“Brother Ji, how did your hammer grow bigger?
“And why can your sword fly? Teach me! Teach me!” said Zhou Botong.
The next day, the carriages moved on toward Xiangyang.
Because the servants of the Manor of Beasts had almost died off, even Ji Ye and Yang Guo had to drive their own carts.
Meanwhile, Ji Ye smiled bitterly at the Old Kid, who had his eyes on Ji Ye’s Yellow Mallet and Jade Dragon Sword.
Luckily, someone came to his rescue.
Dum! Dum! Dum…
The gravels shook slightly, and they saw dust rising in the distance.
It was obvious that a lot of riders were heading in their direction.
“Have the Yuan people sent out an army to cut us off, after their assassination attempt failed last night?”
An Quan was concerned.
“No, it’s not them!”
Ji Ye raised his head and smiled at Han Meimei, who was in the carriage nearby.
Because of the flying dust and the trembling ground, they saw Lu Junyi heading their way on a warhorse with a purple mane. At the end of the main road and in the splendid sunlight, he led the troop, wearing the purple Qilin armor and holding his purple Qilin Stick.
With his black armor, black saber, and a giant black bow hanging on his saddle, Yang Zhi rode side by side with Lu Junyi.
Behind them was a Song cavalry of thousands of soldiers, holding banners that had surnames like Yang or Song on them.
Ji Ye then spotted Wu Song with his Tiger Soul Saber and Lu Zhishen with his Frost Metal Meditation Staff. Between them, there was also a young leader in his 30s that Ji Ye didn’t recognize.
“It’s Chief Lu and Chief Yang…”
In the carriage behind Ji Ye. Nie Xiaoqian was delighted when she saw the banners.
“Lu and Yang? Is Yang the Yang for Yang Zhi, the Blue Faced Beast? What about Lu? Is that Lu Junyi, one of the Heavenly Spirits?”
Han Meimei murmured to herself.
Some of the Twin Dragon Mount players had bragged about their settlement in the forum, so the information of the heroes could be found there as well.
Since Han Meimei saw the Twin Dragon Mount as her potential rival, she had been paying much attention to them.
But she only knew about heroes like Wu Song, Lu Zhishen, and Yang Zhi. As for Lu Junyi, the top hero of the Heavenly Spirits, who had arrived later, she knew little about.
She didn’t even quite believe it when the players said that the Twin Dragon Mount had half of the Perfect heroes.
After all, offerings required to summon top heroes were too hard to come by. Even with the full support and the advice of the Guan City Confederation Office, Han Meimei’s settlement had only summoned some Excellent or Superior heroes.
“Chief Lu, Chief Wu, Chief Lu, and Chief Yang… Why are you all here?”
When the troop moved closer, what Ji Ye said made Han Meimei realize that the Twin Dragon Mount indeed had a lot of powerful heroes.
“It’s true. There’s Lu Junyi the Jade Qilin, Wu Song the Pilgrim, Lu Zhishen the Flowery Monk…”
Ji Ye greeted the heroes by Voice Far Away. Although his voice wasn’t loud, everyone could hear him despite all the hooves.
Although Han Meimei was the top player of Guan City, Miss Panda, and the seed of providence, she still felt envious.
Even when the heroes were “downgraded” when they were summoned, they still had more potential than the heroes in her settlement.
More importantly, the current situation meant that not only was she in a disadvantage in the Hundred Flowers Valley, but the Twin Dragon Mount had made great achievements in Xiangyang City as well.
Because only the main leaders of an army were qualified to raise their banners.
As a matter of fact, even Ji Ye was a little surprised by the scene even though he was the one who sent Mister Bug to Xiangyang, just in case something should come up.
He had only wanted Xiangyang City to send a few hundred men to meet him here, but as it turned out, the four great heroes of the Twin Dragon Mount had come out here with an army of thousands of soldiers.
“Because of the storm last night, we couldn’t arrive earlier. Master, please forgive us for the delay!”
When Lu Junyi walked up to Ji Ye, he jumped off the horse, went down on one knee, and said loudly.
“Chief Lu, you don’t have to do that!”
Ji Ye was surprised.
However, he realized what it was about when Lu Junyi gave him a wink.
Although the Twin Dragon Mount had different levels, Ji Ye was never a condescending person, and he would never mind the so-called delay.
Lu Junyi had obviously done it on purpose and was probably following Elder Meng’s instruction.
Because Ji Ye had been at the Hundred Flowers Valley and didn’t do much in the Xiangyang City, and with his young age, people might look down on him.
But when Lu Junyi, who had gained some reputation in Xiangyang City, did that in front of everyone, it would make Ji Ye famous among all the soldiers and even people of Xiangyang City…
Of course, although Elder Meng made the suggestion, the fact that Lu Junyi agreed to do so also proved his attitude.
As the last hero to be summoned during the Ten-Species Competition, Lu Junyi had a rather awkward position in the settlement. What he did just then could help him fit in better.
“Even a Perfect hero has submitted himself. What an impressive player…”
Seeing this, Han Meimei, who didn’t know what went on behind the scene, felt a little helpless at the thought of competing against Ji Ye.
Lu Junyi used to sit on the second chair of Liangshan. With his great wealth and martial prowess, his attitude meant a great deal.
And it immediately showed its effect.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Master Ji! I’m Yelv Qi!”
The young general Ji Ye didn’t recognize also jumped off his horse and gave Ji Ye a bow.
[Yelv Qi (same alignment)]
[Level: Extraordinary Rank-6]
[Rarity: Commander]
[Description: Descendants of the royal family of the Liao Kingdom, the son of the prime minister, and Guo Fu’s husband. He is upright, steady, and resourceful, and he has outstanding martial arts skills and talent. As an excellent archer, he has been helping Guo Jing and Huang Rong guard Xiangyang.]
“What? Mrs. Guo has been injured by the South King of Yuan, and her life is in danger?”
Ji Ye then received the unexpected news. Huang Rong was injured, and her life was hanging in the balance.
“The South King of Yuan?”
Qiu Qianren seemed stricken by the mention of that name.
Because it was none other than the South King who had injured him before. Compared to Qiu Qianren, who was almost as capable as the Five Greats, Huang Rong doubtlessly stood even less chance.
The injury was inflicted by the overbearing True Qi of the South King. Even with all the rare resources provided by hundreds of participants of the battle in Xiangyang City, they could only keep her barely alive. No one could cure her.
In fact, Guo Jing had planned to send for Reverend Yideng, hoping that his Yiyang Finger and Congenital Power could cure Huang Rong.
However, when he asked Mister Bug, who arrived the day before, he was told that even Reverend Yideng wouldn’t be able to cure such an injury.
When Qiu Qianren was about to die, he could only bring him to Aunt Ying for her forgiveness.
Guo Jing knew what happened between Aunt Ying and Qiu Qianren, and the news filled him with despair.
But Mister Bug mentioned something else after that.
He talked about how Ji Ye had cured Reverend Cien and how the grudge between Aunt Ying and Zhou Botong had been resolved because of that. That gave Guo Jing hope again.
Of course, had Master Guo not been such a civilized man, he would have smacked Mister Bug, for the man had clearly set his priority wrong. Instead of getting straight to the point, he dragged on and on about other stories.
That was why the troop that came out to welcome Ji Ye was so impressive and in such a hurry.
“What? You were attacked by the Shadow Assassins yesterday?!”
Because time was of the essence here, the army didn’t stop after they met up with Ji Ye. They continued to head for Xiangyang City.
After greeting seniors such as Reverend Yideng and Zhou Botong, Yelv Qi was surprised when he learned that Ji Ye and his men fought against the Shadow Assassin the night before and had killed them all.
It was mainly because the Shadow Assassins of Yuan had successfully killed a lot of people.
From government officials to players, heroes, and other people who came to help, as many as 100 people had died at the hands of these men, who worked for the East King of Yuan.
Come to think of it, the heroes of the Twin Dragon Mount were able to gain their statuses partially because of all the officials that were killed by the Shadow Assassin.
The players and other heroes might be able to fill the blanks of the civil officials.
But heroes of other settlements knew nothing about fighting wars or training soldiers.
That was why heroes of the Twin Dragon Mount had all become generals.
As the top heroes in Water Margin, people like Lu Junyi, Yang Zhi, Lu Zhishen, and Wu Song weren’t intimidated by battles at all.
After all, they had participated in major wars against Liao, Wang Qing, and Fang La, and some of the wars were of a much larger scale than the war of Xiangyang City.
Moreover, these heroes had almost all survived the wars, and with their ample experience, they could work better than the original generals.
Because of that, after a few small-scale battles against the Yuan army, Yang Zhi, Wu Song, and Lu Junyi, who had made it to Extraordinary Rank-6 on the battlefield, had all become qualified to lead troops in battles.
However, because Wu Song and Lu Zhishen led infantries, the only men coming out here to meet Ji Ye were part of the cavalry. Therefore, there were no banners of Lu or Wu.
