Chapter 1013 Hidden Deep (I)

On the fourth day of May, the sky was just beginning to daybreak.

A carriage, riding in the cool morning breeze and stepping on the crystal morning dew, quickly shuttled through the foggy streets of Luoyang, and in the blink of an eye, sped out of the city and rushed to the banks of the Luo River.

"Shut up!"

Half an hour later, accompanied by a shout, the carriage slowly stopped on the grass about a hundred steps away from the Luo River.

Not far away, there was also a carriage parked. Two people stood beside the carriage, one tall and one short, very eye-catching. Looking at their bored and lazy appearance, it seemed that they had been waiting for a long time.

"Holy Lord, the person who made an appointment with you...seems to have arrived."

The driver was a burly, dark-faced man with a face full of flesh. After tightening the reins, he waved to the inside of the carriage without looking back, then jumped off the carriage holding a copper hammer. His vicious eyes looked up and down at the two people not far away with ill intent, and from time to time he stretched out his scarlet tongue to lick his cracked lips, with a bloodthirsty grin at the corner of his mouth.

This person is none other than Shao Yuanqing, the "Evil Tiger of the South Mountain", one of the four Dharma protectors of Longxiang Mountain.

Yun Zhuiyue is the only one in the world who can be called "Holy Lord" by Shao Yuanqing.

As expected, at Shao Yuanqing's call, the curtain was slowly opened, and Yun Zhuiyue, wearing a golden mask and a black robe, walked out of the carriage slowly.

Even though they saw Yun Zhuiyue, the two people not far away still stood there leisurely, neither approaching to greet him nor exchanging warm greetings. The "big guy" was still staring blankly at the sky as before, while the "small guy" was looking at Yun Zhuiyue with a cold gaze.

After staring at each other for a while, the "little guy" casually pointed towards the bank of Luo River, and his meaning was self-evident.

From beginning to end, the two sides only had eye contact and no nonsense was spoken.

"Bah! What the hell!"

Seeing the other party's arrogance and rudeness, Shao Yuanqing flew into a rage and couldn't help but curse.

"You don't know them, but I do." Yun Zhuiyue's reaction was far less excited than Shao Yuanqing's. Not only was there no trace of anger, but she looked at the two people not far away with interest. "They are well-known in the martial arts world of Mobei and even the Central Plains. They are notorious. The 'little guy' is called Long Yu, the number one master in the twenty-four cities of Mobei. This guy is bloodthirsty and has killed people like crazy. He is nicknamed 'madman'. Now he ranks sixth on the Dragon Elephant List... and I personally decided it. The 'big guy' next to Long Yu is called Ya Kun. This person has never practiced martial arts but is born with supernatural powers. He is crazy but loyal to Long Yu. He is a rare 'loyal servant'. They are the most respected, trusted and loyal subordinates of the Mongolian Khan, just like Su He in the past. But Long Yu has always rejected Su He and regarded him as his biggest opponent. When Su He was there, Long Yu was never reused. Now that Su He is 'out of favor', it is the best time for him to take the position."

"So, this guy has some skills?" Shao Yuanqing's eyes lit up and he asked excitedly, "Holy Lord, can I fight them? At worst... I can fight two of them at once and let them attack together..."

"There may be a chance in the future, but... not today. Just wait here and don't cause any trouble."

Leaving behind a reply as plain as water, Yun Zhuiyue no longer paid attention to the unwilling Shao Yuanqing, and walked towards the bank of Luoshui River.

The sky is bright and the sun is rising. A ray of colorful morning glow is reflected in the gurgling Luo River, blending with the surrounding pink peach blossoms, green willows, birdsong and flowers, showing the vitality of early summer, the tranquility of the morning, and the beauty of nature.

The water and sky are one color, which is beautiful beyond words. The movement and stillness complement each other.

When Yun Zhuiyue slowly came to the bank of Luoshui River, an old man in a green robe and white clothes with gray hair and beard suddenly turned around and bowed to him with a smile on his face: "Saint Master Yun, how are you? I haven't seen you for many days, and I miss you very much."

"Thanks to the great blessing of Master Yanling, Yun and the other disciples of Longxiang Mountain were lucky enough to have their lives saved and are still alive today."

At this moment, the old man standing opposite Yun Zhuiyue was none other than Yan Wuji, the master of the Chifeng Ridge in Mobei.

"Rather than saying that I saved Lord Yun, it's better to say that Lord Yun saved himself. Haha..." Yan Wuji waved his hand and laughed, "In the martial arts conference two years ago, Sui Zuo was knocked unconscious by a 'traitor' in the Xilu camp. At that time, if Lord Yun hadn't secretly saved his life, Sui Zuo would have been reduced to a dead bone in the grave. Once Sui Zuo died, even if I had a thousand mouths, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to convince the Khan to let Longxiang Mountain go. As you know, the general stationed in Dali, 'Wulanhetai', has always looked down on people like you and me. He advised the Khan more than once, wanting to lead his army to flatten Longxiang Mountain and capture Lord Yun and his disciples in one fell swoop. Fortunately, the Khan listened to both sides and knew that Lord Yun not only had a heart of loyalty to Mongolia, but also had the ambition to atone for his sins, the ability to keep a low profile, and the power to turn the tide. So he rejected Wulianghetai's plea, listened to Yan's advice, and gave Lord Yun another chance to 'make up for his sins'."

When Yan Wuji said the four words "serve the crime while making amends for it", his tone was deliberately emphasized, and the deep meaning was self-evident.

At first, Yun Zhuiyue and Yan Wuji secretly colluded, but unexpectedly, both sides had their own ulterior motives and did not follow the agreement with each other. As a result, the careful preparation of tens of thousands of troops was wasted, and a rift between the two sides was created.

Now, the Mongolian commander Wulianghetai is eyeing Longxiang Mountain covetously, and ordered his army to surround Ailao Mountain tightly, making Longxiang Mountain people nervous and anxious all day long. However, the "Dali Duan Family", the biggest support of Longxiang Mountain, has already been unable to protect itself, and can only watch Yun Zhuiyue cry out to the sky and the earth for help, and gradually become a caged beast.

At the critical moment of life and death, Yan Wuji put aside his past grudges and tried his best to mediate on behalf of Long Xiangshan in front of the Mongolian Khan, and finally obtained an amnesty order.

Thus, the choice before Yun Zhuiyue changed from "a dead end" to "a life or death situation". Either risk his life and fight to the death with Wulianghetai's army, try to break through the siege, and then live in exile.

Either accept Yan Wuji's conditions and "surrender" to the Mongols again.

There is no other choice.

Yun Zhuiyue knew very well that although he was a martial artist and most of the disciples of Longxiang Mountain were also skilled, it was like a moth flying into a flame or an ant trying to shake a tree to fight against the tens of thousands of troops of Wulianghetai with only a hundred people. There was no chance of winning at all. Moreover, who was Wulianghetai? He had fought in many battles and spent half his life in the army. His deployment of troops and his intelligence were almost perfect. It was a pipe dream for Yun Zhuiyue to "escape" from his pursuit and interception.

Yun Zhuiyue had no choice but to cooperate with Yan Wuji in order to have a chance of survival after weighing the pros and cons.

It’s just that “this cooperation” is not “that cooperation”.

In the past, Mongolian forces had not yet penetrated the entire territory of Dali. The Mongolian Khan still needed the Duan family to help him clear obstacles, and the Duan family still needed Longxiang Mountain to charge forward for them. As the Holy Lord of Longxiang Mountain, Yun Zhuiyue was at the peak of his career. At that time, he was high above, at ease, and he could advance or retreat at will, without having to look at anyone's face. Cooperation with Yan Wuji was the result of mutual consent and exchange of interests.

But now, Yun Zhuiyue and his disciples have become helpless, and cooperating with Yan Wuji is their only option.

Therefore, in the last cooperation, they were equal in status and were proper "allies". In this cooperation, they have a distinction between high and low, and even if they cannot be considered "master and servant", at least there is a distinction between "master and subordinate".

Today, they stood in front of each other again. Yun Zhuiyue was less domineering and more humble, while Yan Wuji was more proud and less flattering.

As the saying goes, 'When you live under someone's roof, you have to bow your head.' At this point, Yan Wuji is still Yan Wuji, but Yun Zhuiyue is no longer Yun Zhuiyue.

In fact, Yan Wuji pleaded for Yun Zhuiyue in front of the Mongolian Khan not out of kindness, but out of self-protection. After all, there was only one share of the credit for eroding the Song Dynasty, and if Yan Wuji didn't take it, someone else would naturally take it.

It seemed that Yan Wuji was unwilling to give up such a great achievement to others.

More importantly, Yan Wuji did not want to lose his status in the eyes of the Mongol Khan, nor did he want to be regarded by the Mongol Khan as a useless mediocrity with a beautiful appearance but rotten inside.

Because of this, when Yan Wuji officially "recruited" Yun Zhuiyue to surrender, the first task assigned to him was to lead the people to leave Longxiang Mountain and enter the Central Plains to seek other development.

Yan Wuji had two intentions in doing this.

First, it completely cuts off Yun Zhuiyue's escape route, forcing him to make a desperate attempt and not dare to have any distracting thoughts.

Second, the overall situation in Yunnan has been determined. It is not only useless to keep Longxiang Mountain in Dali, but it will only increase hidden dangers. It is better to move to the Central Plains to seek another great cause. Even if Yun Zhuiyue cannot control the Central Plains martial arts, at least... he can serve as an internal response for Mongolia in case of emergency.

To this end, Yan Wuji deliberately arranged a good show for Yun Zhuiyue. He asked Wulianghetai to pretend to encircle and suppress Longxiang Mountain, creating the illusion that Yun Zhuiyue was "at the end of his rope" and "escaped from death", in order to deceive the trust of the various factions in the Central Plains.

Facts have proved that when Teng Sanshi sent people to secretly investigate why Yun Zhuiyue "moved his whole family" to the Central Plains, he also received the news that Longxiang Mountain "lost its power at the wrong time" and Yun Zhuiyue "was in a desperate situation".

For this reason, Teng Sanshi, who had old friendship with Yun Zhuiyue, generously helped him, allowing Longxiangshan to take the first step towards controlling the Central Plains smoothly.

As for the true relationship between Yun Zhuiyue and the Mongols, except for a few Mongols such as Yan Wuji and Long Yu, only Yun Zhuiyue and the four guardians of Longxiang Mountain knew about it, and no one else knew anything.

"The Khan's kindness to Longxiang Mountain is as great as a mountain. I, Yun Zhuiyue, will never be able to repay him even if I die." Yun Zhuiyue vowed to be loyal.

What’s interesting is that Yun Zhuiyue used to call the Mongolian Khan “the Mongolian Khan”, but today he only called him “the Khan” in front of Yan Wuji and never mentioned the word “Mongolia”.

Although there is only a difference of two words, it is enough to show that Yun Zhuiyue has regarded himself as a "subordinate" of the Mongolian Khan rather than an "ally".

"I have said long ago that Lord Yun is the wisest person who knows the current situation in the Central Plains martial arts world." Yan Wuji nodded and smiled with satisfaction, "If you understand the general trend of the times and don't do stupid things like hitting a rock with an egg, why worry about not being appreciated by the Khan? The world is Mongolia, and Mongolia is the world. As long as Lord Yun is loyal to the Khan, no matter what you want, the Khan will reward you generously. Wealth, power, status... As long as Lord Yun dares to think, dares to ask, dares to do, and dares to fight, I guarantee with my life that you will have everything!"

……

(End of this chapter)