Chapter 77: Countermeasure
“But what is strange is how they broke through the sentry outposts surrounding mountains. When we retreated back up the mountain, we clearly called out to the sentries to be on high alert,” Li Feiyu said to himself, full of doubt.
“There is nothing strange about this. The Feral Wolf Gang already made plans for this massive assault a long time ago. Secretly inserting spies within the sentries is an easy matter. It would be normal for the undiscovered spies to silently take over the sentry posts,” Han Li lightly said.
“But if the Feral Wolf Gang wanted to easily take over the different divisions, that would be impossible. I reckon that they plan to surround all the division halls on the mountain but not attack them. Then, they will gather all their experts to concentrate their attacks on the main division located at Setting Sun Summit. They only need to capture or kill the Sect Leader, and the rest will follow suit.”
“So what should we do now? Should we go to Setting Sun Summit?” Li Feiyu’s questions impatiently followed one another.
Han Li was speechless. After quite some time, he suddenly turned his body towards Li Feiyu and gravely said:
“You still haven’t told me something crucial. The negotiation team had so many highly skilled experts, so how could they be completely wiped out? Logically speaking, the Feral Wolf Gang shouldn’t have that much strength.”
Upon hearing these words, Li Feiyu’s facial muscles tensed for a moment, and he couldn’t help but stick out his tongue to lick his cracked lips. Revealing a hint of a bitter smiling expression, he said:
“They fired large quantities of crossbows in rapid succession. These crossbows happened to be military-grade.”
“Military-grade rapid fire crossbows?”
“That’s correct”
“It was our second day since we left the mountain. We were walking in a field, and since we were still in our own territory, everyone was pretty relaxed. In that moment, countless Feral Wolf Gang members appeared from all sides, and in each of their hand was a stiff crossbow. Soon, the sky was covered by a rain of crossbow bolts. The sneak attack caused those disciples with lacking martial art skills to die on the spot amidst the chaotic rain of bolts. Only a few martial art experts or the extremely lucky ones were able to dodge this first wave, but many carried injuries, which weakened their martial art skill by quite a bit. I am also one of those who were lucky; otherwise, I would not have made it back.”
Speaking up to this point, Li Feiyu still had some lingering fears, his eyes unconsciously revealing traces of dread. It seems like the image of a volley of crossbow bolts provoked quite a big reaction from Li Feiyu.
“After the volley of arrows, the others experts appeared, and everyone took part in a bitter battle. The remainder of our forces decided break apart our formation, going in separate ways in order to increase our chances of survival.”
“My luck was also good. In the enemy’s’ eyes, I was not high on their kill list, so only a few people followed me, and their martial arts skills were not very profound, allowing me to slaughter my way out. But as I was rushing back, I discovered that the Feral Wolf Gang had overrun our checkpoints one by one in quick succession. They were waiting for those who escaped the ambush to walk into their trap. After falling for the trap two times, I no longer dared to go seek help.”
“Because I wanted to know about the situation of other sect members, I later steeled my resolve and straightforwardly ambushed a Feral Wolf Gang Law Enforcer wearing blue clothes. From him, I found out that Sect Leader Wu and several other Elders have all died in battle at the hands of the countless experts that surrounded them, leaving only those who fled like me, who was not considered neither too important nor too weak.”
“After learning of this news, I did not dare to dally any longer and rushed back up the mountain with all the strength I could muster. Halfway up, I coincidentally met two other people who, like me, had managed to escape death. Together, we continued to escape for one day and one night, finally returning back to the mountain.”
“Once we returned, the other two left for Setting Sun Summit to notify Sect Leader Wang that the negotiation team had been completely wiped out. I fabricated an excuse that I had to heal my wound and secretly came to meet with you in order to discuss our counter-attack.”
“Although Sect Leader Wu and countless others died during the ambush, a few disciples managed to escape. Our status within the sect is neither high nor low. Who knows if the higher ups will be driven by fury and place all the blame on us, making us scapegoats.”
“Even though I have not finished telling you everything, the Feral Wolf Gang is slaughtering its way up the mountain. You must tell me what we should do right now!”
Li Feiyu said all this in a single breath with a helpless expression.
Hearing this, Han Li wrinkled his eyebrow and tilted his head to think.
At this moment, the sounds of slaughter became all the more intense, and from time to time, the mournful sound of people dying would ring out, making those who hear it do nothing but tremble.
“Do you still have subordinates on the mountain?” Han Li asked, his voice becoming extremely solemn.
“Yes, I still have twenty some subordinates located in several houses near Elder Li’s residence. I originally planned to take them out to settle some matters after the negotiation team returned.”
“Okay then, we’ll first go to Elder Li’s residence to gather the others as well as to take the opportunity to meet up with Lady Zhang Xiuer and Elder Li. As for our next step, we will make a decision after we learn more about the situation,” Han Li calmly said, appearing to be extremely rational.
“Alright, I’ll listen to you.”
“Right now, it’s chaos outside, I am very worried about Xiuer!” Li Feiyu exclaimed with a bit of worry.
Han Li glanced at Li Feiyu, completely at a loss regarding his thoughts. On one hand, Li Feiyu was extremely worried about Zhang Xiuer, but on the other hand, he clearly understood that he did not have long to live yet he still adamantly wanted to marry her, clearly knowing that she would become a widow!
“This contradictory fellow!” Han Li secretly gave his good friend a not so pleasant evaluation.
Han Li lightly jumped and descended from the rooftop. Shortly afterwards Li Feiyu followed him down.
“Let me go gather some things, then we will leave immediately.”
“Alright, but you have to hurry. I’m really worried about Xiuer’s safety.”
Hearing this, Han Li could only remain speechless.
The other was constantly muttering “Xiuer”, sounding extremely sappy and making Han Li feel a bit of despise mixed with jealousy.
Han Li no longer continued to pay attention to the love-stricken Li Feiyu. He minded his own business and proceeded to enter his own house, starting to swiftly collect all sorts of different yet essential items.
