Alienated Martial Arts

The day to leave the city soon came.

It was still dark, and Wei Tao had already gotten up.

He put on the dark armor, arm guards, and leg guards one by one and fastened them tightly.

Then put on a customized outfit outside.

Two thick machetes are tied behind the waist.

Various hidden weapons are also placed in place by category.

Finally, he put on a large cloak to protect him from the cold, picked up the baggage containing various supplies, and left the house towards the martial arts gym.

The streets were deserted.

From time to time a whirlwind blew by, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Some gang members armed with swords began to gather, causing ordinary residents who came out for activities in the morning to take shelter.

Wei Tao pressed down his bamboo hat and glanced at the gang members passing by in groups.

The Hidden Sword Society, Changlefang, Shanjiamen, and Liehu Gang are basically all big forces with a name in the outer city.

Suddenly, he stopped and turned his head to look back.

Da da da……

The intensive sound of horse hooves sounded from far to near, and the ground shook slightly.

Wei Tao stopped and turned around to look.

I only saw a team of black-armored knights with a tight lineup.

Carrying a long bow on his back and a saber on his waist,

Rushing along the long street.

These knights are taller, especially their legs and arms. Their muscles are strong and bulging.

It looks extremely thick, like a piece of hard iron ingot.

There were not many pedestrians on the road, they all gave way and hid aside, not daring to look directly.

"It's the Zhou family's black knight."

Wei Tao observed silently, "And compared to the team that came back from outside the city last time, they look stronger and better equipped."

kindness?

Suddenly, the black-armored knight at the end of the battle turned his head to look.

His eyes met with Wei Tao's in mid-air.

"this person……"

Wei Tao couldn't help but narrowed his eyes slightly.

The knight just turned his head, his eyes sparkling, shooting out dazzling light, which actually made his eyeballs irritated and slightly painful.

Also, that man was a whole lot bigger than the other black knights, both in terms of body shape and the horse under his crotch.

The face under the helmet was red-purple in color, with two dots of bright red between the eyebrows. It looked as if a third eye had grown.

Wei Tao watched him go away.

After careful observation, his eyes couldn't help but freeze again.

The knight's hand holding the reins was more than twice as big as an ordinary person's, and the veins were bulging high, as if they were wrapped with blue-gray iron chains, making it look ferocious and terrifying.

Even the iron spear he carried on his horse's back was much thicker and heavier than the knight in front of him, and was as thick as the rim of a large cup.

Wei Tao could fully imagine how terrifying the impact would be if this man charged forward on horseback and thrust out that big spear.

If he were an ordinary Qi-blood warrior, even if he was wearing standard iron armor, he would probably be pierced by a spear and there would be no chance of survival.

"If I were to fight him head-on..."

Wei Tao fell into thinking, but did not come to a definite conclusion.

In the end, who loses and who wins, we still need to play a game to know.

The entire long street fell into complete silence, except for the sound of black cavalry treading the ground gradually fading away.

"call……"

It wasn't until all the black knights disappeared that someone let out a long breath of white breath.

The man wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said with emotion, "Is this the eldest young master of the Zhou family, Zhou Mingzun? He is getting more and more powerful."

"Yeah, I don't know who is stronger or weaker compared to Huang Qilin."

"It's hard to say. It is said that both of them have cultivated their ancestral martial arts to a high level and completed the transformation of Qi and blood. If we really want to compare, we can only know if they have actually done it."

"That is the eldest son of the Huang Zhou family, the head of the next generation of the family.

If you let them fight with real swords and guns, it is simply a dream! "

Wei Tao couldn't help but slow down a little as he walked past two gang members who were talking quietly.

The two of them immediately fell silent.

However, they were glared at by Wei Tao, and each of them shuddered.

"Why didn't you say anything when I came?"

"You two, are you looking down on me or what?"

He frowned, spoke condescendingly, and spoke in a low tone.

Gudong!

The two of them swallowed and smiled, "Sir, whatever you want to hear, we will tell you right now."

Wei Tao nodded with satisfaction, "Let's continue telling the story that Huang Qilin and Zhou Mingzun have to tell. I have limited time, so I will focus on the key points and describe them in detail."

The sky is getting brighter.

But the sun couldn't penetrate the clouds, and it looked dark and gloomy in broad daylight.

Coupled with the cold wind that passed by from time to time, it brought a bone-chilling coldness.

After everyone from the Red Line Gate left the city, they headed north.

Thirty horses lined up in a queue, leaving a string of flying earth dragons on the official road.

After more than half an hour, we were far away from the city and the rural villages on the outskirts, and began to really go deep into the wilderness.

Rigid corpses began to appear on the roadside.

All of them were in ragged clothes and covered with thick white frost.

They posed in different poses, their eyes vacant and blank, as if they were staring at the passers-by.

From time to time, a crow with black feathers and blood-eyed eyes falls down,

Lying on the corpse and gnawing happily.

There were also a few wild dogs that were attracted. They were frightened by the movement of the cavalry and ran away, hiding in the distance to observe secretly.

Wei Tao frowned slightly, his face a little downcast.

The tip of his nose twitched, and he could vaguely smell the smell of rotten meat.

It emanates from these corpses.

Uh-huh!

A figure jumped off the horse and landed directly in front of the corpse.

Guagua!

The frightened crow screamed and fluttered its wings.

But he was grabbed by a big hand, and his neck was broken with a little force.

"Teacher, this is a female corpse. There is a transparent wound on the chest. It should be caused by a sharp sword."

The figure wearing a hat and a heavy cloak spoke.

Surprisingly, it was Yan Shi who was ordered to stay in the martial arts hall.

Wei Tao didn't know how he convinced the teacher to join the bandit suppression team.

However, it can be considered a good thing to increase the overall combat power of the team.

"Ignore her and move on." Master Zhou sat upright on the horse without any intention of stopping.

The cavalry began to move, soon leaving the bodies behind.

"How far is it from here to Maoshi Village?"

After walking some distance, Master Zhou asked.

Tan Pan unfolded the animal skin map and compared the surrounding landforms.

"Teacher, we are at this location now. It will take almost two hours and we will reach our destination in the afternoon."

Master Zhou nodded, and when he saw a place that could take shelter from the wind, he ordered to stop and rest, and eat some dry food to replenish his strength.

Continuing forward, the terrain begins to undulate and enters high and low hilly areas.

Everyone had to slow down,

In some places, horses had to be led on foot to pass through the ice areas where the snow had not yet melted.

After going dozens of miles into the hills, we finally arrived at our destination.

It was a gathering place called Maoshi Village with hundreds of households.

They will use this as their base to conduct a thorough search and cleanup of the surrounding area.

The sound of hoofbeats came in waves as they quickly approached Maoshi Village.

From a distance, you can already see stone houses scattered high and low.

Wei Tao squinted his eyes and carefully observed the approaching village.

He didn't know why, but he always felt like something was wrong.

The whole village was quiet.

No one was walking around.

In the evening, there was not a wisp of smoke rising.

No one lives here now?

A question came to mind.

Did all the villagers migrate and flee, or...

He quickly adjusted his body and held several money darts in his hands.

Soon after, the cavalry stopped under the stone gate archway at the entrance of the village.

Everyone dismounted one after another and looked at the building in front of them with different expressions.

"Xiao Shi, what do you think?" Master Zhou observed for a moment and asked.

"Teacher, this village is not normal." Yan Shi replied.

Tan Pan held the reins and stared at the dark buildings in front of him, his expression a little confused and solemn.

They all felt something was wrong.

"It's not normal." Master Zhou nodded.

"So many of us came to the entrance of the village. Not to mention seeing a single villager, we didn't even hear a dog bark. This village is too quiet."

He thought silently for a moment, then waved to call Tan Pan.

"Copy the guys, prepare a battle formation, and go in to investigate."

Wei Tao followed Tan Pan, followed by several registered disciples with guns on guard, and stepped into the silent Maoshi Village.

Passing by several dusty stone houses in front of him, Tan Pan raised his hand and stopped in front of a half-open courtyard door.

Through the crack of the half-open door, Wei Tao saw that it was deserted inside, with the remaining snow and fallen leaves mixed together, giving people a sense of dilapidation and decline.

"Go in and take a look?" Tan Pan asked for advice.

Wei Tao nodded, pulled out his sword, took a few steps forward and opened the gray courtyard door.

Not only the yard, but also the houses inside seemed to have not been cleaned for a long time, and there was an air of decay everywhere.

"This place seems to have been abandoned."

As soon as Tan Pan raised his hand, several registered disciples behind him quickly stepped forward and opened the door of the main room with their spears.

He and Wei Tao followed closely behind, ready to provide support at any time.

Suddenly there was a scream.

A named disciple staggered back and fell down the steps.

Wei Tao looked through the half-open door and saw only a body hanging under the beam.

His feet were dangling off the ground, his tongue was hanging out, his eyes were wide open, and there was no trace of life in them.

This is a middle-aged man wearing a white robe. His face looks like it has been smeared with too much cream, and there is no trace of blood.

Even the hands exposed outside the sleeves were pale to almost transparent in color.

Inexplicably, Wei Tao thought of the Xu family and his wife in Yaoshi Lane.

Their bodies after death seemed to have many similarities with the middle-aged man hanging from the rafters.

He stepped forward carefully and suddenly slashed out with his sword.

The blade instantly tore open the white robe and slashed across the left leg of the corpse, leaving a deep wound on it.

really……

There was almost no blood coming out.

Even if this person has been dead for a while and the blood in his body has solidified, this should not be the case.

Wei Tao slowly exhaled a breath.

He turned around and glanced at Tan Pan.

"Elder brother, what do you think?" he asked.

"There's some trouble now."

Tan Pan frowned, "Let's go check out other places first, and then we'll talk."

the next period of time.

Neither of them discovered anything new.

It seems that except for this body, the entire Maoshi Village has disappeared, leaving no trace of their departure.

"Let's exit first." Tan Pan also felt a chill on his back and immediately gave the order.

Several registered disciples holding spears had already become weak in their hands and feet, wishing they could grow wings on their backs and fly away from here.

"Elder brother." Wei Tao walked at the end and said in a low voice.

"What's wrong, Seventh Junior Brother?" Tan Pan looked gloomy, not knowing what he was thinking.

"Is this corpse related to the Red Lantern Club?"

Wei Tao's voice reached Tan Pan's ears like a mosquito and ant.

Tan Pan said, "I don't know either. I can only say that it is possible."

"What is the origin of the Red Lantern Club?" he continued to ask.

"I don't know the specific origin."

Tan Pan thought for a moment, "However, when I went to the inner city before, I saw the members of the Red Lantern Society more than once. Most of them were family members of three families and five surnames."

"At least in Cangyuan City, this newly established organization can be said to have lush branches and deep roots, so I ask you not to provoke it easily."

They quickly withdrew from Maoshi Village and joined the others who were on guard outside.

After listening to Tan Pan's story, Master Zhou thought for a moment.

Looking up again to see the increasingly gloomy sky, I finally made the decision to go to the village to rest.

There is no way.

Except for Maoshi Village, there are no houses that can provide shelter from the wind and snow in this area.

Now that the weather has changed drastically, a snowstorm may be on the way.

Accommodating in the wilderness, bad weather alone may reduce the number of the team by half.

The rest will be frozen and hungry, unable to exert their due strength.

If we encounter bandits gathering again, we are afraid that the group will be wiped out.

After some comparisons, Master Zhou selected a vermilion compound in the village as his residence.

Suddenly everyone started to move.

Patrolling, setting traps, cleaning houses, sealing windows, collecting firewood and lighting fires...

Everyone had their own work, and they were busy until it got dark before they could finally stop to eat and rest.

Strong winds mixed with heavy snow also fell at the same time.

The entire world was covered in a vast expanse of white.