I'd rather die for Great Song Dynasty and leave my loyal bones behind than be buried in a deserted tomb by the imperial clan.

  Wu Song and the other two arrived at the Zong Mansion, handed in their name cards, and waited for half a day before the butler came out and said: "The master invites the three of you to enter." The three men walked into the mansion, but saw that it was not very large, only about one-fourth the size of Wu Song's own house. There were no pavilions or towers, just a straight path made of green bricks leading directly to the main hall. On either side of the road stood two rows of guards, as straight as spears, holding ghost-headed knives and staring fixedly at the three men without blinking an eye.

  In the corner of the wall stood a row of bird gunners, one hand holding bamboo tube fire guns and the other hand holding torches.

  Another row of bowmen emerged on the wall, with their bows drawn and arrows nocked, aiming at the three men.

  Wu Song and the other two saw this formation, and a chill ran up their spines. Gong Sun moved his small package on his shoulder, and with his jade-like hand, he quietly reached into the package, his eyes darting back and forth. Meanwhile, Wu Song took off the horse-beheading knife from his back and threw it to the ground, and Lu Da also discarded his crescent-shaped shovel.

  Gong Shu Yan hesitated for a moment and ultimately did not unwrap the package.

  In the main hall, Zhang Daoling's voice came, saying: "Wu Erlang, you have a lot of guts, knowing that I want to kill you, but still dare to come to my mansion!"

  Wu Song didn't even glance at the guards on either side, strutting in through the middle of the Ghost Head Knife with an air of arrogance. Lu Da followed closely behind him, while Gong Sun hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth and also walking in, one hand still hidden inside his package.

  Only saw those rows of ghostly knives, dazzling to the point that eyes were blurred, yet none fell.

  Gong Sun came to the front of the main hall, only then did she let out a breath of relief, and felt a cool breeze behind her back, just a few steps away, but was startled into a cold sweat, and couldn't help but be filled with admiration for Wu Song.

  "Look at him, treating guns and knives as if they were nothing. This is what a true man should be like! Unfortunately, we are all going to die now..."

  Wu Song was also frightened for a moment, his heart pounding so hard that his eardrums were buzzing, but he had an extraordinary physique and locked up all the sweat glands in his body, not a single drop of sweat came out. What really made him admire was Lu Da, this northeastern big man was open-minded and upright, his feet didn't get soft and his heart didn't beat fast, not even a drop of sweat came out, it was truly astonishing!

  Wu Song adjusted his collar and walked into the main hall of the Zhong Mansion, where he saw only one person, Zhong Shidao, sitting in the master's seat with a dejected look on his face. These days, this famous general who shook the borders had become so worried that his hair had turned white.

  "Master, students Wu Song, Lu Da and Gong Shu Bo have arrived to pay their respects."

  "Master of crops? You don't deserve this title!"

  Zhong Shidao let out a cold hum, gritted his teeth: "Wu Erlang, you killed the emperor, Zhong Mou also has responsibility. These days, Zhong Mou has been repeatedly thinking about how to avenge the emperor's death and finally thought of a plan."

  He raised his head, chuckled and said: "I know you're a man of your word. You sent someone to deliver the gift, but I deliberately didn't accept it, so as to lure you here in person. And now you've indeed arrived!"

  Zong Shi stood up, pointing to the outside of the door: "Outside, there are 100 axe-wielding men, 100 bird gunners, and 100 divine archers. The reason they didn't kill you earlier is that all three of you are meritorious officials, how can you die without a whole body? Therefore, Zong has prepared another method."

  He pointed to the two cups of green liquor on the table and said, "There are two cups of poisonous wine here. You and I will each have one cup and go down together to accompany the emperor. You should explain clearly in front of the emperor and apologize by knocking your head. Don't worry, a certain someone will accompany you, and the journey won't be dull!"

  Wu Song wiped away a cold sweat, this great general of the Song Dynasty had been driven somewhat mad by the death of Emperor Zhezong. No wonder, on a day that was supposed to be a grand celebration for all, the emperor suddenly fell off his horse and died; apart from Wu Song and those few freaks, anyone else would have found it unbearable.

  "Listen, I know you're probably not willing to drink wine. You are a practitioner with magical powers, and if you want to escape, the soldiers outside can't stop you. After careful consideration, I came up with a good idea - there are fifty barrels of gunpowder buried under this great hall. With just one order from me, the entire hall will be blown to pieces in an instant, and even your magical powers won't be able to save you! However, Gong Sun Yu and the commander of the Lu army are innocent, and I don't want to kill innocent people. Wu Erlang, choose one of these two cups of wine yourself!"

  The three men heard that fifty barrels of gunpowder had been buried under the hall, and they looked at each other in dismay. It seemed that this husband hated Wu Song to the bone and was determined to put him to death, even if it meant sacrificing his own life as well.

  Wu Song was thinking about making a run for it, wondering what the chances of escaping were. But then, Shi Xiu smiled and said: "However, I've changed my mind at this moment."

  Wu Song's heart skipped a beat: "What is this guy up to now?"

  "I've just heard that when you came to me, you were challenged by the sorcerers of Xia, Liao and Tubo. If I had killed you at that time, even the Emperor in the underworld would have blamed me for doing wrong again. Today, I will spare your life this once, let you fight against foreign sorcerers three days later, to uphold the name of Great Song and dispel the arrogance of the barbarians!"

  Three people let out a sigh of relief, but then Zhong Shi said again: "If you lose, those Taoist priests will not spare you because of their deep hatred towards you. If you win, it would be a great merit to save the Song Dynasty from its current crisis, and I won't be able to surpass you. The grudges between us can be written off, and I'll go down myself to explain to His Majesty!" After saying that, he waved his hand and said: "Send them off!"

  Wu Song's heart sank at these words, and Lu Da also took a deep breath. Gong Sun was almost fainting to the ground. The three of them had been through many battles, but they had never been so shocked before. For the first time, they felt that death was so close.

  Ruda and Gong Shuzheng were about to leave, but saw Wu Song still standing in the same place, so they stopped. Wu Song cupped his hands and said: "Zong Shi, I have a word that I don't know whether it should be spoken or not? The Emperor's death was purely accidental, even if he didn't die now, he wouldn't live past next spring. The Emperor's fate had already been exhausted, it was truly the heavens borrowing my hand to summon him back to heaven, you can't blame me for this. If Zong Shi doesn't believe, you can go ask those wise men and they will surely tell you that what I said is not false."

  If General Zong is guilty for a moment, and follows Your Majesty to go, my Song Dynasty will lose a pillar of talent. If the Hu people come to attack with troops, who will guard the border again? Commander Zhang is already old, entrusting this heavy responsibility to General Zong, how can General Zong bear the weight of one person's private affairs while ignoring the world? I'm afraid that even in the underworld, Your Majesty will blame you!

  Chun Shi Dao listened, and his mind was filled with a loud thunderclap. He suddenly lost color and sat blankly in the chair, muttering: "Your Majesty, will you really blame me..."

  Wu Song waited for a while, and saw that Zong Shandao's face gradually returned to normal. He knew he had come around, and bowed his hands again: "Zong Shandao, I originally came here with the intention of dying to repay the emperor's kindness, but the envoys from Xia, Liao, and Tubo have really humiliated our great Song dynasty too much. That's why I've given up on death and want to use my body to serve the court! In three days, at Mount Shaoshi, I will definitely exhaust myself to the death! However, before I die, I still have an unreasonable request - those fifty buckets of fire medicine..."

  Wu Song and the three men left the Xie residence, all of them wiping away cold sweat. They sat down under a willow tree by the side of the road to rest for half a day before they recovered their energy. Lu Da said: "Brother Wu, if Master Xie had the intention to kill you, would you really have let him?"

  "Nonsense! If I had known that the Marquis of Zhen had set up so many killing moves, I would have run as fast as I could and never gone to the Zhen Mansion! What's the big deal about a dead emperor? I thought his anger had dissipated long ago. Who would have thought that the Marquis of Zhen was such an old sly fox, able to anticipate my arrival and set up an ambush in advance!"

  "Zhong Xianggong indeed has a keen eye for people, his vision is toxic." Gong Shu Yan smiled and said: "Speaking of which, we should thank those barbarian sorcerers. If it weren't for them, I'm afraid this time when we went to Zhong's mansion, we would have gone but not returned."

  Three people remembered the ambush at the governor's mansion and were still frightened, thinking that they would be fighting against the three national masters in three days made them even more anxious. The three of them, Wu Song and Lu Da had strong martial arts skills but didn't understand magic, while Gong Sunyan was a descendant of the Gong Sun family but had no magical powers. There was also Yang Jiaolong, the Grand Commander, whose magical powers were not weak, but he was only half-competent, quick to flee when escaping, and slightly inferior in terms of fighting against masters.

  Wu Song thought carefully and feared that this time on Mount Shaoshi, there would be more bad luck than good.

  Lu Da said: "I knew a few heroes in Tokyo when I was young, and now I'll go ask them to come and help!" After speaking, he left with big strides. Gong Sun didn't travel the jianghu much and didn't know many people, so she had to stay by Wu Song's side.

  Wu Song furrowed his brow, thinking to himself: "I've never been in the jianghu before, and in the capital I only know one Wang Laizi, one Zhou Tong, and Chen Xizhen can only count as half. Wang Laizi might be willing to help me, but Zhou Tong will definitely not be able to be invited, as for Chen Xizhen, it's already a blessing that he didn't kill me... In three days' time, Mount Shaoshi is indeed the biggest hurdle on my journey to seek immortality! If I can pass it, I'll be a dragon or phoenix among men; if not, I'll just be a pile of dry bones!"

  "This is a matter of life and death, but I'm going to gamble anyway. Success or failure will be clear in three days!"

  ——————

  Pigs type slowly (with two three-toed hooves, how fast can they type?), originally planned to upload this chapter at 12 midnight to rush the rankings, but after reading the book review section, decided to upload it now instead. Just hope that book friends who are online after 12 o'clock can help vote a few recommendation tickets, so as not to drop off the new book rankings.

  Thank you~