Chapter 344: Insight, Courageous as Heavenly Soldiers [Subscription Request]

The sun sets.

Li Ji fled, not out of the yard, but into the house.

It was so fast that it entered the house and crashed directly into a wooden cabinet on the side of the wall.

Behind the cabinet, there was a narrow secret passage, like a wellhead.

He seemed to have rehearsed this move a thousand times. He crashed into the cabinet, then sank into the tunnel, trying his best to escape.

This was the escape route Li Ji arranged for himself.

After a few breaths, Li Ji jumped out from the other end of the tunnel.

That Wei general didn't catch up.

Li Ji immediately judged that the other party might want to let him escape, so he tracked down all the people related to him.

A hint of coldness appeared at the corner of Li Ji's mouth.

For a killer of his level, it would be a huge miscalculation for the other party not to catch him immediately.

Li Ji's location was originally in a corner of the city.

Coming out of the secret passage, they were already very close to the city gate.

But he did not run out of the city, but turned over and went to another courtyard next door.

He went through houses and soon came to a street near the city gate.

While Li Ji was moving at high speed, he pushed the power in his body, his expression changed quietly, and even his body shrank slightly.

His originally tall and thin figure was actually an illusion.

He became the height of an ordinary person and took off his coat, revealing a linen Hanfu costume underneath.

This kind of dress and body shape can be seen everywhere on the street.

Near the city gate, in the evening, there were quite a few people going out and returning to the city.

Li Ji mixed in with the pedestrians and changed his identity again without leaving any trace.

Half a quarter of an hour later, a middle-aged woman left the long street.

This woman turned out to be Li Ji.

As he walked along the street, he took the opportunity to enter and exit shops to change his appearance again. Even his gait and movements became more feminine, without any flaws being visible.

The middle-aged woman transformed by Li Ji walked slowly.

She eventually came to another part of the city and entered a small courtyard.

This is the "home" of the middle-aged woman he transformed into.

Li Ji changed his identity repeatedly and did not flee, but instead planned to remain dormant in the city.

This is called darkness under the lamp.

Only when he came into the house and sat down did he breathe a sigh of relief.

He made very detailed arrangements for this assassination in advance.

He changed his identity and took advantage of the opportunity to go in and out of shops on the street, blending in with the flow of people and shaking off those who wanted to follow him.

Li Ji believed that he was safe, at least for the time being.

But he immediately heard a voice: "Don't you have any accomplices? Why don't you go find them?"

Xu Chu opened the window, revealing his square face, and stared at Li Ji with angry eyes.

Cao Cao asked him to arrest someone. Xu Chu became suspicious and wanted to find out who was behind the other party.

He followed her all the way here, and it was really unexpected that the assassin could change her gender and become a middle-aged woman.

Even Xu Chu almost lost his way.

Seeing the assassin come in and sit down, as if he was going to spend the night here, with no sign of contacting his accomplices, Xu Chu decided not to wait any longer and to capture the man first.

He jumped into the house from the window, stretched out his hand and grabbed, and the void suddenly tightened.

Li Ji also jumped up again and rushed towards the door.

But he was covered by Xu Chu's power, and his body, which had jumped up, was fixed in mid-air, unable to move at all.

"You are such a bold assassin, you dare to plot against my King Wei."

Xu Chu grabbed him by the back of the neck and said, "After I have interrogated you, I will peel off your skin with my own hands, chop you into stuffing, and let Da Dian eat you."

Xu Chu grabbed Li Ji and sent the power in his hands into his body, leaving him no chance to commit suicide, so as to avoid losing the clue.

He carried the person and rushed back by climbing over rooftops and walls.

The small courtyard where Cao Cao temporarily stayed.

He went to the well where the poison had been found and took a look.

The walls of the well are made of pebbles, and there are inevitably gaps between them.

If you use mice to dig holes underground and then fall into the well through the cracks in the well wall to poison the person, no one would notice.

Fortunately, Director Jia is professional in security and is a role model in the life-saving industry.

Xu Chu went to arrest people, and Jia Xu was also taking action.

Wherever something has been done, there will be traces. With Jia Xu's ability to trace back the consequences to the cause, he can work backwards to find clues and find out something no matter how secretive it is.

For example, the assassin is highly skilled and can control rats and poison them, so he must have a background.

And the source of the poison.

Whoever leaked Cao Cao's whereabouts are all clues that can be traced.

Director Jia passed the order down, and under Cao's command, the spies worked frantically and dug deep underground.

After Cao Cao waited for a while, Li Ji was brought back.

Xu Chu threw the man to the ground, full of anger, and said, "King Wei, if we catch this one, there won't be enough for the grand ceremony."

Dian Wei glanced at Xu Chu and said, "Why don't you eat it yourself?"

"This thief is cunning and can turn into a woman." Xu Chu said.

Cao Cao looked at the assassin and suddenly asked, "Your name is Li Ji."

Li Ji was shocked.

He never uses his real name when he goes out.

His name was Li Ji, and only three or five people in the world knew him.

How could the King of Wei in front of him know?
In fact, Cao Cao was looking at him while listening to his inner voice.

So even though the two sides didn't talk to each other, Cao Cao had already figured out some of his secrets.

"Behind you, there are Buddhists involved, and..."

Cao Cao revealed the planners and supporters behind him. Li Ji couldn't help showing horror on his face, and he almost lost his mind.

Suddenly, a cluster of fine needles shot out from Li Ji's abdomen at lightning speed and fell towards Cao Cao.

But as soon as the thin needle appeared, Dian Wei and Xu Chu reached out to grab it without any prior order.

The fine needles gathered at one point and fell into the hands of both men.

Looking at Li Ji again, his breathing was weak and he was on the verge of death.

He had rolled up a finely crafted needle as thin as an ox hair into a ball in advance and swallowed it into his body like a pill.

Then he conducts his energy in his abdomen, leaving no trace on the outside.

This is a killer's final assassination, and it is also a means of killing both him and the enemy.

The moment Xu Chu caught him, he subdued him to prevent him from committing suicide.

But breathing will not stop. As long as he can breathe, through the conscious contraction and expansion of the abdomen, he can trigger the hidden weapon mechanism in his abdomen, committing suicide, which is also the final blow.

Li Ji originally planned to wait for Cao Cao to get closer and find a better opportunity to trigger it.

But Cao Cao asked casually, and every word hit the secret in his heart.

Li Ji was horrified and dared not delay any longer, so he sent out the last killer.

After this blow, his abdomen ruptured and he died instantly.

But the needle was also poisonous. Once it bounced off, it would pierce the abdomen and kill the person instantly.

Cao Cao curled his lips, he already knew the origin of this assassin.

Now that their tracks have been exposed, where can they hide?

----

The Western Regions, Yuzhi, also known as the Kingdom of Jinyu.

It is located on the southern side of the Tarim Basin, connecting Qiemo and Shanshan to the east, and Shache and Shule to the west.

In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Jinyu Kingdom was annexed by Shache.

But in the fourth year of Emperor Ming of Han's Yongping reign, they fought back and defeated Shache, regaining their independence.

Ban Chao, the military commander of the Eastern Han Dynasty, once sent troops to the Kingdom of Jinyu and used it as a base to attack Gumo in the north and Shache and Shule in the west.

Jinyu Kingdom, Shanshan, and Qiuci were all considered big countries in the Western Regions.

"Shangri-La Xingi."

A middle-aged noble from the Jinyu Kingdom came to a scripture room.

In the center of the room, a person was sitting cross-legged, chanting scriptures in a low voice.

The Buddhism during the Han Dynasty was very different from the Buddhism that was introduced into the Central Plains in later generations and gradually assimilated and changed.

They had experienced internal struggles within India and with Brahmanism, which had resulted in heavy casualties, so they were good at fighting and quite aggressive.

It is divided into two school: Mahayana and Hinayana.

But size is not used to distinguish high from low.

The most important branch of them has the development direction of expanding the base of believers, accumulating popularity, and increasing achievements through external preaching of the scriptures.

The man sitting cross-legged in the room is tall and appears to be a person from the Western Regions. In fact, he is the leader of Indian Buddhism in the Western Regions and practices the Mahayana tradition.

"Is there any news?"

"Not yet. We only know that the King of Wei has left his capital and is inspecting other places."

The two men spoke in the Western language, and the noble from the Jinyu Kingdom said:

“The Han people we contacted used a very important hidden man to locate the King of Wei.

There is a great chance of success in launching this surprise attack."

The host of the chanting nodded slightly:

“The Buddha’s revelation to me is to spread the true meaning of Mahayana Buddhism, which can save sentient beings from suffering.

The King of Wei is the very obstacle to our spreading of the scriptures. He has issued orders to all parts of the East to purge those who are spreading the scriptures and not allow us to cross the river to the East. This is an act of evil.

If we get rid of him, we will achieve great success."

“Back then, the Buddha went through all kinds of suffering before he was able to escape from disasters and great sufferings and transcend.

We should also not fear hardships, and take it as our responsibility to promote the meaning of the Sutra, spread it to all directions, and save the sentient beings in the East."

The nobles of Jinyu Kingdom looked respectful:
“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. This time I’m just testing the defenses around him. It doesn’t matter even if I fail.

We will look for another opportunity, and one day we will be able to kill him."

The host's eyes seemed to be half-closed, and before continuing to chant, he asked again: "Have you made any progress in your search for the objects in the sacred mountain and the Golden Jade Kingdom?"

"Not yet, but we have found some clues."

"We need to speed up. Where is the Han army in the Western Region?"

"Still staying in Qiezhi, they sent people to ask for surrender, wanting me to surrender to Wei."

Noble Yu Zhi sneered: "But they can't succeed!"

"Well, we can't let the Western Regions fall into the hands of the King of Wei." said the chanter.

Yu Zhi's nobles performed the ceremony and prepared to retreat.

The two of them did not know that Taishi Ci had led his troops and arrived near Yuzhi.

The team was led by surrendered soldiers from Kucha, and there was also a cavalry team consisting of camels following the army.

What Taishi Ci was not satisfied with was that the Wei army was not used to the desert and their horses could not run.

So they're approaching the end, slower than expected.

Here, horses are not as useful as camels.

However, the yellow sand everywhere also brings one advantage, that is, most of the countries in the Western Regions have no strategic locations to defend, and it is very easy to attack their heartland.

Moreover, there are continuous low hills in the desert, which makes it easy to hide and march.

Taishi Ci led his troops to approach Yu Zhi's capital, but the enemy remained unaware.

There were twelve cities in Yuzhen.

But apart from the royal capital, there is no proper big city.

When night fell, Taishi Ci shouted to his troops:
"A few miles ahead is the capital of Yuzhen. We have tried to persuade them to surrender several times, but they have refused to do so.

Now, we have to break into the city and occupy this place. Tomorrow morning, I will report to the king and tell him that the foreign land was vulnerable to attack and was conquered by us overnight.

The royal flag of our Great Wei will greet the morning light on the top of their city walls!"

Taishi Ci took off the bow on his back and said, "All the troops!"

The three thousand soldiers behind him, all elite soldiers of the Wei army, shouted in unison: "Fight bravely!"

Taishi Ci's voice echoed with the army, and the sound of killing shook the fields.

"Come on!"

In the cover of night, Cao's army marched towards King Yuzhen's capital.

The three thousand Cao troops gathered together like a sharp arrow.

As the Wei army got closer, the defenders on the city wall fell one after another.

The arrows in Taishi Ci's hand shot at such a fast speed that it was a spectacle.

He looked like a monster with a thousand hands and arms, and his arrows formed into a thin line and shot out like a rainstorm.

The auxiliary troops from the Western Regions who followed behind were stunned and said, "The Han generals are as brave as the soldiers of heaven."

"No wonder the Western Xianbei were driven away by them."

When Taishi Ci climbed to the top of the city wall, the troops below gathered their strength and began to attack the city gate.

King Yuzhen was soon caught up in the chaos of war.

The nobleman in the palace and the host of the sutra recitation both stood up in the night and looked towards the city gate.

"The Han army is coming to attack the city." Someone reported.

……

midnight.

Cao Cao woke up from the couch, his brows slightly furrowed.

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(End of this chapter)