Meng Ruliu opened the gates of the holy land and was about to rush inside when a soldier on the stone steps shouted, "General, be careful, there may be an ambush inside!"
Hearing the soldier's warning, Meng Ruliu's heart skipped a beat, and she stopped at the door.
The soldier was right. The cavalry had charged down the mountain, and the enemy was clearly visible – it was Jiang Yan. He had killed and wounded dozens of Jin soldiers with his defensive rifle, but he himself was killed by the cavalry's sword.
The entrance to the holy site is right in front of us, filled with houses. I wonder if any enemies are hiding inside. It's raining heavily, and the sound of the rain will mask any enemy movements. If someone in the shadows fires a defensive gun, we won't be able to hide.
She came to capture Zhang Ying to rescue her sworn sister Su Wan, not to die.
Wiping the rain off her face, she said to the Jin soldiers who rushed up to her, "Spread out. Don't all go through the main gate. Form groups of four, with each group spaced three zhang apart."
The soldiers were spread out so that even if the enemy fired defensive guns, they would only suffer minimal damage.
The soldiers in the front ranks formed eight teams of four and charged to the outer wall of the holy site. Two soldiers joined hands for support, while the other two, with swords in their mouths, scaled the wall one after another. One soldier drew his bow and arrow to guard the surroundings, while another jumped down to search.
Meng Ruliu led the rest of the soldiers to wait outside the gate, when they heard a soldier inside shout, "General, no enemy has been spotted."
Meng Ruliu waved his hand, and the soldiers poured in through the gate, bypassed the artificial hill at the entrance, and came to the center of the courtyard.
"Search the rooms in both corridors," Meng Ruliu instructed. "One person should go in to search each time, while the rest of you spread out."
Having witnessed the power of the defensive guns, the soldiers cautiously searched each room one by one. One soldier kicked open a door to check inside, while the rest spread out in a fan shape outside the room.
Meng Ruliu led the remaining soldiers, each armed with a powerful bow, to stand guard in the courtyard.
When the Gui River breached its banks, she came to the sacred site once in search of Su Wan's whereabouts. Su Wan came directly to greet her at the gate that time; she had never actually entered and was unfamiliar with the terrain.
A lieutenant approached her with a defensive pistol, presenting it to her with both hands, saying, "General, this is the green-glowing iron cylinder that the enemy dropped."
Meng Ruliu took it and weighed it in her hand. It looked like a small metal tube, yet it could shoot out such a powerful green light. Almost instantly, it felled dozens of people.
She had never used this thing before, and after holding it in her hand and examining it for a while, she noticed a button at the end of the metal tube.
"Everyone, step aside. Let me see how to use this weapon."
The soldiers quickly made way, and Meng Ruliu raised his defensive rifle, aimed it at a boulder about two zhang away, and pressed the button. A green light shot out from the muzzle, struck the boulder, and immediately pierced a fist-sized hole in it, from which white smoke hissed in the rain.
Everyone gasped, saying, "Even arrows can't move this stone. This weapon is truly formidable."
Meng Ruliu was delighted to have acquired the defensive pistol. She sheathed her copper whip back on her back, gripped the pistol, and asked the soldiers in the corridors on both sides, "Is anyone there?"
The soldier in the corridor replied, "General, the front yard is empty."
“Leave a hundred men here to guard the area. Send someone down the mountain to inform His Majesty to immediately send infantry up the mountain,” Meng Ruliu said, gripping his defensive rifle as he walked toward the backyard. “The rest of you, come with me to the backyard.”
There were many houses along the way to the backyard, and the Jin soldiers searched them carefully but found no trace of the enemy.
Meng Ruliu was anxious to find Zhang Ying and instructed everyone to speed up the process.
The group passed through a medicinal herb garden, and Meng Ruliu saw that ahead was a sheer cliff, with no way forward. At the bottom of the cliff was a tightly closed metal door, and standing in the doorway was a middle-aged scholar, none other than Jiang Wenpei.
Seeing the defensive pistol in Jiang Wenpei's hand and his nervous expression, Meng Ruliu instructed the soldiers, "You all wait here, I'll go talk to him."
One of the lieutenants said, "General, he has a defensive gun. It's too dangerous for you to go. Why don't we just fire a volley of arrows and kill him?"
Meng Ruliu said, "We're here to arrest Zhang Ying. Only he can open that metal door behind us. Besides, he once saved His Majesty and my sworn sister's lives. Let me see if I can persuade him to open the door."
The lieutenant said, "Then General, please be careful. We'll set up our bows and arrows behind you."
The soldiers took down their bows and nocked their arrows. Meng Ruliu stepped forward, holding his defensive pistol, and said to Jiang Wenpei, "Mr. Jiang."
Chu Yi had told her that the maximum range of the defensive gun was four zhang, so she deliberately stood six zhang away.
Jiang Wenpei stared at the defensive gun in her hand and said, "You killed the patriarch?"
Meng Ruliu said, "Jiang Yan also killed dozens of my soldiers. Mr. Jiang, you once saved my sworn sister, and I don't want to hurt you. Could you please open the door and lead us to capture Zhang Ying?"
Jiang Wenpei, who had been pointing his defensive pistol at Meng Ruliu, lowered the muzzle slightly upon hearing Meng Ruliu's words and said, "I cannot betray the Creator. Nor can you be a match for the Creator. I advise you one more time to retreat."
Meng Ruliu said, "You saw His Majesty cut off the pursuer's arm with your own eyes. The Creator doesn't have any great abilities."
Jiang Wenpei shook his head repeatedly and said, "The terror of the Creator does not come from these trackers. They are merely guards protecting the Holy Land."
Meng Ruliu said, "Does the master mean that he definitely won't help?"
Jiang Wenpei said, "I will never betray the Creator. What the Creator has given us is something that no one in this world can give, not even the emperor."
Meng Ruliu raised her defensive gun and said, "Sir, if you are not willing to betray the Creator, then step aside and let me break down the door."
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