klisemfg Chapter 107 The Treasure-Hunting Alliance's Secret Surveillance; Jianmen Pass's Eagerness
Chapter 107 The Treasure-Hunting Alliance's Secret Surveillance; Jianmen Pass's Eagerness
The two envoys and the six councilors exchanged glances, a hint of joy flashing across their faces: "Does Special Envoy Zhou mean that we should each lead a fake delegation?"
Zhou Qingfeng nodded with a smile: "That's right, we'll split up and meet up at the Xi Yi Treasure Land at the end."
"I just don't know if you envoys are willing to draw the enemy's attention for me. Let me make it clear beforehand that these eight fake delegations are all bait and are very likely to be attacked."
"But rest assured, everyone, as long as you help me reach the treasure safely, you will each be credited with a contribution."
Upon hearing this, the envoys on the left and right and the six councilors replied without hesitation, "We are duty-bound to share the burden for Special Envoy Zhou."
None of them wanted to be ordered around. In the past, no matter what they did, others always listened to them. Now that they had to listen to others, they naturally couldn't accept it from the bottom of their hearts and were extremely unwilling.
Having the opportunity to act alone with a group of people is exactly what I wanted.
"Special Envoy Zhou, farewell. We will make preparations immediately and ensure that the fake is indistinguishable from the real thing." The left and right deputy envoys and the six councilors were eager to part ways with Zhou Qingfeng and set off alone.
They brought a large number of people, with each person having dozens of followers from the Food Demon Realm. It wouldn't be difficult to create a fake delegation that could easily be mistaken for a real one by temporarily conscripting some slaves and guards from the manor.
Zhou Qingfeng nodded with a smile and watched the eight people leave.
Every prodigy is unwilling to be subordinate to anyone, especially not someone of similar age. Given the opportunity to be independent, such a prodigy will definitely seize it and leave the team.
Zhou Qingfeng had a firm grasp on their psychology. He not only wanted them to draw fire, but also wanted them to do it willingly. More importantly, he wanted to use this opportunity to kick these privileged young men out of his team.
Ensure that the entire team has only one voice when decisions need to be made.
As for whether they live or die after being kicked out of the team, and whether they can reach the treasure land, that depends on their own fate. Even if they unfortunately die on the way, it has nothing to do with us.
After all, they had made the dangers clear and explicit. In order to gain independence and autonomy, they insisted on leading the fake delegation to draw fire and were accidentally killed. Who could they blame?
The left and right deputy envoys and six councilors worked intensively in the manor to prepare the manpower, carriages, clothes and flags needed for the fake missions. In just three days, they put together eight fake treasure-hunting missions.
To make the fake delegation more deceptive, Zhou Qingfeng even divided the hundred heavily armored dragon riders into nine squads, with one squad of dragon riders assigned to each delegation.
To outsiders, this is extremely deceptive; just by looking, it's impossible to tell the truth from the falsehood.
Nine treasure-hunting delegations set off from the 188-mile-long granary that day, heading towards the border.
The spies who had been keeping an eye on the treasure-hunting delegation outside the grain store were exhausted.
"Holy crap, how come there are nine delegations? Which one is real and which one is fake?"
"I don't know, every delegation seems genuine."
"What should we do? Which one should we chase?"
"Don't panic, don't panic. No matter how Zhou Qingfeng tries to cheat, it's useless. As long as he heads west, he has to pass through Jianmen Pass to leave the country. General Chai of Jianmen Pass is one of our people. Zhou Qingfeng has no way to escape."
"Let's go, let's meet at Jianmen Pass first and explain the situation to the alliance leader."
These informants were all sent by the Treasure Hunt Alliance.
As for what the Treasure Hunting Alliance is, as the name suggests, it is an alliance formed for the purpose of plundering treasures.
The Treasure-Hunting Alliance is led by the Dream Fulfillment Organization, which unites gangs, escort agencies, martial arts schools, and various other forces in the city, all with the aim of seizing the treasures of Xiyi City.
There was nothing they could do; the seven powerful families of the Sword Tower's upper echelons—the Ma, Mao, Zhou, Tang, Song, and Zhu families—colluded to devour the Xi Yi Treasure, not even allowing outsiders a sip of the soup.
The head of the Dream Fulfillment Organization's outpost was so anxious he was jumping up and down, his eyes turning red.
The huge hole of ten million yuan lost last year has not yet been filled.
Now that there's treasure, they won't even let us have a bite.
The head of the Dream Fulfillment Organization's stronghold is obviously incompetent; he might as well go all the way and rob them outright.
The smaller factions in Sword Tower City were also envious and hit it off with the leader of the Dream Fulfillment Organization's stronghold. All the factions colluded and joined forces to intercept Zhou Qingfeng and seize the Xi Yi Treasure.
Two flowers bloom, one branch each.
On an official road leading to the border, the fake delegation led by Ma Ruyi was traveling slowly. Ma Ruyi was sitting in a carriage, taking out the evil-level magic weapon, the telescope, and chatting 'online' with Ma Dalang.
“Boss Ma, your brother is very clever. He divided the treasure-hunting mission into nine, making it difficult to distinguish the real from the fake. The nine missions are exactly the same. I don’t even know where he is. I’m afraid I can’t protect him anymore.”
Sima Yan, using Ma Ruyi's name, was sent by Ma Dalang to the treasure-hunting team to secretly protect Zhou Qingfeng. Although Zhou Qingfeng had killed her once, she was a responsible worker who could forgive and forget a death sentence as long as her boss was willing to pay more.
Ma Dalang put his hands on his hips and laughed loudly: "Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! My judgment was right after all. Fourth Brother's wisdom is unparalleled. The others are trash. They even want to scheme against my brother. They are just delusional."
Sima Yan sighed: "Boss Ma, I know you are eager to find talented people, but your younger brother has not yet been recruited by you. What is the point of you being so good to him? He doesn't know, and even if he did, he might not appreciate it."
Ma Dalang said, "Don't know? Then let him know. He doesn't appreciate it? Then make him appreciate it. In short, you must do everything you can to win him over."
Sima Yan hesitated, then said, "Mr. Ma, I sell my art, not my body!"
"???"
It is said that Ma Dalang had always been thinking about stealing someone else's wife, just like he coveted another man's wife. He couldn't wait to take Zhou Qingfeng for himself. However, he also knew that he couldn't rush it and had to take it one step at a time.
For a prodigy like Zhou Qingfeng, ordinary methods of winning him over won't work. Only by exchanging genuine feelings for genuine feelings and sincerity for sincerity, and by giving him the highest level of courtesy, can one possibly recruit him to serve under their command.
Time flies like an arrow; half a day passed quickly.
The Treasure-Hunting Alliance gathered all its forces and laid an ambush inside Jianmen Pass.
These people were all gathered from the smaller factions within the Sword Tower, a total of 166 Fiend Realm experts plus 300 Calamity Realm cultivators for assistance.
In their view, with their intentions aligned with the enemy's, the sheer number of cultivators was more than enough to intercept and kill the treasure-hunting delegation.
Jianmen Pass is a border fortress west of Jianta, a castle built in a canyon passage. It has high walls and thick walls, and is strategically located. The garrison is fully staffed with 220 men, mostly soldiers from the Shizhuo Realm, with a small number of officers from the Shizai Realm.
The general guarding the pass was named Chai Ronggui, a cultivator at the Devouring Fiend Realm.
To make things easier today, Chai Ronggui specially gave these garrison soldiers three days' leave to go home and visit their families. All the soldiers on duty were actually members of the Treasure Hunting Alliance in disguise, and there were also a large number of people hidden in the shadows.
Today, Jianmen Pass is a dead end. Once Zhou Qingfeng enters, he will have no chance of escape.
When Sima Yan and his treasure-hunting delegation were the first to pass through the Jianmen Pass city gate half a day later, they were stopped.
"Halt, carriages and horses! This general is here to inspect you!" Chai Ronggui waved his hand as soon as he saw the delegation arrive.
Sima Yan stepped out of the carriage, looked down at Chai Ronggui with his hands behind his back, and said coldly, "I am Ma Ruyi, a councilor of the treasure-hunting delegation, on the orders of the city lord to go abroad to search for treasures. Who are you? Let me through."
……
P.S.: I've had a bad cold for the past two days, feeling dizzy and lightheaded. I'll see if I feel better tomorrow.