嫩草影院地址一二三

Chapter 424: 424. Rescue Old Mu

A group of people were hurriedly repairing the destroyed dock and retrieving the drifted boats.

He Wei, with his face a furious green, reappeared by the shore with one of his sons and two grandsons by his side.

“Great Elder, there are explosives along the coast and the periphery of the forest,” an old man came to report, his forehead covered in a fine layer of sweat. It was not only due to running, but also the lingering fear. He wiped his forehead with his sleeve, “We’ve gathered all the found explosives in one place.”

He Wei’s face turned an even darker shade of green. “Search again, and don’t leave any stone unturned! Be careful around the forbidden areas!” There were many “forbidden areas” in the forest, with nearby trees marked to indicate them. Although their people knew of them, they still had to be very observant to avoid them. They usually stayed away from the forest, fearing to accidentally step on a trap.

He Wei’s eldest son, He Yun, stepped forward and spoke in a low voice, “Dad, we still have an important hostage, so they won’t come back. But what about that treacherous Sheng Yue? Could he really have been killed by Gu Ling…”

Seeing He Yun making a beheading gesture, He Wei fixed his eyes in the direction where Qiao Jing had left. “Do you think Sheng Yue being killed by Gu Ling would be a good thing?”

“Of course, it’s a good thing!” He Wei’s eldest grandson, He Peng, sneered coldly. “That treacherous man always curries favor with the Master and has been contending with Grandpa for the second most powerful position on the island. It couldn’t have been better if he died out there!”

However, He Wei shook his head and said in a low voice, “You are all too short-sighted. We haven’t achieved a single thing yet. No matter what, Sheng Yue is a member of Xingluo Island, and his death at this point would do us no good. I still hope that he can capture Gu Ling and bring her back, then many problems would be resolved.”

He Peng frowned. “Grandfather is right. But judging from what Qiao Jing said, Sheng Yue seems to have really taken Gu Ling away. If he’s alright, he should have returned by now! Unless he’s deliberately not coming back, harboring ulterior motives! I’ve always felt that those with the surname Sheng are not on our side and have their own plans.”

He Yun agreed with his son’s perspective.

He Wei sighed heavily. “Stop guessing. It’s useless. First, we need to stabilize the island, strengthen our defenses, and keep an eye on that Mu family.”

He Peng huffed lightly. “Grandfather, don’t worry. Those people only dare to provoke us outside the island. In the end, they left only one person and ran away. They dare not invade the island again, knowing that there’s no way back!”

“Don’t underestimate them!” He Wei’s brow furrowed.

“Yes,” his son and grandsons responded unanimously. But judging from the expressions on the faces of his two grandsons, they clearly thought the crisis had passed and that He Wei was overreacting.

As they strolled to the dock, He Peng brought up Min Rou. “It’s all because of that cousin! She ruined everything! Shouldn’t we send someone to deal with her? Otherwise, it’s hard to let go of the hatred in our hearts!”

He Wei’s face darkened, and he scolded angrily, “What nonsense are you talking about? She must have been controlled by some sinister means by Su Liang and Gu Ling. Otherwise, how could she do anything harmful to Xingluo Island?”

He Yun saw that the people working on the dock were looking at them with strange expressions, and he glared at He Peng fiercely. He raised his voice and said, “Su Liang is best at manipulating people’s hearts. Rou’er may have been used and harmed by her. How can you say such things? Isn’t it making your grandfather more heartbroken? It was the Master who arranged for Rou’er and her mother to go to Qian Country’s capital as insiders. We all disagreed, but we had no choice but to follow the Master’s plan.”

He Peng looked at He Wei’s cold eyes, realized his mistake, and shut his mouth. He joined his brother in the search for explosives.

In fact, the He Family knew very well that it was Min Rou who had betrayed the location of Xingluo Island. After Old Mu and Cen Man found Xingluo Island, the old man who had sent Min Rou’s family away remembered that Min Rou seemed to have seen his sea chart. There was no other possibility.

Everyone in the He Family, including He Wei, wanted to strangle Min Rou to death with their own hands. As long as the location of Xingluo Island remained a secret, they could always hide in the dark and maintain the initiative. If exposed, incidents like today’s would happen, and today was just the beginning. As Old Mu had said, He Wei would probably find it hard to sleep peacefully from now on.

However, He Wei couldn’t admit that “his granddaughter betrayed Xingluo Island.” Because this would be a severe blow to his prestige on the island, especially after the humiliating events of today, with their side suffering casualties and the people on Xingluo Island filled with anger and resentment. Although not many people may have thought about how Old Mu and Cen Man found the island, and how Qiao Jing managed to lead the troops to Xingluo Island, it wasn’t like no one knew about Min Rou’s betrayal.

He Wei could only insist that his daughter and granddaughter were sent to the capital city of Qian Country as secret agents by Mo Yan, not by his arrangement, and even that he opposed it because it was very dangerous. He firmly claimed that He Qianqian and Min Rou had both fallen into Su Liang’s hands, their lives hanging in the balance. If they had revealed any information about Xingluo Island, it must have been because they were controlled by Su Liang’s evil techniques, and they would never have betrayed their home willingly.

However, it seemed that He Wei’s grandson, He Peng, was a bit lacking in sense, as he couldn’t help but publicly scold Min Rou. He forgot that Min Rou was from their He Family.

He Wei inspected the area and made arrangements, assigning eight small teams divided into two groups. From then on, day and night, there would be guards patrolling the shore. If any ship approached, they would immediately send a signal to report it.

Another elder on the island raised a question, “If we lose that hostage surnamed Mu, those invaders will be able to bomb the island without fear again. How can we resist?”

He Wei frowned, “As long as we can detect them in advance, we can blow up their ships before they attack the island! Or we can send people to fight them in boats!”

“But the people we can use right now…” The elder sighed heavily, “are becoming fewer and fewer. Our opponents have the entire army of the mainland, and they could easily summon five thousand, fifty thousand, or even five hundred thousand troops.”

Initially, people who heard He Wei’s words believed that it wasn’t a significant problem, but now they began to discuss it among themselves. The sense of crisis became more severe. No matter how strong each person’s Martial Arts, how could they resist being surrounded by thousands of soldiers and facing countless arrows? They had explosives, but so did their enemies. Would they really have to rely on a single hostage to ensure the safety of Xingluo Island in the future?

Someone mentioned Sheng Yue, “If only Young Master Sheng were here, our master said he was the most resourceful person on the island.”

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere immediately turned delicate.

Although there weren’t many people on the island, it was a small, closed society, and naturally, they had their groups. He Wei was the top person on the island, with many followers. Sheng Yue had only risen to prominence in the past couple of years, but his martial arts were outstanding, and his intelligence was exceptional. Mo Yan increasingly trusted him with important tasks, and many people who disliked the He Family’s tyranny on the island began to secretly affiliate themselves with Sheng Yue.

He Wei sighed deeply, “I am also very worried about Sheng Yue. I fear that what Qiao Jing said is true: he apprehended Gu Ling, but something went wrong on his way back. This will be a severe loss for Xingluo Island.”

Upon hearing this, those who had followed Sheng Yue began to wonder: if Sheng Yue were truly dead, opposing He Wei would no longer be wise. These people became more silent and cautious about expressing their opinions.

When asked about when Mo Yan would leave seclusion, He Wei replied that he didn’t know. Over the years, Mo Yan frequently retreated into seclusion for short or long periods, and only one servant was allowed to see him during that time.

As dusk fell, Qiao Jing and his group had already left Xingluo Island far behind, speeding back home. When someone noticed that there was a person missing from the boat, Qiao Jing simply said that Qi Jun had gone to do something else.

At this moment, Gu Ling was hiding in the artificial mountain within the City Lord Mansion’s garden on Xingluo Island, taking a short rest. It was silent all around, and no one knew that their biggest enemy had infiltrated the island.

Thanks to Sheng Yue not returning and his subordinates being dealt with by Gu Ling, there was no news of him on the island. The previous day’s conversation between Qiao Jing and He Wei regarding Sheng Yue and Gu Ling led people on Xingluo Island to suspect something had happened to Sheng Yue, and many believed he might not return. Consequently, an impression formed subconsciously: Gu Ling had been captured by Sheng Yue, and Qiao Jing didn’t know where he was; thus, he could not possibly be among the forces attacking Xingluo Island.

Otherwise, why wouldn’t Gu Ling appear and let Qiao Jing preside over the situation?

It was a good question, but not one that had occurred to the people on Xingluo Island, including He Wei. Otherwise, they would have thought about why Qiao Jing let Gu Ling’s master stay behind as the last hostage so easily. Was it because he really didn’t want to save everyone? Did nobody care about this last hostage?

Of course someone did. When Gu Ling went underwater, he hid beneath the ship that had carried the hostages from Xingluo Island, and approached the island without anyone noticing his presence. He was only three meters away from He Wei at his closest; He Wei was on the shore, while he was in the water.

By the time He Wei left the shore and returned to the City Lord Mansion with the last hostage, Old Mu, Gu Ling had already come ashore from another hidden location, passed through the forest, and approached the Mansion himself.

The landmine array was only truly effective against those who were completely unaware of its presence. Since Gu Ling knew about the landmines, he could avoid them simply by not walking on the ground – a task he found quite easy. Although it was his first visit to the island, he had detailed information provided by Min Rou, so he knew the layout and distribution of the buildings on the island.

Moreover, because he acted covertly, Gu Ling had arrived at the City Lord Mansion half a moment earlier than He Wei and his group.

At that time, He Wei and the others on Xingluo Island were all furious. Not a single one of them had the slightest inkling that an enemy had set foot on the island, let alone that Gu Ling had come. After all, their landmine array was still in place, and they had not yet grasped the situation that the landmine array had been exposed to the enemy. Even if they had realized that, they would have thought it deterred the enemy, who would think twice before daring to enter.

Therefore, Gu Ling watched from a safe distance as He Wei personally dragged Lao Mu back to a heavily guarded dungeon. After confirming Lao Mu’s location, Gu Ling left.

There were many martial arts masters on the island, so Gu Ling was extremely cautious. He had wanted to investigate the forbidden area that Min Rou had mentioned, but unfortunately, it was heavily guarded, and he did not find an opportunity to break in, so he kept his distance.

Gu Ling’s primary goal was to save Lao Mu. As long as he could safely rescue Lao Mu, he could bring troops to conquer Xingluo Island without any worries the next time.

During the daytime, Gu Ling did not snoop around the City Lord Mansion but instead chose a hidden location to rest and waited for night to take action. Since there was only one hostage left, there must be many guards watching Lao Mu. A careless move could cause the enemy to threaten him with Lao Mu’s life and reveal his whereabouts, which would be disastrous.

As a result, Gu Ling was planning a foolproof strategy while resting.

The soaked clothes were already dry. Gu Ling looked at the brilliant stars in the night sky through the cracks of the rockery. He suspected that Sheng Yue had gone to the capital and wondered during the day whether he should rescue some people first and then rush home immediately. However, reason ultimately made him choose to stay and finish what he had to do. Since he could not go back home immediately even if he had wings, it would be too late if something happened at home. The root of everything was Xingluo Island, so solving the trouble here would give him more initiative against Sheng Yue in the future.

As midnight approached, there was only the sound of the night breeze and the calls of insects and birds.

Gu Ling, like a black feather, emerged from the rockery and quickly left following the route he had explored during the day, avoiding the eyes of the spies within the City Lord Mansion.

When Gu Ling passed through the dense forest from the treetops during the day, he had already discovered the markers of the buried landmines in the forest. These markers were inevitable and could be seen as long as one was careful. Otherwise, burying landmines without markers would sooner or later cause harm to their own people.

Gu Ling chose a spot and, from a distance, threw several stones in its direction.

An explosion sounded, startling the patrolling guards on the shore for the first time tonight, causing them to send out an enemy invasion signal immediately.

Soon after, a second explosion took place in another direction.

The third, fourth, fifth…

Each explosion made the patrolling guards feel more uneasy, and soon He Wei gathered the martial arts masters on the island.

“They must be here to save that Lao Mu!” The Second Elder furrowed his brows in anger, “Since they couldn’t do it openly, they’re trying stealth!”

A young man who had originally followed Sheng Yue muttered, “That’s not right… They should have found the landmines we buried in the forest during the day, right? Why would they still dare to come to the island recklessly?”

However, this man was standing in the back, and others were voicing their opinions at the same time, so only the people beside him heard what he said. They didn’t hear him clearly either, but patted him and reminded him to shut up and not say anything that might displease He Wei. The He Family members didn’t like them even when Sheng Yue was present.

“Great Elder, we don’t know how many people are here. Should we go out and fight?” Someone asked.

He Wei stared intently, “Stay in the City Lord Mansion and don’t go out.”

“Grandpa, what if they have people who can get through the forest and throw explosives at the City Lord Mansion?” He Peng asked.

“They came for the hostage. If we capture the hostage and keep them under our control, they won’t dare to do anything reckless! No matter who comes or how many of them there are, they will have to put down their weapons and surrender to save the hostage’s life!” He Yun said coldly, and many people voiced their agreement.

There was a report coming from outside the Meeting Hall – the patrolling guards had all returned. Nobody wanted to stay on the shore and guard it. If there were enemies, those guards would be the first targets.

He Wei listened as the people around him were all saying to hurry up and bring the hostage over. Not knowing the enemy’s situation, the hostage was their best shield.

“With so many people going to the island, how could there be no boat? They didn’t see it while patrolling…” The young man who sensed that something was wrong murmured hesitantly, but couldn’t hold back and wanted to approach He Wei but was dragged away by his companion.

“Are you crazy? Don’t you know that He Peng is preparing to cause trouble for us? Without Young Master Sheng, we’d better be careful.”

“I just feel that something is strange.” The man frowned, it might be possible not to see a boat since there were not many patrolling, but why were the explosions happening at regular intervals? However, he thought, though it was too coincidental, it was not impossible. He couldn’t figure it out for a while, and in the end, he silently closed his mouth under his companion’s persuasion.

The master guarding the dungeon received the order and immediately took the hostage to the Meeting Hall.

Old Mu was sleeping when he was suddenly dragged up, still in a daze, “Where are we going?”

No one answered him. He was carried out by two men, with the iron chain on his feet dragging on the ground, making a crisp impact sound.

After leaving the dungeon, Old Mu took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. He was fully awake now. Not being blindfolded or gagged must mean it was an urgent situation? Was it his disciple who had come to rescue him?

Just as this thought appeared in Old Mu’s mind, he heard very subtle strange sounds nearby, and the two men holding him fell to the ground in short succession.

Old Mu almost lost his balance, and saw that both men had a hole in their brows. He immediately realized: It must be his disciple who had arrived!

“There’s an as…”, a man not far away hadn’t finished his last word, and he was instantly killed and collapsed to the ground.

Old Mu couldn’t see where Gu Ling was hiding and sniping. He must be moving and had calculated everything before he even fired the first shot. His speed was incredibly fast, not giving these people any time to react, and the darkness was the perfect cover for him. Nail guns were the best assassination weapons, with almost no sound.

These strong masters, who fell one after another, did not know that someone had already infiltrated the City Lord Mansion, nor did they know that they were cannon fodder destined to die within Gu Ling’s meticulous plan.

All the masters in the mansion besides the dungeon were summoned to the Meeting Hall, so when Gu Ling hid in the dark and calculated the timing to take down the men beside Old Mu, he quickly appeared and called out “Master.” Then, with the Cold Moon Sword already drawn, he raised it, and the sword light illuminated Old Mu’s excited face.

Old Mu instantly understood and spread his legs, which were bound by the iron chains, and raised his hands.

With two swift cuts of the Cold Moon Sword, Old Mu regained his freedom in his limbs. Gu Ling sheathed his sword and stuffed several pills into Old Mu’s mouth. He didn’t know if Old Mu had been poisoned and what kind of poison, but it was either muscle-relaxing powder or sealing his internal power. Gu Ling simply gave him all the possible antidotes.

Everything happened so fast that by the time a man appeared not far away, realizing something was wrong and yelling out, Gu Ling had already carried Old Mu and rushed into the densely forested garden.

There was hardly anyone guarding the garden during the day, and Gu Ling was quite familiar with it. He carried Old Mu for a while until he felt his body nearing recovery, then he let Gu Ling put him down. Old Mu’s martial arts skills were not as good as Lao Bai’s or Qiao Cong’s, but his lightness skill was quite powerful.

While He Wei and the other masters on Xingluo Island were waiting for Old Mu to be brought over, planning to use him as a bargaining chip to confront the intruders, they received terrible news: Just as the hostage left the dungeon, he was taken away!

On the other side, after the landmine had exploded several times, not even a single intruder was seen on the island.

The young man, who had been suspicious all along, turned pale and blurted out, “Feint to the east while attacking the west!”

He Wei’s face looked like it was struck by lightning, furious and rageful, “We’ve been duped! Chase them!”