Chapter 257 - 253: Rocket Launcher
Chapter 257: Chapter 253: Rocket Launcher
The Martial Arts Continent, White Cloud Mountain.
The night was deep, and the world was shrouded in darkness.
A flying beast spread its wings and streaked across the pitch-black night sky, appearing above White Cloud City.
"SWOOSH!" "SWOOSH!"
With two soft sounds, two figures leaped from the back of the flying beast and descended toward White Cloud City below.
White Cloud City was still at night. Aside from the dancing torchlight on the outer walls and the sounds of patrolling guards, the city proper was silent. The residents had all extinguished their lamps and gone to sleep, leaving the streets almost completely deserted.
"The City Lord’s Mansion should be over there!" one of the figures said through the hazy night. His voice was slightly hoarse with age, clearly that of an old man.
"Sigh... Brother Cang Hong, don’t you think the Grand General is just sending us to our deaths?" the other figure sighed. "Assassination is already nearly impossible with just the two of us. That kid is incredibly cunning, his strength is already close to qualifying for the Wind and Cloud List, and he has Gao Zhisong and his Seven-Snake Centipede Whip to help him. Our chances of success are ridiculously low. If we get surrounded, we’re dead for sure!"
Through the hazy night, one could vaguely make out the two figures: an old man in grey robes and a middle-aged man in scholar’s robes. They were none other than the Liu Family Head, Liu Liqun, and Grey Eagle Cang Hong.
The grey-robed elder, Cang Hong, was a man with a foot in both the official and martial worlds. He was once a brilliant general and a high-ranking military officer, but also a well-known figure in the martial world. His moniker was Grey Eagle, his Eagle Claw Technique had reached a state of perfection, and he was ranked sixty-sixth on the Wind and Cloud List.
"White Cloud City’s defenses are formidable, and it’s guarded by terrifying weapons like the Heaven-shattering Thunder. The Grand General’s ten thousand men can’t possibly break through. He had no choice but to send us in for an assassination!"
"If ten thousand men can’t breach the walls, then just send more! Doesn’t Red Sun Main City still have a hundred thousand troops? If he dispatched an army that large to besiege it, they could definitely take White Cloud City!"
"Military affairs are hardly as simple as you think," Grey Eagle Cang Hong said in a low voice. "That army of one hundred thousand belongs to the Southern Tang Country; they are not the Grand General’s private forces. Furthermore, this is a time of peace, with no major conflicts in Red Sun Province. For the Grand General to mobilize a hundred thousand troops, he would need the official sealed documents from the Lord Governor. An action like that would inevitably alert the Golden Scale Imperial City!"
"Hmm, true. If we alerted the Imperial City, it would be difficult for him to keep the treasure for himself!" Liu Liqun’s eyes glinted. "Actually, if the Grand General came to do the assassination himself with his Innate Realm strength, the chances of success would be highest."
"Heh, do you really think the Grand General would put himself in danger so easily? Don’t underestimate White Cloud City. It may be small, but it’s full of tricks and has a strange, mysterious air about it. It might just be capable of trapping and killing an Innate Realm expert," Grey Eagle Cang Hong said, his face grave. "We must be extremely careful. If we don’t succeed on the first strike, we flee immediately!"
"Of course!" Liu Liqun nodded. The two immediately employed their Lightweight Skill, moving like phantoms as they crept silently toward the City Lord’s Mansion.
The City Lord’s Mansion of White Cloud City was a grand and sprawling complex, expanded from the original Ye Mansion. It featured red walls, jade-green roof tiles, and a great vermilion gate flanked by two imposing white jade lions.
Using their Lightweight Skill, Grey Eagle Cang Hong and Liu Family Head Liu Liqun soon arrived outside the City Lord’s Mansion.
"Remember, we can’t afford a direct confrontation. That kid is no weakling. If we get delayed, we’ll be in serious trouble!"
"Right. We’ll focus on a stealthy assassination. Find an opening and strike!"
The two exchanged a look, then kicked off the ground, soaring into the air to leap over the compound wall and into the City Lord’s Mansion.
But just as they did—
"FWOOSH!" "FWOOSH!"
With two whistling sounds, two enormous iron nets were flung from within the City Lord’s Mansion, flying through the air to cast down upon Grey Eagle Cang Hong and Liu Liqun.
At the same time, the main gates of the mansion swung open, and squad after squad of men, holding torches and weapons, rushed out.
"Damn it, an ambush!"
The expressions on Grey Eagle Cang Hong and Liu Liqun’s faces twisted in alarm. They hastily threw themselves into a desperate roll, scrambling gracelessly out from under the descending nets.
A circle of torches closed in around them, the red-orange flames leaping and dancing. Over a thousand men had the pair completely surrounded.
The crowd then parted, and an azure-furred Gale Leopard strode in. A powerful demonic aura pulsed from its body, and its eyes were sharp and bloodthirsty. A single glance at its aura was enough to identify it as a Great Demon Beast at the Peak of Level 9.
Liu Liqun and Grey Eagle Cang Hong’s faces grew tense and solemn. Their gazes were locked forward, fixed not on the Gale Leopard, but on the young man mounted on its back.
The young man wore azure robes, with a Treasure Sword at his waist. A faint smile played on his lips as he rode the Gale Leopard into the center of the encirclement.
"Well, well, isn’t this Patriarch Liu of Biluo City? Haha, what a rare guest," Ye Xing said with a slight smile. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this late-night visit?"
"As if you don’t know why we’re here!" Liu Liqun snarled, his eyes burning with a complex mix of emotions as he stared at Ye Xing. ’All my careful planning... all the effort I spent scheming against the Cao Family Master, Cao Bohao... I thought the treasure would finally be mine. Who knew the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. That insignificant Seventh Realm brat turned out to be so formidable. The entire, immense treasure of the Daluo Sect... all of it was snatched up by the boy before me.’
"Hehe, how could I not guess? After all, we’re practically old acquaintances now," Ye Xing laughed brightly. "Patriarch Liu must have come to be a guest in my White Cloud City, and I couldn’t be more welcoming!" His gaze then shifted to the grey-robed elder. "Hm? I don’t believe I recognize this senior. May I ask your name?"
"My Lord, be careful. That’s Grey Eagle Cang Hong, ranked sixty-sixth on the Wind and Cloud List. He’s a cut above me in strength," Gao Zhisong warned from the side, his eyes fixed warily on the old man.
"I never expected Lord White Cloud to be so young. A formidable youth, indeed!" the grey-robed elder said in a low voice, his gaze on Ye Xing. "I am quite curious. How did you discover our presence? I pride myself on my stealth; detecting my approach should have been exceedingly difficult!"
"Haha, Senior Cang, you flatter me. In truth, it wouldn’t matter if it were you and Patriarch Liu, or even an expert with Ouyang Xu’s Innate Realm cultivation. I would have known the moment he arrived!"
As he spoke, Ye Xing’s gaze drifted up to a particular spot in the sky.
The sky there was pitch-black, with nothing to be seen. Yet, the faces of Grey Eagle Cang Hong and Liu Liqun changed dramatically as a terrible premonition suddenly seized their hearts.
"Oh, by the way! Since Patriarch Liu and Senior Cang have come all this way to be my guests here in White Cloud, you should stay for a few days. In fact, why don’t you just stay forever!" Ye Xing smiled as he opened his Qiankun Cloth Bag. He slowly took out a rocket launcher, aimed the muzzle up at that specific spot in the night sky, and pulled the trigger.
"BOOM!"
A deafening blast ripped through the air. A rocket screamed from the launcher, its fiery trail exceptionally dazzling against the pitch-black sky as it shot high into the air.
"BANG!"
It struck its target and exploded violently.
A shrill, agonized screech echoed through the pitch-black sky, only to be cut off abruptly. A rain of blood and gore pattered down from above. Feathers from the Flying Demon Beast, dyed crimson, danced and drifted through the air.