Two Daoists arrived at Sishui Pass, claiming they had come to help the Shang Army defend it.
Dou Rong heard the news while taking a brief rest atop the walls. He froze, equal parts startled and puzzled.
Of everyone in the Zhou Army, the one he feared most was neither Nangong Shi, who planned his campaigns with measured advances and retreats, nor Ji Shuqian, who bravely charged into battle and slew his enemies. It was Lei Zhenzi, who had done little beyond shouting slogans, beating drums, and repeatedly challenging them to fight.
Dou Rong could match Nangong Shi himself, and Han Rong and the other generals could just about hold their own against Ji Shuqian. Lei Zhenzi, however, was a problem.
That birdman had genuinely smashed a mountain spur to pieces. Such power was nothing like mortal martial skill. What if he suddenly disregarded cause and effect and karmic debt, and launched a massacre? Who could stop him then?
What Dou Rong feared most was precisely that sort of unpredictable threat, because he was human-a mortal.
Thus, he took a keen interest in the Daoists who had come to help defend the pass.
You have magic arts, and now I have magic arts too. That gives us another layer of protection, in case Lei Zhenzi suddenly lashes out.
"Invite the two Daoist masters up onto the walls."
Dou Rong was unwilling to leave the walls. A short while later, two young Daoists arrived riding clouds.
These two were naturally Jin Zha and Mu Zha, who had received instructions from Jiang Ziya's Brocade Pouch and descended the mountain to aid Zhou in the Conquest of Zhou.
They intended to infiltrate the enemy under the pretext of helping defend Sishui Pass, then take it by deception.
In the original story, Dou Rong