Chapter 158: Failure and Death
One day ago...

On the second day of the first lunar month, at dawn, in Tangzhou, a horse-drawn carriage was galloping northward day and night, heading towards Luoyang.

Thirty miles away from Tangzhou, the carriage arrived at a canyon called "Zheji Valley".

According to legend, when the "Duanping Invasion of Luoyang" was defeated, Xu Minzi led his troops to flee here, where they were ambushed by the Mongolian army. In the end, the Song army suffered countless casualties. General Xu Minzi led only 300 escapees to fight their way out of the encirclement, which was extremely tragic. Since then, this place has been called "Zheji Valley", implying that this is the place where the Song army was defeated and died.

The Broken Halberd Valley is a place of ambush sent by heaven. The dirt road in the middle is only two meters wide, and there are steep cliffs on both sides. Once you enter the valley, you can only go straight through, either forward or backward, and there is absolutely no third way to go. The Broken Halberd Valley stretches nearly a thousand meters from north to south. The road in the valley is rugged and bumpy. Even if a single person rides a fast horse and gallops through it, it will take at least a cup of tea.

The eve of dawn is the darkest time of the day. The sky is as black as ink, covered with dark clouds, the sun and moon are dim, and the vast world has become dark to the extreme.

The carriage came hurriedly, and when it reached the Broken Halberd Valley, it couldn't help but slow down. First, the road in the valley was rugged and difficult for the carriage to pass. Second, it was dark and the valley was narrow. If the carriage went a little faster, there would be a danger of hitting the mountain. Therefore, the driver had to be extra cautious and move forward slowly for safety.

There were five people in the carriage, two driving and the other three sitting in the carriage. Among the five, four men carrying swords were disciples of the Xianwang Mansion. They were ordered by Jiang Yiwei to capture Cheng Qiu, the third in command of Fan Humen. Therefore, the short and thin man tied up in the carriage was Cheng Qiu, who had left his hometown and changed his name.

Since Jiang Yiwei had strictly ordered them to rush to Luo City, they rode non-stop all the way, day and night, in order to bring Cheng Qiu back to Prince Xian's Palace to report as soon as possible.

"This valley is deep and gloomy, and we should not stay here for long. Let's move forward carefully and slowly get out of the valley." The driver was a red-faced man with sharp eyes and a complexion like a date. He carefully looked at the steep cliffs on both sides of the valley with cautious eyes, and said in a deep voice, "After leaving Tangzhou, we will rush for another day and night, and we will be able to return to Luoyang."

"Finally, we are almost done." The young disciple next to him said with a wry smile, "Master, we haven't had a good night's sleep for several days. If we continue like this, we will be exhausted to death."

"Stop complaining! The Third Master said that this person is extremely important. Even the Palace Master is waiting to meet him. How dare you and I delay?" The man known as "the Sect Master" is named "Xu Heng". He is the current Sect Master of Jing Sect, one of the three sects under the Xianwang Mansion. He has served in the Xianwang Mansion for many years and is very loyal to Luo Tianjin.

Capturing Cheng Qiu was the task Jiang Yiwei assigned to Xu Heng. The other three were all disciples of the Jing Sect, so they obeyed Xu Heng's orders and followed his lead.

"I say... gentlemen..."

A slightly trembling hoarse voice came quietly from the carriage, the tone was timid, and even a little bit of panic. The speaker was Cheng Qiu, who was exhausted after running around for several days.

"What's your problem?" Xu Heng asked angrily, "You've been eating and drinking, or peeing and shitting all the way. Is there anyone in the world more troublesome than you? I really can't imagine that a fool like you could have been the third in command of a gang."

Cheng Qiu pleaded with grievance: "I have long since retired from the underworld. I have been honest and upright for so many years and have never done anything against the law. I beg you, please let me go? I can give you money, any amount you want!"

Xu Heng said coldly: "If we let you go, how will we explain it when we return?"

"Then... is there any benefit for me to go to Luoyang?" Seeing that there was no hope of escape, Cheng Qiu simply revealed his greedy nature and smiled flatteringly, "I have come all the way with you to Luoyang. When I go back, you should at least give me some money for travel, right? Hehe..."

"Go back?" Xu Heng couldn't help but snorted coldly, and said with a smile, "Let's talk about this when you can really go back!"

"What do you mean? Are you going to cross the river and burn the bridge, and then kill the donkey after it has done its work?" Cheng Qiu wailed loudly as if he had lost his parents. "Luo Tianjin is the wise king of the North. A wise king will not kill people indiscriminately. You can't kill me. I have an eighty-year-old mother and a baby who is not even a month old..."

"Shut up!"

The two disciples in the car couldn't stand Cheng Qiu's nonsense, so they shouted in unison, and then punched him hard. A pig-killing scream was heard again in the car. Cheng Qiu's scream was unusually loud in the silent Zheji Valley, and even echoed from a distance.

"If you dare to scream again, I will cut off your tongue!" Xu Heng looked around cautiously and angrily ordered the disciples in the car, "Why don't you cover his mouth quickly? If you attract..."

"Whoosh whoosh!"

Before he finished speaking, there was a whistling sound of arrows in the air. Then, dozens of sharp arrows flew down around the carriage like black lightning. With a series of "ding-dong-dong" sounds, a round of arrow rain had already been densely embedded in the gravel road around the carriage.

"There's an ambush!"

Xu Heng hurriedly pulled the reins and shouted loudly. He quickly drew the sword from its sheath with his right hand and gently pulled the curtain behind him with his left hand. His body immediately soared into the sky and jumped onto the roof of the car like a rabbit. He held the steel knife in front of his chest, and looked around with his tiger eyes, carefully on guard.

"Bah!"

Suddenly, a loud shout came from the mountainside, and then dozens of masked men in black holding torches suddenly appeared from the mountains on both sides. The appearance of these uninvited guests made Xu Heng's face change suddenly.

The leader was wearing a mask and green clothes. He walked out slowly from a group of people in black clothes, and casually stepped on a rock beside him. He played with the short knife in his hand that emitted a faint cold light, and joked to Xu Heng and others in the Broken Halberd Valley: "I opened this mountain and planted this tree. If you pass by here, please stay... stay..."

The man in green paused for a moment, then turned his doubtful eyes to the man in black beside him. Seeing this, the man in black hurriedly whispered to remind him: "Leave some money for passage." The man in green suddenly realized and shouted to the carriage: "Oh, yes! Leave some money for passage!"

Hearing this, Xu Heng and his companions who were on high alert could not help but look surprised. One of their disciples muttered in a low voice, "This guy didn't even memorize the words, and he dared to come out to rob people? These days, anyone can become a bandit."

Xu Heng looked at the black-clad men on the hillsides on both sides, and especially when he saw the bows and arrows in their hands ready to be fired, a solemn look flashed across his eyes. He knew that he had been surrounded by these "bandits" and was ambushed in a place like Zheji Valley that was easy to defend but difficult to attack. With only four of them, it would be difficult to escape.

After thinking about it, Xu Heng's expression changed, he bowed to the man in green on the mountainside, and said loudly: "My friend, I'm afraid there are some misunderstandings. We are not profiteers or corrupt officials. We are passing by here today, so please give us a favor!" After that, Xu Heng took out a bulging purse from his waist and threw it to the man in green on the mountainside with great force.

The man in green took the money bag, weighed it a few times, and sneered, "There are so many of us brothers. In the cold winter, we left our wives and children behind and ran to the wilderness to earn some hard-earned money. You only give us such a small amount of silver? Are you sending away beggars?"

Xu Heng's face changed color, but he still suppressed his anger and spoke again: "My friend, do you know who we are? I am Xu Heng, the leader of the Jingmen Sect of the Xianwang Mansion. Today I am here on the orders of the mansion master to do something. If you know what's good for you, then take this money and let us go. We can just be friends. Otherwise..."

"What else?" The man in green seemed to have no fear of the name of the Xianwang Mansion, and sneered, "I don't recognize you as the 'Xianwang Mansion' or the 'Tianwang Mansion'. In short, if you want to pass by here, you have to leave a toll!" "Then how much do you want?" Xu Heng said angrily.

"How much do you want?" The man in green was stunned, and thought for a moment, "Ten thousand taels of gold!"

"Puff!" The green-clothed man's words almost made Xu Heng vomit blood in anger. Not to mention that he was not a corrupt businessman, even if he was, he probably wouldn't carry 10,000 taels of gold with him. This was not robbery, it was clearly looking for trouble.

"Is your master sitting in the carriage?" The man in green suddenly pointed his knife at the carriage and sneered, "I guess you, a coachman, don't have much money. Let your master come out and speak!"

"No!" Xu Heng's face changed immediately when he saw the man in green was targeting Cheng Qiu. He shouted sternly, "Don't push your luck. If you dare to offend the Xianwang Mansion, I will make sure that you dogs die without a burial place..."

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Before he could finish his words, another round of arrow rain came pouring down.

Seeing this, Xu Heng and the other three disciples hurriedly waved their swords to block, but even so, some of them were still injured by arrows. The carriage was even more miserable, with the horses shot to death by sharp arrows, and more than a dozen arrow feathers stuck in the carriage, frightening Cheng Qiu in the carriage to wail at the top of his lungs again.

"you……"

"If you dare to resist, I will shoot you into hedgehogs!" The man in green sneered. After that, he waved to the men in black around him. The men in black understood and slid down the mountainside one after another.

Several men in black came quickly to the carriage. Under the intense gaze of Xu Heng and the three disciples of the Xianwang Mansion, they ignored Xu Heng and went straight to Cheng Qiu in the carriage.

Xu Heng wanted to step forward to stop them, but several sharp arrows were shot at him from the hillside, trapping him in place. He could only watch as several men in black approached the carriage with knives in their hands, and two of them quickly got into the carriage without thinking.

"Tell your people not to mess around. The price can be negotiated..." Xu Heng hurriedly shouted to the man in green.

"Don't worry, if you have money you can live, if you don't have money you can't live." The man in green laughed sinisterly, "Although we are robbers, we also abide by the rules of the underworld. Hehe..."

"You...what are you going to do! I have no money...don't...please don't kill me..."

Suddenly, Cheng Qiu cried out in fear from inside the carriage, and then, under the surprised gazes of Xu Heng and the three Xianwangfu disciples, a few "puff puff" sounds were heard from inside the carriage. Then, Cheng Qiu's screams gradually turned into desperate cries, and then into weak wails, and finally all the sounds were completely drowned in silence.

When the two men in black got out of the carriage again, their bodies were covered in blood.

"It seems your master has no money!" The man in green shook his head helplessly and sighed, "Then we can only blame him for what he deserves."

"You killed him?" Xu Heng exclaimed in disbelief, "You actually killed him? You f*cking bastards..."

"Fire arrows!"

Before Xu Heng could curse, the man in green suddenly changed his playful expression, a cold light flashed in his eyes, and he shouted an order. In an instant, a rain of arrows shot towards Xu Heng and his men.

In a hurry, Xu Heng could not think much and could only lead the other three to rush to the valley entrance. Two people were shot dead on the spot by the rain of arrows along the way, and the remaining two were also shot several times and fled in panic with injuries.

When a group of men in black on the mountain were about to chase and kill them, the man in green suddenly waved his hand to stop them. At the same time, a cunning look flashed in his eyes.

The man in green slowly pulled off the black scarf in front of him, instantly revealing a young and handsome face.

This person turned out to be Liu Xunyi's best friend, Qin Wei, the young guard of the Tianji Pavilion in the East Palace.

"grown ups."

A group of black-clad men also took off their black scarves. They were all the Golden Sword Captains of the Tianji Pavilion. One of the captains asked suspiciously, "Why did the Marquis ask us to rob and kill these people? What's so special about Cheng Qiu?"

"The Marquis is so wise, how can you and I understand him?" Qin Wei replied nonchalantly, "Don't you understand the rules of Tianji Pavilion? We just need to do the job that the Marquis has assigned us. As for the rest, there is no need to ask any more questions."

"This subordinate is guilty!"

"Go down and clean up the mess. Cut off Cheng Qiu's head and bring it back to Lin'an for inspection."

"Yes!"

A group of golden sword officers were busy cleaning up the mess in Broken Halberd Valley. However, Qin Wei on the mountainside looked deep in the direction where Xu Heng fled, with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Xianwang Mansion? They claim to be disciples of Xianwang Mansion, and Brother Liu is also in Xianwang Mansion now. Could it be that... this matter has something to do with him?"

……

(End of this chapter)