Qing army. Even if Wu Zhu broke through the Imperial Guard's defense with extraordinary strength, he would probably be injured when he killed his way to the Taiji Hall.
And facing the Emperor Laozi, who was well-prepared and waiting calmly, how much chance of winning did Uncle Wu Zhu have?
Fan Xian's eyes narrowed even more, watching the Emperor cough lightly in the distance, then put the white handkerchief he had used to wipe his mouth into his sleeve.