Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 212

"Did the Zhu family also go to Lieshan Hall after they returned?"

"Yes," Ji Yan said, opening the small notebook she was holding. She flipped through yesterday's records and read out the Zhu family's actions precisely by time. "Shennong Hall was attacked by mysterious assassins at the end of last year. It is said that more than thirty disciples died."

"It is said that after the Zhu family, who were traveling, sought help from Lieshan Hall, Tian Meng personally intervened, forcing the assassin to flee with injuries, thus saving many lives of Shennong Hall."

"Therefore, after returning to Daze Mountain, Master Zhu used the excuse of expressing his gratitude to visit Lieshan Hall."

"A mysterious assassin? Is that even possible?" Shaking his head, he pulled up the fishing rod, only to find two weak, motionless earthworms on it; no fish had taken the bait.

Seeing this, Ji Yan sensibly took out a handful of bait from the small jar next to the fish basket and threw it into the water to create a feeding area. She then helped the head of the hall to re-attach two very energetic new baits to his fishing hook: "In terms of the geographical distribution of the six halls, the two halls adjacent to Shennong Hall are Lieshan and Kuiwei. Kuiwei Hall is weak, so theoretically, if the Zhu family encounters trouble, they can ask Lieshan Hall for help nearby without any problem."

"However, judging from my communication with Zhang Er, there is indeed a trend of alliance among the five halls, but they are still hesitant for some reasons."

"The chance to become the leader of the heroes is so slim, what are they still hesitating about?" Lu Wei cast his line again, his movements were very stylish, it would be even better if he could catch a fish this time.

“It’s Kuiwei Hall and Siyue Hall.” Ji Yan smiled and explained the reason: “Tian Mi and Situ Wanli are actually on the same side. They saw that Gonggong Hall was powerful and had its leader, the number one expert of the Farmer School, so they felt that even if they joined forces with Tian Meng and Zhu Family to squeeze Gonggong Hall out first, the position of Xia Kui would not fall into their hands.”

"So, considering that they would have to rely on someone anyway, they would naturally prefer to rely on a stronger person. Although Tian Meng and the Zhu family were already very strong, they were not strong enough in front of the hall master."

"In addition, Gonggongtang seems to be isolated and helpless now, so they are still hoping to help them in their time of need."

"However, it all depends on whether Brother Hall Master is willing to send signals to Situ Wanli and Tian Mi to win them over."

"What do you think I, the head of this hall, will do?" Lu Wei glanced at Xiao Yan, who was repeatedly flipping through the small notebook in her hand, making the rustling sound of the paper, and calmly asked with a testing tone.

“I can’t see through your plans, Brother Hall Master, but I think we can accept them for now and settle things later.” Ji Yan noticed the gaze of Hall Master Lu and put her hands down to stand at attention. “But Brother Hall Master will probably make another choice.”

The Four Mountains Hall and the Kuiwei Hall are the two lower-ranking halls in terms of strength. Their allegiance brings more nominal pressure than actual power. Reputation is certainly important, otherwise Lu Wei would never have thought of the 'Princess Collection Plan,' but reputation can be good or bad.

Tian Mi and Situ Wanli are the infamous examples that Lu will establish in the future. It's not that he can't associate with such people; he'll make any friends to win. However, he's already guaranteed to win, so why should he get involved with such unlucky people?

Lu Wei was happy to see the five halls unite against him. In any case, even if he messed up due to an accident, he could use the Shennong Token to summon the six elders of the Six Sages' Tomb to cover his tracks.

First, subdue the other five halls as enemies. This way, when you become the leader of the Heroic Sect and replace them as hall masters, they will not dare to resist much. The disciples below will also understand who is the only true leader in the current Farmer's Clan.

"Since you've already guessed my choice, why bother saying that first sentence?"

Lu Wei stared at the slowly flowing water and said calmly.

"Hmm..." Faced with this question, Ji Yan was speechless for a moment: I guessed so accurately, shouldn't you be praising me for being smart?

"You're not allowed to go home for dinner today unless you catch three fish."

Lu Wei casually tossed the fishing rod to Xiao Yan'er, dusted off his hands (which were not actually dust), and left the stream with his head held high.

"..."

After leaving Ji Yan by the stream, Lu Wei returned to the backyard and found the Moon Goddess.

At this moment, the Right Protector of the Yin-Yang School was comparing the differences between the Azure Dragon Bronze Box of Chu and the Azure Dragon Bronze Box of Wei with Lu Qian.

"Didn't you say you weren't interested in this secret?" Lu Wei approached and casually patted Xiao Qian'er's head, asking calmly.

“It’s not that I’m not interested, but compared to researching and cracking this unlikely secret, I have more meaningful things to do.” The Moon Goddess didn’t turn her head, but continued to stare at the two boxes: “Now, researching the secret of the bronze box with Qian’er is one of the more meaningful things than the secret of the bronze box itself.”

"I see." Lu Wei's lips curled into a smile. "Then having me involved would make it even more meaningful."

"That's right." The Moon Goddess nodded in agreement serenely...

------

Late at night in Xianyang, after leaving the palace, Lord Zhao Gao, the Chief of the Imperial Carriage Office, disappeared into the night like a ghost.

Having been a dictator for so long, Zhao Gao increasingly felt that he had the whole world under his control!

Zhao Gao sat down in his personal metal chair, listening to his kneeling subordinates report:

"Lord Yanri retrieved three bronze boxes with azure dragons from the Chu King's palace, but upon inspection, they were found to be fake."

"Now that the war between Qin and Chu has begun, the Chu royal palace has strengthened its defenses. Considering that the Chu state has prepared too many fake bronze boxes to confuse the public, the probability of obtaining the real box is not high. Therefore, Lord Yanri has already withdrawn from Shouchun."

"This time in Chu, Luo Wang suffered a considerable loss. Can Yan Ri find out which forces were behind this?" Regarding Chu's scheme, Luo Wang can't really be considered a failure. Exchanging some replaceable cannon fodder for twenty or so precious swords was a worthwhile trade.

However, the success or failure of those below was, in fact, entirely determined by Zhao Gao. Yan Ri was a veteran of the Luo Wang organization with remarkable achievements. To mobilize such a seasoned assassin to plunder the treasure trove of Ju Yang in Chu, only to have him used by others instead, can be considered a failure.

"There are no clues, but Lord Yanri has memorized most of the treasures in the Giant Sun Treasury. As long as these treasures appear in the martial world, we can immediately identify the enemy!"

"I hope he can continue to live up to my expectations." Zhao Gao turned his palm over, revealing a black spider in his hand, and chuckled sinisterly, "After Chu, I have no interest in hearing about what happened in Qi. Now I just want results. Tell me about your investigation into the Yin-Yang School."

"The Yin Yang School..." The assassin, as if realizing something, shuddered. "We still can't infiltrate the Yin Yang School's headquarters. Also, regarding the plan in Xiaoxiang Valley... all the personnel we sent to carry it out have died."

"I'm afraid only a top-tier expert would be needed to participate in the plan..."

"If you expect top-tier assassins to do everything, wouldn't you all be utterly useless?" Even in anger, Zhao Gao maintained a smile, but the sound of his laughter only fueled the assassin's growing terror...

The Yin-Yang School, the target of the mission, is extremely terrifying, but the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven) is also a den of demons within its walls...

"Yes! I will restart the plan against the Yin-Yang School, but this will take time..."

"One year." Zhao Gao stood up, not even glancing at the assassin. "If I haven't obtained any useful clues after one year, your team can go and explore Xiaoxiang Valley on your own."

Chapter 238 Celebrating the Battle of the Bone Demon of the Martial Minister

After the New Year, regardless of what the Six Masters think of each other in their hearts, this formal gathering is still necessary.

The gathering was held in Xiazhi Village, a small village near the Tomb of the Six Sages. Each of the six hall masters only brought one attendant, an arrangement that was clearly significant.

Among the experts in the hall, Lu Wei randomly chose Dian Qing as his companion to set off together.

Dian Qing was enormous, giving off a strong sense of oppression. Even without making a move, he was a formidable presence.

According to Hall Master Lu, among the other five halls, there is no one who can break through Dian Qing's hard-skill defense.

There was no doubt that the expert from the Lieshan Hall, Tian Meng, who was there to bolster his reputation, was Wu Chen.

Although there are agile assassins like the mute slave in the Lieshan Hall, the mute slave's hard skills are ultimately lacking. He may be useful against ordinary disciples, but once it comes to a fair and square duel between martial arts masters, this 'mute' assassin, who had to join the Farmer's Clan for protection because he offended powerful figures, has never won.

Wu Chen's apparent strength within the peasant community is slightly higher than that of the bone demons brought by Tian Hu of the Chi You Hall. Lu Wei had exchanged a few blows with him before, and Wu Chen had held back then. Roughly estimating, this assassin from the Luo Wang organization, who had served King Yan, Yan Dan, and Lord Yan Chun in the Yan Kingdom, is now roughly as strong as Tian Hu.

The only person Situ Wanli of Siyue Hall could bring was his steward Zhang Er. Kuiwei Hall was in an even worse situation, as Tian Mi brought only a minor character. Even Tian Mi herself didn't care about the decline of Kuiwei Hall.

The Zhu family was the only one among the six halls to bring Lu Wei a surprise. The person he chose to attend the meeting in the Shennong Hall this time was not Liu Ji, but the newly recruited wandering knight Fan Kuai.

The valiant swordsman Fan Kuai was burly and had a thick beard. His weapon was a giant sword, similar in size to Chen Sheng's Juque sword. However, compared to the supposedly 'supreme' Juque sword, Fan Kuai's giant sword was not a famous sword at all. Its design was also extremely crude, and it looked like a sword that had been made in a poorly crafted workshop by simply adding materials and increasing weight without paying attention to its appearance.

Even so, such a giant weapon, which is beyond the reach of ordinary swords, is not much different from ordinary famous swords once it is wielded.

The increased strength of Shennong Hall is actually a great thing for Lu Wei, as these people will all be his subordinates in the future.

The purpose of the gathering in Xiazhi Village was twofold: firstly, to address the question of direction for farmers in turbulent times, and secondly, to discuss the issue of a chivalrous leader.

The Qin-Chu war is currently at a stalemate, with 600,000 against 400,000. Even Tian Hu can see that Chu is in a bad situation, and the previous case of defeating Li Xin's 200,000-strong army is not worth referring to.

After Chu's defeat, would Qin let Qi off the hook?

In the future, it is very likely that Dazeshan will fall under the rule of Qin in a few years. How should we deal with such a change? The Six Halls need to come up with a unified attitude.

It is undeniable that, under the leadership of the previously missing chivalrous leader Tian Guang, the Farmer's Clan had generally sided with the forces of the six states for the past ten years. But there was nothing they could do about it, as the Farmer's Clan's six halls were within the sphere of influence of the six states, and they had never directly clashed with the Qin state.

It seems unlikely that the Qin state would target the peasantry.

"The King of Qin is vengeful; no one can say for sure. In my opinion, we should take the initiative to express our submission to the State of Qin."

Situ Wanli did not want to experience the same losses in Daliang City a second time in Dazeshan. While the peasants did not necessarily have to completely submit to Qin, expressing goodwill by showing no intention of rebellion was reasonable.

"Qin is powerful, while we peasants are weak." Zhu Jia and Lord Changping had an agreement that since the peasants could not unite to oppose Qin at this moment, it would be more beneficial to unify their opinion on survival first. "Brother Situ's opinion can be taken as a reference."

'The old man Zhu has substantial interests in the State of Chu, so naturally he doesn't want the peasant school to suffer heavy losses if it becomes an enemy of the State of Qin.'

Thinking this to himself, Tian Hu slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "Qin is indeed powerful, but my peasant family is not one to be trifled with. We should just keep to ourselves and not interfere with each other. Why should we express goodwill to Ying Zheng?"

"Besides, Mount Daze is still nominally under the jurisdiction of the State of Qi. As far as I know, the King of Qi has shown signs of mobilizing troops within the country, and it's hard to say how the war will unfold. There's no need to show goodwill to the State of Qin so early!"

"Now that the chieftain is not here, we might as well follow the attitude of the Qi court!"

Tian Hu's goal was clear. He didn't think too much about it; he just wanted the Qin army to confiscate some of Shennongtang's interests in Chu, thereby weakening Shennongtang's strength.

In this way, the eldest brother's Lieshan Hall can naturally surpass Shennong Hall to become the second largest hall in the farming family!

As for the plan of the five halls to unite and coerce the Gonggong Hall, Tian Hu certainly hadn't forgotten it. But this alliance also needed a 'leader'. If the Shennong Hall maintained its strength and the old man Zhu still had the power to compete with his elder brother for the leader, that would be very bad.

"What is Hall Master Lu's opinion?" Tian Meng understood his younger brother's plan but didn't offer his opinion. Instead, he turned to Lu Wei: "Gonggong Hall is the most important hall in the Farmer's Clan, so Hall Master Lu's opinion carries considerable weight among us."

“That’s right, ever since Tian Guang, the leader of the Heroic Knights, disappeared…” Tian Mi’s eyes lit up, and she quickly followed up on Tian Meng’s words, saying, “Hall Master Lu is the best successor to the Heroic Knight in the eyes of the disciples. We must seriously consider Hall Master Lu’s opinion.”

Noticing that several people were simultaneously focusing their attention on him, Lu Wei remained calm: "In my opinion, the war between Qin and Chu has only just begun. Both sides are powerful nations, and this war is unlikely to end anytime soon. We might as well take this opportunity to resolve the matter of the Xia Kui (Chief of Heroes), and then let the Xia Kui decide on their attitude towards Qin..."

What do you all think?

How to deal with the Qin state, which is very likely to unify the world, is a serious question, but from the perspective of the peasant family, it is more urgent to first establish a leader that everyone recognizes.

Arguing about the first point of contention won't yield any results. In fact, Tian Hu's opinion, which is usually impulsive, might be more acceptable to everyone after being synthesized. However, since Master Lu is determined to push forward his plan, he deliberately steered the conversation to the second point of contention in this meeting: the issue of the Xia Kui.

Before discussing the issue of the Heroic Leader, the followers everyone brought today proved their worth:

Because of Wu Chen's deliberate provocation after receiving the signal, he clashed with the taciturn Dian Qing over some trivial matters.

Dianqing himself was willing to back down, but today he represented Gonggongtang, so he had to fight back.

The friction outside disturbed the Sixth Hall Master, who was discussing matters inside. Under Tian Meng's scheme, when the Sixth Hall Master came out together, Wu Chen and Dian Qing were already showing signs of fighting.

After making a mistake in the past and accidentally killing an innocent person, Dianqing has always maintained a peaceful state of mind even with his eyes covered.

After the fall of Wei, Dian Qing became even more devoid of desires, only wanting to live a simple life and teach his fellow disciples and students the secrets of the Armored Sect's hard skills.

If Master Lu needs him, he can charge into battle again.

Nevertheless, this does not mean that Dian Qing's fighting spirit has completely disappeared. With Wu Chen's cunning, forcing Dian Qing to take action is not a problem, but the result after Dian Qing takes action will definitely be worse than he imagines.

Because the topic 'happened' to touch on the issue of the Heroic Leader, the friction outside, proposed by Tian Meng and with no objection from the hall masters, escalated into a free-for-all among the six hall masters.

If you said there was no design involved, none of the six hall masters would believe it, but because everyone had their own purposes, the chaotic battle unfolded without any scruples.

Lu Wei had absolute confidence in Dian Qing and disregarded Kuiwei Hall. Even with the unexpected addition of Fan Kuai from Shennong Hall, defeating Dian Qing would be extremely difficult.

Moreover, Zhang Er is also involved, allowing them to take advantage of the chaos, since this battle is nominally a free-for-all.

In the central square of Xiazhi Village, the six masters stood in a hexagonal formation. The master of the six halls interrupted the meeting and stood at the edge of the square to watch the battle.

Without anyone giving an order, everyone took their positions and the fight began naturally.

At the start of the free-for-all, the six members of the gang still paired up, chose their opponents, and then respectfully marked out a space for each other to avoid interfering with each other.

Dian Qing faced Wu Chen, Zhang Er faced Fan Kuai, and Gu Yao faced Kui Kui Tang Lu Ren.

They exchanged blows, and apart from Dian Qingwuchen's group which was a bit too heated, the other groups engaged in normal friendly sparring.