Although he couldn't see clearly because he was a distance away, at least half of the aboriginals hadn't managed to climb up the hill. The situation was more or less what he had expected it to be.

With less than half of their military power, it would be very difficult for Dayao to beat the rebels in Tianjing Basin, unless they mobilized their other soldiers from elsewhere.

To begin with, they didn't even have that many soldiers situated at the Chen Nation. Also, they weren't able to mobilize the soldiers under Hong Wu because Great Xia was like a tiger watching its prey.

Under these circ.u.mstances, they could only mobilize their soldiers that were in the Yun Nation.

Zhu Wuzhen could finally heave a sigh of relief.

However, it was a little weird. Back then, those aboriginals didn't flee for their lives. On the contrary, they gathered together?

Soon enough, he couldn't smile anymore as there was a spot in the middle of the flooding river that had big waves splas.h.i.+ng, which obstructed his vision. This scene was similar to that of boundless sea waves pounding against reefs. From a young age, he had been exposed to such sights, and they had been deeply etched in his mind.

Could it be possible that there was someone who could obstruct a flood, just like the reefs in the sea?

Soon after, he began to laugh. Even if Qi Zixiao came, she would only be able to save a few people from this flood at best. Just now, there were at least a few thousand soldiers gathered, so even if the world's most powerful expert was present, there was nothing he could do.

Nevertheless, the waves were slowly getting bigger… making him unable to relax in the end.

…

At this time, Li Fu separated the flooding river into two sections. The people below were temporarily safe, and at long last, Ren Baqian had spare energy to look around.

He looked ahead and only saw a vast body of water.

The entire riverbank on this side was flooded. As for the other side of the riverbank, a huge portion was also flooded.

For example, the vicinity of that hill had been completely flooded.

A distance away, nothing serious had happened because the elevation of the terrain was slightly higher.

After looking around, Ren Baqian began to feel that the enemy party at the top of that hill were turning into eyesores.

All of a sudden, Ren Baqian came up with an idea.

First, he turned to look at the empress, who had her gaze fixated on Li Fu's rod. He wasn't sure if she was trying to achieve enlightenment from Li Fu's skills.

"Your Majesty!" Ren Baqian called out to the empress softly.

He was afraid that there were cases of sudden insight in this world and was afraid of disturbing others. As such, he spoke softly. If the empress was trying to achieve enlightenment from Li Fu's "G.o.dly strike," his soft voice shouldn't disturb her, right?

"What's the matter?" He didn't expect the empress to reply to him instantly.

"Your Majesty, can you send me up to the hill? I have an idea." The empress glanced over and carried Ren Baqian in the direction of the hill on their side of the river. Whenever they were about to fall into the water, the empress would use her palm to swat the surface of the water, and they would bounce high up again.

On the surface of the river behind the two, geysers of water erupted as they pa.s.sed by.

Ren Baqian searched for quite some time before finally finding his bundle. These things were held for safekeeping by the guards and were fortunately brought up to the hill.

Thereafter, he took out a few skunk bombs.

Ren Baqian found Zong Shen, pointed at the other side, and asked, "Zong Shen, is it possible to shoot these things over to the other hill?"

"What are these, Sir Ren?" Zong Shen was stunned as he didn't know what Ren Baqian was up to.

"Zong Shen, I wonder if it's possible?"

"It's possible… As long as the item is tied to an arrow, I can shoot it over after I arrive in the middle of the river by treading on the water," Zong Shen muttered to himself.

"That's great." Ren Baqian laughed grimly and thought, Come, let's injure each other!

"Tie this thing to the arrow. When you want to shoot, pull out this ring first. Then, shoot it immediately. You must be fast! By no means can you delay. After pulling out the ring, this thing can't stay in your hands for more than two breaths."

Ren Baqian didn't want to see Zong Shen end up in the same plight as s.h.i.+ Hu.

Zhong Shen had to complete this task with all his might.

"Alright, leave this task to me." Zong Shen took the skunk bombs from Ren Baqian. After that, he instructed his subordinates to bring his bow and arrows over.

Zong Shen's bow was made entirely of metal. It was about half the height of an average person, and the bowstring had about the same thickness as a thumb.

An ordinary pract.i.tioner wouldn't be able to pull the bowstring.

Zong Shen tied the skunk bombs onto the arrow, changed his position, and adjusted the center of gravity. After that, he put these few arrows behind him, instructed his subordinates to retrieve tree trunks that were as thick as an aboriginal arm, and cut these logs into six segments. He then wedged them under his arms.

Soon after, he jumped tens of meters into the air from the hill. When he was about to fall, he would throw a log segment at the place where he was going to land.

Moments later, Zong Shen arrived at the heart of the river. He leaped into the sky, loaded his bow, and shot at the opposite side.

He consecutively fired three arrows.

After he landed at ground level, he leaped up and shot another three arrows.

However, when he landed for the second time, he lost his footing and fell into the water.

However, the current of the river didn't pose any threat to him. In the blink of an eye, he jumped out of the water with two large fish in his hand. Just when he was about to fall into the water, he threw the fish back to the river again.

The two fish had long since been killed by him and were just perfect to be used as stepping stones.

After jumping past the two fish, Zong Shen fell into the water. Once again, he grabbed another two fish and used them as stepping stones. At last, he had finally returned to the top of the hill.

At this time, Ren Baqian was looking at the chaos on the opposite hill with a pair of binoculars. He was practically grinning from ear to ear.

Sure enough, the pain of others is the basis of one's own happiness.

…

Two minutes ago, when Zong Shen jumped up, he had already attracted the enemy's attention.

Looking at Zong Shen as he threw down the log segments and jumped toward their direction, that young man muttered to himself, "What is he planning to do?"

The two elders beside the young man, who were looking forward, said, "That is the a.s.sistant Protector General of the Protectorate of the South, Zong Shen. Regardless of what he plans to do, he's alone. Rest a.s.sured, both of us are certain that we can protect Mister Ning."

Even though the both of them might not be able to defeat Zong Shen, they were still able to take Mister Ning along with them and flee. This person's ident.i.ty was important, and his military strategies and tactics were marvelled by everyone else. In order to defeat the aboriginals, they still had to borrow his strength. Whatever the case, they wouldn't let him die over here.

"Thank you for the trouble, seniors. However, I don't think that he's here to kill us, right?" Mister Ning revealed a gentle smile.

Just when he finished speaking, Zong Shen was already at the middle of the river. He then jumped about ten meters into the air and loaded his bow.

"Mister Ning, be careful." The two elders pulled Mister Ning behind them and stared attentively at Zong Shen, who was in midair.

Then, three arrows were fired over.

It didn't seem like Zong Shen had a target. One of the arrows landed somewhere near Mister Ning, but it wasn't directed at him. Mister Ning also felt that he wasn't the other party's target as his current clothing was no different from that of a normal soldier.

Also, there weren't any important people at the locations that the other two arrows were shot at.

What exactly is he up to? Mister Ning had this question on his mind.

Afterward, a scent a.s.sailed his nostrils that smelled like aged feces mixed with other things that weren't identifiable.

Immediately, it was as if someone was hammering his forehead. He could only see stars.

Shortly after, his chest felt like it got punched, causing his lungs to fully contract. Not a single bit of air could enter.

"Poison…" Mister Ning mouthed this word before vomiting due to the poison. Soon after, he proceeded to violently vomit out all the food he just ate, so much so that he was itching to vomit all his internal organs out. The next moment, everything turned pitch dark as he pa.s.sed out.

The faces of the two elders beside him turned pale!

Upon smelling this stench, the two elders suddenly recalled the tragic encounter they experienced previously.

Now, this stench was much stronger than it was at the beginning, and it was even more "formidable."

"Something's amiss—retreat quickly!" The two of them carried Mister Ning, who had fainted, and fled without looking back. Halfway through, they fell into the water.

Mister Ning woke up just after falling into the water. He choked on a huge mouthful of water, was lifted out of the river, and smelled that pungent stench once more. Immediately, he pa.s.sed out again.

As for the others, they were on the verge of giving up their lives.

On the one hand, they were seeing stars. On the other hand, they were looking at the flood.

Jump or don't jump?

Originally, they were supposed to use this water to attack their enemy. However, at this moment, they were all trapped over here.

More than 10,000 soldiers on the entirety of the hill were internally intoxicated with "poison" and externally affected by the flood. The entire place fell into chaos.