48th Blaze Emperor Fāng Zhāo

  Wu Song thought carefully and realized that after entering the capital, he had tried his best to win over both corrupt and loyal officials, and had not offended many people. The only exception was Chen Xizhen, whom he had driven out of Kaifeng. Although Chai Jin had a deep-seated hatred for him, Wu Song had already forgiven him due to the greater good of the country. So why would anyone still want to strip him of his "tiger skin"?

  "Liqing, what does the old man look like?"

  Chen Liqing danced with joy, drawing for half a day. Wu Song finally confirmed that the little girl was drawing three sugar calabazas, not some old man spitting blood at all.

  Wu Song thought to himself, "First and foremost, I must get acquainted with Yang Zhi. Let's go take a look at the Tianbo Mansion." He instructed his steward to bring over his name card, which read "Three-Pin Great Officer of the Heavenly Machine Pavilion Wu (courtesy name) Song respectfully presents himself". He ordered his steward to deliver the card first, while he himself brought Chen Liqin along onto the street, with Tang Chao following closely behind. They slowly made their way towards the Yang Mansion at Tianbo.

  Chen Liqing rode on his shoulders, Wu Song grasped her two small hands, and the three of them looked around on the street. At this time, the early market had already passed, and there were only some snack stalls and performers doing acrobatics. The performances included magic, acrobatics, rope skills, stick skills, singing girls, Persian dancing girls, and chest-pounding big stones. The three of them stopped to watch for a moment, and Chen Liqing's little servant took the opportunity to compete with everyone on the street, only to find that no one was her match, and she lost interest in these activities.

  Three men walked to the Jinshui Gate, crossed the bridge, and heard a storyteller's voice coming from a nearby teahouse. He was telling the story of Wu Dalang's great defeat of the Tibetan monk. Wu Song couldn't help but stop in his tracks, walk into the teahouse, and ask the tea master to refill their cups. The storyteller continued: "Now, this Tibetan monk was eight feet tall and eight feet wide, with a palm as big as a human head. In his left hand he held a halberd, and in his right hand a green dragon crescent moon axe. When he shook it, the earth would shake and mountains would tremble. By his side were four fierce generals, all of whom were heavenly demons incarnate: Mo Liqing, Mo Lihong, Mo Lihai, and Mo Lisou..."

  Wu Song blinked his eyes, feeling a bit bewildered. He had indeed instructed the Zhang brothers to spread his fame, but this storyteller was exaggerating a bit too much - even mentioning Mo Liqing. The man sipped his tea and continued: "Now, let's talk about our dynasty's Wu Song, also known as Wu Erlang. What an extraordinary person! He must be the reincarnation of the heavenly Erlang Shen, otherwise why would he be called Wu Erlang and not Wu Sanlang or Wu Silang... Just then, the Tibetan monk Bohuoxing swung his left hand, wielding the Heaven-painting halberd, and with a loud "ka-cha" sound, flattened half of Mount Shaoshi. This enraged Wu Erlang, who transformed into the true form of Erlang Shen, stretched out his hand, and grabbed him...

  Everyone listened with rapt attention, as the storyteller transformed a segment of the Battle of Mount Zhuo into an epic struggle on a divine level. Wu Erlang made three advances and retreats, going through all sorts of twists and turns, capturing the four demon brothers, and then inviting heavenly spirits to descend to earth, defeating the national preceptor of the Three Kingdoms, saving the Song Dynasty, truly magnificent beyond compare.

  Just as he was getting to the crucial point, a voice coldly laughed and said: "Hmph, nonsense! Wu Song is just a roughneck who leads troops and fights battles, Zhang Da Niu is just a prison guard, Li Er Niang is a prostitute, Tan Biao is a street vendor selling vegetables, where do they have such skills? Not to mention the heavenly stars descending to earth!"

  The crowd turned their heads, glaring at the voice with anger. Wu Daifu also stood among the crowd, glaring with anger. Chen Lijin was too short and could only see the back of a group of people, her cheeks puffed up in anger.

  Only one table was led by a man with a long beard and green eyes, with a strong physique, sitting down still higher than ordinary people by more than a head, beside him sat three or four barbarian women, blonde hair and green eyes, wrapped in sable fur, snow-white scarf, and a short and stout man, holding a wine cup and smiling coldly.

  The storyteller slammed his hand on the table and shouted angrily: "You are just street performers, how would you know the skills of Master Wu? Do you dare to report Wan'er?"

  That sturdy man tilted his head and drank the wine, coldly laughing: "What's there to be afraid of? I am indeed Fang Mao from Shezhou, the Dharmapala Heavenly King of Manichaeism, and this is my sect's Blazing Wisdom...” Before he could finish speaking, the long-bearded green-eyed man quietly kicked him with his foot, and Fang Mao came back to his senses, hastily shutting his mouth.

  Only the blue-eyed man laughed and said, "Younger brother, you're drunk, just talking nonsense." He then turned to the crowd and said, "Today's tea is on me, consider it an apology. Please forgive my brother, he's a roughneck. We also greatly admire General Wu's great victory over the Tubo Kingdom."

  The crowd finally felt relieved and sat down to listen to the storyteller continue, but Wu Song glanced up and saw that the man with blue eyes had thrown a silver ingot, and the group of people got up and hurriedly left. Wu Song gave Tang Chuan a look and said: "These few people are not ordinary, go and investigate."

  The Tang family elder immediately left the tea house and quietly followed, only to hear that man say from a distance: "Big brother, Wu Song is obviously a fame-seeking and hypocritical person, why are you still speaking up for him?"

  "Do you have anything else to say? In this capital, it's not like in a small town, there are masters and hermits everywhere. If you don't shut that mouth of yours, you'll ruin my plan! Since we've already found out where Bao Daoyi from the Yin-Yang family is hiding, let's go invite him over and leave quickly, lest more trouble arises!"

  Fang Miao nodded and acknowledged, just as he was speaking, a woman with piercing green eyes and high cheekbones walked over, smiling: "Brother Fang, I met a sister in Kaifeng..."

  The woman suddenly raised her eyes and looked at Tang Hu, with two pupils in one of her eyes, extremely strange. Tang Hu's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly turned around and walked away, returning to the tea house, his heart still racing, and told Wu Song about what had just happened.

  Wu Song muttered to himself, "That woman has actually cultivated the Double Pupil Divine Eyes. Is she a member of the Ghost Valley Yin-Yang Sect? No, Lin Ling-su is also from the Yin-Yang Sect... How did Fang La's gang end up in the capital..."

  He thought for a moment, ordered Tang Huan to return to the mansion and summon Zhang's brothers and others, mobilizing the power of the Jiuliu Hidden Gate to investigate Fang Dian's party. Tang Huan hurried off. Wu Song took a sip of tea, picked up Chen Liqing again, and put her on his shoulder. The two old friends chatted and laughed as they walked out of the teahouse. When he looked up, he saw a young woman standing at the entrance, with a pair of bright blue pupils in her left eye, like two pieces of jade, staring at him.

  Wu Song only felt the hairs on his back stand up, and a huge power behind him stirred restlessly. It was that demonic beast's spirit being stimulated by the divine eye, unable to hold back its ferocity. Wu Song hastily smiled at the woman and took Liying away with him. The little girl bit his ear and said: "This woman is so fierce! I was looked at by her once, and it felt like she saw through my heart and liver. A chill ran from the soles of my feet to the top of my head. Don't believe me? Touch and see..."

  Wu Song had just left when Fang Mou came up to the woman and said: "Princess of a Hundred Flowers, can you tell me about that man's origins?"

  The woman shook her head and said in a low voice, "It was almost visible, but it was obscured by the enormous power behind him. This man's cultivation is unfathomably deep, even my Double Pupil Divine Eyes can't see through it, we can't afford to provoke him!"

  His face changed color, and he said: "It seems that only the Blazing Glory of our sect can rival him. If we can recruit him, he will surely be a great help to us!"

  The woman shook her head and said: "I think this man is very likely to be that Wu Song. If it's really him, with his status, why would he care about us?"

  "Where could he be? Wu Song is just a low-ranking officer at the city gate... Never mind that now, finding Bao Da'er is what's important..."

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