Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 275 Night Raid on Haikou, Taking Advantage of the Void
"Would Murong Fu fall for such a simple trick?"

Dongfang Bubai asked.

Jin Jiu said, "Don't worry, others may be able to see through it, but Murong Fu will definitely fall for it."

He then explained Murong Fu's current predicament to Dongfang Bubai.

Dongfang Bubai didn't react much, but Yi Jifeng next to him let out a mocking sneer.

Although no words were said, the meaning was very clear.

Dongfang Bubai said, "That's true, but what if Murong Fu really doesn't fall for it?"

"Then we'll wait until next time."

Jin Jiu said, "If he wants to defeat the Sun Moon Cult as soon as possible, you should hide yourself well and never let him find you, so that the war between the two sides can continue."

The longer it goes on, the more anxious he becomes; sooner or later he'll fall for it.

Dongfang Bubai snorted coldly and said, "How could I, a dignified Second Flower Grandmaster, stand up to someone at the peak of the Innate Realm like this? Wouldn't that be incredibly shameful?"

Jinjiu turned to look at her and criticized, "To achieve great things, you must give up some things. If you care about such a superficial face, you will surely fail in the future."

Don't forget, your most important task right now is not to take over the territory of Jiangnan, but to use the Sun Moon Sect as a cover to develop the Ming Cult behind the scenes.

"It would be best to acquire this fertile land as soon as possible. However, if we can't take it and it drags on, it will actually be advantageous for you."

Dongfang Bubai was speechless.

Jin Jiu looked into the distance and suddenly laughed, "No need to guess anymore, Murong Fu has already fallen for it."

Dongfang Bubai followed his gaze and looked ahead, but all he could see was the deep darkness of the night, and he couldn't see anything at all.

In fact, under the cover of night, Murong Fu had already led his four great generals and many experts from the alliance toward the estuary.

Just as Jin Jiu had said, Murong Fu finally decided to go.

He had also realized that if he didn't stop the Sun Moon Cult from sending such a large amount of supplies, those supplies would fall into their hands.

With the support of these resources, the Sun Moon Cult can wage a protracted war with their allies.

This is precisely what Murong Fu would never allow to happen.

Therefore, he must destroy these resources to plunge the Sun Moon Cult into a predicament of resource scarcity in order to end the war as soon as possible.

"Although Murong Fu has his flaws, he is still very cautious."

Jin Jiu said, "He doesn't completely trust the Pu family, so for this operation, he brought most of the alliance's top experts with him. In this way, even if there's an ambush at the estuary, their strength will allow them to escape safely, which is a prudent move."

Unfortunately, while he considered this, he didn't think about what would happen to his own base after taking these people. Focusing on one aspect while neglecting the other is destined to lead to a major loss.

Dongfang Bubai and Yi Jifeng stood up together, exchanged a glance, and then used their lightness skills to fly into the darkness from two different directions.

Haikou Port.

Several large ships had already docked, and teams of strong men dressed in black disembarked, carrying packages of supplies.

Murong Fu led a group of experts to the vicinity of the dock, but upon seeing this scene, he did not take any action and instead chose to endure it for the time being.

As all the supplies were unloaded, three men, clearly high-ranking members of the Sun Moon Cult, inspected the supplies at the dock before bidding farewell to the people on the cargo ship.

The cargo ship raised its anchor and sailed away again under the moonlight.

Meanwhile, the disciples of the Sun Moon Cult at the docks formed long lines, transporting supplies.

At that very moment, Murong Fu drew his long sword and shouted, "Kill!"

This is indeed the best time.

The Sun Moon Cult disciples on the ship had already left and could not provide support, while the people on the shore formed a convoy.

Many of the alliance's top fighters emerged from the middle and easily cut the entire convoy in two, separating them into two parts.

Under normal circumstances, the alliance would have a significant advantage.

However, this operation turned out to be a trap.

On those trucks, the sacks that should have been filled with supplies had been torn open from the inside, revealing members of the Sun Moon Cult.

The appearance of these people tripled the number of Sun Moon Cult members present.

Murong Fu's operation took place under cover of darkness. To avoid being discovered, he brought only elite experts, resulting in a small number of them. Facing the Sun Moon Cult, they were already at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, and now they were severely short-handed.

Each expert in the alliance must deal with at least five or even six members of the Sun Moon Cult.

Moreover, the Sun Moon Sect also has quite a few experts, three of whom directly attacked Murong Fu.

Bang bang bang!
Murong Fu fought against the three men and instantly realized their martial arts skills.

They were actually two people with innate Qi and one with perfect innate Qi!
"Who are you...?"

"Elder Tong Baixiong of the Sun Moon Sect is here!"

The burly man at the head of the group laughed loudly, "The famous Murong Nan seems to be nothing special after all!"

Tong Baixiong was Dongfang Bubai's guide into the Sun Moon Cult and also her most trusted subordinate.

After the organization underwent restructuring, allowing members to exchange merit points for various treasures, Dongfang Bubai also exchanged some items, some of which he used on Tong Baixiong.

As a result, Tong Baixiong's strength increased greatly, and he has reached the perfect state of the Innate Realm.

However, Dongfang Bubai was not particularly wealthy, so he did not exchange any advanced martial arts skills for his subordinates.

Although Tong Baixiong possessed such a level of skill, his martial arts were ordinary, and he lacked any powerful special techniques. Therefore, he was firmly suppressed when facing Murong Fu, who was at the same level.

Fortunately, they had help from others, and with the combined efforts of the three, they were able to suppress Murong Fu.

As for Murong Fu's four great generals and numerous experts, they had to face five or six times the number of people from the Sun Moon Sect, so they were barely able to protect themselves and had no reason to even think about rescuing others.

Faced with such a huge manpower disadvantage, the alliance quickly collapsed, suffering casualties in just a few minutes of fighting.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the four generals all exerted all their strength and rushed to Murong Fu's side.

"Young master, we've fallen into an ambush! Let's retreat immediately!"

"Yes, young master, it will be too late if we don't leave now!"

Murong Fu did not object. Seeing the four approaching, he abandoned Tong Baixiong and, with their help, rushed out of the battlefield.

"Murong Fu, don't even think about running away!"

Tong Baixiong shouted loudly and led five or six experts to give chase.

Seeing this, Feng Bo'e stopped and said, "Young Master, you all retreat quickly, I'll cover your retreat!"

Murong Fu paused, "Fourth Brother Feng!"

Deng Baichuan and the other two quickly grabbed Murong Fu: "Young Master, let's go quickly, don't let Fourth Brother down!"

The four figures quickly disappeared into the distance, leaving only Feng Bo'e facing five or six experts, each of whom was no less powerful than him.

Snapped!
Tong Baixiong slapped Feng Bo'e on the head, knocking him unconscious, and said, "Lock this man up. As for the others, let them go easy on you and let them leave."

As a result of the Sun Moon Cult's deliberate leniency, at least half of the alliance's experts managed to escape.

These experts were actually just wandering martial artists who were attracted by the gold and silver offered by the alliance, and joined the alliance to serve them.

They weren't particularly loyal to the alliance itself. After the failed operation, Murong Fu abandoned them once again.

After escaping death, these people must all be harboring a grudge.

Those with a better temper might just quietly leave the league.

Those with worse tempers might even go to Murong Fu to demand an explanation.

In this operation, Murong Fu was undoubtedly a complete failure.

This made him extremely gloomy even though he had escaped the predicament. Thinking about the aftermath of the storm, he feared that the outcome would be dire, which made Murong Fu grit his teeth even more.

The other three remained silent as well, even Bao Butong, who was usually the most talkative, was completely silent at this moment.

When we returned to Suzhou, it was getting light.

But what awaited them was another piece of bad news.

The entire city was in chaos, with many shops showing signs of vandalism. The manor where the alliance headquarters was located was mostly destroyed, and there were still unwashed bloodstains on the ground.

"What...what happened?!"

Murong Fu was shocked and furious.

In fact, he already had a guess in his heart, but he was just not sure.

Upon hearing the commotion, the head steward of the Wang family rushed over with a sorrowful expression. He said, "Young Master Murong, not long after you left, the Sun Moon Sect suddenly emerged from all over the city and attacked our alliance's shops, inns, restaurants, and various businesses everywhere."

We immediately dispatched reinforcements, but the leader of the Sun Moon Cult, Dongfang Bubai, suddenly arrived at the headquarters manor and began a massacre!

"what?"

Murong Fu's suspicions came true, and he felt a wave of dizziness. He gritted his teeth and said, "The Sun Moon Cult... is so despicable!"

Deng Baichuan remained calm and asked, "What happened next? Why was the manor still safe and sound?"

Upon hearing this, Murong Fu immediately realized what was happening.

If Dongfang Bubai had gone on a killing spree, there would probably be no one alive in the manor right now.

However, although many people were injured and some died, most people are still alive and well.

The head steward of the Wang family hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Later... later we were alarmed by Young Master Yi, who came to our aid and saved us..."

Murong Fu swayed and nearly fell.

He led most of the top fighters in the alliance away, only to fall into the enemy's trap.

Moreover, because of this action, the Sun Moon Cult took advantage of the situation and even invaded the manor that served as the headquarters of the alliance!
At the crucial moment, the one who saved the entire alliance was none other than Yi Jifeng, the former alliance leader whom he had forcibly driven out?!
Once this matter got out, Murong Fu didn't even dare to imagine what people would say about him.

The bad news kept coming one after another, and he could hardly bear it.

The three guards also realized something was wrong and hurriedly tried to cover for Murong Fu, but in such a rush they couldn't really come up with any reason.

Bao Butong said, "No, no, that Dongfang Bubai is rumored to be a Grandmaster-level expert, while Yi Jifeng is only at the Innate Qi Realm. How could he possibly drive away Dongfang Bubai? Are you trying to deceive us?"

Murong Fu seemed to have grasped a lifeline and quickly looked at the Wang family steward.

The head steward of the Wang family whispered, "Young Master Yi was no match for Dongfang Bubai either, but he used the Four Swords Combined into One and exchanged a few blows with him. Dongfang Bubai recognized the Eight Forms of the Famous Swords and said that he was willing to give face to the old master of the Famous Swords Manor, so he turned and left."

"This……"

Murong Fu was overjoyed, thinking to himself: "Indeed, it was only by relying on the name of his ancestors that he was able to drive away Dongfang Bubai."

Amidst this series of devastating news, this can actually be considered a piece of good news.

This brought some psychological comfort to Murong Fu.

After all, it was better for Yi Jifeng to rely on his ancestors' reputation than for him to drive away Dongfang Bubai on his own merits.

"In that case, let's appease everyone and tally up the losses."

"Murong Fu said."

The head steward of the Wang family nodded: "Yes."

Awaiting further orders.

But then he saw Murong Fu walk straight into the manor, which surprised the Wang family steward, who thought to himself: That's it?
What about the others?

I won't explain why only a few of you came back.
Although the head steward of the Wang family could actually foresee that the outcome of this operation would be terrible, otherwise only four people would have returned, and they looked quite disheveled.

But you can't just guess at these things; you have to be sure.

Moreover, if the operation fails, shouldn't we at least tell everyone the reasons and the current situation?
What does it mean to leave without saying a word?
In fact, this was simply because Murong Fu had suffered a series of setbacks and was in no mood to deal with any affairs at the moment.

Ancient heroes remained unfazed even when Mount Tai collapsed before them.

The key is not facial expression, but the heart.

No matter how big or small the matter, remain calm and composed, and be able to do what you should do at any crucial moment.

Clearly, Murong Fu did not possess such ability or mindset.

The head steward of the Wang family sighed inwardly.

He now truly regrets why he was so obsessed with recommending Murong Fu as the leader of the alliance.
Yi Jifeng, isn't he doing a pretty good job?

Although he did not lead them to defeat the Sun Moon Cult, he did not suffer the crushing defeat he has today, nor did he panic at this critical juncture and not know what to do.

The Wang family steward witnessed this firsthand.

He was also a shrewd person and knew that Murong Fu disliked Yi Jifeng very much, so when he gave his report just now, he actually gave a rather brief one.

Yi Jifeng's actions can be said to be very much in line with the heroes and chivalrous knights described by storytellers. Facing Dongfang Bubai, whose strength far surpasses his, he remains neither humble nor arrogant.

The reason the entire manor was saved was not solely due to the prestige of the former master of Mingjian Manor, but because Yi Jifeng volunteered to fight Dongfang Bubai for three moves. If Dongfang Bubai was defeated by him, then Dongfang Bubai would have to let everyone go.

But if Dongfang Bubai doesn't back down an inch, then Yi Jifeng will have to pay with his life!

And the result is beyond doubt.

Everyone in the manor witnessed this event.

It can be said that most people present were probably impressed by the demeanor displayed by Yi Jifeng at that time.

Compared to Yi Jifeng's heroic actions, Murong Fu's behavior was truly appalling.

"If things continue like this, surely we won't be unable to even reach a peace agreement and will only be defeated?"

The head steward of the Wang family was filled with worry.

There is absolutely no future for the entire alliance.

If I had known this would happen, I would have been better off going along with Yi Jifeng and Patriarch Zhu and negotiating with the Sun Moon Cult.

Although negotiating peace is also a painful process, at least it allows us to survive.

Now, however, the outcome is uncertain.

If this Jiangnan region were truly handed over to the Sun Moon Divine Sect, other wealthy merchant families from other regions would only suffer a partial loss of benefits.

But for local families like the Wang family, it would be a devastating blow!

(End of this chapter)