Wandering Sword Seller's Life in the Qin Dynasty

In recent days, in order to protect Xiang Yan, they have been on guard day and night, exhausting their efforts to build an impregnable defense. The top-ranking assassins of the Luo Wang organization have attacked several times but failed to succeed. They thought that such a defense was foolproof, but they never thought that someone would so easily infiltrate the central army and take the general's head.

"It was him! He killed the general!"

Someone pointed at Xu Qing, their voice trembling with anger, their spear pointing directly at Xu Qing, their eyes filled with boundless hatred.

In an instant, thousands of guards surrounded Xu Qing, their weapons gleaming coldly, their sharp edges aimed at him, the killing intent in the air almost swallowing him whole.

"Kill him! Avenge the Great General!"

"A blood debt must be repaid in blood! This scoundrel must be torn to pieces!"

Angry shouts rose and fell, echoing throughout the central army camp, drowning out even the chaotic shouts of battle in the distance.

The guards, their eyes bloodshot, disregarded the tragic loss of their comrades and charged towards Xu Qing with unwavering courage. They slashed with long swords, thrust with spears, and fired crossbow bolts in unison, each move carrying the determination to perish together with him, venting all their anger and grief on Xu Qing.

Xu Qing remained calm, holding Xiang Yan's head in one hand and gripping the Owl-Turtle Sword tightly in the other. The sword still bore traces of undried blood and hummed slightly, as if echoing the surrounding carnage.

Facing the swarming Chu army guards, he remained calm and composed, his gaze sweeping over the crowd with an air of nonchalance, yet exuding an aura that commanded respect.

Without saying much, he moved in the next instant.

He lightly touched the ground with his toes, his figure moving like a ghost among the guards. With a light swing of his tortoise sword, a thick and sharp sword aura burst out, instantly sending several guards at the forefront flying. Their weapons fell from their hands, they screamed in agony, and crashed heavily to the ground, unable to get up again.

The Owl-Turtle Sword was forged by him personally. In his hands, its power was brought to its fullest potential, possessing both the solidity of a black tortoise's defense and the sharpness of a blade piercing through armor.

Xu Qing's sword movements were calm and unhurried, without the slightest hesitation. With each stroke of the sword, he could accurately defeat a guard, either severing their weapon or injuring their meridians. There was no unnecessary killing, but each strike was enough to render the guard unable to fight.

Although the Chu army's personal guards were numerous and fearless, they were like clay chickens and earthen dogs in front of Xu Qing, and could not form an effective obstacle at all.

Xu Qing's figure was elusive, sometimes using the technique of blending with the world to slightly blur his figure and avoid dense attacks; at other times he swung his sword to counterattack, his sword energy crisscrossing and defeating the guards who surrounded him layer by layer.

He held Xiang Yan's head firmly in his hand, without wavering even amidst the chaos of battle. His expression remained calm and undisturbed, as if the fighting before him had nothing to do with him.

Seeing this, the commander of the personal guards' hatred intensified. He roared and charged at Xu Qing with his long sword in hand. The sword unleashed a sharp blade of energy, aimed directly at Xu Qing's face.

"Assassin, prepare to die!" He used all his inner strength, his sword aura thick and heavy, accompanied by the sound of wind being cut, clearly intending to perish together with Xu Qing.

Xu Qing calmly raised his eyes, neither dodging nor avoiding, and lightly blocked with the Owl-Turtle Sword in his hand. With a crisp "clang", the sword energy instantly dissipated. The commander of the personal guards felt a powerful force coming from the sword, which made his arm go numb. He almost dropped the long sword and staggered back several steps, a trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

Before he could regain his footing, Xu Qing casually swung his sword, and the commander of the guards froze, unable to move, his eyes filled with resentment and despair, before slowly collapsing to the ground.

With their leader defeated, the Chu army guards' morale immediately weakened, but their grief and hatred still sustained them as they charged forward wave after wave.

Xu Qing frowned slightly, no longer delaying. He swung the Owl-Turtle Sword in his hand again, and a powerful sword aura swept out like a whirlwind, shaking away all the guards around him and carving a gap in the dense crowd.

He lightly touched the ground with his toes, and his figure flashed like a shadow, rushing away through the gap. The guards behind him wanted to give chase, but they were injured by the sword energy or blocked by the corpses of their companions. They could only watch helplessly as Xu Qing's figure grew further and further away.

"Chase him! Don't let him get away!"

A roar rang out, but it was to no avail.

Chapter 353 The Net of Being Roasted on the Fire!

The Chu army is in disarray.

The news of Xiang Yan's death could not be kept secret at all.

If it were just a simple assassination in the shadows, few people would know about it, and those in the core could block the news immediately to maintain a semblance of stability in order to prevent the army from falling into chaos.

However, the problem lies in the fact that he had previously suffered multiple assassination attempts from the Luo Wang organization.

Xiang Yan made a huge commotion for her own safety.

Centered around the central military camp, the area was practically a battleground of soldiers.

If they had successfully thwarted the assassination attempt by the Luo Wang organization, that would have been fine, but unfortunately, they failed.

Because Xiang Yan was killed so quickly, when the guards from all directions arrived, they only saw the assassin carrying Xiang Yan's head and calmly breaking through the formation.

There were far too many witnesses.

This makes blocking information extremely difficult.

In addition, there was a network of assassins lurking in Xiang Yan's army. They were still carrying out the mission assigned by Zhao Gao, frantically trying to assassinate Xiang Yan. Although it was unknown which member of the organization was the specific assassin, there was no doubt that the assassination was successful.

They immediately spread the news widely.

Ultimately, assassinating Xiang Yan was never the primary objective. The primary objective was to incite unrest through Xiang Yan's death, thereby plunging the Chu army into chaos and giving Wang Jian's army a chance to survive.

Soon, news of Xiang Yan's death spread far and wide.

Even though Xiang Yan's subordinate generals, as well as Xiang Liang, Xiang Bo, and others, tried their best to quell the unrest after waking up, they were ultimately unable to quell the chaos in the face of hundreds of thousands of troops.

Ultimately, it was due to the unique political environment of the State of Chu.

The internal struggles within the State of Chu were extremely fierce, with various nobles harboring their own ambitions. The hundreds of thousands of troops currently resisting the State of Qin were drawn from various powerful factions. In the past, because of Xiang Yan's prestige in Chu, he was able to suppress the various factions and unite them into one.

But now that Xiang Yan is dead, it is extremely difficult to find someone who can command respect.

……

Xu Qing was very fast.

Once one reaches the realm of the celestial being, one can travel without sleep, rest, food, or drink, day and night without stopping.

Because Ying Zheng continued to use Xiang Yan's head as a pretext for future actions, Xu Qing did not delay and quickly headed from Chu towards Xianyang after dealing with Xiang Yan.

In just a few days, he successfully arrived in Xianyang on his own two legs, and then placed a head on Ying Zheng's desk.

Inside Zhangtai Palace, after learning of Xu Qing's return, Ying Zheng assumed that Mr. Xu had not found any opportunity to make a move, so he ultimately chose to turn back. Originally, he wanted to comfort Xu Qing and tell him not to take it too seriously.

As a result, no sooner had Gai Nie brought Xu Qing to Zhangtai Palace than Xu Qing, without him even speaking, pulled out a head from somewhere and slammed it onto Ying Zheng's desk.

Fortunately, Ying Zheng was a man of great composure who had seen many grand occasions, and thus he was not frightened.

He looked at the head on the desk and then curiously asked Xu Qing, "Mr. Xu, what is this?"

Xu Qing calmly said, "I have fulfilled my mission. This is Xiang Yan's head!"

Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng's eyes sharpened.

Gai Nie's expression also changed slightly, and he looked at Xu Qing with a surprised gaze.

When Xu Qing went to the State of Chu, news from the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven) was also delivered there one after another, but it was not good news; on the contrary, it was bad news.

The net has failed time and again.

Ying Zheng was extremely annoyed by this. Although he knew that assassinating Xiang Yan would be difficult, what he wanted was news of success, not failure. Therefore, he could only keep putting pressure on Zhao Gao.

Unexpectedly, at this very moment, Xu Qing, who had volunteered to go to the State of Chu, returned.

They also brought back Xiang Yan's head.

How did he manage to do that?

Gai Nie couldn't help but feel curious.

Gai Nie certainly knew that Xu Qing was very powerful, but personal strength and taking the head of an enemy general amidst a vast army are different.

The former is a solo battle, while the latter involves facing the world's most terrifying encirclement and attack.

The silence in the hall lasted for a moment before Ying Zheng was the first to come to his senses. A look of disbelief flashed in his deep eyes, which was then replaced by intense brilliance and ecstasy.

He suddenly leaned forward, his gaze fixed on the head on the table. His fingertips trembled slightly, not out of fear, but because of the enormous turning point behind the head.

With Xiang Yan's death, the greatest morale of the Chu army collapsed, which was even more inspiring than winning a major victory.

"Good! Well done, I have fulfilled my mission!"

Ying Zheng suddenly straightened up, his voice filled with undisguised excitement. His gaze towards Xu Qing had completely changed, no longer showing the courtesy he had shown to a strategist, but instead displaying awe for an unparalleled expert. "Mr. Xu's merit surpasses that of a thousand troops. I will reward him handsomely!"

Gai Nie stood aside, his surprise still lingering. He looked at Xu Qing again, his eyes now filled with a hint of inquiry.

He had practiced swordsmanship since childhood and was well aware of the difficulty of taking the head of a general amidst a vast army. Xiang Yan had a large number of personal guards under his command, and the Luo Wang had laid the groundwork for assassinations in the past, so his defenses were already at their peak. However, Xu Qing was able to succeed silently and escape calmly. This strength far exceeded his expectations.

He finally couldn't hold back any longer and spoke softly: "Mr. Xu, Xiang Yan's camp is heavily guarded, how could you have succeeded so easily?"

"Is it heavily defended? I doubt it!"

Xu Qing said calmly, "Anyway, I entered Xiang Yan's camp very easily, beheaded him, and then easily withdrew from there."

"By the way, the people from Luo Wang didn't come away empty-handed; they injured Xiang Yan."

"So I'm puzzled. Since they were able to injure Xiang Yan, it means they were right in front of him. Xiang Yan isn't exactly a master, so why couldn't they kill him? Is it because the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven) is incompetent, or are they holding back? Are they waiting for a better price, waiting until the frontline army is in the most dangerous situation before seriously killing Xiang Yan in exchange for a bigger reward?"

Xu Qing spoke eloquently, mentioning some assassination attempts, but without going into much detail.

As Ying Zheng listened to Xu Qing's words, he naturally had more thoughts about the Luo Wang in his heart, but he didn't say much on the surface. Instead, he turned around and walked into the hall, looking out the window towards Xianyang, his fingertips slowly clenching at his side.

At this moment, he already had a completely new plan in mind. Xiang Yan's death was not the end, but the beginning of internal strife in Chu.

After a while, he spoke in a deep voice: "With Xiang Yan dead, the various nobles in Chu, who are already at odds, will inevitably fight for power and profit. The hundreds of thousands of Chu troops will be leaderless and will surely fall into even greater chaos."

As he spoke, he summoned his men and issued his decree.

"By my decree, immediately order men to hang Xiang Yan's head above the gates of Xianyang, proclaiming it to the world. Also, send messengers to spread the news of Xiang Yan's death swiftly throughout all the prefectures and counties of Chu, especially to those Chu nobles who harbor disloyal intentions. Make sure they know that Xiang Yan is dead, and that continuing to oppose Qin will only lead to their death!"

During this time, Xu Qing simply watched quietly as Ying Zheng issued orders.

Xiang Yan died; he had delivered a perfect answer sheet. After that, what happened had little to do with him.

Feeling there was nothing more to do in Zhangtai Palace, he decided to take his leave of Ying Zheng.

Ying Zheng naturally did not try to stop him. Although he was very grateful to Mr. Xu and wanted to reward him, Ying Zheng wanted to reward him according to merit after the fall of Chu. At present, the most important thing was to destroy Chu.

Although Xiang Yan is dead, Wang Jian's crisis has not been completely resolved. However, conversely, this may not be a bad opportunity.

An opportunity to completely defeat and destroy the State of Chu!

Ying Zheng immediately summoned many important ministers to discuss matters.

When the ministers learned that Xiang Yan was dead and that his head had been brought back to Xianyang, they were immediately shocked and terrified by the King of Qin's methods.

However, it must be admitted that the death of the Chu general was an excellent opportunity for the Qin state.

Lord Changping's previous betrayal caused Qin to lose a key minister. Now, with the killing of Xiang Yan, Chu has also lost a great general. This means that both sides have returned to the same starting line.

Of course, if we're really going to make a comparison, that's not how it works.

However, this is ultimately good news.

They spent a lot of time discussing how to make a big deal out of Xiang Yan's death.

By the time I finally finished, it was already evening.

Ying Zheng finally remembered something else: the matter of the Net.