The night was dark and the wind was high.

On the east bank of Taihu Lake, a military force of several thousand people was drinking and cooking by the lake. The military discipline was not very strict, and there was some noise, which seemed very noisy in the quiet night.

But compared to the chaotic armies Zhao Changhe had seen in Yangzhou and Suzhou before, they were already considered as an elite and well-organized force.

It was the vanguard army led by the Ten Stages Bodhisattva.

The so-called Ten Stages Bodhisattva was not a title for Fasheng, but a rank in the Maitreya Sect, which meant killing many lives. "Ten Stages" was also the position of Bodhisattva fruit. If they continued to kill, they would become a Buddha... Fasheng's expectation for Zhao Changhe was also to become a Ten Stages Bodhisattva.

Fasheng had just entered Wuxing yesterday and had only rested for a day and a night. When Tang Buqi was worried about when he would attack, he had already bypassed the lake at night and headed straight to Suzhou.

There was also a navy on the lake, advancing on both land and water.

Although they were called the "vanguard," their numbers were not large. However, judging from Fasheng's unstoppable momentum in recent days, they directly broke through the city and basically encountered no decent resistance.

This was because the city was filled with Maitreya Sect members, including officials and civilians, and the Jiangnan army was even more useless than a mob. At this point, it was the aristocratic families in various places who had some resistance, because they looked down on the Maitreya Sect.

But their resistance was useless. Those families were nothing more than wastrels who only knew how to eat, drink, play, and bully others. When the army arrived, their chests were slapped loudly, and they said they would personally take Maitreya's head to offer to the emperor. When they saw the densely packed army, their legs became weaker than shrimp.

So Fasheng killed them all, and the waters of Jiangnan turned blood red.

This "strong army" was trained from bullying the weak. At the beginning of the uprising, they were just a group of followers who had learned a few farming moves. Now that they had won several battles and equipped themselves with armor and weapons from various treasuries, they had developed a disciplined and formidable military force.

"Bodhisattva." Inside the military tent, Fasheng was observing the topography map, and there were followers beside him saying, "The scout has reported that Suzhou has fortified its defenses and abandoned the autumn harvest. Even dogs cannot be found in the villages outside."

"Tang Wanzhuang has been staying in Suzhou for so many days, of course, there must be preparations." Fasheng was a strong and burly monk with a full beard, resembling Lu Zhishen, but his temperament was calm. "Unfortunately, Tang Wanzhuang cannot be in two places at once. She must stay in Jinling to keep the leader of the sect in check. If Tang Wanzhuang is in charge of Suzhou, her efforts will be wasted on these useless people."

Someone said, "Suzhou still has some influential figures. It is said that Tang Wanzhuang and the others have reached the ninth level of Xuan Guan... Bodhisattva, we have so few troops, and there are no strong individuals guarding us. If someone dares to assassinate..."

Fasheng waved his hand. "Suzhou does not have a Grandmaster on the Human List, and Tang Wanzhuang doesn't have the ability. Don't be fooled by the ninth level of Xuan Guan. If a real assassination occurs, a few rounds of random arrows will turn him into a hedgehog. The Buddha in the north was killed by Xia Chichi because we have no power in the north. The Buddhist altar was controlled by the Four Elephant Sect's strong individuals, and the balance of power shifted. It's not the same thing."

After a pause, he continued, "Even if Tang Wanzhuang is strong, she wouldn't dare to recklessly enter dangerous areas. Once she is entangled by the leader of the sect and surrounded by thousands of troops, she will be trapped here. Similarly, the leader of the sect cannot easily rush into Suzhou to take Tang Wanzhuang's head. Who knows what kind of ambush Tang Wanzhuang has? Once they make a move, they must be fully prepared. War cannot be decided by a single strong individual. Gentlemen, this is our value."

Everyone nodded.

There were not many strong individuals who could move freely within a large army... At least Suzhou did not have a freak like Yue Hongling.

A staff member said, "From the incident with the Lu family, we can already see that the Suzhou army is weak and lacks capable generals. But the Suzhou families may be more dedicated. They probably have enough food stored in the city and can organize their retainers to defend the city. It won't be easy to attack."

"That's why we launched a surprise attack at night. They don't have a leader with enough prestige, nor do they have enough war experience. They are probably still considering how to use the terrain to attack and defend and arrange the defense zones of each family... Once we suddenly attack, chaos will likely ensue, and that's where our opportunity lies. We can't wait for the main army to arrive slowly and engage in a protracted battle with them, otherwise, they might become more cohesive and difficult to deal with."

If Tang Buqi were here, he would probably be half-hearted.

Fasheng almost guessed his thoughts and the current situation of each family. They were indeed allocating defense zones and waiting for the back and forth attacks with the Maitreya Sect.

Once they launched a night attack on the city, it was hard to say what would happen to the Tang family, but chaos was inevitable for the other families.

"Alright, let's not talk about this." Fasheng pointed to the topography map. "Look here, on the east bank of Taihu Lake, it is..."

Before he could finish speaking, there was a hurried voice outside the tent. "Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva, someone outside the camp has reported that there are water ghosts in the lake, and a boat has sunk. It is suspected that the Suzhou army is launching a surprise attack!"

"Suzhou still has such capable people?" Fasheng and the other generals were surprised as they walked out of the tent. They saw a fire burning on the distant lake and heard chaotic shouts and cries.

"Where is the person who reported this?" Fasheng asked. "Take me to ask about the situation."

The person who reported it was waiting outside the camp by the reeds. He was a tall young man with an ordinary appearance. Although he was tall, he looked malnourished with a pale complexion. He looked like he had just emerged from the water, and he didn't even have a weapon in his hand. He looked quite disheveled.

Fasheng glanced at him without any suspicion. There were many young men like him in the army, so he asked, "Tell me in detail about the situation in the lake. How many water ghosts did the other side send? Did you engage in combat when you went into the water?"

The young man's voice trembled, "Bodhisattva, there are many people on the other side, and it's dark underwater. I didn't dare to go over, so I swam desperately to the shore..."

Fasheng pondered for a moment and ordered, "Gather the archers and prepare them on the shore inside the camp. Do not leave the camp without permission and be careful of an enemy raid. Send scouts to the forward outpost for reconnaissance."

As he said that, he looked at the young man with some suspicion. "Does Tang Wanzhuang have this ability? I don't believe it."The young man was wide-eyed, looking utterly clueless.

His gaze, however, casually swept across the camp, noticing that most of the archers who had been on guard at the camp gate had been diverted to the shore.

Fasheng was saying, "Wait a moment, can you form the Vajra Mudra for me to see?"

The young man actually formed the Vajra Mudra, "Is... is this how it's done, Bodhisattva? I'm not very familiar with it..."

This was one of the fundamental mudras in Buddhism, widely recorded in various scriptures. It was something that every Maitreya follower should know. But it was quite normal for an ordinary follower who hadn't even been ordained to not form it perfectly. There was no suspicious flaw in it.

The generals and officers around Fasheng thought he was being overly suspicious. There was an incident with the boats in the lake, and he still had the leisure to care about whether a messenger's mudra was standard or not...

Fasheng also felt there was no problem. He laughed and casually reached out to correct the young man's mudra, "Don't stiffen your thumb like that, it should be like this..."

Just then, the seemingly honest young man's mudra suddenly changed.

His fingertips moved as if plucking a flower or brushing a willow, blooming quietly like a celestial maiden producing a lotus.

Including Fasheng and the onlookers, they only saw his fingers casting a phantom-like shadow. Before they could react, his fingers had already brushed against Fasheng's Lieque acupoint on his wrist.

Moreover, he seemed to know their Maitreya teachings very well... This acupoint brushing was not just a single brush on the Lieque, but along the Taiyin Lung Meridian, brushing both above and below the Lieque acupoint. Regardless of whether you moved or not, it was a sure hit.

Fasheng's entire right side went numb in an instant. He retreated quickly and shouted, "It's an assassin!"

The people around him reacted, drawing their swords and aiming straight for the young man's head.

But they saw him take a slight misstep, elegantly shifting to the right, and with a hook of his foot, a broadsword hidden in the reeds jumped into his hand.

"Roar!"

With the rise of the sword, the wind howled!

With a "clang", several long swords surrounding him were all cut into two. Zhao Changhe stepped on the broken swords and leapt into the air, pursuing the retreating Fasheng.

"Zhao Changhe, it's fucking Zhao Changhe!"

Fasheng was so angry he was about to spit blood. Since when could Zhao Changhe disguise himself, and even play such a feminine acupoint brushing technique? Without scars or swords, who could imagine that this guy was actually fucking Zhao Changhe!

He actually dared to launch a surprise attack right in front of the camp, aiming for the commander's head!

A dark shadow soared into the sky, blocking the moonlight.

The mad sword slashed angrily, his eyes blood-red.

The dragon sparrow howled, its killing intent soaring into the sky.

Fasheng, with his right side numb, struggled to draw his ring sword with his left hand to block; countless swords and spears around him stabbed towards Zhao Changhe; the archers in the camp who had been diverted returned, drawing their bows and setting their arrows.

If there were a painter here, this would be frozen into a divine and demonic painting.

"Crack!"

The harsh sound of weapons sliding echoed through the night sky.

The ring sword inexplicably failed to block this sword. The dragon sparrow seemed to slide past, and a blood mark inexplicably appeared on Fasheng's forehead. He didn't understand before his death how Zhao Changhe's move, which should have been a divine and Buddha scattering, turned into a sliding sword... Wasn't it a divine and Buddha scattering?

Was it a weird sword technique?

A long spear grazed past Zhao Changhe's ribs, bringing up a spray of blood.

Zhao Changhe's steps were like walking on waves, skillfully avoiding two other blades that grazed his neck. He swung his sword back, and the spearman's head flew up, blood gushing out.

"Huh!" With a whistle, the sound of horse hooves rose from the side. A black horse with white hooves came charging like lightning.

Zhao Changhe once again blocked a spear, suddenly kicked another general in the chest, leapt sideways, jumped several meters, and landed perfectly on the horse.

The black horse neighed and galloped away into the night.

Countless arrows shot from behind. Zhao Changhe leaned to the side, swung his sword back to deflect a few arrows, and laughed as he left, "You ten-living Bodhisattvas who sell your heads, the Maitreya army is nothing more than this! We will meet again!"

"Boom!" Flames rose from the lake, and the boat that had been lit earlier sank completely into the lake.

The entire camp was in chaos.

"Young Master Tang, what are you pacing around for?"

"I'm restless." On the city wall of Gusu, Tang Buqi paced back and forth, watching the guards fighting in their respective areas, "Will Fasheng launch a night attack?"

"You're overthinking it. Fasheng just entered Wuxing yesterday. How many troops does he have in his vanguard? He has to wait for the main force to join up."

"...But they entered Wuxing with just these troops, and didn't wait for the main force from Hangzhou to come."

"Maitreya followers break through a major town, don't they burn, kill, loot, and play with women for a few days? How could they possibly come directly..."

Tang Buqi paced back and forth, still uneasy. He turned to ask Wu Weiyang, "Does Auntie have any special instructions?"

Wu Weiyang sighed, "Since the head has entrusted you with this, you should make your own decisions. It's not right to ask the head about everything. If these people are noisy, you should try to suppress them... We're here, it's not just you fighting alone, you can give orders."

Someone sneered, "What if no one attacks?"

Tang Buqi was about to speak when a golden light flashed across the sky.

Everyone was stunned and looked up. The recent updates to the Chaos Chronicles were quite frequent, weren't they?

"On the seventh day of the sixth month, at midnight. Zhao Changhe launched a night attack on the Taihu military camp, beheaded the Maitreya's Ten-Living Bodhisattva Fasheng at the camp gate, leapt onto a horse and returned. None of the Maitreya generals could stop him."

"Changes in the Hidden Dragon List."

"Eighteenth on the Hidden Dragon List, Zhao Changhe."

"The galaxy hangs in the sky, how can it be without me!"

Tang Buqi glanced at the people from various families, "What do you think this Taihu military camp of Fasheng's is for?"

Everyone looked at each other, opened their mouths, and then closed them again.

Tang Buqi murmured, "I'm still a bit lacking... This is the stage for people like Zhao Changhe."

At that time, the barbarians were knocking on the southern gate, Maitreya rose in the south of the Yangtze River, and many heroes were about to rise, the world was in chaos.

The wind was rising and the clouds were surging, dragons and snakes were rising from the land.

[End of Volume Two]

Emmmm, I made a mistake with the volume earlier, I've corrected it now.

(End of this chapter)

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