Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 271

The good news is that the Mohists did indeed have a secret escape passage, and that the passage was absolutely safe.

The bad news is that this secret passage is located within the Mo family's forbidden area, and because two enemies were already trapped inside, they no longer have time to unlock the lock and hide inside...

"What should we do now? Because of the poison gas, our men can no longer fight."

After dissuading the three angry nobles, Tang Ju clasped his hands and said, "Now that the Qin army has entered the city, the anti-Qin righteous men of the six states have all gathered here. Our lives are insignificant, but the great cause of anti-Qin will die with us."

"There's no need for you to worry." Xiaoyaozi's whereabouts have been rather mysterious these past few days, but even in this time of crisis, his ethereal demeanor remains calm: "Do you still doubt the Mohist school's anti-Qin sentiments?"

"Since Master Ban brought us here, there must be a way to temporarily avoid the Qin people, right?"

The words of the Taoist sect leader carried considerable weight, and the previously agitated forces of the six kingdoms calmed down, turning their attention back to the leader of the Mohist sect.

“That’s right. Our Mo family’s mechanical city is full of traps. Our ancestor Mozi also made the worst-case scenario plan, so there is still a place that can be used as a hiding place.”

Master Ban nodded and said, "It's very safe there. The Qin army has no way to break through. We just need to wait inside for a while."

"I have already used the wooden kite to report the situation in the Mechanical City to our leader, and he will definitely bring reinforcements to rescue us!"

"It's all that Black Qilin's fault. It just so happened that it ran into the forbidden area yesterday. This can't be a coincidence."

Dao Zhi crossed his arms and grumbled angrily, but his complaints were of no use at this moment.

"The Xiang clan of Chu has not arrived yet. Did something happen to them on the way?"

Yan Yun glanced at the remaining forces of the six kingdoms, whose numbers were now mostly gone, and immediately realized that not every force had arrived. He then spoke up.

"And Yue'er and Tianming have also disappeared..."

Chapter 319 Gao Yue is kidnapped

"This is the Six-Fingered Black Knight? The Mo family never buried him after he died here?"

Using the light reflected from the bronze mirror above the secret chamber, Ji Yan circled around to the front of the skeleton draped in a cloak. The six exposed finger bones on the skeleton's left hand clearly identified him.

He was the most important leader during the Mohist school's transformation, the Six-Fingered Black Knight.

"The location here is not hidden, and the Mo family's forbidden area has always been under their control. It's unlikely that no one has discovered this corpse in the past ten years, right?"

"It is said that when Six-Fingered Black Knight entered the forbidden area for the last time, he brought Mo Mei with him. Later, Yan Dan personally entered the forbidden area and found Mo Mei, which made him the rightful successor to the Grand Master."

After Lu Wei used his internal energy to evaporate the moisture from his body, he stepped forward and carefully examined the martial arts senior he had met once when he was young: "Yan Dan must have been here, but why didn't he bury the Six-Fingered Black Knight... He must have felt guilty and didn't want to face it."

"Even Yan Dan, who always shows his sense of responsibility, is unwilling to face this. Could it be that the death of Six-Fingered Black Knight was not solely due to being afflicted by the Six Soul Curse?"

Her pupils turned golden, and Ji Yan activated her Autumn Water Bright Eyes to carefully examine the corpse.

However, the six-fingered Black Knight, now reduced to mere bones, could not provide much further information. Some of his bones showed signs of healing after being broken, which only proved that he had been seriously injured in a battle with an enemy before his death.

"There's no need to dwell on this too much. The Six-Fingered Black Knight is a thing of the past. Yan Dan has served as the Grand Master twice in two different capacities. Moreover, the anti-Qin movement is the prevailing trend of the Mohist school. Even if we were to uncover the secrets from the Six-Fingered Black Knight, our investment and returns would not be commensurate."

Shaking his head, Lu Wei came to a corner of the secret room and stood in front of an open stone slab. Underneath the slab was an underground river that connected to the central pool of the Mo family.

Judging from the rate at which the poisonous gas evaporated in the underground river, he knew that the poisonous feathers given by Chi Lian had been diluted beforehand, so the poison in the water of the Mechanized City would probably evaporate completely in no more than six hours.

This amount of poison is just right. Although Mo family disciples with slightly stronger internal strength will be greatly reduced due to the poison, they will not fall into a coma or die. Only those disciples with average internal strength will die from the poison.

This suggests that Chi Lian, or Wei Zhuang, still possesses some of the Poison Feather Thousand Nights...

Subconsciously considering the situation in Daze Mountain, Lu Wei knew that the river network in Daze Mountain connected several key gathering places of the Farmer Clan disciples. Although using the Poison Feather Thousand Nights there would not cause the entire Daze Mountain range to suffer, most of the 100,000 Farmer Clan disciples were ordinary disciples, and their resistance to poison gas was not strong.

Ultimately, it remains a hidden danger, even though the production conditions for Zhenyu Qianye are demanding, requiring three years of careful cultivation to produce even a small bottle.

Lu Wei took out a small medicine bottle from his pocket, filled it with some water from the underground river, and prepared to take it back to Physician Nian Duan and Duanmu Rong for research.

While guarding the medicine bottle, he felt that the Mo family's supreme weapon, 'Non-Aggression,' which he was carrying, was getting in the way, so he took it out and casually tossed it to Xiao Yan'er.

This weapon, which contains the basic principles of Mohist mechanical arts, can transform into various forms: sword, crossbow, shield, rope, etc. It was the first treasure that Lu Wei and Ji Yan obtained in the secret passage of the chivalrous path. They can take it back and send it to the mechanical workshop in Amu, Jing County for research.

If they dismantled the entire forbidden area, they could take away even more treasures, but since there were only two of them, the amount they could take was quite limited.

The essence of the Mohist school, with its 300-year history, is fully embodied in this mechanical city.

After calming down and returning his eyes to normal, Ji Yan obediently refrained from probing the Six-Fingered Black Knight further: "We've found the exit from the forbidden area, but we still don't know what's going on outside. Should we continue deeper into the forbidden area?"

"Judging from the poisonous gas in the water, the quicksand has given them half a day. We can explore for about an hour and a half. When we get out, it won't delay our understanding of what's happening outside, so let's continue to go deeper."

"it is good."

------

The Xiang clan, who had been worried about by everyone in the Ink Core Chamber, soon reunited with the others, but Tianming, Shaoyu, and Gaoyue, the three little ones, were not with them.

After finding the three children last night, they went to bed early. When the sun rose and the poisonous fog appeared in the morning, Fan Zeng immediately sent Ji Bu to bring back Shao Yu. However, they waited for a long time, but not only did Shao Yu not return, Ji Bu also disappeared without a trace.

After Wei Zhuang defeated Gao Jianli and Kuang Xiu, but intentionally or unintentionally let them go, the Qin army's breakthrough of the mechanical city was unstoppable. Xiang Liang and Fan Zeng chose to trust Shao Yu and led their men to retreat first to reunite with everyone.

The entire covered bridge in the city is now shrouded in poisonous fog, making it difficult to find out where the three children could have gone.

With no other choice, Master Ban instructed his disciples to distribute the poison-avoiding pills stored by the Mo family to everyone who had gathered. He then ordered everyone to enter the Mo Core Chamber and wait for the Grand Master's reinforcements!

Those Mohist disciples and righteous warriors from the six states still outside the Mohist Core Secret Gate, including the three children, can only pray for their own fate...

"Can't you all sense the poison gas?"

On the large gear next to the drawbridge at the entrance of the city, Shao Yu had already taken the antidote given to him by Miss Yue, but he still had to raise his hand to cover his face in pain, vividly feeling the pain in his mouth and nose and difficulty breathing.

Tianming and Gaoyue, however, remained calm. Everyone had taken the same antidote, so why was it that only they were having trouble with it...?

"It might be a difference in physical constitution," Gao Yue said, sounding unsure. She took in Tianming and Shaoyu's condition and felt somewhat fortunate that Tianming, like herself who had practiced Yin-Yang techniques, had a resistance to poison gas, which made her seem less special.

But at the same time, a question arose: Tianming was clearly under a sealing curse, and according to Gao Yue's understanding, this curse shouldn't have the ability to resist poison gas...

"Hehe, it was a bit painful at first, but it got better later." Tianming chuckled and patted Shaoyu's shoulder. "Looks like little brother Shaoyu isn't in the best physical condition~"

"You brat!" Slapping away the hand that was on his shoulder, Shao Yu saw another group of Qin soldiers jogging into the city and couldn't help but worry about the situation inside.

He lowered his voice and said softly, "Miss Yue, is there really a way to eliminate the poisonous gas in the Mechanized City?"

“Yes, below the gears under that suspension bridge is the core of the mechanical city: the Xuanwu.” Gao Yue answered with certainty, “The poison gas is coming from the water, which proves that the water source of the mechanical city is polluted. As long as we open the black mechanism of the Xuanwu, we can change the water for the entire mechanical city, and the poison will no longer exist.”

"Great! This way, not only can we save the Mechanical City, but Uncle will also be proven innocent!" Tianming said excitedly, looking at the gears by the suspension bridge with an eager expression.

Suddenly, a violent tremor came from the direction of the Ink Pond, which made the three little ones immediately shrink their heads and hide themselves completely.

Tianming, positioned on the outermost edge, stared intently into the direction from which the sound came: a massive, semi-mechanical 'person,' someone Tianming had seen before, was trudging heavily into the mechanical city.

"This is... the Great Wild Bear!" Tianming, utterly shocked, immediately covered his mouth with both hands to stifle any sound. Shaoyu, standing beside him, also wore an expression of disbelief: this peerless demon of the Four Heavenly Kings, who was clearly dead, had somehow become a half-mechanical being and come back to life...

With his massive, unparalleled feet, Muji Wushuang stepped onto the suspension bridge. Each step he took created a small shockwave, inspiring awe and making him an unapproachable foe.

After the mechanical genius and the Qin soldiers who escorted him left, the three little ones carefully came down from their hiding place. Tianming jumped down first and politely reached out to help the seemingly weak Gao Yue. Although Gao Yue didn't think much of it, she accepted his help in order to maintain her disguise.

“If we dive down from here, we should be in roughly the same position,” Gao Yue said, giving her final confirmation as she stood by the suspension bridge.

“Alright, then Tianming and I will go down. Miss Yue, please be careful up there by yourself.” Seeing that Tianming had just displayed such grace, Shaoyu, as the young master of the Xiang family, naturally couldn’t be outdone.

"Yes, yes, if Yue'er encounters any more Qin soldiers passing by, be sure to hide well. We'll send you a signal underwater when we come up." Tianming nodded vigorously.

"I'm fine, but you two need to be careful underwater. Remember to always press the black button. If you accidentally press the red one, the Xuanwu mechanism will go berserk," Gao Yue repeatedly reminded her.

"Do not worry!"

Tianming Shaoyu nodded, took a long breath while standing on the gear, and then jumped directly into the bottomless water.

To approach the Xuanwu mechanism from the suspension bridge, simply head downstream. Along the way, avoid the large, obstructing gears that block your view. After navigating through a near-maze of gears, Tianming and Shaoyu confirm their direction, and suddenly the view opens up...

The Ink Core Chamber is the last stronghold of the Mechanical City. In addition to the mechanical operation rooms on the surface, there is a larger underground space as temporary housing. Sufficient food is prepared inside, but if the problem of poison in the water is not solved, everyone will die of thirst if they cannot go out.

The operating room was small and only a few leaders of the Mohist school, Xiaoyaozi, Fan Zeng, and others were there; everyone else was hiding downstairs.

Because it was undefended, the Qin army quickly found the place and attempted to attack the central hall outside the Mohe Secret Chamber.

But the closer they were to the Mo family's secret chamber, the more aggressive the Mo family's mechanisms became; they were simply throwing their lives away in vain.

However, when Wei Zhuang arrived with his men, the reactions of the people in the Ink Core were still varied.

At this moment, there are experts such as Xiaoyaozi, Gao Jianli, Kuang Xiu, Da Tiechui, and Dao Zhi in the secret chamber. Facing the group of Liusha, it seems that they are not without a chance.

After all, in this attack on the Mechanized City, Quicksand had already lost Peerless Ghost, Hidden Bat, and Azure Wolf King, significantly weakening their forces.

On the surface, Bai Feng hasn't appeared yet, only Wei Zhuang and Chi Lian are there. But even if Bai Feng is nearby and can arrive in time, the Mo family still has the advantage.

"Don't worry. Based on the Grand Master's previous reply, he should be back in the next couple of days. With the Grand Master and other heroes of the martial world present, Wei Zhuang will surely die!"

It was Gao Jianli who spoke up to reassure everyone. He had fought Wei Zhuang earlier that day and knew the gap between them.

Although our side has Xiaoyaozi who can rival Wei Zhuang, there's no need to take risks when there are more reliable options available.

Clang! Just then, a special mechanism in the Ink Core Chamber was automatically triggered. Master Ban's face lit up with joy upon seeing it:

"Great! Someone has activated the mechanism of Xuanwu, which can bring in clean mountain spring water to purify the toxic water source of the Mechanical City!"

...

"Moon, we did it!"

At the drawbridge at the entrance to the city, Tianming and Shaoyu, after receiving Gao Yue's signal that everything was normal outside, rushed out of the water with joy and shouted to Gao Yue on the drawbridge.

"I've seen it! Tianming, Shaoyu, come up here quickly!"

Gao Yue turned her head and looked around, worried that Qin soldiers might come, so she quickly tied one end of the rope to the handrail of the suspension bridge and lowered the rest.

Just as the three little ones were overjoyed at having saved the mechanical city, and Tianming and Shaoyu were swimming towards the rope to meet up, in the blink of an eye, they saw a woman they had never seen before standing behind Gao Yue!

"Moon, be careful..."

Tianming's pupils contracted. Before he could even utter the words "behind him," he saw the woman knock Gao Yue unconscious with a single chop to the neck. Then, she gave the two people in the water a disdainful smile before vanishing in a flash...

Chapter 320 A Fateful Reunion

By the time Tianming and Shaoyu climbed back onto the suspension bridge from the water, the mysterious woman and Gao Yue had already disappeared.

Instead, the commotion attracted a small squad of Qin soldiers from the city, forcing Tianming and Shaoyu to flee towards Mogui Pond.

During the journey, the scene of the mysterious woman taking Gao Yue away kept replaying in Tianming's mind. He vaguely felt that he had seen that woman before, but he just couldn't remember where he had seen her.

Tianming tried hard to recall, to search deep within his memory, and it was this attempt that caused him to suddenly feel a burning sensation in his neck, accompanied by a sharp pain in his head!

"Ah..." Tianming, who was running away, suddenly stopped, frantically grabbing his hair with both hands, screamed, and then collapsed.

'Has the sealing curse activated? And now, at a time like this!'

Shao Yu had previously witnessed Tianming's symptoms and understood his condition. Now, looking at Tianming's painful state on the ground, and then at the relentlessly pursuing Qin army, he clenched his fists.