Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 15

The leader of the Luo Wang organization stopped arguing; his intuition told him that he had to deal with the three people in front of him as soon as possible.

Seven assassins moved out together, their swords reflecting the moonlight, their killing intent filling the air.

"Humph!"

Zhou Wen remained seated, his longsword drawn from its sheath, unleashing a burst of power that had been building up for a long time, instantly forcing back the three assassins.

Not to be outdone, Lu Wei plunged his fine iron sword into the lake and splashed water everywhere. With his icy palm, he pushed the water droplets away, and ice spikes flew like flowers scattered by a celestial maiden.

Three more assassins were repelled, leaving only the leader of the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven) to break through the ice barrier. He swept his sword across, but Sang Lin blocked it with his own. Lu Wei and Zhou Wen attacked from both sides at the same time, forcing the leader to abandon his sword and retreat.

The three men followed closely behind, and three swords pierced his head, throat, and heart from three directions.

Clang clang clang! The six assassin subordinates reacted quickly, drawing their swords together to block the attacks from Lu Wei, Zhou Wen, and Sang Lin.

The three men smirked, used the momentum to leap to the outer edge of the lake, and then surrounded the seven members of the Luowang gang.

"You three think you can surround the seven of us?" Under the cover of his subordinates, the leader of the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven) picked up his weapon again and looked at the three men who had surrounded him in a triangular formation, and couldn't help but sneer.

"Why can't you do it?" Lu Wei responded with a disdainful smile, while Zhou Wen shook his head and said calmly:

"Earthly Swamp Twenty-Four!"

Chapter 20 Back on the Right Path

The Twenty-Four Earthly Branches are said to have been created by Shennong, the ancestor of agriculture, after he observed the twenty-four solar terms that correspond to the seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

It is a powerful formation for group battles.

Its original purpose was to teach farmers how to plow in spring and harvest in autumn, but Shennong later discovered that the evolution of life and death contained a law, and thus figured out a set of superb martial arts and combat methods.

The greatest advantage of this battle tactic is that it can be activated by only two people. The more people there are, the stronger it becomes. If all twenty-four nodes are occupied by disciples of the Farmer School, its power will be maximized!

It was precisely because he had such a trump card that Xu Sheng decided to use the plan to lure the enemy.

Otherwise, if you fail to catch fish and end up being dragged into the water instead, not only will you lose face, but everyone only has one life.

The leader of the Luo Wang organization watched as the three people in front of him used the formation to perform mysterious movements, and for a time he could not find any flaws in their moves based solely on his own martial arts skills.

The other Earth-level assassins were even more confused, unsure of who to attack first.

"The Earth Swamp Formation..." The leader of the Luo Net was troubled. He had heard of the name, but since he had not read many books and did not understand the teachings of the Farmers, it was a pipe dream for him to think about how to break the formation.

Several attempts to test the waters with all his might were met with injuries and repulsion, but the leader of the Luo Wang was not too panicked for the time being, as he had a backup plan!

He gave his deputy a look, and the man knowingly took out a signal flare from his chest, lit it with a tinderbox, and a blood-red firework shot into the sky.

During this process, the other six assassins vigilantly protected their deputy as he completed the signal flare launch, but the enemy did not take the opportunity to launch an attack, which made the leader of Luo Wang feel uneasy.

Soon, a dozen or so men in black emerged from the jungle: they were all top-tier assassins with low strength, who had been summoned to Qingfeng Ridge by the leader of the Luo Wang organization and placed on the outskirts.

Initially, these people's goal was to deal with the large number of ordinary farmers' disciples who had fled after the caravan's morale collapsed.

Unexpectedly, this moment could become the key to breaking the Twenty-Four Earthly Branches: in normal theory, under the encirclement of two sides, any formation would be difficult to operate freely.

Besides, they outnumber the enemy several times over!

Upon seeing the situation at the lakeside, the top-tier assassins immediately moved from the periphery towards the center of the Earth Swamp Formation, seemingly reversing the situation once again.

However, the leader of the Luo Wang organization felt no thrill of a counterattack. His heart was pounding, and he could only forcefully shout slogans to boost his side's morale:

"How is it now?"

"The prey may occasionally have the heart of a hunter, but unfortunately, in the eyes of the Net, the prey is ultimately just prey!"

"Is it?"

Lu Wei and the other two showed no sign of worry; even Zhou Wen, who had maintained a stern expression, smiled.

"So the methods of the Luo Wang organization are so easy to predict?"

"Who gave you the courage to compete with farmers in terms of the number of disciples?"

As he clapped his hands, the calm lake surface rippled, and to the astonishment of the Luo Wang assassins, dozens of figures burst from the water, short swords clenched in their teeth, tightly surrounding the newly arrived outermost Luo Wang reinforcements:

"Earthly Swamp Twenty-Four!"

The unified shouts pierced the sky.

The assassins from the Luo Wang organization were filled with terror; their hands gripping their swords began to tremble...

"It seems our forty-eight elite disciples, whom we specially prepared, didn't spend all that time soaking in the water for nothing."

Zhou Wen, as the master of the Earth Swamp Formation, was stationed at the 'Winter Solstice' position, while Lu Wei and Sang Lin were stationed at the 'Spring Growth' and 'Autumn Withering' positions, respectively.

Because Xu Sheng was dizzy and no one was watching over him, the formation of the three of them still had a flaw, which they needed to take turns to fix.

However, if the other party cannot see it, then the flaw is not a flaw.

The leader of the Luo Wang organization felt his heart sink. When his body was threatened by three swords, he knew that they could not hurt him.

But now, with all escape routes blocked by two layers of earth-swamp formations, the sword of death is at his throat, slowly cutting away at his throat...

"kill!"

We can't wait any longer. If we don't know the techniques to break the formation, then we'll just have to use brute force!

With a command from the leader of the Luo Wang organization, the other assassins instinctively overcame their fear and launched a death charge, and then—

They really died...

The Twenty-Four Earthly Branches are a unified whole. Once it is set up, any attempt to disrupt the formation is an act of hostility towards all those who constitute the formation.

Enemies are everywhere, swords are everywhere.

This will be the only thought the deceased had before dying...

On the farmhouse side, no one died!

The formation utilizes the cooperation between the participants to mitigate their weaknesses and maximize their strengths. If one person is seriously injured, they immediately retreat to the rear 'season' to take on a support role, and their original position will be filled by someone else.

In this way, a special form of damage sharing is achieved.

Unless the enemy is far stronger than the disciples who set up the formation, it is extremely difficult to kill them.

"As expected of a formation created by Shennong, it deserves to be called 'red grade' in the system's rating!"

Secretly praising the effectiveness of Earthly Twenty-Four, Lu Wei pulled the fine iron sword from the vest of the leader of the Luo Wang.

On the battlefield strewn with corpses, blood flowed into Xiaoling Lake, adding a touch of red to the moonlit lake, making it quite a beautiful sight.

"One Killer-level, six Earth-level, and sixteen Absolute-level. For Luo Wang, this is not a matter of cutting off their flesh and digging out their heart, but it has greatly reduced their influence in Qi State."

Sang Lin sheathed his sword: "I'm afraid we'll be blacklisted."

“Indeed,” Lu Wei said quickly, using his light-footed skill to carry Xu Sheng, who was on a raft in the center of the lake, back to the shore. “Young Master Xu is the greatest hero today, and he must be treated quickly.”

"Now that the net is broken, I'll take him to a clinic in a nearby town!" Zhou Wen took Xu Sheng and disappeared from sight in a few leaps.

"I'll go back and deal with those spies that Yan Chunjun planted!" After saying that, Sang Lin also left.

"Brother Lu, Brother Lu, I just killed two members of the Luo Wang organization with my own hands!"

Lu Yu ran over excitedly, followed by Lu Shan, Lu Mu, and Lu Ye.

As his most trusted confidants, the four younger brothers naturally participated in tonight's operation as well.

The forty-eight later disciples of the Farmer's Clan were carefully selected by Xu Sheng, Sang Lin, and himself. Their strength was secondary; their loyalty to the Net was paramount.

"Yes, you did a great job!" Lu Wei didn't hold back his praise: "This merit will elevate your family's status once we return to Jicheng!"

"Really!" Lu Yu couldn't hide her excitement, but she also showed a hint of worry: "But that Young Master Xu seems to be seriously injured? Will he die?"

"No, at least not this time!"

After making his promise, Lu Wei turned around and looked at the lake. There was something he didn't say: If Xu Sheng dies, who will bear the wrath of the Luo Wang?

------

The caravan stayed for a long time this time.

In order to devise a plan, it took three days to formulate a scheme and secretly hone the skills of the Earthly Twenty-Four.

Zhou Wen spent another five days seeking medical treatment for Xu Sheng.

In the past five days, Sang Lin used his power to execute ten caravan disciples 'for no reason', causing the already unstable morale of the caravan to change again.

Fortunately, with the reassurance of his trusted disciples such as Shan Yu Mu Ye, a mutiny was ultimately averted.

Five days later, a weakened Xu Sheng returned with Zhou Wen's help, and the entire caravan slowly returned to the right path.

"The net, Lord Yanchun..."

Xu Sheng was too exhausted to roar any longer; he could only sigh, "I can never return to my hometown, Jicheng..."

Chapter 21 Entering Chu

Having defeated the formidable enemy, the caravan finally met up with another group of peasant disciples after leaving the Qingfeng Ridge area.

The other party belongs to the Four Mountains Hall, whose leader is Situ Wanli.

Although Xu Sheng did not appear very depressed after losing his hand, he was not willing to appear in front of outsiders in his current state for the time being, so Lu Wei was in charge of the negotiations.

Not only this time, but Xu Sheng also delegated authority to all subsequent external affairs and internal caravan issues.

After leaving Qingfeng Ridge, Zhou Wen and Sang Lin often meditated in their carriage. According to them, their only goal was to reach the State of Chu.

As a result, Lu Wei became the sole person in charge of the caravan. Busy with various tasks, he became quite familiar with the various branches of the Qi Kingdom's agricultural families during his time in charge of the caravan, and from then on, he was no longer an unknown figure.

Shan Yumuye was promoted by him and each became a small manager in their own area, responsible only for themselves. The four of them found this very novel and worked very hard.

The return to the Yan Kingdom was as smooth as it had been. Four months later, the caravan crossed the border and officially entered the Chu Kingdom.

The Luo Wang had suffered a considerable loss, yet it hadn't retaliated, which surprised Lu Wei. But upon reflection, it made sense. At that time, Qin had not yet unified the six kingdoms, and with only the strength of one kingdom, the Luo Wang was far less powerful than it would be in later generations.

Top-tier assassins are not easy to cultivate, and with Jing Ni's defection diverting some of its power, it can only send a very small number of people to Qi Chu's side.

Moreover, for a group that values ​​interests so much, even revenge requires the gains to outweigh the losses.

"We walked!"

Before resting in a small town in Chu territory, Zhou Wen and Sang Lin formally bid farewell to Xu Sheng. The two drove the carriage given to them by Xu Sheng and left the main group on their own.

After watching his colleagues, who had been with him for months, leave from the roof of the car, Lu Wei returned to the carriage: "They seem to have taken something with them?"