Six More Years
A fierce wind howled across the sky, relentlessly sweeping through the village. The old tree at the village entrance also shed its last leaf in the gale.
This made Zhang Zhaozhong had just reached the village entrance, sigh. He had visited this village a few years ago. Although life was hard then, there were still many people surviving here. But in recent years...
"Sigh." Zhang Zhaozhong, picked up his sword and walked towards the village.
In the six years since the Black Heaven Hall and the Ancient Moon Hall started their war, too many things have changed, and too many people have been drawn into it. This place is too close to the war zone, and no one wants to live here; everyone is just trying to make a living.
"I'm just trying to make a living." Zhang Zhaozhong his grip on his sword, comforting himself, and knocked on the wooden door of an inconspicuous little house.
Two long and two short thuds, and the wooden door opened. A person walked out, glanced around, and said in a low voice, "Brother Zhang is here. Come in quickly; it's cold and not safe outside."
Zhang Zhaozhong and quickly followed the man into the hut. He saw the man close the wooden door, grope around on the ground for a while, push aside the straw, and reveal a wooden plank.
The man opened the wooden planks, revealing a tunnel. He turned to Zhang Zhaozhong and said, "Brother Zhang, go down. Brother Zhao is waiting for you down there."
Zhang Zhaozhong his hands in a fist salute to the man, then walked into the tunnel along the wooden ladder. The man quickly closed the wooden planks, covered the tunnel with straw again, and then hid in a small wooden box inside the building.
Zhang Zhaozhong entered the tunnel and walked a few steps along the only passage. He then saw a large hall that had been expanded. There were torches on the walls, suggesting that there were ventilation openings.
Dozens of people had gathered in the underground hall, led by a man in his thirties. Upon closer inspection, one could see that his left hand was missing, leaving only an empty sleeve.
"Brother Zhao," Zhang Zhaozhong stepped forward, cupping his fists in greeting, his tone filled with admiration, for the other party was indeed a worthy person of respect.
"It's Zhao Zhong." The man called Brother Zhao replied with a smile. If you looked closely at his face, you would find that this man was none other than Zhao Minghui, the second disciple of Golden Sand Island back then.
Back when the Black Heaven Hall besieged the righteous warriors of Golden Sand Island, the Golden Sand Island lord Ye and his wife, along with a group of seniors, self-destructed their acupoints to stop the Black Heaven Hall's forces. Zhao Minghui then led a group of people to escape through the tunnel.
It was on that occasion that Zhao Minghui sacrificed himself to cover the others boarding the ship, detonating his acupoints to intercept the enemy. In the end, he lost his left arm. If it weren't for the others risking their lives to save him, he might not have survived.
Despite losing his left hand and all his martial arts skills due to self-destruction, Zhao Minghui was not discouraged. Instead, he actively studied the martial arts knowledge passed down from the Black Heaven Hall and the Ancient Moon Hall, restored his strength, and even made further progress, becoming a Celestial Martial Artist.
In recent years, he has also organized the people who escaped from Golden Sand Island to secretly resist the rule of the Black Heaven Hall. He has gathered some people who have suffered from the war and taught them advanced martial arts knowledge.
Today, their thoughts are no longer about resisting the Black Heaven Hall, but about ending this war. The conflict between the two major forces has caused too much suffering.
After everyone had arrived, Zhao Minghui said with a faint smile, "Gentlemen, we have all had enough of the suffering caused by war and chaos. Whether it's the Black Heaven Hall or the Ancient Moon Hall, their goal is always to annex each other, and they never consider the suffering of other people."
"If this continues, not only the martial arts world, but also the common people of this world will be destroyed by war. There have been too many tragedies caused by war. We have all suffered from the pain of war, and that is why we need to stand up and stop the war."
Although Zhao Minghui wore a faint smile, he spoke with exceptional seriousness and certainty. No one could imagine that ten years ago, he was just a pampered young master from a wealthy family.
"Our strength is weak, which is why we need more like-minded people. At the same time, we also need to learn from the strengths of the Black Heaven Hall and the Ancient Moon Hall," Zhao Minghui said earnestly. "No matter how much we hate the Black Heaven Hall and the Ancient Moon Hall, we cannot deny their power."
"Most of the advanced martial arts knowledge in the martial arts world today comes from the Black Heaven Hall, as well as their spiritual weapon technology." Zhao Minghui raised his only remaining right hand, suppressing the gradually rising voices of the others.
"The Black Heaven Hall's practice of forging weapons from human beings is indeed a heinous and extremely cruel act, but the power of spiritual weapons is undeniable. If we want to stop the war, we must have the strength to influence both forces."
"Ancient Moon Hall also produces human pills, but they also have the technique of refining ordinary pills using herbs. According to our latest news, the Black Heaven Hall's technique for refining spirit weapons has also improved. They have even created a method to refine spirit weapons without sacrificing human lives."
"The method of refining elixirs has already been successfully learned by a fellow practitioner, and he will be able to bring it back soon. The problem now is that another fellow practitioner has obtained the Black Heaven Hall's new method of refining spiritual weapons, but he is under the Black Heaven Hall's close surveillance and is unable to escape."
"What we need to do now is find a few brothers to go with me and bring that fellow traveler out," Zhao Minghui said bluntly. "This operation is extremely dangerous; even I estimate that one wrong move and we could all get caught up in it."
"So, those brothers are willing to come with me." Zhao Minghui maintained a smile throughout, but when he saw the crowd eagerly signing up, his smile vanished, replaced by a pained expression. This mission was to send people to their deaths, gambling on a single future.
"Let me go, Brother Zhao. I also want to do my part for this world," Zhang Zhaozhong and awe-inspiring expression.
"Zhaozhong, your sister-in-law has just given birth to your son. Why do you have to get involved in this mess?" Zhao Minghui said with a wry smile and a flicker in his eyes. His words seemed to have another meaning behind them.
"It is precisely because I am married and have a son to carry on my family line that I have no worries and can risk my life for him," Zhang Zhaozhong and clasping his hands in a fist salute. He did not see Zhao Minghui's shifty gaze, or rather, he dared not look at it.
"Then let's go together." Zhao Minghui's face regained its faint smile. After discussing the specific action plan with everyone, he dismissed them. After all, this place was not safe. If they gathered for too long, they might be discovered by the spies of the two major forces.
After everyone left, Zhao Minghui's smile faded. He pondered everyone's performance, circling several names on his mental list, his eyes gleaming.
The person who had opened the door earlier came down and said with concern, "Second Senior Brother, are you really going?"
"If I'm not used as bait, how can we lure all those people out? Fan Xiao, my body has been severely injured, and I have no hope of advancement in this life. But you are different. You are Master's son. Before I leave, I will leave a letter to pass on the position of leader of Golden Sand Island to you. I hope you can restore peace to this world."
"Yes, Senior Brother," Ye Fanxiao, son of Ye Zhen, replied with a sorrowful smile.