Golden Wolf Jia Tianlong was brimming with confidence at this moment. His usually pale and sallow face was flushed with excitement due to his overwhelming exhilaration.
It was no wonder he was in such high spirits. After all, the Seven Mysteries Sect, the lifelong nemesis of the Wild Wolf Gang, was about to crumble before his very eyes, all thanks to his meticulous scheming. As the leader of the Wild Wolf Gang, how could he not feel triumphant?
He stood on the mountainside of Sunset Peak, at a former outpost of the Seven Mysteries Sect, surrounded by many red-armored iron guards of the Wild Wolf Gang. These fifty or sixty guards were his elite disciples, painstakingly trained with immense effort. Not only were they highly skilled in martial arts, but they were also fiercely loyal and unwavering in their devotion to him.
He had always treasured these men, reluctant to deploy them in ordinary conflicts. Yet today, he had brought them all with him to thoroughly intimidate the restless smaller sects. Otherwise, leaders of factions like the Iron Spear Society and the Severed Water Sect would never have submitted so obediently.
After all, these sects had no desire to see the Wild Wolf Gang dominate alone. They preferred the two major powers to remain locked in conflict or balance, allowing them to survive in the cracks between them.
Had it not been for Jia Tianlong’s lightning-fast move to seize the family members of these leaders and promise them substantial benefits, these smaller sects would likely have turned against him long ago.
With this thought, he couldn’t help but glance back at the dozen or so leaders of the smaller sects standing not far behind him.
They all looked dejected. Some met his gaze with angry glares, while others shied away, avoiding eye contact.
Seeing this, Jia Tianlong smirked coldly to himself. As he turned back, his mind began to devise plans for annexing these smaller sects once the Seven Mysteries Sect was defeated.
Ahead of him, nearly a thousand people clad in various attire and wielding an assortment of weapons were chaotically assaulting a Seven Mysteries Sect outpost. Their formation was disorganized, and they lacked any coordination, resulting in heavy casualties.
But Jia Tianlong couldn’t care less. After all, those attacking were not his Wild Wolf Gang members but followers of the Iron Spear Society, Severed Water Sect, and other such factions. He had never expected them to capture this final and most treacherous checkpoint on Sunset Peak. His plan was simply to let these allied forces exhaust the defenders before sending in his elite troops with repeating crossbows to deliver the final blow.
The thought of those military-grade repeating crossbows brought a faint smile to Jia Tianlong’s refined face.
If the Wild Wolf Gang had gained the upper hand so easily, it was largely thanks to these deadly weapons from the army. Without them, not only would they have failed to annihilate the enemy’s negotiation team, but even capturing the dozen or so outposts ahead of Sunset Peak would have cost the Wild Wolf Gang dearly, severely hampering his plans to annex the smaller sects later.
These military crossbows had cost Jia Tianlong no effort at all—they had practically fallen into his lap. Whenever he recalled this, he felt immensely pleased.
It had happened three months ago. He was at his headquarters planning this very operation when an officer claiming to be a relative requested to see him. Surprised, Jia Tianlong agreed to meet the man, who turned out to be a cousin of his. Over a decade ago, when the Wild Wolf Gang’s predecessor was still a bandit group, some members had been recruited by the government. His cousin was among them and had since risen to the high military rank of vice-general. Now, this cousin happened to be escorting a shipment of supplies to a remote border fortress in Jingzhou and was passing through the area. Hearing of Jia Tianlong’s reputation as the leader of the Wild Wolf Gang, he naturally decided to pay his cousin a visit.
Their reunion was filled with emotional exchanges, and they soon caught up on each other’s lives. When Jia Tianlong mentioned the recent conflicts and battles with the Seven Mysteries Sect, his cousin scoffed arrogantly and said it was nothing. With just a hundred repeating crossbows, he could wipe out the entire Seven Mysteries Sect.
The words were spoken casually, but Jia Tianlong took them to heart. He tentatively asked if his cousin could provide him with some of these crossbows. His cousin smiled and frankly admitted that the shipment he was escorting contained many repeating crossbows. It wasn’t impossible to spare some, but it would require bribing the receiving officer with silver, and he couldn’t give away too many.
Overjoyed, Jia Tianlong immediately spent over twenty thousand taels of silver to acquire more than three hundred repeating crossbows from his cousin. He entrusted them to his most loyal subordinates for careful use, which led to the string of victories in recent days.
“It’s broken through!”
“They’ve breached the defenses!”
…
A cacophony of earth-shouting shouts snapped Jia Tianlong out of his reverie.
Startled, he raised his head to look up at the peak. The outpost that had once flown the Seven Mysteries Sect’s banner was now swarming with members of the smaller sects. It had truly been captured.
Jia Tianlong frowned, feeling uneasy. Based on the defensive strength of the previous checkpoints, this final one should have been even harder to breach. How had these motley crews managed to take it so quickly? Was there some trickery afoot?
His expression darkened. Those familiar with Jia Tianlong knew that this was a sign of his displeasure. Anyone who provoked him at such a moment would find death a difficult escape.
“Hey, since it’s breached, why aren’t we moving?” a voice as grating as a broken gong rang out, devoid of any respect for the esteemed leader of the Wild Wolf Gang.
By all rights, Jia Tianlong should have flown into a rage. Instead, he turned sideways and replied respectfully, “Immortal Zhang, I find this breach rather suspicious. There might be a trap waiting for us. It’s better to proceed with caution.”
“What is there to fear? With me by your side, how could these mere mortals harm you? Let’s go, let’s go! I’ve been stuck here almost all night and I’m exhausted. Let’s finish off these Seven Mysteries Sect fellows quickly so I can get some rest.” The voice didn’t sound old, yet it carried a pompous, condescending tone that was utterly grating.
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