The siege of the fort by the soldiers did produce some results.
The scouts who were sent out locked onto the two Wu castles that had made unusual moves that night.
Zhaojiabao was surprisingly patient. Not only did they not send anyone to tip off the enemy at night, but the owner, Zhao Gong, even ran to the county office early in the morning to prove his innocence.
"Du Qu, those Wubao are indeed not clean. Should we continue to surround the forts and fight against the terrorists?"
"No, they weren't mentally prepared before, so it's inevitable that they would panic and cause chaos.
They've probably realized what's going on by now, so it'll be hard to scare them anymore."
Making friends with bandits is not exclusive to the Chongyu Zhao family. In fact, many Wu castles have connections with bandits.
However, some of them are less involved and only engage in the business of selling stolen goods; some are more involved and not only provide intelligence, but also arrange for young and strong people in the fort to join.
These days, the powerful people who built castles by the sea cannot be as clean as water, and they all have some gray industries to a greater or lesser extent.
Therefore, Zhou Yuan's unconventional siege action was indeed effective, but it could only catch the enemy by surprise and could not be used multiple times.
"What a pity! I was wondering why the Chongyu Camp couldn't eradicate the bandits. It turns out they are the local tyrants, while the Chongyu Camp soldiers are outsiders.
"Order the fortress of the anomaly to be besieged. We will first alert the enemy and let them know that anyone who shows their presence will be surrounded and destroyed."
The psychological pressure caused by encirclement and suppression is different. Authority cannot be established without iron and blood.
Zhou Yuan, an outsider, doesn't care whether there is evidence or not. As long as he finds something unusual, he will surround and interrogate the person first.
"promise."
Led by the scouts, five hundred soldiers quickly returned and surrounded a fortress that was experiencing unusual conditions.
This time, all the soldiers in the camp were wearing armor and holding their swords, and it was obvious that they were serious about it.
The Lord of Wu Castle was guilty and wanted to resist, but Zhou Yuan shot an arrow into his arm and he fainted from the pain.
After the Shesheng Camp fired two more volleys of arrows, the frightened servants, fearing they would be implicated, teamed up to open the gate of Wu Castle.
The same thing happened at the second Wu Fort. The servants in the fort did not have the courage to fight against the officers and soldiers. When Zhou Yuan shot through the gate with the blood arrow, they gave up resistance.
The subsequent interrogation went very smoothly. The two families confessed to selling stolen goods and reselling food, as well as which bandit gang they were connected to.
Zhou Yuan then transferred the soldiers to patrol the coastal area, pretending that the bandit hunting incident was over and no longer exerting pressure.
During this period, he learned swimming and diving under the guidance of the sailors.
After the ability of swimming and diving was turned into a skill, he used his accumulated experience to upgrade it to the maximum level.
【Skill: Wading】
【Introduction: The waters of Canglang can wash my hair and feet; playing in the waves is like wading in shallow water.】
【Effect: Increases swimming speed and lurking time underwater. After reaching the maximum level, the 'Water Breath' state is activated, consuming spiritual energy to breathe underwater.】
Zhao Gong didn't know that Zhou Qudu from the county government had been keeping a close eye on him.
But he still cautiously chose to travel during the day, escorting normal goods and making a full appearance of selling goods.
But as soon as he moved, the mark of the ghost spell moved, which attracted Zhou Yuan's attention.
Since Zhou Yuan chose to track alone and did not get close, he only relied on the direction of the ghost spell to track from a distance.
Therefore, Zhao Gong delivered the goods normally and tried it back and forth several times, but did not find anything unusual.
When he thought the crisis was over, he replaced his deliveryman with a serial gangster during a delivery.
This time their movement direction was exactly the same as the previous times, except that after the boat entered the waterway, it stopped in one area.
Zhou Yuan came to the river and put on the "Skin of the God of the City" which could restore health and mana and had the property of divine clothing without leakage, and turned into a kind-looking old man.
Then I walked along the waterfront, found a fishing boat to rent, rowed into the waterway, adjusted the distance, and began to wait patiently.
When night fell, he felt a marked target descending rapidly, so he abandoned the boat and dived into the water.
Not long after, he saw a very conspicuous blue-black vortex under the ropes that were tightly stretched by the anchor.
【Instance: Frogman's Nest】
【Recommended challenge level 10, recommended challenger number 10-20】
He dived into the water plants and gradually approached, and found that there were only ten serial bandits getting off the boat.
“The limit for the number of people in the Frogman Secret Realm is 20, but they only sent out 10.
Do they think they don't need that many people, or are there only 10 people stationed permanently in the Frog Soldiers' Secret Realm?
“Also, the name of this secret realm doesn’t match.
Judging from the name, it should be about frog soldiers, how can it be related to Quhe Guishou?"
Although Zhou Yuan was confused, he still marked all 10 serial bandits with the ghost spell.
Less than a quarter of an hour after those serial bandits entered the dungeon, some of them withdrew, and then new ones came in and took turns fighting.
After several waves of this, the Lianhuanwu bandits gradually became overwhelmed and stopped their attack.
"We've been docked long enough today. Let's leave first. We can switch ships and fight again tomorrow."
As the merchant ship weighed anchor and left, Zhou Yuan quickly approached the frogman copy.
The next moment, the world changed, and he entered a special area with potholes, puddles and silt beaches from a river channel full of flowing water.
There are nine humanoid turtle soldiers wearing turtle shells, and a larger alligator turtle soldier.
One of them has no health left, and the health bars of three of them have been severely damaged.
【Level 15 Shoufu Turtle Soldier】, 【Level 20 Shoufu Turtle General】
In addition, there was a throne piled with jewels on the silt beach not far away, but the Shoufu Turtle General did not sit on it. Instead, he was patrolling back and forth.
"Where are the frogmen? There are no frogmen in the Frogmen's Nest, but there are ten turtles instead. What's that?
Wait, ten of the Chain Dock Bandits came in at once, and there are also ten Turtle Soldiers here, which together just happens to be the upper limit for the number of people in the Frog Soldier dungeon."
"I think I discovered something incredible. Could it be that Quhe Guishou killed the frog soldiers and is using their shell to lure people back?"
Zhou Yuan knew that if his guess was correct, then the problem would be serious.
That would mean that the aquatic monsters rely on environmental advantages to form their own hunting rhythm.
They deliberately create adventures, using rare treasures and a small number of monsters that are right in front of them to lure those who enter the secret realm to continue exploring.
In this way, the lucky ones who have family support will become the source of blood food for their spiritual awakening.
A lone ranger without family support would probably be unable to leave after coming here twice.
They are not afraid even if they are discovered by the imperial court, because the local garrisons cannot dive into the water to encircle and suppress them.
It is not difficult to verify this hypothesis. Just clear out the turtle soldiers here and see if frog soldiers will appear later.
Zhou Yuan didn't know that while he was observing the turtle soldiers, two 【Level 15 Shoufu Turtle Soldiers】 were also thinking secretly.
"What's going on? Didn't those pirates know that our patrol route would change?
If you leave anyone in the secret realm, they will be surrounded by us in no time."
"Could it be that he is a lucky old man who stumbled into our fishing grounds by mistake? Let's kill him.
Those pirates are the real bosses, we can’t let this old man mess things up.”
