He Lan Tianxia

"Amitabha, you bunch of good-for-nothings." The abbot tried to calm himself down, but his heart felt like it was about to burst into flames. Every time he set up the formation, these people seemed to break the Vajra Formation with ease. Could it be that they had already obtained the secret manual for breaking the formation from the abbot? The thought terrified the abbot, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

The abbot's malicious gaze swept over the group, finally settling on Hong Xiuying. On his turf, he didn't take this woman seriously. The abbot picked up his staff and swung it straight at Hong Xiuying.

Now that Hong Xiuying had arrived and the old tree spirit was helping her, Murong Junlan turned around to rescue Luo Xie and the others.

"Where are the abbot and the others?" Murong Junlan asked as he cut the ropes binding Luo Xie.

"They're trapped at the bottom of the well." Luo Xie shook his numb and sore shoulders, unaware of Murong Junlan's surprise.

"At the bottom of a well?" Murong Junlan paused. "There's a well at Anqiao Temple?"

"More than that? Stones and blood will also gush out of the well!"

"what?"

As they spoke, the two had already rescued Jiang He and Xiao Yezi.

"Where is Lingyi?" Murong Junlan realized that Lingyi was missing.

"He came down the mountain the day after you came down, saying he was going to find you. Didn't you see him?"

"No." Lingyi didn't seem like an irresponsible person. Where did he go after going down the mountain? Murong Junlan did some mental calculations. It had been more than half a month since they went down the mountain. He was relieved mainly because he saw that the abbot was down the mountain, not at Anqiao Temple. Later, when the abbot escaped back, he and Yan'er only went to pick a flower and admire the waterfall before coming here. It seems that the local tyrants are not to be underestimated.

"Jiang He, Miss Hong is dealing with the abbot here. The three of you should be able to go and rescue the abbot and the others, right?" Murong Junlan tossed the antidote pills he had to Jiang He and then turned to rescue his Yan'er.

"Don't worry, Your Highness." Jiang He immediately distributed the pills to several people and ran towards the well. As a personal guard, he knew that the prince was going to rescue the princess.

Seeing that Prince Murong had left, and that Jiang Heluo, Xie Xiaoye, and the others wouldn't be able to recover their strength anytime soon, how could they possibly go and rescue someone? The abbot was overjoyed. He would take care of this woman today. Although she had a fierce look on her face, he liked her. Making her a temple mistress wouldn't be bad.

The abbot turned his lewd eyes, which swept over Hong Xiuying's full breasts, and with a flick of his staff, he swept his leg across her.

Hong Xiuying glared fiercely at the lecherous Taoist priest, having taken in his lewd gaze. "Fine, today I'll make sure he's childless." Wait, something's not right. Wasn't he castrated? Hmm, that doesn't seem right. This monk was castrated, but this…eunuch…oh, I remember now, this eunuch is different from that eunuch. That eunuch was a eunuch, this wicked Taoist priest is a monk. Those lewd eyes of his are probably fake. Fine, today I'll act on behalf of Heaven and castrate this wicked Taoist priest.

To avenge that lewd glance, Hong Xiuying devised a plan. Seeing the staff swinging towards her, she didn't parry, but instead grabbed her husband, Young Master Zhong, and turned to run. Young Master Zhong was frail and weak; Murong Junlan had already made him dizzy, and he was still dazed, like meat on a chopping board, at anyone's mercy.

Hong Xiuying couldn't bear to chop up this piece of meat; she still wanted to marry him and pamper him. She pulled Zhong Ziqi over because she didn't want his lewdness to get too close to him; she could protect him from here.

They were all江湖人士 (jianghu figures, people of the martial arts world), so the abbot couldn't possibly be unaware of Hong Xiuying's actions. "You won't take my staff? Very well." The abbot smiled contemptuously, then swung his staff to attack Zhong Ziqi. "Hey, this has really enraged Hong Xiuying. She won't rest until she's wiped out eight generations of your ancestors!" Hong Xiuying quickly hid the dazed Zhong Ziqi behind her back, then swung her broadsword and charged forward. The two were evenly matched, and neither could gain the upper hand for the time being.

The old tree spirit who had scattered the monks had nothing to do now, so it stood there dumbfounded, watching the commotion. After watching for a while, it got bored, so it secretly moved closer to Zhong Ziqi. Seeing that this guy seemed kind, it rubbed its little body against Zhong Ziqi's leg.

Zhong Ziqi was already dizzy when he saw a dark, old man rubbing against him. Not knowing whether it was friend or foe, he panicked and moved his legs away. But the old man rubbed against him again, smiled, and told him it was the prince's man and had come to protect him. Only then did Zhong Ziqi lower his guard. Unexpectedly, the tree spirit made an outrageous request: it wanted to sit on Zhong Ziqi's shoulder.

Zhong Ziqi was truly a kind person. Before the old tree spirit could react, Zhong Ziqi suddenly scooped him up and hoisted him onto his shoulder, just like a father lifting his child onto a horse. The elderly tree spirit was so flattered that he almost wet himself in fright. And Zhong Ziqi, afraid that the old man would fall off his shoulder, stretched out his hands...

Hold on firmly.

The scene of swords flashing and fighting raging on one side, and people on horseback watching the spectacle on the other, seemed utterly incongruous. Just then, Hong Xiuying turned her head and saw this, instantly enraged. She thought, "I wouldn't even dare ride on his back, and here you, some old geezer, are riding on his shoulders!" Lost in thought, the abbot's staff swept across, tearing a corner of Hong Xiuying's robe with a hiss. Enraged, Hong Xiuying swung her broadsword and charged again.

The two fought for dozens more rounds, neither gaining the upper hand. Seeing that his chances of winning were slim, the abbot decided to use a trick. He made a show of force by striking Hong Xiuying with his staff, while secretly pulling out a hidden dart and throwing it at Zhong Ziqi.

Hong Xiuying knew something was wrong, but she couldn't turn around. She could only throw her knife to block the small dart.

The abbot was overjoyed at the sight and swung his staff back, striking the unarmed Hong Xiuying.

That's too ruthless, killing two birds with one stone.

Crack. The sound of a tree trunk breaking.

"You heartless bastard! You've ruined my life!" The old tree spirit shook off the hidden dart on its body, stretched out the section of its root that had been numb from the shock, and charged menacingly towards the abbot. Hong Xiuying was taken aback, but knowing that the old tree spirit had saved her, she also swung her sword and attacked.

Zhong Ziqi was still in shock. His life had been hanging by a thread all day; he felt his heart had stopped several times. He couldn't understand where the little old man who had been sitting comfortably on his shoulder had disappeared. Suddenly, a tree appeared in front of him, but he clearly heard a soft "thud." Looking down, he saw a small dart pierce through a branch, just a hair's breadth away from being caught. And lo and behold, his forehead wasn't sweating, it was bleeding. The recent brutal battles were worlds apart from his usual theoretical discussions; he suddenly felt utterly useless.

At this moment, Zhong Ziqi bowed deeply to the old tree spirit, for the old tree spirit was a god.

At this moment, the old tree spirit was no longer a god, but a madman. He swung his thick branches at the abbot, and with the help of Hong Xiuying, the two of them forced the abbot to retreat step by step, unable to fight back.

At this moment, the old tree spirit quietly approached Hong Xiuying, whispered something, and then the entire tree branch suddenly fell to the ground.

The abbot was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter and uttered a dismissive remark: "Pathetic."

Just then, the knife in Hong Xiuying's hand was knocked away by the monk's staff. Oh dear, this is truly a stroke of luck! Without thinking, the abbot stepped forward and used his staff to remove the broadsword. In the blink of an eye, the broadsword lying on the ground suddenly stood upright and slashed at the abbot.

What happened? The abbot tried to grab his staff to deal with it, but it was too late. His leg got tangled in something—a few vines. Before he could cut them, someone pulled him down, and he fell to the ground with a thud like a vicious dog snatching excrement.

The abbot tried to roll over to get rid of his restraints, but his shoes got stuck. He rolled over again, and his pants got stuck too. Then he heard the sound of pants tearing and heard Hong Xiuying say:

“Pull out the hair.”

While the abbot was still in a daze, his pants disappeared, and then two thin vines wrapped around his legs and pulled down hard, making the hair on his legs sting.

"Is this what you call 'plucking hair'?" Hong Xiuying raised her knife and brought it down, aiming to chop at the abbot's genitals...

Hey. Is he even alive?

The abbot discarded his staff, not caring whether his backside was bare or not, and haphazardly threw a handful of darts behind him before fleeing.

Hong Xiuying wanted to give chase, but a hidden dart pierced Zhong Ziqi's calf. Hong Xiuquan was worried that the dart was poisoned, so he quickly treated Zhong Ziqi's injury.

The old tree spirit was also seriously injured, especially since he had turned into a tree to block the monk's staff and the hidden darts, which had destroyed a lot of his vital energy. He would need to recuperate for a while.

While they were fighting to the death on one side, a fierce battle was also taking place on the other. Fortunately, Xiao Yezi was clever and familiar with the terrain. With the monks setting up a battle formation to deal with Hong Xiuying, and Jiang He and the others taking a leg-weakening drug, they managed to rescue the abbot, the old man, and the children who had been captured by the abbot for martial arts training and forced labor from the deep well with great difficulty.

Through the abbot's narration, everyone learned about the little-known ugliness of Anqiao Temple.