Chapter 171: On the Eve of the Great Battle, Part II

Zhao Yuxin picked up a piece of meat with her chopsticks and put it into her bowl, saying, "This City Lord seems quite righteous; he invited us to dinner and even promised us a great many benefits."

Li Yue objected, "I think these people just want to use us. When real danger comes, won't it just be every man for himself?"

Sun Zi nodded and said, "That makes sense. Brother Zhu, what do you think?"

Zhu Zhiquan set down his bowl and chopsticks and said, "Well, everyone, I'm going to walk around nearby for a bit." He then left his seat and walked away quickly.

Sun Zi: "Sigh, sister-in-law, why does your man eat so little? Is the food here not to his taste?"

Zhao Yuxin: "Him? His appetite has always been this small. Don't worry about him; come, let's keep eating."

………………

Outside the banquet venue, Zhu Zhiquan took deep breaths of the surrounding air; having so many people around just now had stifled him.

Just as he was preparing to head back, a woman's voice suddenly came over. "Hey! You murderer who killed my own younger brother, stop right there!"

Zhu Zhiquan looked toward the sound and saw Jiugong Xizi leading some of the executives of her Black Mouth Dao Group walking toward him.

After seeing who it was, Zhu Zhiquan pressed one hand tightly against his sword hilt, preparing to fight the other party.

Jiugong Xizi drew the long blade at her waist and said to Zhu Zhiquan, "I remember your name is Zhu Zhiquan, right? Come! Let me avenge my brother. None of you are to help!"

Hearing the commotion, the Patrol Team rushed over one after another, surrounding Zhu Zhiquan and the Black Mouth Dao Group tightly.

Then, a soldier dressed as a mage asked, "Are you lot looking to start a fight?"

"So what if we are? Don't tell me you can actually do anything about it!" an executive of the Black Mouth Dao Group scolded.

The soldier looked at this arrogant player with a hint of disdain, then flashed in front of the arrogant player and knocked him flat with a single palm strike.

Jiugong Xizi looked at him in shock, because as the Regiment Leader, she hadn't seen clearly what had happened with that strike either, but she couldn't show it, or her prestige might be affected.

Afterward, Jiugong Xizi smiled and said to the soldier, "I'm sorry, sir. This subordinate of mine doesn't know the rules and has offended you; please don't hold it against them."

At this moment, Zhao Yuxin ran over in a hurry, intending to ask what was wrong, but as soon as she saw Jiugong Xizi, she immediately understood what had happened.

She knew Zhu Zhiquan was not good with words, so she took a large step forward to block Zhu Zhiquan and said respectfully to Jiugong Xizi, "Regiment Leader Jiugong, what wind blew you here?"

Jiugong Xizi said with a gloomy face, "Oh, it's nothing much. I brought my Player Group here to rest, and I didn't expect to run into you. By the way, why are there only two of you? Where are your other two accomplices?"

Zhao Yuxin: "They are inside eating right now, but there is one thing that needs to be clarified: we did not kill your brother. I hope you will look into it clearly."

"Heh, you're quite good at pretending!" Jiugong Xizi looked at the surrounding soldiers again and said in a cold tone, "Forget it, it's not convenient to make a move here, but I hope to see you on the ground before nine o'clock tomorrow."

Jiugong Xizi apologized to the surrounding soldiers again and quietly shook hands with the mage; the mage glanced down and then signaled for her to take her people and leave.

After Jiugong Xizi took her executives into the banquet, the mage looked at Zhu Zhiquan and Zhao Yuxin again, a hint of a threat appearing in his gaze.

Zhao Yuxin immediately understood the other party's meaning and pulled a pot of mushrooms out of her Plant Transport Bag. The appearance of these mushrooms was very rough, and they emitted the smell of tobacco.

Zhao Yuxin explained, "Greetings, Officer. This is a Tobacco Mushroom I cultivated through special means; it is a type of mushroom that can be used as tobacco. If you like it..."

Before she could finish, the mage quickly tucked the Tobacco Mushroom into his sleeve and then left with the Patrol Team.

Seeing the crisis temporarily resolved, Zhu Zhiquan went straight back to the Tricycle carriage, picked up his fitness equipment, and began to train; the first item was swinging a seventy-jin Barbell with great force.

After adjusting the weight, Zhu Zhiquan began to try swinging the Barbell with one hand. But as soon as he tried to rotate it, the Barbell fell, which made Zhu Zhiquan's eyes light up with excitement, and he immediately began a new round of attempts.

By the time Zhao Yuxin returned with Xuebao, Zhu Zhiquan still hadn't managed to swing the seventy-jin Barbell with one hand.

Zhao Yuxin came to the front of the Tricycle, picked up a rabbit-eared rat that had died from hitting the wheel, and then said to Zhu Zhiquan, "Ajiu, do you think that Jiugong Xizi will find an opportunity to trip us up when we attack the nest tomorrow?"

Zhu Zhiquan said while swinging the Barbell, "I don't think so."

"Why?"

"It's simple. If Jiugong Xizi trips us up while attacking the nest, never mind what the natives think, if the attack on the nest is hindered because of tripping us up, then basically no players will be able to reach the ground in time tomorrow!"

After hearing Zhu Zhiquan's words, Zhao Yuxin suddenly realized, "That makes sense. In that case, we must run away with Sun Zi Fu Fu after we capture the nest."

"No!" Zhu Zhiquan stopped the motion of swinging the Barbell. "As soon as we have a chance to pass through the nest, we will run away with Sun Zi and the others."

"Okay." Zhao Yuxin prepared to enter the carriage to rest, but as she passed by Zhu Zhiquan, a foul stench entered her nose, and she pointed in a direction and said, "Ajiu, why don't you stop training for a moment and go over there to take a bath?"

Zhu Zhiquan looked in the direction Zhao Yuxin pointed; there was a large bathhouse there, so he grabbed his change of clothes and walked toward it.

While Zhu Zhiquan was bathing, Zhao Yuxin released the two Durian Warriors and ordered them to be responsible for the safety of the night, and sent private messages to the others telling them to be careful, before entering the carriage to rest.

The next morning, the Jiading Cheng City Lord gathered all the elites and all the players at the drill ground, which made the many players who had never seen such a big scene incredibly excited, and they frantically flooded the World Channel.

Xihai Langzi: "Damn, we're about to attack the giant nest, I'm so nervous!"

Huahua: "I'm in the first row of this drill ground right now; honestly, this is my first time encountering such a big scene!"

Xiangxiang Tiemei: "Is anyone in the last row with me? Can you tell me how many people are on the scene? I feel like I can't see the edge of the regular army from here!"

Duyan Chuanzhang: "I'm in the last row too, the person above, but I can't see where their end is either."

………………

Zhu Zhiquan closed his panel and stood under the gate of the drill ground, waiting for the others to arrive.

Zhao Yuxin lay on his back, looking a bit bored. "Ajiu, why are Sister Ling and the others so slow?"

Zhu Zhiquan stood where he was, silent. Zhao Yuxin looked worried and said, "Ajiu, do you think something might have happened to Sister Ling and the others?"

Zhu Zhiquan remained silent, preparing to send private messages to Sun Zi and Ling Xi.

"Sorry we're late." At this moment, Sun Zi's voice came. Several people turned their heads to look and found that Sun Zi and Ling Xi were each holding a bag, though it was unclear what was inside.

Zhao Yuxin: "You guys are really slow. Tell me, what did you go do? Why did it take so long?"

Sun Zi: "Went to prepare some small props. Anyway, let's not talk about it, let's go in first."

Zhao Yuxin: "Okay."