The autumn sun sank westward, and the sky was gradually darkening.

Suddenly, in the distance, a blue flare rocket shot skyward, followed by a red flare rocket.

Meng Jianqing raised his hand and fired a red flare rocket, but saw that Jiao Da had released a blue flare rocket. He couldn’t help but frown secretly.

It turned out both sides had reinforcements behind them.

Zhaoxin Temple wasn’t far from White Lake. Tie Luohan and Lu Jingang’s men were probably hidden on White Lake.

Sure enough, before long, forces from three sides had all arrived outside Zhaoxin Nunnery, but they were checking each other mutually, and for the moment, none could move.

Centurion Li, whom Meng Jianqing had left behind to deal with Lu Jingang, arrived a step ahead of the others. Tie Luohan looked uneasy, not knowing what had happened to Lu Jingang that allowed all these people to pass through that official road. Centurion Li bowed slightly to Meng Jianqing and said: “After Lu Jingang was poisoned, he went into a wild rage and ran about everywhere until he got stuck in the mud. The poison will gradually wear off after three hours, and he’ll naturally return to normal.”

Listening carefully, they could faintly hear Lu Jingang’s wild shouting.

Only then did Tie Luohan breathe a sigh of relief.

Meng Jianqing nodded to Centurion Li with an approving smile.

Before departure, he had strictly ordered Centurion Li not to carry lethal poisons or hidden weapons. Centurion Li understood his intentions well and had done excellently.

Meng Jianqing’s mind turned several times before he said in a low voice: “We’ll find a way to take away that Miss Mu Chen. You block the others.”

He should have personally blocked the others himself – after all, his blade techniques focused on killing enemies rather than capturing them. Centurion Li might be more successful at subduing Mu Chen.

But Meng Jianqing didn’t want to place Mu Chen in someone else’s hands.

At any time, the most trustworthy person was always oneself.

Centurion Li silently accepted the order.

More than one person shared Meng Jianqing’s thinking.

The Jiao brothers and Tie Luohan were all inconspicuously persuading Jiang Wuji while moving closer to the two of them, their gazes intentionally or unintentionally resting on Mu Chen.

Wherever she went, Jiang Wuji would follow.

Meng Jianqing suddenly gave a great shout and drew his blade, slashing toward the Jiao brothers who were closest to him.

The Jiao brothers simultaneously raised their wolf-tooth clubs – one blocked Meng Jianqing’s blade while the other swept horizontally toward Meng Jianqing’s waist.

Tie Luohan immediately seized this opportunity to attack Jiang Wuji, while his lieutenant, He Qi, attacked Mu Chen from the side.

Meng Jianqing spun to avoid the wolf-tooth club and shouted, “What’s the point of just blocking me?”

The Jiao brothers grinned menacingly: “First, we’ll deal with you Imperial Guards, then talk!”

Although Tie Luohan and Jiang Wuji’s side was fighting intensely, if outsiders joined in, the two sides would probably first unite to eliminate the outsiders before turning back to settle their family affairs. Better to let them fight each other first.

Meng Jianqing understood this principle, and how could the Jiao brothers not understand it too?

The Jiao brothers were strong with heavy clubs. Meng Jianqing didn’t want to fight them head-on, so he retreated several steps, rolled along the ground, and switched places with Centurion Li to bear the brunt of their attack. Centurion Li’s hands moved continuously, sending out a shower of plum blossom darts. The Jiao brothers simultaneously moved closer together, whirling their wolf-tooth clubs with a whooshing sound that protected their bodies completely. After the plum blossom darts were finished, a handful of diamond sand followed. The Jiao brothers didn’t dare relax at all and blocked thoroughly.

Meng Jianqing smiled slightly, letting the Jiao brothers continue their dance.

This was the most energy-consuming fighting style for them.

As Meng Jianqing swept past Tie Luohan, his right-hand short blade suddenly slashed diagonally upward from below. Tie Luohan couldn’t dodge in time, and if Jiang Wuji hadn’t blocked for him in time, he would have been injured to some degree.

Meng Jianqing had already swept behind He Qi.

He Qi’s body contracted as he spun around like a monkey, his eagle-claw hook meeting Meng Jianqing’s blade. Mu Chen didn’t take the opportunity to counterattack but withdrew to the covered walkway with her sleeves folded.

As Meng Jianqing’s right-hand short blade parried the eagle-claw hook, his left hand rose.

Two small, sharp knives flew out in intersecting spirals.

The sharp sound of blade energy cutting through the air startled He Qi. In his haste, he didn’t know how to block these two flying knives whose flight paths were unpredictable, so he could only perform several iron bridge maneuvers to flip away. The small knives whistled as they struck a courtyard wall, and that wall collapsed with a thunderous crash.

The moment the small knives left his hand, Meng Jianqing immediately grasped the Weaving Cloud Net at his waist, fine as silk thread.

This was something he had spent three days searching through the Imperial Guard’s mountain of stored goods to find. Years ago, Big Mouth Crocodile Tian Liuqi had relied on this net to claim countless lives in the Yangtze River. But if not for Centurion Qin’s reminder, probably no one would have remembered there was such a treasure in the storehouse.

Standing in the covered walkway, Mu Chen saw Meng Jianqing force back He Qi and knew his intention. She retreated backward, grasping a pillar and sliding like a snake toward the top of the main hall. Jiang Wuji and Tie Luohan simultaneously turned and rushed toward this side.

Just as Mu Chen leaped onto the main hall, she suddenly felt her body tighten.

The transparent, silk-like Weaving Cloud Net had already bound her firmly. Unable to maintain her footing, she fell.