Chapter 121 - 98: The Snipe and the Clam (3)
The fog here was a bit better than outside. Visibility wasn’t high, but you could at least make out the people standing right next to you.
Everyone followed the direction Tong Wanli was pointing.
A chill ran down their spines.
They saw a towering figure, standing ramrod straight in front of a tree.
It was too shadowy and indistinct to see clearly, but it really looked like a large, powerfully built person.
The only thing was, the figure wasn’t far from them at all.
Yet they had walked all this way without sensing a thing.
If this person were to launch a sneak attack... how many of them could possibly defend against it?
As this thought occurred to them, they exchanged uneasy glances. Then, one man let out a cold snort.
"You think you can pull these cheap tricks in front of me?!"
The moment he finished speaking, his figure shot forward.
Like a phantom drifting through the woods, or a shadow in the mist, he reached the figure in the time it took to form a thought.
No one present tried to stop him.
But when the man reached the figure, he let out a surprised "Huh?"
Then, he unexpectedly returned, accompanied by the massive figure.
In that instant, everyone tensed up, fearing the mysterious person had subdued their companion and was now coming to hold them accountable.
However, once the two shadows drew near, everyone finally saw clearly.
That wasn’t a powerfully built person at all.
It was a rotting bear!
They all stared at each other, speechless.
A bear dying here wasn’t unusual... after all, the area was filled with poisonous miasma.
The problem was, why was it dead in such a human-like posture?
Tong Wanli endured the foul stench coming from the bear and stepped forward to inspect it closely. Suddenly, his pupils constricted.
"Something’s wrong! It wasn’t killed by the miasma. Someone killed it!
"And it happened within the last two days.
"Look at its throat!"
Hearing this, everyone immediately looked. Sure enough, there was a thin mark across the bear’s throat.
"Is that a knife wound?"
If it were a sword, the wound would likely be a puncture.
Swords are for stabbing; blades are for slashing.
A sword’s blade is long and slender. If used for a heavy chop, it would very likely be damaged.
Especially on a bear this tough and thick-skinned; no one would want to use a sword to slash its neck like that.
As this idea surfaced, Tong Wanli’s unease reached its peak.
’Someone is here!’
The moment those three words flashed through his mind, the SWISH SWISH SWISH of continuous footsteps suddenly approached.
At the same time, a whistling sound cut through the air.
It sounded as if something massive was tearing through the void toward them.
A voice shouted:
"Uninvited guests! They’re most likely here for that thing too!"
Tong Wanli’s hair stood on end. The first thought that came to his mind was... ’They’re here to steal the Jiaowei Guqin!?’
But the thing was, his group had gotten their information from Liu Wenshan.
How could this other group possibly know the Jiaowei Guqin was hidden here?
Before he could react, there was a heavy whoosh. He looked up to see a golden cauldron compressing the air as it came crashing down.
Tong Wanli was stunned.
"Jin Sanding?"
But there was no time for other thoughts.
He thrust out both palms, unleashing the Thousand Transformations Heaven Net Palm. With a deafening BOOM...
...the golden cauldron trembled, and Jin Sanding’s beast-like howls echoed from within.
Tong Wanli’s expression darkened. Jin Sanding’s martial arts were devious as hell. His Inner Strength was already formidable, and now it was backed by the weight of the cauldron.
Meeting it head-on was a move born of utter desperation.
Struck by this immense force, he was pushed back relentlessly, his whole body sliding even though his feet didn’t move from their spot.
The Inner Strength rippled out to either side, setting off a continuous series of startling explosions.
At the same time, a group of bizarrely dressed people rushed forward from all sides. Without a word, they went straight for the kill.
Tong Yan and Zhou Wang exchanged a look, completely bewildered by what was happening.
Ye Jingshuang, longsword in hand, stood protectively in front of Liu Wenshan.
The remaining few men glanced at each other, then burst out laughing.
"A bunch of fools who don’t know death when they see it!"
With that, they leaped into action, plunging into the crowd of attackers.
The martial prowess of every single one of these men was no less than Tong Wanli’s.
Wherever they went, they met no one who could last a single round against them.
In the blink of an eye, more than half of the men Jin Sanding had brought were either dead or wounded.
Ye Jingshuang’s face changed dramatically as she watched.
’Where did Tong Wanli find so many masters?’
Lost in thought, she failed to notice a figure who had, at some point, snuck up beside her.
By the time she sensed something, a hand had already clamped down on her shoulder.
Her heart tightened as she felt herself being swept away, as if riding the clouds and mist.
Tong Yan and Zhou Wang sensed something was wrong and quickly turned around, only to find that both Ye Jingshuang and Liu Wenshan had vanished.
Ye Jingshuang felt the surrounding trees blur past. When her feet touched the ground again, she found herself standing on a rock not far from the fight.
Looking back from a distance, she could vaguely make out figures tumbling and fighting in the mist.
But she couldn’t see any details.
She swayed her shoulder and circulated her inner breath, trying to break free from the grip.
But before her Inner Strength could pry the person’s hand open, they had already let go.
"The stage is set for the snipe and the clam to fight. Now, the fisherman gets the prize."
Liu Wenshan’s voice reached Ye Jingshuang’s ears.
Causing her to stare wide-eyed.
’The snipe and the clam?’
’Could it be...’
The next moment, she heard a voice, familiar to her very bones, laugh and say:
"For this, I have to thank you for your help, Senior.
"Otherwise, luring them all here wouldn’t have been so simple."
"...Brother Jiang?"
Ye Jingshuang turned her head to look.
She saw a young man dressed in flashy, colorful clothes—so much so that you could barely recognize his original appearance—tilting his head back and pouring wine into his mouth from a gourd.
Hearing Ye Jingshuang’s voice, he glanced back at her, smiled, and offered his wine gourd.
"Want a swig?"