The Villain's Counterattack

"Zhao Kuangyin is a martial arts expert who seized military power and conquered the country. Duan Siping is a man of both civil and military talents, and he pacified Nanzhao and established Dali. I, the Xianbei Murong Shi, am a descendant of the emperor of the Great Yan Kingdom. Our ancestor Murong Longcheng was invincible in the world. Why can't we restore the Great Yan Kingdom?" The man in gray shouted.

"Heroes are made by the times. Both Zhao Kuangyin and Duan Siping rose to prominence in turbulent times and achieved great things. Although later generations despised their weakened national strength, they could not erase their achievements. The Song Dynasty and the Dali Kingdom still exist in the world. So what about my Murong clan's Great Yan Kingdom?"

"The world is at peace, each territory has its own master. If this continues, when will the Great Yan be restored? Only in troubled times can there be opportunities. So I plan my strategy across the world, placing pawns in Liao, Xixia, Dali, and Tubo, making friends in the Central Plains martial arts world, quietly waiting for the opportunity while constantly creating chaos."

The gray-robed man met Xiao Yuanshan's gaze and chuckled, "The Liao Kingdom is undoubtedly powerful, but it is plagued by internal conflicts and is already showing signs of instability. The Liao Kingdom has a large military force, but is restrained by corrupt scholars. Furthermore, the Liao Buddhist sect is extravagant and spends enormous amounts of money. Within a hundred years, chaos is inevitable."

"If a wise ruler were determined to reform at this time, perhaps the country's fortunes could be extended. However, for the sake of restoring Great Yan, I will absolutely not allow this to happen." The gray-clothed man snorted coldly, "Think of stopping the war and recuperating? Dream on! I will eliminate any capable generals who advocate peace at the first opportunity, and you, Xiao Yuanshan, are the pillar of the peace faction."

"The Liao Kingdom's pro-war faction and the Liao Buddhist sect want you dead. How could you possibly escape?" The gray-robed man sneered, "They spread the news to kill someone with a borrowed knife. I knew it from the beginning, but I feigned ignorance and passed the news directly to Shaolin. Abbot Xuanci trusted me greatly, but after receiving the news, due to time constraints, he had no choice but to gather his men and hastily set an ambush at Yanmen Pass."

"Xiao Yuanshan, ah Xiao Yuanshan, your martial arts originated from Shaolin. The Lingmen master trained you to be a talent, but fearing that exposing your Shaolin martial arts would make it difficult for you to survive in the Liao Kingdom, he made many modifications to cover it up. Unexpectedly, not only did it fail to conceal the Liao Buddhist sect, but it also prevented you from understanding the origins of your martial arts, leading to this tragedy."

The gray-robed man pointed at Abbot Xuanci and said, "They may have had some doubts when they saw the elderly, weak, women, and children at Yanmen Pass, but when you started fighting and witnessed your martial arts, they no longer had any doubts. This is probably because they saw strong traces of Shaolin's unique skills in your martial arts moves. That's why they didn't stop halfway, until..."

Xiao Feng had seen through his identity from the start. His mouth twitched slightly at his words, and he didn't understand what he was trying to say. Was he trying to exonerate his father, Xiao Yuanshan? After all, his father had indeed been hiding in Shaolin for thirty years, secretly learning so many martial arts. But if his father had originally been a Shaolin disciple, his guilt would be much less. Furthermore, given his status as a victim of the Yanmen Pass Massacre, he would most likely be let off lightly.

The gray-robed man let out a long breath, glanced at Abbot Xuanci, and quietly made a drinking motion. Abbot Xuanci's brow twitched, already certain that this bastard was Murong Fu. He actually said he was thirsty and wanted him to offer him a cup of fragrant tea. Regardless of the time, he could only glare at him fiercely and tell him to continue. Even if it couldn't exonerate him, it could at least divert his attention.

"The Yanmen Pass tragedy occurred, and Xiao Yuanshan committed suicide by jumping off a cliff. He left behind a suicide note that made you suspicious, and you sent Monk Xuanbei to question me. I came here from Yanmen Pass and witnessed Xiao Yuanshan's martial arts. I knew I still had many shortcomings, and fearing that my actions would be exposed, I faked my death and escaped to Shaolin, where I diligently practiced the 72 Shaolin secret techniques. However, walking the night roads too much will inevitably lead to encountering ghosts. During this period, I did encounter Xiao Yuanshan a few times, but we were both equally matched and could do nothing to each other, so we just pretended not to see them."

Xiao Yuanshan snorted upon hearing this, staring at him with eyes blazing with anger, saying, "If I had known it was you, you bastard, I would have taken your life long ago."

The gray-clothed man chuckled and said, "That requires you to have the strength to do so."

At this point, the gray-robed man leaned slightly to the side and punched the tree next to him. With two loud cracks, two thick branches fell from the tree. The Shaolin monks exclaimed in surprise, "Vedo Pestle!"

The gray-robed man nodded in satisfaction and said, "Monk Xuanbei went to question us and discovered a clue at Chanhe Villa. He then traced back to my Murong family and became suspicious. The Four Evils were causing trouble in Dali Kingdom, and Monk Xuanbei went to support them. I killed him at the Shenjie Temple in Luliang Prefecture. I had originally planned to kill him with the Dali Duan family's One Yang Finger, but I didn't expect Monk Xuanbei to be so skilled in martial arts that I was careless and was unable to defeat him. I had no choice but to use my ancestral skill, Dou Zhuan Xing Yi, to kill him."

The Shaolin monks were all upset when they heard this. Master Xuanbei, who was staring at Jiumozhi not far away, widened his eyes. He opened his mouth several times but couldn't make a sound: "You actually killed me? How could I not know?"

Gray-clad man: You, a dead man, don't know anything. Just pretend to be dead. Oh, I forgot, your death is part of the original plot. In this world, Dad was sent away by me, so he didn't die.

"Thirty years ago, I faked my own death and escaped. Seeing that the pro-peace faction in Liao had fallen hard due to Xiao Yuanshan's disappearance, I hid in Liao, trained aides and placed them near Yelu Chongyuan, plotting and inciting his rebellion. Meanwhile, I gathered forces with tribes from Mobei. Previously, Xiao Feng had been unjustly forced to leave the Beggars' Sect, and I, behind the scenes, guided him back to Liao. He recognized his ancestral roots and, under the Xiao family name, joined the Imperial Guard, serving as a guard for the Liao Emperor."

"At my instigation, the Liao Dynasty's Southern Court, Prince of Chu, Yelü Nerugu, and the Crown Uncle, Yelü Chongyuan, rebelled while the Liao Emperor, Yelü Hongji, was away hunting. They gathered an army of over 500,000 and captured the Liao capital, Shangjing. They seized the imperial family and the families of civil and military officials within the city, and then led them to fight the Liao Emperor, attempting to achieve victory in one fell swoop with a force several times their own."

The gray-robed man raised his head and howled, "This is a golden opportunity, and I've facilitated it myself. How can I let them end it so easily? Seeing that the Crown Prince's side was gaining the upper hand, I secretly sent people to contact Xiao Feng, offering strategies and leaking information. I repeatedly weakened the Crown Prince's strength and trapped them outside the city, preventing them from returning to Shangjing. They couldn't escape far, so they had to fight in the open."

"I mobilized the 200,000-man army I'd trained over the past thirty years, and conquered the empty cities where the Crown Prince had withdrawn his forces. Before either side could react, I captured Shangjing. When the Liao Emperor, with my secret help, drove out the Crown Prince and triumphantly returned to Shangjing, I set up an ambush and captured all the Liao high-ranking officials in one fell swoop. Xiao Feng played a significant role in this, hahahaha~"

Xiao Yuanshan looked at his son in disbelief. Xiao Feng remained expressionless, trying hard not to laugh. The martial arts heroes and Shaolin monks fell into complete silence. What had he heard? The old patriarch of the Murong family had faked his own death and hidden in the Liao Kingdom, only to have quietly taken over the entire kingdom?

Abbot Xuanci's mouth twitched twice, he chanted a Buddhist name, and gave the man in gray a look. There should be a limit to bragging. The King of the Southern Court of Liao is here. Don't brag too much or you won't be able to cover it up.

The gray-robed man held his head high, looking around, and continued, "The Liao Kingdom was the kingdom of the Khitan people, a branch of the Xianbei. The Murong clan of the Great Yan Kingdom are authentic Xianbei nobles, easily gaining recognition from the Liao high-ranking officials. Those unwilling to surrender were sent to the Liao Emperor and escorted out of the country with courtesy. Since the Liao Kingdom's northern Mobei and eastern Goryeo had already been conquered by the Great Yan Kingdom, and the southern Song Dynasty was also within the Murong clan's sphere of influence, they had no choice but to be sent west."

"And this is the truth behind the Liao Emperor's western tour!" the gray-robed man sneered. "At this time, my Murong clan had already taken control of most of the Liao Kingdom, and the Great Yan Kingdom was on the verge of revival. But then news arrived that the wealthy and powerful families of the Song Dynasty had besieged the Murong family in Gusu. As the dignified King of the Great Yan Kingdom, how could I bear to see my wife and children being bullied? So I appointed Xiao Feng as the King of the Southern Court and the Grand Marshal of the Army. He led a vanguard of 100,000 troops, with the cooperation of General Feng Bo'e, to attack Yanmen, conquer Taiyuan, and sweep all the way to Tokyo Bianliang."

"The three northern armies, totaling two hundred thousand men, are unstoppable and unstoppable, with the Beggars' Sect playing a huge role." The grey-clothed man's words made the Beggars' Sect members frown, and they all cast complicated glances at Xiao Feng, as this was their former leader.

It's just that your words are so exaggerated, why don't we believe them? Earlier, you said you hid in Shaolin for 30 years, and now you're directly living in the Liao Kingdom for 30 years. Is there any truth in your words? Rather than believing that the Liao Kingdom invaded, we actually want to believe that the Liao Kingdom was gone, but is this realistic?

"In addition to these three northern armies, another naval force departed from Goryeo to capture Zhoushan, then attacked Gusu via Taihu Lake, lifting the siege of the Murong family. They then advanced westward along the East China Sea, preparing to encircle Bianliang."

"Amitabha!" Abbot Xuanci let out a long sigh, his expression complicated as he said, "Regardless of whether it's true or not, Elder Donor Xiao and Elder Donor Murong possess the Shaolin secrets, so I can't let you two leave. Please forgive me for any offense I've caused!"

The gray-clothed man shoved little Ah Zi out with a palm, sending her to Duan Yu and Duan Zhengchun. Immediately, everyone from the Lingjiu Palace surrounded her and protected her. Then he chuckled and said, "In the martial arts world, the strong are respected. As long as the Shaolin Dharma Protector does not come out, I am not afraid of anyone in the whole world!"