Suddenly, more than a dozen burly men in red, brandishing gleaming broadswords, pounced on the three of them like wolves. The young guard clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and shouted into the crowd, "Don't even think about it!"
Immediately, he too brandished his knife and charged forward, engaging in a fierce battle with a group of more than a dozen strong men, each dozens of times taller and more ferocious than him. Lanxiang and Yan'er, who were beside him, retreated a few steps in terror and hid behind the bushes.
Although the young guard was only fifteen or sixteen years old, his swordsmanship was remarkably fierce and powerful, yet also elegant and graceful.
Each move is characterized by its rapid rhythm, tight knife skills, and highly varied techniques, including flips and leaps. The techniques include chopping, slashing, hacking, hacking, slicing, cutting, intercepting, lifting, hooking, pulling, pressing, twisting, and shifting, interspersed with various footwork patterns. The rider moves with the knife, the knife moves with the rider, and the body twists and turns.
With a flash of light from his blade, like a silver dragon soaring through the clouds and mist, he instantly felled all the dozen or so burly men to the ground, clutching their chests and howling in pain, seemingly unable to get up again.
Just as his feet touched the ground after he had been airborne, a sinister voice suddenly came from behind him: "Heh... I didn't expect you, a greenhorn, to be so skilled!"
Upon hearing the sound, the young guard immediately turned around and stared wide-eyed in the direction from which the sound came. He saw the burly leader in red holding two girls, Lanxiang and Yan'er, who were trembling like frightened birds, their necks being choked, unable to utter a word.
Behind each woman, one of her henchmen held a sharp knife to the left shoulder of each of them.
Upon seeing this, the young guard's heart tightened. He quickly took two steps forward, stopped, and shouted angrily at the burly leader, "Release them!"
But the burly man in red seemed completely unafraid of him, and even threatened him, "If you don't want them to die on the spot, you'd better put down your knife and surrender. Do you really think you can lead these two brats out of the heavily guarded Xiaolong Society? You're really overestimating yourself!"
Upon hearing this, the young guard gripped his broadsword tighter and tighter, his brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed slightly, as if he was still searching for a glimmer of hope.
A moment later, seeing that the two women were already suffocating in the hands of the burly man, the broadsword finally fell to the ground with a "clang," making a very crisp sound.
Immediately, several burly men rushed forward, pinned the three down, and dragged them away.
At this moment, the leader raised his gleaming broadsword and brazenly issued another order to the crowd: "Go to the East Garden immediately and search carefully to arrest everyone. Do not let a single person escape!"
...
"Long Ye, you have nowhere to escape. Stop your futile resistance! You dared to openly lead people into my Western Qin territory and harm my people. Now come with me to confess your crimes to His Highness the King of Qin! Perhaps, His Highness will spare your life!"
At dawn, on the edge of a cliff near the Xiaolong Society, Cheng Liang, who had been pursuing Long Ye all night, finally cornered the exhausted Long Ye and forced him into a desperate situation not far from the Xiaolong Society, where it seemed there was no way to escape.
Although Long Ye was in a sorry state, he still turned his back to the cliff and looked at Cheng Liang's face, giving him a disdainful snort. A sly smile appeared on his face as he raised an eyebrow and shouted into the wind, "Hmph, so you must be General Cheng, the most loyal dog by the King of Qin's side? You're not bad, are you? But don't speak too soon. This is my Xiaolong Society's territory now. Who will emerge victorious is still uncertain."
"You dare to spout such nonsense even when you're about to die! It seems you really don't care about your life! In that case, I'll grant your wish first, and then I'll go and punish your brothers."
Just as Cheng Liang failed to persuade him to surrender, and after a cold laugh, he was about to draw his sword and leap forward to attack when Long Ye suddenly stretched out a hand with a serious expression, nervously warning him, "Don't move!"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Liang immediately stopped, his entire body frozen in place. He vaguely sensed something unusual beneath his feet, so he cautiously held his breath and asked, "What is it?"
Long Ye then smiled sinisterly and said, "The slight movement of your foot just now happened to step on a trap that my Xiaolong Society secretly set up here. If you dare to lift your foot off the ground even half an inch, all the gunpowder surrounding you, enough to instantly level this area of a hundred miles, will be detonated. If you don't believe me, you can try it."
"Long Ye, you..." Cheng Liang was immediately enraged upon hearing this, never expecting to fall into the trap set by this cunning thief.
Just then, Long Ye slowly walked towards him, leaned close to his ear, and whispered provocatively, "How about it, General Cheng? Just now, I already said that this is my Xiaolong Society's territory. Who will win is still uncertain. However... if you are willing to serve me to the death, I might consider letting you go since you still have some ability. What do you say?"
Cheng Liang glared at him angrily, scoffing at him and shouting disdainfully, "Long Ye, don't even think about it! Even if I, Cheng Liang, die here today, I will never aid and abet evil, collude with you, or harm innocent people!"
Seeing Cheng Liang's resolute expression, unmoved by his words, Long Ye turned his back to him helplessly and thought for a moment before saying, "Alright, it seems you are also a loyal servant of your master. And considering you are a worthy man, I, the leader, will not personally send you on your way. I will leave you here to fend for yourself. Fortunately, the scenery in this desolate wilderness on the border between Western Qin and Nan'an is excellent. You may enjoy this land of Western Qin one last time!"
As he spoke, Long Ye suddenly turned around and gave Cheng Liang, who seemed rooted to the spot, one last reminder: "By the way, since you Northwesterners are new to the South, I'd like to kindly remind you again. The mountains here are treacherous, the roads are narrow, and poisonous snakes and wild beasts are common. Furthermore, the typical miasma of the South permeates the area. If you were to contract some unknown plague, even if you miraculously escape, you probably wouldn't have the heart to spread the disease to the people you care about! So, remember, no matter what happens later, don't easily move your feet. All the lives within a hundred miles are under your feet. Farewell, great hero."
As soon as he finished speaking, Long Ye waved his sleeves at him, put his hands behind his back, and hurriedly left.
"Long Ye, come back here!" Cheng Liang shouted angrily with his back to him.
Reminded by Long Ye, Cheng Liang looked into the distance and saw a black cloud slowly rising from a deep valley and drifting towards him. He was anxious but tried to calm himself down by breathing heavily.
Based on his years of experience fighting in the north and south, and after carefully examining the surrounding area, it seemed that what Long Ye said was not untrue.
However, he discovered that this extremely novel and ingenious mechanism design would likely require its blueprints to dismantle; a mistake could have serious consequences. Who would have thought that such a master strategist existed within this small organization?
As he was holding his breath and pondering a solution, he suddenly looked up and caught a glimpse of a man in the distance, who seemed to be running towards him with one hand on his chest and stumbling along. Cheng Liang immediately raised his head and looked carefully into the distance, and the figure seemed to be getting more and more familiar.
As he was observing, the man suddenly waved to him from afar, and said in a very weak voice, "General, I am late, please forgive me!"
Upon hearing the voice, Cheng Liang suddenly realized who it was and exclaimed, "Wei Ning, it's you? What happened to you?"
As the two were talking, the man approached them. He weakly continued speaking while quickly pulling a round paper tube, about the length of a palm, from his person. He opened the lid, took out a drawing, and unfolded it. While carefully examining Cheng Liang's feet and surroundings, he muttered under his breath:
"It's a long story. Let me first deal with this big problem and take the general away before I explain in detail! This is a firearm personally designed by Long En, the leader of the Xiaolong Society. It has a very wide range of threats and is extremely dangerous. At the moment, dismantling it is impossible; I'm afraid only Long En can handle it. If there isn't enough pressure to replace the general in its place, it will explode anyway. Fortunately, we have the rough blueprints and can find the data. This was originally given to Long Ye by Long En. I originally intended to leave after receiving the detailed blueprints from Long En, but unfortunately..."
"General, just stand still and don't lift your foot." The frail man quickly surveyed his surroundings, seemingly having already made up his mind. He then laboriously moved a large rock to Cheng Liang's side, squatted down, took out a dagger, and carefully and steadily inserted it between Cheng Liang's foot and the firearm he was standing on, pressing it down firmly.
"Please move your foot away gently, General." Following the frail man's instructions, Cheng Liang nervously and slowly moved his foot away. He turned around and quickly moved the stone that the man had just moved over, carefully pressing it back down.
Only then were the two of them completely out of danger, each nervously wiping the sweat from their foreheads.
Cheng Liang gritted his teeth and muttered to himself, "Long Ye, I appreciate your kind words, but we'll meet again!"
Then, as Cheng Liang and the frail man strolled away, Cheng Liang asked in bewilderment, "By the way, what exactly happened to you in the Xiaolong Society? Why haven't we heard a word from you for so long? His Highness is here too!"
"His Highness has come in person?" Upon hearing this, the frail man immediately stopped in his tracks, staring wide-eyed at Cheng Liang in astonishment.
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