Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 195 The Plan Fails, Cold Mist Arrives

Blackwood Cliff.

Under the moonlight, it was pitch black, like a crouching beast that could devour any invading enemy.

Lu Xiaofeng and his two companions traveled at a brisk pace, running for quite some distance before slowing down to rest.

Looking at Blackwood Cliff, Lu Xiaofeng suddenly asked, "I wonder what the situation is like up on the mountain?"

Li Xunhuan said, "Given the current state of the three of us, even if we wanted to go up the mountain to provide support, we would probably be powerless to do so."

He threw the knife with all his might, and he hasn't recovered much strength yet.

Yi Jue's final sword technique was eerie and terrifying, but he seemed unable to control it well, managing only three strikes, yet he appeared to be severely exhausted.

Lu Xiaofeng appeared to be in the best condition, but among the three, he had fought the enemy for the longest time and suffered the most severe depletion of his inner energy.

"Should we send out a signal flare to warn them to retreat?"

"I'm afraid that won't work. Based on the current timeline, some people have probably already arrived at the assembly point, but the possibility of battle already starting is very low. If you fire a signal flare, it will likely disrupt their plans."

That's quite a dilemma.

In their current state, the three of them wouldn't be able to exert much of their fighting power even if they went. If they didn't go... only four of the eight people agreed to go up the mountain. If they won, all would be well; but if they lost, or even got killed...

Lu Xiaofeng was truly tormented by his conscience.

Although An Wu's strength is unknown, the fact that he was able to subdue Du Sha and Ren Woxing, who had broken through to the Grandmaster realm, and make the Ten Evils obediently follow under his command suggests that he is quite powerful.

Perhaps he is also a master of the second level of the Flower Sect.

Whether or not to fire a signal flare is also a question.

There may not be any fighting on the mountain yet. If a signal flare is sent to bring them back, they will definitely ask why afterwards.

Some might find it understandable, but others might think tonight would be a great opportunity. If Lu Xiaofeng hadn't fired the signal flare, he might have already dealt with An Wu.

All I can say is that Lu Xiaofeng still has a very good conscience.

Anyone else could easily shift the blame to Zuo Lengchan.

After all, you, Zuo Lengchan, are the leader of the alliance.

Now that there are forces secretly colluding with the Yuan Kingdom, shouldn't you, as the leader of the alliance, take responsibility?
In matters involving the national level, it's impossible for anyone to stand on Zuo Lengchan's side.

Even Fang Zheng and Chong Xu would immediately distance themselves from Zuo Lengchan.

Just as Lu Xiaofeng was struggling with his decision, a bright light suddenly shot up from the mountain and exploded in the night sky.

"This is... a signal? Who fired the signal flare?"

"No, that location... seems to be our meeting point!"

The two immediately took out their maps and compared the locations.

Sure enough, the location from which the signal flare was launched was exactly where they had agreed to meet.

"A signal flare came from this place... What on the mountain is going on?!"

On Blackwood Cliff.

Chongxu was already lying on the ground, unable to get up, and the blood he spat out stained his beard red.

Not far from him, Zuo Lengchan lay quietly, his head even further away.

Under a tree, Fang Zheng's body was folded into three sections, and he was no longer alive.

Beneath a yellow robe, pure gold and jade ornaments swayed.

Anwu looked up at the night sky, as if he were simply admiring the fireworks.

Only after the signal flare had completely disappeared did he pick up another one and casually fire it.

"What kind of signal is this? Is it a signal to call others to come and die?"

Chongxu struggled to sit up and said, "Then you're probably going to be disappointed. This is a signal for them to retreat!"

"Is that right?"

An Wu said, "It's alright, I'll just have to go through the trouble of going down the mountain."

Chongxu's expression changed slightly, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "You fiend, don't be so arrogant. What if you kill us? Sooner or later, someone will come to kill you!"

"You mean... the Ming Dynasty court?"

"You actually know?"

"Why didn't I know?"

An Wu scoffed, "Do you think I'm as stupid as you? Coming straight to my death without even getting proper intelligence on the enemy?"

"..."

Chongxu paused for a moment, then suddenly said, "We really were quite stupid..."

He had clearly given up the struggle completely.

After all, he had personally experienced the enormous gap in strength between the two sides.

Now I just want to die with some dignity.

Finally, he adjusted his posture and said, "We'll meet again in the underworld!"

After speaking, he reversed his internal energy and rushed straight into his heart meridian.

But he committed suicide!
"He certainly has integrity."

An Wu said, "Someone come here!"

Dozens of people immediately emerged from the surrounding area.

"Master!"

"Send this Taoist priest's body back to Wudang Mountain, as for the other two..."

Anwu thought for a moment and said, "Just bury it anywhere."

"Yes!"

Alliance headquarters.

Lu Xiaofeng and his two companions were not in good condition, and their return journey was slow.

When they returned to the camp, they ran into Liu Yuru, who was also returning at the same time.

"Miss Liu, you're back too?"

"Yes!"

Liu Yuru nodded: "Just as I was about to sneak into Blackwood Cliff, I suddenly saw the retreat signal. What happened? Where is the others?"

Lu Xiaofeng said helplessly, "We don't know either."

"Hmm? Shouldn't you have been up the mountain by now?"

The group of eight split into two teams, each traveling from the east and west.

Lu Xiaofeng's team, from closest to furthest, consists of Chongxu, Lu Xiaofeng, Master Ji, and Yi Jue.

The other team consists of Fang Zheng, Zuo Lengchan, Li Xunhuan, and Liu Yuru.

Because she was the last person in another team, she was assigned the furthest position, so when she saw the signal, Liu Yuru had only just sneaked into the mountain.

As the second member of the other team, Lu Xiaofeng should have already met up with the others on the mountain by then.

"Miss Liu, something has happened that we never expected..."

Lu Xiaofeng briefly recounted the news, which caused Liu Yuru to frown deeply.

"So many things have been uncovered... The Moon Shadow Sect is actually colluding with the Yuan Kingdom..."

That would make things complicated... no, actually it would make things simpler!

Liu Yuru suddenly realized that the reason why the imperial court did not intervene personally was simply to avoid rumors in the martial arts world that could cause the entire martial arts world to object to the imperial court.

But now, someone has actually colluded with the Yuan Kingdom to plot the Blackwood Cliff incident.

That would be the perfect excuse for the imperial court to take action.

As a result, the imperial court will probably be eager to send someone to take over this matter.

So for them, this actually became simpler.

However... we don't know what the current situation is for Fang Zheng, Chongxu, and Zuo Lengchan.

"Huh? It's getting foggy..."

Surprised voices came from outside into the tent.

The four of them couldn't help but look around and, sure enough, saw that the outside was shrouded in thick fog.

Liu Yuru didn't pay much attention and said, "If it involves the Yuan Dynasty court, then it's no longer a purely Jianghu matter. Right now, the most important thing is to restrain the people of the Moon Shadow Sect and prevent them from escaping."

“What Lady Liu says is true. However, we are just ordinary people with little influence, so we will have to trouble Lady Liu with this matter.”

"It is a matter of course, how can it be considered a troublesome task?"

Fog had drifted into the tent without anyone noticing, making it appear even more hazy under the candlelight. Lu Xiaofeng was suddenly startled, lifted the tent flap, and looked outside. His face immediately turned extremely pale: "What a thick fog!"

A thick fog obscured their view.

Even with their master-level eyesight, they couldn't see what was happening five meters away.

More importantly, there wasn't a single person in sight within five meters of them.

It should be noted that the tent they are currently gathered in is the main tent, which is constantly guarded by disciples from Songshan, Shaolin, Wudang, and Huashan.

Thus, not a single one could be seen.

“This fog is clearly something’s wrong.” The others obviously realized this as well.

Lu Xiaofeng frowned and suddenly said, "I have long heard of the name of the leader of the Sun Moon Divine Sect. Now that you are here, why not show yourself?"

"Hehe, as expected of the famous detective Lu Xiaofeng, you are indeed quick-witted."

A man from the Western Regions emerged from the mist. He had long, golden hair, azure eyes, and wore a black suit with gold trim and a yellow robe.

A gold pendant swayed at her waist.

The jade on her forehead band reflected the candlelight.

How did you know it was me?

Lu Xiaofeng said, "Something unusual must be amiss. There's no change in the weather right now, so it's impossible for such a thick fog to suddenly appear. Clearly, this is likely man-made."

"Right now, near Blackwood Cliff, you are probably the only one who possesses such formidable martial arts skills and power that we are unaware of. Besides you, I really can't think of anyone else!"

"The analysis is good."

Anwu clapped his hands and said.

Liu Yuru instantly drew her sword and demanded, "Anwu, what have you done to the people outside?!"

There are quite a few disciples of the Huashan Sect outside.

"Don't worry, although my 'Vacuum Mist Technique' has a wide range, its destructive power is not strong. They are only temporarily unconscious. However, if it goes on any longer, they might freeze to death."

An Wu said with a smile.

"Frozen to death?!"

The four of them were shocked.

The fog did indeed carry an extremely strong chill.

It is late autumn, approaching winter, and it is nighttime, so the temperature in the north is already low.

In addition, the icy cold mist would make it difficult for even some acquired or innate martial artists to withstand the chill for long.

If one were to be frozen for several hours, even if one didn't die from the cold, one would likely fall seriously ill.

"Get out of my way!"

Liu Yuru thrust her long sword straight forward, fast and swift.

Anwu's fingers moved instantly, and he had already caught the long sword.

"Instead of worrying about those disciples, you should worry about yourself first! Vaporization Freezing Technique!"

An incredibly chilling aura burst forth from his fingers, instantly causing a thin layer of ice to form on the longsword in Liu Yuru's hand, and this chilling aura spread rapidly along the longsword.

In the blink of an eye, Liu Yuru's palm had turned into ice.

Liu Yuru immediately resisted with her own internal energy.

However, her true energy was somewhat weak in the face of this chilling aura, and could only temporarily slow down its spread, but could not eliminate it.

The manifestation of this was that the ice was still spreading across her hand, only at a much slower pace than before.

"Oh? Your true energy is quite pure, enough to block me? Too bad, your strength is too low!"

As he spoke, he suddenly twisted two fingers.

"not good!"

Lu Xiaofeng instantly sensed An Wu's intention and immediately appeared beside Liu Yuru, reaching out to grab the blade of the longsword in her hand.

Although the sword was of good quality, it had already been affected by extreme cold. Under the combined force of the two fingers, it broke into several pieces in an instant, leaving only the hilt in Liu Yuru's hand.

Liu Yuru's face turned pale.

She then understood Anwu's plan.

If Lu Xiaofeng hadn't suddenly intervened, her arm, which was completely frozen to the longsword, would probably have been broken off and shattered into pieces of ice by An Wu's sudden twist.

"Miss Liu, are you alright?"

"fine……"

Liu Yuru shook her head.

He was then protected by Lu Xiaofeng and slowly retreated.

At the same time, Li Xunhuan and Yi Jue stepped forward.

"They're all Grandmasters of the First Flower Realm; one or three makes no difference..."

An Wu sneered disdainfully, then clapped his hands together, and the thick fog, accompanied by the cold wind, transformed into a palm print that struck out.

Gui Hai instantly drew his sword, and with a fleeting flash of blue-purple light, the sword energy unleashed by the demonic blade cleaved the palm print in two.

With a flick of its blade, the demonic blade shattered into countless fragments that entangled with it.

Anwu condensed ice in his palm and grabbed a fragment of the demonic blade.

Gui Haiyi brandished the demonic blade, and countless fragments coiled around An Wu like a giant serpent.

Each fragment exuded a sharp, piercing aura.

Anyone else would probably be torn to pieces by those sword energies.

However, layers of ice appeared around An Wu, like armor, completely blocking out these sword energies.

It won't hurt him in the slightest.

Even so, his body and hands were still trapped by the demonic blade.

A strong sense of crisis swept over me.

An Wu looked over and saw that Li Xunhuan on the other side had somehow already gripped a throwing knife tightly, staring intently at him with burning eyes.

Perhaps in the next instant, this pancake-shaped throwing knife will become a deadly threat to him.

Now that he was completely bound, he seemed to have no way to stop it.

However, this is just the thinking of a normal person!

"The sky cracks and the eyes pierce with shock!"

An Wu's eyes widened, and two icy streaks flew out from his eyes, sharp as nails, heading straight for Li Xunhuan.

"what?"

Lu Xiaofeng was shocked: "There's such a strange trick!"

He can't be blamed.

This kind of attack technique, which involves releasing attacks from the eyes, was something he had never seen before in his life.

But his surprise did not prevent him from reacting.

Two fingers appeared in front of Li Xunhuan without him even noticing.

The Spiritual Finger once again proved its effectiveness, clamping the two ice spikes.

At that very moment, Li Xunhuan suddenly flung his hand, and the throwing knife in his hand transformed into a streak of light and shot out.

This is clearly proof that the power of his throwing knives has been greatly reduced.

The knife that struck Meng Da earlier went straight into his throat, and no one noticed it at all.

This time, everyone in the arena could see the light and shadow of the flying knife.

This is a sign that the throwing knife's speed has decreased!
Clearly, Li Xunhuan had not yet recovered at this point.

After all, he first used all his strength to kill Meng Da, and then had to escape within minutes. After that, he rushed back to the camp, and before he could even say a few words, An Wu came knocking on his door.

There was almost no rest time in between.

It's already quite good that they were able to strike again at this point.

Although this strike was not as fast as the previous ones.

But at this time, Anwu no longer had the freedom he had before.

And so, without any surprise, the swift, flying knife pierced An Wu's throat!

An Wu looked horrified and said, "So fast... a throwing knife!"

However... you should aim for my head..."

(End of this chapter)