Chapter 873
Without a word, the strapping man leaped into the river!
Li Daoxuan instantly understood: this guy must be an excellent swimmer. His bronzed skin was a dead giveaway; he'd clearly grown up on the water. Diving into the Yellow River, he likely thought he could make a clean escape.
"No chance!"
Li Daoxuan plunged in after him without hesitation.
The tough man's heart soared when he saw Li Daoxuan follow. *I grew up in the water. You, a pampered lord, dare to jump in? Isn't this suicide? No matter how powerful or monstrous you are on land, in the water, I can put you in your place with just a few moves. * He'd thought the battle was lost, but catching a key figure from Xiaolangdi in the water would be a huge success. It would be a great achievement to bring him back.
He deliberately didn't swim far, pausing slightly underwater.
"Splash!"
As Li Daoxuan splashed down, the tough man immediately swam over, reaching out to grab him, ready to initiate an underwater struggle.
However...
The tough man tried to violently shake him off, hoping to counterattack, but Li Daoxuan ignored it all. He simply clung to the man's arm, then stopped struggling.
He was a massive block of iron!
Even doing nothing, he exerted an immense downward pull.
The tough man felt a powerful force dragging him down. Panic flared in his heart, and he frantically stroked upwards, trying to pull Li Daoxuan with him.
However...
No matter how good a swimmer he was, dragging such a massive chunk of iron was beyond human limits. The tough man couldn't swim up, continuing to sink towards the riverbed.
Until darkness enveloped them.
On the ship, Jiang Cheng, Hua Kui, the militia sailors, and the special operations team soldiers were all leaning over the railing, peering into the river. For a long while, they didn't see the Heavenly Lord resurface, and they had no idea what was happening beneath the water.
Suddenly, the cotton-thread avatar on Jiang Cheng's chest spoke: "It's done. That fellow will remain at the bottom of the river forever."
"Ah? The Heavenly Lord is back!" Jiang Cheng exclaimed. "The Heavenly Lord's avatar..."
"Let the avatar remain at the bottom of the river," Li Daoxuan replied.
That thing was too heavy. Li Daoxuan couldn't swim it up, so leaving it to forever clutch the tough man's corpse at the bottom was fine. Besides, he had plenty of mass-produced Heavenly Lord avatars.
Li Daoxuan felt a tinge of annoyance. No one was left alive, so he still didn't know who was targeting Gao Family Village.
By then, the soldiers were already clearing the battlefield, tossing enemy corpses into the river for the fish, calling it a "water burial." Soldiers with arrow wounds were bandaging themselves.
An arrow had pierced Jiang Cheng's chest, leaving a small bloody hole. He was extracting the arrowhead and applying a trauma salve, his lips twitching in pain. "These damn bastards nearly sent me to the afterlife. Too bad we couldn't get any live captives."
Hua Kui mused, "This group seems to know a lot about our weapons. Could we have an internal spy?"
"Impossible!" Li Daoxuan declared. "While they knew our weapons were powerful, they had no idea I was on this ship, nor did they know anything about me. This information wasn't leaked by our own people."
Hua Kui and Jiang Cheng realized simultaneously, *Right!* These enemies only knew to guard against firearms and hand grenades, but they didn't recognize the Heavenly Lord. This proved it wasn't an inside job.
"They're people who have only a partial understanding of us," Jiang Cheng concluded. "They know the five-colored Heavenly Lord banner represents our faction, and they know the weapons we specialize in, but they're unclear about our internal organization and haven't even heard of the Heavenly Lord's prestige."
At this point, Jiang Cheng had a few ideas: "Some wandering bandit group? Manchu special agents? Or... the imperial court?"
All were possibilities!
Li Daoxuan knew that mere speculation wouldn't yield the correct answer and could easily lead them astray. Without concrete evidence, it was best not to guess blindly.
"Don't guess! When we get back, immediately distribute the video of this incident to all departments," Li Daoxuan instructed Hua Kui. "Don't put it on the news, but secretly give it to each department."
Hua Kui nodded. "This matter shouldn't be made public right now. We should wait until we identify the enemy, right?"
"Exactly!" Li Daoxuan affirmed. "First, let all departments be wary and prepared."
Then, Li Daoxuan chuckled. "You recorded how the enemy ship defended against us, didn't you?"
Hua Kui replied, "Your student recorded everything."
Li Daoxuan said, "Excellent. Give a copy to the scientists in Gao Family Village. See what ideas they come up with."
***
Puzhou, Huangpu Military Academy.
Sun Chuanting drew a small mountain on the blackboard, then addressed the students below with a stern expression. "When arraying an army against an enemy, position yourself on steep slopes and near valleys, overlooking the high ground, and never fight uphill. This is how an army should deal with mountains..."
Mid-sentence, he slapped the table. "Padi Tu, how dare you sleep in my class?"
Zheng Gouzi broke into a cold sweat and quickly nudged Padi Tu, who was next to him.
Padi Tu, roused from his dream, let out a gasp, jumping up and wiping drool from his mouth. "Huh? What? No, I wasn't sleeping! I was listening intently!"
Sun Chuanting fumed. "What was the meaning of the passage I just explained?"
Padi Tu was drenched in sweat. "Just now, uh..."
Zheng Gouzi secretly opened *The Art of War* to the page Sun Chuanting had been lecturing from and pushed it in front of him.
Padi Tu swallowed, secretly glancing at the textbook before looking up. "Headmaster, you were saying that when fighting the enemy, we should fight in perilous mountain valleys, on treacherous high peaks—in short, no matter where we fight, we are sure to win."
Sun Chuanting pointed to the drill ground outside. "Get out. Run fifty laps."
Padi Tu slunk out of the classroom, looking dejected. But the moment his back was to Sun Chuanting, a flicker of delight spread across his face. *Heh, finally I don't have to listen to this snooze-inducing lecture. Running fifty laps sounds more fun.*
Sun Chuanting's voice carried. "You're still smiling?"
Padi Tu was startled. "I'm facing away from you; how do you know I'm smiling?"
Sun Chuanting replied, "Though your back is to me, I can see the muscles below your ears pulling slightly upwards. What else could that be but a smile?"
Padi Tu gasped in astonishment. "Incredible! As expected of the headmaster, truly perceptive!"
Sun Chuanting scoffed. "Flattery won't save you now. In addition to running fifty laps, you will copy *The Art of War* twenty times and submit it by tomorrow evening."
Padi Tu wailed, "Ah? No! Please don't punish me with copying! I can run a hundred more laps, but no copying!"
Sun Chuanting "hmphed." "If you don't finish copying by tomorrow evening, I will report it to the village committee and confiscate your Hero's Mandate."
That was the ultimate deterrent!
At this threat, Padi Tu immediately straightened up and saluted. "Understood! I guarantee the copying will be completed."
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