Chapter - 374 East And West are Forever APart Like Orion And Antares (8) (1/2)

Toward the ninth stance, the Sheng Huo Ling in Miaofeng Shi's left hand slamming down diagonally in a very weird move; looked like he was aiming Zhang Wuji's lower abdomen. Zhang Wuji lowered the Persian leader's body. Although Miaofeng Shi's stance was very strange, Zhang Wuji's reaction was extremely ingenious. 'Slap!' the Sheng Huo Ling squarely hit that Persian on his left cheek.

The Three Emissaries cried out in alarm simultaneously; their countenance changed and they leaped back at the same time. After talking in Persian among themselves, suddenly they bowed toward the Persian in Zhang Wuji's hand, with a very respectful expression; and then they retreated.

Suddenly the bugle sounded again as one big ship slowly came near. On the bow of this ship were twelve embroidered golden banners, while underneath the banners twelve chairs were set covered in tiger skins. One of the chairs was empty, while the other eleven were occupied. That big ship stopped some distance away and dropped its anchor.

Zhao Min noticed that the empty chair was the sixth one; a thought came to her mind. ”The man we captured is dressed similar to those eleven people on that ship; looks like among their twelve leaders, he ranks number six.”

”Twelve big leaders?” Xie Xun asked, ”Hmm, the Central Cult's twelve 'bao shu wang' [lit. kings of treasured/precious tree] have come to the Central Earth. This is no small matter.”

”What are the twelve 'bao shu wang'?” Zhao Min asked.

”Under the Jiaozhu of the Persian Central Cult,” replied Xie Xun, ”are the twelve grandmasters of the Scripture; they are called the Twelve Precious Tree Kings. Their position is similar to the Four Protector Kings of the Central Earth's Ming Cult. These twelve kings are: the first Dasheng [great holiness], the second 'zhi hui' [wisdom or knowledge], the third Changsheng' [eternal victory], the fourth Zhanghuo' [palm of fire], the fifth Qinxiu [diligent cultivation], the sixth Pingdeng [equality], the seventh Xinxin' [faith], the eighth Zhen'e [suppressing evil], the ninth Zhengzhi [integrity], the tenth Gongde' [virtue], the eleventh Qixin [single mindedness], the twelfth Juming [entire brightness]. However, these twelve Precious Tree Kings are only experts in Scriptures and doctrines, great teachers of religious law; I heard they are not experts in martial art. This man is the sixth; so he must be the Pingdeng Bao Shu Wang.”

Zhang Wuji sat down by the main mast, laying down the Pingdeng Wang on his knees. This man held a high position within the Persian Central Cult; hence, Zhang Wuji was thinking of using him a hostage to escape later on, therefore, he must take a good care of him. Looking down, Zhang Wuji saw that man's left cheek was swollen very badly; fortunately it was not life-threatening. Thinking about the fierceness of Miaofeng Shi's strike, he felt strange; hastily he exerted his strength and felt some reaction from this man's internal energy.

Meanwhile Zhou Zhiruo and Xiao Zhao were cleaning up the deck; they moved the corpses to the rear cabin and laid down those who were still alive neatly in rows on the deck.

They saw that they were surrounded by more than ten Persian ships, with each ship's cannon aimed at their ship, while the deck next to the fender was full of Persian people; their blades flickered under the bright torchlights. The ships were jam-packed with these people, it was difficult even to estimate how many people were there. Zhang Wuji was secretly anxious; without even considering the fact that the cannons on each ship were capable of bombarding their ship, if these thousands of people attacked together, he would be hard-pressed to defend himself even if he had three heads and six arms. He might be able to escape relying on his own martial art skill; but how about his companions? Moreover, Yin Li and Zhao Min were injured, making their situation more dangerous.

He heard a Persian speak in Chinese with a loud voice, ”Jin Mao Shi Wang, listen! Our Twelve Precious Tree Kings of the Central Cult are here. You have committed a crime against the Central Cult, the Precious Tree Kings are being lenient and willing to pardon you. Quickly release the Cult member on your ship, we will allow you to sail away safely.”

Xie Xun laughed. ”The Old Xie is not a three-year old child; do you think we don't know that your cannons will fire on us as soon as we released the hostages?” he said.

That Persian was indignant. ”If you don't release our people, do you think we cannot shoot you?”

Xie Xun hesitated for a moment before answering, ”I have three conditions; if you agree, we will then respectfully send these Cult people ashore.”