Chapter Sixty-Four: Battle Royale of the Transmigrators (Part V)

Elder Wen had to admit that although he had suffered losses at Yun Zheng's hands multiple times over the years, this time, he had still underestimated his opponent.

Why was Yun Zheng able to guess that the Four Heroes of Shuixi possessed unimaginable power in this world?

Did Yun Zheng guess certain truths about this world right from the beginning?

Or was that elusive An Litong pulling strings behind the scenes?

(I indeed underestimated Yun Zheng, but Yun Zheng also underestimated us. The meticulously arranged death trap he set failed to kill any of us.)

(Moreover, with a layout of such importance, it is impossible for Yun Zheng not to command from nearby. As long as I find Yun Zheng, I can break his clever schemes with sheer force.)

Elder Wen cast a glance at Second Elder Wen.

Elder Wen possessed a steady and composed temperament, whereas Second Elder Wen was exceptionally frivolous. Their personalities were as different as day and night.

However, as twin brothers who grew up together and comrades-in-arms for many years, they shared an implicit understanding difficult for outsiders to comprehend.

Second Elder Wen quickly deciphered the meaning in Elder Wen's gaze: Capture the ringleader first.

Accompanied by a noisy commotion of footsteps, over a hundred miners rushed to the chaotic explosion site at the very first moment. Wielding iron shovels, they surrounded Cui Xuanliang tightly.

Cui Xuanliang's entire body was shredded and riddled with wounds by shrapnel. Fresh blood gushed and spurted continuously from his injuries, sliding down to converge into shocking streams of blood.

The miners found it unimaginable that a person could bleed so much at once. It was even more unimaginable that someone who had lost so much blood could still stand upright without falling.

He bled so profusely because an untold number of blood vessels had been severed by the shrapnel. At this moment, his body was like a sieve riddled with countless holes, and warm blood oozed out like tiny streams, gurgling continuously.

The reason he had not died after losing so much blood was because Cui Xuanliang possessed a special constitution; very often, even if he wished to die himself, it was not an easy feat to accomplish.

Cui Xuanliang began to pant heavily, every breath as weighty as pulling a massive bellows. Along with the sound of his breathing, the surrounding air seemed to tremble.

This bizarre and terrifying scene caused an indescribable dread to surge within the hearts of all the miners present. They exchanged glances, yet no one dared to take a single step forward.

Before long, Song Xiangling, who had hurried over upon hearing the sound of the explosion, arrived at the scene with dozens of Miao saber-wielding warriors. Looking at Cui Xuanliang, who was drenched in blood and surrounded by the crowd, Song Xiangling could not help but open his mouth slightly.

The Miao saber warriors brought by Song Xiangling wore six-paneled seamless cylindrical caps and red back-armor; they were remarkably a group of constables. In this Yunnan-Guizhou border region, the waist sabers used by constables were also vastly different from those in the Central Plains.

In this Lushui County territory, as the brother-in-law of the Lushui County Magistrate, Song Xiangling's official identity was that of the county's chief constable.

Arriving slightly later than Song Xiangling were Lin Dengwan and a bearded mine owner. The force they brought this time consisted not only of the crossbow team that had previously attacked the Four Beasts of Shuixi at the tavern entrance, but also several armored knights wielding three-to-four-meter-long lances as the vanguard.

The moment an armored knight caught sight of Cui Xuanliang, he abruptly accelerated, charging forward with unstoppable momentum. The long lance in his hand gleamed with a cold light, pointing straight at Cui Xuanliang as if intending to nail him to the ground.

The armored knight closed in relentlessly: one hundred paces, fifty paces, thirty paces, ten paces...

The armored knight moved with the speed of a violent tempest, the long lance in his grasp primed and ready to pierce Cui Xuanliang through in a single strike.

At that exact moment, Cui Xuanliang moved. With lightning speed, he thrust out his hand and with pinpoint accuracy grabbed the shaft of the hurtling long lance.

Immediately afterward, a surge of explosive force erupted from his waist, his muscles tensing as if containing thousands of catties of strength. He actually intended, by his own might, to yank this fiercely charging armored knight right off his speeding warhorse.

Song Xiangling could not help being appalled: What kind of terrifying divine strength was this?

Seeing that the armored knight was losing his balance and about to be violently dragged off his steed by Cui Xuanliang, Lin Dengwan's expression also shifted, and he instantly ordered the crossbow team to unleash a volley.

Arrows rained down, pouring toward Cui Xuanliang. This time, the arrows encountered no obstruction whatsoever, sinking into Cui Xuanliang's body one after another and quickly turning him into a human hedgehog.

(Is it over?)

Everyone thought to themselves silently.

Naturally, it was not.

Drenched in blood from head to toe and bristling with arrows, Cui Xuanliang acted as though he felt no pain whatsoever; his movements were not delayed in the slightest by the external attacks. With a sudden burst of effort, an irresistible force erupted from within his body, and he actually managed to violently drag the armored knight right off his galloping mount.

The knight traced a parabolic arc through the air and crashed heavily onto the ground, accompanied by a muffled thud and a cloud of rising dust.

When the dust settled, the knight lay limp on the ground like a boneless creature, unable to move at all.

Song Xiangling stared in utter astonishment.

The bearded mine owner's expression was also incomparably gloomy. Clearly, aside from the vast expenditure of manpower and material resources required to cultivate such an armored knight, those who could become armored knights were core miners to begin with—this was the most precious resource of all.

Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, the remaining five armored knights launched a mass charge toward崔 Xuanliang like a surging, angry tide.

Elder Wen suddenly felt a premonition and looked ahead, only to see a figure standing proudly, clad in the official uniform of a third-rank military officer of the Great Ming, holding a Seven-Star treasured saber.

As the poem goes: Heavy bones and a cold spirit make a vessel of the heavenly temple; a solitary figure roars proudly against ten thousand miles of frost.

It was Yun Zheng!

Elder Wen's heart began to beat wildly: As long as Yun Zheng is killed, not only can this mystic realm be successfully completed, but a formidable enemy in this world can be permanently eliminated from this day forward!

Second Elder Wen also noticed Yun Zheng's presence. He exchanged a glance with Elder Wen, conveying the meaning: "Even a lion uses all its strength to hunt a rabbit, let alone dispensing with martial virtue when dealing with the fellow surnamed Yun. This time, let's charge together side by side!"

At the same time, the remaining five knights had also rushed to the vicinity of Cui Xuanliang. Five long lances, like five enraged dragons, sealed off all room for maneuver from every direction.

Cui Xuanliang simply flattened his body onto the ground, and the arrows embedded within his body were snapped clean by an invisible force, leaving only the arrowheads lodged inside.

Propelled as if hoisted into mid-air by an invisible power, he soared upward while lying supine, directly dodging the converging thrusts of the five long lances. Gliding smoothly past the horses' heads, he lashed out with both feet, kicking one of the knights right out of his saddle.

This was a full exertion of force originating from his waist, back, and legs, colliding with the ground to generate a recoil force, followed by a mid-air horizontal shift.

In reality, Cui Xuanliang possessed neither such formidable vitality and resilience, nor could he execute such a maneuver.

Although his body remained a bloody mess, the wounds all over Cui Xuanliang rapidly stopped bleeding. With a spin in the saddle, he mounted a tall steed and galloped away, while the unseated knight was trampled in the chest by his own warhorse, his breastplate caved in, his ribs shattered, and blood gushing from his mouth as he died on the spot!

The Wen brothers pursued furiously.

The bearded mine owner and Song Xiangling looked at each other, both somewhat dumbfounded.

Song Xiangling had intended to order the constables to launch a joint flanking attack, but Cui Xuanliang had actually seized a horse and fled.

Mine Manager Lin Dengwan, however, revealed a wicked smile and waved his hand. From goodness knows where, the miners under his command produced a batch of matchlock guns, squatting down to fire in unison on the spot.

Song Xiangling immediately cried out in astonishment: "Old Lin, your mine is simply too full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers!"

Tongues of fire spat from the long barrels, and lead bullets roared out in a dense rain, striking directly at the rump and legs of the runaway horse. The tall steed seized by Cui Xuanliang instantly buckled in pain, dumping Cui Xuanliang unceremoniously onto the ground.

Cui Xuanliang also took a couple of bullets in his back and buttocks.

Those previous arrows had all been resisted by his hard Qigong and prevented from penetrating deeply, resulting in nothing more than non-fatal flesh wounds. However, the impact force of lead bullets far exceeded that of sharp arrows, driving directly into his spine and hip bones. The pain was so intense that even the ordinarily fierce and intrepid Cui Xuanliang could not help grimacing, his entire body draining of strength as Second Elder Wen grabbed and embraced him tightly.

Yun Zheng walked leisurely toward the group, his expression completely normal as he said, "Several old friends, long time no see. Those wronged souls who died unjustly at your hands have been entrusting this general to track you all down for many years."