Chapter 568: Laying a Trap
Translator: DavidT Editor: DavidT, Rock
In the frightening forest, more than half of the 120 people had perished with less than sixty of them left alive. Even those who were usually the bolder ones among the remaining did not have the courage to remain in the forest.
They could not be bothered about their horses and rushed out towards the exit of the forest. There seemed to be a frightening demon within the forest and they all wanted to escape from this vile demon! As for the corpses of their comrades, none of them could be concerned at all.
All of a sudden, a chilly light flashed past and the heads of the few people charging at the front flew up in the air. Countless headless corpses continued running forward before they finally collapsed onto the ground.
A wave of shrieks sounded and everyone immediately stopped running. Before they could even make another sound, the sound of bodies collapsing onto the ground could be heard behind them and the last six to seven people in the group collapsed onto the ground. There was actually not a single trace of injury on their bodies but only extreme fear on their faces.
A faintly discernible figure then appeared in front of everyone like an illusion and a thin glowing light could be seen in his hands. His cold sharp gaze then sliced through the night sky and landed coldly on all the burly men. Anyone who met his eyes felt as though they were stabbed in the chest by a sharp sword and instinctively turned away, not daring to meet his gaze.
There were a few who took a few steps back with their bodies trembling and just when they were about to turn around to flee, a black-robed figure drifted in mid-air and revealed a bright smile to those turning around. He even waved his hands and cheerfully greeted, “Hello! Hello everyone, good evening!” His tone was actually extremely amiable!
Good evening?! The fellow who killed them without a trace in this pitch black darkness was actually floating in mid-air and giving them such a warm greeting?!
All of a sudden, two of the individuals who turned around let out a groan and their faces turned purplish before they collapsed weakly onto the ground without any signs of breathing! They had actually died from shock!
Right when everyone was in a state of panic and shock, Ling Tian and Ling Jian unleashed their attacks again. With one from the front and the other the rear, the two of them reaped the lives of the remaining individuals like they were hardworking farmers collecting their harvest.
From beginning to the end, less than ten groans could be heard from the more than fifty individuals as they went on to their afterlives!
Not a single one of them remained alive!
Clang! Ling Jian sheathed his sword and said with a tinge of pity, “I lost to young noble by one.”
Ling Tian chuckled and said with a carefree tone, “Your performance was splendid. In this world, you are the only one capable of competing with me in terms of killing speed. Even Justice would be incomparable to me in killing speed.”
Ling Jian’s eyes lit up before he was dejected again. “However, young noble did not even use a weapon but I used all my strength.” Ling Tian patted Ling Jian on the shoulders and encouraged, “Don’t be discouraged, Ah’Jian. In terms of killing speed, you are number two in the world! I dare to say that even Justice wouldn’t be a match for you. However, you are not going to be competing with him on killing speed in the future.” Ling Tian then turned around and walked off with his arms folded. He had already given Ling Jian a hint but whether or not Ling Jian was able to comprehend it was up to him.
Ling Tian liked to use such a method to guide Ling Jian and the rest. Ling Tian had always believed that something that they comprehend themselves was far better than just hearing it from the mouth of their master. The results had also shown that his method of education was pretty effective. At the very least, it was effective with Ling Jian and the rest.
Sending out a signal, Ling Chi and Feng Mo led their troops and entered the forest. Seeing the corpses littered all over the forest, even these fellows who were used to seeing blood could not help but be startled. None of them expected Ling Jian and Ling Tian to complete a one-sided massacre in this short amount of time. Not a single one of the more than a hundred people were left alive! At the same time, they could only hear one or two miserable shrieks from the outside of the forest and the battle was settled!
In a short few minutes, the five hundred elites that Ling Tian had brought had entered the forest. They gathered the corpses to the side and buried them underground. After that, they laid down an ambush about half a mile from where the clearing was!
Ling Tian’s ambush was at a completely different level than the Shui Family’s ambush. This was a truly killing trap and the lethality of it was something that the spoiled brats of the Shui Family would never be able to understand!
Since Wang Bo was personally receiving the Xiao Family’s troops, his direction would definitely be the exact opposite of Ling Tian’s and would definitely return here again. If not, it would be pointless for him to arrange for manpower to be stationed at this clearing. If that’s the case, Ling Tian felt that he would be letting down the ‘goodwill’ of his old buddy if he did not lay an ambush here.
He would be an idiot if he didn’t enjoy the meat placed beside his mouth!
The reason why Ling Tian decided to lay the ambush half a mile away was out of the consideration of the lingering bloody smell. If the lingering smell of blood were to reveal their plan, their ambush wouldn’t be perfect. While the clearing was a more suitable place to set up an ambush, Ling Tian still decided to be careful and change the location of the ambush.
Ling Chi led a hundred men up the trees and the weapons which they carried were all smeared with poison. Feng Mo led two hundred men and positioned himself at the right while the other Blood Iron Guard, Wang Ji, also led two hundred men and positioned himself at the left. Ling Jian was in charge of sealing their enemy’s retreat and Ling Tian was in charge of the killing zone. In the center of the killing zone, Ling Tian scattered bags of poisonous powder that would take effect as long as one breathed it in. The moment a fight broke out, the powder on the ground would be kicked up and in the darkness, plenty of people would definitely fall prey!
Ling Tian had even made use of the vines in the tree to create traps.
In just a short hour, Ling Tian’s arrangements made Ling Jian who was standing off to the side gasp in shock! In Ling Jian’s eyes, Ling Tian had made use of practically everything in the forest that was of use! However, Ling Tian still seemed to be dissatisfied and unsheathed his sword to make an incision on the branches of the trees.
Ling Jian could imagine that the moment the martial arts experts enter the forest and realize that there is an ambush, they would jump up to avoid the attacks before grabbing onto the branches to observe the situation around them. If the branches were to give way at this moment, what kind of a pitiful situation would await these experts?
The way Ling Jian saw it, Ling Tian’s ambush was akin to a form of art!
However, he did not know that if Li Xue was here, she would definitely remark that Ling Tian’s trap laying skills had deteriorated. Even if there wasn’t enough time, Ling Tian should come up with something better! At the very least, he should smear poison or line up needles and hidden weapons at the branches and vines!
After Ling Tian finally finished his preparations, he shook his head and sighed, “Our preparations aren’t very sufficient but this will have to do. I hope that they will be of some use.” Ling Jian and the others who heard Ling Tian say this had their jaws wide open in shock. In Ling Jian’s eyes, such an elaborate setup was sufficient to even kill Justice! But Ling Tian still wasn’t satisfied?
Ling Tian grunted and looked at Ling Jian as though he saw through Ling Jian’s thoughts. “The trap that I used against Justice was at least three times as frightening as the traps here! However, it was only sufficient to delay him slightly. Ling Jian, when facing a true expert and in front of absolute strength, there isn’t such a thing as an assassination. You can only fight head on! Regardless of when you launch an attack, the other party will definitely find out and be prepared. This is the difference between an expert and novice. When facing such an expert, do not ever think that you have the upper hand because you are in the dark. If you have such a thought, even if you are the number one assassin in the world, you will only be a sparring partner for the enemy!”
Ling Jian nodded his head seriously and committed what Ling Tian had said to his memory before asking, “Young noble, in your eyes, how many of such experts are there in the world?”
Ling Tian thought carefully before saying, “From the people who I have met, apart from Yu ManLou who I just mentioned, there should be three more. In actual fact, Yu ManLou only has deep cultivation but may not have achieved the state that I mentioned! As for the three others, Justice is undoubtedly the number one!”
Ling Jian’s eyes flashed, “As for the other two, young noble should be one of them right. Then who is the last person? Shui WuBo from the Shui Family? Young noble met him before?!”
Ling Tian smiled, “Ah’Jian, you think too highly of the number one experts of those thousand-year-old families. I have never seen Shui WuBo before but he would be at Yu ManLou’s level at the most and cannot be compared to the three people in my list. As for the third person… Ah’Jian, who did you just lose to?”
“Li Xue?!” Ling Jian eyes widened with incredulity, “Could it be that her accomplishments are so fantastic? Even the Family Head of a thousand-year-old family, Yu ManLou, cannot be compared to her?”