Chapter - 217 Deep Hatred For Father's Killer (11)

Zhou Botong laughed non-stop; he ran to the exit of the tent and suddenly his mischievousness stirred; he grabbed the tent's support pillar and shook a few times. A 'kra ak' sound was heard as the pillar snapped. The tent fell down and covered Khubilai, Jinlun Fawang, Yang Guo and the others inside. Zhou Botong was delighted and got on top of the tent, running back and forth, stepping on everyone inside the tent. Jinlun Fawang sent out a palm and struck the sole of his foot. Zhou Botong felt a great surge of internal energy through his foot and couldn't suppress it, he did a somersault and landed back down, calling out loudly, "Interesting, interesting!" He then left.

Soon, Jinlun Fawang and the others climbed out with Khubilai, and all the guards clamored around to fix the pillar and erect the tent again. Zhou Botong had long gone. Fawang, Xiaoxiang Zi and the others apologized to Khubilai for not protecting him properly and letting him experience this shock. Khubilai didn't punish them one bit and instead praised the abilities of Zhou Botong, saying that it is a great pity that he couldn't make him stay. Fawang and the others had an ashamed expression on their faces.

All the cups and plates were set up once again. Khubilai said, "The Mongolian army has attacked Xiangyang many times before but with no success. This time, the heroes of the central plains have gone there to protect the city; that Zhou Botong has also gone there to help. This is an extremely troublesome situation. I wonder, what great plans do you have?"

Yin Kexi said, "Zhou Botong may have great martial arts but we may not be weaker than him. When your highness attacks the city, it will be soldier against soldier, general against general; the central plains have their heroes but so does the west."

Khubilai said, "Though your words aren't wrong, there's a saying, 'Before a battle, one must plan for victory in the temple; greater planning will lead to victory whereas little planning will not.' Before I attack, I must have a plan to gain victory."

Zicong said, "Your highness's foresight is magnificent…"

Before he finished, a shout could be heard from outside, someone was calling out, "I said that I don't want to go and I mean it; it's of no use if you beg me or anger me." It was Zhou Botong.

What was he doing back here and who was he talking to? Everyone's curiosity was roused and they wanted to go out to take a look.

Khubilai laughed and said, "Everyone, let's take a look, I wonder who the Old Urchin is arguing with."

Everyone took a step outside the tent and saw four people in an arc far away surrounding Zhou Botong. The four people were standing south, west, northwest and north of him, surrounding him but leaving a way out to the east. Zhou Botong stretched out his arm and threw a fist, he called out, "I'm not going, I'm not going."

Yang Guo was surprised, "If he doesn't want to go, who can force him? Why is there a need for arguing?" He saw that the four people were all wearing a green gown; the colors and clothing looked ancient and wasn't the clothing of the present time. There were three middle-aged men wearing tall hats; standing in the north western position was a girl, her green belt could be seen fluttering in the wind.

The man standing in the northern position said, "We didn't have any intentions in troubling you but you kicked over our pill furnace, ripped our spirit fungus, tore our books, and burned our sword room. You must come back with us and explain everything to our Master; otherwise, when our Master blames someone, none of us disciples will face the punishment."

Zhou Botong put on a smile and said, "Just tell your Master that an old man passed by and accidentally caused all this trouble; won't that be the end of it?"

The man said, "You insist on refusing to come with us?"

Zhou Botong nodded his head. The man pointed to the east and said, "Good, he's here."

Zhou Botong turned around to take a look but didn't see anyone. The man made a sign with his hands and the four of them suddenly pulled opened a large net and covered Zhou Botong from his head downwards. The four's hand movements were extremely drilled, and extremely strange; even with Zhou Botong's great abilities he was trapped by the net and had no response, he just bellowed and hollered. The four people swerved around him and tied him up tightly. One of the men put him over his shoulders, the other three held onto their swords, protecting him as they flew to the east.

Yang Guo was worried about Zhou Botong's safety and thought, "I must save him." He then followed after them, calling out, "Hey, hey! Where are you taking him?"

How could Jinlun Fawang and the others not want to know what exactly this strange event is all about? They told Khubilai and followed. After a few li, they arrived at a stream. The four people lifted Zhou Botong onto a boat and two of them started to row. The rest of them followed along the shore; after a while they saw a boat in the stream and all immediately leapt in. Ma Guangzuo had great strength and he rowed the boat, soon they were just a few tens of feet behind. But the stream was windy and after a few turns, the boat disappeared. Nimoxing leapt from the boat onto a cliff side and climbed up over a hundred feet in a flash like an ape. He saw the boat in the west rowing along an extremely narrow brook. A thicket of trees covered the entrance to this brook, if one didn't look from on high, they would not know that the deep valley would have such a passageway. He leapt back onto the boat and pointed out the directions to them. They quickly turned the boat around and rowed towards the thicket of trees. The entrance was a cave; the ceiling of the cave was only three feet away from the water, and everyone had to lie down before they could row on. After leaving the cave they saw the mountains on either side soared; the sky now looked like a string.

The mountains were green, the water blue, the scenery extremely serene; but it was silent everywhere, exuding a feeling of danger. After another three or four li, the brook suddenly had nine large slabs of stone arising from it, like a shield, blocking the way of the boat.

Ma Guangzuo was the first one to call out, "Damn, there's no way to row past."

Xiaoxiang Zi said in a creepy way, "You've got the strength of a bull, just throw the boat over."

Ma Guangzuo angrily said, "I don't have that kind of strength unless you zombies perform some kind of witchcraft."

Before the two started arguing, Jinlun Fawang was thinking about the situation, "How did the small boat pass this stone shield?" When he heard the words of the two, he said, "No one can pick up the boat on their own but the six of us together can. Brother Yang, brother Yin and I will be on one side, brother Ni, brother Xiao Xiang and brother Ma will be on the other side, the six of us working together, how about it?"

Everyone agreed and followed his instructions; the six of them stood on two sides and each one found a steady place to stand on the rocks. Luckily the brook was extremely narrow; the boat's width was at arm's length.

Fawang called out, "Lift!" Everyone lifted. Yang Guo's and Yin Kexi's strength was the weakest out of the six but the other four had the strength of many, especially Ma Guangzuo who had divine strength. The boat left the water and passed over the rocks.