57 Jade Spring

It took the better part of a day to clean up the aftermath of the exploding slaves. The mercenaries who'd survived consumed healing pills, and Zhang Yifeng treated as many as he could. Even though Cha Ming expected to be blamed for the incident, no one dared say a single word. After all, who among them could have imagined that the enemy was so heartless?

After tending to the wounded, they gathered what remained of their companions and the innocent slaves and buried them all communally in a pit, as it was impossible to match the pieces together for a proper burial. It was all they could do to prevent wild beasts from defiling their bodies.

That evening, no one was in the mood to eat anything. They set up camp near the location of the explosion. Fortunately, a geomancer had joined their group, and they were able to set up crude earthen barriers to strengthen their camp's defenses. Twenty percent of the group was out on patrol, and the rest hovered around a crackling fire. Even the most helpless souls could find comfort in flickering flames.

Cha Ming returned to his camp early after obtaining an exemption from Master Zhang. Instead of keeping watch, he spent all his remaining time crafting low-level talismans, which might come in handy in the upcoming battle. He had until the remaining troops arrived from their patrol to complete his work.

He exhausted himself after only three hours of crafting. Fortunately, he had obtained pills from Master Zhang to replenish his spiritual strength. Recovering qi was much easier, especially when he had the assistance of his formation plate. The night passed by uneventfully. He continued throughout the morning and was only interrupted when Gong Lan's group and the Ling brothers arrived. At noon, one of the mercenaries came to summon Cha Ming to Master Zhang's tent to discuss tactics for storming Jade Spring.

***

Only fourteen people were present in the meeting room, including Cha Ming, Gong Lan, Master Zhang, Master Han, two of the Ling brothers, and eight others. Huxian wasn't included in the count. Not that he had anything to contribute besides guarding the entrance to the tent.

"It's got to be a trap. Given everything that we've seen, how can it not be?" Han Jinlong said in a loud voice. He was very imposing, and none of the qi-condensation cultivators dared speak up.

"What if they're just on their last legs with no remaining options? None of the traps they laid before managed to completely stop us. This could just be their last-ditch effort to frighten us off," Zhang Yifeng said.

"And why would they keep all of the captured civilians in a pen in the middle of town? Have you forgotten the exploding slaves already?" Han Jinlong pressed on.

"How dare you?" Zhang Yifeng exploded in rage. The argument continued, and Cha Ming had no choice but to find Gong Lan to fill him in on the details.

Apparently a scouting party had investigated Jade Spring, and they discovered the city wide open, with the prisoners in plain sight. No guards could be seen on the walls; it was as though the city was declaring their surrender. The situation reminded Cha Ming of Zhuge Liang's empty cityploy, which allowed him to hold off Sima Yi's advance.

Still, he couldn't argue against the effectiveness of such a tactic. There were many traps that could be used after baiting an enemy behind a city's walls. While Jade Spring's walls were made of wood, scaling them was no easy task for lesser cultivators. If they encountered something like the inferno trap in Crystal Meadows, most of their members and the prisoners would be roasted alive.

"How about destroying the possibility of a trap?" Cha Ming said suddenly. His weak voice attracted the attention of the nearby cultivators, who felt oppressed by the might of two foundation-establishment cultivators.

"Can you please elaborate, young friend Cha Ming?" Zhou Yifeng asked. Cha Ming figured that his contributions earlier in their adventure had earned their admiration, despite the setback with the exploding prisoners.

"Well, it's clearly easier to defend a city while taking advantage of the walls. This tactic is effective even against cultivators. Even foundation-establishment cultivators like Master Zhang and Master Han cannot fly; they can only rely on magic swords to hover up to ten feet above the ground. Meanwhile, any archers or cultivators with long-distance techniques could attack us with impunity as we gradually scale the walls.

"Now, it's tempting to directly enter the city since the gate is open—after all, it would save us a lot of trouble. However, if the gates shut after we enter, or if they want to forcibly hold us inside, we will be surrounded, and it will be difficult for us to escape. That is why I propose that we… break down the walls!"

Everyone nodded as they heard the suggestion. Cha Ming continued, seeing the acknowledgment from the group.

"Completely destroying the walls is difficult. In addition, giving them too much time to respond may endanger the prisoners. However, destroying three sections of the wall to simplify escape is quite feasible. Instead of charging through the gates, we could have Master Zhang and Master Yifeng burst in through the walls on the sides," he explained. "After all, they are experts in playing with fire, and their foundation-establishment experts would not have time to react to the sudden assault from two sides. Meanwhile, I could also create another hole in the back of the city."

The two Ling brothers frowned before the eldest asked, "How exactly are you going to create a hole in those wooden walls? They may be made of wood, but they are quite thick."

In response to this question, Cha Ming smiled and took out a thick wad of talismans.

The Ling brothers looked confused, but Zhang Yifeng and Han Jinlong were experienced and recognized them in an instant. Zhang Yifeng nodded and said, "You do indeed possess that ability. I am in support of this plan. What do you think, Brother Han?"

Han Jinlong looked a little reluctant. He looked toward Cha Ming and asked, "What if this is what they expect, and they ambush a single group with their full force?" he asked.

"That isn't a problem," Cha Ming said. "Regardless of our success, we will retreat immediately after damaging the walls, and we will enter together through the entrance at the back of the city. This way, they will be unable to divide and conquer our forces."

Han Jinlong accepted this explanation.

The following discussion proceeded smoothly, and the forces were divided according to their remaining composition. Cha Ming and Gong Lan ended up in the same group as the Ling brothers this time. Due to the absence of a foundation-establishment elder, their team was stacked with many high-level qi condensation experts.

***

Did you find anything? Cha Ming asked Huxian mentally. The little fox shook his head as he exited the shadows. They had chosen nighttime to invade to avoid detection near the city walls.

I didn't see anyone on top of the walls, and I didn't find anyone outside the buildings, either. Except for those prisoners. It's much too quiet. Is there really no one in this city?

We can't relax, Cha Ming replied. Each group has been ambushed twice, and the Ling brothers suffered the greatest loss. Only two of the three brothers survived, and they only managed to come back with three other cultivators, one of whom was crippled. Both Wu Jin and Sima Qian are dead. Now, are you sure you didn't see any symbols, flags, or impressions in the ground? Anything that feels or smells like a talisman, formation, or trap?

I'm sure I didn't see anything like that. The one who made the formation would need to be much stronger than me if I can't detect anything, Huxian replied smugly.

That's exactly what I'm afraid of, Cha Ming replied.

After finishing their conversation, Cha Ming walked up to the two remaining Ling brothers. "Huxian didn't seen anything suspicious, which worries me. But it doesn't look like there are guards outside the buildings or on the wall. Still, it's best to be cautious and follow the plan."

The Ling brothers nodded. The older one motioned for everyone to come together. "All right everyone, just follow the plan. Everyone needs to stay beside Cha Ming and cover him until we get to the wall. Scatter when he says scatter, or else I won't give a rat's ass if anyone's ears are blown off. Move!"

They arrived beside the wall without any problems. Cha Ming withdrew the wad of talismans from his bag of holding and started slapping them onto the wall one by one. Each of these talismans was a third-level Lesser Fire Blast talisman that Cha Ming had prepared in case anything needed to be demolished, or if many weaker assailants became a problem. Soon over fifty talismans covered a ten-foot-by-ten-foot square on the wall. Not a single square inch remained uncovered.

"All right, only one incense time, and we can blow this wall up." Their group waited, worrying, hoping that the enemy wouldn't spot them. No one came, and to everyone's relief, the eldest Ling brother, whose name was Ling Tong, nodded to Cha Ming.

"Scatter!" Cha Ming shouted before slapping another talisman on the wall. This was a time-delayed talisman. When he'd originally made the blast talismans, he hadn't expected to detonate fifty at once. The time-delayed activation talisman was effectively a three-second timer that he'd made immediately after the meeting.

Not wanting to get caught up in the blast, the group of thirty cultivators quickly retreated toward the back of the wall, where Han Jinlong would blast open a hole. They would all charge into the city as one group, lest the enemy attempt to divide and conquer them. Only Huxian stayed behind, hiding in the shadows.

Boom!

A large explosion sounded by the retreating group. Cha Ming and the rest ran toward another similar blast, and they were quickly joined by Huxian. Huxian seemed extremely excited as he reported the blast to Cha Ming.

Brother Cha Ming, that was amazing! There's like a twenty-foot piece of wall missing now, and some of the houses inside the city even collapsed because of the explosion!

"No need to worry, there's a twenty-foot gap in the wall. Things went as planned," Cha Ming relayed to the Ling brothers. The eldest brother let out a sigh of relief as he led the cultivators to join Han Jinlong's group. The three groups met without any suspense. What surprised everyone was the total lack of response from the city, except for crying children and wailing mothers from the pen of prisoners in the middle of town.

Though everything had gone according to plan, Cha Ming once again felt a sense of foreboding. Instinctively, he looked up at the moon in the sky. It was only missing a sliver. Tomorrow, a full moon would appear to bid farewell to the winter. He pushed the thought out of his mind just in time to hear Han Jinlong's booming voice.

"Charge inside, everyone. First we'll secure the prisoners. We'll retreat immediately after checking their bodies for traps." He was the first to run toward the center of town. There, one hundred prisoners were huddled in a cramped cage.

One man in the cage looked at the approaching group. "What are you doing? Get away! You shouldn't have come here," the man said in a panic.

"Is that you, Uncle?" Han Jinlong asked in a quivering voice.

"Little dragon , you need to get back to Fairweather right away! The higher-ups in the village all left at noon, but that doesn't mean the guys left behind are weak. They're literally monsters!"

Before the rescue party had any time to react, the ground beneath the cage suddenly began to glow red.

"No. It's too late! Run aw—" His voice was abruptly cut off as he burst into a bloody mess. The blood didn't burst outward, but instead gathered toward the center of the pen, where it was absorbed by a bloody rune floating in the air. Cha Ming had never seen such a rune before.

Instead of remaining, the bloody rune shattered into three pieces and darted out toward Han Jinlong, Zhang Yifeng, and Huxian! The three strongest individuals on their team were suddenly surrounded by a transparent crystal enclosure. Each of them tried to strike at the crystal from the inside, but to no avail.

Brother Cha Ming, I can't escape this! It's such a strong spatial isolation that I'm helpless. There's no way something like this can exist without external support. You've got to break us out!

Cha Ming's face paled as he heard this. If Huxian couldn't escape a spatial constraint, the two masters didn't stand a chance. Just to be sure, he struck Huxian's prison with his strongest staff blow, but nothing happened.

"Someone's coming!" Gong Lan suddenly yelled, drawing her sabers. As Cha Ming moved to join up with her, he felt a sharp stabbing sensation in his shoulder blade. He jumped away from his current position and saw the eldest Ling brother holding a bloody dagger.

"Why?" he said as he fell to one knee. "You're from Fairweather. You should care about this rescue." Cha Ming coughed out a mouthful of blood as he said these words. Fortunately, his strong physical body enabled him to endure and not immediately collapse. The dagger had barely missed his lung and heart, but his left arm was now hanging limply by his side.

"Yes, I care about them deeply. But I care about my brothers more! My brother was captured on our way here, so we have no choice but to join them." His young brother nodded and unsheathed his sword. While their words were harsh, Cha Ming could tell that betraying their comrades was a heart-wrenching experience for them. The hands of both Ling brothers were shaking, and they could barely hold their swords.

"You guys are scum," Cha Ming said. "We all have choices to make, but you chose to betray. The deepest hells are reserved for traitors." He then withdrew three bottles from his bag of holding. They were the three pills that he had received from Zhang Yifeng earlier. He removed their lids and gulped all three pills without any hesitation. Such a bad injury would be difficult to recover from.

The rosary on his right arm then glowed green, and seventy-two pearls floated out around him, forming a green formation in the shape of a flower. Coupled with the medicinal pills, his wounds began recovering at a visible pace. After only a few breaths, he was able to use the strength of his muscles to hold his staff despite the injury to his ligaments.

"Let's take these guys down," he called out to Gong Lan and the other mercenaries. If looks could kill, they would have already torn these superior cultivators at the great circle of qi condensation to pieces.

But before they could do anything, the air around them shimmered. Suddenly the square in the center of town wasn't so empty. Three women and thirteen men appeared, each with vicious glints in their eyes. Eight of the men wielded large axes and were twice the size of regular men. The five other men wielded cruel sabers, and their eyes glowed red with rage. The group of newcomers didn't stand on ceremony and immediately charged at them. The square was suddenly plunged into chaos, leaving only Gong Lan, Cha Ming, and three other eighth-level cultivators to take care of the Ling brothers.

Using the support of his Healing Flower manifestation, Cha Ming charged up to the Ling brothers with Gong Lan. Gong Lan's battle proficiency was extremely high, enabling her to expertly dodge their sword strikes despite the difference in their cultivation levels.

Cha Ming wasn't as proficient, but he made up for his lack of agility by taking hits with his durable body. Thanks to the earth body refining and the wood body refining, his defensive and regenerative abilities were very impressive. Every few breaths, he got slashed by one of the brothers' swords, only to have the shallow wound rapidly heal again. He relied on his Gentle Staff Art to avoid as many blows as possible, but the brothers were very coordinated, using their cultivation bases to their fullest. If not for the support of the three eighth-level cultivators, Cha Ming and Gong Lan would already be dead.

This can't keep going on.

While Cha Ming knew that it was unwise to get distracted in such a heated battle, he glanced over to the other mercenaries to evaluate their condition. The battle between the mercenaries and the devilish cultivators was not going favorably for the mercenaries. Over ten cultivators had already been killed, while one of the red-eyed devils, despite being pierced through the torso with five different weapons, continued to fight on.

"Try cutting off their heads and see what happens!" he shouted. Unfortunately, when he did this, he revealed an opening and was quickly punished for his mistake. He retreated backward and held his chest, where a sword had slashed a deep wound.

"We need to finish these two off as soon as possible. You two, use your talismans. Gong Lan, retreat to me, quickly!" Fortunately, two of the fighters happened to be part of Cha Ming's original group. They nodded and pulled out their Cloud Step talismans, which led to a sharp increase in their movement speed.

Cha Ming plastered two other talismans on himself. One of them was a Cloud Step talisman, while the other one was an Iron Skin talisman, which would greatly increase his defense. He threw two similar talismans to the retreating Gong Lan and yelled, "Don't defend, just attack with me!"

She nodded and charged with Cha Ming. Her attacks became violent and overbearing, a maelstrom of bloody sabers.