Chapter 25: Chapter 25 Invisible Gorge
The scene suddenly became quiet.
No one expected the unassuming Shi Xiaole to actually defeat the renowned Zhao Deming of "One Sword Shapes the World".
What was even more surprising was that everyone could see from the previous fight that Shi Xiaole had only achieved the hidden Qi of the Fifth Tier.
Picking up the candle, Shi Xiaole turned around to face the crowd, its meaning was clear: if anyone wanted to fight for the candle, feel free to come and try.
No one stepped forward.
"Good, thank you all for the exciting duel today. Order the treasury, every hero who has not been selected can be paid 20 ounces of silver as a reward. In addition, the medical bills of the heroes present are fully borne by the Zhang Family."
Zhang Yuanshan was very good at handling people; with this statement, any lingering resentment in the hearts of the defeated swordsmen dissipated.
After a while, everyone went home, leaving only Shi Xiaole and nine others at the scene.
"Gentlemen, please follow me."
Zhang Yuanshan led the way.
Soon, the group sat down in a hall. After ordering the servants to serve tea, Zhang Yuanshan finally said, "Ten heroes, I don’t want to deceive you. This journey to Thousand Poison Mountain is fraught with danger. If you want to back out, there’s still time."
"Sir Zhang is joking. We, the people of the martial world, keep our promises. If we retreat in the face of adversity, how will we survive in the future?"
The rough man, Dong Chengwu, said aloud.
The others also expressed their determination.
Sir Zhang showed no signs of surprise, "My daughter is critically ill. This time, to save time, I have decided to take the route through Invisible Gorge and head directly to Thousand Poison Mountain."
"What?!"
Upon hearing the news, those who had been pounding their chests in bravado paled at once. Sun Ting was so shocked that he jumped up.
Invisible Gorge, as the name suggests, is a place from which many do not return.
It’s a very long and narrow valley with uneven slopes where boulders often roll down, making it difficult to cross.
But the truly terrifying part is that the Invisible Gorge is the territory of the Cave Mountain Bandits. Over the past decade or so, of all the men of martial means who have entered the Gorge, few have come out unscathed, if at all.
The government has sent troops there to annihilate the bandits, but to no avail. Rumor has it that the bandits have bribed officials, resulting in the matter being swept under the rug.
"Sir Zhang, this is not fair. This information wasn’t disclosed in the announcement."
Sun Ting was not happy; he was slightly embarrassed and angry.
What a joke! The Cave Mountain Bandits were a well-known bandit group in the local martial world.
It is rumored that the leader of the bandits, Zhou Xiong of the "Golden Dragon Blade", is a master with a peak Qi-level of nine levels, with the two deputy leaders also possessing peak Qi-levels of eight levels. Coupled with the remaining murderers, even a master in the Qi Absorption Realm would be hard-pressed to gain any advantage, let alone them?
Among all the people present, the strongest, Dong Chengwu, only had a mid-level Qi-realm of nine levels.
They thought that entering Thousand Poison Mountain was already difficult enough, and now they were adding Invisible Gorge to the mix. This mission essentially spelled certain death.
No wonder the rewards promised by the Zhang family were so generous.
No one looked good.
Shi Xiaole, however, had been prepared for this due to the system task’s prompt.
"Alas, if I had mentioned the plan to pass through Invisible Gorge, the Cave Mountain Bandits would have prepared and it would have been even more difficult for us to get through."
Zhang Yuanshan stated a reason that nobody could refute, the damned wily merchant.
"Fine, since I have undertaken this deal, unless there are real risks to my life, Dong will not walk away."
Dong Chengwu was the first to declare his stand.
Of course, he did not make an ironclad commitment, indicating that if the Cave Mountain Bandits proved to be too much, he would leave immediately.
"Everyone says the Cave Mountain Bandits are formidable, but Wang would like to see it for himself."
Wang Yangming, being young and spirited, smiled nonchalantly and even contemptuously glanced at Sun Ting.
The others, all seasoned figures of the martial world, also decided to stay, holding the same intentions as Dong Chengwu.
As for Shi Xiaole, he was the one among the ten who could least afford to leave.
Sir Zhang was overjoyed and slapped the armrest, "Good! I have prepared a banquet. Afterward, please rest well. We will set off early tomorrow."
After the banquet, Shi Xiaole originally intended to visit his aunt, but considering that he was leaving the next day and if his aunt asked about it, he would just cause her to worry. So, he decided to visit her after he returned.
Shi Xiaole also thought about it; he was indeed a bit impulsive to take on this task. If it really proved to be unfeasible when the time came, he would have to leave and accept the system’s punishment.
The night passed without incident.
Early the next morning, before daylight, the Zhang family and their party were ready to set off.
The ten individuals including Shi Xiaole each rode a horse, encircling a carriage. Teams of fifty Zhang family guards were arranged in front and behind the group, constantly on the alert for any danger.
Zhang Yuanshan and Miss Zhang sat inside the carriage.
The group quickly left Feiyan City and entered the official road.
Two days later, they entered the lush mountains. After half a day, a peculiar geographical formation appeared ahead.
It was a long, deep mountain ridge, a hundred meters high. From the bottom to the top, on both sides, there was an incredibly steep slope. The middle part was very narrow, it looked like an inverted trapezoid.
That is the Invisible Gorge that is regarded as a den of vipers and beasts by many individuals of the martial world.
Shi Xiaole’s heart slowly sank.
Just looking at this terrain, he could imagine how dangerous Invisible Gorge was.
If it were a battle, all one would need to do is ambush people on both sides of the Gorge, either shoot arrows or roll down stones, to completely wipe out the invading army.
Not to exaggerate, even if the Cave Mountain Bandits were ordinary people, as long as they planned well, they could leverage the terrain of the Gorge to easily trap and kill the group.
The other nine individuals evidently had the same thought. They all looked increasingly grim.
Even Wang Yangming, who had shouted about slaughtering the Cave Mountain Bandits and ridding the Martial World of evil, seemed completely constipated at the moment.
"Swordsman Dong, do you have any suggestions?"
Among the group, Dong Chengwu seemed to be the de facto leader, Zhang Yuanshan lifted the cloth curtain on the carriage and asked heavily.
Dong Chengwu thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps we could first send out a few people to scout the situation, which would also help us make plans."
Zhang Yuanshan nodded, waved his hand and ordered it to be done.
After several Zhang Family guards quietly left, the group decided to set up camp here, planning to wait until the guards returned.
Unexpectedly, they ended up waiting a whole 2-hour period with no sign of the guards’ return.
"Something must have happened to them."
Dong Chengwu bared his teeth, called Sun Ting and the two of them, under the cover of the night, headed towards the Invisible Gorge. Soon, they brought several beheaded bodies, full of arrows.
Shouts echoed incessantly.
All of the Zhang Family guards were scared to the point their faces turned pale. When had they ever seen such a gruesome scene?
An even louder scream came from within the carriage, it must have been from the unseen Miss Zhang.
"Amitabha, these bandits, their killing intent is too strong."
Among the ten guards, the monk murmured while fingering his prayer bead, his face showing intense sorrow.
Dong Chengwu murmured, "This is a warning from the Cave Mountain Bandits. If we dare to enter the Invisible Gorge, we will share the same fate as these unfortunate men."
"I don’t understand why we can’t send someone across for negotiation? The Cave Mountain Bandits are just greedy after all."
The young woman in red asked coldly.
"I, Zhang, have tried before but unfortunately the Cave Mountain Bandits refused. They said that I don’t have the qualifications to negotiate with them. They enjoy the feeling of killing and plundering."
This statement effectively shattered the group’s last shred of hope for a peaceful resolution.
Dong Chengwu said, "This is how it should be. Tomorrow, some brave warriors will lead the Zhang Family into the Invisible Gorge to lure out the bandits, while the rest of us, led by me, will circle around to ambush the enemy from behind. We will collaborate from the inside and outside."
The young woman in red laughed, "What a brilliant idea, Swordsman Dong. However, I am curious why you get to circle around? Hehe."
Compared to entering the Invisible Gorge, the safety of the detour is obviously much higher.
Dong Chengwu ignored her and instead asked the others for their opinions.
Unable to come up with a better solution they naturally agreed. The only argument among them was nobody wanted to enter the Invisible Gorge tomorrow, all of them preferred the detour to the enemy’s rear.
When they asked Shi Xiaole, he simply said, "I believe Swordsman Dong’s strategy is not feasible."
Everyone looked at him in surprise, including Zhang Yuanshan.
Dong Chengwu calmly said, "Could it be that Young Hero Shi has a better solution? I am all ears."
"The Cave Mountain Bandits are all too familiar with the terrain here. Taking a detour is not a good solution. We’d better wait a little bit longer before taking any actions."
"Wait? You can afford to wait, but Miss Zhang cannot. Young Hero Shi, since you’ve accepted this task, you can’t be fearful of death."
Dong Chengwu said this in a tone laced with ridicule.
Fearing the two would argue, the group quickly tried to mediate.
In the end, after a lot of discussion, it was decided that Dong Chengwu, the young woman in red, Wang Yangming, Sun Ting and the old man with white hair would lead the way to circle around to the rear of the enemy, while Shi Xiaole and the others would be responsible for entering the Invisible Gorge to attract enemy fire.
Shi Xiaole glanced at Dong Chengwu but said nothing.
Even though he disagreed with Dong’s strategy, it was not appropriate to outright reject it at this point in time, he could only act according to the situation.
The night passed quickly.
Early the next morning, Shi Xiaole and his group boldly and loudly marched into the Invisible Gorge.
Halfway into their journey at a point where it was neither feasible to move forward nor retreat, figures suddenly leapt up from both sides of the cliff, drawing their bows and aiming a fierce volley at the group.
Arrows rained down like a storm. Soon, amidst the screams, the Zhang family guards were one after another killed.
"Damn it, these damned bandits!"
The laborer hollered while wielding his hoe, swatting away the incoming arrows.
As per the plan, the group kept moving while retreating, hoping that the group led by Dong Chengwu would quickly kill the enemies from their rear.
However, at this moment, Dong Chengwu and his group had fallen into a trap set by the Cave Mountain Bandits on the cliff. Instead of accomplishing their ambush, they were the ones ambushed instead.
A one-eyed man wielding a golden great blade, laughing madly, was putting the usually formidable Dong Chengwu with his strong aura and swordsmanship to a tough fight.
The two other bandit leaders, whose power easily outmatched the rest, were battling it out with Wang Yangming and the young woman in red, and actually having the upper hand.
These three were none other than the leaders of the Cave Mountain Bandits, Zhou Xiong, the Golden Dragon Blade and his two deputies.
As for nearly one hundred other bandits, they surrounded Sun Ting, the old man with white hair, and the Zhang family guards.
As the battle ensued, the Zhang family guards were practically wiped out.
Even though Sun Ting and the white-haired old man had killed many enemies, they sustained injuries from the surrounding assault. When an opportunity presented itself, they turned around and ran for their lives.
"Retreat!"
Dong Chengwu’s eyes were bloodshot, but he knew things weren’t going as planned and could only fight his way out of the encirclement with Wang Yangming and the young woman in red and escape like beaten dogs.
"Brother, you are indeed brave!"
After the battle, one of the deputies gave Zhou Xiong a thumbs-up.
"What a bunch of idiots, using their weakness to attack our strength. Hmm! Second Brother, Third Brother, rest for a while then lead a group to pursue and kill them, be sure to eradicate that gang."
The one-eyed man gave a cold smile, his face filled with a bloodthirsty look.
