Chapter 566

What's going on?

Even Zhui Yu was greatly startled!

He doesn't know.

Those hanging in the sky are all the character for 'kill'.

The fine silk soft armor they are wearing now is Li Qingluo's most proud weapon creation of the past two years!

This item is extremely costly in both money and labor.

So, even though Li Qingluo wrote to Li Jingchuan, who is now in Rongle County, asking him to have his own industry's blacksmith forge them, it took nearly half a year to produce a total of ten sets!

This fine silk soft armor is as thin as a cicada's wing.

Light as a swan's feather.

Yet it is also so hard that blades and spears cannot pierce it.

When Li Qingluo first got hold of it, she immediately tried it on herself.

Wearing it, she felt nothing.

Even with a dagger, it cannot be pierced.

It's just a pity that these soft armors are a bit small.

They can only protect the upper torso.

Moreover, gathering the materials to make it is extremely difficult, so Li Jingchuan cannot produce more in a short time.

But using them now is enough.

The ten 'kill' characters hanging in the sky now are all experts from the Slay Night Sect who can hang themselves upside down.

They can not only hang themselves upside down, but also draw bows and shoot arrows at the same time.

Furthermore, they can hide all their vulnerable spots behind their torsos.

At least, arrows shot from below cannot harm them in the slightest.

This is why the Qin King's arrows cannot hit those 'hawks' in the sky!

Moreover, the arrows that flew up into the sky fell back down and stabbed vertically into their own people!

And those 'kill' characters in the sky continue to draw bows and shoot arrows without cease.

In an instant, the miserable cries from below rang out one after another.

The Qin King could only shout: "Everyone, disperse to the woods on both sides!"

Withdraw!

Retreat!!

At this point, withdrawing from the valley would make them continued targets of the archers hidden in the mountains.

Staying put would also get them shot full of holes.

Only the woods on either side offer a chance to hide, perhaps still with hope!

The Qin King almost bit his teeth off: "Having fallen into these rebels' ambush, I, the king, swear to fight to the death!"

"Come, follow me up the mountain to kill and capture the rebel leader!"

The Qin King thought these rebels were no more than this number.

First shake off those at the mountain's base, then dodge those overhead.

How many could there be in the woods?

With at least fifteen hundred men still, charging back into the mountains to kill those archers and seize the summit might yet yield a true path to survival.

Moreover, the rebel leader has never appeared; even the Fourth Prince and the Chu Emperor have not shown themselves so far.

Where could they be?

They must be on the mountain, to direct and plan this ambush.

Now they must break the stalemate, or they will fall into this passive situation again!

However, going up the mountain requires abandoning their horses.

The Qin King rushed into the forest, first leaping off his horse, gripping his sword, and quickly charging up the mountain under cover.

Zhui Yu reached out to block.

He did not let anyone continue the pursuit.

He lifted his head to look at the sky and gave a firm nod toward those ten 'kill' characters.

Then, after exchanging a few hand signals, Zhui Yu waved: "Back to the imperial mausoleum!"

"Flank from the rear!"

"Everyone, lead the horses and proceed silently."

This horse-leading naturally refers to the horses abandoned by the Qin King's troops.

Then Zhui Yu led the people to swiftly withdraw from the valley entrance.

After the ground was left with nothing but corpses, the mountain made a 'susu' sound.

It was like a raging wild wind, frantically burrowing through the forest.

Suddenly, the Qin King, who had not yet emerged from the forest, first smelled a strange odor.

"Wait!"

"Not just the smell, there's also a sound."

"Listen!"

The 'crackling' sound followed each slowed footstep, then blazed loudly.

Soon someone realized that a fire was rushing toward them from the mountain——

Not just ahead.

On the left and right, huge flames burst into blaze!

They surged toward them at wind-like speed, surrounding and attacking!

By the time the Qin King realized what was happening, it was already too late.

He shouted in terror, "Quick! Go down the mountain!"

"Everyone, hurry and retreat down the mountain—"

"It's fire! They set it to burn us to death!"

A soldier screamed in terror, turned his head, and sprinted down the mountain.

The Qin King turned, also wanting to go down the mountain, but his foot stumbled and he fell hard to the ground.

By the time the guards hauled him up, the soldiers behind had already collapsed in panic, all sprinting down the mountain.

The Qin King watched the scene, his face ashen, murmuring, "I lost… I, the king, lost…"

The army's morale had scattered.

How could we still win?

The guards shouted angrily, "Come back!! Get back here, all of you!!"

However, nobody wanted to be burned to death.

In just a few blinks, those soldiers had already run several hundred paces away.

The dozen or so guards beside the Qin King angrily snatched up their bows and shot.

After killing a few, the Qin King raised his hand to stop: "Enough!"

"Obviously the path ahead is a dead end; do we still want them to charge in with us?"

Guards: "A bunch of useless trash!!"

"Your Lordship, what should we do now?"

"Should we also retreat?"

Another said, "If we don't retreat, what else can we do? Charge into disaster and die together?"

"These damned rebels are too ruthless!"

"Today it's clearly a trap laid against us. My lord, we may have already fallen completely into their scheme!"

"If I catch them, I will have them sliced to pieces!"

The Qin King tightly closed his eyes.

The drifting smoke made him start coughing heavily.

"I'm afraid that ever since the Fourth Prince was kidnapped, these traps have been set against me."

The fire drew ever closer.

The Qin King's legs began to give out from the strain.

The guards urged him urgently, "My lord, hurry and leave!"

"Yes, my lord, we should leave!"

The Qin King recalled Zong Zheng Wuxie, recalled his own decades of careful planning, recalled how all his efforts had come to naught, and he vomited a mouthful of blood.

"Go…"

"Go!"

After all, he still wanted to save his own life.

However, just as he lifted his foot, a mocking voice came from above.

"Qin King."

"Where do you lot think you're going?"

Only after the men lay dead all around did the Qin King, face full of terror, look toward the group appearing before him.

"Who exactly are you?"

Duan Rongshi brought Leng Dian and Qingyangzi, together with a dozen or so guards from Prince Su's manor, and they had long been waiting here.

After slaughtering all the guards of the Qin King's manor.

Duan Rongshi then pulled down the mask on his face.

"Qin King, you have lost."

Seeing his face clearly, the Qin King was naturally shocked: "You are the newly appointed Valiant Cavalry General, Li Wu?"

"The son-in-law of a merchant family!"

"It's actually you!?"

"Bold peasant! His Majesty and the Fourth Prince were both kidnapped by you!?"

"Are you plotting rebellion!?"

The Qin King suppressed his inner fear and angrily displayed the dignity of the Qin King.

All he got in return was a cold snort from Duan Rongshi.

Qingyangzi and the others shook their heads, staring at the Qin King with cold eyes.

The Qin King felt as if he had been humiliated, yet he did not understand why they were sneering.

Suddenly he sensed something was off.

He hastily turned his head to look around.

Just moments ago the huge flames had been pressing right up to his eyes—where are they now?

Clearly, clearly there is nothing at all!!

Only some smoke drifted scattered in the forest.

Yet not a trace of the fire could be seen!

No, this, how could this possibly be?

Isn't it a big fire?

You weren't going to burn us to death, were you?

How could all of this possibly be fake?

Could it be that there was never any big fire, nor any fire attack?

What on earth is going on?!

The Qin King could no longer keep his composure, his face turning ferocious as if he were about to go mad.

Duan Rongshi: "Your old lover Zulya, you don't know this trick?"

MiaoJiang witchcraft, hallucination.

To make you see whatever hallucinations they want, they just add something to the smoke that kills the gu worms.

It's just that the flames in the brazier burned a little bigger.

Your troops will be utterly routed, unable to form an army.

Seize him.

It's also time to bring him to see the Chu Emperor and the Fourth Prince.

Over these years, the Qin King, in his bid to seize power, has used MiaoJiang witchcraft to kill countless innocent lives.

He has also harmed countless loyal officials who stood in his way.

He even stretched his hand to DaLiang.

To get the Pei family's military manual, he had Zulya scheme and collude between the crown prince and Qin Yu.

He threw all of DaLiang into utter chaos.

Even because of Zulya's viciousness, Hudie died a miserable death, and it almost turned everyone in Wanji Village into bloodthirsty maniacs.

What's more, the poison Zulya concocted also made Li Qingluo suffer greatly.

And the person behind Zulya is none other than the Qin King.

Upon hearing Duan Rongshi mention Zulya, the Qin King's face changed dramatically.

He drew his sword and charged out, still wanting to resist, but Leng Dian stepped forward and grabbed his arm.

Be honest!

If it weren't that your time to die hasn't come yet, would you be allowed to bare your fangs and brandish your claws before my master?

Old thing, wash your neck clean!

Your death is not far off.

Before them, the Qin King had utterly no power to resist.

He could only let out a helpless roar: "Who exactly are you people?"

Li Wu, how did you know about Zulya?

Just who are you——

Where exactly is Zulya now?

What happened to her?

Zulya——

The Qin King was escorted up the mountain.

Qingyangzi watched his back: "It seems he still doesn't know the news of Zulya's death."

"Zong Zheng Wuheng actually didn't tell him."

Duan Rongshi's deep eyes sank slightly.

On the mountaintop, Li Qingluo had already been blowing in the wind for most of the day.

Because she had used witchcraft, she was now sitting cross-legged, regulating her inner breath.

Hearing the commotion, she opened her eyes and looked up.

Sha Yi strode over quickly: "Miss, everything is ready."

Li Qingluo: "Bring the Chu Emperor up here."

By the time the Qin King arrived, Zong Zheng Wuxie had already been hung from the crooked-neck big tree on the mountaintop.

Jinning stood beneath the tree, her face icy.

Aduo was sharpening her knife at the side.

And the Chu Emperor, bound hand and foot with his mouth stuffed, was thrown to sit on a stone, guarded by Sha San and Sha Si.

Four——

The Qin King opened his mouth, originally intending to call out to Zong Zheng Wuxie first.

Seeing the Chu Emperor, he turned his head and urgently cried: "Your Majesty!"

Fourth Prince!

You damned traitors!!

You dare commit the heinous crime of plotting to murder the emperor and maim the imperial princes!

And now you've bound me, the king, and brought me here—what exactly do you intend to do?!!

Li Qingluo rose, dressed head to toe in black tight-fitting clothes, her hair tied up high in a masculine knot.

She walked forward with her hands behind her back.

What do you intend?

Rest assured, today I will make sure all three of you die with full understanding.