Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 233

Not long after the fall of Guangling City in Chu, the Net sent a special envoy from the south to contact him: King Ying Zheng of Qin was in Chu at the time, and Zhao Gao, the loyal and ever-present master of the Net, was naturally also in Chu.

According to the liaison envoy, following Lord Zhao Gao's instructions, the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven) will mobilize a group of elite forces to help him completely seize control of the peasantry.

Zhou Wen was unaware of the total number of this elite force and the hierarchical structure of its members. He only knew that the person in charge had confidently stated that as long as he could create an opportunity to compete for the title of Hero, the plan would proceed without any unexpected issues.

According to Zhou Wen's calculations, there are likely no fewer than three Heaven-level beings from the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven), and even more Killer and Earth-level beings.

This is an attempt to target the six leaders of the Farmer's Clan at the Dazeshan headquarters!

If one is not careful, even if the 100,000 disciples of the Farmer's School are regarded as a rabble, the Six Elders in the Tomb of the Six Sages are not beings that can be easily ignored.

The enemy is in the dark while we are in the light – this has been the reality for the Luo Wang and the Nongjia for over a decade. It is precisely because of this that he and Lu Wei came up with the plan to infiltrate Luo Wang deeply.

The two had considered this situation many years ago, but in order to more directly remind Lu Wei, Zhou Wen carefully selected Situ Wanli as the sacrifice.

The Four Mountains Hall is remote, and Situ Wanli's gambler identity is not an aid to the Farmer Clan but would only damage their reputation. Considering that the Gonggong Hall and Shennong Hall among the Six Halls cannot be touched lightly, the Kuiwei Hall and Lieshan Hall are already their possessions in the eyes of the Net, and the Chiyou Hall is a deceived ally, the only target that can be attacked without arousing the Net's suspicion is the Four Mountains Hall.

Zhou Wen was the actual mastermind behind Zhou He's death nine years ago, both openly and covertly from various perspectives. It would not have been difficult for him to exploit that incident.

A few days ago, when the plan was symbolically explained to the newly appointed secret agent, the agent expressed support: the ideal scenario was to kill Situ Wanli and then try to frame Lu Wei for it. Even if it failed, it wouldn't matter, as long as the five hall masters could be gathered together without any precautions, the Net Plan could be implemented normally!

...

There is a valley route between Bailuyan and Shuangjiangling on the main road from Siyuetang to Gonggongtang.

Normally, this place is heavily guarded, but because Situ Wanli suddenly came to Shuangjiang Ridge to inspect it before his death yesterday, all the guards of Shuangjiang Ridge were taken back for a thorough investigation.

The current chaotic state of Siyue Hall means that they can only temporarily transfer some other disciples to symbolically guard a few important positions, which inevitably leads to the relaxation of many defensive points.

It was precisely this laxity that gave the hidden enemy an opportunity...

With a loud clang, dozens of sword lights erupted, and the corpses of fifty disciples of the Four Mountains Hall were scattered haphazardly in the valley camp on one side of Frostfall Ridge.

The arrogant followers: Six figures in black sheathed their swords and silently concealed themselves, waiting for their prey to enter the bloody web.

The Six Sword Slaves are the most deadly and efficient killing weapons in the world.

There was only one person they were willing to travel thousands of miles to execute: Lu Wei of Gonggongtang!

The killer in this killing squad, Zhen Gang, stood upright with a greatsword on his back, calmly considering any possible changes that might occur during the mission.

This mission is different from the previous missions where the Six Sword Slaves worked out their skills and familiarity with each other. It carries a certain degree of risk and is considered their first formal mission since the group was formed.

If Lu Wei were to pass through this inevitable place on his way back from the Four Mountains Hall, and upon seeing the cruelly treated corpses in the camp, choose to enter, then he would not survive the combined attack of the six!

However, it would be troublesome if the other party sensed something was wrong from afar and ran away. To be on the safe side, the Six Sword Slaves could not reveal themselves to pursue them.

As the leader and strategist of the Six Sword Slaves, Zhen Gang is the only one among the six who is qualified to issue orders in Zhao Gao's absence.

The slender, soul-destroying sisters, who are also bondage users, had clashed with Lu Wei in Handan before this mission. They suffered a heavy loss that time: as assassins, they were outmaneuvered and ambushed by him.

The two sisters were already at the bottom of the Six Sword Slaves in terms of strength, and due to their injuries, their Soul Transformation ability decreased further, making them a weak link among the Six Sword Slaves.

If it weren't for the twin sisters' shared understanding and mastery of the Soul-Slaying Sword among the Eight Swords of Yue, which far surpassed that of their competitors, they would likely have lost their current identities many years ago.

Despite the fact that as cold-blooded killers they should have had extra thoughts that affected their killing efficiency, the sisters' hatred grew after they learned that Lu Wei's Devouring Sea Sword was the enemy from that night in Handan.

The last assassin to return to the Six Sword Slaves in terms of time, Duan Shui, was a short man who hid his entire body under a black cloth.

The most suitable replacement for the Old Man of the Mind was executed by Lu Wei in Sanghai many years ago. Therefore, even though Zhao Gao had searched for many years and found a good replacement, he was still a little inferior to the Old Man of the Mind.

Fortunately, Zhao Gao was unaware of this. He had never seen a better Six Sword Slaves, so the current Six Sword Slaves were the best for him.

As the hidden member of the Six Sword Slaves, Duan Shui was responsible for regulating the six people's aura to maintain unity.

The ally, Luan Shen, and the opportunist, Wang Liang, are an ugly, sinister adult man and a young, spiky-haired boy. The former is hot-tempered and participated in the pursuit of Tian Guang with Zhengang. They were tricked by that old fox twice that time.

When asked about hunting at the farm, Luan Shen licked his lips with a cruel expression.

The latter boy's face showed obvious immaturity. He was only ten years old. It was no easy feat for someone his age to fight his way out of the Luo Wang assassins and wield the Wang and Liang swords. Moreover, the reason why the boy wanted to become an assassin and join Luo Wang was simply because he had a playful attitude towards life. To become one of the top assassins with such an unsuitable mindset, he showed that his talent was extraordinary.

The six sword slaves began waiting at noon, but by nightfall, their prey had not arrived.

Just as the voice of the disciple about to change shifts rang out, Zhen Gang, emerging from the darkness, coldly ordered a retreat... The first phase of the plan had failed; the enemy hadn't actually returned to Gonggong Hall via this route...

In Gonggong Hall, Lu Wei returned to the hall from the north late at night. During the day, he first went north to the Tomb of the Six Sages from Siyue Hall, then went through the tunnel there to Zuimeng Tower, and then returned to the hall, taking a much longer route.

However, its advantage lies in its absolute safety.

Based on Zhou Wen's suggestion, the Hall Master made the worst-case scenario plan. He knew that he was very likely to become the target of the Luo Wang's siege and kill. Even if he survived today, he would have to face the powerful Luo Wang members head-on tomorrow.

To this end, he initiated some preparations in advance.

Dazeshan is the territory of the farmers, and even Luo Wang has to be careful when operating here.

The twenty-four disciples of the Earthly Branch Twenty-Four were able to surround and kill ordinary martial arts masters. Even martial arts masters would have to take the two hundred and forty Earthly Branch Twenty-Four seriously. The two thousand four hundred Earthly Branch Twenty-Four were beyond the ability of ordinary martial arts practitioners to deal with.

Theoretically, the Farmer's Clan can deploy 24,000 people in the Twenty-Four Earthly Branches. If commanded properly, even the world's top martial arts masters would perish in the Great Marsh Mountain. And this is only the strength of the Farmer's Clan's ordinary disciples.

Of course, let alone 24,000 people, even 2,400 people in the Twenty-Four Great Swamps of the Earthly Swamps have never actually practiced in the mountains. Such behavior is too dangerous. Moreover, the more people there are in a formation, the less it can achieve its theoretical power. It is too difficult to require all disciples to keep in step and not make mistakes.

If we want to deal with the Luo Wang, as long as we mobilize enough disciples, their Dazeshan plan will definitely fail.

But finding and killing the other party is not so easy.

The network has a plan for tomorrow. Under these circumstances, mobilizing 2,400 people will likely expose them ahead of time. This is a path that cannot be chosen lightly.

The strongest force within the Luo Wang organization, aside from the unfathomable Zhao Gao, is none other than the Six Sword Slaves.

In order to control 100,000 farmers, will Zhao Gao send out the Six Sword Slaves...? Master Lu thinks it's very likely!

The recent news from Siyuetang that fifty disciples had died at the Shuangjiang Ridge camp indirectly underscores this point.

"With Dian Qing, Lu Ni, Xue Nu, and Li Mu, the Gonggong Hall headquarters can be safely guarded. As for visiting the Sixth Elder tomorrow... the best opponents for the Six Sword Slaves are naturally the Sixth Elder of the Farmer Clan, who have been dormant for many years!"

Lu Wei drew his Devouring Sea Sword and carefully wiped his companion, who would be bleeding tomorrow, his expression seemingly nonchalant.

Launching a preemptive counterattack under the influence of the Luo Wang organization was not the outcome he desired, yet he had no choice but to do so.

Moreover, the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven) ultimately belonged to the Qin state, and even when the peasants were forced to retaliate, they had to exercise restraint... ultimately, their own power and strength were too limited.

"But will the King of Qin know about Luo Wang's actions against the Farmers and their desire to control them... Luo Wang's disloyalty has exposed their weaknesses to me as well."

"Zhao Gao's reliance on the King of Qin was both his greatest advantage and his greatest weakness in expanding his power!"

His eyes flashed like swords, and the decision in the Master's mind was fully formed.

Tian Meng said something very true during the day: farmers should not be timid and let others bully them. The Qin army has set off to attack Dai and Yan. King Ying Zheng of Qin will soon unify the world, and we must take the initiative to attack again!

Chapter 266: Counterattack

Even if you decide to take the initiative, you must outwardly appear to be under pressure from the Net and forced to retaliate.

The difference between the peasants' strategy of having the Net strike first and taking action themselves is significant. The former indicates that the Net has more initiative on the surface, so even if Zhou Wen fails, he can gain more trust and infiltrate Zhao Gao's side.

The Net doesn't tolerate idlers. Zhou Wen's greatest value now lies in his ability to help the Net acquire farmers. Once this value disappears, he needs to demonstrate that he has other values ​​as much as possible.

The night was not very long. After summoning Lu Ni, Xue Nu, Li Mu, and Dian Qing and instructing them to be on high alert for the day, Lu Wei went out alone just as the sky was beginning to lighten.

Yesterday's most direct interception plan by Luo Wang failed and even exposed some of their whereabouts, but it doesn't matter, there will be another siege today that will definitely succeed.

Their schedule was very tight. Under the planning of the inside man, the heads of the six halls of the Farmer's Clan, now the fifth hall, were all going to the Tomb of the Six Sages today.

The meeting place agreed upon by the five hall masters before entering the tomb was Chun Gu Manor.

This is where the autumn harvest conference was held in previous years.

With the disappearance of the leader and the split of the Six Halls, the Autumn Harvest Festival, like the severed Shennong Decree, had already ceased to be held in the previous session.

This has resulted in a lack of regular, bustling times in the Great Swamp Mountains. The lost traditions need to be revived after a new leader is chosen.

Chungu Village is located west of the Tomb of the Six Sages, separated by a small forest. Normally, each of the four tribes—Lieshan, Chiyou, Gonggong, and the Four Mountains—is responsible for a specific area.

'The Net will likely choose this place to make its move, since further in lies the Tomb of the Six Sages, and the Sixth Elder is definitely not the kind of person they want to see.'

With the map of Daze Mountain spread out in his mind, the only place the Luo Wang assassins could hide near Chun Gu Manor must be in the forest opposite the southwest corner of Mangzhong Ridge, which is under the jurisdiction of Lie Shan Tang!

That place offers a commanding view of Chun Gu Manor, and although it is jointly managed by Lie Shan and Chi You, as long as Zhou Wen diverts the disciples of the two halls, there is no possibility of it being exposed.

Having roughly confirmed the enemy's likely location, Lu Wei could not lower his guard against other places. Time was too tight for Gonggong Hall to thoroughly clean the area under their responsibility. Theoretically, if the Six Sword Slaves were indeed coming, they could still ambush him from another location.

Therefore, Lu Wei set off early in the morning, making a special trip south and then detouring to Siyue Hall.

Zhou Wen and Luo Wang's plan was to seize the opportunity of killing Situ Wanli to compete for the position of leader of the chivalrous sects. Before the plan was implemented, they should have already arranged for surveillance of each hall of the Farmer's Clan and paid close attention to any possible large-scale mobilization of disciples.

However, the Four Mountains Hall is an exception! Because their hall master is dead and ineligible to participate in the competition for the title of Heroic Leader, the Luo Net theoretically does not need to worry about any changes here.

At this point, Zhang Er's role can be brought into play... This surprise move may prove valuable at crucial moments, and Lu Wei's detour from Siyue Hall to Chungu Manor can also be unexpected by everyone, avoiding ambushes that might not have been detected in advance.

...

Chun Gu Manor.

Gentle sunlight pierced through the thin clouds, and a light breeze stirred, carrying the pleasant fragrance of plants throughout the entire resort.

The birdsong in the mountains and forests was also crisp and clear, and everything seemed normal.

Lu Wei's departure time was very precise; he arrived just as Tian Meng and Tian Hu were getting impatient.

"Gonggong Hall is not far from Chungu Manor, so why is Hall Master Lu so late?"

The fist clenched in his sleeve suddenly loosened, and Tian Meng's tense nerves relaxed. He let out a long breath, but asked coldly.

Besides Tian Meng, Zhu Jiaming, who had been pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back, also went from being surprised to delight, stroking his beard with a smile as he waited for Lu Wei's reply.

Although Tian Meng's tone was unpleasant when he asked the question, the question itself was exactly what the Zhu family wanted.

Tian Hu, who was loyally following behind his elder brother, stood quietly to the side with his arms crossed and his head held high. This was not in line with Hu Zi's usual style. It seemed that Tian Meng had given him some instructions beforehand.

As for Tian Mi, who was leaning against a pillar with her smooth thighs exposed from the slit in her robe, she gave a seductive laugh while smoking her pipe, but didn't say much. Today, she was just a minor character.

“I went to Shuangjiang Ridge. There was another murder of a disciple there yesterday. Brother Situ wasn’t there, so I checked the scene for him.”

"Oh~" Tian Meng and Zhu Jia both reacted upon hearing the news, but their reactions differed in purpose:

Tian Meng knew about Luo Wang's arrangements and understood that Lu Wei must have understood his hint yesterday, which was why he was able to avoid Luo Wang's ambush.

He didn't care about the fifty dead disciples of the Four Mountains Hall; for the sake of his plan, he was even willing to kill the chivalrous leader Tian Guang and Situ Wanli. But the fact that Lu had made a special trip to the Four Mountains Hall this morning and openly announced it here clearly meant he wanted to tell me something.

Tian Meng took into account the possible situation of the Four Mountains Hall...

Zhu Jia's perspective was shrouded in mystery, and he didn't have many other thoughts. He simply wanted to inquire about the situation of the fifty dead disciples: Zhang Er had sent disciples to notify all the halls about the case yesterday, but because it was too late and there were important matters to attend to the next day, they couldn't go to check on it.

Now that someone has investigated the scene, whether for his deceased old friend or for the entire farm, he wants to know: "Brother Lu, what did you find?"

“I only had a short time to investigate, and the bodies have all been disposed of.” Shaking his head, Lu Wei replied casually, “However, judging from the traces there, the disciples did not put up any decent resistance, and even the Twenty-Four Earthly Branches did not set up an attack.”