Fighting and killing, cudgels and swords, the malice coming head-on was like ten thousand arrows, and passing by... almost no feeling. These past years, this was what he had experienced the most.

"Eight-Armed Dragon King" Shi Jin was from Huayin County, Huazhou. He was the eldest son of the Shi family manor's Squire Shi, from a well-off family. In his youth, he was a spoiled young master. His mother, a simple woman, could not dissuade him and died of anger. Squire Shi had no choice but to let him learn martial arts. Later, Wang Jin, an instructor of the 800,000 Imperial Guards, committed a crime. When he stayed overnight at the Shi family manor, he saw Shi Jin's aptitude and accepted him as a disciple.

At that time, he was young and chivalrous, full of vigor. Zhu Wu and other leaders of Shaohua Mountain came to Huayin to rob grain. Shi Jin defeated them. The men were impressed by Shi Jin's martial arts and deliberately befriended him. The young hero was fascinated by the greenwood circle, especially pursuing the heroic brotherhood, and then befriended them.

Soon after, Shi Jin's association with bandits was reported. The government sent troops to suppress them. Shi Jin and Zhu Wu defeated the government soldiers, but they had nowhere to stay. Zhu Wu and others took the opportunity to persuade him to join them on the mountain. Shi Jin was unwilling and went to Weizhou to seek refuge with his master. During this period, he met Lu Zhishen. The two hit it off, but later Lu Zhishen killed Zheng Tu, and Shi Jin was implicated and wanted. So he had to flee far away again.

He went from Weizhou to Yanzhou, still failing to find his master. He went all the way to Beijing. He ran out of travel expenses and encountered robbery. Shi Jin killed several bullies. After some twists and turns, he was physically and mentally exhausted. Finally, he returned to Shaohua Mountain and became a bandit.

After that, he joined Liangshan, and then Liangshan collapsed... Looking back, he had done many wrong things, but at that time, he did not understand that they were wrong.

On Liangshan, his straightforward and chivalrous nature made him befriend many people, but he was closest to Lu Zhishen, and he most admired Lin Chong, who was down on his luck but dashing and clean. After learning about Lin Chong's experience, he couldn't wait to go to Tokyo immediately and kill Gao Ya'nei's entire family. It was also because of this that he was most indignant when he learned that Lin Chong had been harmed by villains after the collapse of Liangshan. On the other hand, Shi Jin was not preoccupied with the death of Lu Zhishen, who had the best relationship with him.

Survival in the greenwood, you kill me, I kill you. Since they killed to other people's houses, it was only natural that the other party killed back. Therefore, he did not have much hatred for the Heart Demon. On the contrary, he had respect for him later in the Black Flag's resistance against the Jin.

But he didn't understand much at that time. Liangshan made him uncomfortable, and this discomfort was even greater than Shaohua Mountain. It was good that it fell. He drifted with the tide, inquiring about Lin Chong's whereabouts along the way, to put his mind at ease, until... he met that old man.

They talked about Lin Chong and a few other sentences. In fact, they talked simply.

"Then we seventy or so people still have to hide in the city for two days?"

"It's not easy, but there's no way."

...

"You are Wang Jin's disciple, follow me to practice the Subduing Demon Staff."

The old man performed a set of Subduing Demon Staff in front of him. The staff technique was simple, even simpler than what his master Wang Jin had taught him at the beginning. There was not much teaching, just wholeheartedly performing the moves.

Until he crawled out of that mountain of corpses and sea of blood, and survived, the old man's simple, unswerving figure, and the equally simple staff technique, truly fermented in his heart. Where righteousness lies, though a thousand men stand against me, I shall go. For the old man, those actions may not have been surprising at all. But Shi Jin then truly felt the power inherited in that staff technique.

The old man was already dead...

In the following ten years, the young man of that year was transformed into a warrior, rushing to the battlefield, searching for that unswerving power. Life and death were no longer a concern for him. The brothers he led were once charged into by the Jin army and defeated. They were besieged by all sides of Da Qi. He endured pain and hunger, and was trapped with his soldiers in a besieged valley in the heavy snow. He spent three days and three nights with injuries and hunger. Those were the most heroic and uplifting days for him. He was respected by the people around him and became the true "Dragon King".

But gradually, the people around him began to change. As the power grew and the surroundings relaxed, those brothers began to make him feel strange. Some profited from military funds, some fought with civilians, some sided with brothers, bullying good people. Hundreds of thousands of righteous soldiers suddenly made him feel like he had returned to Liangshan.

He had also tried to rectify it, even painfully killing old brothers who had once lived and died with him. As the Dragon King, he could not be confused or fall. However, in the great changes of Chifeng Mountain, which were beset by internal and external troubles, he still felt a burst of powerlessness.

If Sect Leader Zhou was here, what would he do?

Of course, he would not back down because of a little setback.

But what road to take?

He could not go forward to the battlefield. He could temporarily return to the Jianghu. After the chaos of Chifeng Mountain, it coincided with the difficult southward movement of the Hungry Ghosts. Shi Jin and the old ministry who followed him decided to lend a helping hand. They came all the way to Zezhou and happened to see the arrangements of the Great Brightness Religion. He was concerned about the innocent Jianghu people and tried to expose it and wake everyone up. Unfortunately, when it came to the end, they were still one step behind Lin Zongwu.

The silent and firm Dragon King was not moved by the setbacks. At this time, he had experienced even more desperate battles, but even if he was desperate at the beginning, it made people feel passionate and excited, but now it only made him feel that the wind and snow were all over the sky.

Then he would go against the wind and snow—

The dragon has an unyielding will. When the shadows of thousands of sticks turned into thousands of dragon roars, constantly bombarding the overwhelming waves, it was like the trajectory of his companions in the past ten years of resistance. They went retrograde, collided, and were suddenly submerged and cut off at some point. This was the trajectory of many people in the troubled times. Therefore, when that voice appeared, Shi Jin vaguely saw himself——

"Shi Jin—Haha, I admit, you are a true martial arts master, the number one master I have seen in the past ten years!"

A huge force attacked fiercely. Lin Zongwu suddenly entered the range of the bronze stick. His heavy fist was like a mountain collapse. Shi Jin suddenly withdrew his stick and used his elbow against the fist front. The huge impact caused his figure to stagnate. The two kicked like thunder. Lin Zongwu's fist momentum was not exhausted, and he smashed fiercely. Shi Jin blocked, defended, tore, and unloaded. The head hammer burst out violently. Lin Zongwu's chest and abdomen contracted, knee strike, steps rushed and crossed! Shi Jin then received and retreated. Everyone only saw the two figures advancing and retreating, the distance closing, and then slightly opening for a moment. The Dragon King waved the octagonal mixed bronze stick and slammed it down. Lin Zongwu then stepped forward and punched!

Blood splattered, and the Buddha King's huge body sank to the ground, and the surrounding stone slabs were cracking. That stick was swung straight on his back. And Shi Jin was blown away by a fierce punch, smashing a stone bench like a cannonball. His body lay in the stone chips all over the ground.

Lin Zongwu slowly, slowly stood up, his back split open, and the cassock on his body was broken in half. At this time, the fat man with profound martial arts reached out and tore off the cassock, threw it casually into the sky, and looked solemn and dignified.

A hero is not old because of the Jianghu. Over the years, he has had glorious and unbearable memories. More than ten years ago, he tried to challenge Zhou Tong, but it failed. In fact, if he had really fought Zhou Tong at that time, he would not have been really sure. For ten years, he has been called the number one martial artist in the world, but some shadows and regrets have always existed in his heart. Until the moment in front of him, he finally knew that he was already the real number one in the world.

At this moment, no matter whether the enemy he would face was the former Holy Duke, the former Liu Dabiao, Zhou Tong, or the woman named Lu Hongti, he had invincible confidence.

He looked up at the sky, feeling this completely different state of mind. This was truly his day. At the same moment, Shi Jin lay on the ground, feeling the blood gushing out of his mouth, the broken bones in his body, and felt that the sky was a little faint for a while. The end that he had been waiting for at any time, if it came at this time, he still felt, for some reason, a little regret.

What was Sect Leader Zhou's mood at the moment when he made the last shot?

The power surging from the bottom of his heart seemed to urge him to stand up, but the body's response was extremely long. At this moment, his thinking seemed to be stretched out as well. Lin Zongwu was facing him, seeming to want to speak, and in a certain place in the back, someone threw up two copper coins.

"...There is a reward."

Perhaps due to the sensitive feeling for the surrounding places and hidden weapons, at this moment, Lin Zongwu's peripheral vision swept over there.

Ning Yi turned around.

A complex message slid into Lin Zongwu's mind, first setting off waves in the subconscious. The huge undercurrent was still gathering, expanding at a speed that people could not know in the deepest part of the thinking.

The surface of consciousness was still rising with the feeling of welcoming thousands of attentions, and on the line where it was about to fall into place, a surging undercurrent rushed up.

The sunlight shone obliquely from the sky, bright and dazzling, and Lin Zongwu stood there, looking at the corridor on the second floor of the monk's building not far away, frozen for a moment. The man in green was disappearing from the crowd.

"Lin Echan seems to have seen us."

At this moment, Lin Zongwu was feeling the complex emotions in his heart, trying to put them all in place. Was that an illusion or reality...It shouldn't be like this...What would happen if it were really like this...He wanted to immediately order the monks to block that head, but reason suppressed this idea for a moment.

Ning Yi stepped out of the crowd, and the last voice was slow and flat.

"If he comes over, kill him."

"Yes."

The greenwood men upstairs looked at Lin Zongwu. Those with knives on their backs, spears on their backs, and unknown oilcloth strips on their backs... Their expressions and heights were different. At this moment, after Lin Zongwu's battle that almost established him as the number one in the world, their eyes were silently and attentively looking over. Someone grabbed a spear from behind and silently planted it on the ground, the spear tip slipped out of the scabbard. Someone tilted his head and showed a smile to Lin Zongwu, his teeth pale and grim. Lin Zongwu also looked at them.

No one realized this moment of looking at each other. The cheers of the Great Brightness Religion members rose to the sky around the martial arts field, and on one side, someone rushed towards Shi Jin lying on the ground. At the same time, people heard a huge explosion coming from one side of the city.

"What's going on..."

The sound of the explosion attracted people's attention, and the commotion was brewing. After a while, someone heard someone say: "Black Flag..." This name was like a curse, flowing between people's mouths and ears, and then, terrifying emotions, surging out.

Not many people cared about the battle just now anymore, and even Lin Zongwu, for a while, was no longer willing to immerse himself in the emotions just now. He signaled to the Dharma protectors in the sect and then said to everyone around the martial arts field: "Everyone, don't be nervous, what is going on, we have already gone to verify. If there is a real chaos, it will be more conducive to our actions today and rescue Righteous Man Wang..."

He tried his best to appease everyone, and even arranged for someone to take care of Shi Jin. When he looked at the second floor again, those people just now were completely gone. He found Tan Zheng who came over: "Call the brothers in the sect to prepare, it must be the Black Flag." His eyes were fierce, and he paused, "...Ning Yi has arrived."

Ning Yi has arrived...

Hearing Lin Zongwu say this name, Tan Zheng's heart still shook suddenly. Then he pressed down his thoughts: "Yes." He knew that if the leader was telling the truth, then what he might have to deal with next was the most tricky situation he would have to deal with in his life.

Even if they were prepared, they had to be twenty minutes more alert.

This was his mood in the first hour.

An hour later, he found that he thought too much...

The real torrent has come crashing down on everyone!

**************

Inside and outside the city, countless messages were shuttling.

In the wild land south of Zezhou City, tens of thousands of refugees looked suspiciously at the unusual movements in the military camp in front: soldiers were gathering, and someone was saying something loudly: "...Linchuan, Gaoping...Yangcheng, Qinshui, Huguan have rebelled, General An, General Chen sent troops...We support the Female Chancellor, for so many years, it was that Female Bodhisattva who managed the peaceful place that made us full...Tian Hu is just a hunter, destroying his own city walls...This is a joint letter from thirteen generals in the court, at this time, Weisheng has fallen, ...Hu has been captured..."

Soon after, mutual fighting broke out in the military camp, and in the distance, smoke pillars were vaguely rising in the sky above the city.

In the main military camp on the other side of the city, Sun Qi was already wearing armor and holding a sword at the first moment he heard the explosion. He stepped out of the big tent and saw Deputy General Zou Xin running quickly: "What's going on!?"

"The Black Flag is here—someone has rebelled—"

"Hmph, this general has long expected it, bring the horse over!"

The chaos had already begun to spread in the military camp, and then someone continued to rush to report. The soldiers were leading the war horses and running quickly. Sun Qi suddenly pulled out his sword and waved it back, and the weapon hit the dagger in the hand of the approaching deputy general with a clang.

"I asked you what's going on, you only said that someone rebelled, but you didn't say who, then I know you have a ghost! Take him down!"

Zou Xin turned around and wanted to run, but a tall man next to him punched him. The fist rubbed Zou Xin's eyes, and he staggered back, blood flowing from his eyes.

The skills honed on the battlefield almost killed him with this casual punch.

The soldier opened his hands: "Wang Nanda of the Great Brightness Religion is here, who are you from the Black Flag?"

"Mad Tiger" Wang Nanda, this was the biggest insurance that Lin Zongwu arranged here.

Zou Xin pulled out his long sword and crossed it with the dagger: "Come on!"

Wang Nanda did not go over, he followed Sun Qi and turned to leave, and the other guards surrounded him.

Sun Qi stepped on the shoulder of the horse-leading soldier. The moment he got on the horse, he finally realized something was wrong.

Wang Nanda had also reacted.

He suddenly roared, and his big hand grabbed down. Over the years, not many people have been able to take his punches and palms. As long as he is within one step, Sun Qi will be unharmed——

……

"Rebellion—"

A shrill voice rang out in Zezhou City. The original tens of thousands of troops stationed in Zezhou, led by General Qi Hongxiu, rushed to the key points of the city and began to fight.

Near the state government, Lu Anmin was still hesitant when he heard the sudden but gradually surging chaos, and someone suddenly grabbed him.

"Prefect Lu!" That person was a petty clerk in the state government. Lu Anmin remembered him, but couldn't remember his name.

"You..."

"There is a rebellion in the city, I am afraid there will be a catastrophe. The people still need Prefect Lu to rescue and appease them, do not hesitate!"

"I...how to appease..."

"The manpower is ready, several old masters in the city are being called over, Prefect Lu, you come with me..."

The petty clerk pulled Lu Anmin and took a step, and Lu Anmin suddenly reacted and stopped there.

"You...Black Flag..."

"Black Flag..." The petty clerk's eyes were startled, and then he shook his head vigorously, "No, I am a person from Minister Lou..."

"Minister Lou...Minister Lou of the Ministry of Revenue?" Although Lou Shuwan was jokingly called the Female Prime Minister in Tian Hu's system, her substantive responsibility was the Minister of Revenue, "She is in prison..."

The petty clerk looked at him, and after a while: "Tiger King may have been beheaded..."

……

In the prison, voices and footsteps poured towards the core cell. The jailer opened the prison door, let down the bruised and battered man inside, and then the doctor came over with various wound medicines and bandages. The man looked at them: "You..."

"It's too late to explain, Tiger King fell, the Zezhou army rebelled, and refugees are feared to rush to Zezhou City. The Chinese Army's Qin Lu is ordered to rescue General Wang and control the refugee situation in Zezhou."

"You are...the Chinese Army..."

The jailer nodded, listening to the faint sounds outside: "I hope we can control the situation as much as possible, so that Zezhou is not destroyed."

……

In a small courtyard in the city, Li Shishi came out, listened to the huge chaos outside, and looked at the old man repairing the car wheel next to the courtyard: "Uncle Huang, what's wrong outside?"

"Rebellion." The old Huang just looked up slightly and answered clearly.

"Oh." Li Shishi looked at his attitude and understood something in her heart. After a while: "Brother Lu and Brother Yan Qing? Are they out too?"

"Yes." Old Huang took an awl in his hand and tried to pry the protrusions on the wheel, then blew on it: "They went to the military camp."

After a while, he added: "It seems to be killing a general."

Although many things were hidden from this kind and intelligent woman, there was always some information that could be revealed, so the old man rarely revealed it...

**************

Weisheng, pouring rain.

The battle in the imperial city continued. Lou Shuwan walked across the square under the umbrella held by the people around her. She was wearing a simple black dress, but the guards behind her formed a long line. Accompanying her was a middle-aged man who looked like a merchant, short and fat, with a smile on his face, and someone was holding an umbrella for the short and fat merchant.

Outside the room across the square, soldiers guarded a circle. In the room in the middle, three old men with obvious status were drinking tea here. When they saw Lou Shuwan coming, they all stood up with anger on their faces.

"Lou Shuwan! How dare you commit treason!" Someone shouted loudly and slapped the table. This may also be venting their anger at being forcibly invited.

Lou Shuwan walked straight over and bowed her hands: "Duke Yuan, Duke Tang, Duke Liao, time is limited, don't beat around the bush."

She said: "Let's talk about the current situation."

Outside the hall, the rain was like black ink, covering the sky and the sun.