Qingzhou, Jibei, south bank of the Yellow River Bridge.
A military jeep sped past, heading towards the Yellow River Bridge to the north.
"Faster! Accelerate!" Zhao Qingfeng watched the sky-blocking domain that was constantly blocking the artillery shells, with only one thought in his mind – to figure out what was going on!
"Sir, we're already at our fastest," the driver dared not speak. It was the adjutant who spoke with a bitter tone, "Sir, we are getting closer and closer to the front line's first defense line. If we continue like this, our safety rate will be greatly reduced..."
"Didn't you see what just happened?" Zhao Qingfeng put down his binoculars, pointed in the direction of the Yellow River Bridge, and shouted, "The bridge was blown up, the shells were blocked, is this a coincidence?! No! Soldier! Someone is helping us. If I don't figure out the other party's situation and intentions now, when they withdraw, the enemy on the other side will build a temporary bridge, and their offensive will continue! Now, obey my orders!"
Seeing this, the adjutant lowered his head in silence, looking worriedly at the road ahead.
After a while, the vehicle stopped.
"Sir, the trench defense line is ahead," the driver said to the soldiers who walked over. "We can't go any further."
"Get out." Zhao Qingfeng nimbly jumped out of the jeep and continued walking towards the Yellow River Bridge. The adjutant, seeing this, quickly handed his identification and papers to the approaching soldiers and then hurried to follow Zhao Qingfeng.
...
At the same time, on the Yellow River Bridge.
Mo Chuan sat on the bridge, using a military binoculars he picked up (one-half) to observe the reaction on the north bank.
The advancing troops were stubbornly stuck on the north bank, not daring to get close. The artillery units, seeing that their shelling was ineffective, directly ceased fire, as artillery shells cost money and couldn't be wasted.
A small number of cars were gathering in various directions; they were likely officers heading for a meeting.
"How long do I have to stall..." Mo Chuan scratched his head, took out his pipe from his pocket, and pondered the time.
Lighting his pipe, he reached for his phone, checked the recent news and train schedules for Jibei City, and after estimating, muttered to himself, "It's six or seven in the evening now, so it'll take at least three more hours..."
Suddenly, Mo Chuan felt something. He tapped his pipe and put it back in his pocket, then stood up, donned the skin of "Hellwalker - Crimson Moon," and looked up at the north bank not far away.
Three flying knives flashed a subtle light in the dim sky. Mo Chuan swung his grappling hook, deflecting the incoming flying knives.
The flying knives scattered and fell into the river.
But Mo Chuan did not lower his guard.
He kept his eyes on the bridge not far away and slowly retracted his grappling hook.
"It's you?" Huang Quan looked at Mo Chuan in disbelief and took out several more flying knives. "At first, I thought Fuxi old man was just making a fuss by giving you a hard time, but I didn't expect you to be so capable?"
Upon seeing this so-called "new ghost king," Huang Quan immediately lost a considerable part of his vigilance. In his opinion, this young kid, still wet behind the ears, was basically forced into the seventh tier and above by sheer power. His combat experience and skills were no match for a veteran seventh-tier like himself.
He had looked quite intimidated at first, but now he figured he could finish the fight within ten moves.
Huang Quan enveloped himself with his domain's spiritual energy, then casually threw three flying knives, and ran towards a flying knife that had fallen among the gravel earlier.
The thrown flying knives flew towards Mo Chuan from three directions like hunting dogs, but Mo Chuan frowned at this somewhat laughable attack.
"Is there a hidden move here?..." Mo Chuan swung his chain, parrying two of them and knocking them away, then grabbed the last flying knife and examined it closely.
The material was excellent, very light, and likely highly adaptable to spiritual energy. It was extremely sharp, probably capable of piercing his defenses when infused with spiritual energy (damage with magic damage). And it had no hilt; rather than a throwing knife, it was more like a blade (Kai'Sa).
Before Mo Chuan could finish observing, Huang Quan's voice sounded next to him: "To be distracted during a fight is a major mistake."
Mo Chuan immediately swung his lantern but only hit Huang Quan's afterimage.
Realizing it was a feint, Mo Chuan immediately guessed Huang Quan's attack route. He launched "Nightfall" behind him, hitting the utterly incredulous Huang Quan squarely.
However, as a member of the Earthly Branches, Huang Quan didn't show many flaws after being injured. He clenched his right hand, and the flying knives that had fallen into the gravel and the river suddenly flashed with spiritual light and flew back towards Huang Quan.
*Kachakacha—*
Several flying knives were suddenly embedded in Mo Chuan's back, and his movements faltered.
Huang Quan laughed heartily. Ignoring his own injuries, he clapped his hands together, and all the flying knives at his waist flew out, over a dozen of them. With a push of his hands, they all flew towards Mo Chuan.
*Kachakacha—*
Mo Chuan, now a porcupine with over twenty flying knives sticking out of him from front and back, let his hands drop powerlessly, but his body did not fall.
"Hahaha, old ginger is still the spiciest!" Huang Quan clutched a wound on his chest, gritting his teeth in pain, but he couldn't contain his triumph – what ghost king, he was no match for me!
However, as he approached Mo Chuan, he failed to notice Mo Chuan's body trembling slightly.
Just as Huang Quan was about to deliver the finishing blow with his flying knives, Mo Chuan suddenly vibrated and shook out all the flying knives embedded in his body. Huang Quan, unable to dodge, was stabbed in the thigh and arm by several flying knives while clutching his chest, and he could no longer hold on, letting out a pained cry.
Without even using his grappling hook, Mo Chuan directly extended a hand, grabbed Huang Quan's head, and lifted him up. He spoke in a cold voice, "You... are you from the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches?"
"Yes, I am! What of it!?" Huang Quan struggled and said defiantly, "Huang Quan of the Earthly Branches! I order you to release me immediately! Otherwise, not only will you be charged with delaying the battle, but you'll also be unable to escape charges of assaulting an officer and being a spy!"
"Oh?" Mo Chuan's face lit up with interest. He did not burn Huang Quan with the Netherworld Green Flame, but instead, in front of Huang Quan, he used his other hand to activate "Desolation" and shatter a large piece of cement. Then he said, "This is how I blew up the Yellow River Bridge just now. Now, I'm going to ask you a few questions. If you dare to lie or stall, I'll blow off a part of your limb. Do you understand?"
"Mmm mmm mmm!!!"
"First question, did you participate in the Longjing coup?"
"Mm mm mm!!!"
"Second question, who died in the Longjing coup?"
"Yi Mu! Gui Shui! Cha Zhu!"
Mo Chuan was taken aback for a moment, then asked with a cold tone, "What did you do in the Longjing coup?"
"I didn't do anything, I was just responsible for keeping Zhu Jincheng in check..."
*Bang.*
Mo Chuan decisively blew off one of Huang Quan's legs.
"Mmm mmm mmm mmm!!!—"
Huang Quan's mouth was held shut, so he could only widen his eyes and let out such a muffled scream.
"Tell the truth."
"I ambushed Yi Mu while she was busy parrying; after Cha Zhu covered the retreat, I participated in encircling him..." Huang Quan weakly pointed to the flying knives lying on the broken bridge. "These are Cha Zhu's collection. My flying knives are much simpler than these finely crafted flying knives made of spiritual ore mixed metal materials..."
Before Huang Quan could finish speaking, his head exploded like a watermelon in Mo Chuan's hand.
The temperature around Mo Chuan instantly dropped.