Chapter 721

The army marched steadily for two days, reaching Cloud Island Ford on the third day.

The ford is called Cloud Island, and this river within Songzhou is also called Cloud Island.

The name of this river has little to do with Songzhou, or even with the river itself; it is entirely because there are many mid‑river islands, and the wide waters are dotted with them like stars on a chessboard.

When the weather is clear, the water reflects the blue sky and white clouds, making the mid‑river islands look like islands in the clouds; those literati who especially love this scenery named the river Cloud Island River, meaning 'islands in the clouds within the river'.

Chen Wuji set up camp on the riverbank and ordered the army to requisition nearby boats in preparation for crossing the river.

On the second day, a soldier suddenly reported that villagers had recently found a glowing pearl in the river; since Chen Wuji's army was passing through, the local elders believed it was a heavenly auspicious sign bestowed upon Chen Wuji, Lord of Nan Jun, and wished to present it to him.

Chen Wuji, who was pretending to fish by the river, couldn't help laughing when he heard this.

What a vulgar tactic to the extreme!

He couldn't even control himself.

Jing Ke's assassination attempt on Qin becoming a legend for a thousand years certainly has its reasons.

At least they knew to bring a real map to get close to the First Emperor.

These guys, on the other hand, are basically rubbing his intelligence into the ground.

The glowing pearl found in the river, taken as an auspicious sign, was to be offered to him.

Damn it, Chen Wuji didn't even have the thought to play along with them.

"Eleventh Uncle, seize the people, remember to bring a few more experts and thoroughly investigate this village and those elders." Chen Wuji ordered, "If they resist, kill them!"

Accompanying these people in their act is too boring; better to just fish boringly.

He wanted to taste a river catch he had caught himself today.

Chen Li answered with a sound, yet added a hint of doubt asking, "Chief, these people seem off."

"This is clearly suspicious." Chen Wuji said, "Eight or nine out of ten they are assassins pretending, wanting to use this as a pretext to approach me; be extra careful, the visitors are surely experts."

If they wanted to take his head among ten thousand troops, they wouldn't send just any expert; they themselves would not feel at ease.

"Experts? I'm going too!"

Sitting in the shade, Qin Zan Hong, who was studying martial arts with Lu Wanwan, instantly stood up.

The two words 'expert' struck her recent sensitive spot squarely.

Qin Zan Hong, who had been a bit lax about martial training, has lately become frenzied in her pursuit of strength.

It's all because those two words 'expert' stimulated her.

These days, aside from pestering Chen Wuji at night to practice another skill, her time is spent either training alone or sparring with Lu Wanwan, after which she must review it again.

In just a few days, she has challenged each member of the Chen Clan Personal Guard in turn.

The only one she hasn't challenged is Kong Jianshi.

Kong Jianshi is taciturn, speaks little, is a grand master, and has an unapproachable look; probably for these reasons Qin Zan Hong has never dared to ask him for advice.

"Older sister, I'm going too!"

Lu Wanwan also followed, her eyes full of excitement.

Seeing this, Chen Li's mind instantly raced, "Chief, this……"

"Let them be; after all they are two experts, no need to be overly cautious." Chen Wuji said calmly, "Just be careful not to give the opponent an obvious opening."

Chen Li, seeing this, found it hard to say more, so he led Qin Zan Hong and Lu Wanwan out of the Lìng ground.

But following these two living ancestors, he could not help being nervous.

To avoid any mishap, Chen Li summoned sixteen Chen Clan Personal Guards, plus three hundred guards, and they marched mightily to the outer Daying.

Outside the Daying, many villagers had come; looking around, there were over a hundred.

There were a few white‑haired elders, the rest being the village's young strongmen.

They set up their formation properly, lifting the incense table and carrying the offerings.

"Who is in charge?" Chen Li asked in a deep voice.

A white‑haired elder leaning on a cane stepped forward, saying, "I, unworthy as I am, am the village elder of this place and the clan head of the Zhou surname in Zhouli Village; I have seen the general!"

"Come forward!" Chen Li ordered.

The three hundred mysterious armor personal guards spread out like wings in an instant, surrounding these villagers in the middle.

The clan chief's face instantly panicked, "General, why is this?"

"Clan chief, don't be nervous; it's nothing, just that this is a key military area, so please be cautious and cooperate by producing any weapons or implements you carry." Chen Li said.

The clan chief then relaxed, saying, "Ah, I see; this is proper, proper."

"You little brats, produce all weapons and implements on your persons; this is a key military area, don't cause trouble for the generals."

The crowd murmured a bit, then everyone produced the weapons they carried.

Few carried weapons, and most of those were hatchets; only one or two had daggers concealed.

Chen Li looked at the scene, his brows slightly furrowed.

No matter how you look at it, this doesn't much resemble assassins.

Over a hundred people, with only a dozen hatchets and a couple of daggers—how could they carry out an assassination?

But Chen Li believed Chen Wuji would not order this for no reason; there must be some underlying cause.

"You must first line up and be searched one by one before you may see the Commander!"

The clan chief cooperated, raising his hand with effort and instructing those behind him, "You little brats, to meet Commander Chen Jieshuai, please cooperate—don't lose face for our Zhou clan in front of Commander Chen Jieshuai."

The crowd responded in a confused jumble, then quickly formed a line.

The elder holding his cane stood first in line.

Lu Wanwan, dressed in black martial attire, glanced and whispered to Qin Zan Hong, "Older sister, these people look just like ordinary folks, right?"

"Don't underestimate the world; those experts, unless they enter deep meditation or deliberately reveal their aura, you simply cannot tell their strength." Qin Zan Hong scanned everyone here cautiously, finally fixing her gaze on the elder's cane.

"Moreover, assassins are certainly better at disguise—men dressing as women, the young posing as old, men dressing as old women are common; their weapons can also be disguised as various things. When I used to work at the county office, this happened all the time."

Speaking to this point, she suddenly shouted: "Shi Yi Shu, this old clan chief's cane, I think we should leave it behind too; his legs are quite nimble, so there's no need to bring the cane in."

Chen Li nodded, "Old clan chief, let's also put the cane over here."

The old clan chief heard this and froze for a moment, "This, this is just an ordinary cane, made of jujube wood."

Qin Zhanhong gave a faint smile, "But I don't think it looks like that; there must be… something inside."

The old clan chief's face suddenly changed, "Exposed, retreat!"

As his words fell, the white-haired old man suddenly lunged at the Personal Guard beside him, flicked his wrist, and the cane that looked no different from an ordinary one instantly turned into a long sword.