Chapter 153: Night of Terror!

Just as Li Yuanjing had planned,

After he ventured into Qingshiguan alone, came out completely unscathed, and reached a solid consensus with Zhao Zhanggong, the morale of the entire troop soared. Everyone walked with their chests puffed out, immensely proud to serve under Li Yuanjing.

After all, who wouldn't have a bright future following a contemporary hero like Li Yuanjing, who dared to bravely walk into a tiger's den all by himself?

Perhaps the two hundred taels of silver notes Li Yuanjing had given Zhao Yunlu had worked their magic. By evening, when Li Yuanjing and his men arrived at the foot of the mountain, the people Zhao Yunlu had sent out earlier were already waiting there with numerous samples of fine and exquisite porcelain.

Ordering his men to pitch camp right by a small river on the spot, Li Yuanjing began to carefully inspect these fine and delicate porcelains.

Before long, even Li Yuanjing could not help but sigh in continuous amazement. It was no wonder that future generations would name this country after "china." The attainments of these ancient sages in this field had already reached a divine, pinnacle level. Whether it was a white-glazed base, a painted base, or a cloisonné-enameled base, every single piece was breathtakingly beautiful—true works of art.

The only pity was that most of these porcelains were vases, cooking utensils, and other decorative items with wide openings, rather than the small-mouthed wine bottles Li Yuanjing needed. However, given this level of craftsmanship, customizing a few small-mouthed wine bottles was clearly a breeze.

By this time, Zhao Yunlu had finally composed herself. She walked up to Li Yuanjing and said with a smile, "Mr. Li, how do you find them? Can the porcelain of Boshan meet your discerning standards?"

Li Yuanjing smiled, gave Zhao Yunlu a thumbs-up, and praised, "You are too modest, Eldest Miss Zhao. Every single piece of this porcelain is of excellent texture, and I like them very much. I only wonder if Miss Zhao would permit this student to place a custom order. As you know, I have a very specific use for these porcelains."

"Oh?"

"And how exactly would Mr. Li like to customize them?"

Zhao Yunlu's interest was piqued, and she was very eager to know what Li Yuanjing intended to do with these porcelains.

A slight curve could not help but form at the corner of Li Yuanjing's mouth. When a woman began to feel curious about a man, she was not far from falling for him. Yet Li Yuanjing certainly wouldn't act rashly; instead, he began to explain patiently and in detail to Zhao Yunlu.

Zhao Yunlu was quite clever. Before long, she grasped Li Yuanjing's meaning, her beautiful eyes curving into crescent moons as she puffed out her proud chest and declared with pride, "Mr. Li, the kilns of the Boshan Faction have plenty of everything, but most of all, they have master craftsmen!"

"What exact shapes do you desire? Can you draw a blueprint? The Boshan kilns will take this custom order!"

Li Yuanjing laughed heartily, gave her another thumbs-up, and praised, "Eldest Miss Zhao is truly a heroine among women, and this humble student admires you! Very well, tomorrow morning I will give you the blueprints, and then we can discuss the prices in detail."

"It's a deal!"

***

After sending Zhao Yunlu off and briefly inspecting the camp's defense work, Li Yuanjing threw himself into drawing the blueprints.

By this time, Li Yuanjing already had a well-thought-out plan in mind, essentially divided into three tiers: low-end, mid-end, and high-end.

The low-end bottles were to be drawn with a more grand, imposing, and flashy look, with a larger volume, to serve as the foundation for distilled liquor. The mid-end bottles were to be more literary, delicate, and of moderate volume; this tier was designed to appeal to scholars and literati. As for the high-end bottles, they were to follow the principle of supreme simplicity. Li Yuanjing intended to make them with a pure white-glazed base, shaped similarly to the sake pots of later generations, and then he would personally write calligraphy inscriptions upon them. These were to become true works of art, meant to be fondled and appreciated in the hand rather than judged by how much liquor they held.

After bustling about for several hours until midnight, Li Yuanjing finally finished these tasks and nodded with satisfaction.

Only, what name to give this distilled liquor was something Li Yuanjing could not quite decide on just yet. After all, it wouldn't do to simply plagiarize the famous names of future generations—that would be a bit too excessive...

"Oh no! Fire! Fire!"

Just as Li Yuanjing was pondering this, terrified shouts suddenly rang out from outside, quickly turning into complete chaos.

"Hmm?"

Li Yuanjing's brow furrowed tightly. He quickly grabbed his side saber and cautiously stepped out of the tent to investigate.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

However, the moment Li Yuanjing stepped out of the tent, before he could even see what was happening outside, several precision fire arrows came shooting toward him like thunderbolts.

How could Li Yuanjing dare to be slow? Frightened almost out of his wits, he hurriedly threw himself into a donkey-roll to dodge.

"Protect the mister! Quick, protect the mister!"

At this moment, Zhao Zengjin, Dong Peng, and the others on guard duty reacted and hurriedly rushed toward Li Yuanjing's direction. In a tent not far away, Zhao Yunlu, who had been sleeping groggily, was also frightened out of her wits. She rushed out in a panic, repeatedly shouting for her subordinates to counterattack.

However, the enemy was hidden while they were in the light. They had no idea how many attackers there were, nor where they were located. Amidst the chaotic shouting, Li Yuanjing's side practically became a living target.

From the mountains on both sides, a massive number of fire arrows and feathered arrows rained down overwhelmingly upon Li Yuanjing's camp as if they cost nothing.

"Ah..."

Soon, many people around Li Yuanjing were hit, crying out in pain.

"Stop damn screaming!"

Li Yuanjing finally snapped out of it and roared like a wolf:

"Take cover! Take cover! Take cover first! Eliminate the enemy's living forces!"

Everyone was quite familiar with Li Yuanjing's voice. As his voice echoed outward, the panicked mob finally found their backbone and began to mount some resistance.

Yet these attackers were extremely cunning! Seeing that the surprise attack on Li Yuanjing's side wasn't going well and couldn't achieve a fatal blow in one strike, they immediately began setting fires at both ends of the camp.

Fortunately, when pitching camp in the evening, Li Yuanjing had chosen this riverbank nestled within a mountain ditch. Although the two ends of the camp were now blocked by the spreading flames, the middle of the camp was a river. Because the river water wasn't deep and contained many stones, the ice wasn't as solid as imagined. Many people, moving like headless chickens, stepped onto it and cracked the thinner ice layers, causing splashing sounds.

Someone immediately noticed this and began shouting loudly to rally people to fetch water to put out the fire.

Amidst the chaos, Li Yuanjing grew genuinely anxious and wanted to rush to the front line to command, lest he fall victim to the attackers' feint of attacking the east while striking the west. But Zhao Zengjin, Dong Peng, and the others beside him dared not let Li Yuanjing take such risks at a time like this. They grabbed him tightly, refusing to let him act recklessly.

Angered, Li Yuanjing low-roared, "Then why the hell are you still here protecting me? Old Zhao, you go defend the east side and see what these bastards are actually trying to do! Dong Peng, you go to the west! Remember, do not throw yourselves into disorder first!"

"Understood!"

Helpless, Zhao Zengjin and Dong Peng knew that if they didn't go, Li Yuanjing would go himself. They could only leave a few men to guard Li Yuanjing and hurried off to provide reinforcement.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!"

Yet no sooner had Zhao Zengjin and the other left than Li Yuanjing suddenly felt his scalp tingle. Something uncomfortably familiar flashed past, and he hurriedly shouted in a low voice:

"Watch out! Get down! Get down!"

Born with keen instincts, Li Yuanjing reacted very quickly and avoided this fatal blow, but two young men from Quanzicun village and one brother among the Yi Cavalry did not react nearly as quickly.

The next instant, their bodies were pierced by sharp, short feathered arrows, and they fell to the ground in agony, dying with their eyes wide open in resentment.

At this moment, Li Yuanjing naturally realized what kind of weapon these attackers were using at such close range!

It was precisely the crossbow mechanisms the White Lotus Sect had used when assassinating Zhang Zhiji!

Before Li Yuanjing could even catch his breath, the faint sound of a crossbow mechanism being cocked rang out right beside his ear once again!

The next instant, Li Yuanjing's pupils dilated abruptly. He hurriedly clamped his hands tightly over his mouth and froze, not daring to move a single inch!

There—

Clad entirely in night-traveler's dark clothes, short in stature, and looking remarkably like "a wall" (Xingcai, the daughter of Zhang Kewang), a woman walked slowly out from the nearby darkness, holding a blackened crossbow mechanism in one hand and wielding a very familiar small horse-saber in the other!