Chapter 114: Blockade
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Gu Shenwei suddenly sat up and drew out his saber. But there were not any enemies in front of him.
One night had passed and the morning sunshine cast on the two bodies in the black robes. Their hoods had been removed. He identified that they were women. One had been shot by an arrow in her mouth, with her eyes still open wide. The other was hit by a saber on her left and the scarlet blood flooded everywhere.
Wildhorse and Snowcamel were wounded on their chests. But someone had helped them bandage the wounds. Standing in front of Slave Huan, they were staring at him coldly. Well, Liuhua did not get injured and stood at a distance with his back toward others. He was holding the longbow, while keeping watch.
On the other side, Fang Wenshi squatted with his hand pressing his belly, as if he was pooping or suffered from stomachache. Upon seeing the young killer wake up, he squeezed a smile and wondered this killer seemed very reliable but timider than him.
Gu Shenwei was extremely embarrassed. He unexpectedly fainted at the most crucial moment.
Gu Shenwei silently put the saber into the scabbard. He damaged his reputation within the other three killer's hearts, since he had fainted at the crucial moment. It may cause a lot of troubles in the future. Hence, he had to prove himself in front of others as soon as possible.
The black-robed assassins did not have better assassination skills than the brown-belt killers. This was the only useful information for Gu Shenwei.
The team that followed them caught up, as the sun rose up. They had not been ambushed, but all of them felt very anxious, because they had seen many dead bodies along the road. Thus, the team sped up day and night and were not left too far behind.
But the machetemen in the team brought the news that a large group of bandits, about 200 people, were following them. They might catch up with the team within one day.
Although Shangguan Ru seemed exhausted, upon hearing there were bandits following them closely behind and some assassin waiting for them ahead, she commanded every one should be ready to fight. However, most of them were too tired to fight against the bandits. She had to gather some core members in the tent to have a discussion.
Gu Shenwei said that it was better to have a rest. Slave Qing only asked what to do next, one by one with blank eyes, but did not offer any suggestions. However, the banner-carrying killer did not say anything. As soon as Meng Mingshi came in, he firmly ordered that all the machetemen, belonging to the Meng family, must protect him.
Gu Shenwei first told everyone the information that the killers had gained over the past two days. At last, he said, "They're hunting for a person within this team, not for the money."
Upon hearing that, the Fifth Young Master Meng's face became pale. He pointed at Shangguan Ru and horribly said, "The bandits must want us."
Gu Shenwei shook his head. "The Ninth Master secretly ran out from Golden Roc Fort, and few people knew about it. Who they want is you, the most favored master of the Mengs. If they kidnap you, the bandits can blackmail your family."
Gu Shenwei lied. The person he wanted to protect was Shangguan Ru. If she safely returned to Golden Roc Fort, the rest of them could be sacrificed. But the Meng family members perhaps could abandon them and run away without any hesitation once they knew the truth.
Meng Mingshi became angry. "You must protect me. People in Golden Roc Fort call themselves the leader of the bandits in Western Region. 'Golden Roc Flag coming, other bandits running,' why isn't the slogan working now?"
The phrase "leader of the bandits" gave great offense to other people present. Shangguan Ru held her saber with a poker face and pointed at Meng Mingshi. "What did you say? We're the leader of bandits? Well, how about sending you to the bandits and we can share the ransom money."
Meng Mingshi hid behind Slave Qing and did not dare to say anything else. The banner-carrying killer said, "Of course not, Golden Roc Fort isn't the head of them. But the whole thing is too strange. It's the first time that so many people have challenged the authority of the Golden Roc Flag in public."
"Someone ordered these roving bandits to do so. I think their backer is the women wearing black robes," Gu Shenwei answered.
The banner-carrying killer meditated for a while. He said, "Black robes, female assassins, iron steel needles... I've never heard any schools related to these items. I believe the bandits don't know them, either."
The core members could not figure out their enemies' background, but they still tried to come up with an escape plan. Gu Shenwei would like to lead them to break the barrier forcibly. However, the Fifth Young Master Meng and Slave Qing immediately opposed him. They would rather walk to the desert than face hundreds of bandits. Especially when hearing Gu Shenwei hoping that the machetemen of the Mengs charge in front of the team, Meng Mingshi firmly refused. But Shangguan Ru supported Slave Huan since she was eager to fight. Then, the girl drew her saber and forced others to agree with him.
Dao San was called in to introduce the terrain of the mountain that they would pass. After breaking through Antler Railings, the team would cross the gradual ascent of 300-meter long and then a steep slope. Later, they would soon arrive at the foot of the hill on horseback and cross the broad plains. If they accelerated their speed, within one day, they could enter the area guarded by Iron Mountain.
Gu Shenwei suggested abandoning the gifts, so that they could move on faster. But Slave Qing refused, since he had to take the responsibility of the treasures and did not want to leave them for the bandits.
When they almost settled on their plan, the banner-carrying killer made a mistake. He suggested that Shangguan Ru, Slave Qing, and the Fifth Young Master Meng should stay behind the team, rather than lead the rush.
Perhaps the banner-carrying killer had more experience on killing, but he did not understand the masters who were eager to show their strength, like Shangguan Ru. Gu Shenwei was going to exaggerate the importance of the maid, Little Sui, so that Shangguan Ru would willingly follow the team. But now, the "ignorant" banner-carrying killer made a mistake with good intentions. Shangguan Ru now insisted to do the same job as the brown-belt assassins. No one could stop her.
At dusk, the black flag killer explained the breakthrough plan to everyone. This was the plan: 25 machetemen of the Meng family and the 14 strong handymen would be first to start the assault. Before arriving at the plains, they should not stop riding. Additionally, five brown-belt assassins and Shangguan family's two young masters will follow them to engage the enemies so the others and the camels carrying the goods behind could pass.
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The banner-carrying killer himself with the other two machetemen protected the Fifth Young Master Meng, Slave Qing, and maid Little Sui.
Dao San and other camel drivers protected the camels.
The handymen also abandoned their belongings and rode horses. Now, they only had to protect themselves.
They would break through the barrier at 4.00 am. If they delayed the plan, assassins from behind them would catch up.
Killers were not good at charging, but it would take longer time to assassinate. If their enemies merged, the several killers could not deal with it.
Gu Shenwei asked the camel driver, who had the responsibility to protect Shangguan Ru, join killers' team, declaring that the driver was a spy sent by Golden Roc Fort to help him. To Shangguan Ru's surprise, this everyday driver was to protect her. On seeing his strange way of holding the saber, she giggled.
The scene was out of control. The machetemen was hired because they wanted money, but they did not like to risk their lives. Hence, they were unwilling to charge. At last, the Fifth Young Master Meng personally told them that he would double their salary, so they stayed.
The handymen fought with cries across the battlefield, seemingly fighting like wild animals.
Gu Shenwei hoped that this plan could be kept a little more quiet, but failed. Fang Wenshi thought them to be a "mob," which he was right.
Fang Wenshi led the horse that Gu Shenwei gave him and walked through the crowd. He looked at Gu Shenwei with high expectation. "My dear hero, how about appointing a macheteman to protect me? Eh? Anyone. I'll give you some good advice. You should also protect the counselor, right?"
"Just follow me," said Gu Shenwei. He still wanted to ask Fang Wenshi something, but he did not. "I kill them, so they won't kill you."
Fang Wenshi forced a fake smile. He had heard the same words once, but the young man fainted at that time. Therefore, he did not believe Gu Shenwei. However, he still decided to follow him, because he thought his companions were all masters.
Gu Shenwei finally found a chance to talk with Maid Lotus privately, before they made the breakthrough. After his qigong deviation broke out last night, he understood something. He told Maid Lotus, "Do not repress your killing desires. Once drawing out the saber, you must kill someone. Otherwise, you could faint."
Maid Lotus understood the meaning of "faint". She said, "Recently, I also don't feel very well these days. Looks like I can't keep up this concealed tonight."
Gu Shenwei nodded in agreement. It would be a melee tonight, so they did not worry about exposing the sword movements. But it was a little pity because they threw the two sabers, which were horned by themselves and more like a sword after killer Liu Xuan noticed that. Now, they only had the regular sabers, which was powerless. Since the anonymous swordcraft taught them to kill people within one movement, they would be in danger, if they did not succeed. Even a powerless saber could affect the results between of life and death.
The plan was perfect, but the team members carried it out poorly. As soon as the charge started, seven or eight of the Meng family's machetemen abandoned their positions and ray away, riding off to the desert and were not aware that there was a bigger trap waiting for them.
Half of the rest of the machetemen had either been killed or wounded. Tragically, those who had broken through were trapped in the enemies' camp and could not get rid of them. The situation became favorable to the team until the assassins from behind caught up.
Gu Shenwei had already commanded, so the eight killers were focusing on attacking the dark robe women. Other enemies were roving bandits, so they prepared to run away, after seeing what was happening.
No one could help each other at night. They only cared about killing their own enemies. Hence, Gu Shenwei could unleash his killing intent. In front of him, enemies were just the black figures, and he could find where their necks were accurately, which even surprised himself.
Gu Shenwei did not know how many people he had killed, until someone urged him to leave. Then, he found a horse in enemies' camp and rushed to the hill.
There were very few people nearby. Gu Shenwei now started to worry if they had a significant loss. If Shangguan Ru died in the enemies' camp, he had to drop his saber to give up fighting and may even join the team of dark robe woman.
Before he arrived at the hilltop, Gu Shenwei's heart sank, because he saw the red light flashing in the distance. A lot of people gathered at the top, and he could clearly hear the Fifth Young Master Meng crying.
The enemies had made a complete and thorough plan.
At the foot of the hill, roaring fire was still ablaze blocking their exit, while enemies behind them were gathering together and blocking the entrance.
The first thing Gu Shenwei did was to search for Shangguan Ru. After assuring she was okay, he did a quick head count and found they really did suffer a significant loss. They only had less than ten machetemen and few handymen. Slave Qing and Meng Mingshi were not harmed, but they were utterly frightened to the point that they were plopped to the ground and unable to stand up.
Dao San miraculously drove ten camels to the top of the hill by himself.
Fang Wenshi was also very smart. He did not follow "the young hero", Gu Shenwei, to kill people, but ran to the hilltop quickly and was comforting the terrified maid Little Sui.
Very few of Meng Mingshi's machetemen were left, and his attitude changed fast. Pulling Slave Huan's arm, he cried out, "You need to protect me."
If there were more enemies on the other side of the fire, Gu Shenwei would not know what to do next. Although he had experienced a lot of life-and-death crises, he had ever been so passive. Now, there was no other choice but to charge forward.
Gu Shenwei ordered Dao San to open one of the wooden boxes, which contained a lot of excellent weapons that were gifts for Bighead Kingpin. He was preparing to face the enemies' assault.