Chapter 68: Taking Advantage
Translator: StackThatCoin Editor: AntiGod
A sudden rumble of a thunderclap shook the sky. Some dark clouds came by and cast over the face of the moon. A rainstorm had arrived without any prior signs. The strong wind whipped the raindrops and ferociously pattered on all streets and alleys in Ji City, water vapor starting to envelop the surroundings and making one's vision drop down to less than three steps away.
Muffled sounds of trampling were heard from all directions. The boots wore by the city guard of Ji City had the soles made from cow tendon mixed with steel wire, and coated with a layer of steel plate. When boots such as these made contact with the stone ground, the sound they produced was rather awe-inspiring.
Such pattering was everywhere, as a great number of that controlled a few nearby streets closed the access to all exits. The doors of a few nearby mansions were loudly knocked, and the shouts of captains who led the soldiers here could be heard, as they were informing the residents of those mansions about what was going on outside. In addition to that, they also requested the owners of these mansions to dispatch their private guards and perform a search in their own mansions, guarding against any suspicious intruders.
As those who lived in the inner city were all supreme princes and nobles of Great Yan Dynasty, these captains feared that someone might intrude their mansions and disturb these important persons. If that really happened, since these captains were in charge for tonight's patrol, the consequence would not be something they could afford to bear.
A ballista used by city guard, a couple dozens custom made crossbows which could unleash 'Triangular Wind and Bone Piercing Dart', the secret weapon made by Mo Sect; these were the lethal weapons found by the city guard soldiers at the foot of a nearby wall. Beside these armaments, they found another couple dozens of dead bodies, a few of them poisoned as their body had shrunk into the size of a toddler.
Someone had used armaments of mass destruction in Ji City, and even the defensive mechanism within an alley was triggered. No doubt this would be a serious case. No matter who the mastermind behind this event was, someone would have to bear all the consequences.
At first, more than ten thousand soldiers had closed off all access to the nearby main streets. After that, the experts from a few government authorities of Ji City rushed to the place. No long after that, a shrill howl of the wolf came from the sky above, as over two hundred best scouting officers, enshrouded with a green glow and having a shadow of Wind Breaking Wolf vaguely seen behind their back, arrived at the scene. Using the crime scene as the center, they spread and followed the traces they could find.
Thunderclouds were rocking and rolling overhead. From time to time, dazzling serpents of lightning would streak through the dark cloud and rip apart the overcast sky.
A few large blue shadows suddenly soared up into the sky from a corner of Ji City. Those were the vague shadows of some peculiar looking birds, having a wingspan of over fifty feet. From the back of these strange birds, a few scouting officers clad in black body armor were seen casting a one-foot long blue beam from their eyes, performing a thorough search of the area beneath them.
Although the night was so dark that one could barely see his own fingers and they were in the middle of a raging rainstorm, through these eyes shining with strange beams, these men could see even the tiniest sand scattered on the street. There were many private guards hiding within thick bushes of nearby majestic mansions. Yet, there was no way they could hide from the divine glances of these scouting officers, which could see through even ten feet underground.
Some faint barks were heard coming from afar. A few black-clothed men with their body enshrouding in a light yellow glow, and a shadow of a tiny dog behind their back, had arrived at the crime scene at lightning speed. Using their noses, they carefully sniffed around, tracing for any scent that was left in the air. They then brought a large group of soldiers and quickly chased towards a direction.
Even though the weather was harsh with strong wind and a heavy downpour, these black-clothed men could still capture the faintest scent left in the air.
A jarring whistle was sounded and rippled through a very far distance. The archery towers and lookout posts on the city wall of Ji City had lit their lights. It was rather interesting as to what kind of an instrument they were using, as a thick yellow beam with a diameter of two feet was being shot out to a distance of a few miles. Like a sharp blade, they ripped apart the darkness that blanketed the entire city, moving back and forth and illuminating the city area.
Under cover of the rainstorm, Wu Qi and the company were running fast along the foot of the wall, and a beam of bright light nearly caught them up. If not because Wu Qi suddenly sensed the danger and immediately pulled Lu Chengfeng back, their traces had been exposed.
He raised his head and saw the vague figures of blue birds that were flying high in the sky. Then, in the far distance, he saw the Wind Breaking Wolves leaping and dashing from towers to walls, and he heard the sounds of barking coming from far behind. Wu Qi breathed out a long sigh. 'So this is the capital city of Great Yan Dynasty… With such a tight defense, how are we going to survive this time?' He thought inwardly.
At the same time, a flame of anger starting to boil in his mind. Even with such a strict defense, why could the enemy still put out a grand show of ambush and kill? If not for all four of them being Xiantian experts who had concealed their aura using Talisman of Concealment, which caught the enemy by surprise, they would have been surely killed by them! Since when did the security of Ji City become so bad?
Lu Chengfeng wiped off some rainwater from his face, then said with a low voice, "I afraid we can't escape this time."
Wu Qi gnashed his teeth in anger and said, "No matter what, we have to escape! We can't let them capture you before you become the West Supervisor. Or else, you'll be killed by them!" He gave the surroundings a quick glance, then continued saying ferociously, "Rest assured, young master, you're my first friend after I left my master. If you die in Ji City, I'll take revenge for you! I vow that no matter who the mastermind is behind this, I'll kill him and his entire clan!"
Lu Chengfeng looked at Wu Qi ruefully, sighed and said, "I really appreciate that. But, can you give me some good news right now? For example, can you tell me that you will definitely bring me back safely?"
Wu Qi gazed at Lu Chengfeng, shook his head helplessly and said, "I'll try my best!"
The barking was approaching closer from the back. The scent of Wu Qi and the company had been traced by those black-clothed men. With a sneer, Wu Qi said, "It seems by borrowing the soul of animals, these beast warriors are able to maximize the innate ability of the animal itself. Do you know what is the weakness of a dog?"
A strange smile emerged on Wu Qi's face. From his storage bag, he took out a dozen of local spices he had gathered from Little Meng City. Among these spices, one of them was pepper. It was so hot that it could make one's mouth burst with flame by consuming it. In addition to that, there were also cinnamon, anise and some other spices that could make one faint by just smelling them. The natural energy in this world was much denser than of Earth where Wu Qi came from. As a result, the effect of these spices was also many times stronger than those found on Earth.
He crushed these spices into powder form, which included a bunch of hot pepper. Then, by unleashing his innate water energy, he controlled the surrounding water vapor and made them spin around all four of them. As the innate water energy was able to control all water elemental energy under the heaven, in just a brief moment, no water could be found within ten feet around Wu Qi and the company. With great effort, he rubbed these spices and had produced nearly four kilograms of the mixed powder.
When the barking was only less than two hundred feet away from them, Wu Qi let out a cold laugh, and simply threw this big clump of power into the air. A powerful innate water energy was mixed among these powder, which gave them a miraculous characteristic. Wherever this powder went, all rainwater would evade it, and the rainstorm could not distract it at all. A strong wind curled them up and blew them towards the back of the street.
Vaguely, they saw a black-clothed man sniffing around, bringing a large group of soldiers and rushing towards their way.
All of a sudden, this black-clothed man let out a miserable howl. The shadow of a tiny yellow dog behind him was also howling soundlessly towards the sky, twitching its body a few times before quickly leaping back into the body of the man. The black-clothed man kept howling painfully, holding his nose and rolling on the ground.
The tiny yellow dog was a famous animal in this world, a creature with an extraordinary sense of smell - the 'Hundred-miles Search Dog'. After merging with the soul of this tiny dog, the sense of smell for the black-clothed man had also become really well-developed, Yet, at the same time, his nose had become extra sensitive, and was rather fragile. Wu Qi had thrown out the powder mixed from a dozen hot spices, which included three wild peppers of the strongest effect. The black-clothed man was hit by them right on his face, and had inhaled a large amount into his body.
It was as if a raging flame was burning wildly in his nostrils and his lungs. The black-clothed man rolled and struggled for some moments before he was completely fainted due to the strong spices.
Those soldiers brought by this black-clothed man were not in good shape either. The strength of the powder mixed by Wu Qi could be compared to an enhanced version of tear gas. A few hundred soldiers were howling miserably, sneezing and coughing. Their formation was broken into a messy situation. They felt their eyes were burning, and tears were oozing out uncontrollably. Their eyes had turned bloodshot, and there was no way they could continue the pursuit of the suspects.
After letting out a few strange laughs, Wu Qi unleashed all his innate water energy and curled up a large clump of water vapor, enveloping all four of them and continued rushing towards the city wall.
After mixing with the aura of innate water energy, these water vapors were given with some peculiar characteristics. In the sky above, a few 'Sky Patrolling Eagle Guards' from Scouting Office were opening their eyes widely. But no matter how hard they kept stimulating the innate ability of the divine bird, which they had its soul merged with them, there was no way they could see through the water vapor curled up by Wu Qi.
After using the pepper powder and defeating the tiny dog which could trace their smell, and using the water vapor to cover the eyes of those Sky Patrolling Eagle Guards, and as Wu Qi and the company were all having the cultivation of Xiantian realm they had finally came before the city wall without any obstacles.
However, in order to return to the mansion where Lu Chengfeng was staying, they still needed to go through two layers of the city wall. Right at this moment, not only were the tops of the city walls fully packed with soldiers, there were also many alerting arrays fixed on the city wall itself. If Wu Qi was alone, he was confident that he could escape with the help from the escaping and covering skill he learned from the Scroll of Stealing. But, as he had to bring Lu Chengfeng and the other two men together, he had no confidence that they could pass the city wall without alerting anybody.
Relying on the water vapor, they hid in a dark corner, fixing their gaze at the brightly lit city gate which led to the outer layer city. Wu Qi was puzzled on what to do next.
By now, they could still hide with the water vapor. But when more and more soldiers arrived, and when they started performing a thorough search of the nearby area, their trace would be exposed. Upon arriving at Ji City, Lu Chengfeng was lured into a deadly ambush. So, they had no idea who was their friend, and who was their enemy. Perhaps, when their trace was finally exposed, it would also be the time when the second wave of the assault arrived.
Lu Chengfeng let out a mild cough. With a rather dreary expression, he looked at Wu Qi and said, "Wu Qi, if you have the confidence, you can escape yourself. Let me take the risk. I think, it is not possible that the person who tried to kill me would really bribe all the city guards who are supposed to protect Ji City. If I manage to survive, that'll be the best scenario. But if I'm dead, you can just take revenge for me."
Wu Qi rolled his eyes at Lu Chengfeng, then said coolly, "Before we come to the dead end, I'll not leave you behind. If we really reached that situation, I'll definitely leave this place with the fastest speed I can muster, and avenge you in the future. Now, I think we still have a chance. Let me think, just let me think!"
Not far away from them, a dozen men with a shadow of a Wind Breaking wolf blinking and flickering behind their backs were seen flashing by.
Suddenly, Wu Qi jumped to his feet, using all his innate energy and shouted, "I'm the best friend of master Yan Bugui from Scouting Office! We were robbed and someone is trying to kill us in Ji City! Help! Help! Yan Bugui, if you still don't come out and rescue us, I'll curse all your ancestors with the foulest words!"
As it was raining heavily right now, the strength of innate water energy was tripled in this environment full of water. Wu Qi's voice suppressed the sound of thunder, rocking through the night and reachng to a distance as far as over twenty miles.
The thunderous shout of Wu Qi had frightened Lu Chengfeng and made him tremble. He immediately rolled his eyes and glared at Wu Qi furiously.
'Since you were going to use this trick, then why were we running so hard just now?' He thought inwardly.