Chapter 116

On a mountain road dozens of miles outside Songzhou City, a caravan was heading eastward. The entire caravan consisted of nearly a hundred people. Each of them had a sharp look in their eyes, and it was obvious that they were good at martial arts. The carriage they were escorting had some huge boxes piled on it, which was tightly covered with a layer of black cloth, making it look very mysterious.

　　This caravan was a group of Japanese who sneaked into Songzhou disguised as merchants and captured all the martial arts masters who came to Songzhou. They were the elite warriors of the "Martial God Camp" led by Yoshikawa Harumitsu, the sixth-ranked disciple of the "Martial God" Musashi Gorin.

　　In the Japanese army, there is a special team. They have extraordinary martial arts skills and never wear armor. They have always been the special forces of the Japanese army, responsible for surprise attacks, assassinations, and commando missions. They are the "Martial God Camp."

　　The warriors of "Martial God Camp" all come from the same place - the sword pavilion of the Japanese Martial God Musashi Gorin. There are two types of disciples of the Martial God, outer disciples and inner disciples. There are only thirty-six inner disciples, and they will be taught by Musashi Gorin personally. After leaving the apprenticeship, except for death or rebellion, they will still occupy the quota of inner disciples. When one vacancy occurs among the thirty-six people, one person will be selected from the inner disciples to replace him as the new inner disciple. So the inner disciples are also called "Thirty-six Swordsmen". The warriors of "Martial God Camp" are selected from the outer disciples.

　　There are only one thousand people in the Wushen Camp. They usually receive instruction in the Jianlu. If they are called up by the country during war, they will immediately return to the camp to carry out their mission. In this battle with the Jin Dynasty, the Wushen Camp dispatched a total of five hundred people, led by the commander of the Wushen Camp, Yukio Sanada, who ranked second among the "Thirty-Six Swords" of the Wushen disciples.

　　This time, Deputy Commander Yoshikawa Harumitsu led 200 people to sneak into Songzhou. Just a few days ago, someone met Sanada Yukigen and offered him a strategy: recently a large number of Central Plains martial artists have appeared in Songzhou to compete for a batch of martial arts classics. A team of Wushenying soldiers can be sent to sneak into Songzhou secretly, use drugs to catch these martial artists, and then control them with chronic poisons, and then use them to control the major sects of the Central Plains martial arts and find out the confidential information of Dajin to obtain greater benefits.

　　After discussing with the commander of the Japanese army stationed in Chaoguo, Sanada Yukioka decided to send the deputy commander of the Wushen Camp, Yoshikawa Harumitsu, who was also ranked sixth among the "Thirty-Six Swords" of Jianlu, to lead two hundred people to complete the task.

　　They took the Baishan Trail, avoided the pursuit of the scouts of the Dajin army, and arrived in Songzhou. With the help of a mysterious man, they successfully captured hundreds of martial artists from the Central Plains. After completing the mission, they were preparing to return along the same route and leave Songzhou.

　　The team had been marching for nearly two hours, and it was almost dusk. A deputy general beside Yoshikawa Harumitsu said with a smile: "I didn't expect this mission to go so smoothly. I thought those Central Plains people were so powerful, but they are just a bunch of useless people."

　　Yoshikawa Harumitsu shook his head and said, "No, this is just a deliberate plan. They were just poisoned by that person, so they are so weak and let us bully them. Normally, not to mention us, even if Commander Sanada came in person, he might not be able to defeat this group of people easily. For example, the man in the front car, his name is Mu Qi, who may be one of the people closest to the Heavenly Ranking Master in the world. Lord Sanada may not be able to defeat him. But then again, who is the person who gave us the advice? He even gave us those classics. Did he do this just for some money and those two women?"

　　Just as he finished speaking, suddenly, a burst of dense horse hoof sounds came from the rear of the convoy. Yoshikawa Harumitsu's face changed, and he ordered his subordinates: "Everyone, pay attention, disguise first, be prepared, and fight at any time." After hearing the order, the Japanese warriors of the Wushen Camp took their positions one after another and stopped talking recklessly. After all, they were still in the territory of Dajin.

　　The sound of horse hooves came from far away. Yoshikawa Harumitsu's pupils shrank slightly. There were actually hundreds of cavalrymen. The leader was not wearing armor and looked like a young man from a wealthy family. A knight came up to Yoshikawa Harumitsu, bowed and said, "Sir, we are the Songzhou garrison. May I ask where you are from and why are you marching in this border area?"

　　Patrol garrison? Yoshikawa Harumitsu thought, and he calmly replied: "Haha, sir, we are merchants from Yanzhou, and we are preparing to go to Chaoguo to do business. We heard that there is a shortage of daily necessities in Chaoguo, and a piece of low-quality cloth can be exchanged for a considerable amount of medicinal materials, so we plan to go there to test the waters."

　　The knight frowned and said, "My Great Jin is at war with Japan. You have ventured into the battlefield. Could it be that you are a spy sent by Japan?"

　　Yoshikawa Harumitsu replied, "Sir, Sir, you are wronged. I, we are all law-abiding merchants. It's just that the business is very profitable at this time, so I took the risk and went to the court. I'm not a traitor. Although I'm just an ordinary citizen, I know that I can't get involved in national affairs. I just want to live a good life. I hope you can forgive me."

　　The knight did not answer. He pointed to the boxes and asked, "What cargo do you have?"

　　"Oh, they are all silks and tea leaves, and the rest are some pottery and porcelain."

　　"Open it and show it to me."

　　Yoshikawa Harumitsu was shocked when he heard this. The boxes were full of martial artists from the Central Plains, and there was no cargo at all. If he opened it, he would be exposed, but if he refused to open it, it would also arouse their suspicion. So, he was secretly on guard, planning to strike first and kill the current knight directly.

　　At this moment, the only young man in the cavalry who was not wearing armor came up to the two and asked, "What happened? Why is there a caravan here?"

　　The knight introduced Yoshikawa Harumitsu, "This is our Songzhou Governor Liu."

　　Yoshikawa Harumitsu was startled. After greeting Pang Jun, he explained to him. Pang Jun thought for a moment and said, "This place is close to the battlefield between our Great Jin and Japan. If you are not careful while doing business here, you will run into Japanese people. You must be careful."

　　Yoshikawa Harumitsu smiled and said, "Of course, of course, I will pay attention to it."

　　Then Pang Jun said to his men, "Let's go. We have to hurry. If we are late, General Zhang will blame us and I won't be able to protect you."

　　"Yes, my lord. Brothers, let's go." The knight waved to the cavalry behind him, and the cavalry that stopped behind began to cross the caravan and set off again. Yoshikawa Harumitsu and others breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that although the individual combat power of their own people was extremely strong, the opponent was a well-trained regular cavalry after all. Even if they won the fight, it would only be a miserable victory. What's more, this would alert the enemy and attract the attention of the Jin army, so they should avoid it if possible.

　　So the cavalry set out again, and everything seemed to be peaceful and smooth.

　　However, when the cavalry marched to the middle of the caravan, suddenly, a box in the caravan made a "knock knock knock" sound, followed by a "pop" sound, and a wooden box fell to the ground. A man rolled out from it, his hands and feet tied, and he looked at the crowd in horror.

　　Before the Japanese in the convoy could react, Pang Jun immediately gave the order: "They are Japanese spies! Kill them!"

　　The cavalry team immediately drew their weapons and killed the Japanese in front of them. At this time, Yoshikawa Harumitsu's heart sank: Oops! He looked at Pang Jun and found that Pang Jun was looking at him with a smile. He realized that he had fallen into a trap. This team of cavalry was coming for them. He quickly drew his long swords and killed Pang Jun.

　　Pang Jun also drew his sword at this time, and went up to Yoshikawa Harumitsu and shouted, "Who are you, you Japanese rat? Tell me your name!"

　　"Humph, you ant-like people from the Central Plains are worthy of knowing my name, die!"

　　"Dang!" The Seven-Star Dragon Abyss suddenly moved upwards and collided with the fierce Japanese sword. Sparks flew everywhere. Pang Jun approached Yoshikawa Harumitsu and whispered, "Even if you didn't say it, I can guess that you should be the deputy commander of the Japanese Martial God Camp, Yoshikawa Harumitsu, am I right? Sanada Yukigen is very busy and will not abandon his military affairs and march deep into Dajin alone. Only the deputy commander can lead this group of unruly people, hahahaha."

　　"So what? Young man, you know that people who are too smart will not live long. Since you know who I am, you shouldn't mess with me."

　　"So what if I'm ranked sixth among Jianlu's disciples? I'm the martial arts champion of the Great Jin Dynasty. I have fought against countless martial arts masters, let alone you, a mere Japanese warrior!" Pang Jun said confidently.

　　"Humph, when my sword pierces your chest, you won't be so arrogant!"

　　The two sides engaged in a fierce fight, with continuous sounds of shouting, crisp weapons colliding, and horses neighing. Pang Jun brought five hundred Songzhou cavalry this time. Although they were not as good as the Wushen Camp of Japan in individual combat, they had twice as many people as their opponents, and coupled with the surprise attack, they caught their opponents off guard. The war once suppressed the people of the Wushen Camp.

　　Seeing that more and more soldiers of the Wushen Camp fell, Yoshikawa Harumitsu didn't want to fight anymore and shouted in Japanese. Then these Japanese warriors took out a bead from their arms and smashed it on the ground. With the sound of "pa pa pa pa", the battlefield was instantly filled with smoke. The cavalrymen were unable to react and could only rein in their horses and be on full alert. When the clouds and fog dissipated, the group of Japanese people had disappeared.

　　Looking at the dead and wounded on the ground, Pang Jun frowned and ordered his subordinates to clean up the battlefield, count the casualties, and rescue the martial artists from various sects who were packed in boxes.

　　After counting, the final calculation showed that 67 people from the Dongying Wushen Camp were killed in the battle, with no wounded. All the wounded committed suicide. The Songzhou Cavalry Team had 58 deaths and 97 wounded. More than ten Central Plains martial artists were accidentally injured or killed in the melee.

　　The various major sects thanked Pang Jun one after another. Pang Jun shook his hand and said, "You are too polite. I just received news that a group of people who did not look like people from the Central Plains were seen marching near Songzhou, so I led my subordinates to see what was going on. I didn't expect to run into you by accident. I am so lucky. Otherwise, if anything happened to you, I would not be able to explain to your leaders."

　　At this time, Fang Nan, the "Yi Zi Sword" of the Huashan Sect, walked up to Pang Jun and asked in a low voice: "Um, Lord Liu, when you came here, did you see my senior sister Huangfu Junyi and her daughter Ling Xiaofu?"

　　When Fang Nan said this, the faces of the martial artists who heard it all turned very strange. They were restrained before, but their hearing did not disappear. They could hear the ecstatic moans of Huangfu Junyi and Ling Xiaofu. Pang Jun pretended not to know, as if he did not pay attention to the faces of others. He shook his head and said, "No, could it be that Madam Ling and Miss Ling are not with you? Did they get separated from you?"

　　Fang Nan stammered, "Well, I don't know either. They were also captured, and they may still be in the same place as before."

　　Pang Jun asked quickly: "Where is it? Can you take me there?"

　　Fang Nan had no choice but to nod. After all, their strength had not yet recovered. With Pang Jun here, they would be able to deal with any enemy they encountered. So they split into two groups. Pang Jun led a hundred cavalrymen and followed the people from the Five Mountains Sword Sect to look for Huangfu Junyi and her daughter. The others, as well as the remaining martial artists, returned to Songzhou with the wounded.