Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 58 Closing the Net
Shi Pu calls himself a hunter, but he is obviously more like an assassin.

He suddenly attacked Chuoying from behind just to distract Chuoying's attention and create an opportunity to shoot Chuoying with a hidden crossbow.

He had previously attacked "Qinglong" Tian Jun by taking advantage of Tian Jun being caught in a melee with Judge Wu and others, and then he made his move quietly, subduing Tian Jun with one blow.

If Tian Jun grew up in the army and lacked experience in the martial arts world, then Chaoying was really defeated by her inferior skills. Shi Pu took her down with the same method she used to plot against her master Cao Zixiu.

But as smart as Shi Pu is, he still feels a little uneasy.

He thought of his conversation with that friend.

"Most of Huang Chao's assassins were wandering swordsmen and fugitives. They always wore night clothes and hoods when doing things. Although this kind of information is difficult to obtain, you and I have found it after some thought."

"They've been doing this for a long time, and they've never had any problems. It seems there's no need to change. But the truth is, let alone killing a few people and replacing them, just someone dressed the same way sneaking in while they're fighting would be enough to throw them into chaos."

"So, my friend, you might want to consider the possibility that Zhu Wen may have an additional plan. For example, is Zhu Wen deliberately not changing this strategy in order to conceal another ambush?"

Shi Pu trusted this friend very much.

But his scouts, who came and went like smoke, tried their best to search the area, but apart from the group of men in black with hoods who had sneaked in, they did not find any other suspicious people.

In the dark night, a sharp wolf howl suddenly sounded.

This is not surprising, as wild wolves are often seen in the Taishan area.

Even if it's a pack of wolves, it's not surprising that they might be migrating.

But it was clearly unusual for wolves to sneak into a Taoist temple like Baiyun Temple. Wolves don't like to hang out in crowded places.

Judge Wu was stunned to see a huge black wolf pounce on him, pin one of his men to the ground, and bite off his throat.

Shi Pu looked at Zhu Wen coldly: "Is this your second ambush?"

"Your men were busy trying to find me for any extra men, so of course they didn't notice a pack of wolves gathering and migrating. Otherwise, such a large pack would easily arouse suspicion."

Shi Pu, who called himself a hunter, knew that Zhu Wen was right. There were people in history who were good at making friends with animals. There was even a sect called Baishou Villa.

"These wolves aren't Huang Chao's death squad. They won't risk their lives for Zhu Wen!" Shi Pu said resolutely, "Everyone, be careful and cover each other's backs! If we kill a few of them, the wolves will retreat."

As he spoke, he ordered his men to build a fire to scare the wolves, and then to shoot in their direction with crossbows.

These are all effective ways to deal with wolves.

"It's a very calm judgment. Of course, I can't let too many casualties among my friend's clansmen." Zhu Wen nodded.

"It seems that it is still unknown who will win." Shi Pu gritted his teeth.

"No, it's clear as day." Zhu Wen pointed in the direction of the man in black.

Shi Pu suddenly discovered that the men in black had already restored order. The Taishan disciples, the subordinates of Judge Wu, and even several elite scouts under his own command were being beaten by these desperate criminals. They were fighting and retreating, and were squeezed to the front of the Moon Palace.

"What's going on?" Shi Pu's face finally changed.

"Smell." Zhu Wen said calmly, "Not many people have a keen nose, but only a small number of people are needed."

Shi Pu said: "So the secret code those people said before they died..."

"The code is real," Zhu Wen said. "And your scouts are indeed skilled at mimicking other people's voices. They are indeed Xuzhou's elite special forces."

"If they fall into your hands, they'll be dead no matter what. Telling the code can guarantee a quick death. However, only those with the most sensitive noses can detect the scent."

As a smart man, Shi Pu no longer needed to hear any more explanations after Zhu Wen said this.

If the scent you apply to your body for identification is too strong, it will stain your clothes, so you can remove the scent by simply taking away your nightgown and hood. It will also make you more noticeable.

But if only a few of Zhu Wen's men were trained to detect the subtle difference in the scent applied to the face, then even the scouts under Shi Pu, no matter how cunning, would find it difficult to notice the difference.

In the perception of those people with particularly keen noses, those people who sneaked in were like a few weasels sneaking into a group of hens.

Those few streaks of blood at the beginning were of course spurted out from the neck of the Xuzhou scout who had infiltrated the black-clad team. The spy planted by Shi Pu was eliminated at that time.

Zhu Wen glanced at Shi Pu, Judge Wu and the others with a look as if he were looking at a dead person.

His murderous intention towards traitor Judge Wu was even greater than his intention towards Shi Pu.

Baiyun Temple faced south, with the Moon Palace perched atop a cliff to the north. The men in black were primarily ambushed southwest of the Moon Palace, pressing forward in a shrinking arc.

The wolves approached from the southeast, obviously not intending to let any of the rebels and Shi Pu's followers escape.

Zhu Wen rushed into the enemy camp without any mercy and chopped off the head of a fairy from the Taishan Sect with one sword, scaring the enemy into fleeing.

He was about to order Huang Chao's soldiers to follow and charge into the gap, but suddenly he had a bad premonition.

This intuition made him dodge and jump out sideways in an instant.

An armor-piercing spike flew through the air and hit Lan Suting's chest.

It was the right chest. The other party did not intend to kill her. He must have planned to seriously injure Lan Suting and then capture her as a hostage.

"That little girl surnamed Tian is not important at all. This little girl disguised as a man is the woman you really care about!" Judge Wu said firmly.

He was originally a key informant planted by Huang Chao, but he betrayed Huang Chao's cultivation and reuse, and colluded with Cao Zixiu, wanting to capture Zhu Wen and present him to the court for credit. Zhu Wen would never let him go.

Therefore, capturing Lan Suting alive and using it to force Zhu Wen to forgive his mistakes was Judge Wu's only chance of survival.

Zhu Wen felt annoyed.

But the armor-piercing cone did come quickly.

When he rushed past, it was too late to draw his knife to block. When he used his left hand to block it, he felt a sharp pain in his palm. A large piece of flesh was cut off and blood dripped out.

Zhu Wen suddenly remembered that many years ago, a girl also used her arm to block a knife for him.

"Captain!" Lan Suting's pupils dilated as she cried out in concern, "Are you okay?"

"It's just a flesh wound." Zhu Wen endured the pain and smiled, putting Lan Suting at ease. He then said to Judge Wu, "But you wanted to hurt Zhizhen and hold her hostage. I'm very angry."

Judge Wu also floated towards this direction. He originally wanted to catch Lan Suting.

As a result, it crashed into the area covered by Zhu Wen's sword light.

The back of the precious sword slapped with force, and with a force as overwhelming as Mount Tai, it smashed down on Judge Wu's head.

The reason why we have to use the back of the knife is that although Judge Wu went out today without armor, he wore a helmet, so it would be difficult to cause any casualties by chopping.

However, the huge impact brought by the hard hit still knocked Judge Wu to the ground in an instant, even though he was caught off guard.

If both sides were fully prepared before the fight began, Zhu Wen believed he wouldn't be able to defeat Judge Wu in less than ten moves. This gloomy fellow's martial arts skills were even better than that of Cao Zixiu, the head of Mount Tai.

However, Judge Wu was suddenly hit, and Zhu Wen attacked in anger, so this result was not surprising.

Not to mention that Zhu Wen was already stronger than Judge Wu. In history, many powerful generals were killed by enemy soldiers who were far less powerful than themselves because they were not prepared.

Judge Wu certainly had no chance to stand up, because Zhu Wen's foot had already stepped heavily on his chest.

Judge Wu came out to seek death out of panic, which made Zhu Wen very angry, but also very satisfied.

She was angry because he dared to set his sights on Lan Suting.

I am satisfied because now things are easier to handle.

War is all about courage, and what we fight for is morale.

The fact that Zhu Wen had Shi Pu plotted against him clearly crushed the morale of Shi Pu's forces. Otherwise, if the enemy gathered their strength and fought with a stable mentality, they would not only be able to turn defeat into victory, but would at least cause a lot of casualties to their own side.

Therefore, Chaoying's blind action was not completely useless, because before the war, he eliminated the leader of the Taishan faction, Cao Zixiu, and destroyed the backbone of the enemy.

Now that Judge Wu fell into his hands, Zhu Wen would certainly not show mercy. He chopped off Judge Wu's head with one blow of his sword. Judge Wu's huge head flew into the air, his eyes wide open, still with an unwilling look on his face.

Zhu Wen embraced Lan Suting, who jumped into his arms like a little rabbit, and gently touched her head to calm her frightened emotions.

As an outsider, Shi Pu could not perfectly command the Taishan Sect and the troops under Judge Wu.

Shi Pu was also well aware of this.

"Mr. Shi Pu, have you ever imagined that the real net would be like this?" After chopping Judge Wu with a knife, Zhu Wen vented his anger, his expression became calm again, and he said to Shi Pu with a smile.

(End of this chapter)