The next morning, Zhao Cheng and his party left the villa early, with two cars carrying more than a dozen large boxes, looking like they were going on a long trip.

As they left the city through the south gate, a light rain began to fall.

They traveled south without incident.

As evening approached, the group reached the banks of the North and South Rivers. Golden sunlight shone on the riverside reeds, and a light drizzle rippled across the water. To everyone, the scene before them was like a painting.

Zhao Cheng ordered the team to stop and rest, enjoying the beautiful scenery while having a meal.

“This is the first time I’ve ever seen this North-South River in person.” Zhao Cheng sat by the river, staring at the horizon. “It is said that if you go south along this river, you will enter the territory of Southern Zhou and meet the East-West River. If you go east along the East-West River, you will reach Kangye, the capital of Southern Zhou.”

Gan Lang replied, "That's right. I honed my water skills on the North-South River. I've swum to both ends of this river."

Zhao Cheng asked, "Didn't you learn your water skills in Jinghai?"

"That happened later." Gan Lang smiled and explained, "The waves at sea are too big. When your martial arts skills aren't good enough, you can't practice in the sea."

"Practicing martial arts is really tiring. Luckily, I don't practice martial arts," Zhao Cheng sighed.

Zhao Wu interjected, "You reap what you sow. If you had practiced martial arts regularly, you would be able to protect yourself in this situation."

Zhao Cheng glanced at Zhao Wu and said, "If I can protect myself, what use are you?"

Zhao Wu said, "I was just using an analogy."

Zhao Cheng asked seriously, "Why are you using an analogy? What grudge do you have against analogies?"

"Just an example..."

"Why give examples? Are examples so trivial?"

Zhao Wu said sincerely, "Master, I was wrong."

Xu An moved a small stool over and sat down, saying, "We've been on our way for a whole day, and there hasn't been a single sound. Are they coming or not?"

Zhao Cheng asked, "If you were going to kill someone, would you choose daytime or nighttime?"

Xu An realized what was happening and exclaimed in surprise, "You mean they'll show up tonight?"

Zhao Cheng nodded and said, "That's most likely the case, so let's all get some rest before it gets dark."

Night falls.

Zhao Cheng and his group continued south along the North-South River, but deliberately walked slowly.

The water plants have become mottled shadows, occasionally dappled with moonlight, and gently stirred by the night breeze and drizzle.

Zhao Wu suddenly stopped and reached out to block Zhao Cheng.

Everyone's expression froze.

They've arrived.

The once tranquil night became restless as a large, dark crowd surged forward, surrounding Zhao Cheng and his group by the river.

Zhao Cheng looked at them and saw that the three leading figures were Lu Yuan and Tu Wanhu, and... Xue Gai.

Zhao Cheng smiled, immediately thinking of the relationship between Xue Gai and Wang Ren, and the relationship between Wang Ren and the Left Prime Minister's Mansion. He thought to himself that his judgment was correct. How could those who wanted him dead not take advantage of this excellent opportunity?

Tu Wanhu shouted sternly, "Zhao Cheng! Didn't expect that, did you? You didn't expect that not only did I not run away, but I actually came to find you on my own initiative!"

Zhao Cheng played along, shouting, "My God! You're willing to risk your life to kill me? I'm so surprised!"

Lu Yuan said, "Zhao Cheng, you instigated Lu Chen and Tu Ziming to harm our two families. You are utterly despicable and shameless!"

Zhao Cheng shrugged and said, "This is nothing. Lu Chen also gave me 20,000 mu of land!"

Lu Yuan was furious and shouted, "This good-for-nothing!! This land is the root of my Lu family, how dare he even touch our ancestors' property!!"

Zhao Cheng said, "I think he's pretty good. He's decisive and generous. It's much more comfortable working with him than with you. Oh right, Tu Ziming is also good. Although he only gave me 10,000 mu of land, the Tu family doesn't have as much land as the Lu family..."

Tu Wanhu glared angrily and roared, "You little bastard! I'll kill you first, then I'll go back and deal with him!"

Xue Gai raised his hand and said, "Boss Lu, Master Tu, don't waste your breath on him."

"Attack! Give me back my son's life!"

"kill!!!"

At his command, half of the two hundred men rushed toward Zhao Cheng, instantly tightening the encirclement.

Looking at Zhao Cheng's side, they were outnumbered and outgunned, with only about twenty guards including Xu An. They seemed ready to be swallowed up in an instant.

Zhao Cheng leaned against the carriage that was pulling the suitcase, his smile unchanged, and patted the suitcase twice.

Suddenly, the dozen or so boxes opened at the same time, and four or five people jumped out of each box. These people were uniformly dressed, with crossbows in their left hands and broadswords in their right, and small round shields tied to their left arms. They were all elites selected by Chai Xin from the prefectural governor's office.

Yesterday, Zhao Cheng told Chai Xin that he didn't need any more people, just Xu An's guards, because he was worried that too many people would scare Tu Wanhu and his men.

Later, Huang Hua suggested that it would be best to bring some people with us. If we couldn't bring them openly, we should find a way to hide them. Zhao Cheng was immediately enlightened and came up with the idea of ​​hiding people in a box.

As soon as these fifty elite troops from the prefectural governor's office appeared, they fired crossbow bolts at the approaching enemy.

So suddenly, and at such close range, the first volley of crossbow bolts almost all hit, causing heavy casualties on the enemy.

These ingenious crossbows could only fire single shots and were difficult to load. After a round of shooting, the elite soldiers would rush over to finish off the enemies without stopping, demonstrating a high level of skill in switching between long-range and close-range attacks.

And so the battle began!

Zhao Wu, Zhao Yan, and Heng Wenhao stayed close to Zhao Cheng without moving, while Gan Lang, Yu Jin, and He Laosan led Xu An's guards to charge towards Tu Wanhu. The elites were responsible for covering the attack, while they formed a spearhead and launched a fierce assault.

Lu Yuan, Tu Wanhu, and Xue Gai each had a top-notch fighter under their command. The three of them immediately gathered a group of people to block Tu Wanhu and his men, resisting the attack of Gan Lang and the others.

At this moment, a bald monk leaped up from the crowd and threw a punch at Zhao Cheng from a distance.

Even though they were far apart, Zhao Cheng's hair stood on end the moment he threw the punch!

Zhao Cheng couldn't help but recall the knife he faced when he returned from Changsui, but the power of the punch from Monk Huiyin made Zhao Cheng feel even greater pressure than that knife!

Zhao Wu immediately blocked Zhao Cheng's path, holding the broken knife horizontally in front of his chest.

Bang!

Zhao Wu's blade crackled, and he was jolted back several steps, causing Zhao Cheng to stagger backward as well, nearly falling over.

"This is a tough one. Third Young Master, please protect our master and stay by his side at all times!" After giving these instructions, Zhao Wu dragged his sword and ran towards the monk Huiyin.

Suddenly a figure blocked his way, dressed in black with a black hat and two knives at his waist.

"A two-sectioned sword?"

Zhao Wu sized up the man and asked doubtfully, "Double-sword Wu Bu?"

Wu Bu raised his head, pulled his straw hat up a bit, and revealed an excited smile.

"It would be best if you could recognize me. Two-Broken Blade, I am your opponent."

Clang—

Wu Bu slowly drew his twin swords, his smile widening.

"If you try to cut water with a knife, won't you be worried?"

Zhao Wu tightened his grip on the knife, a rare seriousness appearing on his face. He muttered to himself, "Tonight, those who come are all tough nut to crack..."