Chapter 656: Escape

Lianqing was eager to retrieve his Master’s Sumeru Mustard Divine Power, but Shangguan Ru shook her head and refused. “This isn’t the right time. We are not out of danger yet.”

Lianqing’s eyes widened. For a moment, he looked like a reckless bandit instead of a monk but he soon wrestled his temper back under control. “Please forgive me, young benefactress. Ever since my Master passed away… Let’s get going.”

This was an ‘arranged’ escape, so the first half of the plan went very smoothly. More than half of the soldiers had been transferred out, while the remaining guards had relaxed their vigilance and only had a few people standing on guard. Lianqing stroked their acupoints one by one and didn’t alarm anyone. He called such a coincidence ‘luck.’

Shangguan Ru didn’t believe in luck. “We have to take the nuns away.”

“What? How is that possible?” Lianqing’s anxiety was on the verge of exploding.

“What’s wrong with that? You are a monk and they are nuns. Are you going to leave them in jail?”

Lianqing grinded his teeth in impatience. “Okay, that’s it though. No more people.”

But he himself also brought several more people with him. Kumie and six other monks had joined the escape team, pretending to be frightened and knowing nothing about Lianqing’s plan.

“They know the way,” Lianqing explained.

There were not many horses in the camp. Most of them had to share a horse with others. Shangguan Ru, however, rode a horse alone and followed Lianqing and Kumie closely.

Of course Kumie knew the way and they soon got out of the prison area. After another mile or two, Shangguan Ru stopped and demanded further information on the next stage of the plan. Lianqing had no idea so Kumie said in a low voice, “The cavalry of the forbidden zone are all stationed in the South, so let’s head north. We’ll turn east at dawn, make a detour and then head south. We’ll probably reach the Royal Court by nightfall.”

“Brilliant idea,” Shangguan Ru agreed as she nodded. “But I also have a plan. Let’s divide into two groups. One will go north while the other goes another way.”

Lianqing didn’t care one way or another but Kumie wasn’t able to cover up his surprise and discontent. “This will not do. It’s too dangerous. This is the forbidden zone of the Royal Court, and there’s cavalry everywhere. Only the northern side is a bit safer than the rest.”

“So, you go to the safe north, and we’ll go in an unsafe direction.”

Kumie was at a loss for word when his nearby disciple approached and said, “Well, you are all women, so it’s better for you to traverse the safer northern path, and we’ll find another way…”

Shangguan Ru didn’t want to waste her breath. She beckoned for Shangguan Hong to come over. “Protect the masters as they go north.”

This was the order that had been given by Queen Ju before, so Shangguan Hong nodded to accept it. He neither spoke nor looked at Shangguan Ru.

The brother and sister would rather not talk to each other.

Although Shangguan Ru felt her brother Shangguan Fei’s means were a bit cruel, she really didn’t have a good impression of Shangguan Hong.

“No, no…” Seeing his plan falling apart in front of him, Kumie kept shaking his head and even his voice grew louder.

Shangguan Hong’s kung fu was average and he had been caught as a eunuch, so he was not qualified to ‘enjoy’ the knockout drugs of the Waning Moon Hall and therefore, still retained his internal energy. Although he couldn’t defeat any kung fu experts or a group of soldiers, it was easy for him to deal with several monks who knew absolutely no kung fu.

With his wrist being gripped, sweat sprang up on Kumie’s forehead,and he almost cried out in pain. He could only anxiously say, “Let’s do it your way and get going. Let’s not waste any time. And we don’t need protection.”

The protection was necessary. Shangguan Hong would walk the monks three miles northward and then he would confiscate their horses and head out west to catch up with Queen Ju and others.

Shangguan Ru decided to go west and her destination was the Flower Camp of the Second Consort.

At first, Luo Ningcha was very happy when she heard the plan, “Right, the Flower Camp is also in the forbidden zone. The Second Consort trusts me the most and takes me as her confidant. We will be protected at her place.”

The other women exchanged a glance and in the end, it was Xiao Fengchai who pointed out the truth without mercy. “I’m afraid it was exactly the Second Consort who handed you over.”

Luo Ningcha was stunned. She carefully thought about what had happened to her and finally came to understand. After that, she kept a straight face as she tried to hatch a revenge plot but wasn’t able to think of anything even when they were almost half-way through their journey.

Kumie and several others were forced to travel northward while Shangguan Ru led more than ten women including the nuns to go westward. Lianqing volunteered to follow her and she didn’t object.

The team hadn’t gone far before they stopped. The nuns took out several extra nuns’ clothes for the five women, who were all unwilling to cut their hair and thus could only cover it up with a hat. Fortunately, it was inconspicuous at dark night.

Shangguan Ru didn’t change her dress. Her current identity was that of a female officer of the Flower Camp.

Less than three miles from the prison, the small party encountered the first cavalry patrol which only had seven people. In order to guard against the unrest in the South, the defense of the forbidden zone had been reduced to the minimum.

Shangguan Ru took out the waist token of the chief and calmly claimed that she was following the Second Consort’s order to take several nuns from the prison to the Flower Camp.

The cavalry had no suspicions towards them. They were just surprised that there were nuns kept in the prison, but they did not dare ask any more questions and let them go at once.

A few miles away, the second cavalry patrol wasn’t so gullible. The leader was a noble officer who had somehow heard the rumor that there were special female prisoners in the prison area. He carefully checked the waist token and then began to check those female nuns, especially Lianqing, the only monk among the nuns.

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Seeing that the disguises of Queen Ju and others were about to be exposed, Shangguan Ru winked at Lianqing.

The monk’s heart was full of anger and resentment. His Master was injured and dead but refused to tell him who was the enemy. Instead, his Master had trusted an outsider and even gave his most important secret manual to the strange woman. He didn’t dare to complain about his Master but the hidden persona of the bandit in his heart had begun to stir.

The only thing he could guarantee was that he would not play too hard. Before long he had poked the acupoints of all six soldiers and the officer and gotten a few more mounts for the procession, but the resentment in his heart was not yet dispelled. Full of fierceness in his eyes, he asked Shangguan Ru, “You will surely give me the divine power, won’t you?”

“I will give you your master’s secret for sure.” Shangguan Ru carefully worded her response to avoid being unable to fulfill it in the future.

The crowd approached the Flower Camp in the early morning, and they could see that the fire in the south was getting fiercer and fiercer and that it did not look like a general riot, but rather a large-scale war.

The ladies changed out of their nuns’ clothes. Knowing that the Second Consort had betrayed her, Luo Ningcha’s fierceness was aroused. She felt a need to question this most powerful woman of the Norland face to face so she took the lead and stormed into the Flower Camp.

The Flower Camp had become a real military camp. The Second Consort had dispatched all ten thousand of her horsemen here with one thousand people guarding the camp while the remaining nine thousand lined up in the south. The one thousand or so female soldiers who had not yet been well trained were also fully armed, trembling as they prepared for a possible battle.

The prestigious ladies who had come from various countries hid in their tents and prayed to Buddha instead.

Most of the guards recognized the beautiful woman galloping towards them and knew that it was Luo Ningcha who was a favored guest of the Second Consort’s but what they didn’t know was that she had been betrayed. Seeing that the ones following her were all nuns, monks, and women who did not appear to be a threat, the guards let them pass without much hindrance.

The Second Consort had put on a military uniform and looked stone-faced. It had actually been within her expectations for the Royal Court to fall into disorder, but the scale of the chaos was beyond her imagination and it was quickly devolving from an opportunity into a crisis.

Seeing Luo Ningcha storming in, the Second Consort was stunned a bit before immediately standing up to greet the other side with a smile. “You escaped on your own? Great. I was just about to send an army to save you. The Khan forced me to hand you over, but he’s dead, and now there’s no one who can restrain me in the Norland from now on.”

Luo Ningcha’s anger was extinguished instantly. She thought that the Second Consort would deny everything, and didn’t expect the other side to honestly tell the truth, and she even seemed to be apologizing and still acted very warm to her. This made her a bit confused and at a loss for what to do. She thought for a while before asking, “You were really going to send an army to save me?”

“See, I’ve got my army here, and I was just about to issue an order. Good sister, tell me. How did you get out? I was so worried.”

Luo Ningcha was convinced. She had always chosen to believe in the strong. The enthusiasm and sincerity shown by the Second Consort had only played a small part, as her words that no one could restrain her in the Norland from now on were the most compelling force behind Luo Ningcha’s smile.

“It was really a scary day. It’s the monk and Shangguan Ru…”

“Shangguan Ru?” The Second Consort was not in the mood to listen to Luo Ningcha’s nagging. She turned her eyes to the crowd, swept the nuns and monks and then slightly stopped at the strange women before she finally looked at the Red Bat, “Where’s your instructor?”

The Red Bat didn’t utter a sound, and Luo Ningcha looked around in surprise. “She was just here.”

Shangguan Ru was still there but was already standing behind the Second Consort. Her bodily movement was so fast that it astonished Lianqing, whose eyes gleamed with a flash of greed.

Ever since the Dragon King had ‘visited’ her at night, the Second Consort no longer stayed alone and always had two guards at her side. They saw Shangguan Ru first and immediately made a move without mercy.

Although Shangguan Ru could only use ten or twenty percent of the internal energy she had received, it was enough for her to use the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skill and the Seven Circles Seven Apertures Heart Stopping Finger. The lightness skill and acupoint striking technique were more suitable for this kind of non-murderous fighting.

After the Second Consort finished turning around and before the screams of the crowd had dissipated, the two guards were already standing there stiff on the spot, their faces flushed. Not only had they beendefeated by a woman, but they had also put their lord in danger.

The Second Consort shot a glance at the incompetent guards, her smile undiminished. She clapped her hands and praised, “Excellent move. Unfortunately, there’s no such amazing woman like Instructor Shangguan in the Norland. No wonder the Dragon King thinks highly of you and even assassinated the Khan in order to save you.

“The Dragon King killed the Khan!”

The women cried out in surprise but the Second Consort only looked at Shangguan Ru. “It was me who brought the Dragon King into the palace and promised to bring your message to him before dawn. Now this better, I can give you to him in person.”

Queen Ju couldn’t help but become jealous, who took a step forward and asked, “Where’s the Dragon King? I’m his queen.”

The Second Consort turned and looked at her with obvious surprise, “I was wondering who this dignified woman was, as there are no such eminent figures in the prairie. You don’t know how regretful I felt when you refused my invitation before.”

“It was the Dragon King…” Queen Ju became the one who felt a little embarrassed instead.

“You know, a man always hides his best things, so you can’t blame him for being selfish.”

The Second Consort left a good impression on the three women in a few words. Xiao Fengchai secretly gasped in admiration and that if Xu Yanwei were here she would definitely worship the Second Consort like a god.

“I heard that the Dragon King and his bodyguard left to kill King Kuari. I don’t know where they are hiding now and who’s going to be the next unlucky guy.”

“The Dragon King is with Lotus?” Shangguan Ru was very surprised because she believed that the Dragon King shouldn’t have been fooled.

“I think so. He’s going around killing people right now.”

“Lend me your army; a thousand men will do.”

“Do you know where the Dragon King is?”

Shangguan Ru did not answer. A quarter of an hour later, she set off with a thousand horsemen towards the camp of the Land of Fragrance. Her guess was that the Dragon King might eventually return here and that she should rescue her female soldiers anyways.

She arrived just in time to see the Dragon King and Lotus fighting in the flames and falling at the same time.