Chapter 191: Military Strategist

Dao Gui Yi Xian

As Li Huowang drew his sword, an intense murderous aura filled the entire Assembly Hall, making everyone present feel as if they were in the heart of a bloody battlefield.

The continuous sound of blades being drawn rang out. Bandits, armed with various weapons from all directions, struggled against the murderous aura and charged forward.

However, some of the bandits couldn't bear it any longer, and the fear in their eyes grew deeper.

When the sword was sheathed again, the surroundings quickly calmed.

At this moment, the laughter of the bandit leader had also ceased. The three men, who had been drinking and eating meat, stared motionless at Li Huowang, their chins raised.

Just as the atmosphere grew extremely tense, the bald man sitting in the main seat picked up a fried peanut and put it in his mouth.

A smiling, broad-faced bandit immediately stepped out from the side to mediate.

"Don't be hasty, Reverend. If there's anything, let's discuss it. Meeting here is destiny; let's sit down and have a drink together."

Li Huowang showed no fear, walked over, sat down, and began eating the meat they had left.

The round-faced man who had intervened bowed and stood carefully by Li Huowang's side, like a servant.

He took out a paper fan with a landscape painting from his pocket, gently fanned Li Huowang a few times, then closed the fan.

He pointed to the bald man who sat commandingly at the head of the Eight Immortals table. "This is our Great Chief, Great Golden Dragon."

"And this is our Second Chief, Descending Tiger." The bandit wearing a tiger-skin coat snorted.

After saying this, he stopped and did not introduce the last person.

The last man at the table, with a gloomy expression, picked up a large bowl and took a big gulp.

This man was very distinctive. Besides his fierce and intimidating appearance, the character "囚" (prisoner) was tattooed on the left side of his forehead. All three men had exceptionally large frames, noticeably bigger than anyone else's.

Immediately after, the round-faced man tapped his own nose with the fan. "I am Liu Xiang, the scribe of this fortress. I have seen Reverend."

"Is the opera troupe still here? How many have died?" Li Huowang asked directly.

The man in the tiger-skin coat beside him, agitated, was about to say something, but Great Golden Dragon suppressed him with a single glance.

As he waved his hand, a moment later, several disheveled and dirty individuals were brought out. These were none other than the Lu family troupe, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.

As soon as he saw Li Huowang sitting with the bandit chiefs, Lu Zhuangyuan immediately knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly.

His voice was extremely mournful.

"Young Daoist! Young Daoist, help me!!"

Li Huowang used his tongue to dislodge meat fibers from between his teeth. After a quick glance at their faces, he stood up, ready to walk out of the cave.

Lu Zhuangyuan was instantly overjoyed to the point of tears. He quickly pulled his son, whose head was bleeding from a beating, and prepared to follow.

"Hold on. Did I say you could leave?"

As these arrogant words were spoken, the surrounding bandits immediately blocked Li Huowang's path.

Li Huowang turned around, realizing the speaker was not the so-called Great Chief, Great Golden Dragon, but the gloomy man with the "囚" tattoo on his forehead.

He tapped the table with his thick knuckles. "Come on, keep drinking. Let's put the opera troupe business aside for now. What's your connection to the Siqi You family?"

"Siqi You family?"

Seeing Li Huowang looking confused, the man smiled, cracked open a soybean, and took another sip of wine.

"Stop pretending. That sword of yours belongs to You Zixiong, doesn't it? Why would he give you that sword for no reason?"

Seeing the man look at the sword on his back, Li Huowang began to understand. It seemed there was more to this sword than met the eye.

After observing the three men's faces for a moment, Li Huowang sensed something was amiss.

Although it appeared that the bald man was the so-called Great Chief of the fortress, the other man spoke so bluntly, showing no respect whatsoever.

"Who are you then? The Third Chief of this fortress?"

"Third Chief my ass! My name is Wang Deqiu, damn it!"

The man suddenly erupted, striking Li Huowang directly in the chest with a palm, sending him flying backward.

The force was immense, almost sending Li Huowang completely out of his feet.

Gao Zhijian, a tall man, quickly rushed forward and firmly caught Li Huowang with his large hands.

Clasping his painfully throbbing chest, Li Huowang was instantly filled with rage, and drew his sword, charging directly at the man.

Wang Deqiu stood there with a surprised expression, watching Li Huowang charging at him.

"This man took a palm strike from me, and his heart and liver aren't shattered? He certainly has some tricks."

"Damn it! Get him!" Great Golden Dragon kicked the Eight Immortals table, sending it flying, pulled out a spiked club, and charged forward.

With the start of the fight, the surroundings immediately descended into complete chaos. All the bandits charged forward.

It seemed that the two sides were vastly mismatched in strength, and Li Huowang's side was destined to suffer a defeat. However, when they actually engaged, it was not so.

Gao Zhijian roared, powerfully swung the staff in his hand, and directly sent three men flying.

Two bandits, armed with daggers, were about to flank them, when a pair of hands with black fingernails plunged into their necks.

Several bandits standing in the distance had just raised their crossbows, when Chun Xiaoman rustled open the "Great Thousand Record,"

And with a swing of her sword, she sliced off the nails of two of her fingers, along with skin and flesh.

As Chun Xiaoman's pained cry rang out, the fingernails flew directly, and everyone between her and the crossbow-wielding bandits was instantly decapitated.

Li Huowang paid no attention to what was happening behind him. At this moment, his full attention was on the three men in front of him, as they were the core of the entire bandit lair.

"Clang!" Descending Tiger's massive ring-handled saber heavily collided with Li Huowang's longsword, and the immense force pushed Li Huowang back several steps.

But that was the extent of it. With a tearing sound, the sharp blade of Li Huowang's sword effortlessly sliced through Descending Tiger's ring-handled saber, and continued directly towards his face.

"Second Brother!" Great Golden Dragon roared and charged forward to rescue his brother, but Wang Deqiu was a step ahead, charging forward first.

He held a jet-black straight saber, and with a blur, he slashed towards Li Huowang's sword-wielding hand.

"Clang!" With a crisp metallic clash, a chip immediately appeared in the straight saber.

Li Huowang retreated, shifting his target.

The combat skills of these three men were clearly superior to Li Huowang's. However, their weakness was equally fatal: their weapons, which all broke after only a few exchanges.

In response, the three men all began to focus on containment, no longer daring to directly confront Li Huowang.

When the pressure lessened slightly, a woman with a red bridal veil came to their rescue.

"Boom boom boom!! The whip strikes, the drum sounds; the drum sounds, spirits are invited. To invite spirits, first inner spirits must be invoked; Triple Wolf Lord, Triple Obstacle..."

The red veil quickly swelled, forming three wolf heads, which ferociously bit Great Golden Dragon's neck. He roared and swung his spiked club, savagely striking the wolf heads beneath the red veil.

The wolf heads were quickly flattened by the blows, but they swiftly reformed, and bit fiercely again, tearing out Great Golden Dragon's bones. The spurting blood stained the red veil even deeper red.

Seizing this opening, Li Huowang instantly decapitated the Second Chief. He then looked towards Wang Deqiu, his sword dripping with blood.

"They say there are rules in the outlaw world, but I find it's all nonsense. The only rule is the sword in my hand!"

Facing desperation, Wang Deqiu merely smiled. "There are rules, but rules also depend on who they're applied to. The people of Hou Shu don't follow rules when dealing with the Siqi You family."

"What do you mean?"

"The Siqi You family are military strategists. How many people of Hou Shu have they killed? Do you really think we'd just let you swagger past?"

"Heh, since when do bandits talk about national sentiment? If you cared about that, why did you rebel in the first place?"

Faced with Li Huowang's contempt, Wang Deqiu merely smiled and remained silent.

Li Huowang looked at his smiling face, his expression slowly turning cold. He suddenly understood the man's true identity.

"Wait, you're not bandits! You're soldiers!"

"Heh heh, do bandits and soldiers need to be so clearly distinguished? Aren't they both just tools for killing?"