bookcurios Chapter 274 Seemingly the Past
Chapter 274 Seemingly the Past
A free and easy person?
Gao Xingchen and Nan Li were both stunned when they heard the disciple's report. When did such a person appear in the martial arts world?
"Let him in." Although Gao Xingchen was confused, his intuition told him that this uninvited guest might be related to the current predicament.
Soon, an old man in coarse linen clothes, with a wine gourd hanging from his waist, and a head full of silver hair but looking energetic, stepped into the meeting hall of Xingchen Pavilion. He looked around with sharp eyes, then walked straight to Gao Xingchen and said with a heroic smile, "Are you the Pavilion Master of Xingchen Pavilion, Gao Xingchen? I am Xiaoyao Sanren, and I have come to lend you a hand!"
Before Gao Xingchen opened his mouth, Li Fushang, who was standing beside him, could no longer hold back his excitement and stepped forward to ask, "Senior, are you considering..."
Xiaoyao Sanren waved his hand, interrupting Li Fushang's words, and said loudly: "I came here this time because I can't stand people secretly doing evil and bullying the minority with their numbers!" After that, he took out an ancient token from his arms and threw it to Gao Xingchen, "This is a token of my Xiaoyao Valley, you take it, if anyone dares to attack again, just show this token, and I will make sure they never return!"
Gao Xingchen took the token, and the heavy touch warmed his heart. He took a deep breath and bowed deeply to Xiaoyao Sanren: "Thank you for your help, senior. I am very grateful!"
With the joining of Xiaoyao Sanren, the morale of Xingchen Pavilion was greatly boosted. Xiaoyao Sanren brought not only strong strength, but also the confidence to fight against strong enemies. He taught Xiaoyao Valley's unique skills to the disciples, and under his guidance, the martial arts of Xingchen Pavilion's disciples made rapid progress.
A few days later, the mysterious forces attacked again. This time, they gathered a more powerful force than last time and vowed to raze the Star Pavilion to the ground. However, what they never expected was that what was waiting for them was the well-prepared and high-spirited people of the Star Pavilion.
The battle horn sounded, and the shouts of killing shook the earth. Gao Xingchen, holding a long sword, led the way, rushing into the enemy camp like a tiger descending from the mountain. In the flash of the sword, he had killed several people. Nan Li was light and graceful, shuttling across the battlefield like a ghost, and every time he attacked, he took a life. Xiaoyao Sanren was like a god of war, waving his long stick tightly, and enemies fell down wherever he passed.
With everyone fighting hard, the mysterious force was defeated step by step, and finally was completely defeated and fled in panic.
Looking at the devastated battlefield, Gao Xingchen and Nan Li stood side by side, but there was no joy on their faces.
"Although we won this time, things may not be that simple." Gao Xingchen frowned and said in a deep voice.
Nan Li nodded, a cold light flashed in his eyes, "It seems that their goal is not to destroy the Xingchen Pavilion, but to have other intentions."
"That's right." Gao Xingchen pondered for a moment and ordered, "Master Zhao, take your men to clean up the battlefield and search carefully to see if you can find any clues."
"Yes, Pavilion Master!" Hall Master Zhao took the order and left.
Gao Xingchen and Nan Li looked at each other, and both had an uneasy feeling in their hearts. In this battle, it seemed that Xingchen Pavilion had won, but they both knew that this was just the calm before the storm. The real challenge had just begun...
As the night deepened, Hall Master Zhao hurried over, holding a piece of bloodstained cloth in his hand, and said solemnly: "Master, look at this..."
As night fell, the lights in the Xingchen Pavilion lit up, bringing a touch of warmth to this land that had just experienced blood and rain. Gao Xingchen and Nan Li stood by the window of the meeting room, looking into the distance, their hearts filled with worry.
"Tell me, who are they? Why are they targeting our Xingchen Pavilion?" Nan Li asked softly, with a hint of confusion in her tone.
Gao Xingchen shook his head. He couldn't figure it out either. "Our Xingchen Pavilion was established not long ago. We shouldn't have offended any big forces."
At this moment, Hall Master Zhao came hurriedly, holding a piece of bloodstained cloth tightly in his hand, his face solemn.
"Master, look at this..." Hall Master Zhao handed the cloth to Gao Xingchen.
Gao Xingchen unfolded the cloth and saw a strange pattern painted on it with bright red blood. It looked like some kind of totem, or some kind of text, and it exuded a strange aura.
"What is this?" Nanli took a closer look, but couldn't recognize the origin of the pattern.
"I found this in the arms of a corpse." Master Zhao explained, "Judging from the way this man is dressed, he is not an ordinary lackey. He is most likely one of the leaders of that mysterious force."
Gao Xingchen frowned and looked carefully at the pattern on the cloth, trying to find some clues from it.
At the same time, Fairy Zhou was traveling through various towns and villages, and with her excellent eloquence and the reputation of the Star Pavilion, she recruited many aspiring people to join the Star Pavilion, which not only quickly replenished the losses in the battle, but also injected fresh blood into the Star Pavilion.
"Although the Star Pavilion has experienced hardships, we will not be defeated! We will become stronger!" Fairy Zhou's passionate words ignited the fire of hope in people's hearts and made the Star Pavilion more united.
However, the cloth in Gao Xingchen's hand was like a heavy stone, pressing on his heart, foreshadowing the coming of a bigger storm. He knew that this was just the beginning, and the real enemy was still hiding in the dark, waiting for the opportunity to strike again.
Gao Xingchen repeatedly stroked the pattern on the cloth, and a chill ran from his fingertips to his heart. The pattern was indescribably strange, as if it was a curse from ancient times, which made him uneasy.
"I seem to have seen this pattern somewhere before..." Nanli frowned slightly, trying hard to search for related memory fragments in her mind.
"Have you seen it?" Gao Xingchen's eyes lit up and he asked anxiously.
"Hmm..." Nan Li pondered for a moment, "I once saw a similar pattern in an ancient book. It seemed to be related to an ancient sect, but I can't remember which sect it was..."
"Ancient sect..." Gao Xingchen muttered to himself, feeling increasingly uneasy. If this mysterious force was really related to the ancient sect, then their purpose might be far more complicated and dangerous than imagined.
"I'll check it out right now!" Nan Li made a prompt decision and turned to leave.
"Wait," Gao Xingchen stopped her, "This matter is very serious. It's too dangerous for you to go alone. I'll let Senior Xiaoyao go with you."
"Okay." Nan Li nodded. She knew that Gao Xingchen's worries were not unreasonable.
After Xiaoyao Sanren learned about this, he readily agreed to go with Nanli to investigate. With the help of Xiaoyao Valley's intelligence network throughout the world, they quickly found clues related to the pattern on the cloth.
"Sure enough..." Nan Li looked at the information in his hand with a serious expression, "This pattern is indeed the symbol of an ancient sect called 'Demon Sect'. It is said that this sect was wiped out by the imperial court hundreds of years ago. I didn't expect it to be resurrected..."
“The Heavenly Demon Sect…” Xiaoyao Sanren stroked his beard, a gleam of light flashing in his eyes, “I have heard that the Heavenly Demon Sect believes in evil gods, practices evil martial arts, and does all kinds of evil. In order to wipe them out, the imperial court paid a heavy price…”
"More importantly," Nan Li continued, "according to the intelligence we have obtained, the Heavenly Demon Cult's comeback this time seems to have received the support of a certain important figure in the court. Their activities are not limited to the martial arts world, but have even infiltrated the court..."
"What?!" Gao Xingchen was shocked when he heard this, "In the court? Who dares to seek favors from the tiger and collude with the Heavenly Demon Sect?!"
"It's not clear yet," Nan Li shook her head, "but what is certain is that this person's status is definitely not low, otherwise it would be impossible for him to secretly control all this..."
Gao Xingchen's face was gloomy. He knew that this matter was beyond the ability of Xingchen Pavilion. If the mastermind hidden in the court could not be found out, then Xingchen Pavilion and even the entire martial arts world would never have peace.
"It seems that I have to go to the capital..." Gao Xingchen took a deep breath, with a determined light flashing in his eyes.
"Are you going to the capital?" Nanli and Xiaoyao Sanren asked in unison.
"Yes," Gao Xingchen nodded, "I will report this matter to the court and request that the court conduct a thorough investigation of this matter. We must not let the conspiracy of the Heavenly Demon Cult succeed!"
Gao Xingchen rushed to the capital overnight and informed the emperor of the resurgence of the Heavenly Demon Cult. Upon hearing this, the emperor was furious and immediately ordered a thorough investigation of the matter and dispatched elite troops to assist Xingchen Pavilion in destroying the Heavenly Demon Cult.
With the support of the imperial court, Gao Xingchen seemed to have received a shot of adrenaline. He united all the major sects and, with the help of Xiaoyao Sanren, formulated a careful plan to launch a thunderous attack on the Tianmo Sect. For a time, the martial arts world was in a state of panic, and fierce battles between the good and evil sects could be seen everywhere.
As the deputy leader of Xingchen Pavilion, Nan Li planned and led the disciples of Xingchen Pavilion to charge into battle, showing amazing strength. Hall Master Zhao led the elite disciples to go deep behind enemy lines and destroyed several strongholds of Tianmo Sect. Fairy Zhou provided great help to Xingchen Pavilion's actions with her excellent intelligence gathering ability.
With the joint efforts of Gao Xingchen, Nan Li and many other people in the martial arts world, the power of the Heavenly Demon Cult was gradually weakened and eventually forced to retreat to a hidden valley. Gao Xingchen led everyone to launch a final general attack on the remaining forces of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
The valley was filled with shouts of killing, and the flashes of swords and sabers intertwined into a web of death. Gao Xingchen, holding a long sword, was like an unmanned space, and every swing of the sword took away several lives. Nan Li's figure was ghostly, and the dagger in his hand flashed with cold light, harvesting the lives of the enemies.
In the end, this battle between good and evil that lasted for several months ended with the victory of Xingchen Pavilion. The leader of the Heavenly Demon Cult was beheaded by Gao Xingchen himself, and the rest of the followers were either killed or captured. The haze that shrouded the world of martial arts seemed to dissipate with this victory, and dawn came again.
At the celebration banquet after the battle, everyone gathered together to celebrate this hard-won victory. Gao Xingchen raised his glass and said to everyone: "This victory is thanks to everyone's concerted efforts. I toast to everyone!"
"Cheers!" Everyone drank it up in one gulp, their faces filled with the joy of victory.
"Xingchen, congratulations, you have won another beautiful victory." The ally walked up to Gao Xingchen and said with a smile.
"Thank you for the compliment, senior. This is all thanks to everyone." Gao Xingchen said modestly.
“However,” the ally’s face suddenly became serious, “Although we have won this time, we cannot let our guard down. There are still people behind the Heavenly Demon Cult who have not been caught, and they will definitely not give up.”
Gao Xingchen nodded, knowing that his ally was right. Although the situation seemed stable on the surface, the real battle had just begun, and they had to remain vigilant at all times to prevent a counterattack from the mysterious forces.
However, what Gao Xingchen didn't know was that danger had quietly arrived. At a meeting within the Xingchen Pavilion, Gao Xingchen keenly noticed that some confidential information about the future development direction and strategic deployment of the Xingchen Pavilion seemed to have been leaked...