socalfunplaces Chapter 142 Zeshan Thieves Fire Arrows at Night, Yuan Tu Sword Displays its Ferocious Power
Chapter 142 Zeshan Thieves Fire Arrows at Night, Yuan Tu Sword Displays its Ferocious Power
Chapter 142 Zeshan Thieves Fire Arrows at Night, Yuan Tu Sword Displays its Ferocious Power
That night, in a clearing in the woods, the flickering firelight illuminated a large number of distorted and emaciated figures.
A group of poorly dressed refugees sat around the high platform, looking up at the red-robed Taoist priest on the platform, listening attentively to his words, their expressions focused and absorbed.
If you didn't know better, you'd think it was some kind of missionary event.
For example, the caravan members didn't hear what the red-robed Taoist was saying, so they assumed he was preaching some Taoist doctrine.
Manager Zhao curled his lip and sneered, "Those Taoist priests and monks are all in cahoots. Giving out porridge? They're just doing it to win people over."
He didn't believe there were truly kind people in the world who would lend a helping hand simply because they happened to encounter refugees.
The world is bustling, all come for the benefit, and the world is bustling, all go for the benefit.
For a businessman like him, this is the phrase he believes in most, and he only believes in profit; he believes in nothing else.
Sun Biao listened intently for a while, but couldn't hear clearly; he could only vaguely make out some sentences.
"It doesn't sound like chanting scriptures or spreading doctrine; it sounds more like... telling stories of the supernatural?"
"How could that be? Who would have the time to talk about this kind of thing with starving refugees?"
Manager Zhao chuckled and handed him a portion of dry rations.
"Alright, stop wasting your energy on this. Eat your rations and take turns keeping watch."
Sun Biao had no choice but to suppress his curiosity, enduring the torment of the blisters in his mouth while munching on the not-so-good-tasting dry rations.
But in my mind, I kept thinking about what would happen next in the story I had just heard.
"...But then Lin Daiyu wrapped her arms around the thick weeping willow, took a deep breath, forced out all her strength, and with a delicate shout, she uprooted the willow, shocking the Jia family members who were watching."
"So powerful, so domineering, so hateful, who can stop Lin Daiyu? Who in the Jia family can stop her?"
Absolutely no teeth or jaws!
Seeing the Jia family members looking utterly terrified, Lin Daiyu cackled, tossed the weeping willow aside, and declared that only the strong deserved to possess beauties. She then threatened to beat Jia Baoyu until he knelt and drag him back to be a hardworking slave!
Unexpectedly, Xue Baochai stepped forward, shouting, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; never underestimate a poor young woman," and proposed a three-year agreement with Lin Daiyu.
Will Lin Daiyu accept this promise? What will become of Jia Baoyu in the future? To find out, please read the next chapter.
With a snap, Mo Di used his fingers instead of a gavel, startling the audience who were engrossed in the lecture.
"That's it?" Fan Jin looked unsatisfied. "Master, couldn't you tell us a little more?"
"Having told all the stories for today, what is there for me to tell tomorrow?"
Modi flatly refused. You see, it takes time for him to make up a story; he can only come up with part of the plot in one night.
Many of the displaced people looked regretful; it was the first time they had ever heard such a story. Although it was somewhat inconsistent with the moral values of today, it was still better than having nothing to hear at all.
Moreover, it wasn't that no one raised objections, criticizing the Taoist's stories for showing contempt for the imperial court, or even for the monarchy.
However, Mordy simply shook his fist, silencing those who had objections, and never changed the style of the story.
This is exactly the effect he wanted.
"It's getting late, everyone should go home."
Modi waved his hand, sat cross-legged on the stage, closed his eyes, and stopped paying attention to their activities.
The refugees were used to this and split into two groups.
One group found a place to lie down and fall asleep on the spot, while another group, under the command of Lin Yuanping, Fan Jin and others, sat by the fire with weapons at hand, responsible for adding firewood and keeping watch for the first half of the night.
In the middle of the night, they would wake up another group of people to take over their work.
In fact, Modi did not specifically train them to do this.
They will demonstrate a certain level of discipline, thanks in large part to the talented individuals hidden among the refugees.
Including Fan Jin and Lin Yuanping, their identities are all different.
Exiled court officials, scholars who repeatedly failed the imperial examinations, and scions of impoverished families... This gave Modi the feeling of drawing cards, never knowing if there were any hidden gold cards among the refugees.
With these brilliant and capable individuals, he didn't have to put in much effort to manage the entire group of refugees in an orderly manner.
This gave Modi a strange sense of destiny.
Is it right for so many talented people to emerge from a group of several hundred refugees?
With these doubts in mind, he descended to the ethereal level and, through the interaction of his own energy with that of others, used divination to deduce the process.
There were no signs of being plotted against, nor any ominous signs. He was a little confused when a sudden, soft footstep sound startled him awake.
Upon opening his eyes, Modi heard the sound of arrows piercing the air.
Swoosh.
A volley of arrows flew out of the dark forest. The good news was that these arrows were aimed at the caravan, but the bad news was that some of them landed on the refugees.
"You dare to launch a sneak attack with arrows? You truly don't take this humble Taoist priest seriously."
Mo Di casually flicked his sleeve, and two beams of light, one blue and one white, suddenly flew out from it.
These two beams of light grew rapidly in the wind, instantly increasing from three inches to three feet, like two evil dragons, as they lashed out at the rain of arrows falling upon the refugees.
In the blink of an eye, the dense array of arrows was shredded by the sword light, turning into dust and disappearing without a trace.
The refugees were unharmed, but the caravan was not so lucky.
A dense rain of arrows fell, killing most of the people who were still asleep, with only a few escaping unscathed.
Some of the watchmen were unable to dodge in time and died on the spot, while others used the carriages as cover to avoid the rain of arrows.
"Enemy attack!"
Sun Biao shouted loudly, instantly waking up the caravan members who were still alive.
Before they could even pick up their weapons, a series of rapid footsteps echoed through the dark forest.
The fallen leaves rustled underfoot, and a large group of blurry figures emerged from the woods, wielding broadswords and axes, deliberately shouting loudly to create a terrifying atmosphere.
"Lay down your weapons, and those who surrender will not be killed!"
Someone shouted this, and some caravan members, believing it to be true, put down the weapons they had just picked up.
But what they got in return was the cold blade of the bandits.
"Don't believe him! The Zeshan bandits only ever kill you outright! They won't let you go!" Sun Biao shouted, grabbing his broadsword and slashing at the bandits.
After cutting down several bandit henchmen, a burly man blocked his path and used an axe to parry his knife.
The big guy had a broad forehead, a face full of fat, exposed chest, and his body was covered in black hair. However, he had very little hair on his head, making him look fierce and menacing. He didn't look like a good person at all.
He held the axe in one hand, seemingly without any pressure, and his free hand was clenched into a fist as he struck Sun Biao squarely in the chest.
"puff!"
Sun Biao staggered back several steps, spitting out blood, and a fist mark appeared on his chest.
That one blow broke several of his ribs.
"The level of training?" His expression changed drastically, and the thought of retreating arose in his mind.
The moment the thought crossed Sun Biao's mind, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, his face turned a deep purplish-red, and his hands and feet trembled so badly that he could barely hold the knife.
Having extensive experience in the martial arts world, he immediately realized what was going on.
"Poison? Who poisoned me?"
"it's me."
A familiar voice came from behind. Before Sun Biao could think about the meaning behind the words, he instinctively rolled to the side, barely dodging a backstab.
"It was you? Why did you do this?!"
Sun Biao faced the burly man and Manager Zhao, who had just tried to betray him, his anger evident on his face.
He thought of the dry rations that Steward Zhao had given him and felt deeply regretful.
At this moment, he finally understood why Steward Zhao insisted on going to Daze Mountain and why he insisted on resting for one night. It turned out that he had already colluded with the bandits of Daze Mountain.
No, perhaps he wasn't the only one; the Fufeng Chamber of Commerce was probably the same. However, there was one thing Sun Biao never understood.
"Why did you go to all this trouble, even hiring our escort agency to transport this shipment?"
He gritted his teeth, his back soaked with cold sweat, and struggled to stay upright.
Seeing his appearance, Manager Zhao was not in a hurry to kill him immediately. Instead, he gave a playful explanation: "Of course, it's to cover up the truth of all this."
"The government has already become aware of our chamber of commerce's collusion with the Zeshan bandits. In order to prevent those henchmen from finding further evidence, and in order to deliver this important shipment to Dazeshan, we have no choice but to resort to this desperate measure."
"By creating a real accident, we can both dispel the government's suspicions and deliver the agreed-upon goods to the Zeshan bandits, killing two birds with one stone."
Seeing Zhao's smug expression, Sun Biao gritted his teeth, wishing he could eat his flesh and sleep on his skin.
Because of this damned guy and that damned chamber of commerce, he lost more than a dozen brothers on this trip, and he might even lose his own life.
"Phew, I've been holding these words in for a long time. It feels so much better to say them out loud." Manager Zhao waved to the big guy with a relieved expression on his face.
"Let's take care of him so we can get the goods up the mountain."
"That's how it should be."
The big man grinned maliciously, then paused, realizing he hadn't said a word so far.
Who said those words just now?
puff.
This was the sound of a sword blade piercing flesh. He was very familiar with this sound, and now, it was ringing out continuously.
ll.
The big man turned around and saw a Taoist priest in a red robe standing behind him, staring at him without fear, his eyes filled with indifference.
The Taoist was surrounded by a pool of blood and mangled corpses, all of which were his henchmen who had been brought down the mountain.
Mo Di flicked his sleeve, and a streak of cyan sword energy flew out from it.
The sword energy transformed into a net, enveloping a bandit who lunged at them, and in an instant, it shredded him into a pile of minced meat.
Minced flesh fell to the ground, splattering blood, which pooled in the blood.
Big Guy and Steward Zhao finally understood how that pool of blood and mangled corpses had formed.