Chapter 18: Ambush

Zhao, Liu Rouwei, and others rushed around for several days, and finally saw the house in the evening.

Guessing that this place should be a small village, Zhao breathed a sigh of relief. In this season, letting an ordinary person sleep outdoors and eat in the wind and snow for a night would really kill him.

The two of them hurried over and found an unoccupied house. Although it wasn't very nice, it was at least a place to be protected from the wind.

"Strange, this place is not far from Huai'an County, and nearly ten years have passed since the Yanyun Rebellion. Why is there no one there?" Zhao lit a fire and murmured.

Liu Rouwei, who was wrapped in a cotton robe, was not so surprised. She just raised her eyes and said calmly: "Yan Yun suppressed the rebellion, and the war once spread to Shu. The rebel officers and soldiers went everywhere to recruit troops. Nine of the ten rooms were empty, and the remaining ones were old, weak and sick. How can you still survive if you are disabled..."

Zhao was deep in thought, silently warming himself by the fire.

More than seventy miles away, four fast horses swept through the snow.

The one in front reined in the horse, and the three horses behind him followed closely.

The four of them were all dressed in monk robes and carrying swords on their backs. They were none other than Vajra who served the Buddha in Lantuo Temple. The one walking in front was Mingyuan, and the three behind them were Mingguang, Mingzhi and Mingde.

Mingyuan raised his head to check the direction and said in a deep voice: "Huai'an County is less than 150 miles away. We have to travel day and night, and it can only take one day at most."

"Second Senior Brother, we can bear it, but Ma can't." Mingde answered.

Ming Ming and Guang Zhi are all silent. Although Ming De is the youngest among them and has the shortest time to practice, he is thoughtful and resourceful.

Mingyuan thought for a while, agreed with Mingde's words, and then said: "There is a deserted village not far ahead. Let's go there to rest our horses and set off immediately after dawn."

Ming Guangyuan was puzzled. There was still more than seventy miles to the deserted village ahead. How could he have time to stop his horse after arriving?

"Brother, why are you rushing to Huai'an County in such a hurry?" Mingyuan asked in confusion.

"Junior brother, when we leave the temple, it is not the order of the Bodhisattva, but the order of the Presiding Master Baoshu. There is no delay.

Hearing Mingyuan's words, the three of them were shocked. How could Lan Jia alone alert Zen Master Baoshu? You must know that Zen Master Baoshu has not shown up for more than 20 years, concentrating on spiritual cultivation and enlightenment. Zen Master Baoyun usually handles all matters, big and small, but now he actually comes forward personally for such a trivial matter?

Mingyuan understood the doubts of the three people and answered: "It's about the Buddha."

The three of them still couldn't figure it out. The host had always attached great importance to the affairs of the master who was a master of Buddhist teachings. No wonder he had to give special orders.

The four of them had a tacit understanding and didn't say anything, but just rode forward.

In the dilapidated house, Zhao, who was warming himself by the fire, suddenly stopped. In his perception, four horses came from a distance, and the rest could not be sensed.

"I just said it wouldn't be so peaceful." Zhao thought to himself.

Shaking his head, he got these thoughts out of his mind and calmly warmed up to the fire.

For more than an hour, four horses stopped in front of the broken house.

Mingyuan originally wanted to find a ruined temple or something like that, but he saw a fire here from a distance, and he happened to not have any fire certificates with him, so he had no choice but to borrow a fire here.

The four people dismounted and walked into the broken house, only to see a man and a woman. The man was sitting by the fire calmly warming himself, as if he didn't see the four of them walking in, while the woman was wrapped in a cotton robe and taking a nap against the wall.

"Amitabha" Mingyuan sang the Buddha's name, raised his head when he saw Zhao, and continued: "Donor, the poor monk went out in a hurry and forgot to bring the fire fold. I wonder if the benefactor can lend me a favor?" "

Zhao didn't speak and just nodded.

Mingyuan arrived and thanked him, brought a piece of wood to light the fire, and then sat aside to light the fire.

Neither party said much, and there was only the sound of wood crackling in the fire, the sound of wind and snow outside the house, and the sound of chewing food. Neither party could understand the other, so the atmosphere was peaceful for a while.

"Where did the donor come from and where is he going?" Mingyuan asked with a smile, with a kind face, looking like an eminent monk.

Zhao just laughed and didn't answer his question, just stretched out his hand to hold the fire.

Seeing this, Mingde hurriedly spoke: "Donor, senior brother has no intention of questioning, and the poor monk apologizes. The four of us are monks of Langtuo Temple. Two thieves stole scriptures from the temple. The poor monk and senior brother were ordered by the abbot to hunt down Evil thief, have you ever seen the donor?"

"Oh, there's another thing like this. Master, have you seen the true face of the thief?"

"Of course we have never seen the true face of the thief, but according to what my uncle said, he is a man and a woman. I wonder if the donor has ever seen him?" Mingde stood up and bowed.

Zhao's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. Wasn't this monk talking about himself and Liu Rouwei? A man and a woman, in front of them, all facing each other!

Immediately, Zhao stood up, glanced over with gloomy eyes, and shouted sternly, "Master, are you looking for trouble?"

Mingde frowned. This person was too strong. He didn't look like the guard mentioned in the Bodhisattva's explanation in the temple. He looked at the faces of the three senior brothers and said, "The donor misunderstood. The poor monk was just anxious and rushed." Donor, please give me some help. I wonder if I can borrow the household registration document?"

Hearing this, how could Zhao not understand that this was for Liu Rouwei? A man and a woman went to the temple to steal not only incense money but also scriptures? Do you really think I'm an idiot?

"Bald Donkey, you are biting your nose! Do you want me to wake up the maid and take off her clothes for you to check? Are you still unclean as a monk?" Zhao shouted angrily, and before the four people could react, he had already taken action. .

"Whoosh! Whoosh!" Four times, four flying knives flew towards the four people.

The four of them were shocked. This man was really domineering. He would take action as soon as he was told, without regard to his background at all!

Drawing out his sword to block the flying knife, Mingguang angrily said: "Don't make a mistake, the four of us are the Vajra of Lantuo Temple!"

"The Vajra also has impure six roots?"

Zhao Jueke was not polite. He had already started, so who cares about your background?

Besides, as long as no one is alive, who would know who killed them.

Thinking of this, the true qi flowed, and the great trend of heaven and earth instantly enveloped them. The internal qi of the four people suddenly stagnated, as if a mountain was pressing on their heads.

The four people were shocked. The man in front of them was only a few years old, but he was already a third-grade master. No wonder he didn't care about Lantuo Temple. Maybe he was also a disciple of a big force.

The four were only fourth-grade. Although they were born in Lantuo Temple, they had almost no power to fight back in front of the third-grade. The internal qi was not running smoothly, and they were restricted. The four looked at each other and realized that the person in front of them was not easy to mess with. They could only desperately run the skills to fight for a glimmer of life.

Zhao Jue would never let them have their wish. He appeared in front of Mingde in an instant, shook off Mingde's sword, and put his right hand on Mingde's neck. With a "click", Mingde's neck was strangled.

"Junior brother" Mingyuan shouted, and swung his sword towards Zhao Jue, turning his head and shouting "Mingming Zhizhi, go!"

Before he finished speaking, the sword that was cut off was already grasped, and then a palm was printed on Mingyuan's chest. Mingyuan flew back and hit Mingzhi. Before Mingzhi had time to run, Mingyuan hit him and interrupted his steps. Just as he came to his senses, a hand was already on his head. It was either Zhao or someone else. The true energy was released and stirred into Mingzhi's head. From the outside, it looked intact, but inside it was a mess.

A third-rank killed a fourth-rank, and he didn't even need to use weapons. The true energy combined with the great trend of heaven and earth was not something that a fourth-rank fragile body could resist.

Mingguang didn't care about his dead brothers and sisters. He just wanted to run back to Lantuo Temple to report the news. When the master in the temple took action, he would be able to avenge his brothers.

Before he could get close, a flying knife came through the air with a "swoosh". Mingguang just wanted to block it, but the flying knife had already stuck straight into his back of the head. Mingguang's eyes widened, and he exhaled a breath of turbid air, then fell to the ground and died.

Zhao picked up the body and threw it back to the ruined temple.

After extinguishing the fire, Liu Rouwei had woken up before the action. Seeing Zhao Jue coming back, she wrapped herself in a cotton robe and said calmly: "Shall we go?"

"Let's go!"

Two horses galloped in the dark, rolling up snowflakes...

At dawn, the eunuch in red came on the snow. Seeing the four horses, he frowned and walked to the front of the horses step by step. A strong smell of blood came.

The eunuch in red hurriedly walked into the dilapidated house and saw the four monks lying dead on the ground. He lowered his eyes, shook his head, turned around, circulated his true energy, and flew forward.