Chapter 76: The Ambush

Chen Mo hid within a sparse, low-lying thicket, surrounded only by countless low shrubs and many small trees no more than a zhang or so in height.

"This is the only road that can bypass the Tax Bureau's surveillance; elsewhere, there are either checkpoints set up by the Tax Bureau, or one must climb over mountains and ridges.

As long as nothing unexpected happens, the Dutian Dao Sect members will certainly pass through here."

Mo Hu leaned in beside Chen Mo and spoke in a low voice.

"Will other Foot Merchants pass through here? Let's not accidentally kill the wrong person and alert the enemy," Chen Mo asked in a focused tone.

"No, those Foot Merchants transport a large quantity of goods, otherwise it wouldn't be worth the trip. They carry carts and horses and cannot pass through here; they all make arrangements with the Tax Bureau in advance," Mo Hu explained.

Foot Merchants smuggle goods to make money, so naturally, they haul as much as they can in one go.

If they haul too little, even if smuggling commercial goods is quite profitable, after subtracting the costs of food and fodder and the bribes paid up and down the line, they might end up losing money.

After all, even if they take this route to bypass the Tax Bureau, once the goods are delivered, they still have to pay bribes to sell them openly.

Therefore, if they haul too little, they will definitely lose money.

Furthermore, carts and horses cannot travel through this wilderness at all; it is not only hard on the horses and carts, but the speed is extremely slow.

If they are unlucky enough to encounter a rainy day, the carts and horses would immediately get stuck.

Hence, those Foot Merchants basically make all arrangements in advance and then transport their commercial goods along the main roads.

Only the Dutian Dao Sect, when needing to transport certain commercial goods that cannot see the light of day, and not for the sake of profit, would take such a path.

"Then it seems the Dutian Dao Sect shouldn't be transporting much; of course, it's also possible they used Scholars as porters," Chen Mo said softly, making his judgment.

The Scholars of the Dutian Dao Sect do not lack strength; using them as porters, even if the transported goods are relatively heavy, they can still pass through here.

"That is a possibility. We must be prepared to use a Martial Artist's Qi and Blood to break the evil arts of those demonic people," Mo Hu's gaze was deep.

Those demonic people of the Dutian Dao Sect appear impervious to blades and spears, but once their evil arts are broken, their true strength is far inferior to theirs.

"Use my blood; the effect should be a bit better." Chen Mo expertly sliced open his palm and took out a towel to soak it in fresh blood.

Mo Hu did not decline this, as he knew that in terms of strength, Chen Mo was a notch stronger than himself.

A twelve-hundred-jin stone wheel is not something just anyone can lift.

Using his blood would certainly be more effective than using his own.

The men smeared the fresh blood onto the feathered arrows and weapons they were about to use. Mo Hu then instructed the other two Personal Soldiers, "Later, when you see the Dutian Dao Sect members, you two fire a few volleys first. Once you've finished shooting, you two must leave immediately, retreat to the mountain hollow a hundred paces away, and prepare to support me and Thirteen."

The strength of these two Personal Soldiers was not bad, but it depended on who they were compared to.

If a real fight broke out later, the role they could play would be limited, and he and Chen Mo might even have to spare some attention to look after them.

Mo Hu called them here mainly so there would be two more people to shoot arrows during the ambush, and in case something went wrong, there would be someone to support them.

When it came to a direct head-on fight, he still did not intend to bring these two along.

Mo Hu had already explained these matters before they came, so they naturally understood now.

"Try to leave a live captive later; if it's truly impossible, then we can only kill them," he instructed Chen Mo again.

Although he wanted to keep a live captive to track down the whereabouts of that Ziyi Daoren, compared to that matter, the lives of his brothers were more important.

It would be nice to leave a live captive, but if not, then so be it.

Revenge is revenge, but he was absolutely unwilling to risk the lives of other brothers for the sake of revenge.

Chen Mo nodded slightly without giving a further answer.

Time ticked away second by second; it was now the seventh month, and the weather was at its most sweltering.

Even though the men were hiding in the shade, they still felt the heat.

Even Chen Mo was the same; his Inner Family Kung Fu training had achieved some small success, but he had not yet practiced to the point of being able to ignore cold and heat.

To reach that step, a Martial Artist's Inner Qi must circulate through all the meridians of the body; he still had to practice for some time to achieve that.

"Someone is coming," Chen Mo suddenly spoke.

He had just activated his Ear Consciousness for a while and heard footsteps approaching from afar, at a distance of about a hundred paces or more.

Hearing this, although they had not yet seen the people coming, the men quickly became alert.

They drew their bows and pulled the strings, waiting only for someone to appear.

Before long, a group of five people slowly approached from the distance.

Four Scholars, dressed in short tunics, with bulging muscles all over their bodies, sharp gazes, and vigorous Blood Qi, were carrying two large wooden crates in pairs.

From the footprints they left, it could be seen that these crates were extremely heavy, weighing at least seven or eight hundred jin.

Ordinary porters could never carry something of such weight, and to trek a long distance into this wilderness, only the Scholars of the Dutian Dao Sect could accomplish this.

In front of these four Scholars, there was also a thin, gaunt old man wearing a long robe, walking in front with a map in his hand. Under his wide sleeves, a Whisk was clearly visible.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The feathered arrows tore through the air, making a sound. Mo Hu fired the first arrow, and Chen Mo and the others followed closely behind.

With meticulous control over his physical body, coupled with the fact that he had spent a large sum of money practicing archery during this period, Chen Mo's archery was now greatly improved compared to a few months ago.

He could not yet hit a willow leaf from a hundred paces, but within a hundred paces, hitting nine out of ten shots was absolutely no problem for him.

The Scholars of the Dutian Dao Sect and the old Daoist were stunned upon hearing this sound; they had never thought that anyone would set an ambush here.

The old Daoist reacted quite quickly, forming a seal in an instant, and a murky yellow light screen enveloped him.

As for the other Scholars, they only reacted when the feathered arrows flew toward them.

But it was already too late; over a dozen feathered arrows turned the four of them into hedgehogs almost in an instant.

Especially the arrows shot by Chen Mo, whose thousand-jin force could directly pierce through a person.

The Scholars died without ever understanding why these feathered arrows could hurt them when they were clearly impervious to blades and spears.

These Scholars were strong, but as long as their evil art of being impervious to blades and spears could be broken, in terms of real combat, most of them were inferior to the Personal Soldiers under Sun Jiangjun.

"Go!" As soon as Mo Hu's voice fell, his figure had already rushed out.

The other two Personal Soldiers did not hesitate and retreated in an orderly manner according to the previously established plan.

Qingyi Daoren came to his senses, formed seals with both hands, chanted a spell, and took off the objects from both his ears, throwing them out like flying knives.

Chen Mo's speed was even faster; he had no intention of concealing his own strength now, as playing the pig to eat the tiger depends on the situation.

In a life-and-death struggle, if one messes up, there is no chance to regret it.

Seeing Chen Mo rushing toward him at high speed, the old Daoist ignored Mo Hu and manipulated his two ears to rotate and ambush the back of Chen Mo's neck.

Unfortunately, it was already too late!

"Boom." The long spear, weighing several tens of catties, carried boundless force as it smashed toward the gray-robed old Daoist.

The earthy yellow light screen on his body collapsed after taking just one hit; the old Daoist spat out blood, his figure retreated repeatedly, and he only stopped after breaking several Dwarf Trees as thick as a wrist.

Mo Hu looked stunned; he knew that in terms of strength, Chen Mo was definitely stronger than him, but he had never imagined he would be this much stronger.

Could it be that he had gained more from his cultivation during this period!

The old Daoist's withered, chicken-claw-like palms flipped, and he took several Talismans from his Huai, intending to use them immediately.

Chen Mo took a step and arrived in front of him, smashed his arms to pieces with one strike of his spear, and then stepped on and broke his legs, doing his best to ensure the opponent could not resist.

This old Daoist was not strong; he was not even as good as the Qingyi Daoren that Chen Mo had encountered in Qingzhou back then.

"Speak, where are you transporting these things to, and who are you giving them to!"

Although he was curious in his heart why Chen Mo's strength had improved so quickly, Mo Hu also knew that now was not the time to ponder such things; he walked quickly to the front of the old Daoist and shouted sternly.

The gray-robed old Daoist's eyes were contemptuous, and a mocking smile appeared at the corners of his mouth, "Imperial Court dogs, just by relying on you, you still want to stop our Dao Sect."

Clearly, he had guessed that they came from the military based on the weapons and bows Chen Mo and the others used.

This was also normal; strong bows were not something just anyone could get their hands on.

"Kill me! Kill one of me, and there will be thousands more of me; as long as our Dutian Dao Sect's Great Dao is not achieved, those who burn their lives as firewood will never cease."

The old man's face showed no fear, as if he had already calmly accepted his own life and death.

"As long as you tell us, you can actually not die; if you can live, why must you die!" Mo Hu's tone was slightly gentle as he persuaded him softly.

The old man was silent, but not long after, his expression and attitude changed abruptly, "You are right, it is better to live a wretched life than to die a good death; I still want to live."

"Huh?" Mo Hu was stunned; he had not expected this old Daoist's attitude to change so quickly. Could it be that he was naturally suited for persuading others to surrender?

Or was it that he still had other hidden cards in the dark!

Chen Mo frowned and opened his Ear Consciousness without changing his expression; this old man's change in attitude was too great, which truly made one suspicious.

"Someone is coming from the east, and they are very fast," Chen Mo said.

Mo Hu did not hesitate; he pierced the old man's chest with his spear to kill him, then smashed his head a few more times until gray-white brains splattered everywhere, and only then did he stop.

Although he was not clear about who exactly was coming, looking at the old man's sudden change in attitude earlier, the person coming was most likely a fellow member of the Dutian Dao Sect.

He was deliberately stalling for time, wanting to buy himself a chance at survival.

Then he absolutely could not be left alive, otherwise, once his fellow sect members arrived, he and Chen Mo might have to deal with two people at once, which would be even more tricky and dangerous.

Until the moment of his death, the old Daoist could not understand why Chen Mo would know that someone was coming.

"Hide and prepare to fire hidden arrows," Chen Mo called out, hiding behind a Dwarf Tree, ready to fire cold arrows at the person coming at any time.

Mo Hu did the same, hiding behind a Dwarf Tree to wait for the person to arrive.

Chen Mo opened his Blood Qi Eye and looked far into the distance in the direction from which he had heard the sound.

After about half a stick of incense, a Ziyi Daoren arrived, his figure stepping through the air like a ghost.

Looking closer, this Ziyi Daoren was able to walk through the air mainly because there was a pair of human hands under his feet, carrying him as he flew along.

If one were to use the terminology of the Dutian Dao Sect, this Ziyi Daoren was currently performing Sword Flying.

(End of this chapter)