Ask Wudang Chapter 117

The crowd also knew that with the kneeling of Monk Kongwen, the status of Shaolin Temple as the leader of the martial arts world had changed hands to Wudang. It was unknown when they would be able to regain the position of martial arts leader.

Seeing a thousand-year-old sect forced to this point, everyone was filled with emotion.

Following Ye Qingfeng’s order, Wudang disciples, along with the Ming Cult’s Five Elements Flags, began to enter the temple to extinguish fires and rescue people.

Yu Lianzhou, Yu Daiyan, Zhang Songxi and others were worried and personally led the crowd into the temple to prevent any ambush inside. Two groups of people entered the temple. Wudang disciples were responsible for extinguishing fires and rescuing people, while Ming Cult members prepared remote weapons such as thunder beads, black water, and poisonous sand. As soon as they saw anything amiss, they would immediately shoot, giving the enemy no chance.

When Ye Qingfeng and Monk Kongwen entered the temple, the Five Elements Flags were slaughtering a group of monks. Each Five Elements Flag leader led a team. When they saw a suspicious monk, they would wave their small flag, and their flag members would immediately throw thunder beads, spray black water, scatter poisonous sand, and throw countless flying axes. Just one round of concentrated attack would crush the opponent into a meat paste.

The experts from various sects who followed Ye Qingfeng into the temple witnessed the ferocity of the Five Elements Flags firsthand and remained silent.

It was half an hour later when the fire was finally extinguished.

The Ming Cult’s Five Elements Flags successfully retreated, and Wudang disciples returned to their positions. Song Qingshu reported to Ye Qingfeng, “Eighth Uncle, the disciples accompanied Master Kongzhi and inspected all the deceased monks. We did not find the bodies of Cheng Kun and his apprentice.”

Ye Qingfeng said, “No matter, he can’t escape. First, kill the rebellious fake monks.”

Thus, a large number of rebellious fake monks were tied to the square, and heads rolled.

Originally, the rebellious Shaolin monks should have been dealt with by Shaolin Temple itself, but Ye Qingfeng usurped their authority and did not give Monk Kongwen a chance to speak. With a wave of his hand and a single slash, the entire world immediately became quiet.

Subsequently, at Ye Qingfeng’s instruction, Zhang Wuji issued an order. Yan Yuan, the leader of the Ming Cult’s Thick Earth Flag, personally led his flag members to remove and dispose of all the bodies in the square. Then, carts of yellow earth were brought in to cover the bloodstains on the square.

Another hour later, the square was clean again, with only a pile of heads in the corner emitting a strong bloody stench.

Inside Shaolin Temple, the surviving monks continuously chanted Buddhist scriptures, their hearts trembling at the slaughter before their eyes.

Just then, a scout from down the mountain suddenly reported, “A large number of Tatar cavalry have been spotted thirty li away, converging on this location.”

Hearing this news, everyone was shocked, and then a clamor arose, turning the entire scene into chaos.

“Damn it, let’s fight them! If we don’t kill a few Tatars, we’re not worthy of being descendants of Yan and Huang.”

“The enemy is strong. It’s enough for us to secretly kill a few Tatars. A direct confrontation is not the act of a wise man.”

“Count me in for killing Tatars. If I die, I die. What’s there to be afraid of?”

Ye Qingfeng said nothing, slowly walked to the center of the square, and scanned the crowd. The scene immediately quieted down.

Then, Ye Qingfeng spoke, “Now that the Tatars have delivered themselves to us, it’s a good opportunity for us to show our skills. Tonight, I will lead Wudang disciples to raid the enemy camp. Are there any like-minded friends here who are willing to go with me?”

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other, but no one answered. It was a bit awkward.

Just then, Zhang Wuji was the first to step out of the crowd and said, “Eighth Uncle, I am willing to lead the Ming Cult forces to raid the camp with you.”

Abbess Miejue also stepped out and said loudly, “Expelling the barbarians is the general trend. Count my Emei sect in.”

With these two forces taking the lead, others immediately responded. The Kongtong, Huashan, Kunlun, Wangwu, Shangqing, and other sects all stepped forward and said loudly, “Eighth Hero Ye, resisting the barbarians is everyone’s responsibility. We swear to follow you to the death.”

Ye Qingfeng looked at everyone, nodded, and said, “Very good, you haven’t disappointed me after all. You still have some backbone.” He paused slightly, then continued, “Anyone who comes with me must obey my orders. Those who disobey will be killed without mercy.”

Upon hearing this, everyone recalled his decisive and ruthless killing of the Shaolin high monk, and their hearts skipped a beat. Some secretly regretted it, thinking, “Why did I come out to play the hero? What if this fellow dislikes me? Wouldn’t I be dead for sure?”

Although they thought this in their hearts, since they had already stepped out, they had no face to retreat and could only grit their teeth and endure.

In the evening, a scout from down the mountain reported again, “The Tatar army of sixty thousand is encamped ten li away.”

Ye Qingfeng looked at the prepared martial arts heroes behind him. These people were definitely good at one-on-one killing, but for large-scale military operations, they were a bunch of scumbags, completely unreliable. Fortunately, it was a night attack. These people who stepped forward all had good martial arts and excellent light qigong. It was most suitable to let them set fires and use poison, fighting and leaving within the enemy camp.

Immediately, Ye Qingfeng issued another order, leaving a portion of the forces to guard Shaolin, while the rest followed him directly to the Tatar camp.

Soon after Ye Qingfeng led the heroes away, another large group of Wudang disciples followed under the leadership of Song Yuanqiao and others.

Yu Lianzhou said, “Big Brother, since Eighth Brother has already determined that this is a Tatar ploy to lure us in, why does he still personally walk into it?”

Song Yuanqiao pondered, “The Tatars have gathered so many troops to suppress us; someone must have tipped them off. Cheng Kun has always had ties with the Tatars, so their army’s arrival here must be related to him. Eighth Brother intends to use their own scheme against them, to lure the snake out of its hole.”

After walking a few li, they reached a valley.

Song Yuanqiao looked at the terrain and immediately ordered, “Disciples, stop. Quickly form the True Martial Grand Array.”

The True Martial Grand Array evolved from the True Martial Seven Intercepting Array, and its creator was Ye Qingfeng. This array not only retained the power of the True Martial Seven Intercepting Array but also incorporated new changes on its original basis, allowing it to be used for large-scale operations.

As early as ten years ago, when the six Wudang factions rose, Ye Qingfeng foresaw this day and painstakingly created this grand array. The core of the grand array was still the True Martial Seven Intercepting Array. The True Martial Seven Intercepting Array was composed of seven people, forming a small array. Seven small arrays formed a medium array, requiring forty-nine people. Forty-nine medium arrays formed a grand array, requiring two thousand four hundred and one people. Once the array was formed, two thousand four hundred and one people, evolving according to the array, could contend against more than ten times their number of enemies.

The grand array was set, and then it was time to await the enemy at leisure.

Now, Ye Qingfeng led the various martial arts heroes and soon arrived at a small hill near the Tatar army camp. Looking from afar, the camp was a dark expanse, without a sound, with only a few sentries walking back and forth in front of the camp.

The White-Browed Eagle King, well-versed in military strategy, said to Ye Qingfeng, “Eighth Hero Ye, something is amiss. Night has just fallen, and these tens of thousands of troops in the camp cannot have quieted down so quickly. There might be an ambush.”

Ye Qingfeng was about to speak when someone beside him suddenly flicked their hand, and a firework immediately shot into the night sky, trailing a tail.

After sending the signal, that person laughed wildly, “Hehe, Ye Qingfeng, this old monk will give you a welcoming gift.”

His voice was quite hoarse. After a few laughs, he ran down the slope and disappeared into the jungle in an instant.

Upon hearing this person’s voice, Monk Kongzhi, who had come with Ye Qingfeng, angrily said, “Yuanzhen, so it was you.”