Once, Part 2

"Don't be afraid. You've only just started, so you're not used to it yet. Just participate yourself, and you'll be fine. You've been fine several times before, haven't you?" Ning Hongli said gently.

Zhang Ying didn't react this strongly when the town was massacred before.

Why such a strong reaction this time? She was slightly puzzled.

"Thank you, Senior Hongli." Zhang Rongfang nodded earnestly.

"Remember, don't take it too seriously. That's just how the world is. You and I are inherently different from those lowly people. Just as a butcher slaughters livestock, it's only natural for us to harvest the lower classes."

You will see many more such things in the future. Just like my people, the Da Ling Citizens, who plunder other countries and small nations. The natural world is a world of survival of the fittest; nothing is more true than this."

Ning Hongli was afraid that he might do something rash, so she comforted him again.

But she also had her own tasks, and after saying a few words, she was called away by someone.

"Try it yourself, and you'll get used to it."

Before leaving, she gave him one last piece of advice.

Zhang Rongfang watched her leave, and soon only he and a few others remained in the same spot.

They are all among the very few who are unwilling to take action.

They were the few who survived the previous massacres.

But this time, Zhang Rongfang took a deep breath, pushed off with his feet, and quickly unleashed his movement technique, rushing towards the direction where he had previously encountered Xiao Qingying.

In any case, he couldn't let anything happen to Master Zhang Xuan.

Given his status and position, protecting a few people and getting them out of here is not a big deal.

But he had to act quickly, otherwise the fire would spread rampantly through the surrounding wooden houses.

First Squad of soldiers violently broke down doors, rushed inside, looted valuables, and abused women.

Human evil desires were on full display at this moment.

Everyone tore off their masks of hypocrisy and unleashed their innermost feelings without restraint.

The hundreds of constables and Official Messenger in Mian Qiu County were dealt with and slaughtered immediately.

A large number of the Spirit Army were stationed outside the city, blocking the only entrances and exits, and forming a defensive formation with muskets Crossbow. Anyone who came out was shot dead.

The fire engulfed the entire County Town, thick smoke rose into the clouds, and the intense flames illuminated half of the night sky.

At this moment, in the northern part of the city, on the edge of a street.

Pushing her barbecue cart, Xiao Qingying's pretty face turned pale. Looking at the government troops who were burning, killing, and looting with impunity in the distance, she never expected that the government troops would arrive so quickly.

"What do we do now? We're probably stuck here!" She quickly abandoned the cart and ducked into a dark alley to the right to avoid being discovered.

Zhang Xuan followed them out of the alley with about ten men, their faces equally grim and solemn.

"They came too fast; we weren't prepared to evacuate at all. None of the other points we were at have sent back any information; it seems like we're all finished!"

"What are the arrangements from above?!" Xiao Qingying asked in a low voice.

"I have my suspicions that Chief Qiu hasn't shown up." Zhang Xuan shook his head slightly. "Regardless, let's get out of here first!"

"The outside area may already be sealed off. How do we evacuate?" Xiao Qingying asked through gritted teeth.

"Take the waterway Secret Passage! Follow me! Xin Tai is outside, ready to provide backup. We'll gather our men along the way, saving as many as we can!" Zhang Xuan quickly whispered in response.

"Good!"

The two men peered out onto both sides of the alley, then quickly led their men out, running towards the only small river in the County Town.

The Secret Passage waterway was hidden in a secluded spot by the river; to leave the city, they had to get there quickly.

They had only run a short distance when First Squad Spirit Army suddenly spotted them from afar.

"There are a few beauties over here!" The burly man leading the Spirit Army rushed towards the crowd with a loud laugh.

His gaze immediately fell upon the several young women behind Xiao Qingying and Zhang Xuan.

"Get back! This is one of my men!" Zhang Xuan shouted without fear, taking the Great Dao Sect's Waist Token from his waist and throwing it over.

The general caught it and recognized it as a genuine Waist Token, immediately understanding the situation.

"So it's a good catch that the Daoist priest caught. Alright, then we won't bother the Daoist priest any longer." He grinned and led his men away, heading towards a two-story house on the side.

Before long, the courtyard gate broke open, and a woman's shrill cries came from inside.

Zhang Xuan, along with Xiao Qingying and the others, heard this from afar and all sighed inwardly.

"These villains! One day they'll get their comeuppance!" he gritted his teeth and said hatefully.

Xiao Qingying, standing behind, had a cold expression on her face, as if she were recalling the day her father died.

At that time, there was the same chaos and the same despair.

"The Jade Void Palace has a very strong presence here. According to the information we received, the person leading the team should be Shangguan Feihe Worship God Great Grandmaster, who is the head of the Twelve Clan Estates!" Zhang Xuan's voice kept coming over at this moment.

"Worship God Great Grandmaster!?" The anger in the group's hearts cooled down as if doused with ice water.

Over the years, they had come into contact with the Worship God warriors and knew what kind of monsters they were.

Rebel Alliance them, the Great Grandmaster are rare experts even among those who possess External Medicine Super Grade. No one could imagine what kind of monster Great Grandmaster, who is above Super Grade, would be.

No one has ever seen such a powerful figure! "Don't be afraid, our Rebel Alliance's higher-ups have also come to our aid. Even if he is Great Grandmaster, such a figure will not personally arrest us; their opponents are other sects!"

Zhang Xuan quickly encouraged them, "The higher-ups have already reached an agreement with the True One Western Sect. With them keeping things in check, the trouble we encounter here won't be too great!"

Although he wasn't in a high-ranking position, he knew a little bit about the inside story.

At this moment, the group soon encountered two more groups of the Spirit Army.

But they were all fooled by Zhang Xuan's genuine Great Dao Sect Waist Token.

His martial arts skills and movements were all Great Dao Sect martial arts, and even though others recognized him from afar, they didn't make things difficult for him.

As we got closer and closer to the stream.

The group became Central Capital tense.

They were afraid that something unexpected might happen at this moment.

They had already run onto the riverside sidewalk and were sprinting along the riverbank towards the entrance of the Secret Passage.

Xiao Qingying was already out of breath, even though she had been diligently practicing martial arts for the past few years.

However, due to her limited talent and having missed the best time to learn martial arts, she is only at the Second Grade rank now.

However, considering that she was only Tendon Forging back in Qinghe Temple, five years have passed and she has already done quite well.

They ran wildly along the riverside road.

On the left, rows of the Spirit Army warships floated slowly, intercepting any ships attempting to escape.

On the right are rows of wooden houses, most of which have been broken into, and blood, corpses, and severed limbs are scattered everywhere on the ground.

The sounds of flames exploding and shrill cries, like a maddening demonic chant, constantly agitated the group's emotions.

"Almost there! We're almost there!!"

Finally, Zhang Xuan spoke up abruptly, calling out with a hint of surprise.

The group of about ten people immediately perked up and ran down a set of steps along the riverbank.

Soon you'll see a stone bridge with a faintly visible symbol of the Rebel Alliance on the wall.

If you don't look closely, you might mistake those symbols for a child's random scribbles.

But only those who are members of the Rebel Alliance can recognize that it is their unique symbol.

Moreover, it represents the door to escape.

"Quick, watch your surroundings!" Zhang Xuan was the first to run down to the stone bridge. He reached out and rhythmically clapped several times next to the symbol.

Soon, amidst a faint rumbling sound, the stone wall marked with the symbol slowly collapsed inward, then moved to one side, revealing a round, dark tunnel entrance.

"I didn't expect there to be a tunnel leading to the outside!" Xiao Qingying and the others were overjoyed and were about to file in.

With a sharp stab, a black arrow shot out and accurately struck one of the men in the back of the head.

The man collapsed to the ground, convulsing and losing consciousness.

"There's even a tunnel here, how interesting." A burly figure suddenly landed on the riverbank and stood still, looking at Zhang Xuan and his group with a smile.

The man was wearing Spirit Army armor, carrying a standard waist knife and a crossbow; the arrow he had just fired was clearly his.

Judging from his attire, he was clearly a powerful general in the Spirit Army.

"It seems that today is the day for me, Zhou Tianqi, to make a contribution and be promoted."

"Leave now!" Zhang Xuan shouted. "I'll cover your retreat!" He leaped forward and slashed at the man with his sword.

Clang! The two immediately engaged in a fierce battle, sword against sword.

They quickly exchanged more than ten blows. Although the opponent was weaker than Zhang Xuan due to the armor protecting him, he only attacked and did not defend, thus gaining the upper hand.

Most importantly, the commotion here has already attracted the attention of the other Spirit Army not far away.

First Squad Spirit Army had just come out carrying jewelry when they saw the fighting. They exchanged glances and, led by their leader, quickly rushed over.

The Rebel Alliance members quickly entered the tunnel, leaving only Xiao Qingying anxiously waiting at the entrance, watching Zhang Xuan.

"Master! Hurry up!!" she shouted.

"Go? Where do you want to go?" Suddenly a tall figure appeared behind her.

Xiao Qingying froze suddenly and turned her head.

Behind her, a burly Daoist priest dressed in the robes of the Great Dao Sect stood.

The Daoist priest, with his large ears, looked at Xiao Qingying with a mocking expression.

In an instant, the Daoist stretched out his arms, wrapping them around Xiao Qingying as if embracing her.

He was extremely fast, and the weakest of the elites from the Jade Void Palace who could follow him was Ninth Grade Spirit Guard.

The so-called "Spirit Guard" refers to someone who, regardless of their level before Worship God, is directly elevated to the level of Spirit Guard once the Worship God is successful.

The Spirit Guard possesses physical attributes equivalent to the peak of the Ninth Grade rank.

Therefore, Ninth Grade is not necessarily Spirit Guard, but Spirit Guard is definitely Ninth Grade.

At this moment, Xiao Qingying was completely stiff, watching as the other person wrapped their arms around her, unable to react at all.

The level difference was too great! She could only see two arm shadows rapidly approaching her body.

Stunned, terrified, bewildered, countless emotions surged forth, trying to control her body and make it move.

But my body instinctively seemed to freeze, like a piece of wood, standing there blankly.

A strong gust of wind accompanied the attack from both arms.

Getting closer and closer.

Getting closer and closer.

Puff!!

Xiao Qingying's eyes widened suddenly, and goosebumps rose all over her body.

She saw... she saw a taller, larger Shadow behind the attacker.

His hand was firmly gripping the attacker's neck.

Amidst the cracking sound of bones breaking, the attacker, a Daoist priest, retained the same expression on his face, but his neck had been pinched thin, reduced to only a third of its original size.

His arms also stiffened in mid-air, completely losing their strength, and slid down softly.

"Let's go quickly," the taller figure said in a deep voice.

Xiao Qingying shuddered, snapping out of her terrified state.

"You!?"

Suddenly, her vision blurred, and before she could finish speaking, the other person disappeared from her sight.

Suddenly she turned around and looked in Zhang Xuan's direction.

Swoosh! Just then, at that very moment, the figure, over two meters tall, pierced through the left chest of the Spirit Army general with a single hand.

Blood slowly flowed down his left arm and dripped down.

Zhang Xuan stood there dumbfounded, panting heavily, unable to utter a single word.

"You should leave before that Spirit Guard revives." Zhang Rongfang withdrew his arm and turned to walk towards First Squad Spirit Army who had already arrived.

He couldn't let anyone know that he had used force.

Because he couldn't let anyone discover his connection with Zhang Xuan and the others, everyone he saw had to die!

"Wait!! You are Rong Fang!?" Zhang Xuan's voice suddenly rang out from behind.

Zhang Rongfang paused, waved his hand behind him, and did not reply.

Whoosh! His figure disappeared, and in an instant, a series of sounds of the Spirit Army soldiers' neck bones breaking came from not far away.