Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 297

"Bei Mingzi, Lu Wei, Xiao Meng, Shenlou...?" A strange light flashed deep in Zhao Gao's pupils. He remembered something else that happened to be connected to Bei Mingzi...

Chapter 357 The Old Guys

From the time the empire destroyed the state of Han until the fall of the Seven Kingdoms, the martial arts world of today has largely completed the transition between the old and the new, with the older generation of martial arts heroes gradually retiring and the new generation of young people taking over the discourse.

Typical examples of this include Confucian scholars Fu Nian, agriculturalists Lu Wei, Guiguzi, Mohists Yan Dan and Gao Jianli, and Daoists Xiaomeng.

But while the new generation has gained the upper hand, many of the older generation have not died.

These old people have always been difficult to deal with because the only old person in the network is Yan Ri Xiao Yao Zi, who is an undercover agent.

The lineup of the Hundred Schools of Thought consisted of: Guiguzi, Xunzi, Beimingzi, Donghuang Taiyi, and the six elders of the Farmer's School, among others.

These old guys have always been difficult for Luo Wang to monitor, but in recent years, the complete disappearance of many of their members has made Luo Wang regard them as a potential threat.

These old folks are indeed quite old, but they've always been cunning and calculating. Aside from Master Xun in Sanghai, the location of the others is impossible for Luo Wang to pinpoint. In other words, these old guys could appear anywhere at any time.

If Lu Wei and Xiao Meng, who should be completely unrelated, are indeed plotting something, then could it be said that these old-timers in the underworld are tacitly plotting something as well...?

It should be noted that the owner of the quicksand who obtained the Guiguzi ring did indeed have some simple cooperation with the farmers.

The thought that Guiguzi and Beimingzi would be secretly manipulating the actions of the various schools of thought, even though they were all old and frail and no longer at their peak, sent a chill down Zhao Gao's spine as the master of the Heavenly Net.

Even someone like Donghuang Taiyi of the Yin-Yang School, who pledged allegiance to the Empire, would he necessarily stand firmly on the Empire's side...?

'Could it be that these old guys are already in Sanghai City...?'

Zhao Gao frowned inwardly without showing any emotion, but outwardly waved his hand, disarming the Six Sword Slaves from their guard against Xiaoyaozi.

"The Luo Net knows about this matter. Let's continue with the Mo family's Azure Dragon Plan."

Xiaoyaozi nodded. He knew that the reasons he had given Zhao Gao would lead him to think of more dangerous things. To be honest, he wasn't confident in the veracity of these things, but any possibility that could threaten the Luo Wang's secret plans would certainly alert Zhao Gao. For Xiaoyaozi, this was a crucial opportunity to buy time.

"I heard Gao Jianli and Mo Ban mention some details of this plan in the Mechanized City. Not long ago, I also learned from the Mo family's secret stronghold in Sanghai that they had secretly pulled the little green dragon out of the ruins of the Mechanized City and transported it to Mount Tai."

“That’s a good choice indeed.” Zhao Gao praised, “His Majesty the Emperor’s eastern tour of Qi and Lu will most likely pass by Mount Tai to pay homage before setting off from Mirage to seek immortality, and then come to Sanghai. But Mount Tai is heavily guarded. How can they hide with the size of the Azure Dragon mechanical beast?”

"Given the Azure Dragon's explosive power, they probably won't hide," Xiaoyaozi speculated.

“Then we only have one chance to attack,” Zhao Gao accurately judged. “You should continue to join them and act according to your assigned role. I will give you instructions at the crucial moment.”

"Yes." Xiaoyaozi put the Qin army mask back on and turned to leave.

Watching his retreating figure, Zhao Gao slowly shook his head at the questioning look in Liu Jiannu's eyes: This disloyal Yan Ri deserves to die, but not now.

...

"Meng Tian's army has returned to Xianyang, and a new elite force of the empire will be responsible for the defense of Sanghai."

Gai Nie and his junior brother Wei Zhuang stood on the cliff path in Sanghai, watching the rising sun, and said calmly.

Wei Zhuang, leaning on his Shark Tooth sword, sneered: "The Golden Fire Cavalry are the elite of the empire's elite forces, and Meng Tian himself is deeply trusted by Ying Zheng. Even if Zhang Han dies, the blame will not fall on him. This hasty withdrawal suggests that something major has happened within the empire."

"The general who replaced Meng Tian is Wang Li, who was also your former colleague."

Gai Nie remained silent for a few moments before saying, "Wang Li succeeded his father, the Marquis of Tongwu, as the Supreme General. His Hundred-Battle Armored Army is renowned for its 'hundred battles and invincible' reputation, and is particularly adept at fighting in complex terrain. With him replacing Meng Tian, ​​the area around Sanghai will become even more dangerous."

"The reason for replacing Meng Tian with such an army is not only because the Hundred Battles Armored Army is suitable for mountain warfare, but also because the empire's crisis requires the Golden Fire Cavalry more."

"The Wolf Clan of the Northern Frontier, huh?" Wei Zhuang understood his senior brother's hint, a smirk playing on his lips. "A new war is about to begin, senior brother. We'll have new encounters. What will you choose this time?"

"You want to join the Azure Dragon Project?" Gai Nie didn't answer his junior brother Xiao Zhuang's question, but instead asked him in return.

"Now that things have come to this, do you have a better solution?" Wei Zhuang retorted. "No destruction, no construction. If this old order is not completely overthrown, neither your ideals nor mine will be realized."

“I will stand against the Qin state, but the Azure Dragon Plan should not be launched at this time.”

"Are you worried that a successful opportunity would lead to the complete downfall of this empire?"

Faced with his junior brother's question, Gai Nie nodded resolutely: "If the Qin state collapses too quickly, the wolf tribes in the north and the Baiyue tribes in the south may bring great destruction to the Central Plains."

"The rapid collapse of such a single order would be a huge disaster for everyone."

“A short pain is worse than a long one, senior brother, you are still too cowardly!” Wei Zhuang’s tone was sarcastic: “For the current anti-Qin alliance, the preparation process for this attack may be more important than the result. The Mohists and the Xiang Clan need to find new hope after experiencing failure.”

Gai Nie fell completely silent...

"Zifang should be arriving soon. I heard he wants to introduce us to a new friend. I hope the result will satisfy me."

Wei Zhuang turned away, no longer wanting to watch the sunrise. Compared to these empty scenes, he wanted to create his own 'sunrise'!

After some time, two young men came up from the mountain path. They looked around at the same time and saw that there was indeed a simply dressed wandering knight next to Zhang Liang.

Upon seeing them, Zhang Liang smiled gently and stepped forward: "Brother Wei Zhuang, Brother Gai Nie, I apologize for being late again."

“It’s just the right time, Zifang, no need for such formalities.” Gai Nie temporarily put aside his thoughts and nodded, focusing on the person in front of him. Wei Zhuang’s eyes had already sized up the young man from head to toe, finally settling on the sword he was carrying across his back: for a swordsman, the sword and its master share a similar temperament.

This sword may look ordinary on the outside, but it actually has the potential to be amazing!

"Let me introduce you, this is..." Before Zhang Liang could finish speaking, the simply dressed young man bowed and greeted him.

"My name is Han Xin. I have met the two masters of the Guigu School."

'Han Xin...' He chewed on the name in his mind, but he had no recollection of him in the martial arts world.

Wei Zhuang did know that there was a prince of the Korean royal family named Han Xin, but he was clearly not the person standing before him...

------

Despite meeting Donghuang, Lu Wei did not change his itinerary for the next day. He continued to publicly visit Xiaomeng, the leader of Tianzong, as the leader of the Farmer's Knight. This news quickly spread among the various forces in Sanghai.

The agricultural and Taoist families had no prior dealings, but since the leader of the chivalrous sect and the sect leader were of equal status, it was quite normal for them to discuss the Dao.

But just because something is normal doesn't mean it can be done. The timing and objectives of Lu Wei's recent trip abroad are quite ingenious, which makes Li Si, who brought Lu Wei to Sanghai, somewhat worried.

The reason he made a special trip to Licheng at the beginning of the year to bring him into the caravan was to bring the power of the peasant school into the power of the empire, and to warn the other schools of thought by showing the obedience of the number one sect in the martial arts world.

Once inside Sanghai, this objective was achieved, but he never expected that Lu Wei would so boldly remain in this dangerous place.

On the night that Prince Fusu was assassinated and Zhang Han died, this peasant hero suddenly visited Xiaoshengxianzhuang. According to the spy's report, Lu Wei and Fu Nian enjoyed the moon all night in the night breeze.

Li Si should have inquired about this matter, but after returning from the Mirage Tower, he was too busy with other matters and had no time to deal with his interactions with people in the martial arts world.

Later, when Li Si accompanied Prince Fusu to Xiaoshengxianzhuang, he mentioned this matter intentionally or unintentionally, which attracted the prince's attention. However, Fu Nian was meticulous and managed to cover it up.

After the Daoist school was used by the empire to deal with the Confucian school, just like in the story of Xiaomeng, he went to visit them again. It's hard not to suspect that these various schools of thought were conspiring together.

As for the target of the conspiracy, is there any more valuable target in Sanghai City than the Mirage?

Summoning Zhao Gao, Li Si began to use the Luo Wang intelligence network, as was his custom.

At this time, Zhao Gao was still extremely respectful to Li Si, and replied with his hands clasped: "Reporting to the Prime Minister, the Luo Net has indeed recently collected some clues about Lu Wei, the leader of the Farmer's School of Chivalry."

"Oh? Tell me in detail."

"According to the intelligence from Luo Wang, this leader of the Farmer's School and the head of the Heavenly Sect had met once before today and seemed quite familiar with each other. Therefore, this public visit today... probably has other intentions behind it."

"Is that so... Has the Luo Wang organization gathered conclusive evidence?"

"We haven't obtained them yet. These two are both top-notch martial arts masters. My subordinates dare not approach them for fear of being discovered."

"Investigate thoroughly! Send out your six sword slaves!" Li Si shouted. "His Majesty the Emperor is about to embark on a tour. We cannot allow the Zhang Han incident to happen again in Sanghai City, especially news about the two prominent agricultural and agricultural families."

"The slaves obey."

Zhao Gao bowed and withdrew. With Li Si's words, the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven) could act even more boldly...

Take a day off

I just finished my driving test (parts 3 and 4) today and am currently in the long wait to process it, so I'm taking a break. I'll make up for the two missed updates as soon as possible.

Chapter 358 Revenge

On a sweltering afternoon, the bamboo forest of Sanghai was utterly silent. A gentle breeze rustled the bamboo leaves, as if they were whispering secrets. Through the gaps in the bamboo leaves, one could see the clouds drifting in the sky and the blazing sun.

A conspicuous black spider slid down its silken web from a bamboo leaf, silently approaching its prey directly below.

My gaze passed through the eerie red patterns on its back and came into view of the bamboo forest structure that had been blurred by the focus on the spider: that was the location of this mission.

The person in the gaze, a black-clad assassin, took out a short dagger hidden in his sleeve and wiped it firmly on his sleeve.

He was very nervous, far more so than the other Earth-level subordinates scattered around the bamboo forest. Wiping the weapon gave him a little bit of comfort.

The assassin in black's mission this time was to kidnap an ordinary maid in a bamboo forest building... If we ignore the fact that the person standing behind the maid is Xiaomeng, the leader of the Heavenly Sect...

The mission was personally issued by Lord Zhen Gang, one of the Six Sword Slaves and a big shot among the top-tier members. The two teams received the orders and each had a target. The black-clad assassin was lucky, as he was assigned to the capture mission instead of the other team's infiltration and investigation mission.

As a newly promoted "killer" level character, the black-clad assassin has no right to refuse. Completing this mission will allow him to advance his ranking among the "killers."

In the Net, missions are paramount. There are only objectives, no friends, and no regard for relationships. This means that even important top-tier assassins can be sacrificed to complete a mission, and the same goes for top-tier assassins.

However, as long as one's ranking in the network is high enough, the likelihood of being discarded as a pawn is always lower than that of other peers.

Having spent decades in the bloody storms of the Luo Wang organization, and finally becoming a 'big shot' in the second tier, the black-clad assassin had long understood that no matter how many missions he completed, he could never advance to the Heavenly rank. So, how to spend his later years in seclusion became his primary concern.

I'm getting old, and it's time to be afraid of death. Although retiring from the clutches of the enemy is impossible, applying to go to the rear to do some easy tasks that don't pose a great risk to my life is feasible.

All of this is predicated on having achieved sufficient merit, and today's task is crucial.

Thinking this, the assassin in black was no longer nervous: he had completed many life-or-death missions, and today was just another one.

Moreover, compared to the most difficult tasks they have ever carried out, the probability of success this time is not low.

Tianzong Xiaomeng was naturally someone they couldn't contend with, but they didn't necessarily have to make a move under her nose. As long as they could seize the opportunity, no matter how high Xiaomeng's skill was, her methods were far superior to those of them, members of the Luo Wang organization.

"This place is remote, and Xiaomeng is a master of the Heavenly Sect. Young Master Fusu specifically instructed that fresh ingredients and daily necessities be delivered daily from Sanghai. This is Luo Wang's opportunity!"

After confirming his plan in his mind, the assassin in black made concealment gestures to two empty directions from his hiding place. Soon after, birds seemed to be startled in the bamboo forest, and the rustling sound of the bamboo leaves became more intense.

The sunlight became even more intense...

Inside the bamboo grove, Xiaomeng sat peacefully in meditation on the corridor. The sweltering air couldn't penetrate within a few feet of her, and the corridor was quite cool. This attracted colorful birds to perch on the corridor railing, and some of the bolder ones even perched on her shoulder, shaking their heads and chirping joyfully.

Besides the coolness, the more realistic sense of nature compared to real trees is also what these birds love.

Suddenly, a commotion near the door made her open her eyes, startling the birds instantly...

...

Hot and humid weather can easily cause irritability and discomfort. People often feel hot, humid, and even have difficulty breathing, which can affect their mood, concentration, and work efficiency.

A sentence flashed through Lu Wei's mind, and he quietly walked into the restaurant.