He casually handed the sword forward. The half-unsheathed sword would fall with just the slightest vibration from him. He figured once this person reached out to take it, he was going to teach this guy a small lesson. On account of Prince Regent’s instruction not to be too harsh, he figured taking this guy’s one hand would be enough!
The sword was half unsheathed, and the Xiliang official’s eyes were all looking on nervously. This commander ranked third among the three best masters of Xiliang, and his sword skills were unparalleled in this world. If this masked man of Tiansheng, was harmed by his hand…Bei Deshan was already thinking how he was going to explain this to the Regent if something really happened.
The sword was half unsheathed, and Gu Nan Yi reached out to take it. Commander Qiu’s eyes suddenly narrowed with malice, and he turned his wrist, causing the sword to chop down at Gu Nan Yi’s wrist at an alarming speed!
*Pah!*
His face draining of all color, Bai Deshan was just taking a step forward to save the masked man when he faintly saw a flash from the sword before the light disappeared. The black and green figure turned, and then there was a muffled sound. It didn’t sound like the sound of a sharp blade entering the flash, but more like the sound of something being hit hard. A cloud of dust immediately rose from the ground, blinding Bai Deshan who had rushed up.
He hurriedly rubbed his eyes, vaguely hearing holler of shock from people. Unsure of what was happening, the more anxious he was, the harder he rubbed at his eyes but it was just making things worse for his eyes. When he was finally able to open his bloodshot eyes, he was stunned by what he saw.
Commander Qiu who was so arrogant just now, had disappeared.
Young Master Gu stood there with fluttering clothes, flicked the sword with his fingers, and praised matter-of-factly, “Good sword.”
On the side, Feng Zhi Wei said casually, “If it’s a good sword, you should take it then.”
Xiliang’s officials, “………..”
Bai Deshan searched for a long time before he finally found Commander Qiu who had somehow ended up with half of his body sunk into the ground. With blood dripping on his head, the commander was struggling to pull himself out.
Shockingly, in the exchange just now, the commander’s sword was casually taken away by Gu Nan Yi, and then was slapped into the ground with one single blow from the sword….
The Xiliang officials gasped and took a collective sharp intake of chilling breath. In their minds, Commander Qiu’s martial arts were unstoppable, but who knew he couldn’t resist this man’s one halfhearted block?
Gu Nan Yi calmly confiscated the sword, silently thinking that the guy’s martial arts were actually quite good but he underestimated his opponent, so he deserved it.
On the horse, Feng Zhi Wei let out a leisurely smile and glanced around her. None of the Xiliang officials dared to meet her gaze but took a collective step back as they lowered their heads.
Yell? They are no match in words. Fight? They will also lose in a fight, so what more can they say?
Commander Qiu finally climbed out of the pit. He was so ashamed and angry that he couldn’t bring himself to go ask Gu Nan Yi for the sword back. He resentfully wrapped his head with a white cloth and went to the front of the caravan.
Feng Zhi Wei smiled faintly. With a gloomy expression on their faces, the Xiliang officials traveled on listlessly in silence. They walked around the mountain and passed through a narrow valley. Having been on the battlefield, Feng Zhi Wei was particularly sensitive to these sorts of terrains. Seeing that the valley was narrow on all sides and the top was as straight as if it was heading straight for the sky, Feng Zhi Wei knew with this sort of umbrella-like top cliff, they would have no clue if someone was above them. After observing carefully, Feng Zhi Wei soon found something amiss.
She thought for a while then said, “Everyone, it’s getting late. Let’s stop here.”
A surprised Bai Deshan looked around at their surroundings. Are they supposed to camp at the mouth of this valley with a thousand people? He hurriedly said, “Marquis Wei, there is an inn ten miles after passing this valley. It’s only a little bit past noon now, we should be able to make it if we hurry. It doesn’t seem good to stop instead of passing this valley.”
“What a stupid idea.” Commander Qiu in the front turned around, looking comical with the white cloth on his head as he said viciously, “Everyone knows that you should not enter a valley but you actually want to stop here? I don’t care if you want to die, but I won’t accompany you to do stupid things!”
“Oh?” Feng Zhi Wei smiled faintly, “Commander Qiu, I don’t think it’s good to go forward.”
“I think it’s good!”
“Is that right?” Looking good-tempered, Feng Zhi Wei asked, “Is it really good?”
“It would only be not good if we don’t go!”
“Since it’s so good.” Feng Zhi Wei smiled, “Your army is more familiar with the road, and this area being a valley, we will have to trouble your army to scout the way ahead. I don’t think we need the protection of our flank side anymore. If there are too many people then they won’t be able to get through together. We will let your one thousand men go ahead of us.”
“That’s fine!” Commander Qiu sneered, “I’ll make sure to scout the road well, otherwise how would you dare to go?” With a whistle, he gathered his thousand men and went forward with smoke and dust rolling behind him.
Behind him, perched high on the horse, Feng Zhi Wei tapped the reins with her fingers, looking at the back of the thousand men riding away, she let out her trademark misty smile.
Commander Qiu led his one thousand guard charging forward. He was not a fool. Having been born into a military family, he naturally knew the art of marching. Before entering the valley, he had specially gone up the cliff to check out the surroundings personally. There was nothing on the cliff. Instantly relieved, he made his way down and gave a wave, “Open the way!”
Receiving their order, the one thousand guards raced forward. Commander Qiu sneered at the Tiansheng team that had stopped and retreated far behind him. Inwardly, he was already planning how he was going to jeer at the pretty boy in a little while.
He suddenly heard a few shouts of “Ouch” accompanied by the sound of dead branches breaking. The team of guards running in the valley front suddenly disappeared.
Everyone stared with confusion and then immediately realized the flat land in front of them that had looked to be full of weeds was actually a big pit that had been dug up and then subsequently covered with dead breaches and grass. The first group of guards charged right into the pits and those behind them piled right on top, causing shouts of pain to immediately fill the pit.
This trap was nothing special. It was a common tactic used by military strategists. It was just rather unconventional that this particular trap was used here. With this kind of mountain formation, the ambush would most often be set on the cliff top and then attacked with rolling rocks. However, their attacker had decided to take a different approach instead. There was nothing on the cliff top, the ambush was underground. Those who checked the cliff top would lose their alertness and easily fall prey to the ground trap.
By this time, more than a dozen guards and horses were trapped in the pit. The pit was not deep nor were there any sharp stakes to hurt people. The guards who fell into the pit were struggling to climb up and some were even attempting to pull out their mounts. Commander Qiu shouted with a furious expression, “Pull them out quickly, archers get ready!”
As soon as he finished speaking, someone somewhere on the cliff shouted coldly, “Shoot!”
The shout was crisp and clear, and the last syllable was still vibrating in the air when there was a whistling sound all around. In the midst of the whistling sound, halfway up on the cliff, a hidden vine wall lifted up revealing what turns out to be a cave. Several men stood at the entrance of the cave, drew their bows, and shot. The arrows notched on those longbows were burning fiercely with fire. In the next instant, flames flashed like a shower of crimson meteors falling from the sky, and charging straight for the big pit where the guards and horses were trapped!
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