Chapter 306

"These people give me a feeling, hmm! Very strange!"

Qian Chen used the art of observing qi to watch the destiny of these few people. He always felt that it was empty and unreal, with a feeling of floating on the surface. Moreover, their style of doing things always had something familiar about it.

Qian Chen frowned slightly, thinking that anyway, he was just watching the fun.

Since these few people were trying every possible way to mingle with the person facing the tribulation, why not fulfill their wish?

"Since your whereabouts have already been exposed while fleeing from the hunt, a large group of pursuers will arrive soon. Why not make some contact with these people?" Qian Chen whispered to Zhixia.

Zhixia hesitated: "These people have unfathomable intentions. I plan to take advantage of the fact that the pursuers haven't arrived yet, take Zhang Huaien, and escape by river, switching to another route!"

Qian Chen said calmly: "Compared to you, how is the skill of this gu-worm manipulator?"

Zhixia thought for a moment and understood Qian Chen's meaning: "In a head-on confrontation, he is no match for me, but gu-worms are tricky and hard to guard against. If he is in the dark and I am in the light, it is inevitably somewhat dangerous!"

"But such a character is only a minor role among those hunting you!" Qian Chen explained: "If there were truly accurate news of you boarding the boat, he wouldn't need to carry your portraits with him! The other side wouldn't send an assassin who isn't even your match in a head-on fight to hunt you down! This portrait shows that your enemies must have laid a net on your way back to Jiankang. And you just happened to run into this person!"

"And once this person dies, even without him sending news of you back, it will be like prey triggering a spider web. Next, the real assassins will arrive one after another. Your only chance is actually to accelerate and escape the net before it truly forms, rather than changing routes!"

Zhixia asked, puzzled: "Why?"

"After switching to the land route, the speed will be much slower than the water route. It seems like the movement is hidden, but in reality, it makes it easier for the enemy to set up ambushes in front of you and perfect their layout. The key to escaping is to constantly pull the enemy, making them unable to form a tight encirclement. Otherwise, no matter how well you hide, there will be a time when you are caught."

"Therefore, your only chance is actually to speed up, rush out before their encirclement net forms, and then pull the pursuers to create flaws, forcing the enemy to only be able to dispatch experts to intercept you in front!"

Zhixia also understood this principle and nodded slightly: "Escaping in the world of martial arts, once exposed, one must not harbor any luck! The speed of escaping is the most important!"

Since taking the boat downstream is the fastest way to Jiankang, one cannot easily get off the boat. In this way, one has to face the man in Daoist robes and his group. Since they claim to be here to rescue their group, they are a source of help.

Making contact with them became the best choice for Zhixia and the others.

After telling Zhixia these things, Qian Chen ignored Zhang Huaien, who was still hiding behind the tree, and let the Ear-Dao God open the screen. From the perspective of the few reincarnators, they saw the scene on the screen suddenly seem to come to life.

Yuan Hao, the man in Daoist robes, who had been secretly observing the screen, showed an extremely vivid expression of surprise on his face, which made Qian Chen's heart move, and he secretly said: "Good acting! It's almost catching up to me!"

"Hmm! It's just that the acting of the others is a bit worse. Except for the woman who is a natural actress, the others are a bit..."

The wandering knight's expression of surprise was slightly stiff, and the scholar's expression didn't even change much, but fortunately, his eyes had some depth, which could cover up the lack of acting skills.

And that lewd, short man with his mouth wide open looked even more exaggerated.

A willow tree splashed with ink appeared in front of the screen, and the small grass rendered in ink under the tree suddenly became vivid. It broke through the spatial boundaries of the ink painting on the screen, as if the world in the painting extended to the outside of the screen, making the whole painting three-dimensional and vivid.

Qian Chen sat in the painting, sitting at the desk, his right palm resting on the ground, his left hand holding a wine cup. Zhixia beside him was wearing hemp clothes, and his sword scabbard was also wrapped with a hemp rope.

He placed the sword scabbard across his knees, sat cross-legged on the ground, and behind Qian Chen, he scrutinized the few people.

Yuan Hao, the man in Daoist robes, laughed and said: "A few friends have been watching us in the dark for so long, you should know whether we are enemies or friends by now!"

Qian Chen raised his cup and smiled: "Having friends come from afar, isn't it a joy!"

Yuan Hao, the man in Daoist robes, stepped into the painting with the few reincarnators. His eyes swept over Zhang Huaien, who was hiding behind the tree and peeking nervously, and his eyes froze. He didn't hide the change in his eyes.

And the woman Du Xiuniang behind him, seeing the group of scholars by the stream not far away, as if they didn't see their group, still chatting and feasting, drinking and writing poems, her expression instantly became much more solemn.

In the spiritual sense channel that only their team could perceive, Du Xiuniang said solemnly: "The people protecting Zhang Huaien are not weak. The art of painting has reached the realm of bringing things to life under the brush. Such a person can create a spell with a casual painting."

The wandering knight said: "Isn't it a good thing that the plot characters on our side are powerful?"

"Half joy, half worry!" Yuan Hao said: "If the strength of Zhang Huaien's side is weak, it might not help us complete the mission, but it won't cause too much obstruction. We can easily control Zhang Huaien in our hands."

"But if their side is too strong, it will be more difficult for us to gain their recognition. After all, providing help in a snowstorm is always better than adding flowers to a brocade."

"If we don't build up enough 'momentum' in the early stage, then in the later stage, when the experts from the royal family behind Zhang Huaien come to help, we will easily be marginalized, which is especially unfavorable for completing the main mission two!"

Qian Chen raised his cup and smiled at the few people: "Zhang Zhongzheng received an imperial decree, but was hunted by the southern noble families in the several counties of Wu Yue in the southeast. We fled back to Jiankang in a panic, and we are already like birds startled by the mere twang of a bow. You righteous men came to help, I wonder who introduced you, so that we can repay you in the future!"

Yuan Hao cupped his hands and said: "My group are just nobodies, forgive us for not being able to tell you our names!"

As soon as he spoke, he could feel that the young Daoist in front of him was a little less enthusiastic, the wandering knight holding the sword beside him also added a point of suspicion in his eyes, and Zhang Huaien, who was hiding behind the tree and initially showed joy, was even more disappointed and became much colder toward the few people.

Yuan Hao was well prepared for this. Who told them not to be willing to spend merit points and not buy a clan identity before entering the mission?

He knew that during the Wei and Jin dynasties in the Earth Immortal Realm, the identity of a noble clan was highly valued. Without a noble clan identity, entering this mission world would inevitably lead to many inconveniences.

But... those noble clan identities were just too damn expensive!

Just a small clan in the clan records cost 500 merit points, and a marginal descendant of a commandery-level noble family cost 1,000 merit points. Clans such as those whose heritage could be traced back to the time of the Hundred Schools of Thought and had family-transmitted classics were even more expensive, and actually included the price of some cultivation techniques.

As for the Wang and Xie families, and even the ancient human emperors and the noble families of the Middle Ages, even if they were collateral descendants, they couldn't afford them even if they sold themselves.

Just for an ordinary mission, paying such a high price would definitely lead to a loss. Yuan Hao naturally couldn't do that.

Therefore, the identity he could take out to prove himself was quite limited!

"Zhang Zhongzheng is admired by the world, and the southeastern noble families have ulterior motives and intend to rebel. Righteous people have long been unwilling to let their conspiracy succeed. We came here specifically for this to help!" Yuan Hao said with a righteous face, and at the same time, he handed out a jade pendant.

"A retainer of the Xie family?" Qian Chen recognized the identity they showed.

Yuan Hao saw the expression on Qian Chen's face and secretly said: "This Xie family retainer identity exchanged for 100 merit points was worth it. If we can get on the Xie family's line later, then everything will be earned back!"

Hearing this and seeing the Xie family retainer identity jade pendant, Qian Chen also showed a satisfied expression. And Zhang Huaien behind the tree couldn't help but show excitement when he heard "admired by the world."

And then the words of the man in Daoist robes also dispelled many of his doubts.

After all, although the Sima family is weak and corrupt, it is still the orthodoxy of the Great Jin. No matter when, orthodoxy always has its own group of supporters.

Even Zhang Huaien himself felt that he was a famous scholar with high morality who harbored great righteousness for uncovering evidence that Sun En intended to rebel for the imperial court.

Once the reputation is spread, one's own status will be raised by two levels.

Therefore, because of this kind of orthodox righteousness, a group of righteous warriors from the world came to help, which was also a very natural thing in Zhang Huaien's concept.

It was Zhixia who didn't care much about orthodoxy, so naturally, he didn't believe this set.

In his view, these people should be people sent by the northern noble families who hoped that Sun En's rebellion would be exposed, triggering a full-scale conflict between the Sima family and Sun En.

"... The person who died was an assassin sent by the Wu Jun noble family to investigate. He was good at manipulating gu-worms and released insects to secretly harm us, but we induced the gu-worms to backlash and killed him. But the news that he discovered Zhang Zhongzheng on the boat must have been sent out. Experts will soon arrive to intercept and kill us, but we can no longer abandon the boat!"

Qian Chen said with a serious expression, talking about the assassin with Yuan Hao and the others.

"Looking at the layout here, the assassins lurking on the boat must not be just this one person. They have been secretly observing us for a long time and may have mastered a lot of information. And it has been a long time since we killed this person; they may discover the trickery at any time. At that time, whether they destroy this boat or meet the experts arriving later, it will be very troublesome."

"I ask you righteous men to eliminate these people for us!"

Zhixia's expression was a bit strange.

The identities of these people are still unclear, how can such a big matter be entrusted so easily?

And Qian Chen seems to be just someone they met by chance on the road, whose identity doesn't need to be worried about. Come to think of it, if the identity of a righteous warrior in the world is one point of credibility, and the Xie family retainer is three points of credibility, then Qian Chen's identity as a friend of the Sixteenth Princess is only eight points of credibility. Asking him for help is naturally trustworthy.

But when did Qian Chen seem to be the leader among them who escorted Zhang Huaien back to Jiankang?

Seeing Qian Chen acting like the person in charge of this matter, negotiating with those people of unknown origin, Zhixia felt a bit strange in his heart, but he still acquiesced to Qian Chen's actions.

After all, he didn't know how to talk to these people...

He only knew how to kill demons and ghosts. Even this escort of Zhang Huaien was just because of a favor that had to be repaid. He didn't know the ways of the noble families! And Zhang Huaien was a good-for-nothing... Under such circumstances, it was rare to meet a reliable person who could be relatively trusted.

What if he was lazy?

At worst, if the situation was not good, he would just take Zhang Huaien and continue to run!

Yuan Hao and the others heard this familiar request and naturally felt that this was a test for them to gain Zhang Huaien's trust and officially join the escort team. They were too familiar with this kind of process that felt like a mission from the Lord of Reincarnation.

Naturally, they agreed, without considering at all whether their attitude violated common sense.

Because the common sense of reincarnators and the common sense of noble families are not the same set of rules.

"Sure enough... this familiar feeling!" Qian Chen played the role of the plot character issuing the mission and keenly noticed the disharmony in the attitude of these people, this very adaptable attitude.

He easily simplified the trust relationship between them, from a group of people who did not trust each other and whose origins were suspicious, representing the interests of various parties, into a relationship between an NPC issuing a mission and reincarnators executing the mission.

Plot characters don't need to consider what these people are planning, whose interests they represent, whether there is a possibility of betraying them, or whether they are spies from the enemy side.

As long as the mission is issued, reincarnators don't consider their own interests, the relevant interests of the forces behind them, the consequences of this matter, or even their own selfishness, because after completing the mission and leaving this world, these worries don't exist.

Completing the mission has become their instinct. Completing the mission can earn rewards. If you want to complete a big mission, you must first complete the prerequisite mission.

This is—the training of the Lord God!

"Reincarnators?" Qian Chen thought to himself: "I can't be sure yet... Let me probe a little more!"