Chapter 87 - Buying Time
Chapter 87 – Buying Time
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
They had 30 minutes left at most!
The crowd was shocked. The location where they were in had been plotted in accordance with the predicted route taken by the robbers, so as to allow them to intercept those people and prevent further escape.
However, seeing how assured Lu Xuan behaved, everyone felt at ease somehow. What Lu Xuan pulled just moments ago had been too shocking. It seemed like he had taught Yang Chengsi a lesson without breaking a sweat.
Lu Xuan’s authority was established because Yang Chengsi had been made an example of, after all.
Rising up by stepping onto others had been the quickest way to ascend the social ladder.
“Get ready, people. Be mindful that those people may have reinforcements backing them up at any given moment. Stay sharp and get all sides covered.” Lu Xuan continued, “We have five minutes. We need to end the fight in five minutes before we can think about taking on any reinforcements.”
Lu Xuan checked the course the robbers took. They had been going around circles for days, yet at that moment, they were all heading straight for the beach. It was obvious that the people they were supposed to meet had arrived, and they were on their way to rendezvous with those people.
That meant that it was extremely possible for Lu Xuan’s forces to run into enemy reinforcements, so much so that they would probably have had to take on two groups of enemies at the same time.
As such, it was imperative to end the fight as quickly as possible.
Even if Lu Xuan’s forces were to not clash with enemy reinforcements, he had no intention of letting them run free all the same. Those invaders had gotten all the way into the country, and he felt compelled to make sure the invaders were left on the soil, dead.
He wielded absolute power, so he did not care at all what kind of tricks those people would play.
Wuyi mountain appeared extraordinarily quiet under the moonlight.
Over a dozen shadowy figures zipped about in some remote part of the woods. All of them moved deftly about as if they were monkeys.
“Time for action.”
A shriek was heard, breaking the silence of the night as those shadowy figures intended to pass through the woods.
Over 30 people surrounded them from everywhere. Lu Xuan and the other notable figures took the lead.
Lu Xuan was able to tell the identities of those dozen or so people apart under the moonlight. There were both men and women in the group. All of them seemed to be dressed in rags, making it obvious that their escape had been difficult.
However, all of them looked very high-spirited, nonetheless. They showed no mental signs that they had been on the run for two days.
One of the leading figures of the group was a huge man with a square face, sporting blonde hair and blue eyes.
The other sported typical appearance of East Asian people, but everyone present was able to tell that person apart right away.
He was Japanese.
While Europeans and Americans alike often had trouble telling apart Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans, those from all three countries were reliably able to tell each other apart, making almost no mistakes in telling apart each other’s nationalities.
The dozen or so people were led by those two, dividing the group roughly into two clear, separate factions.
Lu Xuan nodded. What he saw matched the intelligence gathered by the headquarters beforehand.
The ones responsible for the sudden operation had been from the States and Japan.
Those two countries had the highest number of spies lurking within Chinese borders, and their agents had been the most powerful as well.
It was a joint operation between those two countries, and they had mobilized extremely huge resources to pull that off. They would not have been able to evade the Special Task Force’s notice or what they had pulled off just now.
The headquarters had long been clear of the identities of those two leaders as well.
The huge man with a square face, blonde hair and blue eyes was probably an agent from the States named James.
As for the Japanese agent, his name was Sakata Juuzaburo. He was an agent who had been lurking in the country for many years. He had stolen classified information from the country countless times.
If it had not been for the operation being carried out so suddenly, he would have probably been able to stay undercover even longer without anyone knowing his identity at all.
James held a case in his hand. Lu Xuan was, nonetheless, able to sense the Spiritual Qi emanating from it despite looking to be little more than a metal case. He was sure by then that it carried the Heirloom Seal of the Realm.
“Sh*t!”
Sakata Juuzaburo was able to tell right away that they had been ambushed, judging by the many Chinese fighters appearing before them out of nowhere.
James, who was by his side, looked a lot more composed in comparison. They had been dealing with a lot of pursuers being on their tail for a long time, after all.
He no doubt knew what caused their predicament. There were definitely means of tracking left on the seal itself. But then again, they were unable to afford giving up the seal despite knowing it was so.
As such, they had practically run into a dead end.
It would have been entirely normal for them to just run into anyone, judging from the current circumstances.
“You people have one chance. Hand over the Heirloom Seal of the Realm behind without any resistance, and we shall make sure that your bodies each stay in one piece,” Lu Xuan said with his arms crossed before his chest.
What Lu Xuan said drew the attention of both enemy leaders right away.
They were puzzled as to why the Chinese forces let such a kid take the lead.
It looked weird, no matter how they tried to think about it.
“Are the Chinese running out of capable people already? I can’t imagine they would let a boy like you take the lead!” Sakata Juuzaburo laughed away as he spoke. Lu Xuan looked squishy and unassuming, appearing as if he was not even a cultivator at all.
“Chinese boy, we’d like to see if you can take the seal and stay alive at the same time!” James said in fluent Chinese, which was completely at odds with his appearance. “Delay these people and wait for that one to show up.”
Yun Sheng and the others looked grim right away. Lu Xuan had been right all along. The enemy had reinforcements.
Judging from how the man dared to blurt the fact out without care meant that reinforcements were probably very close and would arrive before long.
If they were to be unlucky enough, they might have even run into them at any given moment.
“What? You guys wanna buy time? You people are ridiculous!”
Lu Xuan smirked.
“Get rid of these people as soon as possible. I’ll see for myself what their reinforcements are made of!”
His forces attacked right after he was done speaking. Yang Chengsi went straight for Sakata Juuzaburo’s throat.
Monk Buyi charged at James, who was right before him, with his staff in hand.
Those two enemy leaders were Martial Arts Legends, so it was only natural that it was the gangster boss and the head monk taking them on.
As for the others, all of them pounced on the remaining undercover agent-fighters from both countries.
Shouts and noises of combat erupted all over the woods in mere seconds. The killing intent was shooting to the heavens.
All of the others were doing battle, leaving only Lu Xuan standing around, doing nothing.
Yang Chengsi was taking on the Japanese, and Monk Buyi was taking on the Americans. The battles taking place between the four Martial Arts Legends were frightening enough to tear the woods to shreds.
Spirit Qi filled the entire battlefield and isolated the place at the same time.
No common folk would have been able to even get near them.
Not everyone would have been able to get rid of the likes of Martial Arts Legends, just as how Lu Xuan did it. Despite the differences in power between most Martial Arts Legends, they would have still had trouble ending fights between them in a short period of time.
The remaining combatants at Baodan and HuaJin levels were locked in their respective battles as well. While the Japanese and the American fighters were few, all of them had been level five combatants. Yet, there were still a great many among the Chinese ones who were at level four.
Sheer numbers alone were unable to completely make up for the difference in quality.
The battlefield was in a deadlock, with no sides gaining the upper hand against the other.
“It seems like it’s showtime for me. You wanna buy time? Let’s see if you have what it takes to do so.”
Lu Xuan launched into battle like a behemoth.