577: Chapter 107: Wind Blows, Leaves Fall_2 577: Chapter 107: Wind Blows, Leaves Fall_2 The clopping of hooves grew closer, and the village descended further into chaos.
“Are those bandits?!”
A middle-aged man hurried out of a house, still holding a hoe in his hand.
“No!
It’s the Iron Cavalry!”
“It’s Chen Chong’s Iron Cavalry!”
Several villagers who were closer caught sight of the dust clouds in the distance, their faces turned ashen, their eyes filled with despair…
These refugees had roamed across several counties, avoiding chaos of war, and had seen more than their share of “Iron Cavalry”.
The quality of the Yuanzhou Iron Cavalry varied.
After Chen Chong took charge.
The Iron Cavalry’s rank was determined by the color of their shoulder armor.
The common Yuanzhou Iron Cavalry wore white shoulder armor, followed by green, then purple, and finally red.
And now, charging out of the dust clouds were the ones donning red shoulder armor, the “elite troops”!
Dramatically different from the scouts encountered a few days ago!
These Iron Cavalry were extremely ferocious, with formidable combat power, they would never appear here for no reason!
“Yuzi Camp?”
A villager recognized the feather markings carved on the shoulder armor, his voice filled with panic: “Why would Meng Kejian’s Yuzi Camp come here?”
This fear had no time to spread through words.
With a boom.
A thunderous shout erupted, plunging directly into everyone’s Heart Lake.
“Yuzi Camp, on orders to eradicate the remnants of Buddhist heretics!”
This deep shout, lingering above the small village, contained the Divine Soul Secret Technique: “All of you, kneel immediately!
Any disrespect will be met with execution on the spot!”
The shout spread.
Taoyuan was in turmoil, everyone knelt to the ground.
How could common refugees contend with the Iron Cavalry?
The dust gradually cleared.
A troop of Iron Cavalry slowly stepped into the village.
The very person who had bellowed was but a Qi Control Realm Colonel amongst the Iron Cavalry, arranged in a single line formation, he could only occupy the third or fourth seat from the front.
At the very front, leading from afar.
Was naturally the commander of Yuzi Camp.
Meng Kejian.
Yin God!
An existence which most commoners might never witness in their lifetimes.
Taoyuan Village fell deathly silent.
Everyone knelt on the ground, Meng Kejian sat atop his horse, coldly surveying these “ants”, too lazy even to exert his oppressive aura.
But at that moment, still no one dared to raise their head and look at him.
“Where are the monks from Yuan Guang Temple?”
One of the Colonels frowned and asked on behalf of Meng Kejian.
He looked down at those prostrating on the ground, not expecting that no one would answer.
Seeing this.
The Colonel’s expression darkened, he extended his hand and reached towards the head of a nearby woman.
Not speaking?
Common ants have no right to silence!
With a check of Divine Soul, he could grasp the situation here in no more than half a moment!
“Pfft!”
The next moment.
Something no one expected happened.
A withered and emaciated figure stood up, blocking between the Colonel and the woman.
The Colonel’s hand pierced straight through the chest of that gaunt figure.
“Abbot!?”
The little monk who had fallen to the ground cried out in shock, his identity uncontrollably revealed.
Elsewhere.
The woman who had been saved by Fa Cheng was equally terrified: “Master Fa Cheng!”
“…”
Meng Kejian’s expression was calm, watching this unfold with interest.
The Colonel, however, had a grim face.
He slowly withdrew his hand.
As Fa Cheng’s withered body bled profusely, uncontrollably trembling, he staggered a few steps until a young monk supported him, barely managing to stand upright.
Fa Cheng couldn’t speak.
He struggled to raise a hand, placing it over his chest, shakily forming a gesture of salute.
Seeing this, the monks kneeling on the ground could no longer restrain themselves and stood up.
“Heh, as expected, remnants of the Buddhist sect!”
Upon witnessing this scene, the Colonel sneered and politely inquired: “My lord, how should we proceed?”
“No rush.”
Meng Kejian shook his head.
He slowly turned his direction to face the mute monk, asking with an impassive face: “Anyone else here?”
The closer he got to this small village, the more the Que Wu Blade and String Plate vibrated fiercely.
He was certain that Xie Zhen Mi Yun was here.
These monks were all very stubborn, and none would speak a word.
Meng Kejian was not angered.
He stretched out his palm and drew out three portraits from a Colonel’s bag, shaking them open with Primordial Power: “Did these three escape from here?”
This time, his query was not directed at the monks.
But to everyone.
“Whoosh!”
The three portraits unfolded in the wind, and at this moment, all the inhabitants of Taoyuan Village saw clearly the figures on the portraits.
Shock was in their eyes, but even more so was terror.
Portrayed in the portraits, a young man, a woman, and a child.
Weren’t they the very group that included Mr.
Xiao Xie who had just arrived at Taoyuan Village?
“Very good.”
Meng Kejian put away the scrolls.
Some questions do not need to be answered.
Seeing the expressions of the villagers, Meng Kejian found his answer.
He knew he had finally found his “target”.
A great weight lifted from Meng Kejian’s heart, and he softly instructed: “Send a secret message immediately to the Great General, Xie Zhen and Mi Yun are here.”
“Yes!”
The Colonel cautiously confirmed: “What about these people?”
“Of course, kill them all!”
Meng Kejian, in high spirits, couldn’t help but frown and reprimand: “These monks, as well as these lowly peasants, they’re all guilty of harboring criminals!
After killing them, dig three feet into the ground.
I want to see where they’ve buried the Yuan Guang Temple statues!”
As these words were spoken, the once deathly silent small village plunged into chaos again.
“My lord, no, please no!”
“Spare us…
I still have children!”
Refugees, desperate to the end, kowtowed and begged for mercy.
But the Iron Cavalry showed not the slightest change in expression.
Meng Kejian was already familiar with such scenes, and amidst the tumult, he tugged at his reins, proceeding toward the back mountain with an easy demeanor.
The next moment.
He furrowed his brows again.
A sudden gust of wind arose from the mountain ridge ahead.
This wind brought a swirl of dead leaves, a shower of falling leaves…
Faintly discernible.
Meng Kejian felt a wave of “unease”.
The Que Wu Blade was indeed trembling.
But the tremors this time were different from the previous slaughter at Qixia Mountain…
no longer excitement and agitation, but “tension” and “tremor”!
This wind temporarily interrupted the Iron Cavalry’s execution.
Including the Colonel, the soldiers who had just drawn their long sabers were met with a flurry of grass and flower petals.
They wanted to swing their blades but all felt a strong unease, so for a moment, there was only the sound of drawing swords but no sound of swords falling.
After the wind subsided, the Iron Cavalry turned their gaze towards the direction where Meng Kejian was.
At the entrance to the mountain ridge from Little Desolate Village, flower petals were strewn about by the wind.
A faint unease spread among everyone.
“Something’s wrong…”
“It’s not quite right…”
The Qi-controlling Realm Colonel swallowed a mouthful of saliva, feeling his own heartbeat, and finally whispered in a very low voice: “It’s very wrong…”
With the wind at rest, a dead leaf fluttered from left to right before him, slowly falling.
It seemed quite ordinary.
But on the Colonel’s cheek, there was a slight sting.
Through the bright reflection of his saber, he saw a cut slowly opening on his cheek where the dead leaf had touched, and fresh crimson blood flowed out.
What kind of wind in this world could carry such blades?
And what kind of leaves could be so sharp?
A silent terror spread through the small village, each Iron Cavalry soldier had been cut with a small wound by the recent leaves.
Not too many, nor too few.
Not too deep, nor too shallow.
But what truly instilled fear in these Iron Cavalry soldiers…
Was the clear dripping sound from the forefront.
The entire Taoyuan Village was in absolute silence, after the wind ceased, all was still, so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
The sound of falling blood came from the rider at the very front.
Meng Kejian.
…
…
Meng Kejian stretched out his hand to catch the slowly falling leaf.
It was just an ordinary leaf.
The wind that had just passed was also a very ordinary gust of wind.
The leaves were blown from the trees, and even the horse was not startled, indicating that everything was normal…
But one thing was not normal.
His cheek had been slashed open.
“Interesting.”
Meng Kejian clenched his fist, crushing the leaf to pieces, and looked indifferently toward the exit of the hillock, his mood uncertain as he spoke: “Have you made a Breakthrough?”
There was no response from any voice.
Only the creaking sound of a wooden wheel turning could be heard in the silent wind.
A young man dressed in black emerged slowly into view, seated in a wheelchair.