Chapter 6: Colorful Sky Lotus (Part 2)

  As the saying goes, "many hands make light work", Yuling and Chuli and others came to help, and in no time they had built over a dozen wooden rafts and successfully crossed the rocky rapids.

  Under the guidance of Xiao Si, the crowd marched forward with high spirits, breaking through the arrays and knocking on the gates, advancing nearly ten miles in just over an hour. In the night sky, the Tiger Hook Fortress stood tall, already in sight.

  At this time, a large area of dense forest appeared in front, with ancient trees towering into the sky, their branches and leaves luxuriant, dark and silent as death.

  Yu Linglong looked at the formation chart and said: "This should be the Xingfeng Forest behind the mountain, after passing through it, we can go straight to Hu Ge's village."

  Wan'er raised her torch and shone it into the woods, exclaiming: "There are so many colorful ribbons hanging from the branches, I wonder what they're for?"

  Everyone gazed intently, and indeed saw that from the branches of those dozens of feet tall ancient trees, strips of colorful silk ribbons hung down, gently fluttering in the night breeze like waves rising and falling.

  The front and back of the silk ribbon were painted with bright, shiny patterns, as if countless golden snakes were dancing wildly in the forest.

  "Lin An Grass Surprise Wind - the patterns drawn on these ribbons should be the array symbols of Surprise Wind Forest." Qiu Junyi had long memorized the stack of array diagrams in his hand, and smiled: "Following the guidance of the diagram, as long as we turn left when we meet red, turn right when we meet green, circle around when we see yellow, and turn back when we see blue, we can pass through the dense forest. This is already the last barrier of the Xuantian Great Array, everyone should boost their spirits and make an effort to break through!"

  Yu Linglong frowned and said, "Fourth brother, why do I always feel that our journey has been too smooth? According to reason, the Great Heavenly Array laid down by Bu Zizhen shouldn't be so simple and easy."

  "Is that all?" Before Xiao Si could respond, Chu Lie's loud voice rang out: "How much effort did we put into the formation chart? If it weren't for Old Ge and Fourth Brother being well-versed in Qimen Dunjia, and resolving one by one the traps and ambushes set up by Bo Yanzi, who knows where we'd be now?"

  Yu Linglong said, "Lie Shu, I'm just curious. If we can decipher the Hundred Tigers Thousand Hooks Array according to that map of Hu Ge Village, why would Bu Suanzi and Cheng Xianhu deliberately hand over the map?"

  Chu Lie didn't think much of it and said: "Xiao Yu, I think you're overthinking."

  Xiao Si listened to the two arguing, and thought to himself: "Could it be that I underestimated Old Blind? Logically speaking, his Xuan Tian Great Array shouldn't just have this little bit of goods."

  However, he concentrated and observed for a long time, still unable to figure it out. He couldn't help but think: "Ge Laozi's, if we can't do it, then Lao Mangzi is just pretending to be powerful. Let's not worry about the details and just rush in first, if there's an ambush, we'll just have to improvise, after all, a living person can't be suffocated by urine."

  "Why don't we use the old method and send someone in to probe first?"

  Everyone had no objection, Zhao Bai Chuan volunteered to lead seven strong men from the Chao Tian Gang to explore the road into the forest.

  About the time it takes to smoke a bag of cigarettes, two of the top masters of the Chao Tian Gang who had just followed Zhao Bai Chuan into the forest returned to report: "Master Zhao has successfully passed through the Stormy Wind Forest and specially ordered us to return and report."

  Chu Lie said with satisfaction: "Xiao Yu, didn't I tell you so?"

  "It seems I was overthinking."

  Everyone held torches and walked into the forest, following the 16-character mnemonic "red left turn, green right go, yellow circle around, blue back" to move forward, and indeed it was calm and peaceful without any surprises or dangers.

  Suddenly, a bamboo whistle sounded in the forest, and it was particularly jarring and eerie in the midst of the silence.

  "Wooo——" The colorful ribbons floating around responded with a sudden contraction, as if thousands of vines crisscrossed and entwined the sturdy tree trunks, weaving layer upon layer of nets in the air, trapping everyone inside like a cage.

  Before everyone could react, more colorful ribbons, like purple and red waterfalls, poured down from the high branches.

  In an instant, the dense forest turned into a vast ocean of five colors and ten colors, with dancing ribbons everywhere and raging waves everywhere.

  Everyone was completely lost in the sea of colors, unable to distinguish east, south, west and north. They were also confused by strips of colored ribbons that twirled or fluttered around them, making it impossible to see each other's positions and surroundings clearly.

  Cries of agony erupted one after another, as the righteous heroes who had entered the forest were hit by a barrage of hidden projectiles and fell to the ground in succession.

  But where did these hidden weapons come from and where was the enemy hiding? The chaotic colorful waves blocked everyone's line of sight, making it impossible to see.

  "Little Fourth Brother, what should we do?" Chu Lie swung the Li Huo Bao knife and fiercely slashed a colorful ribbon that was stretched out in front of him.

  "Clang clang", sparks flew everywhere, with its powerful force and sharp blade, it took seven or eight consecutive slashes without stopping to finally cut off that ribbon.

  Xiao Si was shocked and stood still, he immediately recognized that this was the transformation of "Wu Xing Yi Zhuan, Xu Yu You Hui". However, no matter how it changed, all the colored ribbons should have been interdependent and gone their separate ways. Now, however, they were inexplicably entangled together, making it impossible to distinguish where metal, wood, earth, fire, and water were.

  His eyes were a blur, all the tactics and strategies he had thought of until now had lost their effectiveness. He watched as everyone scrambled around in disarray, the originally tight formation could no longer be maintained, under the pressure of hidden weapons and colorful ribbons they fled in panic, bumping into each other everywhere.

  Xiao Si's heart suddenly became anxious, knowing that if he didn't speak up soon, it wouldn't take long for everyone to be finished.

  He took a deep breath and muttered: "With Old Man Ge dead, I don't have to worry about my butt being kicked!"

  As soon as he thought of the old man, Si Xiao's mind calmed down a lot, recalling the time he was thrown into the black coffin again and again, unable to survive or die. Each time, he fell into an abyss of despair, but in the end, he could always use his last bit of strength to kick open the tightly closed coffin lid.

  Tonight, he is not alone. Around him are Chu Lie and Wan Er...

  "In the past, I alone could have killed an old man, now with so many people, am I still afraid of not being able to kill a blind dead man?!"

  As soon as he understood this point, Xiang Xiao Si's brain immediately became useful again, and his first sentence was: "Everyone gather around me!"

  Everyone was inspired by his words and immediately gathered around Xiao Si's side, surrounding him in the center.

  Xiao Si let out a long sigh of relief, thinking to himself: "Fortunately, I'm clever and managed to find so many bodyguards for myself." He raised the Youquan sword and pointed forward, saying: "Break the cauldron and sink the boat, fight our way out!"

  Chu Lie and the others had no idea that Xiao Si was already unable to keep up with the changing situation, so under helpless circumstances, he randomly pointed with his knife, thinking that breaking through the formation was possible. Suddenly, morale greatly increased, and they rolled forward, killing their way forward.

  After a long time of chaotic and dark fighting, Xiang Xiaosi's side had fewer and fewer people, having lost more than 20 men.

  Suddenly, the sound of fighting came from the front, and four members of the Chao Tian Gang were carrying Zhao Bai Chuan on their backs, desperately fighting against a group of Tiger Gorge bandits who surrounded them.

  "Old Zhao is injured, hurry up and save him!" Chu Lie shouted.

  "Use hidden weapons!" Yulingong threw out three plum blossom darts towards the bandits of Tiger Gorge, two of which were blocked by floating ribbons, and only one hit its target.

  "Hiss, hiss, hiss" sounds filled the air as the masters of hidden weapons from the righteous path took action, and in an instant, four or five Tiger Gorge bandits fell to the ground.

  Just then, a colored ribbon suddenly flew over from the slanting stab. Yu Fei's figure flashed out from behind the ribbon, and with a sideways flip of his Eagle Wing Magic Blade, he swooped down on Xiao Si.

  "Be careful!" Yu Linglong was the first to react among the people around her, leaning forward and colliding with Xiao Si, swinging her whip to block.

  "Ding!" The silver whip swept away one of the eagle-winged magic blades, but another took advantage of the opening and chopped into her chest.

  Yu Linglong let out a soft cry and fell into Wan'er's arms, her chest covered in blood with internal organs already injured.

  Wan'er hastily stuffed a dan pill into Yuling's mouth and used her fingers to seal the acupoints around her wound.

  Chu Lie roared and drew his sword, while Qiu Junyi's immortal sword also shot out like lightning to stab Yu Feng's left ribs.

  Yu Biao's figure flashed and disappeared behind the colored ribbons, bursting into loud laughter: "This Stormwind Forest will be your burial ground!"

  Chu Lie's anger was uncontrollable, and he chased after the colored ribbon with a slash, but unfortunately, Yu Biao's figure had already disappeared like a ghost.

  "Uncle Lie, don't pursue the defeated enemy! I'm fine, first save Zhao's main...!" Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly spat out two mouthfuls of blood and fainted.

  "Xiao Yu!" Chu Lie suddenly realized that although the distance between him and Zhao Bai Chuan was only about 70-80 feet, it was blocked by a mess of colorful ribbons. For a moment, he couldn't get through. He involuntarily cursed loudly: "Son of a turtle!"

  Xiao Si suddenly shouted with surprise: "Autumn swing, you are actually an autumn swing!"

  Chu Lie was taken aback and looked at Xiao Si. Xiao Si exclaimed excitedly: "Master Chu, have you ever played swing?"

  Chu Lie had not yet reacted when Wan Er and Qiu Junyi simultaneously shouted: "Colored Ribbons!"

  Xiao Si grabbed a green ribbon that was floating by and said, "This is what they mean by 'to untie a knot, one must find the person who tied it'!"

  "Whoosh——" The colored ribbon flew out diagonally for several dozen feet, and he suddenly sprang up, stretched out his arm, and grabbed another green-colored ribbon nearby. In the blink of an eye, he flew to the top of Zhao Bai Chuan's head.

  "When you see red, turn left; when you see green, go right; when you see yellow, circle around; when you see blue, look back - if it's white, charge forward!" Chu Lie's eyes lit up, and just then the green ribbon floated back, which he grabbed with one hand and used to propel himself upward.

  As reinforcements arrived, the Tiger Gorge bandits who were besieging Zhao Baichuan and others quickly retreated into the depths of the dense forest.

  But this time they didn't escape so easily, Ju Jyun-yi and others followed suit, darting back and forth between the five-colored ribbons, launching a fierce attack and killing more than ten of the Tiger Gorge bandits.

  Chu Lie let go of the ribbon and it floated down to the ground, shouting: "Old Zhao, how are you?"

  Zhao Bai Chuan leaned on his subordinate's back and forced a smile: "I won't die!"

  Chu Lie took a deep breath, gazing at the unconscious Yu Linglong, then at the dying Zhao Bai Chuan, and finally at his exhausted companions covered in blood. Despite feeling utterly unwilling, he clenched his fist and shouted: "Retreat!"

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