19 - This tragic but honest hero (07)

Five days later, five hundred people wearing the disciple's clothing of Mingdao Shanzhuang passed through Weicheng, and went directly to Mingdao’s villa.

Although Ling Yi had been informed in advance that the second master's people would be coming, he never expected that the number would be so much greater than the remnants of Mingdao Shanzhuang.

Xie Chenyang looked at the crowds outside the villa and said softly: "Ah Jin, you are quite spoiled at home."

Ling Yi was at loss for words.

Master, shouldn't you be concerned about why they are dressed as disciples of Mingdao Shanzhuang, and why all of them are holding swords?

"(Subordinates) greet the second son and the second lady!"

Xie Chenyang: "..."

A faint smile appeared in Kui Jin's eyes: "In the future, you’ll be the disciples of the Mingdao Shanzhung. This is the master of Shanzhuang, Xi Yang, and I am the second master, Kui Jin."

"(Disciples) greet the master! Second master!"

Xie Chenyang patted Ling Yi on the shoulder: "Elder Wudao, Ling Yi."

Ling Yi was surprised: "Master."

Xie Chenyang: "Don't question my decision."

Ling Yi: "Yes."

He  suddenly felt extremely pressured.

His skills weren’t enough for the position of a wudao elder.

He’ll have to work harder.

"(Disciples) greet the Elder Wudao!"

Kui Jin knew the guard at the forefront: "Chang Lu, take them with you to cooperate with the elders in the trial and arrangement."

Chang Lu: "Yes!"

Handing the crowd over to Ling Yi, Kui Jin and Xie Chenyang returned to the yard.

Kui Jin said: "I didn't let them enter the city all at once, but they came up the mountain in the clothes of the disciples of Mingdao Shanzhuang."

Xie Chenyang: "Yes! I noticed."

"You don’t want to ask me about it?"

Xie Chenyang wondered what else could be said? It was so convenient!

But he didn't dare to speak directly, and tentatively asked: "Then why did you do it?"

"To shock the martial artists and Demon Gate," Kui Jin walked forward, his voice slightly cold, "those who originally thought that Mingdao Shanzhuang would not act rashly, should now understand our intent."

Xie Chenyang suddenly realized.

"Externally, you can claim that they are disciples who went down the mountain to gain experience, and they have acquired many disciples in their travels."

"Hmm!"

People who hear this will naturally not believe it.

Maybe they will have all kinds of speculations, for example, that they came from a secret branch of Mingdao Shanzhuang, and have now been recalled.

Sure enough, the people from all over the martial world who were still on the road received the news.

They were secretly frightened and accelerated their journey.

The formation left by Baihe Valley outside the villa had already been withdrawn when Xie Chenyang and Ruan Zhou ‘dismissed their engagement’.

The five hundred guards quickly merged into Mingdao Shanzhuang as if they were originally disciples of the famous sword villa.

And people from other sects had also begun to arrive.

People from the Second Princess’ Estate contributed money and labour, and so the people from other sects were very well received. It was impossible to tell that Mingdao Shanzhuang had been almost destroyed by the Demon Gate.

But the dense tombstones at the back of the mountain were not fake either.

It can only be said that Mingdao Shanzhuang was worthy of being the no. 1 sect in the martial arts world.

After all the people who were invited had arrived, they started a formal gathering in the spacious martial arts field.

Kui Jin followed Xie Chenyang to the martial arts training ground, and said softly: "Don't worry, the five hundred guards my mother chose are all skilled swordsmen and won't reveal anything."

Xie Chenyang: "Okay!"

At the gathering.

As soon as they arrived, among the major factions, the fort lord of Lieyang Fort was the first to step forward.

"What are Mingdao Shanzhuang's intentions? Do you wish to unite the imperial court!"

Xie Chenyang: "?"

Kui Jin: "..." His face hurt a little.

Xie Chenyang sat in the main seat with Kui Jin, his eyes raised openly: "How is this possible? Wulin and the imperial court have always kept their matters separate. Why would my Mingdao Shanzhuang want to unite with the court?"

The lord of Lieyang Fort pointed straight at Chang Lu, who was guarding a short distance away: "That person is Chang Lu, the deputy commander of the Capital Guards! Don't think this old man won’t recognize him!"

Xie Chenyang: "..." Oh no.

The lord of Lieyang Fortress said angrily: "This old man just went to the capital to meet up with friends last month. He happened to see the deputy commander picking up people on the street, the memory is still fresh."

Chang Lu's eyes seemed to look around inadvertently, he was too obvious.

Oh, come to think of it, he happened to have met a disciple of Lieyang Fort.

Xie Chenyang said impatiently: "He is indeed Chang Lu, but he is now Chang Lu, a disciple of Mingdao Shanzhuang. What we are discussing today is the attack on the Demon Gate. Everything else will not be discussed for the time being."

"Don't discuss it? He’s commander of the imperial court guard, and you’re saying that he is a disciple of Mingdao Shanzhuang?”

The lord of Lieyang Fort's beard puffed up, "Let’s not discuss attacking Demon Gate, what the old man wants to know most now is whether Mingdao Shanzhuang has been recruited by the imperial court and is ready to overturn the martial arts world!"

As soon as he said this, the leaders of other schools also looked at Xie Chenyang.

Obviously, they all held some concerns.

Kui Jin was about to speak when Xie Chenyang laughed out loud.

"You people, what can I say," Xie Chenyang smiled, but his eyes were full of sarcasm. "My Mingdao Shanzhuang has accepted a disciple who once served for the court, why not?"

Lord Lieyang Fort: "You..."

Xie Chenyang interrupted him: "The first valley lord of Baihe Valley used to be a general of the imperial court, the current Venerable Master of Fo'an Temple was the first prime minister of the imperial court, and the five disciples of the third elder of Chishui Sect were once prefects... I’ll stop there and just ask you, from each of your big sects, have you really not recruited anyone related to the court!”

Kui Jin: "..." Don't make some people even more suspicious.

Sure enough, someone exclaimed: "Could it be... the court is cutting into the martial arts world in this way?"

"Come on, you should pay more attention to Demon Gate than the imperial court. The court's heart is not that small. They will not go to such lengths. They look at the world and are too busy conquering other countries and developing their land. Where is time to cut into the martial arts world."

“……”

Xie Chenyang squeezed a grape and stuffed it into his mouth: "Don't stir things up by spreading rumours. If the imperial court really wanted to do anything, it wouldn't have let us martial artists develop for so many years. It is Demon Gate who’s appetite is big, they dare to attack Mingdao Shanzhuang, they’ll dare to attack you."

The lord of Lieyang Fort stared at Chang Lu closely.

Chang Lu didn’t squint, as if he was really just an ordinary guard disciple.

Lord of Lieyang Fort: "That's not necessarily true."

"Not necessarily?" Xie Chen joked. "The demon sect obviously wants to subvert the righteous way of martial arts. Tell me, why do you think they set their first goal as Mingdao Shanzhung?”

Some people thought about it, some people didn't.

Xie Chenyang told them the answer: "Most of your weapons come from Mingdao Shanzhuang, right?"

Everyone went silent.

"Yes, even though we have no mine, and there are many blacksmith shops that can make weapons, you ask yourself, besides Mingdao, where can you find good quality and efficient weapons?"

Mingdao Shanzhuang was a foundry.

They made a name for themselves.

It wasn’t because of their outstanding sword skills, but because they trained famous sword craftsmen.

And from their villa many magic weapons had been made.

The sword forging technique was created by Xi Yang's great-grandfather and had been improved by future generations.

Mingdao Shanzhuang had unique casting skills, initially only casting swords, but later all kinds of weapons were created, and all were equally exquisite.

The other parties compared the market, and finally they all got weapons from Mingdao Shanzhuang.

Today, most of the weapons of other schools are supplied by Mingdao Shanzhuang.

The Palace Master of Ziyan Mansion, who only accepted female disciples, said: "Master Xi means that the Demon Sect wanted to cut off the weapon supply of the righteous martial arts sects, and then gradually attack the other sects, so eventually our supplies would be exhausted?"

Xie Chenyang nodded: "That's what I meant."

She thoughtfully said: "If there is no Mingdao Shanzhuang, our weapons cannot be replenished. We’d have to look for weapons dealers again, and the weapons made by those weapons dealers may not be as good as Mingdao Shanzhuang’s..."

Xie Chenyang: "We still have more than a dozen swordsmiths who were taken away by Demon Gate."

In the original plot, those masters bore the humiliation of the remaining twenty-one captive disciples of Mingdao Shanzhuang, and worked for Demon Gate.

Xie Chenyang was impatient to move the discussion along and said directly: "I’m going to attack Demon Gate next month. You can discuss it. If you are willing to form an alliance, you can form an alliance. If you don't want to, you can leave at any time. Of course, if you don't want to leave and want to continue gathering in the villa, you can stay. We welcome children, too."

He paused, "However, you have to pay for food and accommodation."

Seeing him get up and lead Kui Jin to leave, a voice sounded abruptly: "Master Xi made a good calculation! Demon Gate has just fought against Mingdao Shanzhuang and their strength must be greatly reduced. There is still some time where the demon sect will not be able to launch an offensive against any other sect. Mingdao Shanzhuang clearly wants to use us to take revenge!"

Xie Chenyang rushed over and kicked him to the ground, stomping heavily on his chest.

The man was wearing Lieyang Fort's uniform and said unbending: "The master is so riled up, is it because I was correct! What are these words of extermination, guarding the way, and purging the spirit of the martial arts! You simply want other sects to be pawns and avenge those who died in Shanzhuang!"

The lord of Lieyang Fort slapped his palm on the table: "Presumptuous!"

Xie Chenyang stomped his feet and said with a smile: "Have you heard that you are presumptuous."

The man spat blood and said firmly: "You are threatening us with weapons. If we don't want to attack the demon sect with you, Mingdao Shanzhuang will never provide us with weapons again!"

The lord of Lieyang Fort stared at Xie Chenyang with gloomy eyes: "I'm talking about you Xi Yang, presumptuous! How dare you insult my disciple face to face!"

The disciples of Lieyang Fort behind him also glared.

Xie Chenyang turned his head and his eyes were fierce: "Are you sure he is a disciple of Lieyang Fort?"

Lord of Lieyang Castle: "Let him go!"

"Since when is Lieyang Fort and Demon Gate the same sect?"

"Children shouldn’t speak nonsense!

Xie Chenyang removed his foot and quickly drew his sword and cut off the hand of the man on the ground.

"Ah——"

A miserable scream sounded.

Everyone looked at Xie Chenyang in horror.

"This man is in league with the demon sect, he is the spy Wei Wenbin of Demon Gate who caused the tragic death of hundreds of people in Mingdao Shanzhuang," Xie Chenyang pointed the tip of the knife to the man's neck on the ground, "Does Lieyang Fort really want to recognize him as a disciple?"

Wei Wenbin was shocked and bewildered.

How did he recognize him!

The lord of Lieyang Fort choked and looked back at his apprentices.

The apprentices were also shocked and stepped forward to take a look: "I don't recognise this man, someone else come and have a look."

Lieyang Fort disciples stepped forward in turn, and they all said they didn't know him.

Xie Chenyang laughed: "Just now you kept saying that it was a disciple of Lieyang Fort, yet now you don't know him?"

The Lord of Lieyang Fort's face went dark, he couldn't say anything to refute.

Wei Wenbin knew that the jig was up, and said weakly: "Ah Yang... so you can still recognize me, don't you...uh——"

Xie Chenyang scratched his neck: "Who are you looking down on? You just changed your skin colour with drugs, changed your eyebrows, and dotted some spots, do you think a leopard can change his spots? Ling Yi."

Ling Yi quickly stepped forward, suppressing his resentment: "Master."

"Do you recognize him?"

Ling Yi said solemnly: "They all look the same when they turn into ashes."

"Take him away, don't let him die too easily."

"Yes!"

Ling Yi smashed Wei Wenbin's dantian, grabbed one of his feet and dragged him out.

Wei Wenbin was so dizzy with pain that he couldn’t form any resistance.

Xie Chenyang turned his head and looked at the people who were still in various stages of shock, and said annoyed: "Regarding the attack on Demon Gate, there’s no need to negotiate. You can all go back as soon as possible, don’t think about it, don’t debate it. If you’re still here tomorrow, I’m charging you for food and boarding."

The author has something to say:
Thank you for your support~
I am still a little tender and immature, I hope you understand.
I will definitely improve!
muah.