Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 387 Water Cold Slays the Azure Wolf, Ink Core Secret Chamber
"The Mo Family's Mechanical City truly lives up to its name; the numerous interconnected mechanisms are incredibly ingenious!"

Walking through the Mo Family's mechanical city, Gongshu Chou's eyes swept over the various mechanisms around him, and he exclaimed in admiration.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Han laughed and said, "Master Gongshu always spoke of the Mo Family's Mechanical City in a derogatory way before, so why is he praising it now that he has actually arrived at the Mo Family's Mechanical City?"

Gongshu Chou said, "The Gongshu family and the Mo family are sworn enemies. Moreover, I have never personally witnessed the wonders of the Mechanical City before. Based solely on what people say, it is nothing but falsehood and is naturally belittled."

But now that I've actually arrived inside the Mechanized City and seen all these mechanisms, I understand how ingenious and unique they are.

Of course, most importantly, the Mo family's mechanical city has now been breached. Although he only played a supporting role, most people in the world probably don't understand the difference between the two.

He could simply declare to the public that it was the Gongshu family's mechanical arts that defeated the Mo family's mechanical city!

As the victor, he should naturally be more magnanimous and not belittle the Mohist mechanical arts as before, but instead praise and admire them.

There is no other reason than this, only in this way can the power of the Gongshu family's mechanical arts be truly demonstrated!
Furthermore, the destruction of the Mo Family's mechanical city was an operation ordered by the First Emperor and executed by Prime Minister Li Si as the chief planner.

It was one thing to say such things when the city was still intact, but now that it has been destroyed, to still belittle the Mo family's mechanical city is to offend the First Emperor and Li Si without even realizing it.

Just like in the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, when Cao Cao was fighting against Yuan Shao, before the battle began, his strategist Guo Jia presented a theory of ten victories and ten defeats, praising Cao Cao and belittling Yuan Shao.

However, after Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao and took over Yuan Shao's territory, he exclaimed, "How many righteous men there are in Hebei!" and praised the power under Yuan Shao's command.

With such ancient figures before him, Gongshu Chou naturally studied diligently.

Now that the Mechanized City has been destroyed, we must no longer speak ill of it. Instead, we should praise the wonders of the Mechanized City while belittling the incompetence of the Mohist leader!
As the leader of the Shadow Guards around the First Emperor, Zhang Han had seen this kind of thing many times before. He saw through Gongshu Chou's scheme at a glance, but he remained silent and made no comment.

Not far away, Wei Zhuang, led by the black Qilin, headed straight for the central hall.

But halfway there, Qin soldiers rushed over: "Lord Wei Zhuang, the King of Canglang encountered Gao Jianli of the Mohist school on the eastern covered bridge and is no match for him."

"The Water-Cold Sword... Gao Jianli?"

Wei Zhuang's eyes lit up with interest. He said, "It's said that he's the number one expert after the leader of the Mohist school. Heh, interesting!"

They then turned directly to the eastern covered bridge, partly to support the Wolf King and partly to meet Shui Hanjian, who was ranked seventh in the sword manual.

However, before leaving, he gave another order: "Hidden Bat, Black Qilin, you don't need to follow me. Go to the central hall first and act according to the situation!"

The two accepted the order and left.

"The Mohist school was once very powerful, and it was known as one of the two major schools of thought in the world, along with the Confucian school. Unfortunately, the Mohist school was never valued by the rulers of various states and had long since faded into obscurity. Moreover, after His Majesty the Emperor destroyed the six states, the Mohist school was one of the staunchest anti-Qin factions and was therefore severely suppressed."

This greatly weakened the Mohist school, especially its number of experts, which suffered a severe loss. Therefore, Gao Jianli, the Water-Cold Swordsman, is said to be the Mohist school's top expert after the leader.

As Zhang Han spoke, he asked, "Would Master Gongshu be interested in going to take a look?"

Gongshu Chou shook his head: "I am a mechanic and have no interest in these things. If General Zhang Han is interested, he may go there himself. I want to study the Mohist mechanics here."

"Very well. You all must protect Master Gongshu's safety, understand?"

"Yes!"

After giving the order, Zhang Han also left.

Wei Zhuang's Quicksand organization only has seven people in total. After removing him as the leader, the remaining six people are divided into two parts, one open and one covert.

The four people in the open are known as the Four Heavenly Kings.

One of them is Bai Feng, who possesses superb lightness skills and can control flying birds.

The second is Chi Lian, who wields a chain sword and is skilled in using poison and fire-based illusion techniques.

Thirdly, there is the gray wolf, which uses a pair of sharp claws as weapons and is able to control the wolf pack.

Fourthly, he is unparalleled, naturally tall, and possesses immense strength.

There were two people in the shadows: Hidden Bat and Black Qilin.

The Wolf King ranked third among the Four Heavenly Kings. He had previously led a pack of wolves to hunt down Gai Nie and others, but unfortunately, he was defeated by Gai Nie, who was already seriously injured at that time, with a single sword strike, which shows that his strength was not that great.

Even so, they are still much stronger than ordinary Mohist disciples.

After breaching the mechanical city, he led a troop of Qin soldiers eastward, where they were ambushed by Mohist disciples gathered at the covered bridge.

On the covered bridge, there were also Mohist mechanisms. These people operated the mechanisms, and although they were not strong enough, they still managed to hold off many Qin soldiers.

Although you can't enter the inner city, you can go towards the back mountain via the covered bridge.

As everyone fought and retreated, the Wolf King suddenly charged out from the Qin army.

His figure was truly like a wolf, and with a pair of sharp claws in his hands, several Mo family disciples died at the hands of the Wolf King in no time.

Just then, a chilling longsword pierced the air and struck the Wolf King.

The Wolf King's expression changed slightly, and he braced his claws against his body to block the longsword.

"The Water-Cold Sword, Gao Jianli!"

Clad in flowing white robes, Gao Jianli, wielding the Water-Cold Sword, stood before the numerous Mohist disciples, declaring, "I'll hold them off; you all retreat to the back of the mountain immediately!"

The disciples quickly agreed and then turned and retreated.

"Want to run? Dreaming!"

The Wolf King coldly ordered, "Attack!"

The Qin army immediately charged forward, and at the same time, the Wolf King attacked Gao Jianli.

According to the Wolf King, with himself and the Qin army around him, Gao Jianli, despite his strength, would probably perish under such an encirclement!
However, he seriously underestimated Gao Jianli's strength.

Gao Jianli slashed down with his sword, the longsword imbued with extreme cold, and the power it carried was several times stronger than his previous strike!
The Wolf King hurriedly gathered his true energy to defend, but was directly cleaved back more than ten steps by the sword before he could withstand the immense force of the blade.

Facing the encirclement and attack of the Qin army from all sides, Gao Jianli remained calm and composed. He turned his Water Cold Sword and plunged the tip into the ground.

"The wind howls... the Yi River is cold!"

His true energy surged wildly, and at this moment, Gao Jianli unhesitatingly used his self-created ultimate move.

In an instant, endless cold air erupted from the sword, transforming into countless ice spikes that burst forth from the ground and pierced out diagonally.

In an instant, a dozen or so Qin soldiers around him were pierced by ice spikes, and the biting cold froze their bodies and blood.

These icicles were all connected together, forming an ice wall that completely blocked the entire covered bridge.

Upon seeing this, the Qin soldiers on all sides were terrified.

They were all elites who had experienced many battles, but precisely because of this, they were even more aware of the gap in strength between themselves and martial arts masters.

Dealing with these martial arts masters often requires a well-organized elite force to encircle and kill them.

With their current forces, it was clear that they couldn't accomplish that. Even the Wolf King, at that moment, considered retreating.

However, if he wanted to withdraw, he would have to ask Gao Jianli for his opinion.

Gao Jianli leaped through the ice wall, his Water-Cold Sword gleaming coldly as he thrust it straight at the Wolf King.

The Wolf King quickly tried to counter, but the huge difference in strength between the two caused him to fall into a disadvantageous position in an instant.

"Quickly! Go find Lord Wei Zhuang and ask him for help!"

The Wolf King was no match for Gao Jianli. Even if he wanted to run away, he couldn't. He had no choice but to give orders to the Qin army around him.

If he were to order the Qin army to advance and kill the enemy, these men would certainly not dare, but if he were to ask them to seek help, they would immediately set off.

Upon hearing this, Gao Jianli's Water Cold Sword became even more ruthless.

The sword light flickered and shone with unparalleled sharpness, causing the Wolf King to cry out in agony.

Suddenly, Gao Jianli found an opening, and the Water Cold Sword pierced straight through the chest of the Wolf King.

Gao Jianli's sword flashed, and with another slash, he severed the head of the Wolf King.

Experienced martial arts masters know that people's hearts are swayed by circumstances, and beheading is the only way to completely kill an enemy.

In particular, the seven kingdoms where Gao Jianli was located included sects such as Taoism and Yin-Yang School, which possessed many mysterious techniques. What ordinary people considered death might only be considered serious injury in the eyes of these sects, and they could still be saved.

Even the Mohists had some methods that could bring the dead back to life in the eyes of ordinary people.

With the death of the Wolf King, the others were naturally no match for Gao Jianli.

When Wei Zhuang and the others arrived, they saw corpses all over the ground.

Not far away, some of the ice had melted, but the remaining ice still firmly blocked the entire covered bridge.

"Hmph, that piece of trash, Canglang!"

Wei Zhuang's expression was rather unpleasant. After all, he was one of the Four Heavenly Kings under his command, yet he couldn't even hold out for such a short time.

How long has it been since I received the message from the Qin soldiers?

It probably won't even be a quarter of an hour.

He actually died!
However, this also indirectly confirms the strength of Gao Jianli, the Water Cold Swordsman.

Wei Zhuang's interest grew even stronger.

The demonic sword is drawn.

A sword aura shot out and instantly shattered the ice wall into pieces.

Meanwhile, the other Mohist masters also went to various open areas, allowing the Mohist disciples gathered there to escape through the back mountain.

Many Mohist disciples were somewhat panicked.

They initially thought that although the enemy's methods were astonishing, they wouldn't be able to breach the mechanical city, so they all gathered in various open areas, waiting for the leaders of the Mo family to resolve the issue.

But to their surprise, they received news that the enemy had breached the Mo family's mechanical city and orders to withdraw.

However, given the current situation, retreating is not an option.

The disciples had no choice but to obey orders.

Afterwards, the many experts returned to the central hall.

In the process, they inevitably encountered the Qin army.

However, the Mohists knew perfectly well the locations of all the mechanisms within the Mechanized City.

Although the Qin army was numerous and powerful, and there were bound to be some skilled fighters among them, as long as they skillfully used the traps and mechanisms in the city, escaping or even fighting back was still relatively easy.

Finally, everyone gathered in the central hall.

Gao Jianli said, "The Qin army has entered the city and has a large and powerful force, but we must not easily abandon the Mechanized City. Therefore, I have decided to open the Ink Core Chamber!"

Master Xu stroked his beard: "Indeed, the Mechanized City is the culmination of hundreds of years of hard work by our Mo family ancestors. How can we abandon it so easily? The Mo Core Chamber is not only the most solid and impenetrable place in the entire Mechanized City, apart from the forbidden area, but it also allows us to control all the mechanisms in the central hall from within."

The ancestors designed this place precisely to leave a trump card for future generations when the Mohist school was in crisis.

Now that the Mechanized City has been breached and a large number of Qin troops have stormed in, it is time to use this trump card to counterattack the enemy and retake the Mechanized City!

Gao Jianli nodded: "Since no one objects, let's open the Ink Core Chamber! However, I think you all know that Wei Zhuang has an extremely skilled disguise expert under his command, who has not been discovered yet!"
Therefore, before entering the Ink Core Chamber, I need to check everyone present. Of course, I will also be checked by everyone!

As soon as he finished speaking, one of the crowd turned around and used his lightness skill to instantly transform into a black shadow and disappear into the distance.

Everyone was startled and immediately realized that this person was probably the master of disguise who had infiltrated the Mo family's mechanical city.

They immediately set off to catch up.

Gao Jianli raised his hand to stop them: "No need to chase! Time is of the essence. The Qin army could reach the Mohe secret chamber at any moment. Let's go in first and talk!"

Master Xu realized that Gao Jianli had deliberately said those words to force the person to leave. He was somewhat annoyed and said, "Little Gao, you actually guessed that the person was hiding among us. Why didn't you wait until we entered the Ink Core Chamber before finding him?"

Once the Ink Core Chamber is sealed, those outside cannot enter, and those inside naturally cannot leave.

Once that master of disguise enters the Ink Core Chamber with them and his identity is revealed, he will surely die!
You must know that he was the culprit who poisoned the entire city, directly causing the Qin army to be able to break through the city smoothly!
Before Gao Jianli could answer, Wu Liangtian patted Master Xu on the shoulder and said, "Old Xu, you only thought that the Ink Core Chamber could trap it, but didn't you think that there are also many mechanical levers inside the chamber? What if they are damaged during the fight?"

Master Xu was taken aback, and said with annoyance, "I'm sorry, I didn't think it through."

Inside the secret chamber of the Ink Core, one can control the mechanisms of the central hall.

However, if those mechanisms are destroyed in battle, it will directly cause problems with the mechanisms in the central hall.

If the enemy seizes this problem and completely traps them, then this Ink Core Chamber will become their prison!
Gao Jianli nodded: "Master Xu was in a hurry and did not consider this point. He was concerned about the Mechanical City."

This is a trivial matter; I'll just let it go.

Then, everyone opened the Ink Core Chamber and entered it one by one.

The secret chamber of the Ink Core can be opened from both the inside and outside, but the internal mechanisms take precedence over the external ones. Therefore, as long as the inside is sealed, even if the external mechanisms are found and destroyed, the inside cannot be opened at all.

After entering the Ink Core Chamber, Gao Jianli had everyone check each other to prevent the enemy from using a feint attack to disguise one master as another true master of disguise.

As it turned out, there was nothing unusual.

Gao Jianli was relieved.

(End of this chapter)