Tongwen Hall!

The road was filled with dust kicked up by thundering hooves.

Zhu Youning rode at the very front, with a mass of iron cavalry behind him like dark clouds. The pounding of hooves rumbled without end.

"Commander, Luoyang is just one more day away." Wu Yi, clad in iron armor, rode alongside Zhu Youning.

"We cannot let our guard down. There are surely spies from other states within Great Liang's court. Someone must know our movements." Zhu Youning turned to look at Wu Yi.

"Commander, are you worried that someone will ambush us? Our thousand Longxiang Army iron riders are not to be trifled with!"

"Their goal is not to wipe us out. It is to keep us from reaching Luoyang smoothly."

Wu Yi thought for a moment. "Could it be that someone wants Wang Shifan dead?"

"A Great Liang without Wang Shifan, and a Great Liang with Wang Shifan—which do you think is better?"

"Of course, Great Liang with Wang Shifan is better. The surrendered troops of Pinglu in Qingzhou number a hundred thousand. If Wang Shifan dies, those hundred thousand men may become restless, and it will be difficult to win them over."

"The enemy must be thinking the same thing." Zhu Youning said, "So they will try every possible means—perhaps to win Wang Shifan over, perhaps to kill him."

"But Luoyang is Great Liang territory, and the Xuanming Cult's headquarters is also located there. Prince Ying would never stand by and do nothing." Wu Yi said in confusion.

"I heard Zhu Yougui is in seclusion. I fear he will not be much help. Besides, open attacks are easy to evade, but hidden arrows are hard to guard against."

Zhu Youning shook his head. "Over the years, the Xuanming Cult, Tongwen Hall, and Huan Yin Workshop have all infiltrated one another. You have people in me, and I have people in you. Even Prince Ying cannot make things completely airtight."

In truth, Zhu Youning was giving Zhu Yougui too much credit.

After all, Zhu Yougui did not even realize that the Xuanming Cult had been infiltrated by the Buliangren eight or nine parts out of ten.

Put another way, Underworld Emperor Zhu Yougui was practically a lone undercover agent within the Buliangren.

Night soon fell.

The long dragon-like procession galloped onward, swiftly cutting through the black curtain of night beneath the moonlight.

Yet at that moment, a pile of logs from felled towering trees lay across the path ahead of Zhu Youning's cavalry, forcing him to halt.

Those logs had been deliberately placed there.

And ahead stood a sign.

After inspecting it with a torch, a scout returned to Zhu Youning's side and cupped his fists. "General, the sign says: Liang soldiers die here."

"What arrogant words." Wu Yi immediately frowned.

Zhu Youning smiled faintly. "Giving notice before killing—courtesy before force. It seems the people from Tongwen Hall have come."

"Tongwen Hall, Jin State's assassination organization?" Wu Yi considered it briefly, then cupped his fists. "Commander, it is nighttime. The enemy is in the open while we are concealed. Should we take a detour?"

"What is there to fear? We have a thousand iron riders behind us. Can Tongwen Hall send a thousand assassins?"

"But these trees are difficult to clear from the road. We can only take a detour—"

"A detour may be exactly what they want." Zhu Youning shook his head, then added, "Didn't we bring those things from the Directorate of Armaments before we set out?"

The Directorate of Armaments was Liang State's weapons manufacturing workshop. Zhu Youning had previously obtained plenty of "Volatile Fire" from there.

Hearing this, Wu Yi immediately understood Zhu Youning's intentions.

"Men, place those things up ahead."

"Yes."

At the command, bottles and jars of all sizes were soon arranged beside the trees.

They were all gunpowder—gunpowder refined by Hanba.

The gunpowder Hanba had refined was far more powerful than ordinary gunpowder. After all, this was a wondrous world. Hanba even knew cultivation techniques related to gunpowder, things like explosive talismans, which he could produce with ease.

Then, from far away, a soldier hurled a torch over.

BOOM!

After an earth-shaking explosion, the road had been blasted open.

Zhu Youning then ordered the entire army to continue forward.

Not long after Zhu Youning led his troops away, figures in white suddenly sprang out one after another and arrived before the section of road blasted open by the gunpowder. These white figures all wore white robes and masks. They were the assassins of Tongwen Hall, Jin State's assassination organization.

Tongwen Hall was the assassination organization personally established by Prince of Jin Li Keyong, and it belonged to Jin State.

However, although Tongwen Hall had been founded by Prince of Jin Li Keyong, Li Keyong himself currently did not involve himself in its specific affairs, having entrusted everything to his adopted son, Li Siyuan.

Within Tongwen Hall, Li Siyuan was known as the Holy Lord, while his younger brother Li Sizhao was known as the Sub-Sage. Beneath them were the ten sects of Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Wisdom, Faith, Loyalty, Filial Piety, Grace, Courage, and Endurance, each headed by one of Li Keyong's other ten adopted sons. For Jin State's sake, they employed every cruel and underhanded method imaginable.

These Tongwen Hall assassins had come here only after hearing the tremendous explosion.

"We spent half the day setting up this roadblock, then another half day laying ambushes on the other routes. Who would have thought it would be blown apart by gunpowder in less than a quarter of an hour?" A Tongwen Hall assassin who appeared to be a minor leader clenched his fists tightly. "Hanba, the corpse ancestor of the Xuanming Cult, truly lives up to his reputation!"

"Should we pursue them?" an assassin beside him asked.

"No need to chase them. This prince has already arrived!"

As soon as the words fell, groups of elite riders charged toward the Tongwen Hall assassins with their heads held high.

Under the cover of night, the vigorous cavalry became a black torrent, while their dark banners surged like ocean waves. Upon each great banner, the large seal-script character for "Liang" appeared and vanished beneath the moonlight.

These cavalrymen were Zhu Youning's Longxiang Army riders.

Zhu Youning had led his men back precisely to launch a countercharge.

The sight of cavalry charging was immensely spectacular. Under the cavalry's high-speed assault, the Tongwen Hall assassins found it difficult to react in time.

They were assassins by trade, skilled at covert killings. Facing an army head-on, they had virtually no chance of winning.

Naturally, the minor leader among the Tongwen Hall assassins understood this as well, but he could not retreat.

Because that would only make them die faster.

"Don't panic! Things have come to this, so we can only fight to the death! Anyone who takes half a step back will be executed!"

In a hoarse voice, he raised his sword and pointed it at the cavalry that was about to charge into them, shouting, "Whoever takes the enemy commander's head will surely be richly rewarded by the Holy Lord!"

Yet the moment he finished speaking, a spear thrown by Zhu Youning pierced through his throat. Blood sprayed from the hole, staining his white Tongwen Hall uniform red.

The Tongwen Hall assassin closest to him felt his scalp go numb.

Their leader had died just like that, in the blink of an eye?

The assassins froze for a moment, but swiftly formed a defensive formation. The following cavalry reached them in an instant, and the thunder of hooves made their hearts tremble.

Zhu Youning was the first to break through on horseback. The tip of his spear gleamed with icy light as it pierced through a Tongwen Hall assassin's throat.

Although Zhu Youning's cavalry had not brought heavy weapons, the force of their charge remained unstoppable. The Tongwen Hall assassins had quickly formed up, but none among them possessed the strength to hold off a thousand alone. At the first clash, one of them died.

Before long, the Tongwen Hall assassin squad of more than thirty men was completely wiped out.

"Commander, none of the enemy escaped."

"Very good." Zhu Youning nodded. "These people are nothing to worry about, but they do serve as a warning. This is Great Liang territory, yet Tongwen Hall's people dared to openly set up an ambush. A few insignificant lackeys like these definitely wouldn't have the nerve or authority for it. There must be an important figure behind them!"

"What should we do, then?"

"Why think so much? Soldiers come, generals block them; water comes, earth dams it. Keep moving!"

"Yes!"