Chapter 62: A Night of Dock Labor

  Shen Bing panted, exerting himself to climb up the bookshelf. The instructor said that this kind of grappling hook was still very primitive and would later be replaced with a more labor-saving one. Currently, even the most skilled person in the team could only use it eight times, and it would severely affect the combat effectiveness of both arms.

  Qin Lei strictly limited himself to no more than three uses per day. What was unbelievable to his teammates was that even on a day when it seemed like they wouldn't be fighting, he still didn't lift the ban.

  With the help of a special spear hook, Shen Bing easily shook off his pursuers. Moreover, following the route given by Shen Qing, he didn't encounter any situations where he was surrounded or met a dead end. Only then did he realize how great the effect of the instructor's calculation class was.

  After three jumps, he jumped onto the bookshelf by the window and Shen Bing jumped out of the window. There were several patrolling assassins on the roof, who drew their knives and rushed over as soon as they saw him. Shen Bing didn't entangle much either, ran a few steps on the roof, and entered through the third window. He disappeared again in the forest of bookshelves.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  In the hall, the leader of this operation paced back and forth under the watchful eyes of his subordinates. What a shame! As one of the most promising young officers in the Qin Empire at that time, he did not continue on his limitless path to officialdom. Instead, five years ago, he resolutely left the Imperial Forest Army and secretly joined the Crown Prince's mansion. He became the leader of a group of assassins without rank or status, with the goal of training a team that could rival the Li family's Blood Stingers.

  For the past five years, he has been devoted to his duties without a moment's rest and has not returned home to Zhongdu even once. Every day, he is either sparring with the high-ranking officials invited by the Crown Prince or leading his troops in intense training. However, he does not feel tired because he believes that every day he persists will bring him one step closer to success.

  The prince trusted him and didn't ask about the details of the training. For the first time in five years, the prince who had always been accommodating to this team made a request, and the leader remembered the prince's words verbatim: "Defeat Qin Lei cleanly and thoroughly. Show him our mighty strength."

  Everyone was excited, they saw this task as a great test for them by the prince. As the leader said: "Defeat the enemy and tell His Highness that we are reliable."

  No one expected it to turn out like this. The operation started at the end of the hour of hai, and now that the hour of zi has passed, they've only caught four people. Two of them were exposed and caught during the initial demonstration in the garden. And the ones who were caught aren't even very useful, you can't extract information from them by torturing them after all - they'll be colleagues tomorrow.

  He knew that the Fifth Prince had the advantage of heaven and earth, and his subordinates were well-trained. If this continued, the situation would only get worse. He was resentful in his heart that the Crown Prince did not understand military affairs and had been outmaneuvered by the cunning Fifth Prince. What was originally a tacit agreement to assassinate and defend had turned into a farce like hide-and-seek. The strong fighting force of the assassins could not be brought into play.

  The leader of the assassins pulled down his mask, revealing a square face full of scars. Under two thick and disconnected eyebrows, his eyes shone brightly. He muttered to himself: "Iron brother, it seems that your lord is really formidable." A close attendant beside him heard this and said in surprise: "Among the nineteen attendants of the fifth lord, there isn't one with the surname Iron."

  The leader thought that the person had already rejoined the army and was fighting on the front line. His heart was gloomy, his face changing unpredictably. After a while, he steeled himself and said: "I don't have your good fortune, I won't have the chance to be glorious in this life. But I won't lose to you."

  He ordered his attendants: "Gather everyone together." Then he walked to the table and pondered while circling and drawing on the structural diagram of the hidden book pavilion given by the crown prince.

  A moment later, he came before the two hundred neatly lined up assassins. Five years of hard training had indeed turned his team into an iron army. Despite being exhausted for a whole hour and a half, despite being struck by the elusive feeling of loss, under the two hundred black scarves, there was not a single trace of despair, frustration or helplessness in the eyes of the two hundred pairs.

  It's more accurate to say that there are two hundred pairs of emotionless eyes.

  The leader got straight to the point and said, "Divide into ten teams, twenty people per team."

  A rustling sound of footsteps on the ground, two hundred assassins formed into ten teams, each team with twenty people. Their movements were not a bit slower than Qin Lei's guards.

  The leader looked at his subordinates with some satisfaction, knowing that they couldn't catch the enemy. Firstly, it was due to the restrictions of the rules; otherwise, a single fire would be more effective than anything else. Secondly, it was because he himself had failed as a leader, which had nothing to do with his elite subordinates.

  He commanded the ten people standing in front of the team: "Now change tactics. We start from the first floor and take it one step at a time. Teams A and B will continue to patrol the rooms on the first floor, and as long as there are no more than ten enemies appearing at the same time, do not pay attention to them. The remaining eight teams will be divided into two groups, and according to the order I marked on the map, use bookshelves to block all windows and ventilation openings in these rooms!"

  He had just finished giving orders when the sound of drums came from outside. He gazed at his subordinates and said, "Everyone, there are still two hours until the cock crows at dawn. The Crown Prince is waiting for our good news."

  Two hundred people shouted in unison: "Yes!" Afterwards, following the leader's instructions, they each took action and left.

  This intelligence was passed on in the dark and soon reached a certain place in the dark. Qin Lei quietly crouched on a bookshelf, and whispered to Shi Meng who came to report: "I don't know what kind of wooden club can think of such a stupid method." The large bookshelf under him was nearly two zhang high and three zhang wide, with books piled up on it. It would be impossible for fewer than ten or twenty people to push it.

  Shi Meng was overjoyed and lowered his voice excitedly, saying: "Your Highness, quickly think of a clever way to break it. Brothers are waiting for you to come up with a plan."

  Qin Lei's face fell, and he said gloomily: "Taking shortcuts leaves many flaws, being clumsy has no weaknesses. Others have more people, doing it this way one by one, we can't do anything about it."

  Shi Meng thought for a moment, gritted his teeth and said: "Let's fight it out with those brothers."

  Qin Lei lightly kicked him and rolled his eyes, saying: "Take a wooden sword and go? You chop at someone's body, they won't fall down. And then you'll be counterattacked. At that time, who chops who down will be unclear."

  "This won't work and that won't work, are we just going to wait here to be caught?"

  Qin Lei nodded and said: "That's right, go. Tell the team members to all go upstairs. Let those people move the house for the prince first."

  Shi Meng reluctantly accepted the order and left.

  The hubbub on the first floor grew louder, Qin Lei flipped over and lay on the bookshelf, imagining the feeling of being pushed by twenty big men downstairs.

  ~~~~~~~~~

  The leader had already taken off his night clothes and was propping himself up on the bookshelf with all his might, shouting slogans. Twenty sturdy men followed his slogans, using all their strength to push or pull, finally making the huge and heavy bookcase move slowly towards the window inch by inch.

  Fortunately, the bookshelf was only six feet away from the window, otherwise Shen Bing would not have been able to jump from the bookshelf to the window at that time.

  It took less than a minute to block all three windows and two ventilation holes in one room. A watch is eight quarters, the leader has eight groups of people. In theory, one and a half watches are enough to seal off all the rooms.

  They sealed off one room at a time, and someone would report to Qin Lei, who would then draw a circle on the floor plan. Qin Lei didn't believe they could last long enough to keep this up at this speed.

  But he was shocked to find that when the first floor plan had been filled with circles, the hourglass in his hand had only flowed for three-quarters. To know that there are more than 40 rooms on the first floor alone.

  Lian Shen Qing also couldn't help but come over to request that Your Highness think of a plan. This feeling of not being able to do anything and waiting for the noose on one's neck to get closer and closer is really terrible.

  Qin Lei pondered for a moment, closed his eyes and spat out a word: "Wait." Then he didn't speak again.

  Shen Qing and Shi Meng exchanged a helpless glance, then reluctantly turned back to their posts.

  Qin Lei thought that since the strategy had been decided, it should not be changed casually, especially when there was no better way. He sat quietly in the darkness, waiting for the next news from the guard.

  In the second floor movement, the opponent's speed was slowed down, and it took more than a minute to seal off a room. When the second floor was completely sealed off, there were still half an hour left before dawn. The third floor had only twenty rooms. The eight small groups of opponents only needed to move twice to trap Qin Lei and his team in the room.

  The discovery sent the assassins, who had been up all night, into raptures. Although when they finished their task and went back to sleep, they would certainly be ashamed of their dockworker-like exertions for one night.

  Assassins are the profession with the highest technical content in this era.

  But in any case, the assassins who had been working hard all night now felt exhausted and their strength returned to their bodies. They actually completed the first round of lockdown in just one minute.

  There are fourteen more rooms.

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  Debt of 1800. Writing in 1900...

  Everyone keep voting, today is the last day for me on the new book chart and I haven't even made it into the top thirty yet.