Chapter 60: Battle Royale of the Transmigrators (Part I)

Just as Cui Xuanliang, Elder Wen, Second Elder Wen, and Gan Zhixuan, the four perpetrators who had just completed their deed, were about to leave the tavern, a sudden commotion broke out on the street.

Dozens of figures wielding Miao sabers swarmed out from every alley, completely surrounding the tavern.

The leader, brandishing a massive split-mountain axe, roared furiously, "You knew they were my men, yet you still dared to touch them! Are you outsiders not taking me, Song Xiangling, seriously at all?"

The four individuals from Shuixi had indeed heard of Song Xiangling—not because they were well-versed in the history of the Wanli era, nor because Song Xiangling possessed any thunderous lineage, but purely because, having traversed numerous illusions, they happened to have encountered this very Song Xiangling in one of them.

The surname Song easily brought to mind the Song clan of Shuidong. In reality, this Song Xiangling was merely a distant branch of the Shuidong Song clan, and as nobles of Shuixi, the four of them naturally held him in complete contempt.

Since the early Ming dynasty, the Shuidong Song clan had long been oppressed, manipulated, utilized, and encroached upon by the An clan of Shuixi. After An Bangyan launched his rebellion, the Shuidong Song clan, who joined the Shuixi uprising, was casually wiped out by the Great Ming in passing.

Therefore, let alone a distant branch of the Shuidong Song clan, even if the direct main branch of the Shuidong Song clan were standing before them, the four elites of Shuixi—Cui Xuanliang, Elder Wen, Second Elder Wen, and Gan Zhixuan—would not be able to muster even a shred of respect.

In the eyes of the Shuixi nobility, the so-called four great prominent families of "An, Tian, Song, and Yang" were nothing more than outdated tales from several centuries ago. In truth, the Tian family had already been subjected to the imperial assimilation policy of replacing native chieftains with imperial appointees by the Yongle Emperor in the early Ming, while the Shuidong Song clan was, frankly speaking, nothing more than a lackey of their Shuixi An clan. The only ones truly qualified to claim kingship in Guizhou were the Yang clan of Bozong and the An clan of Shuixi.

Second Elder Wen’s eyes revealed undisguised disdain as he mocked, "Forget about an upstart like you who crawled out from goodness knows where; even if the direct head of the Shuidong Song clan stood right in front of me, they would still have to respectfully address me as 'Elder Brother'."

Elder Wen beside him maintained a calm composure, smiling faintly, "Second Brother flatters them. If a daughter of the Shuidong Song clan were given to me as a bed-warming maid, I would still have to consider whether I even want her."

Song Xiangling’s face flushed crimson with rage, and he shouted, "How dare you insult the Shuidong Song clan! You have some nerve!"

Second Elder Wen let out a sinister, weird laugh, drew a tally token, and hurled it straight at Song Xiangling’s face. "Open your dog eyes and take a look at what this is!"

Overwhelmed by Second Elder Wen’s imposing aura, Song Xiangling tremblingly picked up the tally from the ground. With just a single glance, he was so frightened that he nearly lost his footing.

The token was forged from meteoric iron as its base, bordered with golden beast motifs, and in the very center, carved in bold, archaic relief, was a powerful character: "An".

The An clan of Shuixi—moreover, a symbol of identity possessed only by core members of the Shuixi faction.

Although the Yang clan of Bozong was heralded as the premier powerful domain in the Southwest, they were, after all, a solitary tiger roaming alone. In contrast, the An clan of Shuixi was the strongest alpha wolf within a wolf pack, their influence spanning across multiple provinces, possessing very much the air of the universally acknowledged sovereign revered by a million indigenous people.

If one had to choose between the Yang clan of Bozong and the An clan of Shuixi to offend, the vast majority of people would choose the former.

Song Xiangling fell silent, caught in a dilemma where advancing and retreating were equally difficult.

Second Elder Wen stared straight at Song Xiangling, and before long, Song Xiangling’s gaze began to waver.

Drawing out a tally of the Shuixi An clan was naturally not done for the sake of showing off in front of people—an upstart who couldn't even be considered a collateral branch of Shuidong was hardly worthy of being trampled upon by Shuixi nobles to elevate themselves.

The reason for revealing their identity as Shuixi nobles was precisely because, upon this land of Guizhou, the reputation of Shuixi was simply too useful.

It was entirely foreseeable that as the four of them pursued Yun Zheng in Lushui County next, many people would choose to watch from the sidelines out of dread for Shuixi's formidable reputation. In this way, the home-field advantage meticulously arranged by Yun Zheng could be completely dissolved.

*(This is why I say you, Yun Zheng, are overly arrogant, self-righteously using your real name to lure us out, while forgetting that you are not the only one who knows how to leverage the political power and influence of this era.)*

These four were naturally genuine Shuixi nobles, and unlike Yun Zheng, who had not yet acquired a legitimate status as a regional commander in this world, their status as Shuixi nobles had been officially recognized by the Shuixi faction of this world.

The method was simple: during the previous illusion exploration, they suddenly realized that as long as they claimed to Shuixi that they were destined ones from a future world, possessed countless extraordinary methods, and could foreknow future events, they could directly utilize the power and influence of Shuixi to achieve their own goals.

In the previous illusion, it was precisely with the covert support of Shuixi that they had successfully completed the assassination of Li Hualong.

Under the piercing, aggressive gaze of Second Elder Wen, Song Xiangling began to break out in a cold sweat, on the verge of yielding.

Right at that moment, countless figures wearing felt hats poked their heads out from behind the rooftops, gripping crossbows tightly in their hands. Without uttering a single superfluous word, they unleashed a coordinated volley straight at the four Shuixi individuals below.

The arrows were as dense as a swarm of locusts.

Cui Xuanliang, the most robustly built among the four, let out a furious roar and whirled his broadsword into a spinning windmill, actually blocking a massive portion of the rain-like descending arrows.

The remaining arrows, upon reaching the space surrounding Cui Xuanliang's body, seemed to encounter the traction of an invisible force, abruptly hindered and unable to advance an inch further.

Song Xiangling was nearly frightened out of his wits. Warding off a dense coordinated volley of bows and crossbows with a rapidly wielded close-combat weapon—he had originally thought that to be an exaggeration found in romanticized tales, yet in reality, someone was actually capable of achieving it.

Furthermore, was that man just using internal energy to neutralize the archers' barrage? How could anyone train their internal energy to such a level? Even if they started training from their mother's womb, they shouldn't be able to reach this standard, right?

Having blocked the volley of crossbow bolts, Cui Xuanliang’s face suddenly turned ashen, and he spat out a mouthful of blood with a gasp.

Clearly, the impact of blocking hundreds of arrows single-handedly had inevitably inflicted some internal injuries upon him.

Yet, they were only minor injuries...

The Wen brothers and Gan Zhixuan had already vanished in a flash of lightning into the tavern the moment the arrows were loosed.

"This place is not suitable for a prolonged stay," Elder Wen made a swift judgment and shouted loudly to Cui Xuanliang.

Cui Xuanliang’s mind was instantly clear: since this group had even openly armed themselves with prohibited contraband like crossbows on a large scale, this matter clearly would not end easily. Even if they were to drag out heavily armored cavalry and spear formations next, there would be no need to find it surprising at all.

The four individuals from Shuixi were merely unwilling to waste their physical strength on useless mass combat; it did not mean they lacked the ability to slaughter everyone present. Therefore, since they had no desire to linger in battle, the crowd naturally could not hope to stop them.

Seeing the four Shuixi individuals vanish from sight, Song Xiangling could not help asking Lin Dengwan, who had led the backup force of crossbowmen: "Lord Lin, do you know the identity of this group of people?"

Lin Dengwan slung his massive, powerful crossbow over his back, flashed a brilliant smile, patted Song Xiangling on the shoulder, and said, "Old Song, thank you truly for this time. If you hadn't held them down, this bunch of Yang family secret agents who dared to impersonate the Shuixi An clan would have slipped right through our fingers."