62. The Grand Temple Fair: The Assassination Attempt on the Living Buddha

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Before dawn, it seemed as if the old sky god, still asleep, wanted to open his eyes but could not bear to witness the bleakness of the mortal world. With a few faint tremors, he shook off some of the darkness and spread a thick layer of gray mist, painting everything in a pale, muted hue.

It was early winter.

Jiujiang, located in the south, had no frost or snow; the winter here was marked only by white frost and misty breaths forming smoke in the cold air.

Firecrackers cracked and popped through the thin fog.

The smell of gunpowder mingled with the aroma wafting from the street food stalls, drifting far into the distance, mingling with the scantily clad figures moving about.

Next, the Xiongnu troops seemed to be playing a game of push and pull with the Han army—advancing eastward only to be pushed back, then westward and repelled again. Each time the Xiongnu moved, the Han forces pressed forward a step. After several such exchanges, the Han army had come out from behind the Xiongnu camp and encircled the enemy within an area less than ten miles across.

The outcome was inevitable: horses broke their legs outright, and the force of their charge caused them to topple, throwing their riders to the ground.

Moreover, the Han army sent out numerous scouts daily to probe the surroundings. If the Xiongnu had scouts of their own, they ought to have noticed; even if they did not, on the vast steppe stretching tens of miles, no shadow of a deer could go unseen, let alone a mounted warrior. Could it be that the Xiongnu were truly terrified? Even so, they should have scouted the enemy’s situation, right?

Gerli was overjoyed. She had never expected General Wei to lend his assistance. Though she had prepared to sift through thousands of bodies one by one, how many years would that take? Now that General Wei was helping, the task would be far easier.

At last, the skull ghost atop the high platform cleared his throat, breaking the silence. “Truly unexpected, beyond expectation. You are truly worthy of the title Wind God—no, more fittingly, Wind Spirit of the Heart! To be the first to defeat these beast spirits commands my deepest admiration.” He feigned applause.

Although she had never poisoned her, as Lin Xi had warned, the mere thought of such a deed weighed heavily on her conscience from the moment it arose.

As the words fell, a black mist billowed out from behind the archer, swiftly coalescing into the tall figure of an unfamiliar man. A terrifying spiritual pressure, transcending even immortality itself, radiated outward.

“Madman, can you please stop pacing around? You’re making me dizzy just watching you,” Miss Sun finally lost patience and protested.

“The Star Officer requests your support at the frontline.” Whether he liked it or not, the words had to be spoken.

Chen Erpao glanced at him coldly before leaping into the air and delivering a flying kick. A blood-curdling scream echoed through the entire building as Deng’s handsome face was deeply imprinted with a vivid footprint.

I'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.