When the young man heard about the Famous Sword Manor, a glint of light flashed in his eyes, and then he laughed heartily.
He then explained the situation to Li Ling: "This is Liu Feng, my guard commander. Just now, when I was hunting on the mountain, I was attacked by a large number of assassins."
The enemy outnumbered us, and most of my guards were killed or wounded. Commander Liu was outnumbered, so he jumped off the cliff with me. I never imagined I would survive, and that I would receive help from Young Hero Yi.
Li Ling's eyes flickered slightly, and he was indeed a little puzzled. From the young man's words, he seemed to be very familiar with the Famous Sword Manor, which made him feel very strange.
Because Li Ling knew that, to royal children like him, martial arts practitioners were nothing more than a bunch of brutes.
Although Mingjian Manor was quite prestigious in the martial arts world, the royal family viewed it as nothing more than a local tycoon, not worth their attention.
But the person in front of him not only knew about the Famous Sword Manor and the Eight Styles of the Famous Sword, but also seemed somewhat friendly in his speech, which made Li Ling very suspicious.
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Chapter 162 A Net of Heaven and Earth? I'd like to see it for myself.
After Li Ling returned from checking around outside, Chen Muyang and Liu Feng were discussing something together.
Upon seeing Li Ling, Chen Muyang said, "You've come back just in time. There's not much time left before sunset. Let's discuss how to get to Lin'an tomorrow."
As the commander of the guards, Liu Feng was considered one of Chen Muyang's confidants. He said directly, "Since the other side was able to obtain the Divine Arm Crossbow, it is very likely that they have manpower stationed at the gates of Lin'an City."
My idea is that tomorrow morning, we'll disguise ourselves as ordinary citizens entering the city and try to sneak into Lin'an. What does the Crown Prince think?
"Disguise is indeed a good idea. There are many people coming and going in Lin'an City every day. Disguising oneself as an ordinary citizen is indeed inconspicuous. However, ordinary disguises will probably be difficult to fool those spies," Chen Muyang said after thinking for a moment.
“In that case, I do have a solution!” Li Ling said.
"Now that their target is you, Crown Prince, we can send someone to wear your clothes and enter the city first. They can attract the enemy's attention at the city gate. Once the chaos is caused, you can take advantage of the confusion to enter the city. After entering the city, entering the palace should not be a problem."
Chen Muyang nodded in agreement. "I understand what you're saying. It is indeed a good method, but the selection of people to enter the city..."
As Chen Muyang spoke, his gaze kept sweeping over Li Ling.
"Since I proposed this method, I will naturally carry it out. Moreover, Commander Liu himself is suffering from internal injuries, so I'm afraid he can't hold off those people for long."
Li Ling readily agreed, though he found it amusing. In truth, he had other plans; the method he had just mentioned was merely a test. Everyone knew that this bait was a risky scheme with a slim chance of survival.
But Chen Muyang had been staring at him the whole time, clearly wanting him to take the initiative. Liu Feng was his confidant, but compared to him, his "fellow villager" didn't have much of a relationship. He was perfect for taking risks.
"He's shameless and ruthless. Although his skills are still a bit immature, he's still a competent politician. But this suits me just fine. I'll take this opportunity to get rid of him and never have anything to do with him again."
Li Ling had no intention of getting too involved in court affairs and wanted to distance himself from the other party; now was the perfect opportunity.
He wasn't annoyed by Chen Muyang's behavior. If it were him, he would have done the same, or even done it better than Chen Muyang. He could have easily bought the other party and made them count the money for him.
"I'm aiming for the pinnacle of martial arts, and I'm not on the same path as him. It's best to keep a certain distance!" Li Ling made his decision.
The next morning, Li Ling changed into Chen Muyang's clothes, led his Ferghana horse, and wore a large cloak as they lined up to enter Lin'an City.
While queuing, Li Ling noticed that there were quite a few martial arts practitioners lurking around the city gate checkpoint, and he immediately understood the situation.
When it was his turn, a soldier frowned and said, "What are you doing wearing such a big cloak and a straw hat in broad daylight? You're obviously not a good person."
"Are you hiding something contraband? Take off your cloak right now, and that hat too!"
"Hurry up!" Seeing that Li Ling did not move, the soldier immediately stepped forward and ripped off Li Ling's cloak, revealing his attire.
In that instant, Li Ling sensed more than ten dangerous gazes fixed on him.
"This..." The soldiers who can guard the city gates are all seasoned veterans. They usually only bully ordinary people and dare not offend the powerful and wealthy. Especially in Lin'an City, a random passerby might be the son of some high-ranking official. Killing a lowly soldier like him would be extremely easy.
Seeing that Li Ling's attire clearly indicated a wealthy background, he didn't dare to cause any more trouble for Li Ling and said with a forced smile, "Please, young master!"
"Hmph!" Li Ling snorted coldly, pressed down the edge of his straw hat, and then quickly put on his cloak. Just as he was about to enter the city, the dozen or so people immediately pounced out, each of them brandishing weapons, including broadswords and longswords.
"Giddy up!" Upon seeing this, Li Ling immediately mounted his fine Ferghana horse and charged straight into the city. However, before he even reached the city gate, more than a dozen assassins wielding sharp weapons rushed out from inside!
Upon seeing this, Li Ling immediately turned his horse around quickly, ducked and 'just happened' to dodge many flying hidden weapons, spurred his horse, and galloped towards the outside of the city.
"Chase!" Upon seeing this, the assassins immediately gave chase, some using their lightness skills, others finding horses to ride and pursue.
"Quickly inform the city lord!"
Chaos erupted at the city gate. People who were about to enter the city scattered in panic, and the guards were stunned. One of the leaders immediately came out and gave orders to his men.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Chen Muyang and Liu Feng successfully infiltrated Lin'an City.
At this moment, Li Ling was riding his beloved horse, controlling its speed so that the enemy wouldn't catch up with him, while also maintaining a certain distance so they wouldn't lose track of him. In this way, he kept the group on the run, preventing them from discovering Chen Muyang's location for the time being.
Most of the pursuing assassins were not on horseback. Their martial arts skills varied. After more than half an hour, most of the original dozens of assassins had been shaken off. Only seven or eight assassins on horseback were still chasing after them, while the rest had been left behind.
Unexpectedly, at that moment, more than ten riders came running towards them and blocked Li Ling's path.
The leader, wielding a pair of steel claws, laughed loudly, "Hahaha! Your Highness, the Blood Bat has been waiting here for a long time. I advise you to be sensible and surrender, so you can suffer less!"
"I didn't expect you to be so well prepared. Even if I get past you, there will probably be quite a few people gathering here!" Li Ling said, deliberately lowering his voice.
Blood Bat continued to laugh, "Haha, Your Highness is indeed exceptionally intelligent. In order to search for Your Highness's whereabouts, we have arranged hundreds of people around, all led by experts."
"Your Highness, although you have practiced martial arts for a few days, you are still far inferior to us. Today, you cannot escape even if you grow wings!"
"Is that so? I'd like to see for myself!" Li Ling said, revealing the Azure Nether Sword in his hand.
"Hmph, since Your Highness doesn't know what's good for you, don't blame us for being disrespectful. Attack!" The blood bat waved his hand, and the two men behind him immediately charged towards Li Ling with their large swords in hand!
"Swoosh!" The horses of both sides passed each other, and only two light sounds of swords clashing were heard. Then the two swordsmen fell to the ground and died on the spot.