Chapter 280: The Ambush

Ordinary commoners tended to sleep quite early. Some families were so poor they could not afford to light lamps, so they essentially lay down in bed as soon as it grew dark.

Families that could afford to light lamps at night might stay up a bit later, but even then, the latest would be around nine o’clock.

Consequently, the people here generally followed a pattern of sleeping early and rising early.

Typically, assassinations and ambushes were carried out either by lying in wait during the day when the target was traveling, or during the latter half of the night.

Logically, for a group of assassins who engaged in such activities, their peak hours of mental and physical activity would be during the latter half of the night.

Therefore, Yun Huizhou and Lian Li finally decided to set out after ten o’clock, and they prepared to have their camels run.

During this period of being hunted, Yun Huizhou and Lian Li had not been entirely passive targets; they had also been observing this group of assassins.

They discovered that these assassins might appear during the day or in the latter half of the night, but they never appeared during the first half of the night.

After making this discovery, Lian Li explained the concept of the “biological clock” to Yun Huizhou. He speculated that the first half of the night was likely when the assassins were at their most mentally and physically exhausted.

Although these assassins were not weak in martial arts, they were still human at their core.

Even Yun Huizhou would occasionally feel a sudden wave of drowsiness at a specific time due to his biological clock, let alone these assassins whose martial arts were inferior to his.

After hearing this, Yun Huizhou combined it with their own experiences during night watches and the timing of the assassins’ appearances, finding the theory very reasonable.

An even more compelling piece of evidence was that during their night watches, Lian Li took the first half. His martial arts were weaker than Yun Huizhou’s; although he could detect the traces of assassins, he certainly couldn’t do it as quickly as Yun Huizhou.

Yun Huizhou could perhaps sense movement from over three hundred meters away, while Lian Li might not even manage two hundred meters.

Despite such an obviously disadvantaged time slot, the assassins had never appeared. Thus, Yun Huizhou felt it was very likely for the reason Lian Li had stated.

During that time period, the assassins were in their worst state, so they did not come to harass them.

Thus, they decided to leave the desert during this window and head toward the border city at maximum speed.

Of course, even if it wasn’t the absolute best time, it didn’t matter. Their situation was what it was; the best or worst case wouldn’t bring about a world-shaking difference anyway.

Neither of them would blame the other for a wrong speculation or a poor decision.

However, as they stepped out of the desert, both of them hoped that if their luck was good enough, they could let his camel gallop right through their ambush point during this time when the assassins were generally less guarded and more fatigued.

The scenario they hoped for—where the assassins failed to notice them and let them slip away quietly—ultimately remained something that only happened in dreams.

They rode their camels out of the desert, and after running at a steady pace for less than one shi-chen, both of them felt the surrounding environment suddenly fall into a dead silence.

A June night without the sound of insects was inherently unusual.

The camels they were riding also began to stomp their hooves incessantly, appearing extremely uneasy.

Both of them knew clearly that they had failed to sneak out.

Well, they hadn’t held much hope to begin with, so naturally, they weren’t disappointed—though there was still a bit of regret.

Lian Li let out a soft sigh, a flicker of relief crossing his face. Although they had been intercepted, at least they hadn’t run out of time.

Nearly one shi-chen translated to two hours.

Even though the camels hadn’t been running at their absolute top speed, they must have covered sixty or seventy li by now.

And yet, they still hadn’t made it out.

Lian Li and Yun Huizhou simultaneously reached out to soothe the camels they were riding. Afterward, they did not move, and the group of assassins did not move either.

The two sides remained in a stalemate for nearly fifteen minutes. Suddenly, Yun Huizhou leaped from his camel, gathering his strength to deliver a slashing strike in one direction.

A long, projected blade qi carved a deep furrow into the ground.

Instantly, dust flew everywhere. Over a dozen dark figures, who had been hiding by unknown means, sprang out from where Yun Huizhou had struck and lunged toward him.

The wind blew, bringing with it the scent of blood.

Lian Li knew it belonged to the assassins.

Yun Huizhou’s single strike had already injured several assassins, and as they rushed forward, two more were instantly killed by him.

However, how could the assassins only attack Yun Huizhou, who possessed the higher martial arts?

Compared to Yun Huizhou, Lian Li was the “soft persimmon” they had picked.

Lian Li lowered his gaze, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes.

Perhaps a year ago, he truly was a soft persimmon.

But now, he had evolved; he was a durian.

If they dared to try and squeeze him, he would see if he couldn’t prick them to death.

Except for the direction Yun Huizhou had chosen, the assassins from all other directions charged toward Lian Li.

Lian Li casually tore several water skins hanging from the camel’s back before leaping off as well. At the same time, he delivered a heavy kick to the camel’s rump, driving them to run in a direction where there were no assassins.

This kick was very heavy, infused with internal energy. The camel was indeed kicked into running several paces in the direction he had chosen.

This was the last thing Lian Li could do for them; he could no longer look after these two camels.

As Lian Li swung his whip, hidden weapons continuously flew out from his sleeves.

However, these hidden weapons looked extremely crude. Rather than hidden weapons, they were more like small wooden sticks that had been deliberately sharpened; they possessed almost no lethality.

Initially, the assassins were wary of the hidden weapons he threw.

Their long period of entanglement was enough for the assassins to know Lian Li’s methods.

His primary weapon was a whip, and he hid many highly toxic weapons on his person.

Many of their comrades had lost their lives to Lian Li in this manner; those hidden weapons were all coated with poison that killed upon contact with blood.

However, after three days of pursuit, Lian Li had stopped using hidden weapons—he had run out of stock.

The poisons in his possession had also been used up while dealing with the great monster. After these methods were exhausted, he had relied purely on his own martial arts and Yun Huizhou to fight their way out.

The assassins also knew that Lian Li should be out of hidden weapons. Yet, as soon as they engaged, Lian Li suddenly threw out so many. Since it was night, they couldn’t see clearly for a moment and were truly given a fright.

But it could only give them a fright. After dodging, they saw that these were all just small wooden sticks carved on the fly.

He truly was at his wit’s end to resort to such a tactic.

A pity, but it could only scare them this once.

The assassins’ offensive became fierce. In this short time, Yun Huizhou, fighting at full power, had already killed eight assassins.

He naturally couldn’t wait to finish off all the assassins on his side before going to Lian Li; after all, far more assassins were attacking Lian Li than him.

Immediately, he spared the assassins in front of him and quickly returned to Lian Li’s side to resist the attackers together.

Lian Li fought back while continuously flinging out the small wooden sticks.

There were too many assassins, and he was struggling to cope. The wooden sticks no longer carried the same force they had when he first started throwing them.