Chapter 95: The Last Line of Defense
Translator: Panda_Penn Editor: Chrissy
On three official routes, three caravans pressed forward at the top of their speed and rushed towards the Thousand-island Lake at the same time.
Regular caravans could not move so fast in such a hurry. The strange situation caught the attention of the scouts lurking nearby.
There were indeed fewer scouts, only dozens of them. They were the warriors of a Big Family, the Guan Family, from a nearby county. The team leader was a Patriarch at the later stage of the Spirit Sea Realm.
When the Patriarch got the news, he crushed a jade talisman in his hands without hesitation. In the meantime, he ordered, "All of you move and stop the three caravans. Note one thing… our mission is to stall them for as long as possible."
"Swish, swish!"
Warriors lurking along the official route swarmed out and rushed towards the three caravans respectively. The Patriarch of the Guan Family was close to the caravan Lu Li was in. The Patriarch brought someone with him and blocked the official route. He shouted from a distance, "The caravan over there, stop. Recently, there are Fifth-rank Xuan Beasts moving about at the Thousand-island Lake. It is really dangerous. Nobody can enter the Thousand-island Lake recently."
The Liu Family walking along the caravan became confused; they hesitated and their eyes flickered. However, Patriarch Seven sneered and said, "Move along. Prepare to fight."
Even if there were Xuan Beasts appearing in the Thousand-island Lake, it would be a matter for the Thousand-island Lake to take care of internally. It was not the place for families outside of the Thousand-island Lake to mind. Clearly, these men bore no good will.
The caravan pressed forward. All the warriors walking outside had their sabers ready. Patriarch Seven had drawn his longer sword and his eyes locked on the Patriarch of the Guan Family in the front.
Three hundred and twenty feet, 160 feet, and 100 feet!
"Charge!" Patriarch of the Guan Family drew two bi-dents out and roared. The Guan Family only had more than a dozen warriors here, but they all dashed forward fearlessly.
The Yu Family had made a promise this time. Whoever could kill the Liu Family warriors and capture Lu Li alive would be rewarded handsomely. Yu Family was a Fifth-rank Family, so their handsome reward would be enough to make the disciples of the Guan Family go nuts.
"Swish!"
Patriarch Seven shot out of the first carriage. Following closely were seven or eight Patriarchs of the Spirit Sea Realm. Xuan Wu Realm warriors also swarmed out of the carriages and charged towards the Guan Family warriors with murderous looks on their faces.
Lu Li and Liu Yi stayed put. There were so few warriors on the Guan Family side that they didn’t need to do anything. Seeing that Lu Li did not go out, Liu Yi sat quietly in the carriage.
"So many of them…"
Warriors of the Guan Family were stunned. They only had three warriors of the Spirit Sea Realm on their side and had 15 people altogether. The Liu Family warriors outnumber them by several folds.
The issue was that if they just escaped without putting up a fight, the Liu Family could enter the Thousand-island Lake easily. Then, the Guan Family would be in much trouble if the Yu Family got to the bottom of it. Patriarch of the Guan Family had to make a dive for it with several men and fight desperately.
The Guan Family had many warriors stationed nearby. The Patriarch of the Guan Family had notified them by crushing the jade talisman in his hand. As long as they could delay for a bit, the troops of the Guan Family would arrive, and it would be hard for the warriors of the Liu Family to get into the Thousand-island Lake.
"Boom!"
The long sword of Patriarch Seven span like a diamond drill. The sword vibrated to the left and right at the same time. It was very intimidating. Of course, the Patriarch of the Guan Family was not a worthless person. He wielded the two bi-dents so frequently that he managed to withstand Patriarch Seven’s ferocious attacks.
He could do it, but it was not so easy for the rest. Even though the Liu Family branched out into three teams, but there were still nearly 100 warriors for each team and seven or eight warriors of the Spirit Sea Realm. How could the Guan Family defeat them all with only more than a dozen warriors?
"Destroy their carriages!"
The Patriarch of the Guan Family bellowed in rage. All the warriors of the Guan Family destroyed four or five carriages by risking their lives and blocking the way forward.
"Withdraw…"
In just the time it took for an incense stick to burn, there were only three warriors of the Spirit Sea Realm left on the Guan Family’s side. Everyone was injured. If they were to continue to fight, all of them would die here.
The Patriarch of the Guan Family had given out orders for them to retreat. Two warriors forced the Liu Family warriors back, broke out of the encirclement and ran towards the distance. Patriarch Seven commanded them to stop pursuing. He looked at the destroyed carriages and said with a frown, "Get all the Mystical Materials on the carriages down and load them to other carriages quickly!"
There were a lot of sacks in many carriages that had treasures and Mystical Materials in them. They were the only assets left of the Liu Family. Without those assets, the Liu Family would not be able to gain a firm foothold at the Thousand-island Lake. They would be annexed by other families and would never rise again.
"Ha, ha!"
Lu Li went out of one of the carriages. He carried the Heaven Kylin Sword Liu Yi got back for him, glanced over coldly and said, "You still want to take the carriages? All of us will die if we do! We can no longer take the official routes. Grab your stuff and take the sideways."
"Abandon the carriages?"
Patriarch Seven frowned. There were quite a number of Mystical Materials in those carriages. All the Mystical Materials, treasure, Xuan Skill booklet and mineral stones were with them. They could not bring all those along without the carriages.
Of course, Patriarch Seven understood what Lu Li meant. There must be more people intercepting them ahead on the official route. However, the carriages had to take the official routes, and if they were to take the sideways, they had to let go most of their Mystical Materials and treasure. How would Patriarch Seven be willing to part with the assets?
"Lady Yi, follow me!"
Seeing that Patriarch Seven was hesitating, Lu Li ran towards the sideway while carrying his Heaven Kylin Sword. Lady Yi’s expressions changed. She said to Patriarch Seven while biting her teeth, "Grandpa Seven, listen to Lu Li. If we couldn’t get to the Thousand-island Lake, no matter how many treasures we take along with us, they would end in other people’s hands."
"Alright!"
Patriarch Seven waved his hands as he clenched his teeth. He had all the warriors to carry the most precious treasures with them and burned the rest of the carriages. Then all of them followed Lu Li and ran towards the sideways.
The more than 100 people carried sacks on their backs and rushed forward. Their figures formed a line. The road was close to the lake, so it was quite flat. They could walk very fast. Soon, they disappeared into the distance.
…
Lu Li’s decision was quite right. Groups of warriors emerged on the official route several miles ahead. There were several hundreds of them. They had travelled along the official route. If Patriarch Seven and the Liu Family warriors were riding the carriages, all of them would be killed.
On the other two official routes, the Liu Family teams were more miserable. It was especially true for the team on the official route in the north. They were surrounded by a group of warriors. Patriarch Nine over there had given out orders to let the warriors to flee to all directions. Otherwise, nobody could get out.
On the southern official route, the Liu Family team was held up by more than a dozen people. After they broke out of the encirclement, they continued to ride carriages. In the end, they were intercepted by more than 200 people. As of this moment, they were trying to make their way out.
Patriarch Lu had more than a dozen scouts with him probing around. Seeing that two Liu Family teams were surrounded, he did not try to rescue. His mission was to investigate. His advantage was his speed. He was not quite powerful in his combat ability. To help out was to seek his death.
"Spread out and run. Run to the Thousand-island Lake. Meet at the Sundown Island!"
Patriarch Lu shouted abruptly to the Liu Family team that was surrounded on the southern side. It was at this moment that the Liu Family warriors came to their senses. They spread out and flee to all directions.
"Move!"
Patriarch Lu exhaled. He brought the more than a dozen scouts with him and dashed towards the Thousand-island Lake. There was no need for probing anymore. This time, how many of the Liu Family could survive would depend on how many could make it to the Thousand-island Lake.
"Faster, faster, faster!"
On a muddy road, Patriarch Seven bellowed from time to time. According to the map, they were not far away from the Thousand-island Lake. Only another six miles, and they could be safe once they got inside the Lake.
Lu Li was at the forefront with the Heaven Kylin Sword in his hands, and Liu Yi and Patriarch Seven behind him. He was now at the top of his speed since he used Xuan Energy. Even though they were getting closer and closer to the Thousand-island Lake, Lu Li didn’t look too joyful. Instead, his eyebrows were knitted.
After running for the time it took for two incense sticks to burn, a boundless lake finally appeared on the horizon in the distance. Many warriors of the Liu Family felt that they could breathe again. Some even looked happy.
However, Lu Li’s frown was got deeper and deeper. He held up his Heaven Kylin Sword and murderous intent spread out from him. He pointed to the dense dots along the lake side and said, "Break through this line of defense, then we can really survive!"
Patriarch Seven had long noticed the black dots along the side of the lake. He drew out his long sword and was enveloped by a murderous intent. He shouted angrily, "Disciples of the Liu Family, whether we can live or not all comes down to this fight, kill—"