Pre-Qin Mythology: Starting with the River God

Chapter 104 Destroying the Water Mansion and Killing Quan Ming

This waterway leads directly outside the pass without passing through Zhaoguan. However, on one side of the middle section of the waterway, there is a platform with a statue of Quan Ming himself, which seems to have been built specifically for him.

Further ahead was a stone gate.

The stone gate is now open, allowing people to pass through; if it were closed, it would be impossible for the outside world to force it open.

Above the stone gate were several high platforms, guarded by armored soldiers who served as lookouts to guard against external attacks. Seeing this, Quan Ming instructed Feng Hua to pull over to the side.

"Lord Zhaoyang?"

Seeing Quan Ming stop, Dou Lian also stopped his small boat and looked back.

Quan Ming said, "This pass is much more magnificent than the Quan Pass I passed through in the middle of the river, which shows that the craftsman has put a lot of effort into it."

Then Quan Ming said, "However—with such a strategic pass, are the two kingdoms of Yong and Lu not thinking straight, insisting on storing water?"

A look of doubt flashed in Quan Ming's eyes.

To do something that is known to be impossible is the act of a fool, unless there is another purpose behind it.

Dou Lian was also completely baffled.

After much deliberation, Quan Ming recalled the large opening that had released water.

The city wall was almost divided in two; one half was above, suspended in mid-air; the other half was hollowed out, with the middle supported only by massive pillars—this design was indeed convenient for flood control.

By the way, what about the front?

Quan Ming inquired about Dou Lian.

They just looked at the flood discharge outlet, but they didn't look at the water inlet.

Upon hearing this, Dou Lian immediately said, "To ensure its sturdiness, the front wall has been reinforced considerably, with a funnel-shaped opening nine zhang wide for boats to pass through. Above the water, there is a city gate weighing several thousand jin, which can be lowered at any time. If there is an enemy attack, we only need to cut the chains to smash it down, blocking the area above the opening. Those who want to attack by water will be trapped like turtles in a jar!"

"Therefore, they came to the water gate because they weren't afraid of dying!"

"Of course, whoever attacks the city will go into the water, and they will most likely go to the mountain passes on both sides—the mountain passes need a lot of armored soldiers to guard them!"

Quan Ming nodded.

Indeed, everything has been taken into account; it's a perfectly strategic pass.

but----

What if the drain outlet on the back wall of the water gate is blocked?

Quan Ming told Dou Lian about this conjecture.

Dou Lian was startled!

"Blocked? How could that be?"

Blocked?

Once blocked, as water continues to flow into the pass through the inlet, it will immediately become a lake, the water level rising until it reaches the city walls. At that point, the pass will also become a dam, and the entire area will be a vast expanse of water. The enemy could then easily sail down from upstream in wooden boats, climb the city walls, and confront the armored soldiers in the mountain passes on both sides.

The waterway, ironically, became a ladder to the city wall?

interesting.

Quan Ming's eyes flashed with confusion and speculation.

He looked at Dou Lian, who seemed somewhat distracted, and said directly, "You can investigate this matter. I've been staying in the water below the pass for the time being—to deploy underwater defenses in order to prepare for an attack from the Yong and Lu kingdoms."

"Of course, my presence here must not be revealed to anyone."

"To the outside world, I said that I was very satisfied after passing through this pass and had returned to the Water Palace."

Upon hearing this, Dou Lian opened his mouth.

He already had a possibility in his mind, but he didn't want to believe it.

Seeing Dou Lian's appearance, Quan Ming said slowly, "Everyone has a choice. Dou Lian—I trust you. I hope you won't disappoint me."

As he spoke, Quan Ming slowly submerged underwater.

Underwater, Nuo Jiang was already waiting.

Quan Ming sat in the boat, parting the surrounding water, and leaned against the railing in thought.

"Feng Hua, go and keep an eye on Dou Min—I trust Dou Lian, but I don't quite trust Dou Min now—this Dou family—that Dou Bo was already a two-faced character, and this Dou Min is sinister, I'm afraid he also has his own ulterior motives and his own ideas."

"promise!"

"Be careful, he—is an extraordinary person."

Quan Ming was also surprised, because he sensed the presence of strange people in the city.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it will be a Doumin (斗缉).

Because he built this pass and completed his own path, he ascended to the position of an extraordinary person. This is a rare opportunity, yet he still made a foolish mistake!

"----promise!"

Feng Hua transformed into flowing light and vanished into the water.

Nuo Jiang boarded the boat, naturally took the bamboo pole, and sailed on the water with Quan Ming to the place where the Yin soldiers were stationed.

Quan Ming raised his hand to support his eyebrows and rubbed his temples. He hadn't expected that Zhaoguan would have such a change that required his attention.

Of course, it's not all bad.

At least, he had a guess about what the two kingdoms of Yong and Lu were planning to do.

Within his sea of ​​will, he communicated with Luo Shizi through Luo Rendaotian: "Send Black Crow to the Jing Mountain Range to see if there are any Lu Kingdom soldiers mobilizing troops there—and also, detour a bit further to see if any Lu Kingdom soldiers are going to join forces with Yong Kingdom—how many troops do they have?"

Yes!

Luo Shizi accepted the matter almost without making Quan Ming wait any longer.

Therefore, Quan Ming only needs to wait.

The next day, Prince Luo sent a message that there were indeed soldiers from the State of Lu hidden in the Jing Mountain range, seemingly scouting ahead.

Moreover—Qu Xia knew this, but he kept it a secret, not even from Prince Luo.

On the other side, Prince Luo also discovered that the Lu Kingdom had sent two detachments of armored soldiers to the Ju River overnight to build a dam and store water together with the Yong Kingdom, and that they were also secretly preparing to send more armored soldiers.

"It seems I was right."

"A feint to the east while attacking in the west!"

"Originally, everyone, including the King of Chu, Qu Xia, and myself—even the Yong Kingdom itself—knew that the Zhao River and the Jing Mountain range were now difficult to breach. The only way was to borrow a route from the Lu Kingdom, attack the Jing Mountain range from Lu to Luo, and then descend the mountain, bypassing Zhao Pass. By using the mountain's terrain, we might be able to annihilate the Yin soldiers. Then, while the Chu Kingdom was currently fighting Yang Yue south of the Yangtze River, we could launch a strong attack on the Zhao River's water palace and kill Quan Ming. Only in this way could we possibly succeed!"

"but!"

Quan Ming sat in the small boat, gazing at the map spread out before him.

He tapped his finger on the Ju River and chuckled softly: "The King of Yong is unconvinced and unwilling to follow the well-known course of events in this war. Therefore, he has devised this plan—spending enormous effort—to build dikes and store water in order to conquer Zhaoguan Pass head-on."

"But will it succeed?"

"But it's here."

"They wanted to use the water storage as a lure to attract our attention and make us take precautions, while also laughing at their clumsy tactics and not taking them seriously—but in this way, they secretly hid elite troops at the water storage site."

"Then, with a small number of soldiers from the State of Lu, we will launch a feint attack from the east to the west in the Jing Mountain range."

"This has led me and Qu Xia's faction to believe that war is imminent and that we must go to Jing Mountain for defense—while neglecting the matter of water storage!"

"Fighter jets!"

"If Zhaoguan were to transform into a swamp, and the elite troops of Yong and Lu were to sail down the river—even with over ten thousand Yin soldiers, if Lord Yong were to gamble everything and try to suppress the river's momentum, it would be difficult to withstand—at that point, Lord Yong could directly attack and conquer Zhaoguan, washing away the shame of the past, and then sail down the river to destroy the Water Palace and kill me?"

"Who could have imagined that the foreman of Zhaoguan would betray the State of Chu?"

Quan Ming shook his head slightly.

Dou Lian was already waiting quietly in the waterway where he had been taken yesterday. It was a peaceful place, a good spot indeed.

Dou Min was tied to his feet.

Quan Ming rolled up the map and looked at Nuo Jiang and Feng Hua.

Feng Hua had already told him last night that Dou Lian invited Dou Min to drink, took the opportunity to tie Dou Min up, and found the original blueprints in Dou Min's room. He saw the remaining mechanism within; activating it would cause the city wall above the sluice gate to break and slide down, perfectly blocking the sluice gate.

In addition, there was a letter that Dou Min wrote to Yong Jun, but had not yet been sent.