Der Mond scheint hell über den leeren Bergen, und Blumen füllen den Himmel

Kapitel 30

“Li Lingyan wouldn’t take that risk,” Rong Yin said, enunciating each word clearly. “These poisonous insects… if what Yu Xiu saw just now was correct, they are light-attracting insects, drawn here by our firelight. He only needs to drop a few baskets of poisonous insects down the mountain and then wait at the Taoist temple. If these poisonous insects can be tamed and obey commands, then it will be even more terrifying… This is the first trap. As for the second trap, if I were Li Lingyan, I would set it up while you are dealing with the poisonous insects. This is Li Lingyan’s cleverness; he doesn’t act beforehand, yet he can still trap Wudang with layers of traps.”

"The enemy is exhausted while we are at ease; we will only attack and not defend," Yu Xiu said calmly, "a master of military strategy."

Nan Ge took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Fortunately, we captured the key point of the formation."

Bo Xiu nodded and remained silent. What kind of talent was Rong Yin? Even if he didn't know beforehand that Li Lingyan intended to sweep through Wudang, the summit of Fuzhen Temple was a strategically vital location. Only from here could one have a comprehensive view of the entire situation and respond to any emergencies. If Li Lingyan wanted to deploy his formation outside the main battle lines, it would be immediately apparent from here, undoubtedly causing him considerable trouble.

"It's starting!" Rong Yin suddenly shouted. "Everyone, watch out for the poisonous insects flying around! Please get into the fire circle immediately!"

At that moment, a faint whistling sound came from the depths of the forest. Suddenly, the air buzzed with the sound of bees' wings, and in an instant, the sky was filled with countless tiny black insects that looked like wasps. Upon closer inspection, they were actually tiny moths with ghostly faces on their wings, swarming towards the two sides engaged in fierce combat. A cacophony of curses erupted. Li Lingyan, unable to distinguish friend from foe, abandoned all 172 of his men, pushing them into the venomous insects' range. Fortunately, Wan Yuyuedan had just called for the fire to be extinguished and the fire to be saved, and the fire circle was suppressed, creating an opening. Everyone rushed into the fire circle without hesitation. The black moths that touched the fire were immediately burned, but their onslaught was relentless, like a rainstorm, truly astonishing. Still shaken, everyone looked at each other, realizing that without the fire circle, they would have been covered in these terrifying moths, and cold sweat poured down their faces.

A few moths also swarmed onto the top of Fuzhen Temple, but their numbers were far fewer than those outside the fire circle. From above, the bright flames were surrounded by a dark, buzzing mass, which was extremely disgusting to both look at and hear.

Nan Ge held a broken tile and used it to identify the sound of the instrument. She closed her eyes and shot down the few moths that flew up. Yu Xiu stared intently at the dark forest. "Arrow formation!" he suddenly said out of the blue.

Rong Yin heard the sound of people moving in the woods and his expression changed slightly. "This is a trap to lure you in! Oh no!"

Yu Xiuwei hesitated for a moment, then resolutely said, "Everyone, please enter the temple!"

"Entering the temple is also a dead end!" Rong Yin said in a deep voice. "The only thing we can do is go deeper and deeper into the temple. To stop Li Ling from setting up his formation outside the temple, we must launch a counterattack and deliver a fatal blow. Otherwise, even if we take refuge inside the temple, if he sets fire to the outside, none of us will survive... Will you go or should I go?" he asked Yu Xiu.

Li Lingyan's plan to use poisonous insects wasn't intended to kill the heroes; his real purpose was to lure them into a circle of fire. His second volley of arrows was aimed at the inside of the fire circle, unleashing a barrage of arrows. Those inside, however, were unable to see out due to the flames, so wouldn't they suffer heavy casualties? Even retreating into the Fuzhen Temple would be the same; it would only gather everyone together, making it easier for Li Lingyan to set up another trap.

"Go for it!" Nan Ge suddenly exclaimed, "As long as we drag Li Lingyan into the formation, we won't be afraid of his poisonous insects and long arrows!"

“I’m afraid this is also a ploy by him to lure the enemy out one by one,” Yu Xiu frowned. “But his formation is almost complete. How about this, Brother Nan, instead of capturing Li Lingyan, you capture Li Shiyu!”

"Alright—" Nan Ge flashed away from the temple. He wanted to grab Li Shiyu, but instead he darted into the darkness of the back mountain in the opposite direction.

Yu Xiu smiled slightly. Nan Ge was experienced in the martial world. Although she lacked strategic planning skills, she possessed quick wit and adaptability, making her a rare talent. At this moment, Rong Yin's arrow formation was almost complete and could not wait any longer. He took a deep breath and said coldly, "Li Lingyan's arrow formation is outside. Everyone, lie down on the ground and use the corpses on the ground to block the arrows. Wherever his archers fire their long arrows, I will kill one of them."

Upon hearing this, Li Lingyan, deep in the forest, murmured in admiration, "What a talented person! I like him very much."

Tang Tianshu's expression changed slightly. "His threats will shake our morale..."

“Four-lobed moon,” Li Lingyan said slowly.

The four sword-wielding attendants who once served Li Chenglou—Beiyue, Duoyue, Huaiyue, and Xiyue—all stepped forward. These four were all around thirty-five or thirty-six years old; they were once teenagers, but now they were approaching middle age. Although slightly older, they remained handsome men and beautiful women, each with their own distinct charm. Beiyue and Duoyue were Li Chenglou's sword-wielding attendants; Beiyue was aloof and serene, Duoyue elegant and refined. Huaiyue and Xiyue were his attendants; Huaiyue was glamorous, Xiyue pure and innocent. The four of them standing together were truly captivating and extremely eye-catching.

"Your martial arts skills are no match for theirs... but you can demolish houses... right?" Li Lingyan said softly.

"We respectfully obey the Lord's command." The four bowed and left.

This is the so-called strategy of attacking Wei to rescue Zhao, or cutting off the fuel supply from under the cauldron. Tang Tianshu's expression changed slightly again, but he said nothing.

Li Lingyan watched as the four men slipped into Fuzhen Temple. Just as they disappeared from sight, he whispered, "Release the arrows!" His voice wasn't loud, but it carried far, even reaching those trapped in the fire. In an instant, arrows flew like locusts, carrying with them the black moths that had been circling the fire, tearing through the flames and plunging inside.

With a loud "whoosh" as something heavy pierced the air, two screams rang out from within the arrow formation, indicating that two people had been injured under the roof tiles thrown by Yu Xiu and Rong Yin!

At this moment, some of the people who had intercepted the long arrows within the circle of fire threw the ignited arrows back, instantly igniting the ground with countless sparks. Some skilled archers, using sound to pinpoint the location, threw the arrows back with great force, causing screams and injuring many archers.

But then, with a loud crash, a layer of wood chips exploded and flew everywhere at the bottom of Fuzhen Temple, the main beam shook, and a layer of the entire temple was destroyed.

If the entire Fuzhen Temple were to collapse, it would surely crush the people in the ring of fire in front of it! Yu Xiurong, standing atop the temple, paled with fear. He shouted, "I'm going down!" He then descended through the gap in the roof.

After Rong Yin steadied himself, he stared coldly at Li Lingyan's side and said coldly, "There are not many poisonous insects left outside the fire circle at this time. Are you all alright?"

Fu Guan's voice rang out from within the circle: "It's alright if you're lucky; it's all just superficial injuries."

"Li Ling is currently hiding under an apricot tree three zhang and six fen outside the Turning Hall. If you are confident that you are not afraid of poisonous insects, then you should spare no effort to kill him with arrows!"

Rong Yin's words often inspired the crowd, and their ambition surged. Many figures rushed out from the fire circle towards the archers. In an instant, shouts of battle rose, screams and the twang of bowstrings mingled together. Some people seized bows and arrows and fired at Li Lingyan. In a flash, arrows flew like locusts, filling the sky.

"Are there any seriously injured people in the circle?" Rong Yin asked again.

Wan Yuyuedan's voice replied, "There are five people in total. Four of them are seriously injured but not in mortal danger. However, Master Qinghe was injured by a poisonous insect while saving the injured and is unconscious."

"Can you expand the circle of fire to lure the wounded and weak into the main hall?" Rong Yin asked coldly.

Wan Yuyuedan was silent for a moment before answering, "Yes."

"The task of guarding the wounded is entrusted to you." Rong Yin's order was firm and decisive. He immediately ordered his men to fire from the rooftops, wounding the archers in the vicinity, while he remained on the rooftop to observe.

Suddenly, a slender fire dragon extended from the circle of fire, whooshing as it coiled around a pillar in front of the main hall of Wudang. Then, another fire dragon followed, coiling around another pillar before the gate, extinguishing the fire circle instantly. Some people, carrying the wounded, slowly advanced into the main hall through the passage formed by the two fire dragons. With the raging flames nearby, moths that approached were instantly burned. Suddenly, hidden weapons were shot at, attempting to sever the fire-igniting ropes coiled around the pillars, but then Wan Yuyue gave a soft shout, and with a "clang," the hidden weapons were struck by something and fell to the ground.

The ignition rope extended from Wan Yuyuedan's waist, presumably one of his mechanisms. A pair of flexible straps wrapped around the pillars of the main hall, creating a fiery passage. However, Wan Yuyuedan had to walk behind the others, otherwise the passage wouldn't be complete.

This gave the archers around him ample opportunity to attack, but no matter how the arrows were shot, Wan Yuyue never looked back. The arrows fell around him as if they had encountered a ghost or a god, and not a single one could harm him.

Soon everyone entered the main hall, closed the doors and windows to prevent poisonous insects, and the injured were safe for the time being.

Just then, two strange sounds, "Hmm—Ah—," were heard beside Li Lingyan, causing Rong Yin to tremble slightly. The first sound was a muffled groan from someone who had circled around and approached Li Lingyan, only to be suddenly attacked and injured by something; the second sound was from that person enduring the pain as they struck Li Lingyan with a palm strike, to which Li Lingyan retaliated with a clap of his hands, letting out an "Ah" and taking a step back.

Then the man closed in again, his hand flashing like the wind as he aimed for Li Lingyan's pulse point. Rong Yin's brow twitched; this was too risky!

In that heart-stopping moment when Li Lingyan might be grabbed, Li Shiyu drew his sword like snowflakes, striking the attacker from behind. But before his sword reached the attacker's back, a spray of blood suddenly erupted from the attacker's body, and he collapsed motionless onto Li Lingyan.

That person was, of course, Nan Ge.

Rong Yin frowned deeply. What kind of vehicle did Li Lingyan use to injure Nan Ge? Nan Ge's martial arts skills were undoubtedly among the best in the martial arts world, yet she fell victim to his trap within three moves… Before he could even sort out his thoughts, he suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion, and alarm bells rang in his mind—he was anxious and tense tonight, Gu She wasn't by his side, and Sheng Xiang's shallow breathing alone couldn't sustain his current highly stressed state! What should he do now?

Suddenly, the shaking at the bottom stopped, and Li Lingyan's white-robed "Four-Split Moon" figure, like a butterfly emerging from a flower, retreated through the four gates. Two of them staggered, clearly injured. Rong Yin felt a chill in his heart—where was Yu Xiu? A sudden clarity dawned on him: Yu Xiu must have been trapped at the bottom of the Fuzhen Temple, trying to prevent it from collapsing!

At this moment, Li Lingyan smiled, holding a thin object in his hand and waving it at Rong Yin, as if showing off something. Rong Yin's heart sank slightly; it was a zither string. Li Lingyan clasped his hands together and stepped back, luring Nan Ge to close in and capture him, while he secretly held this almost indistinguishable, thin zither string in front of him. Nan Ge lunged forward; any part of her body touching the string would be torn to shreds! If the string was coated with poison… then…

"Pour oil!" Li Lingyan laughed, then finally raised his voice.

In the darkness of the woods, buckets of lard and vegetable oil were suddenly poured onto the outer walls and roof of the Wudang Taoist temple. Li Lingyan held a small bow. The bow was not loaded with arrows but with a tinderbox. He muttered to himself, "Wudang Mountain actually dared to keep you here..." As he spoke, he slowly aimed at the Wudang main hall, whose outer walls were covered in oil, and said softly, "This is the death trap you yourselves painstakingly chose... so you should be very satisfied."