Underworld entries, starting with ghost stories.

Chapter 112 I'm going to capture Tang Sanzang?

Wu Qing followed You Junda to Xu Maogong's side.

Xu Maogong, dressed in a yin-yang Taoist robe and holding a black-handled, white-silk whisk, laughed and said, "Brother Wu has also seen the camp formations at the foot of this mountain."

"Yang Lin's arrangement cleverly incorporates military formations. Brother Wu, what do you think we should do to break it?"

Wu Qing, however, adopted a humble attitude: "In terms of both literary and military prowess, I am far inferior to the strategist. How dare I show off my skills before Guan Yu?"

Xu Maogong said, "I heard that Brother Wu once defeated a much larger enemy with only four hundred cavalry at Yanyin Mountain. Brother Wu, there is no need to be so modest."

Wu Qing said, "Compared to the strategist's bloodless victory in repelling the armies of Shang Shitu and Tang Bi, this is like showing off one's limited skills before an expert."

Xu Maogong did not continue to argue with him.

He waved his whisk forward, pointing towards the outside of the mountain: "Back when the late Emperor Yang Jian had not yet usurped the throne, Yang Lin was the Grand General of the Northern Zhou army. He once led hundreds of thousands of troops to attack the Northern Qi, seizing every prefecture and county he encountered, with unstoppable momentum."

"He was a military genius, skilled in military formations and with superb martial arts, unlike Shang Shitu or Tang Bi. After the tyrannical emperor ascended the throne, he dared not use Yang Lin because Yang Lin was the emperor's uncle and also knew about military affairs."

"The world is in chaos now, and Yang Lin intends to make an example of us to intimidate the martial arts world. In his eyes, we are the chicken he uses to intimidate the martial arts world."

Wu Qing laughed and said, "He wanted to make an example of someone, but he only provoked a tiger released from its cage. With the strategist here, even Yang Lin is nothing to fear."

Xu Maogong remained serious and did not respond to the flattery.

He continued, "Yang Lin's formation is called 'Long Serpent Imprisoning Tiger,' a variation combining the 'One-Word Long Serpent Formation' with Yang Lin's 'Imprisoning Tiger' military strategy."

"Yang Lin himself is the head of a snake, and his twelve bodyguards are the snake bodies that closely follow the snake's head."

"When at rest, this military formation is coiled up in the camp like a snake hiding in the mountains and forests. Once it moves, it is like a giant python coiling around, capable of devouring and digesting any powerful enemy."

"Even a tiger released from its cage can be ensnared by a giant python and strangled to death. To break this serpent-like tiger-trapping formation, one person needs to stand in front of Yang Lin while the others fight the Twelve Protectors."

"Once more than half of the Twelve Protectors are killed or wounded, this formation will collapse on its own. Once Yang Lin is defeated once, he will have to retreat to a distance of twenty miles. We can then confront him while calmly taking over the surrounding passes, preventing him from blocking us again."

Wu Qing said, "Among the Wagang stronghold, only Grand Marshal Qin Qiong is the strongest. If we want to stop Yang Lin, we must have Grand Marshal Qin Qiong."

Qin Qiong said helplessly from the side, "My martial arts skills are far inferior to Yang Lin's. I can only withstand ten rounds from him at most, which is far from enough."

Wu Qing asked, "What if we add a few more people?"

Xu Maogong said, "It still won't work! In the midst of a great battle, the enemy and our forces are intertwined. Even if we send more men into battle, Yang Lin has his deputy generals and personal guards, so we can't block him out."

"If we cannot suppress him militarily, he will be able to take action, first to rescue the Twelve Protectors and revitalize the great formation, and then turn around and surround Shubao and the others to their deaths."

Wu Qing sighed, "What should we do? Marshal Qin's cousin, Luo Cheng, is exceptionally strong, probably even stronger than Yang Lin. Should we ask him for help?"

Xu Maogong laughed and said, "No matter how capable Young Master Luo Cheng is, he is not one of our sworn brothers."

"Besides, his father is also a military officer in the imperial court. How could he dare to risk helping us rebels?"

I think so too!

Xu Maogong said, "There's no other way but to ask Brother Wu for your help in blocking Yang Lin."

Wu Qing pointed to his face: "Me? Go to block Yang Lin?"

Xu Maogong said, "Brother Wu, don't worry, we don't need to hold him off for too long! We only need to hold him off for an hour."

Wu Qing continued pointing to his face, tilting his head with an innocent expression: "Me? Hold off Yang Lin for an hour?"

Xu Maogong laughed and said, "If Brother Wu thinks that one hour is too short and not enough to demonstrate your wisdom and courage, then an extra hour would be even better, giving the brothers more time to defeat the Twelve Protectors."

Wu Qing sighed, "Even the renowned Marshal Qin Qiong, the number one hero in Shandong, couldn't stop Yang Lin's ten-man attack."

"Strategist, you want me to hold him off for an hour? Do you perhaps have a grudge against me and want to harm me?"

Cheng Yaojin chimed in from the side, "That's right, you idiot—uh, strategist, even if we all attacked together, we probably wouldn't be able to hold off Yang Lin for half an hour."

"You want my brother Wu to hold him off for an hour? Isn't that just harming him? Why don't you send Qi Guoyuan? Maybe he can scare him into not daring to make a move for an hour."

Qi Guoyuan exclaimed in horror, "Don't harm me! Those people like Yang Lin won't be easily intimidated by me! I'll be dead in no time!"

Xu Maogong laughed and said, "I only asked Brother Wu to hold off Yang Lin, not for him to actually fight Yang Lin."

"Brother Wu possesses unfathomable wisdom and is skilled in illusion. As long as we can deceive Yang Lin and keep him unable to extricate himself for an hour, that will be enough."

Wu Qing thought to himself, "As expected, he found out about that matter."

"However, there was nothing we could do. Li Rugui and Qi Guoyuan were hiding in the shadows watching, and I had incited those Maitreya followers to rebel. Many of them have now joined the Wagang Army."

"This Taoist priest can figure it out with a simple calculation. Speaking of which, this guy is truly adept at utilizing every piece, Luo Cheng..."

General Cao, and himself—he'll use anyone who can be used.

Wu Qing laughed and said, "Even so, I can't fool him for an hour, not even half an hour."

"Illusion is just a minor skill; it can be used to deceive people, but it would be difficult to hold off a master like Yang Lin for an hour."

Xu Maogong said, "In that case, I have another way. Perhaps we don't need to deceive Yang Lin, but only the others."

**

After dinner, Wu Qing and Shan Ailian quietly met up.

Wu Qing then recounted how he assisted Xu Maogong in breaking Yang Lin's Long Snake Tiger-Trapping Formation.

Shan Ailian asked, "Does he mean to create a fake Yang Lin on the battlefield?"

Wu Qing drew a formation diagram with a goose feather pen: "The Long Snake Imprisoning Tiger Formation is essentially still the Long Snake Formation, just with some variations."

"A snake cannot function without a head, but it is equally unacceptable for a snake to have two heads. If a snake has two heads, its body will tear apart, causing it to fall into disarray without a fight."

"In particular, our snake head is fake, and it can devour the snake body at any time, turning it into a body-devouring snake."

Shan Ailian snuggled against him, saying, "Good brother, which body do you want me to devour?"

"Let's get down to business!" Wu Qing put his arm around her, slipped his hand under her armpit, and touched her chest. "Now we're all in the same boat, Yang Lin has to back down."

"But then, Ailian, you'll have to hide on me again."

He said self-deprecatingly, "Fortunately, when I was rescuing your family, I had Zhu Luan assist me. Afterwards, I instructed everyone to keep the matter of summoning wind and rain a secret."

"Otherwise, that Taoist priest would probably make me summon wind and rain on the spot."

Dan Ailian exclaimed, "This Taoist priest is truly amazing. Although he doesn't know any magic, when it comes to Yin and Yang, he's even more powerful than that bald monk Fahai from my previous life."

Wu Qing thought about it and decided that Fahai was more powerful.

I have a feeling that Fahai secretly read the script!