Chapter 947: The Yangzhou Thin Horse |
"Yes, if those three guys from the Ii Family find out that Ii Naoyoshi is in the Lu Wu area, then the trouble that will follow is going to be a real headache." Liu Xing voiced his thoughts, "At that time, the entire Island Nation might very well fall into chaos ahead of schedule... The only good news for us is that we can get rid of one problem by creating another, at least Shima Takeshi's rebellion can be considered resolved."
Zhang Jingxu on the other end of the line sighed and said with a wry smile, "You're right, Liu Xing, but this solution is not good news for us in the Warrior Faction. After all, who can feel at ease with such a big boss appearing in our backyard? If the Warrior Faction gets backstabbed at that time, we're done for. Moreover, if that unknown Great Old One directly descends to Earth with the help of Ii Naoyoshi, then we won't need to fight; we might as well just surrender to them."
"Surrender? Do they need us to surrender?" Liu Xing said helplessly, "At that time, it would be more reliable to seek refuge in the Dreamrealm instead of hoping to return to the real world. But back to the topic, you all know the current situation now, so let's hear your thoughts."
Zhang Jingxu immediately replied, "My thoughts are the same as yours. We absolutely cannot let Ii Naoyoshi be discovered at this time, especially by the people from the Public Faction. Because even if they know the truth, they will most likely find an opportunity to sabotage us. So, our best option is to ensure that the Ii Trio doesn't go to the Lu Wu area. Therefore, we must first notify Shima Mitsuhiro and have him cooperate with our actions... But while that's true, in reality, we can't guarantee that Shima Mitsuhiro will survive until that time."
Zhang Jingxu began to chat with Liu Xing about Shima Mitsuhiro's current situation.
Last night during dinner, Kitano Masakazu had called Zhang Jingxu and the others, along with Shima Mitsuhiro, to join him.
At the dinner table, Kitano Masakazu semi-coercively confirmed the codename for this operation - 'Luring the Tiger Away from the Mountain'.
As Liu Xing had previously guessed, Kitano Masakazu's plan was to use Shima Mitsuhiro as bait, forcing Shima Takeshi to go to the Kagoshima City Airport to 'compete for business' with Shima Mitsuhiro, and then he could find an opportunity to take people to capture the Shimazu Residence and rescue the detained members of the Shimazu Family.
Of course, everyone knew that if Kitano Masakazu's team stormed the Shimazu Residence, those members of the Shimazu Family would either be killed by Shima Takeshi's men or die at the hands of Kitano Masakazu's Deep One subordinates.
So, Kitano Masakazu gave Shima Mitsuhiro a ring, claiming that he could be teleported to a designated location - Kitano Masakazu's ship - by activating the ring.
This was an incredible item, after all, in the world of Cthulhumyth, teleportation rings were not easy to come by.
However, this ring also made Liu Xing suddenly think of someone - Dio.
Decades ago, when he was still 'Chris', he had seen Dio use such a ring and be teleported directly to Gary's Eins Castle.
So, could this ring be related to Gary?
Liu Xing thought carefully and realized that something seemed off about this. According to reason, with Gary's strength, it was impossible for him to create a teleportation ring, as Gary could only be considered a 'Vampire' who had picked up the skill along the way.
So, the ring that Dio used back then should not have been made by Gary himself... Then, was there any connection between that ring and the one Kitano Masakazu gave to Shima Mitsuhiro?
Of course, this also depended on whether the ring Kitano Masakazu gave to Shima Mitsuhiro was the real deal or not. After all, it couldn't be ruled out that the ring Shima Mitsuhiro was holding was just an ordinary ring, as Kitano Masakazu had told Shima Mitsuhiro that the ring could only be used once in a short period of time, so Shima Mitsuhiro didn't dare to try it randomly - if the effect of the ring was as Kitano Masakazu said, then Shima Mitsuhiro would have wasted a chance to escape; if the effect of the ring was made up by Kitano Masakazu, then the atmosphere here would be a bit awkward.
As for Zhang Jingxu and the others, they had originally wanted to determine the effect of the ring by touching it, but halfway there, they were reminded by KP Duanqiao that they couldn't touch the ring casually. If they were to forcibly touch the ring, there was a 99% chance that it would be damaged.
Obviously, KP Duanqiao didn't want Zhang Jingxu and the others to confirm whether the ring was effective or not, because once they confirmed that the ring was indeed effective, Zhang Jingxu and the others would be able to do more.
So now, the ring in Shima Mitsuhiro's hand entered a Schrödinger state - as long as it wasn't used, they wouldn't know whether the ring was effective or not... From this, it could be inferred that Shima Mitsuhiro was also in a Schrödinger state at this time - when Shima Takeshi launched an attack on Shima Mitsuhiro, Shima Mitsuhiro was in a superposition of being able to escape and being unable to escape.
At this point, Zhang Jingxu and the others didn't know whether they should assist Shima Mitsuhiro or not, because if they went to assist him, Shima Mitsuhiro might directly activate the ring and escape when encountering danger, leaving them behind to continue facing Shima Takeshi's attack. But if the ring in Shima Mitsuhiro's hand was ineffective, then without the help of their group, Shima Mitsuhiro would undoubtedly die.
If Shima Mitsuhiro died, it would be a big trouble for Liu Xing and the others.
However, in the end, Zhang Jingxu and the others still chose to stay in the southern suburbs of Kagoshima City and watch the situation unfold, or rather, let Shima Mitsuhiro fend for himself, because they could be sure that Shima Mitsuhiro was a traitor who would sell them out for his own survival.
So, it was a trouble, but their own lives were more important.
Back to the topic, in addition to the ring, Kitano Masakazu also allowed Shima Mitsuhiro to contact his subordinates, so the Black-Clad Men that Liu Xing saw at the Kagoshima City Airport this morning were Shima Mitsuhiro's men, but among them were also two Deep Ones in human form, who were naturally Kitano Masakazu's bodyguards and monitors. In addition, Kitano Masakazu also arranged for some of his human subordinates to be stationed at various important locations in Kagoshima City as human eyes, ensuring that they could provide Shima Mitsuhiro with Shima Takeshi's movement route at the first opportunity.
In addition, Kitano Masakazu also prepared another good thing for Shima Mitsuhiro - a submarine provided by the Deep Ones.
Although the Deep Ones were all good swimmers, swimming around the world in one breath was not a problem, but as a Deep One tribe that had been influenced by human society and had a high degree of secularization, Kitano Masakazu's Deep One tribe had learned to enjoy.
So, this group of Deep Ones also played with submarines, specifically opening a bus route between human towns on land and Deep One cities under the sea, with a large submarine serving as a 'bus'.
Of course, since there were buses, there would naturally be private cars. The submarine that Kitano Masakazu prepared for Shima Mitsuhiro was his private car, which could accommodate up to ten people and move at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour in the sea, with a maximum endurance of 50 hours.
So, Kitano Masakazu assured Shima Mitsuhiro that as long as he could escape to the submarine by the seaside in the southern suburbs, he wouldn't have to worry about Shima Takeshi catching up with him, because Shima Takeshi's men wouldn't have such an advanced submarine.
By the way, Zhang Jingxu and the others had re-landed with the same submarine that Shima Mitsuhiro was on, as Kitano Masakazu's ship was too conspicuous and could easily be spotted by Shima Takeshi.
Finally, the most important step in Kitano Masakazu's plan was to attack the Shimazu Residence.
After confirming that Shima Takeshi had been lured to the Kagoshima City area by Shima Mitsuhiro, Kitano Masakazu would arrange for someone to closely monitor the Shimazu Residence. After confirming the deployment of troops at the Shimazu Residence, they would launch an attack, and at that time, Kitano Masakazu would send a message to Shima Mitsuhiro, and Shima Mitsuhiro would just need to make a quick escape. As for Shima Mitsuhiro's escape route, it was the same as what Liu Xing had thought - he would just need to escape directly from the hotel to the south.
However, this escape route was a bit too obvious, so Liu Xing suspected that Shima Takeshi had already guessed Shima Mitsuhiro's escape route.
Although Shima Takeshi couldn't take action within the Kagoshima City area, once they were out of the city, Shima Takeshi could use many means to deal with Shima Mitsuhiro, such as directly attacking Shima Mitsuhiro's vehicle with various heavy weapons, or setting up nail traps on the road, etc.
If all else failed, Shima Takeshi could also directly send people to block the coastline.
In short, it wouldn't be easy for Shima Mitsuhiro to escape.
"We originally planned to make some preparations in advance in the southern suburbs, such as setting up ambushes at certain important intersections and sniping at the possible ambushes sent by Shima Takeshi, but we only have a few small handguns in our hands, and even if those men of Shima Takeshi are not that good, they should at least have one submachine gun each, so in the end, we chose to give up and rest at the hiding place prepared by Kitano Masakazu, waiting for Shima Mitsuhiro to arrive." Zhang Jingxu said, "So, Liu Xing, you still shouldn't go and meet with Shima Mitsuhiro, or rather, you must not reveal your identity to anyone. You need to act as a hidden agent to ensure that you can respond to us when necessary."
Liu Xing nodded and said seriously, "Of course, we don't have a superior-subordinate relationship with Shima Mitsuhiro, so we don't need to serve him. But speaking of which, we also need to plan our escape route carefully. If the situation develops to an irreversible point, we'll need to prepare to escape from Kagoshima City, so my plan is for you to find Matsui Yui, because for us, the safest place in Kagoshima City right now is Matsui Yui's place."
"We were also thinking the same, so Liu Xing, you need to send our phone number to Matsui Yui, and we'll have a good chat with her later." Zhang Jingxu said with a smile.
Liu Xing also smiled, knowing what Zhang Jingxu and the others wanted to chat with Matsui Yui about, "No problem, we just dug up an underwater treasure a couple of days ago, and we got a lot of good stuff from that treasure. I believe Matsui Yui will let you have a share of it. But speaking of that treasure, you have no idea what I went through!"
"What?"
Yin En's curious voice came from the other end of the phone, "From the way you're talking, Liu Xing, it seems like you encountered something very magical. After all, we've been working together for so long, and we've been through a lot, so it's not easy to surprise you."
Liu Xing didn't keep them in suspense and directly told them about what he had seen and heard in the Poetry and Song World.
After listening to Liu Xing's words, Zhang Jingxu and the others on the other end of the line were all left dumbfounded.
However, in addition to surprise, Yin En's expression also carried a hint of seriousness.
"So, did you see Ma Zhiyuan? As the author, he should be the 'Broken-Hearted Man' in the poem," Yin En asked.
Liu Xing thought for a moment and shook his head, "It's possible that because the Poetry and Song World is a fragment, the order of each line in the same poem was scrambled, so although I saw the old banyan tree, the old bridge, the flowing water, and the thatched cottage, I didn't see the 'thin horse' or the 'broken-hearted man on the horizon'. But I suspect that this 'broken-hearted man' might be a literal 'broken-hearted man', as it's not easy to express that kind of sentiment."
After a moment of thought, Yin En suddenly smiled and said, "I just thought of a joke. When I was studying 'Tianjingsha. Qiushi' in school, a classmate suddenly told me that this poem was actually not very decent, because the 'broken-hearted man' was traveling with a concubine."
"Concubine?"
Both Yin En's companions next to her and Liu Xing on the other end of the phone asked the same question.
"He thought that the 'thin horse' in the poem was actually an abbreviation, and the full name was 'Yangzhou Thin Horse'," Yin En explained.
"Oh~"
The voices of the group became strange.
Liu Xing took a sip of water and cursed, "Yin En, you're getting more and more indecent. How do you even know such a joke? But speaking of which, although the term 'Yangzhou Thin Horse' appeared in the Ming Dynasty, it might seem unreasonable to force it onto a Yuan Dynasty poem. However, the 'Yangzhou Thin Horse' has been around since ancient times, or rather, since the ancient canal transportation system was established, Yangzhou became prosperous due to its status as a freight center, and it also became a gathering place for wealthy merchants. At the same time, it also became China's most famous red-light district, and there were countless 'toothless tigers' engaged in the 'thin horse' business."
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