A group of men in black crouched low as they walked furtively through the grass, which was almost as tall as a person.
Under the clear blue sky, in broad daylight, wearing black so openly is truly eye-catching.
Hu Pin walked at the front, his eyes shining with wisdom and full of energy, keeping a keen eye on everything around him.
Zheng Xuan, walking behind him, felt that their actions were not quite safe and couldn't help but whisper, "Master, it's daytime now. Isn't it inappropriate for us to be so open and aboveboard?"
Hu Pin was displeased upon hearing this: "The first two operations were carried out at night, but were they successful? Were they successful?"
He lowered his voice, spoke quickly and urgently, and his tone was irritable.
It seems that after the previous two failures, he has reached his breaking point and is now going all in, making a desperate gamble.
“But it is really inappropriate for you to come in person, especially during the day,” Zheng Xuan said.
"What's wrong with daytime? Do you think we could have succeeded at night? Don't be fooled by the fact that it's quiet at night; they'll be more alert and on high alert. On the contrary, in broad daylight, who would expect us to launch a surprise attack?" Hu Ping said smugly.
Zheng Xuan lowered his head and followed him forward, speechless.
The group walked through the bushes and saw soldiers guarding the perimeter of the restricted area in the distance, their heads covered in helmets, and some of them were yawning.
"Look, if we don't act now, when will we?" Hu Ping said in a low, impassioned voice, spittle flying as he spoke.
“Yes, Master is right,” Zheng Xuan echoed, and the others dared not speak.
It was lunchtime, and the soldiers were about to change shifts when Hu Ping turned around and kept winking at them. But when he saw the puzzled look on his subordinates' faces, he angrily said, "Now! They'll be less vigilant when they're about to eat. We'll sneak up on them and catch them off guard. You guys go up and take care of these few, and the rest of you come with me and charge in."
Everyone nodded, indicating that they understood.
So the group continued to move forward quickly, their heads buried in the dense weeds.
Just as they were about to approach the unsuspecting soldiers, the men in front drew their broadswords. Suddenly, the man at the very front let out a scream, followed by a series of screams.
The soldiers perked up, drew their swords, and asked warily, "Who's there?"
Several soldiers carrying swords slowly walked towards them.
Hu Ping cursed loudly, "Useless!"
Then he was the first to draw his knife and shout, "Charge!"
A group of men charged toward the soldiers with menacing force. They were masked in black, their eyes filled with violent killing intent. Before the soldiers could react, they had already swung their swords down, and the first few soldiers were killed instantly.
Seeing this, the other soldiers rushed over, and a bloody path was cut through. Hu Ping, holding a long sword, shouted to the men behind him, "Follow me and charge in!"
Their morale soared immediately, and they charged toward the only breakthrough point.
Hu Pin, who was leading the way, had only taken a few steps when he suddenly stumbled. When he came to his senses and saw what was happening in front of him, he was hanging from a tree in a bag made of ropes about the thickness of two fingers.
Looking around, he saw that some people were also hanging from trees like him, while others had their feet caught in animal traps and were groaning on the ground, clutching their bloodied calves.
Some people escaped, but by this time, the soldiers had all been drawn to the area. There were at least eight hundred or a thousand soldiers stationed there, and their small group was no match for them.
Hu Pin was devastated to find that his subordinates were quickly captured alive, while those who resisted fiercely were killed on the spot.
He was suspended in the net, and the knife in his hand fell to the ground in haste. Looking at his subordinates who were also suspended, they were trying to cut the net with their knives, but they were struggling so hard that their faces turned red, and the thick ropes remained intact.
He hadn't expected that his subordinates were all useless, no match for the ant-like number of soldiers. Only Zheng Xuan had some ability and was one of the few who could fight against the soldiers.
Some soldiers engaged them in combat, while others activated their repeating crossbows and aimed them at the group.
Hu Pin was instantly terrified. He saw a soldier aiming a crossbow at him, and the thick arrows would surely kill him.
As the soldier pulled the arrow, Hu Ping was completely stunned, but there was nothing he could do but freeze in shock.
The thick string on the crossbow sizzled as it was pulled taut, and the arrow pierced the air in an instant, hurtling towards Hu Ping.
He felt ice-cold all over, couldn't hear the surrounding noise, his mind was blank, and he even forgot his fear.
Suddenly, he and the net plummeted downwards. The sudden feeling of weightlessness brought him back to his senses. It was Zheng Xuan who had leaped into the air and slashed the rope at the top of the net with his sword.
Hu Pin fell to the ground, looking disheveled, but showed no anger whatsoever.
"Quick, get this thing out of the way!" Surrounded by flashing swords, Hu Ping felt like a fish on a chopping block, about to be stabbed at any moment.
Zheng Xuan swung his sword at Hu Pin, who was about to curse when a flash of silver light appeared and the net was cut.
Hu Pin, still in shock, grabbed a bloodstained knife from the ground with trembling hands. As he stood up, soldiers were already slashing at him.
Zheng Xuan drew his sword to block, but on the other side, the soldier operating the repeating crossbow once again aimed his arrow at Hu Pin.
Hu Pin felt as if a winter wind and hail were passing through his heart. Misfortunes never come singly, and even the heavens seemed to be against him. Just then, a long sword came slashing at him. He had no time to dodge and could only use his sword to block it.
But with wolves in front and tigers behind, if you take the knife, you can't dodge the arrows.
Everything happened quickly; the sharp blade pierced the shoulder and flesh, penetrating the chest, and blood dripped from the arrowhead.
"Zheng Xuan!" Hu Ping exclaimed in surprise, looking at the taciturn little follower who always accompanied him, with an arrow stuck in his chest, his body swaying.
The soldiers seized the opportunity to rush over, and he was unable to defend himself. He was slashed several more times and was covered in blood in the blink of an eye.
"Master, you must leave quickly." He didn't utter a single word before spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Hu Pin's martial arts skills were not bad, but two fists can't fight four hands. Zheng Xuan helped him block the knife. He knew that he was going to die, so he simply used his last breath to become Hu Pin's human shield.
"Go quickly... Lord..." Blood gushed from his mouth, and he could no longer hold on as he collapsed to the ground.
Hu Pin called out "Zheng Xuan" and was covered in his blood. The mission had failed, and all of his subordinates, except for a few who were captured alive, were dead.
Seeing that Zheng Xuan could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground, covered in blood and gore, he turned and ran away.
Throughout, his mind was a complete blank. What he could clearly see was the corpses strewn all over the ground, and Zheng Xuan's face, which was no longer recognizable, with his mouth opening and closing as if he were saying, "Master, run!"
Last night, to celebrate the completion of the traps around the forbidden area, Chang Lili and the others drank to their hearts' content. Today, they were all a bit lazy, but when she arrived in the forest, she found that the others were already there, just as usual.
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