Chapter 48: Patriots

Qi Xuansu did not stay in Yoshida Castle for too long and continued on his journey.

This made him regain some of the feeling when he was walking in the rivers and lakes in the past. The difference was that his realm was low back then, and he did not know that Qi Niang was playing the pig to eat the tiger, so he walked with difficulty, as if rolling in the mud. Now Qi Xuansu is only one step away from the exiled immortal. With the cultivation of a celestial being and the semi-immortal objects in hand, he can fight against a celestial being in the infinite stage. Naturally, he is much more calm, and he can walk leisurely even in the ghost den.

Because Duhui County is the sphere of influence of the Xiangfu, and Duoqi County is the sphere of influence of the shrine, these two counties are the places with the most tragic battles, and the places with the heaviest resentment and yin energy. After leaving Duoqi County, although there are still many monsters, the situation has improved slightly, and there are more people.

Qi Xuansu saved another warrior on the way, but this time it was not a delicate little girl, but a big and strong man.

After talking, we learned that the man's name was Wu Zuo, and he also had no surname. He had studied swordsmanship in the Shinkage-ryu.

This Shinkage-ryu was different from the Shinkage-ryu of Yagyu Munemasa. The latter's full name was Yagyu Shinkage-ryu, which was an independent branch of the Shinkage-ryu, so he was not from the Yagyu family.

More importantly, this man was actually a patriot.

This was somewhat beyond Qi Xuansu's expectations, but Qi Xuansu did not kill him, but decided to use him as a cover. With a pass to the shrine and a companion of the Sonnō-faction, who would doubt his identity?

As for Qi Xuansu, he still claimed to be a Taoist priest and an onmyoji from the Harima-ryu.

Wu Zuo did not doubt it. As a samurai, he could not tell the difference between Taoism and Onmyoji at all. He only knew a "Nine-character Cut". In his cognition, as long as he could draw the "Nine-character Cut", he must be an onmyoji of the Harima-ryu.

The two of them traveled together, and naturally talked about the current battle of Fenglinzhou along the way.

Wu Zuo was very angry, but it was somewhat beyond Qi Xuansu's expectation. He hated Toyotomi Xiangfu much more than Daoism, and was more afraid of Daoism.

Heavy cavalry, flying boats, firearms, invincible on the front battlefield.

Qingwei Zhenren, who represented Daoism, severely injured the swordsman Gui Zenxing, killed more than ten Tianren assassins, and killed Koga Jonin. In addition to the achievements of Daoism, it shocked Fenglinzhou.

If it was just a back and forth, it would only make the Japanese burst out with their tough side. But if it was one-sided, they would turn to surrender.

There were certainly many fanatical diehards in the Sonnang faction, but it was impossible to avoid the floating of people's hearts.

Confidence is the most precious thing. After Daoism personally left, Toyotomi Xiangfu quickly gathered people's hearts. On the contrary, after Daoism personally left, the confidence of the Sonnang faction was seriously damaged, and negative emotions grew.

For this reason, several leaders of the Sonnang faction were very worried and decided to hold a meeting in Ichishi County to boost morale.

As for how to boost morale, it is difficult and simple, that is, to win a big victory.

How to win a big victory? The frontal battlefield is unbearable, so they can only take a different approach, that is, assassination. In their words, it is called "Heavenly Punishment". As long as they successfully assassinate a high-level figure in the Taoist sect, they can boost morale.

The last assassination of Qingwei Zhenren failed, making them realize that assassinating Qingwei Zhenren is not feasible, and they can only settle for the second best and make a fuss about other people. As for who to choose and how to do it, that is the significance of this conference.

Wu Zuo was going to participate in the conference, so he risked crossing the wilderness full of ghosts alone, encountered danger, and was finally saved by Qi Xuansu.

Because Qi Xuansu was his savior, and there was a pass issued by the shrine, Wu Zuo told him directly.

Not only that, Wu Zuo also invited Qi Xuansu to attend this conference together, as if he wanted to develop Qi Xuansu into a patriot.

Qi Xuansu didn't want to cause trouble, but he couldn't resist Wu Zuo's enthusiastic invitation. If he refused sternly, it might arouse Wu Zuo's vigilance and add variables. Qi Xuansu thought again, it's okay to take a look, just as a deep understanding of the Sonnong faction, knowing yourself and the enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger.

However, there is a small meeting before the conference. After all, the Sonnong faction is a huge force that divides Fenglinzhou with the Toyotomi Xiangfu. There are naturally various factions inside. Before the conference, the small groups naturally need to communicate in advance and retreat and advance together.

Under the leadership of Wu Zuo, the two came to an abandoned shrine. At first glance, it looks ordinary, but in fact, it is heavily guarded. The communication is in code. Even with Wu Zuo as a guarantor, the gatekeeper still took Qi Xuansu's hand gun and kept it temporarily.

After all, Qi Xuansu came from the Qingping Society and was accustomed to this kind of battle. The Qingping Society is more strict than this.

Entering the shrine, there were already quite a few people gathered here. Wu Zuo and Qi Xuansu found a corner to sit down. After a while, dozens of people came one after another. Most of them were downtrodden lower-class warriors, but there were also monks and priests, as well as ronin and ninjas. In the words of the Central Plains, it was a mixture of all kinds of people. Qi Xuansu, the Yin-Yang master, was mixed in there and was not noticeable at all.

After all the participants arrived, the door of the shrine was closed, and someone was responsible for watching the wind.

A young priest stood up, first looked around, saluted to everyone, and then said: "I summoned you all here for one thing, that is, the great cause of respecting the king and expelling the Tao. Now the mountains and rivers have changed dramatically, the world is dark and turbid, and the prime minister's mansion has surrendered to the Taoism. With the sword on our waist, we must create a bright and clear world again."

As soon as the voice fell, someone immediately echoed: "That's right, the prime minister's mansion is incompetent, the Taoism is unjust, occupying my land, destroying my home, and killing my relatives, and blood debts must be paid with blood!"

This man is a down-and-out nobleman, whose ancestors were feudal lords, and is the focus of the Taoism.

In fact, the entire samurai class is the target of the Taoism. With the protection of the Taoism, Fenglinzhou does not need so many samurai, and now, the so-called 80,000 flag bearers can no longer be supported, so a large number of samurai are unemployed and become ronin, which has also become the source of chaos.

For these down-and-out samurai, whether they respect the king or not, whether they fight against Taoism or not, are secondary. The key is not to let them suffer, otherwise they will rebel. After all, we have swords on our waists, which are not for display.

Other down-and-out samurai started to make a fuss, and for a while, the crowd was indignant, and they were ready to draw their swords and fight with the Taoists.

The young god pressed his palm down, signaling everyone to be quiet, and then said: "If the emperor knew that you all share the same hatred and hatred, he would be very pleased. But the Taoist army is powerful after all, and it is difficult to fight it head-on. If you want to fight against the Taoists, you must take a long-term view."

"I wonder if Lord Ni Yi has any good plan?" A warrior with one arm exposed asked loudly.

The young priest said, "The Prime Minister's army was strong that day, but when Toyotomi Hidetsugu died, the Prime Minister's army was immediately defeated and had to retreat. We should follow the example of that day and punish the gods again to shock the Taoist sect."

Another monk said, "The swordsman Zenxing summoned 17 patriots, a total of 18 people, to assassinate Li Qingwei of the Taoist sect. As a result, no one was spared except Zenxing, while Li Qingwei was unscathed. Even Zenxing was seriously injured by Li Qingwei and is still being hunted by the Taoist sect's henchmen. How can we accomplish anything with just us?"

The shrine suddenly became quiet. To them, the swordsman Gui Zenxing was a god-like figure. If Gui Zenxing was defeated, what could they do?

The young priest raised his voice slightly: "You don't know, Master Zenko has escaped the pursuit of the Taoist henchmen and is recovering from his injuries. It won't be long before Master Zenko will be able to recover as before."

As soon as these words came out, the samurai's eyes were bright again, and there were voices in the shrine again.

Qi Xuansu thought to himself: "This Gui Zenko is a disaster. His realm and cultivation are secondary. The key is his appeal and prestige, which are far above the Koga Jonin. If he can be killed and his head hung on the city gate, it will be a huge blow to the Sonnong faction."

Someone sighed: "Although Master Zenko is safe, the ministers in Xiujing City who are loyal to the emperor have been slaughtered by Li Qingwei, and the internal response we planted in the prime minister's mansion has also been eliminated. Li Qingwei is even living in a camp outside the city, which is full of Taoist priests and spiritual officials. The guards are strict, and no one can get in. Even Li Qingwei's whereabouts cannot be confirmed. "It is not enough to talk about assassination. "

Someone else added: "Even if we know, it will be useless. Some time ago, the Sarutobi family in Koga County was in mourning. It is said that the head of the family was separated from the head, and it was killed by Li Qingwei's sword. Even the master of the Jingu, Jixiang Palace, almost met with an accident. There is also the sword master disciple Shinmen Konosuke, who was also killed by the Taoist priest. Now it is rumored that Li Qingwei is already an immortal, so Master Zenko and the head of the Sarutobi family failed. Even if they can get past the heavy guards and come to Li Qingwei, how can they kill him? Who can match the immortal? "

As soon as this was said, everyone talked about it, whispered to each other, and all looked pessimistic.

Seeing this, the young priest had no choice but to say loudly: "Gentlemen, gentlemen, please listen to me. It is naturally very difficult to assassinate Li Qingwei. Since we cannot kill Li Qingwei for the time being, we might as well take a step back and assassinate his subordinates. Now that the Taoist sect has launched an offensive and is no longer hiding in the camp, these Taoist leaders cannot gather in one place, but are scattered all over the place, each leading their own troops, which gives us the opportunity to defeat them one by one."

As soon as these words came out, the pessimism in the shrine was indeed dispelled.

The young priest struck while the iron was hot and said: "Even if Li Qingwei has the power of an immortal, he can't do everything himself. If we regard the Taoist sect as a person, Li Qingwei is the head and the others are the limbs. As long as we cut off the limbs, no matter how hard this head is, what's the use?"

After saying this, everyone regained morale.

A group of warriors began to clamor again, singing "There are millions of soldiers in my heart, and thousands of cherry blossoms will be scattered when I die."

Qi Xuansu was secretly disdainful in his heart.

Assassinating other high-ranking Taoists is easy to say, do you really think that other Taoists are soft persimmons? Apart from Qingwei Zhenren, Fenglinzhou also has a Taoist Pingzhang Da Zhenren. Moreover, the Taoists are not wooden stakes that cannot fight back. They will not let you keep trying until the assassination succeeds. They will definitely take the initiative to attack.

This is just to deceive these simple-minded lower-level warriors.