The Villain's Counterattack

Let's not talk about how Murong Fu persuaded Emperor Baoding to confer the title of princess on Zhong Ling, and how he persuaded Zhong Ling to allow Duan Yu to marry her, and how he left alone to track down the master who sneaked into Dali from Yipintang of Western Xia. Let's just say that Duan Yanqing was hiding not far from Tianlong Temple outside Dali City at this moment. Looking at the familiar Bodhi tree, a different expression appeared on his face.

Ever since he lost Ma Dayuan in the Shennong Gang, Duan Yanqing has become more wary of the deputy leader of the Beggar Gang. He put himself in Ma Dayuan's shoes and thought about how he would get out of it if he were in Ma Dayuan's situation.

As the deputy leader of the Beggars' Sect, Ma Dayuan is extremely valuable, whether dead or alive, but Ma Dayuan's value is even higher when he is alive.

Duan Yanqing knew that he would not kill Ma Dayuan easily, but if the time came to lose him, it was not impossible for him to take the risk and kill him. After all, compared with losing Ma Dayuan, taking his life was also a great achievement, especially now that the Xixia Yipintang was plotting against the Beggar Gang. Killing a deputy leader of the other side would definitely be a great achievement.

However, compared to killing Ma Dayuan, capturing him alive would be more beneficial to Yipintang, so Duan Yanqing had always been very strict in restraining and guarding Ma Dayuan, but even in this situation, he still escaped.

accidental?

Rather than being accidental, Duan Yanqing was more inclined to believe that this was a premeditated action against him.

There are too many coincidences, which becomes inevitable.

First, Murong Fu and Duan Yu went out together and publicly slapped the face of the Wuliang Sword Sect. It was seen by many people and spread widely. This was the first flaw. Not only was it too ostentatious, but they had no other guards or followers around them. This was obviously not in line with Murong Fu's daily behavior habits.

Secondly, who is Murong Fu? The head of the dignified Gusu Murong family actually served the Shennong Gang, a second-rate force in the Dali Kingdom, for so many days. Was it really just because of his appreciation for the word "Shennong" that he wanted to read their medical heritage?

It's important to note that the Shennong Gang was no more than a second-rate force in the Jianghu, not even first-rate even in the Dali Kingdom. Their leader, Sikong Xuan, was no miracle doctor, possessing only second-rate poisoning skills, no match for Ding Chunqiu, and his medical skills were far inferior to Xue Muhua's. Even the Horse King, Zhong Wanchou, was superior. This was clearly illogical, but a subsequent incident resolved the situation, ultimately causing Sikong Xuan to let down his guard and ultimately leading to his disastrous defeat.

This is the third coincidence. The appearance of this Manggu Zhuha is too coincidental. It did not appear earlier or later, but appeared just before the arrival of the Yipintang masters. If it appeared later, he would be able to free up manpower to keep a close eye on Ma Dayuan. At the very least, he could throw this hot potato to Yipintang and concentrate on capturing Duan Yu.

If it had been earlier, Ma Dayuan would not have offered him advice, and he might not have been willing to capture Duan Yu, or Ma Dayuan might not have been ready to escape at that time. After all, he had been silent before, fearing that he was challenging the restrictions he had set, and only gave him advice when he was sure of his chance.

In fact, he had only one purpose, which was to save himself from trouble!

However, as the leader of the four evil men, he has survived all these years without being killed or caught, so he is certainly not a fool. But the final result is that he suffered a crushing defeat. What is the reason?

The extraordinary wisdom and seamless cooperation between Murong Fu and Ma Dayuan are one thing, but the most important thing is that his weakness was discovered. You have to know that he had already made up his mind to use Ma Dayuan in exchange for the full support of Xixia Yipintang, but why was he persuaded by Ma Dayuan at the critical moment?

Are you mentally unstable?

Duan Yanqing immediately rejected this idea. If he really did not have a strong mind, he would not have achieved the martial arts skills he had today. Looking at the entire Dali Duan family, there were only a handful of people like him who had such profound internal strength at his age. And the playboy Duan Zhengchun was no match for him at all.

If he had waited another two or three days, the masters of Xixia Yipintang would have been in place, and Ma Dayuan would have been unable to escape. However, he had created complications at this time and tried to capture Duan Yu, which resulted in him falling into a trap and letting Ma Dayuan slip away.

Ye Erniang and Yue Laosan never resisted my decision. Well, it was probably because they were not good enough in martial arts to resist. The problem was with me. I was fooled by Ma Dayuan.

But if time could go back, he would probably still choose this path. Duan Yanqing carefully recalled everything Ma Dayuan said, and the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. Relying on Xixia Yipintang to rise to power would cause endless troubles.

But there are not many forces that he can rely on. Apart from Xixia Yipintang, who else is willing to help him, the leader of the four notorious evil men?

Beggars' Sect?

Haha, I captured their deputy leader and almost gave him to Xixia Yipintang to ask for credit, but I ended up offending them so much that we will inevitably continue to be enemies afterwards. I just hope that the leader of the Beggar Gang, Qiao Feng, will not keep chasing me.

Gusu Murong clan?

Murong Fu, the head of the Murong family, has a very good relationship with the Duan family of Dali. Although he looks down on Duan Zhengchun, he has a close relationship with that young man Duan Yu. Duan Yu's martial arts are so outstanding that he would not believe it without the credit of that young master Murong.

When Duan Yanqing thought of Duan Yu, he was inexplicably touched. How great it would be if he was his son. This thought kept turning in his mind and could not be erased. When he thought about Duan Yu's appearance carefully, he suddenly felt that he did not look like Duan Zhengchun, but was 70% similar to himself when he was young.

Duan Yanqing's heart was inexplicably shocked. He carefully recalled the information about Duan Yu and remembered his approximate date of birth. Suddenly, his eyes lit up with a formidable light.

"Son, my son."

Ye Erniang was particularly sensitive to the word "son". She was planning to go out and steal a son to play with, but suddenly heard the eldest brother Duan Yanqing mention his son. She couldn't help but perk up, "Big brother, do you have any news about my son?"

Duan Yanqing immediately woke up after hearing this, and couldn't help feeling a little worried. Duan Yu was the prince of Dali Zhennan Prince and the daughter of Zhennan Princess. There was no doubt about this. Now thinking carefully about Zhennan Princess's appearance, not to mention other things, just looking at her temperament and figure, she seemed to be quite similar to the white-robed Bodhisattva.

"Second brother, where is the Princess of Zhennan, Dali?" Duan Yanqing's question startled Ye Erniang, a strange look crossing her face. The eldest brother actually yearned for a woman? However, Duan Zhengchun, the Prince of Zhennan, Dali, was known for his romantic exploits, leaving behind countless love affairs. It was this woman who had angered his legitimate wife so much that she ran away from home and now lived in seclusion in a Taoist temple outside Dali. Could it be that the eldest brother was trying to use this woman to blackmail Duan Zhengchun?

"Boss, in my opinion, although the Princess of Zhennan holds a high position, she cannot determine the succession of the Dali Kingdom's throne." Ye Erniang's words made Duan Yanqing secretly shake his head. "She certainly can't, but her son can. You should investigate thoroughly. Don't alert the enemy. Just investigate her past actions, especially from nineteen or twenty years ago, to see if there was anything unusual."

Twenty years ago, he had left behind a beautiful memory under the Bodhi tree outside the Tianlong Temple. It was that experience that gave him the urge to survive, and this led to the emergence of Duan Yanqing, the leader of the four evil men today.

At this moment, a group of soldiers came slowly, and they were actually flying the flag of the Emperor of Dali Kingdom, forcing Duan Yanqing to retreat temporarily. From a distance, he seemed to see the figures of Emperor Baoding Duan Zhengming, Master Xuanbei, Monk Huangmei, Ma Dayuan, Duan Yu and others, but Murong Fu was missing.

"Boss, boss, big news! The Tibetan Imperial Master has visited the Tianlong Temple, seemingly intent on stealing the Six Meridians Divine Sword." Yue Lao San rushed over, but the news he brought left Duan Yanqing slightly stunned. "The Tibetan Imperial Master, Jiumozhi? Haha, it's true that anyone can bully the Dali Kingdom's no one."

The Dali Kingdom was small and weak, far inferior to the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty, and even inferior to Tubo and Xixia. Xixia Yipintang was able to promise to help him ascend to the throne, and the Tubo national teacher dared to come alone to bully the Tianlong Temple, the national defense temple. What would happen if he ascended to the throne?

Thinking of Ma Dayuan's previous words, Duan Yanqing suddenly let out a long breath, and his whole person instantly changed. "I am the former crown prince of Dali Kingdom. The dispute between me and Duan Zhengming is just an internal conflict. Tubo and Xixia are outsiders. Humph, I will remember this!"

"Let's go and gather up the experts from Xixia Yipintang. We'll prepare to ambush Ma Dayuan on the road from Dali to the Central Plains. I don't think the deputy leader of the Beggars' Sect can stay in Dali for long."