T/N: Brace yourself

  ____

  Chang Geng looked at Gu Yun and said, “Wanted to save up dowry, to wed the grand general.”


  ____

  There was a horrifying silence in the empty city, plunging one’s heart to panic. As soon as Master Ja waved his hand, his men immediately scattered to search inside the surrounding houses.

  Residential courtyards were built along the riverside, winding and curving, and it was very easy for outsiders to get lost within them as they wandered. Sometimes, they would encounter large stones blocking the path, making the already difficult terrain become all the more complicated and confusing.

  Master Ja had an ominous feeling in his heart, suddenly beginning to regret his bold advancement.

  At that moment, a Western soldier cried out. All the people around him immediately became frightened birds, instantly drawing their swords. Many steel armours soon formed into a circle, canon with black muzzles pointing at the unusual locust tree.

  They saw a Western soldier hanging down from a tree, half of his head had been blown away, there was no telling which battle he had died in. There was a white face mask tied to his b.l.o.o.d.y head – this time it had changed into a crying face!

  An explosive noise sounded. It turned out to be an armored soldier who had shot the cannon out of nervousness. The body on the tree was suddenly blown up into pile of meat and fell down. Then, a horrifying laugh sounded, all the soldiers underneath hurriedly retreated as if they were in the presence of a great enemy.

  A moment later, a round-faced owl emerged from the crown of the tree, looking at the two-legged animals under it. Then, the owl fluttered its wings and flew straight into the sky, spreading its strange laughter everywhere.

  Frightened people into a cold sweat in the broad daylight.

  “Sir Jacobson, will we continue the search?”


  Master Ja swallowed with difficulty: “No…… Retreat, get out of here, quickly! ”


  He had not yet finished speaking, when suddenly there was a sharp noise of explosion in the distance, followed by several blood-curdling screams. Large fireworks soared up into the sky, exploding brightly.

  Someone shouted in fright, “We were ambushed!”


  “Withdraw!”


  “Leave now!”


  The sound of cannons and arrows rang out in unison. Several explosions caused by someone unknown knocked down the already unstable stone houses. The disarray of rubbles combined with the large stones that had blocked the road caused the empty city to quickly become a big maze.

  The map in the hands of the Westerners became a piece of disposable paper. The drawbacks of their unfamiliarity in terrain instantly became clear. A group of Heavy Armors and foot soldiers were deeply trapped inside, resembling flies without heads. For a moment, they weren’t able to find a way out.

  Master Ja had no choice but to whistle for the Eagle Armors, for them to take off and command from the sky. For better or worse, there would be someone to lead them out.

  The panic-stricken Western Army retreated to the city gate. There was no telling who happened to touch some kind of mechanism. A tooth-aching noise of gears rang from the city gate. For a moment, all the Western soldiers drew their bows, all arrows pointed to the building, ready to fire, but something slowly fell down from it.

  Master Ja pushed aside the frightened guards to take a look and was furious to find it was another white face mask. This time it was the face of a demon!

  Master Ja: “.……”


  “Sir, we…… Shall we take a detour?”


  Master Ja raised his hand to interrupt him and stood in place for a moment, his expression darkening: “His Majesty is right. Gu Yun has no trump card in his hand, he can only rely on these underhanded tricks. Are you all already frightened by the masks? Ambush……Hmp!”


  He let out an angered laughed then said coldly, “Demolish this city for me, let me see where they could hide!”


  However, more than one hour later, Master Ja, who razed the empty city to the ground, searched in the ruins three times, finally had to admit that this G.o.dforsaken place had wasted his countless valuable time, money and Ziliujin. It truly was an empty city. The so-called ‘ambush’ consisted of only two masks and an owl that had soon flown away.

  Master Ja tightened his teeth to the point of almost drawing blood: “Where are the path-finder Eagles? Go at full speed!”


  At this time, on the path from Dong’an to the capital, Gu Yun, who was hiding under the tree, received the Qian Li Yan given by Tan Hong Fei and watched several path-finding Eagles whistling from the top of their heads and speeding towards the capital.

  He spat out the straw he was currently chewing in his mouth and patted the Wind Slasher behind him: “Old Lian, you have made a grand contribution.”


  Tan Hong Fei asked in a low voice, “How was it?”


  “Can you see that?” Gu Yun said lazily, “The foreigner in charge must already be dead or wounded by now. The current leader is obviously unfamiliar with the area around the capital, otherwise he will not be as impulsive as to send Eagles to fly around.”


  In the imperial city, the capital had always been strict, no one is allowed to sneak a peek at will. Black Eagles dared not fly around, even in exceptional times, and they could only land at the base of the Northern Camp then ride into the capital on horseback after removing the Eagle’s armor.

  But most people did not know, the reason why the Black Eagle dared not fly was not because the Black Iron Camp was particularly strict in following regulation. Gu Yun knew that once the Eagles flew across the border, it was easy to make contact and run into the ‘anti-air net’.

  Outside the Nine Gates of the Capital, there is an invisible ‘anti-air net’, built during the reign of Emperor Wu and took thirty years to complete. It was a masterpiece of the Ling Shu Inst.i.tute. There were numerous hidden piers* under the net, and the main commander was on the top of Qi Yuan tower.

  *these are pillar-like structures

  The reason why the building was so high was that besides providing food, drink, and entertainment for visitors from all over the world, it also played a very important role – it was the main pier of the anti-air net.

  There was a ‘Tian Yuan Di Fang* Pavilion’ on the ‘Zhai Xing Tower**’, locked up tightly behind layers of doors in peacetime. For the sake of this Tia Yuan Di Fang Pavilion, it had made bald of many masters of the Ling Shu Inst.i.tute. It would create a special optical network outside the nine gates and was very tightly knitted. Even at night, it would be easily be covered by the light of stars, moon, and flame. Unless one had unusual abilities, it would hardly be visible to the naked eye.

  *天圆地方, lit. Round Sky, Square Earth: an ancient traditional Chinese philosophy where people believed that the sky is a rounded dome and the ground is flat. This was also incorporated in their architecture.