Nanyang Haokui

  I'm going to be forced into a category and strongly promoted. I'll start rolling on the ground next week, begging for recommendations and collections. Hehe, wait for me!

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  In the dead of night, Tan Yu sat alone in his room.

  He was reciting silently the Jade Sword Heart Scripture that his master had just taught him in the afternoon.

  The Jade Sword Heart Sutra's sword mantra is divided into three chapters: upper, middle and lower. Each chapter has thousands of words of secret oral formulas. Zhang Xun transmitted them all without reservation, but specially instructed that they were only to be memorized in the mind, not written on any bamboo slips or paper, lest they be inadvertently leaked out.

  It's all over for Wang Yun.

  He struggled to memorize for an entire afternoon, his head spinning and swelling, before he barely managed to remember everything. Afraid that he would forget it all after a night's sleep and have to return it to the master, he continued to recite, but was also afraid of disturbing the dry nurse in the next room at midnight, so in the end, he switched to silent memorization.

  Fortunately, this sword classic is not as profound as ordinary articles, with many biased and rare words, but it is quite colloquialized. The methods of practice, the application of vigor, and the external states at various stages are all very clear and accurate. Therefore, Quan Yu was gradually attracted by the content, and after reciting only 20 or 30 times, he already understood about 20-30% of the content.

  Qin Yu thought: "Master said that as long as I can recite this sword manual fluently, my sword skills will naturally take shape. I thought Master was afraid it would be difficult for me and was specially encouraging me. It turns out there really is such a possibility."

  But to reach the level of reciting from memory, reading a thousand times or ten thousand times is still not enough, and it's probably necessary to read at least one hundred thousand times or one million times.

  It's terrifying to think about it, a 3,000-word article, reading it 30 times a day, it would take more than a month to read it 10,000 times, let alone 100,000 or 1,000,000 times... Never mind, I'd better just practice diligently, combining theory with reality is the most cost-effective way!

  For three or four hours in a row, Qin Yu also recited it to the point where he had a reverse psychological reaction. He was getting impatient and distracted, when suddenly he heard a mournful cry outside.

  "Ah!"

  "Who's there?" A loud shout came from afar, it was Baochu's voice.

  Qin Yu's mind was focused, his hand stretched out, and the black gun on the bed was already in his hand. Judging from the suddenly amplified sound outside, it seemed that many people were quietly approaching.

  No need to ask, at such a late hour, these people broke into the vicinity of civilian homes, either rape or theft. If it weren't for Bao's hunting background, in order to prevent wild beasts from attacking villages at night, he would secretly set up some animal clamps, poison crossbows and traps near the gate, I'm afraid these thieves will have to sneak closer before they can be discovered.

  As soon as I pushed open the door and went out, I saw twenty or thirty men in white clothes on the slope not far away, waving their swords and guns, rushing over to kill.

  How dare you, you scoundrel!

  Tan Yu couldn't help but feel surprised, and indeed he had never seen thieves who came to steal at midnight wearing white clothes.

  "Little thief!" Quan Yu shouted loudly, his feet moving swiftly to the left and right, like a snake slithering through grass, as he quickly closed in.

  Today, I received more than half a day of guidance from my benevolent teacher. Although my skills have not yet improved, my understanding of the martial way has increased significantly, and I can now make connections between different techniques. In particular, I have gained the most insight into the footwork and gun handling techniques.

  "I'll take care of him." A white-clad gunman who appeared to be the leader, seeing Quan Yu's strange movements, didn't dare to slack off and stepped out from the crowd, gun pointed forward.

  Tan Yu's left hand was yang, his right hand was yin, the two palms merged into one, and the power was everywhere. Suddenly, a burst of illusions exploded on the tip of the gun.

  One shot unexpectedly shook out two gun flowers.

  The white-clad gunman opposite was taken aback and hastily crossed his spear to parry.

  Tan Yun's two gun flowers present a "two" character shape, each with one horizontal stroke, and inside there are three gun heads, one true and two false. Where is the subtlety, which can be easily resisted by people?

  The bandit who blocked the way suddenly let out a mournful cry, and fell backwards. Two places on his throat and chest simultaneously spurted out a stream of hot blood.

  But in an instant, two vital points were hit at the same time, and he died as dead as can be.

  The bloody smell in the air suddenly became strong.

  The men in white clothes were in an uproar, shouting and quarreling.

  "Li Shen Gun... Li Shen Gun was taken down by him in one move?"

  "My god, what a terrible shooting skill! One shot and two holes..."

  "Who is this guy?"

  A young leader in his thirties shouted: "This man is fierce! Qi Er, Qi San, get closer; Ma Xiong, Ma Biao, cover him!"

  Four men in white clothes came out of the crowd.

  Two men wielded swords, two men wielded long spears.

  Two men with swords ran ahead, one with a five-foot long-handled sword and the other with a pair of three-foot short swords.

  Tan Yu deceived them with short weapons, and as soon as the long guns came together, two black flowers suddenly rose, stabbing both men.

  Tonight there is a thin moon, the ground is covered with white snow reflecting the moonlight, and the house has extended lamp light, so the other party is not blind.

  Clang! Clang! Two crisp sounds, but it was two white-clothed men with spears who arrived first and took big steps forward, their long spears slanting out to cover the two knife-wielding friends.

  Their weapons were several feet longer than Qian Yu's nine-foot black spear, about one or two zhang in length. Qian Yu was pressed by their long weapons and quickly stabbed a few times at the crescent-shaped double-edged shield, his hands shook violently, the spear flowers scattered, and he hastily borrowed the force of the rebound to withdraw his spear.

  The two long halberd warriors on the other side are superior to Qin Yu in terms of strength alone.

  However, Qin Yu's Hundred Flowers Chaotic Gun Technique was a military secret transmission, limited to his current lowly strength, especially on foot, he couldn't fully display it, but the ingenious parts still weren't something these ordinary rascals could glimpse.

  In a flash of receiving the gun, the gun barrel bent and turned sideways with a pop, the black tip of the gun quivered with a rumble, and another gun flower floated out.

  Dong! Dong! Dong!

  The two short knives were held in tandem, covering each other, and just as they were about to take advantage of the situation to launch a surprise attack, Qin Yu's spear shot out, its black tip stabbing continuously, forcing them to exert great effort to parry and barely fend it off. Under the reflection of the knife light, both faces had turned as white as snow.

  Qin Yu took three steps back and dissipated the force of his opponent's counterattack.

  "Six consecutive hits! Good marksmanship!" The leader of the crowd shouted in praise, then suddenly roared, "Everyone, stop your hands!"

  Four halberdiers stood in front of Qin Yu, with long halberds on either side and a swordsman in the middle, one in front and one behind, forming an array that was quite flexible.

  Tan Yu couldn't find a weakness for the time being and temporarily retreated. His gun movements were like a spirit snake spitting out letters, floating and uncertain.

  In the distance, a long roar suddenly sounded, boom! boom! boom! The sound of heavy footsteps came, and a giant man, like a god descending to earth, strode over with the wind.

  He seemed to be walking quickly, but with each step covering more than two meters, and in just a few seconds, he had already rushed to the front.

  "Fourth brother, don't worry, I'm here!"

  Several men in white clothes wanted to intercept him, but he swung his steel spear and the swords and guns flew out of their hands, startling them into scattering.

  "That white-robed leader shouted: 'What kind of people are you? How dare you oppose me, the Huayang Fan clan?'"

  Bao rushed out and ran to the front, saw that Qian Yu was fine, and only then did he feel at ease. He didn't pay attention to the man's shouting, but instead quickly walked towards his own home, loudly calling: "Mother, I hope you weren't frightened!"

  Mrs. Bao's voice came out: "Mother is fine, thanks to Xiaoyu being here."

  Bao let out a sigh of relief, turned around, and stood shoulder to shoulder with Qin Yu.

  "Are you bastards tired of living, daring to come to my Bao Village to cause trouble, you bunch of long chicken egg-eating dog egg sons?"

  "Is it Bao Zhuang?" The leader in white was shocked. "Could it be the place where Wudang County's hero Bao has been hiding?"

  Bao emerged with a sideways glance, completely ignoring him.

  The man in white looked at Qin Yu first, then glanced over him disdainfully and turned to look at Bao Chu again. In a stern voice, he said, "You must be Bao Yi Shi?"

  "Even the local area hasn't been cleaned up yet, and you dare to come to our doorstep to commit murder? You're indeed a group of brainless bastards!"

  The white-clad leader glared at Tan Yun for a moment, then bowed to Bao: "I am Fan Jian of Huayang, brother of Fan Ren, the current magistrate of Huayang County. Tonight... was just a misunderstanding!"

  According to the laws of the Eastern Han, counties with a population of over 10,000 households were governed by a county magistrate (xiàn lìng) with a salary grade of 600-1,000 dan; those with fewer than 10,000 households were governed by a county chief (xiàn zhǎng) with a salary grade of 300-500 dan. As Huayang was a small county, its governor was called the County Chief.

  Tan Yu asked: "You hold knives and guns, silently killing generals and advancing, where does the misunderstanding come from?"

  Fan Jian waved his hand and his men hastily lowered their knives, guns, swords and halberds.

  "I'm acting on my elder brother's orders, I've come out to hunt. The day before yesterday, two of your guests hunted down a golden leopard, but it was taken away by the good men of your estate. My brothers were enraged and that's why they offended you just now. I don't want much, just have those two hand over the leopard's gallbladder and this matter will be settled. We'll leave immediately."

  "What?" Tian Yun was furious. Your family's door-to-door customers are already a mess, and you're still spouting such outrageous nonsense, it's amazing you can even open your mouth!

  "Second Master, Second Master, it's all over, it's all over... Third Master has been lured into the dense forest by a black-clad youngster and shot dead!" Several white-robed gate guards rushed in from afar, shouting as they ran.

  "What?" Fan Jian exclaimed.

  Tan Yu turned his head and looked at Bao Chu.

  "Big brother, what should we do?"

  Bao shot a cold glance at Fan Jian, his thick eyebrows furrowed, his murderous intent fully exposed, and said in a low voice: "Kill, not one will be left."

  Tan Yun's eyes flashed with determination, and she did just that.

  Don't listen to Fan Jian's sweet talk, this bunch of people are not what they seem, they came in the middle of the night with ill intentions from the very beginning. Now my younger brother has even killed their Third Young Master, and this feud is going to be big, there's no way to resolve it.

  Once an enemy, no room for sentiment.

  Bao suddenly let out a loud roar and strode forward, his steel spear thrusting out over a meter, its target the four-man knife-wielding group.

  He rushed over all the way, saw Tan Yu and the other party entangled for a long time, so as soon as he took action, he stabbed directly at the two with short knives.

  Both halberds emerge simultaneously, intending to block the steel spear.

  As their leader had not yet spoken, they did not dare to start a fight lightly, so they just made a slight interception.

  The fork was about to touch the ground when Bao suddenly made a "heng" sound, and with a turn of his hands, the originally vertical tines had turned horizontal, parallel to the ground.

  With a soft whooshing sound, the three-pronged spear had already pierced into the crescent moon-shaped double halberd.

  "Open!" Bao suddenly burst forth with divine power, and the two of them lifted their strength together.

  Those two big men were caught off guard, and under the sudden shock of the tiger's mouth, their twin halberds had already flown out of their hands and into mid-air.

  Bao's strength was far beyond Tan Yu's, even if they went all out, they might not be able to withstand this blow, let alone in such a hasty situation.

  At this moment, flying towards him was a faintly glowing, sharp black spearhead.

  "Ah!" A loud cry, on the chest of the big man on the left, a red mark appeared, quickly spreading across his chest.

  Bang! A crisp sound, the long knife hand held a gun, just let out a breath, but the abdomen suddenly hurt. Opening his eyes again, Qin Yu had already withdrawn the gun and said coldly: "What are you looking at?"

  At this time, the big man on the right who lost his long spear was slowly falling down, with two obvious forked eyes on his throat.

  The four brothers joined forces and struck a fatal blow, killing three of the Four Swords.

  The only remaining gatekeeper shouted "Heh heh" with his mouth, and the double knives in his hand were like snowflakes, wrapping around his head and brain, his feet jumping and stomping, chopping wildly, but not touching a single hair of Bao Chou's body, instead knocking down several of his own companions.

  This guy has gone crazy!

  Fan Jian's eyes turned red with rage: "You dare to launch a sneak attack on me, an old master?"

  "Everyone, listen... "

  Before his words had fallen, a bare and black short arrow shot over, and one arrow hit his brow.

  Fan Jian's eyes suddenly widened, and before he could finish his sentence, he fell to the ground with his eyes still open.

  Tan Yun saw that black and shiny arrow with a bare tail, shook his head slightly: "Young Master's Mountain Piercing Black Crossbow is getting more accurate."