Heirs of the Seven Swords of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 1953: Demon Slayer (Thirteen)
Although waiting on the ship overnight sounds outrageous, in practice, the risk is acceptable.

So after considering it, Dao Zhi agreed to Shao Yu's request.

There is nothing much to say about the night operation, it was just a repetition of the previous operation.

Although tonight was not as cloudy and starry as the day Dao Zhi just returned, but with the help of the night, the two of them still completed the infiltration very smoothly.

However, the defense on the ship was tighter than the previous two times Dao Zhi came. Even with the cover of night, it still took the two of them longer than last time to barely reach the sacred Fusang tree.

"The Empire has gone mad!"

After arriving at the place, Dao Zhi couldn't help but complain with a grin.

"How many people are crammed into this ship? Why don't they just fill up the entire deck and block it off!"

Shao Yu replied with a fake smile, "Maybe they really have this idea, but they just don't have enough manpower."

"Given the current situation, if we want to save people, we may have to go to war with the empire directly." Dao Zhi sighed and couldn't help but shook his head.

But what he said was very interesting.

Under normal circumstances, people must be saved, there is no such thing as "wanting to save people".

However, it is hard to say what decision they will make in the end once Gai Nie gets involved.

Shao Yu pretended that he heard nothing and said to Dao Zhi, "Let's climb up to avoid being discovered. I don't know how long we have to wait."

Dao Zhi certainly had no objection, and the two of them climbed up to the upper part of the Fusang sacred tree, one in front and one behind.

During the process, Dao Zhi asked curiously, "Where did you get the information? Why is the time still uncertain?"

"This... hehe, it's top secret, I can't tell you." Shao Yu said playfully, "It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's that I can't make the decision."

"Okay, okay, okay." Dao Zhi waved his hand and stopped asking questions.

He was not curious about the source of the information. As a professional, he suppressed his curiosity.

He didn't understand Shao Yu's strange way of contacting people - if Shao Yu really had contact with anyone.

It seemed like a stroke of luck, not like it was arranged in advance.

While the two were talking, they had already climbed up the branches of the sacred tree to a height of more than ten feet, which was enough to hide themselves, so they did not go any higher.

Shao Yu found a suitable spot and was about to lie down to rest when he was suddenly stunned and gave Dao Zhi an awkward smile:
"Brother Daozhi, I will go up by myself. Please wait for me for a while."

"By the way, we don't have to stay overnight."

After saying that, he rushed to a higher place.

Dao Zhi knew that he had probably contacted his 'informant', so he didn't chase him. Instead, he was even more puzzled as to how they had contacted each other.

On the other side, Shao Yu climbed up a distance and stopped when he could no longer see Dao Zhi. Then he whispered to the air:

"Chitaki! Chitaki!"

"I'm listening, Shao Yu." Qian Long's voice with a sweet laugh sounded in Shao Yu's mind.

Shao Yu smiled rather embarrassedly and replied, "Qianlong, why are you still awake so late?"

"Sometimes I sleep a little late." Qian Long explained, and then asked, "Shao Yu, why are you here again so soon? I haven't figured out Tian Ming's whereabouts yet."

"I'm not here for this." Shao Yu waved his hand and replied, "There is something else very important."

"I learned from Gai Nie not long ago that if Tianming wants to be cured of his illness, he must look for an opportunity on the Mirage."

"If we take him off the ship, once the Mirage sets sail, there will be no chance of curing his illness."

"Do you know about this?"

"Is this true?" Qianlong's surprised voice sounded in Shaoyu's ears.

Her tone was exactly the same as Shao Yu's reaction when he first learned about this.

"You have no idea at all?" Shao Yu couldn't help but ask.

According to Gai Nie, his source of information was Gu Xun, and he thought Qian Long might have some information.

"I don't know... My father only told me that Tianming's health problems were very troublesome and that it was difficult for him to deal with them, but he never told me how to treat them specifically."

"This..." Hearing this, Shao Yu frowned and said in embarrassment, "If you don't know either, this will be troublesome..."

"We are in a dilemma now. We don't know whether to save Tianming or let him stay on the Mirage."

"Well...please wait for me for a while. I will try to find a way to ask."

Qianlong replied to Shaoyu hesitantly, and then there was no movement.

After Shao Yu called out twice tentatively and received no response, he decided to settle down and wait for Qian Long to come back.

But after thinking about it, he crawled back to Dao Zhi first.

"Can you go?"

Seeing Shao Yu coming back, Dao Zhi thought he had obtained the information and was about to get up and leave.

Shao Yu quickly stopped him, "Don't worry, the situation has changed, we may have to stay for a while, and we can't say how long it will be."

"Uh... well."

They were already prepared to spend the night, so Dao Zhi certainly didn't mind waiting a little longer. He just felt that Shao Yu's source of information was more interesting.

Keep people waiting... Is it possible to get intelligence now?

Kill on order?

After Shao Yu explained the situation to him, he turned around and climbed to a higher place.

Dao Zhi was tactful enough to ignore it and just found a comfortable place to lie down.

The same was true for Shao Yu on the other side.

………………

Elsewhere in the mirage, Qianlong came back to his senses from meditation and immediately looked at his mother beside him.

Yan Fei sat next to her and kept watching over her.

Seeing Qianlong waking up, Yan Fei also opened her eyes.

"Mom... do you understand Tianming's illness?" Qian Long hesitated for a moment, but still asked directly.

Yan Fei did not answer, but asked calmly, "You suddenly asked this, it seems someone mentioned it to you?"

Qian Long nodded shyly, "Yes, Shao Yu asked me."

"He wanted to save Tianming, but Uncle Gai Nie said that Tianming's only way to survive was in the Mirage, and he couldn't be taken away from here."

Qianlong never concealed her desire to save Tianming in front of her mother, and Yanfei never intended to stop her, but just did not provide help.

Yan Fei thought about it for a while, and finally told Qian Long the secret truth without any perfunctory concealment. "Tian Ming is actually not sick... if you don't count the sleeping curse and the six souls curse on him."

"He's not sick...then what's his problem?" Qian Long was surprised and interrupted subconsciously.

Yan Fei was very patient and explained in detail, "His problem, strictly speaking, is... a price."

"But this price was not incurred by him, but by his father, Jing Ke, the leader of the Mohist School who carried out the dragon-slaying plan."

"The price...the price of what?"

"Qianlong, you know what happened on the day when Jing Ke assassinated Qin, right?" Yan Fei asked her daughter in return.

Qian Long answered honestly, "I know, my father told me."

"At that time, Jing Ke once broke through the blockade of Uncle Gai Nie and Zhao Gao, and almost succeeded in killing the emperor who was then Qin Wang Zheng. My aunt was also almost killed by the incident."

Yan Fei gently held her daughter's head and said softly, "Then you should also know that Jing Ke can't possibly achieve this level. With his strength, even Gai Nie can't break through."

Qianlong then remembered that Tianming had mentioned to her in casual conversation that he would occasionally fall into some strange explosive state, which would greatly enhance his strength, but he himself had no memory of it at all.

"Could it be... that the sudden increase in Jing Ke's strength at that time was the source of this price?" She looked at her mother and asked.

Yan Fei nodded, "The Canhong that Jing Ke used at that time was called the Dragon Slaying Sword, because only with the power of that sword could it be possible to really kill Ying Zheng."

"That sword is made of special meteorites from outer space - fragments of stars. It contains special powers."

"Jing Ke activated the power contained in the remnant rainbow, so he almost succeeded in killing Ying Zheng, but he also bore the power beyond mortals... let's call it a 'curse'."

"After he died at the hands of your father, this power was integrated into his son, Tianming, and the 'curse' was also brought to Tianming."

"Then what will this 'curse' do to Tianming?" Qianlong asked quickly.

"'Curse' is just a way of saying it. Essentially, it's because the mortal body cannot bear the power beyond that of mortals. Once this power fully awakens and erupts, Tianming will die."

"Then how can we save him?"

"The only way I know is to let him go out to sea with Mirage. Perhaps during this journey of 'seeking the immortal', he will be able to get rid of this 'curse'."

"Your father may have another way, but... he may not be very sure."

"Oh..." Hearing that both methods were difficult to guarantee success, Qian Long nodded somewhat disappointedly, then raised his head and asked, "Mom, can I tell others about these things?"

"It's up to you." Yan Fei touched her good daughter's head and did not ask her to keep it a secret.

Mirage is about to set sail, and there is no need to hide these things anymore.

Telling the Mohist School would also give them some peace.

………………

Just as Yan Fei expected, after Shao Yu brought back the information, the Mohist School fell into silence.

They gave up rescuing Tianming.

Of course, the specific process is not that simple.

After Shao Yu returned, he did not directly gather everyone together to explain the information he had obtained, but instead told Master Ban alone first.

Because in essence, his source of information was just like Gai Nie's, neither of them was reliable enough - the latter was learned from Gu Xun, while the former was asked from Gu Xun's daughter.

They would doubt Gai Nie's intelligence, and naturally they would also doubt Shao Yu's intelligence.

However, Shao Yu was unwilling to expose Qian Long's existence to everyone, so he could only talk to Master Ban, who was highly respected and could convince everyone with words alone, and then Master Ban would come forward to discuss with others.

Master Ban believed the information provided by Shao Yu and persuaded others, which ultimately led to the abandonment of the rescue operation.

In fact, most people in the Mohist school are willing to believe this matter, because it not only involves Tianming, but also involves the dragon-slaying plan, Jing Ke, and Canhong.

Putting aside the means of solving the problem, at least in terms of the reasons why Tianming had problems, they thought it was reasonable and credible enough.

After determining the cause, they were basically certain that the Mohists really had no way to solve this problem.

On the contrary, as for the mirage that involves the Blue Dragon and the Seven Stars, there may indeed be a solution to the problem.

With the combination of various factors, the balance naturally gradually tilted towards giving up rescue.

Once the Mohist School calmed down, other anti-Qin forces would have even less intention of targeting Mirage - they might have still been thinking about Mirage in the past, but now they really couldn't afford to offend him.

In the midst of peace, Ying Zheng's eastern tour progressed steadily, and the construction of the special crossbow on the mirage was completed bit by bit.

………………

"Master Imperial Master, this is the first crossbow machine that has been completed."

On top of the mirage, Gongshu Chou, who was as thin as a bamboo pole, walked in front of Gu Xun, nodding and bowing as he introduced the first crossbow built on the main deck of the mirage to the latter.

Even with the width of the Mirage deck, it still seemed a bit "crowded" after placing the crossbow.

Looking at the giant machine in front of him with a volume of more than ten thousand cubic meters, even Gu Xun couldn't help but look sideways.

"Do you have any specific data about this thing now?" Gu Xun retracted his gaze and asked Gongshu Chou.

"We've done a rough test." Gongshu Chou smiled even more broadly when he mentioned this. "The range of this crossbow has exceeded the initially estimated 500 feet. It can reach at least 800 feet. The maximum range is expected to be more than 1,000 feet."

"The power of the crossbow arrow is about the same as expected, but the speed of the crossbow mechanism resetting is slower than expected. It will take at least two quarters of an hour at the fastest."

The transmission and energy storage structure of this crossbow is extremely complex and cumbersome. After each release, a long process is required to reset the mechanical mechanism.

Gongshu Chou continued, "Also, although I have tried my best to enhance its material strength and structural stability, the number of times this crossbow can be used is still very limited."

"It can fire about fifty times at most, and then its structure will be damaged and it will no longer be usable. Also, it cannot be fired more than three times in a row within an hour, otherwise it will also collapse."

"The damage caused by the former can extend the service life by replacing related parts. It is estimated that the maximum damage can reach about 100 times before the main structure is completely destroyed."

"For the latter, it is highly likely that it cannot be simply repaired and can only be overhauled... which is almost equivalent to rebuilding."

"besides……"

"Okay, that's enough." Gu Xun didn't care about the specific data and waved his hand to signal Gongshu Chou not to say anything.

If this crossbow can kill that big seafood, three or five arrows will be enough, and it won't be damaged at all.

As for the other details, those are the concerns of the person operating the crossbow, not him.

Gongshu Chou immediately stopped reporting the data and said, "This crossbow machine has no name yet. Why don't you give it a name, sir?"

Generally speaking, the Gongshu family names the mechanical creations they make themselves, but if some big shots are involved, they may give up the naming rights.

For example, the Hundred Battles Divine Crossbow was named by Wang Li himself.

This crossbow was not designed by Gongshu Chou, and the naming rights did not originally belong to him, so he didn't mind using it to make an offering.

As for whether the Yin-Yang School would have any objections... they can argue with Gu Xun if they have the ability.

Gu Xun grinned, "This thing was provided by the Yin Yang Sect's Dong Huang Sect Master, so I won't overstep my authority."