Chapter 7: The Three Young Masters of the Tang Family (Part 1)

  After a night of fierce battle, at dawn, everyone finally retreated from the Xuantian Array.

  The rain continued to drizzle down non-stop. On the way back to Chengkou Town, no one had the mood to talk, and everyone was rushing along with their heads down.

  Nearly a hundred people entered the array, but less than seventy came out in the end. Almost everyone was injured, and some like Yu Linglong and Zhao Baiquan were critically ill and urgently needed medical treatment.

  But there is no worst, only more worse. When everyone returned to Chengkou Town with their heads down, they met Geng Nanxing and others who had retreated earlier, and found that more than 200 masters who attacked Qian Shan were killed, more than 50 people died, and 30 or 40 people were attacked by "Purple Cloud Poisonous Spider" and injured to varying degrees.

  The most ironic thing is that Long Chao-yuan, who everyone risked their lives to rescue, returned alone and unscathed to Chengkou Town at dawn.

  He didn't dare to really go through the hundred tigers and thousand wolves array, the courage and hot blood he used up had all dissipated on the long mountain path, so he wandered around in circles like a lost sheep in the deep mountains for half the night, finally returning unscathed, with even a few more raindrops on his hair than when he left.

  But the crowd had no mind to blame him, and at most, they would only cast a cold and contemptuous glance.

  Rescue the dead and injured, deploy guards, plan for the aftermath... Everyone suppressed their grief and anger, silently doing what they could. But no one knew what to do next. Last night's battle had almost shattered morale and confidence, and the distant Tiger's Gorge, shrouded in mist, seemed like an insurmountable barrier.

  Xiao Si lay on the big bed with his four limbs pointing towards the sky, silently staring at the ceiling.

  This time I was thoroughly taught a lesson by the old blind man, feeling both deflated and frustrated with no outlet to vent.

  Although the old man used to trick himself into death before, every time he came back to life, he would also stuff two dates into his mouth.

  The old blind man is not a dead old man, this time the honey date is out of the question, how to make a flute is indeed something that needs to be considered.

  "Ge Laozi, this time I've really lost face. A gentleman must avenge his grievances, you little fourth master must find a way to restore our reputation!"

  Xiao Si gritted her teeth and thought to herself: "Last night, hundreds of people tried to force their way into the old blind man's lair, but it seems we need to come up with a different plan. The old man once said that all formations in the world change infinitely, but they all originate from one source... To break his formation, we must start by finding the eye of the formation!"

  But where is the array eye of the hundred tigers and thousand hooks formation? Xīao Sì spread out the formation diagram on the bed and stared at it for half a day, still without any clue.

  The more he looked, the more annoyed he became, the more he thought, the more confused he felt, and his head began to spin with dizziness, making him want to sleep. He couldn't help but curse: "Damn it, I'm going to take a nap first."

  He let out a big yawn and stopped thinking about breaking through, closed his eyes and soon started snoring.

  Who would have thought that this sleep went straight to the evening, and during this time, Geng Nan Yi, Chu Lie and others came one after another to find him, seeing the door and window tightly closed, the room was snoring loudly, and they left in disappointment.

  Xiao Si woke up from her nap feeling refreshed and clear-headed, she sat up and stretched lazily, seeing that the room was dimly lit, she thought it might be getting late, so she slowly put on her shoes and planned to go out to fill her stomach.

  Suddenly, his gaze swept across the table and he was astonished to find that the array diagram had been moved by someone at some unknown time.

  He looked at the tightly closed doors and windows, puzzled: "I clearly remember that this drawing was under my body before I fell asleep, how did it change places?"

  As he walked closer to the table, Xiao Si couldn't help but tremble and exclaimed: "I've seen a ghost!"

  Only on the formation chart, dozens of intersecting lines were drawn horizontally and vertically, with a few lines of small words next to them, all of which were the key to breaking the formation. On the door outside the gathering hall of Hu Ge Village, there was a small circle painted with a red brush. What else could it be if not the elusive "formation eye" that Xiao Si had been searching for in vain?

  Above the vermilion small circle, a line of vermilion brush characters wrote: "A hundred tigers and a thousand spears, an array worth ten thousand pieces of gold!"

  "Damn it, Xiao Si!" Xiao Si couldn't help but slap the table, feeling as if he had been enlightened and all his doubts and difficulties were resolved by the lines and patterns on the diagram that seemed to cut through the problem like a hot knife through butter.

  "What three talents and four images, eight trigrams and nine palaces, twenty-eight mansions, are all just the blind old man's eye-deceiving technique! In the end, it's just his mother's simple five-element array, with metal as the most respected, water and fire attacking earth and wood hiding each other, reversing yin and yang to generate infinity."

  Xiao Si stared at Zhen Tu excitedly and shouted: "How come I didn't think of it before, there's actually someone smarter than me... Eh?!"

  Xiao Si suddenly had an epiphany and looked around the room, checking all the doors and windows. He saw that the door was locked from the inside and the windows were also locked, so it seemed impossible for someone to have entered through the roof tiles while he was sleeping and then snuck away quietly.

  He thought in surprise: "Who would be so boring? Geng Lao Yezi? No! Old blind man? ...Completely impossible. Then who else... Could it be the dead old man?"

  As soon as this thought emerged, Xiao Si's whole body burst into goosebumps. He barely comforted himself by saying: "This inn is heavily guarded all around, not even a fly can fly out, how could the old man possibly sneak in without being detected? If he really had such skills, he wouldn't have to bring me to dig graves and eat dirt in the past."

  Who was it after all? In this day and age, are there still heroes who do good deeds without leaving their names?

  "Could it be that Big Brother Chi has returned?"

  He thought it was more and more possible, and said with joy: "It's probably that Brother Chi doesn't want to show up in person, so he asked me to help Old Master Kung. With his skills, not to mention sneaking into Laozi's house, even if he secretly climbed onto the Tiger Hook Mountain and stole the real map hidden by the old blind man, it wouldn't be impossible!"

  Just then, there was a knock at the door, "Dong Dong Dong", and someone outside said: "Fourth brother, a Taoist priest has come to see you, saying he is your friend."

  "Daoist?" Xiao Si was taken aback and asked in surprise: "When did I ever befriend a Daoist?"

  He put away the array diagram and opened the door, seeing a respectful bodyguard from the escort agency standing at the door. He asked: "Where is that Taoist priest? Take me to see him. If he's just a swindler who freeloads and takes advantage of people, don't be polite, help me throw him out immediately."

  He followed the spear master to the front hall of the inn, where he saw a fat and oily guy sitting in the corner, with messy hair like straw, dirty and greasy Taoist robe, and a black duster randomly tucked under his armpit. He was eating fried chicken legs on one side, and using his greasy big hand to pour wine from a gourd into his mouth, as if no one else existed.

  Wang Jian saw Xiao Si walking in, and the Taoist stretched out his hand to wipe his mouth and said: " Wu Liang Tian Zun..."

  Xiao Si flipped her small white eyes and cursed in a low voice: "You have no conscience, where did this old mixed hair come from, deceiving and cheating until you arrived at Master Xiao's house?"

  He scowled and asked: "Who are you? Where did you come from? What brings you to me?"

  That fat Taoist smiled and said, "Someone sent me a few jars of good wine and asked me to come over and help you." After speaking, he took out an envelope from his sleeve and casually threw it at Xiao Si.

  Xiao Si stretched out his hand to catch the letter that was steadily floating down from the air, and when he opened it, it turned out to be a handwritten note from Chai Shao. It said that in order to repay the great kindness of saving his life in Yunyang Town, he specially invited Ye Daozhang from Zhongnan Mountain to come and lend a helping hand to everyone, to pacify the Great Ba Mountain and eliminate the Tiger Hook Fortress.

  Xiao Si held the letter and read it again, furrowing his brow in thought: "This Xiao Chai is really something, but he's also a county master and marquis, how could he pass such a treasure to me?"

  He was thinking of how to get rid of the person, but unexpectedly the Taoist suddenly opened his mouth and sprayed out a bundle of golden red pure yang true fire. With a "whoosh" sound, the few pieces of paper in Xiao Si's hand were instantly burned.

  Xiao Si suddenly shrank back and subconsciously shouted: "You old thief, what are you doing?"

  Fat Daoist laughed and said: "Wuliang Tianzun - the law is not passed on to the six ears."

  Xiao Si suddenly understood that Chai Shao didn't want to reveal the letter and stir up unnecessary trouble, but he couldn't help looking at the fat Taoist with disdain. He snorted and said, "I say, your fire-spewing skills are quite impressive."

  The fat Taoist priest smiled and said: "I, a poor monk, have the four seas as my home, wind and dew for food and lodging. When roasting meat, it's just convenient."

  Xiao Si clapped his hands and said, "So can you still shatter boulders with your chest, wear the Golden Bell and Iron Cloth Shirt, play tricks with monkeys and swallow treasure swords? Tomorrow I'll take you to town to have some fun. Who knows, maybe some restaurant will be looking for a kitchen boy to start fires."

  The fat Taoist priest didn't get angry either, nodded and said: "If you're willing to help me pull a show to make some money, we can earn it together."

  At this time, Chu Lie walked in from outside and saw that Xiao Si's face was joyful. He said: "Brother Xiao Si, you've finally woken up. Everyone has been waiting for you."

  Xiao Siyi was taken aback: "Waiting for what?" Looking at the sky, it seemed that Lao Yezi had remembered that he himself had run out of food in his stomach and it was time to start eating.

  Chu Lie smiled bitterly and said: "Of course it's about breaking the formation. We old guys have been discussing it for a whole day, but we can't come up with any solution. I'd like to hear your opinion."

  He turned his head and looked at the fat Taoist priest, hesitantly asking: "Who is this Taoist priest?"

  Although Xiao Si didn't really want to see this person, after all, he was invited by Chai Shao with good intentions to help out, so he had to give him some face. He cleared his throat and said vaguely: "He's an old friend who owed someone a debt from gambling and was afraid of being killed, so he came to me for help and to make a living."

  Chu Lie seemed to understand but wasn't quite sure, but roughly grasped Xiao Si's meaning. He heard that he was his friend and didn't think much of it, so he said: "Then let's invite this Taoist priest to come together."

  The fat Taoist stood up and said, "Wu Liang Tian Zun - people are made of iron and food is steel. If you don't eat for a day, you'll be starving. Xiao Diao, I saw a roast goose shop across from the inn when I came in just now, and it seems to be doing very well. The taste should be good. Why not bring back two geese as tonight's midnight snack?"

  Chu Lie heard this and not only felt sympathy for Xiao Si, although he didn't take kindly to the fat Taoist who came to swindle food and drink, but looking at the monk's face, he readily said: "I'll have someone go buy it right away."

  Xiao Si was so angry that she rolled her eyes and didn't even bother to argue with the fat Taoist priest. She turned around and walked out of the inn, still hearing him remind Chu Lie: "Don't forget to ask the boss to send two more packages of honey sauce, it tastes better when dipped in roast goose."

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