Zhu Tian: A journey of spiritual practice starting from Joy of Life

Chapter 256 The Assassination Attempt by Jing Ke Against the King of Qin Was a Fallacy
As autumn winds rise and red leaves fall, time flies, and a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

Blood-red maple leaves drifted down and landed in the garden of the Marquis of Pingnan's residence.

A gentle breeze blows, carrying a touch of coolness and bringing a rare sense of refreshment.

But at this moment, everyone in the entire Yan Kingdom felt a chill in their hearts and could not feel the crispness of autumn.

Inside the Pingnan Marquis's residence, Leng Feibai was feeling extremely depressed.

He originally thought that by controlling the mind of the King of Zhao, in addition to Guo Kai, he could resist the Qin state for a longer period of time.

Who would have thought that the five elders of the Yin-Yang School would disregard martial ethics and infiltrate the Dongyang military camp to assassinate the Zhao general?

Although Leng Feibai also sent a clone near the military camp, by the time the clone arrived, although it had killed the five elders of the Yin Yang School, General Sima Shang was already seriously injured and on the verge of death, and the God of War Li Mu was also seriously injured.

Although the clone activated the Dual-Hand Technique in time to help the two recover from their injuries, the five elders not only injured them, but also placed curse marks on them that could erode their meridians.

Therefore, the clone had no choice but to try to remove the curse marks on the two people using the Formless Ring from the Spirit Suppression Technique, which can be used to disintegrate all magical power.

But at this very moment, Wang Jian took advantage of the situation to attack Dongyang City. Li Mu had no choice but to force himself to command the army to defend against the enemy.

After Leng Feibai's clone healed Sima Shang, the two arrived at the front line. Although Li Mu had repelled the Qin army, he was already on the verge of death.

Left with no other choice, Leng Feibai had to take Li Mu away from the city and find a secluded place outside the city to help him recover.

It wasn't until twelve days later that Li Mu successfully returned to Dongyang City, but by then the balance of power in the city had already shifted in Wang Jian's favor.

During the ten-odd days that Li Mu was away, Wang Jian accelerated the siege of the city. Although Sima Shang fought with all his might, he could only barely hold off Wang Jian's offensive. In fact, during one counterattack outside the city, he fell into Wang Jian's ambush, resulting in heavy losses for the Zhao army.

In this situation, even if Li Mu returned to the main camp, it would be too late to reverse the situation.

After holding out for three months, Dongyang still fell, and Li Mu and Sima Shang were both killed in battle.

Wang Jian then led his army south and captured the city of Handan.

King Qian of Zhao was captured. Upon receiving the news, Ying Zheng was overjoyed and personally went to Handan to kill all the Zhao people who had humiliated him and his mother when he was young, to vent his hatred.

Of the royal family of Zhao, only Prince Jia managed to escape and become king in the territory of the State of Dai.

Not long after, news of the fall of the Zhao state reached the Yan state, plunging the entire nation into shock!
The fall of the Zhao state signifies that everything south of the Yi River has fallen to Qin.

At this moment, the only thing separating the Qin and Yan states was the Yi River.

The fact that the State of Zhao has just been annexed by the State of Qin, and that the blood still splattered in the city of Handan, serves as a death knell for the corrupt and decadent State of Yan.

It should be noted that the states of Yan and Zhao are neighbors. With the fall of Zhao, as long as the Qin army can successfully cross the Yi River...

What awaited them was the flat, unobstructed territory of the Yan state.

Although in the past year, Ji Yan, who succeeded as the Grand General of Yan, strengthened the training of the army and eliminated some of the army's deep-rooted problems.

However, this does not mean that the Yan army became a powerful force capable of defeating a hundred enemies single-handedly.

Now that the State of Zhao has just been annexed by the State of Qin, Ying Zheng is busy dealing with the management of the territory.

Once Ying Zheng stabilized the situation in the newly conquered territories and completely brought Zhao under his control, what other country could the Qin army target next besides Yan?

The Yan state's high-ranking officials had been corrupt and indulging in pleasure for many years, leading to a weakened national power. It could be considered the only easy target among the four eastern states.

If the Qin army were to attack them, it would be as easy as Zhang Fei eating bean sprouts.

In this scene, the bustling prosperity of Jicheng vanished without a trace in an instant, and an atmosphere of tension and despair permeated the entire city.

The residence of the Marquis of Pingnan has seen a considerable number of Yan officials coming and going during this period.

There were dignified civil officials and military generals in armor.

These guys, who would later be known as hypocrites in later dynasties, all seemed to be in a hurry, their backsides in a real hurry. As soon as they arrived at the Marquis's residence, they came to discuss with Ji Yan the matter of resisting the Qin state.

The streets of Jicheng, once bustling with activity, were now deserted.

After sending out his clones to investigate, Leng Feibai discovered that the people in the villages surrounding Jicheng had already sold their houses and land before the war began and fled towards the states of Qi and even Chu.

A small number of them even fled directly to the original territory of the Zhao state, hoping to take the opportunity to join the Qin state and escape their lowly status through military merit.

Leng Feibai didn't say anything about it, since he held no official position in the Yan Kingdom and couldn't interfere even if he wanted to.

As for Ji Yan, that guy has been leaving early and returning late these days, and I can't even get a word in edgewise when I want to talk to him.

Frustrated, Leng Feibai decided to go out of the city for a walk, and even considered whether to take this opportunity to go for a stroll on the mountain outside the city.

But just then, Ji Yan, looking exhausted, staggered into his room.

Seeing this, Leng Feibai stepped forward to help him up, and couldn't help but ask, "Why are you so tired? Has the Qin Kingdom sent troops?"

"not yet!"

As Ji Yan spoke, he looked around.

Upon seeing this, Leng Feibai remotely manipulated the kettle to pour a cup of water and then used his internal energy to make it fly over.

Ji Yan didn't ask any further questions, slowly drank the glass of water, and continued, "Not yet, but Wang Jian has already stationed troops on the border between the two countries, and there is a possibility of him taking action at any time."

Looking at Ji Yan's expression, Leng Feibai couldn't help but ask again, "What are the plans of Your Majesty and Prince Dan of Yan?"

"His Majesty has no particular ideas, but that fellow Ji Dan has come up with a crazy one!"

Ji Yan frowned as he thought about the idea that Crown Prince Dan of Yan had proposed to him after the court session today.

Upon seeing this, Leng Feibai directly said what Ji Yan wanted to say.

"Is he planning to send assassins to Qin to kill Ying Zheng?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Yan was taken aback for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's right, Ji Dan does indeed want to do that!"

"The greatest fallacy of all time!"

Leng Feibai bluntly criticized Prince Dan's idea, and Ji Yan, seeing this, deliberately probed, "Feibai, explain yourself. Why is Ji Dan's idea a fallacy?"

Looking at Ji Yan's expression, Leng Feibai shook his head speechlessly, but still recounted all the drawbacks he had mentioned when discussing "Jing Ke Assassinating the King of Qin" with his classmates in his previous life.

"It's simple. Regardless of whether the assassination succeeds or not, Qin will inevitably attack Yan!" Leng Feibai said calmly. "Yan's enemy is the entire Qin state, not just the death of a Qin king. As long as Qin's foundation remains, and the Ying clan still has members alive, if an elder of the Ying clan steps forward and declares that whoever leads the army to conquer Ji City and beheads the Yan king will become the new Qin ruler, then those Qin princes will pounce like mad dogs, tearing Yan to shreds and leaving the entire Yan royal family without a burial place!"

Upon hearing this, Ji Yan's heart skipped a beat. He nodded and then asked, "So, what do you think is the best way to stop Qin right now?"

"Even if there were a way, it would be useless!"

Leng Feibai said directly, "Unless we immediately contact Wei, Chu, Qi, or even the Dai state established by Prince Jia, and recreate the strategy of Su Qin's alliance to jointly resist Qin, we might be able to hold them off for a while. But judging from the past alliances of the states east of the pass, I estimate that the other states are just going through the motions and watching coldly as Yan is annexed by Qin."

Ji Yan wanted to refute, but thinking of the six states' attack on Qin during the reign of Duke Xiao of Qin hundreds of years ago, and how Gan Luo of Qin had used his silver tongue to go to Zhao and forge an alliance between the two states to seize thirty cities from Yan, he could no longer find any words to refute.

"The one who destroyed the six states was the six states themselves, not Qin."

Leng Feibai recited lines from "The Rhapsody on the Epang Palace" in a low voice, "If the six states each loved their own people, they could naturally resist Qin. But now, brother, you have also learned the art of observing qi at Tianzong. You should know what the general trend of the world is like."

After saying that, Leng Feibai ignored Ji Yan's disappointed look and got up to leave the Pingnan Marquis's residence.

Ji Yan watched Leng Feibai's departing figure without saying anything, his eyes flashing as if he had made a decision.

Outside Jicheng, the woods were filled with a scene of withered leaves and decay.

Perhaps the fate of the Yan state is like this withered forest, already on the verge of decay and demise.

Leng Feibai wandered aimlessly through the woods, pondering what he should do if the Qin army attacked.

After all, the spiritual energy in this world is even richer than that in the novel "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils".

If he wanted to, Wang Jian, even with extraordinary abilities, wouldn't be able to take a single step into the Yan Kingdom.

However, this would inevitably affect the unification of the world.

Leng Feibai couldn't afford to gamble. If he stopped Ying Zheng from unifying the world at this time, what kind of impact would it have on the future?

"It's a pity that Ji Yan has no intention of taking over the Yan Kingdom, otherwise..."

As soon as Leng Feibai finished speaking, two auras that could be considered those of experts suddenly appeared around him.

Seeing this, Leng Feibai raised an eyebrow and ignored him, preparing to leave in another direction, when a beautiful figure appeared in front of him.

"Princess?"

Leng Feibai was taken aback for a moment, but quickly realized what was going on.

In the original work, the Six-Fingered Black Knight, who was the leader of the Mohist school, also strongly opposed the assassination of Ying Zheng.

He believed that this matter was bound to fail, and that after the failure, a life-or-death battle would inevitably take place between the Qin and Yan states.

In order to prevent this unjust war from happening, Six-Fingered Black Knight directly ordered the Mohists not to participate in the assassination of Ying Zheng.

As a result, he was ambushed by Yan Dan's wife, Dong Jun Yan Fei, the second-in-command of the Yin Yang School. He was first struck by the Six Soul Curse, and then Wei Zhuang slit his throat with a sword, losing his life.

With the support of a few loyal leaders of the Mohist school, Yan Dan accepted the position of Grand Master of the Mohist school and began his self-righteous plan to assassinate the King of Qin.

Thinking of this, Leng Feibai had a sudden thought and raised his hand to sketch in the air.

Tongtianlu - Time-Space Freeze Talisman
With a flash of light, the silver talisman flew out, transforming into black and white energy that spread outwards.

In an instant, the entire forest was enveloped in energy and plunged into a black and white state.

Upon seeing this, Leng Feibai dashed off towards the direction of the aura of the expert who had appeared earlier.

Using the War God's Manual, the Lingbo Weibu (Light Footwork) technique has been modified from the Lightness Skill section.

Leng Feibai arrived at the location where the aura appeared in an instant, and saw a man wearing a black cloak whose facial features could not be seen clearly, holding a bladeless longsword and fighting with a white-haired swordsman.

Just a hair's breadth away, the strange, comb-like longsword in the white-haired swordsman's hand was about to pierce through the man in the black cloak.

"Luckily, I made it in time!"

Leng Feibai breathed a sigh of relief. He decided to simply save Six-Fingered Black Knight and cut off Yan Dan's path to assassinate the Qin emperor.

In that case, he wanted to see what excuse Ying Zheng would use to attack the Yan state this time.

However, if Ying Zheng still intends to force his way in, then he will have no choice but to adapt to the situation.

Leng Feibai strode forward, hoisted the Six-Fingered Black Knight who was fighting with Wei Zhuang, took two steps away, and then turned to look at Wei Zhuang, who was being controlled by talismans.

Wei Zhuang was unable to speak, but his eyes, flashing with sword intent, were fixed on him.

"Hit me! Hit me!"

Leng Feibai deliberately provoked him with a few words, then turned and carried the Six-Fingered Black Knight away into the distance.

As the sun sets and night falls, inside the Crown Prince's residence...
At this moment, the entire Yan state, including Crown Prince Dan of Yan, whose power and influence were second only to King Xi of Yan, Ji Yan, and Tian Guang, the head of a farming family who had come to visit Crown Prince Dan, were gathered in the reception room of the mansion, silently discussing their plan to assassinate the King of Qin.

"Mr. Tian Guang".

A hesitant voice rang out first. Prince Dan of Yan turned to Tian Guang and said, "Although the assassination attempt on the King of Qin was planned as early as when Qin conquered Han, what are the chances of success if we carry out this plan now?"

After hearing this, Tian Guang sighed, his voice somewhat subdued. He then looked up at Prince Dan of Yan and said, "The assassination plan has been in the works for three whole years, but to proceed now is ultimately a bit rushed. At most, we only have less than a 60% chance of success!"

"Only 60%?"

Upon hearing this, Prince Dan of Yan frowned slightly, recalling his conversation with the Six-Fingered Black Knight a few days ago, and also the things Ji Yan had just told him. He was unsure whether he should attempt to assassinate the King of Qin.

We should immediately send envoys to form an alliance with the other four states to jointly resist the Qin army.

"But if we wait until Madam Xu's Dragon-Slaying Sword is forged, and with the help of Jing Ke's friend, the chances of success could probably increase by another ten percent! But..."

Before Tian Guang could finish speaking, a servant rushed over and said, "Your Highness, the young master of the Mo family and the younger brother of the Marquis of Pingnan have arrived."

Upon hearing this, the people inside the room were taken aback.

Prince Dan of Yan quickly stood up and said, "Please come in!"

After only a few breaths, Leng Feibai helped the Six-Fingered Black Knight, who had just escaped the Six Souls Curse, into the house, looking at the three of them with an unfriendly expression.

(End of this chapter)