Surrounded

From the contents of the letter, Chen Luo could roughly tell that Prince Ning was far from peaceful. He had long since brought Prefect Lou, the Magistrate of Qingya County, under his wing. The reason he had chosen Qingya County was not because Prefect Lou was particularly outstanding, but because Qingya County had mines!

The letter did not state exactly what kind of mine it was. But it was clear that this "mine" was extraordinarily valuable—valuable enough that Prince Ning had dispatched a great number of experts to seize the place. Eunuch Wei, whom Chen Luo had killed earlier, had been Prince Ning's personal eunuch, sent here specifically to handle this matter.

That dead eunuch even pretended to be someone from the palace in front of me.

Chen Luo cursed under his breath and continued reading.

Besides Eunuch Wei and the others, Prince Ning had also partnered with a military general from the southwest. This was the brute Prefect Lou had mentioned before, General Fan—the man he had dismissed with the scraps he would give a beggar. The remaining contents were mostly transaction records, such as tribute money and supplies transported through.

Chen Luo merely glanced over them before skipping past.

"What kind of mine could drive these people so utterly mad?"

Even after searching through the final letter, he found none of the information he wanted.

At that moment, faint activity could be heard outside. It seemed the late-night meal Prefect Lou had ordered earlier was ready around this time.

"Forget it. I should find Junior Sister He first."

Chen Luo blew out the candle on the table, then flipped out through the hole he had smashed open.

A moment later, a shriek came from the small courtyard where Prefect Lou was staying.

After leaving Prefect Lou's courtyard, Chen Luo immediately changed direction and headed toward the last location where he had sensed a powerful aura. There had been no one on Prefect Lou's side, so only this place remained. With his Third Realm perception, the experts in this government office were as conspicuous as fireflies in the dead of night.

After crossing three courtyard walls, Chen Luo slowed his movements.

This courtyard was even more luxurious than Nuanqiu Pavilion, where Prefect Lou lived. Not only was it broader, even the architectural style was far more exquisite. The torches within burned bright red, illuminating every corner without leaving a single shadowy angle.

An armored soldier stood guard every few meters. Compared to the other places, this was what truly counted as heavily guarded.

Chen Luo concealed himself behind the eaves and observed the movements in the courtyard from afar.

At the Stone Table in the center of the courtyard sat a burly strongman, carefully studying a book wrapped in yellow cloth. Not far away, Junior Sister He and several young women were bound together, unable to move like trussed pigs.

From the looks of them, they had not suffered any harm. Their expressions were merely somewhat strange.

"Why can't I cultivate it? I clearly completed every step."

The burly man was utterly absorbed in the booklet, as if he had encountered some difficult problem.

No wonder he had not noticed the commotion at Prefect Lou's place earlier. In his current state, unless someone came right up and killed him, he would not bother with anything.

This man was probably General Fan, then?

Chen Luo did not hurry to take action. Instead, he carefully observed the man.

General Fan was not weak. Though he had not reached the Third Realm, the aura radiating from him was by no means something an ordinary jianghu wanderer could compare to. The bearing of a martial artist from the army was entirely different from that of a jianghu wanderer. If he killed an expert like this, he absolutely had to take his brain with him.

He wondered what the difference was between army martial artists and Jianghu Wanderers.

Danger. Lower your head!

Just as Chen Luo was considering how to strike, the thoughts belonging to the Royal Family Brain suddenly stirred. An order appeared in his mind, and in the next instant, his body lowered its head almost without thought. He rolled, tumbling away at an unbelievable angle.

Bang!!

A black Sleeve Arrow grazed past his cheek. Its tip struck the tiled wall beneath him viciously and sank deep inside, while the remaining half of the arrow shaft trembled faintly behind it, telling of the danger just now.

Chen Luo felt his scalp go numb.

I've been discovered?

Since when?!

An unprecedented sense of danger surged through him. If he had been half a beat slower, or hesitated even slightly, that Sleeve Arrow would have hit the center of his brow and pierced through his brain.

"Hm?"

A voice rang out abruptly. Following the sound, Chen Luo saw that the burly man who had been reading in the courtyard had somehow appeared on the roof as well.

Cold light gleamed from his sleeve. He had fired the Sleeve Arrow earlier.

When walking the martial world, aside from sabers, spears, swords, and halberds, hidden weapons and poison were what killed the most people.

"Not bad reflexes."

General Fan pressed the hidden weapon in his sleeve and gave a simple assessment.

At that moment, the soldiers below also surrounded the rooftop. A large group of archers drew their bows to the full moon, then loosed a wild barrage at the spot where Chen Luo had been hiding.

Bang bang bang.

Another rain of arrows.

No one wasted words. This Fan fellow was not like the talkative villains in dramas either. He had clearly already gained the advantage, yet he still shamelessly called for reinforcements, utterly devoid of an expert's bearing.

"I was careless."

Inside the house below, Chen Luo's expression darkened.

When he had rolled earlier, he had not been dodging blindly. Following the instincts of the Royal Family Brain, he had hooked onto a nearby window and rolled inside. For one fleeting moment, he had truly felt that he was about to die.

The swelling confidence brought by his recent breakthrough vanished in an instant.

In a one-on-one fight, these people truly were no match for him. But they had no intention of competing with him in Martial Dao. They simply used the Human Wave Tactic and attacked from afar. With his whereabouts exposed, even if he had a hundred measures of strength, he had nowhere to use them.

It was still Martial Dao in the end. Carelessness could get people killed.

After calming himself, Chen Luo began considering his current situation.

At least fifty people had surrounded this area outside, and there were even more hidden in the dark, impossible to count. There was also General Fan, whose depths he could not gauge. Rescuing people under such circumstances can be said to be as difficult as ascending to heaven.

He would leave first, break free of the encirclement, then come back to kill them.

Assassination was the superior strategy!

After only a brief consideration, Chen Luo had a plan in mind.

The more than one hundred brains inside his body were all active now, making his thoughts exceptionally clear. He no longer had the slightest impulse to use his own weakness to strike at the enemy's strength.

Bang!!

Before Chen Luo could move, the door outside was smashed open.

To the left. There's a partition wall in the corner of the room; the arrows can't reach it.

Some brain in his mind that was skilled at escaping had provided the answer. This brain was clearly extremely proficient at fleeing for its life, its thoughts moving so quickly that even the Royal Family Brain had not reacted.

With no time to think further, Chen Luo rolled away in one motion, grabbing a stool beside him as he did.

Thud thud!!

Several more arrows nailed themselves into the stool. The cold light-tipped arrowheads had pierced through the wooden board, visible with perfect clarity.

Fortunately, Chen Luo ultimately made it to the corner of the wall, where the rain of arrows could no longer threaten him.

"Stop!"

General Fan's voice came from outside again. He had also realized that shooting like this would not kill Chen Luo.

"You two, go in and take a look. Capture him alive!"

General Fan stood at the doorway without the slightest intention of entering himself. Those in high positions did not put themselves in danger—this was the habit of those in high positions. General Fan was clearly a qualified superior.

The two soldiers who received the order immediately drew their sabers and cautiously entered, keeping close to the door.