"Bentai, I'm really happy to have you back. Where have you been all these years?"
A third-grade official with a peacock on his official robe had a smile on his face, but his eyes were filled with distress. He opened his arms to hug a young man and said softly.
"Uncle Si!"
Tan Bentai's eyes were slightly moist. Looking at the old man in front of him who had saved his life, the strength in his heart over the years burst at this moment, and the sadness that had been hidden in his heart for a long time surged out, but he managed to restrain himself. Emotionally, his eyes were slightly red but no tears were shed.
"Okay! Okay! Okay! Let Uncle Si take a good look at you when you grow up! You are taller and stronger. Are you feeling better? The illnesses you had when you were young..."
Tan Bentai said with a smile:
"Over the years, I have been studying under a master. I have practiced martial arts, and my illness has naturally healed."
Si Bangshi patted Tan Bentai on the shoulder repeatedly and nodded.
"I received news from my hometown that you have returned, and I have been looking forward to your coming to the imperial capital. Now that the old thief Tan Ruqian has fallen, you can take advantage of this time to revive the Tan family!"
Tan Bentai helped Si Bangshi, who was not very old, back to his seat. He first took two steps back, then bowed deeply and said:
"I returned to my hometown in Zhejiang two months ago and gathered the Tan clan members together. Then I came to the imperial capital. I originally wanted to ask Uncle Si to reverse the case of the Tan clan for me, but I didn't expect that Uncle Si kept thinking about my family.
As soon as I arrived in the imperial capital, I heard that the Metropolitan Procuratorate had accused Tan Ruqian of accepting bribes. Tan Ruqian, an old thief, was beheaded by the emperor's order, and his followers were all scattered.
Tan Bentai was deeply favored by Uncle Si. He dare not say that he would be a cow or a horse in this life, but if Tan Bentai could do anything, he would never give up! "
Si Bangshi stood up hurriedly, helped Tan Bentai, who had been bowing several times, to his feet, and said repeatedly:
"I didn't do this, it was the right deputy imperial censor Ao Changshen who got away with it. I... at most I only added fuel to the flames and played a small role!"
Tan Bentai straightened up with some confusion. He had always thought that it was his uncle Si, a family friend, who had betrayed Tan Rugan.
Seeing the confusion in his eyes, Si Bangshi explained it to him in detail. However, because he only had a partial understanding of the matter, he made many assumptions on his own.
"Even so, Uncle Si did his best. Even though it was Tan Ruqian who sought his own death, I finally got an explanation for my family's feud.
Uncle Si, now I have some martial arts skills. If anything happens, Uncle Si just ask! "
Si Bangshi thought for a while and said: "As you said, Bentai, I really need your help with something. Perhaps with this matter, Tan Jia can recover faster!"
Tan Bentai's eyes lit up when he heard this. That day, when Senior Brother Yan Chun asked him what he wanted to do, he blurted out that it was to revive the family business.
Brother Yan Chun directly approved the note without asking him what kind of family business he was trying to revive. Within the next two months, with the power of the secret investigation team, he quickly overturned some unjust cases against the Tan family and rescued many people who had been wrongly imprisoned. Tan family and reunited the Tan clan.
But if you want to truly turn the Tan clan around, you still have to overturn an old case from more than ten years ago.
Tan Bentai's father was originally a magistrate in Zhejiang, and the Tan family was also a wealthy family. But later he was framed, and his father was directly convicted and imprisoned. Not long after, news came out that he committed suicide out of fear of crime.
The Tan clan declined rapidly in just one year. Many clan members with certain abilities were arrested or exiled, and the entire Tan clan fell apart in an instant.
The mastermind behind all this was Tan Ruqian, who was still his father's deputy and a mere magistrate.
After that, he rose through the ranks and became the right minister of the household department.
Tan Bentai has never forgotten this hatred over the years, but his mother's last instructions before her death were that she hoped that he could revive the Tan family, so he did not recklessly go to Beijing and assassinate Tan Ruqian.
Unexpectedly, things are unpredictable. When he was ready to come to the imperial capital, Tan Ruqian was convicted and imprisoned. What awaited him would be beheading in public, exile of three tribes, and confiscation of homes of nine tribes.
The revenge script he originally prepared ended early.
This caused him to not know whether to be happy or worried.
"Uncle Si, if you have anything you can tell me, if it can still help my Tan family rise, I will do my best!"
Seeing Tan Bentai's determined expression, Si Bangshi couldn't help but laugh and said:
"It's not a matter of life or death. Have you ever heard of the Zhengyang Martial Arts Competition?"
In the residence of the Marquis of Yan'an, the Marquis of Yan'an Lei Datong stood in his backyard, watching Lei Chuanchang fight with several guards in the martial arts arena. His face was stern, and there was no trace of happiness or anger.
Lei Chuanchang did not use his internal strength and relied entirely on his martial arts skills to deal with the enemy. His opponents were elite veterans who had truly returned from the battlefield. Their skills were not complicated and fancy, but were most practical and concise.
Lei Datong wanted to let Lei Chuanchang, a man who had never been on the battlefield, feel the atmosphere on the battlefield and learn the real killing technique.
Lei Datong looked down upon most of the martial arts techniques in the world, thinking they were too fancy, such as sword flowers, sword light, and body skills.
It only takes one move to kill, and one knife to kill.
How come there are so many twists and turns?
For the Zhengyang Wushu Competition two days later, Lei Datong's requirement for his son is to achieve the top three results.
In this martial arts competition, there were many strong men of the same level as Lei Chuanchang, including even the disciples of the chief instructor of the Forbidden Army.
The head coach is said to be the invincible opponent of the Grandmaster, and he has truly fought on the battlefield. His disciple has the highest reputation among all the contestants for winning the championship.
Faced with the kid trained by the head coach of the Forbidden Army, Lei Datong himself did not dare to say that he was sure that he could deal with it. Therefore, the first moment he learned the news, he relaxed his son's requirement to win the championship and reduced it to the top three.
Seeing that Lei Chuanchang was knocked out of position by the attacks of the two guards, Lei Datong immediately shouted:
"If you were on the battlefield, you would be dead by now!"
Lei Chuanchang gritted his teeth and withstood two attacks from the guards, finally blocking the decline and started to counterattack.
Even so, Lei Datong's eyes still showed no satisfaction, and he still looked at the competition on the field coldly.
"Lin Xian, did you see my swordsmanship clearly just now?"
In a corner of the Forbidden Army training ground, a middle-aged man wearing a blue training uniform was holding a branch he picked up from anywhere and was demonstrating sword moves to a young man.
This person is Zhu Yin, the chief instructor of the Forbidden Army.
Known as the number one master under the Grand Master, Junior Brother of Qin Guogong, etc., there are countless distinguished disciples who want to join his sect.
But Zhu Yin, who had not accepted a disciple for decades, suddenly announced two years ago that he had accepted an entry-level disciple. This person was still from a humble family, had no background, and was not even a member of the military.
No one knows where he found this young man, and this young man has never shown his cultivation.
Two years later, his disciples signed up to participate in the Zhengyang Martial Arts Competition, and everyone suddenly became interested.
The possible existence of strong men makes other contestants a little uneasy, but at the same time they are also a little yearning. Once they can compete with such masters, they may also benefit a lot, and since this person is participating, it means that the head coach will also participate. , at least if you can show your prominence in the game and be taken under the opponent's command, then you will complete your studies. Achievements are limitless.
However, Shansi Zhengxiao, who had some connection with Liu Xing, was not in the imperial capital at this time.
They are all training somewhere. The person responsible for training them is Shansi's second brother.
In Emperor Wu's city, the martial arts competition in Zhengyang, the imperial capital, is about to begin.
There were actually many people in Emperor Wu's city getting ready to go to the imperial capital to participate in the competition.
This privilege was a gift that Shangguan Ba personally requested from the emperor after he became a marquis.
There are 20 places for competition in Emperor Wu City every time, and Shangguan Hu, the eldest son of Shangguan Ba, won the first place in a Zhengyang match.
He is now a third-grade general commanding the affairs of Zhongzhou Capital.
Sitting in this position at the age of 28 is also rare in history. His future achievements are limitless, and he may even be expected to succeed Qin Guogong.
Of course, this all happened a long time ago, including the three disciples of Shangguan Ba, who all achieved certain rankings in Zhengyang Incomparable.
And every time, they were among the top three, and the 20 participating places in Emperor Wu City also greatly stimulated the other contestants.
Martial Emperor City has countless secret books and top-level techniques, and the disciples in Martial Emperor City have a wide range of knowledge.
And everyone practices according to their own characteristics. It can be said that Emperor Wu City covers almost the entire world.
In other words, Emperor Wu City can be regarded as a microcosm of the world.
At this time, two people were kneeling in the room of Shangguan Dao, the acting city lord of Emperor Wu City.
The two people had almost crazy smiles on their faces because they saw their master who respected them as gods.
Shangguan Dao looked at these two people and said coldly:
"I don't need you to get any ranking in this Zhengyang martial arts competition, but for the ten people on the list, you must try your best to seriously injure or even kill them."
A piece of paper fell lightly into the hands of the two people, and they looked at it side by side.
There are several names written on it: Rong Danzi, Sun Yunshi, Xu Cheng, Luo Bei, Dan Si, Wei Zongquan, Hu Gengchen, Lei Chuanchang, Huang Linxian, Liu Xin.
These ten people are the ten people with the best chance of winning in this Zhengyang martial arts competition, but nine of them are familiar to them, but Liu Xin has never heard of them.
The two of them turned their attention to Shangguan Road.
Seeing the doubts in their eyes, Shangguan Dao did not give an explanation. He just said lightly:
"Among these ten people, there are two that need the most attention. One is Huang Linxian, a disciple of the chief instructor of the Forbidden Army. The teachings of that first person under the Grand Master are definitely not ordinary people. You must be careful.
Of course, if you meet him, I can allow you to use the power I have given you. Likewise, you can do the same if you meet another person. "
"Master, who is the other person?"
One of the two spoke carefully, his tone full of respect and adoration.
Shangguan Dao said calmly:
"Liu Xin."
Liu Xin?
Who is he?
Although the two were confused, they did not continue to speak because they knew that their master did not like his men to talk too much, especially after he gave the answer. If they continued to ask questions, they would only cause the other party's displeasure.
"I know you are guessing who this person is. If you know too much, it will only make him aware of it in advance, which is worse than you not knowing at all. In short, as long as you meet these two people, I will allow you to use the gift I have given you. Use your strength to kill them at all costs.”
"Yes! I obey my orders!" The two men answered respectfully, lying on their stomachs on the ground.
“By the way, this Zhengyang martial arts competition has many people with strong family backgrounds participating, and perhaps they have some relatively powerful weapons.
I will open the arsenal later and let you go in and choose. Each of you can get a set of imperial-level weapons and equipment to choose from, based on what you are good at. "
As soon as these words came out, the two of them were excited at the same time and couldn't help but look at each other.
Ever since they joined Shangguan Dao, what they have been longing for is more powerful secret techniques and more powerful weapons.
These two things are the most attractive things for warriors.
"Go!"
Soon after the two people left, another person came to the door of Shangguan Road and said respectfully:
"City Lord, a letter from Mo Zhi, the leader of Wuhou!"
Shangguan Dao opened his eyes, a cold light appeared in them.
In the affairs of Emperor Wu City, he, the acting city lord, is in charge of general affairs.
The key things involved, such as the Bafu Sect and Wuhou, are all in the hands of Cheng Biyu.
And he only relied on the help of the previous city lord Shangguan Yu.
"Old man, my own son doesn't help, but helps outsiders. It's very good. Jiejiejiejie..."
Hearing the strange laughter coming from the room, the man who came to deliver the message at the door turned pale, and his legs couldn't help but tremble.
In a slum outside the imperial capital of Zhengyang, the wandering Taoist priest He Gan's face turned slightly pale. There is a scar on his right shoulder, which was caused by Liu Licheng that day.
He never expected that Liu Licheng could give him a heavy blow at the last moment. What made him even more puzzled was that Liu Licheng actually broke through in the face of the battle under such circumstances!
Although Liu Licheng's injuries were enough for him to die two or three times. But the wandering Taoist priest He Gan still felt that he couldn't swallow this breath.
Originally, with his cultivation level, he could win successfully even if he faced Liu Licheng one-on-one. But he didn't expect to end up like this.
This made him frightened and angry, and even more so, He Gan's name might have been exposed, so he had ordered several of his confidants, the few people in the White Lotus Sect who knew his real name, to keep an eye on him. Other congregants.
If the current situation didn't allow it, he should have killed everyone directly!
When he received the news that Liu Licheng had been rescued and was not dead, a member of the congregation who was delivering the news was directly slapped on the Tianling Cap by him!
This news was bought at a high price from Jin Yiwei.
This Liu Licheng may have practiced the legendary Qi-holding technique, the Turtle Shrinking Kung Fu, or something like that. Who knows if among the many techniques and secrets collected in Emperor Wu City, there is something similar that could have saved his life at the last moment.
There were rumors in the world of similar techniques, and it was even said that even fatal injuries could be repaired. And such near-death injuries are not to mention.
Everything made the wandering Taoist Gan Ning feel that the Holy Mother of White Lotus had forgotten to take care of him after this trip.
Just when he was secretly annoyed and unable to enter a state of trance, there were footsteps at the door.
The coming person has a very strong aura. There is no such person among the White Lotus sect under his command!
The wandering Taoist priest He Gan immediately opened his eyes, put the whisk in his hand, and held the wooden sword behind his back close to his shoulder.
That day, Liu Licheng finally fought his way out and threw the fly whisk and [Peach Wood Sword] in another direction. The wandering Taoist priest He Gan didn't want to push too hard, so he let him go.
It was originally expected that he would die, but unexpectedly, he survived!
Taoist You Fang narrowed his eyes and stared closely at the wooden door.
Not long after, the man outside the wooden door stood still, knocked lightly a few times, and said at the same time:
"He Gan, it's me!"
The wandering Taoist priest He Gan's eyes lit up and he immediately said:
"How did you come?"
The moment Taoist Youfang responded, the door was pushed open.
A man of evil deeds strode in.
This man's name is Zhang Tu, and like the wandering Taoist priest He Gan, he is one of the four guardian missionaries of the White Lotus Sect.
But unlike him, this person should have been in the south. How could he suddenly come here?
"I heard that the rules of this Zhengyang martial arts competition have changed. We have received instructions from the leader. In addition to Lao Ba, Qing Chen is also on the way.
At that time, if our three guardian missionaries take action at the same time, are we afraid that we will not be able to complete the mission of the leader? "
The Taoist priest You Fang was shocked when he heard this and said
"The three guardian missionaries took action at the same time, just to kill those two people?"
Zhang Tu sneered and said:
"Of course it can't be that simple. When we got the order, before you took action, the leader might not have thought that you would fail!
Forget it, we are here anyway, so we can help you solve your task.
How could the leader act so simply? According to our insider knowledge in the court.
It seemed that the Dog Emperor was about to take action against Liangshan, so Liangshan asked someone to persuade the leader.
We are ordered to assist the people in Liangshan and take advantage of the battle between Shengzong and Emperor Wu City, or wait until the Zhengyang Martial Competition at the latest, to kill the dog officers who want to attack Liangshan.
Of course, except that Liangshan will send people to take action together. All the major demonic forces, except the evil sect, will probably take action! "
The wandering Taoist priest He Gan was once again shocked that so many people from the demonic path took action at the same time.
It must not only be for Liangshan, the people in Liangshan are poor, tough, and have bad tempers. How could they control so many people who are of the same mind?
"But that's not right. We are more than enough to deal with thousands of royal guards like Liu Licheng, but if we face the top master of Zhengyang like Tuoba Yunhan, even if all four of our guardian missionaries are here, we can't do anything to him. At best, he can only be regarded as Deliver food!”
Zhang Tu nodded and sneered:
"You're not too stupid, the leader said, this time we just need to complete our mission.
As for the true purpose of the leader's action this time, it will be carried out by the guardian venerable himself. "
"The old man wants to take action himself. Could it be that the person he wants to kill is the emperor?" He Gan, a wandering Taoist priest, guessed.
"I don't know about this. The leader didn't tell me, so it's hard for us to ask." Zhang Tu shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.
